These foreigners were considered rare animals at that time, especially in the north, so it was no wonder that Zhang Yuer found them curious.
One of them was a man from Cologne, in the Holy Roman Empire. He was quite famous, having lived through the Ming and Qing dynasties. His Chinese name was Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and he was a Catholic missionary.
Another guy named Jin Ni Ge, although not very famous, is more useful and more legendary in Zhu Youxiao's view.
As the first French Jesuit to come to China, Nicolas Trigault arrived in Macau in the 38th year of the Wanli reign, more than six months after the death of Matteo Ricci, and truly began his missionary career in China.
In the 41st year of the Wanli reign, Ginni Gini returned to Rome to meet with the Pope and request permission from the Holy See to hold Mass, perform other sacraments, and recite the "Hours of the Hours" in Chinese.
At the same time, Ginni had two tasks: one was to request the Jesuit Headquarters to send additional staff, and the other was to purchase books and equipment to establish a library in Beijing.
At that time, Pope Paul V donated more than 500 books to the Jesuits in China.
The rest were carefully selected by Ginni Ge and his companion Deng Yuhan and collected from Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and other countries.
Moreover, Ginni received a papal bull allowing Chinese priests to hold religious ceremonies in their native language, allowing local people to serve as clergy, and allowing the Bible to be translated into Chinese.
During his time in Europe, Ginniguel made two major promotional tours around Europe. He often appeared in public wearing Confucian clothing to introduce Chinese culture to Westerners.
In the 46th year of the Wanli reign, Nicolas Ginnig led more than 20 newly recruited missionaries on a ship from Lisbon, embarking on another journey to China. They arrived in Macau in July of the following year.
During the arduous journey, seven missionaries contracted illness and died, including Ginnigo's younger brother. Deng Yuhan, Luo Yagu, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, Fu Fanji and others who came to China on the same ship also had profound academic attainments.
When Nicolas Trigault came to China for the second time, he brought a large number of foreign books, not only because of his personal love, but also because he followed the academic missionary path pioneered by Matteo Ricci.
Also, before returning to Western Europe, Ginnigu accepted the task from the China Mission to collect books widely in Europe and establish church libraries in Beijing and other places.
When Zhu Youxiao heard Ginnigo say that he had traveled to Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and other countries and collected more than 7,000 books, all of which were hardcover and without any duplication, his eyes lit up.
"These books are worth ten thousand gold coins," Xu Guangqi added.
"Ginnige also has a massive translation project called 'Seven Thousand Western Books'. He has already contacted Ai Rulie, Yang Tingyun, Li Zhizao, Wang Zheng, Li Tianjing and others to jointly translate and publish it."
"Good, very good!" The young emperor's sudden foreign language startled everyone. Zhu Youxiao had already excitedly stood up from the imperial chair and paced back and forth on the steps. "We are too short of manpower. We need to recruit more and translate as quickly as possible. I will provide all the necessary funds."
Ginni was quite surprised, but also very pleased. He said in disbelief, "Your Majesty, you speak with a very pure London accent."
By the fifteenth century, due to major changes in vowels, English had further evolved into what is known as Modern English.
Before that, at the end of the 14th century, Chaucer completed "The Canterbury Tales", and English, represented by the London dialect, finally began to appear.
During this period, English gradually developed to a higher level, and Henry IV, who inherited the throne in 1399, was the first British king whose mother tongue was English.
Oh, my English was not learned in vain, it turns out to be so pure, better than most British people, and as good as the dialect of that small place in London!
Zhu Youxiao was pleased with himself. He waved his hand and said, "Mr. Jin, you are too kind. Let's talk about the translation project of '7,000 Western books'! There is a catalog. I think we can pick some important books first."
Ginnigu hurriedly pulled out a booklet and said, "The catalog is incomplete. Deng Yuhan and I translated and compiled it together while we were sailing at sea."
Zhu Youxiao took the catalogue handed over by the palace servant and read it at a glance. Even if it was not complete, there were nearly two thousand books.
Suppressing the ecstasy in his heart, Zhu Youxiao said as he read, "Liu Ruoyu recorded it."
By the time Liu Ruoyu responded and prepared his pen and paper, Zhu Youxiao's voice rang out in the hall, "On Far Viewing," "Illustrated Explanation of Strange Instruments," "Complete Book of Mining and Metallurgy," "On the Movement of Celestial Bodies," "The Structure of the Human Body..."
Historically, with the death of Ginni Göttingen in the first year of Chongzhen, the plan to introduce "7,000 Western books" to the Chinese intellectual community was aborted.
Except for some sporadic translations of some works by Li Zhizao, Wang Zheng and others, most of the books were covered by the dust of time and lost silently.
In 1938, when the Peking Catholic Church was sorting out its library, it discovered hundreds of the remaining "seven thousand volumes", including important scientific classics such as Copernicus's "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" and Kepler's "Synopsis of Copernican Astronomy".
Knowing the importance of scientific and technological development and the necessity of opening his eyes to the world, Zhu Youxiao naturally would not let this grand plan fail.
No matter how much money it costs, we must make this great thing happen that will benefit the present and future generations.
And Ginigo's move was described in history books as "not much inferior to Xuanzang's journey to India to seek Buddhist scriptures."
Zhu Youxiao even believed that this was a hundred times more important and a thousand times more useful than the Amitabha Sutras brought back by Tang Monk.
There is nothing shameful in learning and drawing lessons from others. The reputation of the Celestial Empire is far less important than becoming stronger.
Well, let’s not say discouraging words like the Ming Dynasty has fallen behind, or we’ll be accused of “worshiping foreigners and fawning on foreign countries”; let’s say that the Ming Empire should continue to maintain its international lead. Doesn’t that sound much more comfortable?
In fact, if Zhu Youxiao had read the description of the principle of gunpowder explosion in "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature", he would not only be stunned and praise the ancient wisdom of his ancestors, but would also be more eager to translate Western books.
"...Salt is of the most yin nature, sulfur of the most yang. These two divine objects of yin and yang meet in a place where there is no room for them to be contained. When they emerge, people and things encounter them, their souls scattered with shock and their spirits shattered into dust. Sulfur is pure yang, saltpeter is pure yin. The two emotions are forced to combine, creating sound and transformation. This is a divine object conjured up by the universe."
Holy crap! Isn't it just the expansion and explosion of combustion gases in a confined space? How did our ancestors make it so profound and mysterious?
The two are forced into a relationship, and the yin and yang transform into each other. This is like saltpeter and sulfur messing around to make a baby! The imagination is too big, and it’s a bit spicy, it’s indescribable.
In scientific theory, at least in the popularization of natural common sense and scientific and technological knowledge, the Ming Dynasty had really fallen far behind.
There is no need to hide the fact that the Age of Exploration had already begun, and the Ming Dynasty had to catch up and take the lead again.
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