The arrival of the Spanish delegation did not even cause much repercussions in Los Angeles. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info Zhao Daling has no interest in meeting such a group of arrogant and ignorant ancient people in person, and their status is too different, so Heseta and the others just want to see Zhao Daling, but there is no way.

The Tang people did not treat the visiting group from afar very harshly, and as soon as they disembarked at the harbor of Long Beach, they were picked up by horse-drawn carriage and taken to what is now the only hotel in Los Angeles.

The carriages that the Spaniards rode were brought back from Mexico by Bai Nan, most of them were distributed to the hunters, and a small part was used as horses. The horses themselves have nothing to say, but the carriage has opened the eyes of the Spaniards, from the outside, the shape of the carriage has a relatively strong Chinese color, red paint coating, as well as hollow wooden windows and a variety of carvings, after riding up, I feel even more extraordinary, because the carriage is made of springs for shock absorption, and the ride comfort is not comparable to any European carriage, plus the internal tea seat and leather cushions, exquisite shape, all make the Spaniards feel the luxury of the Tang people, as well as their intentions.

The indulgent army commander Rivera touched the soft leather cushion and said: "Such a carriage should be able to sell for a good price in Mexico City, and if it is made more luxuriously, it can even be sent to Madrid as a car for His Majesty the King." ”

Serra also nodded and said, "It seems that the Tang people do have a strong ability in manufacturing technology, they have put the steam engine on the ship, which greatly increased its speed, and can make such a comfortable and exquisite carriage, it seems that the civilization of the Oriental people is indeed worthy of our reverence." ”

A Spanish attaché said: "When I was a child, I used to read Marco Polo's travelogues, which recorded that China was full of gold and culture, and I think our ancestors also wanted to go to the East desperately, and there were also factors in this regard." ”

"China is not necessarily as rich as Spain, but it has respectable strength and a civilization that we don't understand," Serra said. ”

Soon, the Spaniards traveled all the way from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles, and when they walked into the hotel with the colors of Chinese carved beams and classical buildings, they thought that the preferential treatment of the Tang people had come to naught.

"What, you want to collect money?" Hesetta's face was full of disbelief.

Li Sheng'an, a civil servant of the Ministry of Commerce who was in charge of receiving the Spaniards, said as a matter of course: "Your country has not established diplomatic relations with China, so your visit is an unofficial visit, and our country only received you out of friendship and courtesy, but did not promise to pay for your visit in full." Therefore, if you want to stay in our hotel, you must pay the corresponding fee. However, I can also assure you that our hotel will provide you with the best quality service. ”

When he was in Mexico, Bai Nan was deflated because the Spaniards used the lack of diplomatic relations between Tang and West as an excuse, and now it is the turn of the Spaniards to come to Los Angeles because of the same reason. Naturally, the hotel usually collects dragon dollars, but the Spaniards obviously do not have dragon dollars, so they have to go to the bank first and exchange the silver dollars in their hands for dragon dollar bills.

"What, do you want us to exchange silver for some of these pieces of paper?" Hesetta was even more calm, Europeans in this era generally did not accept paper money, and China appeared Jiaozi in the Southern Song Dynasty, which was the first country in the world to use paper money.

The teller of the Tang Dynasty Bank looked businesslike, "In our country, you must use our currency, of course, if you don't want to hold our currency when you go back, you can go back to our bank and exchange it for Spanish silver dollars." ”

Heseta was indignant, but Serra seemed more patient and wise, and he asked, "Isn't your country worried about other countries copying this beautifully printed banknote?" Also, other countries will definitely not be willing to accept these banknotes when they are doing trade. ”

The teller said: "Our banknotes use the most unique anti-counterfeiting technology, from the printing method to the material, to ensure that no one can copy the whole thing." As for trade, our country's currency is the gold standard, there are gold coins that can be used for circulation, and our country has also minted silver coins and dragon dollars specifically for trade, this trade currency we do not use for daily circulation, and your Spanish eagle ocean silver content is about the same. ”

As a gold standard currency, the Tang currency dragon dollar is extremely dependent on gold reserves, and now the world still mainly relies on silver for trade, so Datang Bank minted a batch of silver coins similar to Spanish silver coins, which were specially used for trade payment. This also has an advantage, that is, Datang's trade is also subject to fluctuations in silver prices. However, at this stage, most countries actually have this problem in trade.

Although with the development of world-class gold mines, the price of gold will also fluctuate, but compared with the fluctuation of silver prices in later generations, it is simply a super dive fluctuation, and it is better to choose gold for insurance. The financial fiasco of the Qing government and the Republic of China played a very important role in the financial defeat of the Qing government and the continuous decline of silver for decades.

In order to have sufficient funds for the entire delegation during the visit, Hesetta exchanged a total of 2,000 dragon dollars, in fact, he also wanted to exchange a little more, but he didn't bring so much activity funds at all. The Spanish royal family held more banquets than any other royal family in Europe combined, but there was a "clear separation between public and private", and even if many expeditions were privately funded, they were sometimes insignificant. Hesetta's visit to Governor Baccarelli also had no money at all.

After all, they were admitted to a sky-high hotel, and Hesetta and Serra hurriedly found Li Sheng'an, who received them, and wanted to confirm the itinerary with him.

"The sailors of the Santiago are being held by your country, and we strongly urge your country to release them, and we hope to be able to visit them to find out how they are doing, whether they have been violated or abused." Herseta asked Lee.

Li Shengan took out a piece of paper from his bag and said: "We have already determined the itinerary of the Spanish delegation for you, and the itinerary consists of three days, including a visit to the appearance of my Los Angeles, a visit to the crew of the captured San Diego, a visit to our Tang Army, and negotiations with our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the rest of the time, please stay in the hotel and do not go out without permission. ”

In fact, even if the Spaniards want to go out to find out information privately, it is extremely difficult, first of all, none of these Spaniards know Chinese, and secondly, they are all Europa, very different from the locals, very easy to notice, such spies are impossible to achieve.

So Herseta and Serra summed it up and agreed to the itinerary arranged for them by the Tang side.

Sitting in the hotel, although it is not as luxurious as the castles of the Western aristocracy, all kinds of facilities and furniture are relatively complete, and they all exude a simple and capable atmosphere.

Serra sat down on the large bed in the hotel room, and in an instant he realized that his ass had actually sunk. The curious priest immediately lay down, feeling the whole bed change shape according to the curves of his body, and the soft and comfortable bed supported his weight, and his old bones relaxed a lot.

"God testify, this is the best bed I've ever had in my life, sleep on it, I'm afraid all the fatigue will slip away!" Serra exclaimed, having worked in a mission office that opened up unexplored areas for many years, and that Serra's life was extremely hard and he had little to enjoy. His body also had various scars and diseases, and he didn't sleep well, and now when he lay on this Simmons bed, he didn't want to get up a little.

Like him, Hesetta was equally amazed by the things in the hotel. In what looked like a bathroom, Hesetta gasped. A large wooden barrel that can hold more than one person is obviously a bathtub, even if it is a simple bathtub, the carpenters of the Tang Dynasty have carved carvings with oriental art on it. And another thing in the bathroom caught his attention even more, it was an oversized piece of porcelain attached to the floor, the smoothness and color of the enamel were fascinating, Hesetta had seen a lot of porcelain, but this one made him not know what it was.

It is like a basin-like configuration, and there is a fishbowl-like structure behind it, and the "basin" contains clear water, and there is a hole underneath.

"Maybe it's a basin, but it seems to be a little short." Hesetta thought so, and now he felt that he should clean it, so he squatted down and poured a few handfuls of water into his face, which made him feel a little more energetic, and at the same time he felt that the "basin" made of pure porcelain was very luxurious and exquisite.

At this moment, he saw that there was a handle on the porcelain that could be turned, so he pressed it, and the sound of pumping water immediately sounded, startling him, and then all the water in his "basin" was actually drawn out of the hole, and new water flowed down the wall of the "basin".

"Can you change the water automatically? It's so convenient! ”

In the other room, Pérez was also washing his face, but he had chosen the right basin, next to the basin was some toiletries, he untied a piece of soap, and soon understood the purpose of this thing, after all, Europe already had soap horns at this time. After washing his face with this thing, Perez felt much cleaner and smelled of flowers.

"It's really a good thing, such a piece of soaphorn must be able to sell for a high price in European high society." Then, Pérez carefully put the soap away and put it in his pocket.