The Cui family had a chili feast. Li Dongyang and Fei Hong, two guests from the spicy province, were very satisfied with the food. When they returned home, they wrote poems and essays. They praised the peppers as having the same color and fragrance as peanuts. , The best food for rice and wine.
Poems spread all over Beijing overnight, faster than Tang Bohu's essay on Cui Meiren's painting method, and even the palace officials copied Li Dongyang's new poems. Emperor Hongzhi remembered that the Italians had also donated a few pots of peppers, which seemed to be kept in the flower room, so he ordered the servant to go to Cui's house to ask for the recipe, pick some peppers and come back to taste.
September and October is the time when the peppers are full. The few pots of red peppers kept in the palace were treated as potted plants, not like Cui Xie, who was reluctant to eat in order to save the seeds, so he could easily pluck off the sifted peppers. Cui Xie is also not like those officials who value private kitchen dishes. When asked from the palace, he refused to say anything. He happily said the method of using peanut fried and dried chili instead of lime pickled cornel oil. He also told the waiter that such The peppers should be pickled.
He didn't know how to pick it up, but he could boldly say that no other traveler could come out to refute it anyway.
The inner envoy returned to the palace with satisfaction, handed over the secret recipe to the imperial kitchen, told them to fry chili oil, pickle small chili peppers, and said a few good words to Cui Xie before the Holy Spirit.
Tianzi ate some cold dishes with fried peanuts and peppers, and praised with satisfaction: "Yes, it is more appetizing and greasy than the ones seasoned with onion, garlic, and pepper, and eating it can make people feel hot, it is suitable for autumn and winter. Food. You plant more next year, and add more flavor to your cooking in winter."
The prince originally remembered the appearance of the little eunuch whose eyes were hurt by peppers, so he didn't dare to eat it. But his father praised the chili oil so much, it should taste good, he couldn't help but taste it, and his eyes lit up.
It is more delicious than the ones made with green onion, ginger, pepper, or cornel oil.
It seems that they are still not thorough enough. It is impossible to see how it grows with a microscope. They will have to cook it and try it later.
Tianjia is satisfied with the food, and the servants are all happy. The recipe praised by Cui Xue Shijin is a good recipe, and the person is also a good person.
In the previous dynasty, some ministers deliberately embarrassed their internal officials by offering food to the emperor first, and when the emperor was eating well and asked people to ask his family's secret recipe, he refused to say it, and the person who asked the question was beaten. Cui Xie, a person who is so simple in the heart of the emperor, and the leader of the Qingliu Academy of the Hanlin Academy, can be so polite to the inner servants, which is a rare good person in the previous dynasty.
Mrs. Gao listened to the people below talking about this, and shook her head slightly, laughing that these people didn't know anything.
What a recipe is, I don't know how many good things Mr. Cui has brought to the palace over the years. It was the real good thing that made him stand out from the eunuchs in the hall and become the eunuch with a pen.
It's a pity that Cui Xueshi is very low-key and doesn't like to be famous. If the late emperor had been told to know that the two paintings were painted by him, his reputation and status would probably have been improved to a higher level.
He is also a little pity for Cui Xie, and it is a pity to replace the two paintings that have no signature so far. But now few people know that it was he who asked Xie Tongzhi to please the late emperor. When the old people left, it can be said publicly that it was Master Cui's handwriting...
Eunuch Gao carefully planned for Cui Xie, and then went to the flower room to personally instruct the eunuch in charge of the flower room, telling him that he didn’t have to wait for next year to plant the peppers, and used the greenhouse to plant the peppers a few years ago, ready for the emperor to use during the festival.
After all, there are so many places to celebrate this year.
Although several provinces suffered floods and droughts this year, there was no locust plague or riots. The imperial court collected 22 million stones, and the raw silk, cotton, and grass all increased a lot compared to last year. The total number of households under investigation is more than 1.56 million, an increase of nearly 200,000 over last year.
The side walls of the fort built in various places in Jiubian have been extended for several miles, enclosing a large area of pastures and horse farms. Although not many good horses that can be used as stallions have been captured, the border troops have pastures, and the horses, cattle and sheep are all available. The number has also increased a lot.
Every piece is worthy of the inner court to hold a banquet to celebrate, and to give food to the foreign ministers.
During the first month, the imperial envoy, the chief of the military department and the eunuch who were sent to Guangdong to inspect the ships and armaments of Taixi also returned to the capital, and accompanied them with two commercial cannons from the Taixi Sea, as well as matching shells and gunpowder.
The three of them personally test-fired in front of you. When the cannonball was fired, it sounded like a thunderbolt, and the farthest hit was more than a hundred meters away. The target made of several layers of wooden cowhide shattered under the sound of the cannon, and it could be broken into pieces when tested against a masonry wall, which was much stronger than the original guns of the Ming Dynasty.
The emperor was moved by it, and immediately ordered the Ministry of War to imitate it, so that the Shenji battalion would assemble this thing. Those missionaries who were trapped in the congregation hall also had serious uses, and they were all pulled out to match the imitation artillery and ammunition.
Prince Zhu Houzhao also officially appeared on the list, and he must do his best to develop ordnance for the imperial court—
When he was learning riding and archery, he heard from his husband that the arrow would fall down in the middle of shooting, so to shoot somewhere, the tip of the arrow needs to be raised slightly. The shells shot by the artillery are heavier than his arrows, and the process of falling must be faster. I am afraid that the officers of the Shenji Battalion have less training and are not easy to aim.
When Mr. Cui first taught him the principle of lens imaging, the protractor and calculation table he made have not been used since they came out. He has gathered a group of Feng Yu who is good at calculation, and can ask them to follow Fan Seng to calculate the angle at which the muzzle is lifted, so that the shot cannonball can fall where it should fall.
If you can prepare such a data sheet for the sergeant to carry, it will not only save a lot of practice time, but also save gunpowder and shells. Even in future wars, if any artillery on the artillery position is killed, someone else can take over with the data, so as not to miss the artillery shell.
But the military affairs, how can ignorant children talk about it!
Emperor Hongzhi was angry, and threw the prince's remonstrance to the elders of the pavilion and the ministers and ministers to read.
The members read the memorial and looked at each other silently. The emperor's false anger is just to make them praise the prince, what else can they do
Then praise it.
The prince's proposal is also true in the military. The Fran cannon weighs more than 200 pounds and can only be used on a gun carriage. Unlike the crossbow, it relies on the shooter's own hand and eye to practice aiming. If someone can memorize the standard of meeting, it can save a lot of gunpowder, lead, and military expenses.
It seems that it has become a tacit idea for everyone to regroup and attack the Tatar from the north.
The Minister of War Ma Wensheng praised with sincerity and sincerity, and Lu Zhong, the Minister of Household, followed closely. The elders of the pavilions and the court officials showed their talents and praised the crown prince and the emperor from head to toe.
When Emperor Hongzhi heard them compliment his son, he was quite well-received, but it was only when he praised himself that he felt ashamed, and waved his hands to tell them to stop and continue to study the issue of armament.
Now that the Ministry of Household has money and food, Lu Shangshu is refreshed and dares to promise anything. The Ministry of War has made great achievements year after year, and Ma Shangshu is also in high spirits. The Ducha Censor Daishan almost didn't directly say that the Ducha Court is full of talents and can be sent to Jiubian to supervise military affairs.
It's just that the sky is still too cold, and the artillery is not enough to buy or build, so I can only hold my mind and wait.
After Li Ge returned home, he discussed a few words with the students. Cui Xie heard that the imperial court was interested in buying artillery from the Spanish merchants, and asked the teacher, "Why don't you send people with them? Those merchants are just merchants, and the ships carry It must not be the strongest weapon in the country. And the merchants are heavy on profits. They brought this cannon from thousands of miles away. If they let go of their hands, they must add dozens or hundreds of times of profits, and the quality is not comparable to that used by their own people. It is definitely better to go to Europa to see its country and buy its military equipment than to buy the Fran cannon from this maritime merchant."
The Ming Dynasty still had a lot of scientific and cultural exchanges with foreign countries, and it was not like the Qing Dynasty, which insisted on the status of the upper country of the Celestial Dynasty, closed the country, and dismissed foreign things as strange skills and ingenuity. If Confucian scholars can come into contact with foreign cultures and see the current technology and weapons of foreign countries, and if these can be introduced into the Ming Dynasty, China will not be left behind in this era of globalization.
He pursed his lips and said firmly: "The disciple will be writing a book tomorrow, and ask the Holy Master to send someone and these missionaries to go to Europe in person to inspect their weapons and gunpowder."
Li Dongyang frowned and said: "Da Ming has never had any envoys with the Europa countries, and these missionaries are not serious envoys, but we don't want to send envoys rashly..."
"You can send Confucian scholars to study or travel in the past, but you don't have to be serious envoys."
Cui Xie couldn't hold back his expectations. He asked someone for pencils and thick paper, and drew a modern version of the world map on the table. The map, I don’t remember very well, I can only draw it like this.”
He used a pencil along the coastline to draw a route from the Cape of Good Hope to the Indian Ocean, then northward through the Strait of Malacca to Southeast Asia and then to China.
"The fact that the Europa people can go so far by sea to China shows that their ships are better than the Chinese ships, and the artillery they carry is more powerful than the original ones in China. "Introduction to Practical Arithmetic", "Measuring Method" and other books, although there are translators who follow them to study, but it is difficult to understand their algorithm theory, it can be seen that there is also an advanced civilization..."
Li Dongyang smiled and shook his head: "If you say it, it is nothing more than admiring the place and asking the Confucian scholars of the country to learn. But those Italians are only teaching arithmetic, not the right way of science, not because he has a long day. Then they regard the things of other countries as good, and they should learn without arguing about the good and the bad.”
Cui Xie raised his eyes to look at him, took a deep breath, pointed to the route, and said, "Disciple doesn't just say this. Disciple wants to say that, armed with sharp weapons, the will to kill is self-initiated. They have strong ships and cannons. With a detailed map, can Ann be able to roam the four seas and plunder the hearts of nations
"Now this ship to China is a merchant ship. If their armaments are more sophisticated in the future, and our country's armament and equipment are insufficient, I am afraid that this merchant ship will become a military ship at some point in time!"
Li Dongyang was stunned, his face changed slightly, and after a while, he calmed down and sighed: "You know that if this happens, Lu Heng, who brought an Italian to Beijing today, was the one who asked His Majesty to ask for overseas talents. , they all call for impeachment?"
Cui Xie said with a wry smile: "China is so big and rich, whether we attract these missionaries or not, the wolves in Europe have already been eyeing us. They have been in contact with Meng Yuan since the Yuan Dynasty, and many of them were officials under the Yuan Dynasty. , after returning to China to promote China's wealth. It's just that China is strong, they have nowhere to speak, and now they can wear a layer of monks' missionary skin, but now their ships and guns are stronger than China's..."
Li Dongyang looked at him worriedly, and asked after a long time, "Why are you so eager? I, China and the countries of the Western Regions have been in contact with each other thousands of years ago, and they have never attacked each other. Without the calmness of scholars, as if they have come to invade?"
Cui Xie's expression suddenly froze, and he lowered his eyes and replied, "The disciple is indeed impatient. It is true that the kingdom is not in danger of being kidnapped by foreign countries, but the world is so big, and the road to sea has been opened up. After all, it is impossible for Daming to close the country forever. , it's time to see what it's like outside."
However, "It's essential to be defensive. Now that you know their ambitions, how can you pretend not to see them and let the situation worsen?"
Li Dongyang pondered for a long time, and comforted lightly: "You are afraid that you are tired these days, let's not mention this for now. Is your brother still participating in the exam? If you still participate, you can rest for a few days. After the trial, the court will start to move on the side."
No matter what the thoughts of the overseas Thai and Western countries are, the court must first pacify the Tatars before they can let go. However, what his disciple was worried about was not impossible. It would be better to have a reliable person take a look at the situation in the Europa countries.
If you only send a few students out to have a look, it's like the officials and students sent to China by the Ryukyu Kingdom in previous years, or to find a few Chinese maritime merchants who have seen Thailand and Western countries... or Jinyiwei
This thought flashed through Li Dongyang's mind, and those characters who were familiar with it rushed out and circled in front of him.