A total of eight ships were sent back to the country by the visiting European mission, but only five returned. These large sailing ships set off from Lisbon in early October of the 12th year of Wanli and returned to Guangzhou in early September of the 13th year of Wanli - this was also the average speed of sailing ships in this era.
The Atlantic gave Xu Guangqi face, but revealed his cruel and brutal side to the fleet returning to the Ming Dynasty. Although the ships hired by the mission were all the top Galenic galleons in the world, with a total of 1,800 pieces of materials, three of them were smashed into pieces like paper boats folded by children under the roaring storm. [Note 1]
The returning missionaries wiped away their tears, sang elegy and continued their return journey. Fortunately, although one of the large ships carrying merino sheep and other animals and plants sank, there were still four backups in the fleet - which was considered a foresight.
After the fleet returned home, the whole Guangzhou was in a sensation, and citizens went to the dock to see the Western scenery. When the news reached Nanjing, it was reported on the front page of Nanjing Daily. Ten days later, the capital's daily newspaper also reprinted the report, which caused a sensation throughout the Ming Dynasty.
Returning with the ship, in addition to the letters and items brought back from the mission, there were also technical talents such as European architects, manufacturing craftsmen, and technicians who wanted to come to the East to make a lot of money, as well as a large amount of documentation. In just one month, the European mission could only get back a batch of the most important public information, and there was no time to copy it. Therefore, the documents on the three sunken ships could only be sacrificed to the sea.
There were dozens of members of the mission and escorts on board the three sunken ships—these people’s families and courts would certainly need generous pensions and appropriate honors.
...
Although the losses were huge, the wealth brought back by the five 600-ton ships was also extremely amazing.
The most valuable items are the Merino sheep and the shepherds who serve them. According to later anthropological theories, the most important reason why the ancient American continent could not have developed a more advanced civilization than the Eurasian continent was that there were no livestock such as cattle and horses. In the original time and space, Spanish fine-wool sheep accompanied the colonists around the world. The spread of the virus has played a staggering role in the rise and fall of political forces and even the direction of human civilization.
If there were such fine-wool sheep in ancient China and developed a matching textile industry, then the entire history of Eurasian civilization would have to be rewritten - unable to produce long-term preserved goods for trade with farming civilizations, nomads would have to use Robbery by force is a necessity for survival and is not based on human will, nor is it an economic basic problem that can be solved by so-called "enlightenment".
In this time and space, these fine-wool sheep species were introduced four hundred years earlier than in history. It was not until 1985 that China developed the first fine-wool sheep breed based on the introduction of Australian and American sheep. At this time, the nomadic people had been able to sing and dance for three hundred years. The price was that the Manchus had suppressed them. The brutal killings of the "reduction policy" - by the time the country was liberated, the number of Mongolians was less than one million.
Therefore, these Merino sheep are closely related to the fate of the Ming Dynasty and are the most important achievement of the mission. These forty little guys, who traveled a long distance and became skinny and skinny, will become an important support for Zhu Yijun's entire northern strategy.
In addition to these sheep, the Europeans' research on mechanical manufacturing and the Ming Dynasty at this time were both good at each other. For example, the gears, rockers and fine sieves of the flour grinding rollers shipped back by ship can grind wheat into flour and separate it four times - it is more efficient than today's double-fan stone mill and manual sieving of flour in the Ming Dynasty. There are too many, and this thing has been invented in Europa for 38 years and has been promoted and used on a large scale. The mission was able to get two of them back without any effort, and also brought back the corresponding manufacturing technicians.
In addition, in the field of basic science, the mission also brought back a large amount of literature. Just the book "Elements", no matter whether it was written by a Greek or an Egyptian, as long as it was translated by the Ming Dynasty, the mission would be worth the price of admission, and the rest would be incidental.
At the same time, documents on logic, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics and politics were also transported back, including many works by Aristotle, Plato, Xenophon, Democritus and others - among others. Stone is enough to attack jade. [Note 2]
.......
Queen Mother Rensheng and Princess Leping were frightened when they heard the news that the fleet encountered a storm and sank three ships, fearing that Xu Guangqi would suffer the same fate when he returned in the future. When Zhu Yijun went to Ciqing Palace to pay his respects, he saw Princess Leping's eyes were crying like peaches, and Queen Mother Rensheng was so frightened that she couldn't help chanting Buddha's name. She couldn't help but feel a little regretful - Xu Guangqi was the envoy to Europe, and he had indeed ignored the two girls. Feel.
Although Princess Leping was adopted, she had already become the Empress Dowager Rensheng's greatest support in terms of family ties. Now that her son-in-law has traveled thousands of miles across the country, and the sea journey is dangerous and dangerous, it is impossible for her to not be worried.
Seeing the Empress Dowager Rensheng and Princess Leping looking at him eagerly, Zhu Yijun felt uncomfortable and hurriedly comforted her and said: "Mother, don't worry too much. My son was also frightened when he heard that the fleet had crashed. The day before yesterday, he had issued an order to Tanggu to speed up the ship closure. The speed of construction - in the spring of next year, six large ships with 7,000 materials will be launched. These ships will carry the imperial envoys to Japan, Satsuma and Ryukyu to canonize the king's son, and then go directly to Europe to bring Xu Guangqi back without returning. "
After hearing this, Queen Mother Rensheng touched her chest and sighed: "This bastard never listens to advice, otherwise he wouldn't have run away from home - this is a job he chose himself, no wonder the emperor."
He glanced at Princess Leping again and said, "Even Leping didn't listen to my advice at the beginning. I didn't let Xu Guangqi go, and she still got angry with me. But now she is scared to death. Poor!"
After saying that, he hugged Princess Leping, stroked her hair and said with a smile: "Now do you know what it feels like to regret asking your husband to seek a title?" Princess Leping burst into tears and smiled, twisting her body to act coquettishly on the Queen Mother.
When the aunt's mother asked for a title for her son-in-law, of course the emperor wanted to join in the fun, so he decided at that time: "Well, don't worry, mother, when Xu Guangqi comes back, no one can escape him."
He smiled again and said, "He's doing really well and he's in good health. Don't worry, Queen Mother and Miss Leping." After saying that, he signaled to Wei Chao beside him.
Wei Chao hurriedly bowed and handed a thick kraft paper envelope to Princess Leping: "Your Highness, this is a letter from Sir Xu. It's quite a big letter."
Princess Leping hurriedly took the letter, but the envelope was very thick, and the seal was firmly glued and sealed with wax. She didn't tear it open even after pulling it a few times. Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "I'll do it."
Wei Chao had a look and immediately ran out to get the paper knife. When Zhu Yijun got it and was about to tear it up, Princess Leping regretted it again and said, "Brother, please wait a moment, it won't look good if you tear this envelope open."
Zhu Yijun felt an inexplicable pain in his heart after hearing this, but he teased the girl and said, "That's fine, but don't tear the love words inside." Leping blushed, and Queen Mother Rensheng laughed.
When the Wei Dynasty apologized, he opened the seal with a paper knife and took out the letter. As expected, it was a thick stack. It looked like Xu Guangqi almost wrote a book.
Seeing Princess Leping unfolding the letter, Queen Mother Rensheng said urgently: "Go over there and sit and look. Don't let your tears ruin the fine silk and satin on my mother's body." Zhu Yijun couldn't help but laugh.
Princess Leping pouted and went to the other end of the kang table to sit and read the letter. Only when she read the title did her cheeks flutter, because the first sentence Xu Guangqi wrote was: "Dear Lin."
She spat lightly, blushed and read on: "'Dear' is a common title used by Europeans in their letters. Although the people here are vulgar, they are affectionate in their hearts and are not afraid of expressing them outwardly. Their fiery appearance is very moving. The place of soul.”
"My husband has traveled thousands of miles across the country, and I miss you all the time. A word of love is just right when I write it down. There is no other word that can replace it. I have cherished my eyebrows for thousands of years, and I miss you deeply. What words can describe it!"
As Queen Mother Rensheng expected, in the first few sentences, Princess Leping burst into tears and wetted the letter paper. Zhu Yijun was a little embarrassed, so he left Ciqing Palace and went to Yangxin Palace to review the memorial.
Here, Princess Leping continued to read the letter. After seeing that Xu Guangqi had written about the pain of lovesickness in the letter, she wrote: "... On the way, I sent letters back when the ship stopped in the Spanish colony. I don't know how many letters you will receive. . Among them, the vastness of the sky and the earth, the different stars, and the strong and powerful people have been described by my husband. The most surprising thing is that the starry sky in the southern hemisphere is completely different, and there are no crape myrtle or Big Dipper in the sky..."
"Although Europeans have a 'civilization', they are different from China. Although their land is vast, they have many countries. The kings attack each other and the people's livelihood is difficult. Although most of their people believe in God, they also have different sects and their own They massacre each other for the sake of doctrine, and the cruelty cannot be heard..."
"The mission is here because of His Majesty's kindness and virtue and the prosperity of the country. The Pope showed respect and issued a 'stop order'. The war in Europe has been temporarily suspended. This is the first kindness His Majesty has shown to the people of Europe; and the prevention and control of smallpox." After the announcement of the law, I pretended to be your Majesty’s Heavenly Majesty as my husband. I have become the first-class honored guest of the Europeans. I spend my time enjoying it, no less than a prince. You don’t have to worry about it..."
When Princess Leping saw this, she pinched the letter tightly. There is no room for the prince to enjoy it - is there a fox to sleep with? At the beginning, my husband also said that Europeans have strong emotions and are very touching - this bitch is not cheating on his body, right?
"Lisbon is known as the largest port in Europe, but its population is said to be only more than 100,000; Madrid is the capital of Spain, with a population of less than 300,000. Compared with China, it is a humble frontier. Its people do not care about any hygiene and defecate everywhere. Although the king and nobles , The body smell is worse than that of abalone. He is only ten feet away from me. As a husband, I wish I could hide my nose and go away..."
Fortunately, fortunately, my husband is a bit of a germaphobe, so he probably won't have a super-friendly relationship with smelly fish and rotten shrimps. This European is not without merit, at least he has a great sense of smell.
Just like this, while reading the letter and thinking wildly, Princess Leping didn't even eat dinner. She read Xu Guangqi's letter over and over again. She didn't fall asleep until the east was white.
Because Xu Guangqi was on an envoy, Leping lived with the Queen Mother Rensheng in the palace. The Queen Mother did not play mahjong that night. When she was sleeping, she could hear her daughter crying and laughing outside, and she could not sleep herself. She couldn't help but itch her teeth with hatred and said, "Don't wait for Xu Guangqi to come back. Let this girl move to my princess' mansion tomorrow. I miss her before I let her come."
