Is this actually a wonderful story of a Western boy's wanderings in the Ming Dynasty
Even Zhang Shou, who claimed to be well-informed, could not help but be a little dazed at this moment. You know, in those days, the Ming Dynasty ships had no sea ban, so the maritime trade had developed rapidly since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. But at the same time, the risk of sea ships was greater than that of land ships, so the armed forces on board were particularly important.
Therefore, people are willing to invest a large sum of money in Shunhe Escort Agency's maritime escort business. Cao Wu is also very perceptive. He actually plans to conduct maritime training first, and even plans to train artillery and boarding battles... As for where the artillery came from and who is the coach of boarding battles, that goes without saying.
Therefore, he didn't need to guess at this time to know what the so-called merchant ship Chen Yongshou was talking about was. It was most likely the emperor's ship, right? If he didn't have enough combat power and confidence, how could he be so arrogant on someone else's territory
If not the main battleship, can it be handled by aristocratic private soldiers in any of Europe's port cities? Europe these days is not the continent of posterity, not even the age of great navigation. And he knows that the multinational coalition he organized decades ago was beaten to death by a rising empire and is still licking its wounds.
Of course, when he was in the Arms Bureau, he also heard from Zhang Kang that some intelligence agencies were active in the west. It is said that many of them were foreigners recruited during the reign of Emperor Taizu. Although it is unknown whether they are loyal now, they have thrived in the past hundred years. It is said that although there is no founding emperor, there are powerful ministers in a certain country...
If the rumors in Europe during the Age of Exploration were only about the richness and gold of the East, then the rumors now also say about the power of the East. As for the news... Of course, it was all spread by those foreigners at the time. After so many years, rumors have spread and it is no longer in good shape!
As to whether it was because of the butterfly effect of these people's activities that a certain great empire that historically stretched across the West Asian continent was now unable to control sea routes and dominate trade as it did in history, but was often caught up in internal struggles for the throne, he didn't know.
But Zhang Shou knew very well that even if that great empire rose as in history, with the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery, the rapid development of various science and technologies, and the deepening of colonization and missionary work, those small Western countries that were once despised by the Orientals would soon stage a textbook victory of ants swallowing elephants, and drive the great powers off the stage of history.
If one only thinks that the former strong military foundation can continue to dominate the world, then the great empires with vast territories will have to taste the bitter fruit. Being big is not an advantage, nor is having a large population. Once the concept and civilization lag behind, it is possible to fall from hunter to fat sheep.
From the west to the east, no great empire was spared, and only one empire truly rose from the ashes after the catastrophe.
Of course, it was a bit early to say this now, so Zhang Shou just sighed in his mind, and then he couldn't help but be curious about the foreign boy mentioned by Chen Yongshou. However, when Chen Yongshou mentioned that people knew how to read, he didn't think much of it.