I was a god in the 18th century

Chapter 490 Qing Dynasty, Here I Come

The diplomatic mission to China that Owen was a member of sailed south from Britain in late September 1792, rounded the Cape of Good Hope in Africa into the Indian Ocean, then crossed the Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea, and finally headed north along the Chinese coastline.

It took nearly ten months, until the beginning of July 1793, before they were allowed to land in Dinghai. Before that, they passed through Guangzhou but were unable to disembark and had to stay on the ship.

Xia Qingdai spent her entire sophomore year raising fish.

As they fed the animals along the way, there were several cute pets that refused to leave the fleet.

There are silly humpback whales, smart beluga whales, naughty dolphins, and the killer whales who love to steal food, and so on.

The most amazing thing is that after Xia Qingdai’s feeding, the humpback whales and killer whales, who had been enemies for a long time, both shook their tails and made peace.

Of course, cute pets are not the protagonists of this journey. The delegation is also accompanied by more dangers along the way.

When the fleet reached the waters around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, it was cut off from contact by storms and other bad weather, and the leader, Lord Macartney, even considered backing out.

You should know that the UK had previously sent a team to visit China, but in the end, due to the many hardships along the way, they gave up halfway and chose to return. There is a precedent for this.

Fortunately, this time the team had Earl Owen, who had his own patron saint. At the critical moment, he could at least ensure that the fleet would not be wiped out. At the same time, he could also bring people hope and faith, which allowed everyone to persevere in the end.

Along the way, some people died in shipwrecks, and some died of illness due to lack of medical care. The sea is their final destination.

Although Xia Qingdai would go home every week to escort the fleet for two days and rescue sick people in time, she spent most of her time in school after all, and storms and diseases would not be stupid enough to strike on the weekends when she was there.

Fortunately, the fleet finally overcame many hardships and arrived at the territory of the Qing Dynasty in July.

July is a happy summer vacation for college students. Jiangnan University is also known as a vacation university, and it started its vacation early.

Logically, Xia Qingdai would have plenty of time to fully experience the fun of traveling through the Qing Dynasty. But in fact, Xia Qingdai, who already had a master, was busier during the summer vacation.

She had to copy prescriptions with her master in the hospital. She was either following behind her master, Mr. Liang, or following behind her senior brothers and sisters who had already left their masters. In short, she was always busy.

Therefore, she did not catch up to watch the fleet's landing in Dinghai on the first day.

When she returned home, the map in the glass tank had been refreshed. It was no longer an ocean, but a huge mansion.

This mansion is located at the foot of a mountain. Looking down from above, one can easily distinguish the entrance hall, main hall, second hall and other courtyards. It is definitely the residence of an important person.

The surrounding hills are winding and lush, and the quiet environment is unforgettable at first sight.

"It's really our ancestors who made this complex much more spectacular than those manors in the UK." Xia Qingdai clicked her tongue twice, feeling quite emotional and excited at the same time.

Finally, she could land in the Qing Dynasty! She had been floating on the sea before, and she couldn't see the land buildings of the Qing Dynasty. She had been itching to go there for a long time.

She was seen leaning on the edge of the glass tank, leaning her head out, staring at Owen with her beautiful eyes wide open.

She knew Owen must be here, because if Owen was at sea, the map would not change.

Sure enough, after a while, Owen, who was attending a banquet in the banquet hall, stood up and walked out of the hall, looking up at the clouds, and met Xia Qingdai's curious eyes. "Owen, so you are here!" Owen, with his blond hair, was very eye-catching against the background of the rat-tailed man, and Xia Qingdai recognized him at a glance.

Owen nodded slightly but did not answer. Surrounded by Eastern soldiers, he would lose face if he spoke to himself rashly.

Xia Qingdai stopped talking nonsense after finding the person. With a smile on her face, she turned into a little man and appeared next to Owen.

She did not use up her faith to show up, but stood on the left and right in an invisible state. This was the best way, and it was the easiest for her.

There were only three people who went ashore today, namely George Staunton, the deputy envoy of the mission, Isaac Owen, and John Barrow, the private secretary of Lord Macartney, who were invited to attend a welcome banquet at the general government office.

Not long after Owen came out, he was pulled in again by Staunton, who couldn't leave him. Only Xia Qingdai was left outside, looking around curiously.

She glanced at the heads of the soldiers standing guard every five steps, and couldn't help but curl her lips. It turned out that the hairstyles of Qing Dynasty men in real life were uglier than those on TV.

At least on TV, it was a smooth wig, and only half of the head was shaved. But in reality, the hair of men in the Qing Dynasty really looked like a rat's tail, with only a small tuft at the back of the head.

No matter how good-looking they are, they can't stand this ugly hairstyle. It's better to shave their heads. Therefore, when Xia Qingdai looked around, the initial impression of these soldiers was just one word: ugly.

"The Qing Dynasty is harming people!" Xia Qingdai muttered, then turned and walked into the brightly lit hall.

In fact, it is daytime now, but perhaps to show its grandeur, this spacious banquet hall is hung with colorful tassel hanging lamps.

Xia Qingdai looked up at the hanging lamp curiously, thinking that the glass technology of the Qing Dynasty was quite good. The lampshade was absolutely translucent and felt better than the glass lamps she had seen in London.

"Oh my god, this isn't glass!" Xia Qingdai got closer and was amazed. The lampshade in front of her was not made of glass, but gauze as thin as a cicada's wing, and some of it looked like keratin flakes, which was much more high-end and classy than glass.

She couldn't help but touch one of them gently, and the lamp suddenly moved without wind, which naturally attracted people's attention.

"Strange, why did this light suddenly move?" the receptionist murmured to himself.

Owen, the only one in the audience who could see Xia Qingdai, looked in her direction and smiled slightly.

Staunton's attention was also drawn to the hanging lamp, so he walked forward and asked curiously what material the lamp was made of.

It doesn't look like glass, but it is more translucent than glass.

The missionary came forward to translate his question. Ma Yu, the general of Dinghai Town, said with a smug look on his face, "This thing is a sheep's horn."

"Sheep horns? Oh, my God, how is this possible!" Staunton would never believe that sheep horns could look like this.

Britain is a major wool exporter, so they have seen a lot of sheep horns.

Dinghai County Magistrate Zhang Yutian said calmly: "This is certainly not the original goat horn. If you want to make a lamp like this, you have to soak the goat horn in boiling water to soften it, then flatten it, scrape it clean, and then stretch it. Don't think it's simple as I say, the craftsmanship is not simple, I'm sure you won't see it outside."

Staunton agreed with this, saying that he had traveled all over the country for so long and had never seen it in other countries.