Xiao Ruxun didn't treat this cardinal of the Holy See as a distinguished guest, nor did he go out to greet him, but just waited for him to come in by himself, sat in the living room for a while, and then someone went to the inner hall to invite Xiao Ruxun out to meet the cardinal.

Matteo Ricci was already familiar with the hospitality of the Chinese, and this cardinal was the first time to see different chairs and tables and interior decoration from Europe, the bishop felt very novel, there were many trees and flowers in the house, full of greenery, it looked vibrant, and there were Chinese paintings and Chinese calligraphy hanging in the living room, and some plaques with writing were hung.

In Europe, the calligraphy written by Chen Longzheng has become a sought after thing by many people, because Chen Longzheng only wrote this one character, and no matter how many people asked for the rest, Chen Longzheng resolutely stopped writing.

Chen Longzheng's reason is very simple - I wrote to you just to humiliate you, but I didn't expect that you couldn't understand that I was humiliating you, so it would be boring, and I still wanted to make money with these things, which is really outrageous!

A bunch of barbarians who only know gold and silver goods!

When Chen Longzheng boarded the ship and left, he threw down this sentence with disdain, naturally, no one understood.

Then the word is out of print in Europe, the governor of Genoa felt that he had taken a big advantage, and wanted to leave this character as an heirloom, and people bought it with gold, silver and land, but he sternly refused and resolutely refused to sell it, and the bishop probably knew the price, so looking at the calligraphy and Chinese paintings in this room, he felt very greedy and very excited.

Matteo Ricci also probably knew what the greedy bishop was thinking.

"The residences of Chinese scholars and aristocrats are basically like this, hanging some Chinese calligraphy and Chinese ink paintings, it is the habit and rule of Chinese scholars, this is a kind of etiquette for them, these calligraphy and ink paintings are basically from the hands of some very famous writers and painters, very valuable, in Europe, it is even more valuable."

The bishop nodded, scanning the circle of calligraphy and ink paintings with a greedy gaze.

After a while, the next person brought tea and refreshments for the bishop and Matteo Ricci to enjoy, the bishop lifted the tea lid, saw that it was full of tea leaves, full of fragrance, took a deep breath of tea fragrance, and sighed: "Chinese are really rich, this tea is so fragrant, it can be sold at a good price in Europe!" And this...... What is this? ”

Matteo Ricci explained: "This is the tea that the Chinese entertain the guests with tea, just like the pastry used by the European nobles for afternoon tea, this is called mung bean cake, which is made of mung beans, Myanmar is hot, mung beans have the effect of relieving the heat, so it is very popular in Myanmar, this mung bean cake is also a very famous pastry in Myanmar, sweet and glutinous." ”

With that, Matteo Ricci picked up a piece of mung bean cake and put it in his mouth and took a bite, then showed a look of enjoyment.

"The Chinese's achievements in food are definitely no less than their cultural achievements, and it can even be said that their food itself is a culture."

Hearing Matteo Ricci say this, and then looking at him enjoying it very much, the bishop swallowed his saliva - as a cardinal, he can naturally enjoy all kinds of preferential treatment, he can enjoy delicious and delicious food, but he really has not experienced exotic things, so he couldn't wait to pick up a piece of mung bean cake, follow Ricci's example, put it in his mouth and took a bite, and suddenly, a soft and sweet taste swept through his mouth.

He couldn't help but close his eyes and enjoy the sweet taste to the fullest, and then he couldn't help but eat three pieces in a row, and then sighed: "It's really delicious, is the food of Chinese so exquisite?" ”

"The Chinese are really particular about what they eat, and of course the common people will not be so particular, but they can still eat a full stomach, and Myanmar is not short of food."

The bishop nodded - who cares about the common people, they can't represent China.

After eating a few more pieces of mung bean cake, the bishop felt thirsty, so he took a sip of tea from the tea bowl, the fragrant tea with a touch of bitterness diluted the sweet greasy feeling in the mouth, the perfect fusion of the two, making the mouth extremely comfortable, the taste buds are as wonderful as soaking in a warm bath.

"Ah......h

The bishop sighed deeply: "If you can enjoy such tea and pastries every day after praying to God, it is really a supreme pleasure, and those nobles enjoy afternoon tea is probably nothing more than that, right?" The Chinese are really good at enjoying it. ”

Matteo Ricci smiled and didn't answer—to be honest, how did he know how the European aristocracy enjoyed afternoon tea, and only you bishop-level church nobles could enjoy it?

Although General Xiao likes to enjoy, but the more than one million people under his rule have not been hungry for a day in the past three years, not a day, this is simply a miracle, you go to the street and ask, who is not grateful to Marquis Xiao? As for you...... Hehe......

In the middle of the belly, a sound of footsteps came, Xiao Ruxun, who was wearing regular clothes, walked into the living room with Ma Wei, and saw Matteo Ricci and an old baguette in a robe that he had never seen, thinking that it was the high-level cardinal, so Xiao Ruxun opened his mouth and said: "This is a distinguished guest, right?" Benhou Xiao Ruxun, some things have been delayed, and I am really sorry for delaying the distinguished guests. ”

As he spoke, Xiao Ruxun arched his hand at the old stick, which was regarded as a salute.

The bishop watched a rather imposing young Chinese appear in front of him, with a high spirit, looking very powerful, and when he was surprised, he heard him grunt for a while, and without understanding what it meant, he could only look at Matteo Ricci.

"Bishop, this is General Xiao, he was just saying that he was late, and he felt very sorry."

This is Xiao Ruxun? How young are you? Are all Chinese aristocrats so young and handsome?

Although the bishop was surprised, he did not dare to be rude, and hurriedly bowed and said: "I am Cardinal Zarome Alexander, the special envoy of His Royal Highness the Pope, and the honorable General Xiao, hello. ”

Matteo Ricci translated immediately.

"It turned out to be Mr. Alexander." Xiao Ruxun smiled and nodded: "Sit, you're welcome." ”

As soon as Xiao Ruxun stretched out his hand to ask the bishop to sit down, the bishop was stunned for a moment, looked at Matteo Ricci, and Matteo Ricci hurriedly said, "General Xiao, please sit down." ”

"Oh!"

The bishop nodded, sat down, and looked at Xiao Ruxun with some nervousness—he always felt that the power of this young man was too heavy, just like when he faced the powerful monarchs of those European countries, it gave him a great sense of oppression.