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In addition to the two of them, there are four other crew members, two of whom have been farmers and soldiers, one is an experienced sailor, and the other is a translator who is proficient in Spanish.

The rest of the team members are temporarily hired, six are Mexican businessmen's buddies, and more than ten are Japanese bodyguards who have settled in America.

Li Quan's trading fleet is not allowed to go to the port of Acapulco, which is the exclusive trading place of the Spanish fleet.Therefore, the expedition team could only take a Mexican merchant ship to go south, all the way to the Guatemala region, which is also the jurisdiction of the governor of New Spain, but there is a second-level governor who is in charge of Central America.

A group of people first visited the governor and gave them exquisite gifts. The governor was very happy and sent two guides to guide them.

"Bang bang bang!"

In the tropical rainforest of Guatemala, several gunshots were heard, and a jaguar fell to the ground, beside which lay a snapping turtle that was killed by it.

Confirming that there is no danger, Cheng Jingming rushed over quickly, circling around the body of the jaguar.

"This thing looks like a leopard but not a leopard, and it looks like a tiger but not a tiger. What the hell is it?" Cheng Jingming muttered for a while.

Captain Wang Lian said, "It doesn't matter if it's a tiger or a leopard, it's a ferocious beast anyway."

He ordered people to carry the bodies of the jaguar and snapping turtle forward, and in the middle of the afternoon, he chose a place to camp.The plants that repelled mosquitoes were lit, and fresh water was brought in to boil.

The weather in the tropical rainforest is extremely bad, and poisonous snakes and beasts emerge in endlessly.

If it weren't for the two guides sent by the governor, the expedition team would probably have been reduced in number, and they didn't know a lot of basic local knowledge.

After Cheng Jingming finished drawing the image of the jaguar, he asked the guide to inquire about the habits of this animal, and finally wrote down the text notes:

"Eastern Panthera (or Eastern Panthera), its pattern is like a leopard, its shape is like a tiger..."

The expedition team did not bring a scale, but only a tape measure, so the data only recorded the animal size.

After recording the perfect cheetah, Cheng Jingming also recorded the snapping turtle: "The bully turtle is big and fierce, and looks like a bully, so it is named..."

Immediately afterwards, Cheng Jingming sorted out the plants collected today, and made leaves and vines as specimens.

"do not touch!"

The guide sent by the governor shouted, and the two Chinese team members retreated quickly. There was a brightly colored red frog on the blade in front of them.

Cheng Jingming ran over with the translator and asked, "What kind of frog is this?"

The guide explained: "Poison dart frogs can easily poison people to death. The natives like to smear the poison on the arrow darts."

"Can you catch it for me?" Cheng Jingming asked.

The guide picked up the stick, went around to the direction of testing, knocked down the poison dart frog with a stick, and then pressed the stick on the frog's back.

Cheng Jingming took a closer look and measured the body length with a tape measure.

"Boom!"

There was thunder, and it was going to rain again.

Fortunately, there is a tarpaulin convertible, and the tent cannot be set up on the ground, so we choose a safe tree branch to rest.

It rained until the next morning, and the surrounding area was wet, and it was extremely boring, hot and uncomfortable.

Cheng Jingming smelled his armpits, and his whole body was rotten.But he likes this kind of life very much. Although there are many dangers and life is difficult, it is much more interesting than living in Suzhou.Delicacies from mountains and seas, silk and satin, reciting poems and singing songs, groups of wives and concubines, he has long been tired of such boring days.

After another two days, the Mayan tribe was finally found.

These Mayans were very vigilant, and as far as the Spanish colonists were concerned, it would be fine if they didn't fight on the spot.

The guide did not show up, and a buddy sent by a businessman went to contact the Mayan natives.This person should have been in contact with this tribe, buying furs and the like, and he can help avoid conflicts.

Expedition leader Wang Lian greeted his subordinates and sent him a bag of salt, and the two sides quickly reached a deal.

The Mayan natives took them to see rubber trees and demonstrated how to cut rubber on the spot.

Cheng Jingming found that the rubber tree was blooming, so he asked the Maya about the situation.But it has to bloom three times a year, and now it is the third flowering period, and it will take another month for the fruit to mature.

Wang Lian immediately decided to wait here, get some ripe fruits back, and maybe bring them back to China for sowing.

Of course, some small saplings will also be dug, planted in wooden barrels and transported away with the ship.

While waiting for the fruit to ripen, the expedition team stayed in the tribe and paid some remuneration to the natives.

As long as it doesn't rain, they explore the surrounding area and record all kinds of flora and fauna.

"What's that?" Cheng Jingming looked at the huge pyramid in front of him.

The guide replied: "That is the temple of the Mayans."

This Mayan pyramid has long been abandoned and dilapidated, and even the stones in the northeast corner have fallen down, surrounded by shrubs and weeds.

A group of Japanese bodyguards, carrying sticks to open the way, beat grass to frighten the snakes, insects, rats and ants in front of them.

Cheng Jingming followed behind the Japanese bodyguards to the steps of the pyramid.He saw many strange carvings, some even resembled the Chinese Taotie pattern.In other words, it's not similar, but exactly the same as the Taotie pattern!

Could it be that the natives here really came from ancient China?

Cheng Jingming continued wandering around the pyramid, and went up the stairs until he reached the top of the pyramid.It's a pity that there are no major discoveries. There are only Taotie patterns here, and there are no Kuilong patterns, dragon and phoenix patterns, and stealing patterns.

Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Cheng Jingming directly camped here, and first drew the overall appearance of the pyramid from various angles.

Then he drew details everywhere, and he even found statues.

The statues were queer, human beings in bloated clothes and hoods over their heads.In the hot tropical rainforest, such a clothing style is obviously unreasonable.

If Zhao Han were here, he would definitely blurt out: "Fuck, astronaut?"

Apart from these things, Cheng Jingming didn't find anything, and the valuable ones had already been taken away by the Spaniards.

He also discovered some pictorial symbols. Cheng Jingming had some knowledge of oracle bone inscriptions because he subscribed to the Hanlin Journal all the year round. He subconsciously felt that these patterns were original characters.

It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that it is a character, and it can only be said to be the prototype of pictographs.

For example, a certain pattern depicts the head of an animal, and it can be clearly seen that it is a jaguar.

There are also paintings of human heads, with various accessories attached, and it is unknown whether they refer to humans in general, or chiefs or gods specifically.

"Is this the longevity lock?"

Cheng Jingming squatted in front of a pattern and looked at it for a long time. It looked like a longevity lock worn by a child.But in the blank space in the middle of the longevity lock, three full stops arranged diagonally were drawn.

This pattern, which appeared several times in the pyramid, obviously represented some important meaning.

Well, later generations of Mayan philologists understood this longevity lock pattern as the "moon".

There are also more abstract patterns, such as the Chevrolet logo wrapped in a rectangle.This should belong to a more advanced text, the ghost knows what it means.

Cheng Jingming searched his brains and couldn't decipher it, so he copied all of them, took them back and threw them to the scholars of the Imperial Academy for study.

Chapter 986 [The Legacy of the Inca Royal Family]

Cheng Jingming stayed in the tropical rainforest for more than two months, until the paper he carried with him was filled with words and pictures, and then he left with rubber saplings and fruits.

If you want to return to China, you have to wait for the trade fleet to come over next year.

I am not in a hurry to go back to Mexico. I will go to Gracias to live for a while to learn more about the customs and customs of Central America.

Gracias, the city was the ruling center of Central America, located in the territory of the later Honduras.People often refer to the chief as the governor, and the Chinese translation also has an admiral, but his real name is "Commander-in-Chief of the Guatemala Military Jurisdiction", who directly obeys the governor of New Spain (the capital is in Mexico City).

They had visited once when they came, and the governor (commander-in-chief) also assigned them two guides.This time I went back to thank him. While returning the guide, I made an appointment to visit again next year and promised to bring some brocades to the governor.

The production of Yunjin is low. In Europe and America, it is often impossible to buy it with money.

Hearing that next year they would be able to receive brocade, the governor became more enthusiastic and asked them to stay in the city for a while, and specially arranged servants and maids.

The maids are the ones who can go to bed, and all the Chinese in the expedition team have a share.

Cheng Jingming, who barely learned Spanish after a meal full of ups and downs, put his arms around the maid and asked, "What's your name?"

"Irene." The maid replied.

Cheng Jingming asked: "Looking at your appearance, you don't look like a European, nor like a local aborigine. Are you of mixed race?"

"Yes, I'm Mestizo," Irene said.

Mestizo people, also translated as Mestizo and Mastizo, specifically refer to the mixed descendants of Europeans and Native Americans.Similar to "Nyonya" in Southeast Asia, it specifically refers to the mixed descendants of Chinese and Southeast Asian aborigines.

After some understanding, Cheng Jingming asked again, "Are there many Mestisos here?"

Erin said, "A lot."

The population composition of Latin America, from most to least, is as follows: Native Americans, European mixed blood, native whites, black slaves, European colonists, Asian immigrants.

The social status, from high to low, is as follows: European colonists, native whites, mixed Europeans, Asian immigrants, Native Americans, and black slaves.

Of course, social status is not fixed, even black people can redeem themselves and start businesses.

This kind of black is very rare. First of all, you must be smart and capable, and you must meet a kind-hearted master.They have accumulated enough ransom money through long-term labor, and after they are free, they serve the original owners in the form of employment.Gradually accumulating family property, after one or two generations, black merchants appeared.

Most of them are brokers, craftsmen, small businessmen, labor intermediaries (black slave distribution), short-distance freight forwarders... Even if such blacks are rich, they will be discriminated against and not allowed to acquire land, but their social status is indeed Higher than native Indians, even higher than many European mixed blood.

Erin said: "My mother was an Aboriginal slave, and my father didn't know who it was. I was a plantation slave as a child, and was sold by the master to the Governor as a maid."

This is a Latino mixed-race beauty, tall and slender, who will be able to participate in a beauty contest in a few hundred years.It's a pity that it is too thin and does not conform to the current European aesthetics, and because it is too tall, it does not conform to the current Chinese aesthetics.If she were shorter and matched with her slender figure, she would be lovely in the eyes of Chinese literati.

Cheng Jingming was very curious and asked, "Which country and race do you think you are from?"

Erin replied, "I'm Mestizo."

Cheng Jingming was speechless for a moment.

As a general term for European-Turkish hybrids, Mestizos are obviously discriminatory.Countless mixed-race children were given such titles, and were even designated as a new race.

They do not know which country they belong to, only that they are Mestizos.

After staying in the city for several days, a visitor suddenly came to visit.

The visitor was also of mixed European-Turkish descent, but he obviously had a higher social status. He was well-dressed and elegantly behaved. He was educated and rich at first glance.

"My name is Carlos Inca Garcilaso de la Vega." The man took off his hat and held a book in his left hand.

Expedition leader Wang Lian exchanged a few words with this person, and when he learned that he was a literati, he threw it to Cheng Jingming to receive him.

Carlos continued to introduce himself: "My grandfather is the great writer Inca."

Inca is Inca.

When translating into Chinese, the Inca was deliberately distinguished from the Inca, purely because the writer was so awesome.

Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the originator of Latin American literature.His works are must-read books for the leaders of the Latin American independence movement, as well as the theoretical source of the Latin American independence movement, and even have an irreplaceable cohesive effect on the entire Latin American nation.At the same time, Voltaire, Montesquieu and others were also greatly influenced by Inca in their thinking.The theoretical source of liberalism in Europe comes from Yinka's works.

Inca is also of mixed European-Turkish blood, half of Spanish colonial blood, half of Inca imperial blood.

Inca wrote on the title page of his masterpiece "Royal Commentary": "I dedicate this book to the Indians, Indo-Europeans and native whites in the kingdoms and provinces of the great and extremely rich Peruvian Empire-your brothers, Garcilaso, fellow Inka and fellow countryman."

When he wrote this passage, the Inca Empire had only been disintegrated for a few decades, and there were not even a few black slaves to be found.

This sentence later became the guiding ideology of the Latin American independence movement.In other words, Indians, Indo-European mixed race, native whites, these three kinds of people are all brothers, and the European colonists are the big villains, and the European colonists must be driven away!

Of course, this is definitely not the original intention of Inka. He is inclined to Spain in thought and participated in the suppression of indigenous riots.But it also bears the royal blood of the Inca Empire. He has deep feelings for the history and culture of the Inca and the land of the Inca.

In the book "Royal Review", there are many contents criticizing colonial atrocities and calling on all walks of life in Europe, especially the king of Spain, to face up to the suffering of the Latin American people and improve the living conditions of the Latin American people.

This book became popular in Europe 30 or [-] years ago.Countries that don't like Spain support its spread one after another.Those adventurers who want to go to sea to find gold also regard this book as a popular science book.But the real popularity will have to wait for hundreds of years. There have been many interpretations of this book, and ideological emancipators and independence activists regard it as a theoretical weapon.

"Your Excellency is from Peru, why are you here?" Cheng Jingming asked.

Carlos said: "My grandfather Inca, the noble royal family of the Inca Empire, was exiled because he angered the King of Spain. My father and uncles, although not exiled, were embezzled by the colonists. Their share of the property , there were only 500 copies of the "Royal Review", and then they were scattered all over the place. I was born here, and my current position is the secretary of the Governor's Palace."

The "Royal Review" was published by Inca at its own expense in Spain, and it was almost half sold and half free. Even so, no one cared about it, and could only return to Peru with the remaining 500 books.Unexpectedly, after he died in exile, his works suddenly became popular in Europe.

Carlos handed over an old "Royal Review": "Dear Mr. China, this book is not popular in America, but I hope you can bring it back to China. Let more people read it and let more people read it." Many people know about the colonial atrocities and let more people understand the long and splendid history and culture of the Inca Empire, which is my grandfather's lifelong wish."

"It's an honor." Cheng Jingming readily accepted.

Carlos began to chatter: "Dear Mr. China, the Spanish bandits robbed the land of the Incas, destroyed our civilization, and said that the Incas were ignorant and barbarians. This is not correct, it is extremely wrong , I hope you don’t believe it. We have our own words, we have our own calendar, and we have created brilliant achievements..."

This guy is probably full of words, and he can't find anyone to talk to at ordinary times. When he meets a Chinese, he immediately talks non-stop.

There are no Asian immigrants in Central America for the time being. Carlos babbled for a long time, and suddenly asked: "Dear Mr. China, you Chinese and we Inca seem to be of the same race. We have the same hair, skin color, and appearance. , This is completely different from the Europeans. I was very surprised when you first entered the city. Do the Chinese and the Incas have a common ancestor?"

Cheng Jingming glanced at Carlos again. This man obviously has European features. How can he look so similar?

It can only be said that Carlos considers himself an Incas in terms of spiritual belonging.And he is not an ordinary Inca, he has the blood of the Inca royal family flowing through him!

Cheng Jingming replied using official rhetoric: "Thousands of years ago, there was a Yin-Shang Dynasty in China. After the Yin-Shang Dynasty was defeated, it was said that the royal family took their people and sailed to the sea to the east. In China, if you take a boat to the east, it is America now. Perhaps, you are the royal descendants of the Shang Dynasty in China."

"Is there such a legend?" Carlos said happily.

This dude is desperate for approval.But the Incas had already been conquered, and he didn't know where to go out. Whenever he saw a Chinese who looked similar to the Incas, he was like a beggar seeing a rich relative.

Cheng Jingming suddenly had an idea and asked: "If you are curious, you can go to China with me. There are people with such looks there. You can also learn to speak Chinese and write Chinese characters. Maybe you can learn from ancient Chinese books. Find out where the Incas came from."