Chapter 1265 It's Impossible to Be Dongfang

Chapter 1265 It can’t be the East.

“How is it possible that Columbus went west to the East and discovered a new route? It’s nonsense!”

“That’s right! The navigation plan he submitted before was full of mistakes and omissions, and even the radius of the earth was underestimated by half... How could he reach the East? And he talked about discovering India and Sipangu? It’s hysteria!...”

“God is my witness! The radius of the earth was not calculated by him! He used Toscanelli’s outdated map. He never went to school, he is not a scholar at all, let alone a navigator!...”

“ Yes, you are all right... But what about that yellow-skinned native? "

"There are yellow-skinned natives in the Canary Islands! They must have encountered some wild island, saw a few similar natives, thought they had arrived in the East, and then captured them alive... Look at the native's attire, he is simply a savage, how does he look like the wealthy Sipangu in the legend? "

In the court of Sintra, dozens of Portuguese navigators and more than a dozen court advisers gathered together, arguing with red faces and gesticulating with their hands.

"Well, the natives Columbus brought back really looked like the natives of Dog Island. I couldn't understand what he said, and I don't know what strange language he spoke... But according to the confessions of those Castilian sailors, they had been sailing westward for more than two months, sailing at least four or five thousand kilometers... Then suddenly they saw many small islands on the vast river, and finally saw a large island, encountered the Sipangu galleys with cannons and bronze weapons, and repelled the enemy... Such consistent confessions don't seem to be false!..."

"... This... This... In any case, the Lord is a witness! I insist that it is impossible to reach the East by only going four or five thousand kilometers to the west! According to the repeated estimates of the Navigation Academy, the correct circumference of the earth should be a full 10,000 kilometers more than Columbus calculated! The distance from the Canary Islands to Seres in the East must be three times that calculated by Columbus ! …”

“You mean, the Navigation Academy can’t be wrong… The natives Columbus brought back were fake, and a dozen Castilian sailors were lying… They colluded long ago, and they were determined to lie under harsh interrogation? …”

“I… I didn’t say that! I just said that according to his sailing plan, he couldn’t reach the East, whether it was India or Sipangu! Who knows what wild island he arrived at, maybe a new land that no one has ever been to…”

“Ha! A new land that no one has ever been to, a wild new continent? Hahaha! Dear scholar, this is really a joke that’s not funny! …”

“Damn it! Bring me a charcoal pencil! I will calculate the radius and circumference of the earth for you now! …”

The navigators and consultants quarreled in a mess, like frogs croaking in chaos, without any of their usual reserve and demeanor. In the face of the “Eastern news” brought back by Columbus, navigation, geography and astronomy simply did not exist. One scholar even took a charcoal pencil and drew a calculated map on the stone bricks of the palace.

In the middle of the back of the hall, King John II of Portugal sat silently on the throne, listening to the quarrels and discussions of the scholars. He held a newly transcribed interrogation record in his hand, flipping through it over and over again.

Facing the Castilian ship that crashed into the port and the sudden "new route announcement", the Sintra Palace in Portugal started to operate at an unprecedented speed. Regarding the new route, this is the highest interest of the royal family and the interests of the entire Kingdom of Portugal!

The royal interrogator was merciless and interrogated all the twelve sailors on the ship overnight. Except for Columbus and De La Cosa, who had the noble status of Castile and could not use lynching... Other crew members without status were not just questioned, but cruelly and repeatedly tortured. After two days of continuous interrogation, all the interrogation records were directly presented to King Joao. And all the confessions and evidence show that…

"My ancestors! Did these lucky Castilians really find an archipelago in the endless Atlantic Ocean and reach a large island suspected to be Sipangu? We Portuguese, after three generations of ancestors, explored the southern continent for more than half a century before we touched the edge of India and brought back accurate news from the East! In order to go to the new route to the East, how much manpower and material resources did the kingdom invest before and after, and how many loyal nobles of the kingdom got sick and died during the voyage?!…"

"But the Castilians only sailed westward once, just once!... Under the leadership of Captain Genova, who had no knowledge, no real talent, and only boasted, they arrived in the East in just two months?... What a joke? This is impossible! How could they reach India and Sipangu like this?..."

Joao II looked at the confession in his hand. Although his face did not show it, his heart was like a stormy sea, surging violently. He knew that Columbus had been seeking an audience with him outside his court for nearly ten years, and had become a laughing stock in the entire court. In fact, he had personally met Columbus at first, and had listened to his sailing plan with great interest!

But the Portuguese had been sailing and exploring for half a century, and their understanding of sailing and the East far exceeded that of any country in the Catholic world. John II had studied at the Nautical Academy and knew a lot about sailing. He had not only read all the royal sailing records, but also personally calculated the radius of the earth...

And it was precisely because of this understanding that he was very sure that the East described by Columbus was an endless fantasy, and the real understanding was almost zero. And Columbus's navigation plan was also full of mistakes. Sailing 5,000 kilometers westward, let alone reaching the East, it would be difficult to reach 10,000 kilometers away from the East...

But such an unreliable person, holding an absurd sea chart, rashly sailed westward, and only sailed for two or three months... He actually found a piece of land that seemed to be in the East in the deep sea? !

"This must be a joke of God! I would rather believe absurdly that this is a new continent that has never existed, than believe that this is the Sipangu and India in the East! You know, the knight Pero da Covilhã risked his life to cross the Ottoman territory and arrived in India by land, and sent letters back three times. He found out the location and details of India, as well as the clear news and documents from Seres!..."

"The Indian Islands mentioned by these sailors are as wild as primitive people, without even metal tools, and are completely different from the real India! As for the so-called Sipangu Island... No matter how you look at it, that location is impossible. Even the latitude is wrong, how could the Sipangu people be in the tropics?..."

John II looked cold and hard, like a solemn sculpture. He put down the record in his hand and tapped the seat unconsciously with his fingers.

After the initial shock, excitement, disbelief and confusion, he finally sorted out his thoughts and made a rational judgment: Columbus might have gone west and discovered some islands or even a piece of land in the deep sea. But there is nothing to do with the East, it is neither Sipangu Japan nor India!

But there are few people as rational and knowledgeable as him. And the words Columbus shouted at the port, "He discovered a new route", were just like a boulder falling into a pond, not only splashing water all over the sky, but even punching a big hole in the bottom of the pond in Lisbon!

According to the sheriff's report, the streets and alleys of Lisbon have been more lively than the holidays in the past two days. Everyone is talking about "the battle of ships at the port and the captured mad captain", "the new route from the West to the East", and "India full of spices and gems", "Sipangu full of gold and silver" mentioned by Marco Polo... And all the discussions will eventually turn into "an obsessive imagination of the endless wealth of the East", as if those gold, silver, gems and spices are within reach as long as they reach the East! …

"A Castilian captain named Columbus actually returned from India and Sipangu! Then, he was detained by the Portuguese at the port of Lisbon... The Portuguese not only mastered the route to the southern continent, but also wanted to monopolize the route to the west to the East, and monopolize all the wealth of the East!..."

John II could even imagine that at this moment, countless messengers, riding fast horses or sitting on merchant ships, quickly spread this explosive news to all parts of the Catholic world.

After Marco Polo brought back the East, and after hundreds of years of imagination and sustenance, the meaning of "the East" to Europeans at this moment is simply like the "land of milk and honey" promised by God, a living paradise on earth! As long as you go to the East, gold, gems, spices, silk, porcelain...all kinds of priceless goods are everywhere, and you can make a fortune just by doing it! ... and relying on "the East", the most explosive romantic topic in the Catholic world, the speed of the spread of this news, and the degree of attention paid by various countries and states...

"The new route in the hands of the kingdom... the interests of the East... the little Pero who really reached India..."

Thinking that this news will inevitably bring attention and trouble to the Kingdom of Portugal after it spreads, and even arouse the entire Catholic world to spy on the real Eastern route in Portugal's hands... John II had a headache. He stroked the short hair on his cheeks, pondered for a while, and asked Nuno, a trusted court official beside him who was responsible for interrogating the sailors.

"Nuno, can you release a message, a formal notice, to clarify what Columbus shouted at the port? ... That was not a new route to the East, and we Portuguese did not detain him for that, nor did we rob him of anything, such as the new route chart he brought back, or the gold wealth of Sipangu..."

"Your Majesty, you are a wise and intelligent lion, and you can always grasp the key points of things... But Inêsé Morta is dead."

Hearing this rich Portuguese proverb, John II fell silent again. After a long while, he sighed and nodded in approval.

"Yes, Inêsé Morta, Queen Ines is dead... People prefer to believe what they want to believe. So, the moment Columbus shouted this rumor, it was too late... On the eve of the Kingdom's fleet rounding the Cape of Good Hope and about to reach India, a crazy Captain Genoa actually made such a big news, attracting everyone's attention to us... I really want to sentence him to death!..." "Your Majesty, the wind from the east is useless and cannot provide any help. (Vento de leste no traz nadaquepreste.)... Our Portugal is located in the westernmost corner of the Catholic world, and the countries are constantly in conflict. The gaze at this moment will not stay for too long, and it is difficult to turn into an act of interference... Just beware of the Castilians next to us and the Iberian Kings..."

"Columbus is an admiral appointed by the Queen. No matter how ridiculous this appointment is, it is the face of the Castilians... Please be careful! Kill Columbus, and even if the news of the new route is false, it will become true and be attributed to us..."

". Well, Nuno, you are right... I need rational judgment and rational response to everything!..."

John II looked up and looked at the mural on the ceiling. On the left was the Portuguese king who fought for the Knights and founded the country, his ancestor Afonso Henrique, and on the right was his great-grandfather John I who established the Avis Dynasty, resisted the invasion of Castile, and opened the exploration of the southern continent. He stared for a long time before calming down all his emotions and shouted faintly.

"Come here! Summon the Castilian noble, Don Christopher Columbus!..."