Chapter 1,268 A battle of words! Portuguese scholars versus Columbus
In the Sintra Palace, facing Columbus's polite greetings, King Joao looked calm and did not make things difficult. Although the royal scholars around him were full of disgust and wanted to question loudly immediately. But in the formal audience, there was no
No one dared to speak freely when King Joao spoke.
It was not until the opening ceremony of the audience was completed that João II sat on the throne and asked this Genovese "navigator" who had been wandering outside his palace for nearly ten years.
"Noble of Castile, Don Christopher Columbus. You claimed at the port before that you reached India and Sipangu westward and discovered a new route to the East?"
"Yes! Your Majesty João, on the orders of the great Queen of Castile, as an admiral, I led an exploration fleet of three ships to the west deep into the deep sea of the Atlantic Ocean... After a arduous and arduous journey
, after going through the storm and the test of the Lord, I was finally the first on the deck to discover the land in the east with my own eyes! This is the blessing of the Lord to me, and also to the Queen, for handing over the most outstanding navigator.
In the hands of the Queen who has a discerning eye..."
Speaking of this, Columbus raised his head with pride on his face. He insisted that he was the first person to discover land. As for Juan, the sailor of the Pinta who was the first to shout that he had discovered land first, he had already fallen into the ancient land of Sipan.
In the hands of others, it is estimated that he will die no more. And this honor that is destined to be recorded in history, as well as the discovery bounty announced by the Queen before, naturally can only fall on him!
"God bless you! I led the people to the islands off the coast of India, erected wooden pillars symbolizing the Kingdom of Castile, and dedicated the vast eastern territory to the wise queen!...Then, I
Continuing to sail south, we discovered the extremely vast, land-like island of Sipangu in Japan, and repelled the attacks of the Sipangu indigenous people..."
"The Lord is witness! The Castilian exploration fleet led by me, after discovering India and Japan, has definitely opened up a new route to the East! So, I brought this immortal and glorious good news
, return to the Kingdom of Castile, and dedicate the glory of discovering a new sea route to the queen who enthusiastically supports and values me..."
"However, on the way back, our ship encountered a storm and was taken off course... so we had to anchor off the coast of Portugal, and had some small and undue misunderstandings with the Kingdom's navy..."
"Dear King João, please forgive me for my offense and the Saint Mary's collision with the port of Lisbon! ...I implore you to release all the glorious crew members who have gone through the hardships of navigation but brought back news from the East, and also release the leaders who led them
The brave and wise Admiral of Castile!... And as long as this is the case, your generosity and tolerance will definitely be engraved in the records of history together with the great navigators who discovered new routes!..."
Hearing Columbus's answer, Joao II frowned slightly, and a flash of displeasure flashed in his heart. With his wisdom, he could naturally understand the advocating for Queen Isabella and his words in these words that were full of ostentation.
The king misses the insinuation of "talents" and the underlying moral coercion.
If Columbus really traveled west to the east and discovered the so-called new sea route, then what image would he end up in history as someone who rejected Columbus for ten years?
I am afraid that he will be given the title of "fool" for this, just like Diarmaid Mac Murchadha, King of Leinster, who invited Henry II to help fight for the inheritance of Ireland, but in the end let the other party take possession of Ireland.
Like Byzantine Emperor Isaac II (Israac II Angelos) who came to Bulgaria, was deprived of the throne by his brother, experienced the Crusades and sacked Constantinople, and finally fought for power with his son, and died in a coma and blindness...
John II was silent for a moment, restraining his disgust for Columbus and the vague murderous intention in his heart. Then, he did not respond to Columbus's request, but just looked at the surrounding palace scholars and asked with a smile.
"The great navigator Columbus said that he traveled west to the East and discovered India and Sipangu... My learned court scholars, what do you think?..."
"Your Majesty! Those who lie always like to swear, and those who brag about their knowledge are tantamount to advertising their ignorance! Columbus both likes to swear and brag. How can his words be trusted? He did not reach the East at all!..."
Now that the king had spoken, the Portuguese scholars no longer had any scruples and stood up one after another. Leonor, the leading navigation scholar, was merciless. He first despised Columbus's character, and then asked loudly in the face of the other's angry eyes.
"Columbus, you said you arrived in the East... Then let me ask you, how many nautical miles did you sail westward?..."
"Leonore, it's you again! You're a brainless scholar who slandered my sailing plan before and caused me to waste ten years... Now I've come back from the east, and you're still barking here!... Tell you,
I sailed westward... No! This is the secret of the new route, I won't tell you!..."
"Ha! Since you won't tell me, let me calculate it for you!..."
Navigation scholar Leonor looked disdainful, glanced at Columbus, raised his finger, and calculated loudly.
"On September 8 last year, you waited for the right wind direction and started westward from the Canary Islands... Then, on October 12, you discovered a sudden appearance of land in the sea, and arrived at an island the next day... You sailed forward and backward
It lasted 35 days. According to the crew, most of the time, the Clark schooner could not reach full speed. So the average daily voyage, I will give you 33 leagues, at most 100 nautical miles..."
"With such full calculations, your westward voyage to land will be at most 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 kilometers), which is about 30% longer than the so-called 2,700 nautical miles (5,000 kilometers) in the sailing plan you once submitted... The Lord testifies! Yes
It's not like this?…"
"Leonor!...You! How do you know? You actually peeked into my voyage diary!..."
Hearing the figure of 3,500 nautical miles, Columbus broke into a cold sweat. This was actually very close to the actual voyage written down in his voyage records after repeated calculations. And Leonor saw his reaction and confirmed his
He estimated that he was right, so he let out a cold snort of ridicule.
"Aha! Taking a peek at your voyage diary? That kind of thing full of hypocrisy and self-bragging? Haha! ... Besides, you can reach India in the east by just going west for more than 6,000 kilometers? Haha! Columbus, you'd better be good
Learn mathematics and learn correct calculations!... Oh, sorry, I forgot, you have never been to a college, nor have you been taught by any scholars... Therefore, if you don't know math calculations, astronomy and geography, you are really not you.
It’s my fault!…It’s just a lack of knowledge, arrogance, and self-righteousness, which is somewhat shameless…”
"Ah! Leonor, you despicable fool! I have really arrived in the East, so many sailors have seen it! We personally landed on land, reached the villages of the Indian natives, and got the natives' cotton thread and
Gold, that’s Indian cotton thread and gold!…”
Being laughed at again by the scholars who had once laughed at him, Columbus looked angry and subconsciously touched the short knife at his waist, but found nothing. Then he looked at the palace guards around him and King João, who was watching with cold eyes.
My heart trembled slightly and I defended loudly.
“The Lord is my witness! I also brought back a native from India, and everyone saw it!…”
"Columbus, you said you arrived at an Indian island... So on the island you arrived at, what kind of houses did the Indian natives live in and what kind of utensils did they use? What kind of food did they eat and what kind of clothes did they wear?
Also, what kind of pagan gods do they worship and what kind of worship rituals do they hold?…”
Navigation scholar Leonor returned to his original position, and another humanities scholar Sebastian came out. He was a famous "Oriental scholar" and was familiar with all Indian records in European history. At this moment, he looked confident and looked at a group of people.
Columbus, with an angry face, asked sternly.
"We have already asked the sailors on the ship... The natives you found live in dome huts of thatch and wood, and do not even have a solid brick house! According to the records of ancient Greek leather scrolls, according to Marco Polo's records,
Indians have houses made of stone and wood, and they especially like exquisite carvings..."
"The natives on the island only use wood and stone utensils, and they don't have any iron tools! But the Indians have all kinds of gold, silver, and iron tools, and they are definitely not uncivilized savages... What the natives eat is white
They eat tubers or paste in wooden bowls, but the Indians eat grains of rice, and at least they have pottery bowls!… The natives don’t have decent clothes, and they only make the poorest textiles. Even what you bring back is...
A ball of cotton thread. But the Indians have gorgeous clothes and are the best weavers!…”
"According to what the sailors told you, the natives you met have no temples or statues at all. They only worship wooden signs with abstract patterns, and even worship all natural things! But Indians are the best at painting and carving statues of gods, and they will never be like this.
Those who despise the gods are definitely not primitive worshipers of nature..."
"All of this is inconsistent with the records of India...So, how could it be that you arrived in India?..."
