Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 159 Return to the Royal Academy
"Zhang Zhan, you are a fourth-grade civil servant in the imperial court. Nowadays, the civil servants are noble and the military is humble. I can't afford to hire a staff like you. But I will consider your opinion carefully." Li Rusong said.

"Zhang may have been a little blunt in what he said just now, and I hope General Li will forgive me," Zhang Xiao said.

"It doesn't matter. I'll treat you to a drink some other time, Mr. Zhang. I'm still busy with some trivial matters right now, so I won't be able to stay for long."

"General Li, I have something to tell you privately. In fact, my proposal to set up a Tongwen Museum also has the purpose of helping to build a new army."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

"Actually, I have always had an idea, but I have never said it or written it out publicly. When training the new army, we can actually hire a group of foreign instructors. But the matter is big, so when we set up the Tongwen Museum, we can With the convenience of foreign teachers, let’s see if we can recruit some officers and craftsmen from the West. But now I’m just thinking about it.”

"Oh? Mr. Zhang, which country's officers or craftsmen do you want to hire?"

"For craftsmen, it can come from any country, as long as they have skills. For officers, it's probably countries like France, the Ottomans, the United Kingdom, and France. But it's hard to say what will happen next. After all, these countries have conflicts with each other, and it's difficult to recruit officers. I'm afraid there will be a fight if we recruit them together. The most convenient thing for now is to go to Macau to hire craftsmen and officers from the Franco Kingdom. The Franco Kingdom is now eager to expand trade in the Ming Dynasty. They should agree to these requests. Just For example, the fire guns of the Japanese country were actually learned from the Folangji people, and the Folang machine guns of our army were also imported from the Folangji people. Since we have already introduced them, we might as well introduce more."

"Speaking of artillery, when I was in North Korea, I was wondering if I could introduce the Urban cannon from the Ottoman Empire to directly destroy the copycat fortresses built by the Japanese."

"The Urban cannon is too bulky, and the craftsman who cast it, Urban himself, was killed due to the explosion of the barrel. Therefore, the technology of casting the cannon, especially the technology of casting the barrel, is not suitable until there is no major progress. If you cast a heavy cannon that is too big, it will be impossible to pull it, especially in the field, but if you cast a fortress cannon, it will be acceptable to make it larger."

"National calamity produces heroes. Joan of Arc's ability to step forward at that time really inspired France's fighting spirit. It was not long after France experienced the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Agincourt, and the important town of Orleans was heavily surrounded. If Joan of Arc hadn't stepped forward, France would have been defeated. France is really about to be completely annexed by Britain. This class is over. Do your two highnesses have anything else to ask?" Zhang Xiao looked at the chiming clock hanging in the school and confirmed the time.

"Okay then, I just need to listen carefully to whatever Master is saying." The third prince also realized that he had said something wrong and quickly made up for it.

"Such a heroine is just a peasant woman? It's unbelievable." The eldest son of the emperor said with emotion.

"Mr. Zhang came back from North Korea. Why don't we talk about the war in North Korea in this class? What about the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France?" asked the third prince.

The two chatted in a simple and in-depth manner for a long time before Li Rusong said goodbye and left.

"Your Highness, it stands to reason that the Korean War should also be discussed. However, the war against the Japanese has just passed, and many things have not yet been finalized. It involves major military and political affairs of the imperial court, and I am personally involved in them. It is not appropriate for me to talk about it." Zhang Xiao explained.

"As long as the court can induce huge profits, it can always recruit talents. After all, Urban was also a foreigner at that time, and he was still attracted by the Ottoman state and used by the Ottoman Sultan."

"I don't know if I can recruit craftsmen who can make good cannons. This time I conquered the Japanese and found that the cannons were still too few and insufficient. Fortunately, the Japanese had fewer cannons and were harder to use. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to defeat them. It’s hard to say.”

"Third brother, how can you be so rude to the teacher? What the teacher wants to say has been carefully selected and considered by the teacher, and approved by the father. We just listen carefully. Why are you giving orders to the teacher? "The eldest son of the emperor couldn't help but remind him.

"This lesson mainly talks about the story of Joan of Arc in France. The appearance of Joan of Arc caused a big reversal in the situation of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France. Speaking of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, we need to briefly talk about the relationship between Britain and France. Historical grudges.”

After a while, the two princes also arrived. The eldest son of the emperor already looks like a little adult, and the third son of the emperor has also grown taller and stronger.

Zhang Xiao alone posted a partial map of Europe, which mainly included the territories of Britain and France. Zhang Xiao still had some impressions of the general shapes of Britain and France, and Zhang Xiao also consulted with Matteo Ricci specifically to get the main information The place names of mountains, rivers, and important cities are clearly marked.

"His Royal Highness, the eldest son of the Emperor, and the Third Highness, I am Zhan Shi, the Young Master of Zhan Shi Mansion, the Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and the Young Minister of Honglu Temple, Zhang Xiao. Today, I have been instructed by the Emperor to give lessons to the two Highnesses. I have also taught lessons to the two Highnesses before. However, because I was busy with other matters, I was unable to teach the two His Highnesses for a long time. I also ask His Royal Highnesses, the eldest son of the Emperor, and His Highness the Third Highness to forgive me."

After several days of this, it was finally time to teach the prince.

"If General Li is willing to take charge of the new army, with His Majesty's will, Zhang will fully cooperate with the preparations. In fact, training the new army is more important than training the new navy. It's just that the new navy costs more. Now it depends on whether it can be done Look for opportunities to purchase a few warships from Xiyi and take your time by learning from each other's strong points. But as I said before, the main firearms of the navy in the future will be the cannons on the ships. As long as the cannons can fire far enough, accurately and with enough power, It doesn’t matter if the ship is a little smaller, smaller will make it faster and easier to maneuver.”

"That's good. If Mr. Zhang is willing to participate in organizing the new army, Li, the commander-in-chief of the new army, can't pick him up."

"Roughly speaking, the King of England was once the Duke of Normandy in France. After William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England across the sea, he became his own country. However, the King of England still occupies the territory of Normandy and actively participates in France's internal affairs. This caused great dissatisfaction with the King of France. There were wars between the two countries from time to time, and the largest one was the Hundred Years War." Zhang Xiao briefly explained the historical background, then introduced several famous battles of the Hundred Years War, and then introduced the story of Zhen Zhen. The story of Joan of Arc continues until Joan of Arc was captured and burned to death.

Zhang Xiao walked into the school again. He hadn't been here for a long time, and he felt a little strange looking at the school.

"Mr. Zhang is busy with important affairs of the court. He helped plan the war against the Japanese and personally went to Korea as an envoy. He has made great contributions through his hard work. How can I dare to blame the teacher?" said the eldest son of the emperor.

"Mr. Zhang, I have a question. As you said before, the king of Burgundy is a relative of the French royal family. In this case, Burgundy should be a vassal of France, or at least a vassal state. Why? Forget about not helping France, they also helped the British invade their home country, and handed Joan over to the British after attacking Joan of Arc. Why did the Burgundians do this?" asked the eldest son of the emperor.

"How should I put it? This country of Burgundy is equivalent to Wu...the lawless and rebellious ministers. For example, I don't know if your eldest son, Your Highness, has read "Historical Records" or "Warring States Policy". Mengchang Juntian among the Four Gentlemen of the Warring States Period. , was also a clan member of Qi. After offending the king of Qi, he encouraged the five countries to conquer Qi. The king of Burgundy also wanted to intervene in French politics before, but after the intervention failed, it also aroused the disgust of the French king, so Burgundy The king of Gendy simply defected to the British."

"What the monarch of Burgundy did was really disastrous to the country and the people. Sir, after Joan of Arc was captured and killed, Britain did not stop the French counterattack, right?" "Yes. In the end, Britain even lost Normandy, the place where its ancestors started. After all, only one stronghold, Calais, was left, which was not defended in the end. Because there was no way to compete for land rights, Britain changed its national policy and focused on developing its navy, with the ambition to seize the maritime hegemony of Franji."

"Then what happened to Burgundy in the end?" the eldest son of the emperor then asked.

"I can't finish this in a while. Don't your two highnesses have anything else to be busy with? I'm afraid that I will delay your two highnesses."

"There's nothing else to do. I just want to waste the teacher's time and tell you this paragraph." said the eldest son of the emperor.

"Okay, I'll continue." Having said this, Zhang Xiao had no choice but to introduce the ins and outs of Burgundy again, especially focusing on the last king of Burgundy, Charles the Bold. story, especially the battle of Nancy, the last battle of his life.

"At that time, King Charles the Bold of Burgundy was anxious to retake the city of Nancy, so he hurriedly sent out troops in the winter. As a result, he was intercepted by the allied forces of the Principality of Lorraine and Switzerland. Although the artillery of Burgundy was elite, , but the weather was bad and the terrain was not good at the time. The artillery did not stop the charge of the Swiss infantry. The Burgundian army collapsed completely. Charles the Bold was pierced in the head by a Swiss halberdier with a halberd in the chaos. , died in the rebellion, and the Burgundian army was completely annihilated. The King of Burgundy did not have a son when he died, so after his death in battle, the Burgundian country was quickly divided between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Yes." Zhang Xiao introduced.

"It turns out that this is a story like this. Chang Luo was taught a lesson. The country of Burgundy was originally a French vassal state. It did not function as a barrier. Instead, it harmed the main branch. It is not surprising that the country ended up like this. Mr. Zhang, I remember The Xue State of Lord Mengchang must have been destroyed by Qi State and Wei State in the end." said the eldest son of the emperor.

"The Xue State of Lord Mengchang was indeed destroyed early. Lord Mengchang was shrewd in his life, but he did not consider the future generations. This is not as good as Lord Xinling's pattern. Lord Xinling also offended his prestige, but when the Wei state was in trouble, he still returned When the Wei State helped to resist the Qin army, Mengchang Jun's father Jingguo Jun also heard the metaphor of the big fish in the sea and gave up the plan to build Xuecheng high. Unfortunately, Mengchang Jun was too selfish and became a sinner of Qi State. In fact, it is similar to The story has happened in the past dynasties of China. Yu Xin, who wrote "Ode to the South of the Yangtze River", experienced it twice. The Hou Jing Rebellion was caused by Xiao Zhengde, and the Jiangling Disaster was caused by Xiao Qing, the King of Yueyang. They were all caused by clan disunity. It attracted foreign thieves. However, the eldest son of the emperor, the affairs of the clan are based on the ancestral precepts of Emperor Taizu. Our Ming Dynasty has always been a harmonious clan. These are historical events and stories of foreign barbarians and cannot be justified. "

"The boy was curious for a while and asked more questions. Thank you for your answers. It has delayed your rest."

"It doesn't matter. If you have any questions, let's talk about it in the next class." Zhang Xiao didn't know why, but he always felt like someone was staring at him somewhere, and he felt uncomfortable about being in this school. I can only complain in my heart that the eldest son of the emperor is asking about vassal matters. Can this be discussed openly in class? Not even in private.

Zhang Xiao left the class after class, and the two princes also slipped away. There was a dedicated person behind to clean up the things on the desk.

From the side room of the school, the emperor and queen slowly walked out.

"Did your Majesty also follow Sister Zheng in the auditorium before? Mr. Zhang is indeed knowledgeable. He knows so much about the stories of the Western Barbarians thousands of miles away. No wonder he has no name in the imperial examination. Your Majesty also wants to put him in the Hanlin Academy. Come give a lecture to the prince." The queen said with emotion.

"The class is over, let's go back."

"Your Majesty is so anxious. Why do you feel that Your Majesty's face is not looking good?"

"I'm fine, just sit down for a while and then go back." The emperor said impatiently.

"Sister Zheng is not here today. Does Your Majesty feel upset just looking at my concubine?" The queen felt aggrieved.

"Ms. Zheng's troubles were caused by her own troubles. The Queen Mother asked her to stay in the palace and reflect for a few days. Then she should reflect on it for a few days. I didn't even mention her. Why do you mention her?"

"I have to find a good husband for Xuan Yu. I can't believe what others say. As a mother, I must see it with my own eyes and hear it with my own ears."

"Now that people have seen it with their own eyes and listened to it with their own ears, I feel relieved."

"I have met him and listened to his words, but Zhang Xiao's family background is unknown. He is said to be from Nanyang. I don't know if he ever married a wife and had children in Nanyang?"

"He didn't say it himself. We can't let Jin Yiwei go to Nanyang to investigate. There are all kinds of ships on the Nanyang sea now. In the past few years, the ships of Nanyang sea pirates came to harass Guangdong Province."

"That's not what I mean. I'm not worried that Xuan Yu will be deceived when she gets married. Marriage is a major event in a woman's life, and she can't regret it."

"Okay, okay, I've shown you all the files related to Zhang Xiao. It's already a taboo. If you are still worried, you can only send the factory guards to bring Zhang Xiao in for strict interrogation."

"Isn't this bad? This is not a trial of prisoners."

"Then what else can I do? I can only do this. In fact, according to my wishes, the prince-in-law does not need to have a high family status. His talent and learning are enough. If his official position is not enough, he can be rewarded. As for talent and learning, all dynasties have Throughout the ages, we have not expected the prince-in-law to do much, as long as he has a clean family background and good conduct, it will be a good marriage."

"I only have a daughter like this. I have been in the harem for many years and have not asked for anything more. It is always good to be more cautious when choosing a husband."

"I didn't stop you from choosing carefully, but there are always rules for the court's affairs." The emperor said helplessly.

(End of this chapter)