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

Li Dan was anchored in the Three Islands in Luzon at this time. He laughed when he saw this letter from the overseas Chinese leader: "They want to get my son-in-law to go to the West to serve as a staff, but aren't they a waste of talent?"

It was Li Dan's family affair that Li Guoxian became Wang Wenlong's concubine, and there was nothing to publicize about his daughter being a concubine. So outside the borders of Fujian and Li Dan's maritime business group, many Western Chinese did not know that Li Dan had already He is Wang Wenlong's father-in-law.

Since the Age of Discovery began, the speed of human communication has accelerated rapidly.

Europeans first came to Southeast Asia via the Cape of Good Hope route, which took one year to sail. However, when the Spanish colonized Luzon fifty years ago, this time had been shortened to eight months. Today, regular island-hopping voyages make Spanish ships The exchange between the team and the European mainland has been shortened to less than half a year.

Less than six months after "History of Portugal" was published in the UK, some people in the Ming Dynasty already knew the news that Wang Wenlong had become famous in Europe.

In ancient times, China did not have a completely superior view of overseas affairs. At least if a Chinese became famous abroad, it would definitely be regarded as a magical and honorable thing in the eyes of the Chinese people at this time.

For example, when the history of calligraphy and painting talks about the achievements of Zeng Jing, it must be said that the previous Zeng Jing was extremely famous and honored in Japan.

It is always an honor for one's own characters to be praised by foreigners. It is like the Americans of later generations who consider themselves extremely powerful, but they also emphasize in their internal publicity every day that the whole world yearns for their lives and systems. In their own movies and TV series I always add some content that people from other cultures actively agree with the old and American wisdom:

The Russian Black Widow can join the Avengers after staying in the United States for a few years; Aquaman's mother ran ashore from Atlantis and gave birth to a child with a lighthouse keeper in the United States; Thor, a god-man with great power, He took the whole family to live in a small town in the United States, and they were quite content.

In their propaganda, their cultural influence not only penetrates national borders, but even transcends races.

Ming Dynasty people also have this desire to be recognized.

The story of Wang Wenlong becoming famous overseas inspired many Fujian businessmen who worked hard in the West, and naturally they praised him even more at home.

Quanzhou, a city with many foreign affairs, directly praised Wang Wenlong in the "Business Daily":

"Recently, the "History of Portugal" written by Wang Jianyang was published in Europe by a British knight. Mr. Wang's far-sighted achievements shocked Europeans even though he was thousands of miles away. Everyone from the dignitaries to the merchants were impressed by it. It has become a common practice for well-educated people in the country to buy books and read them, and praise them in endless articles. The British often say: It is useless to read all the poems and books without talking about "History of Portugal" at the beginning. This shows that he is so popular."

"Business Daily" is already a prestigious newspaper in Quanzhou, with a circulation of nearly a thousand copies per issue. At least, what it said has been verified, and the content reported by the Zhangzhou tabloid is even more outrageous:

"Since the publication of the "History of Portugal" in England, there has been a rush to buy it, from the young to the young. In the bookstore where I was, some people were beaten up for buying this book. Elizabeth, the British lord, discussed this in a meeting with his chiefs. The book openly praised Wang Jianyang and said: "Wang Jianyang is a very strange character. After reading this book, you will know that our small country is despicable. It cannot have such a learned person, so it should be sought from high-ranking countries. There is even news that the British will visit Duke Jianyang to become the prime minister of the country." , whose envoys have arrived in Europe."

These Fujian businessmen made up the rumors themselves, and the rumors became more and more mysterious as they spread. Anyway, transportation inside and outside the country is now difficult. Ming Dynasty figures heard overseas stories only through the mouths of people traveling between China and foreign countries. There was no confirmation channel at all. No matter how these newspapers tried to compile them, they would not be blown away.

Later, many people believed that the British really sent envoys to invite Wang Wenlong to Europe to become prime minister. This nonsense was not only believed by the people in Fujian, but also by many literati and officials in Jiangnan, and everyone was talking about it. .

There is competition and competition for treasures. In the past, everyone only regarded Wang Wenlong as a famous person, but now he was suddenly competed for by people from overseas, and instantly attracted some people from the Ming Dynasty to cherish him.

A famous figure from the south of the Yangtze River shouted loudly: "It is not the duty of the holy dynasty to leave some talented people in the wild and not use them, so that they can flee to foreign lands!"

Wang Wenlong's reputation increased rapidly. Wang Wenlong was still in Fujian, but many schools in Jiangnan sent letters specifically to invite him to give lectures, and the treatment given had reached the level of a Jinshi.

Even Wang Wenlong's Xiangfei yarn is sought after. Nowadays, not many people say that Wang Wenlong's women's textile factory is immoral. They are afraid that Wang Wenlong will go abroad if he says one more thing, leading to the brain drain of the Ming Dynasty.

……

In the editor-in-chief's office of "Xun Bao", Wang Wenlong was handling the latest issue of "Xun Bao" manuscripts on behalf of Deng Zhimo, who had gone north. At this time, his secretary Pan Xiu hurried in and said: "Sir, there is a scholar in Anqing whose surname is Zuo. The famous ones are here to find you."

Zuo Guangdou? Wang Wenlong thought for a while, nodded and said, "I understand, please invite him in."

After a while, I saw a young man in his twenties with a medium build and somewhat thin body hurriedly walked in. As soon as he saw Wang Wenlong, he introduced himself: "I am Zuo Guangdou, who was elected in the Gengzi Year. I am from Dongxiang, Tongcheng. I studied in Changzhou."

"It turns out that you are considered a student from Changzhou, please have a seat." Wang Wenlong stood up quickly, but what he was thinking about was that Zuo Guangdou entered the Donglin sequence so early.

Wang Wenlong has always heard of Zuo Guangdou's name. He was one of the Six Gentlemen of Donglin. He was tortured to death by Wei Zhongxian and was Shi Kefa's teacher. However, Zuo Guangdou is only twenty-six years old now and has just passed the examination. But Zuo Guangdou was impatient and asked before he had time to sit down: "Does Mr. Jianyang plan to go to England to become prime minister?"

When Wang Wenlong heard this, he quickly explained: "Those are all rumors among the countryside. The British attach great importance to family status. Unless you are the son of a prince or grandson, you cannot be a high official. How can I, an outsider, be invited to be the prime minister? What's more, the two places are quite far apart. No matter how well I know European history, I cannot govern the country for him. The British can also understand this situation, and they will never do it."

Wang Wenlong was also quite speechless about such strange rumors in the market. It was useless to explain it, and the people did not listen at all.

Hearing this, Zuo Guangdou breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Sir, I am a great talent in China. I can never go abroad to serve as an official. Although I am only a backward person, I still have the courage to advise you on how to serve the country and the people. Now The Ming Dynasty is in troubled times, and you should have the opportunity to do great things."

Wang Wenlong nodded, wondering in his heart that Zuo Guangdou would not come all the way just to talk about this.

Sure enough, the next moment Zuo Guangdou took out a post from his sleeve.

"Ye Siye of the Nanjing Imperial College wrote to invite Mr. to serve as a lecturer in the Imperial College."

Wang Wenlong was stunned when he heard this, and asked doubtfully: "I am just a prison student, and I still have a quota of tribute. How can I serve as a lecturer in the Imperial College?"

Zuo Guangdou said with a smile: "When the Imperial Academy was established, there was a campaign of conquest, and famous people were invited to give lectures in the prison. It was originally regardless of their fame. At the beginning of the Imperial Dynasty, the Imperial Academy recruited famous people from the late Yuan Dynasty to serve as lecturers. How could the great Confucians of that generation have ever done so? What kind of fame has he gained from this dynasty? With Duke Jianyang’s current reputation, it is only natural that he should give lectures at the Imperial College.”

Wang Wenlong opened the post and saw that in addition to Ye Xianggao's name, there were several Nanjing officials from the Zhejiang Party. It seemed that the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party had agreed to this matter.

In the post, Wang Wenlong was invited to be an assistant to the Imperial Academy. This official position was not high, starting from the eighth rank. If Wang Wenlong wanted to be an official, he would spend some money on activities now, and he would be of the same rank as a teacher in the county.

However, although the grades are the same, how can a county's teaching magistrate compare with a Guozi's teaching assistant?

At this time, there were three Imperial Colleges in the Ming Dynasty, one each in Beijing and Nanjing, and there was also the Zhongdu Imperial College in Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown.

Among them, the Nanjing Imperial College has the largest number of graduates, with more than 8,000 people listed on the roster. Of course, most of them bought the title of graduate and do not study in Nanjing, but there are more than 2,000 students who have studied in Nanjing for a long time, and there are even many of them. International students who came from North Korea.

The Imperial College officials who manage more than 2,000 people are from top to bottom: Jijiu, Si Ye, Jian Cheng, Doctor, and then the Imperial College Assistants. There are only twelve teaching assistants in the huge Nanjing Imperial College, which is definitely a fat vacancy. , if it were anyone else, just accepting gifts from students would be enough to live leisurely every year.

What Ye Xianggao wrote was an invitation in advance. If Wang Wenlong agreed to follow up, they would only guarantee it to the emperor. If the two parties united, they would probably be able to get this position to Wang Wenlong.

Wang Wenlong thought about it for a while, but said tactfully: "I have a lot of things to do outside, I'm afraid I don't have time to concentrate on teaching at the Imperial College."

He was indeed moved, but he didn't want to waste too much time on officialdom.

Zuo Guangdou heard this and said with a smile: "Guozi's teaching assistants are quite noble. They don't need to do anything on weekdays. They only teach a few classes in the sixth hall every year. Some teaching assistants take three to five years' leave and they don't even have to take a leave of absence." People say that about him.”

After Wang Wenlong inquired, he found out how poor the job of the Imperial College Assistant was. There were more than 2,000 students, and a dozen teachers alone could teach them even if they were tired and vomited blood. Therefore, most of the students in the Nanjing Imperial College had dedicated officials. In terms of teaching, most of Guozi's teaching assistants just have names.

When a famous person like Wang Wenlong joins the Imperial Academy, he only needs to attend a few classes to be considered worthy of the imperial salary. No one will say anything to him if he is allowed to travel around for the rest of the time.

No wonder Emperor Wanli felt that these civil servants were useless. They were too idle and too busy.

In the Ming Dynasty, there are already a large number of real-power departments with a vacancy rate of more than one-third, but a noble place like the Imperial College still has such redundant officials and redundant personnel, and they cannot be laid off. Just pick any one of these Imperial College assistants. At this time, no one wanted to offend celebrities.

This is especially true for someone like Wang Wenlong who was recommended by both the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party.

Wang Wenlong thought about it for a while. Anyway, he was going to Suzhou soon, which was not far from Nanjing. How difficult would it be to find time to teach two classes then? When you become Guozi's assistant teacher, you are officially a person with official status. Even if you resign after working for a while, your identity will be qualitatively changed.

(End of this chapter)