Chapter 468: Suzaku Appears

Maria went back to face the wall, and Maximilian also felt bored. Only Franz and Ludwig, his father Archduke Franz Karl, and his mother Madame Sophie were left at the table.

Ludwig's behavior was unexpectedly boring. He didn't have too many childish thoughts. Since Franz had told him some chicken soup that diligence can make up for one's shortcomings, the former was deeply involved in it.

Even at this banquet, he was reading a book by himself, studying the content in it, hoping that one day he could put his knowledge into practice.

But Ludwig obviously found the wrong direction, because he had a Bible in his hand, and a Bible exercise book specially compiled by some professors and charlatans to please him.

"Ludwig, you should put the book in your hand down, enjoy the food, and the good family time." Franz persuaded.

"No, brother. You once said that reading is beneficial. I know my talent is not as good as yours, but I believe that diligence can make up for one's shortcomings."

To be honest, Franz is not good at preaching, but just hopes that his stupid brother can find the right direction.

"Who said you are not as good as us? You just haven't discovered your talent."

"Really?" Ludwig still trusts his elder brother.

"Yes, you work harder than any of us, so you are a hardworking genius." Franz racked his brains and finally thought of a comforting sentence.

"Hardworking genius!?" Ludwig was a little excited after hearing this.

"Yes, but I still suggest you read more books other than the Bible. You need to broaden your horizons. For example, criminal law and National Geography are good." Franz persuaded.

"Okay! Big brother! I will definitely not let you down." Ludwig answered loudly.

"Well, eat more and take care of your health. Big brother believes in you." Franz patted Ludwig's shoulder meaningfully, and the latter immediately felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavier.

Ludwig finally put down the book and started to eat well.

Archduke Franz Karl had already drunk several bottles of wine and two large bowls of soup, and was rubbing his belly in his seat.

Mrs. Sophie was admiring the beautiful feathers on the great auk while tasting the delicacies made from its meat.

In fact, in Franz's eyes, this precious feather is not even as good as the tail feathers of a parrot or peacock.

However, the saying that things are rare and valuable is particularly applicable to the luxury industry. At this time, the wild great auks are probably extinct.

Historically, on July 3, 1844, on Fire Island near Iceland, the last pair of great auks were discovered and brutally killed by two fishermen during the incubation period. The last egg was accidentally crushed, completely cutting off the future of its race.

However, there were a total of 36 survivors in Vienna at this time. Franz divided them into two groups and raised them separately to prevent some uncontrollable accidents. In fact, in addition to the great auk, he also collected many rare and exotic animals, such as the moa.

This huge bird, which was once spread all over New Zealand, took Franz many years to collect before finding two pairs. However, due to the uncertainty of sea transportation, he did not choose to have them shipped back to Vienna, but placed one pair in Zhenla and one pair in Nanming.

The moa is named for its huge body. In fact, it means a huge and terrifying bird in English. The average height of this guy can reach 3 meters, which is 1 meter taller than the current ostrich, and the weight can exceed 250 kilograms. It is a real "giant beast".

However, the creatures in Oceania generally have low combat effectiveness. Although this "giant beast" has strong legs, it is not good at running.

The huge beak is not used for fighting, but as an "excavator" to dig up tree roots and crack nuts.

Its main food is plants and insects, and it will also attack small rodents and snakes they can find.

This native species in Oceania is very stupid. They will not run away when they see animals smaller than themselves. They are huge in size and have delicious meat, so they quickly became one of the main sources of meat for the Maori.

The indiscriminate killing by European colonists was the direct cause of its demise, because their hunting speed far exceeded the reproduction speed of the moa.

Fortunately, some remote Maori villages still preserved several pairs of moa for sacrificial purposes, and the explorers sent by Franz exchanged thirty guns for two pairs of moa.

Because the locals were not interested in currency, but because of the constant invasion of the British, they were in urgent need of guns.

These moa were originally dedicated to the Maori gods, and the Austrians were willing to exchange guns with them, which was regarded as the will of God, so they gladly accepted it.

(The Maori believe in polytheism.)

In fact, the explorers felt that they were losing money in business, because these giant "ostriches" did not look worth so many guns.

And the moa was actually not difficult to catch, because this kind of bird was huge and always walked blatantly in the plains, and walked in groups.

At the same time, the moa, like other birds, is phototropic, and once the light is blocked by the black cloth, it will become quiet and easy to control.

They all felt that they could catch the moa by themselves if they had the chance, but the war between the Maori and the British in 1843 shut up these conceited explorers.

In the "Wairau River Massacre", the Maori not only defeated the British, but also ate all the captured British prisoners. This was the first time that the Western powers experienced the terror of the so-called "aboriginals".

In fact, the Maori were able to fight more smoothly than in history, thanks to the batch of guns and bullets from the "great internationalist" Archduke Franz.

The two pairs of moas obtained from the trade were sent to Zhenla and Nanming respectively. Both places were deeply influenced by East Asian Confucian culture. The ugly and huge birds were worshiped by local residents as the legendary phoenix.

After all, who else can explain why this bird grows so big? Of course, how could this stump the smart Nanming officials?

They immediately began to quote scriptures and named the moa as the national bird "Suzaku", indicating that this was a good omen from heaven to help the Ming Dynasty unify Nanyang.

And the legend says that the Suzaku is the beast in charge of the Nanming Lihuo, a higher existence than the phoenix.

Although this statement is outrageous, the entire Nanming, from officials to people, believes it firmly. Only Zhu Qiongying knows that this is just one of Franz's "gifts".

There is also a legend about the phoenix in the Zhenla area, and this thing was brought by the church, so the locals developed it locally.

The terror bird was directly regarded as a guardian beast of religion, and those fanatical believers even forced the nobles and royal family to kneel down and worship it.

This outrageous result did not exceed Franz's expectations, but was within his calculations. The Southern Ming Dynasty was making more and more noise in Southeast Asia, and the first to be unable to sit still were naturally the officials of the Qing Dynasty.

So there was an immediate proposal to organize a "Southern Expedition Army" to wipe out the remnants of the anti-Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. But they soon encountered a problem, that is, there was an ocean between the two.

But how could this be difficult for the learned Qing officials? Someone proposed to use the barbarians to control the Ming Dynasty, which immediately gained widespread support. So the first battle of Kalimantan was brought about.

There will be extra chapters tomorrow, that's it, I don't have the energy today.

In addition, do you want to watch the later plot directly, or watch me write something else to make a transition.