The voyage was quite long. In the first few days, Zai Zhen and Wang Daxie developed obvious symptoms of seasickness. They were dizzy and vomited for almost two days before they recovered.
On the other hand, Li Yu, Liang Cheng and others adapted relatively quickly. Needless to say, Li Yu was also someone who had flown several times. Liang Cheng, Tang Wenzhi and others had been to foreign countries many times as ambassadors and had taken many ships.
The feeling is obviously short-lived and mild.
The Panrentini docked in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sri Lanka to replenish fresh water and food, then crossed the long Indian Ocean into the Red Sea, sailed through the Suez Canal into the Aegean Sea, and after resupplying in Marseille, France, finally arrived in London.
During the half-month journey, in addition to the daily routine of feeding seagulls, playing cards, or staring at the vast sea, Li Yu and Huang Kaijia also taught Zai Zhen a lot of knowledge about Europe. Anyway, he had no place to play.
You can only listen carefully.
Fortunately, Tang Wenzhi deliberately brought a well-made globe, and he taught Zai Zhen a lot of geographical knowledge, which also relieved Zai Zhen's boredom. Although the globe still had many detailed errors compared to modern globes, it did not affect Zai Zhen at all.
Big, after all, it is just popular science.
Such a long voyage was boring. Li Yu brought a pen and paper. He had observed a lot of data some time ago and started to calculate as soon as he had nothing to do on the ship. This time he traveled thousands of miles to come to London. He couldn't come to London in vain. He had to do something big!
When the ship entered the Thames, the vague silhouette of the most central city in the world appeared in the distant fog, and everyone cheered in unison.
At this time, London had a population of more than 5 million, making it the most populous city in the world. Due to the extensive use of coal as energy, the year-round fog cast a mysterious veil over the city of London.
Of course, this just sounds nice. When the smog is at its worst in winter, almost everyone has to wear a mask or cover their mouth and nose with a scarf.
But for this moment, it is a symbol of industrial strength.
Zai Zhen was shocked by the obvious Gothic-style and Victorian-style buildings on the riverside. This obviously exaggerated and strange style was completely different from the Chinese style that tended to be rounded and moderate. Moreover, due to technical and material reasons, the height of London's buildings
It is also relatively high.
Especially when passing London's landmark Tower Bridge, the bridge decks on both sides slowly lifted up, which shocked a boatload of people, who all lay on the edge of the deck to watch.
"Master Bei, look! This bridge can open its tail like a peacock!"
"How wonderful! It's like a dream."
“It’s truly an ingenious workmanship and a perfect match made in heaven!”
Only Li Yu was very calm. They certainly could not have imagined that 100 years later, China would become an infrastructure maniac, and that Chongqing alone could become the "World Bridge Museum".
Zai Zhen was like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, asking from time to time what the various buildings on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were, but Liang Cheng and the others had never been to the UK. Li Yu pointed to the Big Ben in the distance, "Did you see it? That's the Westminster Building."
St. Mary's Palace and Big Ben are the centerpieces of the country of England."
Tang Wenzhi asked in surprise: "How do you know? Haven't you never been abroad?"
Li Yu knew that he had let the news slip, so he quickly explained: "It was all told by foreigners from the former concession!"
The ship docked at the Port of London pier, and a welcoming crowd was waiting on the shore early.
Edward VII's younger brother, Prince Arthur, then Field Marshal, personally led the team to pick up the ship. He stepped forward and shook hands with Zai Zhen: "Welcome the distinguished Qing envoy to our country to serve as the new King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India.
The coronation gift of Edward VII."
Zai Zhen said: "Thank you, Prince Arthur, for greeting you personally despite your busy schedule. We are honored to receive you."
You must stay at a hotel today. After finishing his diplomatic remarks, Prince Arthur said: "The journey must be extremely tiring. I have prepared a sumptuous lunch for you all."
The group got on the prepared luxury carriage and checked into the Sissel Hotel. The hotel is a high-end royal hotel that specializes in receiving dignitaries and foreign guests from various countries.
After everyone put down their belongings in their respective rooms, they came to the banquet hall.
In the UK, the formal banquet table is naturally long, with people sitting on both sides facing each other. The British envoy had already introduced Zai Zhen and others on the ship.
The ceremony of the banquet was indeed complete: the four courses of appetizers, meat dishes, desserts, and fruits were served one by one by waiters in suits and ties with white gloves. Everyone also practiced with knives and forks on the boat.
, it doesn’t taste too strange.
But when it comes to taste, it’s good for everyone to know about British food.
What impressed the members of the mission the most was the haggis sausage, a very traditional Scottish dish.
In fact, it is a sheep stomach filled with haggis. The method is very crude. The sheep stomach is first hollowed out and stuffed with minced sheep internal organs, such as heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, oats, onions, beef and spicy seasonings.
, then make it into a bag and boil it in water for 3 hours until it swells.
The preparation method sounds a bit similar to blood sausage, and it shouldn't taste unpalatable, but the appearance is really like "dark cuisine": small black and gray particles, which look a bit disgusting.
If you are a Chinese chef, you will definitely find a way to grind it directly into puree, and then mix it with some noodles to make it look better. As for the so-called full color, flavor and flavor, first of all, it should not look too unpalatable in terms of appearance.
Fortunately, this thing has the characteristics of stinky tofu, which smells bad but tastes delicious; Haggis sausage looks disgusting but tastes delicious.
Prince Arthur also proudly introduced it to Zai Zhen: "This is a long-standing delicacy that has been passed down in memory of Burns, the great Scottish poet 100 years ago."
Zai Zhen wiped his mouth and took a big mouthful of mashed potatoes to suppress the strong smell of mutton fat. "In memory of the poet? We eat rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate Qu Yuan, who was also a poet more than 2,000 years ago."
"Two thousand years?" Prince Arthur exclaimed, "What an incredible history! Come, let's drink to the poet!"
Can he not be surprised? The Germans were still barbarians 2,000 years ago, and Britain was still the homeland of the Celts. Until the beginning of the fifth century, after the Celts drove away the Roman army, one of the Germanic peoples, the Anglo-
The Saxons came to Britain and were the ancestors of the current British people.
After a few glasses of whiskey, Prince Arthur was obviously starting to lose his ability to drink. When it came to drinking, he was no match for a drunkard like Zai Zhen.
By the time the last snack was finished, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. Prince Arthur left the hotel, leaving behind a dedicated diplomatic etiquette staff to practice the ceremony of handing over credentials the day after tomorrow with Zai Zhen and others.
But today I still need to get more rest. Although I have gradually adapted to the eight-hour time difference after taking the ship, I can finally put my feet on land and sleep on a stable bed without any shaking. This is attractive to them.