The Abyssinian Empire is located in the easternmost part of the Magha continent. The largest port in the country and the port where Wen Di and others arrived is Massawa Port, located in today's Eritrea. At this time, the capital of the Abyssinian Empire was
Although Axum is not a port, it is still very close to the port, so Emperor David I was able to rush to Massawa Port to meet the Ming Dynasty's fleet.
There is a city only thirty or forty miles away from the city of Aksum, called Adua. This city is not large, but it is not far from the port of Massawa and the city of Aksum, so it is quite prosperous, and there are often
When businessmen from other places pass by, they sometimes stop and stay in this small town for a day or two.
On this day, another group of people entered the city. Logically speaking, it should not have attracted attention, but the composition of this group was so strange that the local people looked at it curiously.
There was not a single dark-skinned person in this group, and they were all relatively white-skinned. The people in the northern part of Abyssinia are almost all the mixed-race descendants of the people from Tianfang and the local natives, and their skin color is similar to that of the natives of Southeast Asia.
There are also a few very white ones who look similar to the Great Cannibal. If they are local businessmen, not all of them will have fair skin.
And after taking a closer look, they discovered that there were people with oriental faces among them. This was even more surprising. Although there are a few orientals living in Abyssinia, their skin is not white at all.
, almost the same as myself, how come you have this skin color?
"I know, they must be here to find Solomon!" Suddenly someone said with a sudden realization. After hearing his words, many people also woke up and said, "They must be here to find Solomon."
"Solomon? Which Solomon?" But some people are still confused.
"That's the Oriental who lives near Mr. Gebrselassie's house and makes a living by selling Oriental-style furniture and teaching people the food dialect and other languages. His skin is fairer, and it is said that he comes from the Ming Empire, the most powerful country in the world.
These people with similar skin color and appearance must have come to see him," someone explained.
They guessed well that this team, which included both Westerners and Easterners, was looking for the man they called Solomon. After Wen Di ordered the Nanyang young man to take his guards to find the Han Chinese with mysterious origins, although the young man
Unwilling, but not daring not to agree, he could only take three or four Wendi's guards to find him. Wendi also thought that if there was any conflict and needed to communicate with the local officials, he sent Claviyo to go with him.
go.
This Nanyang young man had dealt with the mysterious Han Chinese and knew where he lived. He took them to Adua City and went straight to his home without stopping after entering the city.
"Dear Guard Chen, fellow guards, Mr. Claviyo, after this very mysterious man was brought back by the official of the Abyssinian country, he seemed to be a slave at first, but within a few years the official
They removed his status as a slave and made him a free citizen, and took great care of him. With the help of officials, he built a local shop and made some Ming-style furniture for sale. The locals wanted to use it as a novelty.
There are many people buying from Aksum and Massawa Port. I also got to know him because of the furniture purchase."
"Later, with the news that the Ming Dynasty defeated the Timur Khanate, some people remembered that he once said that he was from the Ming Dynasty, and wanted to recruit him into his home and make him his staff. But he declined. But he
Even though he declined to become an aide, he was still willing to tell others about the Ming Dynasty. So no one forced him. Later, His Majesty Dawit I got to know him and asked him to go to Axum City to teach Chinese to a few people, but it was just
After teaching for a few years, he came back."
"After that, even if he still sold furniture, his business was much better than before, and there were many more people buying furniture. Some people advised him to move to Aksum or Massawa Port, but he refused. Later, there was news from the Ming Dynasty.
It gradually faded away and no one remembered him."
"To make life easier, he gave him a local name called Solomon. But when I talked with him, I remembered that he mentioned that his original surname was Zhang." On the way to Solomon's house, the young man from Nanyang also introduced.
The leading guard named Chen Yonghua just nodded after hearing his introduction and said nothing more. However, several other people couldn't help but started talking. "Why didn't this man return to the Central Plains after he was no longer a slave?"
"Perhaps he was originally a businessman, but he lost all his family property because he went out to do business and was too embarrassed to go back?"
"But he made a lot of money later."
"I probably didn't bother to go back after that. And after so many years here, I might have married a wife and had children."
As they were discussing, the Nanyang young man stopped, pointed to a shop two or three feet away and said, "That's his shop. He should be in the shop at this time and won't go out."
Chen Yonghua looked up and down. The store was not big, but the house was very well built and did not give people a cramped feeling. There were several pieces of furniture placed outside the door, including tables and chairs, depending on the style.
It does look like it belongs to the Ming Dynasty. The business of this shop is really good. Several people in gorgeous clothes are trying to sit outside. Through the door, you can see that there are also people inside.
"This kind of house," another guard said at this time, "seems to be the style over there in Guangxi. The Guangxi Guild Hall in Beijing looks like this."
"As you said, it does look like a house in Guangxi. Could it be that this person is from Guangxi?" someone else said.
They were discussing when they suddenly saw Chen Yonghua raising his legs and walking towards the shop. Someone asked him hurriedly. Chen Yonghua turned around and said, "Why do you think about it outside? Why don't you go in and ask?" Then he walked towards the shop again.
The others looked at each other and hurriedly followed. Claviyo and the Nanyang young man did not go in, but waited outside.
Chen Yonghua walked into the store and turned around to see a Han Chinese-looking man talking to a well-dressed local. He did not say anything immediately, but sat down on a chair in the store and looked at the man. The man looked at
He is about forty years old, quite tall, and has a scar on the left side of his face.
"Dear guest, what furniture do you want to buy?" He was looking at it when suddenly such a sentence came from beside him, which was said in Amharic. Chen Yonghua did not understand this language, so he turned his head and said to him.
The person he spoke to was stunned for a moment when he saw his appearance, and then he changed to a Southeast Asian language and spoke again.
Chen Yonghua can speak this language and replied: "I want Solomon to discuss it directly. Are you a clerk in this store?"
"Yes, I am the clerk of this shop." The clerk smiled and said: "If you want to discuss with the boss, you have to wait a little longer. Mr. Meskel must carefully select the furniture every time and bargain repeatedly.
."
"It's okay, I can wait." Chen Yonghua replied. Seeing that he insisted on waiting for the boss, the waiter could only let him go and serve other customers. Several other guards walked in without disturbing Solomon.
After a while, Solomon finished talking about the business and let out a sigh of relief. Just as he picked up the water glass and took a sip, he heard a Chinese voice coming from beside him: "Are you Mr. Zhang?"
Hearing this, Solomon dropped his water glass to the ground in surprise. But he didn't care about his water glass at all. Instead, he turned his head in shock, looked at Chen Yonghua and others, and said in a trembling voice: "You, you are
Han Chinese?”
"We are indeed Han people. It seems that those Nanyang people did not deceive us. You are indeed Han people," Chen Yonghua said.
"I am indeed a Chinese." Solomon's expression changed, as if he had recalled something. After a while, he came back to his senses, his expression returned to normal, and he asked: "You are here to do business in Abyssinia.
, Why are you coming to me? Want to buy furniture? No, no, although you are not wearing armor, you look like military generals at first sight, and you will never go to sea to do business. Could it be that the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Abyssinia? "
"Why, you haven't heard about the recent events?" Chen Yonghua asked.
"What happened?" Solomon was stunned for a moment, and then said: "You are talking about the Ming Dynasty envoy coming to Abyssinia. It can only be this kind of thing. I have been making a fuss about it the past few days.
Custom-made furniture, I don’t care about what is happening outside. If I had known that there would be envoys coming to Abyssinia in the Ming Dynasty, I would have inquired about it."
"What has been the situation in the Ming Dynasty in the past few years? What major events have happened? In Abyssinia, the latest thing I heard about the Ming Dynasty was that the Ming Dynasty defeated the Timur Khanate more than ten years ago. There has been no news since then
Come. No businessmen from Southeast Asia have come here in the past few years."
"What major events happened after that? Did the Ming Dynasty send troops to attack India? How many lands and countries in Southeast Asia did it control?"
Chen Yonghua was stunned for a moment and said: "Who were you in the past? You are definitely not an ordinary businessman. Ordinary businessmen will not ask these questions, but ask what happened in their hometown."
"Moreover," Chen Yonghua looked him up and down again. "Your body is very well-proportioned, and you can tell that you have practiced martial arts. Moreover, your speech is also very organized, and you are definitely not from ordinary people. How could someone like you come here?"
Overseas, and was once very depressed?"
Hearing Chen Yonghua's words, Solomon seemed to fall into some kind of memory again. But this time he quickly came back to his senses, and just as he was about to speak, he glanced at the store, gave a few instructions to the guys, and took Chen Yonghua and others with him.
Walk towards the backyard.
When they arrived in the backyard, there were only a few people who were probably apprentices making furniture. When they saw them walking in, they just glanced at them and lowered their heads. Solomon took a half-finished chair from the side and placed it next to Chen Yonghua, and then took another one of his own.
He sat down and said solemnly: "My real name is Zhang Tan, and I am from Guangxi."
"Zhang Tan?" Several people looked at each other in confusion. Since the middle-aged man in front of them solemnly said his name, he should be a famous name. But none of them remembered that they had heard of this name. Several people repeated
I searched through my memory, but couldn't find it.
Seeing their expressions, Zhang Tan said in a very low voice with half a smile: "It turns out that His Majesty the Emperor and the officials in charge of foreign affairs have forgotten me. I thought they would still remember me and send people out."
Before I go overseas, I will ask you to look for me. But this is fine. I will continue to live my own life in Abyssinia with peace of mind."
But at this moment, Chen Yonghua suddenly said: "I really want to hear someone mention this name. It has some impression."
"Who has heard of it? What does Zhang Tan do?" Several other people asked one after another.
"Yes, yes, yes, ah, I remembered, it was Your Majesty. I had just entered the palace as a servant and once escorted His Majesty to Lifanyuan, His Majesty mentioned the name Zhang Tan on the way." Chen Yonghua said.
Hearing this, Zhang Tan raised his head again and looked at Chen Yonghua with some hope. Chen Yonghua didn't pay attention to his expression and continued: "I remember His Majesty said at that time, 'Why is it that seven years after Jianye, Zhang Tan
No more secret messages were sent to the capital, and people were sent to India to look for him but they couldn't find him. Where is he, or has he died somewhere? That's what His Majesty said."
Chen Yonghua then lowered his head and said to Zhang Tan: "So, you are one of the special agents sent to India by His Majesty many years ago?"
"Sent to India?" Zhang Tan smiled. Chen Yonghua felt that this person who looked like a businessman suddenly seemed to have a momentum, which made people dare not interrupt him. He only heard him say: "I
This is not a trick, I was the envoy sent to the West by His Majesty the Ming Emperor, an envoy similar to Zhang Qian who hollowed out the Western Regions!"
"Back then, His Majesty the Emperor asked me to go on missions to many countries, including Zori in the West, Zori, all the countries in India, Persia, a country that was a cannibal, Great Qin, and countries further west from Great Qin."
"His Majesty also asked me to find out what the situation is like in these countries along the route, including population, history, national system, etc., and record everything in detail."
"I still remember that His Majesty once told me bluntly: 'Your exploration may take ten, twenty or even more years, and it is very likely that you will not be able to come back alive. There are countless difficulties and obstacles on the way, and you cannot
The mountains you have to climb, the robbers who block your way, or the country that is so unreasonable may make it impossible for you to come back.'"
"I still remember that His Majesty said that if I could return to the Ming Dynasty alive, he would confer me the title of Bowang Hou! Just like Zhang Qian!"