Chapter 2175 Flower Struggle (Eighty-three)

In Japanese legend, "mermaid" is food for humans, and eating it can lead to immortality.

In addition, if old objects are discarded at will, such as umbrellas, wooden fish, pots and other daily utensils, they will turn into various monsters out of resentment and come out to play in the middle of the night. The Japanese call this a Hyakki Night Parade.

But there is a kind of artifact that is different from these monsters. There was a geisha who threw her beloved pipa into the sea because she was resentful of her lover. This pipa also became a monster, but it was not as harmless as the umbrella demon. It often followed the waves.

It rises and falls, and makes mysterious musical sounds, attracting other monsters in the sea. Therefore, it is called the ghost pipa and does not exist in "Hundred Ghosts Walking at Night".

The fleet arrived at Shanwei and docked. The admiral made a decision. A loyal servant and Wanning's aunt would escort her back to JDZ's hometown by land. The others continued to move forward by boat. At this time, Juren proposed to follow this team.

Leave together.

No one accused him of running away from the battle. In fact, Nick wanted to go with Juren. Compared with the Guangdong Navy, the Fujian Navy has a much heavier task. Chaozhou has very frequent exchanges with Taiwan, because Taiwan is Chaozhou's main rice supplier.

The Chaozhou people also immigrated to Siam because of the famine, where they sought development and even monopolized Siam's tribute ships, which was also prohibited by the Qing court.

Not only Qianlong but also Emperor Jiaqing was worried that these Chinese-operated Siamese ships would collude with pirates, and Siamese ships would also trade in small coastal ports from Guangzhou to Chaozhou.

This cannot be regarded as smuggling, because it is a tribute ship and it does not carry prohibited goods. Therefore, the local authorities have no choice but to strengthen supervision of Siamese ships.

Xiamen was supposed to be the largest port open to Europe. It used to be such a port. The Dutch maintained frequent trade exchanges with Xiamen when they occupied Taiwan, and the British also came here. But compared to Xiamen, Fuzhou has a larger population.

, there was little land, and there was an urgent need for imported rice. Therefore, Emperor Qianlong gave special permission for local people to operate rice from Southeast Asia.

The rice trade that was originally only managed by Chaozhou merchants was divided not only by Fuzhou people but also by Guangdong merchants. In fact, Guangzhou merchants were more active and more involved in the rice trade, perhaps because Guangzhou was better equipped to deploy large quantities of rice. Although

The total amount of rice imported by Guangzhou is not as large as that of Fujian, but only ships transporting rice are exempt from tax, and these rice transport ships will carry goods from other Southeast Asia.

In the trade with Japan, due to the "Zhengde New Deal" and the letter system, Fujian merchants lost to Jiangnan merchants. In the trade with Siam, Fujian merchants lost to Guangdong merchants, and the status of Fujian merchants began to decline.

Foreign ships had to pay a "gift money" to enter the port. When they found that their profits had dropped sharply and it was difficult to meet the annual tribute requirements to local officials, they went less to Fujian. The Spanish controlled Manila, and when Xiamen or Shanghai

When Chinese merchant ships passed by, they would also use the same method to extort Chinese merchant ships, just like what their merchant ships encountered in Xiamen.

There is a saying in the City of London: "I only worry about the difference between the labor force mobilized by one ounce of silver and the labor force mobilized by two and a half ounces of silver." The Spanish will not engage in the tea business of "small profits but quick turnover". First,

They don’t have the habit of drinking tea like the British. The risk at sea is too great. If the price increase is too high, it will be priceless and the market will be unavailable. Moreover, the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War is also related to the tax increase. Secondly, since the outbreak of the French Revolution, Britain and Spain

Because after the Battle of Toulon, the relationship between the two countries became very delicate. Both the Armada and the Royal Navy felt that they were number one in the world.

What they need is "huge profits", not to mention that Xiamen stopped foreign trade in 1758 and is a paradise for smugglers.

This sea area is very dangerous. At first, everyone thought that pirates would not dare to attack the official ship. What Nick said just now while sleeping actually shook the morale of the military. However, the admiral did not blame him. After arranging all the old, weak, women and children ashore, only men were left on the ship.

This will make it easier to move.

After the ship set off again, Nick sat in his cabin and looked at his Spanish folding knife. It was made in Birmingham and was as reflective as a mirror. At the same time, he also thought of the pirate in the red cloak, who had set the knife at "noon"

The sword was drawn out, and the sword flashed with cold light, and he chopped off the chicken head. Then he used a bowl to hold the chicken blood, and drank the bowl of blood calmly and calmly. Just as he said, that was

"medicine".

Nick also drank the "hangover tea" just now. It does not taste like tea, but more like medicine. Coupled with the pillow mixed with Yuhua Wake-Up Fragrance, the feeling of hangover has disappeared.

The characteristics of this kind of custom often arouse people's thinking. The British are so keen on drinking tea that they even invented divination by observing tea leaves. Unfortunately, Nick doesn't understand this.

Then there are the reforms of Prime Minister William Pitt Jr. He lowered the tea tax on the East India Company, turning tea from a luxury product enjoyed by the nobles into a drink that ordinary people can drink. This is why the British are eyeing the Chinese market.

, they expected that the large number of low-priced textiles produced in Britain would be favored by the common people, provided there were no such high tariffs and layers of exploitation by corrupt officials.

Muffled chatter could be heard outside the cabin. They suspected that there was a traitor on the ship and revealed their actions to the pirates.

Nick thought of the Venetian pirate on Vasco da Gama's ship. No one knew what his fate would be.

Since sailing along the mountainous coastline, every time the sailboat stopped, Nick would go ashore to take a look. As a result, he could see vast stretches of salt fields, large sugar cane forests and vast tidal flats. When the weather is clear, from the sea

Looking towards the villages and towns on the shore, the appearance of the villages and towns seems very attractive at first glance. If you look closely, you will find that many of these rows of houses are vacant.

This is another phenomenon brought about by the whipping method. In the past, rich people lived in rural areas, and they needed to raise some thugs to protect their manors, just like Zhao Zhuangtou in the soul-calling case, and Hubei Mei who buried twenty-three villagers alive.

Tiaoyuan. After the One Whip Law was implemented, the rich moved to the county town. They believed that being close to the county magistrate could directly exchange information, and their safety was also the responsibility of the government. In this way, there was no need to keep a group of fighting people at home.

, those thugs will have no source of income.

They form their own gangs, engage in various activities, and take on different jobs according to their respective specialties. Some are good at planning, some are fast runners, and some are good at writing. They will put the bodies that die on the road in the

They would go to the gates of wealthy people's houses in the city and ask for money to make settlements, or they would pretend to be a tooth shop without authorization and rob farmers of their goods while they were carrying grain and sugar cane to be sold in the city, and leave a message to go to "such and such a shop" to get money.

Often farmers can only get half of the price, or they can only go home crying with empty hands.

Their purpose is money. As long as they pay, people from any class can hire them. For example, when building a tomb, one family thinks it is detrimental to feng shui, but another family insists on building it, so both parties hire a tomb maker, which is similar in nature to hiring.

soldiers.

There are also people who hire them to break into the woman's natal home and snatch the bride to get married. This is a common storyline in operas and novels.

A village that looks beautiful from the shore may not necessarily be really beautiful. Just like a forest, it looks magnificent from a distance, but the beauty disappears when you are actually in it. Not only are there no roads inside, but you also have to worry about being bitten by various poisonous creatures.

A bite, and annoying mosquitoes.

If a mirage attracts people to chase an ethereal scenery, then if they are attracted by the scenery seen from a distance and walk into the villages and towns, the initial beautiful feeling will be gone, and the suffocating stench in the streets will be gone.

It's unbearable. This is definitely not the smell that comes from stables in Kent or Sussex, but the smell of manure mixed with various rotten substances. It seems that anything can be retting, including barbers.

Shaved hair.

We can understand the behavior of farmers. Just relying on their own work without fertilizing cannot get a rich harvest, nor can they feed a population ten times the land area. Just like the proverb, a "flower stuck in cow dung", this

This is a derogatory term, but plants without fertilization cannot produce bright flowers.

So Nick will not go too far away from the ship after getting off the ship. There are many temples whether in the suburbs or on the seaside. These temples are built for various gods. Not only do believers go to the temples to worship, this practice is to hope that the gods can

To help yourself at critical moments, there are also temples such as the Dragon King Temple to pray to the dragon not to cause trouble.

There are many legends about mermaids, and many people claim to have seen them with their own eyes. European sailors also said that they often heard their beautiful songs when passing through certain waters.

When Vasco da Gama's fleet passed through Africa for the first time, they also saw strange animals, such as parrots. When they arrived in South America, people found parrots as big as hens. No one believed them at first until someone caught them.

So does a monster like the Forbidden Woman with terrifying long poisonous hair, similar to Medusa, really exist?

"Do you believe there are parrots as big as hens?" Bonaparte suddenly asked.

"Of course I believe it." Georgiana said expressionlessly, "Have you ever heard of the Ball Escape Bird?"

He didn't answer the call.

He must have thought that bird was extinct.

Georgiana thought with some pride, smiling and saying nothing.

"Have you ever heard of the bird of paradise?" Bonaparte asked.

"Who hasn't heard of it?"

He smiled evilly, as if he was planning a prank.
Chapter completed!