New Shun 1730

Blatant corruption and backdoor dealings are really trivial matters in the Celestial Empire.

If we ask whether there are lucrative positions in the Navy, there are certainly some. Dang Xuanming is just asking for directions, and Liu Yu does not need to intervene in the operation.

"Fourth brother, this matter... how to say it. The Navy is now just a framework. Whether it will be promoted to the Navy Department in the future still depends on the court discussion and the decision of His Majesty. For now, I advise you not to rush for the time being."

"So many of you have followed Duke Qi around, and His Majesty will definitely make arrangements. Let me go to Duke Qi to find out the bottom first, and I will get back to you when I get the news."

"Let me put it this way, it is not a good time to squeeze into the Navy now."

Once the Navy Department is established in the future, there will definitely be a lot of redundant staff, and many lucrative positions will definitely be occupied by the sons of these nobles or officials, such as logistics, clothing procurement, etc., and the captains of the front line... this is not something that can be squeezed in.

One more or one less will not make a difference, and in the end it still depends on how the emperor handles it.

Dang Xuanming didn't think Liu Yu was prevaricating, so he had to say, "There are rumors about the Duke of Qi. It is said that a Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be established, and the Duke of Qi will be in charge, and it will be in parallel with the Li Government. The Li Government only manages tributary states, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs manages non-tributary states. To be honest, this is not a good job."

"Non-tributary states don't have much money. You see, this time the Korean tribute delegation came to Beijing, and the Li Government took some money. There is a custom of making money from house repairs, food, clothing, housing and transportation."

"When people go to Korea to be enthroned, which envoy doesn't get 30,000 or 50,000 taels? The subordinates follow suit, the chief and deputy envoys eat meat, and the subordinates drink soup... This Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn't seem to have any money. I don't want to go."

Taking advantage of Korea has existed since ancient times. Apart from Korea, tribute is actually a kind of official monopoly trade, and there must be a lot of money in it.

Diplomacy... Many people still don't understand diplomacy. They always feel that if it weren't for tribute and free trade, all the profits would be taken away by the customs people, so what would be left of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

Dashun is not the late Qing Dynasty, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is of great significance. After all, the officials who guard the land can rule by the foreigners.

The current situation is really awkward.

The licking is all under the control of the Li government; the remaining trade and disputes are under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and there is no need to look at the foreigners' faces. It really sounds like a water-free government.

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Are you so pessimistic?"

"No. Just like the border survey with Luocha, it must be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Let the Li government manage it. First, they are not a tributary state, and second, they can't manage it well."

"Can you make money from the border survey? Of course you can, but this money... it's easy to lose your head if you get it. Going to Korea is different. It's customary to ask for money for the enthronement. If the King of Korea gives it, how can you refuse it? You don't even need to ask, it's a convention."

"Even if the Luocha people give money, who dares to accept it for such a big thing as the border survey? So I say, this Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a completely empty government office, and it is paid by His Majesty's treasury. . It's easy to make money from the treasury, but it's too hot to handle the money from the inner treasury."

"Hahaha..." Liu Yu laughed for a while, then said: "Come on! Come on! I'll go to the Duke of Qi to ask. Let's do this, I'll set up a plan in a few days, you call all the friends who are going to Europe this time, and we'll have a good chat. My Earl's Mansion hasn't been built yet, so let's borrow it from my father first. I'll also inquire about the news in the next few days, and we'll talk about it then."

"Then I'll leave first. Go to my uncle and aunt to say goodbye. Don't keep any food for them."

He stood up to say goodbye, turned to his uncle and aunt, said something, and hurried to the Duke of Qi.

As soon as he entered the door, the Duke of Qi, who hadn't seen him for many years, came to greet Liu Yu and entered the main hall.

When he came before, Liu Yu was still a nephew of no status; now it's very different, and the etiquette should not be missed at all.

"Shouchang, you came just in time. I was very emotional when I went to Europe this time, and I had a lot to say. Your Majesty kept me for two days, and I only said half of it."

Completely different from Dang Xuanming's emotion, Duke Qi had much more emotion, and it can be seen that his expression was also very excited.

After several years of vicissitudes, he looked much older. After all, he spent most of his time on the road. A broken place like Russia and the bitter cold of Siberia were too tiring. Even if he was just passing by, he must have suffered a lot.

When he talked about what he had just done from his uncle, he couldn't help but talk about Dang Xuanming's experience of this trip to Europe.

"What do these kids know? It is just as the birds see food; the fish see water; the scholars see justice; the saints see the way."

"I have walked around and I feel a lot. As the saying goes, every inch has its own strengths and weaknesses. The Celestial Empire still needs to learn some things from the Westerners."

From Dang Xuanming's attitude, Liu Yu really didn't think that Dang Xuanming was arrogant, stupid and ignorant.

It was the European system, which really had nothing to learn at this time. In terms of culture, the Celestial Empire still had a great sense of superiority.

The real strength is hidden under the surface. It is difficult to say whether the sudden explosive growth in Europe is a qualitative change caused by quantitative change or a sudden change under chance.

For now, even when Watt improved the steam engine, not to mention the East, even France, which is so close, took a long time to react, and only responded after the textile industry was hit.

It is the Duke of Qi who has a lot of feelings and is now excited, which makes Liu Yu quite curious.

"I was in France at the time, and the French invited me to watch a siege. I knew it was a display of French national power. Even though it ended up being a joke, I was still worried."

"Fortunately, I heard that the Celestial Empire had reformed its military before I came back, and my heart was finally at ease. Shouchang, you did a good job on this matter. Otherwise, when I came back this time, I would have to submit a memorial to His Majesty and strongly advocate the military reform."

Seeing that it was about the military again, Liu Yu didn't want to talk about it, but humbly said, "I heard from my uncle that His Majesty wanted to entrust the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Duke?"

"Not just the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." Duke Qi couldn't help but sigh. He felt a little headache about the things the emperor asked him to take care of.

"I was also asked to be in charge of translating Western books. This time, the books worth 30,000 or 40,000 taels of silver are not bamboo slips from the time of Confucius. There are dozens of carts full of books, tens of thousands of them. Although I don't do the translation work directly, there are not enough translators."

"Those who understand Western languages ​​may not understand the content of the books. The court banned religion, and those who understand Western languages ​​are mostly Catholics, and His Majesty is unwilling to use them. Do you understand what I mean?"

In translating foreign books, Duke Qi just put his name on it and did some organizational work. This kind of thing was originally a daily routine for the nobles. Liu Yu's father was also named to compile the Ming History to express his respect for the previous dynasty and the transition from the old to the new.

The Duke of Qi's meaning is easy to understand.

There are actually quite a few people in the court or the world who know Western languages.

However, many people who know Western languages ​​are proficient in the Bible, not science.

Even a figure like Xu Guangqi of the previous dynasty could not understand the second half of Geometry, so he could only wait for Matteo Ricci to translate it.

But Matteo Ricci used this thing to fish, so how could he be willing to translate it all at once? The level of the several missionaries who came later was also average. Fortunately, the court had several figures before, and they finally translated it all.

But those were books from two thousand years ago. It would be troublesome to translate the pile of books brought back this time.

Especially in the context of the court banning religion, the previous dynasty also had a huge "translation plan", but most of the books in that plan were religious books.

This time, religious books must be eliminated.

Excluding religious books, some people who know Western languages ​​will be useless, because they know most religious words, and they are also worried that these people will add religious private goods.

Moreover, it is okay to ask them to translate a theological book, but ordinary people don’t have the ability to translate the contents of science and engineering, especially the new achievements in recent years.

Hearing the strings, he knew what he meant. Duke Qi was looking for him to borrow people? This was completely different from the route he had imagined. He didn’t think that spending a lot of effort to translate a lot of books would be very cost-effective.

"Duke, in fact, if you ask me, the translation is not urgent. I have a few young men who can translate these practical books, but... everything has its priorities."

"To be arrogant, I know which books should be translated first and which books can be translated later."

"I can't move the manpower here. If I really need it, it will take three to five years. I have trained a group of people who can take over the translation of these practical books, but they haven't learned them yet."

"Did your majesty give a time limit?"

Duke Qi shook his head and smiled, "No. But you also know your majesty's temper. He always said that if you want to surpass, you must first communicate, and if you want to communicate, you must first translate. Your majesty was also impatient when he heard me talk about the situation of the war in the West."

"Your majesty spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy books. He also knew the advantages of Westerners in machinery and military formations. Of course I am anxious. "

"But this is different from military reform. Military reform has the foundation left by Emperor Taizong, so it is easy to train officers; but for this translation, relying on the foundation left by Emperor Taizong is not enough."

"Your Majesty also deliberately instructed that when translating, strict review must be carried out. It is necessary to prevent the spread of Western religious misleading words. The missionaries serving in the court are unreliable, and most of the people who know Western languages ​​in the court are former believers. I have thought about it and can only find people from you."

"But since you said there are priorities, I don’t quite understand what priorities are. How about this, you translate a few books and send them to me, so that I can report to you."

"The main thing is that Your Majesty asked me to select people, and I can’t use religious people. Where can I find so many people who know Latin?"

After talking about the shortcomings in talent, Duke Qi talked about something he had experienced deeply before.

The translation is faithful and elegant. When I first found Liu Yu, I asked him to help translate the letter to Luosha. At that time, I listened to Liu Yu's talk about Russian history and Byzantine history for most of the day, which made me understand the quality of the translation.

Now, apart from religious books, there are history books, practical books, and technology to translate, which makes it even more difficult to translate.

To translate technical books, you need to have relevant experience; to translate history books, you need to understand Western history; to translate practical books, you need to have a mathematical foundation.

This can also be attributed to the "talent" problem, but the standard of translation is the real headache.

"For example, you said "algebra", but the missionary translated it into "Arjebala"; you said "Ireland", but the missionary translated it into "Zebeniya"; you said "Spain", but translated it into "Isbenia"..."

"Now, people who follow you know Ireland, but don't know Zebeniya; people who follow missionaries know Arjebala, but don't know algebra."

"The same book, if translated by different people, will almost become two books. How to translate it?"

"If I had not personally visited Europe, even if His Majesty asked me to preside over the translation, I would just do it to get by and find some people to translate it casually. I don't care whether it is Aljebara or algebra?"

"But now that I have personally visited Europe, I should also know the length of the size. In this case, this translation is not a trivial matter, and it must be translated well."

"Otherwise, it will be a serious responsibility for the country."