Chapter 30 Zhenla

The merchant ship stopped and started, which delayed 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 Zhenla.

At this time, the speed of the sailboats was mostly around 12 knots, and the clipper ships that appeared soon would increase the speed of the sailboats to a new height of 20 knots.

One knot is equivalent to 1.852 kilometers, and a speed of 12 knots can travel 533.37 kilometers a day.

From Venice to Phnom Penh Port, the whole journey is about 26,000 kilometers.

In Rauscher's eyes, it is an extremely noble thing to return pagans to the correct faith.

Because of this, Archbishop Rauscher spared no effort to help Ambrosius.

In order to ensure Ambrosius's safety and the smooth missionary work, he also found a special religious group called the Fighting Brotherhood.

When Ambrosius first learned that there was such an organization in the Austrian Church, he felt very strange.

However, the moment he boarded the ship, he finally understood why this group of people was called the Fighting Brotherhood.

The average height of this group of priests is over 1.85 meters. In this era when the average height in Europe is 1.7 meters, a height of 1.85 meters is definitely a legendary giant.

What is even more exaggerated is that each of them carries a rifle on his back, and has cold weapons such as pistols and swords on his waist. If it were not for the Bible tied with iron chains on their waists, it would be difficult to associate them with priests.

These giants all have ferocious faces. It is better to say that they are more like executioners than priests.

Two of them are slightly shorter, but one of them has scars all over his body, a large area of ​​burns on his face, and a hoarse voice, like a devil in hell.

The other one, although he talks like a devout believer, actually tattooed the Bible on his face in Latin. From a distance, he looks like an exorcist with a face full of spells.

The name of this priest is Sartre, an exorcist of the Linz Church.

Ambrosius sincerely sighed, "Reverend Sartre, even without any holy artifacts, his appearance alone can scare away the devil."

In this way, a general, two officers, a diplomat who was also a part-time translator, seventeen adventurers, three missionaries and fifty combat priests, embarked on the same journey.

Except for the two adventurers who died at sea, the rest arrived in Zhenla safely.

Phnom Penh, the capital of Zhenla, is an inland port located in the delta between the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River, and can directly reach the South China Sea to the south.

Although Ambrosius had been mentally prepared, Phnom Penh was still much larger 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 European city, Ambrosius had every reason to believe that they would attract onlookers.

But this week, the workers in the port seemed to be completely indifferent to their arrival. They carried the goods with lifeless eyes, just like a group of ghosts.

The Vietnamese official at the dock looked at Ambrosius and his party with disdain, as if he wanted to give them a hard time.

Ambrosius quickly took out a bunch of zinc coins, handed them to the official, and said to him in broken Vietnamese.

"Congratulations on your prosperity and longevity."

Zinc coins are also called white lead coins. In fact, they contain more zinc and were the main currency in Vietnam at that time.

The Vietnamese official at the port took the bunch of money, put it in his pocket, and waved to signal 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 that they knew.

Before coming to Phnom Penh, the French captain had repeatedly reminded the Catholic priests that the Vietnamese Emperor Minh Mang had ordered the whole country to ban preaching. Any priest who preached privately would be arrested and sent to Hue, and those who helped them hide would be executed immediately.

But this is Zhenla, so the Vietnamese law is not particularly strictly enforced.

The diplomat Zaker, who was traveling with him, gave the Vietnamese official another hundred dollars, wanting to know where the official from Zhenla was, after all, this was the port of Zhenla.

After receiving the money, the Vietnamese official pointed to a small, inconspicuous hut next to him.

After seeing Ambrosius and his party leave, the Vietnamese official adjusted his bamboo hat and spat on the ground.

"A bunch of poor ghosts are only worthy of doing business with the Zhenla people."

At this time, the Vietnamese were very arrogant, thinking that they were the second largest country in the world, and there was no rival except the Qing Dynasty.

Ambrosius and his party entered the foreign affairs office of Zhenla, and the Zhenla officials stared at Ambrosius and his party curiously.

Under the rule of Vietnam, the government office of Zhenla was in name only, and no one had come to the door for a long time.

Guan Jinpan was a noble surname in Zhenla, and he was a second-rank civil servant, but under the rule of the Vietnamese, he had almost no real power.

Not only Guan Jinpan, but other Zhenla officials were also curious about the purpose of Ambrosius and his party.

Because this team is really weird.

And why are these foreign monks holding weapons?

With their figures and looks, they are just like the angry Vajra in the temple.

In addition, the Vietnamese now rule Zhenla and implement Vietnamese laws. If any missionary preaches privately, he will be arrested and executed 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 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 felt that 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."