This letter of state was written by Ma Lin himself, which also made Ma Lin very worried for a while. First of all, Marin needed to change a lot of his previous habits when writing this letter.

For example, whether it is in later generations or in Europe today, the writing format is from left to right, from top to bottom. In the Ming Dynasty, it was from top to bottom, and then from right to left.

So, Marlin wasted a lot of paper in order to adapt to this format. In the end, in order to make his characters in place, Marin simply typed a grid to standardize his Chinese characters.

In addition, the ancient Chinese were not accustomed to reading small hard pen characters. So, Marlin went out of his way to make a brush to write the letter. Poor Marlin's calligraphy level is very bad, and it is still at the level of elementary school students "writing big characters". Its calligraphy is barely boxy, and it is estimated to be at the same level as the Confucian children of the Ming Dynasty.

Also, there are many characters, and Marin doesn't remember how to write them in traditional Chinese. Therefore, if you can remember how to write traditional characters, Marin uses traditional characters. If you can't remember, just replace it with simplified Chinese characters. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty was not without simplified characters. However, in the Ming Dynasty, simplified characters were called "vulgar characters", and literati disdained to use them, but they were used quite a lot by general bookkeepers. However, it is not elegant.

But in any case, Ma Lin's current identity is that he is the lord of a "Fanbang", and he should not understand Chinese characters. Being able to write some vulgar characters is already a surprise. If this is on the line, it can also prove that "the Ming Rites and Religion are powerful all over the world, and even the monarchs of Fanbang can write Chinese characters"...... Anyway, it's enough to blow a wave......

The letter of state was not sealed, and Ding Haishan, as the secretary of Guangzhou, was specifically responsible for tributary matters. Although he is only a petty official from the fifth grade, the city is the "relevant department" responsible for the tribute. Therefore, the promotion is also eligible to preview the credentials.

When he opened the tribute book, Ding Haishan was surprised to find that the tribute book was divided into two parts, one was written in foreign and the other was written in Chinese characters...... I saw that the Chinese character version of the tribute reads:

"Grand Duke Marin, Grand Duchy of the North Sea, Land of Tessie. Feng. Hoffman, I respectfully invite His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire, the most powerful and wealthy emperor in the world......"

The opening sentence of the horse is quite loud. At the beginning, it was pointed out that the Ming Dynasty was "the most powerful and wealthy country in the world", which made Ding Haishan, an official of the Ming Dynasty, look very comfortable.

"I (I haven't obtained the tributary qualifications yet, so it's not good to call myself a minister, but I'm not a commoner, and I can't call myself a grass people.) Therefore, as I call myself) although he lives in the land of Taixi, 20,000 miles west of the Ming Dynasty, and the country is small and the people are outnumbered, it has long been heard that there is a powerful empire called the Ming Dynasty in the extreme east. The country is strong, the people are rich, the monarch is wise, and the ministers are virtuous...... (1,000 words omitted below)"

"The old minister had long intended to send people to the Ming Dynasty to worship the Son of Heaven, but the 20,000-li land route between the Grand Duchy of Beihai and the Ming Dynasty was blocked by fierce and barbaric Tatars and Turks (Turkey). On the 20,000-mile land route, the sky was covered with yellow sand, and there were hundreds of thousands of murderous Tatar cavalry and Turkic cavalry...... Therefore, the desire to worship the Son of Heaven and bathe in the grace of God has never been realized......"

"Fortunately, under my command, there are navigators who came up with the idea of making a detour from the sea to Daming. For this reason, after decades of work and dozens of ships were swallowed up by the sea, our ships found a route from the sea to Daming with great difficulty...... The total journey of this route is as long as 50,000 miles (after calculation, if you go around the Cape of Good Hope, and then go through the Strait of Malacca, it does take 25,854 kilometers from London to Guangzhou, about 51,700 miles, and after the opening of the Suez Canal, there are also 18,000 kilometers)...... But fortunately, I finally found the Ming Dynasty of the Celestial Empire, whom I had admired for a long time......"

……

Reading this, Ding Haishan smacked his tongue and couldn't help asking:

"Is your country really 50,000 miles away from Daming?"

Conte and Scanda nodded their heads and said:

"Indeed, our ship arrived in Guangzhou after nearly a year at sea. Along the way, it can be described as a thousand difficulties and dangers......"

After speaking, Kong Tai also opened a map to show Ding Haishan. On the map, the outlines of the continents of Europe and Africa are drawn, as well as their routes......

Ding Haishan continued to read the tribute:

"The land of Tessie is bitter and cold, and the land is barren. Rice cannot be grown there, and even wheat is difficult to grow. Therefore, although he is the lord of a state, he can only eat black bread (bread) with a burnt bitter taste every day. Only during the festival can you eat white bread made of wheat......"

Seeing this, Ding Haishan was extremely surprised:

"Your lord usually eats black bread? Don't you have wheat in your country? ”

Conté shook his head together with Scanda...... They weren't lying, the Grand Duchy of Beihai is at a high latitude, so it's really not suitable for growing wheat. Therefore, wheat bread is really rare in the Grand Duchy of Beihai.

Ding Haishan sighed - Nima, this country is so poor...... It's a poor ghost who came to fight the autumn wind again......

He then proceeded to read the Book of Tribute:

"In the land of Taixi, there are no silkworms, and cotton cannot be grown. Therefore, our subjects, not to mention silk, can't even wear cotton cloth...... Only a few of the inferior nobles were allowed to wear silk robes purchased at high prices from the Great Food Merchants (Arab merchants......"

"In my Grand Duchy of Beihai, those who can wear silk robes are all rich and noble. Ordinary people can only wear linen clothes or woolen cloth clothes with a foul smell......"

"But I heard that in Daming, even a small landlord in the countryside can actually wear silk, and his daily life is far more than that of my country's nobles......"

Therefore, under the incomparable prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, incomparable yearning. If it weren't for the dangers at sea, if you were not careful, you would encounter a storm that would cause the ship to be destroyed and killed, and you would like to go to Daming to pay homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor in person. By the way, take a look at Daming, the most prosperous country in the world......"

"Today, Baron Columbus, with all the members of the mission, will risk his life to find a way to Daming. If you are fortunate enough to meet someone from the Kingdom, please convey to the Imperial Court on my behalf a request for tribute to His Majesty the Emperor......"

"We are not rich in products, but we have excellent armaments, especially firearms, which are unparalleled in the world. Therefore, he presented 40 bronze cannons and 500 fine guns with a range of more than 100 paces to the imperial court as a tribute ......"

……

At the beginning, Ding Haishan read this tribute letter and was quite proud. But when it came to the last paragraph, Ding Haishan was not happy. He asked Kong Tai with a straight face:

"How dare you compare the advantages of firearms with my Daming?"

Kong Tai had long expected that the Ming officials would be dissatisfied, and he, who had been prepared, arched his hand and said:

"If you don't believe it, you can find a firearms expert in Guangzhou and try it!"

"Okay, let's stay at the City Bosi Post House first, I'll go and ask the political envoy to ...... first" After speaking, Ding Haishan went directly to the Guangdong political secretary with the tribute book to report......

In the middle and early Ming Dynasty, the Guangzhou City Bosi was under the jurisdiction of the Guangdong Provincial Government. It was only in the later period that the Municipal Department broke away from the control of the Political Department and independently controlled the tax power of foreign trade. It's just that it's still the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and the city department is still under the control of the Guangdong political secretary, and there is no right yet. Therefore, the Guangzhou Municipal Department of Shipping does not have the right to make a decision when he mentions Ding Haishan, and he needs to ask the Secretary of State for decision......