When Sun Chengzong was busy instructing the twelve generals who had come to train from various towns on the nine borders to learn the new army drills, especially the standards for mastering the physical fitness assessment and marching in the queue, Emperor Chongzhen happily summoned Sun Heding and his entourage, who had returned from purchasing artillery from Haojingao. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

Sun Heding made such a round trip between Beijing and Haojingao, which lasted nearly half a year.

When I went, I was okay, and I was quick all the way, but when I returned, because I was carrying 200 new muskets and 20 new Hongyi cannons, especially the Western musketeers and gunners with more than 200 people, I naturally couldn't get up quickly.

Especially with more than 200 Hongmaoyi, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the group of people most of the time take a car and boat, especially in densely populated and prosperous towns, most of them choose to rest during the day and rush at night, of course, it is much slower.

In doing so, although the speed of the journey north was reduced, all the Western musketeers, gunners, and gunsmiths were brought back.

Historically, in the third year of Chongzhen, Sun Yuanhua, who served as the governor of Denglai, sent people to Haojingao to buy guns and hire Western gunners, but because there were more Westerners in the team, when they arrived in Nanchang, they were forcibly detained by the local officials and people, and finally had to be forcibly repatriated, leaving only a few gun technicians to continue to go north, and when they arrived in the Dengzhou army, they taught Sun Yuanhua to cast and use Western artillery in Dengzhou.

However, a year later, because Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng and others rebelled and defected to Houjin, these artillery and gun technicians were all cheaper Houjin Khan Huang Taiji.

And Huang Taiji was ecstatic, and directly named Kong Youde as the king of obedience. It can be imagined how important these artillery and foreign craftsmen are.

Nowadays, the group of Portuguese retired musketeers who went to the East to live in history, as well as the adventurers who mastered the technology of musket and artillery casting, not only successfully came to the capital of the Ming Dynasty, but also were warmly welcomed by the current Ming Emperor.

With the help of John Tang and the craftsmen of the former Ministry of Industry, the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of War, and the Firearms Bureau, Sun Yuanhua built a new gunpowder factory and a gun factory, and all the production and manufacturing of gunpowder and weapons were concentrated in the suburbs of Tongzhou.

When Sun and Ding took Gao Kaus? When Teixeira and the other Western musketeers and gunsmiths arrived in Tongzhou, everything was ready, and the factories, barracks, warehouses, and houses where Westerners lived had already been built.

Although Li Banghua, the minister of military aircraft, was the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, the emperor asked him to take the lead in supervising the ordnance and armament of the imperial court, and of course he had to come forward to take responsibility.

Therefore, as soon as Sun Heding and his entourage arrived in Tongzhou, Sun Yuanhua immediately sent people to report to Li Banghua in Baiye City, Zunhua. Of course, Li Banghua knew how much the emperor attached importance to Western muskets and artillery, so he rushed to Tongzhou on the same day and met with Sun Heding and Kaus? Teixeira and four other Westerners.

The next day, Li Banghua led Bi Maokang, the squire who is now in charge of armaments in the military department, as well as Sun Yuanhua, Sun Heding, Tang Ruowang, and Gao Kaus? Teixeira, Joe? Rodriguez, Antonio? Morality? Cabo, Ricardo? Victor? Francis, the four Portuguese who came all the way to Beijing from Ho Jing O, entered the city to meet the emperor.

These four Portuguese are not from high society background, among them Antonio? Morality? Capo is a declining noble son, but the family is huge, and he is not the eldest son, except for a surname, he can't inherit anything, and if he wants to get ahead, he can only rely on himself.

At the same time, these people are the first time to go deep into the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, and it is the first time to enter the Ming Jingshi, and now it is the first time to enter the famous Forbidden City, and the excitement in their hearts to meet the emperor of the Eastern Empire is naturally impossible to hide.

The tall city wall gatehouse outside the capital division, as well as the majesty of the imperial city and the palace city, made these Portuguese even more shocked, not only completely put away the contempt for the Ming Dynasty, but also gave birth to a sense of awe.

This meeting was arranged in the Wuying Palace, Sun Chengzong did not participate because he was in the reserve camp of the new army in Zhuozhou, so he could only let Bi Maokang, the squire of the military department, attend instead of the military department, and the rest of the ministers in Beijing, Li Guoqi and Xu Guangqi, and the minister of military aircraft Zhang Weixian naturally all participated.

Li Banghua led everyone into the hall to salute, Li Banghua took the lead in kneeling to meet him, and Bi Maokang, Sun Yuanhua, Sun Heding and others naturally knelt down after him, even if it was John Tang, because he had been in China for a long time, he knew the etiquette when meeting the emperor in China, so he immediately knelt down to pay respects.

And yet high Kauss? Teixeira, Antonio? Morality? Cabo and the other four only knelt on one knee and touched their chest with their right hand, but they did the etiquette of the Portuguese to meet the monarch.

Li Guoqi and Zhang Weixian's faces were uncertain, and Xu Guangqi saw this situation, and preemptively said: "Your Majesty, Westerners kneel on one knee when they see the monarch of that country, and their national etiquette system is like this. ”

After hearing this, Li Guowei and Zhang Weixian just wanted to speak, but they saw the emperor pressing his hand at them and signaling them not to speak, so the two had to swallow what they were going to say.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen said to Tang Ruowang, who was kneeling on the ground: "Tang Aiqing, do you know the etiquette of the Portuguese?" ”

Tang Ruowang hurriedly said: "Tell His Majesty the Great Emperor that the etiquette of the countries of Europa is indeed like this, and this move is not disrespectful. ”

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Li Guowei and Zhang Weixian, and then said: "When Westerners come to my China, those who hold my official positions will naturally perform Chinese rituals, and those who still regard themselves as Westerners will be allowed to perform Western rituals." The Ministry of Rites may make this a permanent rule. ”

Joe, who can understand the official language of the Ming Dynasty? Rodriguez immediately bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, Honorable Great Emperor, thank you very much for your magnanimity. The Ming Dynasty is a great Eastern Empire, and our respect for His Majesty the Emperor is completely sincere. We are willing to serve His Majesty's court and army, and we ask His Majesty's permission. ”

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was about to speak, only to hear this person say again: "Your Majesty the Great Emperor, my name is Qiao?" Rodriguez, from the far west, we are all Portuguese, we are here to serve His Majesty. ”

After saying these words, this Rodriguez pointed to the three people around him and introduced their names and positions they had held one by one.

In addition to this Rodriguez, the other three also used a little Chinese that they had worked hard to learn on the road for several months, laboriously expressing their desire to serve to the emperor.

In this regard, the Chongzhen Emperor now of course knows that these Portuguese came to the East, of course, not to support and help the Ming Dynasty, but to make a fortune, and most of them are either deserters on the battlefield, or pirates in the ocean, or bankrupt craftsmen, or missionaries.

In this era, in addition to missionaries, there are only a handful of humble gentlemen who dare to cross the sea to adventure in the East.

But of course Emperor Chongzhen doesn't care about the moral conduct of these people, as long as they can leave the technology of using and casting Western muskets and artillery, and teach the latest tactics in the war between Portugal and Spain to the students of the martial arts hall, then whatever they do, Emperor Chongzhen will naturally not care.

After the self-introduction or self-praise of these people, coupled with the translation of Tang Ruowang and others, the communication between Emperor Chongzhen and these Portuguese was actually quite smooth.

Which of the high Kauss? Teixeira and Antonio? Morality? Cabo, both of whom were retired officers in Portugal, were high Kaus in their fifties, and the rank of major was before retiring.

Antonio, who was about forty years old, had the rank of captain before retiring from the army, and both were ardent supporters of Portuguese independence, who had fought against the Spanish army for many years, and were very familiar with the Spanish pike.

And Rodriguez himself, who seems to be about forty or fifty years old, is a senior technician in the gun foundry opened by the Portuguese in Ho Kung O, and the slightly younger Ricardo? Victor? Francis, on the other hand, was a veteran Portuguese gunner who retired due to injury and was fitted with a prosthetic leg.

After talking to a few Portuguese for a while, Emperor Chongzhen turned to inquire about the muskets and artillery purchased by Sun Yuanhua and Sun Heding.

After listening to the situation, he explained to Li Banghua, Sun Yuanhua and others, properly arranged these Portuguese, and more than ten gun technicians were arranged under the command of Sun Yuanhua, together with Tang Ruowang and others, to produce a usable musket and artillery as soon as possible.

The musketeers and gunners of more than 200 people were divided into four teams, one team was sent to Lushanji, the capital of the Jiliao Governor, to serve in front of the Ningyuan and Jinzhou armies; The second team was sent to Zhuozhou to help Sun Chengzong and others train new soldiers; The third team was stationed in the lecture hall as instructors in the infantry, artillery and engineering sections of the lecture hall; The fourth team was sent to the Shenji Battalion to help the non-commissioned officers improve the training and use of muskets and artillery.