Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1001 Tea Tasting
Shortly after attending the banquet in the royal palace, a few days later, John IV once again sent someone to invite Wang Fuzhi and others to visit the palace.

This time it was not a banquet, but John IV, as the King of Portugal, met privately with envoys from the Ming Dynasty and tentatively discussed the possibility of Portugal and the Ming Dynasty to develop normal diplomacy.

In fact, during the last banquet, John IV had revealed some of the details in the conversation between the two parties, but because of the occasion, the two parties did not discuss this topic in depth. This was also the main reason why John IV specially sent someone to invite Wang Fuzhi to the palace before. This time, Zheng Hongkui did not go with him to the palace, because he and Adolf had to prepare for the next journey. The final destination of the delegation was Sweden and Poland. Portugal was only their first stop in Europe, and there was still a long way to go. Moreover, after they arrived in Portugal, a batch of materials loaded on the ship also needed to be sold in exchange for currency for expenses and purchases of materials in Europe. These were temporarily handled by Zheng Hongkui. In addition, as a military general, he was not as good at talking as Wang Fuzhi, and even his language talent was much worse, so he simply rejected the suggestion of going to the palace together.

Just like before, they went to the palace in a carriage, but this time only the king's wife went with him. Zheng Hongkui and Adolf did not follow.

When he arrived at the palace and got off the carriage, he saw King John IV standing on the steps of the palace to greet him. Wang Fuzhi was stunned at first, then he quickly straightened his clothes and quickly stepped forward to salute King John IV.

"My friend, you are welcome. I will treat this place as your home. Come, let's go in and talk. You didn't have a good time here when you came to the palace last time. I will take you for a walk?"

"Obedience is worse than respect. In this case... thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Fuzhi had a good impression of John IV and nodded with a smile.

Under the personal welcome of King John IV, they entered the palace and first arrived at the hall where the last banquet was held. Today, because only Wang Fuzhi was invited and no other nobles were present, the hall that was bustling last time was now empty. Except for a few guards and palace servants standing in the corner, there was no one else.

Because there were few people, Wang Fuzhi had the opportunity to take a good look at the hall. He noticed the exquisite murals and sculptures in the hall, especially the ceiling of the hall, which had twenty-seven lifelike swans in different postures, which attracted Wang Fuzhi's attention.

With the introduction of John IV, Wang Fuzhi learned that this hall had a beautiful name - Swan Hall. The name came from the twenty-seven swans on the ceiling. These swans were created by the best painters and architects in Europe hired by the Portuguese royal family. Although nearly two hundred years have passed, these swans are still extremely beautiful. Looking up from the center of the hall, you feel as if you are in it.

John IV narrated the story of the construction of this palace and the origin of these swans, and then took Wang Fuzhi to visit the Mermaid Hall in the palace. The Mermaid Hall is smaller than the Swan Hall, but equally beautiful. It is inlaid with colorful tiles all around, which combine to create a colorful world similar to the underwater world. In addition, there are paintings and statues of mythical mermaids. This unique style opened Wang Fuzhi's eyes.

Finally, John IV brought Wang Fuzhi to a place in the royal palace. When Wang Fuzhi entered this place, he was stunned. It was not because the decoration and style here made Wang Fuzhi feel the exotic charm. On the contrary, the moment he stepped in, Wang Fuzhi even had a feeling of returning to the Ming Dynasty.

"Here...?" Wang Fuzhi looked at John IV in surprise.

"This is the Chinese Room of the Sintra Palace. It was designed by the Portuguese royal family in an oriental style. These ivory products are said to be made based on the model of oriental Buddhist pagodas. These and these are all things that came from the East, that is, your country, the Ming Dynasty. By the way, these pieces of porcelain are the gifts you brought at the last banquet. I put them here specially. What do you think they look like?" asked John IV with a smile, with pride on his face.

Looking at everything in front of him, Wang Fuzhi also smiled. No wonder he felt that the decoration and displays here were somewhat familiar. This turned out to be the reason.

This so-called Chinese Hall is full of oriental-style objects, including the walls and floors, which have a strong oriental flavor. And as John IV said, many things are either imitations of the East or from the Ming Dynasty, which really makes people feel the flavor of the East.

But what can I say? After all, Westerners and Easterners have different aesthetic tastes. Even though the Portuguese royal family is the top aristocracy in Europe, their understanding of the East is only superficial.

Although many things here came from the Ming Dynasty, in Wang Fuzhi's eyes they were not up to standard at all. Ordinary porcelain and ornaments were just ordinary things in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, because Westerners like gorgeous and complicated patterns, piling them together gives people an indescribable sense of vulgarity.

Just like a nouveau riche in the countryside, he put all the gold and silver objects and good things in one room, but ignored the harmony and elegance of the whole room, which was completely out of touch with the high-end and became vulgar. In addition, there were many things in the Chinese Hall, such as the ivory pagoda, which was never placed in the home of the Ming Dynasty. It was usually only worshipped in temples to enjoy incense, or set up a small Buddhist temple in the backyard for worship. How could it be placed directly in the house as a decoration like now?
Moreover, the pattern and shape of the carpet clearly come from Arab countries. Although Arabia is the East to Europe, it is completely different from the Ming Dynasty in style! As for the other things, Wang Fuzhi could tell at a glance that they were Japanese utensils. Japanese utensils were also completely different from the style of the Ming Dynasty. These things were piled up in a pile, not only uncoordinated, but also awkward. Of course, Wang Fuzhi was not a corrupt scholar. As an envoy, he would not dampen the interest of John IV at this time and directly point out the problem.

Moreover, the fact that the other party brought Wang Fuzhi to the Chinese Hall and entertained him there was enough to prove their goodwill. As a guest, Wang Fuzhi had to pretend to be amazed even if he looked awkward, and couldn't help but praise John IV a few words following his words.

After hearing Wang Fuzhi's praise, John IV was very happy. After all, the envoy in front of him was from the Ming Dynasty, and he was also a famous scholar and official of the Ming Dynasty. For such a person to praise his Chinese Hall was equivalent to recognizing the effort and energy that the Portuguese royal family had spent on this Chinese Hall. This alone made John IV very satisfied.

John IV invited Wang Fuzhi to sit down and prepared to treat him to tea.

When he saw the tea set and tea leaves brought out by the other party, Wang Fuzhi smiled and said that he would make tea for His Majesty. John IV not only did not think much about it, but happily agreed to Wang Fuzhi's request. After all, although European nobles already had the habit of tasting tea, they had never had tea made by an envoy from the Ming Dynasty. He was the first royal member to enjoy it.

In fact, the reason why Master Wang made such a suggestion was because he saw some miscellaneous things besides the tea sets and tea leaves brought. After coming to Europe from the Ming Dynasty and coming into contact with European nobles, Wang Fuzhi also understood the tea tasting habits in Europe.

To Wang Fuzhi, these habits were a waste of natural resources. They messed up the good tea leaves, adding sugar and milk to the tea, and sometimes even spices. How could this be considered tea tasting? It was just like drinking spiced soup.

If it was the black tea or red tea drunk by European nobles, it would be fine, because tea is difficult to store due to long distances, and these teas are more convenient for long-term transportation and preservation. But today, John IV took out the good tea that the king's wife had specially given to him when he came to the banquet last time. He didn't bring much of this tea, only about 100 kilograms, which was considered a fine product even in the Ming Dynasty. According to the European tea drinking custom, it was simply a waste.

He took the tea leaves and tea sets and put the messy things aside. Then he boiled water first, and started to scald the tea sets after the water boiled. After scalding the tea sets, he boiled water again, and then "washed the tea". After washing the tea, he followed up with making and pouring tea, etc. As a literati, Wang Fuzhi was naturally very proficient in how to drink tea. In his hands, these tea sets seemed to have life. After he fiddled with them smoothly, a refreshing tea fragrance spread out. John IV, who had never smelled such a fragrant tea, could not help but be moved. He sniffed slightly, staring at the teapot in Wang Fuzhi's hand and the poured green tea, and his throat swallowed involuntarily.

"Your Majesty, please!" Finally, Wang Fuzhi brewed the tea, raised his hand with a smile and made a gesture to John IV to invite him to have a taste.

John IV couldn't wait to pick up the teacup, and imitating Wang Fuzhi's actions, he first put it under his nose and took a deep sniff, and then took a careful sip.

With just one sip, a tea fragrance and sweetness that he had never felt before flowed down his throat and went straight into his lungs like a line, making John IV involuntarily exclaim in admiration.

"This kind of tea... is the first time I've drunk it, and the taste... is simply unforgettable!" John IV exclaimed, and at the same time curiously asked why the tea brewed by Wang Fuzhi was so fragrant and had a taste he had never tasted before.

In response to John IV's inquiry, Wang Fuzhi explained with a smile. He started with the differences in tea of ​​the Ming Dynasty, and told John IV the origins and taste differences of various teas. In addition, there were the differences between green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and dark tea, as well as their respective storage conditions, including differences in preparation, etc.

Finally, Wang Fuzhi told him that this way of brewing tea was the correct way for the scholars and nobles of the Ming Dynasty to drink tea. Because most of the tea that European merchants transported from the East to Europe before was just ordinary tea, and because of the journey and storage reasons, it was generally black tea and dark tea, so it was completely different from the tea he brewed today. The tea he used today was the top-grade tea that was given to John IV last time. This kind of tea was the best tea even in the Ming Dynasty. If you use the previous method to brew tea, not only will you not have such a wonderful feeling, it will even waste good tea.

After understanding this, John IV suddenly realized and sincerely asked Wang Fuzhi for advice on how to brew this tea. Wang Fuzhi smiled and explained it to John IV, and he also explained it carefully with the already brewed tea. John IV listened attentively and even found paper and pen to record it. After recording, he asked Wang Fuzhi to help check whether it was correct. After Wang Fuzhi confirmed it, John IV smiled again.

(End of this chapter)