The mission entered Madrid on September 16, the twelfth year of Wanli. The most beautiful area of the world's largest empire left a deep impression on the mission: there was more sewage than Lisbon, and the smell was overwhelming. In short -
Like a cesspit.
At this time in Europe, there were no "conscience sewers" as later generations would call them, and there were very few toilets. From the king to the nobles, they all wore big cloaks, and when they wanted to pee, they would defecate anywhere - this was really not a burial.
them.
A hundred years later, during the Louis XIV period in France, in order to solve the problem of urination and defecation in places such as the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre, this guy came up with a "wonderful" solution to move people around.
After the Palace of Versailles was completely destroyed by feces, Louis XIV moved to the Louvre to continue the destruction, while the Palace of Versailles was left to the servants to clean up. After the Louvre was filled with feces, Louis XIV moved to the Louvre again.
The Palace of Versailles was cleaned, and then the servants were sent to the Louvre.
In this way, cities across Europe are full of odor. Even if people with strong body odor can't bear the unpleasant odor, they will not choose to take a bath. Instead, they will find ways to study spices. Therefore, some women often try to cover up body odor in order to cover up body odor.
, will hang a delicate bag filled with spices on his body.
The filthiness of the entire city has also led to another problem, which is the proliferation of parasites. Like Henry VIII, his legs were ulcerated and covered with parasites because he did not clean his body. As a last resort, he
Take a herbal bath as instructed by the doctor. In addition, when later generations studied the remains of King Charles III of England, they found that his remains were covered with roundworm eggs.
.......
After entering Madrid with a pinched nose, due to the large number of people in the delegation, there was no hotel that could accommodate them all. Therefore, with the coordination of Luo Mingjian, a count's mansion was rented for the head of the delegation to live in, and the remaining part could not be accommodated.
Staying in a hotel in Madrid - anyway, the mission has a lot of money, and it won't cost much to book several hotels.
The earl who vacated his mansion moved to his villa outside the city for the sake of the cardinal, and because of his reputation he could not ask for money, so the mission gave him some porcelain and tea as a thank you gift.
According to today's market price, these exquisite porcelains are enough to buy his Earl's Mansion. Therefore, the Earl moved very happily and offered to leave his servants to serve the noble Seris, but Xu Guangqi refused - the smell was too great.
After entering Europe, the most unbearable thing for everyone in the mission was the smell. After the Renaissance, many nobles abandoned the superstitious idea that "bathing will make the body unholy" and began to rinse the body with cold water, plus they could afford spices.
The taste is not particularly impressive.
But their servants didn't have that condition. They would irritate their eyes if they came within ten feet of them. Count Xu Guangqi would be knocked unconscious if they talked face to face, so he could only refuse firmly. When he entered Lisbon, he felt a little strange, how could these nobles endure it?
This kind of taste will be completely understood after entering Madrid - it is the so-called abalone restaurant.
...
After the Ming Dynasty mission's daily itinerary, they would hold a meeting at the residence. The heads of the mission, such as Xu Guangqi and Wang Jiaping, would gather together to review the day's itinerary and combine the responses of the audience to determine whether their goals were achieved.
On the night when the "win-win theory" was thrown out, a review meeting was held at the Earl's Palace. Xu Guangqi discussed with everyone in the mission whether Spain could accept Ming's conditions. If not, what would be the next step? If it could, what would be the next step.
Deputy envoy Wang Jiaping said with a smile: "Zixian, we don't have to have any illusions about the conditions accepted by the Spanish king. The Western barbarians, like the Eastern barbarians, are both fearful of power and unethical. Without a fight, they can't possibly
Spit out the fat in your mouth."
Liu Chengxi nodded in agreement after hearing this: "Less than seven days since we landed, there have been three incidents of people coming to stir up trouble. If we hadn't dealt with it according to the principle of 'don't cause trouble, don't be afraid of trouble' explained by the emperor, we would have been fooled by these Westerners."
Let’s go.”
It turned out that on the first day Xu Guangqi disembarked, an officer at the Lisbon dock provoked trouble and asked the mission to escort the goods off the dock and hand over the items unloaded from the ship to their care.
Of course Liu Chengxi could not agree. The two sides talked for a while, but the officer called an interpreter from nowhere and said that this was an order from the Marquis of Denia and asked Liu Chengxi to execute it immediately.
How could Liu Chengxi leave without Xu Guangqi's order? The two sides refused to give in. The officer deliberately intensified the conflict and started pushing him out of a quarrel. Liu Chengxi, whose head hurt due to him, kicked him in the stomach while the officer lay on the ground.
Howl.
Immediately afterwards, a large group of Spanish troops came to hand over the firearms of the Ming Dynasty guards. Seeing that the situation was not good, Liu Chengxi organized his troops into an attack formation, and was about to rush into the Governor's Mansion and snatch Xu Guangqi out - just at the critical moment,
However, high-ranking military officers came and drove the Spanish troops away.
When Liu Chengxi sent someone to report, Xu Guangqi of course wanted to question the Marquis of Denia. The Marquis of Denia also looked confused and expressed that he wanted to find out.
Then at the end of the reception banquet, the Marquis of Denia apologized to Xu Guangqi for not restraining his subordinates, and explained that the guy was interested in making money and fled to the Netherlands.
Xu Guangqi believed it at the time and didn't take it seriously. As a result, when they left Lisbon, Liu Chengxi, who was from the Military Intelligence Bureau, reported to him that the officer who caused trouble that day was fine and was still on duty at the dock——
It scared Xu Guangqi and several others into sweat.
Later review and analysis showed that although Spain is the core of the Holy Alliance, it is not of the same mind as the Holy See. The Marquis of Denia would not do anything to the members of the mission, but he would have blinded Liu Chengxi that day and withheld the gift from Xu Guangqi to the Holy See.
, it can be regarded as educating Xu Guangqi and the Pope through actions - who is the boss in Europe.
After this incident, Xu Guangqi deeply felt the meaning of the emperor's instructions before leaving port, "the mission is important, be cautious and courageous", and he also gained a perceptual understanding of the barbaric nature of the Western Yi.
In the days that followed, two similar things happened: when I was passing through the customs on a trip to Madrid, a tax collector wanted to check the goods carried by the mission. The Lisbon official sent by the Marquis of Denia failed to do anything, and the tax collector insisted.
After checking and collecting taxes according to the value of the goods, Luo Mingjian could only smile in embarrassment.
Xu Guangqi immediately said that he would not go to Madrid and was ready to return the same way. Only then did he calm down the tax collector and pass the customs smoothly. After that, there was another thing that was more disgusting - when he was stationed in a small town to rest for a night and set off the next day, he unexpectedly
Several prostitutes stopped the mission and said they were having sex for free under the escort of the mission.
Liu Chengxi asked the person involved carefully. The young men looked confused and said that they knew about the "Hua Liu Disease" when they were training in Tianjin. They had the courage to do this. One of the guards with a grumpy temper yelled and scolded them.
Said: "This European doesn't take a shower all year round, and the smell on his body can kill people - why should I make him vomit at the same time?"
This reason was so powerful that the head of the mission, whose nose had been strongly influenced these days, believed it at the time. After Xu Guangqi, Wang Jiaping and others discussed it, he made a decisive decision and immediately stopped the trip and asked the local magistrate to handle it - at that time, if he had the intention of using small money to kill the trouble
His thoughts have really gone astray. At least if the reputation of the Seris people for free prostitution spreads, it will have a negative impact on Xu Guangqi's mission.
The Spaniards used three axes but failed to suppress the mission, and it became quiet after that. Luo Mingjian, who was accompanying Xu Guangqi, saw that Spain was acting so recklessly, so he had to tell Xu Guangqi the truth: the Holy See has no binding force on Spain, and Felipe
The Second Emperor had the initiative in the game with the Pope.
Although Felipe II was a Catholic fanatic, not everything he did was appreciated by the Holy See. The religious wars and even the massacre of the Huguenots were popular with the Pope, but the indiscriminate burning of "heresies" was
The Holy See was opposed to it because it would greatly tarnish the reputation of the Holy See and the Inquisition - both sides were constantly talking about it.
Of course, on the surface, the two are still the core of the Holy Alliance, but all European countries are well aware that the two sides are inseparable. The peace edict issued by Gregory XIII in response to Xu Guangqi's arrival is a typical example - using righteousness to give
Felipe II added to the problem.
Xu Guangqi and Luo Mingjian were good friends, so they couldn't say anything. Besides, it was decided by the emperor to come to Spain first, so the Holy See couldn't be blamed.
As for why they came to Spain first, of course it was because Ming Dynasty and Spain had a direct conflict of interest - the mission had to decide the next step based on Spain's attitude.
...
Before his mission, Wang Jiaping was the minister of the Ministry of Culture and Education of the Ming Dynasty. His appointment as deputy envoy was decreed by the Holy Spirit. His main responsibility was to evaluate the existing cultural achievements of Europe and promote the exchanges of civilizations between the two sides as much as possible.
After the review meeting, Wang Jiaping sighed: "It's true that I have read thousands of books and traveled thousands of miles. Although the Europeans are barbaric, they still have their own rituals and music, which cannot be regarded as uncivilized. At least in architecture, painting, and sculpture
, in terms of music and the study of things, it is enough to be regarded as China's 'stone from other mountains' - but the smell is too smelly."
Everyone present laughed loudly after hearing this. Xu Guangqi said to Wang Jiaping: "Tomorrow we are going to visit the University of Salamanca in Madrid. According to the emperor's wishes, we want to copy and purchase some documents and take the books back. I hope the Spanish authorities will not obstruct this.
Bar."
Wang Jiaping said with a smile: "That's not the case. I talked about this with the Duke of Sidonia today. The Western Yi people are just like us, and they are also happy to see that their theories can be spread to China. Of course, they also cherish the technology of investigating objects, and they also like us.
Same."
Several people were chatting happily, when a guard came in and reported: "There is a Western Yi named Francis outside the station who wants to see him. He said that he bought a boatload of porcelain in Malacca."
Wang Jiaping was confused after hearing this, but Xu Guangqi was shocked and said quickly: "Tell him to come in."
While waiting for the visitor to come in, Xu Guangqi said: "The emperor had written a letter to the Tudor Queen of England before, and it was brought over on a porcelain merchant ship in Malacca - the visitor should be British."