Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 827 Border Trade Market ([-])

The dumpling restaurant is located at a crossroads and has no name, but it is very famous in the local area. As long as you mention "Daokou Zhangjia" dumpling restaurant to the locals, almost everyone will know it.Silva has opened a local business and is naturally well-known for a long time, so he brought Blanco over to try something new.

"This is garlic, a vegetable that local people often eat. It is usually used to accompany meals, and sometimes it is also used to season dishes. Well, in fact, almost every dish in the east coast uses ginger and garlic. It's really weird to use something like this to taste, but it's not bad, and so are these dumplings." Silva peeled the garlic and introduced to his employer, "Many Brazilian gentlemen who have tasted East Coast cuisine swear by it. Say, even if you don’t say that the taste of Chinese food is better than that of Brazil or Portugal, it is definitely not inferior.”

A few rumbling cannons sounded outside the door, and Blanco was startled, but quickly realized: This is the celebration salute of the East Coast people firing the New Year!Blanco had already seen it on the way here, and he was surprised at the time, because people on the east coast would celebrate the New Year with three-pounders and four-pounders, which is really crazy!

The tables and chairs in the house are all made of cheap Paraná pine wood felled nearby. They are not painted, and the style is completely oriental: various patterns are carved on the chairs and tables. It is an oriental myth and legend; there are some square Chinese characters cut out of colored paper on the wall, just like the red couplets pasted on both sides of the gate; a plaque is hung in the center of the inner wall, and there are four large characters on it: "Zhang Jialao shop".

Blanco has studied Chinese for many years, and he even knows some traditional characters, but he is still confused by the way people from the East Coast or Chinese people name shops.The "Zhang's old shop" in front of me is pretty good. Look at the shop "Li Qizhou" selling cotton cloth across the street, which seems to be the combination of the surnames of the three partners of the shop; "Yi Xing Hao", from the name, it is completely impossible to tell what this store does; the same is true of the leather goods "Heng Sheng Long" at the west end of the street. The owner should choose the name from the perspective of lip gloss Considered, but the name also does not reflect the business scope of the store.

Since it was the first day of opening after the East Coast New Year, and the owner of the dumpling restaurant was more hospitable, there was a little oriental dessert on each table—usually sweets, and the quantity was only one or two pieces.In addition, there are some gadgets such as jams, candied fruit, and dried fruits, all of which are processed from various fruits produced in the orchard of Liming Town in this county. Due to the unique production process, they taste quite good.

Of course, all of these things are completely free, and guests can taste them at will.You see, outside the door, there are many children wearing brand-new clothes rushing in to get fruit to eat. The owner of the dumpling restaurant not only does not blame him, but also greets his buddy with a smile. Some dried fruit compote came out.Obviously, it's been a happy few days for the kids.

The tobacco smell in the store was very strong, and Blanco didn't take it too seriously. He even felt sorry for the brand new silk jacket he just put on this morning. It must have been stained with strong and choking tobacco smell.His servant Silva ordered another bottle of Madeira wine, which made Blanco even more surprised and pleasantly surprised.Silva told him that the origin of these wines is Madeira Island. After long-distance transportation to Brazil, they were exported to the East Coast Republic. The people on the East Coast bought glass wine bottles and packaged them, and then shipped them to various places. Make a sale.Ping'an County, as the industrial center of the entire east coast, naturally has a lot of this kind of liqueur for sale, especially in Bao'an Township, because there are many Portuguese merchants, the market for this kind of wine is quite good.

The dumplings were quickly served, Blanco skillfully picked one up with chopsticks and tasted it, um, there was mutton inside, and the taste was not bad.This kind of meat does not have the fishy smell that mutton should have at all. Maybe this has something to do with the breed of sheep raised by the people on the east coast—they have been working hard to cultivate all kinds of sheep for meat or wool—but maybe more reasons are related to the cooking method.Of course, there must be many untold secrets in the process of meat processing. Maybe various seasonings are used, and perhaps spices sold by the Dutch are used, but there must be its own uniqueness, otherwise it will not be so delicious at all.

Maybe I should hire a Ming cook?Blanco was thinking secretly while eating the dumplings.

There was a loud noise outside the door, causing some diners in the dumpling restaurant to look up.Blanco was curious, so he also looked outside, and saw a group of people on the street laughing and laughing around the two Buza lions.These two lions are small in size, tied with brightly colored dyed cloth, they look lifelike, and they are crawling on the ground while being supported by people.The person manipulating the lion made some funny moves from time to time, causing the crowd to applaud and laugh, especially some children, excitedly circled around the lion, their little faces flushed with joy, they were really cute.

"Strange custom!" Blanco shook his head, obviously not as interested in it as the East Coast people present, he took a last look, and then lowered his head again to eat dumplings - this is what he was really interested in thing.

Behind the lion troupe was a theatrical troupe, composed of more than a dozen "musicians" from the East. They played with all kinds of strange musical instruments.But unfortunately, the surroundings are too noisy and noisy, and their hard-working performances are not enough to attract the attention of pedestrians. People are talking and laughing loudly while watching the lion dance performance, which completely covers up the music go down.In such a noisy environment, you have to have very good hearing to barely distinguish some gongs and drums from the various noises.

Blanco and Silva finished the dumplings in a leisurely manner, and then drank the remaining half bottle of Madeira before getting up and leaving.At this time, there were more and more people on the street, and many people dressed as hawkers didn't seem to care much about their business. They stood absent-mindedly on their stalls, and then grinning at the performance in the distance, they also paid attention to the guests. A little less patience than ever.Then, a group of men with obviously European faces also burst into the street laughing, they seemed to have drunk some alcohol, and they were a little drunk.These people occupied an open space on the street, and then danced the dance of their own hometown. Soon some Livonian women in bright clothes joined in, and the street was immediately surrounded by people.

It took Blanco and Silva a lot of effort to squeeze out from the crowd, but at this time, Blanco's expensive clothes were wrinkled and out of shape.There was a crossroads ahead, and there was a small empty square there, but it was also full of crowds at this time.

Blanco looked around and saw a shed built there, and a group of "street artists" from the Ming Dynasty in the East were performing various operas.The audience stood below, watching the performance with glee, as if it was a rare entertainment for them too.Therefore, although fine snowflakes floated in the sky again at this time, and the cold wind blew loudly, everyone endured the chill and stomped their feet while watching the performance.Some people really can't stand the cold wind, so they will run into the noodle shop next to them, drink a bowl of free noodle soup provided by the kind owner, and then run back to watch the show again.

Most of the dramas were comedies, and the actors were gags and humorous. In particular, a special East Coast play called Erren Zhuan attracted applause from the audience like a tsunami.In addition to these plays with Chinese characteristics, a troupe from Italy also performed a comedy show. Unfortunately, few people in the audience could understand what they were talking about, but their witty performances and some interesting The action still won bursts of goodwill applause from the audience.According to some businessmen talking nearby, this Italian theater troupe seemed to be invited by the county's "old parents" and county magistrate Qian Hao Qianda with private funds, in order to let everyone enjoy "foreign meat".

From time to time, a group of soldiers wearing khaki winter army coats, black-brimmed caps, suede shoes, and flintlock rifles lined up and passed by. Residents crowded on the streets automatically made way for them.The officers leading the team rode horses, wearing white gauze gloves on their hands, and their coats were covered with medals.I saw him stroking the command knife with his left hand and holding the rein with his right hand, scanning the crowd with a slightly proud look—they were the officers and soldiers patrolling the streets and maintaining law and order.

Blanco and Silva looked at the officers and soldiers on the east coast who were lined up neatly, walking in unison, and seriously shaking hands and feet with complicated eyes.The officers leading the team are proud, heroic and full of self-confidence. They follow the soldiers meticulously and uniformly. It is obvious that they have undergone years of mechanical training and strict discipline.

As long as these elite and proud East Coast Army soldiers exist, the civilized gentlemen in Brazil will always be restless. They have to bury their dissatisfaction with the East Coast deep in their hearts, and then honestly act according to the rules of the game of the East Coast people.This is really too bad, when have the great Portuguese gentlemen been so aggrieved?

Seeing this group of soldiers passing by, Blanco suddenly lost interest in visiting this border trade market.He was suddenly disappointed with everything here, and seemed to lack interest in everything.Silva was keenly aware of his employer's emotional changes, and he proposed to go back to his shop to rest and discuss the future business layout by the way.Blanco agreed, and the figures of the two quickly disappeared into the turbulent crowd.

(End of this chapter)