England in 1667 was undoubtedly in turmoil. It was not just that they were at a disadvantage in the war with the Dutch, but that the successive blows had been hanging over England like a lingering shadow, and last year when the Black Death broke out in London on a large scale, King Charles II of England fled with his family and court to Oxfordshire. At that time, the vast majority of business in London was paralyzed, as wealthy merchants and people from all walks of life had withdrawn; Only a handful of noble priests, doctors, and pharmacists were willing to stay and help other people throughout the summer when the epidemic was raging.

Just when the Black Death epidemic was getting better in London, the London Fire on September 2 last year destroyed most of central London, and the fire that lasted for 4 days and 4 nights even burned down St. Paul's Cathedral, a landmark in London.

After a fire, the plague epidemic disappeared completely. But the price paid was dearly – the fire caused an estimated £10 million in economic damage. At that time, the annual income of the City of London was £12,000, and theoretically it would take 800 years to make up for the disaster damage.

More than 10,000 people were left homeless after the fire. Many refugees have taken temporary refuge in Muerfield huts or built a rudimentary hut next to their burned house.

Plague, fire, and military defeats made England unable to fight again, so from January 1667 onwards it was constantly in contact with the Dutch in the hope of negotiating peace. However, the Dutch side's desire for peace talks is not as strong as that of England, and the domestic revenge for the "Holmes bonfire" incident is still high, and there is no way to talk about peace talks.

Because of this, when the Ming Kingdom clashed with the Netherlands and occupied the Dutch East Indies and the Cape of Good Hope and other Dutch colonies after the news reached England, it immediately made England see a glimmer of hope, and even in London, many newspapers in England swore that England was negotiating with the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty would send their fleet to reinforcements, and other news corroborated each other with the news of the arrival of the Ming envoys in Europe. When the Ming delegation appeared in the courts of Spain and France, all the English people believed that the Ming mission would soon come to London, and then the two countries would agree on some issues, and then the huge Ming fleet would sail from the Cape of Good Hope to England, and then they would attack the Netherlands.

The Dutch are as weak as babies compared to the Ming Dynasty!

For the vast majority of the British, this may be a series of bad news, rare good news, but this news, it seems that until now has not been confirmed, now, the Ming mission is still in the French court, to Louis XIV and France to introduce the Ming, like Europe to show that like a paradise country, compared to the Ming calm and relaxed, the English envoys in France seem a little anxious, they even many times in private contact with the Ming envoys, but also many times invited to visit England.

It was also under this circumstance that Xiong Cilu, as the deputy envoy, secretly crossed the English Channel by boat and came to London.

What was London like in 1667?

Xiong Cixu didn't know what London was like in the past, but now he saw a ruin, with makeshift wooden sheds everywhere, garbage everywhere, and the city full of the smell of dung. As the first official envoy of the Ming Dynasty to arrive in London, Xiong was able to observe the city up close for the first time.

"The population of London is said to have reached half a million, and it should actually be around four hundred thousand. The number of families is about 100,000. None of the roads here can be compared with the central capital, or even with the ordinary capital of the Ming Dynasty, and the streets are very narrow. The road is still in a pristine state and has never been repaired, so it is difficult to walk with potholes......"

"People who pass by are just as untidy as Parisians, and as rumored to be, they defecate and defecate everywhere on the road, whether in Parisians or Londoners, and they stink. But they're all used to it and don't take it very seriously. The urine can be poured into the river or poured into the pool. If you're not careful, you'll step on ...... The floor is their toilet, and after pulling it, use a shovel to shovel it into the corner of the wall, and forget it. Besides, they are usually used to the smell of body odor, so they naturally feel indifferent to the feces and urine that are close at hand. ”

"Although they look well-dressed and happy, they are very rude and rude. As they left, everywhere, in the chimney, in the study, in the bedroom, in the cellar, there was feces everywhere. ”

As the deputy envoy, Xiong Cixu faithfully recorded everything he saw, every night, he would use notes to write down everything he saw during the day, after returning to China, his notes may be made public, will become the first hand of the Chinese people to understand Europe, and because of this, he will try to record everything.

"These Europeans were even more unhygienic than the natives of the South Seas, and there were no toilets in the palaces and aristocratic mansions, at most a wooden toilet – so they defecated in the open on the fireplace, behind the door, on the walls and on the balcony. There is urine and urine everywhere on every stone in the palace corridor and on the grand welcome steps...... Most of the cities in Europe are really dirty and smelly, so people always like to take a bunch of lavender while walking......"

Putting down the pen in his hand, breathing in the faint smell of urine in his nose, Xiong Cixu's brows furrowed.

"Could this be the other civilized world that Your Majesty is talking about?"

Civilized world? This civilized world once made Xiong Cilu and most of the officials in the mission feel fearful - when they entered Paris, the whole mission was also at the city gate and stopped for a long time, and finally pinched his nose and the boss reluctantly entered the city.

Now they know that any European city is bound to be foul-smelling and creepy, and in fact, after entering the city, you should not only watch out for the feces you step on, but also the falling objects European city dwellers like to dump their feces directly from their windows.

"Deputy envoy, I suddenly have some sympathy for Li Zhengzhi."

As a soldier, Zheng Mingyi came to London with him to get a closer look at British military power, and now, after arriving in London, he has been completely stunned by Europe. To be precise, he was shocked by the mess presented here, he didn't even know how the people here survived, and even suspected that they couldn't even survive in such a messy environment.

It is precisely because of this that he sympathizes with Li Long, because Li Long and others need to be stationed in Europe, this is a place for people to stay, not to mention the streets outside, even in this so-called palace, there is a smell of urine everywhere, and the so-called palace is just a big thatched house.

"Not to mention the promotion of officers to the third level, even the soldiers in the army feel that Europe is not a place for people to stay at all. The city is littered with excrement until it is crushed into new pavement by shoes, horses' hooves, and vehicles...... I finally understand why it stinks! The streets are all paved with old stool! ”

After such an exclamation, Zheng Mingyi's tone seemed a little exaggerated. But his sympathy is true, after all, in his opinion, these places are really not places for people to stay, and he finally knows why no one wants to come to Europe, what kind of city is here and there, it is clearly a huge thatched house, no, it is simply a dung pit!

"My brother has been on the battlefield for a long time, but he was fainted by the stench as soon as he entered Paris, and you said that Envoy Lee should be stationed in Europe, and if he can live in such a place, then his nose can definitely carry everything."

Zheng Mingyi's complaint made Xiong Cilu laugh. The mess in European cities also exceeded his expectations, but compared to Zheng Mingyi, he was not confused by the dirty mess on the surface.

"Not only that, but when you enter the court, you don't see the well-mannered French nobles and ladies, but they are just a bunch of sloppy ghosts full of dirt and lice in their hair, all relying on perfume to solve their problems. If I take off all my clothes, I dare say that many of my beggars are definitely cleaner than them! ”

Xiong's words are not an exaggeration, at this time Europeans were afraid of bathing, and if there was no doctor's order, the French lady who loved cleanliness only took a bath twice a year, and usually used a dry towel to wipe her body. In contrast, in the past, when the beggars of the Ming Dynasty were not yet exiled, they also bathed frequently. As for ordinary people, even in winter, they will take a bath often, and if it is summer, they will take a bath every day.

"No, when I was in France, I heard that even King Louis XIV himself had to bathe carefully under the guidance of a doctor, and had not bathed once in the past few years. Deputy envoy, how could you choke on that smell in the court at that time! If you haven't bathed for decades, the smell is not much stronger than rotten meat,"

"It stinks!"

After saying these four words, Xiong Cixu said seriously.

"Europeans don't like bathing, their kings have the same stench on them as ordinary people. Now you know why my Daming perfume sells so well here...... Since everyone doesn't shower, they need to cover up the smell on their bodies with perfume! ”

Compared with the current Ming Dynasty, the perfume technology in Europe can be said to be very backward, and because of this, perfume is also an important export commodity of the Ming Dynasty, and it is quite popular among the upper class in Europe.

"So, this time in London, one of the gifts we gave to the British king was perfume, and their stench was so bad that it was a huge market for us!"