After leaving their homeland, the Confucian etiquette was obviously much less bound by these officers. In addition, the construction of the Penang fortress was completely built from scratch, so the officials under the garrison and the families of the officials did not guard the male and female defenses as strictly as in the interior.

After entering the banquet hall of the garrison mansion, Edmund Dantès and Zheng Zhihu found that there were not only officials from the garrison mansion in the hall, but also some female dependents. But the ladies sat at the long table next to them.

The two sat down casually according to the master's instructions, as if they had become accustomed to the appearance of these female dependents, which also made Huang Jiucheng, the Penang garrison who held the banquet, extremely happy.

Zheng Zhihu, a native of Fujian, was quickly attracted by Huang's Hokkien dishes, while Edmund Dantès praised Huang's own coconut wine and spiced seafood.

When they had eaten and drunk, a group of Malay servants came to clean up the table, and brought them a green coconut with a cut top, and a clean reed pipe in the top of the green coconut to suck the juice.

After taking a sip of the cool coconut water, Edmund Dantès thanked his owner very happily: "... It was a sumptuous feast, and even if it was used to entertain the king, it was not inferior. ”

Huang Jiucheng waved his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Edmund, you really won the award, all the food is common food produced locally, the only thing worth mentioning is the craftsmanship of a few cooks I brought from my hometown."

It's a pity that you're a few days late, otherwise I could have treated you to a dish of shaved ice, which is a real rarity. But if you come back this time next year, you should be able to eat it easily.

We are already digging a cave to store ice, and we will be able to bring in a large amount of pure ice from Lake Biwa in Japan in the first month of next year. At that time, drinking a glass of coconut water with ice cubes on such a hot afternoon is simply a fairy-like treat.

But now, why don't you ask the two gentlemen to tell us the story of your voyage to the sea, so that we may have a hot afternoon. ”

Edmund Dantès glanced at his companion and found that Zheng Zhihu nodded slightly at him, obviously asking him to tell him about the voyage and repay the hospitality of the other party.

As a veteran sailor with ups and downs in his life, Edmond Dantès clearly had a good talent for language and eloquence. Therefore, he didn't make any postponement of Zheng Zhihu's request, but just cleared his throat and said.

“… After we left the Strait of Malacca, the first big port we arrived at was Chittagong, which was controlled by the Kingdom of Arakan... It may have once been a thriving trading port, but now it has been ruined by war and piracy. If it weren't for the cannons of our Taihu, those Portuguese pirates would have even planned to attack us. We stayed in Chittagong for only one night and left in a hurry, an unorderly port that could not attract merchants, even if it was in a good location.

Sailing west from Chittagong reveals a labyrinth of estuarine sandbar islands, with endless mangrove forests along the coast, and you never know where the waterways between these mangroves lead. It is said to be the most famous river in mainland India... The estuary of the Ganges.

Beyond the mouth of the Ganges River is the Orissa region, where the people worship the sun god and are honest and frank, but the Arakanese of Chittagong are much more upright. In addition to the fish and jute that are more famous in the Orissa region, other crops are also average.

However, on the southern coast of Orissa, there is a large lake connected to the sea, which is not deep, but it is extremely large, and there are countless sandbanks and islands.

Because there are many types of fishing, the sandbar islands of the lake are inhabited, and when we sail along the coastline, we can see the sailboats in the lake with various colors of canvas fishing, and the sky in the morning or dusk is very impressive...

… At the tip of the southern part of the Indian mainland, there is an island across the sea from the mainland, this is the island of Ceylon, which is also called the lion country by the Ming people.

The island is connected to the Indian mainland by a bridge that connects it to the mainland, known locally as the Rama Bridge. Honestly, when you see these islands and reefs intermittently connected into a sea bridge in the water, you can't help but praise the miracles of the Creator.

Ceylon is the pearl of the Indian Ocean, and the island is extremely rich. The shallow southwest sea has a large number of pearl oysters, and the island has excellent ruby sapphire, and the finest cinnamon..."

In order to prove that he was right, Edmund Dantès could not help but take out two skins from his bosom and show everyone the pearls and gemstones he had traded in Ceylon.

In the envy of everyone, he continued: "It's a pity that this island has been occupied by the Portuguese, but the Dutch are now fighting with the Portuguese, and I'm afraid the Portuguese may not be able to hold it...

Further west from Ceylon, there is a treacherous sea of a thousand islands, not Ceylon, there is nothing but fish and coral rocks, and ships passing here are worried not to be hit by the reef and damage the bottom of the ship...

Before approaching the African continent, you will first see an island called Socotra. The climate of the island is extremely harsh, but there are many strange plants and animals that grow like hell on earth.

We rested on the island for a few days, replenished with fresh water and food, and hurried on to the African continent to the west. Within a few days, we were in the Horn of Africa. Moving on from the side of the Horn of Africa, it is the Red Sea that is controlled by *. And along the coast below the Horn of Africa, you reach the Cape of Good Hope, which separates the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Most of the coastal ports in this area are occupied by the Portuguese, and given their unfriendly attitude, we don't have much chance to observe the local customs.

However, in Kilwa Kisivani's Zange Empire, a relatively open trading port was built. European, Arabic and Asian traders could trade here.

But the state, founded by the Persian Shiraz, was too harsh on the local Zanzibaris. The largest trade in this port was the trade of black slaves. The king of the Sangto empire not only took the blacks of the interior captive and sold them to the Arabs and Portuguese, but sometimes even his own people...

Further south along the coastline is Mosanke, another coastal region that is almost under Portuguese control. This area is said to produce gold, so the Portuguese were so heavily guarded that they did not even allow our fleet to dock.

After Mosanke, we made the first destination of our voyage, Tebul Bay behind the Cape of Good Hope. There is a mountain like a trace, and the whole mountain has been cut by some great force, and it has become an extremely flat table, and the whole mountain is used as his own table, perhaps only the Creator can use it...

When we came to Tebul Bay again, we realized that a splendid castle had been built at the foot of Table Mountain. Although I don't know why the castle near Cape Storm was named Jinghai City, I have to say that the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty built the city very well. It has now become a resting and resupplying place for ships coming to and from the Cape of Good Hope, and none of the sailors who have visited Silent Sea City will denigrate the port city.

Incredibly, during our stay in Jinghai City, not only was there an abundant supply of seafood and fruits, but our crew was also provided with grain, beef, lamb and wine.

Now there are more than 3,000 people living in Jinghai City, in addition to more than 1,600 Ming people, more than 800 Europeans, there are also merchants from India, Arabia and some black slaves. This is the most harmonious port city we have traveled along the way.

We rested in Jinghai City for half a month, and after the good boys were restored, we continued to carry out the second mission of the fleet along the north of the coastline, inspecting the African terrain, ports, and products north of the Cape of Good Hope.

This is obviously an extremely difficult task, and I even find it even more difficult to sail from the country to Jinghai City. In Namiya, located on the side of the city of Jinghai, we found almost nothing but the deserts and mountains along the coast.

In the golden desert region of the northern coast of Namia, our ships were nearly left behind on several occasions with a patchwork of currents, occasional strong winds, eerie fog and jagged reefs. The Portuguese call it the Coast of Skulls, and they really don't have the wrong name...

After crossing the Skeleton Coast, we finally saw Luanda, a port built by the Portuguese. The Portuguese in the west of Africa are much more talkative than the Portuguese in the east of Africa, and we have repaired our ships in this port and we have received some news of nearby reefs.

To the north of Luanda, near the equator is the Gabon coast. It is best known for its Okume tree, which burns its foliage to repel mosquitoes, and has a hard, light trunk that gives off a fragrance and is used as a piece of furniture.

But all the ports that go north from Luanda are now engaged in a trade, the slave trade. This trade made the European merchants in the various ports reluctant to explore the local specialties, and only blindly encouraged the native chiefs to hunt down the blacks in the interior to sell, so that the local plantation industry was ruined..."

Edmond Dantès sighed at this, and did not talk about the customs of West Africa, but told everyone about some of the special flora and fauna they found in Africa.

Wong was very interested in a type of oil palm mentioned by Edmund Dantès, and Ma Xiang asked him if he could leave him some seeds for him to try in the Kedah area. Naturally, Edmond Dantès would not turn down the offer, and he brought back a large amount of oil palm seeds, which he wanted to try in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.

Edmund Dantès not only left Huang Jiucheng with seeds, but also told him about the planting method he had asked from the natives. After resting in Penang for three days, the flotilla continued its journey towards the Strait of Malacca.

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