I'm really not doing business

Chapter 577 Let’s study things and win at the starting point!

Chief Medical Officer Pang Xian really did have an imperial edict.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty specifically issued an order to the chief medical officer Pang Xian, asking Pang Xian to use all means to allow Shi Maohua to live longer and more peacefully. The Ming Dynasty is now developing with each passing day. Every day he lives and every time he takes a look at the current Ming Dynasty is a comfort to Shi Maohua.

For people like Shi Maohua and Tan Lun, even if they were struggling to survive a life worse than death, they would feel it was worth it as long as they could hear a little bit of news that was beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty did not allow Governor Shi to read the Tang newspaper. His Majesty's original words were: Take good care of your health, Governor Shi, and I will go to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty together." Pang Xian smiled and said, "When we get to the capital, there will be court reports and miscellaneous newspapers for us to read."

"That's more like it." Shi Maohua heard that there really was an imperial decree and that there were official reports to read. He shook his body contentedly and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with this car? It's not bumpy at all."

The main problem with traveling by boat and car is the bumpy ride. Shi Maohua thought the journey back to Beijing might break him apart, but the car was surprisingly comfortable.

Pang Xian could not control Shi Maohua's behavior under the pretext of treating him.

For example, this return to Beijing was Shi Maohua's own request. He wanted to take the opportunity of returning to Beijing to take a look at the Hetao area of ​​the Ming Dynasty in person so that he could die peacefully. Pang Xian originally suggested that he retire in Xi'an Prefecture, Shaanxi, but Shi Maohua set off anyway.

Moreover, he took a big detour, starting from Xi'an Prefecture and first went to Ningxia Wei, then entered Hetao, followed the Yellow River to Wuyuan Prefecture, passed Wuyuan Prefecture to Shuofang Prefecture, and finally arrived at Guihua City. This was originally the last journey of Shi Maohua's life. Pang Xian had already prepared for the possibility that Shi Maohua would not be able to complete this journey, but after Shi Maohua arrived in Hetao, his spirits became better and better.

Deep in the mountains, dead trees welcome spring again; new branches of old trees bear brighter flowers.

He put down the busy things in his hands and stopped wasting his energy. Having witnessed the re-trapping with his own eyes, Shi Maohua was in a very good mood and his body became healthier.

"This car is your majesty's hydraulic shock absorber. I am just a medical officer and don't understand the principle behind it." Pang Xian was not clear about the structure of the car. He only knew that hydraulics was the latest invention of the Royal Academy of Sciences and had been widely used.

The effect is excellent. At least Shi Maohua's car is not very bumpy.

"Very good, very good." Shi Maohua looked at Guihua City outside the window with a smile on his face, curious about everything like an old child.

"The naturalized Suiyuan governor Sanniang wants to come and see the governor. Does the governor want to see her? She's just an old relative of a barbarian chieftain." Pang Xian asked Shi Maohua for his opinion.

When Shi Maohua heard what Pang Xian said, he immediately shook his head and said, "You, don't be an official. Altan Khan is dead, and now it is the governor, Yan Chu. If you become an official, just this one sentence is contrary to the general direction of the court. No matter what you think in your heart, you must never say such words."

"The way to be an official is to be careful with your words."

"I'm not an official, and the chief medical officer is not an official." Pang Xian immediately realized that he had said something he shouldn't have said, but he soon felt relieved. He is just a doctor who cures illnesses and saves lives. Other things have nothing to do with him.

"That's true." Shi Maohua nodded when he heard this. The reason why the prescriptions from the Imperial Medical Bureau and the articles from the Hanlin Academy were not credible was actually very simple. The Imperial Medical Bureau was in a dilemma when prescribing prescriptions. A doctor is a doctor, and a doctor who knows too much about politics is an official, not a doctor.

"Sanniang has disappeared. After all, she is a local official from Suiyuan. I am just passing by. There is no need to meet her." Shi Maohua decided not to meet her. The way of being an official is to avoid unnecessary trouble. He was just passing by and seeing Sanniang, he was afraid of causing criticism. Not the criticism of mean people, but the criticism of disturbing the local area.

Shi Maohua saw a steam engine for the first time in Guihua City. He circled the iron horse, three times to the left and three times to the right. After turning several times, he pointed at the iron horse that was half the size of a room and said dully: "This thing is an iron horse? Seeing is believing. How does it work?"

Pang Xian looked at this huge monster with curiosity. The iron horse quietly stopped on the track of the road had a kind of mechanical explosive power, attracting the attention of passers-by. Pang Xian shook his head and said, "I don't know. This is Huang Zifu, the doctor of the Five Classics who is surveying the road in Suiyuan. If Governor Shi wants to know anything, he can ask him. I am just a doctor."

Huang Zifu and Tan Lun are good friends. This is the first time Huang Zifu has met Shi Maohua. Huang Zifu tries his best to describe the principle of the iron horse in simple and understandable words.

"This thing sounds simple, but it's not easy to make it." Shi Maohua patted the big guy and said with emotion. It sounds easy, but this thing is the result of years of hard work by the Five Classics Doctors of the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty, the craftsmen of the Armory, and the craftsmen of the Xishan Coal Bureau. It is really difficult to make it.

Huang Zifu smiled and said, "Since the Grand Master arrived at the Imperial Academy of Gewu, this has been miniaturized into a toy, which allows more people to understand its principle at a glance."

"Oh? What toy?" Shi Maohua's eyes lit up and he asked excitedly.

Huang Zifu asked someone to bring a steam engine model toy, which was made entirely of copper and glass. It was a small steam engine model and a small steam fan.

Wan Shihe believes that this is part of etiquette.

This is a complete set of toys, mainly featuring a small steam fan and a hydraulic robotic arm, and involves sixteen kinds of toys based on the principles of studying things, including levers, inclined planes, pulleys, magnifying glasses, microscopes, telescopes, center of gravity balanced birds, clock escapements, etc.

This set of toys is sold at cost price, seven cents of silver per set, and each toy comes with a card explaining the principle. This set of toys was launched by Wan Shihe immediately after the hot sales of "The Brief Edition of Yongle Encyclopedia".

In Wan Shihe's original words: The struggle between the Academy of Gewu and the lowly Confucian scholars is bound to be a long-term one, and this struggle is bound to be repeated. It is particularly important to win more people's interest in the study of things and make them curious about the infinite principles of all things. We must start from the children, let them study things and win at the starting point!
Shi Maohua looked at the toys and said eagerly, "Give me a set."

Shi Maohua took a fancy to the hydraulic mechanical arm. It looked very interesting. It used complicated operations to grab a wooden block and move it to another position. It was not as fast as holding it by hand. It seemed like taking off pants to fart was unnecessary. But this thing was a toy. What if it was a large machine? !

Shi Maohua, the governor of the three borders of Shaanxi and the minister of war, got on a carriage pulled by iron horses and headed for the capital. The vehicle ran extremely smoothly, and except for the occasional whistle of the pressure relief valve that would startle people, everything else was fine.

The iron horses were emitting billowing black smoke as they pulled the vehicles along the road. Amid the whistling northwest wind, the carriages passed by the green grasslands where the horses were galloping. They passed by Jining Lake and the herdsmen looked up at the iron horses whistling past. They swung their whips and drove the sheep home. They passed by the Daqing Mountain Pass and the stronghold that Qi Jiguang had built when he conquered Guihua City was still there, having become a resting place for passing merchants.

Shi Maohua came to Xuanfu and saw the prosperity of Kou City.

Kou City is outside the city of Xuanfu. Now is the last period of preparation for winter storage. The whole Kou City is full of cabbages, and salt and kelp are sold with the cabbages. These three kinds of goods are the most important supplies for the entire grassland to survive the winter. In addition, there is coal.

Shi Maohua spent the whole day in Kou City and talked with the supervisor of Kou City for a long time, asking about prices, commodity trading volume and so on.

It was not until dark that Shi Maohua returned to the inn with satisfaction. He wrote down what he had seen and heard along the way in a memorial. It was not until Pang Xian reminded him that it was time for a break that Shi Maohua put down his pen with a reluctant look on his face.

It is true that the Ming Dynasty now has various problems, but the current Ming Dynasty is really good. He sees that the people of the Ming Dynasty and the border residents can live and work in peace and contentment. This is the greatest comfort in his life. Tan Lun did not see the scene of people living and working in peace and contentment.

Shi Maohua's carriage crossed the 70-meter Huailai Bridge, passed through the Juyongguan Tunnel, passed through Juyongguan, arrived outside the Ming Dynasty's Xitucheng, and finally stayed at the Huitongguan Inn in the capital.

The emperor had already packed up Shi Maohua's house in Beijing before he left, and was now arranging for someone to do the final cleaning. His family members were all taken to the capital, and he would live out his days in the capital.

Shi Maohua sent his observations and reports of retirement to the palace. He was not allowed to return home after retirement to prevent the emergence of powerful and wealthy people who could not be dealt with. Xu Jie annexed 400,000 acres of land from Songjiang Prefecture and was the owner of half of Huating County. This was a lesson.

It is also a kind of deprivation of love that a senior official is not allowed to return to his hometown after retirement. Fallen leaves cannot return to their roots, but they can be buried in the Western Hills Mausoleum and become a member of the list of heroes of the Wanli Reform.

Just like the policy changes brought about by the theory of contradiction to the Ming Dynasty, the changes brought about by the theory of public and private were also subtle and were changing the Ming Dynasty bit by bit. Meritorious officials like Shi Maohua, who made huge contributions to the Guochao, the largest collective of the Ming Dynasty, were not only loyal ministers of the emperor, but also meritorious officials of the Ming Dynasty and the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun was very happy!
Since Shi Maohua had become much healthier after not dealing with miscellaneous affairs and witnessing the process of Suiyuan's kingship, Zhu Yijun did not intend to let Shi Maohua continue to waste his energy. He promoted him to the position of Prince Grand Tutor, approved Shi Maohua's retirement petition, and gave him an idle job at the Military Academy. Together with the already retired Ma Fang and Liu Xian, they formed a retired trio to focus on the training of Ming Dynasty's common officers.

"It's not that I will use a person to death just because he is useful. This person must have something to do. Otherwise, his spirit will be lost due to doing nothing, and he will get sick." Zhu Yijun explained the reason for his arrangement.

What is aspiration? Zhu Yijun didn't know, but he had seen many people like this. After a busy life, they would fall ill as soon as they unloaded their burdens. Some people would die within a year.

"Your Majesty, Li Le is waiting outside the palace." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that Li Le was still in the palace and would not leave until he had reported on his work.

"Xuan."

Li Le walked into the imperial study of Tonghe Palace and greeted respectfully.

"I know everything you have done in the Southern Court. You have done a great job. I am very pleased." Zhu Yijun asked Li Leping to sit down while he spoke, and the first sentence he said was a compliment.

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. I dare not take credit for it. It is all due to your Majesty's virtue and support. I have limited talents, so I have the opportunity to display them. I should be loyal to you." Li Le bowed his head quickly and said that he did not do a very good job. He had just taken over the position of governor and he was also too hasty.

"I still remember that you once tricked Wang Ci Fu at the Quan Chu Guild Hall, and Wang Ci Fu still remembers it till now." Zhu Yijun talked about the old times, which was reminiscing about the past, and reminiscing about the past was to keep in touch.

After Zhu Yijun and Li Le chatted about some old things, he talked about Li Le's memorial.

"I cannot issue an edict to ban extravagance because it is impossible to do so." Zhu Yijun said with a hint of helplessness.

Li Le agreed and said, "Your Majesty, I mentioned this matter in the hope that it would attract your attention. Changing customs and habits is not something that can be achieved overnight. I was too hasty and made a fool of myself. This kind of thing can only be done slowly."

"If we issue an edict to ban extravagance, I am afraid that cunning people will use the emperor's will to do unjust things."

Faced with the temptation of money, the Ming Dynasty was now filled with an atmosphere of competing for luxury. Zhu Yijun did not issue an edict to ban extravagance, because issuing an edict would be useless and would only consume the reputation of the Ming Emperor. Although Zhu Yijun's reputation was infinite, a little loss would not matter.

But the problem is that the ban on extravagance will become a tool for some people, such as making up excuses to empty the treasury, extorting the money of the rich and the lives of the villains, and levying heavy taxes in the name of banning extravagance.

This happened more than once in the Ming Dynasty. For example, starting from the 800th year of Wanli, due to the complete overthrow of Zhang Juzheng's new policy, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue once again returned to the disturbing level of the th year of Longqing. And because the budget for the construction of the imperial mausoleum of Emperor Wanli exceeded million taels of silver, the national treasury was empty. In order to collect taxes, Emperor Wanli launched the mining supervision, which was to let the eunuchs of the inner office go to various places in the Ming Dynasty to set up checkpoints and collect points. Emperor Wanli only wanted silver, and these eunuchs did everything they could to get what they wanted. For example, the eunuchs who went to Nanjing sold the forest farm of Zhu Yuanzhang's Xiaoling Mausoleum at some point.

Eunuchs have always collected taxes in this way. Their fanatical pursuit of silver makes them have no rules at all when it comes to taxation. They have complete and absolute freedom to levy taxes.

The mining supervisors were levying heavy taxes, and the local authorities seized the opportunity, creating various excuses and joining in the fun. The Ming Dynasty became chaotic and the national situation deteriorated visibly.

The struggle of the mining supervisors did not end until the first year of the Tianqi reign, and lasted for more than thirty-four years. Eventually, Emperors Wanli and Taichang issued two edicts to recall the eunuchs, which ended the mining supervisors' struggle. The mining supervisors no longer amassed wealth, but the various exorbitant taxes and levies set by the local governments were not abolished.

The entire struggle process was a thirty-four-year period in which the country lost its credibility and people were suspicious. During this period, all the credibility of the emperor and the court was overdrawn, in exchange for not very sufficient tax revenue.

Giving up all the achievements of Zhang Juzheng's new policies in exchange for temporary peace may be the thing that Emperor Wanli regretted the most, because he was really short of money later. When Japan attacked Korea and court officials called for an attack on Japan's homeland and the destruction of Japan, Emperor Wanli had no choice but to negotiate.

The next unenforceable decree will be an excuse for local governments to come up with new pretexts.

Li Le returned to Beijing to report on his work. He did not come to put pressure on the teacher or the emperor. He did not have the ability to do so. He just discovered the phenomenon and asked the court to be vigilant.

"How are the people in Nan Ya Cao Ge Suoqi doing now?" Zhu Yijun asked seriously.

"Now they are all working in shipyards and government factories. Your Majesty, there is a severe shortage of manpower in all places and in all walks of life." Li Le talked about the resettlement work. These are all labor forces. There is a shortage of manpower everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. Even Tamsui Town and Xinglong Village on Jilong Island have come to Nan Ya to recruit carpenters.

Zhu Yijun thought that these people would be in trouble, but it seems that he was overthinking it. It was not that the law did not hold everyone accountable, but that the Ming Dynasty was short of workers.

The 3712 million silver coins that Zhu Yijun invested in opening up the sea were constantly expanding. Although Zhu Yijun's treasury had stopped investing, the government-owned factories that had already been built were operating stably, and the retained profits also allowed the government-owned factories to continue to expand production.

Zhu Yijun and Li Le communicated about this matter for a long time before they understood why the decree to abolish the slave system could be implemented. The investment led by the emperor and the court drove economic development, and handicraft workshops sprang up everywhere, and these workshops needed people.

Ninety percent of the people in the Ming Dynasty were farmers, and only a few were willing to leave the land and work in workshops. In the face of a shortage of manpower, abolishing slavery and establishing free employment relationships became a natural thing to do.

"The powerful and wealthy in Jiangnan have thought about hiring some foreigners, but these foreigners are really... hard to describe, and in the end they can only think of a solution in the hinterland." Li Le talked about the solution of the Ming Dynasty handicraft workshop owners. Some powerful and wealthy people hired some local natives in the Yuanxu Islands, but found that they were really difficult to use.

“Sometimes they are lazy, and sometimes they are diligent.”

Li Le talked about the situation that the powerful and wealthy encountered when they were developing the Yuanxun Islands. The natives were too lazy to move without waving whips, and the fields were full of weeds, but they didn't care.

As for diligence, the hardworking natives would start to work hard on the bricks that had just been baked in the factory, and take them to their homes. It was the same situation in any plantation. As long as they were away for seven days, the bricks would be moved cleanly. In order to prevent them from being emptied, they had to build adobe walls and moats.

"This phenomenon is actually because they work so hard but cannot get paid, so it gradually becomes like this." Li Le thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, there is a copper mine in Manila, Luzon, now called Tongxiang Town, which is a copper-gold associated mine."

"I know Tongxiang Town. The last time it was Chen Chengyi, the general manager of Tongxiang Town, who went to Beijing to receive an appointment. Now there are eleven copper mountains in Luzon, and Chen Chengyi is one of the scholars who were specially granted an imperial examination by me." Zhu Yijun nodded immediately. Chen Chengyi was one of the mainstays under Guo Xing Zhengmao. The eleven copper towns were the cornerstones for the Governor-General's Office of Luzon to maintain its rule.

Li Le then continued, "The place in Tongxiang Town was originally called Lanbei Gold Mountain. The Spanish colonists would kill anyone who dared to secretly pan for gold. They would hang the person upside down on a tree to deter the natives from panning for gold."

"There was a gold prospector named Harry. He was originally a farmer near Manila. But one day, the red-haired foreigners drove him away with muskets. He left his land and went to live with his married daughter fifty miles away."

"Harry went to live with his daughter, but when he arrived, he found that his son-in-law was beating his daughter. Harry took out all his savings and gave them to his son-in-law, asking him to stop beating his daughter. Then he built a thatched hut. Without land, Harry had to go to the Lambe Gold Mountain to secretly pan for gold."

"Every morning he would eat only a taro and some salt before going out to pan for gold. If he could catch a monkey or a snake on the way, that would be his first meal. He couldn't beat crocodiles, so he had to run away when he saw one."

"He mined gold in secret and sold the gold he mined to workshops. In the third year of panning, he finally saved enough money to buy a shovel."

"Wait a minute!" Zhu Yijun frowned and asked in confusion, "He risked his life to pan for gold, but after three years, he only changed his shovel?"

Li Le said helplessly: "Yes, the gold sand is indeed very expensive, but the local workshops only pay a little bit, a little salt or grain. In the third year, he changed to a shovel, thinking that he would be able to pan out more gold this time."

"On the third day, his shovel was stolen..."

Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment, looked at Li Le blankly and said: "It was stolen?"

"Yes, this is the beginning of the tragedy. Because the old shovel has been pledged to the workshop, Old Harry can only dig for gold with his hands." Li Le said helplessly: "What makes Old Harry sad is that his son-in-law is still beating his daughter after three years."

"In the sixth year of gold mining, Old Harry hadn't saved enough money for a second shovel, and his son-in-law beat his daughter more and more frequently. It was all because of Old Harry's involvement, which made his son-in-law feel that Old Harry was taking advantage of their family."

"Old Harry knows it's time to die."

"When Old Harry decided to take a risk and go deep into the mining area to pan for high-grade gold, he saw that the cross flag had been replaced by the Big Dipper flag. Old Harry had heard of the Big Dipper flag, but those legends were too old, so old that Old Harry had forgotten what the flag represented."

"Now, Old Harry is the boss of the No. 17 Mine in Tongxiang Town. His son-in-law has finally stopped beating his daughter and has been hanging around Old Harry all day, hoping that Old Harry can get other relatives to help and arrange for them to work in the mine."

"We can't help. This group is bound to cause trouble." Zhu Yijun said immediately. This son-in-law was arrogant at first but servile later. He was not a good person. Helping him would not show any gratitude, but only hatred.

Li Le smiled and said, "Old Harry certainly knows, so he doesn't say he will help or not. Old Harry is a microcosm of the local civilians in Luzon. There are countless people like him in Luzon. They work hard all day long, but they don't get paid for their hard work. Over time, they become lazy and diligent. They are lazy when working, but diligent when stealing."

"Where did you hear about this?" Zhu Yijun asked with some confusion.

Li Le explained, "In June of this year, Old Harry escorted 5 million kilograms of copper materials to Xingang, of which 3 million kilograms were to go to Nan Ya. I met Old Harry at that time. Old Harry said that he used to be very thin, skinny, and liked to steal things. He was almost killed by Chen Chengyi because he stole things from the mine, but he was spared because he was short of people at the time."

"Old Harry is not fat now, but he has some meat on his body and is very strong. Old Harry said: If you work for Daming, Daming will really pay you."

“It’s not because you’re lazy that you’re poor, it’s because you’re poor that you’re lazy.”

Li Le finished telling the story of Old Harry. The Old Harry he was talking about in Luzon was also talking about the poor coolies in Ming Dynasty. Putting aside the debate between Chinese and barbarians, these were the people at the bottom of society. In fact, they were not lacking in diligence, but the long-term mismatch between labor and remuneration led to widespread laziness.

"Suffering is suffering, and it is never worth singing about," Zhu Yijun nodded.

"Your Majesty, I think the alienation of money to people is mainly a distribution problem. The people are not seeking to be rich, but to live a stable life. If labor and labor remuneration match, then envy will not turn into jealousy, and people will not lose their basic rationality and become slaves to money." Li Le showed his true colors. He used the story of old Harry to talk about the struggles of poor coolies, but in fact he wanted to fully explain his understanding of the trend of competing for luxury.

Envy is rational, and everyone naturally envies a good life, but jealousy is irrational. When envy slides into jealousy, it loses rationality.

Losing rationality is the beginning of alienation, which is extremely dangerous.

Li Le bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, let those dandies compete for wealth! A life of debauchery is too far away from the common people. A hundred silver coins for a flower basket is a sum that the common people can never reach in their lifetime. I believe that hard work pays off, and diligence pays off. Only in this way can the world be peaceful and the people be harmonious!"

"My dear minister, you are now able to take charge of things on your own and protect me from the wind and rain." Zhu Yijun said sincerely, "Li Le, my master is old now. His affairs and reputation after death cannot be taken care of by me alone. We need more people to help."

"Since the Wanli Reform, you have offended everyone you can and cannot offend, including me. To protect the new policy, we must protect your affairs and reputation after your death. Li Le, I hope you can help me."

This was a request, but also a promise. It was the first time that Zhu Yijun made such a frank statement.

Your Majesty's frugality has backfired and has left Mr. Zhang with a head full of bruises. Zhang Juzheng did offend the emperor because of his frugality, but the emperor just didn't care.

"I will definitely live up to your trust, Your Majesty!" Li Le shook his sleeves, bowed deeply, and said loudly.

Li Le was completely relieved. Although His Majesty seemed a little greedy, petty, and vindictive, His Majesty's promises were always golden words, and he would fulfill them as long as he made a promise.

Promises are meant to be fulfilled, otherwise why make promises?
This is a guarantee, a guarantee to all members of Zhang’s party. Go ahead and do it boldly. Even if Zhang Juzheng is gone, the Ming Dynasty will continue to promote the new policy!

Zhu Yijun said very calmly: "This is not just a teacher-student relationship, it is the country and society of the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the hope of billions of people."

When Li Le left, he took a set of toys, the Principles of Things toys. Zhu Yijun asked Li Le to give them to the children to play with.

When he returned to Beijing to report on his work, His Majesty rewarded him with many things, but Li Le liked this toy of the principle of investigation of things the most. Like Wang Jiaping, he was very interested in all kinds of new things in the Ming Dynasty after arriving in Beijing, but there were some things he could not understand.

Li Le looked at the sixteen toys in front of him and thought it would not be too late to give them to his children after he had played with them enough.

As the Minister of Rites, Wan Shihe sounded the clarion call for an attack on Confucian ethics. This toy and the cards on it, combined with the abridged version of the Yongle Encyclopedia, were designed to dig out the roots of Confucian etiquette and laws, starting from childhood.

(End of this chapter)