The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 870 Justifiable Defense?

In January of the fifth year of Rende, the weather in Malacca City was still good.

Shi Daxuan came to the pier in a good mood.

The weather here is better than in Fujian, and he feels very comfortable.

Shi Daxuan is the boss of Huanghai Trading Company, which is a maritime trading company jointly established by Ding Yi, Ruan Siqing, and Zheng Zhilong.

Since the establishment of Rende in the early years, he has been running offshore routes such as Japan, North Korea, and Dayuan, and has made a lot of money.

But since the occupation of Annan, Ding Yi and Zheng Zhilong are ready to open the European business line.

After Hong Xu completely conquered Southeast Asia, Ding Yi established Xinma Province here, with Yuan Youcai as the governor.

Shi Daxuan soon brought the fleet here.

The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Overseas Security established a state-run 'Spice Company' locally to unify the prices of spices throughout Southeast Asia.

Most of the factories and enterprises in Dagan have been converted to private ownership, with state-owned assets as shareholders. Since this spice company has just started and requires a large number of troops to station on the islands, it is still state-run for the time being and will be converted to private ownership in the future.

With a lot of work behind it, the spice business here is doing better than in the Netherlands. The Dutch East India Company is limited by the lack of warships and personnel, and relies more on combating smuggling to control prices.

Dan Ding Yi's soldiers and horses were stationed on the islands in Southeast Asia. Every island rich in spices had Dagan's soldiers and horses and forts, which greatly strengthened Dagan's control.

And since last year (in November of the fourth year of Rende, the Han Chinese immigrated from Fujian and Guangdong and selected officials from the Han Chinese, which further strengthened the control of Singapore and Malaysia.)
After Shi Daxuan came here, he could get local spices at a [-]% discount and sell them to Europe.

Of course, the Yellow Sea trade also needs to pay [-]% tax to the imperial court.

Why Ding Yi asked him to come over, firstly, Dagan wants to gradually open up European trade, secondly, they have collected a lot of European currency in taxes and need to use it, and thirdly, Ding Yi also has a lot of silver in his country, which also needs to be used up.

If he uses a large amount of it in China, it is easy to cause inflation, but it is no problem to use it abroad.

At this time, Shi Daxuan was accompanied by Xu Jintang from the Xu family in Songjiang, the cousin of Ruan Siqing's wife Xu Miaozhu, Zhou Chengzhong from Jinyiwei Hundred Family (counted as someone sent by Ding Yi), and important management talents of the company, Xu Manyun and He Kuiniu. couple.

Xu Manyun is Xu Wei's daughter. In the 12th year of Chongzhen, Ding Yi's Lushun was the first group to send to Europe to go to school, so she signed up. Then He Kuiniu, Chen Qianhua, Wang Bao and other first batch of Lushun youths set foot in Europe Save school.

Xu Manyun learned foreign languages, and so did He Kui Niu. When He Kui Niu was her Tim Gou, the two had been in Spain for many years, but He Kui Niu succeeded.

Back then he was the famous Fatty He, but now nearly ten years later, He Kui Niu has a standard figure and is very handsome.

Both of them were recruited into the company by Ding Yi. Xu Manyun is good at Spanish, French, and can speak a little Portuguese.

He Kuiniu can speak Spanish and English.

In fact, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal were relatively powerful in Europe in the [-]th century. Britain began to rise after the [-]th century. But Ding Yi is now in a university, and the bishop is English, and the languages ​​​​of other countries are second.

Xu Jintang used to do business between Songjiang and Dayuan, and he is good at Dutch.

The combination of the three of them can basically pass through most places in Europe.

This time they set off to Europe, they will take several professional navigators, people who have been to Europe.

There are also three Changsheng-class third-tier battleships, one Dayuan-class third-tier battleship, and four three-thousand-material merchant ships.

A total of seven large ships traveled, accompanied by more than 300 fellows besides the sailors, most of whom were retired soldiers.

These eight ships were all built by the imperial shipyard and sold to the Yellow Sea Trading Company at a low price.

The Changsheng class has reduced the number of artillery pieces and protection, increased the loading space, and is specially designed for transportation and oceangoing.

The same is true for the three thousand merchant ships.

Coupled with the terrifying artillery support on the Daguan class, as long as they don't encounter large fleets of certain European countries, ordinary pirates dare not touch them.

Before setting off, they bought a boatload of iron pots from Annan, Songjiang bought two boatloads of silk, Dayuan bought a boatload of coffee, plus half a boatload of white sugar and half a boatload of other various dry items. Another boatload of spices.

Among the seven ships, except for the Dayuan class, six ships are fully loaded.

It is finally scheduled to depart from Malacca after the Chinese New Year in February.

In this era, from Malacca to Europe, you need to cross the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, with a total distance of about [-] kilometers.

According to their general speed of 5 knots, the tailwind can reach 8 knots, and the average is 6.5 knots. (About 12 kilometers per hour.)
Theoretically, I can go to Europe in two and a half months.

In fact, you will encounter various situations, such as headwinds, bad weather, etc. Generally, if you can go to Europe in March to April, you will be considered a success.

On February 360th, seven large ships and [-] four persons in charge officially departed from Malacca, fully loaded with cargo, for Europe.

Ding Yi's first European business in this world started.

Although he did not participate, he gave everyone deep blessings in the distant capital.

In mid-April of that year, the fleet arrived in Europe safely, only encountering pirates twice, and their ships had more guns than pirates, scaring the pirates away.

After arriving in Europe, they first went to Spain and then to France.

He brought a letter from Ding Yi to King Louis XIV of France.

But they were out of luck. France was in the 'Fronde Movement' at this time, and there was an uprising in the country. Olympus Messini's uncle, French Prime Minister Mazarin, was exiled, and Louis XIV escaped from Paris.

The riots lasted until October 1652, 10, when Louis XIV was able to return to Paris.

The letter written by Ding Yi to Louis XIV was taken away by Mrs. Chevreuse, the core of the Fronde.

The gift that Ding Yi gave to Louis XIV also went to Mrs. Scheverus.

Shi Daxuan pushed the boat along the way, greatly praised Mrs. Scheverus and other Fronders, and said that Emperor Daqian admired France.

In short, good things are said without money.

This guy is Shi Lang's father, and he has good words all over the place. Europeans are no match for eloquence, and he almost abducted Mrs. Scheverus.

Mrs. Scheverus was very happy and wanted to reward them with something to bring back to the East.

Shi Daxuan said, I don't want anything, I just want to find someone whose relatives are working with us, and I want to see him, and this person is in Paris.

Mrs. Scheverus is very strange. Who are you looking for?I will help us find it.

Shi Daxuan said it was 'Blaise Pascal'

Who is Pascal?Presumably everyone knows.

In order to commemorate him, later generations use his name as the unit of pressure "Pa", and the symbol is Pa.

Check out his resume.

Blaise Pascal French mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and essayist.

At the age of 16, he discovered the famous Pascal's hexagon theorem: the intersection points of three pairs of opposite sides of a hexagon inscribed in a conic curve are collinear. At the age of 17, he wrote "Theory of Conic Sections" (1640). In 1642, he designed and produced an addition and subtraction calculation device with automatic carry, known as the world's first digital calculator, designed for future computers Rationale is provided.

In 1654, he began to study several aspects of mathematical problems, deeply discussed the principle of inseparability in the analysis of infinitesimals, and obtained a general method for finding the area and center of gravity surrounded by different curves, and solved the cycloid problem with the principle of calculus. Completed "On the Cycloid".His thesis manuscript was a great inspiration for Leibniz (Gottfried Leibniz) to establish calculus.When studying the properties of binomial coefficients, he wrote "Arithmetic Triangle" and submitted it to the Paris Academy of Sciences, which was later included in his complete works and published in 1658.The expansion of the binomial coefficient given in it is called "Pascal's triangle", and it was actually known by Jia Xian of China in about 1665.In his correspondence with Pierre Fermat he discussed the distribution of stakes, which was influential in the early development of probability theory.

In 1646, in order to test the theories of Italian physicists Galileo and Torricelli, he made a mercury barometer, and repeatedly carried out atmospheric pressure experiments on the top of Clermont-Ferrand overlooking Paris. The study of hydrostatics paved the way.In the experiment, in order to improve Torricelli's barometer, he invented the syringe based on Pascal's law and created the hydraulic press.

At this time, Pascal was doing research in Paris and was about 27 years old.

Ding Yi wanted to invite him to study the steam engine together. After all, increasing the air pressure is the only way to improve the current power of the steam engine.

And Pascal is an expert in this area.

Mrs. Scheverus doesn't care what kind of physicist or expert he is. They just drove away the French king and need strong help from the outside. The Dagan in the East controls the Strait of Malacca and the silk and spices in the East. Of course we need to have a good relationship.

The French side quickly found Pascal, ignored him, and stuffed him directly on Shi Daxuan's boat.
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In the fifth year of Rende (1650), Dagan's national strength was flourishing.

This year, the banks of the imperial court can lend, and private lending is prohibited, and the interest of the imperial court is relatively low, tentatively set at [-]% per annum.

That is, 100 taels of silver, the annual interest is two taels.

It is still unclear how the public will respond. If the response is positive, big banks will also be able to make money.

Ding Yi asked the bank to pay attention to the purpose of registering loans, in order to prepare for the next step of subdividing civil loans, commercial loans, and even home purchase loans.

On February [-], the fifth year of Rende, a major event happened in the capital.

Two out-of-towners suddenly picked up a three-year-old child on Jingcheng Street, and then fled.

After a while, passers-by in front directly stopped the two people, because passers-by heard the cry of the child.

The two men were fierce, and one of them drew a short dagger and threatened passers-by to get out of the way.

Passers-by refused to let go, and a fight broke out on the spot.

The traffickers stabbed three people in a row, and three passers-by were stabbed.

When the crowd was in a hurry and everyone broke up, suddenly a woman rushed out of the crowd. The woman pulled out a thin sword, swung the sword, and stabbed the man to death.

The other man, upon seeing this, quickly surrendered and let the child go.

(End of this chapter)