Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1497 Beiyang Expedition ([-])
Although the governor of Devilla showed great sincerity, Gao Zhenxin put on airs at this time, and refused to go there again in person, and only sent two people, Gao Musan and Zhu Yingfeng, to represent him and Governor Devilla. Continue to negotiate.

Gao Musan is just a highly pragmatic servant, and even can only be regarded as a mid-level servant among the servants.Although Zhu Yingfeng has no title to claim, but after all, he came from a relatively noble family. His uncle was the Duke of Cheng, and his grandfather was the former governor of Jinyiwei. Therefore, Gao Musan took the initiative to give up the "prime position" to Zhu Yingfeng.

Zhu Yingfeng was not polite, not only took the chair, but also directly asked the interpreter to tell Governor Devilla that he was from a "Duke family" that was one of the best in the Ming Dynasty, and that he had served in the emperor's army for many years, etc. .

When Governor Devilla heard this, he was immediately in awe-the duke family, this is no joke in Europe, if it was in the Holy Roman Empire, it would probably be equivalent to the family of the elector.

Moreover, this gentleman has "served in the emperor's army for many years". If he were in Europe, wouldn't he be close to His Majesty's aide-de-camp?Amazing, this is His Majesty's confidant!

Evidently, Governor Devilla has fallen into a vicious circle of thinking patterns. How did he know that Jin Yiwei, the "emperor's pro-army", is actually a "secret policeman", and Zhu Yingfeng's so-called "serving for many years" is just a nominal salary in Jin Yiwei. He himself hadn't even been to the Fusi yamen in Jinyiwei Nanbei Town a few times.

In any case, Governor de Villa quickly got up and took off his hat and bowed as a nobleman-the governor's full name is Santiago de Villa, and the "de" in the middle means that he is a nobleman.Nobles have their own etiquette rules among nobles, especially at this time he has truly felt the strength of the "Ming Army", and this kind of etiquette can be regarded as a correct attitude.

Zhu Yingfeng was very satisfied, stood up and bowed, and then said: "As commissioned by Commander Zhenxin, Captain Mu San and I will negotiate with you on the surrender of Manila City and the release of your country's prisoners of war on his behalf."

What Zhu Yingfeng said was a bit "Western", because he had dealt with the Portuguese when he was in Japan for maritime trade, so he had a basic understanding of these things.

In fact, although the Ming and Qing dynasties were not far apart in terms of time, their attitudes towards foreign exchanges were completely different.In particular, the scholar-official class and even the entire ruling class had completely different attitudes towards foreign exchanges.

In the original history, from the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 to the abdication of the Qing emperor in 1912, there were a total of 72 years in between. During most of this time, all walks of life in China were still immersed in the dream of the heavenly kingdom and refused to change. , Refusal to contact the West, panic, hostility, and ignorance when faced with new things such as foreigners, trains, and telegraphs, make future generations feel completely incredible.

This brings up another question: Were the Chinese in the Ming Dynasty also so conservative and insensitive?
The answer is no. Most of the scholars and officials in the late Ming Dynasty, including officials at all levels, were very open-minded, and their curiosity was so strong that it even surprised Western missionaries.

It is recorded in detail in "Notes on China by Matteo Ricci". In the book, Matteo Ricci described the strong "curiosity" of the Chinese people, "as if going crazy", and there was an endless stream of visitors, just wanting to understand things about the West.Those who couldn't meet him communicated through letters. He received many letters, from people he knew and didn't know, and discussed various topics with him, eager to acquire new knowledge.

Many people in later generations believed that the literati in the Ming Dynasty were still indulging in the dream of the heavenly kingdom, and only a very few people were willing to associate with missionaries, but Matteo Ricci’s notes clearly subverted the traditional perception.

According to statistics, there are at least 137 Ming Dynasty people with names and surnames mentioned in Matteo Ricci's books.This is directly mentioned by name, and there are many more that are not mentioned.

For example, in 1592 in the original history, after Matteo Ricci came to Jiangxi, he was immediately surrounded by Jiangxi literati and became the object of competition.

Matteo Ricci’s "Letter from Ricci to Father Meng Sande of Macau" records: "In this city...everyone is curious to see me, there are so many people who come to visit, and there are important scholars and dignitaries ( officer), that really gets me excited."

Visitors come in an endless stream. Will they just take a look at the foreigners, which is the common saying of "seeing strangeness"?Really not, because many scholars asked to worship Matteo Ricci as their teacher and asked him to teach Western knowledge, so that Matteo Ricci was exhausted.Moreover, when Zhang Huang, the dean of Bailudong Academy, learned that Matteo Ricci was in Nanchang, he even invited him to give lectures at the academy.Later, King Le'an and King Jian'an of Jiangxi Province invited Matteo Ricci to their mansion to ask about some matters in Europe.

In 1598, Matteo Ricci arrived in Nanjing, which caused an even bigger whirlwind, because Nanjing was one of the cultural centers of the Ming Dynasty. It is clearly recorded in the "Letter to Father Gausta" from Lishi that "the Chinese came to visit me, some of them seemed to be crazy, and they rushed over each other... Some wanted to learn mathematics, and some were interested in ethical science."

In 1601, Matteo Ricci arrived in the capital and was still very popular. Among them was a young official named Zhang Yangmo, who even directly worshiped Ricci as his teacher. motto".

In short, from the south to the north, the people of the Ming Dynasty not only did not reject Ricci's Western learning, but pursued it frantically, but most of them did not take his Catholic belief seriously.

Ming Dynasty people's curiosity about Western learning was also reflected in official and folk translations and printing of Western learning works. In 1605, the "Letter from Lishi to Father Gausta" contains: "A few years ago, I sent you a "Map of the World", which was printed in Chinese in Beijing... It has been printed more than ten times, and many people hope to have a copy of it. Zhang, scrambling to buy."

In 1608, the "Letter to the Priest of the Roman Congregation" recorded: "At the beginning of this year, I presented a large "Map of the World" to the Chinese emperor (Wanli). The emperor was very happy and ordered the craftsmen to follow the map I presented The block was printed, and soon many copies were printed, and the "World Map" was hung in many temples."

It can be seen that not only the folks and scholars welcomed Western learning, but also Emperor Wanli himself was very interested in it and did not reject it.

At that time, apart from theological books, other Western studies of Matteo Ricci could attract the interest of Ming Dynasty literati, and even many of Matteo Ricci's books were actively printed and disseminated by Ming Dynasty literati.For example, the first philosophical book "On Making Friends", which won a great reputation for Matteo Ricci, was printed repeatedly.

In addition to Matteo Ricci's books, non-missionary Western books written by other missionaries are also very popular. For example, "Zhi Fang Wai Ji" translated by the Italian missionary Aurelius aroused great enthusiasm among scholars in the Ming Dynasty. .

Regrettably, many major countries in Europe are mentioned in this book, including Ukraine, Scandinavian countries, and Greece. However, during the Opium War, Emperor Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty and his courtiers They don't even know where England is!
In this frantic study, there was no significant difference between the development levels of mathematics, astronomy and physics between China and Europe in the late Ming Dynasty.Leibniz said in the preface to "China's Recent Events" in 1697, "China, an ancient civilization, is in a competition with Europe on an equal footing."

Of course, even if there is some gap between the Ming Dynasty and Europe, it doesn't matter much.The reason is very simple. The Ming people did not rely on the celestial dynasty to be blindly arrogant. The literati in the Ming Dynasty were curious and ambitious to catch up—even if there were no changes brought about by high pragmatism in the original history.It is clear from two examples:
First, during the battles with colonists such as Portugal and the Netherlands, the Ming people realized that only strengthening weapons and equipment is the only way to "control the barbarians". Therefore, they enthusiastically learned and introduced Western firearms, and quickly narrowed the gap between the two sides .In the Tuen Mun Naval Battle with Portugal, Wang Hung was the first to propose "teaching the barbarians to control the barbarians", introduced Portuguese cannons, and finally defeated the Portuguese fleet.

Second, in the process of interacting with Western missionaries, the Ming Dynasty people realized their own shortcomings and backwardness.Therefore, in 1629, in Xu Guangqi's memorial to Emperor Chongzhen, he proposed that "if you want to be super victorious, you must be able to understand; before you can understand, you must translate", which can be called every word and thought-provoking.

It can be seen that many literati at that time were aware of the problems and proposed solutions. This was an open attitude, which was in stark contrast to the strange self-confidence of the Qing Dynasty who insisted that "Lao Tzu is the best in the world" without asking questions.

In fact, there is another living example. The different fates of "Pictures of Sea Kingdoms" in China and Japan fully illustrate this difference.

Before and after the Meiji Restoration, Japan eagerly wanted to understand and learn from the West, which was the same as China's attitude towards the West in the late Ming Dynasty. "Haiguo Tuzhi" was unsalable in the Qing Dynasty and could not be sold at all, but it was sold out immediately after it was brought to Japan. It was not enough to sell after several reprints, just like Matteo Ricci's books in the late Ming Dynasty.

Let’s not talk about whether attitude determines everything, but a correct attitude must be the foundation of success. If there is no foundation, how can success start?
Although Zhu Yingfeng is a member of the "ignorant and backward traditional aristocratic class", it is not surprising that he is a person who loves to engage in maritime trade and cares about Western affairs.He can almost draw the "World Map" printed by Jinghua Publishing.

[Note: However, at this time, Jinghua’s "world map" was not fully drawn because of high-level pragmatic concealment. For example, Australia is completely in a state of "fog", and America only draws a rough outline, and the interior of Africa Parts are also deliberately painted into a cloud of fog.Generally speaking, the Jinghua version of the world map is only based on the "outline revised version" of Europe's perception of the world at this time. ]
From another perspective, Zhu Yingfeng's current performance also shows that high pragmatism has achieved certain and staged results in "driving the noble class to open up".

They no longer buy fields after earning money, but continue to invest in business and trade in order to obtain greater benefits.Because in order to invest in business and trade, they need to know more about the West from the perspective of their own interests. Therefore, the highly pragmatic "interest-driven reform" has succeeded in their subjective thinking.

At this moment, Zhu Yingfeng directly defined this negotiation as "discussion on the surrender of Manila and the release of prisoners of war in your country and other related matters", which was also influenced by the views that Gao Yushi often advocated in the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance: Western etiquette Superficially, their attitudes are mostly determined by the actual performance of both sides on the battlefield.

To put it simply, whoever has big fists can speak with a strong voice, which is the same as "the barbarians are afraid of power but not virtuous".

As expected, Yidi was fearful of power but not moral. Although the governor of Devilla was upset, he was defeated in the naval battle at the moment, and the threat of "flooded seven armies" was like the sword of Damocles hanging above his head. He had no choice but to acquiesce to Zhu Yingfeng's statement, so he nodded stiffly and replied, "As you wish, Your Excellency."

But after a pause, Governor De Villa couldn't bear his European tradition, and asked: "Your Excellency, although I already know your noble origin, but for the convenience of addressing, I still want to know more precisely. Your own title."

After this sentence was translated to Zhu Yingfeng, the latter was a little embarrassed.The Ming Dynasty has always been stingy with rewards (except for the chaos at the end of the Ming Dynasty). Although the Duke has a high status, there is only one "son" who enjoys the right to inherit. Respected as "Little Grandpa".

As for the remaining sons of the Duke, they may be honored as "Little Duke" by some forcibly flattering them only in very private times, but that is not on the table.Usually, their identities are at least officially equivalent to white bodies - to ensure that they are not really "white bodies", that is, they usually have some nominal positions in the Jinyiwei or the Five Army Commander's Mansion.

For example, Zhu Yingfeng was originally a hereditary family of one hundred in Jinyiwei as an adult, but after three years of passing the exam (he didn't take the exam, it was three years in vain), he became a thousand.If nothing else happened, and he didn't show any special talent, this Qianhu would probably be the "official" he had been working all his life.

But in order to engage in maritime trade, he resigned his official position in Jinyiwei, including his world position, which actually means that he has actually become a white body in the true official sense. Now Devilla asks him to explain his title... It's very troublesome.

Zhu Yingfeng was silent for a moment, and had no choice but to answer: "I have different regulations from Ming Dynasty and Europa, so we can't generalize them. I have a family of one billion trillion people, but apart from the royal family, there are only dozens of hereditary titles. I don’t have an official title. However, if it is treated differently under the Europa equivalent system, I will at least be a viscount, or even an earl.”

Devila really didn't know that Daming's knighthood system was so harsh. He was a little surprised when he heard that, and after thinking for a while, he suddenly asked: "So that's the case, then... May I ask, Mr. Earl, whether Your Excellency Gao Yushi has a knighthood in the Daming Empire?"

Zhu Yingfeng shook his head and said: "Gao Situ does not have a title, but there is another extremely important honorary title in our dynasty, which is 'San Gong, San Shi, San Gu, San Shao', which is the most important addition to titles .Gao Situ is today's "Prince Taishi", whose title is Cong Yipin, which can be regarded as between the Duke and the Marquis according to the customs of Europa."

In fact, Zhu Yingfeng's "probably" is a big problem, because Gao Yushi's "prince and grand master" has nothing to do with the title of title. Zhu Yingzhen's "probably" is probably a personal division made by him according to his rank. It can't be true at all.

However, De Villa believed it—probably because the state ministers of European countries were almost all great nobles at this time, and he felt that the highly pragmatic "analog title" was completely appropriate between the duke and the marquis.

However, he was still very curious about the strange honorary title of "Prince and Taishi", and asked: "Mr. Earl, maybe it's a translation problem. I don't quite understand the meaning of this title. Can you explain it to me?" meaning?"

"Uh, this..." Zhu Yingfeng couldn't help scratching his head, thought for a while and said, "I think you can understand it as 'the chief teacher of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince'."

When Governor De Villa heard this, he couldn't help admiring him, nodded repeatedly, and said, "So, so it is. It seems that Your Excellency Gao Yushi will definitely be the Prime Minister of your country in the future."

Uh... Zhu Yingfeng coughed lightly, but didn't make a sound, just pretending to be acquiescing.

In his opinion, is there any necessary connection between the "Prince Taishi" and the first assistant?In Daming, there is actually no such thing.However, Zhu Yingfeng knew that the European "His Royal Highness's Chief Teacher" is indeed likely to be an important candidate for the future Prime Minister (or "Prince Minister"), so it is hard to say that people have misunderstood it.

Of course, another reason why Zhu Yingfeng did not object was that De Villa's statement was mostly wrong, because in his "Mr. Did people get it wrong?
With his acquiescence, De Villa naturally thought that he had guessed correctly, and he was a little excited at the moment. He looked at Zhu Yingfeng anxiously and asked, "In this case, the influence of your Excellency Gao Pragmatic must be enough to ensure the signing of the contract after this meeting." The treaty can be confirmed by the Ming Empire government and ensured that it can be effectively implemented, right?"

Of course Zhu Yingfeng would not say that there is no guarantee at this time, so he nodded and said: "That's natural, Gao Situ is not only the chief teacher of 'His Royal Highness the Crown Prince', but also the only classmate of His Majesty the Emperor during his ten-year student career... I believe you can understand the huge impact of this."

"Of course, of course, I can fully understand." Governor De Villa actually got a little excited, and immediately said: "Then, I hope our talks can be more open and honest. For this reason, I am willing to express my goodwill first to show my hope for peace :
What I want to say is that if Your Excellency Gao Yushi can ensure that the fair trade between the Kingdom of Castile and the Ming Empire will not be affected by this war, and ensure the freedom of religious belief in Manila and even the Kingdom of Luzon in the future, and ensure that the Catholic Church The property security and missionary freedom of the Kingdom of Luzon, on the premise that your army releases our prisoners of war, it is entirely possible for us to peacefully hand over the city of Manila. "
-
Thank you book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi" and "Dongguan Bald King" for their monthly support, thank you!
(End of this chapter)