I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 874: Have we fallen into a cesspool?
Compared to the onlookers, the other ships of the Valencia privateering fleet were terrified when they saw the tragic situation of the "Knight Roland".

A good ship turned into a bonfire in an instant, with raging fire everywhere from bow to stern, from deck to mast.

In the flames, dozens of firemen struggled to run out, and some fell in the flames on the deck and continued to burn.

Those who were lucky enough to reach the side of the ship jumped over and floated in the sea.

Some of the fire men are still burning on the sea, which is creepy to watch!
Some fires were extinguished, but turned into pieces of black charcoal floating on the sea.

The fire was put out for the rest of the survivors, and their lives were saved, but they were only left with a breath of air, floating half-dead on the sea, drifting with the waves.

so horrible!

The other privateers turned around and fled in a panic. The Yunyang, Longde, Koi, Hibiscus, Bailizhou and Tanghu followed quickly. Even the Xiquan, which was cruising far on the periphery, bravely joined the capture team.

The Ming Dynasty ships looked big, but they were fast and had flexible turns. They chased the privateers one after another, fired cannons from a distance, and directly used explosive bombs.

Use rockets for those who are closer, two shots to the soul, and that’s it!
On the ships watching in the distance, observers from various countries continued to remain silent.

In their view, the naval battle ahead had changed from being evenly matched as expected to being one-sided.

The desperate battle turned into a pack of wolves chasing their prey.

Under their gaze, the privateers turned into torches, and some simply dropped their sails in surrender.

More than an hour later, five of the eleven privateers were sunk or burned, three were captured, and two escaped.

There was also a tattered-looking sailboat floating on the sea.

The masts were strewn with corpses, the leaders of the privateering fleet, and at their feet, a deck full of captured sailors crouched with their heads in their hands.

After the Ming escort fleet finished dealing with the three captured Spanish sailing ships, they tied them to the stern and sailed away.

Half an hour later, Farnese led a Spanish ship to approach the exiled sailboat.

When Farnese and the Spanish navy sailors stepped onto the deck, the sailors who were squatting on the deck and shivering burst into tears as if they saw the light of day.

My dear ones, why did you come so late?
We have really suffered a lot of injustice. Those Ming people are so cruel!
Without saying a word, they picked out all the gorgeously dressed leaders among our captives, then randomly selected one of each of the three men and hung them all on the horizontal bar.

They said that this was their rule for dealing with pirates, the leader would be killed! The sailors would be drawn three times and hanged!
How barbaric!

There is no mercy from God at all!
Is there still any law? Is there anyone who can take care of this?

Farnese said nothing, but asked the sailors to lower all the corpses hanging on the crossbar like sausages, wrap them in shrouds and bury them at sea.

The rest of the crew continued to sail the ship back to Garris.

When Spanish privateers were captured by other countries, they were usually treated as pirates and hanged. The Spanish Navy also treated privateers from other countries the same way.

It is legal for privateers to operate with letters of marque issued by their own country, but to other countries, they are pirates.

Everyone can accept the Ming Navy escort fleet's handling of the matter.

The environment of the sea is extremely harsh. Those who dare to go out to sea to become sailors and pirates are all daring and reckless. Without severe punishment, these guys cannot be suppressed at all.

Not only that, the military regulations and laws of the navies of various countries are also extremely cruel. It is common to whip people with salt water. If you violate the military regulations even slightly, you will be punished.

Except for Juan and Farnese who continued to be in a heavy mood, the rest of the captains, officers and sailors, including the Spanish fleet, were more concerned about their bets.

Those who had bet on the wrong ship just now cursed angrily, saying that the Valencia privateering fleet was incompetent and that the Ming navy fleet had no moral principles!
Those who bet on the right thing boasted about their own foresight and the strength of the Ming Dynasty's naval fleet. They went to the dealer to claim their prizes with a smile, and then planned to go to the next port to spend a lot of money!
Near noon the next day, the Yunyang and Lund of the Ming Navy escort fleet, under the guidance of the Prince Henry and the Rebelo, slowly sailed into the Port of Lisbon and stopped steadily at the dock.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji lifted their collars and walked along the gangway to the dock. After waiting for a while, they saw Zhao Shizhen coming down from the "Longde" with two deputies.

Zhao Shizhen is now the deputy director of the External Liaison Bureau of the Ministry of Public Administration and the director of the Imperial Observatory. He is on the Longde with a six-member Imperial Observatory scientific expedition team.

Members included astronomers, geographers, climatologists, navigators, linguists and painters, and were ordered to conduct detailed geographical mapping and record-keeping of areas along the way, including various surveys and records of local topography, climate, hydrology, humanities, etc.

At the same time, we also investigated the local culture and civilization and collected relevant texts and books.

Because it involved scientific research secrets, according to confidentiality regulations, Zhao Shizhen and his team not only had little contact with Portuguese people such as Marcelo and Leon, but also acted independently from Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji.

We just took some time to meet after docking to discuss the follow-up arrangements.

Now that they have arrived in Lisbon, one of the destinations of this diplomatic mission, Zhao Shizhen also wants to go into the city to take a look and investigate the local humanities. At the same time, he wants to collect books, paintings and other cultural artworks that represent Portuguese culture.

Marcelo went out to negotiate with the port officials, while Shen Wanxiang, Wang Yongji and Zhao Shizhen stood together and chatted quietly.

Their followers and deputies stood around in groups of three or four, each talking to themselves.

Hundreds of Portuguese people rushed to the dock upon hearing the news. They stood in the distance and watched, pointing at a few people and talking loudly.

"Are these people wearing silk?"

"Silk is produced there, so it's normal to wear silk."

"Look at their belts. They have gold and silver threads! My God, there are gems, green ones. Are they emeralds?"

The Portuguese, like the Europeans, had no idea about jade and thought it was a precious item like emeralds.

"Looks really rich, richer than those Venetian vampires and those damn Arabs."

"Damn it! Why did the pagans take all the treasures? We must rob all the pagans. This is God's will."

"Haha, look at how big their ship is and how densely its guns are stacked. If you dare to rob it, go ahead. I don't want to die anyway."

The Portuguese were watching and talking about the Ming envoys, while Shen Wanxiang and others were also observing the Portuguese on the dock.

These people were wearing cotton and linen clothes, most of them were worn out and few were new.

Some of them had short hair, some had long hair, but without exception, their hair was loose and messy, like a chicken coop. The most particular people would just tie it up with a rope to prevent it from flying around.

Some of them were pale and thin, while others had dark skin, revealing burnt and messy teeth when they spoke or laughed. There were many women among them, wearing coarse aprons and wrapping their hair with a piece of cloth, doing heavy work like the men, pushing carts, carrying buckets, and some carrying baskets, selling black bread in the crowd.

In some women's baskets, you can still see Ming Dynasty cigarettes, Lugouqiao and Luanhe brands, but they are all unpacked, and when someone comes to buy, they buy them one by one.

Two or three men gathered together and took turns smoking the cigarette they had bought.

There was also a man holding a cigarette between one fingers, standing aside and smoking casually, his posture was so outstanding.

The men next to him looked at the man who could smoke a whole cigarette with envy.

Some of them held pipes, stuffed with tobacco, and puffed on them. But no matter how many puffs they took, they always looked regretful and did not feel satisfied like the men who smoked cigarettes.

Soon, a group of port officials followed Marcelo over. The two or three people in the lead were wearing silk clothes, double-breasted tights embroidered with colorful patterns.

The lower body is covered with tight pants, and there is a circle of fluffy pleated cloth below the waist, like the edge of an umbrella to cover the lower body and buttocks.

Zhao Shizhen was sharp-eyed and noticed that several of the girls had high wooden heels on the bottom of their shoes, which made them look particularly "seductive" when they walked.

But paired with their big beards, it looks particularly weird.

Marcelo gave a brief introduction. Headed by the chief administrative officer of the Port of Lisbon, a baron.

The man next to him, with the highest heels and the thickest beard, was the military commander of the port of Lisbon, a naval admiral and baron.

The rest were a dozen tax collectors and sheriffs. Each of them not only had high heels, but also had very long names. Shen Wanxiang and others had their heads buzzing after hearing them. They couldn't remember and didn't want to remember.

After introducing each other, everyone got on the ten carriages parked nearby and drove towards the city of Lisbon.

Marcelo accompanied Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji in the most luxurious carriage.

Leon accompanied Zhao Shizhen into the second carriage.

Wu Guanhai declined the invitation to go into the city, and wanted to stay at the port.

The Koi and other five warships are still staying outside the port, and will rotate into the port after the Yunyang and Longde are replenished. Wu Guanhai needs to be in command.

The Port of Lisbon is some distance away from the city. After driving for about ten minutes, through the car window, I could see the city walls in the distance getting closer and higher.

Marcelo handed over a glass bottle.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji were stunned. What does this mean?
"Mr. Shen, Mr. Wang, this is perfume, sprinkle some on your body and put some under your nose."

Marcelo said in stiff official language.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji looked at each other and hesitantly took the perfume bottle. Is this the custom in Portugal?

Do outsiders have to spray some perfume before entering the city?

I looked down and was shocked! How come this perfume bottle was made in Ming Dynasty?

There is a piece of paper on the front of the crystal clear bottle. On the top is an icon of flowers blooming, and below is a line of small words surrounding it, "Fragrance of a Hundred Flowers"

The following line of large vertical characters reads: "Premium Floral Water".

At the bottom are three lines of words: "50 milliliters", "Exclusively for export" and "Produced by Shanghai Floral Water Factory".

It turned out to be Baihuaxiang brand floral water, which, like Fengyoujing and Qingliangyou, is the three treasures for residents and sailors in the South China Sea to repel mosquitoes and eliminate filth.

Later it gradually spread to Xunzhou, Tianzhu and other regions, and now it has crossed the ocean and arrived in Portugal.

But according to Marcelo and Leon, Portugal and Spain are warm and dry, which is completely different from the hot and humid weather in the South China Sea, India and Xunzhou. Do they also need to repel mosquitoes?

"Sir Ma, we do."

Shen Wanxiang declined and took out a small bottle of Fengyoujing, which is more effective in repelling mosquitoes.

After applying it on the hands, neck, and left and right temples, he handed it to Wang Yongji.

Marcelo took back the toilet water, smiled awkwardly, uncorked the bottle, and sprayed it all over his body. He also poured a lot of it on his neck, temples and under his nose.

Then he closed the car window.

The whole car was filled with fragrance and no other smell could be detected.

Lord Ma, I know you are a noble and rich.

But you can’t do this even if you have money!

This toilet water is sold very cheaply within the Ming Dynasty, but once it is put into a glass bottle and labeled as exported, it becomes very expensive.

From what we just saw in the port of Lisbon, you Portuguese are not rich, and you nobles don't have much surplus food at home, so you should use it sparingly.

Shen Wanxiang muttered to himself, but because of his face, he didn't dare to say it out loud.

The carriage clattered and soon drove onto a cobblestone road.

According to Leon, hundreds of years ago, the Romans in Spain and Portugal built roads using volcanic ash, which was the same as the cement of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the roads deteriorated over time, and since there was not much volcanic ash in Spain and Portugal, they were replaced with stone paved roads.

The streets of Lisbon are all paved with cobblestones.

Leon grew up in Lisbon and has deep feelings for it, and he uses only beautiful words to describe it.

After listening to Leon's introduction, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji thought that Lisbon should be a coastal port city like Guangzhou and Quanzhou, prosperous, bustling and full of vitality.
Suddenly, a foul odor came in from the gaps in the doors and windows, mixed with the fragrance of floral water, like a mace, viciously stabbing into the nostrils of Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji.

Niangxi!
Did our carriage fall into the cesspool?

(End of this chapter)