Borrow the day to change the day

After Xu Xiake said these words, seeing the surprised looks of the people around him, he felt a little satisfied in his heart.As expected, they were all shocked.

But Duke Xingguo didn't seem very surprised, which made Xu Xiake slightly disappointed.

"How?" Zhong Jinwei still asked the long-awaited question of the guards.

With a trace of contempt, Xu Xiake recalled: "European countries, no matter from the princes and nobles to the common people, basically don't take a bath for a year, and they stink all over."

Yu Changjian, who was a little weak in concentration, couldn't help but lose his voice when he heard it: "Ah, can't they smell it themselves?"

He couldn't imagine that if he didn't take a bath all year round and his body smelled bad, would he be able to get out?

Xu Xiake, the Duke's guard, did not dare to be rude.Besides, he is also an ordinary person who has jumped into an official, but he has not been influenced by the officialdom.Given his own age and experience, he naturally wouldn't feel that answering Yu Changjian's question would give him a sense of identity.

Xu Xiake answered Yu Changjian's question with a smile: "Of course I can smell it. Although they wear brocade and embroidered robes, they can't cover the smell. Therefore, the most expensive thing in Europe is spices, but they can't completely cover it up. Stink."

"And they also dumped the evening primroses on the street at will, so the whole city stinks." Xu Xiake added, "It's better now, and it's said that it was even worse a few decades ago."

Seeing that Yu Changjian asked a question, Xu Xiake also answered politely.Wang Peng on the side couldn't help but also asked: "Are all those Xiyi brains sick? I really can't imagine how they can live in such a dirty world!"

When Xu Xiake heard this, he turned to look at Wang Peng, and explained to him: "They think that if you don't take a bath, you won't get the Black Death. It is said that when Mongolia conquered Europe, half of their population got the Black Death and died. Therefore, it has become a tradition that everyone no longer takes a bath in order to avoid the black death."

"Black Death?" This time it was Gu Baichuan's turn to ask in surprise.

For Gu Baichuan, the head of the East Factory, Xu Xiake also maintained his courtesy, and patiently replied: "They call it the Black Death, which is not only very contagious, but also has a very high mortality rate. As for what it is, no one has yet knew."

They didn't know, but Zhong Jinwei had heard of it.He explained to them: "The Black Death is the plague, a bacterial infection. It can be transmitted through the bite of fleas, mosquitoes, etc., or airborne transmission such as spit."

When Xu Xiake heard Zhong Jinwei calmly and confidently introducing the Black Death, he couldn't help being very surprised. He didn't expect the Duke to be very familiar with the Black Death.

Zhong Jinwei's guards, however, were so knowledgeable about him that they were numb to the point of stimulation, and they didn't have the surprise that Xu Xiake showed at all.

But Zhong Jinwei's next words made them laugh together.I only heard Zhong Jinwei say: "Europeans don't take a bath in order to prevent the Black Death. This is also reasonable. You think, if they don't take a bath all year round, there should be a thick layer of armor on their bodies. Fleas and mosquitoes can bite the flesh." Is it?"

The hall was quiet for a while, then burst into laughter.They were amused by the scene described by the Duke.The dirt on the body is so thick that fleas and mosquitoes can't bite the flesh. This is really equivalent to wearing armor.

Xu Xiake also laughed for a while, then quickly put away his smile, and asked Zhong Jinwei worriedly: "Duke, this plague is so severe. Fortunately, it has never appeared in my Ming Dynasty. If there is, what should I do?" prevention?"

If someone else said this, Yu Changjian would definitely scold him like a crow's mouth.But when Xu Xiake asked the Duke, he could only sit on the sidelines and see what solution the Duke had.

Historically, this plague really appeared in Daming, and the damage was quite serious.Just when Li Zicheng led the troops to attack the city of Beijing, almost none of the soldiers defending the city were spared, and they all got the plague and were unable to defend.Otherwise, it would be really impossible for Li Zicheng's peasant uprising army to capture the city of Beijing, which is fortified and powerful.

Moreover, Li Zicheng's main force entered Beijing, so they also got the plague. Because of the incubation period, it did not erupt immediately.

But when it broke out, it was at the time of the fatal war with the Manchus, which caused Li Zicheng's army to be defeated. There was no resistance at all, and they directly handed over the north to the Manchus.

The Manchus learned from the previous Ming army and Li Zicheng's army, and did not enter Beijing immediately, but stationed outside for a long time.Due to the drop in temperature in winter, the Black Death gradually disappeared, and the northern provinces were finally stolen by the Manchu Qing.

Regarding these matters, Zhong Jinwei talked to Emperor Chongzhen in the past.Because of this, the hygienic situation in the capital is cleaner and tidy than before.

Of course, Zhong Jinwei didn't need to talk about these things with these people in front of him. He just replied to Xu Xiake: "There is no good way to cure the Black Death at the moment. It can only be prevented and prevented from spreading. There are already specialists in Taiyuan Hospital Study how this virus, which is transmitted by bacteria, can be treated."

Xu Xiake felt relieved after hearing this.Since I know the route of infection in Ming Dynasty, there will be no such huge transmission rate in Europe.

Zhong Jinwei didn't want them to continue entangled in this matter, because these people in front of them were powerless to do anything about it.So he changed the subject and said, "You say Europeans are still lascivious, do you mean they mess around with men and women?"

Xu Xiake actually didn't mean this. A man has many mistresses. This kind of thing is the same as a man in Ming Dynasty having many wives and concubines. It is also a common thing.

But the Duke said it, and Xu Xiake echoed it: "The Duke is right, some of their women with status often have several lovers. But the thing that the officials feel the most shameless is not referring to this..."

"What else could it be?" Wang Peng couldn't help interjecting when he heard this.

In the eyes of men in Ming Dynasty, a man can have multiple women, but it is absolutely intolerable for a woman to have multiple men, and she will definitely be labeled as an adulteress.

But they didn't expect that what Xu Xiake said didn't refer to this. Could there be something more out of the ordinary?

Xu Xiake shook his head and sighed, "Maybe it's just a difference in customs. The upper class in Europe prefers big breasts. Even the Queen of England, when meeting guests, she also has big breasts."

"What, big breasts?" Now it was Zhong Jinwei's turn to be surprised.He has never heard of this matter.He only remembered that Korean women had this custom of showing their breasts, and it was after the Japanese invasion that they were forced to get rid of it.Could it be that the habit of breastfeeding came from Europe?

Seeing that Duke Xing was also so surprised, Xu Xiake finally realized something that the Duke didn't know about. He nodded affirmatively and said: "In order to maintain the beauty of their breasts, they let others praise their exposed breasts, and they don't even want to let others praise their breasts. Milk babies are all fed by the nanny."