Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 412 Letter to Europe
To put it simply, the cheating balloon that Yang Menglong made is a product that cannot control the height, direction, and landing.But the people on the ground didn’t know, they were still excited about the fact that the balloon could carry several people up into the sky, cheers and exclamations came and went, and the fireworks were set off more and more intensively, illuminating the sky of Nanyang. Unaware that the majestic prince and the magistrate are screaming and cursing in the sky, while the invincible General Yang is trying in vain to control the balloon and keep the wind from blowing him up like a grandson. Go to Hubei...

While the people of Nanyang were amazed by this miracle, Father Bowen, who participated in making the balloon, did not go to the square to participate in the carnival party, but stayed in his study and wrote letters to his friends in Europe. :

"Dear Simon:

what are you doing nowPresumably you are still worrying about business matters?Yes, it must be. After I left Portugal, our Bowen family declined in a bad way. The competition has become more and more fierce in the past few years, and new competitors are constantly participating. Presumably your life will be even more difficult.

I am now in a big city in Nanyang, China...yes, it has to be called a big city.This big city has a population of more than 20, and it is still increasing rapidly. Most importantly, it is only a relatively small city in China. Cities like this can be seen everywhere in China.It has been two years since I came here. With the joint efforts of many church members and the support of those enlightened and outstanding officials in the local area, we have built a cathedral that is not much inferior to the Vatican Cathedral. The church brought more than 4000 lost lambs back to the embrace of the Lord, and many of them were outstanding figures (who pestered them to learn about astronomy, geography, geometry, chemistry, physics, etc.).With the support of that outstanding general, we have succeeded in just two short years, all of which seemed like a dream.Our achievements have already shocked the bishops of the diocese, and next year they will invest more resources in Nanyang, striving to achieve greater achievements in this hot land.

(Having said all this, you still don’t know what our church looks like, right? Look, I drew it for you. It is 51 meters high. It is more spectacular than the most spectacular castle. In Europe, this is not a church, but a church. It is an indestructible military fortress. Its top floor is a bell tower with a huge clock. The clock face is made of crystal-like, transparent glass. The hour hand is two meters long and the minute hand is four.3000 meters long. According to the Beijing time slowdown Rotating slowly, it will ring on time every hour, and the bells will ring throughout the city. This giant bell was cast by the outstanding young general I mentioned to you many times and spent more than [-] pounds of silver. It is extremely precise. It allows this ancient country to have accurate time for the first time, without having to rely on hourglasses, hourglasses and the like for vague timing. It is so outstanding that as of this year, thousands of people have come here. I visited it, so that sometimes I feel that this church is just a foil, and the giant bell is what General Yang really wants.)
After talking about these bad things, let me tell you about our life in the East.Remember the "Marco Polo" travel notes we read together?The lucky man who had been to the East in person called this ancient country the Golden Country in his travel notes, claiming that gold is everywhere here, and piles of silver are piled up beside the streets, which has fascinated many Europeans and made them crazy .The great Columbus set sail to find this imaginary golden country, but unfortunately he went the wrong way and ran to America, and he failed to see the real east until his death.Now here I am, and I see it.I don't want to boast like Marco Polo, but... Dear Simon, can you believe it?In this spacious study, I am leading a life that would make the Pope mad with envy!In the fireplace, the firewood is burning slowly, making the whole house warm like spring in the cold winter; on my desk are two pieces of exquisite porcelain, which are said to be produced in Jingde official kiln. In Europe, such art The treasure is the treasure of the royal family. The royal family will carefully wrap it with silver and hide it in the heavily guarded underground palace. Just put it on the desk, fill it with a little water, and then insert two flowers.I wore silk as soft as baby skin, not one or two, but five!These silks and porcelains were all given by their magistrates as a reward for my promise to help them translate European works on water conservancy.I have to say that this reward is so scary that it almost blew me away. I only kept a little for myself, and a lot of silk, porcelain and spices have already been sent back to Europe by ship. You must be very happy. Receive it soon, and hopefully this windfall will help you out of your debt crisis, if you're willing to sell them.By the way, there is also an extremely exquisite tea set in front of me. The fragrant black tea is brewed. Brown sugar has been added, which is delicious.Do you know how precious tea and brown sugar are in Europe, especially tea, you may not be able to buy the same weight of gold. I am afraid that only the pope, the king of England, and the king of France, the most powerful figures in the world, can get them on grand festivals. Give out a little to entertain the most distinguished nobles and enjoy the envious eyes of everyone, but here, it is just a kind of drink for us every day. In this country, even a farmer with a slightly better family can drink it every day. Tea.As for pepper, cloves, cardamom and other spices that make Europe crazy, they are just some common condiments or medicines for them, and they are nothing unusual at all.As for the food... Dear Simon, I can't describe it to you. If you can come to the East for a few months and taste the food here, I'm afraid you will be afraid of Europe, because the food there is really unbearable. Bear!In just one year, several priests gained [-] pounds. I had to remind them to diet, otherwise they would die of overeating.

The people here are very hospitable and after a short awkward moment we quickly got to know them.Walking on the street, when we meet acquaintances, they will be very enthusiastic to invite us to dinner. If we have finished eating, they will take us to the teahouse, let the waiter make a pot of strong fragrant tea, and serve exquisite and delicious snacks , let us tell them the customs of Europe and the experience of coming to Asia from Europe, they are always so hospitable.They are full of curiosity about the outside world and always want to go out and have a look. Some of our bragging words often amaze them.If you think they are easy to deceive, then you are wrong, they are the most intelligent group of people we have ever met, they have extraordinary knowledge and experience, and excellent eloquence, we often have long debates, But even the best debaters among us are often silenced by them.They are always full of thirst for knowledge.While I was translating European works on water conservancy for them, the Turks who lived across the street from me were also translating Arabic medical and agricultural works for them, including the Arabs’ experience in combating plague and the cultivation of flax And management technology, to be honest, I am also looking forward to it. When they finish the translation, they must buy a few volumes and send them back to Europe. The Turks are not willing to share their scientific achievements with us so frankly.The city is like a dry sponge, greedily absorbing knowledge through all channels, but filtering out the silt.

By the way, you must be wondering why I keep emphasizing 'this city' instead of 'this country'?This is because at the time when I describe to you such an Eden on earth, this country is going through a terrible disaster.Terrible natural disasters swept across the country, rogues ate up countless towns like locusts, drank up countless rivers, and spread crazily across the country.The rulers of this huge empire are doing their best to try to extinguish these locusts, and the army that is still loyal to the empire is exhausted. Although they have achieved some brilliant victories under the leadership of several excellent generals, the bandits are always swirling. , leaving them helpless.And in the north of China, a powerful nomadic people is watching. China has spent most of its fiscal revenue to resist these Tungus savages, but north of the Great Wall, they failed one after another, countless Elite soldiers and strong generals were buried in that black land.The most frightening thing is that this country seems to have lost its administrative capacity. Some stubborn and incompetent people have occupied the center of the empire. The life and death of ordinary people.Many decrees of the imperial rulers could not be implemented at all, except for tax increases.The emperor asked the common people to pay an extra ten cents of tax per person as a special fund for the extermination of bandits. These shameless officials can get an extra one tael of silver. The most shameful thing is that those who own thousands of acres, tens of thousands of acres or even 10,000+ acres The big landlords with hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land do not pay a penny of tax. They are proud of tax evasion and ashamed of paying taxes. Such heavy taxes all fall on the common people.Most of their troops have lost their ability to fight. They harm their own people more than rogues, and officials are more capable of harming the people than officers and soldiers... Natural disasters, man-made disasters, rogues, foreign enemies, cruel government...these The most terrifying thing is pushing this country into the abyss of hell, and many people of insight are lamenting that this country is doomed.Yes, the golden age of the golden country ruled by sages described by Marco Polo is facing the danger of being terminated, and this country is facing the great crisis of being conquered by barbarians for the second time.Walk out of Nanyang, the paradise on earth, and you will see hell immediately! "

At this point, the priest stopped writing, drank a sip of tea, sorted out his thoughts, and continued to write vigorously.

"Any empire that comes to this point is bound to fall apart. This is how the great ancient Rome ended. However, the situation in this country is very special. Even at such a desperate moment, the first thing that the most outstanding generals think of is not to separate themselves , attack each other, but try their best to fight, trying to use their own blood to glue the country that has begun to break into a complete whole. It seems that there is an invisible but awesome force that drives them to stand up He stepped out and used his own shoulders to prop up the fallen sky again. The young and rebellious General Yang whom I mentioned many times in the letter is a representative of them. He is so profound that even the greatest scholars in Europe can only bow down, and with endless ambition and energy, he led a group of outstanding people to work together with him, and built this Eden on earth in just three years. He seems It is a hero who came from this country's classical golden age. With the help of the gods, he crossed the river of time and came to this tragic, dark and hopelessly chaotic world. The beloved nation led to a more brilliant and brighter future. Under his rule, the Chinese civilization that was once severely damaged by the Mongols wiped off the dust that covered it, and began to bloom with an unusually dazzling light. How far can he go? Which step? I guess even God is curious about that?
Oh, the bell is ringing, it's nine o'clock, and it's getting more and more lively outside, I have to go out and have a look if I say anything, so let's write here first.By the way, I have to tell you one important thing at the end, dear Simon: General Yang is looking for a partner, he wants to export black tea and rock sugar to Europe—a kind of hard, transparent crystal sugar , the price was very high, but no matter it was the Dutch, the Portuguese or the Spaniards, they all expressed strong interest, and even the British and French tried their best to find them.Dear Simon, you also know that selling black tea and rock sugar is a lucrative industry. No one can be tempted. As a member of the Bowen family, I sincerely hope that you can leave the mess in Europe and raise funds to come to China. Here If it is a new business, I will try my best to persuade General Yang to hand over this business to you.However, before you leave for Europe, remember to invite some scholars and bring some European works, these will be your stepping stones to knock on the door of Nanyang!

Your cousin Marcos Bouwen. "

(End of this chapter)