Zhang Yanling pondered for a moment and organized his words, hoping not to arouse this person's suspicion. Although this person was very enthusiastic and did not seem to have any malicious intentions. But in a foreign country, dangers are everywhere. So be careful.
For the top.
"Shopkeeper Dong, we are ignorant, and this is the first time we secretly go overseas to do business. We take huge risks, but we don't want to make any mistakes. We heard that this place is occupied by the people of the Folangji country. It is said that the people of the Folangji country have green faces and fangs, and are very popular.
They are brutal and kill without blinking an eye. We are worried about encountering them. If we encounter them, how should we save our lives?" Zhang Yanling whispered.
Shopkeeper Dong laughed and said: "Guys, who did you listen to? This rumor is so ridiculous. The Folangji people are indeed here, but like us, they don't have one nose, two eyes, hands and hands.
Feet? But the nose is higher and the hair is curly
His eyes are greener. He is indeed a bit scary. He has a lot of hair on his body and looks like a furry bear with his clothes open. He is indeed very vicious in killing people, but that was in the past. Nowadays, the Flemish people rarely kill people.
Now, we are at peace with the people here."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "So that's it, it seems like there's no need to worry."
Shopkeeper Dong shook his head and said: "That's not the case. These foreign devils are still unreasonable. It's best to stay away from them to avoid getting into trouble. But don't worry about it here. Our place is called Dragon Tooth Gate. Most of the Fo Langji people are here
The port at the western end of the strait, our place is at the sharp corner of the southeastern side of the strait."
Zhang Yanling suddenly realized that the location of the few of them was at the southeastern entrance of the Strait of Malacca, the southernmost point of the Malay Peninsula. Zhang Yanling had carefully studied the illustrations of Zheng He's voyages, and the Dragon Tooth Gate was Malacca.
At the entrance to the eastern end of the strait, Singapore, a small country, was later established here.
According to shopkeeper Dong, the military port of the Francois is on the west side of the strait, not here.
"There are no Folangji people here? That's great." Zhang Yanling cursed in her heart, but smiled on her lips.
"Folangji people also come to inspect, both on land and at sea. But they do land inspections once a month. But something has happened recently. The warships at sea are coming to us one by one. They go back and forth several times a day.
, I don’t know what happened. Guys, I’d like to give you a warning. It’s best not to offend the Francois. Whatever goods you want to buy, leave as soon as possible. You outsiders will not be able to live here after all.”
Shopkeeper Dong said.
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Thank you for reminding me. We will go out to stock up tomorrow. I heard that night pearls, tortoise shell coral trees and other things are very cheap here. We plan to buy a boat and go back to make a fortune."
Shopkeeper Dong was stunned and said: "Oh, guys, I forgot to tell you. Except for ordinary goods, such precious items as pearls, agate, tortoiseshell coral, agarwood, ivory, etc. are no longer allowed to be sold privately. Do you want to buy them?
, I’m afraid I won’t be able to buy it anymore.”
Zhang Yanling frowned and said: "What? Are they all controlled by Fo Langji?"
Shopkeeper Dong sighed: "You are right. The Folangji people have issued a strict order. All the dozen or so valuables they listed must be purchased and sold by them. They have offices here and at the Sumatra Junior High School opposite.
The trading house specializes in purchasing these prices.
The price is extremely low, but private sales are not allowed. I advise you not to take this risk. Even if you want to buy these goods, no one will dare to sell them to you. Unless the people of Folangji sell you, they themselves
I often sell some secretly to merchants to enrich my own pockets."
Zhang Yanling understood. The Folangji people obviously want to control local export commodities, buy them forcibly at low prices, and then sell them to various places through the company they set up to trade, making huge profits. This is actually not surprising at all. Otherwise, Folang
What are the robots doing here?
"Shopkeeper Dong, the seaport you mentioned where they are stationed is the Malacca port? Do you have to go there to buy goods? How far is it from here?" Zhang Yanling asked.
Shopkeeper Dong widened his eyes and said, "You don't really want to do this, do you? Guys, I would like to remind you that if you do business with the Folangji people, you may lose both your life and wealth and get nothing. You guys
Why is it so? There are other valuable local goods, including some spices that we don’t have in the Ming Dynasty. Also, there are monkeys, parrots, and various flowers here, which are all rare in the Ming Dynasty. Although you don’t make much, you can still make money.
Make a fortune."
Zhang Yanling said: "To be honest with the shopkeeper, I am going to make a fortune when I come out this time. If I don't get some valuable goods back, this trip will be a life-and-death experience. I will come here across the ocean and suffer all the hardships. Wouldn't it be in vain?"
Here we come. No matter what, I want to make a profit this time, and I will never come again. There are a lot of us, wives, children, old and young, and we are counting on us to make this money. But we sold everything to get some capital. I have no shame to go back to my hometown for a wasted trip.
ah."
Shopkeeper Dong looked at Zhang Yanling and sighed: "Hey, I don't know what to say. Anyway, I advised you. If you don't listen, that's your own business. If you really want to take risks and try your luck, I can't stop you.
Live. You are right, the port of Malacca is on the seaside three hundred miles to the west. There is a major road leading to it from here. If you hire a car, it will only take a few days to walk. But I still think that you still
Think before you act.”
Zhang Yanling raised his glass and said with a smile: "A toast to the shopkeeper, he has told us so many things. I would also like to ask the shopkeeper a favor. Is it possible to buy horses locally? We want to rush there as soon as possible."
Shopkeeper Dong sighed, raised his glass and drank the wine, then stood up and said, "Tomorrow I will ask the store clerk to take you to the horse store."
The next morning, shopkeeper Dong ordered the store clerk to take Zhang Yanling and others to a horse market.
It is said to be a horse market, but there are some local inferior horses with messy coats for sale. Most of these horses are used for farming and pulling carts, and only a few of them can be used as mounts.
But Zhang Yanling and others couldn't care less. Zhang Yanling originally wanted to spend ten days investigating the terrain and the opponent's strength. Three days have passed, and he even came to the east end of the strait, which is insignificant. Now he doesn't even have a single Buddha.
Neither the robots nor the warships were seen.
Going to Malacca Harbor again, with such a long trip back and forth, I am afraid that time is very tight. Therefore, as long as the horse can travel, there is no time to pick and choose.
However, although they were all low-quality horses that Zhang Yanling would not look at on weekdays, Zhang Yanling thought of a way. The four of them bought eight horses so that they could ride them interchangeably on the road, which might solve some problems.
The local horse dealer smiled crookedly and pointed his thumb at Zhang Yanling and others, praising him repeatedly. Eight horses were sold at once, which was unprecedented. Moreover, these people did not bargain and sold the horses.
I paid a high price and made a lot of money. I thought in my heart that these people who bought horses were stupid and had too much money.
After buying the horses, Zhang Yanling and others returned to the Yuelai Inn and ordered people to feed the horses well and take care of them. They invited shopkeeper Dong to have a drink at noon and then left.
Shopkeeper Dong tried hard to persuade them, but in the end it was still difficult to persuade them. He had no choice but to send Zhang Yanling and others away with a sigh.
A few people rode horses and followed the direction indicated by Shopkeeper Dong. They left the market and walked south for several miles before seeing the endless sea not far away.
After riding the horse and approaching, he saw a dark land across the sea, in the mist. Zhang Yanling knew that it was the Sumatra Island across the Strait of Malacca, far opposite the Malay Peninsula. This piece of land in front of him
The sea area is actually the eastern entrance of the Strait of Malacca.
Zhang Yanling's eyes wandered across the strait, and he saw the rock standing in the sea. According to the annotations on Zheng He's navigational illustrations hidden in the imperial pavilion, that should be the rock named by Zheng He.
It is a huge dragon tooth-shaped sea stone at the Dragon Tooth Gate. At that time, Zheng He saw that the stone was shaped like a dragon tooth and named it so. He also used it as a navigation mark and the starting point of entering the Strait of Malacca.
Zhang Yanling looked at the huge rock protruding out of the sea from a distance, feeling quite emotional in his heart. Imagine what it must have been like when Zheng He led hundreds of treasure ships here, with white sails blocking the sun and ships coming like clouds. It must have brought
The people here were greatly shocked.
I came here today and set foot on this land and sea again. Perhaps, the shock it will bring soon will be no less than this.
"My lord, the seaside road is just ahead. Should we leave?" Chen Shiyi asked loudly as he rode back from the cliff by the strait in front.
Zhang Yanling nodded, waved his riding whip and shouted: "Get on the road."
…
Manlajia Seaport is more than 300 miles west of Longya Gate. Several people rode their horses and whipped their horses all the way. Although they used the multi-horse strategy and the method of changing horses without resting, this place
After all, the bad horses are useless, slow and lazy, and their walking speed is really hard to compliment.
Moreover, every ten miles or so, Zhang Yanling would come to the edge of the cliffs of the strait to check the terrain, observe the width of the water flow in the strait, and draw a simple topography of the strait for later making a sand table as a reference for combat strategies.
Moreover, there were indeed warships cruising on the sea. When they encountered the Folangji warship, Zhang Yanling and others naturally had to stop and watch.
They kept walking like this for two days and three nights. Only then at dawn on the third day did they see a large number of houses in front of them and a large number of ships on the sea. Zhang Yanling knew that this trip should be to Manla.
A seaport has been added.
Everyone was exhausted, and only four of the eight 'god horses' were left. The other four couldn't hold on on the road, so they were kicked off the cliff by Chen Shi to feed the fish. The remaining four were
Pi also rolled his eyes and felt weak.
However, finally arriving here, it can be regarded as a meritorious service. A few people hid in the mountains and forests for a while, put the horses in the woods, piled some horse materials and put some water for them, and then several people changed into local horses.
Wearing human clothes and hats, we walked along the avenue towards Manlajia Harbor.
The harbor in the distance is extremely busy. Countless ships come and go, with white sails dotted, and seagulls flying in the sky. On the streets, there are white people, black people, and yellow people, wearing gold and silver, shirtless and barefoot.
, riding horses and carrying muskets, there are all kinds of people. No wonder Matteo Ricci, a Thai who visited here, described this place as the Venice of the East in his book. Taixi was the name of Italy in the Ming Dynasty.
The figures of Zhang Yanling and the other four people quickly merged into the crowded crowd at the harbor.