Great Britain, London, Cambridge.
Nicholas Ji Dabao, who was entrusted by Zhu Heji and came to Europe with Zhu Heji's autograph letter to King Charles II of England, now lives in this small town only fifty miles away from London.
There are two main reasons why he lives here. One is that he bought a big house in Cambridge Town on the advice of his old superior, Charlie Gough... By the way, that old Englishman from Cambridge The pronunciation is "Cambridge", and "Bridge" means bridge, so I translated it to "Cambridge" for Ji Dabao.
Because he and Charlie Gough made a lot of money selling "Chinese Magic Essence" in partnership, Gough suggested that he buy a house in his hometown of Kangqiao.
And Ji Dabao is extremely satisfied with the house in Kangqiao... This is a house in a school district! Not far from his house, there was a very good school called Cambridge Town Academy!
The second reason why Ji Dabao has settled in Kangqiao now is that he found a job as an academic at the Kangqiao Town Academy!
He is now an expert specializing in Chinese natural theology in Trinity Hall of Kangqiao Town Academy!
An expert from Trinity Hall of Cambridge Town Academy is much more valuable than the second shift of the East India Company. You can enter the British upper class casually!
In addition, due to a series of "magic events" such as "Chinese Magic Essence", "Chinese Magic Events" and "Chinese Magic Prince's Letter to the King of England", the European side is becoming more and more popular.
Ji Dabao's net worth has also risen with the tide... In the recent social season, many rich ladies from British aristocratic families have expressed great interest in him!
Moreover, he often received personal letters from King Louis XIV of France. In the letter, Louis XIV called him "my dear Nicholas"! He was also invited to the Palace of Versailles more than once...
Ji Dabao couldn't even imagine such a status when he was a comprador in the East!
"Sir, here is your itinerary for tomorrow."
A British butler with a Cambridge accent walked into the study at this time and handed an itinerary to Ji Dabao, who was writing something on the desk.
Ji Dabao is currently trying to translate a book about Chinese magical wars - "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"!
His class in Trinity Hall of Kangqiao Town Academy sometimes consisted of "talking about the Three Kingdoms"...using old English from the 17th century.
Because what he said is good, several publishers in London have recently contacted him and want to publish this masterpiece describing the magical wars in ancient China.
I have to say that Ji Dabao’s life during this period was almost like a dream!
He also hit the wind and flew higher than a pig!
He took the itinerary from his butler, glanced at it, and whispered: "Tomorrow morning, I will discuss Chinese natural theology with Professor Newton and Mr. Leibniz. Then I will discuss it with Mr. Gough and Mr. Jennings of the British East India Company. Let’s have lunch together. In the afternoon... we have to meet with the publisher from London, so we really don’t have a moment to relax!”
"Sir, if you feel inconvenienced, you can cancel the meeting with the publisher from London tomorrow afternoon, or entrust me to meet with him."
This butler's name is James. He was recommended to Ji Dabao by Gao Fu. He is indeed very good at getting things done. You know what matters require Mr. Ji to personally come forward, and what matters can be represented by others.
I cannot but attend the discussion with Professor Newton and Leibniz tomorrow morning - this is a very important seminar!
Professor Newton represents Cambridge Town Academy, and behind Cambridge Town Academy is the Anglican Church!
Leibniz was the representative of Louis XIV... This Leibniz was a German who was sent to Paris by the Archbishop of Mainz to lobby Louis XIV to stop the war against the Netherlands. At that time, Gaofu and Ji Dabao also went to Paris to sell perfume, and they became familiar with each other after taking over. It happened that Leibouzny was extremely interested in Chinese culture and Chinese magic.
The name of the discipline of natural theology in China was created with the help of Leibniz!
Ji Dabao has heard the news that he is likely to go to China as Louis XIV's envoy.
The meeting with Goff and Jennings at noon tomorrow is also extremely important.
Because the British East India Company was preparing to expand its investment in China... Although their Great Eastern was "robbed" by Zhu Heji, Zhu Heji fully compensated him afterwards. And there is a lot of news related to magic coming from China these days!
All signs indicate that...the authenticity of Chinese magic events is quite high!
If there is no magic, it also shows that the Chinese have mastered some knowledge that Westerners have not yet mastered.
And this knowledge (maybe magic) has been widely used in military activities. Therefore, even if Britain uses all its strength to send an expeditionary force, it will be difficult to defeat the enemy with magic.
Then... the Kingdom of England can only consider "unfree" but reciprocal trade with the other party.
"James," Ji Dabao suddenly asked after reading his itinerary, "What's the news from Rome and Amsterdam?"
Look, the tone of the comprador's words that has caught up with the news is completely different!
"Sir," said the butler James, "Mr. Gough's secretary told me this afternoon that the Holy See's Inquisition has sent religious censors to the East...but they will not go to Guangzhou, but to Beijing. .
The Dutch East India Company decided to continue supporting the Qing Dynasty. They would help Roman and Portuguese priests travel to Beijing, China, in exchange for the opportunity to send envoys into Beijing to meet the Qing emperor. "
Going to Beijing or Guangzhou has completely different meanings!
Going to Guangzhou means recognizing that the Guangzhou court represents China, while going to Beijing means continuing to recognize the Qing Dynasty.
The Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal were unwilling to recognize the Ming Dynasty because Zhu Heji had implemented strict restrictions on Catholic activities in Guangdong and Fujian (Zheng Jing's territory).
The Dutch, on the other hand, are because Guangzhou Port now does not restrict their entry - Guangzhou does not restrict the entry and exit of any foreign or domestic businessmen. Therefore, they do not intend to "support" Ming Dynasty, because what they need is "monopoly free trade" rather than "prescription of unfree trade".
The former could only be provided by the Qing Dynasty, while the latter could be enjoyed as long as they paid taxes in accordance with the law.
After listening to the butler's report, Ji Dabao pointed to a large pile of manuscripts on the desk and said to him: "James, those are the translation manuscripts of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". You can show them to the publishers. You can represent them with full authority." I.
But here is only the first half. I may have to go on a long trip recently, so I won’t have time to translate the second half. But I will finish the translation on the way there and I hope I can publish the second half when I get back from China. "
...
When Ji Dabao began to prepare for his trip to China, tens of thousands of miles away in Guangzhou, Zhu Heji, the prince of the Ming Dynasty, had already put aside his grudges with the Europeans.
Because he has a lot on his plate now!
The first is to train officers and troops - the military academy on Huangpu Island has finally opened! A total of six subjects were opened, including horse, infantry, artillery, engineering, transport, and sea, and thousands of people received officer training there. And the instructors who train them are actually not much better.
Zhu Heji himself set up a home directly on Huangpu Island, letting Da Boling keep an eye on him. Zhu Heji would go to the island every now and then to preside over the training of the military academy, and at the same time he also had to keep an eye on the shipyard on the island.
Second, he also has to take care of the university on Haizhu Island! University students don’t have that, but the teacher has to teach...actually guide them in self-study! Those were the "student masters" selected from the last imperial examination. There were more than a dozen of them in total, and they were all extremely smart, so Master Zhu gave them textbooks and asked Gu Yanwu to lead them to teach themselves.
In addition, Zhu Heji also moved his laboratory from the Prince's Mansion in Guangzhou to Haizhu Island - some experiments were not suitable to be conducted at home.
And Zhu Heji can't always let Bei Jiaxin and Aoi Sew be little witches...
The third troublesome issue is, of course, the conference of all races!
What this conference of all races has to solve is the most difficult issues of equalization of land, equalization of taxes and equalization of service!
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