Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 962 Sun Yuanhua

The governor's yamen in Dengzhou was newly established during the reign of Emperor Tianqi, and it is quite impressive: there is a big green woolen sedan chair in front of the door; under the wall are several vermilion "high-legged cards", with official titles written in lacquered gold imitating Song style.There are so many flags hanging, which make people dazzled.

Looking into the yamen, two lines of soldiers with knives stood from the gate to the front of the hall, and there were several military officers of the third and fourth ranks.Seeing this scene, Zhao Yingong knew that he might not even be able to speak if he approached hastily.Immediately hid aside, took out the famous post and Xu's family wrote "eight lines", and asked Jiying to post a post.

"Use one or two door bags." He reminded Jiying.

After a long time, I saw a follower come out, holding his name card in his hand, and shouted: "Which one is Mr. Zhao from Hangzhou?"

Zhao Yingong nodded, paced in all directions, stepped forward and replied: "Students."

"I will see you, my lord."

"Yes. Please lead the way."

Feng Hua learned the routine a long time ago, and immediately held Zhao Yingong's name card in his hand, and led the way all the way inward.The governor's yamen is not small in scale, and it is very strict along the way.When he arrived at the entrance of Dehua hall, a servant had already opened the curtain to signal him to enter.

When I entered the door, I saw a sharp middle-aged official in casual clothes, sitting on the mahogany Kang table in the middle of the flower hall, holding a letter in his hand.Zhao Yingong knew that this person was probably the famous Sun Yuanhua.

He regained his composure for a while, then picked up the front of his shirt to pay his respects, and signed up at the same time.

"Oh, you are Mr. Zhao!" Sun Yuanhua's eyes were quite majestic.Although he was a civil servant, after all, he had served as a soldier in Liaodong for many years, and the oppressive demeanor he had cultivated in military life for many years made Zhao Yingong feel a little timid.

This person in front of you is the governor of Denglai, a real high-ranking official with eight seats in his hand, who can make people's heads fall with a single order. Facing such a person, an ordinary person is of course irresistible Its power - Zhao Yingong defended himself for the cold sweat on his back.He had never been so aware of his weakness after leaving the group.

Fortunately, Sun Yuanhua had a good impression of Zhao Yingong: he was a tall visitor with a dignified appearance, and his demeanor was quite graceful. He was humble and self-confident.He nodded secretly in his heart.

He had already received a letter from the Hangzhou church in advance, and this time he also received eight lines from the Xu family. He had a lot of praise for this "Mr. A lot of efforts have been made to defuse the local hostility against the church, which is a great contribution to the weak Chinese church.He couldn't help smiling, and said:

"Sir, please take a seat!"

Zhao Yingong took his seat, and the servant placed a bowl of Gaiwan tea on the coffee table beside him.

"Judging from Mr. Zhao's accent, he doesn't seem to be from Cantonese."

"Yes, the student's ancestral home is Hangzhou, and his ancestor settled in Sanshui, Guangdong because he was a merchant." Zhao Yingong said cautiously.

Sun Yuanhua was very enthusiastic about this "catechumen" introduced by the church - not only because of religious beliefs, but also because the letter mentioned that Mr. Zhao was proficient in "Western learning".In particular, I have a deep understanding of "Australia".Sun Yuanhua has also seen the "Australian products" that have just increased in the past two years. He has more knowledge than ordinary people, and knows that this is not just a simple trick, it seems to be more profound than his Western learning. A new kind of knowledge.

Sun Yuanhua is most interested in the battle of the Australians in Qiongzhou—he has already collected a lot of information about this battle—the Jesuits in Lingao passed the information collected about the Battle of Chengmai to Macau, Sun Yuanhua was surrounded by not only Jesuit priests, but also many Portuguese soldiers.The news he got through this channel was much richer and more accurate than the news from the court.

The reason why Sun Yuanhua was particularly interested in the battle of Chengmai was because the fighting mode of the Australians in Chengmai was very similar to that of the Ming army.It also takes advantage of one's own firearms to replace offense with defense.First, there are high walls and deep trenches, on which firearms are arranged to absorb the enemy's impact.Then wait for the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

The problem is that there are few successful examples of this kind of combat practice of the Ming army.Sun Yuanhua has served as a soldier in Liaodong for many years. Except for the "Guangning Victory" when he was under Yuan Chonghuan, in most cases, the Ming army's combat methods of defending against the enemy with fortifications, vehicles, and firearms were defeated again and again.

The Australians in Qiongzhou defeated officers and soldiers several times their size with similar tactics-you must know that He Zhen's troops also have Hongyi cannons-their firearms are obviously much better than those of the Frangji people.Therefore, his interest in Kun Thief has greatly increased now.

Therefore, without a few words of politeness to each other, Sun Yuanhua turned the topic to the Australians.

"Since you live in Guangdong, and your business is selling Australian goods, you must know the details of the Australians very well?"

Zhao Yingong nodded and said, "Students know a thing or two."

Sun Yuanhua immediately asked about the military status of the Australians, especially firearms.

Zhao Yingong didn't dare to say too much about this, nor did he dare to talk nonsense.He knew that the person in front of him was an expert, and more importantly, Sun had the information channel of the Jesuits. If he had the heart, he would be able to fully understand many things.To gain his trust by yourself, you must grasp the scale well, and try not to tell lies about what you can say.

Therefore, although he only talked about some relatively superficial content, he still talked about some details that Sun Yuanhua might be interested in, especially some simple explanations on the power, range and types of shells of Australian cannons.

Then we talked about Australian muskets. Sun Yuanhua was very interested in Minie rifles and revolvers. Zhao Yingong learned from him that several Minie rifles and revolvers were lost to the Ming army and sent to the mainland.Therefore, Sun Yuanhua knew the shape of this gun very well, and he also produced a drawing that was not in the correct proportion.Zhao Yingong saw that many details were missing, so he felt relieved.

"I have always wanted to find a real gun." Sun Yuanhua sighed, "I heard that it is different from the bird guns of this dynasty and the red hair. Do you know what magic technique the Kun thief uses?"

"Where is the real gun now?" Zhao Yingong was very concerned about this.

"It's still in Guangdong. I sent people to fetch it, and I only got this picture. I heard that some of them fell into the hands of Fujian Xiong Du." Sun Yuanhua seemed to be very regretful about this—he was training new troops in Dengzhou, Casting firearms, of course, has a strong interest in "new firearms".

Zhao Yingong immediately explained the function of the rifle of the Minie rifle: it was approved to disclose this technical secret.Rifles were not a technical secret even at the time - early rifles had already appeared in Europe, but they had no practical value, and it was even more difficult to replicate them in Ming Dynasty.As for the Mini bomb, the warhead that seems to have a simple principle and structure, there is no place that can manufacture it at the industrial level of this time and space-let alone a key flash cap.

Sun Yuanhua listened very much to self-study, and asked a few questions from time to time.At this time, Zhao Yingong felt that Sun Yuanhua was more like an engineer than a Ming bureaucrat.Can't help feeling a little more fond of him.

He found that although Sun Yuanhua was very impressed with the Australians' "tidy troops" and "dare to fight", he was most interested in "Australian firearms". He couldn't help shaking his head inwardly: Obviously, Sun's thinking mode is still It is the thinking of the "Westernization School", focusing on "tools".

Whether it was Xu Guangqi or Sun Yuanhua, although they devoted themselves to introducing Western-style weapons and technology, they had very little involvement in the modern European military theory and military system that had already taken shape at that time.Zhao Yingong remembered that Sun Yuanhua was most interested in European-style fortresses besides firearms in Western military affairs.He also personally designed some fortifications that "combine Chinese and foreign".

"...Unexpectedly, Mr. has such a deep knowledge of firearms." Sun Yuanhua admired him greatly.He told the servant: "Master Zhao, please get promoted to the kang!"

This is the performance of etiquette has been upgraded.It is a great honor for the governor to invite a scholar, Gong Sheng Kang, to sit opposite him.Even Zhao Yingong felt flattered.I can't help but feel very proud, and I am more confident in dealing with Governor Sun.

After the servant moved the bowl of tea to the Kang table, Zhao Yingong thanked him and sat down.

Only then did Sun Yuanhua slowly say: "Master Zhao has such a deep understanding of Australians, I'm afraid it's not as simple as doing business?"

Zhao Yingong was taken aback for a moment, and quickly got up and cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency, you can shine a thousand miles! The business between students and Australians is indeed very deep."

The so-called deep work means that they have also traded contraband with Australians, which was not surprising in the maritime trade at that time.

"Sit, sit," Sun Yuanhua raised his hand and pressed down, "How does it compare to Duke Gao?"

Zhao Yingong thought that he knew how to hold high, so he put on an expression of surprise and respect, and said, "Students dare not stand shoulder to shoulder with Duke Gao."

Sun Yuanhua smiled slightly and asked, "Sir, you have traveled thousands of miles to get here from the gentle village of Hangzhou, why did you come here?"

Zhao Yingong knew that there must be this question, and said cautiously at the moment: "Although the student has been in school, he was wasted in the examination room, so he can only learn from the old skills of his ancestors and learn the skills of Guan Zhongtao and Zhu."

The Dengzhou area is the frontier of the imperial captives. Not only do millions of grains, military supplies and salaries need to be transported here every year, but the local garrison consumption is also a considerable number. It is not surprising that a businessman wants to join here , is also very explainable.

Sun Yuanhua said: "Although there are a lot of military supplies here, the risk is also great." Because he is a fellow "religionist", he felt it necessary to remind him that the Denglai area has always been an important logistics area for the Liaodong military.There are business opportunities all over the place, but going to Liaodong has the risk of storms, and many ships and goods are lost every year; although there is no Houjin navy at sea, the navy of Ming Dynasty is not good men and women, and there are incidents of secretly killing and plundering merchant ships. occur.

(End of this chapter)