Chapter 1513 Take a bath? If you don't wash, you won't die!
Just when Alvin thought he was going to be shot on the spot, fortunately he met a Dutchman. After the Dutchman explained, he finally made the two Tang soldiers put down their guns, and then said with a look of disdain:
"No unclean persons are allowed to enter the trade area!"
At this time, the Dutchman also said to Alvin: "If you want to enter the trade area, you'd better take a shower and tidy up before coming back!"
Hearing this, Alvin looked confused: "Take a bath? No, how can I take a bath? What if I get sick?"
The Dutchman looked at Alvin who was dirty and couldn't hide the stench even with several sachets hanging on his body. He frowned and said: "The rules of the Tang Dynasty are that if you want to enter the trade area, you have to wash yourself clean."
, It’s okay if you don’t want to wash it, just don’t enter the trade area, anyway, you can trade in the port area!”
The Tang Dynasty still fully respected their traditions when it came to treating foreign merchants. For example, Europeans did not like to take baths and believed that taking a bath would make them sick. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty would not force every European merchant who came to the trading port to take a bath.
of.
Datang only separated the trade area from the port area, and then stipulated that you could not enter the trade area without taking a bath.
However, if they do not enter the trade area, it will not affect these foreign businessmen's transactions in the port. In the port area, they can also complete the process of selling and purchasing goods, but all they come into contact with are foreigners hired by Datang.
, they are just indigenous employees and have little chance to come into contact with people from the Tang Dynasty.
But once you enter the trade area, you can directly contact Datang merchants, which is naturally more convenient for doing business.
In addition, trade zones often have more advanced enjoyment and services. The same is true for inns. The inns in trade zones are more high-end, and of course the charges are more expensive.
In fact, there is not much functional difference between the port area and the trade area in South Africa City. The only difference is that the port area is only for foreign merchants and sailors, while the trade area is mainly for domestic businessmen, immigrants, and a small number of purified foreign businessmen.
That's all.
Although Alvin was a pirate and was used to seeing life and death, he was still afraid of diseases, especially the Black Death, smallpox and other infectious diseases that were ravaging Europe. Like most Europeans today, he believed that the reason why he could
I have survived to this day and have not been struck down by the disease. That is because the layer of dirt on my body formed by not bathing for a long time protects me.
Now he was asked to take a bath and wash away the protective layer of dirt, and he was unwilling to do so from the bottom of his heart.
What if you take a bath and then get the Black Death?
Wouldn’t that be a big loss!
So Alvin gave up the idea of entering the trade area. However, at the entrance of the trade area, he also saw that not everyone was afraid of the Black Death. Many people were fearless and washed clean.
Wear clean and tidy clothes when entering the trade area.
Among them was the Dutchman who had explained it to him before.
Looking at this, Alvin could only say that people have their own demands. These people want money rather than their lives, but Alvin still cares about his life.
After giving up the idea of going to the trade area, he started walking around the port area.
Although this port area is only the outermost seaside area, it is still quite large. Alvin can see people from almost all over the world on the street.
Among them, there are more Spanish and Portuguese people, which is understandable. Among many contemporary countries, Spain and Portugal are one of the more developed countries in navigation. If naval factors are not considered,
Simply counting maritime transportation, even the civilian navigation power of the Tang Empire cannot be said to have surpassed these two small European countries.
It has been more than 100 years since these two countries started the Age of Discovery. Over the past 100 years, they have accumulated rich navigation capabilities. This not only means that they have many overseas colonies, but more importantly, they can sail across the oceans.
Ships and corresponding captains and sailors.
As for Datang, although it has developed rapidly in the past ten years, the development time is too short after all. Even if many domestic shipyards continue to build ships, there are indeed many ships built, but having ships does not mean that it is enough.
And sailors too.
In a short period of time, the Tang Empire could not create countless qualified captains and sailors out of thin air.
In recent years, although some domestic technical colleges have opened navigation departments, and three specialized navigation schools have been opened to train captains and other high-end navigation talents, the time is still short, and not many high-end navigation talents have been trained.
The lack of specialized talents related to navigation was a major reason that restricted the development of navigation in the Tang Dynasty.
The ocean shipping capacity of Datang, Spain, and Portugal basically accounts for more than 90% of all contemporary ocean shipping capacity, and the remaining 10% is divided up by many other countries, among which new types of
The two maritime countries, England and the Netherlands, are the main ones, together with the Ottoman Empire, Persians, Indians and other indigenous European or North African navigation forces, which together form the contemporary ocean shipping capacity.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Alvin can see many Spanish and Portuguese people in South Africa.
In fact, after the Tang Dynasty's African Expeditionary Force conquered South Africa, the Spanish ventured to trade before the war was over. After the empire and the Portuguese signed an armistice agreement, Portuguese merchants also swarmed in.
As for businessmen in other countries and regions, to be honest, they are an afterthought.
In addition to these Spanish and Portuguese people, Alvin also discovered many of his fellow Englishmen.
Alvin went up to talk to these fellow Englishmen very enthusiastically. Of course, he was also talking nonsense when talking to them, and he would never say his real name.
Because if I say it out loud, I'm afraid it will scare these compatriots.
The name Alvin Grant is not a famous name in England's domestic navigation community and cannot be compared with several other great pirates, but he is still somewhat famous.
Alvin naturally had to keep a low profile. He also planned to find out the details of these English businessmen, see if they could return together, and then eat them on the way.
After talking, Alvin discovered that they had all been in South Africa for some time. The longest time was almost two months, and the shortest time was half a month.
You've been here for so long, but you still haven't purchased enough goods to return home?
This is not normal, and when I asked, I found out that there is no goods in South Africa's cities now, let alone small businessmen like them. Even the big businessmen from Spain and Portugal now have to wait for the big ones.
The merchant fleet of the Tang Dynasty arrived.
However, there are now a lot of European, African and other merchants waiting for goods within miles of South Africa. There are more than 40 merchant ships moored in the port alone, and I heard that many ships are arriving from Europe.
here!
With these many ships, how much cargo must be loaded? Even if these Tang Dynasty people came with a fleet, could they satisfy the needs of so many merchants?
"You don't have to worry about this. There is no doubt about the strength of the Tang Dynasty. They have sent three batches of fleets to South Africa this year. The first batch of fleets has more than 20 ships. The second batch of ships
There are more teams, more than thirty ships, and the third batch also has more than twenty ships.
But this time, I heard that there are at least fifty merchant ships in this merchant fleet, and the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty are generally relatively large, so there will definitely be no shortage of goods. I'm afraid you won't be able to get enough.
Money in stock!”
Alvin was pretending to be an honest person at this time, and he showed an honest smile at this time: "I have little capital, so I can make as much as I can by then!"
It is a fact that the capital is small, and it is also a fact that it is impossible to purchase much goods, but Alvin is still planning to rob on the way back, so there is no need to tell others about this.
On the way back, Alvin thought of what those people said, saying that a Datang fleet of at least fifty ships was about to arrive!
With so many ships, how much cargo must be loaded on them? If I could rob this fleet, I would probably become rich overnight and become the richest man in England.
Unfortunately, this thought only passed through his mind.
Such a large-scale merchant fleet is very powerful in itself, and it is definitely indispensable for the escort of warships. If you want to rob such a fleet, you need a fleet, and it is the main force organized with all the strength of the country.
Only the fleet will do.
He has never seen the merchant fleet of the Tang Dynasty, but he has seen the Spanish treasure fleet. In recent years, the Spanish global fleet has also been very famous. It departs from Europe every year, then arrives in North America and Mexico, and then goes to
A series of American colonies under Spanish control such as Central America and South America, while conducting trade, would carry countless gold and silver jewelry from the Americas into the Pacific, and then go to the Tang Dynasty for trade.
When these Spaniards arrived in the Luzon Prefecture of the Tang Dynasty to trade with the Tang Dynasty, they used boxes after boxes of gold, silver and other precious metals to purchase goods from the Tang Dynasty.
After purchasing Tang Dynasty porcelain, silk, perfume and other Tang Dynasty goods, they will cross the Strait of Malacca, then enter the Indian Ocean, cross the Indian Ocean, then go around the Cape of Good Hope, enter the Atlantic Ocean, and finally return to Spain all the way.
Every time a global fleet is launched, it attracts the attention of many people in Europe. While bringing countless benefits to the Spanish, it also attracts countless people to set their sights on this global fleet.
It is a pity that these Spaniards are very cautious. These treasure fleets are often large in scale, with at least seven or eight large ships, and sometimes even more than a dozen or even twenty ships.
Moreover, the ships in the Spanish treasure fleet were often large ships, and thousands of tons of merchant ships were common. These large ships could not only carry a large amount of cargo, but were also very powerfully armed.
A fleet of this size is not a target that ordinary pirates can spy on.
This time, the merchant fleet of the Tang Dynasty was even larger than the merchant fleet of the Spanish. There were fifty or sixty merchant fleets, and they were also escorted by warships. This strength was enough to make any pirates fearful and dare not give birth.
Any thoughts that shouldn’t be had.
Naturally, Alvin would not have such an idea!
He is a pirate, and whoever robs him is not a robber. There is no need to provoke the Tang Dynasty!