Because of the ice basin for cooling, the temperature in the study is 7 or 8 degrees lower than outside. It is a very comfortable temperature, not much worse than today's air-conditioned rooms.
The naughty kid and the little loli in the study were sitting on chairs, swinging their short legs, holding a bowl of milk, fruit and ice cream in one hand and a small spoon in the other, eating happily.
The naughty kid's mouth is full of milk, and the outer corners of his mouth are also covered with milk. He looks like he has a circle of white beard. He is also a foodie, but the little loli Niuniu is fair and clean.
"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, tell us another story." The naughty child shouted at the top of his voice while eating.
The little girl also looked at Zhu Pingan expectantly.
Zhu Ping'an had just finished telling them a story. In addition, he had been working overtime day and night in Wuyi Palace for the past few days and was a little tired. After telling a story, Zhu Ping'an could not help but take a nap and was awakened by the naughty child's shouting.
Looking at the little girl's expectant eyes, Zhu Pingan perked up, nodded and agreed: "Okay, then I'll tell you another story. Well, what story should I tell..."
Zhu Pingan paused, thought for a moment and said, "Well, let me tell you a story about the pirates of Malacca."
The Malacca Pirates mentioned by Zhu Pingan are actually the adapted Caribbean Pirates, but they were re-dressed and moved to Malacca in the South China Sea of the Ming Dynasty. Yes, that's right, there was no South China Sea dispute at that time, and the small countries in Southeast Asia still paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. If it were more than a hundred years ago when Zheng He sailed to the West, not to mention the South China Sea, even the sea power of the Indian Ocean was in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
"Brother-in-law, what is a pirate?" Little Loli Niuniu raised her chubby little hands and asked in confusion, blinking her big eyes.
"Pirates are robbers on the sea who specialize in robbing merchant ships and other ships on the sea," Zhu Ping'an explained.
"Then they are bad guys." Little Loli Niuniu nodded.
"Then I will catch pirates in the future and confiscate the silver they robbed." The naughty boy Rui Ge'er had bright eyes and waved his fat paws, making a grabbing gesture.
Zhu Pingan couldn't help but smile, patted the little girl and the naughty child's head, and began to talk about the Malacca Pirates:
"In this world, besides our Ming Dynasty, there are many other countries, some with tens of millions of people and some with tens of thousands. Some countries are rich in ivory, some have mountains of gold and silver, some are full of gems and spices, and some are so poor that only the population is left. Go west along the Silk Road for a few years and you will find a group of Western countries near the sea. These countries have relatively developed navigation."
"Is it as developed as us?" asked the naughty kid.
"They were not as developed as us in the past. The giant warships that Zheng He used to sail to the West were much more advanced than those in the West. But since the Ming Dynasty’s maritime ban, we no longer have giant warships and no longer develop new ships. Now Western navigation is more developed than ours, and the cannons and muskets on their ships are better than ours." Zhu Ping'an touched the kid's head and explained slowly, and by the way, he popularized some knowledge about the West and sea power to them from an early age, nurturing the budding desire in them to open their eyes and see the world.
The Ming Dynasty needed to open its eyes and see the world. While the Ming Dynasty had sunk huge warships and burned nautical charts, the West was setting sail, discovering and opening up new routes, and catching up with and surpassing the Ming Dynasty to achieve overtaking on the curve.
The Ming Dynasty continued to decline in history, and it was even more closed to the outside world during the Qing Dynasty. Finally, it was reduced to a state where any Western country could pose for it in a fancy way. It was even extorted for 230 million taels of silver by its vassal state in the East, today's Japanese pirate country. What is the concept of 230 million taels of silver? It is the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty for 50 years. It was with this 230 million taels of silver that the Japanese pirate country quickly realized the modernization of the country and entered the ranks of developed countries in one fell swoop. Moreover, it continued to invade our country with the intention of swallowing it up.
Zhu Ping'an doesn't want history to repeat itself. If the Ming Dynasty changes from now on, it is not too late and there is still a lot to be done. The Ming Dynasty can participate in the magnificent Age of Navigation and get a piece of the pie. No, the Ming Dynasty can get a big piece of the pie.
"Western countries were well-versed in navigation. They relied on their powerful ships and cannons to conquer small countries that were rich in gold, silver, and spices, and transported them back to the West. Countries that did not have special products such as gold, silver, and spices were captured by Western countries as slaves... ... And the Malacca I just mentioned was a necessary place for Western countries to transport gold, silver, and spices back to the West."
"Because there were so many gold, silver, spices and slaves, the Malacca pirates appeared. They robbed Western gold ships and made a fortune... The most famous pirate among them was the young Captain Jack, who owned the Black Pearl, which made Western countries tremble with fear..."
... ...
Zhu Ping'an preached slowly, and the famous modern Pirates of the Caribbean were born from Zhu Ping'an's mouth.
The naughty kid listened very seriously, more seriously than ever before, and was very excited. When he heard something interesting, he would get so excited that he would wave his arms and legs.
But little Loli Niuniu didn't seem to be very interested. She fell asleep while listening, and her little head nodded.
Seeing this, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile. He picked up the little girl with both hands and carried her to the soft couch in the study.
"Brother-in-law, I'm not sleepy. I want to listen more." Little Loli Niuniu grabbed Zhu Ping'an's sleeve and blinked her big watery eyes pitifully.
"Okay, then I'll talk here." Zhu Ping'an smiled, took off his shoes and sat on the bed.
Seeing this, the naughty kid came running over with his short legs, holding two bowls of milk, fruits and ice cream for him and the little girl, and wanted to get on the bed too.
However, when the naughty child ran to the bed, he didn't hold the two ice bowls properly and they fell on his chest.
They had been eating these two ice bowls for quite some time, and more than half of them had melted.
Now, with a tap, the milk, melons and fruits in the two ice bowls poured all over his clothes, soaking him from head to toe, making him sticky.
Even so, the naughty kid was still trying to climb onto the couch. Zhu Ping'an stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "You can't."
Seeing the naughty child all sticky and dirty, and Zhu Ping'an didn't have any change of clothes, he thought that the naughty child was brought by the second young lady, and she should have a change of clothes, so he said to the naughty child, "Go find your second sister and ask her to take off her clothes before coming to bed."
The bear kid was stunned for a moment...
"Go quickly." Zhu Ping'an waved his hand.
"Oh." The naughty kid turned around and ran out.
In the living room, Li Shu was talking about jewelry with the second young lady of the Marquis's Mansion. The second young lady praised Li Shu's Dongzhu earrings highly, saying that she had never seen such round Dongzhu earrings.
At this time, the naughty kid came running over, came to the second young lady, and said loudly: "Second sister, my brother-in-law asked you to take off your clothes and go to bed with him."
(⊙ o ⊙)Ah!
The second young lady, who was holding the Dongzhu earrings, took two steps back in fright when she heard the words. She opened her mouth wide and turned to the naughty child with a dull look, as if she was stupid. Her face turned pale for a moment, and then turned extremely red.
Li Shu was also frightened by the naughty kid's shout, and her heart stopped beating for a moment.
The little girls in the living room were all stunned.
The air seemed to be stagnant.
What a bummer.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an in the study almost fell off the bed, and cold sweat broke out on his back out of fear.