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

Chapter 996: Survivors?

Zheng Hongkui was extremely surprised because he saw the bottom mark of this porcelain that was damaged and almost unrecognizable. Although only about half of the words were left and some of them were blurred, it could be distinguished from the shape of the remaining words that this was the bottom mark of a porcelain from the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty.

How did the porcelain from the Ming Dynasty during the Yongle period end up here? Did European merchants bring it from the Ming Dynasty? No! That's impossible! You have to know that the rise of the European voyage was more than 50 years away from the last voyage of Zheng He's fleet. At that time, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had already passed away, and the Xuande Emperor was in power.

Moreover, after the European Age of Exploration began, Westerners went through great pains to open up a route from the West to the East and successfully arrived in the Ming Dynasty. The first to arrive at this time were the Portuguese, and this was in 1517. However, 1517 was the th year of the Zhengde reign, and it had been years since the death of Emperor Yongle.

Such a long time has passed, and the Ming Dynasty has had several emperors. The porcelain from the Yongle period was already very rare among the people. It was impossible for it to be purchased by the Portuguese as export porcelain and then end up in this place.

Since the broken porcelain in Zheng Hongkui's hand was not transported here by the Portuguese from the Ming Dynasty and fell into the hands of the local natives, then there may be only one explanation, that is, the porcelain was brought here by Zheng He's fleet, and the Ming Dynasty people came to Mozambique a long time ago.

After realizing this, Zheng Hongkui's face was filled with even more surprise. During the voyage, every time they docked at a port, they came into contact with more or less traces of the existence of Zheng He's fleet. These traces were most numerous in the Nanyang region.

After all, Nanyang is relatively close to the Ming Dynasty, and many Ming people in the south went to sea to survive, and even settled in Nanyang. Many places were nominal vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and many Ming customs and habits existed. In addition, many locals still remember the existence of Zheng He's fleet a long time ago, and worship Zheng He as a belief, and even built temples and statues for him and offered incense.

Even in the Indian Ocean region, there are some such cases, which is not uncommon. But you have to know that they are now in the African continent! This is far beyond the farthest area that Zheng He's fleet reached in history. According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, the farthest area that Zheng He's fleet reached should be the Red Sea, but the actual situation is even more shocking than the records. Zheng He not only reached the Red Sea, but also reached East Africa. Otherwise, how could the broken porcelain from the Yongle period appear in this place?

"What's going on? Is there something wrong with this thing?" Seeing Zheng Hongkui's look, Adolf couldn't help but ask.

Zheng Hongkui sighed and shook his head. At this time, Wang Fuzhi took the porcelain back from his hands, showing Adolf the inscription on the back, and pointed to the incomplete words on it to tell him the true origin of this thing.

"Oh my God! How is this possible?" After listening to Wang Fuzhi's explanation, Adolf's eyes almost popped out and he couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Nothing is impossible. Our ancestors came here more than two hundred years ago. Not only did they land here, they also left traces of their presence here. Otherwise, this thing would never appear in this place. Apart from this explanation, I can't imagine any other reason."

After Adolf calmed down and analyzed, he soon had to admit that Wang Fuzhi's judgment was correct. As a diplomatic envoy, he not only went to the Ming Dynasty in person, but also stayed with Wang Fuzhi and others for such a long time. Through long-term exchanges between the two sides, Adolf has a considerable understanding of many things in the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that Adolf can now even be regarded as a "China expert".

Ming Dynasty porcelain is world-famous and has always been one of the luxury goods pursued by nobles in European countries. As a nobleman, Adolf liked things like porcelain. After meeting Wang Fuzhi, he asked Wang Fuzhi many questions about porcelain identification and learned about the history of how porcelain appeared and developed in China.

Adolf knew more about many aspects of porcelain than ordinary people. In addition, he knew that Chinese porcelain has a characteristic, that is, porcelain has a bottom mark. This bottom mark can be said to represent the time and origin of the porcelain. Generally speaking, the basic origin of the porcelain can be determined by checking these bottom marks. Of course, this only represents normal identification. If it is a forged ancient porcelain, it cannot be counted.

But the problem is that the broken porcelain Wang Fuzhi found from the natives was an accident. If Wang Fuzhi hadn't discovered it by accident, ordinary people would not have noticed this seemingly insignificant thing. So this broken porcelain is definitely real and it is impossible for someone to forge it. So how did this porcelain get to this place? Perhaps, as Wang Fuzhi and his team judged, Zheng He's fleet had been here.

"Brother Nong, look at this native. His appearance seems a little different from the other natives!" At this moment, Zheng Hongkui suddenly said, pointing at the native standing aside with a grin. His reminder made Wang Fuzhi look towards the native.

Although he had communicated with this native before, Wang Fuzhi did not pay attention to his appearance. After all, this place was full of black people, most of whom looked dark and no different. Moreover, Wang Fuzhi did not care about the other person's appearance before, so he ignored it.

Zheng Hongkui's words made Wang Fuzhi pay attention to the other person's appearance. After taking a closer look, he exclaimed. It was indeed as Zheng Hongkui said. The appearance of this native was slightly different from that of the local natives. Although they were both black, he was not as black as other natives. Moreover, judging from his facial features, his facial features were softer than those of other natives, and he was more like the appearance of the Ming people. "Could it be that this person is a descendant of a member of Zheng He's fleet?" An incredible thought suddenly came to Wang Fuzhi's mind. He couldn't help but think of the native's initial refusal to let Wang Fuzhi take the broken porcelain, and he also said that this thing was passed down from his ancestors.

Thinking of this, Wang Fuzhi became very curious and asked the native with the help of the translator, asking if his ancestors were locals, where they came from, and whether this broken porcelain was left by his ancestors.
Seeing a group of people surrounding him, the native seemed a little scared. In order to appease him, Wang Fuzhi specially gave him another silver coin worth one riel. With this thing, and the friendly attitude shown by Wang Fuzhi and others, the native finally felt relieved. He took the silver coin and hid it carefully, and then answered Wang Fuzhi's questions.

After a conversation between the two parties through the translator, Wang Fuzhi and his team finally understood the explanation of the natives. The natives told them that this thing was left by his ancestors. There were originally many of them, but because a long time had passed, most of these things were damaged, and the one they saw now was the only one that was still intact.

As for where his ancestors came from, the natives didn't know either. They only heard from the elders in the tribe that their ancestors came from the East and came on a big ship. Because of an accident, they stayed here, and have continued from generation to generation until now, but they don't know what happened in the long run.

"How many people did your ancestors leave behind? How many people with the same ancestors as you are still here?" Wang Fuzhi asked impatiently.

The natives gestured to tell them that there were several people left behind, and later these people gradually formed a small tribe. Now this tribe is in the area west of Mozambique, and he is a member of this tribe. As for the others, he couldn't tell clearly, and these were all passed down from generation to generation by their ancestors, so he didn't know what was going on.

The native's answer aroused everyone's great interest. Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui discussed it and decided to follow the native to the other tribe. If the people of these tribes are really descendants of the members of Zheng He's fleet, this might be a surprise.

Because of this unexpected gain, Adolf was very interested, and then they decided to go to the other tribe to find the answer. After promising to give the other party a certain reward, the natives agreed to their request, packed up their things and led them to their own tribe.

The tribe was not too far from the port, only about twenty miles away, but the road was not easy to walk on. It took everyone half a day to get there. When they arrived at the place, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but look at each other. They saw surprise in each other's eyes, and they were basically certain that the ancestors of these people were most likely sailors from Zheng He's fleet.

The reason is simple. The other native tribes we met along the way were very primitive. The places where the natives lived were often just huts built with thatch. Moreover, the natives here mainly hunted and had basically no farming habits.

But it is different in this tribe. Their living conditions are much better than those in other tribes. The place they live in is not a simple shack, but a house made of wood and mud.

Although this house is relatively short and covered with thatch, one can still tell from the structure of the house that it is a Ming dynasty style. In addition, this tribe has cultivated a piece of farmland around it and even raised some livestock, which is something that other tribes do not have, and this alone is very different.

With their arrival, the tribesmen were alarmed, and some young and strong men even took a defensive posture. Fortunately, the native who brought them here gestured and said something to them, which made the natives understand that they had no ill intentions. Then an old man, probably the leader of the tribe, came out and loudly asked Wang Fuzhi what they were doing here.

After communicating through an interpreter, Wang Fuzhi pointed at the native's broken porcelain and explained to the old man. After listening to Wang Fuzhi's explanation, the old man relaxed and invited them to go into the village to rest.

After entering the village and observing carefully, Wang Fuzhi and his companions found some familiar traces. They arrived at the largest house in the village, which seemed to be the home of an old man. Several natives brought water to the guests to drink. Although the bowls they used were only wooden bowls, their shapes looked very familiar.

After drinking a mouthful of water, he started talking to the old man and asked them about their origins. After listening, the old man told them about their origins. His answer was not much different from that of the young natives before, but there was also a slight difference. He told Wang Fuzhi and his friends that their ancestors did come from the East, but it was too long ago and no one knew their origins.

Moreover, since their ancestors settled here, generation after generation intermarried with the locals, multiplied and prospered, and it was unknown how many generations had passed since it was passed down to them. Many things in the past were no longer known to later generations after the death of the first generation.

(End of this chapter)