Not only the road, but also the sight on both sides of the road fascinated them, and the street trees are also found in Europe, but there are also a large number of low open huā shrubs on both sides of the road to form huā nurseries, which are obviously also artificially planted, which is rare. Hainan Island has a warm climate, and the types of these huā trees have been screened, and there are always open ones throughout the year, dyeing the road surface purple and red, which is very beautiful.

"This is simply the queen garden of the princes and nobles!"

Some people shouted that the European garden style pays attention to uniformity, and several famous European palaces in later times, such as the Palace of Versailles, which has not yet been built at the moment, its huā garden is composed of a large number of regular geometric green vegetation and exquisite sculptures, which have amazed countless princes and nobles for a long time, and thus driven the trend of the whole Europe.

According to a certain theory of landscape gardening theory, the focus of the East and the West on garden culture is different, because of the differences in their respective political and environmental conditions, the East has long been unified, and the rules of respect and inferiority are strict.

In the West, due to the large number of princes and frequent wars for a long time, the garden is very much focused on uniformity, and there is no way to control outsiders in the orderly arrangement, so they have to arrange the plants in their own back garden, and it is good to have a dry time.

The road presented in front of these envoys, the huā wood plants on both sides of it are spliced in strict accordance with the geometric pattern, and the huā trees of different types and colors are arranged in an orderly manner, which is extremely regular, which is actually just because the designers of the road did not have time to put too much effort into roadside decoration, and only drew some geometric figures on the drawings, but it was in line with the aesthetics of these Europeans, so that they were amazed one by one.

And every other way, there are tea sheds on the side of the road in flat and wide places, which are managed by special personnel.

There is a drinking channel for wooden seats on the outside for pedestrians to rest. The group stopped for a moment to rest at a tea shed, but was intrigued by the tall street lamps that had been erected next to the tea sheds, a long road that could not have been as extravagant as the short stretch of road from the pier to the market at Baisha Harbour, with all roads artificially lit at night. But every long distance, it is still useful to set up street lights in the tea shed, and pedestrians at night can look at the lights from a distance and not lose their way. And the presence of lights means that there are people and services, as well as shelter from the wind and rain, especially at night and in stormy weather, which will be very useful for travelers.

Old Gorman was very appreciative of this, and felt that the operators of these tea sheds were very gentlemanly, and he thought that these tables, chairs, stools, and street lamps were all facilities configured by the tea shed owners themselves. But after talking and inquiring, I learned that these facilities were all built by the Qiong Navy when the road was built, including the operator of the tea shed, and also by the Qiong Navy to organize some local widows, old and weak, or disabled soldiers, take care of the tea shed facilities here, on the one hand, you can get a meager salary from the road management department, on the other hand, you can also earn some profits from the daily operation, the former can ensure that they barely have enough food and clothing, and the latter if you do well, you may even get rich!

"This is simply the gentleman's country recorded in "Ma Xiaobolo's Travels"......"

A few Europeans in the delegation, who came to the East for the first time but boasted that they knew China very well, whispered that their understanding of China came from the book "Ma Xiaopolo's Travels", which had caused a sensation in the West. If he really came to the "China" country that the Venetian merchant arrived, it was actually only the Yuan Dynasty that had a very short life span and chaotic order in the history of the Central Plains Dynasty, and only lasted for seventy or eighty years, but in Marco Polo's narration, it has become a place of civilization and prosperity, a state of etiquette and education, and has been praised again and again.

Of course, after actually coming to the East and coming into contact with the locals living in Southeast Asia and the Chinese businessmen living in the South Seas, many people think that Ma Xiaopolo is purely bragging. This is obviously a backward and barbaric land, and even the Ming Empire on the mainland is nothing more than the same as the Ottoman Turkey under the rule of a stupid and dictatorial monarch.

The so-called "country of the watch" is just the ideal town imagined by the Venetian merchant himself.

On Hainan Island, on the other hand, the Hua felt a very different society from anywhere else in Southeast Asia, and the feeling of being detained in a prisoner-of-war camp with little contact with the outside world was not very strong. But now that they are allowed to leave the camps and come into contact with the outside world more and more, this feeling is getting stronger and stronger.

The surprise on the road was only the beginning, and the more surprising content was still later, after a long journey for half a day, and it was almost evening that they finally arrived at their destination: Qionghai Villa.

The nature and layout of the building complex funded by the trading company and undertaken by the civil engineering team are to imitate the form of a modern resort, integrating accommodation, leisure, conference, entertainment and fitness and other places, since its completion, it has been used as a foreign reception place for the Qiong Navy, replacing the small guest house built by the original trading company next to the big market, mainly used to receive corporate customers.

However, many other departments borrowed from other departments - the previous batch of officials sent by the Ming Dynasty stayed here when they received their "training" to take office.

Moreover, because its facilities and layout are very advanced and perfect, it is the most advanced and comfortable place on Hainan Island except for the main base of Baiyantan, and even the people themselves like to live here when they usually travel to and from Qiongzhou. With the exhibition of trading companies, there are more and more wealthy families in the local area, and they often like to receive relatives and friends every day. Although the cost of food and lodging is quite high, it can't stop those businessmen from competing for face.

Therefore, the daily life here is very busy, countless high-end carriages come in and out here, and the public carriage ridden by Old Gorman and others is too clumsy to enter when they reach the door. The officer who led the team went in and inquired about it, and then asked Old Gorman and the others to go in with their luggage. So the group of Europeans carried their luggage and wrapped the broken suitcases, and followed the leading officer towards the villa with some fear.

"God, what is this place?"

"It's like a palace...... Where should the local ruler live? Is this to meet us? ”

As the group walked, they couldn't help but look around, and their demeanor and movements were like Grandma Liu who had entered the Grand View Garden for the first time. At the same time, all kinds of exclamations kept coming. There were still people who feared that these greenskins had malicious intentions towards them and wanted to trick them into some secluded place to hurt them, but at this time, the suspicions in their hearts also turned into boundless shocks, and the four-wheeled carriages near the door were constantly coming and going, and their decorations were more beautiful than the other, and they were only owned by nobles and wealthy merchants. Strange and strange grasses can be seen everywhere on both sides of the road, and even the ground is paved with exquisite patterns with various colored stones, and it is believed that the shorthair brought them to the planting place, certainly not for shouting and killing. Otherwise, wouldn't you have soiled the place for no reason, and you would have to work hard to clean it up?

Inside the villa, according to the customs of this era, many courtyards are divided. Each courtyard is enclosed by two or three rows of small buildings and corridors. In the middle of the courtyard are arranged with landscapes such as mountain rocks and huā trees, as well as goldfish ponds. And to the amazement of those Europeans, there are not only plants in the yard, but even peacocks, white cranes, and plum huā deer and other creatures walking around leisurely in it, animals, plants, water features, mountains and rocks, are cleverly combined in this space.

If the greenery on both sides of the road was seen in a European style before, then what they see now is an out-and-out Chinese garden style.

The leading officer took them to one of the courtyards and left for a short time, and after a while, came with some of the staff of the lodge. But I saw that here, including the old Gorman, "all the Europeans consciously lined up according to their status after entering the courtyard, and they were still tidying up their clothes one by one, looking very strict."

"What are you doing here?" Waiting for the meeting, isn't this the palace where your brain lives? ”

After hearing this answer from the mouth of Dian Ze Diego, the officer who had always been strict in leading the team couldn't help but smile on his face, and it was easy to keep the wind going, shaking his head and saying, "No, this is the new accommodation arranged for you, and you will live here during the negotiations in the future." ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the polite waiters of the villa behind him who were wearing uniform uniforms: "These will be in charge of the dusting and tidying up of this courtyard." If you have any other requests," you can also ask of them. Now, you put your luggage in, wash up and rest, and then take you back to dinner. ”

Under the guidance and prompting of those waiters, some of the bewildered Europeans were assigned accommodation according to their relatives and distances, and each entered his room. After entering, I was naturally surprised and surprised, the area of the room was not larger than the barracks in the prisoner of war camp, but the decoration was far more exquisite. The waiters were also very experienced, and they showed them how to use many of the facilities here, mainly sanitary equipment, before leaving to let them wash and recuperate.

The officer who led the team and the intelligence officer who had been in contact with Diego on a daily basis sat in the corridor next to them, each with a cup of tea, waiting for the Europeans to rest and wash up, and the two men were responsible for accompanying them the whole time. In the process, they kept hearing shouts and screams from various rooms, and although they didn't understand the language, the tone of surprise was no different from that of other hillbillies who lived here for the first time. Moreover, compared with the subtle and good face of the Chinese, the Europeans are more exaggerated.

"These Western rednecks... Even if it's from the other side of the ocean. I haven't seen the world before. ”

"It's not surprising that it was the same when we first came in. It is estimated that in front of those "gentlemen, in front of them, everyone in the world can only be regarded as a redneck who has never seen the world." ”

The Joan Navy is a very young team, and the members of it are generally not very old. Although these two people have to be calm and old in front of Europeans, they still talk some small things behind their backs. After all, they are all young men in their twenties, and they are still quite proud to see that their own things can suppress others.

The two of them drank this cup of tea for two or three hours, and it wasn't until the sky was dark that the European masters washed and tidied up. It stands to reason that they were also required to bathe every day in the prisoner of war camp, and their personal hygiene was kept very well, so that they would not consume so much time. It was only later that I heard that there were a few unproductive people playing with the toilet and faucet, which delayed the timeWhen old Gorman, Diego and others walked out of the room, they were all brand new, and they changed into their best clothes. They feel that this is the only way to be worthy of their surroundings. At this time, it is late, but it is not dark in the villa at night, and there are beautiful glass lamps everywhere that are lit up and hung out, reflecting the whole villa like a fairyland.

After that, the group walked along the promenade full of lanterns to the restaurant, and all the courtyards in Qionghai Villa are connected by this simple but delicate bamboo and wood corridor, even if it rains, it will not affect the activities of the residents. At this time, Lao Goman and the others had already adapted to the surroundings, and after changing into formal clothes, they naturally had to put on a corresponding reserved attitude, so even if they saw anything new and weird, their faces would no longer show themselves.

However, when eating, they couldn't help but be surprised that the dinner was actually arranged with Western food, of course, the kind that modern people are used to: pre-dinner appetizer soup, main meal steak, a few desserts and ice cream after the meal, and finally the flavor of the * coffee is not the same as the familiar flavor of Europeans in this era, but it is made with a knife and fork, and the taste is definitely not bad, because the big boss of the trading company, Ms. Julì, likes this kind of tone the most, and Old Jack often brings Anna over to recall the past life. As a result, the level of Western chefs here is really not low, and a dish of crème brûlée and huā-colored ice cream has been praised by Julì as being similar to the restaurant she used to eat at every day.

Although the Western chef didn't know which one his big boss used to eat in the past, it didn't prevent him from showing off these dishes as his signature. And these envoys from Europe are not from a genuine aristocratic background, for them, these delicious meals served with sterling silver tableware and bone china plates are already something that only princes and nobles can enjoy.

Old Gorman finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked the officer who led the team why their treatment had suddenly changed so much? turned out to be a reply that made him laugh and cry: "This is the treatment of our envoys, but the two sides were still in a state of battle before, so we had to arrange you into a prisoner of war camp." Now, the battle is over, by conventional standards, of course. ”