Gao Qiqian immediately understood what Chongzhen meant.
The emperor wanted to negotiate peace with the rebels.
But he was afraid that the news would affect his reputation as an emperor, so he sent himself, a guilty eunuch, to do it secretly.
Regardless of the outcome, Chongzhen has a way to escape.
Gao Qiqian understood that he was going to take the blame.
But the situation is such that he has to bear the blame if he doesn't want to.
"This slave obeys your order."
His happiness made Chongzhen feel better.
"Do it carefully and don't make any mistakes."
If something goes wrong, I will blame you.
Gao Qiqian resigned, thought for a while, and went to see Wang Chengen.
"My father-in-law, our family is in such a bad situation today because of bad luck. But if things go wrong in Shandong here, I'm afraid that I will end up with both my body and head, and be burdened with eternal infamy. But I don't know what the emperor is thinking?"
If a eunuch cannot figure out his master's thoughts, whatever he does will be wrong.
Gao Qiqian was not afraid of going to Shandong to negotiate peace with the rebels, but he was afraid that if he did not do well, Chongzhen would be dissatisfied, and the government and the public would criticize him, and then he would really be dead.
In the inner court of the Chongzhen Dynasty, because Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun were both kind-hearted people, the competition in the inner court itself was not fierce.
The other big men knew that their status and closeness were not as good as these two, so they gave up on the Superintendent of Ceremonies.
What's more, after Chongzhen began to send eunuchs abroad, everyone had a place to make a fortune. Instead, they had to rely on Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun to mediate in the inner court, so the relationship was quite harmonious.
Wang Chengen showed Gao Qiqian a clear path.
"Whether this trip is successful or not depends entirely on the traitor's intention. If you can persuade Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde to surrender voluntarily, the merits will be immeasurable. Even if it fails, you must stabilize them no matter what and prevent them from getting angry for the time being.
, if you escape, you won’t be afraid of the emperor’s wrath.”
Get up high, dive and stamp your feet.
"Hey, if I'm afraid of betraying my wild ambitions and trying to covet the world, our family... our family can't be the master."
Wang Chengen also hesitated.
He has always been in the inner court and has never gone out. He has no experience at all in the local situation.
After thinking for a while, he said to Gao Qiqian: "The commander of the Jinyi Guards knows Han Chuan. This man is capable and fair in his work. After something happened to you, only he spoke uprightly to get you out of prison. What happened in Shandong, the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty,
No one knows it better than him. Why don't you pay a visit, maybe you can get some help."
Only then did Gao Qiqian realize that he could escape from the catastrophe only because of the help of noble people.
"Oh, thank you so much, father-in-law, otherwise our family would be doing a great sin by missing a benefactor."
………………………………
The new shipyard was arranged by Zuo Mengeng near the estuary on the east side of Jiaozhou Bay.
This is the famous Qingdao Port in later generations.
There is a "factory"-shaped peninsula that goes deep into the sea, which happens to form an excellent harbor. There is no need to worry about being attacked by waves, and the confidentiality and defense are also excellent.
E Honglue, Ami Er, Wu Ruowang and other people who know how to build ships are all here.
When Zuo Mengeng came over, they were accepting craftsmen.
A new group of graduates from Linqing who knew simple physics and buoyancy also came to join them under the leadership of Sun Yuanhua.
"Land guns and naval guns are completely different things, so my uncle needs to take charge of casting naval guns for the future navy."
Zuo Mengeng explained the reason.
Sun Yuanhua was a little puzzled.
"In the past, when we were in Dengzhou, there was nothing wrong with placing artillery on the ship. Why did it need to be redesigned?"
After coming to the New Army, Sun Yuanhua quickly fell in love with it.
Especially now that he didn't have to worry about administrative affairs at all, he only had to concentrate on the research and development and casting of artillery. There was no need for intrigues and he was able to put all his talents to use, which made him suddenly realize that he had really gone astray in the past.
At the same time, I also deeply felt that the Ming Dynasty really had many problems and was a waste of talent.
It is not surprising that the country is in such dire straits.
"Dean Sun, look, this is the blueprint of the battleship we designed. According to the plan, this battleship is divided into two decks: an upper and lower deck, and a total of fifty naval guns equivalent to infantry guns will be deployed."
The speaker's name is Peng Shanguan. He is a graduate of the advanced class of Zuozhuang Academy last year and is very outstanding in the Artillery Research Institute.
Zuo Menggeng decided to establish a navy. Considering that everything here was starting from scratch, he mobilized all the best talents.
After Peng Shanguan came over, he led his team to find ways to improve the Zuoying cannon, hoping to apply it to warships.
However, because there is no actual warship yet, their research progress is slow.
Through the efforts of E Honglue and others, the drawings given by Zuo Menggeng have been improved, from the original first-class battleship drawings to the fourth-class battleship drawings.
Although it has shrunk significantly, it is still a difficult subject for the current new army.
People from the School of Physics are following E Honglue and others to repeatedly demonstrate the construction process. If they want to start construction, they will have to wait until at least next summer.
And such a long time is believed to be enough time for the improvement of naval guns.
Sun Yuanhua was stunned to hear that a ship could actually carry fifty cannons.
He could not imagine at all that with so many artillery pieces on the ship, who would they be used to hit?
"Land has never been the end point of our development. Now that the earth is becoming open, we must also integrate into this era."
Zuo Mengeng said briefly.
Sun Yuanhua was greatly stimulated by his ambition.
The world has not been decided yet, but this young man has already begun to focus on the ocean.
But even if he didn't understand the navy, Sun Yuanhua also understood that once the ship on paper became a reality, at least along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, the navy of the New Army would be invincible.
I don’t know if the southeastern giant Zheng Zhilong is Zuo Menggeng’s opponent?
Sun Yuanhua didn't think too much and happily took over the task of improving naval guns.
With him as an artillery expert, I believe the speed can be much faster.
Zuo Mengeng still has one more thing to implement.
He called E Honglue and other Portuguese people over.
"Gentlemen, are you enjoying your life and work here?"
"Dear General, thank you for your concern. You are definitely the most kind and generous employer in the world. It is really a great honor for us to be able to work for you."
E Honglue expressed his feelings heartily on behalf of everyone.
They really fell in love with it here.
Before in Dengzhou, although they also gained the trust of Sun Yuanhua, their blond appearance and blue eyes still made many Ming people regard them as monsters.
Moreover, in Dengzhou, they only work. On many important matters, it is not their turn to intervene and make decisions.
Even the salary here is much higher than that in Dengzhou.
With generous rewards, some power in their hands, and respect, how could these wandering Portuguese not like it?
Zuo Mengeng looked at them one by one and said truthfully: "You know, many people have told me that I need to be more careful with you. Because you are outsiders, you cannot know too much about the secrets here."
"Oh, God. Dear general, please don't listen to these slanders. We swear that we are the most honest people. I believe that your wise vision has also seen our piety and hard work. No one in this world will agree with you.
You can’t live with the money you spend in vain.”
Ami Er was frightened and hurriedly expressed his loyalty.
Zuo Mengeng looked at them steadily, "But you are Portuguese, not our Ming people, let alone our own people."
E Honglue and others looked at each other, not knowing how to respond to this statement.
Wu Ruowang thought for a while and said painfully: "General, you don't understand us. Although our appearance is completely different from that of Mingren, we have regarded this place as our home. When we were in Portugal, we were all
Penniless paupers. If we were rich, why would we risk our lives to come to Ming Dynasty? We showed our talents here and earned huge wealth. Even if we were to return to Portugal, we would
I don’t want to either.”
Zuo Mengeng did not doubt his words.
Europe was also affected by the Little Ice Age.
With the advent of the Age of Discovery, in addition to avoiding the Ottoman Empire and looking for new trade routes, Europeans who could not survive had no choice but to leave their homes and go out to explore.
It is based on this understanding that Zuo Menggeng can implement his plan.
"So... everyone, if you were given a choice, would you like to continue being Portuguese, or would you rather become one of our own?"
E Honglue and others were shocked.
I never thought that Zuo Mengeng would make such a request.
But I have to say that this request is so exciting.
E Hongqiang suppressed his throbbing and asked hesitantly: "General, we respect you from the bottom of our hearts as if you were with God. However, our appearance determines that it is difficult for us to be accepted by the people here.
"
Only when people are in a foreign country can they feel that sense of alienation and alienation.
So many years later, E Honglue and others have become accustomed to being pointed at by others no matter where they go.
But in Zuo Mengeng's eyes, their worries were not a problem at all.
What happened to them, let alone the current situation, even hundreds of years later when information and culture were extremely developed, foreigners were still novel existences.
But this has not affected people from all over the world in their extensive immigration in pursuit of life and happiness.
"Although all you see are Han people like me, our country is very vast. In addition to Han people, there are many people of different nationalities in our country. There are Mongolians and Jurchens.
, there are Miao people, Tibetans, etc. In fact, in this land, we do not exclude outsiders. What’s more, you are so outstanding and have helped us a lot. I think if you can let go
If you are worried, there will be no difficulty in becoming one of us."
Yes, what Zuo Mengeng wants is to naturalize E Honglue and others.
These people may be penniless in Portugal or Europe. But their shipbuilding and gun-building skills, as well as their experience of traveling around the world, are valuable assets that the Ming Dynasty currently lacks.
Introducing outstanding talents to help oneself make progress is not a difficult choice for Zuo Menggeng.
But his openness made E Honglue and others go crazy.
They were actually accepted by the richest, most powerful and civilized country in the world...