Chapter 527: The Threshold of East-West Contention

"About a hundred Seris dignitaries disembarked, and they were clearly divided into civil and military officers, as if they had stepped down from an ancient painting from the Greek era. At the head of the group was a civil official wearing an elaborate crown, and the black and red silk robe was embroidered with unknown birds and beasts, each of which was so mysterious and elegant. The gorgeous hem of the robe is embroidered with various patterns, which are combined into an incomparably harmonious and intricate pattern. ”

"According to Mr. Huang's previous statement, each of these colors, birds, beasts and patterns has a corresponding meaning, China...... No, the Seris can't be mistaken. As far as the young foreign secretary is concerned, the meaning of his outfit and the corresponding system can be written into a thick encyclopedia of Western Sciences, which is completely comparable to the entire construction notes of the Palace of Versailles. ”

"As I stared intently at the Foreign Secretary, there was a louder exclamation, including from my servant. And when I followed his gaze, I couldn't help but cry out to the Lord. They were their soldiers, and they were simply gorgeous samurai that sculptors could hardly shape with all their imaginations. They were draped in golden armor, their plates stretched out like fish scales. On their chests, two round mirror-like pieces of armor reflected the morning light, and dozens of samurai dressed in this way came with a steady step, and they had already converged into a golden light that was difficult to look at......"

"Their shoulders were entrenched in the heads of coercive beasts, completely different from the lack of detail of the full-body armor of the Milanese era. Their helmets with red tassels held high and cloud-like wings curled on either side were more luxurious than Roman armor. The kind that Mr. Huang posted at home, the door gods, paintings, and the Chinese warriors on them are almost the same as those in front of him. I used to think it was just an artistic model, but now it seems that it is a true description. If I'm not mistaken, this must have been the Samurai of the Seris a thousand years ago. A thousand years, a thousand years ago, Europa is already lost to history, and the Seris have not forgotten even a single detail. ”

"Lord, though I spurn meaningless extravagance and vanity, I have to say that this is the Seris as described by the Greek sages. Just from the artistic achievements of their dresses, as a great Frenchman, I have to be convinced. The proud culture of France must be looked up to in awe before the ancient Serisians. ”

"My shock is far from over, after the civil and military officials, dozens of flags were raised high, colorful, and the emblems were simple and elegant. I guessed it was a flag similar to the coat of arms of the Europa nobility, and the Portuguese official who was the guide began to read it aloud, making my guess half right and half wrong. It was the official banner of the distinguished guests of the mission, and they were of high rank and rank. ”

Probably because there are so many archaic meanings in it, the Portuguese can no longer find enough Latin words to describe it, so they can only distinguish it with prefixes such as similar, first, high-order, etc. ”

"When the Regent's envoy, a distinguished Marquis, came forward to greet him, Seris's Foreign Secretary responded with a very graceful manner, with his hands together and bowing deeply, the kind of courtesy I had seen with Mr. Wong, but not as solemn and solemn as the Foreign Secretary. The Marquis did not seem to be very comfortable with being so respected, and was a little at a loss, but he still bent down under the reminder of the escort, and finally did not make a fool of himself. Then the actions of the Seris were puzzling, and they knelt neatly facing east, vaguely like a Muslim prayer. But after the Portuguese translated the foreign minister's prayer, everyone understood that this was the minister's report to Emperor Seris, who was thousands of miles away. Although it was only a formality, in the pious and solemn atmosphere of the whole mission, I vaguely felt a belief that was very different from religion and the kingship of Europa......"

As Montesquieu was writing this, the crowd suddenly stirred, and it turned out that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had followed the envoy of the Prince Regent to the distant welcome tent for the first courtesy communication, while the warriors, as well as some of the civil servants of the Foreign Minister, remained in place and chatted with the guests. This caused the welcoming crowds on the docks to rush over to get closer to the Seris.

Montesquieu was naturally unwilling, and when he squeezed in front of some of the Seris warriors, he was knocked down by the crowd. Seeing that the future great man was about to die in the Bordeaux stampede, like the other six, a young man helped him up in time. , self-reported his name, thanked the young man for saving his life, and the other party's eyes lit up.

"Monsieur Montesquieu? My father once mentioned you as one of his most respected colleagues, but of course he did not respect your performance in court. ”

"You are ......"

Montesquieu did not know this eloquent young man, but listening to his words, he seemed to be a nobleman in the circle of the district court.

The young man laughed: "I am François, Marley, Arouet, and if you have read Henriard, you should be more familiar with my pseudonym, Voltaire." ”

This pseudonym is associated with the Bastille Who's Who in memory, and Montesquieu is surprised: "You were released from prison so soon?" ”

Voltaire nodded, "I have read Confucius by heart, and the regent needs an advisor who understands the Serisians, so he has shortened my sentence. ”

Montesquieu grabbed him: "I also know the Seris people very well, do you still need Li to ask?" ”

Li Xi once gave Xiao Xie a list and instructed the mission to contact some celebrities in Europa, but there were only Newton and others on the list, not Montesquieu and Voltaire. In Li Shi's view, he could not predict what impact these leaders of enlightenment would have on history after coming into contact with Yinghua, and he could not tell whether Yinghua itself was good or bad.

Therefore, Xiao Xie didn't know anything about the magic hidden in the group of people who received him. On the way to Paris, Tang and Song faced Montesquieu and Song faced Voltaire, and there was no idea what kind of influence this communication had on Eastern and Western cultures, especially on Europa.

Xiao Xie's attention was on Li Fangying. Li Fangying shouldered an important task, for which he even gave Li Fangying the title of deputy governor of the General Office, and in the eyes of the French, Li Fangying was naturally the "second foreign minister".

Bordeaux was deliberately chosen to go ashore in order to learn more about France, and at the same time, to spread the image of Seris more deeply in the hearts of the French people. It is a thousand miles from Bordeaux to Paris, and even though it is a horse-drawn carriage, it will take at least half a month. As far as the French people saw along the way, the road conditions and the checkpoints everywhere, they have made Hou Tuan's self-confidence more and more inflated. In terms of the situation of ordinary people, Yinghua is no worse than France, and many details, including social relief, medicine and health, and so on, are more advanced than France.

But as I got to know better, my inflated self-confidence gradually shrank. At this time, France also had a population of 20 million, and at its peak, it could mobilize 300,000 troops and hundreds of warships. Although the colonial powers were inferior to Spain and Britain, they still held large territories in Africa, India, and the Americas, and could borrow money several times the amount of money they received to fight other countries for years. In terms of national strength, Yinghua is still too far behind.

This realization made the industrial and commercial and martial arts faction more ambitious, and the literati also broke free from the deliberately elevated cultural hypocrisy and began to calmly face the differences between the East and the West. The communication with Montesquieu and Voltaire has made Tang Song and others fully aware of the shortcomings of Oriental thinking.

"By virtue of the thousand-year-old tradition of the hearts of the people of Roman Catholicism, they have another great righteousness here, and in the name of their Jesus, they claim that all men are equal, which is more vivid and simple than my Yinghua, the whole world, and the will of all people. And the constitutional constitution advocated by our Yinghua is also similar in essence to the charter made by the British people who overthrew the bad government earlier, but the two sides are more equal. ”

Song Sixiong was open-minded, and his eyes were full of the goodness of the Europa civilization, and his political philosophy began to move more towards the "constitutional" side.

I heard Montesquieu say that in France, the law can still be manipulated by kings, nobles and officials, but in the Netherlands, Britain and other places, the law is no longer in the hands of the powerful, and the small people can also use the law to protect their power and use the law to fight for profit. And the parliament and the council have more authority than our Yinghua public bureau, and they can fight against the king. ”

Tang Sunho looked at the political superstructure in more detail, so he also felt that the squire discussion promoted by Yinghua could still make a big difference. Li Fangying said dissatisfiedly: "The noble and the low are the same, the Mo family has already said something, and the descendants have no continuation." The public discussion is limited to the monarch, the Duke of Zhou has already been customized, and the Song and Ming dynasties have even more of it, but there is no explicit regulation, and it is in the national system. You were first swallowed by the European grandmother, and now you are going to be swallowed again? The Tang and Song dynasties, who were scolded for admiring foreign flattery, shouted grievances, since people have good things, they must see through them, and they can hang "Lao Tzu is the first in the world", but the real profit cannot be ignored.

Xiao Xie also felt that this sign was wrong, and reminded loudly:

"You can't just look at the table and not look at the inside, and when it comes to political science, you can't always look at Britain and the Netherlands. As far as I know, there are not many peasants in the Netherlands, less than one-third in Britain, and half of them are in England and China, and the peasants will account for seven or eight out of ten if China is to be restored one day! How can you follow that path to learn? Duan Guoshi once said that we must be honest in our studies and pragmatic in governing the country......"

When it comes to academic politics, the Tang and Song dynasties did not think about moving the Europa, but the doctrine of the emerging country of Europa, which is actually in line with the principles advocated by the Hundred Schools of Thought in China earlier. But Xiao Xie raised the banner of truth and truthfulness, which really reminded the literati who were full of Europa learning and thinking that the East and the West are different.

Liu Dan of the industrial and commercial faction opened his mouth, reminding everyone that this is an era of competition between the East and the West, and a string must be tightened in the mind, and the West is the enemy of Britain and China after all.

Why did Liu Dan say this, because he has been paying attention to the local trade of Europa, and now he has sorted out many clues.

"The Britons and the Dutch announced a month ago that they would ban the import of Chinese silk. and forbid the natives to wear Chinese silk ......"

"These two people, plus France, have also significantly increased the tariffs on Chinese tea imports from their own countries, and have reduced the import tariffs on Indian tea."

"The countries of Europa are offering high prices for craftsmen and techniques that can imitate our Chinese porcelain. When we get to Paris, the French regent will definitely set up some kind of trick to get the porcelain-making know-how out of us. ”

These words made everyone breathe, why is that?

Liu Dan explained that according to the distribution of the personnel of the Shentong Bureau he brought with him, Britain and the Netherlands and other countries were already dissatisfied with the fact that these three lucrative consumer goods were always imported from China, and they could spin silk, and they only needed to obtain raw silk from China, and they could grow tea in India and other places, which was their own territory. In order to support the silk weaving industry and tea industry in their country, they naturally want to reject Chinese products.

The British and Dutch saw themselves more as the center of the Dutch trade center, and although they did not allow their own consumption of Chinese silk and tea, they were able to use the global trade routes to resell these Chinese goods elsewhere, not only in Europe, but also in their colonies in Africa and the Americas.

Liu Dan's words made everyone more aware of a grim reality, the Europa people have controlled the global trade routes, relying on this trade route to attract money, and at the same time, in order to maintain their own industry and commerce, they are beginning to exclude Chinese goods. In business, for the East, this is a battlefield of life and death. Whoever lives downstream will be exploited by the upstream, and everything from diplomacy, national politics, and military affairs will have to be subordinated to this reality.

The envoys did not invite Chu, and the commercial situation between the East and the West at this time was much more relaxed than in Li Xi's previous life. A few years ago, Li Shi happened to intercept a letter from the Jesuit priest Duan Hongxu about the technology of Jingdezhen ceramics, and until now Europe has not been able to completely imitate Chinese porcelain. Not only Britain and the Netherlands, but even the French, in order to protect and support their own porcelain industry, issued a ban on the import of Chinese porcelain.

Paris is gradually in sight, and the minds of the mission are gradually calming, this is not only a cultural dispute, but also the battle between the East and the West, and the battle of national fortunes is also stepping towards a critical threshold.

And the image of Seris they created, as well as the Chinese culture they rendered, have also changed from the previous desire for superiority to a real weapon to serve this East-West dispute."

(To be continued)