202 Smart Messenger

Diego Catros Mendoza, a leather merchant from Spain, walked around the room nervously. He didn't know how this group of armed Chinese people on Hainan Island, known as "Short Hairs," would treat him.

Although the Chinese also have yellow skin and dark eyes, they are obviously different from their Ming country compatriots on the mainland. Diego can't tell where the difference lies, but since entering this port, he has been confused all the time.

Have this feeling.

But one thing is certain - the other party is very smart and not easy to deceive. Diego still can't forget the sneer in the eyes of the short-haired Chinese official opposite him when he heard him solemnly say that he was presenting his credentials on behalf of the Netherlands.

His expression was different from the unreasonable arrogance of those Ming Empire officials on the mainland. This official had obviously seen through his disguise, and his expression was like looking at a self-righteous fool.

Their subsequent responses proved this point, and Diego discovered that he had made a big mistake—these "short-haired" people knew more about Europe than the Chinese in other places. After discovering that his behavior of pretending to be a diplomatic envoy was purely

After cocooning himself, Diego quickly gave up the idea of ​​using a tiger skin as a banner and honestly admitted that he was just a messenger. Although he was still not allowed to disembark, he finally allowed the other party to accept his letter.

But before he could feel lucky, short-haired soldiers wearing green military uniforms and carrying sophisticated muskets appeared again, dragged him off the boat roughly, and then threw him directly into this small dark room... except for a stick

There was no other light source except the thin candle, no water to drink, and not even a seat. For more than an hour, no matter how he shouted, begged, cursed or threatened, no one paid attention to him. And this leather merchant had something wrong with him.

, so naturally, he began to guess...guess how Shorthair would deal with him.

Like all Western businessmen who dared to venture to the mysterious East to make a fortune at the same time, Diego Catros Mendoza was a bold and shrewd guy. In addition, he also had an advantage that others could not match - excellent

Psychological quality. He once lived in a primitive tribe on the Spice Islands. While looking at a human head boiling up and down in a large pot in front of him, he talked and laughed with the cannibal chief without changing his expression, and finally exchanged it for very cheap glass beads.

A batch of precious furs arrived.

So when the Governor of Damuan Island needed to find an envoy to deliver an ultimatum to a group of daring Chinese armed forces on an island in the South China Sea, Diego stepped forward - no one else dared to go, because the Governor's letter was not related to the letter.

It is better to say that it is a diplomatic letter than a declaration of war. If you send something like this to someone else, you will most likely be unlucky as an envoy.

But Diego took the initiative to take over the task because Governor Hans promised to grant the messenger merchants a full year's exclusive privilege of selling deerskins on an important route. Diego hopes to get this reward.

, so that he can realize his long-cherished wish - to own a merchant ship of his own.

As for the letter that might cause trouble... he felt that he should be able to solve this problem with his own mind. He did implement his strategy, but now it seems that he failed.

...What will those short-haired people do with themselves? They don't look like savages, but what they do seems to be difficult to escape even according to the rules of a civilized society. If nothing else, they are just pretending to be the government

One official complaint was enough to send him to a hard labor camp and never see the light of day - the laws of the Spanish Kingdom in the seventeenth century were not lax.

As Diego walked around in the small dark room more and more frequently, he thought more and more, and his whole body became more and more nervous... But the poor Spanish leather merchant did not know that in this small dark room

There was a small observation hole in a hidden corner of the house. In the next room, Zhao Lide and Pang Yu were standing there quietly, taking turns observing his movements through a reflecting mirror. Diego was locked inside.

They watched here for more than an hour.

"Are you sure this method really works?"

Pang Yu had little experience with this type of technique, but A De was a experienced person and looked very confident:

"Don't worry, these so-called smart people have quick minds. And the more flexible a person is, the more likely they are to think randomly when they encounter a situation they cannot control... This guy doesn't look like a fool, so we don't need to

No matter what method is used, the darkness and the fear of an uncertain future are enough to destroy his will...it will be much easier to question him after he collapses on his own."

Ade thought well, but he forgot one thing - for those guys who have firm beliefs or are particularly strong-minded, this psychological suggestion method will also be ineffective. Compared with criminals in modern society, the criminals of this era

Westerners have a special advantage: they are religious, which means they can easily self-anaesthetize.

"Almighty Lord, please forgive my greed and arrogance...May God bless..."

When he heard the voice of praying coming from inside, Ade couldn't help but curse in a low voice - although he couldn't understand Spanish, it was easy to tell from the tone that this person's mood was gradually calming down.

Miscalculated.

Diego was not actually a devout believer, but this time, he found that his prayers were quite effective - before he could finish reciting the prayers, the door of the small dark room opened. The Chinese sentry at the door ordered him to come out.

Although his voice was still rough, it was like the sound of nature to Diego's ears.

"Thank God, even if there is a trial next, it is better than being locked up like this..."

With this idea in mind, the leather speculator found himself taken into a relatively "normal" room - there were finally tables, chairs and benches. However, the guards only allowed him to sit on a single bench, facing a set of long tables and chairs.

It was obviously a judgmental stance.

After a while, two short-haired Chinese officials walked into the room, followed by an interpreter. The other person was quite polite and first motioned to the guard to pour him a glass of water to moisten his throat, and then started to ask questions:

"Tiago Cardoso Mendes? This name is more Portuguese. Which country are you from?"

Diego was extremely surprised by the other party's first question - the Chinese officials he had met before always regarded all white people as one group, and never knew or bothered to understand the situation in European countries.

It is even more difficult to accept long and difficult-to-pronounce foreign names. The two people in front of me were very natural and skillful in pronouncing his name, including the accent and retroflexion. If you hadn't seen with your own eyes that the other person had yellow skin and dark eyes, and

The other languages ​​they spoke were also Chinese, and he almost thought they were his compatriots.

"Yes... I am Portuguese, but I have Spanish citizenship... The ID card issued by the Kingdom of Spain is more valid."

Diego's answer also surprised the two people opposite him - not because of the content of his answer, but because he also answered in Chinese.

"So you understand Chinese? Then why did you have to communicate through an interpreter on the dock earlier?"

Faced with Zhao Lide's questioning, the leather merchant suddenly looked a little embarrassed:

"In order to... to appear more formal..."

Pang Yu smiled slightly and turned around to advise Ade:

"It's just showing off...that's all. Why bother with a messenger? Let's get down to business."

——The two people were playing black and white again, so Ade took out the two documents, pointed at the Chinese version of the letter and asked sternly:

"So this Chinese version of the letter was written by you yourself?"

Sure enough, he was still seen through... The leather merchant held the hat in his hand, with a look of shame on his face:

"Yes... I thought you gentlemen would have difficulty reading the Dutch language, so I took the liberty of translating it for you."

"Oh? So you are still a very enthusiastic messenger?"

Ade sneered, and then patted the original German copy:

"But you seem to have missed a lot of content - about demanding compensation, handing over the murderer and weapons, and demanding a monopoly on all our goods... and the most important thing: the threat of war, have you translated them all?

——Or do you think these conditions are actually unnecessary? Or maybe the German guy named Hans is easy to talk to and has authorized you to remove these conditions directly? "

The cocooned leather merchant was speechless, but he was secretly complaining in his heart - he had made a much gentler translation document and was being treated like this. If he was really stupid and directly reported the original intention of the German letter, he wouldn't have done it on the spot.

Beaten to death by these shorthairs?

It's just that this reason can be imagined but not stated. Diego had to lower his head and accept the other party's cynicism. After a while, he raised his head and cautiously defended:

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, I did overlook some contents in the translation. But in my humble opinion, these contents are not beneficial to our negotiations, but may have the opposite effect. As an envoy,

Of course I hope that the negotiations can proceed smoothly, so I have only retained the most 'substantive' content in the translation document, but I hope this trip can go smoothly... You guys should seem to be civilized people, so I think you can understand."

As soon as these words came out, not to mention Pang Yu, who was always smiling and looking pale, even Ade almost burst out laughing - in fact, after they just saw these two documents with different tones,

He quickly guessed the whole story: the messenger was afraid of death and deliberately tried to speak nice things in the translation, hoping not to be offended. But the guy in front of him could still come up with all these reasons to defend himself after being exposed. It was really

It's so interesting.

Finding it difficult to continue playing this blackface character, Ade coughed and said seriously:

"Substantial content?... Humph, forget it. I'm too lazy to talk to you. Let's just say it: Whether it's your translated version or Hans's original text, we can't agree."

Pang Yu suddenly stood up and handed the two documents back to Diego, who took them in surprise.

"There's no need to write a reply. Anyway, it's just one sentence. When you go back, tell that Hans - Qionghai Trading Company's reply to the East India Company's request is as follows: If you want to fight, then fight!" {Piaotian Literature www.ptwxz
Chapter completed!