Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 313
But trouble came again. As enemies who had fought against Daming, if they were released by Zhu Cihong, they would definitely attract criticism from the government and the public.

So Zhu Cihong could only give them a chance to make meritorious deeds.

Coincidentally, Tang Ruowang, a Western missionary who had been staying in the capital at this time, witnessed the capital changing hands several times, and personally experienced the once-in-a-century war in China, came to the Forbidden City and asked to meet Zhu Cihong.

Although Tang Ruowang shined in the Shunzhi and Kangxi years and entered the annals of Chinese history, but before that, he came to China as early as the Wanli period, and he did not do nothing.

In these years, he assisted Xu Guangqi to complete a masterpiece "Chongzhen Almanac", and built a Catholic church in the capital. He had a large number of believers, helped the court forge artillery, and entered the Qintian Prison as an official. He was already very influential during the Chongzhen period.

So Tang Ruowang met the current emperor Zhu Cihong very smoothly, and because of his outstanding knowledge and over fifty years of age, he was even given a seat by Zhu Cihong.

"Your Majesty, I heard that in the far south, there is a place called Annan, or Jiaozhi. People there were captured because they resisted the Ming Dynasty's soldiers, and were sent to Liaodong and the Western Regions to immigrate."

"And hundreds of them are Westerners, Catholics, and my Catholic friends. Therefore, I hope that your Majesty will not send them to distant frontiers. Their hometowns are all by the sea. If they live in the frontiers of China, I think they will die somewhere sooner or later.”

Although he had lived in China for many years, Tang Ruowang still hadn't learned the ability of scholar-officials to beat around the bush and talk nonsense, so he made demands on Zhu Cihong as soon as he came up.

To be honest, he was disrespectful to Zhu Cihong when he said that. After all, he was the emperor of hundreds of millions of people in the Celestial Dynasty, not the king of a small Western country, whose power was restricted by nobles, churches, and merchants.

"Tang Ruowang, it seems you don't know much about this matter."

"The Westerners captured by the Ming army in Jiaozhi this time include not only Spaniards, but also Dutchmen. They may not be members of your same clan." Zhu Cihong smiled maliciously.

The Netherlands is the Netherlands. To be precise, the Netherlands is a province under the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a country with highly developed commerce. It was known as the Sea Coachman in the West at that time. In this era, it is much stronger than the British Kingdom that later dominated the world.

Coincidentally, this country is somewhat similar to England across the Channel, and there are also many Protestant people.

Perhaps this is also the reason why this country attaches great importance to commerce and despises agriculture.

Hearing Zhu Cihong's words, Tang Ruowang couldn't help being shocked. He had never seen a monarch who knew so much about the West.

One reason is that the former emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not care about the situation of the Westerners, and the information obtained from various sources indicated that the Westerners did not seem to have a vast land and a small population, and they had split into many countries.

It's just that they are better than Daming in terms of military technology, such as artillery.

This is not a lie. At that time, the West had just begun to colonize the world. In Latin America, the Spanish and Portuguese had to go through hundreds of years of war with the indigenous people before they could completely occupy the entire Latin America.

Moreover, the colonization of Western countries did not end until the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century.

During World War II, Italy launched a war of aggression against Ethiopia. In fact, it was a colonial war that Mussolini and others wanted to gain colonies. It was similar to the British Boer War and the Afghan War.

"Yes, Your Majesty broadcasts his knowledge, and I am far inferior to your Majesty." Tang Ruowang said very humbly.

"But they are God's people after all. As a missionary, I have an obligation to help them." Tang Ruowang insisted.

Although Catholicism and Protestantism are not the same sect, they are ultimately under the banner of Jesus Christ. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are a family. Of course, this is when facing outsiders.

If we talk behind closed doors, and the Pope regains power, there is no doubt that these Western countries will beat their brains out.

But before Zhang Peilun could say that they were guilty and could not escape punishment, at most they would be given a chance to make meritorious deeds, Tang Ruowang suggested to Zhu Cihong like a roundworm in Zhu Cihong's stomach.

"Your Majesty, I can lead them to be craftsmen, build Western weapons for my dynasty, and have workshops, so that they can atone for their sins. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Redemption is a common behavior in both the East and the West. Tang Ruowang is naturally familiar with it, so he first thought of using this method to save his fellow believers.

"What can you do?" Zhu Cihong did not answer Tang Ruowang in a hurry.

Zhu Cihong was naturally happy to see Tang Ruowang and the gang of prisoners build Western weapons for him. Besides, he also wanted to know how far Western military technology had developed after decades.

Tang Ruowang came to Daming about [-] years ago during the Wanli period, and he hasn’t been back since then. Although he is very knowledgeable and can be called a western practical scholar, after all, he hasn’t returned to the West for many years. The current situation in the West is unknown.

"Flange cannons, red cannons, Galen sailboats, and plate armor, we can all build for His Majesty." Tang Ruowang told Zhu Cihong the weapons he would build like a treasure.

"The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty already knew how to build the Flang machine and the red-clothed cannon, and the Ming army had already used this kind of artillery in large quantities, so you don't need to build it."

"The galleon, I know it is a kind of ship in the west that is good at ocean sailing, but it is too small, and Daming can build bigger ships. If you want to build an ocean-going ship similar to the galleon, you just need to tell the Ministry of Industry to improve it as soon as possible. Just do it."

"As for the plate armor, it's flashy and expensive, and its defense is not much stronger than the cloth face armor, so it's useless."

Zhu Cihong dismissed what Tang Ruowang said as worthless. Of course he had the confidence.

After Western technology was introduced to Ming Dynasty, the Ming court imitated it very quickly.

As for things like Galen sailboats and plate armor, they are really tasteless to the Ming army.

The Ming Dynasty is a continental country, and most of its territory is not near the sea, so it doesn't pay much attention to the navy. Even if Tang Ruowang conjures up a hundred galleons now, the Ming army will not use them.

As for plate armor, this kind of thing is a proper luxury in the West. Generally, only elite soldiers or nobles can wear full plate armor. As for most soldiers, they can only wear half plate armor.This kind of armor is really good in defense against swords, guns, bows and crossbows. It can be called invulnerable, but now is an era where hot and cold weapons coexist. Firecrackers can easily knock open this kind of tin cans. If this is the case, why did the Ming army do it? What about this armor?
(End of this chapter)