My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 396 What is Seris

"Yes, yes, China, the Chinese!"

Seeing Makaros excitedly pointing at him and shouting "Seris", Xu Da understood a little bit. He pointed at himself and asked:

"You said I was Seris?"

"I think he should be saying that we are Seris?" Li Wenzhong added.

Seeing Xu Da pointing at him and saying "Seris", Makaros became even more excited. What did this mean? It meant that he guessed right!

Look, this noble Chinese man in front of us has personally admitted that he is "Seres"!

It seems that his bold adventure was really successful. Thinking of this, Macaros' eyes were filled with tears, and Father Antonio on the side was also stunned, and then he became excited.

The so-called "devil's followers" that I speculated are actually the legendary Chinese?

Seeing Makaros so excited with tears and snot, Xu Da and the others were completely confused.

No, what exactly is this Seris? Look how excited the foreign child is. And that foreign monk doesn't even have the reserved awareness of a monk at all.

Master, you have violated the precept of anger!
Xu Da laughed and said, "I'm telling you two, what on earth is Seris? If it's something bad, don't blame me for cursing you!"

"China, yes, that's what we are looking for. Praise the magical China!"

Although Makaros only understood the word "Seris", he didn't care about it and just offered his good words first.

Although the two sides were talking at cross purposes and could not understand what the other side was saying, Makaros guessed it correctly by accident.

"Looking at this guy's appearance, this Seris shouldn't be an insult, right?" Tang He speculated. In his opinion, how should he describe Makaros's appearance...

It is exactly the same as the expressions of the tenants when the landlords distributed grain and money to the tenants and said auspicious words to the landlords during the Chinese New Year in the past.

"Tian De, how should we deal with these two guys?" Tang He asked.

"Let's detain them first and wait until we find an interpreter. If there is no interpreter in Temasek, we can go back to Ming to look for one. Although Ming expelled many Semites after the founding of the country, many also surrendered. We should be able to find the hometown of these two people."

Although Xu Da said this, he was not sure whether he could find a Semitean who knew what "Seris" was, but there was no other way at the moment.

There's no way to force a confession from them because we don't speak the same language!

"How do we find this interpreter? What I mean is, how do we know that the interpreter understands the language of these foreigners?" Zhu Di couldn't help but interrupt and ask.

"Fourth uncle, use your brain!" Li Jinglong glanced at Zhu Di, feeling quite proud of his intelligence, and then said:
"That's easy. Just post a notice in the official language of the Ming Dynasty and write that those who know the meaning of 'Seris' will be given priority. The translators selected in this way will understand both Chinese and their languages!"

"Jiujiang has a good idea. He is using his brain now. I am very pleased as a father." Li Wenzhong looked at Li Jinglong and said with satisfaction.

"Of course, I am the God of War of the Ming Dynasty!"

Li Jinglong puffed out his chest proudly, and then was dragged out by Li Wenzhong.

Then, Xu Da and others also followed him out, and Zhu Di closed the door of the prison.

The cousin taught his nephew a lesson, saying that it would be bad if seen by these foreigners, so he had to save face for his nephew in front of outsiders.

"I told you you're fat and you're out of breath?" Outside the cabin, Li Wenzhong criticized Li Jinglong harshly, "If you mention the Ming Dynasty God of War again, I'll skin you alive!"

"Dad, Dad, be gentle, I know I was wrong, Jiujiang knows I was wrong!
Hey, Zhu Laosi, what are you laughing at? Why don’t you come over and stop my father? Ah…”

In the prison cell, Makaros let out a long sigh. He had traveled through mountains and rivers, bypassed Africa, crossed the ocean leading to India, and finally arrived at the land of the East and met the Chinese.

Although I was extremely happy that the person I saw was Chinese and not a follower of the devil, but...

He was foolish enough to declare the eastern lands as a territory of the Kingdom of Castile. His guards were completely wiped out and he himself was captured.

Originally, I would become the first hero to find the route to the East, but now I have become the biggest laughing stock in the history of diplomacy!
He looked at Father Antonio, sighed and said, "Father, what should we do now?"

Father Antonio was now much calmer, his thoughts became clearer, and he returned to his former holy self.

"My child, pray to the Lord, and He will forgive your sins, and you will receive revelations from Him."

……

Soon, the Ming army posted notices in various places in Temasek. There were many people in Temasek who could speak Chinese. When they saw the notice saying that interpreters were needed and that the reward was 2,000 strings of treasure notes, they went to the addresses stated in the notice to respond to the call for interpreters, regardless of whether they knew what "Seris" meant or not.

Ever since the Ming Dynasty vigorously promoted Baochao in maritime trade, Baochao has gradually become the hard currency of Western countries. Sometimes things that cannot be bought with gold and silver can only be bought with Baochao.

With the strong endorsement of the Ming Dynasty for Baochao, in many countries where Baochao was not officially circulated, private transactions among ordinary people and merchants began to become popular using Baochao.

There was no way. The goods of the Ming Dynasty were too valuable. Silk, tea, porcelain, ironware, and liquor were all very popular. Of course, the most valuable was sugar.

This is the case with Temasek. Although it nominally belongs to Srivijaya, it is more like a lawless area where treasury notes are gold and silver, and gold and silver are treasury notes.

As soon as the notice was posted, many people came forward to take up the job of interpreter. Ten thousand strings of treasure notes were no different from ten taels of silver, which was a considerable sum of money in Temasek.

There will always be brave men when there is a big reward, but those who come to respond to the call are all unqualified. When they open their mouths, they speak fluent Ming official language, better than the officers and soldiers responsible for responding to the call, but when asked what Seris means, the answers are varied.

Some say it is the most beautiful woman in the world, some say it is a treasure, some say it is a place name, and some say "Seris" is his father's...

This annoyed Zhu Di, Xu Huizu, Li Jinglong and a group of officers and soldiers who came to respond to the call. They drove away these unqualified people and even threw the man who swore that "Seres" was his father into the sea.

At this time, another merchant ship docked at the West Coast Pier. After several months of sailing, merchants and sailors got off the ship and set foot on the long-lost land.

In addition to the caravan, there was also a special traveler on the ship, named Sayyid Ahmed Ali, an Arab who was born in Egypt and lived in the Kingdom of Castile for most of his life.

More than ten years ago, after the locals of the Iberian Peninsula expelled the Arabs, he returned to Egypt and started trading between the East and the West, so he also knew some Ming Dynasty Mandarin.

However, after the Ottoman Empire gradually cut off the land trade routes between the East and the West, he lost everything. Now, hearing that the Ming Dynasty had restarted maritime trade, he sold all his property and embarked on a journey to the Ming Dynasty.

After getting ashore, Ali planned to exchange the few remaining silver spears on his body for some fresh food, but he was soon attracted by the notice posted on the dock.

"Seris?"

He muttered to himself, "Seris, isn't it the Latin word Seres? Doesn't that mean Ming, or China?"

(End of this chapter)