Invincible urban management

87. Cortez's "Western Experience"

"... On October 1519th, 10, my deputy commander Alvarado was very sad this morning. Because he drank too much local tequila the night before, as well as strong spirits bought from the Chinese. Xing shochu, stunned, smashed two Chinese colored porcelain vases and four colored porcelain plates that belonged to him, and even vomited a big puddle on his bundle of silk, which almost stinks ...So, today he forced two soldiers to help him rinse by the river for a long time, so that he almost fell behind.

Then, the chef reported to me in the afternoon that the corn, beans and other food brought by the expedition team from Cholula City had all been eaten at noon today, and I hope I can get some new food—why doesn’t this idiot Speak up sooner!

At this time, the bazaar run by the Chinese near the campsite has dispersed, and the sky is approaching dusk. No one is willing to take the risk of going to an unfamiliar village in the dark to purchase food, because firstly, it is impossible to confirm whether the other party is friendly, and secondly, It is possible to get lost at night.

In order for everyone to have dinner, I had to send a clever young man from Barcelona to ask the Chinese for help. After the Chinese met the young man and understood what he wanted to express, they immediately moved out more than 50 A bag of flour, enough for us to eat for half a month, but he took a string of gold necklaces from his neck as payment for buying flour. The Portuguese who traveled to the East through Africa said that they were so hospitable, as long as they claimed to be paying tribute to their emperor, they could get warm hospitality and generous rewards.Instead, we had to pay for whatever we wanted...fortunately they charged a fair price.

To appease the poor chap who had lost his necklace, I had to give him a silk handkerchief from my private collection.

Next, when the chef opened the flour sack, the whole expedition team was shocked—the sack contained not cassava flour or cornmeal, which we were tired of eating, but wheat flour, which is very rare in the New World!And it is extremely fine and high-quality goods!

To tell you the truth, this is the first time I have seen such fine white flour without any sand, sawdust or bran mixed in. Even in the kitchen of the cardinal’s home, I’m afraid I may not be able to find such a fine flour. Wheat flour—how long would it take the maids to sieve it carefully!

These yellow-skinned and black-eyed Chinese, like the native Indians, although they are unbaptized pagans, enjoy the good things that countless people of God can't even ask for. It's really enviable and enviable.

So, using these rare fine flours, a soldier from Naples took out his hometown craftsmanship this evening and made us a big pot of spaghetti, sprinkled with pepper and fine salt, and served with a little Chicken and veggies, it tastes really good. "

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"...On October 1519, 10, due to his refusal to use the medicines sent by the Chinese, coupled with his old age and poor health, Father Aguilar finally returned to the Lord after twelve days on a stretcher. embrace.

On the march we could not find a coffin, so we erected a cross by the side of the road, and buried him hastily, wrapped in a linen sheet.

This venerable old missionary was originally going to the island of Trinidad, but because the ship he was on was lost in a shipwreck and sank, he was blown to the coast of Mexico by wind and waves.Next, as a survivor, Father Aguilar, from 1511 to the spring of this year, has been in the Maya village in the Yucatan Peninsula, driven like a slave all day long, and suffered enough.

However, even under such harsh conditions, Father Aguilar still did not forget to spread the glory of the Lord, tried every means to fulfill his duties, and developed several believers of the Lord among those barbarians, giving them Baptisms were performed, including my Marina... It was not until half a year ago that the venerable priest was rescued by us from the savages, but unfortunately he suffered another bad luck before he could return to the civilized world, and finally Still buried in this ignorant land.May the Almighty God bless you and enter heaven, Amen!

By the way, before the funeral, we had already divided the share of silks, spices and china that belonged to Father Aguilar. "

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"...On October 1519, 10, more and more local aborigines joined the ranks of the Chinese and followed their army chaotically. There were tens of thousands of people, and the number was increasing every day. By night , there are dots of bonfires all over the mountains and plains.

I sent Marina to find out why these natives came, and the answer I got was that the Chinese gave them food for free, as long as they were willing to go with the Chinese to Tenochtitlan to meet Emperor Montezuma, and there would be more afterward. gift giving.

Hearing that the Chinese distributed food to these Indians for free, the young man in Barcelona who had his gold necklace taken away the day before yesterday jumped up, thinking that we should also enjoy the same treatment.I think this is very reasonable, so I let him tell the Chinese by himself.

As a result, after a brief negotiation, the Chinese admitted that they should also treat us equally and provided us with free food and drink on the way, but instead of returning the gold necklace, they gave us some corn and flour, enough for about five or six days. "

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"...On November 1519, 11, under my repeated entreaties, the Chinese finally held a more formal meeting with me again.

Although the total strength of this army that suddenly appeared in Cholula City is tens of thousands, most of them are the Hunxiutizgans and other indigenous people recruited in Mexico. The real Chinese I have ever seen Only five.One of them is a white-haired old man who claims to be the royal ceremonial officer, a little girl who claims to be the deputy commander of the Guards, one is the Duke of Hongxiutizgan who was conferred by the Chinese emperor, and there are two low-level attendants, a man and a woman.

The royal ceremonial officer and the female entourage knew some Spanish and Latin, so I mainly talked to them, while the other three Chinese sat by the side holding their swords and exchanged some opinions in Chinese from time to time.

To my displeasure, just like the previous meeting in Cholula, I was searched in turn by several Indians in a very rude manner before I even entered the tent, and took away the dagger, musket, and torch I was carrying with me. Ledo's long sword and even the paper knife were all confiscated, and except for Marina, I was not allowed to bring anyone else to the meeting.In addition, during the talks, there is always a row of heavily armed men standing outside the tent, holding axes and machetes that are shining in the cold... They almost tied me up with hemp rope—these Chinese Is it necessary to be so vigilant?

(Voice of Mystery: Who told you that you were able to kidnap the Aztec emperor with only five people, and the record of defeating tens of thousands of Aztec troops with fifteen cavalrymen is really terrifying? Wang Qiu and the others are all Beware of you with the same level as dealing with Superman, Ultraman and Long Aotian!)

Although these Chinese people had briefly talked about their own backgrounds when they were in Cholula, they were too vague.So I took this opportunity to inquire again, and the answer I got was similar to what I expected-about four years ago, a Chinese named Wen Desi drifted to the Hongxiutizgan Kingdom and became a Hongxiu Tizgan. He was the son-in-law and heir of the king, Hutizgan, and opened up a trade route connecting there with mainland China.Then, finding his small country threatened by the Aztecs, he turned to his mother country for help.The emperor of China sent the current envoys, canonized Wen Desi as duke and hereditary governor of overseas colonies, and provided him with various armaments and political protection.

After figuring out where the Chinese came from, I asked them about their next plan, whether they wanted to conquer this land as a gift to the Chinese emperor.For my question, the Chinese looked very surprised, as if they hadn't considered such a thing at all.

(Actually, I was surprised that this Spanish barbarian spoke too bluntly, and he could blatantly talk about such things of invading foreign countries for no reason.)

I asked them why on earth they brought so many troops into the Aztec Empire.The gray-haired royal ceremonial officer told me that their visit to the Aztec Empire this time was just to fulfill the obligations of the suzerain country and protect their dependent countries.

After arriving in the city of Tenochtitlan, they will inform the Aztec monarch in the name of the Chinese emperor. The Hunxiutizgans have accepted the canonization and protection of the Chinese emperor and asked that Montezuma Your Majesty restrains his army and must not continue to invade the territory of Duke Wen Desi, and recognize his ruling status and the traditional territory of the Hongxiutizgan Kingdom. Otherwise, it is tantamount to provoking the authority of the Chinese emperor, nothing more.

If the Aztecs had a friendly attitude and were willing to show kindness to the Chinese emperor, then they would also consider the Aztecs as friends.

As for why so many Indians were recruited to act with them, it seemed that it was just to create momentum and scare the Aztecs.

Hearing such an answer, I suddenly couldn't understand the Chinese way of thinking, obviously there is a huge army.But in the face of the victory that is close at hand, they are indifferent... Perhaps it is because their land is too rich and lacks nothing, so they will not want to take other people's things!

Alas, for that distant eastern empire, we Europeans have always had too much fear and jealousy, and more things we can't understand.

They met me at noon, so they invited me to have lunch with them after the meeting.It seems that due to the relatively simple conditions during the march, the Chinese lunch is not as luxurious as written in "Marco Polo's Travel Notes". Although the tableware is beautiful blue and white porcelain, each person only has a plate of mixed vegetables , a bowl of hot soup and a plate of strange meat, plus local specialty prickly pear fruit.This strange meat has a pink color and is cut into neat slices. The aborigines call it 'mystery meat' and it tastes like dough mixed with meat sauce.

However, the main food and drink they serve is even more shocking: it is actually the best white bread and sugar sweetened milk!

This kind of white bread, less than half the size of a fist, is baked entirely with refined wheat flour and mixed with sugar and spices. It smells delicious and tastes soft and sweet. I ate ten of them in one go. several.But the milk served in a glass made me suspicious.

As far as I know, the Indians in this land don't have cows and horses at all, and I haven't seen them in the Chinese army with nai cows...these look fresh and have a lot of sugar added Nai, where did it come from? (actually poured out of a box of milk)

For my question, the Chinese avoided answering, but instead laughed at me and said that we Spaniards mistakenly call the indigenous people in this land Indians (meaning Indians), so we will meet the real ones after ri Eastern Indians, I don't know what to call them.

So I asked their opinions back, and the Chinese said that this question is very complicated, and the answer can only be reached after careful discussion.

After returning to the campsite, I told Alvarado about the strange cow milk, and he said that it might be human milk... well, I seem to have heard vaguely that Chinese nobles have the habit of drinking human milk like babies Custom... hope this isn't true, or it would be a shame. "

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"... On November 1519, 11, the Chinese were walking so slowly that it was enough for my messenger to run back and forth from here to the port of Veracruz. Immediately after the news of the mission, they rushed over from the port of Veracruz, wanting to share some of the benefits. And there are seventeen people around me who are unwilling to continue taking risks and want to go back with their own wealth.

So, I sent these seventeen people to transport all the oriental specialties such as porcelain, silk, and spices belonging to the entire expedition, especially the heavy and easily damaged mirrors, porcelain, and glassware, all back to the stronghold in Port of Veracruz , so that we can lighten our burden and move forward lightly.

Castillo, whom I sent back to Cuba to mediate with the Governor, has not heard from him until today, which makes me a little worried. "

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"...November 1519th, 11, at noon today, we came to the edge of a vast and boundless lake. Several high-ranking nobles from the Aztec Empire were already waiting there, and presented many gifts to the Chinese envoys, expressing that Montezuma The emperor was willing to meet them and the prince of the Hunxiutizgan Kingdom in Tenochtitlan, and resolve the long-standing disputes through peaceful negotiations.

In addition, Emperor Montezuma was also happy to entertain us Spaniards from afar, and to hear what we came for.Even the Tlaxcalans who came with us were treated with a degree of courtesy.

In a sense, this should be a good start for us, but it's a pity that the Chinese took all the limelight.

What makes me even more unhappy is that among the gifts sent by the Aztecs this time, I also have a share.But the Chinese unceremoniously intercepted it, took two of the small gold wine cups as their own, and then gave me four colored Chinese porcelain cups as compensation...

Well, I admit that these polychrome teacups are indeed very exquisite. The gorgeous glaze is shining with a jewel-like luster. The decorative pattern on the outer wall of the cup is not simple curves and straight lines, but lifelike flowers and plants, ears of wheat, grapes and apples.Under the cup, there are matching beautiful saucers and colorful silk cushions.If they can be brought to Lisbon, Florence or any commercially developed European city, they can definitely be sold at a high price far exceeding the high price of those two small gold wine glasses... But the arrogant Chinese way of taking them without warning still makes them I feel very uncomfortable. "

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"...On November 1519th, 11, we continued along a rammed-earth avenue on the shore of the lake. There were neat farmlands and vegetable fields along the way, very beautiful and prosperous towns and villages, and magnificent and sturdy stone buildings can be seen everywhere.

Some of these stone houses are built on the lake beach, and some are even built in the lake water. Most of the walls of the stone houses are painted with white plaster and painted with colorful decorative patterns, which reminds people of the rich villas in Italian city-states.

As the Chinese continued to distribute food generously, more and more Indians ate with them. Preliminary estimates have exceeded [-].Some well-dressed chiefs also came to see them, and told Duke Wendez about the exploitation and extortion of them by the Aztecs. The priests brutally killed the priests in the temple, causing them both humiliation and grief.

One of them happened to be me, so I expressed my sympathy for them and my indignation towards the Aztecs.

Those Indians were naturally quite moved by this, but the Chinese looked at me with a very strange look, and then told me slowly that, as far as they knew, the Spanish Kingdom colonized the various islands in the Caribbean Sea. What they did was probably many times more cruel than the Aztecs - at least the Aztecs didn't slaughter them to extinction.

Well, I have to admit that what the Chinese said is true. In the Caribbean Sea, we killed all the Indians on several islands.But these are just some unbaptized pagans, or even ignorant and cruel Indians, can they be considered human beings?

Only dead pagans are the best pagans, and this is a truth we have firmly believed since the days of the Crusaders. ";