The operational arrangements for encircling and suppressing the rogue bandits cannot be completely finalized until Hong Chengchou returns. Lao Suntou can also take advantage of this time to think about how to deal with the fifth battalion of Gezuo.
The last thing before getting off work today, and the most important thing, is to receive a "Wai Guo Ren". To be precise, he is a "Wai Guo Ren" who traveled thousands of miles to Daming to work for the dumper. ".
This "crooked nut" knows astronomy, geography, mathematics and mechanics, and was a student of the famous scientist Galileo. Judging by his talent, he can be regarded as one of Lao Jiatou's proud disciples.
Under the guidance of the young eunuch, Xiyi, who had a tall nose, deep eyes, fair skin, and a strong body, and was wearing an official uniform of the Ming Dynasty, was brought into the inner courtyard of the East Palace. Speaking of which, he was also the most familiar stranger to the young prince.
"Your Majesty Tang Ruowang, please come and see..."
"My dear! No courtesy!"
"..."
Counting this year, it has been exactly twenty years since Tang Ruowang set foot in the Ming Dynasty, but he has never had this kind of familiar feeling. He and the prince have only met each other, far from being familiar with each other, but the other party's greetings But it made Tang Ruowang almost unforgettable for the rest of his life.
Adhering to the "integration of Confucianism" strategy of Matteo Ricci's predecessors, Tang Ruowang has been able to speak fluent Chinese, especially the capital's Mandarin, for a long time since he came to the Ming Dynasty. He has long been accustomed to greetings from officials of all levels.
But when he heard today's greetings, Tang Ruowang was stunned for a moment. The prince actually greeted him in German. To use an idiom to describe it, this is "unbelievable" and can only be understood in this way.
Yaoji looked at the petrified "Hans" and explained with a smile: "Tang Aiqing need not be surprised. I came back from the fairy world and can speak a little simple German. It can be regarded as a belated greeting. The pronunciation is inaccurate. , I hope Aiqing won’t be offended!”
Pride makes people progress, hunger makes people strong, and fraud makes people rich!
Fooling Tang Warlock starts with a greeting...
Tang Ruowang, who felt a warm feeling in his heart, was excited and hurriedly corrected him: "No, Your Highness, your German is too standard. I am really flattered. I can't hear the accent at all. It is very pure!"
This was by no means a deliberate compliment. Tang Ruowang left the country early in his life. He could only roughly guess that the short German spoken by the prince might be similar to the pronunciation of people from eastern Germany. It is not known where he learned it.
To be precise, the German that Yaoji spoke was Berlin dialect, which was equivalent to the later Hansi Mandarin. Tang Ruowang racked his brains and couldn't imagine that he couldn't tell this crooked nut who he studied under.
"Well, that's good, otherwise I would be too embarrassed to say hello to my beloved in German. Please give me a seat!"
This is probably the most important crooked nut in the entire Ming Dynasty. Almost all other "nuts" are inferior to him in ability, including the later "Nanhuai Nut".
Yao Ji praised this crooked nut with a smile on his face. Because there was too much content, he had to switch to Chinese mode: "Ai Qing, don't be formal. I summoned Ai Qing today to thank Ai Qing for your many years of service to the Ming Dynasty." Aiqing has made outstanding contributions. As a special envoy of the Holy See, Aiqing traveled across the ocean to the Ming Dynasty and taught a lot of Western scientific and technological knowledge, allowing the Ming Dynasty to understand the world more conveniently and keep pace with the times. This is inseparable from Aiqing's efforts. . It is no exaggeration to say that Aiqing is the link and bridge between the East and the West, and I deeply believe that!"
The deception usually starts with praise. Once the brain is dull, it will be easier to start.
Tang Ruowang was very pleased that his work was recognized by the crown prince of the Ming Empire. He said humbly: "Your Highness is so complimentary. I just did what I could. The technical knowledge I imparted is the result of research that has been produced for many years. If Your Highness If you like reading, I will do my best to let my colleagues collect it from Western countries and transport it to the Ming Dynasty!"
After decades of practice and exploration, many people have come to the same conclusion, that is, it is too important to please the supreme ruler of the Ming Empire. As long as the emperor speaks a single edict, it will be better than what they say with ten thousand words of sincerity. Still useful.
With the permission of successive emperors, they built churches in Beijing, Xi'an, Nanjing, Guangzhou and other places, and gradually expanded inland. The results were very gratifying. If the emperor objected, this would never be possible.
Lao Tang is very sensible, and he probably has mastered the officialdom. Yaoji affirmed: "Well, this is what I want to say. I am particularly interested in Western science and technology. I will take care of these things from now on. I am Ming Dynasty." There is a serious shortage of scientists, engineers, and skilled workers, regardless of nationality. As long as they are willing to come, I will provide them with a salary three times that of their European counterparts, as well as free housing, and can also enjoy completely tax-free preferential treatment, as long as they work in Ming Dynasty After five years, you can return to the country without restrictions. Aiqing will continue to work on the artillery casting. Not only that, but also to expand the scale of production to reach an annual production capacity of 500 or even 1,000 guns. All fees are provided by the Ministry of Household Affairs.”
We can't let Lao Tang waste his time in the Ming Dynasty and accompany Jiao Xu to write the sacred book "Fire Attack". Since he has the support of the armed warlock, he has to do something earth-shattering.
The first is to ask Lao Tang's colleagues to search for all kinds of scientific books and related technologies in the West. The delay time is only about one or two years, and the technical level should not be much different, mainly military industry, mathematics, physics, and machinery.
At present, the research on Western weapons is not in-depth enough, so the Ming Dynasty's arms production has been imitating similar Western products. Because there are no top people to delve into relevant technologies, it is extremely difficult for the arsenal to develop more high-end weapons.
It was not until the late Qing Dynasty that Gong Zhenlin pioneered iron mold cannon casting, which was considered a milestone development in the field of Chinese cannon casting. His book "Illustrated Description of Casting Iron Molds" was also the earliest book in the world that systematically elaborated on metal casting.
Both "The God of Western France" and "Fire Attack" briefly introduce ballistics knowledge, which plays a decisive role in ranging targets and precise strikes. However, they are not favored by the imperial court and are far from the attention they received in Europe at the same time.
Secondly, when Sun Yuanhua, who studied under Xu Guangqi, was in charge of Shandong, he hired Portuguese technicians to help cast cannons, which greatly benefited the military technology of the Ming Dynasty and made rapid progress. The quality and performance of the products have reached the standards of imported artillery.
Unfortunately, in the fifth year of Chongzhen's reign, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's troops captured Denglai, causing the imperial court to execute Sun Yuanhua. A military and scientific genius died, and the closely related Ming Dynasty arms technology also suffered a heavy blow.
To reconnect with this thread is to continue to introduce military and technical talents from all aspects of Europe, and to provide step-by-step training to the more backward imperial counterparts, so that they can become more proficient in mastering the most advanced weapons manufacturing technology.
This recruitment activity, led by Yaoji himself, must not only be in-depth, but also comprehensive. While ensuring the quality of talents, the scale of the foreign expert team must be greatly increased so that the arsenal of the Ming Dynasty can manufacture thousands of high-performance vehicles every year. artillery.
Finally, as a top industry insider in the world, Lao Tang was favored by Emperor Chongzhen and was granted a license to manufacture artillery. However, the output of ten or twenty guns a year was really unable to meet the massive installation needs of the imperial troops.
Yaoji plans to build a new arsenal in the capital that is as large as the Anmin Factory, specifically used to manufacture new artillery and muskets. The original manufacturing operations of the Anmin Factory have been moved to the new factory, and the original factory will be used to produce extremely dangerous weapons. Get the medicine.
After the operational principle of separation of gun and ammunition is implemented, even if a big explosion like that of Wang Gong Factory occurs in Anmin Factory, even if it kills half of the capital, it will not destroy all the finished products that have been offline. These weapons are the reason for the rise of the empire. Real capital.
Theoretically, as long as there is a steady stream of money and weapons, Yaoji can quickly arm a large number of cannon fodder troops and use the easiest method of war of attrition to resist Big Braid's crazy attack.
Although it is not very clever, as long as this strategy is effective, it is a good way. The arsenal is really too busy and cannot keep up with the installation plan, so it will directly import weapons and equipment from Europe.
Tang Ruowang has always been very attentive to the things ordered by the emperor, and now it is the same as the prince: "I will ask my companions to contact European countries as soon as possible and work hard to complete the errands assigned by His Highness. Please wait for the good news!"
If the supreme ruler of the Ming Empire could really offer such favorable recruitment conditions, once the announcement was passed to European countries, it would definitely cause a lot of excitement. After all, you can earn three times the salary in your home country by working in the East. Everyone's heart will be moved.
Although the Ming Empire is currently in a situation of internal and external troubles and cannot reverse this unfavorable situation in a short time, there is actually no risk when working in the capital, as safe and secure as they are in Qintian Prison.
Lao Tang appreciates the Prince's strong interest in Western technology, which means that the friendly cooperation between the two parties will continue, and related work may even become easier.
Casting cannons is one's own business. As long as the factory building is completed and the workers are dispatched, the production scale can be expanded immediately. It just takes some time to train these technicians.
The deception cannot be just verbal, but also something substantial must be thrown out in order to make "Crooked Nut Kernel" take the bait: "I highly recognize Aiqing's work performance over the years, so I plan to conduct a... This is a landmark award. I plan to introduce the Latin alphabet as an auxiliary literacy symbol for the people of Ming Dynasty, which will make it easier to quickly master the pronunciation of Chinese characters."
As early as 1605, Uncle Li used Roman letters to notate Chinese characters, which was compiled into "Cheng's Ink Garden" by ink-making expert Cheng Junfang, and became a separate volume called "The Miracle of Western Characters".
More than twenty years later, the missionary Jin Nige published "Ear and Eyes of Western Confucianism", which introduced the use of Latin letters to notate Chinese characters. The two books can be regarded as companion volumes.
Prior to this, the phonetic notation of Chinese characters used the "fanqie method", which is to use two Chinese characters to phonetically note another Chinese character. It is even more confusing to learn, because most people who learn to read are illiterate, regardless of age.
Using the "Fanqie method" to learn words is equivalent to the English teacher asking students to use two words to explain another word. The students are already confused, and the result of using this method is that the more they learn, the more confused they become.
"...Your Highness... you are wise! I... am... grateful... endlessly!"
Lao Tang immediately understood that as long as the prince ordered the Latin alphabet to be promoted and become the official script, then in less than twenty years, millions of people in the Ming Dynasty would master the Western alphabet, and his business would be smooth, and he couldn't help it. I was so excited that I started to stutter when I spoke.
Although it is not that the will of Rome was rooted in the Ming Empire and tens of millions of Ming people followed the pope, it can be regarded as a huge encouragement and praise for previous actions. The task that Matteo Ricci failed to complete was finally achieved in his own hands. This is a commendable progress.
So many years of hard work finally paid off. Lao Tang was so ecstatic that he wanted to leave the palace immediately to tell his companions the good news, so that they could quickly get to Tianjin and then return to Rome by boat. The Pope would definitely be overjoyed when he got this good news. Maybe he could be promoted to the head of the Ming Empire.
"I learned in the fairy world that the war in Europe has been going on for twenty years, and there is no sign of ending. After the imperial forces defeated Sweden, France has sent out a large number of troops, joining forces with the Swedish army on land to attack the empire, and at sea with the Netherlands. Attack Spain."
The "empire" Yaoji is talking about is the Holy Roman Empire, which is "neither holy", "nor Roman", "not even an empire", and is supported by the Habsburg family!
Two-thirds of the "Thirty Years' War", which has been raging across Europe, has been fought. The old and new military organizations do not intend to shake hands and make peace, because France, the strongest among the new groups, is under the leadership of Cardinal Richelieu. , it had only been a few years since the army was launched, and it was in full swing.
The main forces on one side of the two major gangs are Spain, the HRE Empire, and Austria, and on the other side are half of Europe—France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia, with Bohemia and Transylvania sandwiched in between. Nia is such a scumbag.
If the HRE Empire, which was not composed of a group of lords and princes, was too "loose", it could easily kill Sweden and Denmark before France sent troops. The victory over Sweden was only possible with the full support of the Erha family.
This is really a shiny title for nothing, and the war is a complete mess, worse than the Ming army, and they are defeated again and again on the battlefield.
It was not until 1648 that the French and Swiss armies joined forces and completely defeated the HRE forces in the Battle of Chusmahausen and the Battle of Lens. The empire was unable to fight anymore and had to sign the "Peace of Westphalia".
Lao Tang is a person sent by Rome, and of course he belongs to the Shinra camp. However, this "empire" is very weak, and his achievements make onlookers ashamed...
"Your Highness, are you aware of the war in Europe?"
Although Tang Ruowang works in the Ming Empire, he is also very concerned about the affairs of his hometown, but he is beyond his reach. The current technological news is delayed for about half a year to a year, and it is impossible to get the latest developments in Europe in time.
"The Immortal Realm has insight into everything that happens in other people. I have also been involved in European wars, which is part of my increased knowledge. I believe that a powerful empire is conducive to peace and stability in Europe. Any attempt to challenge the authority of the empire is barbaric and rude. , will be completely shattered!"
Lao Tang asked this just because he wanted to test his own tone, find out which side the prince was on, and then make plans.
