The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

Regarding what happened to Joanna, Zhang Fan didn't have any expression other than being helpless. Indeed, what happened to Joanna was very important to Zhang Fan, no, to anyone who lived in this Central Plains land, or even in this world. For human beings, her encounters are all too common.

It can be said that what Joanna encounters today is a kind of sad and common misfortune. The sorrow is because her experience is too unfortunate. Not only has she lost the noble glory left to her by her ancestors, she also lost Lost her official position, and even her only relative in the world, her frail and sick mother, also died of the blow caused by this incident, and not only these, she also had to look at things that belonged to her , Those things that were the only goal for her were taken by someone she didn't even know or heard of, and she, the original owner, was deprived of it because of some trumped-up charges Everything is gone, and this is not over yet, what awaits her is not a prison cell that is closed and oppressive enough to make people want to go crazy, but the front line of the war, and she is no longer an officer after being deprived of everything , but as an ordinary soldier, go to the battlefield to charge, which is the so-called cannon fodder.

There is a reason for saying that she is cannon fodder, and she is a kind of cannon fodder that must die. In this era, even in the Ming Dynasty or those countries with guns in Europe, the mode of war is basically the kind of confrontation between the two armies. , The appearance of queuing up to be shot, it is very difficult for a soldier to survive, although Joanna is now in India, attacking those dynasties that still hold bows and arrows at most, but this does not mean that she can be much safer .

Therefore, Zhang Fan already knew what she said. She said that if she could survive within a year, then she would give up everything in Europe and come to this strange country to start a new life. Regarding this, Zhang Fan Fan also believed in her, and to Zhang Fan, a soldier who was born in a country where sea battles raged was indeed very valuable. However, whether Joanna could come here depended on whether she could be accepted. Thank you, I was able to survive.

And the reason why Joanna's experience is normal is even more simple. Indeed, Joanna's experience is very tragic and very sympathetic, but there are too many things like what she encountered in this world. , it can be said that similar things happen all the time, maybe just as Zhang Fan thought for a while, some people in an unknown place encountered similar things, the difference is only the size of the things .

Even Joanna's experience may be considered good. You know, although she is facing the threat of death all the time, she is still alive after all, and there is still hope. Of course, she wants to please her. The hope of returning to justice is almost gone. All she can hold now is the hope that her life will get better in the future.

Putting this matter aside for now, Zhang Fan asked about other things, the things he was most concerned about: "Tell me about your itinerary, didn't I tell you where you were going, why did you come back so soon, could it be that something happened?" what's not working,"

"This..." Hearing Zhang Fan's question, Wang Xiliang didn't know how to answer for a while, Zhao Xiande stood aside and didn't speak.

"What's the matter, but it doesn't matter," Zhang Fan said.

"My lord, that's what happened," Wang Xiliang said, "The lowly people have inquired about these things in Portugal. It is said that the Spaniards are now robbing things in that new continent. They came ashore with guns and ordered the locals The natives helped them mine gold and silver. It is said that Spain, a small country, was shipped back in a few years. I collected the taxes for the past four years. , I also want to join in the fun, but it was Joanna who advised us not to take this muddy water, "

"How do you say that?" Zhang Fan asked.

"She said that Spain can protect its weaknesses in this matter now," Wang Xiliang explained, "For this reason, they have specially built more than 100 warships and tens of thousands of sailors, saying that it is to fight against the British, but To put it bluntly, it was just to protect the ships that transported their gold and silver. She also said that those Spaniards seemed to want money and life. No matter who they were, if they dared to take the idea of ​​​​the New World, they would still shoot. I took three boats there, so after thinking about it, I still didn’t go with one of them.

"Well," Zhang Fan nodded after listening to his explanation, and said, "You did the right thing, it's because I didn't think carefully, if you really go, maybe it's really hard to see you come back it's gone,"

"Thank you for your understanding," Wang Xiliang said, "Also, what your lord mentioned about the humble position seems to be the other side of the New World, but it is said that if you go there from Europe, you have to go around a long way, and that road The road is also very difficult to walk, but Joanna told Beizhi that starting from our Daming, we can reach it by sailing eastward, so I am a little confused about this point, isn't this place square?"

Hearing his question, Zhang Fan was at a loss for words for a while. He didn't know how to answer him. Although the theory was proposed by the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras as early as 2000 years ago, However, no one has been able to verify it for thousands of years. In China, the theoretical thought of "the sky is round and the earth" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for thousands of years, and it is hard to get rid of it.

Knowing that 50 years ago, Magellan completed the first round-the-world voyage in human history, and proved the theory of a round earth with undisputed facts, but although this statement has been accepted by Europeans today, it is not suitable for people who have retreated. For more than a hundred years, the Ming Dynasty did not know this news.

"About this matter... She also mentioned it to me," Zhang Fan thought for a while, so he had to lie to him, "I didn't really believe it at the time, but she said that there was a man named Magellan in their country who brought him With their own fleet, they have been sailing westward since they set off from their country. After three years, they finally returned to their own country,"

"This... this is really unbelievable," Wang Xiliang couldn't help but exclaimed after hearing what Zhang Fan said, and the people next to him were also incomparably amazed. After all, the theorems that had been recognized for decades were broken just like this. , Where can they accept it.

"No wonder..." After Wang Xiliang was surprised, he showed a look of "that's how it is".

"No wonder, no wonder what," Zhang Fan asked seeing his appearance.

"Oh, my lord, that's what happened," Wang Xiliang replied, "After Joanna talked about this matter with the humble official, she handed a book to the humble official, and she said that the sea between our Ming Dynasty and the New World is called What about the Pacific Ocean, someone once sailed through it, so the wind and rain on the Pacific Ocean are recorded in that book. Joanna heard that the lord has plans to cross the sea, so she gave this book to the humble official and asked the humble official to hand it over. For my lord, I think that person is the Mai...Magellan that my lord just said. I thought it was nonsense at first, so I didn't take it to heart. Now that I heard what my lord said, I think it's true. ,"

"Where is that book?" Zhang Fan hurriedly asked. Presumably, what Joanna asked Wang Xiliang to bring back was the voyage notes made by Magellan's fleet when he sailed around the world.

This is of course a very important thing. After all, although the Pacific Ocean is called "Taiping", it is actually extremely dangerous. If you rush in without any preparation, what kind of difficulties will be waiting, but you can't You know, now, with Magellan's navigation notes, if you want to cross the Pacific Ocean with the ships and navigation technology of the Ming Dynasty today, it will not be difficult except that the time will be much slower.

"I also brought that book, so I'll find it now," Wang Xiliang said before leaving.

"Not busy, since I'm here, it doesn't matter," Zhang Fan said, "But I still have something to ask,"

"Excuse me, my lord," Wang Xiliang said.

"Have you done all the things on Fusang Island?" Zhang Fan asked.

"Returning to my lord, this matter has been settled," Wang Xiliang replied, "It is precisely because of this matter that the humble staff delayed their return for two months. Those who went to Fusang, but at that time the boat going north was too slow, so the humble officials planned to wait until they came back, and then go.”

Indeed, as Wang Xiliang said, if they didn't go there, they should have been able to come back two months earlier, according to the normal time.

"Then how's the situation?" Zhang Fan asked.

"My lord," Wang Xiliang said, "The humble officials and the others have brought some goods with them, including a lot of goods from the late emperor... the last emperor's business, and the rest are those muskets, which are too easy to rust at sea So I had to order people to wipe it every three days or so. Fortunately, it finally paid off. This time, I brought back a total of 1 taels of gold and more than 200 million taels of silver. Among them, 5000 taels of gold came from there. It was brought back from Fusang Island."

After Zhang Fan heard this, he also sighed. These guns were proposed from the Ministry of War after he talked to Long Qing at that time. There were more than a thousand guns in total. According to the cost of mass production by the Ming court, these guns were calculated. It only takes ten taels of silver to make one, and one thousand taels is only 1 taels of silver, but now it is exchanged for 5000 taels of gold.

Zhang Fan also couldn't help sighing, Fusang is indeed a place rich in gold, and now, the money there is very easy to earn,