To be honest, although these Europeans admired the wealth and civilization of the Eastern Empire, they had their own pride in knowledge. Even though they are now respectful in front of the emperor of the Far Eastern Empire, they also have a little bit of pride.
They were standing there, vaguely headed by three people. Obviously, the knowledge of these three people is the reason why they are the most famous among them.
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at them and said calmly: "Although I heard that you are famous scholars in Europe, but if you want to serve me, you must first pass my test! Who comes first?"
This is an interview, and that's what it should be. You can't treat all Europeans as treasures, right?
These Europeans also understood that their status and remuneration in the Far Eastern Empire depended on this interview with the Ming Emperor. The matter was so important that for a while, many people felt a little timid and wanted to see other people's interviews before proceeding.
The three leaders looked at each other, but there was no trace of worry. The younger one among them, of course, no matter how young he is, he is still in his forties. He walked out with his head held high, bowed and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, my name is Pierre de Fermat, and I am happy to serve you. Serve.”
This dialogue naturally has a translation, so I will not show it here.
To be honest, Emperor Chongzhen actually didn’t know much about the Ming people in Europe in the seventeenth century. In other words, he knew some European intellectuals, such as Newton and Galileo, but he didn't know exactly what era or country they were from. He had never heard of Fermat.
Therefore, he asked calmly: "What are you good at? Let me hear about it?"
After hearing this, Fermat immediately introduced himself, of course, to introduce his scholarship.
In order to fully express his knowledge and to shock the emperor of the Far Eastern Empire with his knowledge, Fermat talked endlessly about his most important achievements. He did not explain some of the terms and main points in detail, and made them a bit mysterious, just to show that he was very knowledgeable. In this way, after gaining the attention of the Ming Emperor, he could make his own demands.
He was one of the three most learned men in this group of Europeans, and of course he had real knowledge. Moreover, he had always been a member of the aristocratic class in France and was an official. He just came here because he admired the Eastern Empire in Marco Polo's travels.
Because of this, when facing the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he was not so frightened and was the first to stand up.
Pierre de Fermat was a French lawyer and amateur mathematician. His achievements in mathematics are no worse than those of professional mathematicians. He seems to be most interested in number theory, and he also contributed to the establishment of modern calculus. Known as the "King of Amateur Mathematicians". Analytic geometry is the most studied.
At this time, he was telling Emperor Chongzhen: "...an equation determined by two unknown quantities corresponds to a trajectory, which can draw a straight line or a curve..."
While talking, he gestured with the void with his hands, and also explained the equations of general straight lines and circles, as well as hyperbola, ellipse, and parabola.
To be honest, what he said, although the officials in Guangzhou were relayed by a translator, they still heard it in confusion. They couldn't help but peek at Emperor Chongzhen's face. They were a little confused and confused. What this Western Yi said was What kind of thing would the emperor be interested in?
However, they could not tell what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking because his face was very calm.
Not only the officials here in Guangzhou were peeking, but the Europeans were also peeking at the Ming Emperor's face. Many of them thought without malice, Master Fermat said something so profound, let alone the emperor, how many of the kings, queens, etc. in Europe could understand? It can even be said that many of them cannot understand it!
The Ming Emperor must have been frightened. Otherwise, you will see that his face is dull and he can't even ask a question, so he can only pretend to be listening.
These Europeans are happy to see this situation. As long as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is frightened, the next interview will be much easier. If I make some requests later, I will definitely not refuse them.
In the past few days, they have also seen the prosperity of Guangzhou City. It is really not comparable to any city in Europe, not even Paris. Clean, tidy, not crowded with people, and rich in supplies, it is truly a paradise on earth. Not only that, I heard that there are cities bigger than Guangzhou in the north, at least those mentioned in Marco Polo’s travels, but I haven’t seen them yet. If you can live comfortably here, it must be very good.
While they were making their own little calculations, Fermat finally finished speaking, and then saw him asking Emperor Chongzhen in a very gentlemanly manner: "Dear Your Majesty Ming Dynasty, these are probably what I have learned. I don't know if you have anything to ask." Yes, do you want me to explain?"
After he asked this question, everyone, including those in the East and the West, as long as they were in the lobby, looked at Emperor Chongzhen, wanting to see how he would reply to Fermat's words.
Some people wanted to see the Ming Emperor's embarrassment and how he felt inferior; others, mainly from the Ming side, were also worried. Although they knew that the emperor led the army to fight, he was invincible and all attacks were invincible. And he also has a high ability in natural knowledge, but at a certain point, for example, the emperor may not understand what this Xiyi said! What if the emperor is embarrassed?
They were thinking, staring at Emperor Chongzhen, motionless.
However, Emperor Chongzhen did not speak immediately, and his eyebrows slightly wrinkled from time to time, as if he was thinking about the knowledge that the Western Yi just said.
Fermat was a little proud of this. Did this stump the emperor of the Ming Dynasty? It's okay, just think about it and see how much you can understand what I just said?
Many people in the European crowd saw this. Although they did not dare to speak because the hall was filled with majestic soldiers (actually, they were Jin Yiwei), they were able to communicate with each other with their eyes, and then their expressions became relaxed. stand up.
As long as the emperor really doesn't understand these knowledge, they can easily pass the test.
While they were secretly feeling proud, they suddenly heard Emperor Chongzhen speak. So, they all put aside their distracting thoughts one by one to listen to what Emperor Ming Guo was saying?
"What you said was a bit too convoluted. You made something quite simple complicated. It took me a while to figure it out."
What Emperor Chongzhen said is true. What Fermat said is indeed not as concise and easy to understand as the content in textbooks of later generations. Therefore, after thinking for a while, he straightened out what Fermat said, which was the content of analytic geometry.
When Fermat heard what Emperor Chongzhen said, he immediately became angry. This was the aspect he was most proud of, but when it came to the Ming Emperor's mouth, he said that he spoke too convolutedly and complicated simple things. This was not acceptable to him.
You know, there are few people in Europe who understand these contents better than him. Even Descartes, who was very authoritative in analytic geometry, would probably not say this about him.
In addition, since he was an official in Europe, he was not particularly afraid of the emperor compared to ordinary people. Therefore, if he was angry, he would naturally ask for an explanation. However, on the surface, he still behaved politely. I heard him say to Emperor Chongzhen: "I don't know what your Majesty the Emperor means by this. If you can point out the shortcomings in my knowledge, I will be happy to worship you." Be a teacher!"
Originally, he wanted to say otherwise, but then he took a look at the emperor's guards beside him. He didn't know what kind of person the emperor was, so he finally swallowed the negative in his stomach and did not say it out.
Maybe he thought what he said was right, but when the people of the Ming Dynasty heard it, it seemed that this Xiyi was very cunning and wanted to become the emperor's disciple. What a beautiful idea!
Emperor Chongzhen didn't think so much. Now he just discussed the matter and started talking about analytic geometry based on the content in his memory. It took him a long time to say this.
This time, not to mention Fermat, even other Europeans had to admit that when they heard Emperor Chongzhen's words, what the emperor of the Far Eastern Empire said was more logically logical, well-detailed, and simpler and easier to understand. For a moment, everyone was a little stunned.
After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he turned to the eunuch Fang Zhenghua who was standing next to him and said, "Go and take a look. Have you brought the "Analytical Geometry" I wrote for him to have a look at?"
In the past, he had written a lot of content on mathematics, physics and chemistry based on memory, and "Analytical Geometry" was one of them.
The lobby was very quiet, and only Emperor Chongzhen was talking. When Fang Zhenghua came over with the "Analytical Geometry", no one else had recovered from the shock.
Emperor Chongzhen took "Analytical Geometry" from Fang Zhenghua's hand, weighed it casually, and then said to Fermat: "This is what I wrote about analytic geometry. You can read it first. Time constraints, you can Step back first, next one.”
Fermat came back to his senses and quickly went to take the book handed over by the chamberlain. But because he was illiterate, he wanted to find a translator and quickly tell him what the book was about.
At this time, he can definitely confirm that this book will be of great help to him! As for the content he likes, I have to say that he is eager to learn more about it.
With Fermat's example, other Europeans became cautious when they looked at the Ming Emperor. However, in their hearts, there was still a sense of competition. They felt that the knowledge of the other two celebrities could not be surpassed by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty like Fermat, right?
Miaoshuwu
