I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 186 Move a library to Ming Dynasty
Sun Yuanhua's method impressed everyone.

Originally, the imperial court hired Portuguese gunners to train the artillery of the Beijing camp. Now, it is understandable that Portuguese gunners are invited to Licaolan Field to train the nobles and the children of the border troops.

"This is very good. Your Majesty is very concerned about the Krupp Cannon. If this person's true talent and knowledge can impress Your Majesty, then it will be easy to meet Your Majesty in the name of donating books and utensils."

Xu Guangqi also agreed upon hearing this. Li Zhizao stroked his beard and felt that it was feasible.

Matteo Ricci had done this before in the name of presenting books and utensils to His Majesty. He also successfully gained the trust of Emperor Shenzong and was able to stay in the capital permanently, but he still had a question.

"This is indeed good, but it is easy to meet. But how to impress His Majesty? If it is about artillery, Sirao from Gongsha can do it by himself. Then Master Tang Ruowang will not do anything except presenting books and utensils after the meeting. There’s nothing that can be done.”

"Why didn't you do it? There is an extremely important matter right now that is imminent."

Xu Guangqi saw that Li Zhizao was a little worried about what happened after the meeting, and immediately felt that he was a little too worried. Western missionaries played a great role in the imperial court, and the submission of books and so on were just an introduction.

"Oh, what is it?"

"Have you forgotten about your academic qualifications?"

When Xu Guangqi said this, Li Zhizao suddenly realized that he could indeed make a big fuss about this matter.

There are two calendars currently used by the imperial court, one is the "Datong Calendar" and the other is the "Hijri Calendar". The latter was introduced as a supplement to the former.

However, the "Datong Calendar" was compiled based on the "Time-giving Calendar" written by Guo Shoujing of the Yuan Dynasty, and his calculation method was also used. However, it has been used for nearly 300 years without any changes, resulting in increasing errors. At the same time, the supplement "Hijri" also declined with age.

This made the work of the Qin Tianjian in the Ming Dynasty very difficult. He miscalculated solar and lunar eclipses several times, and was criticized by many emperors.

In order to solve the calendar problem, during the Shenzong period, Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and others wrote a letter proposing to revise the Datong Calendar based on the precedent of the Hui-Hijri Calendar during the Hongwu period and the translation of Western calendar works brought by the Jesuits.

Although the people in the Qintian Prison and even many court officials objected, the celestial phenomena were often not sure to be true, so they had no choice but to agree.

So Shenzong ordered missionaries Pang Diwo and Xiong Sanba to participate in the revision of the calendar, which kicked off the revision of the Chinese calendar with Western methods.

However, due to the Nanjing Mission Incident, both of them were deposed, and the calendar revision came to an end. However, the problem of the calendar still existed. Qin Tian Jian failed to predict the celestial phenomena several times in a row, which made Shenzong and even Emperor Guangzong very angry.

"This is feasible. Although this dynasty has not encountered any celestial changes, there are records of previous celestial changes. As long as the facts are stated, Master Tang Ruowang can definitely stay in the capital."

Li Zhizao was easily understood by Xu Guangqi, and he immediately thought of what to do, but he had further plans.

"The Western power is not only in the calendar, but also in hydrology, arithmetic, horoscopes, rituals, day management, medicine, musical instruments, etc. I can write to your majesty to open a bureau based on the Western calendar. Western books should be translated according to the original text, paid tribute to the emperor for reading, and sent people to study and test according to the law. This will definitely be of great benefit to the court."

"Okay, that's very good. Then Chuyang (Sun Yuanhua) will submit a letter tomorrow to ask Xi Lao of Gongsha to serve as the artillery instructor in Licaolanchang. I will submit a letter in person and request an interview with the emperor to present the book to Tang Ruowang of the Ming Dynasty. , utensils, and also ask Your Majesty to hire Tang Ruowang to participate in revising the calendar in accordance with the Shenzong dynasty calendar."

When Xu Guangqi heard that he hoped to open a library and translate Western books into books according to their original texts, he immediately became interested and felt that this matter was very feasible.

According to the emperor's interest in the West, even if the Zhejiang Party and others wrote a letter to object, it would be useless. They would definitely agree to the matter, so they immediately asked to see the emperor to facilitate the matter.

Tang Ruowang also felt that this was feasible. He brought a large number of books specifically with the purpose of translating these books into Chinese, which could be presented to the emperor and attract the Ming Dynasty scholar-bureaucrats to study and increase the influence of Catholicism. This move They have tried and true.

Therefore, after learning about the two people's plan through Zheng Zhilong's translation, Tang Ruowang naturally supported the matter with both hands and gave them a big surprise.

"That's really great. In the past two years, the French missionary Jean-Claude Jeanne also brought more than [-] European classics to Macau. In addition to [-] of these books, Pope Paul V presented them to the Chinese Jesuits. , and the rest was carefully selected by priests Jinnige and Deng Yuhan and collected from Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and other countries." "If your emperor really opens a library, translate Europe Books, I can write immediately and ask Jinni Ge to take these books to Beijing and try my best to translate them into Chinese."

Although Xu and Li knew that Jinni Pavilion had brought many books, they did not know the specific list of books.

Now that he knew that he had brought a total of [-] books, he was immediately overjoyed and quickly asked Tang Ruowang to write a letter and invite Jinnige to come to Beijing. The two of them would definitely facilitate the establishment of the management bureau.

Plans were made to meet the emperor and translate books, which put everyone in a good mood. They felt that they had seen the dawn of victory and a bright future, which cleared away the embarrassing atmosphere before.

The important matter was decided, and everyone felt much more relaxed. They started to eat immediately. Tang Ruowang and Zheng Zhilong, one from Europe and the other from Fujian, became interested in the food that was very different from their hometown. They ate happily and chatted with Xu Guangqi and others.

At this time, everyone discovered that the young translator next to Tang Ruowang was very smart and quick-thinking. He was neither humble nor arrogant towards them, and his conversation and knowledge were not comparable to those of ordinary people. They also looked up to him somewhat.
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Early the next morning, the papers of Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and others were sent to the General Affairs Office. Since Zhu Youxiao had personally instructed that Xu Guangqi's papers should be specially approved and he wanted to see them in person, he waited until [-] o'clock (nine o'clock). By eleven o'clock, the question book had been placed on the docket of Dong Nuan Pavilion.

Zhu Youxiao has been busy these days with the imperial edict of the Wenhua Palace. In two days it will be time for the imperial edict, and there are more and more title books. Now he not only has to read the title books, but also communicate with the cabinet. Negotiating, it was quite busy.

I just didn't expect to see Xu Guangqi's memorial today, so I asked He Ning who sent me the question book.

"This Xu Guangqi hasn't been in the title book for a long time. Could it be that the firearms workshop in Tongzhou ran out of money in the middle of its construction and came to me for money? Or maybe he also has ideas to mention regarding the salt administration."

"I don't know about this slave. It's probably something urgent. The people from the General Affairs Department said that this question book was handed in as soon as the door opened this morning. They also said that Xu Guangqi was going to the palace to ask for an interview. He was probably coming soon. .”

He Ning knew that the emperor attached great importance to Xu Guangqi, so he understood it very clearly. This also made Zhu Youxiao pay attention to it, and he took the question book and read it carefully.

When he opened it, the words "Tang Ruowang" caught his eye, which made him immediately interested and looked down.

Tang Ruowang knew this. He had lived in China for 47 years and experienced the Ming and Qing dynasties. He was one of the most important Jesuits to China after Matteo Ricci. He not only assisted Xu Guangqi in completing the voluminous "Chongzhen Almanac", It became the blueprint for the lunar calendar for later generations.

He also co-translated the book "Fire Attack and Key Points" with Jiao Xu, which is the most authoritative work on Western artillery in the late Ming Dynasty. There are countless other translation works. It can be said that he greatly promoted the exchanges between China and the West. .

He was actually invited to Beijing by Xu Guangqi, and he wanted to meet him, so Zhu Youxiao continued to read with interest, and understood what Xu Guangqi meant. It turned out that he wanted Tang Ruowang to participate in the revision of the almanac, and also wanted to use Western methods in the capital. It is best to open a library based on the calendar and translate Western books into books according to the original text. It is best to organize people to study.

This Zhu Youxiao has long had an idea. Now the Ming Dynasty is actually not lagging behind the West, and is even leading the world in many fields. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty has a high degree of cultural self-confidence, and its attitude towards foreign Western culture is very open-minded. As long as it is useful, It can be inhaled completely.Those who objected did not so much object to Western writings as to express disdain.

Therefore, translating Western works now will not only prevent the trend of worshiping foreigners and favoring foreigners, as happened in history, but will allow Chinese culture to learn from its strong points and make up for its shortcomings in fields such as science and technology and thought, become more advanced and developed, and continue to maintain the world's leading level. .

And now I am giving you a pillow even if I am sleepy. This Jinni Pavilion has also brought more than [-] European classics to Macau, bringing an entire library of books to China.

He also read this information in later books, saying that these books were all hardcover, without duplication, and included European classics and the latest achievements in theology, philosophy, science, literature and art after the Renaissance.

However, due to changes in the current situation, only a small part of these books were translated by Li Zhizao and others, and most of them were covered in dust and were not discovered until the [-]th century.

Although Zhu Youxiao knew very well that the purpose of these missionaries was impure, such a move to empty out European culture and send it to the Ming Dynasty also made Zhu Youxiao admire this Jinni Pavilion. Thinking that this Jinni Pavilion had arrived in the capital, He must be well rewarded.

So he immediately approved the decision and asked the cabinet to select a site and allocate 10 taels of silver from internal funds to open the museum.Let Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and others take charge of the bureau and compile the calendar together with the people of Qin Tianjian; at the same time, recruit people to learn Western languages ​​and translate Western works with missionaries.

"Is Xu Guangqi arriving soon? I really need to discuss this matter with him."

"Your Majesty, it will be here soon. He Ning has already gone to pick him up."

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(End of this chapter)