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   Chapter 886 882 [Eunuch Mathematician]

  Portugal wants to marry China, and is willing to offer a port as a dowry in exchange for China's protection of Portugal's Asian ports.

   Zhao Han is of course willing to accept this proposal... well, only half of it.

   Zhao Han’s reply was that China only protected Portugal’s ports in India, and was only responsible for dealing with Dutch forces. As for countries such as Oman, Persia, and Mughals, Portugal will solve them by itself, and China will never get involved.

  Take Oman as an example. The navy has not yet formed, so it takes pirates every day to fight against Portugal on the west coast of India. Moreover, it is fought almost every year, how can China manage it?

  Portugal is using a very long name, let's call him Antonio.

   This guy met the emperor yesterday, and he got such a reply. Apart from being frustrated, he was also a little happy. Although Portugal is "thumped by thousands of people", except for the Netherlands, Portugal can barely bear the hammers of other countries.

   Ministry of War.

Gu Jianshan, the left captain of the Navy, took the list of ports given by Portugal, and spread out the map to search accordingly: "This is not possible for Portugal. The colonial ports on the east coast of India have been snatched up by the Netherlands. There are still three in Ceylon. The port was also swallowed up by the Netherlands two years ago. Today, on the east coast of India, Portugal has only one port left, and they are still unwilling to use it as a dowry."

Lu Xiangsheng said: "We are determined not to want the ports on the west coast of India. First, the distance is too far, and it is not easy to manage if they are taken; second, according to the news brought back by the envoys, the situation on the west coast is very complicated. Involved in multinational disputes."

   "How is it here?" Gu Jianshan pointed to Chittagong.

   Lu Xiangsheng said: "This is not on the dowry list, and it does not seem to be a Portuguese colony."

Gu Jianshan explained: "Portugal's rule in Chittagong is a bit similar to Macau in the past. It was leased from Rakhine (Arakan), and Portugal can only control an urban area. Outside the city, it is all owned by Arakan pirates. Even King Rakhine cannot control the world. Even the Portuguese ships and sailors are mostly recruited Arakan pirates.”

Lu Xiangsheng thought about it carefully: "This time the imperial court conquered Burma, the Rakhine king dared to send reinforcements to help the Burmese king. Although he escaped without firing a cannon, he had to be punished. How about sending envoys to Rakhine , ordered the king to cede Chittagong. Then reply to the Portuguese and ask them to hand over the city as a dowry."

   "We still have to send the navy to clean up all the pirates in Chittagong." Gu Jianshan said.

  The ownership of Chittagong is very complicated. The sovereignty is in the hands of the King of Rakhine, the control of the city is in the hands of Portugal, and the port and surrounding sites are actually controlled by pirates.

  If the Chinese emperor could forgive him, the Rakhine king would certainly be willing to cede the land, he would not have been able to actually control Chittagong. The Portuguese are also willing. Since the ports on the east coast of India were eaten up, they are weak in Chittagong and have to cooperate with pirates most of the time.

   Only those Arakan pirates were injured. If China owns Chittagong, the first thing to do is to wipe out the pirates.

  But we can't simply wipe them out, because those pirates all come from coastal fishermen. Unless the fishermen around the port are killed, the pirates will never be eliminated.

  Controlling Chittagong is tantamount to controlling the Bay of Bengal, and it is an outpost for colonial India in the future.

  The agriculture in the Bay of Bengal is very developed, and food can be obtained continuously. Malacca, which cannot be self-sufficient, will not need to ask Palembang for food in the future, and the transportation from Chittagong is more than enough. Cotton cloth produced in China can also be shipped in bulk from Chittagong, and Indian cotton can also be obtained from Chittagong.

  The Ministry of War and the Naval Governor's Office discussed and decided to immediately notify the Ministry of Rites, and Honglu Temple would contact the Portuguese envoy.

   "China wants Chittagong?" Antonio was surprised and delighted, this place is so good, China can just take it if it wants.

Wang Duanyi, You Shaoqing of Honglu Temple said: "After Chittagong belongs to our country, the Portuguese there can freely choose their nationality. At the same time, the missionaries there are no longer allowed to preach at will, and can only keep one church in the city. All missionary activities, Only in church."

   "Of course." Antonio doesn't care about these, he just needs to complete the task.

   Immediately, the Ministry of Rites will come to celebrate the birthday of the Portuguese princess.

  The princess was called Catalina, who was Charles' wife in history. I'm 17 years old this year, so I'm a bit old, and I'm sure I'm over 20 years old when I come back to China and get married.

   Zhao Han still has a plan in mind, using the princess' descendants to intervene in the Portuguese throne in the future. But the calculation was doomed to fail, because Katerina was infertile. Charles later had more than a dozen illegitimate children, but he had no children with Katerina, who had a good relationship.

  Of course, it can also be operated, and then it will be fine to impersonate!

  Anyway, the Holy See broke off diplomatic relations with Portugal a long time ago, and the Portuguese king directly asked the Jesuits to be crowned. The Pope could not interfere with the change of the Portuguese royal family.

  …

   "Your Majesty, this is my translation on the way home. Because of religious issues, this book has not been published in France." Li Sixiao inherited Pascal's "Essays on Liquid Balance and Air Weight".

  Zhao Han glanced at the author first, "Pascal" was translated as "Bosco", and he didn't know who it was just by looking at the name.

  However, the content of this book shocked Zhao Han.

Prove the existence of vacuum, improve mercury barometer, invent syringe and hydraulic press, explain that air pressure changes with height, and propose Pascal's theorem (the pressure applied to any part of a closed liquid must be transmitted from the liquid to all directions according to its original size) …

  Zhao Han looked at the author's name again, and he already understood that it was Pascal. Who doesn't know the pressure unit of "Pa"?

   "The content of this book has never been published in Europe?" Zhao Han asked.

Li Sixiao replied: "For fear of being persecuted by the Holy See, most of them have not been published, but they have been spread privately among scholars. Only the last 'Bosco's Theorem' was discovered by Bosco on a ship, and no one in Europe knows about it .”

Zhao Han smiled and said: "Very good, take this book to Qintian Academy, and let scholars do experiments accordingly. After verification, it will be published in the "Acta Physica Journal" first, and will be compiled into university textbooks in the next two years. This Bao Sike, Keba became a master of physics at Qintian Academy, and the royal family rewarded him with one hundred silver dollars, and asked the Ministry of Industry to arrange a house for him."

   "Your Majesty is wise." Li Sixiao said flatteringly.

  Zhao Han asked again: "Did Bao Sike bring his family to China?"

Li Sixiao replied: "This gentleman lost his mother at the age of three, and his father also died a few years ago, but he has not married a wife in his thirties. It is because he is alone and has no worries in France that he is willing to travel thousands of miles to the Heavenly Dynasty. "

   "Hire a servant for him to take care of his daily life," Zhao Han said, "If he wants to marry, he can also help him find a wife. Anyway, he can't let this person run away, and he must be determined."

Li Sixiao said: "Bao Sike doesn't seem to be a womanizer. Except for academic topics, he doesn't even talk to people very much. He just does experiments, writes papers and reads all day long, and he talks about it all day long. Talk about the Lord."

  Zhao Han couldn't help laughing: "It's normal to have some strange problems, don't bother him."

  Zhao Han continued to read other books, all of which were translated by Li Sixiao at sea, the most important of which was Descartes' "Principles of Philosophy".

  Li Sixiao added a lot of private goods, trying to explain the universe with the Confucian version of the dualism of mind and matter. Zhao Han was noncommittal about this kind of theory, and was more interested in the scientific research methods in the book. After reading it, he said: "This set of research rules is excellent. I will extract it and let the scholars of Qintian Academy have a look."

   "Yes!" Li Sixiao cupped his hands.

   Immediately, Zhao Han picked up another book: "Didn't you invite this mathematician named Fermat?"

Li Sixiao said: "This person was originally a litigator. He spent money to buy an official position as a local councilor, and then spent money to become the chief spokesman of the local council. He was obsessed with official career, and studying mathematics was just a hobby. Moreover, Fermat's works, many contents China already has it, and I only selected what China does not have for translation. Especially the theory of number theory is an eye-opener."

   "So I'm an official fan, so if you don't come, don't come." Zhao Han laughed.

  Fermat will not leave France. He became rich through marriage and used money to buy and promote officials. How could he be willing to abandon all this?

  In addition to these, there are many scientific books that need to be translated slowly. For example, Veda, Dezag, Steven, Kepler, etc. Li Sixiao bought all the books he could buy and shipped them back to China.

   After a few days.

   Pascal, who was reading "Chinese Philosophy and Ethics", suddenly ushered in several official errands.

"Mr. Bao, you have been awarded the Master of the Fifth Grade by His Majesty. This is the official uniform, formal dress and regular uniform issued by the imperial court. In addition, Qintianyuan hired a servant for you, and Qintianyuan paid the wages for the first three months. After three months, you need to solve it by yourself. There is still one hundred silver dollars, which is a reward from His Majesty..."

  Pascal learned some Chinese on the ship, but he is relatively withdrawn and does not communicate often, and his Chinese level is far from that of Prince Charles.

   After speaking, the speed of speech was so fast that Pascal didn't understand half a sentence, so he had to rely on the translator of Honglu Temple.

  You are an official in China?

  Pascal was a little confused.

  Envoys from all over the world lived in this courtyard. When they heard the news, they came to watch the excitement one after another, and many of them admired it.

  Wait for the official to leave, a skinny man in his thirties nodded and bowed his head and said, "Master Bao, his youngest name is Wang Zhong, and he will take care of him from now on. The imperial court has granted a house outside the city. When will the master move there?"

   "Thank you." Pascal half understood.

  The so-called homestead is just a small courtyard by the Xuanwu Lake. Housing prices in the city are very high, and it is not easy to buy with money. Most of the newly built houses are outside the city.

  As for the servant Wang Zhong, he is a young **** left over from the previous dynasty. He has been guarding the gate and sweeping the floor of Qintianyuan these years.

  Pascal is taken out of town and immediately takes a liking to his new home. Although the yard is not big and there are only a few houses, the scenery of Xuanwu Lake is very good.

   After staying for two days, Wang Zhong also surprised Pascal.

   This seemingly ordinary servant actually asked him for mathematics knowledge, and he is also proficient in analytic geometry, and he is studying calculus.

   "Sorry, Wang, I don't know much about calculus, and I can't answer your doubts for the time being." Pascal felt a little ashamed, he was actually compared by his servant.

  Wang Zhong himself can write and count. At the age of seventeen, the Datong Army took back Nanjing, and he has been doing odd jobs as a former eunuch.

  Due to staying in Qintianyuan for a long time, the little **** was influenced by what he saw and heard, and started to study quietly, and often went to the library lazily. No one knew how knowledgeable he was, and they regarded him as an ordinary handyman, but after more than ten years of study and research, Wang Zhong was already called a mathematician.

  However, he is very timid and lacks self-confidence. He usually bows down to everyone he sees.

  Pascal was quite curious about this servant, so he began to discuss math problems. Influenced by Pascal, Wang Zhong soon had a new understanding of air pressure and liquid.

  The master and servant get along well, as if they have been friends for many years.

  Until Pascal read Wang Zhong's research manuscript, he finally couldn't help but said: "Wang, I think you can publish your own results."

   "Forget it..." Wang Zhong didn't want to cause trouble. He was very confident in his knowledge, but not confident in his body and identity.

  Pascal said: "Give me these manuscripts, and I will hand them over to Xiao Zhangyuan of Qintianyuan."

  (end of this chapter)