Daming: Brother, there is no future for monks, let's rebel

Chapter 218 The Republic of Venice
We must know that even in ancient China, where the whole people advocated imperial examinations, the existence of illiteracy was a very large proportion.

In medieval Europe, most of the noble knights were illiterate, and only those in the church knew how to read and write, and most of the books they read were mainly based on the Bible and other teachings.

This slave sailor was able to write a very beautiful Latin poem, which surprised Zhu Han.

"What's your name?" Zhu Han called the former slave to him and asked.

When announcing the liberation of this slave as a free sailor just now, he actually mentioned his name, but it was too long, and Zhu Han didn't remember it at all.

The slave sailor replied respectfully: "My name is Pietro Francois Alessandro Roledan."

When Zhu Han heard the name, his head grew big again.

It really is a long name.

"Your Highness, you can also call me Pietro Roledan." Pietro Roledan said quickly.

"Alright then, I'll call you Luo Liedan from now on." Zhu Han bowed his hands and said.

"Follow my Highness." Pietro Roledan said.

This Roledan was only 24 or [-] years old, but his face was pale and frightening, his lips were blue, his eyes were deep-set, and his whole body was skinny, as if any gust of wind would blow him over and he could fall down.

Zhu Han noticed the bandage on his ankle, the wound was still oozing bright red blood, obviously he had an injury that hadn't healed yet.

In Daming's fleet, although these slave paddlers are not too good, they can still be guaranteed the necessary food and medical treatment.

So the scars on Pietro's body must be the recurrence of old wounds caused by his previous slave life.

A young man who speaks so well, can also read characters, and knows how to repair ships, logically speaking, he shouldn't be sold as a low-level slave.

He must have a good family background, and most family members would try their best to redeem him.

Zhu Han then asked Pietro about his background.

Hearing Zhu Han's question, Pietro shook his head and smiled wryly, then continued.

"Your Highness, I was born in the Republic of Venice, a distant country. My family, the Roredin family, is a wealthy family in Venice."

"What Venice!?" Zhu Han immediately said in surprise.

It never occurred to him that the white slave in front of him came from the famous water city of Venice.

The Republic of Venice in history was once a part of the Roman Empire. After the barbarians invaded and destroyed the Roman Republic, a large number of Romans fled to the beach of Venice in order to avoid the massacre of the barbarians and established a city there.

After hundreds of years of development, the Venetians have successfully managed themselves into a commercial city-state.

Medieval Mediterranean commerce can almost be said to be dominated by the Republic of Venice. Except for Genoa and Pisa, both of which belong to the Apennines, which can grab some business shares, no other country can compare with the Republic of Venice.

"God, I can't believe it. Have you heard of Venice, Your Highness?" This time it was Pietro Roledan's turn to be surprised.

Zhu Han nodded, and then said, "That's right, I know Venice, and I also know that there is no king or emperor in your country. Several big families take turns to control the power, so it belongs to a republic."

Although Zhu Han's words were slightly awkward after translation.

But Luo Lidan already understood that the Prince of Ming in front of him knew a lot about his country.

"God, this must be God's will!"

Luo Lidan was almost crying with excitement, he felt that Zhu Han must have been sent by God to save him.

Otherwise, how could someone in the far east know so much about the equally distant Republic of Venice?

"I have nothing to do with your God. It can be said that I am not familiar with it. You should tell me how you became a slave and was trafficked to Nanyang, Ming Dynasty." Zhu Han waved his hand and said half-jokingly.

Roledan took a deep breath and continued to tell his story.

It turns out that the Roledan family is a wealthy family in Venice. Some of the predecessors of the family once served as the governor of the Republic of Venice. Pietro Roledan, who was smart and studious since he was a child, would definitely go into business first and then politics if he followed the normal track. Step by step, he took advantage of the family's advantages , became a powerful figure in the Republic of Venice.

However, all this changed completely with a pirate's plunder.

The Republic of Venice is a Catholic country. Although it has commercial relations with the Christian countries on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, disputes often arise between them.

And there are so many Japanese pirates in the Mediterranean, they often rob the merchant ships of Catholic countries such as Venice.

During a voyage, Pietro was attacked by a pirate ship of the Mamluk Kingdom, and he and his crew became captives of the Mamluk Kingdom.

At that time, the Republic of Venice and the Mamluk Kingdom were at war.

The fierce battle between the two sides has filled the minds of the Mamluks with anger.

Not only did they ignore the hostage ransom request made by Roledan's family, but they also directly sold Pietro and other Venetian captives to Persian merchants as slaves.

As pagan slaves, the life of these Venetian captives can be described as purgatory on earth.

They were all regarded as low-class slaves and assigned to various galleys as rowing slaves. They could only sleep three to four hours a day, and they could only live in the smelly and damp lower cabins, and they ate sour and smelly eagle beaks. The beans and rotten batter were mushy, and the drinking water stinks with green moss.

Only after winning a naval battle or completing a trade, their hard-working slaves will get a baked flatbread and a glass of fermented grape juice.

After more than two years of torture, almost all of Pietro's companions on the boat died, and the rest of the crew also completely lost contact with each other.

After several resales, Pietro was finally sold to Nanyang Malacca City.

After hearing what happened to Pietro, Zhu Han couldn't help feeling a little sad.

According to what he said, Pietro is only 26 years old this year, but after years of devastation, he looks like a middle-aged man with vicissitudes.

"Venice is a brilliant commercial country. If Ming can enter the Mediterranean in the future, do you think Venice will become a friend of Ming?" Zhu Han asked.

Hearing Zhu Han's words, Pietro Roledan was shocked.

"Daming is so far away from the Mediterranean Sea, it is impossible to have a direct ship, and even if there is a ship that can sail such a long distance, there is no route!" Pietro said.

In the eyes of Europeans at this time, both oceans and land in the world have boundaries.

For example, they believe that if you go west from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, whether you go south, north or west, you will eventually reach a bottomless abyss, where the end of the world is.

If you want to reach the far east from Venice, you must pass through the area controlled by the Tianfang Cultists by land.

So Zhu Han's words just now sounded like fantasy to Pietro.

Zhu Han smiled slightly, and then said to Pietro, "It won't be long before Ming's warships and merchant ships will sail into the Mediterranean Sea. At that time, you will believe that what I said today is true."

Seeing Zhu Han's serious expression, Pietro didn't seem to be joking at all, so he couldn't help but take it seriously in his heart.

"If that's the case, I would like to be His Highness's most loyal subordinate, and I will conclude the most friendly and beneficial treaty with the Republic of Venice for you!" Pietro said excitedly.

The Crusades, which lasted for hundreds of years, have just ended in Europe.

The originally arrogant and invincible Catholic countries, in the land of the East, have been beaten to pieces by Christianity one after another.

After this tragic war, Europeans have realized how rich and prosperous the East is.

In their eyes, the East is actually only a part of China. As for the more distant India and China, for Europeans at this time, they are basically equivalent to countries in myths and legends.

As a Venetian, Pietro's business talent cultivated since he was a child made him clearly know that if the Republic of Venice could establish a friendly cooperative relationship with the Ming Dynasty, it would be a major event that would change the situation in European countries.

Although Peter lived in the lowest cabin during his two years of slavery, his excellent language talent allowed him to learn many Eastern languages, and also let Peter know how powerful the Ming Dynasty was in the far East.

Both the Egyptians and the Persians, in the eyes of this Venetian, are all extremely rich. They control the trade routes from the east to the west, and each of them makes a lot of money.

However, among those Persian merchants, the Eastern Ming Dynasty was a supreme existence capable of crushing ten Persians.

"By the way, there is one more thing I still haven't figured out. You are so talented, why haven't you been discovered under the hands of the Persians, and you have always been the most inferior rower slave?" Zhu Han asked immediately.

Although Zhu Han didn't doubt that Pietro in front of him would be a scheming spy, it's better to clarify this puzzling question.

When Pietro heard this question, he straightened up proudly, "Those hateful heretics, they have regulations on the ship. If a slave wants to become a free man, no matter what, he must convert to their religion. As the recipient How could the lamb pointed out by the Lord betray God!"

It has to be said that the religious atmosphere in Europe is still very strong at this time.

Even the catastrophe of the Black Death that just passed has repeatedly demonstrated the incompetence of Catholicism.

However, it is still very difficult to convert them to another religion.

"So that's the case, you can rest assured that I will not prohibit you from believing in your own religion, as long as you don't impose your religious habits on others and act in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Han said calmly.

Chinese civilization has already surpassed the scope of religious civilization. The rule of man and the rule of law have been able to complete all social functions, and the only role of religion is to comfort the soul.

So Zhu Han was not worried about these Catholics or Christians, what kind of disturbance they would cause.

"My merciful Highness, I am willing to spend the rest of my life loyal to you!" Pietro Roledan knelt down and said excitedly.

"How about this, I will assign two people to you, you first learn the official language of Daming, and at the same time teach your language to these two people, and when your official language is good enough, you will serve as an accompanying official by my side, specifically My job is to..."

As Zhu Han spoke, he fell into deep thought.

"By the way, the specific position is the Western Affairs Officer. I will set up a Western Affairs Office, and you will be in charge." Zhu Han said.

Hearing this, Pietro burst into tears immediately.

In just one morning, he first changed from a slave to a free sailor, and then from a free sailor, he rose to become an official of Ming Dynasty in one step.

You know, in the fleet, the slaves live in the bottom of the cabin without any freedom.

Although the sailors can move freely, there are strict regulations restricting their actions, and the food and lodging are also very common.

The officials in the fleet not only do not need to perform daily labor, but also enjoy special dining rooms and bedrooms.

These days, it is already extremely difficult to inquire about some information about Europe through the people of Tianfang Teachers and Merchants.

A living man born in Venice is definitely a valuable talent.

So Zhu Han felt that he could not value this Venetian too much. A small office officer is only a ninth rank. If this Luo Liedan can help Daming in the future, Zhu Han will not be stingy with more rewards.

Led by a personal guard of the Royal Palace, Pietro Roledan came to a cabin on the upper deck.

Although this cabin is narrow, only the size of a single bed, but in Pietro's eyes, it is no less than a paradise on earth.

This is a small independent room specially prepared for the officials accompanying Zhu Han.

There is a fixed wooden bed in the room, which is covered with a layer of fine cotton cloth and underneath is a mattress woven with palm hemp. Although it looks very simple, it is very clean.

Pietro's more than two years of slavery almost made him forget these human norms.

And what surprised him even more was that this small room actually had a bright round window, from which the blue sky and white clouds could be seen clearly.

After Pietro approached, he was surprised to find that the window was inlaid with a large piece of complete transparent glass.

Although Europe has already had transparent glass, it is very rare for the glass on this cabin window to be so pure and free of impurities.

Such a large piece of smooth and transparent glass can be sold for at least a small Geso silver coin in Venice.

These extravagant orientals actually inlaid it on the bumpy ship?

Pietro couldn't help but think of the wealth and strength of the Eastern Ming Dynasty that those Persians had described.

Pietro then looked at the other items in the cabin.

It doesn't matter.

The ensuing shock made Pietro almost fall a big somersault.

In this small cabin, apart from a bed, there is only a small bench and a small cabinet.

On top of this cabinet is a tray with something like a water cup upside down.

Pietro took him in his hand and looked at it carefully.

He suddenly discovered that it turned out to be a porcelain with exquisite patterns.

"God!"

"Holy Virgin Mary!"

Pietro couldn't help exclaiming again and again, and under the violent emotional agitation, his hand holding the teacup had already begun to tremble.

"This white and crystal-clear porcelain is so carelessly placed here without anyone looking after it?" Pietro couldn't believe what he saw with his eyes.

You know, in Europe at this time, not to mention the best Jingdezhen porcelain, even the porcelain fired in ordinary folk kilns can become a family heirloom of a feudal lord, even if it is just a teapot for drinking a large bowl of tea, Or a noodle bowl for eating noodles, as long as the pictures on it are exquisite enough, it means that the status of porcelain is noble enough.

Today Europeans have no idea how porcelain is made.

(End of this chapter)