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

Chapter 46 Entry Examination
In the evening of that day, Xu Xueju came to the villa on Diaolong Mountain in a small sedan chair.

Wang Wenlong and others welcomed him out, and they saw Xu Xueju, who was in his 50s, slightly fat, wearing a Confucian shirt, with a gentle smile, and he was friends with several people.

Wang Wenlong couldn't help but lament that Xu Xinggong was not showy, but his family was really powerful.

He knew that no matter how good his writing was, Xu Xueju would never be so approachable due to his status. Xu Xueju's presence today was basically to give Xu Xinggong face.

After everyone entered the room and said a few words, Xu Xinggong took Wang Yu and Xu Ji out.

Xu Xueju pointed to the chair in front of Wang Wenlong, "Sir, please sit down and talk."

Wang Wenlong nodded and sat down calmly.

Seeing him like this, Xu Xueju felt a little fond of himself.

Xu Xueju took out a book from his arms and said with a smile: "This is "History of Portugal" written by Jianyang. I like it very much. I keep it on my desk every day and read a few chapters when I have time."

When Wang Wenlong saw him opening the book and revealing the notes he had filled it with, he was indeed very sincere, and he felt refreshed by Xu Xueju's style.

This Xu Xueju can be regarded as a capable minister in history. He was in power for several years in Fujian. He was the first official to discover that there was something fishy about Gao Yin and Zhang Yi's mining machine in Yishan, and he defeated the Dutch colonists.

Of course, the historical limitations of this high-ranking official are also quite deep. Historically, the Dalun Mountain massacre in which the Spanish colonists massacred Chinese merchants in Luzon was handed over to Xu Xueju to finish. The letter that did not treat the merchants of the Ming Dynasty as human beings was also written by Xu Xueju. Handwriting.

Generally speaking, he was a good official by the standards of the Ming Dynasty. He was able to fight against the invaders without collaborating with the eunuchs. At the same time, he was somewhat discriminatory against businessmen and was reluctant to contact the red-haired people.

Xu Xueju asked: "Wang Jianyang is familiar with overseas affairs, but does he know anything about the situation in the Ming Dynasty?"

"I returned to the Ming Dynasty for half a year and read some."

"Looking at Jianyang's books, I think that once these Europeans become powerful, they will definitely harass the coasts of various countries. And from what is said in the book, it seems that Jianyang thinks that these Europeans will do the same to the Ming Dynasty one day."

Wang Wenlong thought for a while, nodded and said: "The Europeans are probably plotting against the coast of the Ming Dynasty, but they are not strong enough, so they haven't taken action yet. If they want to take action, they must first harass them on a small scale to see if they can obtain colonies. The destination Most likely it’s the coast of Fujian.”

Xu Xueju was quite surprised when he heard this: "Didn't the red-haired people invade Guangdong before and suffered a huge defeat? How could they dare to come again?"

What Xu Xueju is talking about is the Battle of Tuen Mun 60 years ago, in which the Ming army defeated the Portuguese.

The Portuguese did not do business honestly in Xiangshan Ao and Daming from the beginning. The Portuguese who first explored the Eastern route came to Daming just like they went to other colonies. They went directly to Tuen Mun at the Pearl River Estuary to establish a stronghold and set up a stone monument. , and even captured nearby Ming people as slaves.

This incident aroused the anger of the court, so the Battle of Tuenmen broke out in the early years of Jiajing. The Portuguese small sailing ships were no match for the Ming army, and the Ming Dynasty burned them to death with fire ships.

As a result of the war, the first batch of colonists sent by Portugal to China were all beheaded by the Ming Dynasty. The Southeast Asian slaves and merchants who followed the colonists were turned into slaves. As for the goods on their merchant ships, they were decisively divided up by the Ming Dynasty officials who participated in the war. .

After this experience, the Portuguese did not dare to deal with China in the same way as they colonized India. Instead, they found other ways to obtain Xiangshan Ao as the location of their commercial center.

Although Xu Xueju had read "History of Portugal" and felt that these Europeans were more fanatical than imagined, he still had a glimmer of hope, thinking that after seeing the power of the Ming Dynasty, they would no longer think about it.Hearing this, Wang Wenlong shook his head and said: "Why does Fantai think those red-haired people dare not invade the Ming Dynasty again?"

"They can't defeat them, their efforts are in vain, and they lose lives in vain. Naturally, they will never come again."

"Yes, but what if they feel they can beat it?"

Xu Xueju was stunned for a moment. He had not yet understood what Wang Wenlong meant.

Wang Wenlong simply explained: "In recent years, as European countries have moved towards the ocean and seized waterways, maritime battles have gradually increased. In order to defeat each other, they are trying their best to develop naval warfare technology."

"Spain now has 150 warships, with an average of more than [-] cannons per warship, and more than [-] soldiers in the fleet. They call themselves the Invincible Fleet. In order to compete with them for waterways, Britain also organized a similar number of naval teams. Now this I’m afraid this great battle is about to come to an end.”

"After such a war, the Europeans' shipbuilding technology will definitely advance. They will probably find that their ships are stronger and more powerful, and they will naturally expand their ambitions and want to use force to occupy more places. As for whether their newly built ship cannons can After defeating the Ming Dynasty, the feudal lord has also read "History of Portugal", what do you think of these maritime merchants?"

Xu Xueju continued: "For these European maritime merchants, it is naturally a risk. If they succeed, they will gain great wealth. If they fail, it will be nothing more than risking their lives."

After he finished speaking, he understood completely, but then he was stunned for a long time.

Currently, only the first half of the "History of Portugal" written by Wang Wenlong has been published, and it only covers the early development process of Portugal and does not involve the subsequent maritime disputes between European countries.

The size of the Portuguese fleet that Xu Xueju saw in the first half of the book was nothing more than a few sailing ships and hundreds of people. This could be considered an expedition.

The size of such a team is not even comparable to the large-scale ocean trade scenes of ordinary maritime merchants.Therefore, Xu Xueju never took the Portuguese's force seriously.

But then he suddenly heard Wang Wenlong say that the European navy had developed to the point where it could send tens of thousands of soldiers at a time, which of course he couldn't accept for a while.

From a fleet of only a few hundred or thousands of people to one that can send tens of thousands of people on a voyage at a time, this change is really huge.

Xu Xueju also knew the level of defense of Ming Dynasty. At this time, Ming Dynasty definitely did not have such navigation ability.

Xu Xueju said in surprise: "In just a short period of a hundred years, European shipbuilding technology can actually change like this?"

Wang Wenlong nodded, understanding that it was difficult for Ming officials at this time to accept the fact that the world was constantly developing.

Before the Great Navigation, the development speed of human science and technology was too slow. There were almost no meaningful technological breakthroughs in one generation. Therefore, in the eyes of most scholars in the Ming Dynasty, wars still relied on the bravery of generals. As for the changes in the battlefield brought about by technological progress, , they barely think about it.

Based on Wang Wenlong's chats with these scholars, he firmly believed that Guan Gong fighting Qin Qiong was definitely not unbelievable in the eyes of people at this time. Many people would even talk about who would win in a fight between the two.

In fact, in Guan Yu's era, even the stirrup was still in its infancy, but Qin Qiong was the leader of Li Shimin's Xuanjia soldiers. He led the armored heavy cavalry of the Tang Dynasty. There was a generational difference in the technical equipment of both sides. If they really wanted to fight, the two men's strength would be worth it. Not to mention, even the weapons of the cavalry in Guan Gong's era might not be able to cut into Qin Qiong's armor.

Xu Xueju thought for a long time and asked Wang Wenlong: "If this is the case, how do you think the people of Fujian can be kept safe?"

(End of this chapter)