I

Zhao Han saw the roaring steam engine and thought of rubber again.

He has already written to Sihai Trading Company, asking Li Quan to inquire about rubber when he goes to America for trade.

Since I don’t know the Latin name of rubber, and I don’t know what rubber is called in America, I can only describe its characteristics: it is extremely stretchy and comes from the sap of a tree.

Li Quan issued a reward last year. Anyone who can provide accurate information can be given priority to purchase a batch of his goods.

Although this violated the agreement with Mexican officials and bypassed the auction for private transactions, Li Quan promised to compensate the officials for some loss of profits.

In just one year, Li Quan came to America again and obtained relevant information extremely smoothly. Moreover, there were more than one or two people who provided clues, and six businessmen brought the exact information.

Banderas Town (Puerto Vallarta).

A Spanish mixed-race businessman from Costa Rica held a small ball larger than his fist and said: "This kind of ball is very common in some indigenous tribes. They use it to kick and play. It is a toy for children."

Another businessman from Guatemala took out a pair of rubber-soled shoes and said, "These are the shoes of the Mayan indigenous people. The soles are similar to what you described."

Rubber products were discovered by Spanish colonists more than a hundred years ago.

And, not only from South America, but also in large numbers from Central America. The indigenous people of Central and South America applied rubber sap to cloth to make clothes to prevent rainwater from soaking through. Or it can be made into a long strip and tied to the handle of the tool, which is a stretchable rubber rope. The Mayans even used rubber as soles.

The Native Americans certainly didn't understand vulcanized rubber, but they added various organic substances to achieve a similar effect. The most common method is to mix the sap of a certain Convolvulaceae vine directly with rubber. This mixture is very durable after solidification.

The unlucky Portuguese who was the first to bring rubber-coated waterproof clothing back to Europe was regarded as a wizard and subjected to religious trials. The Spaniards, who were the first to see rubber balls in America, also believed that the rubber balls were witchcrafted.

It would take another thirty years for a French scientist and military officer to find out the origin of rubber.

It would be another seventy years before French scientists brought back detailed information on rubber trees from America.

It would be another hundred years before French scientists invented a solvent that could soften rubber.

It would take more than a hundred years before a British scientist made an eraser out of rubber, specifically for erasing pencil writing.

Rubber is used in industry, and the time will be even later.

Li Quan asked: "How are these things made?"

Mexican businessmen shook their heads. They had only seen indigenous people using it, but they didn't know the origin of rubber products.

No matter what, it would be great if there is news. This is a task assigned by His Majesty.

Li Quan fulfilled his promise and sold a batch of goods to these merchants before the auction. Moreover, each businessman provided a buddy, and Li Quan hired these people to lead the way in search of rubber trees.

The expedition leader is Wang Lian, a veteran with primary school education.

The deputy captain's name is Cheng Jingming, the young master from Suzhou. The friends all went to study electricity, but he couldn't stay idle. He went to sea with the ship to become an adventurer in America.

In addition to the two of them, there are four other crew members, two of whom have served as farmers and soldiers, one is an experienced sailor, and the other is a translator who is proficient in Spanish.

The remaining team members are all temporarily employed, six are Mexican businessmen's clerks, and more than ten are Japanese escorts who have settled in America.

Li Quan's trading fleet is not allowed to go to the port of Acapulco, which is the exclusive trading place for the Spanish fleet. Therefore, the expedition team could only take a Mexican merchant ship to go south, all the way to the Guatemala region, which was also the jurisdiction of the governor of New Spain, but there was a second-level governor in charge of Central America.

The group first visited the governor and presented them with exquisite gifts. The governor was very happy and sent two guides to lead them.

"Bang bang bang!"

In the tropical rainforest of Guatemala, several gunshots were heard, and a jaguar fell down. Next to it lay a snapping turtle that was killed by it.

After confirming that there was no danger, Cheng Jingming rushed over and circled around the jaguar's body.

"This thing looks like a leopard but not a leopard, and looks like a tiger but not a tiger. What on earth is it?" Cheng Jingming muttered.

Captain Wang Lian said: "It doesn't matter if it's a tiger or a leopard, it's still a ferocious beast."

They ordered people to carry the carcasses of jaguars and snapping turtles forward, and in the middle of the afternoon, they chose a place to camp. Plants used to repel mosquitoes were set on fire, and fresh water was brought in to start cooking.

The weather in the tropical rainforest is extremely bad, and venomous snakes and beasts emerge in endlessly.

If it hadn't been for the two guides sent by the governor, the expedition team would have been attrition, and they didn't know many basic local common sense.

Cheng Jingming finished drawing the image of the jaguar, asked a guide to inquire about the animal's habits, and finally wrote annotations:

"Eastern leopard (or eastern tiger), its pattern is like a leopard, its shape is like a tiger..."

The expedition team did not bring scales, only measuring tapes, so the data only recorded animal dimensions.

After recording the jaguar, Cheng Jingming recorded the snapping turtle: "The bull turtle is big, fierce, and looks like a bull, so it is named..."

Immediately afterwards, Cheng Jingming sorted out the plants collected today and made specimens of leaves and vines.

"do not touch!"

The guide sent by the governor shouted, and the two Chinese team members quickly retreated. There was a brightly colored red frog on the leaf in front of them.

Cheng Jingming ran over with his translator and asked, "What kind of frog is this?"

The guide explained: "Poison dart frogs can easily poison people to death. The natives like to smear venom on their darts."

"Can you help me catch it?" Cheng Jingming asked.

The guide picked up the stick, walked around to measure the direction, knocked down the poison dart frog with one stick, and then pressed the stick on the frog's back.

Cheng Jingming looked closely and measured the body length with a measuring tape.

"Boom!"

Thunder sounded and it was going to rain again.

Fortunately, there is an open tarpaulin tent, and the tent cannot be set up on the ground, so we choose safe tree branches to rest.

It rained a lot until the next morning, everything was wet everywhere, and it was extremely hot and boring.

Cheng Jingming smelled his armpits and found that his whole body was rancid. But he quite liked this kind of life. Although it was dangerous and life was hard, it was much more interesting than in Suzhou. He has long been tired of this boring life of delicacies from the mountains and seas, silks and satins, poetry and music, and groups of wives and concubines.

After another two days, we finally found the Mayan tribe.

These Mayans were very vigilant. As for the bad things the Spanish colonists did, it would be better if they didn't fight them on the spot.

The guide did not show up, so a man sent by a businessman went to contact the Maya natives. This person should have been in contact with this tribe, buying furs, etc. Having him as a matchmaker can avoid conflicts.

The expedition leader Wang Lian called his men and sent them a bag of salt, and the two sides quickly reached a deal.

The Mayan natives took them to see rubber trees and demonstrated how to cut rubber on the spot.

Cheng Jingming discovered that the rubber trees were blooming and asked the Mayans about the situation. But it blooms three times a year, and now it is the third flowering period. It will take another few months for the fruits to mature.

Wang Lian immediately decided to wait here and get some ripe fruits back, perhaps taking them back to China for sowing.

Of course, some saplings will also be dug, planted in wooden barrels and transported by ship.

While waiting for the fruits to ripen, the expedition team stayed in the tribe and paid some compensation to the natives.

As long as it doesn't rain, they explore the surrounding area and record various flora and fauna.

"What is that?" Cheng Jingming looked at the huge pyramid in front of him.

The guide replied: "That's a Mayan temple."

This Mayan pyramid has long been abandoned and dilapidated. Even the stones in the northeast corner have fallen down, and the surrounding areas are covered with shrubs and weeds.

A group of Japanese escorts carried sticks to clear the way, striking grass to scare away the snakes, insects, rats and ants in front of them.

Cheng Jingming followed the Japanese escort and came to the steps of the pyramid. He saw many strange carvings, some even similar to the Chinese Taotie pattern. In other words, it is not similar, but exactly the same as the Taotie pattern!

Could it be that the indigenous people here really come from ancient China?

Cheng Jingming continued to walk around the pyramid, then climbed up the stairs until he reached the top of the pyramid. It's a pity that no major discoveries have been made. There are only Taotie patterns here, and there are no Kuilong patterns, dragon and phoenix patterns, or Taotie patterns.

Maybe, it's just a coincidence.

Cheng Jingming camped directly here and first drew the overall appearance of the pyramid from all angles.

Then he drew every detail, and he even discovered the statue.

The statues were very strange, with human beings wearing bulky clothes and hoods covering their heads. In the hot tropical rainforest, such a clothing style is obviously inconsistent with common sense.

If Zhao Han were here, he would definitely blurt out: "What the hell, astronaut?"

Apart from these gadgets, Cheng Jingming didn't find anything else. The valuable ones had long been taken away by the Spaniards.

He also discovered some pattern symbols. Due to his regular subscription to the Hanlin Journal, Cheng Jingming had some knowledge of oracle bone inscriptions, and he subconsciously felt that these patterns were the original characters.

To say it is a written language is a bit of an exaggeration, but it can only be said to be the prototype of hieroglyphics.

For example, a certain pattern depicts the head of an animal, and it is obvious that it is a jaguar.

There are also paintings of human heads, with various accessories attached. I don’t know if they refer to humans in general, or to chiefs or gods specifically.

"Is this a longevity lock?"

Cheng Jingming squatted in front of a pattern and looked at it for a long time. It looked like a longevity lock worn by a child. But in the middle blank space of the longevity lock, three periods arranged diagonally were drawn.

This pattern appears several times in the pyramid, which obviously represents some important meaning.

Well, later Mayan philologists understood this longevity lock pattern as "moon".

There are also more abstract patterns, such as the Chevrolet logo with a rectangle outside. This should be a more advanced text, who knows what it means.

Cheng Jingming searched hard and couldn't decipher it, so he copied them all and took them back to the scholars of the Hanlin Academy for study.