I had nothing to do and chatted with the Italian missionary Ricci and the Portuguese missionary Ann Siwen, and some of my friends accompanied me to learn about exotic customs, and sometimes there were heated arguments. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Since Matteo Ricci, in order to open the door to China, foreign missionaries hope to use the advanced science and technology of the Westerners to attract the attention of the Chinese people, including the geometric principles of the Ming Dynasty minister Xu Guangqi, and Song Yingxing's heavenly creations have been deeply influenced by it.

But after all, Yang Xuan is a traversal clan, and in his previous life, he was born in science and engineering, and his modern knowledge level is far above that of contemporary people, but whether he is looking for these two Western missionaries to come and chat, one is to increase the knowledge of civil officials and generals, and then to increase the spirit of relaxation and tension.

Seeing that this ruler was so interested in Western science, of course the two tried their best to win the favor of the ruler, but the other party had an unfathomable and profound expression, and from time to time two sentences came out, which was very shocking.

This is not at today's dinner, everyone is chatting while drinking tea, talking about construction, and the senator next to him, Liu Liangchang, has repeatedly complained that the houses are not solid, and that some resettlement houses for displaced people were washed away during the flood last month, and the people suffered great losses.

Yang Xuan listened carefully, disappreciating in his heart, these so-called resettlement houses are too reluctant, in order to give the displaced people a place to shelter from the wind and rain, a shed built at high and low is of course washed away in heavy rain.

Raising his head, he saw that Lissi next to him had a look of wanting to speak and stopped, and felt quite interesting, and asked, "Mr. Li, you, what do you think, tell me and let everyone listen?"

Richer pointed and picked up a book, and said with a glance: "My lord, the problem lies in the house you built, you built the house without building the foundation, so when you encountered strong winds and rains, of course it was washed away. ”

When Liu Lanchang next to him heard it, he scolded: "Nonsense, the world often says that the foundation is not solid, the ground shakes, and thousands of high-rise buildings rise from the ground, why don't we build a house and lay a foundation, it's just nonsense." ”

Richer was quite aggrieved and said: "Honorable lord, you, you really didn't lay the foundation, I, I dare to swear in the name of God, in the name of God." ”

The officials present did not think so, and everyone was quite in a good mood, and some even claimed that foreigners were making rumors and slandering everyone.

Seeing that these two foreigners were flushed, and they all said that they didn't lay the foundation, Yang Xuan smiled and said: "Mr. Li, tell me, why didn't we lay the foundation, how do you lay the foundation?" ”

Hearing this question, Richards immediately explained that when building houses in the West, it was common to dig three feet into the ground to build the foundation, and then build the buildings above after the foundation was repaired.

This is not the case in the East, where in order to make the building more majestic, a certain amount of earth is often piled up by hand, and then stones are placed on top of it to lay the foundation.

Yang Xuan was overjoyed in his heart, looked around and asked: "Everyone, let's talk about it, although Mr. Rickins can't explain clearly, but do you evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of our Easterners laying foundations and Westerners laying foundations?" ”

Everyone present was gossiping, and many people shook their heads with their hands in a bunch of hands, how could this homeless resettlement house lay the foundation so much?

In addition, some people admire the ingenuity of the Westerners' method, which is to lay the foundation three feet before laying the foundation to ensure that the foundation is firm and avoid the collapse of the house due to the unstable foundation.

It is common to see some houses deviating in the people, and if you use the method of foreigners, you may be able to solve this problem.

Seeing that everyone slowly agreed on the same opinion, Yang Xuan asked the principal Zhang Lang to invite nearby carpenters and stonemasons to inform the Westerners of the law, and asked for the future permanent buildings to dig the ground to consolidate the foundation, and on the other hand, he even gave a thumbs up: "The two gentlemen know a lot, and I admire them." As the saying goes, the stones of other mountains can attack jade, and you Westerners also have many ways to learn from it. ”

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and after a long day of explanation, although everyone felt the subtlety of Westerners laying the foundation, they also felt that the amount of work was huge (digging pits) and felt inconvenient.

But in any case, as the Governor said that the stones of other mountains can attack jade, this is a famous saying of the ancestors, although some people do not fully agree, but they will not oppose it.

When the Portuguese missionary An Siwen heard this, he shook his head again and again and said: "My lord, no, no, we Westerners are as big and rich as you China, and our Westerners are far superior in science and technology to your China, and we are not barbarians.

Your Excellency, you don't know that on the streets, many of the people under your rule regard us as barbarians, and my lord, we are not barbarians, we are as great as you. ”

Since ancient times, China has been located in the big country of the Chinese Celestial Empire, and the Quartet is just a barbarian, and now I hear that some people are actually saying that they are as great as the Central Plains Dynasty, and the surrounding civil officials and military generals can't stand it.

Although it is now suppressed by the barbarian Qing Dynasty, the acquaintances do not lose the battle, and everyone quotes scriptures one by one to prove China's strength and prosperity.

Seeing that everyone was arguing again, and looking at the two missionaries who had fallen behind, Yang Xuan felt amused, and his words were particularly proud: "Two gentlemen, we in China say that seeing is believing and hearing is false, and after we put down the Tartar rebellion, I will definitely go to the imperial court and send a mission to your country to see if you are a barbarian country."

If your country is as prosperous, strong, and civilized as China, I will encourage equal and free exchanges between the two sides.

But before you do that, you have to prove to everyone that your country is strong. ”

Hearing this, everyone in the audience burst into hearty laughter, although Westerners are good at firearms, although Westerners are good at some gadgets, but compared with China, of course, it is not the same.

Since entering China, although the Chinese people are quite friendly, everyone still thinks that Chinese is the richest and most powerful country in the world, and everyone admires the firearms and some gadgets made by Westerners, but most of the scholars think that they are just some gadgets and look down on them.

Now hearing Yang Xuan say this, An Siwen looked very calm, arched his hand and said: "My lord, you are the greatest inventor in the world, the bicycle you invented, the tricycle is breathtaking, you don't need any driving force, people can move freely as long as they keep pedaling."

It is no exaggeration to say that you are the greatest inventor of our time. ”

Yang Xuan smiled awkwardly, then raised his head and said with a smile: "Mr. An, what do you have to say, Qian is full of losses, although this bicycle tricycle is good, it is far from perfect, if you have any suggestions, you might as well talk about it, as long as it makes sense, I think I will adopt it." ”

An Siwen shook his head and said: "My lord, I just said that my lord is the greatest inventor in this world, of course I can't do a bicycle or tricycle that moves as freely as an adult.

But my lord, there is a kind of carriage in our hometown, which can pull 8 loads of goods (1 load of 150 catties) with two horses, and travel 150 miles a day on a spacious post road, and if you don't walk day and night, you can walk 250 miles in one day and one night. ”

Yang Xuan leaned forward, his heart was quite interested, as he said at the beginning, the most difficult thing in this march and war was the transportation of grain and baggage, in ancient times, it completely relied on shoulders to carry military rations, and one person needed three people to supply, so it could only be supplied for more than thirty days.

At present, although the navy is used as a food route for the army, which is convenient for long-distance transportation, it is also quite difficult to transport short- and medium-distance transportation.

The tricycle that he is proud of transports only 3 loads, and he only tramples seventy or eighty miles a day, and he can't imagine that the other party has a better means of transportation than a tricycle, as long as he thinks about it, it is fascinating.

Yang Xuan smiled and said: "Mr. An, if you can make it and convince everyone, I think you are the greatest inventor in the world, and I will appoint you as the main thing, how about it?" ”

An Siwen shook his head and said: "My lord, this thing has long existed in my hometown, it was invented by our ancestors, if you say the greatest inventor, this ancestor counts, but it doesn't count below." ”

When everyone next to them heard this, some people were worried about Yang Xuan, this foreigner was good at evil arts, if he really had this, he wouldn't suffer a big loss.

Yang Xuan, on the other hand, had the mentality of playing, and repeatedly forced the other party to build one, and then compete.

An Siwen took the opportunity to make a big request to appoint the best carpenter, the best blacksmith, and the best knight.

Yang Xuan promised one by one, asking for money for money, asking for things for things, and personally selecting craftsmen for him, which was very generous.

After seeing the two of them leaving, Qian Bangxin arched his hand and said: "My lord, I see that these two foreigners are full of ambition, full of confidence, and look very sure."

My lord, if you don't humiliate yourself and find someone to do some tricks, you can't lose to foreigners. ”

Looking at the dignified envoys in the past, the supervising army in the army even said such things, and looking at the other companies around him claiming to be, Yang Xuan smiled and said: "You guys, what is the concept of winning or losing, losing is losing, winning is winning, what's the big deal?"

If I lose, everyone will be able to discover the Westerners' carriage technology, isn't that great?

As they say, a two-horse carriage can carry 8 loads, and it can travel 150 miles in a day and 250 miles in a day and a night.

Not to mention anything else, let's take everyone's personal experience as an example, in the past, the brigade marched at most 30 miles a day, but now with tricycles and bicycles, we can put our baggage on the tricycle and easily walk 50 miles a day.

If the other side can have better carriages, as the foreigners say, the post roads are all vehicles transporting grain, grass and baggage, so that we do not need to levy labor for marching and fighting, we can reduce the burden of soldiers, and we can increase the mobility of our troops.

This is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people, and we should be grateful to the foreigners. Tell these craftsmen to learn from others, if they really learn the real skills, they will be rewarded. ”

Although this is the truth, many people are still quite unwilling.

Everyone doesn't know how the wooden carts, oxen and horses invented by Zhuge Wuhou are, but the tricycles and bicycles invented by Yang Xuan are greatly convenient for marching and are praised by the people.

Now, if foreigners have something more powerful, it is not a great thing to accept it easily.