Chapter 282 Daqi Prepares to Go to Sea
Not only the Queen Mother, but many concubines in the harem also donated money.
Whether it was out of a genuine desire to do good, or to gain the attention of the emperor and empress dowager, or for one's own reputation, in short, it was a real effort.
Therefore, knowing that the Queen Mother had left the palace, they also wanted to visit the girls' school.
Nowadays, the concubines in Emperor Jingxuan's harem are no longer fighting overtly or covertly for her favor, but are using all means to fight for the chance to follow the empress dowager out of the palace.
What's even more outrageous is that one of the concubines who was the first to draw lots and follow the empress dowager out of the palace actually wanted to stay in the girls' school to teach and learn mathematics at the same time.
When Emperor Jingxuan heard this, he felt helpless for a moment.
This development direction was beyond his expectations. Why did everyone suddenly become so studious?
Fortunately, the overall direction is good.
After Emperor Jingxuan took a tour, he finally returned to the palace feeling satisfied.
Unexpectedly, just after sitting down to drink a cup of tea, someone came to report, "Your Majesty, there is good news from Fujian. The seagoing ships have all been built and have been put to sea for trial. They are ready to go out to sea at any time to search for high-yield grain."
Emperor Jingxuan stood up suddenly, his face full of joy, "It's already built? All of it?"
"Yes, sire."
Emperor Jingxuan laughed loudly, "Okay, okay, tomorrow morning I'll ask the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to choose a good day and be ready to go to sea at any time."
The candidates for going to sea were prepared early in the morning and went to Fujian early. They have been training for the past few months to adapt to life and combat at sea.
Some time ago, he received a memorial from officials in Fujian saying that the physical fitness of these crew members was very good. Except for a small number of people who were really not suitable for going to sea, the others were ready to go.
Emperor Jingxuan became more and more confident in the development of Daqi.
The next day, when all officials came to court, the first thing Emperor Jingxuan said was the issue of going out to sea.
Everyone expressed their opinions, and when the discussion seemed to be almost over, an official in the corner suddenly muttered something.
No one else could hear clearly, but an official who was at odds with him deliberately raised his voice and asked, "What, Lord Chu, do you have something to report?"
The official surnamed Chu suddenly raised his head and glared at the other party with wide eyes.
However, Emperor Jingxuan had already heard it, "Mr. Chu, do you have any doubts?"
Lord Chu could only bite the bullet and come out, saying uncertainly, "Your Majesty, I am wondering if the ships going out to sea can still see the sky curtain after leaving the range of Daqi?"
Emperor Jingxuan was stunned, and the hall suddenly fell silent.
Oh no, why didn’t they think of this problem? Does this sky cover overseas?
Emperor Jingxuan immediately looked solemn. He had thought that with the sky curtain, he could communicate through it if there were any problems. But now...
He called the system immediately. Ashan was accompanying Chaochao in class and was a little confused when he heard his question.
After a long time, until Chaochao's class was over, Emperor Jingxuan finally got Ah Shan's answer.
"Ashan said that the Sky Curtain is only found in Daqi."
Emperor Jingxuan held his forehead with his hand. It was actually true.
The officials urgently discussed, "Your Majesty, future generations must have a lot of experience in sailing at sea. Why not ask Miss Jian if she can find some relevant records and pass on her experience?"
Emperor Jingxuan thought so too, so after Chao Chao got out of school, Jian Yunsang, who was originally going to block the sky curtain, was stopped by this problem.
Going to sea?
Jian Yunsang thought about it. As far as she knew, the Ming Dynasty’s navigation technology was actually quite good.
Zheng He's voyages to the West are very famous, and the fleet he led also had outstanding military achievements.
However, Daqi may not have Zheng He. What will happen after going to sea depends on the ability of the leader.
"The main problem with going out to sea is the natural environment. It is very dangerous to encounter typhoons and huge waves at sea, so the most important thing is that the boat must be sturdy, the boatmen who repair it must check it frequently, and the helmsman must have superb skills."
Jian Yunsang found relevant books and made a brief summary after reading them.
"There is also disease. Crew members are very likely to contract scurvy when sailing at sea, which is due to the lack of fresh vegetables. When Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty sailed to the West, he would carry a large amount of soybeans and mung beans. Legumes have a fast growth cycle and can be easily made into fresh vegetables. Soybeans and mung beans are easy to preserve if they are not exposed to water, and can also be made into tofu. In addition, they would have special ships to raise chickens, ducks, pigs, and cattle, so the crew would occasionally eat fresh vegetables and meat to prevent scurvy."
"Third, there are pirates on the sea, so a strong army is also needed."
"Also, diplomacy with other countries."
Diplomacy, yes, diplomacy.
They were going to other countries to look for high-yield crops, so they had to communicate with the locals, but foreign languages...
Emperor Jingxuan, "Could you please teach us some basic foreign languages?"
Jian Yunsang had not studied languages of other countries, so besides Chinese, he only knew English. He Nanzhou, on the other hand, knew several languages, and when he occasionally spoke, Jian Yunsang would learn a sentence or two if he was interested, but they definitely could not communicate.
So he pulled He Nanzhou over, and after the latter understood the whole story, he was a little amused.
It’s just that Daqi’s fleet was mainly looking for high-yield crops. If it was sweet potatoes, they should have gone to the Philippines and other places. At that time in the Philippines, people probably didn’t speak English.
He doesn't speak Filipino!
If he was looking for potatoes, he would probably go to the Netherlands or Indonesia, two countries whose languages he had learned a few greetings from.
As for corn, it might go to somewhere like Portugal.
He can speak Portuguese.
So He Nanzhou first taught the Daqi people to speak Portuguese.
If possible, he would also teach common daily expressions in English, French and German twice.
As for the other languages, he will find two professionals later.
So from that day on, everyone in Daqi started learning foreign languages, and they were so dizzy from studying.
"This is too difficult. It's like listening to a foreign language."
"My mouth is cramping up and I've been drooling more than usual these past two days."
"I'd better not learn it. I won't go out to sea anyway."
However, ordinary people can choose not to learn, but the officials of the Ministry of Rites cannot. They now try their best to memorize various foreign sentences.
As for the crew members going out to sea, the leading captain has selected hundreds of crew members with a little talent. Regardless of the others, they must learn these languages hardly.
Others should also not slack off and learn as much as possible.
Emperor Jingxuan thought that after this, if foreigners came to Daqi, the people of Daqi might be able to chat with them.
No one knew that the person who learned the fastest here was Chao Chao.
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