Harry Potter’s Morning Light

   Chapter 2183 The Battle of Flowers (Ninety-one)

There is a mosque in Fuzhou. According to legend, the mosque was founded in the Tang Dynasty. However, this statement is not credible. It was about to collapse in the Yuan Dynasty. An official named Zhang Xiaosi used his salary to rebuild the mosque. In the Ming Dynasty, it was rebuilt because of a fire. The style is still the same as in the Yuan Dynasty.

   It looks like a Chinese temple structure at first glance, but inside it is no different from other mosques. Nick wanted someone to help him translate the Turkish in the book. The Admiral had already arrived in Fuzhou at this time, so they had to continue on the road.

If Nick accepted the job of the East India Company to map China's coast, he would be very busy every day, busy with surveying in order to accurately map Dinghai anchorage and Fuqing Bay, as well as Mawei Port and Songshan Port, so far Europeans have not been in These ports have called.

It is absolutely impossible to describe the Jishan Islands, Yushan Islands, and Jiushan Islands one by one. Facing such a job, even a confident hydrogeographer will lose patience and even cannot remember the description at all. which islands.

After inspecting the fort in Xiangshan County, the next stop of the fleet is Zhoushan Island. Its capital is in Dinghai, but Putuo Mountain is more famous. It is also known as Mount Wutai, Mount Emei and Mount Jiuhua as the Four Famous Mountains of Buddhism. The Nanhai Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva educates all living beings.

  Dinghai is surrounded by walls like most Chinese towns. It is very prosperous inside. The streets are paved with slate.

  Putuo Mountain is an exclusive area for monks. Various wonders similar to the famous temples near Henan Island in Guangzhou can be seen everywhere in Putuo Mountain, but Putuo Mountain is more gorgeous. There are more than 60 temples on the whole island, two of which are royal temples.

  Admiral is a Taoist, but it does not affect his offering to the temple on behalf of the emperor. The roof of the temple is covered with golden glazed tiles, which is the symbol of the royal temple, and gilded statues are enshrined inside.

  Buddhism advocates "release". There are countless turtles in the release pond, almost to the point of "overcrowding". Maybe the person will tell him that he used the wrong idiom here, but Nick really can't think of a more appropriate adjective. In addition, there is another type of master in the temple, namely the fat pigs, who are comfortable in the temple, walking from room to room, disdainful of the food scattered on the ground.

  Chinese Buddhism has a canon that prohibits eating meat. These pigs don’t have to worry about being slaughtered and eaten. When the monk twists the beads, he will only say “Amitabha” and nothing else. In short, you can see them wherever you go, and Nara's domesticated deer look much cuter than them.

   Some say that monks are gluttons, and although they prefer vegetarian food, they are no different from the monks of St. Benedict and St. Bernard. There are always people in the kitchen, while other halls are often empty.

  Nick had hoped that there were high-ranking monks who knew Turkish, and he no longer believed in it. After copying a large number of Buddha statues, he left Zhoushan with the admiral and went to Ningbo, where they were warmly welcomed.

  Ningbo's business is very developed, there are several shops selling British woolen wool, but silk or raw silk is the most sold in the shops. Ningbo is very close to Hangzhou, and Hangzhou Bay, the mouth of the Qiantang River, is not far from Ningbo. Every year around the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will be a spectacular tide of Qiantang.

  Because Marco Polo had been to Hangzhou, Nick also wanted to go, and the admiral fulfilled his wish. As they continued to enter the inland, what they saw was gradually replaced by mulberry trees, and there were fewer and fewer tea trees.

  The mulberry tree in Zhejiang is slightly different from the mulberry tree in the west. Besides, mulberry tree is not the only plant for silkworm breeding. In areas with few mulberry trees, silkworm farmers can also use ash tree instead of mulberry leaves...

   "Finally something useful!" Bonaparte suddenly shouted, startling Georgiana.

   "What are you yelling at!" she said angrily.

   "Read." He gave her an order, posing as a commander.

   She threw the book to him "I've been reading for so long, it's your turn."

   After saying that, she ignored him and drank the water herself.

  The structure of China's looms looks very simple, but the textile craftsmen are extremely skilled, careful and dedicated, and European textile merchants have not been able to build better looms...

   "That's because the machines will take the textile workers' jobs." Georgiana explained to him that "the UK already has hydrotextiles."

   He looked a little confused, but continued on.

"Weaving craftsmen spun delicately embroidered brocades and flower-painted silks, which are also produced in Paisley, Magsfield and Lyon. However, Chinese wrinkle is extremely difficult to imitate. , so far no foreign manufacturer has imitated it. We also don't have a fabric like cocoon silk. This silk fabric is very washable, and after many washings, the fabric will become softer and more beautiful. What is wrinkled silk ?" asked Bonaparte.

   "I bet it's not crumpled silk, that kind of silk no one wants," Georgiana replied.

   "Where's the cocoon silk?"

"how could I know."

   He looked at her dissatisfied, as if blaming a woman for not even knowing this.

  In addition to Zhejiang Province, there are also three provinces in Jiangnan Province, HUB Province and Sichuan Province that also produce silk, and their silk products are extremely beautiful. These four provinces are basically at the same latitude, and the climate is very similar to the US states at the same latitude. The climate here is humid and the soil is moist. The Yangtze River and its numerous tributaries nourish the land here. Locals fertilize the soil with silt dug out of the river and amend the soil with plant ash and animal bones. Mulberries are great for intercropping, planting millet in the spaces between rows of mulberries, or growing other grains and vegetables. Silkworm farmers put a large part of their energy on the prevention and control of mulberry tree pests and diseases, because pests and diseases will bring disaster to these delicate plants. In order to protect the mulberry leaves, silkworm farmers even smear a layer of essential oil on the branches.

  Each village and town should publicly read Emperor Kangxi's "Sixteen Articles of the Holy Trinity" every month to remind the people of their obligations. In the "Sixteen Points", the emperor advocated "focusing on farming and mulberry to provide enough food and clothing", and raised farming and mulberry cultivation to a high position. As for silk products, the emperor seemed to want to monopolize it in order to generate more profits for the empire. He had been trying to restrict the export of products. Imperial law prohibited foreign merchant ships from carrying more than 100 dans of raw silk and 80 dans of finished silk. However, in the face of the difficulty of resisting smuggling, these legal provisions are in vain, and greedy smugglers make up for the foolishness of the Empire to issue a ban.

  The United Kingdom ships 1500 to 16000 dans of silk from China every year, most of which are twisted silk, and European manufacturers prefer to use silk to make stockings for ladies.

   "Why didn't I think of it." Georgiana whispered, "The sea ban is for monopoly?"

   "The Manchus started out in the fur business." Bonaparte gave the book to Georgiana again.

   "You only read so much." She complained.

   "I'm not like you, I have a job, how about you?" He teased, "Didn't you come to the meeting?"

   She was speechless for a moment.

   "I'm going out, you can read it yourself." After he finished speaking, he put the book on the table and left the room.

When he left, she picked up the book and continued reading. After the trip to Hangzhou, Nick and the others went to Shanghai. After passing here, they could go along the Yangtze River to Zhenjiang, and then along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to the Governor's Yamen of Nanhe. It is located in Qingjiangpu.

There is a small island next to Shanghai called Chongming Island. It has an elegant name of "Jiang Tong". Centuries ago, it was a barren land. Officials who were convicted were exiled here. Now it has become a place for drying salt and growing cotton. .

Planting cotton has brought huge profits to Chongming Island. Moreover, cotton is better to grow than rice. After the wheat is harvested, cotton seeds are sprinkled in the fields, and then the wheat fields can be turned over. At this time, Shanghai can be in harmony with 21 The century is completely different.

   She turned the two pages quickly, and the story told that Nick and the others had a round with Juren and Wanning in Zhenjiang.

   They also came along the waterway. Originally, Wan Ning should stay at JDZ's hometown, but she didn't listen. She had to follow the Admiral to Qingjiangpu, so they left together.

Nick kept thinking about the old man he met in the pavilion before. He said that people think that the eyes of blind people can't see anything. In fact, the opposite is true. The eyes of blind people hold the greatest darkness. People think that darkness is dead silence. An absurd misunderstanding, everything in the world not only does not disappear in the dark, but only black cannot be attributed to one color in the spectrum. It is a huge theater that lacks all the characters, but includes all the plots.

   So, is it a good thing to heal her eyes and let her see again?

   Was she, like most people, bewitched by the hallucinations created by light?

   (end of this chapter)