Not to mention the past, even in the next few hundred years, silk, tea, and porcelain were still symbols of status and wealth, and they had an inexplicable lethality to Europeans. In the past, what they bought were resold to Europe by merchants from various countries, because no country or caravan had established formal diplomatic relations with the Chinese government. Naturally, no Chinese would come to Europe to do business, and this was the first time.
As Chen Longzheng's assistant and translator, Ricci was also dressed in silk and a top hat, dressed like a Chinese man. He stood up and announced to the people there, "I am a missionary who has returned from China. They are all China people. They are businessmen who came here from China to do business. They have brought tea leaves, silk, and porcelain from China to do business with you. These are real China goods, sold by China people personally from China. They are absolutely authentic! Honest to all! "
After Ricci made the relevant announcement, the enthusiasm of the Europeans was piqued. Chen Longzheng said that he did not understand what Ricci was talking about. The Europeans suddenly started cheering. Then, men, women, old, and young rushed up together. They took out all kinds of coins that Chen Longzheng did not recognize and said something. In any case, Chen Longzheng knew that they were coins made of gold and silver. They were different from Daming's gold and silver.
Daming had only used gold and silver as a circulating currency for a few decades. The market was basically still dominated by copper coins. He did not expect that the Europeans had already made gold and silver into coins. Chen Longzheng was very surprised. He even asked Ricci in surprise, "Could it be that these foreigners are richer than Daming? That's not right! Daming is the richest, okay? How could these people have more gold and silver than Daming? "
Ricci explained that they were actually very poor. It was just that this was a prosperous commercial area. People without money could not make a living here. In fact, most of Europe was very poor. It was only Genoa that had more money.
How else could Ricci explain? He said that this was a large amount of wealth plundered by Spain and Portugal when they colonized Africa and America. They only had a small part of it, and then Chinese people brought it to China with silk, tea, and porcelain?
Xiao Ruxun laughed when he heard Ricci's ridicule.
That's right. In the 15th and 16th centuries, most of the gold and silver obtained from the slave trade led by Spain and Portugal entered China through trade with China. It was also because of the large inflow of gold and silver that China, which originally lacked the foundation of the silver standard, had enough gold and silver as reserves. This prompted Zhang Juzheng to first legally define the role of silver as a currency.
In the decades that followed, the role of silver as a currency continued to solidify. It was only during the early and middle stages of the Qing Dynasty that, due to the further inflow of silver and gold, silver finally became a currency that could be circulated in the market like copper coins. It was only then that China finally established the silver standard. Before that, gold and silver were only precious metals that were circulated among the upper class. Ordinary people definitely had no access to them.
It could be said that without the gold and silver accumulated by the Europeans through the bloody slave trade, there would not have been the prosperity of gold and silver in China. There would also not have been the silver tax in Zhang Juzheng's reform. There would also not have been the shocking scenes of heroes from the Tang and Song dynasties buying wine and beef on the streets with large amounts of silver in their hands.
The wealth accumulated by the Spaniards and Portuguese over the centuries all went to China!
This was an interesting piece of history.
Chen Longzheng only found out about these things later. They were warmly welcomed in Genoa. After the initial commotion at the port, it was followed by a commotion among the citizens and the arrival of Genoa's official army.
The arrival of the army brought the enthusiasm of the people under control to a certain extent. At the very least, there were no more incidents of people asking them to buy porcelain with gold and silver coins. However, something even stranger happened after that.
The Genoa army escorted them to a rather grand building. Inside, Chen Longzheng met the governor of Genoa and the bankers of Genoa. According to Ricci's explanation, Chen Longzheng knew that the leader was the lifelong governor of Genoa, similar to the Daming Emperor. However, it was obvious that he did not have the authority and status of the Daming Emperor, because Genoa was a republic, not an empire.
Chen Longzheng did not really understand this strange way of addressing him, but he could tell that this brown-haired fellow was the scapegoat of Genoa. He was the local tyrant here, and his pride as a scholar would not allow him to kneel to anyone other than his parents, ancestors, the heavens, and the emperor. Seeing that Ricci bowed deeply to show his respect, Chen Longzheng only led the accompanying clerks to cup their fists in greeting as a form of greeting etiquette.
The governor of Genoa was not unhappy. Through Ricci's mouth, he sent a friendly greeting to Chen Longzheng. "Respected guests from China, welcome here. I hope you will have a wonderful and unforgettable time here."
With that, he called for a banquet.
Holding a banquet without saying a word, Chen Longzheng could be considered to have experienced the customs of Europe. It was the passion and unrestrained nature of the people. Not only the men, but the women were also very passionate and unrestrained. They wore strange dresses and wore strange makeup, and they appeared in public with the male host. They chatted enthusiastically with Chen Longzheng, causing Chen Longzheng and the accompanying clerks to be dumbfounded. Only then did Ricci explain the customs of Europe to him. It was not like Daming, who did not allow women to appear in public.
Chen Longzheng expressed his understanding. However, as a disciple of a saint, his pride and aloofness did not allow him to interact with other women's families. He could not even touch them. The woman greeted Chen Longzheng and stretched out her hand to receive a kiss. Chen Longzheng hurriedly took a few steps back to avoid it. He did not even look at the woman's face, causing everyone to be dumbfounded. Then, Ricci hurriedly went forward to explain.
The customs of the Chinese were very strict. They were very serious and upright. In order to avoid unpleasant things from happening, they would never come into contact with the female family members of other men. Unless it was a special occasion, they would also have to step back to show respect to the host. Otherwise, it would be considered disobeying etiquette. This was a very serious breach of etiquette in China.
Only then did the Europeans present understand Chen Longzheng's approach. They all expressed their appreciation and expressed their respect for the serious style and etiquette of the Chinese — as for what they thought in their hearts, no one knew that the Chinese were old-fashioned.
In addition to feeling that these women did not abide by the rules of womanhood and these men did not abide by etiquette, Chen Longzheng also felt that their so-called food was very unpalatable. It seemed that in order to reflect their nobility and elegance, they actually used gold and silver to make tableware. They even mixed some Daming porcelain tableware with some slow nouveau riche style. There were no stir-frying dishes, bowls and chopsticks, only knives and forks. Chen Longzheng did not know how to use these things at all.
What is this bread? Oh, it's similar to Daming steamed buns! The meat is obviously uncooked. Aren't they afraid of getting a stomachache? Beef? You eat so much beef? How extravagant! What is that plate of rolls that look like noodles? Is that noodles? Why haven't I seen it before? What is this jam? Meat sauce? Oh! Jam, sweet jam made from fruits. This sounds good. It should be edible … What? Dipping the meat to eat? Are you kidding me, Lao Li?
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