Dragon Sea Empire

Xu Guangqi shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Mr. Yin is a smart man, and he told the truth... Do you mean: Even if I offer geometry and mathematics courses, no one will be willing to learn?"

Yin Feng nodded and said: "In essence, the selection of scholars through the imperial examination is the selection of officials through the imperial examination. In this dynasty, Chinese and foreign civil servants all entered through the imperial examination. Those who did not receive the imperial examination were not allowed to contact the officials. The imperial examination directly contacted the officials. I read some history books below. , It was found that the imperial examinations of the past dynasties awarded officials, Song Zhiyu Examination No.1, but the judge of the book; the sixth person below, Sihu Buwei is only. The imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty were the first three, that is, important officials such as the Hanlin, and the last The next one is also a county guard. Therefore, what do the scholars of the Ming Dynasty do? They are only officials. And if they become officials, they can make a lot of money, and the people's fat and people's anointing are all in their arms. The last imperial examination , the old examiner who has been in the exam for 50 years is in his 60s and still has to go to the capital to take the exam, and all his life is spent in the imperial examination."

Xu Guangqi smiled wryly: He himself failed the imperial examinations repeatedly. He didn't enter the officialdom until he was in his 40s. Most of the first half of his life was teaching in various places to earn some living money, and then he took the imperial examinations again and again.

Yin Feng stood up and said loudly: "The majority of literati in this dynasty, except for the Four Books and Five Classics, and the Stereotyped Writings of the Times, are completely ignorant. The so-called current writings can be learned from scholars, but they cannot travel far. , Stereotyped imperial examinations are only related to the Four Books and Five Classics. Scholars can be completely indifferent to everything else in the world. Master Xu, I think it is a good thing that the Guozijian opened the subject of geometry. However, this imperial examination does not test geometry and mathematics, so scholars They can totally ignore it."

Xu Guangqi clenched his fists tightly, and said with determination: "This time when I return to Beijing, I must go to the emperor and set up a new subject to select scholars, with arithmetic and astronomy as the main subject."

Yin Feng looked at Xu Guangqi with some sympathy: "Master Xu, this is a comprehensive reform of the imperial examination system in the country, and it will affect the whole body."

Xu Guangqi sneered: "So what, it's just man-made. Looking up, these many imperial examination students have nothing to do but take being an official as their only wish. The book has its own golden house, which is really harmful and harmful to future generations. The current state of the country Natural disasters and man-made disasters continue, for today's plan, only practical talents can save the world, and in this way, it is necessary to learn the principles of mathematics and geometry."

"The number of students in the whole world is three hundred, no less than 50, and those who are taught are only in the field." This is what Gu Yanwu said later, and Yin Feng couldn't help thinking of this sentence: "Master Xu , you want to use the imperial examinations in mathematics and geometry to select scholars, you are making an enemy of all scholars and students in the world!"

That night, Xu Guangqi had dinner with everyone in Yin's family in Yin's house.Yin Feng called out all his three sons and one daughter, and greeted Xu Guangqi as a junior, and asked his own women to come to see the ceremony.According to Chinese tradition, this is to express the closeness of the whole family to Xu Guangqi.Xu Guangqi didn't care, but kept asking about the education situation in the area under Yin Feng's rule.

Yin Feng promised that as long as Xu Guangqi could truly reform the imperial examination system and establish the equal emphasis on arithmetic geometry and the Four Books and Five Classics, the Chinese Army and the Chinese Company could send arithmetic geometry teachers to the Daming Imperial College to help set up geometry and mathematics courses.

When Yin Feng agreed with all his mouth, he was very pessimistic about Xu Guangqi in his heart.Because the ancestral system must be followed in the Ming Dynasty, the fundamental policy of "the imperial examination must be given to the school" cannot be changed, and the rules of the stereotyped selection of scholars cannot be changed.Hundreds of thousands of students, hundreds of thousands of scholars who have been desperately studying the Four Books and Five Classics, and studying stereotyped essays for many years, suddenly heard that studying mathematics, geometry, astronomy and geography can also be passed the imperial examination. If they don’t immediately make a noise, Xu Guangqi will immediately become a scholar in the world public enemy.After all, Xu Guangqi is not a politician or a politician, but he actually wants to touch the cheese of all the scholars in the world. I am afraid that the final result will be disastrous.

……

On this day, Xu Xinsu, the head of the Internal Intelligence Bureau who presides over domestic intelligence, received a secret report from his subordinates: A member of the guard envoy of the Ming Dynasty took the initiative to express to Hong Xu, the captain of the King of China's personal guard who accompanied him: He is willing to serve the King of China, the The army is an insider.

It was not the first time that the Ming Dynasty government and military insiders took the initiative to convey sincerity to the Chinese Army, but someone in the imperial mission team of the Ming Dynasty actively asked to be an insider for the Chinese Army, which still made Xu Xinsu and others overjoyed, and at the same time brought some doubts.

Xu Xinsu followed Li Dan to start a business overseas. He was cautious in handling things and was good at seeing the wind. When Yin Fengshuqi was in trouble, he took refuge in him in time. Since then, Xu Xinsu has been in charge of the trade with Japan in the Chinese company.Three years ago, when Yin Feng was planning to clean up the internal affairs, Yin Feng transferred Xu Xinsu out of the company's lucrative trade department to serve as the head of the intelligence bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with high actual power but limited power.Regarding this matter, Xu Xinsu did not make any dissatisfaction at all, and concentrated on studying and managing the new position - he understands that now he has officially become Yin Feng's direct confidant.

Xu Xinsu was only cautious in handling matters, and felt that some members of the Daming Imperial Mission voluntarily joined the Chinese Army. Before reporting to Yin Feng for a decision, he must first understand the exact situation.Therefore, he called Hong Xu who reported the matter.At the same time, because Hong Xu is a small and medium officer of the personal guard, Xu Xinsu also invited Lin Tianping, the captain of Yin Feng's personal guard, to assist in the interrogation.

The interrogation was conducted in a secret room set up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the backyard of the company's headquarters, and lasted a whole afternoon.

"...You mean, it was Jinyiwei Baihu who stuffed the note into your arms?"

Hong Xu nodded: "It must be him. Everyone drank too much that night and had to rely on others to walk. I only helped him. This note was scheduled to be stuffed into my arms when I was not prepared."

"Then, there is no signature on the note, how can you be sure it was written by this person? Maybe he and his boss planned this together..."

"It should be him. This person is proficient in writing. I have seen his family letter, and the handwriting is the same as that on the note."

This is the second time Hong Xu answered the same question.

Xu Xinsu and Lin Taiping looked at each other, nodded slightly, and then said to Hong Xu: "Lieutenant Hong, please keep this matter secret, absolutely confidential! You can go..."

Hong Xu secretly wiped his sweat and walked out of the dark secret room.

Xu Xinsu personally closed the iron door of the secret room, and then said to Lin Taiping: "I have already checked, this Zhou Xiang Zhou Baihu was once captured by our marines in Guazhou City. For details, you can ask the personal information of the ship owner, the king." Mr. You Wenhui, the painter. As for the situation of Zhou Baihu in the capital, I plan to request the investigation of the secret piles of the Military Intelligence Bureau stationed in the capital. Here is the report for the investigation. Colonel Lin, please send this report and these inquiry records , and hand it over to the captain king."

Lin Taiping, who has always been taciturn, nodded his head and said "OK!"

……

Inside the Imperial Mission of the Ming Dynasty, not only did there appear among the military officers who took the initiative to lose their sincerity, but there were also people among the civil servants who secretly communicated to Zeng Shan, the negotiator of the Chinese Army.This is a head of the Ministry of Rites under Sheng Yihong, under the banner of Zeng Qi's student, approached Zeng Shan on his own initiative, and then secretly expressed his willingness to serve the Chinese Army.

During the same period, under Xie Xuecheng, who was in charge of revising the details of the peace agreement, a master from Shaoxing also volunteered to submit a letter to the headquarters of the Chinese company, disclosing the copy of Xie Xuecheng's secret memorial to the imperial court to the Chinese army.

In the negotiating missions of the Ming Dynasty, there appeared one after another people who showed their sincerity to the negotiating opponents, which just reflected the current scene of dissent and chaos among people inside and outside the Ming Dynasty.

During the same period, on the defense line of the Chinese Army in Liaodong, soldiers from Liaodong Town of the Ming Dynasty continued to defect and seek refuge.

Xining Fort, where the Chinese Army was stationed, originally belonged to the defense area of ​​the Liaodong Dusi Zhenwu Camp of the Ming Army.Wang Huazhen rebuilt the Zhenwu camp, and its defense areas included Zhenwu Fort (guerrilla garrison), Xiping Fort (Taipu Temple Yamen, Beiyu Office), Xixing Fort, Xining Fort, and Pingyang Fort.The original patrol scope also included: Sancha River (Sancha Pass), Niuzhuang area (Dongchang Fort), and Panshan area. Now only the west of Liaohe River still belongs to the patrol area of ​​the Ming army in name.The 107-mile side wall from Sancha Pass in the east to the administrative boundary of Zhenning Fort in the west is basically deserted and ungarrisoned.

The current defender of Pingyang Fort is Bao Chengfu, a participating general of the Ming Army, and the military battalion of Xinbian Town under his command is the Ming army closest to Xining Fort.Bao Chengfu was originally from the Zhenwu Camp. A few years ago, the Zhenwu Battalion collapsed in the battle against the Jurchen Eight Banners. Bao Chengfu was the first to lead the troops to escape, thus becoming the few remaining officers of the Zhenwu Battalion.

This guy is greedy and shameless, he flatters his superiors, and is mean and ungrateful to his subordinates.Because of his deduction of military pay, the newly recruited soldiers of the Zhenwu Battalion continued to flee to the side of the Chinese Army.

During the negotiations between the imperial court and the pirates, there have been many conflicts between the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry and the Chinese army's patrolling sentries on the front line of Xiningbao.After Zhang Pan served as the garrison of Xining Fort, he expanded the reconnaissance range of the Chinese Army to Pingyang Bridge, and sent almost all the cavalry on hand as reconnaissance posts.

Soon, many officers and soldiers of the Ming army defected to Xining Fort one after another, asking the Chinese army to take them in.Among them, there were not only small soldiers, but also a general of the Ming army who fled to Xining Fort with a dozen of his own soldiers.

At the beginning, Zhang Pan opened the door to receive these Ming army deserters, but when the number of these deserters reached hundreds, these people began to become troublesome.

Most of the Ming army deserters were very honest and stayed in the rooms designated for them by Zhang Pan and did not come out to cause trouble. However, some Ming army deserters later asked to go back to their hometowns in disorder. .

Of course, Zhang Pan couldn't just let them go behind his defense line like this.However, the Chinese Army Supervisory Department of Xining Fort was short of manpower, and it was impossible to deal with the deserters of the Ming army who were still defecting one after another.Zhang Pan had no choice but to issue a document asking the Liaodong Branch of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Liaoyang to send someone to identify these deserters and then deal with them.

Only one day after the messenger he sent across the Liaohe River, news came from the scouts: 5 people from the Guangning Army of the Ming Army had arrived at Pingyang Bridge.The striker of the Ming army led by guerrilla Zu Dashou of the Guangning Army has already crossed the Pingyang Bridge.The military battalion of the Ming army town has also begun to assemble, and it seems that they are going to fight.In other words, more than [-] main forces of the Ming army in western Liaoning have been dispatched, and the battle to attack Xining Fort has officially begun.

The movement of the Ming army has always been under the control of the Chinese army. Through the news of hidden insiders, the intelligence obtained from the investigation, and the interrogation of the defectors of the Ming army who surrendered, Zhang Pan and the chief officers of the Liaodong marching road of the Chinese army have long been involved. Knowing that the Battle of Xiningbao will definitely happen.