Why does the major shareholder of the iron factory need to write Xia Chan’s name?
Because Xia Chan happened to come to Zhejiang while Wang Yuan was making steel. She was first escorted to Hangzhou by the Jinyi Guards. She heard that Wang Yuan was in Shaoxing, so she went straight to Shaoxing.
You read that right, Xia Chan was escorted south by Jin Yiwei!
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Huang E gave birth successfully and wanted to send someone to report the news to Wang Yuan.
After hearing the news, the imperial concubine sent the eunuch to congratulate her on the third day of the lunar new year and said that the emperor had written a letter to Wang Yuan and was about to send it to Zhejiang immediately. If Huang E also wanted to write a letter, he could bring it with him. Huang E simply
Let Xia Chan go south with Jin Yiwei.
Sending the maid to Wang Yuan's side would naturally be convenient for his daily service.
The content of the letter written by Huang E mainly includes three points: first, he talks about some trivial matters in life, saying that everything is fine at home and asking Wang Yuan not to worry about it; second, the Shuidong Song family sent envoys to pay tribute to horses and brought Song Ling'er's letters
; Thirdly, his son’s nickname is Chuyi, which makes Wang Yuan think of a famous name.
Song Ling'er's letter is relatively complex in content and also introduces the situation in Guizhou.
First, the An clan in Shuixi was divided into three, and finally began to fight internally. The court sent officials to mediate, but the boss of the An clan actually killed officials and rebelled. Because the boss of the An clan was cruel, he was quickly killed by his tribe after he openly rebelled, and his territory was destroyed.
The second child and the third child were divided. The second child was brave and good at fighting, and the third child was retreating steadily. However, the third child was cunning and bribed the tribes in the territory under the second child's jurisdiction to rebel.
The An family was not only divided into two forces, but also a Miao chief rebelled and strengthened. The Miao chief repeatedly requested for appeasement and wanted to become the new chieftain, but he received no response from the court.
Secondly, Song Ling'er's sworn brother and cousin Song Ren died of illness. Because he had no children (the only son died of illness a few years ago), the Song family also fell into civil strife over inheritance rights. With Song Ling'er's support, Song Gongzi succeeded in ascending to the throne and is now recuperating.
We will vigorously develop agricultural infrastructure.
Unfortunately, Mr. Song's father, Song Jian, has passed away due to illness. Mr. Song himself was so stubborn that he actually built ten schools within half a year and built many water conservancy facilities at the same time. The Song family's economy was on the verge of collapse, and the people were exhausted by corvee labor.
Damatou refused to listen and went even harder to oppress the people under his rule. The benevolent government vigorously promoted by Mr. Song actually forced the Miao tribe to rebel. Song Ling'er could not persuade him at all.
At the end of the letter, Song Ling'er kept talking about her son. She also said that she encountered a bamboo bear giving birth in the wild and gave birth to three bamboo bear cubs, two of which were abandoned. Song Ling'er took her home and raised her, but unfortunately one of them died.
He just became his son's playmate.
Wang Yuan couldn't laugh or cry when he read this. Other children raised cats and dogs, but his own children actually raised pandas.
Also brought to Zhejiang were letters from many disciples, mainly talking about the development of the School of Physics and what experiments they had done.
There was a physics student named Nie Guang. Inspired by the gliding of birds, he used his knowledge of mechanics and airflow to install a pair of wooden wings for himself. Then he jumped off the hillside and broke his leg easily. The School of Physics undertook the project.
For his medical expenses, this guy was lying in bed improving his gliding device before his legs healed.
As for Zhu Houzhao's letter, it was sent directly from the border town. He did not return to Beijing to see his wife and children during the Chinese New Year.
Zhu Houzhao said that the degree of corruption in the border towns was more shocking than he imagined. In Shanxi, nine generals of fifth rank or above were replaced by the emperor, and one of them had his house confiscated and executed. Shaanxi and Liaodong are not too far apart.
Anyway, I was fucked by the emperor.
Zhu Houzhao was very confident, thinking that the border towns had been reorganized, and the troops in each town were quickly replenished and trained, and he was just waiting for the little Mongolian prince to go south to start the operation. The emperor asked Wang Yuan to deal with Zhejiang affairs as soon as possible, and he must return to Beijing before August at the latest, and then immediately Setting off for the frontier, the emperor and his ministers joined forces to deal with the Tatar invasion in autumn.
By the way, Xia Chan also brought a precious sword, which was an Uzi scimitar presented by Zhu Dangqi, the king of Xiliang. The whole body was made of Damascus steel, and the blade had gorgeous patterns. The Uzbeks gave it to Zhu Dangqi as a gift. He then sent people thousands of miles away to deliver it to Wang Yuan.
Regardless of other things, the sharpness of this Uzi scimitar ranks first among all Wang Yuan's weapons. The principle is very simple. The fine lines of Damascus steel form invisible serrations on the blade, which can easily break hair. Degree.
Poor Wang Yuan, the number one scholar, he didn't have calligraphy, painting or antiques at home, nor did he have any precious Four Treasures of the Study or ancient books from past dynasties, but he had a huge collection of all kinds of awesome weapons.
In the Ming Dynasty, the price difference between Uzi machetes and Japanese swords on the market was nearly two hundred times!
…
Wang Yuan received dozens of letters and succeeded in making steel. At the same time, Zhang Cong finally returned from Nanyang and successfully brought back several gunsmiths.
Let's push back the time to more than four months ago.
Zhang Cong took a fleet led by Prime Minister Bao and landed at the Portuguese colony of Malacca.
Malacca was called Manlacca by Ming Dynasty officials, and it was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
In the sixth year of Zhengde, when Wang Yuan was taking the imperial examination, the Portuguese landed in Malacca. They defeated the Malacca defenders, built a castle and established a colonial stronghold. In the following years, they continued to attack and occupied a large area of Malacca. The king of Malacca could no longer hold on.
The official name of the governor appointed by Portugal in Malacca was "Governor-General of India".
The new governor, Fernand Pires, arrived during the auction of goods at Hangzhou Port, and went to the Ming Dynasty when Wang Yuan was watching the tide in Qiantang. He wanted to formally establish trade relations with China, but was hit by a storm in Champa and suffered heavy losses. Return to Malacca.
Only two and a half months after returning to Malacca, the adjutant suddenly came to report: "Your Majesty the Governor, a Chinese fleet has arrived at the port, with a total of more than 30 three-masted sailing ships (fortunate ships)."
"It's a very big fleet, just trade with them as usual," Pires said.
The adjutant said: "Someone claims to be a subordinate of the Chinese Governor and wants to meet with you for a detailed discussion."
"Chinese envoys? Invite them in quickly!" Pires was overjoyed and immediately called the translator.
The Portuguese Governor's Palace was a castle built near the port.
When Bao Chao was trading goods at the dock, Zhang Cong, with only one attendant, strode into the castle.
Pires bent down and saluted: "Dear envoy of the Chinese Governor-General, I am Fernand Pires, Governor-General of Portuguese India. I am very happy to meet you in Malacca."
Pires's translator, a Malacca nobleman, immediately relayed this passage using more honorifics.
Zhang Cong thought to himself: This red-haired ghost is polite and polite, and he is not a barbarian.
Zhang Cong cupped his hands and said, "I am Zhang Cong, an official in the imperial court of Prince Baoyuan, the governor of Zhejiang Province in the Ming Dynasty."
The translator said: "My Lord Governor, this gentleman's surname is Zhang, and his name is Zhang Cong. He is an official of the Governor of Zhejiang, China."
Pires smiled and said: "Mr. Zhang, it's our first time to meet you. It's a great honor to meet you. Please sit down and talk. I've also prepared a dinner. Let's dine together later."
"Not urgent!"
Zhang Cong suddenly raised an army to question the crime: "Does Governor Pi know that Manchuria is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty? You Franji people attacked and occupied Manlajia without authorization. The Ming Dynasty has reasons and must protect its vassal state!"
The translator was startled, repeated the words, and said: "Your Majesty the Governor, Chinese officials are all greedy for money. We must bribe him with a lot of money."
Pires immediately sent someone to bring a box of silver over and said with a smile: "This is a gift for you."
Zhang Cong was not here to ask questions, so he immediately pretended to be a corrupt official, accepted a box of silver with a smile, and said: "Governor Wang opened the sea in Zhejiang, and Fo Langji can trade in Hangzhou. It is not the illegal trade in Guangdong, but
It is normal trade with official documents. However, there are several conditions."
Pires said happily: "What conditions?"
Zhang Cong said: "First, you are not allowed to trade in the name of Manlajia; second, I need gunsmiths; third, I need shipbuilders."
Pires was very generous and didn't bother to bargain: "As long as we can trade normally with China, I can agree to all these conditions."
This guy really wanted to establish relations with China. Historically, in the twelfth year of Zhengde's reign, he personally led a fleet to Guangzhou. In order to express his respect for the Ming Dynasty, he fired a salute with the highest etiquette, which scared the Guangzhou officials and immediately mobilized the army, thinking that this was not the case.
The Langji people are here to fight.
The translator at this moment is none other than Zhu Houzhao's Portuguese teacher in "History of the Ming Dynasty" - Huo Zhe (He Zhuo) Ya San!
These two people had paid bribes all the way from Guangdong to the capital. They gave away an unknown amount of money, and finally met Zhu Houzhao in Beijing, just to establish a "tribute" relationship with the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing that Pires readily agreed, Zhang Cong made a new request, hoping to obtain various Thai and Western crops.
After describing the characteristics of sweet potatoes, Pires immediately understood because sweet potatoes were already commonly cultivated in Spain at this time.
Pires smiled and said: "The crops you mentioned will be delivered next year at the latest. I can also bring a new crop with an amazing yield. As long as I can be summoned by the Emperor of China, I will also bring this crop."
And bring China.”
Zhang Cong said ambiguously: "As long as you bring these two new crops, I will immediately ask Governor Wang to report them to the court."
It was just a report, not that the emperor would definitely summon him.
And the new crop Pires was talking about, besides sweet potatoes, was corn! Both of these things have been promoted in Spain, but potatoes have not yet spread to Europe.
Keep it a secret from Ming?
Damn it, as long as he can successfully meet the emperor, Pires can sacrifice his mother.
Today's China is invincible in the eyes of Westerners and is an Eastern giant that must be licked!
As for cannon-casters, word of the Franco machine gun has long been spread, and some Chinese merchant ships in Guangdong have it. Next year, King Ning will secretly cast Franco machine bronze cannon for use in the rebellion.