Wanli Xinming

Chapter 358
It is not surprising that Montaigne admired Xu Guangqi with reverence.Because Europa in 1584 was still a young continent in the development of civilization, it just reverted to its ancestors from the Renaissance and found its own historical origin.At the same time, this civilization, with its nascent barbarism, built up a kind of hubris in its conquest of the natives of America and Africa.

But this excessive "confidence" has no corresponding economic volume to set off it and make it worthy of its name; there is no "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" to support it and make it convincing; there is no outstanding humanistic philosophy to support it. Elaborate and decorate it - the hearts and minds of the people cannot be conquered by the murderous smugglers all over the new route.

Therefore, when they encountered thousands of years of accurate chronicles, a complete legal and etiquette system, a scientific and effective management system, and noble and humane religious customs, what Montaigne and others encountered was the blow of dimensionality reduction—this No exaggeration.

Even in the Qing Dynasty, which had become ignorant and backward 200 years later, when Voltaire, the "Father of French Thought", discussed China in "On the Spirits and Customs of Nations and the History from Charlemagne to Louis XIII", he worshiped Feelings also flow in the pen:

"When we were a small group wandering in the A-Dang forests, the vast and populous empire of the Chinese had been governed like a family."

There are still many Europas like Montaigne who were affected by the mission. This small team has become a propaganda team and a seeder, sowing the seeds of Chinese civilization in this land longing for enlightenment.The "essential members" who stayed in Daming already had companions in their native land - Francisco I, who was brainwashed by repeated letters from the capital violinist Romano, was one of them.

After Montaigne left Florence full of tears of excitement, the Grand Duke of Tuscany and Xu Guangqi also had a sincere talk, mainly asking for advice on his own inheritance.He was now caught in a contradiction: biologically he had two heirs, but legally he had none, and he didn't know what to do about it, so he asked the "sage" from Serris on the subject.

After listening to the Grand Duke's question, Xu Guangqi scratched his head - after all, although he has read a lot and has high literacy, he has no clue about such questions, because he was sent out before he even had children.

After obtaining the permission of the Grand Duke, he invited Wang Jiaping.

Wang Jiaping has too much knowledge in this regard.He first introduced China's system of direct descendants and sons, which was "established by the Duke of Zhou", and since then it has become "a system that is not easy for a hundred kings".

The Grand Duke of Tuscany said excitedly: "It is very regrettable that my first wife gave me seven children, but no boys survived."

Followed by Wang Jiaping, he introduced the principle of succession of "there is a direct descendant, no direct descendant" - this is similar to the "primogenous succession system" established by the European aristocracy in the past century, but the current problem of the Grand Duke is: in Legally, he does not even have a son in his name.

This is not difficult for Wang Jiaping. He followed up with the idea of ​​"adopting" - he can adopt a nephew from a side to inherit the family business, but the nephew must call the Grand Duke his father and legally separate him from his biological father. Relationship.

After Wang Jiaping finished speaking, he frowned and said: "This kind of inheritance will cause some problems. Historically, those who inherit the throne like this will generally not be peaceful for a few years, and many countries will decline because of this." Out of respect for their own royal family, He did not mention the great etiquette, but cited an example of the Chenghan regime during the Sixteen Kingdoms period when Li Xiong was in his nephew Li Ban, which caused the kings to compete for the throne and the country's power was declining.

The Grand Duke heard that his expression changed.The child Antonio brought by his second wife looks like his mother, although it should be his own child - but there is no testing method to confirm it, and the Archduke is a little suspicious in his heart.

As for the illegitimate son of Carlo, he is certain - but even Cosimo I, the first grand duke of Tuscany, only gave partial inheritance rights to the illegitimate son Giovanni. Can't stop.

Among the heirs left by Cosimo I today, apart from the illegitimate son Giovanni who became a cardinal, only himself and his younger brother, Cardinal Ferdinando remain. Ferdinando tried his best to pass on to Antonio. Against, Giovanni is noncommittal.

During Xu Guangqi's visit to Europe this time, Carlo, the illegitimate son, was able to curry favor with the embassy and became a popular person around Xu Guangqi, successfully attracting the attention of the royal families and Grand Duke Francisco.

After careful deliberation, Francisco entrusted the illegitimate son to Xu Guangqi - this statement is equivalent to admitting that Carlo has partial inheritance rights. In terms of the influence of the Medici family in the Holy See, Carlo will be like his illegitimate uncle Giovanni in the future. , being a cardinal is no problem.

But there is still the same problem. The illegitimate child does not have the right to inherit the Grand Duke, because the Medici family has not yet reached the point of one-line single pass. From a legal point of view, Ferdinando's inheritance rights are stronger than that of Carlo and Antonio - unless the Grand Duke is irrefutable. Proof that Antonio and Carlo are his children, but it is impossible.

He told the truth about his predicament, Xu Guangqi and Wang Jiaping looked at each other.The inheritance of the throne is an extremely sensitive matter at any time, but this grand duke is not seen outside, and he has to chat with two foreign messengers until the middle of the night to ask about plans - you have the spirit, can't you go back to the nest and work hard to regenerate another one?

Hearing the words, the Grand Duke broke the jar and said, "I have lost my fertility." After speaking, he sighed, his face flushed with shame.

Wang Jiaping and Xu Guangqi were once again stunned when they heard the words. The Grand Duke is only in his 40s, so why can't he do it? This is because he was not good at keeping healthy when he was young, poor man!
Wang Jiaping gave the Grand Duke a deep look, then got up and went back to his room.After a while, he came back, took out a large box of pills and said, "Your Excellency, this is the sacred medicine of our country 'Shenbao' pills, you can try two pills."

Xu Guangqi's eyes almost popped out of his sockets when he heard the words, and he looked at Wang Shangshu involuntarily.Wang Jiaping, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, was a little shy, and whispered in Chinese: "I'm not afraid of losing the prestige of Chinese men, right?"

The Grand Duke smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid it's useless. I've eaten coriander a few times, and I was almost poisoned twice—this thing is useless at all."

Wang Jiaping heard the words and said: "Trust me, Spanish flies can't compare with this medicine - of course, as an entry thing, I suggest you take it after testing, um, you can test the poison with silver needles, right?"

Xu Guangqi was a professional in this regard, and he quickly interjected: "The silver needle just reacts to impure arsenic. Your Excellency the Grand Duke still finds someone to test the poison before taking it - and we have different soil and water, and different races, this thing works. or not"

The Grand Duke of Tuscany stood up and bowed: "Thank you, Your Excellency Count and Minister, I will arrange good night immediately!"

Wang Jiaping didn't say a word, and as soon as he surrendered to Xu Guangqi, he was about to go back to sleep.Xu Guangqi grabbed him and said, "You're wrong to Nan Gong~"

Along the way, Wang Jiaping and Xu Guangqi had a long-term friendship. Now that he saw him being narrow-minded, he laughed dryly:

"Hey, don't mention it. Back then, the old man thought that there could be some romantic affairs between Europa's brothel and the washington - who would have thought that this place was so savage that there would be no poetry and harmony at all? Prepared for nothing!"

After a pause, the old guy said again: "It would be a pity if this medicine has expired. Give it a try to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, isn't it considered a favor?"

Without a word for a night, Xu Guangqiman thought that when he saw the Grand Duke of Tuscany again, his face would be full of spring breeze, or he would be like a mourning concubine, but he never expected the Grand Duke to be full of fear: "Your Excellency Count, today I will use a silver needle to test it. After trying breakfast, it turned black - someone poisoned our couple's meal!"

(End of this chapter)