Daming Yinghua

Chapter 69 Baroque Dress
In Daming, there were two domestic trade routes from Zhejiang to Fujian.

One is to enter the upper reaches of the Qiantang River from various waterways in South Zhili, turn to Changshan in Zhejiang, Yushan in Jiangxi, pass through Fenshuiguan Hekou Town in Chong'an, Fujian, and enter Fujian.The other is from the Qiantang River into Jiangshan County in Zhejiang Province, and connects to Xianxia Ridge in Pucheng.

The two trade routes alternate land and water, and northern Fujian, eastern Jiangxi, and western Zhejiang are mountainous, and the roads are quite rugged. When Zheng Haizhu took his nephew north to Jiangnan to make a living, although he experienced various customs and customs along the way, he gained a lot of knowledge. But it also suffered a lot of trekking through mountains and rivers.

Fortunately, this time I followed Eunuch Liu to the south, so I could choose the third road.

sea ​​route.

……

The thick wooden walls of Fuchuan block the biting cold wind at sea in winter.

An expensive East China Sea crystal window fills the cabin with daytime light.

Zheng Haizhu sat in front of the window, holding the long dress in her hand, inspecting the details.

"Sister Azhu, I heard that Mr. Shu talked about "Journey to the West". In it, the palace of the Dragon King of the East China Sea is made of crystal. Now, I feel like I am in the crystal palace."

Tailor Fan's daughter, Fan Polu, pressed the tip of her nose to the crystal window, staring at her eyes, trying to see the mighty appearance of the soldiers on the deck outside, while expressing her excitement with Zheng Haizhu.

This time, Zheng Haizhu went to Yuegang with Liu Gonggong's fleet, and brought Fan Polu as a female companion. Not only is it more convenient for daily life, but he will indeed use her 20 days on the boat to complete some special clothing samples.

The little girl Fan Polu felt that her luck this winter was as good as a dream.

Sister Azhu is not only her family's new customer, but she will also take her out and follow the court's official ship to Yuegang to open her eyes.

When he first boarded this large ship, which was more beautiful than the pavilions of many rich and noble families in Songjiang, Fan Polu was still a little trembling, because he heard that women would be looked down upon when they went on board.

Unexpectedly, after walking a few steps on the deck with Sister Azhu, I saw a few women, either carrying vegetable baskets, or hugging clean mattresses, flying around like bees.

Sister Azhu told her at the time that as early as 200 years ago, there were dozens of women on the treasure ship that the Sanbao eunuch sailed to the West, responsible for cooking, washing, and mending things.

And the general surnamed Ma who walked in front of them also turned his head and told her with a kind smile that in his hometown in Sichuan and Sichuan, women can not only board boats, but also fight in water.Although my mother specializes in riding and shooting and spears, she has a female navy army who is good at jumping and fighting between warships on the river.

Fan Polu breathed a sigh of relief, but soon became embarrassed again.

She was almost at the age of Ji, and when she saw an outstanding man, she was both admiring and shy, so she simply lowered her head.

General Ma is so young, so good-looking, and he is not at all fierce as a military general. When he heard her name, he praised the word "Polu" which was pleasant to his ears.

Well, although, he seemed to smile only in front of Sister Azhu.To the other people on board, including the kind-hearted Eunuch Liu, General Ma's mouth was flat.

In the cabin at this moment, Zheng Haizhu looked at Fan Polu, who seemed to be thinking about something like an adult just now, and studied the crystal window, showing a curious naive look like a little daughter, really cute and lovable.

Zheng Haizhu said with a smile: "This Donghai crystal has always been a tribute. Now the craftsmen are more and more skillful. Not only can they make windows, but they can also grind out reading glasses. I heard that the crystal reading glasses used by the elders, It costs 20 taels of silver for a pair."

"Ah?" Fan Polu was speechless, stretched out his hand for a moment, and sighed, "Then such a big window, wouldn't it cost several hundred taels of silver?"

Zheng Haizhu pursed her lips, and pushed the skirt in her hand over: "Grandfather Liu, let us live in such a good cabin, little girl, you have to work harder, learn from other crystal craftsmen's skills and work hard, come on, let us live in such a good cabin. This row of woven gold borders is torn apart and sewed again to create the feeling of waves, so don’t be so rigid.”

Fan Polu obediently took the skirt, fiddled with it for a while, and was thinking about what the "feeling of the waves" looked like, but saw Azhu's sister had stood up, and squatted at the cabin door with a blessing.

"Eunuch Liu, General Ma."

Liu Shimin and Ma Xianglin stood outside the cabin with their hands behind their backs, their faces were calm and gentle, but their bodies were motionless.

Zheng Haizhu reckoned that the two came for the progress he reported on the deck today, but it was not convenient for them to enter the woman's cabin.

Then she put on another smaller piece of textile and greeted Fan Polu to leave the cabin.

Liu Shimin stared at the woman's skirt in Fan Polu's hand, which looked like a court curtain, and made no secret of his surprise.

"Miss Zheng, this is what you said Thai and Western businessmen would like?"

Zheng Haizhu nodded confidently and said, "Yes, it's called a dress."

Then he instructed Fan Polu to pinch the rotator cuffs and lift up the skirt, while he leaned over to spread out the gorgeous skirt.

"Look, Mrs. Liu, this kind of skirt is different from the skirts and jackets of our Daming women. Its upper skirt and lower skirt are sewn together, so it is called a dress. When my dynasty was in the Han Dynasty, there was a kind of curly skirt and deep clothing like this. Generally, the top and bottom are connected, but the dress that Taixi women like, the top is as narrow and short as a beard, and the skirt is fluffy like a curtain, and it is a bit like the kind of felt tent that Mongolian people live in the grassland."

Liu Shimin sized it up for a while, nodded and said, "I said, why does it look familiar? Our family remembered that when the Thai-Western missionary Matteo Ricci presented Western treasures to the Long Live Lord, the Long Live Lord asked him about the style and appearance of Western Fan. Matthew took out some paintings, and the Fanbang girls on them seemed to be wearing this kind of skirt."

Zheng Haizhu thought, that's great, Matteo Ricci is Italian, since you have seen Western oil paintings after the Renaissance, it is not so difficult for me to explain Baroque style skirts.

So she freed one hand, lifted the sleeve of the dress, and explained: "The people over there in Taixi, who were wearing dull, straight dark robes more than 200 years ago, are different now, they are common people. , as long as you can afford it, you will wear brighter colors, and the front and back of the skirt should be sewed with layers of lace like waves hitting the shore, and the sleeves below the elbow should also be sewn into such a trumpet-like pattern. "

Liu Shimin stared at Zheng Haizhu: "The girl really knows a lot."

Zheng Haizhu's expression was calm: "It's all thanks to God's grace that Yuegang can be switched on and off during Lord Longqing's time. My hometown is not far from Yuegang Haicheng County. When my brother was alive, he sometimes went to Zhangzhou Fucheng Cultural Association and sometimes went to Haicheng County to visit friends. Back in Longxi, I often talked with my sister-in-law and I about what I learned from the missionaries. Besides, my father-in-law also knew that Xu Hanlin’s family opened a charity hall in Songjiang. Sometimes they send me to the Charity Hall to help, and I also see some foreign paintings."

The deep meaning in Liu Shimin's eyes flashed, and he lifted up the large cotton skirt that Fan Polu was holding with a smile, and commented: "I see, I don't necessarily take it to my heart. You love to ponder, yes. Don't say, this water red The cotton cloth is covered with the lace you mentioned, not only will it not look wrinkled after wearing it for a long time, but also, it is indeed very colorful and lively, well, we Ming scholars may scoff at it, but it is quite popular with those Western monkeys."

Zheng Haizhu continued: "Thai and Western people say that this kind of shape piled up like a lantern festival in Aoshan is called Baroque in their side. Not only women, but also men's clothes, now they like to add patterns."

She said, spread out the moon-white fabric in her hand, and walked towards Ma Xianglin with a smile.

(End of this chapter)