Bringing the Railway to Daming

After a long while, Juan came to his senses and stopped thinking about the Ming Empire.

He said, "So what if there is a powerful Ming Empire above Jin? After all, the Ming Empire is in the far east. Can it really send an army to conquer Aragon?"

The Foreign Minister said, "Your Majesty, since that Prince Jin was able to cross the ocean from the East to replace the Mamluk Kingdom, why can't the Ming Dynasty send troops here?"

Juan's breath hitched.

Because what the Foreign Minister said makes a lot of sense.

But he quickly said, "Then we cannot agree to let those Confucian scholars come to preach—at most, we can allow them to study in Aragon, but it is absolutely impossible for them to establish churches and spread Confucianism."

"My people and I are devout believers in the Lord, and we would never betray Him!"

The Foreign Minister asked, "Can the other five conditions be agreed to?"

Juan frowned and said, “The first condition won’t work either—we will at most give half of the compensation stipulated in the treaty, and they must also release our lords and knights who were captured in the war.”

“Go, send another delegation to Jin to negotiate with them, and try to reach an acceptable result before the war between Jin and Hafs ends.”

"Yes." The Foreign Minister said, preparing to leave, but then suddenly remembered something and added, "By the way, Your Majesty, the Prince of Jin heard that you are fond of reciting poetry, so he sent three books of poetry as a gift."

"Oh?" Juan was slightly taken aback, then scolded, "Why didn't you say so earlier? What about the three books of poetry?"

The Foreign Minister said, “Your Majesty, since it is a poem from the Ming Dynasty and not in Latin, Greek, or Arabic, the Prince of Jin thoughtfully sent a translator who understands Latin and Arabic, and the poem is temporarily kept by him.”

Juan said, "Then hurry up and let that translator bring the poem in!"

"Yes."

The Foreign Minister left, and shortly afterward, a royal attendant brought in a young man with black hair, black eyes, yellow skin, and clothing that stood out from the others.

Jin Youzi (whose given name was Shan, but whose courtesy name was Shan) looked at the blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners around him, took a deep breath, bowed, and said in Latin: "Translator Jin Youzi greets His Majesty King Aragon."

Juan scrutinized Jin Youzi and felt that this Eastern translator did have a bit of a poet's temperament.

He immediately asked in Latin, "Where is the poem you brought? Show it to me quickly."

'These barbarians are indeed rude and uncouth.'

Jin Youzi thought to herself, but still handed over the three books she had brought.

Juan took it and saw that it was covered with strange square characters, neither Latin nor Arabic, which he could not understand at all, and he was somewhat disappointed.

He then said, "Eastern translator Jin, could you read these three poetry collections to me in Latin?"

Jin Youzi said, "Of course."

Jin Youzi ventured to Aragon this time because she heard that King Juan of Aragon loved poetry and wanted to use poetry as a starting point to reach the upper echelons and try to spread Confucianism in Aragon.

In truth, Jin Youzi had no choice but to take this step.

His family has a tradition of farming and studying for generations. He studied Confucian classics such as the Spring and Autumn Annals with famous scholars from a young age. In addition, he had a talent for Confucianism and was known as a child prodigy when he was seven or eight years old.

At the age of ten, he was able to enter the county school as a student, and became classmates with Lian Zining, a child prodigy from the same county.

A few years later, the imperial court restored the imperial examination system. Jin Youzi thought it was a great thing and prepared to show his talents, enter officialdom, and restore the glory of his ancestors and the honor of his family.

Unexpectedly, the content of the imperial examinations increased in mathematics and reduced the weight of Confucianism. He had some mental issues at the time and failed twice in a row, while the weight of mathematics and natural sciences in the imperial examinations became more and more important.

After failing the provincial examination for the third time, his elders suggested that he go to school, but he was already old and resentful that the content of the imperial examination was becoming more and more biased towards mathematics and natural sciences, and the school teaching content was the same, so he refused to go out of spite.

After wasting several years, he became somewhat mediocre. Later, he heard about the deeds of Confucian scholars such as Huang Zicheng who followed the prince overseas to spread Confucianism and embarked on official careers, and thus he developed the desire to emulate them.

After struggling in the capital, he could only enter the Prince of Jin's staff as a low-ranking official.

Upon arriving overseas, Jin Youzi thought he would finally have the opportunity to showcase his talents, but he discovered that, due to the language barrier, his Confucian approach to governing the region was less effective than that of lower-ranking officers who governed with military law.

Later, upon learning that the King of Jin had the idea of ​​sending people to neighboring countries to spread Confucianism and gather intelligence, he felt that his opportunity had come, so he diligently studied Latin and Arabic.

Now, as a translator entering Aragon to teach poetry to its king, he finally has a place to use his talents.

'If I could convert King Aragon to Confucianism, and even govern the country according to Confucian principles, I would surely be remembered in history!'

Jin Youzi thought excitedly.

He then began reciting his first collection of poems, the Book of Songs, in Latin, which he had already mastered.

As a result, Jin Youzi noticed that Hu An frowned and looked quite pleased when she had only read half of the first poem in the "Guofeng" section, "Guanju".

After he finished reciting "Guan Ju," Juan said in an extremely disappointed tone, "This is the poetry of the land of porcelain? It doesn't sound beautiful at all?"

Fortunately, Jin Youzi was somewhat prepared for this and did not panic. She explained, "Your Majesty, because Latin and Chinese are very different, it is difficult to accurately translate the beauty of Chinese poetry. This poem, 'Guanju,' is the result of my efforts to translate it into Latin."

"Actually, poems are best heard in their original form. Since Your Majesty already knows the general meaning of this poem, why not listen to me recite it in Chinese?"

Juan himself speaks Frankish, Latin, and Arabic, so he doesn't find it difficult to learn a foreign language again. In addition, he is genuinely curious about the mysterious country of porcelain, so he nodded and said, "Okay, then recite it again in Chinese."

Jin Youzi immediately recited "Guanju" again using the Hongwu Zhengyun style.

"The ospreys cry 'guan guan' on the river's islet..."

This time, Juan listened even more attentively, and his face no longer showed any impatience. Instead, he became more and more engrossed in the conversation, as if he could understand it.

After Jin Youzi finished reciting, Juan nodded and said, "Although your language is strange, I must say it sounds better than the Latin version just now. It is indeed a good poem."

“Jin, I think you can do what you did just now: first explain the meaning of the poem to me in Latin, and then recite it to me in Chinese.”

Jin Youzi breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on her lips, and said, "As you wish, Your Majesty."

···
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While Jin Youzi was serving as a guest translator and poet in Aragon to spread Confucianism and realize his ideals, the war between the State of Jin and Hafs continued.

The Jin army continued its advance from the coast toward Tunisia, capturing cities along the way step by step.

However, by mid-May, after the Jin army had captured Gabes, another important coastal city of Hafs, they surprisingly stopped advancing westward.

The more than 10,000 French troops who came to Hafs's aid were stationed outside Tunis. They waited and waited for half a month, but the Jin army did not advance further west. They were extremely frustrated.

Just then, a group of French soldiers were arrested by the Kingdom of Hafs for robbing and raping women in Tunis. A French general used this as an excuse to try to lead his troops into Tunis, but was stopped outside the city by the well-prepared Hafs army and was severely beaten.

Then the more than 10,000 French troops that came to their aid completely spiraled out of control—this army was originally a rabble composed mainly of conscripted soldiers from various lords of the Kingdom of France, with only a little over 1,000 elite royal troops.

They arrived in Hafs in late March, but ended up stationed outside Tunis for two months without fighting a single battle. The soldiers were poorly fed and were already harboring resentment.

Furthermore, the lords and knights were also dissatisfied with Hafs's hospitality, so they took the opportunity to disperse with their troops and begin looting the villages and towns around Tunisia.

King Gibb of Hafs was already seriously ill, and upon hearing this, he finally succumbed to his illness and died.

The third prince, Tab, was busy inheriting the throne and fighting with his two brothers who coveted it, so he couldn't pay attention to the outside of the city and could only barely hold the city of Tunis.

It was at this time that an exceptionally large fleet arrived at Wangxiang Port (Suez Port) in the State of Jin... (End of this chapter)