Guangzhou Mansion is located in the alluvial plain of the Pearl River Delta, which is now the Yuexiu area of Liwan, and from Nantou City in Dongguan County to Guangzhou Mansion City, if you take the waterway, it is almost 200 miles, plus driving against the current, it is estimated that it will take a day.

On the sixteenth day of the first month of the third year of Jiajing, the three-bow big ship loaded with 500 Franc machine guns sailed away from the Nantoucheng wharf, traced the Pearl River and went north, there was a wind to raise the sails, and no wind made the oars, at noon they entered the boundary of Panyu County, and it was estimated that they could arrive at the city in the evening, and the messenger of Jinyiwei had already taken a fast boat to take the first step and inform the local government officials to prepare for the reception.

After eating lunch, Xu Jin took a nap for half an hour as usual, and after waking up, he went to the deck to watch the scenery on both sides of the Pearl River.

Xu Jin is very familiar with the city of Guangzhou, because he spent four years of college here, but Guangzhou during the Ming Dynasty was completely different from Guangzhou in later generations, except for the eternal Pearl River under his feet, there is no resemblance at all. As far as the eye can see, both sides of the Pearl River are lush wilderness, and only occasionally you can see a few small dilapidated villages, but the water of the Pearl River is clear and green.

The same wilderness scenery is boring to see too much, Xu Jin glanced at Song Dayan, who was standing behind him like a wood, dispelled the idea of chatting with this stuffy gourd, and turned to the stern. There were hundreds of Franc machine guns stacked in the stern of the ship, and a thin figure was wandering in them at the moment.

Xu Jin fixed his eyes and recognized that it was the junior apprentice named Mo Zhi'er, this kid was obviously immersed in his own world, sometimes picking up a ruler to measure, sometimes lifting a brush to write and draw in a notebook, very seriously.

Xie Erjian was lazily lying on the stern deck basking in the sun, making Xu Jin speechless Yes, Cen Lan was also lazily lying next to him basking in the sun, the back of his head was still resting on Xie Erjian's arm, and both of them raised Erlang's legs, which was also a perfect match. really responded to the sentence: those who are close to Zhu are red, and those who are close to ink are black.

When the little couple who were enjoying the world of two people in the spring sunshine saw Xu Jin, they immediately bounced up as if they had been caught and raped in bed, and their expressions were extremely embarrassed. Xu Jin said in a mocking voice: "You continue, this official is purely passing by." After saying that, he walked straight over.

Cen Lan stuck out her tongue with a red face, secretly twisted Xie Erjian's arm, and said in a low voice: "Doesn't someone often brag that he can listen to the wind and distinguish his position, why didn't he find out when he came over?" ”

Xie Erjian said numbly: "Isn't my mind all on Lan Lan you, I didn't notice it for a while." ”

Cen Lan glanced at her lover sweetly, ran away with her hands in her pockets, Xie Erjian hesitated, and then followed behind Xu Jin.

Xu Jin walked silently to He Zhi'er's side, who was still engrossed in measuring the size of a gun, and he didn't even notice it. Xu Jin stood quietly and watched for a while, and finally paced to the open notebook.

This book looks very new.,It should be a new purchase.,Spread it out and rest on a cannon barrel.,I saw that it was full of dense graphics.,Although the writing is immature.,But it's neat and delicate.。

"Ahh He Zhi'er finished measuring the hammer and was about to take a notebook to record the data, when she realized that there were a few people standing behind her, and she was so frightened that the ruler in her hand fell off on the spot, and her face turned pale.

Seeing this, Xu Jin said apologetically: "I saw that you were too involved just now, so the official didn't bother, but it frightened Brother Mo." ”

He Zhi'er's pale little face instantly swelled red, and she shook her head and said, "No...... Not frightened, the little one see Lord Governor. Then you should kneel down and salute.

Xu Jin hurriedly stopped: "No need to be polite, you continue to be busy, this official is just a casual look." ”

"Oooh!" He Zhi'er was so nervous that she didn't even know how to put her hand.

Xu Jin admired people who were serious about doing things, especially those who could devote themselves to doing things, he smiled, pointed to the row of numbers on the notebook and asked, "What is recorded on this?" ”

"It's the width of the diameter of these Franc cannon mother guns and child guns!"

"Oh, what are you measuring these for?"

He Zhi'er said in a snort: "Didn't the Governor say yesterday that the range of the Franc cannon made by our Ming Dynasty is not as good as that of the Westerners, and it is idle anyway, so the little one pondered it for a while." ”

Xu Jin's eyes couldn't help but light up, and asked, "Then what have you figured out?" ”

"The small measurement of the captured thirty Western Franc cannons, found that the subsystem and the mother gun are very compatible, and the gap will not exceed two points, while the gap between our Franc cannon subsystem and the mother gun is generally more than three points, and some even reach half an inch." Talking about the firearms she was familiar with, He Zhi'er was obviously not so cramped and uneasy, and even spoke fluently.

Xu Jin couldn't help but be interested, nodded and said, "So you think that the range of our Franc cannon is not as good as that of the Western Franc machine, is this the reason?" ”

He Zhi'er said seriously: "The small one is not sure, but the larger the gap between the child and the mother, the easier it will be for the medicinal power of the gunpowder to leak, so the small one thinks it is very likely that this is the reason." ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but be impressed, although he didn't understand the mechanical structure, but he had also studied mathematics, physics and chemistry, and understood the principles of aerodynamics, whether it was a bullet or a cannonball, it was propelled by a large amount of gas produced by the combustion of gunpowder, so He Zhier's idea must be right.

"Xiao Mo, you come with this official!" Xu Jin turned around with his hands behind his back and walked towards the cabin, still holding a book in his hand that recorded data.

"Dashuai asked you to follow!" Song Dayan saw that He Zhi'er was still stunned, so he reminded in a rough voice, and the latter came back to his senses, oh, and followed behind Xu Jin tremblingly.

Xu Jin took He Zhi'er into the cabin, sat down next to the bookcase, and beckoned with a pleasant face: "Xiao Mo come here!" ”

He Zhi'er walked to the bookcase and stood still, Xu Jin pointed to the ink inkstone and said, "Will you grind the ink?" ”

He Zhi'er nodded like a chicken pecking rice, and began to sharpen the ink skillfully, she didn't grind the ink for her brother He Zhimin back then. Xu Jin picked up a small piece of ink and wrote the ten Arabic numerals from 0 to 9 on the blank paper......

Mathematician Gauss once said that mathematics is the king of science. It can be said that mathematics is the cornerstone of all disciplines, and a craftsman who does not know how to calculate is limited in his skills. Xu Jin felt that Mo Zhi'er was a manufacturable material, so he planned to teach him Arabic numerals, as well as basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division methods.

I have to say that talent is really amazing, Xu Jin only talked for half an hour, and He Zhi'er basically mastered these ten Arabic numerals, and was able to perform simple addition and subtraction operations.

Xu Jin was very pleased, He Zhi'er was even more excited, although she only knew a little bit about it at present, but she realized that this simple way of counting and counting was very useful to her, not to mention that just using these simple symbols to record the size was time-saving than using "one two three ......", and it was much more intuitive.

Xu Jin casually listed fifty addition and subtraction formulas within 100, and then handed them to He Zhi'er and said, "Xiao Mo, you take these formulas back to study, and when you are more proficient, the official will teach you how to multiply and divide." ”

He Zhi'er took the notebook and said deeply to Xu Jin from the bottom of her heart: "Thank you, Lord Governor, for your advice." ”

Xu Jin smiled and waved his hand: "Go down, by the way, this box of Hui ink will also be given to you." ”

He Zhi'er thanked him again, took the notebook and the box of ink and left the cabin, and went to study addition and subtraction. Han Dajie scratched his head, and asked in a puzzled low voice: "Xie Guji, why does the handsome look at this girly boy differently?" ”

Xie Erjian looked at He Zhi'er's thin back thoughtfully, and only after a moment did he lightly say, "This kid is a talent in firearms. ”

In the evening, the three-bow ship finally arrived at the Pearl River Wharf outside the city of Guangzhou, and the one who led the magistrate to greet Xu Jin was also an old acquaintance, and it was Wu Wending, the prefect of Ji'an, Jiangxi Province.

Wu Wending followed Wang Shouren to raise troops to quell the rebellion of King Ning, so he made great contributions, and after the little emperor Zhu Houxi ascended the throne, he was promoted to the political envoy of Guangdong Chengxuan Si Zuobu, which is equivalent to the current high-ranking official.

Everyone is an old acquaintance, and Wu Wending can be regarded as his old superior, so after Xu Jin got off the boat, he took the initiative to step forward quickly, hugged his fists and said: "Xu Ziqian has seen Master Wu, and after a farewell of many years, Master Wu's demeanor is still the same, which is gratifying." ”

Wu Wending's mood is complicated and inexplicable, thinking that when he was in Nanchang, Jiangxi, Xu Jin was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old young scholar, and only Xiucai was famous, and in just five or six years, Xu Jin has become famous.

Wu Wending couldn't help but think of what Wang Shouren said to him in private, this son will be the pillar of my Ming Dynasty in the future, and now it seems that ...... Not far away!

Wu Wending sighed and returned the salute, and said formally: "How dare you, the next official Guangdong Cheng announced that Wu Wending, the political envoy of the political secretary, see Governor Xu!" ”

Other officials also stepped forward to salute Xu Jin, and at this moment, a pot-bellied, dark-skinned guy squeezed forward, bowed skillfully, and then said in a strange tone of Chinese: "Bintang, see Governor Xu." ”

Xu Jin was slightly stunned, and glanced up and down at this fat man who looked a bit like an Indian. Wu Wending hurriedly introduced: "Lord Xu, this is my Ming subordinate prince Manlaga, His Royal Highness Bintang!" ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but suddenly realize that this fat and black guy was actually the exiled prince of Manraka, and he went to the capital two years ago to ask Daming to send troops to help him restore the country.

It is said that this prince of Manla Gabintang ran to the capital and cried and begged the imperial court to send troops to help him drive away the Francophile, but unfortunately since Zheng He stopped going to the West, the sailors of the Ming Dynasty have plummeted, and they don't have the ability to fight in the ocean, and Zhu Houxi is very shrewd and has no practical benefits, so he is too lazy to do such a thankless job, not to mention that the Ming treasury is tight, where does the silver come from?

As a result, Zhu Houxi has been hanging the prince of Bintang, who also knew that there was no hope of recovering the country, so he left the capital a year later and returned to Guangzhou to live and retire.