"The envoy of the Kingdom of Castile, Roberto Gozerez Claviyo, pays homage to His Majesty the Ming Empire." Claviyo said the words of greeting skillfully, then hesitated a little, then knelt down on one knee to salute.
"Pingshen." Yunxi also used the most formal title.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Clavijo said again.
"Brother Ze Laizi, I will call you this. How are you doing in the capital of Ming Dynasty these days?" Yunxi said a few words to him according to etiquette, and after letting him sit down, he stopped talking nonsense.
Ask directly.
"Your Majesty, Ming Dynasty, I am living a very good life in the capital city of Ming Dynasty." Claviyo said with a smile: "The capital city of Ming Dynasty is really too prosperous. I came to Ming Dynasty from our country and passed many places along the way.
Prosperous and wealthy cities, such as Basra and Samarkand, are far inferior to the capital of the Ming Dynasty."
"I sold everything I had in exchange for copper coins from the Ming Dynasty, and was rewarded by His Majesty. He also gave me a small amount of money every month. With this money, I bought a lot of things, whether it was food or other things, and enjoyed it.
I ate a lot of delicious food and enjoyed many things I had never seen in the West..."
"I also have your Majesty's permission to allow me to stay in Fanguan during this period. I am very grateful to your Majesty. I ask your Majesty to allow me to repay your Majesty." Claviyo said in Chinese that is not particularly proficient.
Many words praising the Ming Dynasty ended with this.
After hearing his words, the servants in the palace all laughed at Claviyo in their hearts: "He is just an envoy from a barbarian country. It is hard to say whether the population and land are as large as the Ming Dynasty or a province. I just want to thank your majesty for the reward. How dare you say repay him?"
Your Majesty, what you say is so shameless!" Some people had mocking expressions on their faces because they could not see either Yunxi or Claviyo because of their body shape. But no one dared to speak. Yunxi attaches great importance to rules.
Eunuchs who acted without permission and did not abide by the rules were all executed except for the "Three Kings" back then.
But Yunxi himself was clear-minded and understood what he meant.
According to the rules set by Yunxi after he succeeded to the throne, unless he had no time to summon these envoys from the foreign countries, the envoys from the foreign countries could only stay in the Ming Dynasty for no more than two months; but Clavijo arrived in the Ming Dynasty from the twelfth lunar month and has been there so far.
It has been seven months, and Claviyo is well aware of his special treatment. He should not be able to guess what Yunxi's thoughts are, but he knows that he must be put to use.
However, Yunxi didn't say anything immediately, he just smiled and chatted with him.
Yunxi talked a lot with him, mainly asking him what he thought of the Ming Dynasty, and mainly Yingtian. In fact, Yunxi didn't care much about foreigners' evaluation of the Ming Dynasty, because it was meaningless to the Ming Dynasty. No matter how they viewed the Ming Dynasty, they also had a negative opinion of the Ming Dynasty.
There will be no impact.
But as a foreigner who has never been exposed to Eastern civilization, looking at problems from some perspectives that people around the Ming Dynasty would not raise, may be able to point out problems that are not easily noticed by everyone.
Claviyo did say what he thought was the problem with the Ming Dynasty. “Dear Your Majesty, do I think the Ming Dynasty’s restrictions on subjects studying astronomy were too strict? As far as I know, in the Ming Dynasty, the subjects of the empire have not
He is allowed to study astronomy without authorization, and if he is caught watching the stars at night, he will be punished by death."
"In distant Europe, those who do not follow the interpretation of the Holy See and tell civilians about their opinions on astronomical phenomena will face being burned at the stake, but there are no restrictions on observing astronomy. Many scholars who are independent of the Holy See will look up at the stars on nights when the weather is good.
, study the movement patterns of planets, study why they move like this, and some people predict the future based on astrology."
In fact, not only in astronomy, Clavijo believes that there are problems with the entire scientific research of the Ming Dynasty. He feels that the people of the Ming Dynasty have little interest in studying the reasons behind certain phenomena, and do not pay attention to scientific research. It is very important and popular in European society.
The astronomer, who was respected by the nobility and the church, was considered by some officials in the Ming Dynasty to be a liar, or a freeloader, and was not respected, which puzzled him.
'It is precisely to prevent wild amateur astronomy enthusiasts from observing astronomical phenomena from interpreting them at will and endangering the emperor's rule that China banned the study of astronomy.'
'And the highest authority in the field of philosophy in your European countries is God, not real people. No matter how you explain it, it can be explained by God's unknowability, or God's omniscience and omnipotence. Therefore, private astronomical observations and predictions will not affect
The authority of God will not affect the sanctity of religion, so there is no prohibition. Of course, Copernicus's proposal to replace the geocentric theory with heliocentric theory was not within the church's expectations.' Yunxi said in his heart.
The earliest order to ban the study of astronomy among the people was in the Jin Dynasty. Starting from the Cao and Wei Dynasties, metaphysics began to spread among the gentry class and rapidly developed, and agnosticism was full of agnosticism both inside and outside the court. During this period, some people linked metaphysics and astronomy to explain
, and at the same time, because the Sima family's method of seizing the throne of Cao Wei was not legitimate, many people did not agree with it at the time, and various remarks that were not conducive to the rule of the Sima family were circulated in the country, which aroused the vigilance of Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. He then issued an edict to ban civil society.
Study astronomy privately.
This regulation was inherited by successive rulers, but sometimes it was more lenient and sometimes more strict. However, private research by the people was generally prohibited, but some governments that had not completed unification were not in power.
The Ming Dynasty naturally inherited this rule. It is said that one of the reasons why Liu Ji was valued by Zhu Yuanzhang was that he understood astronomy and Feng Shui. The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang had to get rid of him in the later period was also for the same reason. Otherwise, Liu Ji would have to resign.
When he returned to his hometown, all the forces in the court had been wiped out, so he would not die. After his death, the salary of the earl inherited by his eldest son was doubled.
Yunxi was also very confused about this. If the ban on astronomical research among the people was completely relaxed, I don’t know how many people who are full and have nothing to do, or who are just worried about the world being unstable, would use this to spread rumors and cause trouble, or claim to be the emperor.
An emperor is addicted. After 1949, despite such a powerful propaganda campaign, many people still claimed to be emperors, not to mention this era. Of course, Ming society is basically stable now, and these people cannot make any big waves to overthrow the Ming Dynasty.
It's even more nonsense, but there is always some trouble.
But if we don’t let go, even those astronomy officials in the Qintian Prison, who are mainly waiting for death, will not be able to study anything valuable even if they are given a thousand years. What’s more, the earliest breakthrough in modern science is astronomy.
, and promoted the development of physics and mathematics. It is easier to follow a proven path than to take an unknown path. Therefore, in order to promote the scientific development of the Ming Dynasty, Yunxi established the Gezhiyuan and merged it with the Imperial College.
, expel those who have no real talent and knowledge, and keep those who have real talent and knowledge to continue observing astronomy.
At the same time, the ban on privately studying astronomy was still not lifted, but Yunxi issued an imperial edict that if anyone was found to be studying astronomy privately in the local area, they would be sent to the capital, and the local government was not allowed to deal with it privately. After these people were sent to the capital, Yunxi
He will ask people who are proficient in astronomy from Gezhiyuan to examine them. If they just talk casually, they will be exiled overseas. Those who are really capable will stay in Gezhiyuan.
But it was difficult for him to explain these words to Claviyo, and these measures had only been implemented for more than two years, and the effect was not yet obvious. The lack of interest of the people in studying the reasons behind natural phenomena could not be changed overnight. So Yunxi just said
: "After all, the Ming Dynasty is different from Europe, so it's hard to generalize." After hearing his explanation, Claviyo didn't dare to ask further questions, and the topic just passed.
But everything he said after that was in praise of the Ming Dynasty. "Dear Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is really great. Compared with Europe, except for what I just said, everything else is much better than Europe!"
"The streets of Daming are so clean! Although some people throw away rubbish at will, there are dedicated people cleaning it. Overall, they are very clean, especially the streets that are very wide and where nobles live on both sides. It can be said that
It’s spotless.”
"The most surprising thing to me is that there is no human or animal feces! Dear Your Majesty, you must know that even the cleanest cities in Europe, several free cities in Italy that are almost as clean as Yingtian City, walk in
If you are not careful on the road, you will step on feces! Although the city council has set up public toilets, few people go to public toilets, which are all on both sides of the street."
When he was saying this short message, all the servants in the palace were laughing at him, and this time he showed a very obvious smile. Some people even laughed out loud, and then immediately covered their mouths, holding back their faces until they turned red.
Only Yunxi and Wang Xi did not laugh. Wang Xi could not bear it because he had seen too many strange things; Yunxi because he had heard about it in his previous life.
Before modern times, the cities in European countries were far less clean than those in the East, especially feces, which was almost everywhere. Of course, this is not because the morals of the Han people are inherently higher than those of the Europeans, but because of two reasons
.
First, in modern times, the economy of the East has always been more developed than that of Europe, and the common people are wealthier than those in Europe. It is said that those who are rich in wealth will know etiquette, and those who have enough food and clothing will know honor and disgrace. The richer people are, the more they will observe etiquette.
Of course, the second point is more important, that is, ancient Europe never knew that feces could be used as fertilizer! In China, and later spread to surrounding countries, it was discovered very early that feces could be used as fertilizer, so in order to collect fertilizers, people in cities and towns
In the countryside, people set up public toilets one after another, and the excrement they obtained was used to fertilize their fields. If their own fields could not be used up, they would be sold to others. Yes, you read that right, excrement could be sold for money in ancient times! And!
It is still a very popular commodity. In ancient times, there was a term called "dung tyrant", which refers to people who own urban public toilets and make a living by selling feces. Although they have a bad reputation, they are generally the most popular ones in small counties.
One of the few people who make money.
Because of the above reasons, few people in Eastern countries defecate in places other than toilets (urinating is hard to say). Even if someone defecates on the street, the feces will not stay for too long and will be shoveled away.
Yunxi remained expressionless. After the servants in the palace had laughed enough, they coughed. Wang Xi and Lu Yi hurriedly reprimanded them. Yunxi also said: "I will definitely punish these people who just laughed at you in the future."
"It's nothing," Claviyo himself didn't think it was anything: "Their jokes are reasonable. After all, the streets in Ming cities are indeed much cleaner than those in Europe."
"And this is not the only thing that makes Daming better than Europe." Claviyo continued: "Although I have not left Yingtian City very far, I have also noticed that not only the roads in the city of Daming are very smooth, but also the roads outside the city.
There is also a very smooth avenue, and two-wheeled carriages can drive quickly on it without any problem. However, the roads in Europe are relatively smooth only in cities. When you leave the city, even just after passing the city gate, the road is full of potholes, and the ground subsidence is serious, even for a horse.
Even if the horse-drawn cart drives along the road at a very slow speed, some of the cargo will inevitably be bumped off."
"At the same time, because the land subsidence is serious and the roads are lower than both sides, no one will build sewers outside the city. Whenever it rains, it will be flooded."
"Why isn't anyone repairing the roads outside the city?" Wang Xi asked. He was embarrassed to ask the question just now, but he didn't have that concern with this question.
Although "this eunuch" is not common in Western Europe, it is common for the Byzantines and the cannibals to use eunuchs. The cannibals regularly go to East Africa to capture black-skinned people, castrate them and sell them to nobles, whether they are the nobles of their own country.
Or foreign nobles. Of course, there are also some black-skinned people who just have two eggs cut off and then sold to noble ladies, whether they are domestic or foreign. Kraviyo has been on mission to many countries, so he is naturally accustomed to this.
"Eunuch, you may not know that European countries implement a complete enfeoffment system, but the city is free and does not belong to any lord; and if a slave escapes to the city, as long as he is not captured by the original owner within a year
, became free citizens, so the lords around the city were unwilling to repair the roads to the city. People in the city, because the land outside the city belonged to the lords, had no right to use it and could not repair the roads."
Of course, there is another reason he did not mention, that is, there was a law in medieval Europe that the goods bumped off the carriage by the passing merchants belonged to the lord of the place. Of course, the merchants would definitely not take the initiative to give things to the lord, but
If the lord or the knights under the lord discover it, they will definitely not be able to save it.
But this law was criticized by many people even in Europe. Kraviyo was well-informed and naturally knew that it was wrong. He felt that saying it would be more embarrassing than pooping on the street, so he did not say it (to be continued).
