Chapter 30 Zhenla
The merchant ship stopped and went, and it took a lot of time along the way, but after 61 days of sailing, Ambrosius and his party finally arrived at their destination, Phnom Penh, the capital of Chenla.
At this time, the speed of sailboats is mostly hovering around 12 knots. The clipper boats that will appear soon will bring the speed of sailboats to a new height of 20 knots.
One section is equivalent to 1.852 kilometers, and sailing at a speed of 12 knots can cover 533.37 kilometers in one day.
The total distance from Venice to Phnom Penh Port is about 26,000 kilometers.
In Rauscher's eyes, it was an extremely noble thing to be able to return pagans to the correct faith.
Because of this, Archbishop Rauscher spared no effort to help Ambrosius.
In order to ensure the safety of Ambrosius and the success of his missionary work, he also found a special religious group called the Battle Brotherhood.
When Ambrosius first learned that there was such an organization in the Austrian church, he found it strange.
However, the moment he boarded the ship, he finally understood why this group of people was called the Battle Brothers.
The average height of this group of priests is more than 1.85 meters. In this era when the average European person is 1.7 meters tall, the height of 1.85 meters can definitely be regarded as a legendary giant.
What's even more exaggerated is that each of them carries rifles on their backs, and cold weapons such as pistols and swords on their waists. If it weren't for the Bibles tied with iron chains around their waists, it would be difficult to distinguish them from the pastor. Connected together.
These giant men all have fierce faces. It is better to say that they are priests than to say that they are more like executioners.
Two of them were slightly shorter, but one of them was covered in scars, with a large area of burns on his face, and his voice was hoarse, like an evil ghost in hell.
The other person, although he talks like a devout believer, actually has the Bible tattooed in Latin on his face. From a distance, he looks like an exorcist with spells all over his face.
The priest's name was Sartre, an exorcist at the Holy See in Linz.
Ambrosius sincerely lamented, "Priest Sartre, even without the help of any holy weapons, can scare away devils just by his appearance."
In this way, a general, two officers, a diplomat and translator, seventeen adventurers, three missionaries and fifty combat priests embarked on the same journey.
Except for the two adventurers who unfortunately died at sea, the rest of the people arrived in Chenla safely.
Phnom Penh, the capital of Chenla, is an inland port located in the delta between the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River, with direct access to the South China Sea to the south.
Although Ambrosius had long been mentally prepared, the city of Phnom Penh was still much bigger than he thought, almost twice the size of Florence, the capital of Tuscany.
It's just that the people here seem a little numb.
No matter where their group appeared in any city in Europe, Ambrosius had every reason to believe that they would attract onlookers.
But this week, the workers in the port didn't seem to care about their arrival at all. They were carrying goods with dull eyes, as if they were a group of ghosts.
The Vietnamese officials at the dock looked at Ambrosius and his party with disdain, as if they wanted to give them a good look.
Ambrosius quickly took out a hanging zinc coin, handed it to the official, and spoke to him in broken Vietnamese.
"Congratulations on getting rich and living a long life."
Zinc coins, also called white lead coins, actually contain more zinc and were the main currency in Vietnam at that time.
The Vietnamese official at the port took the sling of money, put it in his pocket and waved that they could leave.
But when the missionaries passed by, the Vietnamese official stopped them and said, "Don't preach, or you will die."
The Vietnamese official made a killing gesture, and the missionaries nodded to show their understanding.
Before coming to Phnom Penh, the French captain had repeatedly reminded the Catholic priests that Emperor Minh Minh of Vietnam had ordered a nationwide ban on preaching. Any priest who preached secretly would be arrested and sent to Hue. Anyone who helped him hide would be executed.
But this is Chenla, so Vietnamese laws are not enforced very strictly.
The accompanying diplomat Zakir gave the previous Vietnamese official another sling of money, wanting to know where the officials in Chenla were. After all, this was the port of Chenla.
After the Vietnamese official got the money, he pointed to an inconspicuous hut nearby.
After seeing Ambrosius and his party leaving, the Vietnamese official held up his bamboo hat and spat on the ground.
"A bunch of poor people are worthy of doing business with the Zhenla people."
At this time, the Vietnamese were very arrogant and believed that they were the second largest country in the world and had no rivals except the Qing Dynasty.
Ambrosius and his party entered the Foreign Affairs Office of Zhenla, and Zhenla officials stared at Ambrosius and his party curiously.
Under the rule of Vietnam, the government offices in Chenla were in vain, and no one had come to visit them for a long time.
Guan Jinpan is a Chenla noble surname, and he is a second-grade civil servant, but under Vietnamese rule, he has almost no real power.
Not only Guan Jinpan, but other Chenla officials were also curious about the purpose of Ambrosius and his party.
Because this team is so weird.
And why are all these foreign monks armed?
This figure, this appearance, is like the angry-eyed King Kong in the Buddhist hall.
In addition, the Vietnamese now rule Chenla and implement Vietnamese laws. As long as there are missionaries who preach privately, they will be arrested and executed immediately or sent to Hue for execution.
Are these people really not afraid of death? But looking at these people, they don't look like they are here to preach.
In fact, the so-called fighting brotherhood is just a product of the sorrow of the rabbit and the fox.
After the French Revolution and the Incident of the Twelve Priests, Catholic organizations in various countries were in constant panic, fearing that they would suffer the same fate.
During the French Revolution, priests who refused to swear allegiance to the new French government were executed and frantically plundered church property.
So a self-defense organization composed of fanatics came into being. They were originally used to protect Catholic property. However, these madmen got together and soon expanded their goals. One of them was to use force to protect missionaries. Safety.
When Franz first heard about this organization, another name came to mind - Astartes.
It was Franz who knew the existence of these "Astartes" who dared to let Ambrosius go to Chenla to save the princess.
At this time, Ambrosius broke the silence first.
"Hello, officials of Chenla. We are the special envoys of the Austrian Empire. We hope to establish diplomatic relations with Chenla and exchange information. We have brought gifts to your royal family and hope you can help us introduce them."
Zakir, the diplomat who accompanied Ambrosius, took out small gold bars and handed them to Chenla officials.
The Chenla officials immediately felt flattered and felt very kind to the foreigner in front of them who knew the Chenla language.
But when they heard that the other party wanted to see the royal family, these officials looked at each other.
Only Guan Jinpan thought this was an opportunity, perhaps taking advantage of these foreigners' ignorance of the country's national conditions to make a fortune.
"I am the general manager of the Chenla Foreign Affairs Office, Guan Jinpan."
Ambrosius also followed the example of Guan Jinpan and announced his family name.
"I am the Austrian Empire's special military observer, Ambrosius. I hope to visit the training and fighting of your army."
At this time, a Chenla official jumped out and said.
"You, a barbarian like you, really don't understand the rules. Why don't you kneel down when you see our official Mr. Jin Pan?"
"Kneel down?" Ambrosius was a little confused.
The Austrian diplomat Zucker on the side said with his face twitching twice.
"Archduke Ambrosius is a royal member of our Austrian Empire. Please pay attention to your attitude."