MTL - I-Chapter 1007 1003【The Chinese-speaking Governor of Mexico】
Chapter 1007 1003 [The Governor of Mexico who can speak Chinese]
During the Little Ice Age in the 17th century, rebellions (uprisings) erupted all over the world.
China, Japan, Korea, India, England, Scotland, Portugal, France, Italy, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Southeast Asian countries... None of these places can escape, and the rebellion was concentrated in the 20 to 30 years before and after 1640.
Mexico is certainly no exception. At the beginning of the establishment of the Datong New Dynasty, the Mexican rebellion lasted for two years.
The more rebellious the colonies, the more cruel the Spanish rule!
Not to mention native whites and Indo-European mixed blood, even Spanish colonial officials are becoming more and more dissatisfied with the king, because the royal family's restrictive policy is too disgusting.
Officials in the Spanish colonies are not allowed to bring married children with them when they take office, they are not allowed to promote relatives as subordinates, and they are not allowed to purchase property or participate in business in the colonies. All actions must be reported to the king in detail. There are layers of nesting dolls for official positions, and when faced with the same matter, more than a dozen departments can be involved. Under the constraints of each other, no one can handle it alone.
The governor’s district must have a trial court, which is usually similar to the Supreme Court, and supervises all the governor’s actions, and can even report the governor’s mistakes to the king at any time.
Mexico City.
A business representative from Seville (Cádiz) was yelling at Governor Palefort: "Your Excellency, you must crack down on smuggling, including smuggling on the east and west coasts. Especially on the west coast, Chinese cotton cloth sells If it is too cheap, it is shameless and malicious dumping!"
"I will, of course I will fight against smuggling." Palefort nodded.
The merchant representative continued: "The Chamber of Commerce in Seville has protested to His Majesty. If you don't take action as soon as possible, Your Majesty will definitely revoke your governorship!"
Paleyfort said: "I have been fighting smuggling, but those rats are too rampant."
The representative of the businessman said angrily: "Your Excellency, you are perfunctory. After I came to Mexico, I visited various markets. I know that many officials are also involved in smuggling. This kind of behavior must be strictly eliminated. Officials who engage in smuggling should be punished. hang!"
"It really should be hanged." Paleyfort always smiled, and he agreed no matter what he said.
Sending away the representatives of the Selivian businessmen, Governor Palefort muttered to himself: "It's time for the Chinese to raise the prices of their commodities. This can't go on like this forever. In the future, the reserve prices for auctions of goods must be set higher."
As for what is prohibited from smuggling, Paleyfort has never thought about it. He is afraid that he will die accidentally from being shot.
The Spanish king's restrictions on colonial trade have reached a frenzied level.
Only merchants from Seville can obtain a trading license, and merchants from other cities in Spain, even if you are a nobleman, you have to stand aside. Seville merchants formed an alliance of chambers of commerce, frantically exploited the colonies, and at the same time suppressed their domestic counterparts, earning huge profits and sharing the spoils with the king.
There are so many ports in mainland Spain, only Seville can dock ships from the Americas. In the huge America, there are only three ports where ships from Spain can be docked.
This is to facilitate management and combat smuggling trade.
It is extremely nonsense to implement it. For example, when European goods are shipped to Buenos Aires, they can directly arrive at the port by sea. However, it had to land in Panama, and then be transported by mules and horses, across the Andes Mountains, traveling 4,828 kilometers to get there. The transportation cost alone has doubled eight times.
So there are many European businessmen who first transport the goods to West Africa, and then smuggle them across the Atlantic. The local colonial officials were very cooperative, helping the smugglers to distribute the goods, and they could make several times the profits by changing hands.
Palaifu picked up the quill pen, wrote more than ten letters by hand, and called his cronies to say: "Send it according to the address. You must deliver it yourself, and you cannot let others forward it. These are your travel expenses."
"Yes!" The cronies left immediately.
Palaifu’s letter is very short, and he is not afraid of being searched by the trial court, because there is only one sentence in the letter: There is a drought this year, I am afraid that the Lord will send disasters, and you must be more devout.
A former archbishop made everyone more devout to the Lord, which fits his identity very well.
Before he served as the governor of New Spain, Palefort not only served as an archbishop, but also spent several years in Macau. He was a Dominican, and when the Datong Army recaptured Macau, the Jesuits took the opportunity to drive him to the Philippines.
Historically, this guy lived in China for more than ten years, witnessed the massacre of Guangzhou City by the Qing Dynasty, and wrote a book "The History of the Tatar Conquest of China".
The narrative content of this book is valuable, but the views are inconsistent.
Taking the example of the Manchu occupation of Guangzhou, he first said that the Manchu generals were of high moral character and treated the residents well. It is also said that the generals of the Qing Dynasty would ask for the property of the gentry, and the family who gave the property would leave a mark at the door to avoid subsequent harassment. He also said that if the generals of the Qing Dynasty were dissatisfied with the goods donated by the gentry, they would even take the money away with them.
What kind of morality is this?
What kind of people treat residents well?
In Paleyfort's writing, the gentry is only extorted for money, and will be taken away if they are given too little. Ordinary people were slaughtered at will by the Manchus, and countless women were insulted by soldiers.
By the way, these massacred people and these insulted women are all residents of Guangzhou. Before they offered the city to surrender, they got a promise from the generals of the Qing Dynasty, saying that they would not plunder after entering the city. However, should kill or kill, should rob or rob, should humiliate or humiliate.
…
Cheng Jingming came to America again, and instead of going back with Li Quan, he led an expedition team to Mexico City with merchants.
"The city is so big?" Cheng Jingming stood by the lake, looking at Mexico City in the middle of the lake. The scale of the city was beyond his expectation.
Native white businessman Simonez laughed immediately, and said proudly: "The great Mexico City has a population of 300,000 to 400,000 people. I'm afraid there is no such city in China, right?"
"There are." Cheng Jingming said casually, too lazy to explain too much.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Aztec Empire had already built a city in the lake, with a population of about 150,000 to 200,000.
Due to frequent flooding, the indigenous emperor "Fasting Wolf" (transliterated as Niesawa Keyou) personally designed and built a 16-kilometer-long flood embankment. Half a century later, the Aztecs built a second flood protection embankment, and also built aqueducts in the city and an irrigation system around the lake.
Ximenez led Cheng Jingming forward, crossed the long bridge over the lake, pointed to the urban area and said, "This block was built in recent decades, and it used to be all on the surface of the lake."
Cheng Jingming asked curiously, "Where's the lake water?"
Simonez replied: "The water in the lake has been drained away. More than 50 years ago, the city was flooded twice in a row. The governor made a grand plan to dig two aqueducts to drain all the water from the lake. By then , can prevent the lake from flooding, and can expand the urban area at will. A great mathematician calculated the inflow and outflow of water, and it will take more than 200 years to completely empty the lake.”
Cheng Jingming was dumbfounded, and subconsciously asked: "If the lake dries up, what will the military and civilians in the city do with water? How will the farmland around the lake be irrigated?"
"There will always be water, the river is still flowing." Simonez laughed.
Cheng Jingming felt that these guys were crazy. If the drain was not blocked, there would be big problems in two hundred years. Among other things, the farmland around the lake will definitely become difficult to irrigate.
Mexico City hundreds of years later is hard to describe.
A city built on a lake actually makes it difficult for residents to use water, requiring a large number of wells to obtain groundwater. The geology in the lake is inherently loose, the groundwater has been pumped crazily, and earthquakes occur frequently in Mexico, and cracks appear in the buildings from time to time.
And the whole city sinks by 20 to 30 centimeters every year.
Through the two urban areas, you come to an Indian aboriginal neighborhood, where grand celebrations are being held.
"Is this a wedding?" Cheng Jingming asked.
Simonez took a closer look, recognized the groom and the bride, nodded and said, "They are a pair of brothers and sisters, and they have the pure blood of the royal family of the Aztec Empire. After the Spanish ruled here, only the real descendants of the royal family were allowed to Brother and sister get married."
"Brothers and sisters..." Cheng Jingming didn't know how to comment.
The royal family of the Aztec Empire was not slaughtered. Even more than 90 years ago, they could continue to rule the aborigines and have their own mansions and armies.
It's a pity that the royal family exploited the people too much, and there were a lot of indigenous people who went to the colonial governor to complain, and finally even led to riots. The Spanish colonists were overjoyed and took the opportunity to replace the indigenous leaders and disband the royal army, and the Aztec royal family became a mascot.
The marriage of the aboriginal royal family in front of me is also very interesting.
The brothers and sisters had to go to the Cathedral of Santo Domingo first, and the priest would preside over the Western-style wedding. Go back to your residence, change your Spanish clothes, wear traditional feather ornaments, beat gilded drums, sing chichimeca and music of running water, and perform traditional Aztec ritual dances.
The dance is a sacrificial dance. More than a hundred years ago, it was performed on the altar of heart-digging and beheading, but now it has become a wedding dance outrageously.
The tune of the two pieces of music remained the same, but the lyrics changed from hunting and irrigation to praising the God of Europe.
Cheng Jingming came here, everything felt strange.
He also participated in the wedding of the descendants of the royal family. When the brother and sister heard that he was a Chinese envoy, they warmly invited him in for a meal and a drink.
That night, Cheng Jingming lived in the residence of the descendants of the royal family. He planned to chat more next time, and maybe he could obtain the original materials of the Aztec Empire.
The next day, Cheng Jingming was allowed to meet with the Governor of New Spain.
Cheng Jingming was about to communicate in Spanish, but saw the Governor Palefort suddenly cupped his hands and said in Chinese with a perfect accent: "It is such a pleasure to have friends from afar. Welcome Chinese friends!"
"Your Excellency Governor, can you speak Chinese?" Cheng Jingming asked in surprise.
Paley said with a smile: "I can speak Cantonese and Nanjing Mandarin. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good time in China. I was kicked out of Macau by your emperor."
(There is only one update today.)
(end of this chapter)
