On the one hand, there is the smelly body odor, and on the other hand, the perfume market!

Zheng Mingyi seemed a little incomprehensible to such contradictions, and at the same time, he was also disappointed in Europe in his heart. After all, once upon a time, as a naval officer, he had good fantasies about Europe, after all, almost all the navigational and gunnery of the navy were learned from Europe.

It is precisely because of this longing that Zheng Mingyi, whether in Madrid or Paris, has been full of curiosity to step on dirty feces and muddy water, beware of feces and urine that may be splashed from the top of his head at any time, smell the terrifying stench comparable to thatched houses, and finally wander around the city in fear, and then label this ghost place as dirty, ignorant, backward, hell on earth, and so on from the bottom of his heart.

In the end, I didn't even have the heart to watch a puppet show or listen to church chants, I just wanted to leave as soon as possible. Get out of this hellish place.

"Deputy Envoy, I really find it hard to believe that such a group of Europeans can be called civilized? To be honest, even the dirtiest city in the Ming Dynasty is hundreds of times cleaner than them, and even when it is enslaved, it is dozens of times better than them. ”

I have to admit that the mess and stench have shattered all of Zheng Ming's illusions about Europe, and like everyone in the fleet, they finally know why Da Ming can be called the Celestial Empire. In terms of environment alone, the Ming Dynasty can be called the Celestial Empire, and the "paradise" in the European population is nothing more than that, and in comparison, the cities of Europe are even hell!

"Perhaps, in terms of the environment of the city, the Europeans are far from the Ming Dynasty, but, Major Zheng, you know, they also have a lot of merits, and the Europeans have many unique things in science, architecture, and other aspects, and we should not be blinded by what we see in front of us, don't you think that it is a very amazing thing that they have created the uniqueness of their civilization in such a barbaric state?"

As he said this, Xiong pointed to the ships looming on the river outside the window.

"Our guns, artillery, and warships have all learned from their experience to varying degrees, so we can't be ...... because of them."

Because...... The words paused slightly, and then Xiong Cixu paused for a moment before speaking.

"Because of this appearance, and ignoring their strengths, ignoring that we do need to learn from them in many ways, and ......"

When he opened the window, the evening breeze outside the window sent a stench, Xiong Cilu said with a smile.

"This time we are here, not for the sake of our mission."

"Deputy Envoy, I don't think the British, at least for now, will not necessarily agree to our terms, it seems, they have not yet reached that point, and if they refuse, will not the purpose of our visit to England be in vain?"

Zheng Mingyi's question made Xiong Cilu smile slightly, looked out the window, and looked at the little mast lamp in the distance, the current England does still have the strength to fight, in this case, the British will definitely not agree to Daming's conditions, but in the future, who knows?

"Chance!"

Xiong Cixu said as he stared into the distance.

"The Dutch should have created a chance for us, now that the Dutch have the upper hand, all we need is to wait, wait for the Dutch to give us this opportunity! Now, our task is to wait! ”

Task.

Everyone in the mission has their own tasks, if for Xiong Yixu, his task is to complete secret diplomacy in London and strive for the interests of the Ming Dynasty in the greatest scope, then for Li Pingfeng, his task is simpler, his task is to recruit scholars for the Ming Dynasty.

Recruit European scholars to go to Daming!

Compared with others, for Da Ming, this is the really most important task. And in order to accomplish this task, he had even sailed to England even when the mission was in Spain.

Although the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century was active in the study of science in Europe, this kind of learning was also passive, because there was no active communication between the two, although the missionaries from Europe brought a large number of European scientific books to the Ming Dynasty and translated them into Chinese in order to familiarize themselves with the support of the Ming people, but this kind of learning was also passive, not active communication.

It is precisely in order to diffuse the sluggishness caused by this passive exchange that as early as four years ago, Zhu Mingzhong sent an invitation to European scholars through returning missionaries - paying them a high remuneration and inviting them to go to the Ming Dynasty, but because of the risks of navigation in this era, there are not many scholars who go to the Ming Dynasty. In the past four years, only a few hundred people, encouraged by high remuneration, sailed to Daming.

And this time, since he sent a mission to Europe, Zhu Mingzhong naturally would not let go of the opportunity to invite European scholars, and even made a special list, and at the top of this list was Isaac Newton.

Perhaps, Li Pingfeng did not know the status of Isaac Newton in modern physics, but as a "talent salvage", he found that it was an extremely difficult thing to bring Isaac Newton back to the Ming Dynasty with just a little collection.

“…… Newton had already received his degree two years earlier, in 1665, and the university had closed last year to prevent the Great Plague of London. From last year until now, Newton continued to work on his research at home. ”

Although the stench of Tom's mouth was really unbearable when he spoke, Li Pingfeng still forced himself to endure his breath, and just tried not to look at the black and yellow teeth.

The man in front of him may have been just a street gang leader, but he was very well informed, and the list of more than a dozen scholars—except for a few such as Newton, whose names were given by His Majesty, were all lists of scholars he had collected since his arrival in London. They are all outstanding scholars in their respective fields. In order to bring these scholars back to the Ming Dynasty, Li Pingfeng needed their information, and this information was provided by Tom.

For people like Tom, there is never a state in their eyes, only money, and as long as there is enough money, they can even sell their souls to God, and they can do whatever it takes. And such a person is exactly what Li Pingfeng needs.

"Sir, as far as we know, Newton did not have much desire for wealth, nor did he have any interest in women, and as far as we know, he had only one woman, who was engaged to the pharmacist's stepdaughter, Anne Stoller, before going to Cambridge University. Later, because Newton's concentration on his studies cooled down, Miss Stoller married someone else. There was no other woman after that, he didn't even need a prostitute, my God, it was really hard to understand someone like him. ”

Tom's exaggerated words made Li Pingfeng's eyebrows furrow.

"Money can't beat him, and beauty can't ......"

Is there any other way to recruit such people? There is no better way, after all, since he came to the UK, he has relied on money and beauty to "lobby" those people to go to Daming.

Compared to the remuneration they could get in England, the remuneration given by the Ming was extremely generous, even enough to make anyone crazy, but what was the use of money for a person who did not have too much desire for money?

"Sir, his mother has a debt, and if we can take advantage of it, we may be able to get him to agree to your terms."

Listening to Tom's suggestion, Li Pingfeng shook his head and said.

"Your previous intelligence has revealed that he is dissatisfied with his mother, and that the mere fact that a debt of less than £500 does not make him agree to leave England, and this money, with his present fame, is entirely available to borrow."

Although Newton is not yet famous, he is also quite well-known in England, and it is not difficult for such a person to borrow 500 pounds.

Of course, if it's £5,000, it's a different result, just like Robert Hooke, who caused a sensation in England and even Europe because of his book "Microscopic Cartography", although he was already a well-known scholar, Li Pingfeng managed to set up a scam to make his wife owe a huge sum of £5,000.

It was that huge debt that made Hook accept Li Pingfeng's invitation to go to Daming with his wife. In return, Daming will pay him a debt of 5,000 pounds, of course, after 5 years, he can leave Daming at any time if he wants, and he will also be paid 1,000 pounds a year.

However, in Li Pingfeng's view, as long as any European arrives in the Celestial Empire, as long as they are accustomed to the life of the Celestial Empire, they will no longer be willing to return to a Europe like a dung pit, and they will never endure this stinky "smell in the city" again. Therefore, the so-called five-year contract is just a bait, a bait to lure them to Daming.

But the same method is not suitable for Newton, because he does not have much affection for his mother, and the design of arrears does not necessarily make him agree to go to the Celestial Empire.

"Sir, if you are willing to pay a fee, we can send him to your ship."

Tom looked at the old man from the East in front of him, and there was no discomfort in his words at all, what he valued was what he could get in return.

"You mean kidnapping?"

Li Pingfeng's eyebrows raised, then he shook his head and said.

"What I need is for him to get on the boat willingly, not ......"

Kidnapping is not unacceptable if necessary, and of course, he would not do so if there was another option.

"However, we can look at it from a different angle......