Fan Zhi opened the carved wooden window of the study in the government hall. The wind grew louder, snowflakes fluttered outside the piles of documents, and a plum blossom was about to bloom in the snow. A clerk was busy putting out his things in the back, and several officials stood behind him.
He turned around and sighed: I was humiliated by the eunuch named Cao.
The officials said: He is just a eunuch. How can he have the mind of a gentleman? Mr. Fan does not need to be treated with the same standards as him.
Fan Zhi said dejectedly: I owe my life to the late emperor.
Several people were silent. When Guo Shao proclaimed himself emperor, he had already seized the throne. They did not die for the late emperor, but lived in disgrace. Now they were very reluctant to talk about the past.
After hearing this, Fan Zhi said: "The present emperor has made great contributions to the world, and the general trend cannot be violated. The former emperor, Taizu Guo Wei, has been kind to me. As a minister living in the temple, I only hope that the present emperor can treat his predecessors well."
The official next to him said: There are many people in the court who have received the grace of the first emperor. You all have this intention.
The emperor's tolerance encouraged Li Xin and gave him hope. He was not dead for being the first to write a letter, and his name must have been remembered by the emperor, and his career prospects would not stop there.
At the end of the third year of Xuanren, Li Xin rushed back to Tokyo from Jiangning Prefecture on horseback to present a map.
Guo Shao personally summoned Li Xin to the Yangde Hall.
Li Xin was taken by the eunuch to the place where Guo Shao rested after work. Seeing that only Guo Shao was there, he knew that this was a private summons, and he was extremely excited.
Guo Shao did nothing. There was only a chessboard and chess pieces on the table in front of him, and he did not bring any memorials in. He asked Li Xin to bring the map. Li Xin hurriedly took out a large stack of files from the cloth bag he brought in.
Sit down, sit for a while. Guo Shao pointed to the soft couch opposite and said casually.
Guo Shao flipped through the things on the paper with pictures and texts, which had a lot of content.
After a long while, Li Xin said: Jiangning Shipyard has been trying to build this kind of sea ship. The structure of the ship of the Tang Dynasty is completely different from that of the Central Plains. Its shape is different from that of our dynasty's ships, which are wide and flat. The ship is narrow and long with a pointed bottom. The mast and sail are also very different. The sail of the Tang Dynasty ship is a longitudinal sail, and the full sail is like a triangle, like a bird's wing.
According to officials at the Jiangning Shipyard, this type of ship is more suitable for sea sailing and its emphasis is on the sails.
Guo Shao took a general look and casually expressed his temporary feelings and some opinions. There are many rivers in our country, and ships are often used in inland rivers, so flat bottoms are not easy to run aground, and wide bodies reduce draft depth. In addition, inland rivers vary in width and wind direction, so ships cannot flexibly use wind power, so they mainly use horizontal sails, supplemented by oars, water wheels and boat trackers.
Li Xin said: Your Majesty has a wide range of interests. The officials of the shipyard agree with your Majesty. The Arab ships are not good for rivers, but good for the sea. Their sails are flexible and adaptable to all wind directions. It is said that they can sail very fast in a zigzag against the wind.
The Zhou army's navy could also move in a zigzag pattern against the wind, but it was indeed a bit cumbersome and was only useful in wide water areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
While reading the files, Guo Shao was thinking about something that he had realized: whether something is advanced or not depends on whether it is in line with the situation of the times. Being too far ahead of the times will be disadvantageous.
For example, the power of the boat. There is a kind of wheeled boat in the Central Plains, which is driven by water wheels. The development direction seems to be very advanced, because Guo Shao knew that there would be ships in the future, but they were mainly powered by human power and natural wind. The development direction of ships seemed to be biased; the direction of the Arab ships that focused on the development of sails might be the right direction.
Li Xindao said: The ships in Jiangning Port have some changes in the structure of the Tang Dynasty ships. We used our shipbuilding technology to change the structure of the Tang Dynasty ships. Our ships can raise and lower the sails without sailors climbing up the mast. This structure is fast and convenient, so we still use the mast and sail structure of our ships, just changing the shape.
There is also a cabin structure, the front and back of the Arab ship are connected, but there is no benefit. Once the hull is damaged and water enters, it is very easy to sink.
However, according to our dynasty's construction method of dividing the ship into front and rear cabins, if there is a leak, the cabin can be sealed in time and the ship will not sink easily, making it easy to repair.
Guo Shao patted the file and said: I will read it for a while, then send it to Han Tong and let him take a look.
Guo Shao was born a military man, so he would first think of how to use any technology in military affairs. As soon as he got the ship, he thought of equipping the navy without exception.
At this time, he could not help but take another look at Li Xin's bulging bag. Because Li Xin came to see the emperor, it was impossible for him to bring in some irrelevant things. He asked again: What else is in your bag
Li Xin hurriedly took out another stack of papers and said: "I seized the Arabs' ships and found two books while collecting things. At first I thought they were records of the Arabs' voyages, so I asked Lu Yongzhen to translate some of them, but I found out that they were classics written by the Arabs and I don't know if they are useful."
Guo Shao flipped through it and saw that the author was Aristotle. He was stunned for a moment and thought: Aristotle
He read another chapter carefully and found that it was some of the earliest philosophical expositions of Greece, but he was confused when reading it. The sentence expressions were very strange. It must be a problem of translation into Chinese. Then Lu Yongzhen might not be very familiar with the Arab language.
This is not a book written by the Arabs, Guo Shao concluded.
The Arabs and Greece are tens of thousands of miles apart and are not on the same continent.
Li Xin bowed and said: I am stupid and I found something on the ship of the Arabs that was written in Arab language, so I thought it was a book from the Arab country.
It might be a translated book, Guo Shao guessed.
The Arabs of this era were really open-minded and learned Greek things. In Guo Shao's impression, the four great inventions of China seemed to have been learned by them. Then the Arabs who spread not only learned Western philosophy, but also Eastern rules and regulations. It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, they sent people to Chang'an to learn the system of Chinese emperors governing the country.
Guo Shao pondered for a moment and said casually: China has been the leader since ancient times. But each ethnic group has its strengths and weaknesses. We don't need to belittle ourselves, nor do we need to be complacent and arrogant. If there are strengths elsewhere, we can learn from them. Learning from their strengths and guarding against their weaknesses is also good for the country.
Li Xin listened carefully, because it was the emperor who said this, so he had to take it seriously regardless of whether it made sense or not, and said: Your Majesty is wise.
Guo Shao glanced at him and said: These books may be written by countries further west. The Arab country is located between the Far West and the East, and the places of communication are very far. We should keep in touch with them, which will bring more benefits than disadvantages. As a guest envoy, Li Shijun must keep the Arabs and not drive them away.
Li Xin hurriedly said: "I will obey your majesty's order." However, I went to the Southern Han Kingdom and captured their people and seized their ships. The Arabs seemed very angry.
Guo Shao said: Release them, give them some benefits, and exempt them from all commercial taxes for three years to appease them. It is profitable, and the Arabs should focus on profits. He slapped the translation in his hand. This thing is useless. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recruited some Southern Han scholars who had exchanges with the Arabs to learn the Arab language and re-translate the manuscript. If the court can get officials who are proficient in the Arab language and writing, it will be convenient for exchanges in the future.
Guo Shao was not quite sure what was happening in the Arab world at the moment, but he always felt that the Arabs might have something interesting.