As for Yasan, the interpreter of fire, Zhu Houzhao specially summoned this person alone, and after hearing that he was originally a Han from Huguang, he was even more pleased, so he said:

"I don't know the language of the Franc machine, I don't know the situation of the Franc machine, the fire man Yasan, you are also a Han Chinese, but you are willing to enter the court as an official and handle the affairs of the Franc machine for me."

This fire man Yasan didn't expect that His Majesty the Ming Emperor would not only appoint Pires as an official, but also as an official, how could he refuse, so he was busy kneeling down and kowtowing, Zhu Houzhao hurriedly ordered Gu Dayong to help him up, and said: "The Ming Dynasty has already established the outline of the constitution, you may not know it for a long time overseas, people and ministers are not canons, and you no longer kneel easily, you stand and reply." ”

"Minister, minister obeys the order, minister Guo Zhao thanks Your Majesty!" This fire-bearer Yasan was busy calling himself by his original Han name.

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "Since you have returned to your homeland, you don't need to call it by your name, you will be called Guo Zhao in the future, you can tell me what the situation of this Xiyi Buddha Lang Machine is now, how should Da Ming deal with it, tell me your opinion, I will not cure you for the crime of gaffe!" ”

Although Zhu Houzhao, as a traverser, has some understanding of the Franc machine, which is the Franc machine of later generations, and knows that in this era, the Franc machine is the first great power in the West to rise in the Age of Discovery.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not know the specific situation of the Franc machine in this era, as well as the specific views of the Ming Dynasty people on the Franc machine in this era, and the views of the sergeants and magistrates on the Franc machine, Zhu Houzhao was very clear.

However, these scholars and magistrates were contemptuous and hostile to the appearance of the Franc machine.

Lin Tingxuan of Liangguang directly asked whether to expel the Franc Ji people, and the cabinet ministers and other ministers of the court also thought that the audience of the Franc Machines did not conform to the tributary system and occupied the territory of the Ming Dynasty without permission, so they should also be expelled.

Zhu Houzhao was indeed dissatisfied with the occupation of Manraka and Tuen Mun by Franc Machine, but he did not despise Franc Machine, he knew that seizing the opportunity to communicate with Franc Opportunity now would be conducive to the development of maritime trade by the Ming Dynasty, and ahead of the Netherlands and Britain.

As the first Chinese to understand the East and the West, Zhu Houzhao naturally needs to understand his current views on the Franco.

"Back to Your Majesty! Although the territory of the Franc machine is not as good as that of the Ming Dynasty, the islands it occupies are spread all over the world, and the shipping routes are all over the world, plundering countless property in the country, whether it is a warship or a firearm, it is very sharp! The Ming Dynasty may not be as strong as others, and its ships and guns are strong;

However, the country of the Buddha only seeks trade, and the minister thought that he could agree to trade with it, and learn its skills, improve the firearms of my Ming warship, and at the same time can also rely on porcelain, silk, etc. to make profits for the benefit of the court, as far as the minister knows, porcelain and silk are as expensive as gold in Xiyi! ”

Guo Zhao was very excited that he could get the attention of Emperor Zhu Houzhao, in order to be able to be reused, and the Francophone country was indeed crazy colonization on the sea, so he naturally told the truth unabashedly in front of Zhu Houzhao at this moment.

"Your Majesty! The minister thinks that this Mr. Guo said that the Franco machine people are everywhere to seize the island, the route is dense all over the world or credible, and even the porcelain and silk in Xiyi are as expensive as gold is also credible, but its firearms and warships are stronger than the Ming Dynasty, the minister does not agree, the minister is also in charge of the military affairs, the Ming Dynasty has now been able to reload the fire, the artillery is fired in succession, and it is the copper tire core, if the Ming firearms are not as good as a Franc machine! The minister asked for his resignation! ”

Xia Yan, who has been promoted to the right attendant of the Ministry of War and is still in charge of the Ordnance Bureau, met Guo Zhao with Zhu Houzhao in the hall with the officials of the Cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Rites, but when he heard that Guo Zhao's firearms were not as good as the Buddha Langji, he, as the manager of the Ordnance Bureau, was naturally very angry and hurriedly stood up.

Guo Zhao saw that the red-robed official in front of him spoke very mercilessly, so he could only smile awkwardly, and at the same time he was also very puzzled, secretly thinking about the big open fire gun after pretending to shoot? What do you mean? Could it be that Daming's current musket is already able to load ammunition in the back? A cannon with a copper tire and an iron core, such a cannon has and is excellent.

Guo Zhao didn't understand and couldn't understand, as a person who only knew foreign languages and business, he didn't understand ordnance very well, and his impression of Daming firearms was still in the era of the traditional early arquebus, so he instinctively thought that Daming firearms were no longer as good as the Franc machine, and like most Han people who were stronger than himself and directly learned to improve, he only suggested that the imperial court learn to make firearms for the Franc machine.

Now seeing that the red-robed official is quite angry, Guo Zhao is also busy and gets down the donkey and says:

"Your Majesty forgives me, please calm your anger, the minister has not returned to Middle-earth for a long time, he knows very little, and he is biased!"

Guo Zhao said this, Xia Yancai did not get angry again, and only waved his wide sleeves.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw this, only he, the emperor, knew that if it weren't for the appearance of his own traverser, Daming's firearms would indeed be as Guo Zhao said, and they would have lagged behind the Fu Lang machine.

However, because of the emergence of his own traverser, he first liberated the craftsmen and used the new incentive system to stimulate the enthusiasm of the craftsmen to invent and create, and then used his understanding of the firearms of later generations to guide them, so that the advanced degree and manufacturing level of the current firearms and artillery of the Ming Dynasty have long been far ahead of the Franc machine.

Because of this, although Zhu Houzhao knew that the Ming Dynasty was now not weaker than the Franc Machine in firearms and artillery, and even in the warships, he knew that what Guo Zhao said was not alarmist, and the Franc Opportunity was the biggest challenger to the Ming Dynasty in the competition for global interests.

"I said that you are allowed to speak at will, naturally I will not blame you, but as you said, this country of the Buddha Lang machine cannot be taken lightly, neither can it be regarded as a friendly country nor as a barbarian that can be despised, I have decided to establish the Xiyi Pavilion, which will be managed by you as a member of the Ministry of Rites, and will be responsible for studying the Xiyi countries and even responsible for receiving the envoys of the Xiyi countries and cultivating some talents who understand the language of the Buddha Lang and even other Xiyi languages!"

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Guo Zhao knelt directly on the ground excitedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty!" ”

After all, he himself didn't expect that he would become a member of the Ministry of Rites, a Beijing official from the fifth grade! He knows that such an official position can only be held by an official who is not a Jinshi official and a top-ranked Jinshi official, and it usually takes many years to get on, and now he can directly become a member of the Ministry of Rites, and he can also manage the Xiyi Pavilion, so it can be said that he can not only show his strengths but also glorify his ancestors, so he is naturally excited!

No matter what, at this moment, in Guo Zhao's eyes, His Majesty the Emperor in front of him is really his own Bole! He secretly swore that he would also create extraordinary deeds under the rule of His Majesty the Emperor!

At this time, Fu Jue, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stood up, as a traditional scholar, he did not have a good impression of His Majesty's excessive importance of not following the tributary system and vainly trying to trade directly with the Ming Dynasty and the way of communication was very unfriendly, nor did he think that the Franco Kingdom was worthy of attention, and the Han man in front of him who was willing to be the translator of the Franc machine envoy, he was even more despised, especially the Han man named Guo Zhao even changed his name to the fire Yasan at the beginning, which made him feel that Guo Zhao was a person who forgot his ancestors.

Therefore, now that His Majesty the Emperor wants to appoint Guo Zhao as a member of the Ministry of Rites, he is naturally even more unable to accept it, thinking that he is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, so he naturally wants to interfere, so he hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty! The official positions of the imperial court are all famous instruments, and those who are not virtuous and talented people cannot get it, and those who are not meritorious and famous cannot be allowed to do it, and now this Guo Zhao is just a white coat, rashly awarded to the Ministry of Rites, and the ministers think that it is impossible, if Your Majesty wants to use it, it is better to give the official a dispersal! ”

"If Fu Qing can find a person in the world who knows the language of the Buddha Lang and can manage the Xiyi Pavilion for me, I naturally don't need Guo Zhao! If you can't, you have to use it! ”

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Fu Jue, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was speechless and could only retreat.

In addition, Pires was also appointed by Zhu Houzhao as the director of the Ministry of Rites.

Zhu Houzhao knew that it was just the beginning of the Age of Discovery, and if the Ming Empire wanted not to lose to the West, it had to compete in all aspects, not only for the world's resources and territories, but also for seafaring talents.

Zhu Houzhao knew that in this era, not only did the East not have a strong national concept, but also the West, and in the West with a contract system, as in the Warring States Period, it was not uncommon to be a courtier in other countries.

As a modern person, Zhu Houzhao naturally will not discriminate against other races, as long as he can benefit the Ming Dynasty, he can accept them to become his own Ming bureaucrats, as an emperor, he wants to gather talents from all over the world to his own country.

Pires became the head of the main and guest department of the Ministry of Rites, and returned to Guangzhou again as a special envoy of Emperor Zhu Houzhao, and prepared to return to the Buddha Lang Ji, handing the letter of the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao to the King of the Buddha Lang Ji.

At this time, Wang Yu, the deputy envoy of Guangdong, had been ordered to lead the first division of the Guangdong Navy to attack Tuen Mun.

For the Ming Dynasty, it is natural to trade with the Buddha Langji, but if their territory is invaded, they must also take it back, so this Tuen Mun naval battle is naturally indispensable, otherwise it is not enough to declare the sovereign integrity of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, it is also to show the fist to the Western powers, and peaceful trade must also be based on strong force.

The iron and steel smelting technology of the Ming Dynasty has been very developed, the steel smelting has developed to the stage of open-hearth steelmaking, and the shipbuilding technology has also begun to recover, so it is not difficult to manufacture sail warships that use smoothbore guns as shipboard weapons, and Wang Yu, the deputy envoy of Guangdong, took five sail warships to Tuen Mun Island to fight against the colonists of the Franc machine.

Today's Franc machine colonists have just occupied Manraka and created a massacre in Manraka, and it is the time when they are full of ambition, although they are very longing for the Ming Empire, but they have no fear.

As for Tuen Mun Island, in their eyes, it is just a small island occupied by themselves in the process of colonizing the whole world, and according to their experience in the process of colonizing other regions, they will not feel that they will encounter any danger when colonizing Tuen Mun Island.

But what the colonists of the Francophone did not understand was that the place they were colonizing now belonged to the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and they were challenging the dignity of a powerful empire.

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