Hearing that Chen Ke could speak his own language, Mansa Musa's expression suddenly became more vivid. Other people who had been standing aside also came over, greeted Chen Ke one after another, and identified themselves.
The first batch of scholars who came to the Song Dynasty, there were fifty people when they set out, and some of their family members, a total of more than 200 people. Although Aziz had taken good care of him, it was inevitable that some people died at sea, including
Three outstanding scholars.
Among the forty-seven scholars who arrived in the Song Dynasty, there were Persians, Egyptians, Syrians, even Byzantines, and Indians. Most of them believed in Islam, but there were also Nestorians, Hindus, Sabines...
In short, it is a multi-ethnic and multi-faith group of scholars.
Without such an inclusive and open atmosphere, there would be no vigorous translation movement for a century!
With the strong support of generations of Arab emperors, the Abbasid Dynasty brought together top scholars from all over the world and worked tirelessly to translate the brilliant achievements of Persian civilization, Greek civilization, Roman civilization, Indian civilization, and Egyptian civilization into Arabic script.
Tens of thousands of works on theology, medicine, astrology, astronomy, philosophy, mathematics, physics, etc. have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, greatly enriching and increasing the knowledge and knowledge of the Arabs. More importantly, Asia
Aristotle's logic has fundamentally changed people's way of thinking. Deduction, analogy, proof theory and the formal theory of syllogism have been widely and widely used in debate, research, expression and argumentation methods, completely changing
It influenced people's way of thinking and gave birth to the brilliant ancient Arab civilization.
Moreover, the biggest beneficiaries of this translation movement are not the Arabs, but the Europeans.
It can be said that without the absorption and preservation of world civilization by the Arabs, Europeans would not have been able to get out of the ignorant Middle Ages and enter the great Renaissance. At that time, under the rule of the church, Europeans no longer knew where they came from and were in the chaos of ignorance.
State. The so-called 'Dark Middle Ages'.
It wasn't until the Crusades in the twelfth century that Europeans captured the city of Toledo and discovered a large number of ancient Greek writings in Arabic. They didn't know that their legendary ancestors were so great. They actually lived as early as a thousand years ago.
He had such great ideas many years ago! The works expressing these ideas were not only translated into Arabic by pagans, but also helped the Arabs create such great wealth.
So they opened a translation school in Toledo, attracting a large number of European scholars to study at the school, and translated Arabic works into European texts. Because of their work, early scholars such as Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Euclid
The sages who had been submerged by history reappeared in medieval Europe, directly and fundamentally impacting the foundation of the theological rule of the church.
What is the Renaissance? It is the revival of Greek culture. Where did Greek culture come from? It was translated from Arabic...
Since Chen Ke came to this world, he naturally would not let the Europeans be the only ones beautiful, not to mention that he also caught up with the good times. Once the barbaric Seljuk people occupied Arabia, they vigorously promoted Sufism. Not only did they no longer sponsor these
Free academic activities, on the contrary, regard those ideas from pagans as poisonous, suppress and exclude the majority of scholars.
Secondly, because the Seljuks frantically persecuted Christians and prohibited them from making pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the Christian world and the Arab world were in sharp opposition. The two sides had become entangled at sea. The Europeans cut off the Arabs' trade routes and clamored for
Form an expeditionary force to recover the holy city of Jerusalem.
The living standards of the Arabs who rely on business to prosper are not as good as before. The entire country is preparing for war. Naturally, those engaged in translation and academic work are not valued even more. Many scholars who have lived a comfortable life for generations have to leave the Palace of Wisdom and the Translation Hall.
, engaged in menial tasks such as copying and accounting in order to support the family.
This just gave Aziz the opportunity to recruit talents. In addition, the Song Dynasty was the civilized center of the world and had unparalleled attraction. Under the temptation of favorable conditions, there were almost no unemployed scholars who were not tempted by this.
The forty or fifty people who came here are just the vanguard who came to inquire about the situation. If Bianjing is really a paradise for intellectuals as the legend says, there will be tens or dozens of times more scholars to follow suit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But to be honest, these Arabs came at the wrong time. There was an undercurrent lurking in Bianjing City at this moment. I don’t know how many pairs of eyes were staring at Chen Ke, trying to drive him out of Bianjing City. So many foreigners came at once.
He's definitely a big risk.
But he could not put them in Guangzhou or Quanzhou. Although that would be safe, it would chill the hearts of these intellectuals. How could he expect them to work wholeheartedly and provide rich nutrients for Chinese civilization to take off again?
Therefore, Chen Ke reported the matter to the officials several months in advance, saying that when he was in Guangxi, he met Arab businessmen. They told him that the Black Clothes Territory was in the middle of a war. A group of desperate intellectuals
, hoping to be protected by the Song Dynasty.
And they didn’t come for nothing. They would present classic books from Qin, Persia, Dashi, Tianzhu, and Egypt to His Majesty the Emperor of Song.
There are foreigners who are willing to travel thousands of miles to join, which greatly satisfies the vanity of the Celestial Kingdom. Officials known for their kindness will naturally not refuse. However, the scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty hated the military dictatorship and the persecution of scholars.
They don't mind taking in these 'foreign scholars' as long as it doesn't cause any trouble.
As for the "classic books" mentioned by Chen Ke, the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty did not take it to heart. There was no way, the idea that barbarians were all outside China was deeply rooted. The scholar-officials were at best curious about barbarian books... They did not expect that barbarians could also write books.
Ah! But there won’t be much interest.
Therefore, Chen Ke successfully applied for permanent residence for 400 people, but he did not apply for even a false position or honorary title. In the final analysis, the imperial court only regarded them as refugees like Yi Leyeren. He wanted to win
The respect of the Song Dynasty depends on themselves.
So the problem arises... Aziz, in order to lure these scholars to the Song Dynasty, wrote many bad checks. He said that the Song Dynasty respected scholars very much, and only scholars could be officials. Scholars who did not want to be officials were even better.
He is respected by the whole society.
As a result, this group of people arrived in Bianjing City with the mentality of becoming nobles. Unexpectedly, they did not receive the grand welcome they imagined, nor did they receive any official preferential treatment. It was also so cold and freezing, and many people were unhappy.
In this regard, Aziz said with disdain: "Ignore these guys. You can't help them when they come. You can go back if you want. You can swim in the sea by yourself."
Expecting this kind of result from such an unscrupulous international liar, Chen Ke felt helpless. Of course he couldn't listen to this guy's bad idea.
But in this delicate situation, he couldn't fight for anything for them. He could only do his best to give them the respect they wanted.
He first booked two of the best inns in Bianjing City, settled these people, and then spoke with them sincerely in half-baked Arabic. He told them that what Aziz said was true, but that it was the winner.
You will get the treatment you deserve. And the Song Dynasty and the Dashi Dynasty are thousands of miles apart. How far away they are, and they know nothing about your culture. How can you make them agree with you?
He also told them frankly that this invitation was not official, but that he invited them in his own name after hearing about their experiences. Just because of communication barriers, Aziz might
They may have misunderstood. Chen Ke deeply apologizes for causing them misunderstanding.
Those Arab scholars were naturally very angry, and many of them even proposed to return to their country on the spot... In fact, this is hypocritical. If it is not possible to survive at home, who would leave their hometown and come to a distant foreign country that they have no understanding of?
Chen Ke knew their mentality very well, so he was not worried, but he still looked apologetic and said: "If you want to leave, I will arrange a boat to see you off, but before leaving, can you listen to me say a few more words?"
These guys were just bluffing to vent their dissatisfaction, so naturally they wouldn't listen.
"I heard that your golden age was during the period of Caliph Maimon. At that time, in order to encourage translation, the king used the same weight of gold as the translation manuscript to pay the royalties. Is this true?"
The scholars nodded and said: "Yes." In fact, the best time has passed a hundred years ago. When it is their turn to serve the palace, they can only receive a fixed monthly salary. If there is no other income, it is only enough to support the family.
That's all.
"Then, I promise you that for every book you translate, I will reward you with the same weight of gold until you are recognized by the court. How about that?" Chen Ke gritted his teeth and said.
Immediately, the whole room was shocked. All the scholars were stunned for a long time and said, "Aren't you kidding me?"
"That is, you have already deceived us, teach us how to trust you?"
"I can make a contract with you. If I break the contract, you can go to the government and sue me." Chen Ke said calmly: "I said it was just a misunderstanding before. We, the people of the Song Dynasty, attach great importance to credibility, and officials even more so. Once
If I break the contract, there will be only one outcome, and that is to be ruined..."
Everyone looked at each other and thought, "I can't go back anyway, so I might as well believe him."
Seeing that they finally nodded, Chen Ke was not at all happy, because if the gold from Sado Island was not supplied on time, and if they were not recognized by the court for a long time, just paying the gold would drag him into bankruptcy.
However, he still understands the principle of "buying horse bones with a thousand gold". Although gold is vulgar, it can make scholars feel his sincerity and get everything they want...