I

  Chapter 762 759 [Queen Anne's bathroom summoned]

  The contest referee was stunned, not knowing whether to judge Zheng Dayong as a foul or to judge Zheng Dayong as a winner.

   Xia Pulan, who was the master of ceremonies in the competition, also had a hard time making a choice, and subconsciously looked towards the Queen Mother in the auditorium.

  Queen Anne did not know what to do. If Zheng Dayong was sentenced to a foul, it would appear that the French royal family has no courage. If Zheng Dayong is judged to win, the captain of the royal guard will lose in one round, which makes the French royal guard too rubbish.

   Zheng Dayong lifted his helmet with a smile, and rode to Xia Pulan: "Let's score."

   There is another rule in knightly contests. Those who fall from the horse will not lose directly, but will have points deducted like a broken lance. This kind of rule is mostly used in small-scale martial arts competitions. Countless spectators come to watch the excitement, but there are only a few fights, and it can't be over just after the start, so after falling off the horse, they will get up and continue fighting.

  Since Zheng Dayong represents China in the competition, of course he needs to understand the situation.

  A few days ago, I was even grinding my gun to get used to this special brittle wood lance.

  After hearing the translation, Xia Pulan hurried to ask the Queen Mother for instructions.

  Queen Anne thinks this move is feasible, and neither China nor France will lose face. She looked at Zheng Dayong in the arena with a smile, and thought that this Chinese knight was very good, not only had excellent riding skills, but also knew how to be flexible.

  Navarra had already been supported by his teammates, and when he learned that the game would continue, his first reaction was to untie the belt of his shield.

   It is estimated that from now on, European knights' competitions will either modify the rules so that the belt cannot be pulled, or the knight's shield will not be hung directly with the belt.

   Like D'Artagnan, Navarre also came from the local aristocracy.

   Only the nobles can afford an official position and be the captain of the company of guards. This position is worth 100,000 livres.

  The retinues on both sides no longer need to fight, and all honors and challenges belong to the knights.

  Swapping positions, the two moved around the obstacle, approaching about ten meters and accelerating to charge again.

  Zheng Dayong felt that this kind of competition was stupid, and the brittle wood lance restricted too much technique. For example, if he can't charge and sweep, if he swipes his lance, regardless of whether he can sweep his opponent off the horse, the lance in his hand will definitely break and deduct points. This thing is deliberately made brittle to protect the contestants.

"lb!"

   "Boom!"

  Two crisp sounds came.

  The shield used by Zheng Da separated Navarra's lance. Then he quickly lowered his right arm and inserted it into the gap of the opponent's shield. Navarra was a little too late to respond, and knocked the lower end of the shield on Zheng Dayong's lance. The guy was stabbed in the thigh, and Zheng Dayong scored again.

  Anyone can see that there is a huge gap in strength between the two sides.

  Zheng Dayong first fought with Zhang Tieniu, then converted to dragoons, and then transferred to Liaoning as Xiao cavalry. He was killed with real swords and guns, and the Navarra in front of him had never been on the battlefield at all.

   Leading the scoring for two consecutive rounds, Navarra is already a little scared.

  Starting the third round, Navarra cheered up. He no longer dared to play tricks, he only wanted to defend effectively, and then scored by breaking Zheng Da's lance.

"what!"

   Just when the two sides were about to contact, the nobles in the audience exclaimed.

   It was Zheng Dayong who suddenly threw the lance, aiming at Navarra's head. Navarra hastily moved the shield up, subconsciously protected his face, and when his sight was blocked, he raised his gun and stabbed Zheng Dayong completely by feeling.

  Zheng Dayong was wearing a bulky full-body plate armor, half of his body leaned out. After narrowly dodging the lance, he regained his balance in an instant, and switched the shield to his right hand, and the horizontal shield slammed into Navarra's ribs.

   "Kang Dang!"

   A large pile of tin cans fell off the horse's back again.

   This time, he rolled over and fell, and he fell to a mess. In addition to the heavy armor, he didn't get up for a long time.

  The referee was stunned for a while, and came to remind him: "Mr. Chinese Knight, if you let go of the lance, your opponent will score because of it. You can't throw the lance."

   Zheng Dayong asked: "I just dropped my gun, but he fell to the ground. Who scored more points in this round?"

   "Of course it's you." The referee said.

   Zheng Dayong said with a smile: "That's enough."

  The game continues and the fourth round begins.

  After the initial shock, the audience seemed to get used to it gradually, and even became excited, wanting to see what special tricks Chinese knights have. Such a novel trick is much more interesting than a rigorous martial arts competition.

  And any noble who knows how to ride will not think that Zheng Dayong is cheating.

   As for the change of tricks just now, you must have superb riding skills, as well as terrifying waist and abdomen strength, and accurate grasp of timing. Without any of these items, Zheng Dayong would not be able to score, and it would just be a waste of time.

  Navarra was helped onto the horse, he was already a little confused, and his whole body was sore.

  Although he was protected by armor, he fell off the horse twice and fell hard.

   When the fourth counter-charge, Navarra became visibly sluggish. His lance was easily blocked by Zheng Da, but Zheng Da's lance changed direction confusingly and stabbed straight into his helmet.

   This is a fatal attack, and you can directly declare victory.

   "Zheng! Zheng! Zheng!"

  The French ladies have forgotten their nationality, and collectively cheered for Zheng Dayong. This knight contest is really exciting.

  Louis XIV personally presented the award: "Congratulations, brave and fearless knight!"

   "Thank you, Your Majesty." Zheng Dayong said happily.

   I am really happy, the bonus is about five thousand taels of silver. In addition, it also comes with a divine steed and a French long sword.

   This is a Percheron horse, also known as a splashing snow dragon horse. As a heavy draft horse, its best use was to pull goods, and it later became the horse breed that had the greatest impact on American agriculture.

   But it can also be used for war. The French heavy cavalry in the Middle Ages all rode this thing under their crotch.

   Its combat characteristics are: tall, strong limbs, strong running balance, high combat tolerance, and it is not easy to get injured and fall when trampling on rugged battlefields and corpses. Physical strength can be called abnormal, suitable for long-distance marches and heavy-armed operations. Not as fast as light horses, but far superior to other heavy horses. Docile, protect the master, obey the command, and have strong discipline.

   This kind of war horse is a heavy cavalry weapon, but it is not suitable for light cavalry.

  As for the French long sword, you can refer to the "embroidery needle" in "Game of Thrones", but the blade is obviously longer and wider. The scabbard and hilt are made golden and inlaid with blue-green gemstones. You can tell that it is not cheap just by looking at the few gemstones.

  Lu Tianxiang and Zhang Ruifeng have already said that Zheng Dayong can distribute these prizes by himself.

  The three guards who accompanied them to the battle each received one thousand taels of silver. Zheng Da used himself to take one thousand taels, and used the rest of the money to treat guests. When he returned to Nanjing, he invited other guards to dinner.

  The war horse and long sword became Zheng Dayong's private collection.

  He specially asked for a mare. If he could survive the sea voyage, he could breed and give birth to cubs when he returned to Nanjing. This kind of foreign war horse can be fostered at Nanjing Royal Horse Farm, and the cost of raising it will be provided by the Ministry of War. Most of the mixed-race cubs that were born belonged to the imperial court, and a small amount belonged to Zheng Dayong himself.

  Zheng Dayong rode the newly obtained prize, hung up the French long sword, rushed to the audience and turned off his horse. They bowed their hands to Lu Tianxiang and Zhang Ruifeng respectively, which meant that they were lucky enough to live up to their fate.

   "Wow! Zheng!"

  The noble ladies threw objects at Zheng Dayong, those who were close to him threw handkerchiefs, and those who were far away threw jewelry. If he picks up any object, it is tantamount to accepting the object's owner's love, even if the lady has a husband.

   Zheng Dayong was a little restless. After all, he had been out at sea for too long and had never touched a woman. He pretended he didn't see anything, and left straight away to share money with his friends.

  At the end of the evening banquet, Zheng Dayong was summoned by Queen Mother Anne.

  Running to the women's room at night, and the other party is the Queen Mother, this is really a bit inappropriate, although the Queen Mother is already in her fifties.

  Zhang Ruifeng looked at Lu Tianxiang, he couldn't decide.

  Lu Tianxiang said: "Go, just don't do anything out of line."

  Zheng Dayong bit the bullet and went to Queen Anne's bedroom. The maid led him to continue walking, and soon entered a room, which turned out to be the queen mother's bathroom, and the queen mother was taking a bath.

   Fortunately, there is a bathtub, and the cover of the bathtub covers half of the water surface. Milk was put in the water, which made the bath water cloudy, making it difficult to see what was under the water.

   Putting milk in the bath water is not only for skin care, the real function is to cover up the shame, and it is to respect the guests when receiving guests.

  Medieval Europeans did not take a bath, that is pure nonsense.

  The real situation is that nobles like to meet guests while taking a bath, and commoners often go swimming in the river.

  The church and the law cannot control the nobles, but they can restrain the common people. It is expressly forbidden to go to the river to bathe, and it is not allowed to open public baths. However, you can bathe in the sea, or go to hot springs, because doctors say that these two methods can cure diseases.

  A nobleman, if he receives you in the bath, and covers his body to prevent him from seeing.

   Then congratulations, this noble really treats you as a guest.

  If it is naked, let you look at it casually. Then I'm sorry, but in the eyes of this nobleman, you are an unwelcome servant or pariah.

  Voltaire's "Excellent Emile" has a description that when Madame Châtelet took a bath, she asked the servant Longchamp to add water for her. Not only did she not wear clothes, but she also exposed her legs apart to avoid being scalded by hot water.

  Later, the lady changed her clothes in front of the servant. When participating in the salon, the duchess and several marquises took off all their clothes because of the hot weather, leaving only a few ceremonial accessories on their bodies, and they ate naked in front of the servants.

The male servant had never seen the world, and at first he was too scared to close his eyes and dare not speak, but then he gradually understood and felt angry: "The lady treats the servant as a lifeless machine... In her (Mrs. Chatelet's) eyes, I am It's no different than the kettle in my hand."

  As for Louis XIV, this guy really didn’t take a bath, and only washed it a few times in his life to show his devotion to Jesus.

   Europeans who seldom take a bath are almost all devout Christians. This thing originally originated from sectarian disputes, and gradually became associated with the Black Death. It was believed that the dirt on the body was like armor, which could block various diseases, and it would be easy to get sick after taking a bath.

   "You are very brave, Mr. Chinese Knight." Queen Anne sat in the bathtub with her arms protruding, and looked at Zheng Dayong with winking eyes.

   The translator was a little embarrassed, coughed and said, "Mr. Zheng, the Queen Mother is praising you for your bravery."

   Zheng Dayong has never seen such a scene. It would be better if there were only two of them, and the key interpreter is also nearby. He cast his eyes on the wall and said awkwardly: "Thank you for the compliment."

  Queen Anne smiled and said, "Please sit down."

   Zheng Dayong sat down tremblingly, still not daring to look directly.

  Queen Anne asked: "Have you ever been on a battlefield? How many enemies have you killed?"

   Zheng Dayong replied: "There are probably dozens of them who were killed with their own hands. Because of their bravery in battle and beheaded the enemy generals, they were chosen by His Majesty the Emperor as bodyguards."

"Then you are a real warrior," Queen Mother Anne liked more and more, she turned and lay on the edge of the bathtub, showing her shoulders, staring at Zheng Dayong and said, "Can you tell me how you fought against the enemy? "

  Zheng Dayong had no choice but to tell the truth, the more the Queen Mother listened, the more tempted she became, and she kept asking about the details of the battlefield.

  Finally, the bath water became cold.

   Zheng Dayong and the interpreter were invited out of the bathroom, but the maid was left behind to help the Queen Mother get dressed. The manservant responsible for adding water also stayed in the bathroom and witnessed the whole process of dressing the Queen Mother.

   "Your Highness, it's getting late, I will take my leave first!"

  Zheng Dayong stood outside the bathroom door, his face blushing with embarrassment, before waiting for a reply from inside, he fled away with the translator.

   Going back and telling the story, Cai Yuncheng laughed out loud.

  In the big villa in the suburbs, Pan Wei was having fun with a marquise. His behavior was acquiesced, because from the lady's bed, many anecdotes can be inquired, and these anecdotes will also be written into the work report.

  I just hope that this dude won't suffer from venereal disease.

   Syphilis was introduced to China by Europeans in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Brought by the Portuguese, it first appeared in Guangdong, so it is also called "Guangdong sore", and later spread along the coast of Zhejiang.

  By the way, the level of doctors in the Ming Dynasty in treating syphilis was the most advanced in the world at that time...

  (end of this chapter)