The sound of the piano is melodious, tactful and continuous, such as the tinkling of spring water, such as the light sound of the ring, occasionally a glide, although it is swept by, the aftersound should be around the ear for a few breaths, it is really an endless aftertaste.

Outside the window, the grass is green and the flowers are red, and the blue waves are rippling. Several men in casual robes were sitting in an octagonal pavilion in the Xuanhu Palace against Xuanwu Lake, smiling, quietly listening to Kou Baimen stroking the qin in the pavilion.

The song was finished, and Zuo Shaowu (official position) Kou Baimen, the secretary of the teaching workshop, looked faint, got up and made a blessing salute, and then retreated.

This time, those who came to Xuanhu Palace to meet the "Immortal Emperor" Chongzhen, in addition to the great filial son Hongxing Emperor Zhu Cihong, there are also Chongzhen's two fathers-in-law Wu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong, as well as Zheng Zhilong's two sons, Zheng Senhe, who looks proud.

Zheng Sen's trip to Japan was finally successful, and he returned to Nanjing City with a copy of the "Ming Dynasty - Japanese Covenant" and the Japanese envoy Tokugawa Mitsuki, as well as his mother Tagawa and his brother Tagawa Shichizaemon.

The results of his trip to Japan can be said to have changed the course of history in the Oriental world!

After Tokugawa Iemitsu approved six Ming Dynasty merchant ships to stop at the port of Shimoda in Izu every year with the seal of the shogunate, and to carry out restricted trade (no gold and silver were allowed to be exported, and no Japanese were allowed to go to sea with the ships without the approval of the shogunate), a transpacific trade route from Shanghai, stopping at the port of Shimoda in Japan, then reaching North America directly, and finally traveling south along the west coast of North America to New Spain, was established.

Don't underestimate this route that can only run five boats a year, that's from zero to five! Moreover, there are no Han captains and sailors who can run the Pacific route, and in order to start the sale of five ships this year, it is indispensable to hire a group of Western captains and sailors from Macao and let them run with Han sailors.

For Emperor Hongxing, this is an excellent opportunity to cultivate naval talents, and in order to make good use of this opportunity, Zhu Cihong also intends to give the Macau Council the status of the Ming Dynasty!

This was very beneficial to the Portuguese in Macau, and after becoming the inner vassal of the Ming Dynasty, their original autonomous status would not change, and their special relationship with the Kingdom of Portugal could be maintained—Zhu Cihong would not demand that all members of the Council be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but only that the Council fulfill its obligations as vassals.

At the same time, the Portuguese in Macao would be regarded as the "own people" of the Ming Dynasty, so that they could serve the Ming Dynasty and obtain benefits.

In addition, once the Macau Council became a listed Ming vassal of the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch East India Company, which was hostile to Portugal, could not go to war against Macao, which meant a war against the Ming Dynasty!

For the Ming Dynasty, allowing the Portuguese in Macao to be vassals in the name of the Council was also conducive to the controlled introduction of Western knowledge and technology - in the middle of the seventeenth century, if China wanted to "climb the tree of science and technology", it had to first introduce Western technology and natural philosophy (philosophy and natural science had not yet been separated at this time), and even if they were not used to the West, there was nothing they could do.

Because China's own Confucian philosophy has been fixed in the worldview system of the universe and nature, that is, the two major systems of science and mind. Although the science of science emphasizes "the principle of things", at the same time, it also raises the theory of "heavenly reason and human desire" to the highest position - everything must be preserved, and everyone must destroy human desire. In fact, it is to absolutely worship the status of "Heavenly Principle" as "the Lord of Creation" as considered by Logos.

At the same time, they linked the "Heavenly Principles" that must be absolutely worshiped with the Confucian ethical dogma, and regarded the Ethical Principles as the Heavenly Principles and regarded all things that did not conform to the Confucian Ethical Principles as "human desires."

Relying on this "traditional way of thinking" to climb the tree of science and technology...... It's a bit difficult! This tech tree is a strange skill, it is a big human desire, and it must be destroyed!

As for the psychology that was praised by later generations, it could not actually be used to guide the climbing of science and technology, but it was conducive to the introduction of Western natural philosophy. Because the study of mind emphasizes "the conscience of my heart, that is, the so-called heavenly principle", it actually empties the Confucian worldview created by the science of science—that is, the Confucian explanation of the ultimate question of the origin of all things in the universe.

To put it more clearly, Tianli is the Confucian God (God would be more accurately said to be the Lord or Creator), and the study of the mind is to overthrow this God.

From the perspective of maintaining traditional Confucian culture, the study of the mind is very harmful!

Because the source of Confucian heavenly principles is not the revelation (that is, conveyed by Christ or the prophet), but speculation, the foundation is not solid, and the mind cannot be used to get to the bottom of it!

After overthrowing the theory of heavenly principles and human desires, the study of mind had no way to put forward its own ultimate truth, so at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the end of the Japanese shogunate, the set of things in the West quickly became popular.

In the late Qing Dynasty and the Li Dynasty of Korea, where science was strong, the resistance of traditional culture and thought was much more tenacious......

Therefore, as Emperor Hongxing, Zhu Cihong, the situation he faced was different from that of the Westernists and reformists in the late Qing Dynasty. Without waiting for Zhu Cihong to vigorously promote it, they introduced Western tricks and tricks to learn and study by themselves.

Therefore, Zhu Cihong's top priority is not to promote the eastward expansion of Western science and technology, ideology and philosophy, but to have a controlled absorption - not to let God run to seize the position of heavenly reason!

The special vassal of the Macao Council can just help Emperor Hongxing control the rhythm and direction of the eastward expansion of Western learning.

And Western navigation technology, of course, has to be introduced. The introduction of seafaring technology is not just a matter of inviting a few foreign captains to open a school, but also to open up a money-making route. Only profitable routes can provide enough practical opportunities for graduates of nautical schools. Only a large enough maritime trade could feed enough sailors, and enough sailors who could run the open oceans was the key to maritime hegemony in the 17th century......

Zheng Sen's trip to Japan opened up an ocean route that could make a lot of money!

In addition, the return route from New Spain is on a waterway near the equator (due to wind direction and currents), which is close to the route to Australia – this is not enough?

And the opposite of the triumphant Zheng Sen was his brother Tagawa Nanazaemon, a young man who looked quite like Zheng Sen, now with a look of shame and almost unable to raise his head - it turned out that this young man had also carried out his own first battle before returning to Japan with his brother, commanding ten bird ships of the Zheng family to transport the 2,000 shogunate army led by Matsudaira Nobutsuna to Jeju Island to defeat the Toyotomi remnants entrenched there.

It was supposed to be a war to win, but it was messed up because of the "incompetence" of Tagawa Nanazaemon!

On that day, the fleet led by him arrived at Jeju Island in a mighty way, and before he landed, he found that two Western-style soft sailing ships under the flag of "Wuqitong" were leaving Jeju Island!

Obviously, the Toyotomi remnants are trying to escape!

Of course, Tagawa Nanazaemon refused to let go of the thieves, and no matter how much Shi Fu of the Zheng Marshal Mansion who followed him persuaded him, he was unwilling to "accept it when he saw it", so he had to lead ten bird boats to pursue all the way.

However, the speed of the Zheng family's bird ships was not as fast as that of the Westerners' soft sailing boats, and they chased them from Jeju Island to the vicinity of the Ryukyu Kingdom, but they did not catch up, and finally lost the enemy between the islands of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

On the way back later, because of the wind and waves, two bird boats were sunk, and the Japanese general Matsudaira Nobutsuna was almost drowned.

As for Jeju Island, it was not taken, but was controlled by the "North Koreans" who came later, and Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who drank a belly of seawater, did not want to make any extraneous branches, so he returned to Nagasaki with Tagawa Nanazaemon empty-handed!

The remnants of Toyotomi did not catch up, Jeju Island was not taken, and two bird boats were lost, and two or three hundred people were drowned, and the battle was of course lost.

Therefore, Tagawa Nanazaemon can only return to Daming as the general of the defeated army, which is really embarrassing...... Contrary to his expectations, his brother-in-law, Emperor Hongxing of the Ming Dynasty, didn't care about his failure at all, and was ready to give him a great benefit - let him be the master of the Ming Dynasty!