Chapter 1007 1003 [The Governor of Mexico Who Can Speak Chinese]
During the Little Ice Age in the 17th century, rebellions (uprisings) occurred one after another around 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 two to thirty years before and after 1640.
Of course, Mexico is no exception. At the beginning of the establishment of the new Datong Dynasty, the Mexican rebellion lasted for two years.
The more the colonies rebelled, the more cruel Spanish rule became!
Not to mention the native whites and Indo-Europeans, even the Spanish colonial officials were increasingly dissatisfied with the king because the royal family's restrictive policies were so disgusting.
Officials in the Spanish colonies were not allowed to bring married children when they took office, were not allowed to promote relatives as subordinates, were not allowed to purchase properties in the colonies or participate in business, and all actions must be reported to the king in detail. There are layers of nesting dolls in official positions. The same matter can involve more than a dozen departments. Under mutual constraints, no one can handle it alone.
The Governor-General must have an Inquisition Tribunal, which is usually similar to the Supreme Court. It supervises all the actions of the Governor-General and can even report the Governor's mistakes to the king at any time.
Mexico City.
A business representative from Seville (Cadiz) roared at Governor Palefo: "Your Excellency Governor, you must severely crack down on smuggling, including smuggling on the east and west coasts. Especially on the west coast, Chinese cotton sales It’s too cheap, it’s extremely shameless and malicious dumping!”
"I will, of course I will crack down on smuggling." Palefo nodded.
The business representative continued: "The Seville Chamber of Commerce Alliance has already protested to His Majesty. If you don't take action as soon as possible, Your Majesty will definitely revoke your position as Governor!"
"I've been fighting smuggling, but the rats are so rampant," Palefo said.
The business representative said angrily: "Your Excellency, Governor, you are perfunctory with me. After I came to Mexico, I visited markets in various places, and I know that many officials are also involved in smuggling. This kind of behavior must be strictly stopped, and all officials who engage in smuggling should be punished." Hang!"
"It really should be hanged." Palefu always smiled and agreed no matter what he said.
After sending the representatives of the Selivia businessmen away, Governor Palefo murmured to himself: "It is time for the Chinese to raise the selling prices of their goods. We cannot continue like this. The minimum price for goods auctions must be set higher in the future."
As for banning smuggling, Palefor never thought about it. He was afraid that he would be shot and die accidentally.
The Spanish king's restrictions on colonial trade had reached an insane level.
Only merchants from Seville can obtain a trade license, while merchants from other cities in Spain, even if you are a big noble, have to step aside. Seville businessmen formed an alliance of chambers of commerce and exploited the colonies wildly. At the same time, they suppressed their domestic counterparts, earning huge profits and sharing the spoils with the king.
There are so many ports in mainland Spain, but only Seville can dock ships from the Americas. In the vast America, there are only three ports that can dock ships from Spain.
This is to facilitate management and combat smuggling trade.
The implementation is extremely nonsense. For example, European goods shipped to Buenos Aires can directly reach the port by sea. But it had to dock in Panama, and then use mules and horses to transport it across the Andes Mountains, traveling 4,828 kilometers by land. The transportation cost alone increased eight times.
Therefore, many European merchants first transported goods to West Africa and then smuggled them directly across the Atlantic. The local colonial officials were very cooperative and helped the smugglers distribute the goods, and they could earn several times the profit by changing hands.
Palefor picked up the quill and wrote more than ten letters by himself. He called his confidant and said: "Send it to the address. You must deliver it in person and cannot be forwarded by others. These are your travel expenses."
"Yes!" The confidant left immediately.
The content of Palepho's letter is very brief, and he is not afraid of being searched by the prosecutor's court, because there is only one sentence in the letter: There is a drought this year, and I am afraid it is a disaster caused by the Lord. You must be more pious.
A former archbishop made everyone more pious to the Lord, which was very consistent with his status.
Before serving as the governor of New Spain, Palefo not only served as archbishop, but also spent several years in Macau. He was born in the Dominican order, and when the Paxton 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 Manchus, and wrote a book "History of the Tatar Conquest of China".
The book's narrative content is valuable, but its views are inconsistent.
Taking the Manchu Qing occupation of Guangzhou as an example, he first said that the Manchu generals were of high moral character and treated the residents well. It was also said that the Manchu generals would ask for the property of the gentry and leave a mark on the door of the family who gave it to them to avoid subsequent harassment. He also said that if the Manchu generals were not satisfied with the goods donated by the gentry, they would take away the people and their money together.
How is this considered morally noble?
How do you treat the residents well?
In Palefor's writing, the gentry were only extorted for money and were captured if they gave too little. Ordinary people were massacred 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 surrendered to the city, they received a promise from the Manchu generals that they would not plunder after entering the city. However, he should be killed or killed, he should be robbed or he should be robbed, and he should be humiliated or humiliated.
…
Cheng Jingming came to America again and did not go back with Li Quan. Instead, he led an expedition team and followed the merchants to Mexico City.
"The city is so big?" Cheng Jingming stood on the lakeside and looked at Mexico City in the middle of the lake. The scale of this city was beyond his expectation.
Simon Nez, a native white businessman, immediately laughed and said quite proudly: "The great Mexico City has a population of three to four hundred thousand. I'm afraid there is no such city in China, right?"
"Yes." Cheng Jingming said casually, not bothering to explain too much.
Before the Spanish arrived, 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 Nesawakoyo) personally designed and built a 16-kilometer-long flood control embankment. Half a century later, the Aztecs built a second flood control embankment, aqueducts within the city, and a lake irrigation system.
Ximen Nez led Cheng Jingming forward, crossed the long bridge over the lake, pointed to the city and said: "This neighborhood was built in recent decades. It used to be all covered by a lake."
Cheng Jingming asked curiously: "Where is the lake?"
Simonez replied: "The lake water has been drained away. More than fifty years ago, the city was flooded twice in a row. The governor made a grand plan to dig two diversion canals and drain all the lake water. By then , which can prevent the lake from flooding and expand the urban area at will. A great mathematician calculated the amount of water flowing in and out and found that it would take more than 200 years to completely drain the lake."
Cheng Jingming was dumbfounded and asked subconsciously: "If the lake dries up, what will happen to the military and civilians in the city? How will the farmland around the lake be irrigated?"
"There will always be water, the river is still flowing." Simon Nez smiled.
Cheng Jingming thinks these guys are crazy. If the drainage outlet is not blocked, there will 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 and requires a large number of wells to obtain groundwater. The geology in the lake is already loose, groundwater has been pumped out wildly, and earthquakes occur frequently in Mexico, causing cracks in buildings from time to time.
Moreover, the entire city sinks by twenty to thirty centimeters every year.
Passing through two cities, we came to an indigenous Indian neighborhood, where a grand celebration was being held.
"Is this a wedding?" Cheng Jingming asked.
Simonez looked at it carefully, recognized the groom and the bride clearly, nodded and said: "They are a brother and sister, with pure royal blood of the Aztec Empire. After Spain ruled here, only the true descendants of the royal family were licensed. Brothers and sisters get married.”
"Brothers and sisters..." Cheng Jingming didn't know how to evaluate it.
The royal family of the Aztec Empire was not completely slaughtered. Even more than ninety years ago, they could continue to rule the natives and have their own official residences and armies.
Unfortunately, the royal family exploited the people too harshly, and indigenous people continued to complain to the colonial governor, which eventually led to riots. The Spanish colonists were overjoyed and took the opportunity to replace the indigenous leaders and disband the royal army. The Aztec royal family became a mascot.
The marriage of the indigenous royal family in front of us is also very interesting.
The brother and sister had to go to the Cathedral of Santo Domingo first, and the priest would preside over the Western-style wedding. Return to your residence, change out of Spanish clothes, wear traditional feathers, beat the gilded drums, sing the music of chichimeca and flowing 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 cutting out hearts and beheading people. Now it has become a wedding dance.
As for those two pieces of music, the tune remains the same, but the lyrics have been changed from hunting and irrigation to praising the European God.
When Cheng Jingming came here, everything seemed strange.
He also attended the wedding of a descendant of the royal family. When the brother and sister heard that he was an envoy to China, they immediately warmly invited him in for a banquet and a drink.
That night, Cheng Jingming stayed at the residence of the descendants of the royal family. He planned to talk more and maybe get original information about 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 when he saw Governor Palefo suddenly handed over his hand and said in smooth Chinese: "It's a great pleasure to have friends from far away. Welcome Chinese friends!"
"Can your Excellency the Governor speak Chinese?" Cheng Jingming asked in surprise.
Palefor smiled and said: "I can speak Cantonese and Nanjing Mandarin. Unfortunately, my life in China was not happy. I was kicked out of Macau by your emperor."
(Only one update today.)