bookrandom Chapter 1111 Osman Sunset
Chapter 1111 Osman Sunset
Chapter 1111 Osman Sunset
The official language spoken by the barbarian was quite poor, but the word "envoy" was still quite clear.
Zhu Su and his brothers had already ridden away, but when they heard him say the word "envoy", they couldn't help but stop.
"Don't worry, my lords. This barbarian is full of lies. He once pretended to be an envoy and went to the government to get free food and drinks..."
The officer bowed and explained to Zhu Su and the others. On the other side, the officer next to the prisoner cart had already swung his whip, hitting the barbarians in the prisoner cart with great precision: "Shut up! Shut up! You thief prisoner, how dare you disturb the princes..."
When the barbarian heard the word "Your Highness", he shouted even more excitedly, as if he had found a life-saving straw.
Zhu Su glanced at that person and then asked, "Do you know how this person got here?"
Because the Ming Dynasty now has developed maritime trade, merchants often dump large quantities of goods to the West, so the East-West exchanges at this time are actually far superior to those in the Ming Dynasty in history. It is not surprising that Western barbarians occasionally appear in the Ming Dynasty.
It's just that the shipbuilding technology of the West is far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty. Although the shipbuilding technology of the West is said to have improved in recent years due to the frequent exchanges between the East and the West, the merchant ships traveling between Europe and Asia are actually mostly from the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's foreign trade ports are mostly concentrated in Suzhou, Songjiang and Quanzhou.
Although the imperial court intended to build a foreign trade port nearby Shuntian in preparation for moving the capital, it is still under construction.
Therefore, the Yi people who came here for business would not come to the north. Even if there were some blond and blue-eyed Semu people, they were generally the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty and had long been assimilated into the Han culture.
This guy couldn't even speak Chinese fluently. It was obvious that he was indeed a Western barbarian, which was extremely rare in the north.
Moreover, he kept saying that he wanted to go to Yingtian... If he came from the sea, he would not have bypassed Yingtian and arrived at Shuntian Prefecture in the north first.
Could it have traveled all the way from the West?
The officer didn't know how this guy got here. He was stunned for a moment. Then the Xiyi heard Zhu Su's question and shouted, "I came from Constantine, I came from Constantine!"
Constantine... Zhu Su raised his eyebrows slightly, and Zhu Chong asked with a little curiosity: "Old Five, where is this Constantine?"
"Second brother, have you never carefully looked at the Kunyu World Map? This Constantine... is the capital of the Western Qin Kingdom (Rome)." It was Zhu Di who explained.
"This guy actually came from the Great Qin State. Maybe he is really an envoy."
He had previously been determined to march westward, and had some knowledge of the Western world, so he had some guesses about it at this time.
"Then...should I let this fellow go?" the officer asked.
"No need, since this person stole, he should be punished according to the law." Zhu Su waved his hand. Even if he was really an envoy of the Holy See, to be honest, he didn't take him seriously.
"Those who should be paraded should be paraded through the streets, and those who should be punished should be punished."
"Once you have dealt with this fellow, send him to our headquarters... Remember to clean him thoroughly first."
“…add more spice.”
At this time, this Xiyi had rotten eggs and vegetable leaves all over his body, and he smelled foul all over. Even though he was still far away, Zhu Su could still smell it faintly.
...If he didn’t wash properly, Zhu Su was afraid that he would faint from the stench.
"Yes, I will follow your Highness' orders..."
The officers escorted the prison cart away. The Western barbarian was still shouting and shouting unwillingly, but Zhu Su and his companions had already ridden away.
Zhu Di immediately seemed to be thinking about something, and Zhu Su smiled and said, "Fourth brother is so serious, what are you thinking about?"
"Hmm? Oh, I was thinking..." Zhu Di said.
"If this person is really sent by the Western Church, I don't know what conspiracy he has."
"Transportation in the West is not smooth, and I don't know what changes have taken place over the years."
Zhu Di had previously arranged for people to infiltrate the West, hoping that knowing both himself and the enemy would lead to victory in every battle. However, the distance between the two countries was too great, making it difficult to exchange intelligence. Secondly, the differences in race and culture made it difficult to hide. Thirdly, the West was in chaos, with a strict hierarchy of nobles, making it difficult to get into the upper echelons.
Because of these reasons, the Yan Wang's infiltration into the West had not achieved much, but had invested a lot. Later, Zhu Di gave up the idea of infiltrating the West. Most of the intelligence about the West came from Zhu Su, the "time traveler".
Fortunately, the West is too far away from the Ming Dynasty. Although the Ming Dynasty has changed a lot, causing some things in the West to deviate from the predetermined track, but overall it is still roughly the same.
"Yeah. That's why I thought of asking the captured Xiyi." Zhu Su said with a smile.
"As for any conspiracy, there is no need to worry about it. Not to mention whether the Holy See has the ambition and ability to do so, even if it does, can it still shake the Ming Dynasty?"
Although the Ming Dynasty is now in the midst of a new emperor's reform and new policies, its foundation alone is no longer something that any force in the world can contend with.
"You are right." Zhu Di smiled, his face revealing unparalleled confidence.
One can defeat ten skills with one force. If you are strong, you don't need to be afraid of those conspiracies and tricks... Zhu Di naturally understood this truth.
"Besides, I saw a cross hanging around the neck of that Western barbarian. I think he might be a missionary." Zhu Su said. "Even if he is an envoy, he might have come from afar just to make the Ming Dynasty allow him to preach... Fourth brother, you have also seen the religious fanaticism of those Westerners."
"Well, this guess is indeed the most likely one." Zhu Di also nodded.
Zhu Di knew about the dispute between Catholicism and Islam in the West. Whether it was Catholics or Muslims, their fanaticism was far beyond the comprehension of the Chinese.
Many of Timur the Lame's soldiers were Muslims. They fought bravely and fearlessly, which was intimidating. Zhu Di had also seen those missionaries who believed in Catholicism and preached everywhere.
Those charlatans only want everyone to believe in their so-called gods, so it is not surprising that after hearing about China, a rich and powerful pure land, they rush here to preach.
But this most likely guess actually failed. The current situation in the West has far exceeded Zhu Su's expectations.
The flapping of his wings has completely changed the history of the Ming Dynasty. How can the West be spared?
……
The next day, when the officials from Shuntian Prefecture cleansed the Western barbarians and sent them to the headquarters of the kings, Zhu Su was teaching his younger brothers "Maritime Theory".
"On Maritime Affairs" is a magnificent article written by Huang Guan, one of the most outstanding scholars in the Ming Dynasty in recent years.
Huang Guan was a man of extraordinary talent. In his early years, he had won the imperial examinations six times in a row. Later, he was arranged by Zhu Su to go to West Asia to manage the concession and spread Chinese culture. In the process, he gained a lot of knowledge.
As the saying goes, reading ten thousand books is like traveling ten thousand miles. Huang Guan is now one of the scholars with the broadest vision and horizons besides Zhu Su. He studied many civilizations and cultures at the junction of Europe and Asia, learned from many others, and wrote this article "On Maritime Affairs" to popularize the civilizations of various countries to Chinese readers.
Huang Guan is a top scholar, and his article on maritime affairs is rigorously written. His description of civilizations of countries around the world is easy to understand and most suitable for people to open their eyes to the world.
The children born to Old Zhu were all going to explore other places in the future, so understanding the civilizations of various countries was naturally a compulsory course. Therefore, when he arrived in Shuntian, he was thinking about teaching his sons about overseas affairs.
But Zhu Yuanzhang himself had no ability to teach others. He could only hold a dragon belt and beat or scold his son. Moreover, he was old now, and his attendants were worried that he would get angry and hurt his health, so this job had to be taken over by the older princes Zhu Su, Zhu Di, and Zhu Gang.
At this time, the Western power Ottoman was being discussed, so Zhu Su said: "The Ottoman Empire is mostly composed of descendants of Turks. The country is powerful and believes in Islam, which is incompatible with Westerners who believe in Catholicism."
"The struggle between religious sects in the West is extremely brutal, and the borders of the Ottoman Empire are the front lines of the struggle between Muslims and Catholics."
"Western Catholic countries hated the Ottoman Empire to the core, but they were powerless to do anything. Their most representative country, Byzantium, also known as the 'Great Qin State' in the Book of Han, has now lost almost all of its territory to the Ottoman Empire."
"There is only one lonely capital city left, called Constantine, which is still struggling to survive. This Constantine is a thousand-year-old ancient city, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and extremely difficult to deal with..."
"Your Highness, the Western Barbarians are here."
"Hmm? Oh, well, let him wait in the outer hall. I will come over later."
The Zhu family's children liked to listen to the lectures of the fifth brother Zhu Su the most. The reason was that the fifth brother's lectures were humorous and interesting, just like storytelling. The obscure "Maritime Theory" was like the ups and downs of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms when he talked about it. The children of the Zhu family were very excited.
Zhu Su finished telling the story of the grievances between the Ottoman Empire and Byzantium with exaggeration, and then leisurely went to the outer hall.
In the outer hall, the Xiyi who had been seen before was wearing a weird linen shirt and had a weird cross hanging around his neck. He was waiting bored. When he saw Zhu Su coming, he suddenly became excited.
"Oh, Your Highness, Father Jacob sends his greetings. Thank God for protecting Jacob from death at the hands of those brutal jailers..."
"..." He held the cross on his chest and kissed it, then opened his arms, as if he wanted to hug Zhu Su, but was fiercely forced back by Zhou Wangwei on Zhu Su's left and right.
Zhu Su frowned and stepped back without making a sound. A very strange fragrance came from the priest named Jacob. It seemed that in order to dispel the stench on him, the officials of the government office used some special means...
Perhaps because they felt that it was a waste to give ordinary spices to these barbarians, the officers added some other "spices". Zhu Su sniffed and seemed to smell the scent of cinnamon and star anise...
"You can thank me, but you don't have to thank the Heavenly Father. Your Heavenly Father can't order me to do anything." Zhu Su sat on the main seat with his horse and sword. There was one thing about these religious people that made Zhu Su very disgusted. They were clearly blessed by a certain person, but they always wanted to thank the Lord or the gods...
Seeing that the Western Yi priest was forced back to a safe distance, Zhu Su spoke up, "Tell me, what is your purpose in coming to my Ming Dynasty?"
"Your Excellency the Great Ming, I hope you can send me to your capital Yingtian. I need to negotiate with your emperor in person..." said the priest.
Zhu Su looked at him strangely. Did this priest think that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was just like those cats and dogs in the West, and that he could see him whenever he wanted?
However, this man was probably the first priest to come to the East, and he probably didn’t understand the huge difference in power between the emperors of the East and the West… The first batch of missionaries who came to the East in history seemed to be overestimating their own abilities and wanted to see the emperor, preach to the emperor, and even hoped that the emperor would build a church for them…
The fact that this man dared to make such an outrageous request showed that he really came from the north.
"You are not qualified to negotiate with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. If you have anything to say, just tell me here."
"Your Majesty, there is no point in telling you this. Only after I meet the Emperor of Ming can I..."
"Be bold!"
Zhu Su frowned. Beside him, the chief guard Di Meng saw Zhu Su's expression, stepped forward, and hit the leg of Priest Jacob with the long sword in his hand and the scabbard.
Jacob felt the pain and had to kneel down. Di Meng snorted angrily: "How dare you be rude to His Highness? The one in front of you is His Highness Zhou Wang of the Ming Dynasty..."
"King Zhou?" The priest wanted to struggle, but was stunned. "King Zhou..."
"Are you the King of Zhou who defeated Timur the Cripple?"
In the West, perhaps other people from China are not well-known. However, the Ming Dynasty's Yan Wang and Zhou Wang, who defeated Timur the Lame, are famous.
In their eyes, the King of Yan and the King of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty who were able to defeat Timur were already on the same level as many Western kings. Such people must be powerful figures even in the Ming Dynasty.
"In that case, I'm willing to negotiate with you." He struggled a little and tried to get up, but Di Meng had already pressed his knee with his scabbard. Zhu Su waved his hand, and Di Meng withdrew his knife and took a step back.
Jacob stood up in a somewhat awkward manner, but his legs were numb from Di Meng's blow, and he staggered for a long time before he could stand firmly. Zhu Suzhe looked at the arrogant priest with a smile from beginning to end.
"I came here to tell the Ming Emperor that we have defeated the despicable pagan country, the Ottomans."
"I hope that the Ming Dynasty can stop spreading paganism to the east of Constantinople and allow the three major sultanates to believe in our great Lord..."
(End of this chapter)