"Yes! You can do your research on my land, and your academic monographs will be published, and I will pay you royalties. However, I also have a request. ”

"You are going to teach me in schools and turn your academic achievements into mathematics, physics, optics, and even artillery tactics, and nautical instruments and techniques of the navy."

What else can be said about this? There is no one who engages in research who does not want his theory to be known, mastered and accepted by more people. Faced with the conditions offered by Shouhan, Descartes and others had to admit that such a temptation was something they could not refuse.

"We also have a few friends who have come from the same boat, and although they are servants of God, they are also people of advanced knowledge in various fields, and if you can open your mind, I am sure they will work for you."

Well? Missionary? Shouhan had to admit that the missionaries at this time had some skills, otherwise they would not have the courage to go thousands of miles away to spread the gospel of God.

"Alright! You can go back and tell them that you want to work with me, and I welcome them. However, Shouhan consciously accentuated his tone and paused for a moment so that the interpreter could realize the strictness of the word.

"They are only welcome to conduct academic research, not to spread doctrine with me. If I find out, then," Shouhan got up and walked over to one of his own soldiers who was on duty at the pillar of the water pavilion, drew his sword from his waist, and slashed at a bush of dwarf bushes beside him! It's a pity that only a few leaves were chopped off.

"That's how it ended."

"Sir. I would like to ask, is there a forbidden area for research within your territory? Descartes' eyes lit up, and he felt that the Shouhan's views on religion were insignificant, and the key was to know the ruler's taboo on research.

"The off-limits area we study here? Of course there is, for example, about what Adam and Eve ate before they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. ”

What could be more exciting for a man like Descartes, who supported Copernicus' heliocentric theory, to conduct what would be considered deviant? Moreover, it is also possible to conduct research without worrying about food and clothing, in addition. It seems that this monarch is also an expert. What could be more desirable than working with a rich and powerful insider, researching your favorite field?

He stood up and walked over to Shouhan. Get down to one knee on the ground. Both hands pulled Shouhan's right hand. Gently kissed it on it.

"I had three strange dreams in one night. The first dream was that I was blown by a storm to a place where the wind could not blow; The second dream was that I got the key to open the treasure trove of nature; The third dream is that I have opened the way to true knowledge. Now it seems that all three dreams have been fulfilled in you. I am able to conduct academic research in your territory without any interference. It is my luck and believe me, I will open the door to a real treasure trove of knowledge for you. ”

Then, Galileo and Frank also got up and left their seats, came to Shouhan, and like Descartes, expressed their allegiance to Li Shouhan.

Van Basten, who saw this scene, could only hear the crisp and pleasant sound of the gold coin tapping.

"How much can these three guys, and those ten priests, get back?"

The next day, when Mr. Van Basten asked Shouhan for the hard-earned money of the three men who had been named and asked for by Shouhan without blushing or ashamed, it was his turn to be surprised.

"For these three men, I can pay you a thousand pairs of armor, a thousand long knives, two hundred muskets, and two hundred barrels of gunpowder. The ten priests could pay the price of eight six-pounder guns. ”

The price was so overwhelming to Mr. Basten that it could be more pleasant than a sound like this?

Looking at him hurriedly holding Shouhan's approval document, and the figure that seemed to fly, Shouhan couldn't help but show a disdainful smile, "The coachman is the coachman, and he won't understand what knowledge is power!" ”

In the conscience of a Catholic, Mr. Basten invited these poor people who had been abducted by him to a very lavish dinner, at which a priest was very curious to ask Mr. Basten why such a sumptuous banquet was possible.

"I'm going to sue you, is this a dinner for you with the profits you got from selling you?"

"I helped General Lee to buy a batch of goods that he desperately needed, and as a token of gratitude, he gave me a large quantity of goods that could be shipped to Europe for good profits, and the kind that were duty-free for export!" ”

Hearing his words, the priest was a little surprised, "Since you have sent so many goods at once, I think the goods you got for General Li are even more valuable to General Li!" ”

This sentence made Mr. Basten not sleep well all night!

As soon as the morning dawned, he came to the general's mansion and asked to see General Li.

"My lord went to sea yesterday."

Uncle Qin, the porter of the General's Mansion, revealed such news to Mr. Basten after receiving a gold coin.

"Where did you go? Is it Ha Jing, or is it a stick? Or Cam Ranh Bay? Or the Chao Phraya River? ”

"No, sue your lord for going to sea."

"Did you go to Luzon? Damn the Tooth Puller! ”

"Which one said that he went to Luzon, the lord went, forget it, I will lose my head if I say it!"

Uncle Qin's words threw Mr. Basten's attempt into the Pacific Ocean.

Shouhan rode the newly-made battleship Changsheng, escorted by several gunboats, and rode the west wind to the Ryukyus.

The Ryukyu Islands, known as Wankokutsuliang, are located between Taiwan and Kyushu, Japan, with the East China Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. Known as a transit point for trade in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, how could such a place escape the eyes of the Shouhan.

"We have been trading with the Ryukyus for a long time, and now. It's also time for us to visit Lord Shang of the Ryukyus! ”

In the cabin, Xu Huanshan, Chu Tianlei and other sailor generals heard this, all with smiles on their faces, and they all knew what Shouhan's words meant. To visit, it is necessary to carry out the actual control!

If it's just a simple visit, what to do with six or seven gunboats? There is also a battalion of guards on the ship, and in addition, the seven or eight hundred sailors on the ship can also land in a battle, such a strength. Enough to destroy the Ryukyu Kingdom!

"My lord. Then let's sail straight to Naha Port, sweep Shuri Castle, and capture the Ryukyu King in front of the lord! ”

"That's it! I want to think that the Ryukyu country, the weak army is small. According to the correspondents. There are no more than 1,000 troops in the country. Our fleet is enough to match the rest of the country! ”

Glancing at the high-spirited subordinates, Shouhan didn't say anything, just spread out a chart. "Come here and see where this Ryukyu is!"

The charts clearly show the tides, currents, reefs, beaches, water depths, and other information of Naha Port. On the south and north shores of Naha Port, two forts, Yaraza Morijo and Mie Castle, were built, and the Ryukyuan people relied on these forts and the natural dangers of Naha Port to defend their homes and wealth.

Most of the ships departing from the Ryukyus anchor from here, going back and forth between Naha and Fuzhou, or going north to Japan and Korea, or south to Annam, Luzon, Siam, Aceh, Java, Manrakadi, etc., in addition to the benefits of shipping, it is the sugar cane of the Ryukyus.

However, the current group of arrogant soldiers and fierce generals already have a habit that when the commanders of various units have the opportunity to get together to drink and brag, they will show off the exploits of their troops, such as, "We destroyed the city!" "The seal of the King of Siam was sent to the lord by us!" "Thang Long was the first to break through with my troops!"

This kind of situation is the pursuit of honor and the inheritance of the glory of the past, so that the army can become a force with a glorious tradition and strong combat effectiveness. If the guidance is not good, it will make the troops lie on the credit books of the past and become dull.

"Do you want to take another Ryukyu King seal back and show off to others?"

In a word, it directly said through the thoughts of the officers, and many people were embarrassed to grin and use a smile to hide their embarrassment.

"If I'm going to take that Ryukyu King Seal back, why do I have to carry so many things on the next few lucky ships?!"

"If I want to destroy the Ryukyus, why send people to trade with the Shimazu family, and go to war directly with the Shimazu family, and why give the Shimazu family so many weapons, armor, and gunpowder? Let him be armed with our swords and guns, and wear our armor, to fight us? ”

Shouhan's words were like a bucket of cold water that extinguished the officers' fierce fighting spirit. At the back of the convoy were four large ships, loaded with a wide variety of commodities from Nanchu, most of which were metal products, oil products, and textiles. Among the metal products alone, there are kitchen knives, boning knives, paper knives, scissors, as well as daily necessities such as irons, vegetable oil, lamp oil, candles, etc.

Obviously, the lord decided not to expand his territory here and destroy the Ryukyu Kingdom.

"Look, this is the Ryukyus, what is the geographical location here?"

"It is only a few hundred miles away from the coast of Zhejiang, if the wind direction is well controlled, you can reach the sea of Zhejiang from Ryukyu in one night, and go up the Qiantang River along Hangzhou Bay, and you can reach the city of Hangzhou in just one day!"

Mao Sihai, who once traveled back and forth from Ryukyu to Ha Tinh many times because of the exchange of rice for sugar cane, is familiar with the situation in Ryukyu as if it were his own home (in fact, this guy does have a home in Ryukyu, and he is also a so-called family of scholars, the daughter of a nobleman who serves as a maritime chief. ）

The current Ryukyus are ruled by Shofeng, but because the Shimazu family sent Kayama Hisadaka to invade many years ago, this person can only be regarded as a puppet king.

As for the relationship between Ryukyu and Japan, there was a description in a later Qing history manuscript, "The Ryukyu country was small and poor, and it approached Japan, but the Qing Dynasty was in solidarity." He also paid tribute to the boats and allowed them to sell all kinds of goods, exempted from customs duties, and the whole country relied on it for a living, and its capital was loaned to Japan. In the country, all of them are Japanese Kanyong money; The goods sold are often shipped to Japan. Its number of tributes to the Qing Dynasty is not only obedient, but also its country. ”

Because of the limited terrain of the archipelago and the small arable land in the country, the Ryukyus could not build an economy based on agriculture, and could only obtain wealth through overseas trade. The bulk of overseas trade was the sale of Japanese silver, lacquerware, swords, folding screens, and fans to China. It resold medicinal herbs, porcelain, silk, and copper coins produced in China to Japan and Korea, and sold rhinoceros horn, sumac, spices, tin, sugar, ivory, frankincense, and ambergris from Southeast Asia, India, and the Arabian Peninsula to China, Japan, and Korea.

The tributary trade of the Ryukyu state to China brought to China included gold and silver pots, gold and silver powder boxes, gold jars and wine seas, lacquered gold painted screens, mud gold fans, mud silver fans, painting fans, banana cloth, ramie cloth, safflower, pepper, sumwood, waist knives, fire knives, guns, armor, horses, saddles, silk, cotton, and snail plates, but most of these goods were not produced locally in the Ryukyus, but were exchanged through guò entrepot trade, which was in the 19th year of the Qing Dynasty. In the edict to the Ryukyus, Xiao Asako ordered that some luxury goods should be waived and only local specialties should be tributed. You can see it. In the later tributes, the only tributes of the Ryukyus were horses and cooked sulfur, conch shells, and red copper.

"In addition to trading to the interior, to the south, and to Japan, the Ryukyus also had a route with Korea. Shurijo Castle, the capital of the Ryukyus Kingdom, had merchant ships bound for Korea. Medicines, spices, pearls, hawksbill turtles, corals, etc., which will be obtained from trade in the South. In recent years, there have been sugar, cotton cloth and other goods, and it is said that they have made a lot of profits by going north to trade with North Korea. But because it is also a Ming domain. They are still mainly in contact with each other. ”

"From the king down, it is divided into three levels: the royal family, the minister of state, and the walled society. The state is similar to the Han system, which is in charge of the administrative power of the whole country and is appointed by the king. In addition to the governors and chiefs of the 'Zhai Society' who administer the islands throughout the country, they also have jurisdiction over the official positions in the state institutions, including the 'tributary envoys', 'doctor officials', 'chief historians' and 'interpreters' who serve as interpreters, the 'general affairs' and 'general managers' in charge of maritime affairs, and the internal 'purple turban officials', 'law divisions', 'tributes' and other officials. His chief historian is not the same as the chief historian of our Nanchu Lord-sama, whose long history is similar to that of the Ryukyu kingdom, and they are all people who are in charge of the whole situation, while the chief historian of the Ryukyus is an official who is specifically responsible for a certain matter. ”

Listening to Mao Sihai talk about the political structure of the Ryukyus like a few family treasures, he couldn't help but Chu Tianlei picked up a bowl of tea and handed it to him, "Old Mao, please tea!" ”

Mao Sihai couldn't help but be greatly moved, he didn't expect that the former captain of the main public ship, who was now in charge of the practice fleet commander of the six ships, would be so polite to himself.

Without waiting for him to drink a cup of tea, Chu Tianlei's next sentence almost made him spray the tea in his mouth on Li Shouhan's body.

"What level of official is your Ryukyu father-in-law?"

Mao Sihai's father-in-law is a descendant of the surname Zeng among the 36 Fujian surnames given to Ryukyu by Emperor Taizu, and the position of the chief of maritime affairs in Ryukyu is not high, but it is an excellent fat difference.

Mao Sihai went back and forth between Ryukyu and Ha Jing several times, and had a very good relationship with Zeng's manager, and then simply lived in Zeng's house, and when he came and went, he turned Zeng's daughter into his pillow person.

"Because of this, Mr. Zeng and I gave me two ways, one was to marry his daughter, and the other was to report to the magistrate and put me and his daughter to death together for adultery according to the laws of the Ryukyus. Because the princess of the Ryukyus had to be selected from among the thirty-six girls, that year happened to be the time to choose a concubine, and if he didn't get married, his family would not be able to explain it. ”

At the dinner table, the officers were crowded on a long table, each holding a pair of metal plates, drinking hot soup on the dishes, eating steamed and noisy steamed buns, and listening to Mao Sihai talk about his private affairs with a wicked smile on his face.

"Say it! And later!? ”

Xu Huanshan urged Mao Sihai to tell the plot behind without discipline.

"What can I do? I have to leave this life behind to help my lord! Mao Sihai shamelessly patted Li Shouhan in person and expressed his loyalty, "No way, just get married!" ”

"Go to the ancestral hall of their former surname to worship their ancestors, tell their ancestors, and their own girl married a Chinese. Then he invited the 36 surnames Zhongliang, Zheng, Jin, Cai, Mao, Chen, Lin, Gao, Wu, Li, Ruan, Shen, Wei, Tian, Wang, Ma, Qian, Weng, Mu, Han, Zong, Kun, Yin, Cha, Wu, Xiang, Wu, Ji, Ying, Tao and other leading figures in the family, and drank for three days. Made! I don't even know which woman I drank in those days is my daughter-in-law! ”

While tearing up steamed buns made of newly shipped Indian wheat, eating lunch with fish soup and stewed meat, and listening to the unscrupulous jokes of his subordinates, Shouhan was also enjoying himself, although due to identity issues, he couldn't make such jokes with his subordinates, but from the situation files sent by several departments, he knew the situation of Mao Sihai's father-in-law's family.

"Zeng Lin, born in Fujian with 36 surnames, as a maritime chief, is a yellow hat official below the third rank in the Ryukyus, and holds a family tree written in Chinese, so he can be called a 'lineage'. Because he holds the mining land, he has the head of the land of a village, so it is called Qinyunshang. ”

After Emperor Taizu sent the 36 surnames of Fujian to Ryukyu, these people established their own independent village on the floating island near Naha Port for their own life and residence, forming an independent Chinese community, which was called Tangying by the locals, and later gradually became Kume Village, and because of the importance of education and knowledge of Chinese, it had a higher status in Ryukyu society, and gradually became a decisive political force in the life of Ryukyu government. Of the descendants of the thirty-six surnames, many of them became a privileged class close to the king. (To be continued......)

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