Although Governor de Vera showed great sincerity, Gao Zhenxin put on airs at this time and refused to go there in person no matter what. He only sent Takagi San and Zhu Yingfeng to represent him and Governor de Vera. Continue to negotiate.
Takagi San is just a highly pragmatic servant, and even among the servants he can only be regarded as a middle-class status. Although Zhu Yingfeng did not have a title to challenge, he was born in a noble family. His uncle was the Duke of Laocheng, and his biological grandfather was the former Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard. Therefore, Takagi San took the initiative to give up the "chief position" to Zhu Yingfeng.
Zhu Yingfeng was not polite. Not only did he take the main seat, but he also directly asked the interpreter to tell Governor de Vera that he was from one of the "Duke Family" in the Ming Dynasty, and that he had served in the Emperor's personal army for many years before. .
When Governor de Vera heard this, he was immediately in awe of the Duke family. This was no joke in Europe. If it were in the Holy Roman Empire, it would be equivalent to coming from an elector family.
Moreover, this gentleman has "served in the Emperor's personal army for many years." If he were in Europe, wouldn't he be close to His Majesty's military attaché? It’s amazing, this is His Majesty the Emperor’s confidant!
Apparently Governor de Vera fell into a strange cycle of thinking. How did he know that Jin Yiwei, the "emperor's personal soldier", was actually a "secret policeman", and that Zhu Yingfeng's so-called "service for many years" was just a salary from Jin Yiwei in name. He himself has never even been to the Fusi Yamen of Jinyiwei North and South Town a few times.
In any case, Governor de Vera quickly stood up and took off his hat and bowed like a nobleman. The governor's full name is Santiago de Vera, and the "De" in the middle means that he is a noble. Nobles have their own etiquette rules among nobles. Especially at this time, he has truly experienced the power of the "Ming Army", so this courtesy can be regarded as a correct attitude.
Zhu Yingfeng was very satisfied and stood up, bowed his head, and then said: "As entrusted by Commander Zhenxin, Captain Mu San and I will negotiate with you and others on matters related to the surrender of Manila City and the release of prisoners of war in your country on his behalf."
What Zhu Yingfeng said was a bit "Western" because he had dealt with the Portuguese when he was doing sea trade in Japan and had a basic understanding of these things.
In fact, although the Ming and Qing dynasties were not far apart in time in history, their attitudes towards foreign exchanges were completely different. In particular, the scholar-bureaucrat class and even the entire ruling class had completely different attitudes towards foreign exchanges.
In the original history, there was a total of 72 years from the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 to the abdication of the Qing emperor in 1912. During most of this time, all sectors of Chinese society were still immersed in the dream of a beautiful country and refused to change. , refused to contact the West, and showed panic, hostility, and ignorance when facing new things such as foreigners, trains, and telegraphs, which are completely incredible to future generations.
This brings up another question: Were the Chinese in the Ming Dynasty also so conservative and insensitive?
The answer is no. Most of the late Ming literati, including officials at all levels, were very open-minded, and their curiosity was so strong that it even surprised Western missionaries.
There are detailed records in Matteo Ricci's Notes on China, in which Ricci described the strong "curiosity" of the Chinese people, which "seemed to go crazy" and there was an endless stream of visitors, just wanting to know about Western things. People who could not meet him communicated through letters. He received many letters from people he knew and did not know, discussing various topics with him, eager to gain new knowledge.
Many people in later generations believed that the literati of the Ming Dynasty were still intoxicated in the dream of a heavenly kingdom, and only a handful of them were willing to associate with missionaries. However, Matteo Ricci's notes clearly subvert the traditional understanding.
Statistics show that there are at least 137 named Ming Dynasty people mentioned in Matteo Ricci's books. This is directly mentioned by name, and there are many more that are not mentioned.
For example, in 1592 in the original history, after Matteo Ricci came to Jiangxi, he was immediately surrounded by Jiangxi literati and became the object of competition.
Matteo Ricci's letter to Father Meng Sande of Macau records: "In this city... everyone is curious to see me. There are so many people coming to visit, including important literati and dignitaries. It's really... It makes me extremely excited."
There is an endless stream of visitors, are they just looking at the foreigners, that is, "looking at the strange things" as the saying goes? Really not, because many scholars asked to be their teacher and ask him to teach them Western knowledge, so much so that Ricci was exhausted. Moreover, when Zhang Huang, the dean of Bailudong Academy, learned that Ricci was in Nanchang, he even invited him to give lectures at the academy. Later, King Le'an and King Jian'an of Jiangxi Province invited Ricci to their mansions to inquire about some matters in Europe.
In 1598, Matteo Ricci arrived in Nanjing, causing an even greater whirlwind because Nanjing was one of the cultural centers of the Ming Dynasty. It is clearly recorded in Ricci's letter to Father Costa that "when Chinese people come to visit me, some of them seem to be crazy, scrambling for the first place, and there is an endless stream... Some want to learn mathematics, and some are interested in ethical science."
In 1601, Matteo Ricci arrived in the capital and was still very popular. Among them, a young official named Zhang Yangmo even directly became a disciple of Matteo Ricci. He often used "a Pythagoras aphorism and the teacher said this as his motto." .
In short, from south to north, the people of the Ming Dynasty not only did not reject Matteo Ricci's Western learning, but instead pursued it frantically, but most of them did not take his Catholic faith seriously.
The people of the Ming Dynasty were curious about Western learning, which was also reflected in the enthusiastic translation and printing of Western learning works by the government and the public. It is recorded in Ricci's book to Father Costa in 1605: "A few years ago I sent you a map of the world. It was printed in Chinese in Beijing... It has been printed more than ten times. Many people want to have one and are vying for it. Purchase.”
In 1608, Ricci's letter to the Patriarch of Rome recorded: "At the beginning of this year, I presented a large map of the world to the Chinese Emperor Wanli. The emperor was very happy and ordered craftsmen to engrave the map I presented. Soon it was printed. There are many maps of the world hung in many palaces."
It can be seen that not only the common people and scholars welcomed Western learning, but Emperor Wanli himself was also very interested in it and did not reject it at all.
At that time, in addition to theological books, Matteo Ricci's other Western studies could attract the interest of Ming Dynasty literati. Even many of Ricci's books were actively printed and disseminated by Ming Dynasty literati. For example, the first philosophical book "On Friendship" that won Matteo Ricci great reputation was printed repeatedly.
In addition to Matteo Ricci's books, other missionary Western books with non-missionary content were also very popular. For example, the Italian missionary Aiulius translated "Zi Fang Wai Ji", which aroused great enthusiasm among the literati of the Ming Dynasty.
Regrettably, this book mentions many major countries in Europe, including Ukraine, Scandinavian countries, and Greece. However, during the Opium War, Emperor Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty and his ministers But they don’t even know where Britain is!
Amidst this crazy learning, there was no significant difference in the development levels of mathematics, astronomy and physics between China and Europe in the late Ming Dynasty. Leibniz said in his preface to Recent Affairs in China in 1697, "China, an ancient civilization, is indistinguishable from Europe, and both sides are in an equal contest."
Of course, even if there is some gap between the Ming Dynasty and Europe, it does not matter much. The reason is very simple. The Ming Dynasty did not rely on the Celestial Dynasty and was blindly arrogant. The Ming Dynasty literati were curious and had the ambition to catch up even if there were no changes brought about by high pragmatism in the original history. It will be obvious by giving two examples:
First, during the war with the Portuguese, Dutch and other colonists, Ming people realized that only strengthening their weapons and equipment was the only way to "control the barbarians", so they enthusiastically learned and introduced Western firearms, and quickly narrowed the gap between the two sides. . In the Tuen Mun naval battle with Portugal, Wang Hong was the first to propose "learning from the barbarians to control the barbarians" and introduced Portuguese cannons, which ultimately defeated the Portuguese fleet.
Secondly, in the process of interacting with Western missionaries, the Ming Dynasty people realized their own shortcomings and backwardness. Therefore, in 1629, Xu Guangqi stated in his memorial to Emperor Chongzhen that "If you want to achieve success, you must understand; before you can understand, you must translate." It can be said that every word is pearl-shaped and thought-provoking.
It can be seen that many literati at that time had already realized the problem and proposed solutions. This was an open attitude, which was in sharp contrast to the strange self-confidence of the Qing Dynasty who did not ask questions but firmly believed that "I am the best in the world."
In fact, there is another living example. The different fates of Haiguo Tuzhi in China and Japan fully illustrate this difference.
Before and after the Meiji Restoration, Japan eagerly wanted to understand and learn from the West, which was the same attitude China had towards the West in the late Ming Dynasty. Haiguo Tuzhi was unsaleable in the Qing Dynasty and could not be sold at all. However, after it was brought to Japan, it immediately sold out. Several additional printings were not enough to sell it. It was as popular as Matteo Ricci's books in the late Ming Dynasty.
I won’t say whether attitude determines everything, but a correct attitude must be the foundation of success. If there is no foundation, how can we start talking about success?
Although Zhu Yingfeng is a member of the "ignorant and backward traditional aristocratic class", it is not surprising that he is a person who loves maritime trade and is concerned about Western affairs. He could almost draw the "World Map" printed by Jinghua Publishing Company with his own hands.
Note: However, the "world map" of Jinghua at this time was not fully drawn due to Gao Pragmatic's deliberate concealment. For example, Australia was completely in a state of "fog", and the Americas only had a rough outline, including the inland part of Africa. It is also deliberately drawn into a fog. Roughly speaking, the Beijing version of the world map was only a "revised version" of Europe's understanding of the world at that time.
From another perspective, Zhu Yingfeng’s current performance also shows that Gao Pragmatic’s “driving the noble class to open up” has achieved certain, phased results.
They no longer buy fields after making money, but continue to invest in commerce in order to obtain greater benefits. Because they want to invest in commerce and trade, considering their own interests, they need to know more about the West. Therefore, the highly pragmatic "interest-driven reform" has achieved success in their subjective thinking.
At this moment, Zhu Yingfeng directly defined this negotiation as "negotiating the surrender of Manila City and the release of prisoners of war from your country and other related matters." This was also influenced by the views that Gao Pragmatic often preached in the Beiyang Sea Trade Alliance: Western etiquette On the surface, their attitudes are mostly determined by the actual performance of both sides on the battlefield.
To put it simply, whoever has a big fist can be strong-willed when speaking. This is why "Yi and Di are afraid of power but not moral."
It is true that Yi Di is afraid of power and not evil. Although Governor de Vera is unhappy, he is currently defeated in the naval battle. The threat of "flooding the seven armies" is like the sword of Damocles hanging above his head. He had no choice but to acquiesce in Zhu Yingfeng's statement. He could only nodded stiffly and replied: "As you wish, Your Excellency."
However, after a pause, Governor de Vera couldn't bear his European heritage and asked: "Your Excellency, although I already know your noble origin clearly, for the convenience of naming, I still hope to know more accurately. Your own title."
After this sentence was translated to Zhu Yingfeng, the latter became a little embarrassed. The Ming Dynasty has always been stingy with honors and rewards. Except during the great chaos in the late Ming Dynasty, although the Duke had a distinguished status, there was only one "Crown Son" with the right to inherit. The Crown Prince's official title was "The Crown Prince of a certain country", but he could usually be called the "Crown Prince" in common parlance. "Little father-in-law".
As for the remaining sons of the duke, they may be called "young prince" by some people who forcefully flatter them in very private situations, but that cannot be put on the table. Normally, their status is at least officially equivalent to white bodies. To ensure that they are not truly "white bodies", they usually have some positions in Jinyiwei or the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army.
For example, Zhu Yingfeng was originally a member of a hereditary household of 100 Jinyiwei as soon as he came of age, but failed to take the exam for three years. After living in vain for three years, he became a household of 1,000. If nothing else happened and he didn't show any special talents, this Qianhu would probably be the "official" he would work for until the end of his life.
But in order to engage in maritime trade, he resigned from his official position in Jinyiwei, including his worldly position. This actually meant that he had become a white body in the true official sense. Now De Vera asked him to explain his title... It's very troublesome.
Zhu Yingfeng was silent for a moment, and had no choice but to reply: "The regulations of our Ming Dynasty and those of Europa are different and cannot be generalized. There are billions of people in our dynasty, but apart from the royal family members, there are only a few dozen people with hereditary titles, so we I do not hold a formal title. However, if I were to live in a different place under the equal system of Europe, I would at least be considered a viscount, or even an earl."
De Vera really didn't know that the Ming Dynasty's title system was so harsh. He was a little surprised when he heard this. After thinking about it, he suddenly asked: "I see, then... I would like to ask Mr. Count, does Mr. Gao Jingshi have a title in the Ming Empire?"
Zhu Yingfeng shook his head and said: "Gao Situ does not have a title, but our dynasty also has a very important honorary title, which is the third Duke, the third master, the third orphan, and the third young master. They are the most important titles besides the title. Gao Situ is the current Crown Prince and Grand Master, and his title is Congyipin. According to European customs, he can be regarded as between a Duke and a Marquis."
In fact, Zhu Yingfeng's "roughly" is very problematic, because Gao Pragmatic's "Prince and Grand Master" actually has little to do with the title. Zhu Yingzhen's "roughly" is probably a personal classification he made based on his own grades. It can't be taken seriously.
However, de Vera believed it, probably because at this time, the important ministers of European countries were almost all great aristocrats. He felt that the high and pragmatic "analogous title" was completely appropriate between the duke and the marquis.
However, he was still very curious about the strange honorary title of "Prince and Grand Master", and asked: "Mr. Earl, maybe it's a translation problem. I don't quite understand the meaning of this title. Can you explain it to me?" What does it mean?"
"Uh, well..." Zhu Yingfeng couldn't help scratching his head, and thought for a moment: "I think you can understand it as the chief teacher of His Highness the Crown Prince."
When Governor de Vera heard this, he couldn't help but be in awe, nodded repeatedly, and said: "That's it, that's it. It seems that Your Excellency Gao Pragmatic will definitely be the Prime Minister of your country in the future."
Uh... Zhu Yingfeng coughed lightly and said nothing, just pretending to acquiesce.
In his opinion, is there any necessary connection between the "Prince and Grand Master" and the Chief Assistant? In fact, there was no such thing in Ming Dynasty. However, Zhu Yingfeng knew that the European "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's Chief Teacher" was indeed likely to be an important candidate for the future Prime Minister or "Palace Minister", so it was difficult to say that others had misunderstood.
Of course, another reason why Zhu Yingfeng did not object was that de Vera's statement was probably wrong, because in his view, as "Mr. Earl", it was really a high probability that Gao Pragmatic would become the first assistant in the future. How could he say that? Did people understand it wrong?
With his acquiescence, De Vera naturally thought that he had guessed correctly, and he became a little more excited. He looked at Zhu Yingfeng eagerly and asked: "In this case, the influence of Your Excellency Gao Yingfeng must be enough to ensure that the agreement signed after this meeting is The treaty can be truly affirmed by the Ming Empire government and ensure that it can be effectively implemented, right?"
Of course Zhu Yingfeng would not say that he could not guarantee it at this time, so he nodded and said: "That's natural. Gao Situ is not only the chief teacher of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but also the only classmate of His Majesty the Emperor during his ten-year student career... I believe you I understand the huge impact this has.”
"Of course, of course, I can completely understand." Governor de Vera actually became a little excited and immediately said: "Then, I hope that our talks can be more open and honest. To this end, I am willing to release goodwill first to show my hope for peace. :
What I want to say is that if Your Excellency Gao Pragmatic can ensure that the fair trade between the Kingdom of Castile and the Ming Empire will not be affected by this war, and ensure the freedom of religious belief in Manila and even the Kingdom of Luzon in the future, ensure that the Catholic Church can The property security and missionary freedom of the Kingdom of Luzon, then on the premise that your army releases our prisoners of war, we can completely consider the peaceful transfer of the city of Manila. "
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