Chapter 260
The various stallions that Cheng Shijie wanted were not difficult to obtain given the connections and wealth accumulated by the Venetian City-State Republic. It was just a matter of spending some money.
Now for the Venetian City-State Republic, if money can buy peace, they are willing to buy it. In fact, Catherine has another plan. If Cheng Shijie is unwilling to sell their artillery, they decided to pay to hire Ning Haijun to go far away Europe, let them help Venice fight a war.
As long as the Ning Navy can defeat the Ottoman Mediterranean Fleet just like Zheng Zhilong or the Dutch East India Combined Fleet, Venice can win peace for more than ten years or even decades.
But the problem is, the sea map is different. This is the intangible wealth accumulated by Venice for hundreds of years since its founding. Now there are many unowned lands in the world, especially Venice discovered a continent (Australia). If it were not for lack of time and strength, To conquer this continent, but giving up the sea country would mean abandoning the new continent and islands they discovered. This is a huge wealth, far beyond the comparison of tens of thousands of war horses.
Catherine looked at Cheng Shijie warily and asked, "What do you want a nautical chart for?"
Cheng Shijie smiled lightly and said: "It is convenient for our Ning Haijun to go to Europa to greet His Majesty Emperor Philip IV, and we also want to ask the King of the Netherlands!"
Catherine didn't believe that Cheng Shijie was talking about cheating, but there was no way. Even if she didn't give them these things, Cheng Shijie could still make deals with other countries to get them, especially the Portuguese who had a pretty good relationship with Cheng Shijie. It would be better to take advantage of Portugal's return. Without doing anything, just exchange it for some things you need, not to mention these things are no secret in Europe.
At least, the countries that have now completed global voyages include Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Venice, and the United Kingdom. France has also recently completed a global voyage.
Now it can be said that this is the real age of navigation. Venice has no friends to begin with. Letting Ning Haijun or Daming join the Great Navigation Club is beneficial but not harmful to Venice.
Catherine nodded and said, "Okay, I will provide you with navigation maps and information later."
Although Cheng Shijie could get nautical charts from later generations, the problem is that there will definitely be errors between the nautical charts of later generations and the current ones. Besides, being able to get Venice to produce their nautical charts is actually nothing to Cheng Shijie. Something particularly important.
He could no longer ask Venice for money. As Cheng Shijie repeatedly delivered silver to Emperor Chongzhen, inflation had been caused in the capital, and its impact had penetrated into all aspects.
No matter how high the per capita level is, it is actually a relative concept. If prices are also high, the quality of life will still decline.
Cheng Shijie: "I hope you can send some shipbuilders over to communicate with us... Don't worry, we won't steal your people, it's just communication."
Catherine cursed in her mind: "It's weird to believe you!"
After quite arduous negotiations, the arms deal was finally concluded.
Ning Haijun will deliver 200 quadruple six-inch caliber 189mm copper-skinned fire dragons and 80,000 rockets to the Venetian City-State Republic within two years.
The City-State Republic of Venice delivered 96,000 horses to Ning Haijun within two years, and the most important thing was that the Shire horses were not less than half.
This problem is enough to give Venice a headache. Although it is said that there were more than one million Shire horses in the UK at its peak, the problem is that it will be more than a hundred years later. Now, there are estimated to be more than a dozen in the entire UK. There are tens of thousands of horses, including old horses and ponies.
Cheng Shijie clearly stipulated in the transaction that the shoulder height of the Sharma horse should not be less than six feet (the average shoulder height of the Sharma horse is 188 centimeters). Cheng Shijie added one centimeter to the average height of the Sharma horse. Such a Sharma Horses, even in the UK, cost more than ten pounds, plus the consumption on the long journey. It is conceivable that the price paid by the Venetian City-State Republic was definitely not low.
Delivered to Venice various nautical charts and data accumulated from hundreds of years of maritime trade across Europe, Asia and Africa, and sent no less than a hundred experienced shipbuilders to help Yang Menglong build warships. At the same time, some naval officers were also sent to help with training. Ming Dynasty Navy.
This made Catherine a little confused. Isn't Ming the world's most powerful country with the best battleships and naval guns in the world? Why should it learn from Venice in turn?
Cheng Shijie could only smile bitterly at this. The Ming Dynasty indeed had the most powerful army in the world, and it also had the most powerful navy in the world.
It's a pity that this fleet has long been burned down by a fire. Almost two hundred years have passed, and the Ming Dynasty is still running on the sea with the fortune ships that have long lagged behind. As for the countless archaeologists who have marveled, the displacement is extremely large. It may be close to 10,000 tons, and it can be called a giant treasure ship on the ancient sea. Even the blueprints have been burned away.
Although the Haisha-class and Jusha-class battleships built by Ninghai are good, they are just good. In fact, the Ning Navy only relied on the range advantage of naval guns. When fighting naval battles, they actually fought naval battles in the same way as the army. They just applied cavalry battle tactics to naval battles. For Li Zhixiang or Cheng Shijie, A battleship is equivalent to a cavalry unit, and the only tactics are flying kites, cavalry running and shooting, and detouring left and right.
We haven't had time to fight against a truly powerful maritime force. Once this shortcoming is discovered, the consequences will be disastrous. To admit our own weaknesses, we must learn what we need to learn. If we want to catch up with the West, there is no shortcut. We can only start from scratch and learn from the other side. Navigation equipment such as nautical compasses and sextants had to be imported, and the skills to use these equipment had to be learned from others. In this regard, Ming Dynasty really had nothing to be proud of.
Fortunately, this was the Ming Dynasty when the atmosphere was relatively more open. Western learning gradually became popular in the East. People did not think it was a shame to learn from foreign devils. After learning, it was natural to do better than the teacher.
If it was the Qing Dynasty...that would be a headache.
Of course, Cheng Shijie also promised that Ming will not compete with Venice for the interests of maritime trade, nor will it seize Venice's overseas territories in any way. To put it bluntly, everyone is just exchanging technology.
This made Catherine secretly relieved. The Ottoman Empire was enough for Venice to have a headache. If the Ming Dynasty got involved again and competed for Venice's trade share in the Mediterranean, it would be impossible to survive!
In Catherine's eyes, this transaction is worth it. Compared with the three to four hundred yards of naval gun combat in this era, the effective range of the Fire Dragon can reach more than eight hundred meters, or even one thousand meters. As a target ship, The 400-material battleship is similar to the Maihadi class, the main battleship of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire had a poor shipbuilding industry and lax management. Their shipbuilding technology was very poor. In fact, it was not because the navy of the Venetian city-state was too powerful. To be fair, the Ottoman Empire's Mediterranean fleet was hit by rocks, rotten and flooded, improperly operated, and collided with ships every year. The losses caused by other accidents were ten times greater than the losses caused to them by the Venetian navy.
If the Ottoman Empire really relied on its strength, it could crush Venice or crush it to death. Why it had been at war with a small country like Venice for more than two hundred years? The only way to explain it is a Chinese word: "Raise the invaders with self-respect!"
The kind of fire dragon they have obtained now not only has a higher range advantage, but the key is that its power is quite amazing. One fire dragon can kill a small warship of more than 100 tons. If it is a large warship, up to three or four can kill it. Sink a medium-sized battleship.
This time Catherine purchased 80,000 pieces from the Ming Dynasty, which was enough for more than a thousand large, medium and small warships of the Ottoman Empire's Mediterranean fleet to allocate 70 to 80 pieces to each ship.
Venice needs this powerful weapon so much! All matters were discussed and everyone signed the contract.
While Cheng Shijie was busy, Cheng Jiayue actually entered Jinzhou No. 1 Elementary School. This is the first elementary school in Jinzhou. The school built in the original Guns and Artillery Bureau compound is also used to be called the Guns and Artillery Bureau School. .
In the first class, Cheng Jiayue felt a little incredible.
The schools in the Ming Dynasty were also like those in later generations. When you meet the teacher, you have to say how good the teacher is.
However, they are not like the schools of later generations that lazily deal with it. Cheng Jiayue's Chinese teacher is named Zhang San, who is also the outlaw Zhang San. He is a serious scholar and is also a famous strict teacher in Jinzhou. one.
After learning that he was going to be the teacher of Cheng Shijie's biological daughter, Cheng Jiayue, he decided to teach Cheng Jiayue a lesson first.
After Zhang San entered the classroom with the teaching materials in his arms, all the students stood up and bowed to Zhang San according to their level: "Hello, teacher!!"
Just when Zhang San was about to wave for everyone to sit down, he came back to his senses and saw clearly the scene in the classroom. The students were all slumped with their shoulders slumped and their necks crooked. They didn't stand or sit like they were sitting. He thought to himself that this is not possible. Is this a good opportunity to establish your authority?
"Chen Zhong, Zhou Dingguo, come out!"
Zhang San naturally knows the true identities of Chen Zhong and Zhou Dingguo. In Liaodong, they are the real sons of high-ranking cadres. Although Chen Dayong is now only the director of the Military Commission, in fact, everyone knows that Chen Dayong is now second only to Shen Ming. The third person in the army of Yu and Changyu has a higher status than Liu Qingsong and Zhou Ning.
Not to mention Zhou Dingguo at least. His grandfather is Zhou Yandong, nominally the second person in Ning Haijun, and also the Dinghai Shenzhen of Liaodong. Zhou Yandong is in charge of everything except military power, and has more power than Song Xiance. Zhou Yandong can hold his veto power.
Zhou Dingguo's father, Zhou An, now serves as the deputy commander of the Ning Navy in Guangning and is also considered one of the senior generals. The Zhou family can be said to be second only to Cheng Shijie in Liaodong.
However, Zhang San did not give Chen Dayong and Zhou Yandong face, and said in a very stern tone: "Is it your first day of school?"
"no!"
"My husband taught you how to read and write. He is your great benefactor. Once you are a teacher, you will always be your father! You should treat your husband with the same respect as your father. How can you greet and send him off so carelessly? No matter how much you read, you will never know. Li Na is still a waste! Everyone has it, you all should learn from me, watch carefully!"
Zhang San said, then he tightened his waist and hips, put his legs together, put his hands on the sides of his legs, and shouted loudly: "Hello, sir!"
When Zhang San finally said the word "good", his head and upper body had already been flatly bent ninety degrees, and he performed a standard bow.
"This is etiquette!"
Infected by the emotions of the surrounding classmates, Cheng Jiayue also shouted at the top of his lungs: "Hello, sir!"
"Very well, sit down!"
When Cheng Shijie quietly came to see Cheng Jiayue go to school, physical education classes had already begun. Unlike the happy education of later generations, primary school education in Liaodong actually had four subjects, namely Chinese, mathematics, chemistry and physical education. Moreover, before the age of twelve, male and female students are not separated into boys and girls, but go to school together.
In Liaodong, a quarter of the class time for children under the age of twelve is physical education. Cheng Jiayue's management is much better than that of most Liaodong children. Especially after traveling through time and space, Cheng Jiayue's physical fitness has improved significantly. Due to the improvement, Cheng Jiayue, who was originally not good at sports, actually performed well in sports.
This is the children's version of the race, a 400-meter standard track, which means they need to run two laps. As the one-armed sports teacher's whistle sounded, fifty or sixty children started running away.
The four companions immediately surrounded Cheng Jiayue, like a plum blossom, secretly protecting Cheng Jiayue.
The children chased each other and ran very happily and lively.
The physical education teacher was Li Yong, a retired veteran of Ning Haijun. Li Yong watched Cheng Shijie arrive and gave Cheng Shijie a chest-high salute: "Meet the Marshal!"
"How's life at school!"
"Tell the truth, or lie?"
"Truth!"
"I'm really not used to it!"
Li Yong smiled bitterly and patted his right hand with his left hand: "But, since this arm is gone, I can only accept my fate!"
Li Yong was in Bali Bay. His right arm was hit with an iron bone by a white soldier who built the slaves, causing a comminuted fracture. If this kind of injury happened in later generations, the arm could be saved. However, in the Ming Dynasty, the arm could be saved. Disabled.
"Children are our future. Are you being wronged by asking you to teach students physical education?"
Li Yong is a retired soldier with a disability. He works as a student teacher and gets a monthly subsidy of five silver coins. His monthly income can reach two to six silver coins. The school also provides food and accommodation, and his income is no less than when he was in the army.
However, soldiers are eager to fight and live in the military camp. Some people think that Ning Haijun's military camp is nineteen levels of hell, while others think that the military camp is heaven.
It is human nature to have different opinions on the same things from different angles.
Li Yong also wanted to ask Cheng Shijie why he came to school. At this moment, Cheng Jiayue also saw Cheng Shijie. She ran towards Cheng Shijie excitedly: "Dad, why are you here?"
"Dad, come over and see how Jiayue is doing at school!"
"Dad, I have made great progress. Today I ran third, only a little slower than Chen Zhong and Zhou Dingguo. However, they are both older than me. I will definitely be able to surpass them in the future!"
“Jiayue is awesome!”
As the competition ended, teacher Li Yong began to award certificates to the winning students. Cheng Jiayue received a big red flower. Different from the red flowers of later generations, this was a real red flower made of red silk, with a ribbon.
Cheng Jiayue, who stood in front to accept the teacher's praise, looked proud.
Cheng Shijie just quietly watched Cheng Jiayue's class. After the physical education class, there was a chemistry class.
In class, the teacher was dripping something into a cup. Every time he dropped a drop, the cup made a soft sound and a wisp of smoke came out. Many children left their seats and gathered in a circle to watch him operate. .
The teacher warned while dripping something: "I can tell you, this thing is very dangerous. If a little bit of it splashes into your eyes, you may go blind, so you must not play secretly by yourself!"
Cheng Jiayue has not yet started taking chemistry classes, which is a bit unfamiliar to Cheng Jiayue: "What is the teacher doing?"
"Experiment!"
When Cheng Shijie saw this scene, he felt a little strange: "Isn't it too early?"
Perhaps feeling this, Zhang San, the head teacher who accompanied Cheng Shijie, explained: "Commander, you don't know something. Not everyone has the opportunity to go to school. Many children drop out of elementary school due to family reasons. To teach children chemistry knowledge, It also allows them to apply it in their lives!”
At this moment, probably when enough things had been dripped into it, the teacher put down the small bottle that was said to contain something very dangerous, shook the cup slightly, put a small stone in, and took it out again after a while. , put it on a tung oil lamp and burned it, it made a sizzling sound and bubbles appeared one by one.
After a while, the teacher took out a small cage with a white mouse in it.
The teacher grabbed the white mouse with one hand, dipped a little liquid from the cup into the mouth of the white mouse, and poured it into the mouth of the white mouse. The white mouse was still struggling at first, but its strength became weaker and weaker. , and stopped moving in less than half a minute.
The children exclaimed: "Look, the mouse will really pass out after drinking that stuff. It's amazing!"
"Do you know what this is?"
Except for Cheng Jiayue, all the children almost said in unison: "Mongolian sweat medicine!"
The teacher looked at the students and said: "You are still young and not strong enough. When you encounter a bad person who wants to do bad things, use this thing to deal with him!"
Cheng Shijie frowned: "Is this deliberately teaching bad children?"
"Commander, this...student believes that you must not have the intention to harm others, you must have the intention to guard against others, and you must always be prepared for ways to harm others..."
Only then did Cheng Shijie realize that he had actually been neglecting education issues. These issues must be taken seriously. The textbooks in Liaodong must be revised. What is wrong with teaching is called preparing Mongolian sweat medicine and poisoning.
Are we going to teach a group of poison masters?
Just when Cheng Shijie had a headache, Emperor Chongzhen also had a headache.
Zheng Zhilong has now arrived in Liaodong, and Emperor Chongzhen's inner treasury now has more than 6.8 million taels of silver. No matter from any perspective, Emperor Chongzhen is now a rich man.
But the question is, how to appreciate Cheng Shijie?
Now everyone in the world is watching. If Cheng Shijie solves such a big problem for Emperor Chongzhen and earns more than 10 million taels of silver, if Emperor Chongzhen does not reward him, who will give him money in the future.
But how to reward Cheng Shijie? Cheng Shijie is now Duke of Haiguo, governor of Liaodong, nominal minister of the Ministry of War, and nominal governor of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion. There is no way to add more to his actual position or false title.
Just like the rogue bandits are still raging now, the reason why Emperor Chongzhen was unable to mobilize the Ning Navy was to mobilize the Ning Navy to quell the rebellion. With the combat effectiveness of the Ning Navy, they were just playing to clean up the slaves. To deal with the rogue bandits whose combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the slaves, that is not the case. Is it a piece of cake for Zhang Fei to eat bean sprouts?
But the problem is, there is no way to reward Cheng Shijie any more.
After learning that Cheng Shijie had found his biological daughter, Emperor Chongzhen felt a little regretful. What if Cheng Shijie had found his son? It is not impossible to directly ennoble Cheng Shijie's son Cheng Jialong as a marquis, even if he is a duke.
However, the problem is that what Cheng Shijie found was only his daughter. It is not that the Ming Dynasty did not reward women with titles, but the title of Lady Gaoming was usually given to deceased women or married women. It had never rewarded a girl under nine years old. baby.
As a minister, once he has accomplished extraordinary feats that cannot be rewarded, and his achievements have shocked the master, he will often not end well. He will be jealous of the king and suffer misfortunes. But the problem is that Emperor Chongzhen does not want to do this. Cheng Shijie wants to be Yue Fei, but Ning Haijun is not necessarily the Yue Family Army.
After much thought, Emperor Chongzhen decided to ask the Queen Zhang Yan, the emperor's sister-in-law, to come forward. Emperor Chongzhen told the emperor's sister-in-law Zhang Yan that Cheng Shijie had found his biological daughter. Zhang Yan immediately understood what Chongzhen meant: "Your Majesty means, you want to In my capacity, do you accept Cheng Qing’s daughter as your adopted daughter?”
"Exactly!"
"Then why not Zhou?"
"Sister-in-law, you have no children now. If you have an adopted daughter to support you, wouldn't you kill two birds with one stone?"
Zhang Yan smiled lightly and said: "Then, as the queen, I will issue a decree to adopt Cheng Jiayue, the daughter of Cheng Shijie, as my adopted daughter and make her Princess Ji'an."
"Very good!"
Cheng Shijie inspected Jinzhou No. 1 Primary School. The teacher Luo Baofeng, who had always been good at observing people's emotions, immediately changed the learning content to ideological education classes. He looked at the children and said: "If you receive a drop of kindness from someone, you should repay it with a spring. Classmates, who are we able to live a good life now?"
Let these innocent children say in unison: "Because of the handsome man!"
"Students, please tell the teacher, who allowed you to go to school?"
"It's the handsome man!"
"Students, please tell the teacher, who allows you to eat at school for free?"
"It's the handsome man!"
"Students, please tell the teacher who allowed you to receive free school uniforms?"
"It's the handsome man!"
"Students, please tell the teacher who it is..."
Cheng Jiayue was very puzzled. She looked at her classmate Sun Pu in a low voice and said, "Who is the commander they are talking about?"
Sun Pu looked at Cheng Jiayue in disbelief and said, "Don't you know who the commander is?"
"I really do not know!"
Sun Pu thought that Cheng Jiayue had just arrived in Jinzhou and maybe he really didn't know, so he said, "The commander is your father!"
(End of chapter)
