My son A Fei has the appearance of a sword master

Chapter 139: What I experienced while playing in Mubalahu City in the Northeast

Li Tianxin and his party arrived in Lahu City at noon, and it was just after two o'clock in the afternoon when they dispersed.

Sang Mu arranged a residence for the Ming Dynasty sergeants and linguists, then invited Li Tianxin to the study room and personally prepared quills and paper.

Thanks to Li Tianxin, if it were anyone else, he wouldn't be able to use a quill at all.

Xu Faming on the side looked in admiration. He was indeed the smartest and most knowledgeable person recognized by the Ming Dynasty. He could even use the Western quill pen. I really don’t know what else he didn’t know how to do.

Li Tianxin wrote in the letter what he had agreed with Sang Mu, and also explained the situation about Shi Nie and Titanium Iron.

Although the island of Ceylon is remote and there should be no people who understand Chinese characters, he did not write anything about colonial rule just in case.

This kind of thing can be explained to them face to face when they come back. Anyway, it will take some time to capture Ceylon Island.

After Li Tianxin finished writing the letter, he took out his private seal and stamped it on the signature.

"Lord Sangmu, if you want to know the specific content of this letter, you can go to someone who understands the text to read it, but never give it to the king."

"Because I wrote in it that if the king does not agree to trade cooperation with the Ming Dynasty, I will support your rise to power. This cannot be seen by the king. I believe you know it well."

Sam nodded repeatedly: "I understand, I understand."

After speaking, he hesitated and said: "Duke Li, since you are willing to support me in taking the throne, why don't you do it directly and ask the king first?"

Li Tianxin said calmly: "Although we are friends, trade cooperation is a matter of national level after all, and I cannot be too partial."

"From the national standpoint, of course it is more cost-effective to sign a contract directly with the king and cooperate with the Tamil Kingdom. This way Ming Dynasty can save a lot of costs."

Sam was speechless and sighed secretly in his heart.

After all, this friend has just been made over a drink, so how could she be so selfish for him?
Li Tianxin stood up and patted Sang Mu on the shoulder, saying warmly: "Don't be disappointed, City Lord. We are friends. I will definitely think about you. Sooner or later, you will make the decision on Ceylon Island. It's just a difference between ease and urgency."

Sang Mu looked at Xu Faming aside. After hearing his translation, his eyes lit up and he asked, "How do you say it?"

Li Tianxin explained: "The trade between the two countries is of great benefit. I believe that the nobles of the entire kingdom want to get a share of it."

"With my support behind you, you will have a lot of say. When the time comes, you can use your interests to attract a group of people around you and continuously enhance your prestige."

"There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in this world, only permanent interests. No relationship is as solid as a community of interests."

"When your voice becomes more and more powerful, and you have absolute force as the backing, then whether it is to evade the king or to ascend to the throne yourself, isn't it all a matter of your words?"

Sam's eyes flashed quickly, and an excited look gradually appeared on his cheeks.

Just listen to Li Tianxin continue: "You have many children and grandchildren, and your health is not bad. There is no problem in living for another few decades."

"Even if it takes three to five years, or even ten or eight years to figure it out, it's still not enough time."

"After all, this is the future of the entire family and your descendants. It is completely worth spending some time."

Sang Mu nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, it's all worth it, so just do what Grand Duke Li said."

……

Li Tianxin handed the letter to Sang Mu, and after discussing the matter, they left the study together.

Shen Lang and others who were chatting outside came up to them. Panda smiled at Li Tianxin and said, "Tianxin, they all want to visit Lahu City, will you go?"

Li Tianxin smiled and said: "Since you are here, of course you have to experience the local customs and customs. Let's go together."

Zhu Qiqi suddenly remembered something and asked: "By the way, what money does it cost to buy things here? Is it also silver?"

Xu Faming said: "Silver is indeed used, but it is not ingots or broken silver, but silver coins."

Li Tianxin stretched out his hand to Zhu Qiqi and said, "You should be carrying gold, right? Give me two ingots."

Zhu Qiqi immediately took off the money bag from his waist, took out two ingots and five taels of gold ingots, and put them in Li Tianxin's hands.

Li Tianxin smiled at Sang Mu beside him and said, "Lord Sang Mu, we are going to go out for a walk. Please give us some Tamil Kingdom coins."

Sam said happily: "No problem."

He called his grandson Neil Singh and asked him to fetch some local currency.

Neil immediately took the ten taels of gold and walked quickly to the backyard. Sam apologized and left first to arrange for someone to take care of one or two, so that the people in the city would not collide with Li Tianxin and others.

After Sang Mu left, everyone felt more at ease. Bai Feifei curiously asked Xu Faming: "Mr. Xu, why do these women from the Tamil Kingdom like to put nails and nose rings on their noses?"

Xu Faming explained: "This is a custom of the Tianzhu people. A woman who is married to a wife will have a nose nail or a nose ring on her nose. This way, others will know that the woman has a master."

Bai Feifei suddenly realized it and said with a smile: "So that's it. I thought it was just an accessory. It would hurt to punch a hole in the nose, but it doesn't look very good."

Li Tianxin said amusingly: "People in Tianzhu use nose studs and nose rings to represent whether they are married or not. It is not just for good looks, but it has a meaning."

"Among the gods worshiped by Tianzhu religion, there is a goddess called 'Parvati'. She is the mother of the god of creation 'Brahma' and the god of protection 'Vishnu', and is also the daughter of the god of destruction 'Shiva'. wife."

"In Tianzhu mythology, she is a symbol of family life and marriage, as well as the embodiment of beauty, love, fertility and strength."

"The portrait of Goddess Parvati wears a nose ring, so in the eyes of Tianzhu believers, a woman wearing a nose ring is as sacred and beautiful as Parvati."

After listening to Li Tianxin's words, Xu Faming said with great admiration: "Master Li is indeed well-informed and knowledgeable. I admire him well."

Bai Feifei said in surprise: "Have you ever studied Tianzhu Sect?"

Li Tianxin said with a slight complacency: "Not only have I studied Tianzhu religion, I also learned Tianzhu's songs, but I didn't know the meaning at that time, so I just memorized the pronunciation."

When the girls heard this, they immediately became interested. Zhu Qiqi encouraged him enthusiastically: "Come on, come on, come on, sing it and let Mr. Xu listen and see if you understand."

Li Tianxin grinned and said: "One of the characteristics of Tianzhu songs is that its pronunciation can be sung directly in Ming Dynasty Mandarin. As long as there is a slight Tianzhu accent, it will be like that."

"Uh-huh, listen up...it's so cold. I'm playing in the mud in the Northeast. Although the Northeast is not big, I don't have a home in Dalian..."

"It's so cold. I bought cut cakes in Jiangnan. Three kilograms and two taels are just right. I gave a large piece of shredded meat to my brother. It's so cold..."

"puff"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Shen Lang and others suddenly burst into laughter, and Xu Faming burst out laughing on the spot. He roughly understood the meaning of the Tianzhu language that Li Tianxin sang, but he never thought that Tianzhu language could be played like this.After everyone had stopped laughing, Panda'er raised his hand and put it on Xu Faming's shoulder and asked, "Mr. Xu, can you understand what Tianxin sang?"

Xu Faming smiled and stroked his beard under his chin and said: "You can roughly understand that this is the language of Panjnad (Punjab) in India."

"The general idea of ​​what Mr. Li sang is: My sweetheart, the strings of the instrument have been played, come and listen to my heart, come and love me."

"My sweetheart, laugh with me and tell me what's on your mind..."

Listening to Xu Faming's translation, everyone couldn't help but smile from the bottom of their hearts.

This Tianzhu song is obviously sung to his sweetheart, but when he thinks about Li Tianxin's pronunciation, it's completely like a donkey's lips and a horse's mouth. That's what makes people laugh even more.

Although Xu Faming's translation is not completely accurate, the general meaning is correct. Li Tianxin also admired it and said: "Mr. Xu is really knowledgeable. He even understands Banjina German. I admire him."

Xu Faming smiled and said: "I am really not as humble as my father-in-law in this regard. I have studied Tianzhu and Sanskrit for half my life. Even if I am a Tianzhu native, I may not know as much Tianzhu as I do."

Li Tianxin nodded and said, "With your talent, sir, you should have a place in the Tianzhu capital in the future."

Xu Faming was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he was overjoyed. He cupped his fists and bowed, saying, "Thank you so much, sir, for your cultivation."

The Dusi, that is, the Dusi, is the highest military and political authority in a place. Today, there is no such department in the Ming Dynasty.

However, wherever this department is set up, it is all in the territory outside the Ming Dynasty, such as Uszang Dusi, Duogan Dusi, Southern Xinjiang Dusi, Liaodong Dusi, Mongolian Dusi, etc.

In a sense, the Dusi Commander-in-Chief is almost equivalent to the former Jiedu Envoy. The only difference is that the Dusi Commander-in-Chief has no military power.

Today's Xu Faming originally worked in Honglu Temple, but he was just a seventh-grade official with little real power.

If you can enter Tianzhu Dusi, you have to start at the fifth level at least, and you still have real power.

While he was talking, Neil Singh came over with a cloth bag and handed it to Li Tianxin respectfully.

The cloth bag was bulging, containing hundreds of silver coins.

The silver coins cannot be said to be exquisite, but they still have their own characteristics. At least they look better than the broken silver of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, ten taels of gold could be exchanged for a hundred taels of silver. Naturally, each of the silver coins of the Tamil Kingdom did not have one tael, only about a dozen grams.

But Neil obviously gave some more silver coins, because in the Tamil Kingdom, one gold coin of the same size can be exchanged for twenty silver coins, and one silver coin can be exchanged for twenty copper coins.

The quality of gold is nearly twice that of silver. In other words, the exchange ratio of gold and silver in the Tamil Kingdom is also one to ten.

Calculated in this way, ten taels of gold are roughly equivalent to a dozen gold coins, which can be exchanged for about [-] silver coins and [-] copper coins.

But there are five hundred silver coins in the bag, which shows that the city lord's family is quite honest.

After exchanging the silver coins, Li Tianxin asked everyone to grab a handful and put them on their hands, and then they went out to the city lord's mansion together.

Neil also accompanied him. Li Tianxin asked casually: "Brother Neil, what is the income of ordinary Tamil people?"

Neil said: "It depends on the specific location. Our city of Lahu is close to the sea and mainly produces salt and seafood. It also produces auspicious fruits and honey winter melons."

"So the income of the people of Lahu City is quite good. On average, they can earn about eight silver coins per month, which is enough for a family of five to live for three to four months."

The so-called auspicious fruit is coconut, and honey winter melon is jackfruit.

Li Tianxin nodded slowly. Based on the weight of silver, five Tamil silver coins were almost equivalent to two taels of Ming Dynasty silver.

Eight silver coins is a little more than three taels, and the income is indeed not low. Ten years ago, the Ming Dynasty was already a high-income group.

However, the value of currency cannot only be calculated by its own weight. Its specific purchasing power also depends on the local products and currency.

However, based on the fact that one month’s income is enough to support a family of five for three to four months, the purchasing power of this Tamil silver coin is still quite strong.

From this point of view, the people in Lahu City are not poor. They basically belong to well-off families, somewhat similar to those in Fujian and Guangdong during the Ming Dynasty.

After arriving at the busy market, a group of women immediately let go of their natural instincts and happily picked things in front of various stalls under the curious gazes of the locals.

They never asked for change when buying things. They would just throw in silver coins if they wanted to know the price of something they liked. This made the vendors very happy and they promoted their goods as they passed by.

Ceylon is rich in all kinds of gemstones, so gemstones are simply cheap here. All kinds of jewelry are basically inlaid with gemstones, including red, blue, green, and purple.

Xu Ruoyu's sword was only inlaid with six gems on the hilt. The sword was worth 2000 taels of silver, but 2000 taels of silver could buy a lot of gems here.

Therefore, gems will also be an item in the cooperative trade. It will be perfect to get them back to the Ming Dynasty and use them to defraud those wealthy merchants out of their money.

There is a square in the center of Lahu City, which is also the busiest place in the entire city.

While wandering around, the girls suddenly heard a burst of strange music.

Curiously, I followed the sound of the music and saw a local sitting cross-legged on the ground in the corner of the square, holding an instrument that looked like a gourd and playing.

There were two bamboo baskets on the ground in front of him. In the bamboo baskets were two cobras with their heads held high.

The most amazing thing is that the two cobras look at the person playing the instrument and twist their bodies with the changes in the music, seeming to be dancing.

Zhu Qiqi was surprised to see that Shen Lang, Panda'er, Bai Feifei and other people in the world were not unusual.

Because the Ming Dynasty also had this kind of method, the most famous of which was the Five Poison Boy of Paradise Cave in Miaojiang. He could control all kinds of poisons with a piccolo, not to mention poisonous snakes.

Snake charmers are obviously a common local show. There are not many onlookers and even fewer rewards.

Zhu Qiqi was very generous and rewarded him with a few silver coins. The snake charmer's eyes lit up when he saw this, and while bowing and saluting, his tone changed, and the two cobras turned around with a swish.

Then, amid the music of the snake charmer, they all lowered their heads as if bowing.

Bai Feifei asked Li Tianxin: "Tianxin, what kind of musical instrument is this? The sound sounds weird."

Li Tianxin said: "This is called 'Pengji'. It is a special musical instrument of Tianzhu. It is specially used by snake charmers to control poisonous snakes."

"Actually, snakes have no ears and cannot hear music, but the music blown by Penji will produce a special resonance that coincides with the snake, so as to achieve the purpose of controlling poisonous snakes."

"Similar methods in the Ming Dynasty are all based on this principle, so when you encounter opponents like the Five Poison Boys, you can use sonic power to defeat them."

Bai Feifei nodded clearly and said: "That's it."

(End of this chapter)