This night, Zhao Dengke didn't sleep at all!

Unlike other people's excitement, Zhao Dengke was more nervous, even when he was fighting back then, he didn't feel so nervous.

Although the welcome ceremony at the train station gave him a sense of pride, he didn't realize that he wasn't nervous, after all, he was going to face the saint next, and he was going to see His Majesty the Emperor.

What if you say the wrong thing?

When the time comes, if the emperor is angry, will he cut off his head?

Thoughts like these crossed his mind. Moreover, he knew that the reason why he was able to discover the Southern Continent, and that there were so many discoveries, had a lot to do with the emperor's secret letter.

It stands to reason that all this glory should belong to Your Majesty.

And it shouldn't be mine!

Zhao Dengke's heart suddenly had such a thought, and he was even a little frustrated, because he suddenly realized that if it weren't for His Majesty the Emperor, he couldn't have persevered, and finally confirmed that it was the mainland, not the big island.

All right!

Until now, Zhao Dengke still clearly remembers the letter from His Majesty the Emperor, and it was that letter, like a holy decree, that made him and his sailors stick to it, because they knew that it was His Majesty's will, and they were just following the holy decree.

Now that the sailing expedition is over, they have finally returned to Daming.

They have already enjoyed the honor, then the glory should belong to His Majesty the Emperor!

It wasn't until dawn that Zhao Dengke, who had not slept all night, finally figured out that the glory belonged to the emperor!

With such a thought, Zhao Dengke calmed down, he was no longer like before, thinking about the generous rewards he might get, and even suffering from gains and losses there, now, he figured it out, he himself was just an executor, no matter whether the emperor's reward was rich or not, it didn't matter.

After all, the New World has been discovered!

This is a discovery that belongs to the Ming Dynasty!

When he was promoted to the realm of thought, he calmed down his nervous mood, even when he stepped on the legendary "Jinluan Palace" paved with gold bricks in the imperial palace with the senior sailors on the ship, he deliberately looked at the bricks underground...... Why isn't it a gold brick? It's just an ordinary brick.

"Grass People...... No, it's a minister, minister Zhao Dengke see Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty, long live, long live. ”

As soon as he entered the "Jinluan Palace" in this drama, even if he had been on the battlefield and entered the romance, Zhao Dengke was still so nervous that he didn't know what to say, and almost used the word, he was a minister who had been a soldier, and he was not a "grass people" but a "minister" if he served the emperor.

The more nervous he is, the softer Zhao Dengke's hands become, which will make him even want to kneel, but Daming's rule is not to kneel? Therefore, Zhao Dengke's waist was bent more and more, and even bent to ninety degrees, just when his waist was bent more and more, he only heard a majestic and kind voice from above the main hall.

"Second Lieutenant Zhao, excuse me."

"Minister, thank you, Lord Longen."

Zhao Dengke straightened up as soon as he spoke, but he always lowered his head and didn't dare to look at the emperor on the dragon chair. I'm afraid that it will be disrespectful to see it.

He was like that, and the rest of the officers were probably like that.

For ordinary people, seeing the emperor is a matter worthy of writing about the glory of their ancestors, but the more this is the case, the more nervous they become, lest they be rude, but in fact, they have long been rude, but no one cares.

"Captain Zhao is from Nanzhili, right?"

Zhu Mingzhong asked amiably.

"Back to the emperor, the minister is a native of Yangzhou, Nanzhili. Generations of ancestors...... Generations of salt ......"

Zhao Dengke lowered his head and replied resignedly.

"When, when His Majesty went to the salt field to recruit soldiers, the minister, the minister joined the army, and later lost a leg on the battlefield, so he retired......"

"Well, you are the hero of my Ming Dynasty! I remember, if it weren't for the desperate fight of Brother Yanding back then, defeating the 100,000 elite soldiers of Dasu, how could I have today, come here, give me a seat! ”

Zhu Mingzhong sighed.

"In that battle, you brothers worked hard and made great achievements!"

"Ministers, ministers don't dare to take credit......"

Zhao Dengke hung his head again, he can't remember now, whether he killed the enemy back then, anyway, he went to the battlefield in a daze, rushed with the brothers, and then lost a leg in a daze, and the person fainted, and when he woke up, the battle was over.

He really didn't dare to take credit.

"Well, all the martyrs in the Martyrs' Shrine are loyal, and they are the first heroes of my Ming Dynasty's Zhongxing!"

After sighing, Zhu Mingzhong said.

"I heard that Captain Zhao has discovered a new continent south of Java Island, and he has brought a lot of rare beasts from there, but is this the case?"

Zhu Mingzhong, who was sitting on the dragon chair, asked pretending not to know.

In fact, from the beginning of their expedition, Zhu Mingzhong has been involved in the whole process, and after they returned, they got the report for the first time, according to the twists and turns from the Qin State, one thing is certain that Zhao Dengke and they found the Australian continent.

The reason why it is certain is that the animals drawn by the painters accompanying the expedition made Zhu Mingzhong believe that Zhao Dengke and they found Australia is Australia, after all, kangaroos are Australian specialties, except for that place, other places, it is impossible to exist at all.

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister did find the Southern Continent you talked about, Your Majesty. Not only that, but according to the requirements of the Royal Geographical Society, the minister also brought special animal products to His Majesty. ”

Zhao Dengke didn't mention what he had experienced when he discovered the Southern Continent, in fact, he also knew that in this court, he must not chatter, he used to be a soldier, he naturally knew that everything he said had to be divided into occasions, and on this occasion, he could not talk about the encounters on the road.

Moreover, when he was in the hotel, someone handed him dozens of famous stickers in his room, without exception, hoping to interview him, hoping to publish his adventure experience, saying that these were inappropriate in the court, and when he turned back and published a book, His Majesty could naturally learn about his own voyage experience through reading books, and if there was anything he wanted to know, he would naturally make a holy decree to see him at that time.

It is true that Zhao Dengke is a flat-headed commoner, but he also has his own wisdom and his own cleverness.

After a while, a few guards carried several iron cages of different sizes and a height of one person to the Jinluan Palace, the iron cage was covered with a quilt, obviously afraid that the animals inside would freeze, in addition to a few iron cages, there were also a few specimens.

Although it was only a specimen, when they saw the specimen, the civil and military officials present still looked at these specimens with great interest.

Although a large number of exotic animals brought by maritime merchants and fleets from overseas in recent years, in the zoos around the Ming Dynasty, all kinds of animals from overseas are also common, and even the white tiger has more than a dozen, which also makes people no longer like in the past, when they see the strange-looking animals they have never seen, they call "Rui Beast" and "Xiangrui".

But even so, people are still full of curiosity about exotic animals, after all, they will never be able to go overseas in their lifetime, but through these animals that are completely different from the animals of the Central Plains, they can comfort their curiosity, and besides, this is a thing worth showing off.

It's a koala!

Zhu Mingzhong, who walked down from the dragon chair, looked at the specimen of the koala, looked at its cute appearance, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

It's just a specimen.

"Your Majesty, this is a unique animal in the southern continent, the appearance is like a bear, but there is a bag in the belly, so the ministers call him "wombat", with a docile temperament and a simple body. The local natives called it "Kewal", which also means "no water", and originally wanted to be transported to the Central Plains with kangaroos to present to the emperor. But the wombat refused to drink or eat on the boat, and died on the way......"

Zhao Dengke's tone was slightly remorseful.

His words made Zhu Mingzhong smile.

"Since the natives call it 'kwal', which also means 'not to drink water,' he will certainly not drink water, and if I am not bad, he must have obtained the water he needed from the food they fed......

Koalas get 90% of the water they need from the eucalyptus leaves they feed on, and only drink when they are sick and in drought, and he doesn't eat, surely because there are no eucalyptus leaves on board.

Thinking of another time and space, those European explorers often only hunted and made taxidermy, and they also had their helplessness - most importantly, they did not understand the habits of animals. Expeditions, on the other hand, require physical evidence to be present, so taxidermy is the easiest way to do so. It is precisely because of this that the taxidermy technology of the West has developed rapidly.

At this moment, a "rumbling" cry suddenly appeared from under the quilt, and the huge cry made everyone in the hall stunned.

Listening to the somewhat familiar call, Zhu Mingzhong immediately knew that it was "emu". In the past, he had seen "emus" in the zoo. Tracheal structures can make loud rumbling noises during the breeding season.

"Okay, open this quilt, let me and the ministers and workers take a look at the freshness together."

As soon as the cotton cover on the cage was opened, everyone was stunned by the contents of the cage.

This thing is almost a man tall, and its head looks a bit like a mouse, but there is a head sticking out of its belly, and these two animals really frighten everyone in front of them.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Dengke's face blackened by the sea breeze showed a smug smile. That's exactly what he wants to see.

"It's a kangaroo!"

Zhu Mingzhong admired it with great interest, not to mention the big guy, it was himself, and it was the first time he saw a living creature, and then nodded with satisfaction.

"It's really not easy to transport this thing, look at his shape, it should be a very fierce animal!"

Although the kangaroo looks cute and cute, Zhu Mingzhong will never forget the picture of the kangaroo boxing in the boss's animal world, which is not as harmless as it seems on the surface. Some adult kangaroos have terrifying muscles all over their bodies. Usually my hobby is to chase humans all over the ground, and if I catch it, I will be beaten violently.

"Your Majesty is wise. After the ministers and others caught this thing with a trap, they never knew what to name it. Now His Majesty himself has given it the name "Kangaroo", which is really appropriate. The pouch that grew on its belly was the place where the young son was placed......"

Of course, Zhao Dengke didn't say anything, they always called it "kangaroo," and they had already learned its name from the local natives when they were captured locally. Now this name is the name of His Majesty's order.

gave Zhao Dengke such a reminder, and everyone realized that the little head was not in the belly of the alien beast, but the cub of the kangaroo carried in the skin bag.

"Your Majesty, but this kangaroo is also a size, you see, like this is a small ......"

Zhao Dengke pointed to a small cage again. I saw that there were a few quokkas that looked like they were inside. Looking at those quokkas, looking at their fat faces as if they were forever smiling, Zhu Mingzhong was immediately happy.

"Look, this thing is smiling!"

His Majesty smiled, and the ministers immediately laughed, and everyone was amused by its cuteness.

Then, Zhao Dengke said again.

"Most of the animals on the southern continent have such a skin in their upper abdomen, which is very different from the animals in my Central Plains."

"There is a terroir in one place, and naturally there is also an animal in one place, and the southern continent is alone in the ocean, and the animals on it must be different from other continents,"

Zhu Mingzhong nodded, then pointed to the animals and said.

"These animals are on display at the Royal Zoo to the people, so that everyone can see something fresh and feast their eyes!"

As in the past, after getting the precious exotic animals, Zhu Mingzhong will order people to send them to the Royal Zoo, so that ordinary people can also see those animals, he believes that these animals will definitely be able to cause a turn in the Ming Dynasty, after all, at this moment in the world, in addition to the aborigines of Australia, they will be the first lucky ones to watch marsupials.

And the reason why this is so is that I hope to pass on some geographical knowledge to the world through these animals, so that they can know that overseas is not a wilderness, and only through this subtle change will people's thinking change! In the end, they will be willing to go overseas, rather than seeing overseas as a daunting path, and will never consider overseas unless they are forced to do so.

To change people's minds, we must start from a small point.

As soon as the ministers heard His Majesty's arrangement, the voice of singing praises to virtue was naturally endless. Enjoying with the people for the emperors of the past dynasties, at most, that is to say, but in the Ming Dynasty, this is a fact, as far as the royal zoos are concerned, they are all built and maintained by the royal family with silver.

It was in those zoos that many children learned how big the world really is and the continents on earth.

"This time, Captain Zhao was able to discover the Southern Continent, which can be described as a great achievement, and he has made great contributions to my Ming Dynasty!"

After singing praises, Zhu Mingzhong looked at Zhao Dengke and said.

"On behalf of Daming, I thank you and all the fleets for your heroic actions, Zhao Dengke listens to the ......"