Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1089 Super Misunderstanding
There is a saying on land, "Watching mountains and running dead horses", and I have a similar feeling at sea.

Obviously Jinghua's large fleet was spotted by the lookouts of the Spanish warships for a long time, but until the lifeboat that Alfaro was on quickly moved forward, and was finally picked up by Jinghua's people and sent to the flagship, the distance between the two large fleets seemed to be much closer. It might take half an hour to get in touch.

After a while, on the flagship "Lang Son" of the Jinghua Expeditionary Fleet, Gao Jing walked quickly into the bridge command room where Huang Zhiting was located-in fact, it is not called a bridge in this era, because the bridge itself is a steam The term appeared in the paddle steamer period of the times, but because people in Jinghua were influenced by the title of Gao Yushi, and Gao Yushi was a half-assed person, it appeared earlier.

"Dutong, the other party sent an envoy over here. The man claimed to be a missionary, and said he knew Chief General Gao and the third master. Do you want to see him?"

"Commander Gao" refers to Gao Mengnan, the chief of the three towns of Nghe An, Hue, and Guangnan, and the third master refers to Gao Wuqin. It is customary to refer to his younger brothers as "Master X", and X is what he does.

However, this "third master" is just a habitual title, because after Gao Wuguan was adopted to Gao Gong, Gao Wuqin should actually be the "second master".

Huang Zhiting didn't really want to see any envoys, even if the other party really had something to do, she thought it would be fine for Gao Jing to talk about it.However, since the other party claimed to know Gao Mengnan and Gao Wuqin, the situation was different. It was necessary for her to meet, which was determined by the principle of "identity equality".

Another point is that Huang Zhiting feels that Gao Yushi's attitude towards missionaries seems to be good, and she doesn't want to be out of step with Gao Yushi in this matter.

"Then let's meet, but I don't know how to speak French, does the fleet have an interpreter?"

"It's all a joke, there are no less than a hundred people in the expedition fleet who can be interpreters." Gao Jing laughed.

Huang Zhiting was taken aback for a moment: "What are you doing with so many French interpreters?"

"Uh, I misunderstood everything. It's not that they brought so many interpreters, but that there are so many people who can serve as interpreters." Gao Jing explained: "The Nanyang Fleet itself is mainly engaged in maritime trade, and the fleet will say There are a lot of people speaking in Castile and Portugal, plus the more than 30 boats of Guangdong and Annan bosses who came with us this time are also indispensable to this kind of people. The small one said 'no less than a hundred people' It's been very conservative."

"I see." Huang Zhiting understood, nodded and said, "Then let's find one on the Lang Son, does the other party speak Spanish?"

"Probably." Gao Jing spread her hands and said, "Most of these missionaries know more than one country, and the one here now calls himself 'Alfaro' and is the president of the 'Province of the Franciscan Order of Manila'. But the Chinese he used to talk with Xiao just now...just not very proficient, maybe he is a newcomer."

Huang Zhiting nodded and said: "It's not surprising that he can speak Chinese. The priest Luo Mingjian who met with Senior High School Chancellor before, he can speak Chinese well. I heard that he has also practiced calligraphy in the past two years. The third master even praised him once. I passed him and said that the writing is a bit off-putting."

Although Gao Wuqin was only at the "student level" in the mouth of his elder brother Gao Yushi, his handwriting was still good given the style of study in the Gao clan of Xinzheng.Since Gao Wuqin can boast that Luo Mingjian's calligraphy is "somewhat decent", then it is really pretty, so Huang Zhiting is not surprised that the priest Alfaro who came today can speak Chinese.

Gao Jing then sent someone to invite Alfaro to the bridge, and at the same time arranged for an interpreter—Although Alfaro could speak Chinese, his level was not as good as that of Luo Mingjian, who came to Ming Dynasty earlier. Who knows if he might make a mistake? thing?
Alfaro has been looking around since boarding the ship. He is not unfamiliar with sea ships, but he found that this Jinghua ship is very different from the Jinghua "armed merchant ship" he has seen before.

The biggest feature is: this is definitely a battleship, a complete battleship.

Of course, it is too simple to discover this, because this Lang Son is the only ship in the entire Jinghua Expeditionary Fleet that has two deck guns.No country is so extravagant as to treat a ship with such powerful armaments as a merchant ship, and the flagship of the Spanish Treasure Fleet does not transport goods.

Alfaro noticed that the armament of this battleship is very special, and it seems to be particularly inclined to a certain type of artillery—at least the open-air deck guns he can see so far are all the same model of the same level, with exactly the same size and shape.

Although Alfaro is not a soldier, he is obviously not a soldier. He can tell from the appearance of these artillery pieces that they are all long and heavy artillery pieces, well-made and well-maintained. They can even be said to be very new. Maybe they have not been in service for long. .

He couldn't help but feel a little strange, because at this time in Europe, even a warship could not be equipped with only one type of artillery, especially it should not be equipped with only one type of long and heavy artillery.He judged that either the other light guns were not loaded on the deck gun level, or this warship had no intention of dealing with small ships from the beginning of its construction, or even considered boarding and ganging.

"Could it be that this warship will not perform missions alone at all? Will it never encounter pirates? How can its design, builder and owner have such confidence?"

Alfaro's thinking went astray. In fact, the Lang Son warship has other artillery. The artillery on the bottom deck is mainly light artillery, which is designed to target small pirate ships.The middle layer and open deck guns are all long and heavy guns-the higher shipboard position can hit farther.

However, when Alfaro boarded the ship just now, he noticed that the position of the deck gun on the bottom of the battleship was too low, only more than one meter above the sea level.

This design is rare in Europe. Unless it is a galley warship in the Mediterranean Sea, if it is in the Atlantic Ocean, it will be easy for the artillery to enter the water. It seems that the sea conditions in the South China Sea should be relatively calm, otherwise the opponent Impossible to design like this.

But this design also has advantages, that is, it can lower the center of gravity of the entire ship, and the hull structure will not be too high, which not only enhances the seaworthiness of the warship, but also reduces the possibility of being hit in naval battles.

All in all, the design of this battleship is aimed at the sea conditions in the South China Sea in all aspects. It can and can only exert its full combat effectiveness in sea areas with less wind and waves. If it goes to Europe, it will definitely not work well.

Alfaro also noticed that the cannonball boxes were neatly arranged on the deck of the warship, but the powder boxes were not laid out.This showed that the opponent was prepared for battle, but did not intend to start a war right away, which made him feel a little lucky, and felt that he had made the right trip this time.

The last thing he noticed was the ship's rigging.He was inexplicably surprised when he saw the mainmast rigging of Lang Son: Why is their rigging so simple?
Indeed, compared to the complicated rigging of the European soft sail, the rigging used by the "Gao's Hard Sail" is so simple that he is speechless.

If the rigging of European-style soft sails is a college math problem, then the complexity of the rigging of Gao's hard sails is definitely not beyond the level of junior high school, and may even be at the elementary school level.

But the more complex the rigging, the better. On the contrary, the simpler the rigging, the better when the effect of use is guaranteed, because whether it is wartime or peacetime, complicated rigging will only bring trouble.The rigging is easy to operate, which is itself a great advantage of the hard sail system - because the characteristics of the hard sail ensure that it can enjoy the wind without having to let the people below pay attention to sailing all the time.

This is like saying that if a soft sail is full of points, the overall attribute may be calculated as 100 points, but the upper limit of a hard sail may only be 90 points.

However, the problem is that most users of soft sailing boats cannot achieve full marks. A score of 60 is considered a pass, and a score of 70 is considered good.And those who can still guarantee a 70-point level in actual combat are even rarer, and they are definitely the performance of an elite navy.

The hard sail is different. Although it may only have a full score of 90, the passing line for normal operations is 80 points. It is not difficult to maintain a score of 80 or more in battle. Another thing is the problem of production materials.

In fact, in later generations, sailing warships have become the era of legends, and sailing regattas at sea are all hard sails, but the new chemical materials used, which also proves that as long as the materials pass the test, hard sailing ships are actually the best. Good sailing boat.

Of course, Gao Pragmatism can’t figure out the chemical materials of later generations. He just strengthened the attributes of hard sails by relying on an accidental discovery when he was working in Guangxi. In the sea area, Jinghua's sails must be the best sails.

It's a pity that Alfaro didn't have the opportunity to observe closely, and he didn't even have time for him to study, because he was quickly invited into the command room.

Alfaro was shocked when he discovered that the supreme commander of the opposing fleet (misunderstood) was a woman in uniform.There are monarchs of various "levels" such as queens, duchesses, and countesses in Europe, but there are really few female generals.

This made him not even know how to salute for a moment.

Fortunately, the interpreter next to him knew "Fan Gui" very well, and immediately introduced him in Castilian: "Father Alfaro, the lady in front of you is Huang, the deputy commander of the Annan capital of the Ming Empire. She is an aristocrat with a hereditary territory of more than 1 square kilometers, and her family has a long history of hereditary nobility for hundreds of years. Today, the total hereditary territory of the Huang family is more than 4 square kilometers. There are nearly a million people, and there are more than [-] standing troops of the family capable of conscripting and fighting."

Alfaro was taken aback, and asked in a generally confirming way: "Ms. Huang's family has a standing army of more than 4 people?"

The young man who acted temporarily as an interpreter smiled elegantly and nodded: "Yes, priest. I know you are surprised, because when the Italian war broke out, the king of France brought 2 troops and almost turned the whole of Italy upside down." But I can make sure that what I just introduced is completely in line with the facts. In fact, the standing army directly under Vice President Huang himself has almost [-] people, and the combat effectiveness of these people has been reflected in the Annan Conquest War—if you know As for the Battle of Shanshan, because that battle was personally commanded by Deputy Commander Huang."

Alfaro looked shocked, and then hurried forward, walked three steps directly in front of Huang Zhiting, knelt down on one knee under the suddenly cold eyes of the wolf soldiers, lowered his head, and praised humbly and loudly: " With the most respectful greetings from me, Pedro de Alfaro, to Joan of Arc of the East. Your lineage is so noble, your achievements are so dazzling, your beauty is unmatched, to be able to see you My face must be the Lord's greatest favor to me."

In the command room, even those who don't understand Castilian can see the politeness of the people, but they are a little dissatisfied with the person who just kneels down on one knee.

And Huang Zhiting couldn't figure out why this person had a flattering look on his face and said something for a long time, but he just knelt down on one knee, couldn't help frowning slightly, and asked the interpreter: "It's just a goodbye, what did he say so much?" Long?"

The interpreter was a little embarrassed, and asked, "This... Dutong, do you want to interpret all the younger ones?"

Huang Zhiting suddenly misunderstood, and her face became a little serious: "Why, what rebellious things did he say? Translate them all."

And as her tone turned severe, the surrounding wolf guards immediately put their hands on their weapons, and the air in the command room seemed a little colder.

The interpreter didn't dare to delay, and hastily translated it word for word.As a result, everyone in the command room couldn't help laughing, and Huang Zhiting herself couldn't laugh or cry.

What's the matter with this priest?I'm afraid I'm not old enough to listen to, how can I speak so frivolously, and say to a girl who has never left the court that your beauty is unmatched, and that it is a gift from God to me to see your face?

She was suddenly worried, if she didn't punish him seriously, would Gao Lang be angry if he found out?

But fortunately, just when her beautiful eyes began to show murderous intent, the interpreter seemed to realize something, and quickly explained: "Dutong, can you please say a few more words?"

Huang Zhiting was temporarily stopped by him, glanced at him, and replied coldly: "Say."

"The Joan of Arc mentioned by the priest is a heroine of their Europa, just like Hua Mulan and She Taijun. She has a very high status among the people and is called a saint (at this time, the Vatican has not granted Joan the title of Arc). St.). In addition, the customs of these Fan people are very different from my Ming Dynasty. When they praise female nobles, they often praise each other's appearance, which does not mean disrespect to them. If you...uh."

While the interpreter was speaking, he suddenly realized something and stopped immediately.

After hearing his explanation, Huang Zhiting's complexion improved a lot, but the last touch made her suspicious again, and asked, "What if?"

The interpreter hesitated immediately, and turned his attention to Gao Jing.Gao Jing looked very puzzled, frowned and said: "If you have something to say, just say it, see what I do, I don't understand what they said."

The interpreter had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "If you...well, if you are willing to return the gift according to their rules, all you need to do is stretch out your right hand and let him kiss the back of your hand lightly. "

It seems that the interpreter's level is not fully in place, because there are actually a lot of specialties in kissing hands, and it often depends on the situation.

First, it usually only happens in the upper class, which is not a problem; second, it rarely targets unmarried women, of course, this is not absolute, especially when the age difference between the two parties is so large; third, if the woman's status If it is taller, the man not only needs to half-kneel, but also can’t really kiss the back of the other’s hand, just for a show; finally, generally speaking, whether to kiss the hand depends on whether the woman actively stretches out her hand to droop If you don't take the initiative to let go, the man can't take the initiative.

But the interpreter is obviously half-baked on this issue, or he just heard or saw it from other places and didn't really understand it.

As a result, Huang Zhiting's tone suddenly became as cold as ice, and she said coldly: "I would rather go to war."
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(End of this chapter)