Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

What's interesting is that the Dutch collected things not only from their own colonies. For example, another large dot box contained a complete set of chain plate armor.

Speaking of chain plate armor, many people may invariably think of the armor used by Muslims in the Middle East and Central Asia. But in fact, chain plate armor has appeared in quite a few areas along with the exchange of military culture.

For example, in the Ming Dynasty of China, there was a kind of armor called full iron armor, which was actually a kind of chain plate armor. Considering that the Turkish muskets at that time could come to China under the name of Rumi gun, then the Turkish armor was introduced It's also normal.

But Liang En and the others now discovered that this set of plate and chain armor films was not an original product from Turkey, nor a Chinese imitation, but a product from the Philippines.

Philippine chain plate armor first appeared in the 16th century. The current Philippines was actually a region with a quite complicated political situation at that time.

There were Spanish colonists with Manila as the core on Luzon Island in the northern Philippines. In the south, there is also a relatively powerful Sulu Sultanate.

In addition, there are a large number of monarchs with different religions on other large and small islands in the Philippine Islands, presenting a state of chaos.

In the pre-colonial wars in Southeast Asia, the Ottoman Empire exported a large amount of military technology to the then relatively backward Southeast Asian co-religious countries out of its religious obligations as a monarch and caliph and in order to expand its influence in the East.

For example, the exquisite artillery that Liang En and the others found before came from Turkey. They even saw inscriptions left by the Turks on the cannon, and the chain plate armor was one of these weapon technologies passed eastward. .

However, because the Philippines is relatively remote, the Philippine chain plate armor is actually the country in Indonesia digesting the military technology provided by the Ottomans, and then spreading it to the Philippines through trade and other means.

Although the technology is only second-hand, considering the characteristics of the handicraft industry era, this technology has no impact on the quality of Philippine chain plate armor.

In fact, according to the records of many Spanish colonists at the time, they believed that the quality of the Filipinos' iron armor was excellent, and that it was more than one level higher than the group of indigenous people they encountered before.

However, because many of the plate armor pieces are made of hard leather, shark skin or even bamboo chips, and are made into a single layer to adapt to the hot climate in the Philippines, their defensive power is higher than the original chain plate armor in the Middle East. Big discount.

What’s even more interesting is that the helmets that accompany these armors are not Ottoman turban helmets, but locally produced ship helmets copied from Spanish colonists. This makes their overall style look more like a low-end version of Spanish infantry.

"It's rare to see such a complete set of armor, especially the armor is plated with a layer of gold." Liang En said after inspecting the armor. "So it most likely came from the court of a famous king."

This set of armor was an eye-opener for Liang En and the others, and when they opened the last batch of boxes, they found that the boxes contained ancient Javanese weapons.

Two of the boxes contained Indonesian claw knives and knives. Judging from the exquisite equipment, these knives should have been weapons used by people with high status back then.

In particular, the claw-shaped knife was first considered to be the tiger claw incarnated by the soul of the king who entrusted mystical power in tradition. With the introduction of Hinduism, it was changed to the shape of the claw of the Hindu god Bhima and Hanuman, and then gradually carried forward by Europeans.

But in fact, this kind of thing was first used for harvesting crops. It was very large in the early days, but it became this small as history evolved.

But then again, although this kind of knife looks very cool, the actual combat effect is very average. After all, the size is there, and at the same time, because of the claw type fighting, it prefers grappling routines instead of using short sword routines.

So when everyone fights with knives, unless they are true geniuses or professionals who have specially studied, claw knives will often suffer.

What's worse is that this kind of knife has only one function, only cutting but not stabbing, and it relies on long and shallow wounds to hurt people. In other words, it is either useless in daily life, or it will damage large blood vessels or joints and you will be charged, jailed, or both. .

Therefore, apart from the convenience of ordinary people holding the gadget for express delivery, the only more practical thing is to put it in the hands of police officers. After all, the design of the claw knife is conducive to the quickest removal and preparation for combat.

Considering that police often encounter enemies who wear civilian clothes and blend into the crowd, and then get close and suddenly attack, this kind of weapon that is conducive to quick response in unfavorable situations is obviously useful.

However, this kind of weapon is basically not used in the army, because the military knife as a weapon only has a very small part of its function. The real core function is survival in the wild, and this kind of inner curved blade is not suitable for cutting harder things.

However, as Liang En knew before, although this knife has average performance, it has a great reputation. Therefore, these knives inlaid with gems and gold are very popular and are valuable both for exhibition and sale.

As for another long box, it contains a variety of knives and swords, including the Burangan sword, which was popular in Indonesia in the 19th century and was mainly used for hunting activities by nobles. Therefore, the swords found in the box are very exquisite. .

And from a historical perspective, because this kind of sword was already outdated in the 19th century, there are no photos of its use left, and there is even a lack of sufficient physical samples.

Therefore, the traditional swords that Liang En and the others have found are very good in terms of value and historical value. At least they are worth collecting.

In addition to the three Bolangan swords, there are many swords with completely different styles here. It does not look like a local Indonesian weapons exhibition, but like a global weapons exhibition.

It can even be said that few regions in the world have a richer multinational sword and weapon tradition than the Indonesian archipelago. The weapons and equipment in this region are extensive and diverse to the point of being somewhat chaotic.

There is clear evidence of external or alien influences in this diversification of weapons, particularly in the hilts and mounts, but interestingly there is almost no written evidence of these changes.

It can be inferred from those physical evidences that after Indonesia became a very popular trade destination due to its huge resources, foreign weapons began to spread in the country and became the mainstream local culture.

For example, in addition to the health care products that have obvious local styles, the two famous Indonesian golden swords they found have obvious Indian, Chinese and Turkish styles.

However, in addition to the impact of various local weapons in Central Asia, Hexicia and other places, European colonists also had a huge impact on this region.

For example, another box contained two European-style and Russian-Caucasian-style long knives. However, after taking them out, they discovered that the blades of these swords were produced locally to imitate those European products.

This can also be seen as a process of global economic integration after entering the Age of Discovery. At the same time, Indonesia is not only affected by this wave in the East.

To give the simplest example, during the Qing Dynasty of China, the blade of the Yibilong waist knife, which was equivalent to the Shangfang sword of other dynasties, was made in Germany, which obviously came from overseas trade.