Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 205 A new era
It has been a month since Zhang Juzheng returned home.

Over the past month, officials throughout Beijing had been in a state of tension and unrest. Now that Zhang Juzheng was gone, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

If one observes carefully, one can see that these officials have the word "happy" written all over their bodies.

Those who visit relatives and friends, those who exchange gifts, and those who seek official positions.
Everything becomes lively.

Zhang Yunxiu, one of the victims, had been idle at home. He ignored all this dirty work and waited quietly for the two men to arrive.

Finally, just after the end of the noon hour that day, he came to the study and sat down.

Zhang Fu then walked in, followed by two people.

The one walking in front was Xu Guangqi, and the man behind him was about forty years old, tall, with blond hair, blue eyes, a high nose, deep pupils, and an exotic face.

It was the missionary Matteo Ricci.

Seeing the two, Zhang Yunxiu stood up with a smile, first smiled at Xu Guangqi, then cast his eyes on Matteo Ricci behind him, and said with a smile: "I heard that you set out from Portugal, braved the difficulties, crossed mountains and seas to come to our Ming Dynasty to preach. Today I invited you here to discuss the matter of preaching with you."

At this time, the Ming Dynasty did not know how big the world was.

Whether it is Spain, Portugal, or Italy, they all call it Falangji.

Matteo Ricci was Italian.

He was used to the name "Falangji" and did not refute it. He just smiled and replied in fluent Chinese: "That's really great. If you are willing to let me preach, God will definitely protect you."

After saying this, he was afraid that Zhang Yunxiu might not understand, so he changed the wording: "Our 'God' is the same as the 'Heaven' and 'God' you call it."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded and thought: This guy is quite tactful and knows a lot about China.

Xu Guangqi, who had been silent, suddenly interrupted and said, "Zhang Sicheng, I came here on the same road as Mr. Matteo Ricci. I learned a lot from talking with him and gained a lot of knowledge."

"Of course I know this gentleman's knowledge, otherwise I wouldn't have sent someone to recruit him."

Seeing that he was about to give a long speech, Zhang Yunxiu immediately waved his hand to interrupt him, and then led the two of them straight to West City.

Zhang Yunxiu was the first to get out of the sedan chair in front of a grand academy, and Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci followed closely behind him.

The three of them looked forward.

I saw that the academy covered an area of ​​hundreds of acres. A statue three meters high stood in the middle of the academy, and there were several servants cleaning dirt under the statue.

Behind it, there are rows of houses, surrounding the statue in the center like stars surrounding the moon.

Along the perimeter of the house, there were green forests surrounding it and fragrant flowers and plants. Because it was morning, the fog had not yet completely dissipated.

The entire academy is half hidden in the clouds and mist, like a fairyland.

Zhang Yunxiu was in a good mood and pulled the two of them inside.

The refreshing spring breeze, carrying the gurgling water, made a pleasant sound. As it passed over the statues in the square, the servants who were wiping them stopped what they were doing and stood by.

Zhang Yun ignored the repair and took Matteo Ricci to the first small house on the left.

On the stand inside, there is a round globe.

While Matteo Ricci was looking at it, Xu Guangqi frowned and looked at Zhang Yunxiu and asked, "What is this? It looks like a celestial sphere, but it doesn't look like one. It looks more like a wooden ball."

"This thing is called a globe." Matteo Ricci understood it and explained with a smile. This thing is not uncommon in their place.

However, for the Ming Dynasty, which still adhered to the principle of a round earth and a square sky, the appearance of this thing was somewhat "inappropriate".

"Globe?" Xu Guangqi was stunned and looked at Zhang Yunxiu with a pleading look.

Seeing his dazed look, Zhang Yunxiu grinned and explained to him: "We live on a ball. This ball is very big. In addition to our Ming Dynasty, there are not only Portugal, but also many, many countries."

As he spoke, he walked forward, turned the globe to the east, pointed to a corner at the top and said: "This is our Ming Dynasty. To the northwest of Ming Dynasty is what we call 'Falangji'."

Xu Guangqi came forward, looked at the map, and fell into deep thought.

Zhang Yunxiu added: "This room will be used to teach 'geography' in the future. Not only will we learn about the mountains, rivers and regions of our Ming Dynasty, but we will also learn about the customs and local characteristics of the land around the world."

After that, he walked out of the hut and pointed to the houses on the right, introducing them one by one: "The second one is mainly used to teach agronomy, to teach these students how to grow high-yield crops, protect against pests, and how to cultivate crops according to local conditions."

“The third one is chemistry, which mainly teaches how to make gunpowder.”

“The Fourth Medicine”

There are eight houses in total, most of which are natural science subjects.

Matteo Ricci was amazed when he heard this and thought to himself: I didn't expect this nobleman from the Ming Dynasty to know so many things. Could it be that someone has come here to preach before me?

"Mr. Li, I plan to hire you and Mr. Xu as the first two professors of this academy." Seeing the surprise in his eyes, Zhang Yunxiu looked proud and chuckled, "Don't worry, I will never stop you from preaching."

"Thank you, sir." Matteo Ricci was naturally happy about this, so he quickly responded respectfully.

After walking around for a while, it was already noon without realizing it.

Zhang Yunxiu and Matteo Ricci both showed signs of fatigue, but Xu Guangqi was the only one who was like a curious baby, looking here and there.

From time to time, he would slap his head and make sounds as if he had suddenly realized something.

For Zhang Yunxiu and Matteo Ricci, this was a common thing, but for Xu Guangqi, it was a new door, a treasure house filled with knowledge.

"Brother Xu, why don't we go eat first?" Zhang Yunxiu called softly as he looked at Xu Guangqi, who was squatting in front of a skeleton and talking to himself.

Xu Guangqi seemed not to hear and was still concentrating on thinking about his own problems. Zhang Yunxiu saw this, smiled and shook his head, and did not disturb him, pulling Matteo Ricci out of the academy.

This academy has another special feature: its walls are extremely low.

It was only about 1.6 meters high, and anyone could climb over it by just putting something under it. Zhang Yunxiu did this on purpose, as the wall was not meant to protect people, but animals.

The two men walked out of the academy. Zhang Fu was leaning against the doorpost, with several guards beside him chatting with him.

As soon as he saw Zhang Yunxiu coming out, he immediately stopped talking, ran to his host, and kowtowed, "Sir, the food is ready. Do you want to go over and eat, or should I send someone to bring it over?"

"Send it over."

"Okay, then please go to He Zheng's academy across the street to take a rest first. I'll send someone to get it." Zhang Fu said, turned around, walked up to a guard and gave him a few instructions. The guard led the way and left, running forward as if on wheels.

Zhang Yunxiu glanced around and made sure that there were no carriages on the long street before he walked across the long street and arrived in front of Hezheng Academy.

Before entering, I heard a commotion coming from inside.

(End of this chapter)