New Shun 1730

This joke is really funny. I wanted to show my face, but ended up showing my butt.

But... Liu Yu thought, I asked you to go there, not to let you watch a joke.

"Fourth brother, you guys are not just remembering a joke, are you?"

"How could that be?!"

Dang Xuanming jumped up as if he had stepped on a nail, and said repeatedly: "Don't talk nonsense."

"Of course we have to watch this joke, but watching them fight is also the purpose of His Majesty sending us there this time. It's just... you also know that this kind of thing is hard to say."

"Knowing that it is the French who are showing off their military power, what can we say? It's hard to say, your country is really good at fighting, this military formation and gun techniques are terrifying? Isn't it the national prestige of the Fallen Heavenly Dynasty?"

"Duke Qi said it clearly, you can watch it, but you can't be surprised on your face. Even if you are surprised in your heart, you must hide it in your heart and remember it when you come back. In front of the French, you must never show cowardice."

After going out for a walk, I happened to catch up with the War of the Polish Succession. France, Russia, Austria and Poland were all at war, and the main battlefield was on the Rhine River.

Since Marshal Vauban, France has had a "habit" of inviting people to visit siege battles. Philipsburg is the place where Marshal Vauban became famous, and it is also the birthplace of the zigzag trench attack bastion method. It is estimated that the French are more familiar with Philipsburg than Paris.

However, this time, the illegitimate son of the abdicated King James II of England, the Duke of Berwick, was killed by a cannon shot by the defenders during the siege of Philipsburg.

Dang Xuanming thought to himself that it was not my fault for laughing, and everyone would laugh. Before setting off, the French boasted about it. Who would have thought that this was more interesting than watching a play?

If it were in the past, it would be a joke. But since Liu Yu asked, Liu Yu is different from him who has no official status. Although they are relatives, it is not good to smile at this time.

"Ah...it's hard to say. Shouchang, in fact, after we saw it, Duke Qi was also deeply worried. He felt that the military formation of the Westerners was very different. So at that time, Duke Qi also asked some of us if there were any willing to stay."

"There were also a few who wanted to serve His Majesty after learning, so they stayed there. We were a little dumber, and it was difficult to learn French alone, so we followed them back."

"Who would have thought that when we arrived in Luosha, we heard that your Qingzhou army had fought a good battle in the Western Regions, using a new formation. When we arrived at the Selenga River and were about to return, we heard that His Majesty was also implementing military reforms. At that time, I thought that those who stayed behind were in vain."

Liu Yu also smiled awkwardly, and understood that none of these people wanted to stay there.

Most of those who followed the delegation were from noble families, or the sons of officials who were eligible for protection. Not only were they unfamiliar with the place, but their lives were far less comfortable than in China.

The army is just that, and France's military thinking on the army at this time is not worth learning.

Liu Yu is very confident about this. He has a set of tactical ideas derived from the new drill manual of the members of the French People's Security Committee. Before the popularization of the rifle, it will never be outdated, and it is also very suitable for the situation around Dashun.

Artillery reform requires technology. He also wants a light and powerful six-pound gun, and cancels the eight-pound gun and four-pound gun, but the technology is still a little bit short. This is not a pure hardware problem that can be solved by tactical ideas.

I thought these people would go to Europe to observe and come back to facilitate military reform.

But the battle in the Western Regions was too dazzling and more intuitive. The emperor allowed the military reform to be tried, and the significance of those left in France was not too great.

As for shipbuilding and navy, it is still worth learning.

Liu Yu asked tentatively: "No one has taken the initiative to think about the navy?"

"There are a few. Duke Qi has kept a few smart ones. Didn't I hear that the French delegation came a while ago, and we also sent people there?"

"Well, that's true. Duke Qi is still very discerning."

Dang Xuanming smiled and said: "Of course, otherwise His Majesty would not let him lead the team. Is it just to participate in the coronation of the Russian Tsar? He has the power to make decisions, who dares to disobey us? It's just that I'm a little stupid, but it's a blessing in disguise, so I don't have to stay there."

Liu Yu thought to himself, blessing? Not at all, what can you do after you come back?

He didn't persuade scholars, anyway, learning is something that can't be persuaded.

I also wanted to know what these people felt when they went to Europe, so I asked, "So you didn't feel anything after traveling around Europe?"

Dang Xuanming pondered for a moment and shook his head, "I just had a quick look and didn't feel much. I didn't see anything that made me drop my jaw when I saw it."

"Except for the military formation, I don't know about others. Anyway, in my eyes, the Celestial Empire is superior in every way, and Westerners are not good enough. Oh, by the way, Westerners' ships and navies are also powerful, with huge warships and white sails that cover the sky. But that's all."

"Oh, by the way. I didn't know until I arrived in Paris that Westerners also played the Three Immortals Returning to the Cave trick on the streets."

"Uh..." Liu Yu was speechless, thinking to himself, what did you go to see?

But thinking about it again, it seems that there are no black chimneys everywhere in Europe now, which can make people feel the same shock as the earthlings seeing the Trisolarians.

In addition to the military, the real gap is this theorem and that theorem, but these things are not intuitively felt.

The scientific differences are difficult to detect, and the cultural differences are difficult to distinguish since they are not orthodox Confucian scholars.

In terms of life, according to absolute average, France is slightly better. But how do these young nobles know the lives of the real people at the bottom?

According to the average salary, the average salary in Britain at this time was four to five times that of Dashun, and it was probably similar in France. Except for luxury goods such as tea and silk, food was not expensive.

But it is impossible to expect these people to see these things.

Thinking of this, Liu Yu thought of Chen Zhen, who had had conflicts with him in the mission, and asked: "Where is that Chen Zhen?"

Dang Xuanming knew that Liu Yu and Chen Zhen had conflicts, but when he left, Liu Yu gave him gold, silver and cotton-padded clothes, so Dang Xuanming stopped tormenting him with his noble disciples.

"This man stayed in France. There was a man in France, I think his name was Voltaire, who was very interested in Confucius. We didn't know much about it, but Chen Zhen did. As a result, it didn't take long before France started a literary inquisition. It was said that Voltaire's books "criticized the imperial court, praised the British and foreigners, and taught evil things", but they all knew that they had gone to his concubine, and the French court turned a blind eye. I stayed in Paris and talked all day long with the friends introduced by Voltaire, and we didn’t know what we were talking about.”

Dang Xuanming naturally looked at France from a Chinese perspective and felt very familiar with France's literary inquisition.

There were people on the streets playing the game of Three Immortals Returning to the Cave, and the imperial court was engaging in literary inquisition. I couldn’t help but feel that it was no wonder that France and China came into contact much later than Britain and the Netherlands, but the relationship was naturally close.

Hearing that Chen Zhen did not come back this time, but was chatting with Voltaire and others in Paris, I was secretly relieved.

It is not necessarily a good thing that the person who is most likely to criticize the West from a Confucian perspective has not come back, because it is difficult to say that he understands it after seeing it at a glance, and understanding is the prerequisite for speaking something meaningful. I don’t know if Chen Zhen has lived in Paris for a long time. After a while, will you have different ideas?

Speaking of Voltaire and his "concubine", Liu Yu couldn't help feeling emotional.

In theory, although France is located in Europe, the spread of this idea is not that fast.

Anyway, in my memory, when "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" was written, Kui Yi, who had fought with Zheng Chenggong, was still alive; but only now has it been translated into French by Voltaire's lover, and Newton's theory has been published for the first time. Spread in French in France.

Just across a strait, even so, it seems that the idea of ​​​​starting a new one instead of "spreading learning from the East and spreading from the West" is correct.

France spread Western learning to the East. It took nearly sixty years to write "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" and nearly thirty years to develop the steam engine. There was still only one English Channel between them. If Dashun had done this, it would have been several times worse. After ten years, I’m afraid it’s hard to talk about “striving to win”.

At the very least, the book "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" gave Liu Yu a headache because it was too obscure.

I feel that after all, Dang Xuanming has too little life experience and insufficient education, so he may not be able to see too many things.

But since he knows that the Western military formation and navy are worth learning, this is enough. At least this group of people who have traveled to Europe will firmly support the military reform and navy, and they can even tell the emperor more intuitively, The Western fleet is indeed very strong and we should be vigilant.

After asking again, Dang Xuanming didn't think there was much to be surprised about. He just talked about the lives of those nobles in France. After all, he just looked at the highlights and couldn't see much.

"What do the rest of you think when you go back and forth?"

"Hey, what do you think? Most people are similar to me."

As he spoke, Dang Xuanming smiled and clicked on the pile of books and said: "There may be some things in such books, but we can't understand them. We can understand the court etiquette, but it is crude and ridiculous; things about military formations , I thought I had learned something, but I never thought that when I came back, I would find out that the Celestial Dynasty had already undergone military reforms; I couldn’t speak French well about the remaining Confucian knowledge and the way of heaven and earth. I only knew a few words about stupid pig and stupid donkey, and most people and people Me too."

"As for the Kingdom of Rakshasa, let alone that. I originally went to attend the coronation of that little Peter, but as a result, there were no descendants after I went there. Instead, I watched a good show by Si Chen. It was a mess, and the capital was moved. The capital was moved again, from Petersburg to Moscow, back and forth, but there was nothing to see.”

Speaking of this, Dang Xuanming couldn't help but muttered: "Shou Chang, I heard you often talk about Westerners. We thought we would see all kinds of jaw-dropping things when we went there, but where are there so many? After we went out, I I feel that the word "Chinese Dynasty" is more appropriate. "

"Let's put it this way, I followed the Duke of Qi to visit some nobles in France. The porcelain and silk they used to entertain us... To be honest, we have to treat guests at home, and such porcelain cannot be served on the table. We can't afford to disgrace the person. "

Hearing this, Liu Yu could only laugh.

Dang Xuanming asked quietly: "Did you hear any news? How does Your Majesty plan to use us people?"

This is what these people who returned from the trip with Qi Guogong are thinking about most. Many people were reluctant to leave at that time, thinking of working as a minor official in the court to survive their qualifications.

If you are enterprising, you can follow him to the southwest, change the country and put down the rebellion, and make some achievements; or you can take advantage of the imperial court's opportunity to pacify the Western Regions and make a name for yourself.

It's just that among these people, those who don't want to hang around and wait to die, when they return to Moscow from Paris, their mentality is completely different from when they went there.

There, they heard about the Celestial Empire's efforts to pacify the Quanbu and retake the Western Regions. Liu Yu's battle north of the Altai Mountains cut off many people's thoughts of taking advantage of the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, and crushed the dreams of countless nobles and bastards who longed to become famous.

I just thought that this trip was a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, even if I stayed in the court, I would not have any merits to show for it. It would be better to go out for a walk.

But after a walk, I thought about it carefully and saw the methods of the Western military formation. However, Dashun had already started the military reform. Everyone, including Dang Xuanming, was thinking about what to do when they came back?

Liu Yu smiled and said, "I'm in Weihai all year round now, you ask me? Who should I ask? My uncle just came back from the southwest, do I know more about the news in the court than my uncle?"

Dang Xuanming shook his head and said, "Don't mention it, don't mention it. Your uncle is also worried about me. Those who went with me, the ambitious ones stayed in France to study at the military academy. The lesser ones also learned some French, Latin, and Rakshasa. I really didn't learn anything. According to the original rules, your uncle made contributions in the southwest, and I should be given a position. But now that the military has been reformed, we can only start from scratch and be a small company commander. Your uncle's intention is to ask if it would be better to go to the navy?"

"It's mainly to ask what good positions there are in the navy. I also know the risks at sea. It's best not to go on board, but to manage logistics. You don't have to do this, just ask if there are any good places to go, so that you can have an idea."