Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1868 Central Valley ([-])

"The scenery of the Eastern Dynasty is really in a foreign country. This trip is worthwhile." After staying in a state-run guest house in Boling County, Zhao Chuyan, who washed his face with a towel, smiled at his two servants said.

Today is September 1682, 9, and there is still more than a month before they leave. Some members of the mission have been ordered to go south and return to Liucheng Port, the navy base of the people on the east bank, and "King Xianzong" "The left-behind personnel on the ship worked together to complete all the preparations before sailing—well, the most important thing is to find a way to get the Dongguo people to help waive some ship maintenance costs, otherwise I am afraid that there will not be enough money. Purchased goods.

""Han Shu Huo Zhi Zhuan" says: Everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, eats food and clothes well, which shows how important it is to live and work in peace and contentment. Those North Korean people you met on the road just now, you think they can live and work in peace and contentment. Already?" Sitting in front of the only table in the room, Zhao Chuyan habitually wanted to drink tea, but found that there was nothing, so he was a little embarrassed.

He seemed to have forgotten that for the sake of saving money, the hostel they stayed in (the East Coast Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsidized half of the cost, and the rest of the North Koreans paid by themselves) did not provide things such as tea, snacks, melons and fruits, and everything had to be done by themselves.For yesterday's dinner, Zhao Chuyan's two servants went to the kitchen of the hostel to borrow some utensils to cook dry food.After all, it is not easy to live on the east coast, and the consumption level here is not low, especially in these so-called service industries.The North Korean mission has been out for a long time, and it has long been unable to make ends meet. If it weren't for the Dongan Company, Sun Chunyang Nanhuo Store, State-owned Department Store and other companies sponsoring a sum of money from time to time, they might have already lived on the streets, how could they still be like this? Like a happy, wandering around like traveling.

"Master, there is no more tea, but there is still some soup." After obtaining Zhao Chuyan's consent, the servant found some ginseng that had been treasured so far from the luggage, and planned to make a soup.Like North Korea and China, people on the east bank drink tea first and then tea, and see off guests after tea, which is just the opposite of the order of first tea and then soup in the Song Dynasty (Zhao Chuyan can complain about this again...), so the market There are also many soup ingredients that can be bought. Zhao Guangming bought some before, such as dried fruits, astragalus, dates, orange peel, etc., which can be used to cook for his master, but the tools have to be borrowed from the store , it is still quite painful to have to pay a few copper coins for the use of fees.

While the servant was out working, Zhao Chuyan resentfully looked at the decorations in the house.This is actually a very ordinary brick house, there is nothing outstanding, but the space is relatively large.There are some furniture in the house, which should be a common style in the East, such as the so-called sofa that is somewhat similar to a bed—in fact, Zhao Chuyan is very strange about the origin of this name, why is it called a sofa, it is obviously a popular one in the Tang and Song Dynasties It’s a variant of the bed, the Dongguo people really don’t read poetry and books, so they lost their minds and went crazy, and they named it randomly.

There is a stove on one side of the bed, the style is for scones.Chile is said to have a relatively humid climate, and the winter is bitterly cold, so it is impossible to eat food without roasting it.There are many types of Dongguo people’s cakes, such as Hubing, cooking cakes, steamed cakes, sesame cakes, oil cakes, etc., which are very good as dry food, but if you don’t bake them over a fire for a long time, it will be uncomfortable to eat—of course For people like Zhao Chuyan who are well-clothed and well-fed, this kind of feeling is rare. They seldom eat dry food, and they just experienced it because of financial constraints after coming to Dongguo.

Another piece of furniture in the house was a little surprising. It was a porcelain bottle placed in the middle of the table. I don't know what it was used for. It was probably used to hold water.Zhao Chuyan has studied this porcelain vase carefully just now, and it should have been made locally on the east bank, with a strong pre-Song Ding kiln and Ci kiln style (fired by the descendants of the former Song kiln workers captured by Marshal Mo in Shandong). The craftsmanship is not good enough. I saw that the wall of this porcelain bottle is relatively thin, the quality of the body is not pure enough, and the shape is not regular. It should not be called a good work in China. It can only be half sold and half given away in the cheapest way. .

But in Dongguo, this porcelain is also placed in the hotel room, so it shouldn't be considered as something particularly valuable.Zhao Chuyan was a little pondering over this, and it was difficult to judge the porcelain firing level of the Dongguo people. He instinctively felt that it should be far inferior to China.It's a pity that when I took a boat south along the coastline, I didn't stop at the Patagonian platform to rest. I heard that it is the porcelain manufacturing capital of the Eastern people, so I should visit it. What a pity!

Servant Zhao Guangming came back with hot soup soon, and several North Koreans in sky-blue denim jackets came in with him.To be more precise, they are Korean-born East Coast nationals. They are all first-generation immigrants who have lived on the East Coast for many years. They still have some affection for their homeland. As soon as he was soft, he knelt down and kept saying some congratulations in Korean.

Zhao Chuyan's face softened slightly when he saw it.These talented people, originally Korean untouchables living in Gyeongsang-do, secretly went to Busan to seek a living, and then immigrated to Dongguo by boat. Those of this generation in Chile who are not familiar with life and place can learn more information with the presence of these North Koreans who have lived for many years, so they sent someone to contact them, and then called them over.

These people lived outside the city, and when they learned that the envoy from their home country was short of funds, they rushed home, took some wild game as gifts, and rode back to the county seat.Zhao Chuyan's face was a little hot when he learned about this, and at the same time he was a little moved. These people traveled across the ocean and came to Dongguo. Their life should be very difficult at first, and they may not even be well-off now, but they are willing to take It is indeed a sincere and filial heart to share some precious meat with the guests from the mother country. Zhao Chuyan is very fond of it, and plans to ask the names of these righteous people carefully and write their deeds in the In "Eastern Travel Record".

"Your horses are all your own?" Zhao Chuyan asked while drinking the soup.After getting affirmative answers from these Koreans from the east coast, he was a little silent, but then he comforted himself with Hudi cattle, horses and sheep.

"My lord, this place is simple, why don't you go to the shop in my city, where it's more spacious and the conditions are better, and it won't disgrace your identity." A North Korean who looked a little rich looked at the furnishings in the hotel , said immediately.He ran an oil shop in the city, and the business was good, so he tried to persuade him.

Zhao Chuyan sighed when he heard the words, waved his hands to politely reject this person's kindness, and then said in a bad mood: "You are originally abandoned citizens of the country, and you will never be kings. There are many criticisms from the government and the public in the country. But this is not pedantic My fellow, seeing that you are living a good life in the Eastern Kingdom, I feel relieved. I accept your little thoughts, and as for other things, don’t mention them again, just leave it as it is.”

Several Korean descendants nodded repeatedly after hearing this, obediently.Zhao Chuyan also lost interest in further in-depth conversations with them. After declining the request to eat with them, he hastily used some mustache and meat pies, and then took two servants to the street to observe the scenery.

Before leaving, in order to thank these people for their gifts, Zhao Chuyan asked someone to bring the Four Treasures of the Study, and then wrote a poem written by Zhao Ding in the early Southern Song Dynasty when Zhao Ding was an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin and stayed at the inn at night. : "Weibei and Taonan are passing the spring, and the ice and snow on the poor side are even more worrying. Come to the poem writing place in Tongyi, and the broken house is green and sick."

Zhao Chuyan's calligraphy has been worked hard for many years, and it is very good. Before that, he was admired and sought after by many people in the capital on the east coast. Some wealthy businessmen also paid him to help him write, and hung them in their bedroom or office, so that Zhao Chuyan Very much earned a large sum of money, and at the same time allowed him to have money to continue playing in the east coast.

This poem will be given to a few people of Korean origin on the east coast. Apart from the accident that the writing is very good, it seems that he also puts his self-mockery and resentment towards the current slightly destitute situation.After all, he is a dignified envoy from one country, and the Dongguo people don't receive and accompany him all the way, but he doesn't even give enough money. This is really unreasonable!Thinking about the envoys who went to Beijing back then, who didn't make a lot of money, and went home happily.But let someone Zhao, alas, let alone mention it, they are all reduced to selling calligraphy for a living, so what else can they say!

The afternoon stroll in Boling County did not last too long, because this county located at the northernmost tip of Southern Chile is really lackluster.The only feature that can be called is probably that the layout of the city is relatively reasonable. As the saying goes, "Dangkang Guangmo is well-organized." Zhao Chuyan has experienced the pursuit of a reasonable layout by the people on the east coast many times before. Their urban management is indeed There is a set that North Korea should learn from.

However, the layout of the city is reasonable, but the architectural features are not very different from those of Zhongtu. This makes Zhao Chuyan, who is used to seeing all kinds of characteristic buildings in shopping malls, Qingdao and other places, and has a good appetite, really can't arouse too much interest. .So in the end, this shopping trip was hastily ended, and when I returned to the room of the guest house, I sorted out the manuscripts with peace of mind, especially the "Dongxinglu" which he regarded as the lifeblood. As good as it gets.

On September 1682, 9, after wandering inside and outside Boling County for a few days, Zhao Chuyan, his servants and entourages, left the guest house with his servants and entourages after a few days of shopping in and around Boling County. Go to Liucheng Port.Their ship "Hyeonjong the Great" encountered strong winds and waves when crossing the Strait of Magellan, and the hull was damaged to some extent. Therefore, it will cost a lot of money to repair it in Liucheng Port, and the North Koreans will be heartbroken again.

In the following October, they will follow a fleet from the east coast to go north, pass through the Turtle Islands, Tahiti, Rabaul, Taiwan, Shandong, and then return to the original departure point of Ganghwa Island in North Korea to complete this mission action.Undoubtedly, this is also a feat for the Koreans. Although it was a passive circumnavigation under the leadership of the people from the east bank, it is also the first time for the Korean Kingdom.With their slightly extreme national character, Zhao Chuyan might not be famous in the future, maybe even a writer would be called a navigator.

Of course, some people may say that letting the North Korean ships follow the people on the east coast to take the Pacific route is not suspected of leaking secrets.In fact, this is really too much to worry about!The ships of the people from the east coast have traveled to the South Pacific for so many years. Most of the ships stopped at various ports and communicated with sailors from other countries. Others are not ignorant of the route, not to mention the British pirates and Dutch pirates who had Just crossed the Pacific Ocean. Although there was some element of luck, technically speaking, there was no qualitative difficulty for them.The reason why they didn't go to the South Pacific now is mainly because they are not on the route, and the wind and waves are rough here, and there are not enough midway supply points, no one is willing to come to die.

On October 1682, 10, after living in Liucheng Port, the home port of the Third Fleet of the East Coast Navy for more than half a month, it was finally time for the Koreans to leave.On this day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the capital on the east coast also specially sent a director to see him off, which made Zhao Chuyan's heart feel a little better.And the batch of gifts presented by the director on behalf of the East Coast government before his departure made Zhao feel inexplicably grateful, almost tearing up. A large number of dyed cloth, printed cloth and other rare playthings can be made into thousands of taels of silver when transported back to North Korea. This trip is worth it!

The director made a special trip to Liucheng Port, not only to give the North Koreans a farewell gift, in fact, he also brought a letter of credentials written by Liao Xiaoyao, chairman of the East Bank Executive Committee, for him to present to North Korea king.The content of the letter of credence is not complicated. In addition to the routine greetings, the most important thing is to urge the North Korean monarchs and ministers to continue to implement the current policy, remain unwavering for 100 years, and resolutely serve the interests of the East China Republic. Unforeseen misfortune and so on.Of course, at the end, I also talked about the hope that the North Korean Kingdom will reform its politics and develop trade, but it is not the main point. I don’t know if the North Koreans will pay attention to it. I can only say that I hope so.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon. After paying half of the maintenance fee, the "Hyeonjong the Great" was allowed to leave the port, and then, together with several ships belonging to the Immigration Department and Sun Chunyang South Cargo Shop, adjusted the beams, all the way north, and embarked on the return journey.At the moment of leaving, it is said that Zhao Chuyan, the Dongxing envoy of the North Korean side, was still writing hard, and it seemed that he wanted to carefully improve his writing and go back to work hard.The East Coast diplomat who learned of this just smiled and said nothing.Anyway, if North Korea is civilized and reformed, it will not be a bad thing for the East Bank, at least it will double the turnover of North Korean companies on the East Bank.As for worrying that North Korea will no longer be obedient after being civilized and strengthened, it is simply unfounded worry. Can a country like North Korea go against the sky?

(End of this chapter)