In Xiyang City, Sri Lanka, Tong Yuan, wearing a crimson robe, stepped off the boat and couldn't help but take a few deep breaths.
Along the way, I was almost exhausted.
From Tianjin to Songhu, then from Songhu to Ryukyu, Ryukyu to Luzon in Southeast Asia, Luzon to Malacca City in Zhenghe Province, and then all the way west from Malacca, we finally arrived in Sri Lanka.
This journey took a full three months, and it was only about two-thirds of the way. Next, we had to arrive at Ningguo in Western Tianzhu, and then from Ningguo to East Africa.
to the Chu State, and then headed from the Chu State to the Red Sea to reach Egypt.
The entire trip is very long, and almost all of it is spent on the ship. We only stop to rest for one or two days when we arrive at some important ports.
Sri Lanka is the most important transit point in the Indian Ocean, so Tong Yuan naturally plans to rest here for two days before setting off for Ningguo.
"It is indeed the largest port in the West, and it truly deserves its reputation!"
Tong Yuan looked around. The entire port was very huge. There were many docks built and they were very large. At the same time, a large number of ships were parked in the port.
The dock was extremely busy. The slaves loading and unloading goods were busy all the time. The open space next to it was filled with goods, all of which were square and standard cargo boxes.
There were various flags hung on a ship. Taking a closer look, Tong Yuan couldn't help but laugh because these flags all looked similar.
It can even be said that they are not just similar, they give people almost the same feeling, because most of the flags show a dragon on them.
Among them were ships from the Ming Dynasty, flying the bright yellow dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty. This kind of dragon flag has been recognized by the emperor and the court of the Ming Dynasty. Only ships of the Ming Dynasty can fly this kind of dragon flag.
In addition to the bright yellow Ming Dynasty dragon flag, Tong Yuan also saw blue dragon flags, red dragon flags, white dragon flags, black dragon flags, etc.
There are various dragon flags in different colors. If you take a closer look, you will soon find that there is one less dragon claw on these dragon flags than on the bright yellow dragon flag.
Since the beginning of the last dynasty, there has been a saying of "the emperor with five claws, the princes with four claws, and the doctor with three claws". Obviously, these ships flying dragon flags of various colors are ships from the major vassal states outside the Ming Dynasty.
Because they all came from the Ming Dynasty clan and have the same roots as the Ming Dynasty royal family. At the same time, the people in these vassal states were also Ming people before, and they were all descendants of Yan and Huang.
Therefore, the ships of these vassal states all use dragon flags, but the color must not be the bright yellow that can only be used by the Ming Dynasty royal family. The number of dragon claws must also be reduced, and only four-claw dragon patterns can be used.
Dragon flags of various colors fluttered in the wind and made a hunting sound. Below the dragon flag were flags with various patterns.
By looking at these patterns, you can know which trading house or family the ship belongs to. Flags and patterns were not originally popular in the Ming Dynasty. Since ancient times, people have been accustomed to distinguish them by their surnames.
For example, since ancient times, when armies are marching and fighting, they will basically display the general's surname on a big banner. When marching and fighting, as soon as they see this, they will know whose army it is.
But now, with the development of capitalism, overseas colonial activities and maritime trade, major business houses, families, factories, etc., in order to distinguish themselves, of course also have the meaning of erecting trademarks in later generations.
Therefore, most of the major business houses, families, factories, etc. will make a unique pattern of their own, or paste it on their own products, or hang it on their own ships, business houses, etc., so that they can be easily distinguished.
Easy to identify.
Among them, sea-going ships were naturally the first to use these patterns, because on the sea, communication between ships is basically completed by semaphores.
If you want to show your identity, the best way is to hang a unique pattern on the mast of the ship.
Such a flag soon became popular in the Ming Dynasty. Ships going out to sea would fly flags to indicate which trading house they belonged to, which family they belonged to, etc.
This is actually a bit equivalent to the trademark of later generations. Everyone who sees this trademark knows that it belongs to the cloth produced by a certain factory and the ship of a certain trading house.
Tong Yuan really didn't pay much attention to these things when he was in the Ming Dynasty. It was only after he came to the Western Port in Sri Lanka that he discovered this.
Look carefully at these patterns. Some of them have very simple words written on them, such as Cui family in Qinghe and Li family in Taiyuan. You can tell at a glance that they belong to a big family in a certain place.
Others use special patterns. For example, some companies specializing in sugar cane business embroider a sugar cane on it and add some small characters, such as Nanyang Guazhou Sugar Industry.
In addition, there are some that use special geometric patterns, such as the now world-famous Tianjin Ocean Trading Company. The pattern they use is a triangle inside a circle.
It is very simple and easy to identify. People can tell at a glance that this is a ship of Tianjin Ocean Trading Company. In addition, many industries under Liu Jin's command basically use this kind of Peugeot and use simple collective graphics.
In addition to a variety of unique patterns, the colors of these flags are also diverse, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, all trying their best to show their unique identity.
“Interesting~”
Tong Yuan immediately laughed.
He went to Yinshan County as a county magistrate. Yinshan County was a place ceded by the Japanese state to the Ming Dynasty. It was located on the main island of the Japanese state. Naturally, he had contact with the Japanese state in all aspects and had a relatively good understanding of the situation in the Japanese state.
Various clan emblems were also very popular in the Ming Dynasty in various parts of the Japanese country. Each daimyo had its own clan emblem. Even the samurai class, as long as they had their own surname, they would design a clan emblem unique to their own family.
come out.
Now the Ming Dynasty is almost the same. Big and prestigious families, big trading houses, big factories, etc. will all design their own Peugeots.
The rise of this trend is mainly due to the rapid development of maritime trade, maritime colonization, and industry and commerce. In order to better distinguish themselves from other merchants, families, etc., various families, businesses, etc., began to design
Some special patterns are affixed to their own products.
This is actually an inevitable result of capital development.
Because there are too many people producing the same product, and the quality of the products produced by different people and different firms is uneven. In order for some high-quality firms and families to stand out from the crowd, they naturally have to go through such a process.
means to achieve this goal.
"Excuse me, is this Mr. Tong Yuantong?"
Just when Tong Yuan was watching the various flags on the ships in the Western Harbor with great interest, someone came to Tong Yuan and asked very respectfully.
"Exactly your Excellency, who are you?"
When Tong Yuan heard this, he quickly came to his senses and looked at the other party carefully.
The clothes the other party was wearing also looked like government officials, but they were different from those in the Ming Dynasty. The official uniforms in the Ming Dynasty were basically crimson clothes with birds embroidered on them, like Tong Yuan's from the fifth grade.
Official, his official residence is embroidered with a white pheasant.
As for his teacher, he was a second-rank official in the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Personnel, Zheng'er Ba Jing. His official uniform was crimson, with golden pheasants embroidered on it.
The so-called cranes of the first rank, golden pheasants of the second rank, peacocks of the third rank, and cloud geese of the fourth rank refer to the patterns embroidered on the official uniforms of Ming Dynasty officials.
However, the clothes worn by the man in front of him were similar to the official uniforms of the Ming Dynasty, but the patterns embroidered on them were different from those on the Ming Dynasty. What was embroidered on the clothes was a big tiger.
In addition to the embroidered patterns on the official uniforms, even the hats are a little different. The wings on both sides of the hats are different, but generally they are similar to the official hats of the Ming Dynasty.
"Your Excellency, Li Shishi, is now the Right Prime Minister of Ning State. We, King Ning, heard that Master Tong was coming to the West, so we sent him here in advance to greet him."
Li Shishi replied with a smile.
"It turns out to be Prime Minister Li!"
When Tong Yuan heard this, he immediately looked at the other party carefully and smiled in return.
Well, there is a chain of contempt among scholars in the Ming Dynasty.
For example, in the imperial examination, candidates from the south will despise candidates from the north, and candidates from the north will now despise candidates from the east list.
In addition, the current scholars of the Ming Dynasty and those who served as officials in the Ming Dynasty will despise those who went to overseas colonies and vassal states to serve as officials, because most of these scholars who went to study in overseas vassal states could not even pass the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty.
of.
For example, the right prime minister of Ning State, Li Shishi, was just a down-and-out scholar in Jiangxi Province of the Ming Dynasty. He was depressed and surrendered to King Ning. He followed King Ning to conquer the sea and established a vassal state. Only then did he become the leader of Ning State.
Right Prime Minister.
Naturally, he has a very high status in Ningguo, but it is not easy to use in front of Tong Yuan, a fifth-rank official in the Ming Dynasty, because Tong Yuan is a disciple of the emperor in the Ming Dynasty, and although the other party is also a scholar
, but couldn’t even pass the imperial examination.
Therefore, this also formed a chain of contempt. Officials of the Ming Dynasty looked down upon officials of vassal states, vassal states, and overseas colonies. In many cases, they would not look at each other directly.
In addition, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty will also despise the overseas vassals. The nobles of the colonies, like the Ming Dynasty, have only a few lords, and they can be counted clearly.
However, as the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty flourished overseas and established many vassal states, the vassal kings of these vassal states ennobled a large number of nobles of their own vassal states, and there were countless dukes of various kinds.
Therefore, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty also despised the nobles of overseas vassals. After all, the titles of the Ming Dynasty were the most valuable!