Zhang Shou's words "It is still a powerful country in the universe" were like a deafening bell and drum, which refreshed every reader. And he quickly used other records to draw everyone's attention back.
"The ship carrying the envoys and merchants drifted in the Western Ocean for five years before returning to the court. Although our dynasty was still unified when he left, and the vast mountains and rivers were in ruins, in the eyes of this envoy, even the tragic wars in the late Yuan Dynasty were not as fierce as the wars among Western countries. Compared with the farmers in our country, the serfs in Western countries live even worse than pigs and dogs."
"Even at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, among a hundred peasants, at least three or five could read. But among the serfs of Western countries, perhaps not one could read among a thousand. They were born in the land, worked indifferently, and died indifferently, as if their entire lives were just to provide labor for their lords."
"He heard that a few years before the ship arrived in the West, a plague that had spread to many countries and cities had just ended. During the six years of the plague, some cities lost 80% of their population. The so-called prosperous cities almost became dead cities."
"However, many countries still have ancient buildings that looked majestic and magnificent hundreds of years ago, such as the Colosseum and churches. There are countless believers from top to bottom, and the pope can even depose the king. Under the majestic surface, the people are living in misery."
"When the envoy finally returned safely with the merchant group, he not only sold the silk, tea and porcelain he brought out for a good price, making up for all the expenses of the trip, but also brought back a lot of gold, silver and gems to use as military funds. But it was no longer necessary at this time, because the king he respected, Emperor Taizu, had already unified the country and became the master of the world."
Having said this in one breath, Zhang Shou finally paused and started talking about the follow-up with a smile.
"After returning to the court, the envoy ordered himself and his crew to stay on board for an extra 30 days after the ship arrived at the port to prevent the plague from spreading back to the country. He wrote a book called "Journey to the West" and was fortunate enough to have the Emperor Taizu write the preface. However, because he was already old and had even fallen ill while overseas, his health was not as good as before, so he never went out to sea again."
"But twenty years later, when he was already quite old, he met another envoy who had returned from sailing on a voyage. The envoy brought him some very interesting news. Not long after he left, Egypt had a new king. The new king was the slave officer the envoy had met before. However, his reign lasted only a pitiful six years."
"After that, our envoys gradually gave up the troubled and impoverished Western Ocean, and even merchant ships only occasionally went to these poor Western countries."
When Zhang Shou said the words "poor countries in the West" in a serious manner, he couldn't help but smile. You know, before the development of America, those countries in the West were really poor. They couldn't even produce enough gold, silver and spices like the kings and nobles of those small countries in Southeast Asia.
Of course, Western countries have kings and nobles, but the question is, how much money can aristocrats who can only rely on exploiting serfs have? How much money can a king who cannot control the nobles have? The guys who make money from slaves seem to have a lot of wealth, but can they make money more easily than Japan, where silver is extremely cheap and abundant? Can they be more popular than spices, gems and wood from Southeast Asia? If you are not careful and get involved in a war, you will be in big trouble!