Chapter 489 Ah! Ming Dynasty! The hope of mankind!
Author: East Zhejiang Pifu
Chapter 489 Ah! Ming Dynasty! The hope of mankind!
Isaac Newton did not expect that the captain who brought him to Ming Dynasty would be able to take him all the way to Nanjing.
After all, businessmen pursue profits, and matters such as purchasing goods for sea trade can be settled in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Going to Nanjing has no commercial significance at all.
If Captain Morton had not seen the prosperity and nobility of Nanjing when he first came to Ming Dynasty more than ten years ago, he might still go there out of curiosity, but now he has no such interest.
Even if he had free time to play, there were still many places on the southeastern coast of Ming Dynasty that he had not been to, so why bother to go back the same way.
However, Captain Morton's lack of choice created a little trouble for Newton. After all, he was not fluent in spoken language. Even if he hired a guide, he would have to worry about whether he would be deceived.
So Newton decided to stay in Hangzhou temporarily for a few months. While Captain Morton was still loading and unloading cargo, he followed him every day and interacted with various Han businessmen to improve his oral skills.
Newton is worthy of being a man of extraordinary IQ. He spent nine months on the ship coming to China to learn written Chinese and half-mute spoken English. Now after landing ashore, it only took him about forty days to master everyday Chinese.
I practiced my conversational pronunciation very stumblingly, but I can finally speak complete sentences.
Unfortunately, because he landed in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, he could not learn pure Nanjing Mandarin. In the end, he learned an accent that was somewhere between Wu dialect and Mandarin, and he made do with it for the time being.
Although you cannot have access to the cutting-edge scientific research of the Ming Dynasty when studying Chinese in Hangzhou, you can still have access to some of the peripheral application technologies of the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, Newton's original purpose was to find a way to alleviate the Great Plague in London.
So in the past month, when I had contact with Han businessmen, he took the initiative to learn about the medical and public health advances in Ming Dynasty whenever he had the opportunity, and he really discovered some good things.
It was one day at the end of September. A businessman came to Hangzhou from Jiangxi to ship porcelain. It seemed that his family also ran a medicine business. Seeing that Newton, a blond and blue-eyed scholar, was so devoted to his studies and he happened to know a little bit about the market, he reluctantly
Keep showing off.
So Newton got a copy of "Journal of the Institute of Biochemistry" - it is a newly published publication of the Ming Academy of Sciences in recent years. Each institute under the Academy of Sciences has its own sub-journal. Institutes that can publish relatively few results can still do so.
Several institutes jointly publish the publication. The publication schedule is also uncertain. If the results are rare, it may be published once every six months. If there is a lot worth writing, it may be published quarterly.
Strictly speaking, this thing is not the same thing as the academic journals of later generations, because the things published on it do not involve technical secrets, and are mainly used to popularize science and literacy among the people who are literate, and to provide some guidance on technical applications.
.
Take the book Newton got for example. Although it is a journal that mainly deals with the latest achievements in plague prevention and control, the content is mainly about the details of how to do a good job in public health disinfection, and there are also some repeated emphasis on the commonplace pollution of urban life.
Drug handling laws, and finally, it involves the usage and description of the efficacy of several drugs newly invented by the Institute of Biochemistry this year.
But this will definitely not involve the ingredients of the new drug, how to make it, or the process. Those technical secrets that can involve commercial interests are not included at all. It is just a product manual that tells consumers how to eat and use it after buying it.
In this way, the journal only covers public scientific discoveries and precautions on how to use products, so there is no risk of R&D leaks. At the same time, it can also cultivate the market, improve people's intelligence, and help popularize science and literacy. The entire scale is well-judged.
Very precise.
Newton spent several days reading the journal carefully, and then discovered that the journal introduced how to use commonly used materials, such as quicklime, to scientifically eliminate and repel rats to prevent and control plague.
There is even a section to teach how to raise cats scientifically to eliminate rats, and how to raise cats to be more energetic and have a stronger desire to catch rats. It can be said to be very down-to-earth.
At the end of the special issue on plague, a highly toxic substance called "hydrogen arsenic acid" that is suitable for killing rats is introduced. The article generously names it, but scholars don't seem to worry about laymen passing it by this name.
He figured out how to make this poison from salt and arsenic plus some other secret ingredients.
The article only emphasizes that this new poison can be better mixed into rat bait to induce rats to eat it, and it is not easily eaten by humans. It is not as easy as traditional arsenic to pollute the environment and cause danger to people and livestock. In short, this is
The stuff was described as being better than any previous rodent poison.
After introducing how to get rid of rats, there is an article at the back of the special issue that mentions the more general concept of "disinfection", which refers to the microscopic insects that are mostly invisible to the human eye and contain various trace amounts of toxicity on the surface of everything.
It is then suggested that for any injury involving human body that requires suturing or surgery, you can use sulfuric acid produced by Daming Jiuzhou Sulfuric Acid Factory, dilute it to 5% and then apply it on the knife or needle to disinfect it.
In addition to sulfuric acid, an old drug that has appeared in Ming Dynasty for 20 years, there is also a new drug just developed in the past two years by the Jiuzhou Sulfuric Acid Factory and the Jiuzhou Branch of the Biochemistry Institute of the Ming Academy of Sciences, called "carbolic acid", which can be used
"disinfection" in other ways.
With some difficulty, Newton relied on his written Chinese proficiency to finish reading this academic journal. Although there were many professional terms and nouns in it, he really couldn't understand them, such as the names of chemicals.
But this did not prevent Newton from being greatly shocked and fully realizing that the chemistry, medicine and health of the Ming Dynasty had advanced to a level that was difficult for the British to understand.
"My God, is this the Eastern people's research on plague? They have not only stopped at the study of drugs to relieve symptoms, but also detailed the investigation and prevention of various transmission routes, as well as specialized rodent poisons and
'Disinfectant' potions - if these things could have been introduced to the UK earlier, there would not have been 50,000 to 60,000 deaths in last year's Great Plague in London."
Newton couldn't help but sigh like this.
Don’t underestimate the Great Plague of London in 1665. This plague eventually killed a quarter of the population of London. Over a period of two and a half years, a total of nearly 100,000 people died. At that time, the total population of London
It's four hundred thousand.
Because the mortality rate of any plague is relatively high when it first breaks out, so when Newton fled London, 50,000 to 60,000 people died in the first year.
While Newton was feeling emotional, he thought that so many teachers and classmates had also died in the plague. He couldn't help but burst into tears. He grabbed the Jiangxi businessman and asked:
"The Ming Dynasty has such good things, why has it never thought of selling them to other countries to make a lot of money? If these plague prevention and control drugs can be sold to the right place in the year of great disaster, countless people can survive, and the same goes for the Ming Dynasty.
If it’s beneficial, you can definitely make a lot of money.”
The Jiangxi businessman also spread his hands helplessly: "Our Ming Dynasty has just started mass production of these things in the past two years, and we haven't had time to sell them yet. We must reserve some ourselves first. The regent said that we must first protect Nanjing and
Public health reserves in Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places.
Don't you know, if we go back a few years, our Ming Dynasty will not have this foundation. It's just because the world is peaceful now, and the new king has been on the throne for four years, focusing on recuperating and improving people's livelihood.
The regent recalled the late Emperor Chongzhen, saying that when the late Emperor Chongzhen died for his country, the capital fell to the hands of bandits and Tartars. Although there were many reasons, the most direct reason was the plague in the capital in the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign.
So in the past few years, the regent has allocated a lot of money to the Academy of Sciences, and asked the Institute of Biochemistry to focus on rodenticides, disinfectants and other things, saying that he wanted to comfort the spirit of the late Emperor Chongzhen in heaven and let him know the tragedy of the Jiashen Incident.
It won't happen again."
When the Jiangxi businessmen said this, a feeling of admiration arose in their hearts. It could be seen that their admiration for Zhu Shuren was definitely from the bottom of their hearts, and there was no objection.
In fact, the statement that "disinfectants and insecticides and rodenticides were invented to comfort the late emperor and prevent the Ming Dynasty from being plagued by plague again" was of course just the official propaganda caliber that Zhu Shuren asked Bian Yujing to reveal.
Zhu Shuren’s real purpose is, of course, for the military operations against Myanmar and Vietnam that will begin next year. At the military meeting four years ago, everyone had already discussed clearly that the biggest obstacle to the future use of troops in Southeast Asia is not the enemy’s armed resistance.
, and the natural environment is tropical diseases and snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
However, in order to show the benevolent government of the imperial court, it was difficult for the imperial court to say that it was engaged in public health scientific research for the purpose of fighting a war, so it used Chongzhen, who had been dead for twenty years, as a cover.
When ordinary people who didn't know the truth heard about it, they all felt that the regent was really more loyal than Duke Zhou or Zhuge. He had made such great contributions to the country and restored the Ming Dynasty to darkness, but he never had any selfish intentions.
The late Emperor Chongzhen had been dead for more than twenty years. He still remembered the kindness of the late Emperor Chongzhen in promoting him to enter the official career, and made up for every regret he had left in his life before his death.
Even because the city of Beijing was destroyed due to the plague during Chongzhen's reign, Zhu Shuren made a great wish to conquer it as much as possible and prevent the plague from harming the world again. This is such a noble and honorable act! Loyal to the sun and the moon! Loyalty is as high as the sky!
After hearing these stories, Newton was also in awe and thought to himself: "I used to be the regent of the Ming Dynasty, so I must be as ruthless as Lord Protector Cromwell. I didn't expect that there would be such a talented person in the world.
Someone who can not only restore the country but also govern benevolently and care for the people must be far better than the Protector of the Country."
However, it was a sigh of relief. Newton also understood the priorities. He never forgot the primary purpose of traveling to the Ming Dynasty to study abroad. Now that he has found some Ming Dynasty methods to deal with the plague, including special disinfectants and rodenticides, he should also persuade Lessing.
.Captain Morton purchased more and shipped it back to England to save people.
That night, he went to Captain Morton and expressed his thoughts. Although Newton himself had a little money and could afford to study at Oxford University, he still couldn't compare with those wealthy maritime merchants. He needed to import sodium hydrogen arsenate rat poison and
He definitely couldn't afford carbolic acid and concentrated sulfuric acid.
It is estimated that the price of these drugs will not be very cheap in Ming Dynasty. After all, they are special chemicals that have just appeared a few years ago.
Captain Morton was a little hesitant after hearing this. The silk, porcelain and tea he normally purchased had almost been loaded. He would have to stay in the port area for at most seven or eight days, and most of the capital would be used to purchase goods, leaving the gold
Not much silver.
"Mr. Newton, please don't cause trouble to me. I didn't earn much when I came here. You don't know that the demand for our European goods in Ming Dynasty has shrunk even more since I haven't been here for seven years."
Seven years ago they would have bought some of our most advanced guns and cannons to learn from, but now they don't even bother to learn from them. Even though I picked the latest and best European cannons for self-defense on my ship, people still looked at them.
Without taking a single look, they say that European firearms have no learning value at all and can only continue to be used as self-defense firepower.
Although the cashmere woolen fabrics I sold are still marketable, they are really not very profitable. The wealthy households in the Ming Dynasty only bought them for fresh wear. There are too many high-quality textiles from the Ming Dynasty as substitutes.
Now even tobacco leaves and cocoa cannot be sold. It is said that Ming Dynasty can grow them themselves. The only thing that is said to be open to purchase is natural rubber. It seems that next time I will buy more American rubber and come to Ming Dynasty.
Anyway, I didn’t make much from this shipment. I basically relied on the gold and silver I brought before I came here. Now I only have seven or eight thousand pounds left at most. Even if I use all this money to purchase the carbolic acid and concentrated sulfuric acid you mentioned,
, how much sodium hydrogen arsenic acid can I buy?”
Captain Morton's complaint also showed his helplessness. And he didn't know that he thought he could still make a lot of money selling rubber, but this window period would not last long.
Zhu Shuren is in urgent need of rubber now, but it is because the rubber industry in Ming Dynasty has begun to take off. In the past few years, Ming Dynasty has been crazy about vulcanized rubber and nitrocellulose rubber technology. As the Ming Dynasty gradually transitions to peace, Yunnan and Guizhou are gradually completing the transformation of land and returning to the countryside.
The proportion of tobacco will definitely be reduced in the future, and many tobacco fields in tropical rainforest climate zones will be converted into rubber forests.
If we wait a few more years and the Ming Dynasty conquers Burma and gets more humid rainforest belts along the coast of Southeast Asia, the scale of rubber planting will be even greater. After the rubber trees are planted, it will take about seven or eight years.
It can grow long enough to tap rubber. Based on this calculation, the American rubber reselling business of British and Dutch merchants can only last for more than ten years at most. In the future, Ming Dynasty will be completely self-sufficient in this shortcoming.
Faced with Captain Morton's complaints, Newton also knew that chemicals nowadays are very expensive and are huge profits, but with the mentality of standing up and talking without pain, he still urged the other party to buy as much as he could.
Finally, Newton gave him some advice: "If that doesn't work, we can also find a way to submit credentials, get credit, find guarantees from other chambers of commerce, and tell the Ming sellers about the Great Plague in London.
Let them fully believe that 'this medicine will definitely make a huge profit if it is sold in the UK now'. Next time we will definitely repay the principal with interest at a high price. If that doesn't work, persuade a Ming businessman to send a ship to follow us back, and they will purchase the goods themselves in the UK.
Sell it, whatever the profit can be, it's all theirs, we just want to save the lives of tens of thousands more Londoners."
Captain Morton shrugged: "But I am just a businessman, and I came here after I voted for the Dutch government. How could I submit my credentials on behalf of the United Kingdom? Although the Ming Dynasty often engaged in tribute trade, but it was found out
It’s also quite embarrassing and there’s no benefit to be gained.”
Newton had no choice but to think of a way by himself: "Mr. Captain, can you help me think of a way? If you have a trust relationship, at least introduce me to a few people from the Ming Academy of Sciences. I will try to write a petition myself for the rest.
I believe that His Highness the Regent of the Ming Dynasty is a benevolent ruler and the common hope of mankind. As long as I can establish friendship with people from the Academy of Sciences of the Ming Dynasty, I may be able to find a solution in the future."