No wonder they were both stunned, because the Tianjin City they saw at this time was endless, full of houses, but there was no city wall.
In fact, the focus of Catherine's question was not how to hide five thousand troops, but why the city of Tianjin was so big, beyond their imagination?
Not only that, it was still busy with traffic and people coming and going, but it was orderly and even the ground was very clean. At least the streets they saw were very clean.
Before coming to the Far East, Catherine read "Marco Polo's Travels" and checked other information, and found that they all praised the cleanliness and prosperity of the Eastern Empire. She has never been here before, so she doesn't believe it. This sight was beyond her imagination, and she was naturally stunned.
Catherine recalled that over in Europe, even the port of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, was littered with garbage, but there was still a lot of it. You can also see among the debris in the port, from time to time, you can see vomit mixed with drunken sailors; there is even feces and urine, which is left by someone urinating in the corner while others are not paying attention or after dark. Yeah, you can smell shit and urine in the air.
This was after the European Renaissance. If it were during the Middle Ages, it would be full of shit.
However, the Tianjin city in front of you does not need to look at the panoramic view to know that it is larger than Lisbon and has more residents. However, why is it so orderly and clean?
"This official is Fang Yizhi, the right young minister of Honglu Temple in the Ming Dynasty. I have met Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine of Folangji!" Just as they were in a daze, a group of officials from the Ming Dynasty came over. The leader, who was young, looked at He was very knowledgeable and greeted them in a neither arrogant nor humble manner.
After such greetings, Anders came back to his senses and hurriedly came forward to greet and communicate. Finally, he asked Fang Yizhi: "Master Fang, our princess is very interested in coming to your country for the first time. It's just afternoon now, why not go first?" How about taking a look around the customs and customs of Tianjin City and then going to the inn to rest?"
Fang Yizhi was a little surprised after hearing this, and then replied: "If Her Royal Highness wants to go shopping, she can go directly to the capital. Is it possible that Her Royal Highness wants to rest in Tianjin City because she is tired?"
As he was talking, he was confused. If you were really too tired, you wouldn't ask for a tour of Tianjin right after you get off the boat, right?
Hearing his words, it was Anders' turn to be stunned. He looked at Catherine, thought for a moment, and communicated directly without translation: "Master Fang, does he mean to go directly to the capital and have to travel all night? Although Her Royal Highness the Princess is not actually very tired, but if she travels all night , is it a bit bad after all?”
Seeing that Fang Yizhi seemed a little disapproving, Anders added: "Our ship is full of gifts for His Majesty the Ming Emperor. Just unloading the goods and loading them into the car will probably cost a lot of money." It’s almost dark, is it necessary to hurry?”
Hearing this, Fang Yizhi finally came to his senses, and smiled slightly and said: "I forgot that Your Highness the Princess has just come from Folangji. We are taking a special train back to the capital. After some sleep, we can arrive in the capital tomorrow." Yes, it should be more comfortable than you resting at sea, except that the sound is a little louder."
Anders couldn't help but blink after hearing this. Can he arrive in the capital tomorrow? I must have heard this wrong! At least I knew in advance that the journey by ordinary carriage from Tianjin to the capital would take about three days.
Also, I just heard the word train again. What on earth is this?
When he was about to ask for clarification, he suddenly saw Catherine looking at him without blinking, with a look of curiosity on the conversation. He had no choice but to suppress his doubts and said to Catherine: "This Ming official explained that the capital city is more important." It’s prosperous and even more fun. Therefore, we suggest that we drive overnight and drive to the capital tomorrow...not...in three days."
When Catherine heard this, she couldn't help but frown, feeling a little unhappy: Didn't it say that this Far Eastern Empire was a country of etiquette? Is there anyone who treats guests like this?
With this in mind, she said to Anders: "There are still three days to go, why do we have to rush all night? Is it necessary to be in such a hurry? This...is this their Eastern hospitality?"
After a slight hesitation, she said the next sentence.
Although João IV repeatedly stated before leaving that the Ming Dynasty was Portugal's most powerful ally, Portugal's future largely depended on the wishes of the Ming Emperor, so he must not be offended! But she still felt a little unhappy, and she didn't want to wrong herself from the beginning, otherwise, she would be bullied all the time!
Of course Anders knew the importance, but when he thought about it again, it seemed that this time it was indeed a bit too much, so he thought about the words, and the other party Yizhi said: "Master Fang, it's three days' journey to the capital, why rush It’s all night tonight. It’s not too late to rest in Tianjin until tomorrow morning before leaving, right?”
"Three days?" Fang Yizhi questioned after hearing this, and then laughed, but quickly stopped laughing and said with a smile: "I just said that if we leave today, we will arrive tomorrow morning You are in the capital, where did you get three days?"
"Ah?" Anders was immediately surprised after hearing this, and quickly confirmed, "Can we get there in one night? Is that impossible? Even if you gallop on horseback, you can't run very fast in the dark at night! More Besides, there are so many salutes!”
Fang Yizhi smiled silently after hearing this, shook his head and said: "Of course it's not a carriage or a horse, but a train to the capital. I have made it very clear just now that it is a special train specially prepared for Her Royal Highness the Princess. .”
At this point, he paused and then said: "You haven't seen him, so your words are probably in vain. You will know when you see him later. I have been ordered to pick someone up, and there is no way I will lie to you."
"..." Anders was speechless for a while after hearing this: He has traveled tens of thousands of miles across the ocean and has seen a lot of things. What kind of train is this of yours? Are there other trains that I haven’t seen before? No matter how great it is, can a three-day journey be reached in one day?
However, the officials of the Ming Dynasty said so, so he did not insist anymore. Anyway, he saw it soon. So, he turned to Catherine and said: "Your Royal Highness, this gentleman said that there is a special train to pick up Her Royal Highness. It will arrive in the capital tomorrow morning..."
When he said this, he remembered what Fang Yizhi had said before, and added: "And sleeping on this train at night is more comfortable than sleeping on the sea, except that the sound is a little louder."
When Catherine heard this, she was immediately surprised. Curiosity made her nod. Does Mingguo really have such a powerful car? Then you should see it soon!
………………
Naturally, Tianjin's train station was not too far from the pier. Catherine and her group got on the carriage, and with the help of local soldiers, they quickly arrived at the train station. Of course, the train station is under martial law.
Catherine got off the carriage and was a little surprised to see the long iron can parked in front of her. Looking down, I saw that the red blanket on the ground extended to the side of the iron can. It was clear that this was the so-called train.
With surprise in her eyes, she turned to look at Anders, who had just arrived beside her, and asked curiously: "Is this a train? Didn't you say that the old almanac used to burn it can be transported by ship? So? How do you transport a long iron can?"
It was also the first time for Anders to see him, so he was naturally confused. He knew that if he pretended to understand, he would make more jokes, so he had no choice but to ask Fang Yizhi next to him: "Master Fang, is this a train?"
"It's a train!" Fang Yizhi listened and nodded with a smile. He felt very comfortable in his heart about the rapid changes in the Great Tomorrow that shocked these Westerners.
However, since the two parties had already formed a brotherhood, he had no intention of continuing to laugh at the joke, so he introduced it to Anders and Catherine with a smile: "This is the locomotive, the power of the entire train." The heat energy generated by burning coal is converted into kinetic energy, dragging the carriages behind it to move forward together, so it is called a train. It was built under the guidance of the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince was responsible for building it..."
He didn't speak quickly, obviously giving Anders time to translate.
Catherine listened to the introduction, and she didn't know when she completely forgot about the princess's reserve when she went to a strange place. She didn't even notice that Cherry's little mouth opened slightly. She just kept looking at this thing called a train. I heard that this train can travel all day long in one night. It's hundreds of miles long, and it's a bit weird to be towing so many carriages.
Listening to the introduction, I got on the train unknowingly. She found that the interior of this train was very luxurious. If I hadn't seen it outside first and then suddenly opened my eyes when I came inside, I would have thought that I was in some very noble and luxurious dining place.
Behind it is the sleeping compartment. It still feels the same. If I hadn't seen the situation outside, I would have thought this was a house in the Royal Palace of Paris. Although it is a bit shorter and narrower, it still feels like this.
…………
After visiting the inside of the train car, Catherine went outside again. When she looked at the train again, she still felt a little weird when she thought about the layout inside.
At this moment, she saw the luggage that had been transported from the ship being loaded in the rear carriage of the train. Car after car was being loaded into the car, which made her a little worried as to whether the train could drive. move?
At this time, she already understood that Anders had never seen it before, so she didn't ask him, and just admired the train that she had never seen before.
Towards evening, when everything was loaded, Fang Yizhi smiled and asked the guests to get in the car, and then gave the order to set off.
Everything felt novel to Catherine at this time, even when she heard the roar of the train and the smoke, it felt novel and interesting. At this time, her age of only thirteen years old suddenly became apparent.
The Ming Dynasty in the East is indeed well-deserved!
