Daming Yinghua

Yan Siqi withdrew his gaze from the vast sea, and landed on Zheng Haizhu's eyes reflecting the tall ship's mast.

"You are right and wrong, how do you say it?"

Zheng Haizhu said in a harmonious voice: "Brother Yan, for rich people like Shen Wansan, they were punished, their homes were ransacked, and their high-rise banquet buildings collapsed overnight, because they are just very rich, rich but without soldiers, and they live in In the eyes of the court, of course, a metropolitan city or a small place is nothing more than a money bag. If you want to take it out, you can take it out and throw it away. In the Jiangnan area of ​​Suzhou, Hangzhou and Huaiyang, such a luxurious family that seems to be invincible, but actually walks on thin ice, In the past dynasties, Shen Wansan was more than one person who was like a crucian carp crossing the river. But Brother Yan, you are different from them. You, the Xuanfu envoy of Taiwan, are earning your own money while guarding the gate of Ming Dynasty. The imperial court How can I be willing to kill you if I collect your tribute and filial piety and don’t spend a penny on your soldiers? Unless..."

Zheng Haizhu stopped and pointed to the sky above his head with surging clouds.

"Unless, the emperor listened to the slander and thought you were going to rebel. Or, you are gradually going downhill, and at this time a new powerful side will appear, and the court will replace you with him."

Yan Siqi narrowed his eyes, and suddenly realized something: "Azhu, what you said reminds me of Li Chengliang's family, the Liaodong general that General Mao told me about before."

Zheng Haizhu nodded: "Yes, I have seen and heard a lot of things in Liaoyang this time. The Li family is in Liaodong. What kind of business can't be done, what kind of money can't be made? But they have troops at the same time, and they are indeed defending against the enemy, so Even if there are officials in the capital constantly arranging the Li family, even if the governor of Liaodong or the general soldier is no longer the person Li Chengliang made friends with, the Li family is still safe and sound. By the way, Brother Yan, let me show you something."

The two entered the cabin sheltered from the wind, and Zheng Shoukuan sent a bundle.

The thick cover bag is made of Songjiang Yexie reed cloth, and there is a layer of waterproof oil paper inside.

Zheng Haizhu opened it carefully, took out a scroll and unfolded it. It was a map with a width of more than four feet and a height of two feet.

Yan Siqi took a closer look, and although he could see at a glance that it belonged to the map of the sea, it was a perspective that he had never seen before.

Zheng Haizhu's finger landed on the northwest direction of the cross line in the center of the map.

She lit a piece of ground like a camphor leaf and said, "Brother Yan, we are here, this is Taiwan."

Starting from Taiwan, Yan Siqi quickly found Penghu Island, Zhangzhou Yuegang, Ningbo Shuangyu Port, the long and magnificent coastline of Ming Dynasty, and the small countries of Japan, Luzon, Champa, and Siam.

But what really excited him was that outside of the "Asia" continent where Daming was located, at the left and right ends of the picture, Yan Siqi found the words "Europa", "Levia", and "Northern Amo". Liga" and "Southern America" ​​are four continents with four names.

Between these five continents, there is a large area of ​​blue marked with the words "Little Eastern Ocean", "Great Eastern Ocean", "Little Western Ocean", "Atlantic Ocean", and "North Sea". These are the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Arctic Ocean in later generations. .

Since escaping to Hirado, Japan, Yan Siqi has made countless contacts with Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands in his ten-year career, but it is the first time that he found the familiar "Francois" on the continent of "Europa" with clear graphics. "Chile", "Italia", and other place names such as "Chile" in "South America" ​​heard from the Chinese population in Luzon.

Zheng Haizhu watched the changing situation on Yan Siqi's face.

Although Yan Siqi's reaction was within her expectations, it still gave her the joy of a sword rewarding a confidant, and a pearl not being cast in secret.

Only a Chinese like Yan Siqi, who is full of adventure and pioneering will, and has his eyes on the ocean, can show the expression of seeing a rare treasure when he sees this Chinese version of the map of the universe.

Zheng Haizhu said: "Brother Yan, this is the land and sea where we live together with our friends and our enemies."

……

When Zheng Haizhu visited Taiwan again, he brought this map from the hand of Li Zhizao.

As Xu Guangqi's favorite student, Li Zhizao and the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci worked together to draw a Chinese version of the world map that was highly praised by later generations of scholars: "Kun Yu Wan Guo Quan Tu".

This map is ten feet wide and six feet high. Perhaps in consideration of the sacred intention of Cheng Huan, Li Zhizao and Matteo Ricci placed the territory of the Ming Dynasty at the center, but it also explained that the earth is round and that there is no barren land outside of the Ming Dynasty. concept.

Emperor Wanli, who was deeply opposed to his officials, did not object to Western learning. At that time, he not only allowed Li Zhizao and others to print this map, but also asked court painters to draw a more exquisite version and gave it to the emperor's relatives for collection.

However, in a country where the stereotyped essay has become the only standard for talent selection, science, especially the part of science related to Western learning, still cannot be included in the enlightenment education.

Zheng Haizhu traveled to the late Ming Dynasty for three or four years, but he had never seen any natural geography textbooks or books similar to "The Complete Map of Kunyu and All Nations".

Finally, Li Zhizao, who was out of work at home, was dug out from Hangzhou last year. Zheng Haizhu asked him to draw a simpler map of all countries, which is only a quarter of the size of the original large version and is easy to carry.

At this moment, Zheng Haizhu explained the source of the map, and after Yan Siqi's excitement calmed down a little, he cut to the point.

She stretched out her finger, from Luzon on the map, across the entire Pacific Ocean, to the land marked with the five Chinese characters "New Ehibania".

"Brother Yan, this 'New Hibania' is New Spain.Our Ming Dynasty does not distinguish between the Frankies of the two countries, but in fact, one of them is Portugal and the other is Spain. The two countries have long been at loggerheads because of the struggle for sea power.Spain occupied this part of northern America and named it New Spain.It also occupied Luzon in the south of Taiwan, and set up a governor in Manila. Every year, there are large sailing ships across the ocean.There are Indians in North America, and like the Sirayas in Taiwan, they are people who have lived for generations.And we Han people have also traveled to and from Luzon on sea boats since the Song Dynasty.However, after the Spaniards discovered these two places, they began to ask the Indians and Han people to surrender, and even killed them. "

At the beginning, Yan Siqi offended the Spanish colonists and almost died in Penghu just to save the Chinese in Luzon from the butcher knife.

He sighed, and said in a deep voice: "Azhu, I know the character of these foreigners very well. In the past, the court said that we were pirates, but in fact we were just businessmen who wanted to sail across the sea and earn hard money. These foreigners are The real thieves and thieves still pretend to hang a cross and speak lies of compassion for the world."

Zheng Haizhu said: "That's right, the current situation at sea is like this. The Spaniards have occupied Manila. We can't drive them away for the time being, but we must beware of the Hongyi people, that is, the Dutch who have opened the East India Company. Beware of them coveting the Fujian-Taiwan area. Big brother Yan can deal with the Dutch severely, which will be of great benefit to our sea trade business. The imperial court will regard big brother as the reliance of Haibo Pingning, the southeast gate. In the future, if we can It would be even better to strengthen the navy, expand the gunboats, and then drive the Spaniards south. The profit of our Chinese merchants trading in Luzon can be doubled at most, and the profit of sea traders in the Manila Galleon can be ten times."

Yan Siqi listened very attentively, and at the same time moved his eyes back and forth on the route proposed by Zheng Haizhu.

He already knew everything about sailing, and now combined with the map in front of him, he knew very clearly that the best starting point for the route to the north and south continents of America is Manila when sailing from the coast of Daming, relying on wind, ocean currents and star boards to navigate.

If you set off from Japan, you have to stay close to the north, and the big ship is very easy to be frozen in the vast ocean.

He raised his head, looked at Zheng Haizhu and said, "Since I have taken root in Taiwan, I also want the route to the east from Luzon. But what you said is right, the Hongyi people are the scourge that must be solved first. Ah Zhu , you came from the Zhangquan area this time, have you heard the name 'Xu Xinsu'?"