At this moment, not only are the students one by one caught in the triple cycle of self-torture of who am I, where am I, and what am I doing, but even Zhang Shou himself has some doubts about life. Hasn't he already traveled through time? How can he still do it?
Will he be exposed to foreign languages? And the most annoying thing is that this is not the English he is familiar with!
Also, it's still too early for English to become the most popular language in the world. After all, the British empire on which the sun never sets is already in its second generation. He still remembers that the first generation of the empire on which the sun never sets used various marriage operations to make the king
Spain in the 16th century had a long list of country names in front of its titles, and France once allowed French to occupy a mainstream position in Europe between two generations of empires on which the sun never sets.
However, if we want to say that the most mainstream language in Europe that prints books in this era, it is probably Latin, which is called a dead language... This is simply a pit, let alone him, future generations will be those who are proficient in many languages.
There are many language geniuses who don’t know Latin! Especially now that this is the East, who knows Latin is a ghost!
Zhang Shou tried his best to maintain his calm image in front of the students, but in his heart he couldn't help cursing the emperor for something sudden. However, he still calmly flipped through the "arithmetic classics", which he didn't recognize.
", and finally raised his eyes to look at the person who personally sent these books.
"Eunuch Chen, these books are..."
Seeing Zhang Shou's calm expression, Chen Yongshou thought that after all, he was the most valued genius by Ge Yong, the master of arithmetic. He really had real talent and practical knowledge, and he could understand this foreign book, which was equivalent to a heavenly book. You know, he had just flipped through it casually before.
, as a result, my head is all dizzy now, and it’s the same when I look at these students, all of them are almost scared out of their wits by these books.
So, he bowed with a smile, and then explained very respectfully: "Xueshi Zhang, the emperor gave Mrs. Ge some books before. This is another part. It was brought by a fleet from overseas.
Came back."
Of course he would not specify which fleet brought it back from overseas - after all, he did not know whether Zhang Shou knew the inside story of the royal family's huge property - so after saying this vaguely, he then mentioned the following
Very clearly explained.
"But these books are all in foreign languages. Even Master Ge complained that he couldn't read the books before when he sent them as they were. So the emperor agreed to Master Ge and asked a few interpreters to translate all the texts.
However, this arithmetic classic is different from other things, and those translators may not translate it well, so it depends on you and the students, Academician Zhang."
Hearing Chen Yongshou's words, Ji Jiudeng was shocked. Translate the characters of these ghost symbols? Them? He has only known square Chinese characters since he was a child. How could he possibly recognize these ghost symbols? He can't still learn them.
Come on, he will definitely die!
Zhang Datou, who was originally tempted to take the Jiuzhangtang exam, couldn't help but feel lucky that he hadn't passed the exam yet. If he still had to learn Fanbang script in Jiuzhangtang in the future, he would have to miss out on someone like Zhang Shou.
There was nothing the teacher could do... God knows, when he first laid eyes on it, he felt as if someone had cast a spell on him, and his head was frozen!
At this moment, Zhang Shou also felt that the emperor was not the most deceitful, only more deceitful. However, he could say curse words in his heart in private, to Ah Liu, or even to Zhu Ying, but it was absolutely impossible to do so at this time.
Speaking in front of Chen Yongshou.
So, he frowned slightly, and then said in a very solemn tone: "Although I have indeed made some gains in studying Sutra, I really can't do anything about these foreign characters. And those translators do not say how to understand the foreign characters.
They have mastered several kinds, but their calculation skills are also extremely weak. Even if they help each other, it will be difficult to complete this work."
Seeing that Chen Yongshou seemed to be thinking about how to report back to the emperor, he came up with the most important reason: "Moreover, these foreign languages are purely translated by translators, even if I and my students help, because we don't understand
It is also easy to make errors and omissions in Chinese language. The best way is to find a few people from the Chinese language who are familiar with this language to assist you."
As for the so-called interpreters nowadays, they can probably be proficient in the languages of the small countries in Southeast Asia. How much can they understand French, Spanish, Italian, etc.? Even if they can understand these, can they understand Latin? They are proficient in Latin these days.
Yes, they are either magicians or big aristocrats. Small aristocrats don’t have the financial resources, so even if they learn it, they will mostly stumble.
Ji Jiu, who almost turned pale with fright just now, finally came to life. After all, Lu Sanlang and Qi Liang were not here, so he was still the boss. He thought that if he didn't persuade him, Lu Sanlang would know that he had taken on such a hot potato when he came back.
He would definitely blame him for doing errands. He coughed quickly and said: "The teacher is right, there must be some foreigners who are proficient in the language to help."
Of course, Chen Yongshou knew that such a request was reasonable, but he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I also know that what Zhang Xueshi said is reasonable, but I have to say that those foreign countries are completely different from ours."
Chen Yongshou was able to become the steward of the Qianqing Palace, it was definitely not because of his honest duty - in fact, he was once one of the stewards in Guangzhou who took care of the fleet affairs for the royal family - or to be more precise, for the emperor.
First, to come to Qianqing Palace to be the steward is actually a bit unprofessional.
However, Chu Kuan once proposed to the emperor that all those who worked hard for the emperor in remote areas, but inevitably came into contact with large amounts of money, must be rotated frequently, and must be rotated under the nose of the emperor, so that the emperor could have peace with others.
Close contact and the opportunity to deepen understanding gave Chen Yongshou the opportunity to rise to the top in one step.
Therefore, when he explained to Zhang Shou and the students who were obviously confused, he naturally looked very professional.
"In our Ming Dynasty, the civil service system is the imperial examination. Although there will be favors, recommendations, and extraordinary appointments like Zhang Xueshi, there are very few in the end. Generally speaking, if you want to be an official, you have to leave the imperial examination.
, Scholars are passed through the exams one by one. As for honors, they can only be hereditary after having military merit. And if it is not a great merit, the hereditary rank will be downgraded."
"For titles that are not downgraded, it is often written clearly on the imperial certificate that they will be downgraded after three generations."
Seeing everyone nodding, Chen Yongshou sighed and said: "However, let alone the small countries in the south, the system of the messy foreign countries in the west is not like this. Their kings will enfeoff a lot of nobles because of their military merits, which is also true.
Duke Bozinan is similar to us, but this is to grant real power by granting fiefdoms. In the final analysis, it is similar to the system of the Zhou Dynasty..."
When Zhang Shou heard Chen Yongshou carefully explaining various systems in Western Europe these days, he suddenly felt dumbfounded.
Of course he also knew a little about the feudal lordship system in Europe. Although he was not as talented as Emperor Taizu and could even draw maps as decently as he did, he still had some understanding of this era. For example, counting time,
Now, it happens that the European Middle Ages have completely passed, the Renaissance is in full swing, and talented people are jumping out one after another...
After Chen Yongshou introduced the system, he changed his tone and said very helplessly: "So, unlike our dynasty where scholars are all over the world and the number of students alone is hundreds of thousands, the population of those small foreign countries is only a tiny bit.
, checkpoints must be set up between each territory, and tax rates are also different. The so-called king often gives orders without leaving the capital, but the most important thing is..."
"Except for the so-called nobles, there are very few literate people there, pitifully few!"
Seeing a group of students around him listening attentively to what he said, Chen Yongshou coughed dryly and said: "It's true. For example, there are dozens of people on a boat, and often only three or four can write, but they can only write down some superficial information.
The most basic thing is to calculate some accounts, that's all. That's it, it's already a great progress. You know, just a hundred or two hundred years ago..."
"These small foreign countries don't even know how to make paper. They can only tan the sheepskin to make paper, and then copy the text on it. Because sheepskin is expensive, a thin collection of poems may be worth a house, and a scripture of the sect they believe in may even cost as much as
It can be worth a manor. Even the little nobles in the hereditary territory may not know many words or read many books, let alone ordinary people."
"So in these small foreign countries, the son of a farmer will always be a farmer, the son of a shoemaker will always be a shoemaker, and the son of a blacksmith will always be a blacksmith. There will be no future for him. And when a city selects officials, it only depends on their background, collection of books, or literacy.
use?"
At this moment, Ji Jiu finally couldn't help but ask: "But if these books are so precious, wouldn't it cost a lot to transport them all the way back by a fleet of ships? And what if the guy selling the books is fooling people?
, these books are not Western arithmetic, but messy and crooked poems. Isn’t that a waste of money?”
Zhang Shou also remembers that although the price of books in Europe these days is slightly cheaper than in the previous parchment era, it is still very limited - after all, the price of books in the Ming Dynasty these days is actually not trivial, so the fleets that transport these books back buy the books
How much did it cost?
"It didn't cost too much." Chen Yongshou chuckled and said nonchalantly, "These books are said to be treasures collected by a rich man, but one of his relatives had evil intentions and colluded with his family's servants.
The books were stolen. How did the captain know this? Since the other party said he was going to a dance and exchanged the books for silk at a low price, he used three pieces of brocade to exchange the books back."
Hearing this, a lot of people were stunned. Although Yunjin is also very expensive, this is not an exchange... it is a robbery! However, there are also people exchanging glances, such as Zhang Datou and Ji Jiu. As ancestors of plundering, they
I have a natural interest in this kind of activity. Although I have been educated by Zhang Shou to be more honest now, I also know that wealthy private businessmen should not be targeted...
But, what about those small countries overseas that don’t accept the king’s rule? Will they be able to grab a vote in the future? From what Eunuch Chen said, it seems like there is a ball of loose sand there.
By the way, I remember that Zhang Shou once told them about the history of the Yuan Dynasty. It seemed that when the eldest son of Batu went to the west, he almost defeated the small country. If Meng Ge hadn't died under Diaoyu City,
Maybe the Mongols are not just in the north now, but also have a piece of territory in the west!
Chen Yongshou didn't know that his words aroused certain thoughts, nor did he know that a group of Guijie children who were rebellious and unruly at heart. When they learned about some small countries across the sea, they planned to go there in the future.
Earn a vote while doing it.
But no matter what, telling stories can arouse everyone's interest, and Eunuch Chen is of course willing to continue telling them.
"The city where the merchant ship arrived was very popular in loan sharking with high interest rates. The guy who stole the book and sold it to us borrowed a loan shark from a rich relative and refused to pay, so he became a coward. However, paper
The rich man finally found out. But he not only wanted his book back, but also wanted more, so he bribed a noble's private soldier."
"He rushed to the port with these people and accused our merchant ship of being a pirate ship. You know, around that city, the word pirate is a very serious accusation. If the pirate is caught, all the pirate's property can be recovered.
Own."
"As a result..." Chen Yongshou drawled a long voice, but said with a chuckle, "Of course they were beaten to a pulp by the escort of the merchant ship. These guys don't have eyes, and they are not ordinary merchant ships that are not well-armed.
...The merchant ship owned by a certain big shot in the capital is well-armed and well-trained, so it’s useless if it can’t defeat a group of rabble!”
Fortunately, he changed his story quickly and did not say that it was the emperor's ship. There were many cannons on it, and it was extremely aggressive and flexible... The most important thing is that what docked at the port this time was an entire fleet, not a fleet.
There is only one boat!
Even if Chen Yongshou omitted the most important part, a large group of people were still full of excitement and pride. There is no way, in today's Ming Dynasty, land battles may still have the opportunity to witness, but ship battles... no one has
Many people here have never seen a real sea ship! Even if Chen Yongshou meant that they might not fire a cannon, they were all very excited to hear it.
"The captain took command, and the escort not only beat them to death, but also captured a dozen of those gangsters. Afterwards, they even hung the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty high, showed their identity, and asked the other party to pay for the ransom according to the rules. In this way.
The whole city knew about the commotion. But the most interesting thing is that the rich man's illegitimate son came over first and was willing to use himself to replace the nobles' private soldiers!"
This kind of grievances between wealthy families was ignored by the students of Jiuzhang Hall, but these students of Banshan Hall listened with gusto, and some even burst into laughter for a while. At this time, Zhang Shou also explained with great interest: "Western
Their illegitimate children are different from our dynasty. Their kings and nobles are not allowed to have three wives and four concubines. They can only have one wife, but they can have many mistresses."
"The illegitimate children born from mistresses do not have any inheritance rights, but the king can give the illegitimate children a title, the big nobles can place the illegitimate children in favorable positions, and the small nobles can still keep the illegitimate children at home even though they have no other choice..."
Zhang Shou explained a few words casually, and everyone clicked their tongues for a while, but Chen Yongshou said with a smile: "Yes, the illegitimate child is said to be the child of the rich man and a peasant woman. He has been raised at home since he was a child. He is very loved and popular.
He has some talents. The captain saw that he was very calm, and he didn't want the matter to end badly, so he tentatively agreed to him, let the private soldiers go, and let his father redeem him."
"But this kid went too far. He didn't even have the consciousness to be a prisoner. He even wanted to visit the ship. The captain thought he was interesting, so he didn't tie him up. Instead, he really let him wander around the ship with only the artillery weapon.
The warehouse and other places were regarded as restricted areas and he was not allowed to go. Who knew that after he was ransomed, he actually got on the ship in the cargo box and was almost thrown overboard by the sailors halfway..."
At this point, Chen Yongshou suddenly had an idea: "Speaking of this, this kid is very smart. During his journey across the ocean, he actually learned to speak our language. Although he still speaks very stiffly, there is no big problem in daily communication.