From Chief to Ball

Among the missionaries sent by the Jesuits to China, Matteo Ricci had the highest scientific level at this time.And the dozen or so pioneers that Chen Jian sent to the capital were all selected by relying on their own connections and prestige. People who have been exposed to new things for several years have a high level of speculation.

There were so many of these people, and they calculated mentally and unintentionally. They pinpointed the opportunities of Guoben, Neijian, and Comet. It can be said that as soon as they came to the capital, they gained a greater influence than Matteo Ricci's activities for many years.

Too much influence is not necessarily good or bad. In Matteo Ricci's view, these people can at least get the same opportunity as they had to meet Emperor Wanli.

In fact, he was wrong. If it was a private act, he might have a chance to meet him, and he might even be an official of the Qin Tianjian.However, this group of people is not a private person or a church, but representatives of a country. They are still far away overseas in Fujian, and no matter how you look at it, there is no possibility of a direct audience.

In terms of gifts, Matteo Ricci was praised by Emperor Wanli for some exquisite things.But the gifts brought by this group of people are much more than what he himself brought, and they are not low in terms of exquisiteness...

It can be said that Matteo Ricci felt that this was the biggest crisis he faced after coming to China.As a foreign religion, Catholicism itself has a hard time gaining a foothold. Since the Five Dou of Rice and the Yellow Turban Uprising at the end of the Han Dynasty, this country has taken strict precautions against religion.The Buddha was destroyed and the Taoism was demoted, and Bailian is still making trouble.

This group of people doesn't talk about religion, they just pray for trade, and relying on huge financial resources to support the disaster victims in Quanzhou, and according to the news sent by the Quanzhou prefect, this group of people knows how to advance and retreat, and they also use the official banner of the Ming Dynasty when doing relief. , and nothing illegal.This point is incomparable to Matteo Ricci, and the biggest reliance on astronomy and mathematics is even more incomparable, and the depth of the crisis can be foreseen.

... It can be said that the uproar caused this time has offended too many people. Although it caused a lot of shock due to its huge momentum, it also laid the groundwork for opposition.

But all these uncertain factors finally became clear in mid-July.

The eunuch Xing Hong, the admiral of the imperial horse supervisor, came forward and invited these people in the capital to bring firearms and flintlock gun drills to the sand table to teach the servants how to use them.

At the same time, some of the gifts carried also need to be practiced in front of the inner officials, so that these inner officials can learn it and present it to the emperor...

Chapter 69 Diplomacy

These people unpacked the boxes immediately, and prepared all kinds of gifts except for the muskets.

Naturally, it is impossible for the eunuch to come directly to this group of people without an order, and even if there is an order to bribe the money, it is necessary.

The eunuchs of the Yumajian were very happy to see that these people sold generously and gave very generously, and there were many rare things, and they did not show any contempt.

Before coming to the capital, Chen Jian told these people that they must learn to bribe, and provided enough funds for bribery.

Eunuchs love money. Apart from money, they probably have nothing to love, but it doesn’t have to be gold and silver. Some rare utensils, such as the zebra skin named after the deer Shu that was worn in Yiyang, are even more remarkable. Gift.

Chen Jian was sure that Emperor Wanli would also like zebra skin, which was a good sign.

Because the ministers always told the emperor the story that the more descendants, the longer the life, the emperor was quite superstitious and believed in it. The deer and Shu skin of Peizhiyi's descendants is not a tonic that is easy to cause accidents. It is also a story in "Shan Hai Jing". .

As early as a few years ago, when Shen Yiguan was the elder of the pavilion, he would fool Wanli all day long, saying that "if you have many children and grandchildren, you will be called Quanfu".

Except for Taizu and Chengzu, most of the remaining emperors were short-lived.Shen Yiguan also said that Taizu had 25 sons and 120 grandsons, and Chengzu had four sons and 21 grandsons, and they all lived for more than 60 years.

Wanli still cares about longevity. It may be that it is difficult for Wanli to have a baby at this time, so Shen Yiguan patched it up again, saying that it does not have to be a son, and he can live longer if he has many grandchildren. Strong.

Although they are all his sons, compared with his own life, his own life is more important after all.If a few deer and Shu skins suitable for his descendants could be presented at this time, the emperor would be delighted, and he might even stipulate that his sons must be on zebra skins when doing business at night.

It can be said that Chen Jian made these things. It can be said that Xingchen and eunuchs are good at it, but it turns out that this is indeed a shortcut.

The Portuguese are not well-educated. Although they have a colony in Mozambique, they probably haven’t read the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and they don’t know what the emperor likes at all, let alone thinking about catching giraffes, zebras and other things as gifts.

The level of education of the Dutch is even lower, and they use the European way of dealing with diplomacy to interact with Ming Dynasty, and make a few broken ships every now and then as a threat of force, but in fact they don't have such strength at all and are disgusting.

On this point, Chen Jian still has a great advantage. When Matteo Ricci met with him a few years ago, he just took out some chime bells and the like. Chen Jian had much more good things than chime bells.

This incident can be regarded as an attitude. When the officials did not know what to do, the two memorials from Fujian caused another uproar.

One is a request from Fang Damei, the censor of Fujian Province, to be exempted from rescue.

"...In the past two years, disasters have occurred in Fujian every year. First, there are earthquakes, and then there are strong winds."

"Therefore, I ask for four exemptions. Fujian's food grain, whips, overlapping taxes, and retention are all requested to be exempted."

"The minister asks for two more aids, the first is to aid those who have nothing to rely on, and the second is to aid those who will have to work next year..."

So far, this is a very normal memorial.But after that, the content is very different from the past.

"This time Fujian was hit hardest by the disaster. However, compared with the catastrophe a few years ago, the death toll in Quanzhou has dropped."

"On the one hand, it was because the person who claimed to be from the Far West brought rice and helped to stabilize the price of rice, so that some profiteers could not benefit from the disaster."

"On the other hand, these people taught how to grow sweet potatoes, and they brought in a lot of sweet potatoes as seeds."

"Both of these things are fruitful. Therefore, I have two opinions."

"Nowadays, there are a lot of merchant ships going out for trade, and Annan, Siam and other places all produce rice. Fujian is sparsely populated, and there are many disasters, so it is appropriate to meet the tax money for the rice traded abroad, and pay one cent per stone. The tax on silver should be fixed, so don’t ask the tax supervisor Gao Cai and others to collect excessively. If you can force those ships that go out for trade to carry some rice, you can guarantee the price of food in Fujian and other places. Fujian itself is not a land of fish and rice, and there is no rice. The danger of cheap hurting farmers.”

"As for the sweet potato, it has achieved results. The yield per mu is large, and it can satisfy hunger. It tastes delicious. Many hungry people in Quanzhou live on it. This is a disaster-preparation food that is very suitable for promotion."

"Those people in the far western countries say that it is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish. There are two major difficulties in the promotion of sweet potatoes, but the "Sweet Potato Preparation Law" made by these people can solve them."

"The first difficulty is the method of transplanting seedlings. It is difficult to grow, so that the seedlings grow wildly. The "Sweet Potato Preparation Method" says that people can hold bamboo poles and turn over the sweet potato seedlings every few days. won't take root."

"The second difficulty is storage in the north. The "Sweet Potato Preparation Law" states that cellars can be dug to store sweet potatoes, especially in Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi and other places, where there is drought and no rain, and the storage cellars will not rot."

"After the catastrophe, there is no time to harvest rice and wheat, but there is no need to worry about sweet potatoes. They can be harvested in three months, and the seedlings can also satisfy hunger."

"Nowadays, Feng Yi is raging in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is drought and chaos in the north. If it can be promoted in the disaster area, it will show His Majesty's benevolence."

"I have ordered people to plant sweet potatoes in Fujian as seedlings, and I have asked for permission to promote them in some disaster-stricken areas in the north, and they can be transported by sea boat..."

As soon as this memorial arrived in the capital, it caused a huge repercussions.

As the saying goes, it is better to come at a good time than to come at a good time. Not long ago, Ye Xianggao just stated the disaster situation of the southern flood and northern drought in the whole country at this time. At this time, this memorial naturally has a different effect.

Another letter was also sent from Fujian.

First, I talked about the Japanese pirates, and then said that the Japanese pirates have been making trouble everywhere in the past few years. Haibo's unrest is really a disaster.

"Now there are not only Japanese pirates in Fujian, but also Hongyi, Helan, Lu Song, and Japanese pirates. There is also a new Yi who claims to be Xia. How should these people be treated? Are they treated differently or equally? This is It needs to be decided by His Majesty."

"In the past, the navy had large ships and fast ships. When dealing with Japanese pirates, it was our strength to rely on large ships to drive them away and fast ships to pursue them."

"But now the Japanese pirates have learned our methods, and their boats have become bigger and faster."

"Some people say that it must be because of the treacherous people of the state that they spread these technologies, so they ask for a strict ban on the sea. They even hope that the Japanese pirates, Helan, Luzon, Xia and other countries will be treated together. Because the Japanese pirates must have learned from them too. I don’t think it’s right.”

"I think there is a reason why there is an endless stream of traitors who communicate with the Japanese and cannot be banned."

"If you want to ban it completely, you can only stop sailing into the sea, and you must ban all fishermen, traders and shoppers."

"It's just that Fujian has a lot of mountains and little arable land. Many people rely on sea trade or fishing for a living. This is their life, so there is no way to cut it off."

"If the village is allowed to strictly implement the law of continuous sitting, as long as it is found that people who go to sea will be forced to sit together, it can indeed be stopped, but disasters will also occur."

"Those who were born in the mainland but drifted to the sea have already committed a big taboo, but they care about their homeland and admire His Majesty's grace. Once they sit on the forbidden sea, these people who drifted on the sea may never come back again. Instead, they will help the Japanese pirates, or even join the Japanese pirates."

"Fujian people live off the sea, and there are tens of thousands of people in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Once the sea is banned, there will be tens of thousands of Japanese pirates, so it must not be banned."

"It is true that there are traitors who collude with Japanese pirates and conduct trade with Japanese pirates. But apart from Japanese pirates, these merchants also went to Luzon and other places. Luzon is the place where the Sanbao eunuch went to the ocean. It is recorded."