“…… On October 27, 1519, my deputy, Commander Avarado, was very sad this morning. Because he had drunk too much local tequila and strong soju from Chinese the night before, he was so dazed that he had broken his two Chinese porcelain vases and four porcelain plates, and vomited a large puddle on his bundle of silk, which was almost smelly...... So, today, he forced two soldiers to help him wash by the river for so long that he almost fell behind.

Then the cook reported to me in the afternoon that the corn, beans, and other food that the expedition had brought out of the city of Cholula had all eaten by noon to-day, and that I would be able to get some new food—the fool weishenme had said it sooner!

At this time, the market run by the Chinese near the camp had dispersed, and it was approaching dusk, and no one was willing to venture into the dark to buy food in a strange village in the distance, because the first could not confirm whether the other party was friendly, and the second was likely to get lost at night.

In order to make everyone have dinner, I had to send a clever Barcelona young man to ask the Chinese for help, and after the Chinese met the young man and understood what he wanted to express, he immediately and very happily brought out more than fifty bags of flour, enough for us to eat for half a month, but very unceremoniously snatched a gold necklace from his neck as payment for the flour - our Chinese here in Yujian are obviously not as hospitable as the Portuguese who bypassed Africa to the East a few years ago said, Those who claimed to pay tribute to their emperor were rewarded with warm hospitality and generous rewards. On the contrary, whatever we want to get, we have to pay...... Thankfully, their price was fair.

In order to appease the poor lad, who had lost his necklace, I had to give him a silk handkerchief from my private collection.

Then, when the cook opened the flour pocket, the whole expedition was in a state of shock—not tapioca flour or cornmeal, which we were tired of, but wheat flour, which was so rare in the New World! And it's an extremely fine and high-quality product!

Seriously, this is the first time I've seen such white and delicate flour, with not a shred of sand, sawdust or bran, and I am afraid that even in the kitchen of the cardinal's house, I am afraid that I would not be able to find such haode wheat flour - how long will it take the maids to sift it carefully!

These yellow-skinned and black-eyed Chinese, like the indigenous Indians, although they are unbaptized pagans, enjoy the good things that countless God's people can hope for, which is really envious and jealous.

So, using these rare fine flours, a soldier from Naples made us a large pot of spaghetti this evening, using his native craftsmanship, sprinkled with pepper and salt, and served with a little chicken and vegetables, and it tasted wonderful. ”

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“…… On October 28, 1519, due to his constant refusal to use the medicine sent by the Chinese, coupled with his advanced age and poor health, Father Aguilar finally returned to the arms of the Lord after twelve days on a stretcher.

We couldn't find a coffin on the march, so we erected a cross on the side of the road and buried him hastily with linen sheets.

This venerable old missionary was supposed to go to Trinidad, but his ship was lost in a shipwreck and sunk and was blown to the shores of Mexico. Then, as a survivor, Father Aguilar, from 1511 until this spring, spent all day on the Mayan villages of the Yucatan Peninsula, driven like slaves all day long, and had enough of suffering. …,

However, even under such terrible conditions, Father Aguilar did not forget to sow the glory of the Lord, and did everything in his power to fulfill his duty, and developed several believers of the Lord among the barbarians, and baptized them, among them my Marina...... It was only half a year ago that this venerable priest was rescued by us from the barbarians, but unfortunately before he could return to civilization, he suffered another misfortune and was finally buried in this land of ignorance. May the Lord Almighty bless you into Heaven, Amen!

By the way, before the funeral, we had already divided the share of silk, spices and porcelain that belonged to Father Aguilar. ”

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“…… On October 29, 1519, more and more local natives joined the ranks of the Chinese, following their army in a disorderly manner, numbering tens of thousands and increasing every day. At night, the mountains are dotted with bonfires.

I sent Marina to inquire about these indigenous weishenme, and the answer was that the Chinese gave them free food and invited them to eat, as long as they were willing to follow the Chinese to the city of Tenochtitlan to meet the Emperor Montezuma, and to give gifts afterwards.

Hearing that the Chinese distributed food to these Indians for free, the young man from Barcelona who had been robbed of his gold necklace the day before yesterday suddenly jumped up and thought that we should also enjoy the same treatment. I think this is very reasonable, so let him tell the Chinese himself.

After a brief negotiation, the Chinese admitted that they should also treat us equally and provide us with free food and drink on the road, but instead of returning the gold necklace, they gave us some corn and flour, enough to eat for about five or six days. ”

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“…… On November 1, 1519, at my repeated pleas, the Chinese finally had a more formal meeting with me again.

Although the total strength of this army that suddenly appeared in the city of Cholula was in the tens of thousands, the vast majority of them were recruited in Mexico by Hunsutizgans and other indigenous peoples, and I have only met five real Chinese. One of them was a white-haired old man who claimed to be a royal ceremonial officer, a little girl who claimed to be the deputy commander of the Guard, and the other was the Duke of Hongshutizgan, who was canonized by the Emperor of China, and there were two low-ranking attachés, a man and a woman.

The royal ceremonial officer and the female attaché knew some Spanish and Latin, so I mainly talked to them, while the other three Chinese sat by the sword and exchanged views in Chinese from time to time.

To my displeasure, as at the last meeting in the city of Chorula, before I had even entered the tent, I was rudely searched by several Indians, who had taken all the daggers, muskets, Toledo swords, and even paper cutters that I had brought with me, and that I was not allowed to bring anyone but Marina to the meeting. In addition, at the time of the talks, there was always a row of heavily armed men standing outside the tent, holding glittering axes and machetes...... They almost tied me up with hemp rope - is it necessary for these Chinese to be so vigilant?

(Voice of the Mystery: Who told you to kidnap the Aztec emperor with only five men, and the record of defeating tens of thousands of Aztec troops with fifteen cavalry is really terrifying?) Wang Qiu, they are all using the level of Superman, Ultraman, and Long Aotian to beware of you! ）

Although these Chinese had briefly stated some of their origins when they were in Cholula, they were too vague. So I took the opportunity to inquire again, and the answer I received was similar to what I expected - about four years ago, a Chinese named Wen Deji drifted to the kingdom of Hongshutizgan, became the son-in-law and heir of King Hongshutizgan, and opened a trade route between there and mainland China. Then, he found that his small country was facing a threat from the Aztecs, so he had to turn to his home country for help. The Emperor of China sent the present delegation to canonize Wen Deji as a duke and hereditary governor of the overseas colonies, and to provide him with various armaments and political protection. …,

After figuring out the origin of the Chinese, I asked them if their next plan was to conquer the land as a gift to the Chinese emperor. For my question, the Chinese expression was very surprised, as if they had not thought about such a thing at all.

I asked them why Weishenme was going to enter the Aztec Empire with such a large number of troops. The gray-haired royal ceremonial officer told me that they had only visited the Aztec Empire to fulfill their suzerain's obligations and protect their vassals.

Upon arrival in the city of Tenochtitlan, they would warn the Aztec monarch in the name of the Emperor of China that the Honshutizgans had accepted the canonization and protection of the Emperor of China, and demanded that the Montsumuma Bixia restrain his army from further encroaching on the territory of Duke Wendehei and recognizing his dominance and the traditional territory of the Honchutizgan kingdom, otherwise it would be tantamount to a challenge to the authority of the Chinese Emperor, nothing more.

If the Aztecs were friendly and willing to show goodwill to the Chinese emperor, then they would also consider the Aztecs friends.

As for Weishenme's recruitment of so many Indians to join them, it seems that it was just to create a momentum and scare the Aztecs.

Hearing such an answer, I suddenly couldn't understand the way of thinking of the Chinese, who obviously have a huge army. But he was indifferent to the imminent victory...... Maybe it's because their land is so rich that they don't lack anything, so they don't want to take something from others!

Alas, we Europeans have always had too much fear and jealousy, and more incomprehension, about that distant eastern empire.

They met me at noon, so they invited me to lunch after the meeting. It seems that due to the relatively poor conditions during the march, this lunch of the Chinese did not have "Marco. Polo's Travels is so extravagant, although the tableware is all beautiful blue and white porcelain, but each person only has a plate of mixed vegetables, a bowl of hot soup and a plate of strange meat, plus a local specialty cactus fruit. This strange pink flesh is cut into neat slices, and the natives call it 'mystic meat', which tastes like dough mixed with meat sauce.

However, the staples and drinks they serve are even more impressive: the best white bread and sweetened milk!

This white bread, which is less than half the size of a fist, is baked entirely with refined wheat flour and mixed with sugar and spices, smelling fragrant, and tastes so fluffy and sweet that I ate a dozen in one go. But the milk that came out of the glass made me suspicious.

As far as I know, the Indians of this land have no cattle or horses at all, and they are not seen in the Chinese army with cows...... Where did all this fresh-looking, sugary-sweetened milk come from? (Actually, it is poured from a carton of milk)

The Chinese avoided answering my question, but instead laughed at me and said that we Spaniards mistakenly called the indigenous people of this land Indians (meaning Indians), so when the real Oriental Indians were born in the future, we would not know what to call them.

So I asked them for their opinions, and the Chinese said that the question was complex and needed to be carefully discussed before an answer could be reached.

When I got back to camp, I told Avalado about the strange milk, which he said might be human milk...... Well, I also seem to have vaguely heard that the Chinese aristocracy had the custom of drinking human milk like babies...... Let's hope this doesn't be true, otherwise it would be too embarrassing. ”

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“…… On November 2, 1519, the Chinese were really walking too slowly, enough for my messenger to run a round trip from here to Puerto Veracruz. Sixty-five people who had been staying at the seashore rushed over from Puerto Veracruz after hearing the news of the Yujian Chinese mission, wanting to share in the profits. And there are seventeen people around me who don't want to continue to take risks and want to go back with their own share of wealth.

So I sent these seventeen men to bring back to our stronghold in Port Veracruz, the porcelain, silk, spices, and other oriental specialties belonging to the whole expedition, especially the heavy and fragile mirrors, porcelain, and glassware, so that we might lighten our burdens and travel lightly.

Castillo, whom I sent back to Cuba to mediate with the Viceroy, has not been heard from to this day, which worries me a little. ”

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“…… At noon today, November 4, 1519, we came to the edge of a vast and boundless lake, where several high-ranking nobles of the Aztec Empire were waiting and presented many gifts to the Chinese envoys, expressing the willingness of the Emperor of Montezuma to receive them and the prince of the kingdom of Honsiutizgan in the city of Tenochtitlan to settle the long-standing dispute through peaceful negotiations.

In addition, the Emperor of Montezuma was also glad to entertain us Spaniards from afar and hear what we were coming from. Even the Tlaxcalas who came with us were treated with a certain level of courtesy.

In a sense, this should be a haode start for us, but unfortunately all the things that are in the limelight have been robbed by the Chinese.

What made me even more unhappy was that among the gifts sent by the Aztecs this time, there was also a share of mine. But Chinese unceremoniously intercepted two of the golden wine glasses for himself, and then gave me four colored Chinese porcelain cups as compensation......

Well, I'll admit that these stained porcelain teacups are indeed very exquisite, with a gorgeous glaze shimmering with jewel-like luster, and the decorative patterns on the outer walls of the cups are not simple curves and straight lines, but lifelike flowers, ears of wheat, grapes, and apples. Underneath the cups, there are also matching beautiful saucers and colored silk upholstery. If you can get them to Lisbon, Florence, or any of the more commercially prosperous European cities, they will definitely sell for far more than those two golden shot glasses...... But this arrogant approach of the Chinese who do not tell me still makes me feel very uncomfortable. ”

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“…… On November 6, 1519, we continued along a rammed-earth avenue on the shore of the lake, with neat fields and vegetable patches, very beautiful and rich towns and villages, and magnificent and solid stone buildings everywhere.

Some of these stone houses were built on the beach of the lake, and some were even built in the water of the lake, and the walls of the stone houses were mostly painted with white plaster and painted with colorful decorative patterns, reminiscent of the rich villas of the Italian city-states.

As the Chinese continued to distribute food generously, more and more Indians were eating with them, and the preliminary estimate was more than 100,000. Some well-dressed chieftains also came to the audience and complained to the Duke of Wendesi about the exploitation and extortion of the Aztecs, especially the annual tribute to the Aztecs, many healthy young men, for the priests to brutally kill the gods in the temple, leaving them both humiliated and grieved.

On one occasion, I happened to be there, so I expressed my sympathy for them and my indignation at the Aztecs.

The Indians were naturally moved by this, but the Chinese looked at me with a very strange look and told me slowly that, as far as they knew, the Kingdom of Spain was probably many times more cruel to the Indians in its colonies on the islands of the Caribbean than the Aztecs - at least the Aztecs did not slaughter them to extinction.

Well, I have to admit that the Chinese are telling the truth, in the Caribbean, we killed the Indians of several islands. But are they just unbaptized pagans, or even ignorant and cruel native Indians, who can be considered human?

Only dead pagans are the most pagans, and this is a truth that we have been convinced of since the time of the Crusades. ”