Chapter 270: Afternoon Tea

... At the gathering nominally called a tea party — but in truth a social event the Transmigrators had begun promoting decades ahead of its time — the participants found immense satisfaction, both spiritual and physical.

In the plant-filled Bingjiang Garden, guests sat on clean-lined rattan chairs, before them smooth, mirror-like marble tea tables and sparkling glass tea sets. Exquisite cakes rested in bright red Clark Porcelain plates, their glaze painted with scenes from the Bible.

All of this, accompanied by the gentle cool breeze blowing in from the nearby Taijiang, left every guest feeling utterly refreshed and at ease.

Two gentlemen, under the banner of "when in Rome," shed their cumbersome coats and Raff collars, keeping only their cool, short silk shirts, and joined six or seven Manila merchants in sampling the red tea, salt soda, and chilled beer provided by their Dayuan host.

Red tea was a commodity the commercial departments had already begun promoting. It was the early 17th century; Europeans had yet to learn how to drink tea. The Dutch and Portuguese, the first to ship tea leaves, merely placed this plant leaf in pharmacies as a medicinal product.

The Transmigrators had limited lifespans and could not wait decades for that Portuguese princess to marry into Britain and popularize afternoon tea. So, regarding tea — this cash-printing weapon that in later generations would trigger the Opium trade — the commercial departments had a massive promotion plan, just waiting for next year's new tea to hit the market.

The red tea the two gentlemen were drinking now, however, was prepared in the standard European style, with added sugar cubes and milk.

The tea was brewed by a short Filipino servant, specially trained by the Transmigrators, using a glass vessel set. After tasting this novel sweet milk tea, the guests all nodded in approval — this brewing method was, after all, what their own descendants would develop based on European tastes, so naturally, the flavor was excellent.

"Delicious. The true value of this leaf has been overlooked," Alonso remarked, smacking his lips after finishing a cup of the rich, fragrant milk tea.

"It's an ancient way of drinking tea brought from the Ming Nation's interior by the master here. They are providing free training for servants," added Fizer, a thin-faced Spanish merchant in a silk shirt, from the side. "Most Ming people use that bizarre method of steeping in boiling water, which has kept us deceived all this time."

"Tradition is always important," Viscount Juan interjected. "Only true nobility would master such seemingly insignificant yet vital skills... It is said they migrated here from the icy north."

"I imagine there are many stories between the nobles of Dayuan and the Ming Imperial Household," Alonso said, and thought to himself, "I must write to the priests in the Ming capital. Parliament needs to know the origins of these pirates, especially that King of Pirates, Cao Chuan."

After the red tea, the chilled salt soda and home-brewed beer were equally refreshing for both host and guests. Throughout this, everyone speculated about the origin of these miraculous ice blocks. A few merchants were already discussing the possibility of selling ice to the sweltering colonies and princely states of South Asia.

The two gentlemen, however, focused their attention on the villa's bathroom, a room that could better display national strength.

Speaking of bathrooms: the trope that "Europeans don't bathe" has a long and universally known history in later generations.

What was the real situation?

In the eras of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, Europe's bathing culture was highly developed. Public bathhouses were found throughout cities, and mixed-gender bathing was very common.

However, starting in the early 14th century, the Black Death swept across all of Europe, claiming the lives of one-third of the European population.

This catastrophe became a celebration for the Church. Seizing the opportunity, the Catholic Bishops began to promote a progressive idea: a filthy body brings one closer to God. Not bathing became a symbol of sanctity, and those with enough courage to go years without washing could even be canonized as saints! Much like the chastity archways used to commend widows in China.

The healthy Roman lifestyle of enjoying baths was scorned as a sign of weakness. Thus, under the Church's influence, believers proudly went year-round without bathing or washing their clothes.

To make matters worse, the Ancient Romans' long-term use of lead pipes led to a massive decline in their physical health and IQ, ultimately leaving them powerless against the Germanic barbarian invasions. Consequently, the advanced bathing culture vanished under the combined assault of the Church and the barbarians.

This was also the beginning of the Dark Middle Ages.

With the Church's power at its zenith, not bathing had become a form of "political correctness." As role models for the populace, the royal families of various nations could only bow their heads and accept this: a large number of European monarchs, including the famous Charlemagne and Queen Victoria, loudly proclaimed their refusal to bathe as a personal achievement...

To mask the stench on their bodies, the nobility had to use vast amounts of scented powder... This is one of the reasons why Europeans had such an intense interest in Asian spices.

However, times changed. With the passing of the Dark Middle Ages, the onset of the Thirty Years' War, and the dawn of the Age of Discovery, the source of all this ignorance — the Catholic Church's power — began to wane. Protestant nations like the Dutch and British, and even Catholic die-hard Spain, cast aside the Church's nonsense when it came to bathing.

The reason was simple: in scorching Brazil, Peru, and Chile; on the even hotter Gold Coast of Africa; in the super-heated Philippines and Spice Islands, not bathing meant death.

In fact, across Europe, it was basically only the French and Spanish, staunch believers in Catholicism, who took the bathing prohibition to such an extreme. Other nations had slowly begun restoring the habit of bathing from the 16th and 17th centuries, with Protestant countries recovering even earlier.

Therefore, in late medieval Europe, the French — hailed in later ages as paragons of elegance — were actually the ones with the worst hygiene habits on the continent.

Those refined French gentlemen and ladies in oil paintings were, in reality, filthy people with bodies caked in grime and hair crawling with lice, relying entirely on perfume to solve the problem.

Of course, since it was so-called "political correctness," there was bound to be a situation where the official line was one thing, and the public privately disagreed.

This brainless propaganda against bathing, initiated by the Church and violating fundamental human needs, was much like those chastity archways in the East — it lacked any real coercive measures.

Henry IV's mother insisted on never bathing her entire life and was canonized as Saint Agnes... Henry IV himself did not bathe, yet a painting of his mistress and his sister bathing together in a tub was openly and widely circulated in later generations.

The same logic applied to chastity archways: countless widows remarried every day, yet how many archways were actually built?

This hypocritical style of "political correctness" was later carried forward by America: immaculately dressed white politicians shout about eliminating all racial discrimination in front of cameras, yet anyone who has studied or lived there... whether discrimination exists, you know it when you experience it.

In this period of 1628, there were no non-bathers among the colonizers in East Asia. Or rather, one could say: everyone who survived bathed.

East Asia was not the cold, high-latitude Europe. The heat here kept all kinds of germs in their most active state at all times. The climate of India, Batavia, and the Philippines could kill a person covered in bugs and lice within seven days.

Therefore, colonizers like Alonso and Juan, who had adapted to the environment, placed great importance on the Shang Hall's bathroom.

What drew their attention was not just the running water and toilet, but the entire set of intricate cast-iron systems.

Unlike a self-isolating Celestial Empire, the nations of Europe had spent these centuries constantly fighting amongst themselves, so the elite class was extremely sensitive to various military-industrial technologies.

From the ceramic tiles to the intricate cast-iron pipes, and combined with the various massive yet dexterous steel machinery they had seen along the way, the two noble-born envoys quickly reached a consensus: the master here possessed a powerful, mysterious industrial manufacturing capability.

"My dear Juan, I am now most eager to know the Manila gentlemen's assessment of these Ming Nation pirates... well, nobles," Alonso said, intending to gather indirect information about this group of pirates after eating another piece of mango cake.

Baron Juan, sporting a short beard and light blue eyes, smiled at this. "Perhaps we should take a walk outside?"... Shortly after, the two men strolled slowly southward along the riverside path outside the Shang Hall.

"There are already many rumors here, I mean news concerning Macau. So, regarding the relationship between Manila and Dayuan, I don't think I can offer you any help," Juan began, slowly organizing his words after they had walked a stretch. "You understand, sometimes the same person can be an angel or a devil."

"For reference, just for reference," Alonso replied politely.

"Very well. I must regrettably inform you here that the gentlemen of Manila are full of goodwill towards Dayuan," Juan said, shaking his head. "In fact, trade with Dayuan has practically saved everything for us. My dear Alonso, the upper echelons, including Governor-General Juan, will not interfere in the disputes between you and Dayuan."

At this point in time, the native nobility of Portugal were attempting to throw off the control of their Spanish suzerain, constantly preparing for independence, so relations between the two sides were quite hostile.

Yet, thousands of miles away in East Asia, the relationship between Manila and Macau was relatively close. Facing Dutch thugs, British thieves, Ming Nation pirates, and the intricate trade situation in East Asia, both sides had no choice but to maintain a loose alliance — for the sake of their shared Catholic faith, and for the sake of their shared King, Philip IV.

However, from the day the first trade fleet from Dayuan reached the Philippines, this relationship became useless in the face of the Transmigration Nation.