national surname chiming

Chapter 441 Study hard to learn what Daming is doing, and what did you do?

In the fifth year of Longwu, from spring to autumn,
For eight full months, due to the secret and false negotiations between the North and the South between the Ming and Qing courts, the land of Huaxia finally maintained peace.In this chaotic world, the common people have gained a window period of recuperation and respite.

The secret negotiations were reached in April and carried out by both parties in private.

After the achievement, the truce continued for five full months.

From this period of absolute silence that lasted five months, it can be clearly seen that my Ming Dynasty is a state of etiquette and faith. Although Beijing has not yet been restored, the things I promised people in private have been strictly fulfilled.

In the future, if there are any other frictions to start fire again, it will definitely be the fault of the treacherous Taqing.It's those uncooked white-eyed wolves who are despicable and shameless, with good morals.

It's a pity that the forces in the north and the south use completely different methods of using this period of peace.

Hauge has been tossing for a long time in consolidating power and internal cleansing. He has not done any work on farming and construction, and has suffered further chronic blood loss due to the struggle for power and profit.

On Daming's side, Quiet Mimi's daily farming progressed steadily, and even ushered in a new breakthrough.

In the long run, the further improvement of Daming's comprehensive national strength will definitely have infinite effects.

It turned out that in April of this year, when the secret peace talks between the North and the South were reached, Zheng Chenggong, who was far away in Fujian and the senior officials, brought back a long-lost and far-reaching good news to Zhu Shuren——

In the battle to recover the officials that lasted from the winter of the second year of Longwu to the spring of the third year of Longwu, two or three thousand Dutch soldiers captured by the Ming people, as well as tens of thousands of other Dutch employees, civilians, women and children, finally arrived. It's time to be released.

These people served in construction on Dayuan Island for two years and two months, and finally waited for the navigator Jansen Tasman who came back to the Netherlands to ask for instructions and mediate.

And since Yang Sen Tasman dared to return to Daming, he obviously consulted the Dutch ruling party and showed his sincerity to meet the conditions for the release of the captives that Zhu Shuren explained more than two years ago.

Along with Jansen Tasman's trade fleet, there is an important person, that is, René Descartes, a great scientist who was only able to get along in the Netherlands among European countries.

In terms of blood and origin, Descartes is of course unquestionably French, but France is still a Catholic country,
Therefore, Descartes could only hide in the Netherlands during the years of scientific work in the second half of his life, and he could never return to his motherland.If he dared to go back, the French cardinals would definitely not spare him.

When Jansen Tasman was preparing to set sail from the Netherlands this time, it was at the end of 1646, and it was early 1648 when he returned to East Asia and landed in Daming.

The 30-year religious wars in Europe spanned from 1618 to 1648.The Treaty of Westphalia, which opened up the international diplomatic system of later generations, was also signed in 1648. Since then, it has established the tone of the West that "all countries, regardless of size, have equal say in the field of diplomatic negotiations."

Therefore, when Jansen Tasman took up Descartes and set off, it happened to be the year before the birth of the modern diplomatic system and religious reconciliation.

Descartes hadn't had time to see the equality, reconciliation and tolerance in Europe, so he was naturally not so resistant to crossing the ocean and seeing the world in a new environment that is tolerant of scientific research.

Moreover, even if Descartes himself resisted, the new ruler of the Netherlands, Prince William II of Orange, who had just taken power, would not allow Descartes to refuse. (William II succeeded to the throne in March 1647, a few months after Descartes set sail. But in the last year before his accession, his father Frederick Hendrick was seriously ill, Leave the affairs of state mainly to the young son)
After all, Zhu Shuren set a clear price: get Descartes to release all the captives of Dayuan Island and the Dutch reinforcement fleet, otherwise let these captives work as coolies in Dayuan for the rest of their lives!
In the eyes of William II, a person who is talking about research is not comparable to the lives of thousands of Dutch soldiers, employees, and adventurers!Of course he would have sold Descartes.

……

After more than a year of voyage with stop and go, occasionally waiting for the monsoon, Descartes finally set foot on the mysterious land of Ming Dynasty.

Although he was forced to come, he didn't have much resistance in his heart, and even had some expectations.

Because he felt the emphasis on scientific research revealed by the regent of the Ming Dynasty in Yang Sen Tasman's narration.

That great Eastern prince is willing to exchange the lives of thousands of prisoners of war for a scientist, so he must be the most enlightened and wise ruler in the world!

So much so that before meeting him, Descartes already imagined Zhu Shuren as the "philosopher king" described in Plato's "Utopia" that only exists in an ideal state.

A sage governing the world is really a sign of great harmony in the world.

And Zheng Chenggong, who was in charge of receiving them, also knew how much the prince attached to this "Red Barbarian Confucianism",

So when he docked in Quanzhou for supplies, he graciously hosted a banquet for the Dutch, allowing them to take a break and relieve the exhaustion of the voyage for several months.

Originally, according to the Ming system, Hongyi boats were not allowed to sail inland, and had to unload their cargo in Macau or Dayuan, and the merchants of the Ming Dynasty would then transport them along the coast.

This time, Zheng Chenggong was also ordered to make an exception for them, which is also to show the West the new atmosphere of openness and tolerance of my Ming Dynasty.So the warships of the Zheng family were sent to escort the Dutch ship, and they were allowed to drive to Nanjing by themselves——

Of course, to enter the Yangtze River Estuary, all the cannons on the Dutch ship must be unloaded in Chongming County, Suzhou, and temporarily handed over to the Daming government and the local guards for safekeeping!

Merchant ships can enter and sail freely, but warships must not enter!

Cannons belonging to foreigners must never be brought into the Yangtze River!This is the prestige of Ming Dynasty's national defense, and no compromise is allowed!

Jansen Tasman was worried about his own safety at the beginning, after all, the Dutch had to take their gunboats with them when they traveled all over the world.But Zheng Chenggong sternly guarantees:

In Daming's territorial waters and internal waters, everything is safe and protected by the imperial court navy. Before entering the Yangtze River Estuary, he, Zheng, is in charge of the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang.After entering the mouth of the Yangtze River, the Marquis of Zhenhai, Zhang Mingzhen, will be in charge, and no one will hurt the friendly foreigners who came to the DPRK!
Later, in order to show the majesty of the celestial dynasty, Zheng Chenggong of course pulled out all the most dignified and mighty warships of the Zheng family.Don't ask for a large number, but it must be heavy in tonnage, large in size and powerful in artillery to show the great power of tomorrow.

The warships of the Ming Dynasty may not be more powerful than the heaviest three-deck Galen warships of this era, but only by the size of the hull, they are not inferior to the heavy Galen. Moreover, the warships assembled by Zheng Chenggong at the sailing ceremony The quantity is more.

Descartes and Jansen Tasman were horrified when they saw it.

"The Ming Dynasty in the east has a fleet that is not inferior to the Netherlands. The rest of the European countries are not worthy of being compared with it. I am afraid that Spain and Portugal are not as good as it."

Other comparison objects that Descartes can think of are Spain and Portugal.After all, even the United Kingdom is not yet the opponent of the above-mentioned top three.

Daming has a king regent who controls such a huge elite fleet, as well as a huge land territory and subjects, coupled with an enlightened attitude of seeking talents, I am afraid that when it is completely rejuvenated, even the Far West will be affected by it, so tremble.

Descartes' inner desire to surrender became more and more dominant.

……

It took another half a month of sailing from Fujian to Nanjing.When Descartes disembarked at the Nanjing Wharf at the mouth of the Qinhuai River, he was immediately shocked by the grandeur and luxury of Nanjing.

And the news of their imminent arrival was naturally sent ahead of time, so Zhu Shuren was already prepared.

Now Zhu Shuren doesn't have to live in the city all the time, he prefers to go to Zijin Mountain or the country manor palace in Jiangning Town.

This time, to meet foreign scientists, of course I chose the palace in Jiangning Town, after all, there are a bunch of research institutes and museums built by Zhu Shuren with their own money.

"Oh, God, what is this? Is this the 'Leopard Room' of the Regent of the Ming Dynasty? I heard from your other captains that when they first came to the Ming Dynasty for trade decades ago, I heard that there were some extravagant emperors in the Ming Dynasty. , like to build a place called the Leopard Room in the palace to raise wild beasts for fun?"

Descartes was quite educated, and before he came, he asked the well-informed Dutch captains to inquire about the customs of Daming, so he was pulled by a carriage to Jiangning Town, and when the officials of Daming took him for a tour, his first reaction was Think of the zoo as a leopard house.

Of course, he never dared to ask Ming officials such questions, and he didn't understand Chinese, so he just asked Jansen Tasman in Dutch.

Jansen-Tasman has learned a lot of daily Chinese conversation and no longer needs an interpreter. He is a little proud to introduce to Descartes:
"Mr. Descartes, it is said that you are the most knowledgeable person in Europe, but it seems that your knowledge is also outdated. What you inquired about are old calendars. This is the Nanjing Zoo, how could it be the leopard house.

The leopard house was built by the extravagant tyrant for his personal pleasure, but the zoo was open to all folk.It's just that if you are a naturalist, or even just an assistant to a naturalist, with the imperial court's certification, you can visit, observe and study for unlimited times for free.

If you are not a scholar, but just ordinary civilians, you can come in, but you must pay some fees, so as not to interfere with normal academic research due to too many people.

The emperor and regent of the Ming Dynasty were extremely enlightened and benevolent rulers—at least those who are in power today are like this. As for the past, there were foolish emperors and rioting peasants who raised various armed forces, which is not in my discussion now.

You'll know when you meet, so after I completed the mission entrusted by Prince Orange this time, I planned to stay and serve as the Regent of Ming Dynasty.Dayuan Island releases those captives, let the other captains bring them back to Batavia. "

European zoos and botanical gardens will not appear until 150 years later. When Descartes heard that the regent of the Ming Dynasty provided such excellent research conditions for naturalists, he was heartbroken.

Descartes: "Oh my God, there really are such enlightened rulers on the earth, you mean to collect as many rare birds, animals, exotic flowers and plants from all continents as possible for free for scholars to study?
It seems that the most wise decision I made in my life was to agree to Prince Orange's request and come to Daming to spend the rest of my life.Although I am 52 years old, I have a premonition that during the rest of my life in Daming, my research results may be more than the sum of my 52 years before my life. "

Jansen Tasman explained the various advantages of the Zoo Botanical Garden Museum here, which surprised Descartes many times.

During the process, Tasman himself became more and more proud, as if "I made up my mind to be Da Ming's dog two years earlier than you, so my qualifications are deeper than yours."

The two walked through the forest, crossed the lake, and passed through many gardens of exotic flowers and grasses with beautiful scenery and dizzying sights, and finally came to Zhu Shuren's palace.

In this era, Western garden art was still very primitive.Louis XIV was still an 11-year-old kid who had just ascended the throne for six years. The Palace of Versailles left by his father had not yet been equipped with gardens.

Therefore, Zhu Shuren built the palace next to the botanical garden, and specially planned an additional square in front of the palace to display flowers and plants for the palace.

When more Western scholars come to him in the future, pass on the knowledge here, maybe Louis XIV will also learn from it when he repairs the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.

In the teaching materials of garden architecture art of later generations, there is no such thing as Western-style gardens, and the French must have copied them from Ming Dynasty.

……

A group of Dutch people who had never seen the world, after repeated shocks, waited in the palace for a long time, ate and drank a lot of refreshments, and then waited for His Royal Highness the Regent to take the time to receive them.

Descartes didn't understand the red tape of the Han people, so when Zhu Shuren came in, he boldly looked at the other person directly, observing curiously, and didn't know how to lower his head to avoid looking at him.

After Zhu Shuren sat down, he just stepped forward to touch his chest with one hand and bowed in salute.

Zhu Shuren didn't mind their European etiquette, and just talked in Chinese: "You are Mr. Descartes? I have admired your knowledge for a long time. I know your mathematical and optical discoveries in Daming."

Tasman was in the middle to help with the translation. Descartes was naturally flattered when he heard the words, and quickly repaid the business exchange:
"His Royal Highness the Regent, you are in such a high position, you can travel thousands of miles to seek talents, and you don't hesitate to spend money. Your sages and sages are known to everyone from Ireland to Fusang."

When Zhu Shuren heard it, he almost couldn't help laughing, because he always felt that these words sounded familiar.Do foreigners flatter people because they lack vocabulary?
Since both sides are very face-saving, there is no need to say more about some scenes, Zhu Shuren directly cut to the chase, chatted with Yang Sen. Tasman and Descartes about the treatment, and made a price.

"Mr. Descartes, are you willing to work in the Daming Academy of Sciences? This is a new institution established by the king in the past two years. The dean is Song Yingxing, a doctor from the Ministry of Industry of Daming. It has many research institutes under its jurisdiction. The directors can be headed title of honor.

You have just arrived, and you are not well-versed in all disciplines, so it is impossible to hold a post at the college level, not even a deputy with the salary of Yuanwailang.I heard that you are the best at mathematics, so let's take the title of sixth-grade master and be the director of the mathematics department.

As for the funds and salaries, my king gave all the ministers and workers of the Academy of Sciences far more than other positions.You can get a monthly salary of 1000 taels of silver, in addition to other matching entertainment expenses, and if you achieve results, you can also get a huge bonus——

Especially the bonus is the big one.Here, researchers are encouraged to make achievements. It is not surprising that if the achievements are rewarded by the common people, tens of thousands of taels or more will be rewarded at one time, which is equivalent to several years or even ten years of salary. "

After Zhu Shuren finished speaking with Descartes, he also gave the other party some time to think slowly, and he turned to Jansen Tasman: "Mr. Tasman, this king knows that when you were working for the East India Company in Batavia, I did it for you. The former governor of the Dutch, discovered some Nanyang Islands.

This king values ​​your talent very much, and is willing to appoint you as the director of the Geography Institute of the Daming Academy of Sciences, and at the same time have other part-time jobs, and enjoy the treatment of a member of the Ministry of Industry.You only need to be responsible for discovering new lands of no man, collecting those new species of land of no man and bringing them back.

Every time you find a piece of unclaimed territory, the king will give you tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver as rewards according to the economic value of the territory!If you can discover new varieties of food and vegetable crops worth planting, the rewards will be doubled and doubled again, with no upper limit! "

Jansen-Tasman was born as an adventurer, and of course he is more unscrupulous than a scientist. Hearing that there is so much money, he immediately agreed.

But Zhu Shuren quickly pointed out that he also had his own conditions and asked Tasman to help train Daming's sailors and assistants, because it was impossible for him to take a group of Dutch sailors to go out to sea for adventure.

And Zhu Shuren didn't let him wander around aimlessly, he directly pointed out that he asked Tasman to take the lead in surveying Australia, which the Dutch didn't care about——

The coastline on the northeastern coast of Australia was the first that Tasman sailed to a few years ago, but he did not complete the feat of sailing around the whole of Australia.The Dutch East India Company didn't pay much attention to that task at the time, thinking it was just a wild land, so the governor didn't allocate more funds to him.

But Zhu Shuren is willing to allocate this money, so let Daming complete the work of fully surveying Oceania.

Descartes thought about it for a long time, and seeing that Tasman had accepted it wholeheartedly, he readily agreed.

However, after seeing so much strength Zhu Shuren showed and the price he offered Tasman, Descartes was also a little curious, so he asked for a few operational questions.

Of course Zhu Shuren said that he could just ask.

Descartes: "His Royal Highness the Regent, you are so willing to invest in species collection and research, I would like to know, what have you gained?

As far as I know, the discovery of new species is indeed very valuable. For example, Columbus brought back corn and potatoes from the Americas, which greatly increased food production.But for the species that have already been discovered, shouldn’t it be enough to directly promote large-scale planting?Can there be new gains if we focus on planting and displaying and studying its habits? "

It is not surprising that Descartes had this question. Who made the ancients lack knowledge of genetics and did not know how to conduct control experiments, conduct cross-breeding, and select the best from generation to generation?

Zhu Shuren has ideas in this regard. Although he can't do any three-line hybrid rice, he can't do those complicated biological breeding experiments.

However, he is very good at planning such things as finding subspecies with huge differences in traits, then random hybridization, doing more experiments, grouping and comparing, and selecting good genes and saving them. Data recording is enough.

This kind of excellent seed breeding experiment can't achieve the unnatural increase in production of modern hybrid rice, but it took ten or eight years to increase the yield of Daming's crop seeds by [-] to [-] percent.
Or it is possible to prevent certain diseases and insect pests, waterproof, windproof and lodging prevention, or improve the drought resistance and develop a more developed root system, but it is possible to do it.

When Descartes asked about it, Zhu Shuren proudly announced: "Mr. Descartes, there is an old saying in our Ming Dynasty, that there are different ways of learning and specialization in art. It seems that your specialty is not in natural history.

All things are born with good and bad seeds.Survival of the fittest, selection and refinement can be done at any time.Ben Wang focuses on research in this area of ​​investment. Although it has only been three or four years, he has already achieved some success.

In the experimental field of Nanjing Botanical Garden, the root system strength of rice has been several times stronger than that of folk natural varieties, and it can resist drought and is not easy to lodging.

One or two varieties of wheat that are resistant to specific pests have also been selected, and the yield per mu can also be slightly increased by [-]%.Over time, all these researches will benefit the common people in the world, and it is up to you to know. "

When Descartes was told this, he couldn't help being fascinated. There is actually a monarch in the world who can find a way to preside over agricultural research, increase the world's yield per mu by [-] to [-] percent, or resist several disasters. This is simply unheard of.

Feeling ashamed, Descartes became more and more determined to do a good job, because he was convinced that contributing to Zhu Shuren would definitely leave his name in history and be praised by all historical materials in the East and West in the future.

Who doesn't want to be immortal.

At the end, Descartes was still a little worried, so he asked again: "Then I dare to ask Your Highness, does my Ming Dynasty have any favorable research conditions in the field of mathematics and physics research? What I mean is, such as biologists can use Animal and botanical gardens, museums and other facilities support.”

Zhu Shuren thought for a while: "Doesn't mathematics just need a pen, paper and ruler? Just give the mathematician a high salary and let him live comfortably. As for physics, there are really some facilities——

When you go back to Nanjing in a few days, you can see for yourself. You are alone on Zijin Mountain, and you have built an observatory and a meteorological station.One is for stargazing to correct the calendar and verify physics, using a more precise mirror than the Galileo telescope invented by you Europeans 40 years ago.

As for the weather station, it is also to help everyone understand the laws of phenology and weather changes.Ben Wang discovered that in the past twenty years or so, the weather has repeatedly been irregular, and the weather has always been colder than in ancient times.The common people use the 24 solar terms handed down from ancient times and the ancient agricultural proverbs to guide production, but most of them have delayed the farming time, and the effect is not good.

When the weather is cold and rainy, according to the ancient method of planting on time, it is often early, and it should be delayed until it is warmer and more humid.When harvesting, there are often such problems. Sometimes if conditions permit, the grouting is not sufficient, you should wait a few more days.

All this is because the previous perception of weather and phenology is too general.The solitary man took water semi-condensed as ice as zero degrees, boiled water as gas as [-] degrees, and equal percents as scales to record the four seasons.

In the future, weather stations will not only be set up in Nanjing, but also in all provinces to collect the temperature and temperature of each province in the world, accurate to degrees, and form historical data for many years. Only then can we guide the farming season based on the comparison between the temperature and temperature of a specific year and history. , Let officials slightly fine-tune when persuading farmers.

This is also the research of the common people in Zebei. There are a lot of equipment in it. If you want to study heat in physics, you can also use it-how, do you really want to work for me immediately? "

Zhu Shuren didn't need to draw big cakes, but just took out the small achievements of many small physics research facilities he built around Nanjing in the past two years, and described them truthfully, which made Descartes drool with envy.

A new generation of telescope that is more advanced than the Galileo telescope!And accurate mercury thermometers!Basic research in physics and mathematics can definitely take a big step forward.

Descartes completely decided to work hard for Zhu Shuren.

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PS: To prepare the new book, the time is a bit tight, and the update is not stable, sorry.Every day I take time to write in the morning temporarily, and all the saved manuscripts are gone.

(End of this chapter)