New Shun 1730

The idea is beautiful, but the reality is cruel.

Count Maurepas, as the Minister of the Navy, supports Dupleix's idea.

However, the whole of Europe knows that the current French Navy is an "administrative navy". The proportion of civilian candidates is too high, the power and responsibilities are too great, and the influence of civilian candidates in charge of the army remains high.

In addition, the big financial hole left since the Louis XIV era has not been filled yet. The Mississippi bubble burst and the unreserved monetary policy went bankrupt, causing this "administrative navy" to drop sharply from a total tonnage of 200,000 tons at its peak to 45,000 tons.

Thanks to technological development and centralized civilian management, the French Navy has the strongest warship design technology in Europe at this time. The design of the 74-gun battleship and the 28-gun cruiser are better than that of the British. The nearly 2,000 officers and regular seamen under the naval academy system ensure that the army can be expanded at any time...

However, there is no money.

Moreover, shipbuilding requires a large amount of oak and teak, and France's wood reserves are insufficient.

Everyone knows that gunners need long-term training, and Count Maurepas also hopes to keep the gunners training once a week, but the government does not provide funding; officers steal and sell gunpowder, which makes it difficult to define whether the French navy is strong or not.

Speaking of strong, the navy funding is too small due to the huge army expenditure, corruption and naval administration, which is really embarrassing to call it strong.

Speaking of weak, the ship design that makes the British exclaim, the huge reserve of naval academy officers, the institutionalized sailor service system, the strict centralized civil bureaucratic shipbuilding supervision, and the good mathematical foundation, as long as there is money, a world second navy can be pulled out in a short time.

Since France believes that the root of everything is lack of money, the greatest wish of Count Maurepas in the court during his visit to Dashun this time is to reach many trade agreements.

Dreaming that if Dashun can share silk, porcelain and other technologies, the situation of France's handicraft industry being in a slump caused by the non-Catholics fleeing France after the Fontainebleau Pardon can be alleviated.

A colonial leader like Dupleix, who was on the front line in India, had been to Guangdong, Songjiang, and even endangered the country, of course, knew that Dashun would never allow these technologies to be passed on.

It's a pity that the idiots in the Palace of Versailles seemed to think that this was a diplomatic matter that could be achieved.

Even though he was poured cold water by Dupleix, Count Maurepas decided to give it a try.

In order to appease Dupleix and prevent Dupleix from making any rash advances in India, Count Maurepas carefully explained the problems that France would face.

France is not Britain. France's foreign policy has led to a state of hostility with Austria, Russia, Britain, and the Netherlands.

The navy of Britain and the Netherlands is enough to suppress France; the army of Austria and Russia is enough to balance France.

With the same fiscal revenue, land power and sea power can only be chosen one. And India, without a strong navy, can never belong to France. Moreover, Dupleix's idea is too risky. Even if he can win and defeat Britain in India, as long as the navy is not as good as Britain, it will be lost sooner or later.

Dupleix retorted: If we can reach an alliance with China, divide spheres of influence, and train Indian soldiers, we can fully guarantee our advantage in India.

Count Morpa just smiled and did not answer.

…………

Edo, Japan.

Since the first time they saw fireworks more than a hundred years ago, the Japanese have loved this short-lived and fleeting beauty.

However, the fire that burned for three days eighty years ago and the dense bamboo and wooden houses in Edo City made people extremely wary of such beautiful things.

However, this year the general made an exception and allowed people to set off fireworks.

To commemorate the starvation victims of the famine in the previous few years, to pray for the future, and to praise the long years of disaster that have finally passed.

The large amount of fireworks shipped from Weihai to Nagasaki and then to Edo became the protagonists of Japan's first Sumida River Fireworks Festival.

The gorgeous fireworks rose near the Ryogoku Bridge, illuminating the summer night.

It seems that good days have really arrived.

The popularity of sweet potatoes allowed farmers to grow this kind of crop that was abundant and filling, especially in places outside public fields, where they did not need to pay land taxes.

Anyway, they usually ate grass and brown rice, so eating sweet potatoes, which could fill their stomachs, was better than being hungry.

The cold summer that lasted for several years was over, and the famine that killed millions of people was over. With sweet potatoes, good days were coming.

The shogun naturally took the credit for himself, erasing the traces of Liu Yu's visit to Edo a few years ago.

The new currency reform was also very successful. The coins with too high gold and silver content were withdrawn, and inferior coins were minted, which alleviated the strange prices caused by deflation, and also allowed the shogun to accumulate a large amount of gold and silver by taking advantage of this coin minting opportunity.

The price of rice gradually recovered, the system of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce became more stable, and the samurai who lived on rice salaries straightened their backs again.

In terms of culture, Zhu Yuanzhang's "Six Edicts" and the annotated "Six Edicts" also became folk education textbooks. Liu Yu carefully collected a large number of Neo-Confucian books and sent them over, including books on foot binding appreciation.

However, a large number of geometry and other books were banned and destroyed because Liu Yu added some content about Catholicism or mixed in many names such as Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao.

Pamphlets on colonization by Western countries were also introduced to Edo, and the blackened version was exaggerated.

Liu Yu made up some tragic stories such as "We gained God but lost the land", sending smallpox blankets to the locals, missionary work first and then occupation, Protestant robbery becoming common, the Dutch starving to death on Ambon Island, etc.

Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism was already very prosperous in Japan at this time, and some of the Western translated books that had been banned were banned because the "special edition" sent by Liu Yu contained too much Catholic content. batch.

In addition to these reforms, after the falcon hunting order was reinstated, the samurai hatmotos also conducted a large-scale falcon hunt.

Shi Shiyong came to Japan from Dashun due to "failure to achieve his goals" and taught many techniques of riding and archery. For a time, the bow and arrow skills of the Tang Dynasty became popular among the Edo samurai class.

Shi Shiyong, who taught the Japanese how to ride and shoot, was watching a Joruri play with an indescribably awkward mentality. The name of the play was "The Battle of the National Surname Lord".

On the stage, Zheng Chenggong, whose pseudonym is Watouchi... He, means Japan; Fuji, the same pronunciation for Tang; and Nei, the same pronunciation for "not", who is thought to be neither a Tang native nor a Japanese, Zheng Chenggong, is picking up shells at the beach.

This man and Fujiuchi watched a seaside story about a "snipe and clam fight" and actually felt the true art of war.

"Let two heroes fight and take advantage of the weakness to attack. This is the secret of the art of war. I heard that in the country where my father was born, the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars were fighting. Isn't this a snipe and a clam fighting? Okay! Let's go to China now. Go and use the secrets of war that you have just learned to attack them when they are not prepared. Isn’t it possible to gain the power of the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars at your fingertips?”

On the stage, after a melee, Kazuuchi shouted: "Hey! Even though you are outnumbered, it's nothing special. The country where I was born is Japan."

After a subsequent tiger-fighting scene, the reformed "Guo Surname" touched the tiger's back and said: "You slander Japan as a small country, but look at what the Japanese are capable of! Even tigers are afraid of us, have you seen it?" "?

This scene was an "eye-opener" for Shi Shiyong, and he secretly remembered this scene in his heart. In his heart, it is not too much to say that he is ambitious.

The snipe and the clam fight with each other, and the snipe and the clam fight with each other. I'm afraid you won't be able to be a fisherman.

He spent a lot of money to buy a copy of the script of "The Battle of Guo Xingye" and was waiting to take back some of the books he collected.

He trusted Liu Yu's arrangements and did not collect much military intelligence over the years. He just relied on his reputation as "No. 1 Gyutori" to secretly observe the Edo samurai and made many "friends".

According to the original agreement, it was time to return to his homeland.

Returning to his residence in Edo, Shi Shiyong took out some diarrhea-causing medicine from a well-hidden small box.

In just seven or eight days, he lost his appearance. The originally strong first bow was now so thin that he looked like he was about to die.

I was extremely depressed and my legs were shaking when I stood up.

The shogunate sent people to see the doctor, but nothing could be found. Shi Shiyong took this opportunity to express his wish to return home to the shogunate.

The shogunate was grateful for his achievements in teaching riding and archery, and sent the Confucian official Aoki Kunyang to visit. Naturally, Aoki Kunyang would not know that Liu Yu had stolen his achievements in "Fanshu Kao", let alone the true story of Shi Shiyong. I am very concerned about my identity.

"Heisei-kun, I will stay here for a while. The general has sent people to Nagasaki and hired some Dutch medical officers to come here. You have meritorious service, and didn't you say that you would imitate the story of Chu Cai Jinyong and make meritorious service here? ?”

Shi Shiyong thought that you had the nerve to say something about the talents of Chu and Jin Yong? What kind of Jin are you? Did you still take it seriously when I lied to you?

Shi Shiyong, who was so thin that he was so languid, replied feebly in a tone that seemed to be about to expire: "Hu Ma followed the north wind and crossed the bird's nest to the south branches. When he was young, he hoped to do something big and achieve many achievements. He traveled eastward. By coming here, I have achieved fame.”

"However, although Japanese rice is delicious, it never tastes as good as the rice from the Tang Dynasty. The graves of my ancestors are all in their homeland, and I don't know how long I can survive my illness."

"I have taught you all the skills that I can teach you. Can Sir General's kindness be considered as repayment?"

Aoki Kunyang looked at the thin Shi Shiyong and listened to the sad sentence "Hu Ma follows the north wind and crosses the bird's nest to the south branches." As a Japanese scholar, although he has not experienced it personally, he can sympathize with this homesickness. Feeling.

Upon hearing Shi Shiyong's question as to whether he had repaid his kindness, Aoki Kunyang nodded and expressed his gratitude to Shi Shiyong.

Shi Shiyong did teach some riding and archery skills, and he obviously didn't hide anything. There are many techniques that samurai don't know at all. Many of them are just techniques that can be understood once you learn them, but if you don't learn them thoroughly, it will be difficult to understand them.

Skills such as shooting three shots from a horse and carrying a sword by Su Qin amazed many warriors.

Some smuggled buffalo horns imported in recent years have also allowed Japan to have some horn bows. Samurai with wealth and status also switched to horn bows and learned various riding and archery skills from Shi Shiyong.

Qingmu Kunyang felt a little moved in his heart.

What do you think is a righteous man? This is called a righteous man. At this time, he is still thinking about whether to repay the general's kindness.

Shi Shiyong took a few hard breaths, apologized again, and asked someone to help him go to the toilet several times. After returning tremblingly, he breathed heavily, as if he was about to die.

"I would also like to convey this to you, sir, and ask the General to allow me to return to my ancestral graveyard. Or, if I don't make it to Nagasaki, please allow my wife to go back with my ashes."

"These are some books I want to take back. I would like to ask sir to check if there are any contraband in them."

Qingmu Kunyang checked the books that Shi Shiyong had collected and found nothing contraband. He was just a little curious about the book "The Battle of Koxinga".

This play was already very famous at that time and could be regarded as a classic play, but it was only watched by some country bumpkins and could not be performed on the big stage. Qing Mu Kun Yang had seen it, and thought it was quite good. He praised: "Heisei-kun has also seen this play. Although you are a Tang person, you can still achieve achievements in Japan. Shouldn't you take good care of your health?"

Shi Shiyong smiled bitterly and said: "When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits. I also want to establish a reputation, but where are the snipe and the clam fighting? If I were born a hundred years earlier, with my ability, if I had such an opportunity, I might not be able to accomplish something great. But now, where are the snipe and the clam fighting?"

"I am seriously ill and may not live long. Now I only hope to return to the place where my ancestors are buried. Please convey this to the general on my behalf, and please allow it."

Qing Mu Kun Yang saw that Shi Shiyong was determined to leave, and also saw with his own eyes that Shi Shiyong ran to the toilet several times during the conversation. After comforting him for a while, he said goodbye.

A few days later, Aoki Kunyang sent some silver coins, conveyed the concern of the shogunate, and told Shi Shiyong that he could rest for a few days, and he could go to Nagasaki after he could move around.

In addition to these gold and silver, there was also a regret that was not known whether it was true or false.

It was said that there were many naturalized samurai in Japan a hundred years ago. British and Swedes were all granted samurai titles in Japan. If Shi Shiyong could stay here for a long time, he could also obtain a fiefdom and become a naturalized samurai like Miura Anzhen.

After Shi Shiyong expressed his gratitude, he rested at home for a few days and finally left Edo Castle.

After arriving in Nagasaki, he happened to catch up with the fleet coming here for trade. There were many more merchants in Nagasaki than before.

Fengyueruqingren secretly changed. This time, the captain leading the team was no longer Lin Yunwen when he came. Shi Shiyong did not reveal his identity. The Nagasaki Bugyo also received an order from the shogunate and personally arranged a ship to send Shi Shiyong back to Dashun.

Women were not allowed on the ship, which was unlucky. Especially on the ships sailing far away.

But since the shogunate intervened, it was not good not to take them, but they locked Shi Shiyong in the cabin and did not allow him to walk around, and women were not allowed to go on the deck.

Eating, drinking, defecating and urinating, all had to be done in the cabin.

Shi Shiyong did not say a word, nor did he reveal his identity. When he learned that these ships were not going to Weihai, but directly to Songjiang, Shi Shiyong was still very calm.

Songjiang or Weihai, they were all Dashun. As long as they docked, they could go anywhere.