It wouldn’t be too surprising if Shang Yi could speak Spanish, Portuguese, or even Dutch. After all, there are still Chinese people who can speak these three languages. But don’t say Chinese people who can speak French.
It was these three foreigners. Even Lin Zhiyang found it incredible. Although he could not speak Spanish or Portuguese, he could still understand a little bit and knew that Shang Yi did not speak these two languages.
Zhou Shaohuan, Tong Dayong, and Cheng Jin were so shocked that their jaws almost dropped. Although they knew that Shang Yi knew many strange things, they didn't expect that he could even speak foreign languages.
It turns out that the yellow-haired man is Larry Scola and the red-haired man is Benique Alonso. They are both Portuguese businessmen. They are now doing business in Macau and have deep business dealings with the Lin family. They came here with Lin Zhiyang.
The foreign monk came to Yanzhou to discuss business. The foreign monk was named Wanger Arconia. He was from the Netherlands (i.e. Belgium) and was indeed a missionary. This time, he was sent by the Catholic Church to work in China and was going to Beijing.
We reported to the famous foreign monk Tang Ruowang, the helmsman of the Chinese sub-rudder, so we went with them.
The three foreigners were also very happy to have a common language. Although Shang Yi's French was not as fluent as English, he was at least much better than the red-haired Alonso's Chinese level. So several people immediately talked about this.
Shi Shangyi also had to tell the lie he had made up, and at the same time added that he learned French from a missionary, etc.
In fact, there are still many flaws in Shang Yi's words, but it is a fact that he can speak French, and he speaks it quite fluently. Without three to five years of practice, he would not be able to reach this level. Alonso studied Chinese for three years
, I can write and read without being forced to deal with it, but the Chinese I speak is still incomprehensible to foreigners and Chinese. Therefore, several people did not delve into the story compiled by Shang Yi.
Although Lin Zhiyang was a little surprised that Shang Yi seemed to be very interested in foreigners and could chat with them immediately, he did not spare them. After dealing with them for a few words, he went to supervise the loading of the truck. He only left
Next, the four of them talk,
When Aconia heard that Shang Yi learned French from another Catholic missionary, and just saw Shang Yi making the sign of the cross, his eyes immediately shone, and he immediately asked Shang Yi if the non-existent foreign monk did not teach him anything.
Apart from words, what else did he say to Shang Yi? Did he tell Shang Yi the gospel or anything like that? It was obvious that he regarded Shang Yi as someone who could develop. Although Shang Yi told him frankly, even though he listened to that person
The priest had preached the gospel of the Lord, but made it clear that he was an atheist. Although Akonia showed a hint of disappointment, he obviously had no intention of giving up. The persistence and pursuit of faith of foreign monks can indeed be learned from
.
Seeing the foreign monk, Shang Yi was still unwilling to give up. He quickly changed the subject and asked Scola and Alonso what kind of business they were doing. The answer they got was the same as Lin Zhiyang, they do a little bit of everything. Shang Yi not only smiled bitterly.
After a while, in fact, Chinese and foreign maritime merchants in this era were all the same. To put it bluntly, they were international pirates, moving things back and forth from Europe to Asia. Of course, European maritime merchants usually also worked part-time as pirates.
Scola and Alonso were worthy of being businessmen. When they heard Shang Yi's question, they immediately followed Shang Yi and asked Shang Yi: "Mr. Qian, is there anything you can do for us to help you?"
?”
Shang Yi nodded and said: "I need muskets, a lot of muskets. Can you get them?"
The two foreigners looked at each other, and Scola immediately said: "Do you need a matchlock gun?"
Shang Yi shook his head and said: "No, what I need is a flintlock gun. But it is not an old-fashioned tunnel gun, at least it should be the new type of flintlock gun made by Mahan in the era of Henry IV.
.Can you get it?"
The two foreigners looked at each other again, obviously very surprised that Shang Yi was so familiar with European history.
A flintlock gun is actually a musket that uses the method of striking flint to ignite the range. Although the firing power of a flintlock gun is lower than that of a matchlock gun, it has more advantages: not only do you not have to worry about burning matchlocks at night,
The unique smell of light and matchlock exposes the target, and the rate of fire is faster, the caliber is smaller, the gun body is shorter, the weight is lighter, the recoil is smaller, and the range is higher. Therefore, in comparison, the flintlock gun is still better than the matchlock gun.
Be more advanced.
The Mahan mentioned by Shang Yi was a famous French gunmaker in the early seventeenth century. He made major improvements to the old flintlock gun and developed a more reliable and complete firing mechanism and safety mechanism.
The flintlock gun was also the best-performing gun at that time. King Henry IV of France specially called him to the palace for this purpose and served as a personal attendant, specializing in manufacturing firearms for the palace. By the mid-seventeenth century, this new type of flintlock gun had been widely equipped.
The French army was later imitated and adopted by other countries. France was able to achieve victory in the Thirty Years' War, and the use of this new type of flintlock gun was also one of the reasons for its success.
Shang Yi naturally knows that in this era, the level of gun manufacturing in Europe is definitely higher than that of China. It is much faster to get a few new muskets to copy the country than to rely on oneself. In later generations, the direct introduction of foreign advanced technology will
It is also a good way to quickly shorten the gap between the two parties. Anyway, there is no such thing as piracy in this era.
Scola and Alonso murmured to each other a few more times. After a while, Alonso said: "Mr. Qian, to be honest, your request is indeed very difficult to handle, but we will still try our best to meet your request, but we need to
Give us a little time and let us think of a solution?"
Shang Yi also nodded. Of course he also knew that Spain and Portugal had been imitating this new type of flintlock gun for less than ten years. It was obviously unrealistic to want to buy it himself, so he just wanted to give it a try.
I was very satisfied with the fact that I could only buy an old-style tunnel-fired gun. So I said, "Of course you can. I'll come back to you in a few days."
At this time, the loading of grain trucks was finally completed, and the money was all prepared. Lin Zhiyang also came over and informed Shang Yi that the grain trucks could start shipping. Shang Yi knew this and could not hide it from him, and
Once the negotiation was completed, he still needed his help to deliver the goods and pay for them there. Therefore, he bluntly told Lin Zhiyang that he wanted to buy a batch of muskets from two foreigners. Of course, the reason was also fair and square, in order to deal with the Manchus.
Tatar.
Although muskets are considered prohibited items, buying guns from foreigners privately is not a big deal in the southeastern coastal area. It's just that many Chinese people are ignorant and often get taken advantage of by foreigners who use old-fashioned matchlock guns to fool them. Facts
The Shanglin family has a musketeer team of more than 60 people to protect merchant ships. Therefore, Lin Zhiyang was not surprised at all and promised that once the two parties reach an agreement, he can choose the location for delivery and payment.
Agent.
After the two parties negotiated, they left. Shang Yi immediately took Zhou Shaohuan, Tong Dayong, Cheng Jin and the soldiers to escort the grain truck to the governor's Yamen. Although it was very late at night, the Denglai Army and the Yanzhou Army
All the generals gathered in the yamen. Looking at the room full of people, Shang Yi was also startled. What are we doing tonight? Are we going to have a patty? But thinking about it, he still went to the office.
Go forward and give orders to Zeng Hualong.
It turned out that just as Shang Yi had expected, the news about King Lu's refusal to distribute money, food, and labor to the army spread from King Lu's palace, and spread to the military camp, and spread quickly. The whole army was panicked for a while.
Rumors spread. After Zeng Hualong and Wang Yingtai heard the news, they immediately announced to the entire army that there was no shortage of food in Yanzhou Mansion and that they could survive without the money and food from Prince Lu's Mansion. At the same time, they assured the entire army that they would be given to the entire army tomorrow.
Distribute food and grass for fifteen days.
After receiving the assurances from the two governors, the uneasiness of the soldiers was finally suppressed for the time being. But Zeng Hualong was still worried, what if there was another riot in the middle of the night? I heard that Shang Yi was pretending.
Cars and grains would be transported immediately. So Zeng Hualong immediately suggested that the main generals of the army should be summoned to the governor's office to see with their own eyes the grains shipped, so that they could feel completely at ease.
In fact, even though they have received promises from the two governors, many are still dubious. Some people think that this is the word "procrastination" used again by the higher-ups. One day counts as one day, one hour counts as one hour. This is because a few people know the details.
The generals were even more convinced of this. So when they heard that they were coming to see the food, they all came immediately even though it was midnight.
The two governors led the generals to the courtyard of the government office. They saw that the courtyard was full of grain trucks. Zeng Hualong said: "Generals, please go and see if it is real grain."
All the generals shouted and rushed towards the grain truck. Some people beat it twice and pushed it. Many people were afraid that there was something fake in the bag, containing sand and gravel to deceive themselves, so they tore the grain quilt.
He opened a small opening, put his hand in and grabbed it, and sure enough, all he grabbed was food. At this time, the generals felt relieved and came back one after another.
At this time, Shang Yi also carried down the four boxes containing silver and opened them in front of Zeng Hualong and Wang Yingtai. As expected, everything inside was snowflakes and silver.
Zeng Hualong pointed to the box and said: "As you can see, this silver will be awarded to the soldiers who have made meritorious service after the bandits are defeated. Now you should all feel relieved! Everyone goes back to rest, and
Comfort the soldiers and prepare for tomorrow's battle. Early tomorrow morning, I will send people to deliver food to the barracks of each army."
Seeing that all the money and food were in front of their eyes, the generals were completely relieved. They also said goodbye to the two governors and went back to their respective barracks. Even Shang Yi also said goodbye and left.
After all the generals withdrew, Zeng Hualong and Wang Yingtai also let out a sigh of relief. The whole army was finally stabilized.
Wang Yingtai waved his sleeves, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "Thank God, with the blessings of gods and Buddhas, I finally got through this."
Zeng Hualong also breathed a sigh of relief, but he immediately thought that although the food problem was finally solved, what about the rogue bandits outside the city? If we cannot defeat them, the crisis in Yanzhou City will not be completely resolved.