Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 70 Chiming Clocks and Watches
Whether it was Sun Yuanhua or these Taixi people, they were a little excited when they heard Zhu Tianqi said that they were going to have a banquet at noon, because such courtesy was unprecedented.

Matteo Ricci, one of the pioneers of missionary work in the Ming Dynasty, although he gained great influence among the scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty and achieved unprecedented results in missionary work, he was never able to meet the Ming Emperor throughout his life. He was only allowed to go to the Huangji Palace to kowtow to the imperial throne.

In fact, this was also a bad time for Matteo Ricci. When he entered the capital, the Ming Dynasty was in charge of Emperor Shenzong Wanli, the "most arrogant" emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention that he could not be seen, even the ministers of the Ming Dynasty could not see him!

Father Volger immediately led all the Thai people to salute and thank Zhu Tianqi: "We would like to thank His Majesty the Emperor for his hospitality!"

After saying this, Father Volger smiled, turned around and motioned to the four Thais behind him to bring up a person-high object covered with a cloth cover, put it on the ground, and then stepped forward in person, as if It was like unveiling a unique treasure, and the cloth cover was lifted, revealing the true face of this object in Lushan - an exquisite Western self-ringing bell.

Father Volger immediately introduced: "Your Majesty the Emperor, this chiming bell is a gift I present to you on behalf of the church. I hope you can accept it!"

Zhu Tianqi sat on the dragon chair and glanced at the chiming clock from a distance. It was shaped like a church, with images of God, the Virgin and angels carved on it. The entire clock was plated with gold and inlaid with diamonds and jade. The golden light urges, and the brilliance is dazzling.

The self-ringing clock may be considered a rare thing for the people of the Ming Dynasty, but for Zhu Tianqi, a traveler, it is nothing, and even though this clock is very exquisite and luxurious, for the emperor Zhu Tianqi, He has long been tired of looking at gold, silver and jewelry.

Therefore, Zhu Tianqi did not show the expression that the Thai and Western people expected. He just raised his hand and said to Wang Yuanbao calmly: "Take it!"

Zhu Tianqi's cold reaction caused the smiles on the faces of all the Thai and Western people below to freeze instantly. This self-ringing bell is currently the most advanced even in Tai and Western countries, and it is enough to make the monarchs of the Thai and Western countries shine when they see it. , but in the Ming Dynasty, which did not produce its own bells, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty actually dismissed it!
After Father Volger came back to his senses, he seemed a little unwilling. He even wondered whether the Ming Emperor did not recognize the chiming bell and did not know the function of the chiming bell. He only regarded it as an ordinary gold and jade weapon, so he behaved like this. indifferent.

Therefore, Dang even bowed to Zhu Tianqi and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, this chiming clock is not only exquisite in shape, but also very accurate in timing with very small errors. It is also equipped with a mechanism that will chime every hour on the hour..."

But how could Zhu Tianqi not recognize this self-ringing bell?Not to mention Zhu Tianqi, even Zhu Youxiao knew him. After all, the self-ringing bell that Matteo Ricci dedicated to Emperor Wanli is still placed in the Jiaotai Palace!

After hearing what he said, Zhu Tianqi couldn't help but shook his head and smiled impatiently, and interrupted him: "Wolger, do you think I don't even recognize this clock?"

Volger couldn't help but be stunned, and then he hurriedly saluted and accused: "Of course Volger dare not question His Majesty the Emperor!" Zhu Tianqi immediately spent ten days buying the worst-quality children's plastic electronic watch from the Krypton Life Store, and pretended to buy it from the cuff of his wrist. He took it out and handed it to Wang Yuanbao, indicating that he would give it to Volger, and then said: "I have seen a lot of clocks, but when it comes to timing, your clock is not accurate, not even as good as the one in my hand. This little thing!”

Wang Yuanbao held the small plastic children's watch, walked quickly off the platform, and handed it to Volger.

Zhu Tianqi immediately said: "This little watch is given to you, just think of it as my return gift to your church!"

Volger took over this so-called "watch" that was made of unknown materials and was extremely light with some confusion. It was obviously difficult to accept that this thing could be called a "clock", because even the most advanced and compact pocket watch in the West, At least it should be about the size of a palm, and it feels quite heavy in the hand. It is not as light as this "watch" at all.

But when I looked closer, I saw that there was no dial on the front, but a small rectangle with four black Arabic numerals on it, separated by two flashing black dots.

Volger stared at the display screen of the small watch in confusion for a long time. Suddenly he realized something. He looked up at the dial of the chiming clock next to him, and then looked down at the display screen of the small watch in his hand. His face suddenly showed horror. color.

He suddenly realized that the thing in his hand was really a clock, and it was so light and the display was so simple. Such a thing could not be made by any country in Europe and the West!
Zhu Tianqi couldn't help but smile slightly and said: "This little watch is not only more accurate than your clocks, but also has a much smaller error. The only drawback is that it cannot be disabled, and it may break after one and a half years of use." , if you need it at that time, I can reward you with a new one!"

When Volger heard Zhu Tianqi's words, he recovered from the shock. He carefully put the plastic children's electronic watch in his hand into his pocket, knelt down and knelt down to thank him: "Wolger thanks His Majesty the Emperor for the reward, Your Majesty. What I’ve been given is truly an eye-opener!”

After this incident, the sense of superiority in the hearts of Volger and the Westerners disappeared. The Westerners who thought they could crush the Ming Dynasty at the technological level suddenly realized that they seemed to know too little about the Ming Dynasty!
This children's electronic watch was also brought back to the church in Haojingao by Volger afterwards, and was treasured by the church. At that time, the accuracy of Western clocks was indeed not high, and the daily error was more than ten minutes, and at least several minutes. Therefore, the accuracy of this electronic watch really amazed and praised the European and American people.

The church even summoned many Spanish watch masters and skilled craftsmen to imitate it. However, after they took it apart, they found that in addition to the display screen, there was only a green sheet (circuit board) and a metal particle (electronics) inside. Not a single gear...

After Volger got up, the Fran robot standing in the back row came forward. A Fran robot led the way, followed by four people, two by two carrying two pieces covered with cloth covers like the chime bell just now. However, this time, there was no trace of arrogance on their faces. Instead, they had expressions of respect, mixed with some nervousness and uneasiness.

Because the gifts they prepared for the Ming Emperor this time all had special meanings, whether it was the chiming bell just now or the two things they were going to present next, but now it seems that the Ming Kingdom is not what they imagined. are not the same, and the emperor of Ming Dynasty was by no means some ignorant "country bumpkin"!
(End of this chapter)