The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

At this time, the British entertainment book market was already very large. Not only script novels were popular, but letters, diaries, memoirs and cookbooks were also published in large quantities. Even the conflict between the sexes was brought to the forefront. "The Value of Women: Women Are Nobler Than Men" "The True Reveal of Superiority" is a book in which a London noblewoman babbles about her belief that women are nobler than men.

After this book was published, it was scolded by the British people, but it received support from many women, and the more scolded it, the better the sales.

The bookstore owner thought that Sherman, as a young man, would definitely like this kind of popular London book, but he didn't expect that Sherman frowned when he heard the name of this book.

His family were Puritans, and they hated Catholics deeply, but they also disapproved of the lascivious ladies in London who lived every day.

Sherman turned two pages of "The Value of Women: The True Reveal of Women's Nobility and Superiority over Men" and then put it down without interest.

The bookstore owner observed the words and thought that Sherman did not like these popular literatures and must be a lover of science and engineering. He quickly recommended: "This book "New Treatise on the Stars" is a work by a Danish scholar. It describes a strange celestial phenomenon thirty years ago. , and can teach readers to make astronomical equipment at home and observe the stars."

"New Theory of the Stars" is the first work of Tycho Brahe - the same Tycho in the physics book. In this era, even the telescope had not been invented yet. The so-called stargazing was to use instruments such as the celestial sphere as a reference and then look at them with the naked eye.

And Tycho was extremely talented. His eyesight was probably the strongest in the world at this time. He could divide the brightness of the stars in the sky into six magnitudes with the naked eye, and he could even see the craters on the moon with the naked eye.

What the boss said was amazing, but Sherman had no interest in astronomy. He shook his head again, suddenly picked up a book bound in a blue wooden box on the bookshelf and asked: "The binding of this "History of Portugal" is so strange. ah."

The boss quickly introduced: "This is an imitation of the binding method of Chinese books. This book was written by a Chinese scholar. I heard that the writing is very good. Even Sir Walter wrote the inscription and postscript for this book himself."

"Sir Walter?" Sherman was surprised. He liked Walter's poems very much and was also curious about books written by Chinese people. He quickly asked: "Can I have a look at this book?"

The bookstore owner nodded and said, "This is natural."

Sherman opened the title page of "History of Portugal" and saw that Walter praised Wang Wenlong's work in the preface, "This is a book full of mysterious oriental wisdom. I can't help but marvel at the intelligence and agility of the Chinese people." , humility and enthusiasm..."

The United Kingdom under the rule of Elizabeth I implemented a policy of religious tolerance. Catholicism and Protestantism both had their own believers in the United Kingdom. Sherman was from a merchant family, so he naturally supported Protestantism and was a staunch Puritan.

At this time, the United Kingdom implemented the Anglican Church policy and established an Anglican Church to unite Christians from various sects in the United Kingdom.

Elizabeth I did not allow Protestants to continue to implement reforms in England. At the same time, she also abolished the supreme judicial power of the Papal Court in England, causing the Church of England to break with the Pope of Rome.

However, within the Anglican Church, there are still a group of Protestants who want to drive out Catholics. The act of driving Catholics out of the country is called "Puritanism", and people who hold such views are called "Puritans" .

Therefore, the Puritans do not mean to be pure-minded and down-to-earth in asceticism. This group of people is often the most radical group that supports Protestantism.

Although Elizabeth I struck a balance between Catholicism and Protestantism, she was obviously leaning towards Protestantism. As for Walter beside her, he was a standard Protestant, even with a Puritan style.

So the natural Sherman admired Walter, who was also a Puritan. When he saw Walter's recommendation for "History of Portugal", he instantly concluded that "History of Portugal" must be a good book.

Sherman immediately paid for this half of "History of Portugal".

Books in the UK are cheap these days, and the price of a book is generally no more than a day's salary for a skilled worker. The "History of Portugal" printed by Walter has a specially designed binding, so the price is slightly expensive, but for Sherman It's enough to bear.

Getting on the carriage home, Sherman began to read the text of "History of Portugal" in the car.

He started reading from Wang Wenlong's original preface and watched with curiosity as Wang Wenlong described the historical stories of Zheng He's voyage and the Portuguese's arrival in India. For him in Europe, these historical events that happened in the East were so distant and mysterious. .

The following discussion made him unknowingly fall into the content of the book. He waited until the carriage arrived at the door of his house. Only after being reminded by the coachman did Sherman remember that he was still on the carriage going home.

When he returned home and gave gifts to his mother and younger siblings, Sherman even forgot to eat and wash, and sat down with "History of Portugal" in his hands to continue reading.

The first half of the "History of Portugal" published by Walter only has more than 100,000 words of text. Together with other scattered manuscripts, it is barely the thickness of a book. Sherman spent two days reading it without sleep and food, just to read it. I finally finished reading the first part of "History of Portugal" written by Wang Wenlong.

The content only talks about the Portuguese gaining a foothold in India, and the subsequent plot hooks make Sherman sleepless and eager to watch the second half immediately.

Originally, the book "Conquistadors: The Rise of the Portuguese Empire" focused on Portugal and was a history centered on Europe. However, Wang Wenlong was writing for the people of the Ming Dynasty, so he naturally had to make some trade-offs, so he added a large number of Southeast Asian and Indian content. Walter and Luo Mingjian also added a lot of their own parts to the translation of "History of Portugal". Walter also specially paid tribute to the British. The final result is that this book greatly emphasizes the importance of Asia and greatly touts it. The colonial company system that the British and Dutch were pursuing.

“The European colonial system originated from the Italian sugar island model. The Italians relied on sugar islands to cross the Mediterranean. The Portuguese turned the sugar islands into business houses, thus making more profits than farming. The Spanish turned the business houses into As a colonial territory under the empire, in addition to doing business, it also controls all resources and trade, making the profits even more lucrative."

Sherman, who had read "History of Portugal" two or three times, couldn't help but feel deeply identified when he read this paragraph.

As he continued reading, Sherman became even more excited.

"But the Spanish expansion has reached its limit. Their colonial empire is not capable of defeating the Indians and Chinese. There is no way for India and China to be included in their ruled areas under the Spanish colonial model, and the newly emerged trading companies Patterns may be able to solve this problem..."

Sherman put down the book and suddenly thought of the Dutch East India Company, which had just been established by the Dutch. Then he thought of the cotton yarn produced in India used in his family's textile factory. It was this plant fiber that helped their family's woolen woolen fabrics to become extremely durable. The cost is greatly reduced, and these are purchased through trading companies.

In the past, he would not have cared about these distant national events at all, but "History of Portugal" has an extremely keen vision. After reading "History of Portugal", he felt that his world view was different.

Sherman put down the book and ran to the streets to inquire. Soon, the more information he collected about the Dutch and British companies doing East India trade, the more he felt that what Wang Wenlong said was coming true step by step in reality.

Sherman finally made up his mind to invest in East India Company stock, feeling that this investment might change the fate of his family.

At the same time, on a merchant ship flying the Dutch flag in the Irish port, the Duke of Medina Sidonia was also listening to the translation of "History of Portugal".

"This Chinese author is indeed very visionary, but his analysis of the colonial model is too childish."

He was a wealthy man in Spain, holding the title of Duke, and at this time he was more famous as the commander of the Spanish Armada.

A few years ago, the Spanish Armada suffered heavy losses in battle with the British fleet during the expedition to England. They encountered a storm on the way back. Their Armada was almost completely lost, but the Spaniards did not give up.

Now that Medina is still planning to land in Ireland, and his fleet still has the ability to control the English Channel and the Gibraltar anchorage, Medina feels that the Spanish fleet will one day be able to defeat the British.

He went to the port in Ireland this time to disguise himself as a merchant ship to explore the local enemy situation, but he unexpectedly bought this history book written by a Chinese on the way.

Although Medina didn't understand English, there were enough crew members on the ship who knew both English and Spanish. Listening to the crew's translation of the books, Medina soon became a fan of Wang Wenlong's books.

In fact, he agreed with Wang Wenlong's admiration for the colonial company model, and also knew that the British and Dutch were difficult to deal with, but Medina felt that this further showed that it was necessary to concentrate on the sea to completely defeat them.

Medina confirmed that the Spanish system had no way to defeat the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, so he chose not to engage in legitimate competition with them, but directly interrupted their development through aggression.

As long as Spain could defeat the British and Dutch at home, their trading companies would be rootless trees.

"This Wang Wenlong is very smart, but he has completely failed to see the real solution to the problem."

Medina was full of confidence, but he did not seem to have thought that they could not defeat the British a few years ago. Now with the establishment of the British Colonial Company, the national power is getting stronger and stronger. Why does he believe that he can conquer the British in one go as long as he concentrates his forces? ?

But in any case, even the Spaniards must admit that Wang Wenlong's "History of Portugal" is very well written.

After returning from England, Medina received an invitation when he was anchored in Barcelona. One of his former subordinates was following the team to hand over work to the Governor of Luzon in Manila.

Medi happily attended the banquet and boarded the large sailing ship directly with the "History of Portugal".

The officials on the ship were all extremely surprised.

Medina pointed to the book in his hand and recommended it to these Spanish civil servants: "I read an excellent book in England, written by a Chinese scholar. The name of the book is "History of Portugal". This book is of great significance to the Spanish civil servants. It is very useful for you to understand the development of the colonies, and you should all read it.”

(End of this chapter)