Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 795: God's Pit
What a mess!
At this moment, not only did the students fall into the triple cycle of self-questioning: who am I, where am I, and what am I doing? Even Zhang Shou himself began to doubt his life. How could he have come into contact with a foreign language after traveling through time? And the most annoying thing was that this was not even the English he was familiar with!
Yes, it is still a long way to go for English to become the most commonly used language in the world. After all, the British are already in the second generation of the British Empire. He still remembers that the first generation of the British Empire was the sixteenth century Spain, which used various marriages to add a long string of country names before the title of king. In between the two generations of the British Empire, France also once made French the mainstream language in Europe.
However, if we talk about the most mainstream language in Europe for printing books in this era, it is probably Latin, which is called a dead language... This is simply a pitfall. Let alone him, even those language geniuses who are proficient in multiple languages in the future will not know Latin! Especially now that this is the East, who knows Latin is a ghost!
Zhang Shou tried his best to maintain his calm image in front of his students, but in his heart he couldn't help but curse the emperor for doing something strange. However, he still calmly flipped through the "mathematical classics" that were full of scribblings and he didn't recognize any of them, and finally looked up at the person who personally delivered these books.
"Eunuch Chen, these books are..."
Seeing Zhang Shou's calm expression, Chen Yongshou thought that he was indeed the genius that the mathematics master Ge Yong valued the most. He was indeed a man of real talent and could understand such a foreign book that was like a heavenly book. You know, he had just flipped through it before, but now his head was dizzy. It was the same with these students. They were almost scared silly by these books.
So he bowed with a smile on his face, and then explained very respectfully: "Master Zhang, the emperor gave some books to Master Ge before. This is another part, which was brought back by a fleet from overseas."
Of course, he would not specify which fleet brought it back from overseas - after all, he was not sure whether Zhang Shou knew the inside story of the royal family's huge wealth - so after saying this vaguely, he explained it very clearly afterwards.
"But these books are in foreign languages. Even when the old Grand Tutor Ge was given the books as they were before, he complained that he couldn't read them. So the emperor agreed to the old Grand Tutor and asked several interpreters to translate these languages. However, these mathematical classics are different from other things, and those interpreters may not translate them well, so it depends on you, Master Zhang, and the students."
Hearing Chen Yongshou's words, Ji Jiu was immediately shocked. Translate these weird words? Them? He had only known square Chinese characters since he was a child, how could he know these weird things! He couldn't learn this, or he would definitely die!
Zhang Shou, the big guy who had originally wanted to take the entrance exam for Jiuzhang Hall, couldn't help but feel lucky that he hadn't passed yet. If he had to learn foreign languages in Jiuzhang Hall in the future, he would have no choice but to miss out on a teacher like Zhang Shou... God knows when he saw him for the first time, he felt as if he was cursed and his head was frozen!
At this moment, Zhang Shou also felt that the emperor was the most treacherous, and could only get worse. However, he could say curses in his heart, to Ah Liu, and even to Zhu Ying, but he absolutely could not say them in front of Chen Yongshou at this time.
So, he frowned slightly, and then said in a very solemn tone: "Although I have made some progress in studying the arithmetic, I am really powerless when it comes to these foreign languages. As for the translators, let alone how many foreign languages they have mastered, their arithmetic skills are also extremely weak. Even if they help each other, it will be difficult to complete this task."
Seeing that Chen Yongshou seemed to be considering how to report to the emperor, he then threw out the most important reason: "Moreover, these foreign languages are purely translated by interpreters. Even if I bring students to assist, it is easy to make mistakes because we don't understand the foreign languages. The best way is to find a few foreign people who are familiar with these languages to assist."
As for the so-called interpreters nowadays, they can probably master the languages of the small countries in Southeast Asia, but how much can they understand French, Spanish, Italian, etc.? Even if they can understand these, can they understand Latin? Nowadays, those who are proficient in Latin are either charlatans or nobles. Small nobles don't have the financial resources, and even if they learn it, they will mostly stumble.
Ji Jiu, whose face was almost pale with fear just now, finally came to life. After all, Lu Sanlang and Qi Liang were not there, and he was still a leader after all. Thinking that if he did not persuade him, Lu Sanlang would definitely blame him when he knew that he had taken such a hot potato-like job, he quickly coughed and said, "Teacher is right, we must have some foreign people who are proficient in languages to help."
Chen Yongshou certainly knew that such a request was reasonable, but he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I know what Master Zhang said is reasonable, but I have to say that those foreign countries are completely different from our dynasty."
The fact that Chen Yongshou was able to become the manager of the Qianqing Palace was definitely not because he was honest and hardworking - in fact, he used to be one of the managers in Guangzhou who worked for the royal family - or more precisely, he was in charge of the emperor's fleet affairs. It was actually a bit of a mismatch in his professional qualifications for him to be the manager of the Qianqing Palace.
However, Chu Kuan once proposed to the emperor that all those who worked hard for the emperor in remote areas and inevitably came into contact with large amounts of silver and money must be rotated frequently, and must be rotated under the emperor's nose so that the emperor would have the opportunity to get close to people and deepen his understanding of them. As a result, Chen Yongshou had the opportunity to rise to the top overnight.
So, when he explained to Zhang Shou and the obviously confused students, it naturally appeared very professional.
"In our Ming Dynasty, civil officials are appointed through the imperial examination. Although there are favors, recommendations, and special appointments like you, Mr. Zhang, they are rare. Generally speaking, to become an official, you have to take the imperial examinations, and pass the examinations one by one. As for the nobles, they can only be inherited if they have military merits, and if they do not have great merits, they will be demoted."
"If the title is not downgraded, it will often be written in the imperial decree that it will be downgraded after three generations."
Seeing everyone nodding, Chen Yongshou sighed and said, "However, let's not talk about those small countries in the south. The system of those messy foreign countries in the west is not like this. Their kings will enfeoff a lot of nobles for military merits, and they are also dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons, which are similar to us. But this is to grant fiefdoms with real power. In the final analysis, it is similar to the system of the Zhou Dynasty..."
When Zhang Shou heard Chen Yongshou carefully explaining the various systems in Western Europe at that time, he was suddenly at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Of course, he knew a little about the feudal lord system in Europe. Although he was not as gifted as Emperor Taizu, who could draw maps so realistically, he still had some understanding of this era. For example, if you calculate the time, now is the year when the European Middle Ages have completely passed, and the curtain of the Renaissance is being fully opened, and great people are jumping out one after another...
Chen Yongshou introduced the system, then changed the topic and said helplessly: "So, unlike our dynasty where scholars are spread all over the world, with the number of students alone numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the population of those foreign countries is only a tiny bit, and there are checkpoints between the territories, and the tax rates are also different. The so-called kings often issue orders without leaving the capital, but the most important thing is..."
"Except for the so-called nobles, there are very few people who can read and write there. It's pitiful!"
Seeing that the students around him were all listening to him attentively, Chen Yongshou coughed and said, "This is true. For example, among the dozens of people on a ship, only three or four can write. They can only record some basic things and calculate some accounts, that's all. Even so, it is already a great progress. You know, just one or two hundred years ago..."
"These foreign countries don't even know how to make paper. They only use sheepskin to tan paper and then copy words on it. Because sheepskin is expensive, a thin collection of poems may be worth a house, and a scripture of their religion may even be worth a manor. Even the small nobles in the hereditary territory may not know many words or have read many books, let alone ordinary people?"
"So in these small foreign countries, the sons of farmers will always be farmers, the sons of shoemakers will always be shoemakers, and the sons of blacksmiths will always be blacksmiths. They will never be able to rise to prominence. And when a city selects officials, it only looks at their family background. What's the point of having a collection of books or knowing how to read?"
At this moment, Ji Jiu couldn't help but ask, "But if these books are so precious, wouldn't it be very expensive to transport them all the way back? And if the guy selling the books is fooling people, and these books are not Western arithmetic, but some messed up poems, then wouldn't it be a waste of money?"
Zhang Shou also remembered that although the price of books in Europe these days was slightly cheaper than in the previous parchment era, it was still very limited - after all, even the price of books in the Ming Dynasty was actually very high these days, so how much did the fleet that transported these books back spend on buying books?
"It didn't cost too much." Chen Yongshou laughed and said nonchalantly, "These books are said to be treasures collected by a rich man, but one of his relatives was ruthless and colluded with the servants of his family to steal the books. The captain didn't know this, and since the other party said he wanted to attend the dance and exchange the books for silk at a low price, he used three pieces of brocade to exchange the books back."
Hearing this, a lot of people were stunned. Although Yunjin is also very expensive, this is not an exchange... this is a robbery! However, some people exchanged glances, such as Zhang Dakuai and Ji Jiu. As ancestors of plunder, they are naturally interested in this kind of thing. Although they have been educated by Zhang Shou to be more honest, they also know that wealthy businessmen in the private sector cannot be targeted...
But what about those small countries overseas that refuse to submit to the king? Will they be able to grab a share of the vote in the future? Judging from the tone of this eunuch Chen, it seems that they are a group of scattered sands.
By the way, I remember Zhang Shou once told them about the history of Yuan Dynasty. It seemed that when Batu's eldest son went west to conquer the country, he almost conquered the small country. If Mongke had not died under Diaoyucheng, maybe the Mongols would not only have a large territory in the north, but also in the west!
Chen Yongshou had no idea that what he said had aroused certain thoughts, nor did he know that a group of noble children who were rebellious by nature, when they learned about the existence of some small countries on the other side of the sea, they were planning to go there to make a fortune in the future.
But no matter what, telling stories can arouse everyone's interest, and Eunuch Chen is of course happy to continue.
"The city where the merchant ship arrived was full of high-interest loan sharks. The guy who stole the books to sell to us borrowed money from a rich relative and couldn't pay back the money, so he became so bold. However, the truth could not be hidden, and the rich man found out. But he not only wanted his books back, but also wanted more, so he bribed a noble's private soldiers."
"He rushed to the port with these people and accused our merchant ship of being a pirate ship. You know, in the vicinity of that city, the word pirate is a very serious accusation. If you catch a pirate, you can take all the pirate's property."
"As a result..." Chen Yongshou dragged out the words, but laughed, "Of course they were beaten to a pulp by the merchant ship's escort team. These guys don't have eyes. That's not an ordinary merchant ship with inadequate weapons . That's... a merchant ship owned by a big shot in the capital. It's well-armed and well-trained. It's impossible for them to be defeated by a bunch of rabble!"
Fortunately, he changed his words quickly and did not say that it was the emperor's ship. There were many cannons on it, and its offensiveness and flexibility were extremely outstanding... The most important thing is that it was an entire fleet that docked at the port this time, not just one ship!
Even though Chen Yongshou omitted the most important part, a large group of people were still excited and proud. There was no other way. In the current Ming Dynasty, land battles might still be seen, but ship battles... no one had ever seen one, and many people here had never even seen a real sea ship! Even if Chen Yongshou didn't necessarily fire a cannon, they were still very excited to hear it.
"The captain was in command. The escort team not only beat them to a pulp, but also captured a dozen of the mob. Afterwards, they even hung up the Ming dragon flag, made their identities clear, and asked the other party to pay a ransom according to the rules. The whole city knew about this. But the most interesting thing is that the rich man's illegitimate son came first and was willing to use himself to exchange for the nobles' private soldiers!"
The students of Jiuzhang Hall were fine with this kind of family feud, but the students of Banshan Hall listened with great interest, and some even laughed. At this time, Zhang Shou also explained with interest: "The illegitimate children in the West are different from those in our dynasty. The kings or nobles there cannot have three wives and four concubines. They can only have one wife, but they can have many mistresses."
"And the illegitimate children born to these mistresses have no inheritance rights, but the king can confer titles on them, and the great nobles can place their illegitimate children in lucrative positions. Although the lesser nobles have no other options, they can still raise their illegitimate children at home..."
Zhang Shou casually explained a few words, and everyone was amazed. Chen Yongshou smiled and said, "That's right. It is said that the illegitimate child was born to the rich man and a peasant woman. He was raised at home since he was a child. He was very loved and had some talents. The captain saw that he was very calm and didn't want the matter to get out of hand, so he agreed to his request and let the private soldiers go and let his father redeem the child."
"But this guy pushed his luck further. He had no intention of being a prisoner and even asked to tour the ship. The captain thought he was interesting and didn't tie him up. Instead, he let him wander around the ship. He only designated the artillery arsenal and other places as restricted areas and didn't allow him to go there. Who would have thought that after he was redeemed, he actually got on board in a cargo box and was almost thrown overboard by the sailors halfway..."
At this point, Chen Yongshou suddenly had an idea: "Speaking of this, this kid is very smart. During his journey across the ocean, he actually learned to speak our language. Although he still speaks very stiffly, there is no big problem in daily communication. He seems to know how to read."
