The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Sir, news came back from the seaside that the barbarian ship is coming."

It had been two days since the king of Sulu and the troops he brought were settled. On this day, Deng Zilong was thinking about the next response in the military tent. The curtain was opened, and a soldier came in to report.

When he heard that Miguel was coming, Deng Zilong immediately stood up and walked out, giving instructions as he walked, asking them to send people to find Lin Baihu and others to go to the king of Sulu.

Of course, Deng Zilong would not expose their strength at this time. He would play the Sulu Kingdom's trump card at the end. Now was not the time to let the Yi people know that they were coming.

The camp of the Sulu Army was more than ten miles away from the Ming Army's camp. There was a forest in the middle, so you couldn't find it unless you got there.

The King of Sulu's camp was also arranged there. In Deng Zilong's words, it was convenient for Bakr to command his troops.

Bakker is naturally happy to be able to live in his own army, which means he is safer.

Now Deng Zilong arranged for Lin Baihu to go to Bakr's place in order to stabilize him and prevent him from running to the military tent in front when he heard the news.

Deng Zilong had already guessed the purpose of Buckle's trip at the banquet that night.

After drinking, after hearing Deng Zilong boasting about his ability to govern the country, Buckle finally couldn't help complaining to Deng Zilong, the main one being the threat from the Spaniards on Luzon Island.

Because the Sulu Kingdom faced huge external threats, after knowing that Ming Dynasty needed his help, he chose to help without hesitation, thereby restoring contact with Ming Dynasty and gaining official support from Ming Dynasty.

Now that he knows the other party's purpose, Deng Zilong can naturally rest assured.

Whether the Ming Dynasty should endorse the Sulu Kingdom was not something that a military general could decide. It had to be decided by the great men in the capital.

However, this does not affect his purpose of completing this trip.

Therefore, Deng Zilong patted his chest and told King Bakr that after completing his mission of chasing down the Lin Feng pirate group, he would take him back to the Ming Dynasty and request an audience with the Ming Emperor. There was no problem.

Bakker was not worried that he would not be able to return to the Sulu Kingdom when the Ming Dynasty arrived. The Sulu Kingdom had sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty three times before, and the envoys of the Ming Dynasty all sent warships to send them back safely.

Of course, the most important thing is that Ming Dynasty does not seem to covet them at all, and has no intention of occupying their Sulu country.

Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty should have sent troops earlier, and it would not have been delayed more than a hundred years later, when they accidentally came to Sulu because of the pursuit of pirates.

There is no intention of aggression. Naturally, the Sulu Kingdom wholeheartedly flatters such a great kingdom.

Could there be anything better than this?

No.

Deng Zilong arrived at the beach and received Lieutenant Miguel at the camp. He asked someone to prepare a towel to wipe the sweat and make tea.

"Dear Deng, our Commander Savera has agreed to your suggestion. Your country is responsible for the north, and we are only responsible for the defense of the east and south.

At sea, we still form a joint fleet to blockade, raid the bay, and destroy Pirate Lin's fleet so that they can no longer leave here by boat. "

After a short rest, Miguel took out Commander Xavera's letter, which could also be regarded as a warrant.

However, at this time, the Spaniards did not seem to want to cause trouble and make the Ming people mistakenly think that they wanted to usurp his command, so they confirmed their plan to Deng Zilong in the form of a letter from the commander.

Deng Zilong took it and looked at it. There were a lot of things written on it in words he couldn't understand, but underneath, there were thoughtful Chinese characters that translated the meaning of the letter.

The general meaning was no different from what Miguel told him.

Obviously, there should be someone familiar with Han officialdom in the Spanish military camp, so they gave them this advice.

Perhaps, what he was familiar with was not the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, but the previous dynasty.

But in fact, as Chinese dynasties change, one thing will never change much, and that is officialdom.

Because the so-called officialdom has always been composed of thousands of scholars. Through reading, they understand the past events of the past and know how to maximize their own interests.

That is to say, the emperor can be changed, but the officials are still the same people, scholars.

There is also a nearby map drawn by the Spaniards at the back, which details the positions that the Ming army will be responsible for defending.

Seeing this map, Deng Zilong was a little confused at first.

After all, the Spaniards will know the map, and it is somewhat different from the map used in the Ming Dynasty. It is normal to not be used to it.

After Miguel's explanation, Deng Zilong quickly became familiar with identifying Western-style maps.

Compared with the map drawn by the Ming army himself, Deng Zilong actually vaguely felt that the Spanish map was better.

After all, the maps drawn by Ming Dynasty were often based on aesthetics rather than practicality. When you get to the place, you will find that they are very different from the map markings.

However, when looking at the Yiren map, Deng Zilong first noticed the points marked on the map and the straight lines drawn from these points.

Deng Zilong also asked about the use of these points and lines, but the answer he received was what lines were drawn and according to what rules.

Maybe it's because Miguel doesn't understand it well, or he doesn't think it's necessary to explain it in detail. After all, there are huge differences between Eastern and Western cultures, and it would be too troublesome to explain.

Of course, if Wei Guangde were here, he would roughly guess that some of the lines may be the latitude and longitude lines of this era.

Some points and lines marked on the map are used to determine the position. In fact, this is what must be marked on the navigation charts of the West during this period.

Because most of the Spaniards who came to the Philippines now are naval officers, they are more familiar with navigation charts, and they also draw the common graphics on the charts on the map.

Although maps actually follow mathematical laws and use pictures and symbols to represent what they want to express, there are also differences in drawing methods. The ancient Chinese method of drawing maps is unique, which is the same as the Western method of drawing maps.

The West actually suspected that the earth was round very early.

Of course, this theory was only discussed privately by some scholars and they did not dare to say it publicly.

However, because of the support of this theory, when the West drew maps, it was very high to create the so-called projection method to help draw maps. Among them, Hipparchus created the projection method and proposed to divide the circumference of the earth into 360 degrees.

In the West, geographers in ancient Greece began to use navigation chart making techniques, and then developed a variety of mapping methods such as point of interest method and triangulation method.

It can be said that Western maps have been using a lot of mathematical knowledge for a long time, so map drawing is more rigorous.

Of course, if we go back a century or even half a century, although Western maps also used this knowledge at that time, because it was still in the era of great geographical discoveries, the maps drawn by Western geographers at that time were more imaginative.

Now is the end of the great geographical discoveries, so Westerners have gradually gained a clear understanding of the world, and the expression of many things has become more scientific.

In ancient China, the earliest maps used were "Jikan Method" and "Sidi Method", that is, to form maps by recording and drawing geographical information.

Later, with the continuous advancement of technology, the "scale method" was adopted, that is, to reflect the length, width, height and other information of the ground entity by drawing a scale.

In the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a man named Pei Xiu, who was an official of Sikong. He summarized the experience of making ancient Chinese maps and strengthened the theory of ancient Chinese map drawing.

The method proposed by Pei Xiu is called "Six Body of Cartography", which was summarized by carefully compiling and drawing maps such as "Yugong Regional Map" and "Topographic Fangzhang Map".

"Yu Gong Regional Map" is actually a collection of maps, which contains many textual explanations, a total of 18 chapters, and an additional preface.

"Yu Gong" is a text in "Shang Shu", with a total of more than 1,000 words, mainly describing China's geography, products and equal taxes.

It is said to be written by Dayu, of course this is a pretense, the writing was not so developed during Dayu's time, so general research believes that this is a work from the Warring States period, and some scholars such as Wang Guowei believe that it was written in the early Western Zhou Dynasty.

What we usually say "Da Yu divided the nine states" actually comes from this text, which divides the country into nine states with mountains and rivers as signs, and briefly describes the natural and human geographical phenomena such as the territory, mountains, rivers, vegetation, soil, products, tribute, ethnic minorities, and transportation of the nine states.

This should be a beginning, because China's later "Han Shu·Geography", "Shui Jing Zhu" and many historical and geographical works were influenced by "Yu Gong".

Pei Xiu drew the "Yu Gong Regional Map" based on this text and proposed six principles of cartography, namely the "Six Principles of Cartography", which are roughly as follows:

The first is the ratio, which is actually the scale. The original text is "so as to distinguish the degree of the wide wheel".

The second is the direction, which is actually the direction, which is called "so as to correct the body of each other".

The third is the road mileage. Road means road; mileage means mileage. The principle is the road mileage, "so as to determine the number of the route".

The fourth is the height, which refers to the undulating terrain.

The fifth is the angle of inclination.

The sixth is the straightness, which refers to the straightness of rivers and roads.

These are actually six cartographic rules. According to the six systems, the straightness and distance can be judged to avoid the deviation of gaining one corner and losing the other.

Among them, the ratio, that is, the scale, direction, and distance are very important.

This is a relatively important or unique method in the history of world maps that is different from the "projection method" used by Westerners. Until the end of the Ming Dynasty, ancient Chinese maps have always followed the "Six Principles of Cartography".

However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, with the arrival of Western missionaries, they began to draw maps according to the projection method they were familiar with after they came to the Ming Dynasty, so Western cartography was also introduced into China and was gradually learned by Chinese scholars.

Since then, Chinese maps have gradually been drawn using Western projection methods, and the method "Six Body of Cartography" proposed by Pei Xiu has gradually been abandoned.

Maps of this period, especially nautical charts, are actually things that need to be strictly confidential, whether in the East or the West.

In China, in addition to the more detailed maps in the palace, only the Ming Dynasty Military Department has similar ones, and other government offices cannot access them at all.

Even Wei Guangde, who was the second assistant of the cabinet, could see them, but there were strict restrictions, such as not being able to take them out of the cabinet.

In the West, the confidentiality level of maps is not low, especially nautical charts, because the information involved is too important.

In 1503, the Spanish royal family also established the "Ministry of Trade of the Indies" in Seville, imitating its strongest competitor, and granted it extensive powers in overseas trade and colonial affairs.

Unlike the East India Company established by the Dutch and the British in the later period in the form of joint-stock system and government franchise, the "Ministry of Trade" is the direct "agent" of the Spanish royal power. The collection of all relevant taxes, the approval of all overseas explorations and trade voyages, the confidentiality management of all trade routes and newly discovered overseas information, the training and certification of all captains and navigators, the production and management of all nautical charts and maps, and even the daily administration of all commercial laws are all the responsibilities of this department.

In theory, without the approval of this department, all Spanish overseas explorations and foreign trade voyages would be difficult to carry out.

The "Royal Map General Map" was produced and managed by the "Ministry of Trade" with full responsibility. The first version of the general map was completed between 1507 and 1508, and it has been continuously improved, updated and perfected since then.

This is a secret map that also has the authority of the Spanish royal family.

It is said to have royal authority because all Spanish explorers and ships that set out are required to use maps or nautical charts copied from the general map.

The general map, whether Spanish or Portuguese, was indeed the most accurate map of that era.

At the same time, all long-distance explorers, captains, and seamen, after returning, had to report the latest geographical information they found to the Empire's Ministry of Trade, and any errors found in the use of maps or nautical charts must be reported as soon as possible so that the Ministry of Trade can make the most timely and accurate updates and revisions to the general map.

Explorers, captains, or seamen who violate the laws governing the general map will face penalties ranging from heavy fines to cancellation of trade and navigation qualifications.

The secrecy of the Royal General Map is reflected in the fact that it is a strategic resource with a very high "confidentiality level".

In Spain, all cartographers, explorers, captains, and seamen related to the general map are required to fulfill strict confidentiality obligations, and any "leak" to the enemy or competitor will face severe legal responsibility.

Even all outdated maps or nautical charts must be strictly destroyed.

The imperial administrative departments represented by the Ministry of Trade monitored all the latest geographical information collected from overseas trade, colonial settlement, and even Catholic religious activities, providing the most solid basis for the empire to formulate colonial policies.

Colonial policy refers to the policy of controlling and utilizing the natural resources and indigenous population of overseas colonies to the maximum extent to serve the interests of the imperial royal family.

The foundation of colonial policy is inseparable from accurate geographical information to determine the accurate geographical coordinates, boundaries, mountains, resources, and safe routes from the European mainland to reach there.

Due to the secret and authoritarian strict management of the general map, modern cartographers have hardly found the original "general map" that has survived to this day, and even the original nautical charts actually used on the ocean in that era have hardly been found.

The map drawn by the Spaniards in Deng Zilong's hands is actually full of the latest Western cartographic techniques, but no one knows it.