Lu Ming

Chapter 271 Afternoon Tea

In the afternoon tea party called Sipping, which was actually promoted by the time traveler decades in advance, the participants enjoyed great pleasure both mentally and physically.

In the riverside garden full of green plants, guests sit on wicker chairs with simple lines, in front of them are smooth as mirror marble coffee tables and crystal glass tea sets.Delicate cakes are served on bright red, glazed Clarke porcelain platters with Bible stories painted on them.

All this is accompanied by the cool breeze blowing from the Taijiang River, and the guests all feel refreshed.

After the two gentlemen under the banner of "Do as Romans do" took off their bulky coats and ruffled collars, leaving only cool silk short shirts, they tasted the black tea and salt soda provided by their masters together with six or seven Manila businessmen. Cold beer.

Black tea is a class of commodities that the commercial sector has begun to promote.It is the beginning of the 17th century, and Europeans have not yet learned how to drink tea. The Dutch and Portuguese who were the first to sell tea just put the leaves of this plant in pharmacies as medicines.

The lifespan of the time-traversing people is limited, and the Portuguese princess will marry and go to England to promote afternoon tea in less than a few decades.Therefore, with regard to tea, which is a gold-absorbing weapon that can trigger the opium trade in later generations, the commercial sector has a huge promotion plan: just wait for the new tea to go on the market next year.

The black tea that the two gentlemen drank today is the standard European way of drinking with sugar cubes and milk.

The tea is prepared by a short Filipino servant who has been "appointed" by the crossing congregation, using a set of glassware.After tasting this fresh black tea with sugar and milk, all the guests nodded one after another—this is the preparation method developed by their descendants according to the taste of Europeans, and it will taste better naturally.

"It's delicious, the real value of this leaf has been ignored." After drinking a cup of strong black milk tea, Alonso said after smacking his lips.

"It's the ancient way of drinking tea brought by the masters from the interior of the Ming Dynasty, and they are providing training for the servants for free." A thin-faced Spanish businessman in a silk shirt, Fizel, added: "Most of the Ming Dynasty We've been fooled all along by the way Chinese people use that weird way of boiling water."

"Tradition is always important." Viscount Juan answered at this time: "Only true nobles can master some seemingly inconspicuous and important skills. It is said that they migrated here from the snow-filled north."

"I think there must be many stories between the nobles of the officials and the royal family of the Ming Dynasty." Alonso said this, and secretly thought: "I must write a letter to the priests in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. The parliament needs to know this. The origin of helping the pirates, especially the pirate king Cao Chuan."

After drinking the black tea, the iced salt soda and self-brewed beer also make the guests and hosts feel comfortable.In the process, everyone is guessing about the origin of these magical ice cubes.Several businessmen are even discussing the possibility of selling ice to the hot South Asian colonies and states.

The two gentlemen focused their attention on the bathroom in the villa, which was more capable of displaying national power.

Speaking of washing the bathroom: the joke "Europeans don't take a bath" has a long history and is well known in later generations.

What is the real situation?

In the era of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, the bathing culture in Europe was very developed. At that time, public bathhouses spread all over the city, and mixed bathing by men and women was very common.

Since the beginning of the 14th century, a black death has spread throughout Europe, killing one-third of Europeans.

This catastrophe has become a church carnival. Taking this opportunity, the Catholic Church began to promote an advanced concept: a dirty body is closer to God, and not taking a bath has become a symbol of holiness, and those who have enough courage not to take a bath for many years , and even be canonized as a saint! Just like the chastity archway that Chinese people praise widows.

In the past, the healthy lifestyle of the Romans who liked to take a bath was despised as a sign of weakness. Therefore, under the influence of the church, believers always took pride in not taking a bath or washing their clothes all year round.

The house leaks happen to rain overnight: The ancient Romans used lead as water pipes all year round, which caused a sharp drop in physical fitness and IQ, and they were finally unable to resist the invasion of the Germanic savages. As a result, the developed bathing culture disappeared under the joint attack of the church and the barbarians up.

This is also the beginning of the Dark Ages.

As the example of the public, the royal families of various countries can only bow their heads and admit defeat when the power of the church is in full swing at that time, and not taking a bath has become a kind of "political correctness": including the famous Emperor Charlemagne, Queen Victoria and many other European monarchs will not take a bath Touted as a personal achievement.
In order to cover up the stink on their bodies, nobles need to use a lot of face powder. This is one of the reasons why Europeans have such a strong interest in Asian spices.

However, time has changed, with the passing of the Dark Middle Ages, the beginning of the Thirty Years War, and the opening of the Age of Discovery, all these have led to the birthplace of all ignorance: the power of the Catholic Church began to decline day by day.Protestant countries including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and even Catholic diehards like Spain, have put aside the church's nonsense about bathing.

The reason is simple: in hot Brazil, Peru, Chile, on the even hotter Gold Coast of Africa, in the super hot Philippines and Spice Islands, you can die without a bath.

In fact, basically only the French and Spanish, who believe in Catholicism, are so perverted in banning bathing in Europe.Other countries have slowly recovered the habit of bathing since the 16th and 17th centuries, especially the Protestant countries, which recovered earlier.

Therefore, in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages, the French, who were later called a model of elegance, actually had the worst hygiene habits in Europe.

Those well-mannered French gentlemen and ladies in oil paintings are actually dirty people with dirt on their bodies and lice in their hair, and they rely on perfume to solve their problems.

Of course, since it is the so-called "political correctness", there must be a set of official propaganda, and there will be situations where the public does not accept it behind the scenes.

Don't take a bath, this kind of brain-dead propaganda initiated by the church, which violates the essential needs of human beings, is actually the same as those chastity archways in the East, and there are no mandatory measures.

Henry IV's mother insisted on not taking a bath all her life, and was canonized as Saint Agnès. Henry IV also did not take a bath, but the oil painting of his mistress and his sister taking a bath in the bathtub was generously handed down to later generations .

The same is true for the chaste archway: countless widows remarry every day, but how many archways are there?
This hypocritical style of "political correctness" has been carried forward in later generations of American emperors: well-dressed white politicians yelled to eliminate all racial discrimination in front of the camera, but anyone who has been there to study and live. Is there any discrimination? , who will know.

During the period of 1628, there were no colonists in East Asia who did not take a bath.Or it can be said this way: All those who survived took a bath.

East Asia is not the cold high-latitude Europa. The altitude here makes all kinds of germs in the most active state all the time. The weather in India, Batavia, and the Philippines can kill a person covered in bedbugs and lice within 7 days. kill.

Therefore, colonists like Alonso and Juan, who have adapted to the environment, attach great importance to the bathrooms in the commercial hall.

It was not only the running water and the toilet that attracted their attention, but also the whole set of exquisite cast iron system.

Unlike the kingdoms of heaven, which closed their doors and came to cheer, the European countries have lived their lives in a tumultuous manner for hundreds of years, so the elites are quite sensitive to various military industrial technologies.

Whether it is ceramic tiles or those exquisite cast iron pipe fittings, combined with all kinds of huge and dexterous steel machines seen along the way, the two emissaries of noble origin quickly reached a consensus: the master here has a powerful, mysterious industrial manufacturing capacity.

"Dear Juan, I am eager to know what the gentlemen in Manila think about these Ming pirates, the nobles." After eating another piece of mango cake, Alonso planned to learn about the pirates from the side.

Baron Juan, with a short beard and light blue eyes, laughed at this moment: "Maybe we should go for a walk?" Soon after, the two walked slowly south along the riverside walkway outside the business hall go.

"There have been a lot of rumors here, I mean the news about Macau. So, the relationship between Manila and the officials, I don't think I can help you." After walking a short distance, Juan began to relax. Slowly organized his words: "You know, sometimes, the same person can be an angel or a devil."

"For reference, it's just for reference." Alonso said politely.

"Well, here I have to regret to tell you that the gentlemen in Manila are full of affection for the big man." Juan said here and shook his head: "In fact, the trade with the big man has saved us almost everything .Dear Alonso, the top people, including Governor Juan, will not interfere in the disputes between you and the officials."

During this period of time, the local nobles of Portugal were trying to get rid of the control of the Spanish suzerain and were always preparing to establish an independent country, so the relationship between the two sides was quite bad.

However, in East Asia, thousands of miles away, the relationship between Manila and Macau is relatively close.In the face of Dutch villains, British thieves, Ming pirates and the complicated East Asian trade situation, the two sides had to maintain a loose alliance - for the sake of the common Catholic faith and the common Philip IV For the king's sake.

However, from the day when the first trade fleet departed from Dayuan arrived in the Philippines, this relationship was no longer valid in front of the crossing country.

(End of this chapter)