Wanli Xinming

Chapter 306 Communication
Early the next morning, Xu Guangqi made an urgent appointment with Luo Mingjian and the Duke of Sidonia, and presented the "Kramer Party" flyer, indicating that the mission's personal safety was under threat.

Felipe II was furious when he heard about it, and the whole city of Madrid was blocked for a big raid.The Spanish intelligence department comprehensively checked the list of persons who could approach Xu Guangqi and other mission leaders at the University of Salamanca, listed suspicious elements, and questioned their relationship with the "Kramer Party".

Of course, the Spaniards were curious about how the unfamiliar Chinese embassy got the news, but Xu Guangqi had no one to ask him—after all, this was considered a poor reception by Felipe II.

Although the "Kramer Party" is called a party, it is completely different from the political parties of later generations. These people have no political program but only religious cognition. They are an extreme faction among Catholic fanatics. These people have no idea of ​​secrecy, and usually He showed resentment towards pagans, so he was easily identified as a group.

As the investigation deepened, the evidence became more and more, and both the person who arranged the assassination and the killer were caught - Felipe II's anger was no joke, and these people were ordered to be executed immediately.

Because the danger could not be completely ruled out, Xu Guangqi's visit to the University of Salamanca was postponed.Out of apology to Xu Guangqi, Felipe II allowed the mission to send someone to transcribe the documents in the Spanish university.

In Europe at this time, the level of secular education was slightly higher than that of the Ming Dynasty before Zhu Yijun crossed over.Although universities and middle schools were still the study grounds for the children of princes and nobles and wealthy merchants, the children of the commoner class could only enter basic education schools if they could afford it at home.However, with the emergence of a large number of cities, the literacy rate of major European cities has reached more than 20%, and the literacy rate of many wealthy Italian city-states has even exceeded 60%. [Note 1]
The germination of capitalism gave birth to the Renaissance movement for more than 200 years, and led to the birth of a large number of vocational colleges and guild schools. The church has lost its monopoly on education.The development of secular education in turn gave birth to the innovation of new technologies, and finally gave birth to the industrial revolution.

Therefore, when Zhu Yijun restarted the already fragmented basic education in Daming, Daming was behind Europe in terms of literacy rate at this time. Although no one has made special statistics, Wang Jiaping arranged for someone to conduct a survey on the members of the Roman embassy. This conclusion can be drawn.

At this time, there are more than 20 large-scale universities in Spain, mainly teaching humanities, law, medicine and religious knowledge.These universities contain all kinds of documents collected over the years—including Greek civilization, empirical philosophy, and post-Occam empiricism[Note 2], etc.

According to Zhu Yijun's instructions, a large number of people led by Wang Jiaping copied almost all-encompassing documents—these people wanted to use the mission's stay in Europe to record a lot of the achievements of European civilization, buy paintings, technical manuals, and reproduce all drawings.

In addition to transcribing documents, many outstanding students trained by Daming Medical College have also come with the mission this time. They are students of Li Shizhen, and they have already acquired a high degree of literacy in animal and plant taxonomy.

Their main task is to collect information on crops and plants, and are responsible for collecting specimens and seeds.Although thousands of years of exchanges have enabled China to have a large number of foreign economic crops, there are still some animals and plants that are not in Daming at this stage - kidney beans are an example, and this stuff will not be introduced to Daming for more than ten years.

In addition to collecting specimens and seeds, they also studied the dietary structure of Europeans in accordance with the emperor's will, from the princes and nobles to the dining table of the merchants and pawns, and recorded the common diseases and sanitation and epidemic prevention of Europeans.

Because of the disturbance of the assassin, Xu Guangqi also got a rare rest.He couldn't go out for safety, but everyone in Madrid's upper class who felt that they had a bit of status visited their residence and communicated with them.

At this time, small-scale "salons" have appeared in the Italian city-state area, and they are spreading to the whole of Europe.The Salon is Italian and was originally the name of the gallery of the Palais du Louvre.The increasingly popular "salon" is a fashion for talking about art, playing cards and chatting while appreciating art.

Inspired by the Duke of Sidonia, Xu Guangqi held a small-scale oriental art exhibition "Salon" in the living room of the Earl's Palace.Objects on display include porcelain, cloisonne, embroidery, paintings and calligraphy works.

The exhibition was an astonishing sensation because all the artworks were astonishingly beautiful.At this time, although Europeans already have a high ability to appreciate art, Daming is in this regard - throwing them ten streets.

After Felipe II got the news, he temporarily decided to go out of the palace to visit the Earl's Palace.The details of welcoming the king do not need to be detailed. After Felipe II came, he immediately fell in love with a cloisonne "refrigerator".

Although cloisonne is a kind of "copper filigree enamel" in the Arabian region, after the aesthetic addition of Ming craftsmen, it has far surpassed the highest level of similar products that European aristocrats can see.

Felipe II took a fancy to this enamelware, which is a double fish swallow ring handle with silver inlaid on the inner wall.The lid and the four walls are covered with sky-blue enamel glaze, and the ground is covered with filigree enamel with various colors of twisted lily pads, and the bottom of the box is decorated with cloisonné enamel ice plum patterns.The spandrels are inlaid with enamel animal face patterns, the legs are puffed up, and the feet are carved with lion claw patterns that roll outwards.

This handicraft full of Chinese artistic characteristics and capable of storing ice blocks amazed all the princes and nobles present. Felipe II's eyeballs are like hooks, which cannot be pulled off the cloisonne.

The Duke of Sidonia asked Xu Guangqi with a smile: "Your Excellency Count, is this enamelware of the highest level of the Ming Dynasty? Or is it ordinary?"

Xu Guangqi did not understand this, but Wang Jiaping did some research because of his wealthy family and high position.He replied: "The best things in China are in the inner palace and the prince's house. The one who brought Europa this time is second-rate in Daming."

Although he had already received a batch of gifts from the embassy, ​​Felipe II really wanted to take down this enamel, and everyone present could see it.A young man dressed as an aristocrat at the scene saw that Xu Guangqi didn't mean to give it away, and interjected, "It's not for sale, right? I want to buy it."

Seeing that the speaker was tall and personable, Xu Guangqi looked at the Duke of Sidonia.The duke frowned and said, "This gentleman is Carlo Medici, the son of Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who is studying Latin grammar at the University of Salamanca."

Because Xu Guangqi was close to missionaries such as Matteo Ricci, he was considered half-European at this time.After listening to the introduction of the duke, I immediately understood - this young man's surname is very good, but he is ordinary, and he should be the illegitimate son of the current Medici family head, the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

So he smiled and said, "The embassy is not planning to do business this time." Carlo Medici glanced at Felipe II and continued to ask, "Can Your Excellency Count make an exception? I like it very much. I am willing to pay five hundred ducats."

The gold content of a ducat is close to 3.56 grams. Although prices have skyrocketed throughout Europe due to the inflow of a large amount of precious metals in the colonies, the equipment of an ordinary musketeer in Spain today plus the cost of food and clothing for a year is about 5 pieces. Around Ducat.

In other words, Carlo Medici bought this cloisonné with enough money to support a musketeer team of 160 people for a year.

Standing next to Xu Guangqi, Luo Mingjian said excitedly, "Your Excellency, this is a lot of money." At the same time, his elbow was secretly pushed on Xu Guangqi's back, signaling him to agree.

Xu Guangqi looked at Carlo and said, "I take the liberty to ask, what are you going to buy it for? Of course, this has nothing to do with me, you don't have to tell me."

Carlo Medici tried hard not to look at Felipe II, and his young face flushed a little. He said, "I think this is my personal reason."

Xu Guangqi looked at Felipe II: "Your Majesty, do I need to pay taxes for this transaction?"

Felipe's mouth twitched, and everyone at the scene burst into laughter because of Xu Guangqi's humor.

Xu Guangqi smiled at Carlo Medici: "Mr. Medici, I'm afraid I still can't sell it to you."

When Carlo Medici's face changed, Xu Guangqi continued: "Our emperor told me that my mission is to make more friends in Europe. Therefore - I will give it to you."

　[Note 1]: The data comes from "History of European Civilization";
　　[Note 2]: Occam is the one who put forward the "Occam's Razor Principle". He was born and died in the late thirteenth century to the beginning of the fourteenth century. The leader and most important representative of nominalism in medieval philosophy—— The important idea of ​​'without adding substance if necessary' provided a theoretical weapon for the separation and harmony of theology and science, which has been influential into the 21st century.The "Zhu Yijun's Second Law" previously proposed by Zhu Yijun is a different way of saying Occam's razor principle.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)