Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 842 Trini's Experience
If I could be supplied with so many sweets in Italy, it would probably make me rich to open a shop for dignitaries.But here, the price of candy is very cheap.Out of curiosity, Mr. Gonzalez bought a large bag full of various candies for one rial.The candies are beautifully presented in small waxed paper pockets.The store gave us a straw bag to hold the candy.This bag alone is a work of art.

The most exotic pastime is their tobacco - as you must know, this New World plant is now popular all over the world.People have invented all kinds of different ways to use it.But there is a new tobacco pastime in Lingao.They sold tobacco in long rolls of paper.The white paper is rolled into a delicate paper tube, as thick as a pen, and the inside is evenly filled with shredded tobacco.They call it "cigarette".Most smokers use a hollow bamboo, wood or hard paper tube to connect to the cigarette to smoke, so as not to burn their lips when the cigarette is about to burn out.

Cigarettes are sold in packs or cartons of ten or twenty sticks in various colors and patterns.Although the appearance of each cigarette is similar to us, the price is also very different according to the color and pattern of their outer packaging.The most expensive box can roughly buy ten boxes of the cheapest cigarettes.Neither Mr. Gonzalez nor I can come up with a reasonable explanation for this.In our opinion, there doesn't seem to be a noticeable difference between the two other than the packaging.

What is used here is a type of paper currency called a "negotiable note".Marco Polo once said: The Tatars used banknotes in China.I have always been very skeptical about this - because there is no one in the world who loves silver more than the Chinese - except for very few goods, the Chinese always expect companies to pay for silver.But in Lingao, they do use paper money.The banknotes are beautifully printed, with complex and fine patterns on them, especially on the bottom plate of the pattern, which outlines extremely fine shading patterns with lines very delicately.Even as an artist, I feel inadequate for such a delicate drawing.As for what method they used to print the pattern on the paper in layers, it is even more a mystery.Apparently they had very good copperplate engravers.

All the shops here take banknotes, and of course the shopkeepers are happy to take our rials, but they can only give banknotes when they change money.For this we had to buy something for one riyal each time.Lest you end up with a pile of banknotes that are worthless outside of this place.This way of shopping allows us to return with a full load in the end.

We hang around every store.Each one opened our eyes.I can understand why the company is eager to send businessmen here. Lingao is also a treasure trove of trade. There are many novel commodities that we have never seen or heard of.

There's even a shop that specializes in ready-to-wear - it's amazing, how can they make clothes that fit without a tailor?Although Aussie clothing is very shabby by our standards.Their clothing does not use woolen cloth, silk or leather, but only cheap Indian or Chinese cotton and linen.The styles of clothes are so simple that they are only a little better than the natives of Batavia.At the reception celebrating the conclusion of the trade agreement, almost all the Australian elders present wore this kind of rough and simple clothes-this custom is really incomprehensible.

The clothing sold in the tailor shop has no style at all, and it is said that this is the standard clothing of Australians and their subjects.Almost identical except for certain details, and even a handful of colors: black, gray, blue, and brown.

Regarding the Australians and their subjects, this is what I have observed.

Australians have clear requirements for their own people, that is, the same attire as them: including men shaving their hair very short, and women with short hair.Both men and women wear "Australian style" clothing, which is what I said earlier-the simple clothing worn by all Australians regardless of high or low, they call it "uniform".

Whether it is the aboriginal army recruited and trained by the Australians locally, or the workers they employ, the farmers, businessmen and others who work for them, all wear the same style of clothing regardless of each other.Certain groups of people, such as the military, have special clothing.Others are distinguished by various ornaments, markings, and special equipment - similar to our coat of arms.

Just as we see special police officers on duty on the streets at night, their clothes are exactly the same as those sold in tailor shops.The bamboo hat, white leggings, small piece of cloth on the collar and patch on the chest distinguish him from others, and of course he also has a short wooden stick as a weapon.

With such a method, I think the only advantage is that it facilitates mass production.Apparently the Australians felt obliged to provide clothing for all their subjects.To provide clothing for tens of thousands of people, it is necessary to simplify the style of clothing as much as possible to facilitate manufacturing.

As for why they provide uniform clothing for the subjects, I haven't thought about it.We speculated at the beginning that it might be to allow Australians to distinguish their subjects from the local Chinese at a glance-after all, they all have Chinese faces.However, this was overruled after Mr. Gonzalez had no trouble finding a suit of the same style in a clothing store, and apparently anyone could buy such an ugly and shabby outfit.And the people we saw in Dongmen City are still wearing traditional Chinese clothes and wearing hair buns.

Apart from the reasons we can't understand, the obvious reason should be that Australians like uniformity.This can be seen from the civil garb which was imposed upon them, and not only so.The various buildings we saw in Dongmen City also revealed a sense of order.Although from the outside, these buildings that are close together are patchwork and different in height.But looking at the details, all the buildings follow an almost consistent pattern.In my opinion, all the buildings in Dongmen City are built with the same structure and size in different forms.

Australians use the exact same building materials on a large scale.Burnt brick is their most commonly used building material.The main material of all buildings is burnt brick.They are mostly red, but also cyan.The texture is firm and fine, obviously the result of high-temperature roasting.I carefully observed several buildings facing the street.They use roughly three different sizes of bricks.The parts used for each type of brick are different, but the same principle of use is followed in every building.The windows, doors, steps, and balustrades which they employ in their buildings may, according to my observations, be reduced to several identical types.Obviously, these architectural accessories were mass-produced in a workshop according to several fixed dimensions and geometric figures, rather than on-site by a craftsman.Taking this approach should speed up the rate at which houses can be built.It should be by using this method that Australians were able to build a prosperous city here in just a few years.

Unlike the Chinese or European buildings I have seen, the houses in Dongmen City are almost completely undecorated.Whether it's roofs, eaves or walls, you don't see a trace of carvings, statues or murals.The walls are simply painted white or black, and there are also exposed brick walls.I have seen in Batavia and the coast of China that the Chinese love to carve various detailed bas-reliefs or apply various colored paintings on the beams and columns of houses, but here the wooden structure is only painted with the simplest layer of paint.

There is an odd sense of uniformity here.After discovering the characteristics of the buildings, I suddenly discovered that many things in Dongmen City are the same: street lamps, garbage baskets, street signs... even the people walking on the street are very similar.It's a feeling I can't describe.

Our walk was very pleasant, no one disturbed us on the street, and the shop owners were very friendly.We found a holy church in Dongmen City - we were overjoyed.You know that in Batavia the fanatical Puritans forbade us to pray and forced us to pray theirs.Now, in Lingao under Australian rule, there is actually a church of the Holy Church.

This church is simple and elegant in appearance.More importantly, it is relatively "non-standard".Its shape reminded me of the little churches in small towns back home.The doors of the church were open, and there were bright lights in the doors and windows—a divine light that made us feel warm.We walked in right away.

……

Wu Shimang yawned profusely, but he still had to put on a serious face.Because he is supervising John Dermot, a novice from Ireland who paints murals on the walls.The church in Dongmen City has recently been refurbished—priest Daoquanzi recently repaired a long-abandoned old temple in Lingao County, held a consecration ceremony, and became the official stronghold of New Taoism.It made him feel competitive, so he paid close attention to hardware and software construction.The church in Dongmen City has not been built for a long time. Of course, it is impossible to demolish and rebuild it, but Dean Wu feels that the interior of the church is still too simple and lacks appeal.The arrival of Jin Lige and others gave him free decoration workers.Painting frescoes, installing stained glass and decorating the interior with tiles were on the agenda.Not long after the master and apprentice of Jinli Pavilion arrived in Lingao, they devoted themselves to the painting of murals and the interior decoration of the entire monastery.

The two priests were busy painting murals, sculpting plaster statues, and even reluctantly participated in the creation of stained glass windows-of course, this is not only for religious services, but the cultural propaganda and architectural departments also need new art forms to serve them. Serve separately.

(End of this chapter)