national surname chiming

Chapter 506
These British profiteers who were the first to deal with the Ming Merchant Fleet, of course, knew how to provoke nobles and capitalists to pretend to compare and spend money.

So after Shen Xiang explained the difficulty and harsh conditions of oolong tea transportation, they immediately figured out the reason and fully discovered the business opportunity.

"Dear Shen, can you sell us some more oolong tea? You don't need to go to London, we in Dover can make it for you! Also, is there any more exquisite porcelain and higher-grade tea? Some high-end products are needed to get through the upper-class dignitaries and give dignitaries a taste."

"In your exhibit just now, isn't there an exquisite cloisonné enamel inlaid porcelain box, isn't there tea in it? That kind of product looks good at first glance, can you sell it to us? We will definitely help you open up channels!"

The few British businessmen were talking, and they noticed that among the exhibits that Shen Xiang showed them just now, there were a few items with the most noble and high-end packaging, and they really wanted to buy them with a lot of money.

It's a pity that Shen Xiang directly cut off their thoughts with an unquestionable tone: "Those goods can't be moved! They can only be seen or not sold!"

The British businessmen couldn't help being stunned: "Are you planning to use it as a sample? Even if it is a sample, don't you have to transport it all the way back to Daming in the end? Well, if you want to keep it for display, before you finally go back to Daming, Can you sell it to us again? We can give a deposit first!"

As they said that, these people directly took out golden florin gold coins and ducat gold coins.

But Shen Xiang just bowed his hands to Dongfang in a dark and solemn manner, and then explained proudly: "The tea in it is the top grade of Wuyi Mountain Oolong tea. This kind is called Anxi Tieguanyin, and this kind is called Alishan Dongding Oolong. , in our Ming Dynasty, it can also be used to pay tribute to the royal family.

As for those enamel and filigree porcelain boxes and Suzhou embroidery packaging, they are also made by the imperial porcelain of the official kiln and the inner work of the weaving house!Don't understand?It is these things that can be used by the Ming royal family!People are not allowed to buy or sell!

I was able to bring this top grade this time because my Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty was entrusted by the emperor and the regent to come to Europa as an envoy. I will present several national gifts and make some important contacts.This Mr. Wang is my doctor of the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty, and all these imperial gifts will be presented by him. "

When the British businessmen heard this, they were pleasantly surprised, envious and jealous.Naturally, he was pleasantly surprised to see the tributes made by the imperial family of the Ming Dynasty one day, and naturally jealous because these things could not be sold.

One of them was jealous and couldn't help pointing to the two cloisonné enamel tea boxes and asked: "Then these two cans of Anxi Tieguanyin and Dongding Oolong are going to be presented as a national gift to His Majesty Charles II?"

Shen Xiang shook his head: "That's not true, there are other arrangements for your lord. These two boxes are given to Professor Isaac Barrow of Cambridge University.

We decided to come to Europe for trade this time because our honorable Prince Regent met Mr. Newton, a scholar who was traveling and studying in Daming, by chance.And Mr. Newton happened to be a student of Professor Barrow. This time I also brought a letter from Mr. Newton, along with some gifts. "

As soon as this remark came out, most of the British businessmen showed expressions of disbelief.

What?He is just a university professor, does the regent of Ming Dynasty respect the sage so much?Can people travel [-] nautical miles to come and give gifts?

The regent of Ming Dynasty is probably not the philosopher king in Plato's "Utopia"!
However, not all businessmen are ignorant. At any rate, one of them knows Ithaca Barrow's rank, and he couldn't help exclaiming: "You are talking about the Lucas professor of mathematics at Cambridge University? If it is him, the status is down." It is worthy of such a courtesy.”

Seeing someone in the same industry showing off, the other businessmen also kept silent.They also don't want to look uneducated, although they really don't know what a "Lucasian Professor of Mathematics" is, nor do they understand the gold content of this title.

A preheating shipment like a farce finally ended with such a dramatic effect, but I have to say that the publicity effect is really good.

……

From Dover to London, there is still the last [-] miles, and it took some time to ship and change the packaging.

So when the fleet arrived at the Port of London, it was already the evening of the ninth day of July.

However, as early as two days before the arrival of the fleet, that is, in the early morning of the seventh day of July, in Cambridgeshire, more than a hundred miles north of London, the leading messenger of the Deming fleet had already arrived quickly and brought some letters. And gifts for warm-up and endorsement.

Early this morning, Professor Ithaca Barrow tidied up his white wig as usual, and was going to explain the derivation of the slope of the curve to some of the most proud students and two visiting scholars from Shinra—no Wrong, that is, the knowledge point of "function curve derivation" in the mathematics textbook of the second year of high school in later generations.

Anyone who has studied advanced mathematics in college knows that the derivative in high school mathematics is actually the basis of advanced mathematics in college later. As long as a little more is added, the derivative can be evolved into differentiation, and the integral part is added. That's full calculus.

The mathematical tool for calculating the derivative of a curve was invented by Professor Ithaca Barrow.His student Newton, on the basis of his tutor's derivation algorithm, added the integral part and invented the calculus of the complete body.

It can be seen that the development of science is inherited. Everyone stands on the shoulders of the predecessors and passes the torch from generation to generation. Miracles rarely appear out of thin air.

And the reason why a big man like Professor Barrow can only take small lectures, or have private discussions with individual foreign visiting scholars, is also because the Great London Plague has not yet completely ended. In 1667, the University of Cambridge was still closed. state.

In order to prevent the spread of the plague, large lectures where crowds gather are strictly prohibited in Cambridge. Scholars have ideas and results to exchange, and only a few people can solve them in private.

However, because of the small number of people, the academic discussion environment is also more relaxed. You don't need to care too much about classroom discipline. Everyone can speak freely at any time, and they can also interrupt at any time.

Professor Barrow spoke casually for a while, and discussed a few issues with others. Just when he felt a little tired and needed a tea break, a visitor suddenly came at the door.

Professor Barrow looked up, and it turned out to be Dean Christopher Wren.

The college where Barrow and Newton belonged was called "Trinity College of Cambridge University", but this college was not purely a college of science and engineering such as mathematics. At that time, university colleges were not divided into majors, and there were not so many specialized mathematics colleges. Home studies mathematics.

Therefore, it is entirely possible that Barrow's boss is an administrative bureaucrat engaged in other research.

For example, the Dean Christopher Wren in front of you is actually three or four years younger than Barrow in terms of age, and his qualifications are also low, but the other party has a background in law studies and is following the official career path, so he became the dean early on. .

On the contrary, a respected academic authority like Professor Barrow, according to the historical trajectory of parallel time and space, will have to wait another six years. After Dean Christopher Wren is promoted, it will be Barrow's turn to become the dean of Trinity College.

Dean Lane, who was born in law, is of course not low in EQ. After entering the room, he took a glance and noticed that besides Barrow, there were several scholars, and even a visiting scholar from Oxford.

He greeted politely first: "It's really a coincidence that I came here, didn't I disturb your academic thinking?"

Baro also got up and moved a chair for the dean: "It's okay, we were going to have a tea break, and we just asked someone to boil the water. Does the dean have any business? If you are not busy, let's have a drink together."

When Dean Ren saw that he had brought the topic to drinking tea, he immediately smiled slightly: "Isn't that a coincidence, in fact, a diplomat from London came today and brought some foreign envoys with him, saying that he wanted to visit you.

I was also curious, so I brought them here, so let’s have a cup of tea together—put away your old black tea, there just happened to be a visitor from the Ming Dynasty in the east, and they brought you a new thing called oolong tea. "

After Ren said a few words, he went out to introduce again and brought the person over.A group of scholars got to know each other in a hurry.Of course the official envoy of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi, would not come, and it was too late, so Shen Xiang just brought some English-speaking people to meet him with Newton's letter.

Barrow was also in a daze for a long time before he finally understood what happened. He took out the student Newton's letter and read it carefully before expressing his apology for neglecting the distinguished guest.

"It turned out that the Regent of the Ming Dynasty responded to Newton's request and came to England to sell special plague medicines and disinfectants to help us overcome the plague. The kindness of His Royal Highness, from Mexico to Fusang, is so admirable." .

It is our duty to help the two sides communicate with each other, verify the efficacy of Ming medicine for His Majesty the king, and assist the royal family in promoting the purchase, distribution and use of medicine. "

Professor Barrow said leisurely and fascinated.

After all, all kinds of strong acids and disinfectants made by Ming Dynasty, as well as some medicines used by Chinese medicine to alleviate the symptoms of plague, were all unheard of and unseen by the British before.

So Zhu Shuren thought about this problem long before the caravan set sail.Selling medicine, if there is no endorsement and blessing from top scholars, people will not dare to buy it. Wouldn't that not only delay gaining favors and fame, but also delay selling medicine to earn money?

Therefore, before selling medicines, we first have to buy some university students from the other party. In fact, it is not called buying. We just ask them to do some scientific experiments, verify them, and then report the conclusions to the government decision-making department fairly.

The authoritative university scholars that Newton could contact were first of all only his own tutor, Professor Barrow, although Barrow was only a researcher in mathematics and could not speak to chemistry and medical research.

But he is a professor of mathematics at Cambridge Lucas, a leading figure in the academic world. After winning Barrow, and relying on Barrow's academic network, he can win more people. This is a key structural hole.

Everyone found out the purpose of coming and the details of each other, and the atmosphere became harmonious.Barrow's servant had boiled hot water and was about to brew black tea. Shen Xiang immediately asked someone to open a can of frozen top oolong for this group of English scholars who had never seen it before to taste it.

Not to mention, everyone hasn't had a sip of tea yet, just by looking at the porcelain and Suzhou embroidery packaging outside, you know that the tea inside must be extraordinary.Shen Xiang couldn't help bragging that these things were all used by the Ming imperial family, and Baro felt more and more radiant.

"Congratulations, Professor Barrow, your reputation has spread tens of thousands of nautical miles away. Even the regent of the Ming Dynasty admires and respects you so much."

"It's really good tea. When I went to Holland to visit Senior Huygens a few years ago, I happened to be summoned by Prince Orange. The ones you choose are still incomparable.”

Barrow was embarrassed by the praise, so he had no choice but to show his energy eagerly, so that the envoys from the Ming Dynasty who came to give gifts would not feel that he only took gifts and did not work.

He bit the bullet and promised: "We lack top scholars in the field of chemistry in Cambridge, but I will leave for Oxford tomorrow and entrust Professor Boyle to help verify the effects of various medicines provided by your country. I don't know His Royal Highness the Regent of Ming Dynasty, Ever heard of Professor Boyle? Didn't my wretch write to him?"

The subtext of what Barrow said was actually "it's okay to go to Oxford to find Boyle, but it's not easy to come to the door empty-handed if you suddenly cause trouble for others."

If Newton wrote to Boyle and mentioned Boyle in front of Zhu Shuren, then the envoys of the Ming Dynasty must have prepared gifts.

And Shen Xiang was just slightly taken aback. Although Newton did not write to Boyle, the main reason is that Newton is still young. When he left England, he was just a fresh graduate. It would be nice if he could recognize everyone from Cambridge University. He has no connections at Oxford next door.

However, Shen Xiang has helped the Shen family in business for 30 years, and he has long been good at dealing with people. He has prepared a lot of gifts for temporary arrangements in advance, so he quickly lied and said without blushing that the Regent of Ming Dynasty has long admired Professor Boyle. Yes, another heart.

Then he turned around and told his assistants to share two more carts of gifts, and maybe he would go to Oxford tomorrow to buy all kinds of jewels, porcelain, embroidery and oolong tea.

……

There is no need to repeat the details for the follow-up work of attracting contacts in the academic circle.

Anyway, the reputation of Corporal Lixian, Regent of the Ming Dynasty, spread faster than the plague virus. Within two days, the senior officials in the English academic circle knew how much the wise philosopher king tens of thousands of miles away respected his teacher and was eager to learn.

The follow-up verification of the chemical properties of the drug was also very smooth.

Professor Boyle, the leading figure in Oxford chemistry, took several boxes of oolong tea and a whole carriage of Suzhou embroidery from Daming, so he was embarrassed not to help the platform.Other well-known natural science professors also started with at least one box of tea and one box of Suzhou embroidery.

Two days later, with the fast shipment of new goods from Daming in the city of London, and rumors gradually rising, Wang Fuzhi, the envoy sent by Daming, was officially received by King Charles II of England.

During the interview, Charles II had already learned about the medicines provided by Daming from Boyle and other authoritative scholars of the Royal Society in advance, and they should be very effective.Finally enduring the pain of lack of finances, he gritted his teeth and said that he would use the money from the treasury to buy it.

However, the English royal family in the 1660s was not benevolent enough to provide public welfare to the common people. The money must not be spent in vain. In the end, businessmen at all levels had to apportion the burden and pledge the public health expenditure.

Besides, this is the general rescue of all people in London, and those big capitalists in London are also rescued. Only when the plague is over soon can London return to normal and they can resume business.From this point of view, shouldn't the major capitalists in London donate money to go to the national disaster?
This is settled.

In the next two months, various disinfectants sent by Daming were widely used in London.Many other applications for these drugs have also been found.

For example, Professor Boyle tried it according to Ming's instructions. After diluting the concentrated sulfuric acid thirty times, it can be used to wipe the surgical knife, which is more effective and thorough than burning the scalpel.

This is undoubtedly a good thing for English barbers and surgeons who still rely on saws and hands to saw legs in this era, which can greatly reduce the infection of operations.This medicine is worth the money.After all, for a one-day operation, it only needs to consume a few milliliters of concentrated sulfuric acid and dilute it to sterilize the knife.

Moreover, after diluting this concentrated sulfuric acid fifty times, it can also be used to soak and disinfect the gauze that wraps the wound.It's just that it needs to be neutralized with soda water after disinfection.

All in all, the various chemical preparations for disinfection, antivirus, insecticide, and poisonous rodents from Daming immediately sparked a new demand in Europe. It is estimated that a lot of new chemicals will be added to Daming's foreign trade in the future. Sell ​​silk tea porcelain.

……

It will take time for Ming's medicines and chemicals to become popular.Since the fleet needs to stay in Europe for more than two months, Wang Fuzhi and Shen Xiang will not be idle.

We must take the opportunity to separate a few ships. After selling the goods, we can go to Holland, Hamburg and other places for a while, and we can also go to France on the other side.

Although there are no large coastal cities in northern France, under the instructions of the guide, Daming boarded the boat and went to Le Havre in Normandy.Then travel up the Seine River from Le Havre and sail for more than [-] miles to Paris.

A small amount of unsold chemicals and silk tea porcelain can also be distributed in these places to gain popularity.After all, the [-]-mile sea route has been sailed, and it is impossible for the mission to only go to England. It must open its eyes to see the world, recruit more people and publicize it.

Leiden University in the Netherlands, Leipzig in Shinra, these cities finally had the footprints of the Ming envoys, and the foreign scholars who were attracted by the Ming Dynasty led the way.

Finally, as a supplement to the publicity work, the Ming Merchant Fleet specially brought some books in Chinese this time, as well as translations translated by the Ming side, which are nothing more than to promote some scientific discoveries (only natural discoveries, not to promote applied technology, applied technology need to be kept secret), and Daming's local customs and natural history.

The launch of these works has also set off a new round of Daming craze in the European high-level world, and made many European public figures firmly believe that Daming is far more advanced than them, and they need to reflect. This must be a problem with European physique.

Many unwilling scholars embarked on the enthusiasm to study abroad in Ming Dynasty and embarked on the road of pursuing the light.

Wang Fuzhi and the others looked at the list Newton gave them for the last time. Except for those who were already highly respected, they couldn't move, but for those with a little less seniority and less attachment to Europe, they were almost one-on-one. Many natural science scholars.

(End of this chapter)