The term "Franc Ji" does not refer to people from a certain country, but is a general term for Europeans in East Asia and South Asia such as the Ming Dynasty, just like the 'Westerners' of later generations.

"Hey, Miss Lingyun knows that these are Franc machine people?" Zhou Zhong couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard Xie Lingyun's words reveal the origin of the two priests. If he remembers correctly, the Age of Discovery in the West has just begun, and the Ming Dynasty at this time should not have made formal contact with Europe.

For Zhou Chong's surprise, Xie Lingyun pulled the windswept hair on his forehead and said with a smile: "I naturally know the Buddha Lang Machine, and not only me, as long as the businessmen who smuggle to the south know them, I heard that these Franc people came by ship from the extreme west, and now they have arrived in the South Seas, and the momentum has developed rapidly, and they have occupied a lot of places in the South Seas. ”

Zhou Zhong heard that the Europeans had occupied a lot of places in the South Seas, which made him also surprised, from later generations he knew that these Westerners were a group of hungry wolves, although now in the impression of Europeans, the Central Plains is still a country full of gold and silk, and the national strength is also extremely strong, they dare not provoke at all. But when they find out the virtual reality of the Central Plains, they will definitely show their fangs, and the Central Plains will be ravaged by them several times, and the history of later generations has also proved this.

"Sir, Miss, we are just priests, not those soldiers with knives and guns, we are only here to spread the gospel of Our Lady and the Lord, please don't misunderstand!" At this moment the two priests on the deck overheard their conversation, and the short and fat priest on the deck hurriedly defended himself, and it seemed that he was the leader of the two.

"Well, Miss Xie, I'm very interested in the Franco machine man, I want to know about the other party's situation, can you hand over the two of them to me to deal with?" Zhou Zhong said with a smile, he really wanted to know about the situation in Europe in this era, and he also wanted to know how far the colonization of Portugal and Spain had progressed, and the two priests in front of him should be able to give him a satisfactory answer.

Hearing Zhou Chong's request, Xie Lingyun's wonderful eyes stayed on his face for a moment, and suddenly smiled: "Actually, the little girl is also very interested in the Franc machine, I wonder if I can ask these two people some questions with Gongzi?" ”

Zhou Zhong was stunned when he heard this, he couldn't guess whether Xie Lingyun was really interested in the Francophile, or did he want to hear what news he wanted to ask from these two priests? However, he was on someone else's boat, and the person was also caught by the Xie family, so it was naturally impossible for him to refuse, so he had to nod his head in agreement.

The two priests heard that their fate was now in the hands of the young man in front of them, although they didn't know what the identity of Zhou Chong was on the ship, but the other party knew that Zhou Chong was Catholic, and seemed to be very interested in them, and he looked like a gentleman, so he should not be as rude as the bald man just now, so they were also very cooperative with Zhou Chong's words.

Zhou Zhong took the two priests to his cabin, and Xie Lingyun followed, and the bald strong man known as Uncle Hei followed closely behind her, apparently to prevent anyone from harming Xie Lingyun.

After entering the cabin, Zhou Zhong invited Xie Lingyun to sit down, and then sat down in front of the two priests and asked, "What are your names and where did you come from?" ”

"I ...... My name is John Gilly, and I am the president of the Dominicans, and my son can just call me John, and this is the priest of Bethsenald, and we are not from the same country as those who invaded the South Seas, but we want to spread the glory of Our Lady and the Lord all over the world, so we have come here on their ship. The stocky priest immediately introduced himself and his companion to Zhou Chong, and when he mentioned his position, he also puffed up proudly, but soon returned to a humble smile.

The Dominicans, also known as the Brotherhood of Evangelism, is one of the main denominations of the Catholic Dervishes, the so-called Dervishes, in fact, is a kind of ascetic-like monks, they do not have permanent property, live on the dervishes and beg, activities in all stages of society, in the Catholic Church has a great influence. Because the Dominican priests generally wore black, they were also called blackfriars.

Dominicans call themselves the Lord's guard dogs, determined to travel the world to eradicate heresy and ignorance. Focusing on preaching and theology, it is also called the Evangelical Council, and presides over the Inquisition of the Holy See, and has great power in its hands, and many Western heretics or scientists have been burned to death by these people.

Zhou Zhong had never been very concerned about religion, so he naturally didn't know what the Dominican Society was, and it wasn't until Father John, who claimed to be the president of the Dominican Society, explained for a long time that he figured out the purpose and doctrine of the Dominican. Xie Lingyun, who was next to her, listened quietly to the conversation between Zhou Zhong and Father John, without the slightest intention of interjecting.

Then Zhou Zhong asked the other party how he came to Daming, but when he talked about it, Father John and Priest Nader behind him were both depressed.

It turned out that the two of them were Spaniards, but this time they came to the East on the Portuguese ship, and they did not participate in the struggle between the Portuguese and the natives of the South Seas, they only had a pious heart for the Virgin and the Lord, and wanted to be the first to bring the glory of God to the civilized land of the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, after they arrived in Nanyang on a Portuguese ship, they went to Boni, which was later known as the Philippines, and then met a Ming smuggler in Manila and asked the other party to bring them to Daming. Originally, they landed near Fuzhou, but because of their strange appearance and rash preaching, they were expelled by local officials and people.

However, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the two men to preach, but they sailed north, this time landing on Zhoushan Island, and then continued to preach and actively learn Chinese. It's a pity that their doctrine is really problematic, all the believers who join their church, they can no longer worship their ancestors, respect Kong, etc., this article alone is incompatible with the concept of the Ming people, so the two came to Zhoushan for half a year, not only did not develop a believer, but also annoyed everyone at the end, and no one was even willing to give them food.

People always have to survive, after begging for food, Father John and his wife had to find a way to eat, among which they used some not-so-bright means, such as cheating snacks from children, stealing chickens and ducks raised by the island's residents, salted fish dried in the yard, etc., which made the island even more angry, and they also fell into a situation where everyone shouted and beaten.

Seeing this situation, Father John and Priest Nader also understood that it was impossible to stay on the island any longer, so they took advantage of the dark moon and high wind tonight to secretly come to the port to find the largest ship, that is, Zhou Chong's boat climbed on, and prepared to wait until another place to start again, but unfortunately they were discovered by Uncle Hei, and they were beaten involuntarily, and now both of them were bruised and swollen, and their clothes were torn a few times, and they looked almost no different from beggars.

After listening to the experience of these two unlucky priests, Zhou Zhong couldn't help but feel a little funny, but soon fell silent, the Portuguese had arrived in Nanyang, the arrival of these two priests in front of him, but also marked that the Portuguese were likely to appear on the coast of Daming at some time in the future, if he remembered correctly, the first Portuguese to arrive in Daming were actually a group of pirates, as soon as they landed, they looted, so that the coastal people suffered greatly, and later bribed Ming officials, and successfully obtained the right of residence in Macau, It was not until a few hundred years later that Macau's sovereignty was recovered.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong couldn't help but ask some Portuguese about the situation in Nanyang, and according to Father John, this year the Portuguese wanted to occupy Manchuka, that is, the Strait of Malacca in later generations, but they were strongly counterattacked by the locals, and finally had to retreat out of Lu.

However, although the Portuguese did not occupy the Strait of Malacca, they detoured through Sriwijaya and still entered the South Seas region, and now Java, Timor, Boni and other large islands have established strongholds, and have worked hard to accumulate strength, ready to capture the Strait of Malacca in one fell swoop, so as to completely open up this traffic artery to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Zhong silently sorted out the information he had obtained in his heart, and then thought of another question, so he asked: "Father John, since you are Spaniards, you must know the situation in Spain very well, I wonder how far you have developed the New World?" ”

Hearing Zhou Chong's sudden mention of the New World, Father John and Priest Nader were stunned, and then their faces showed shocked expressions, with their understanding of the Ming Dynasty during this time, whether it was the Ming officials or the people, they did not care about the land outside the Ming Dynasty, so they always thought that the Ming Dynasty was an extremely arrogant country, but they did not expect that the young Ming boy in front of them would know the New World, and it was only a dozen years since the discovery of the Americas by Columbus, even in Europe, There are also quite a few people who don't know that there is such a new continent in the Dao world.

However, after the shock, Father John and Priest Nader looked at each other, and then Priest Nader spoke: "Dear son, I once went to the New World a few years ago, and stayed there for quite a long time, but unfortunately I got dysentery and almost died there, and then I survived with great difficulty, and I only returned to Spain the year before last, so I know the situation there better. ”

When Priest Nader said this, he pulled out a thin rope from between the collars of his neck, and a flat box the size of a baby's palm hung underneath, and he saw him take the box off, and then hold it in front of Zhou Zhong with both hands and said: "These are some souvenirs I brought from the New World, if Childe does not dislike it, even if it is a gift from Childe and I to Childe!" ”