Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 167
This decree was expected by Zhang Yifan, but also unexpected by many people.

First of all, the conclusion is obvious. In this battle with the Prince Consort, everyone including Yongjia Hou suffered a complete defeat.

This decree declares to the world that the emperor absolutely supports the prince-in-law's new policy in Xiangshan County and will not be swayed by anyone's opposition.

The father and son of Marquis Yongjia were escorted to the capital for interrogation by the three divisions.

The other captured squires from various places were charged with colluding with pirates and were dealt with by King Yan.

Zhu Di is very much like Zhu Yuanzhang. To outsiders, he will definitely be tough when he can be tough. He killed all these people in Guangzhou!
The leaders of the pirates, such as Ma Rujiang and others, were handed over to Xiangshan County for Ming Zhengdian punishment, which also started with the death penalty.

Lan Yu replaced Yongjiahou to guard Guangdong. This can be regarded as a party of relatives of the emperor. He gave Zhang Yifan support and Yongjiahou would not hold him back again.

Zhu Xian was not affected, but he wrote to the emperor, requesting to fight for the country and go to the northwest to play.

All these things made everyone optimistic about Xiangshan County.Even if there are still people who are against Xiangshan County's new policies, they don't dare to show it and can only bury it in their hearts.

As a result, Xiangshan County has almost become a hot spot in Guangdong.

More and more people are going to Xiangshan County to look for opportunities.All kinds of goods also flow to Xiangshan County. Who makes Xiangshan County rich? Even reading and literacy can make money!

The population of a county in the Ming Dynasty was calculated based on the registered population, with an average of about 10 people.

Xiangshan County was originally the most remote county in Guangdong. Because of Yuan Dian Shi Ma Ruhai's dominance, the people's livelihood in Xiangshan County was in decline. The population on paper was only about 5.

Later, Zhang Yifan reformed the household registration and re-registered, and there were more than 7 people in Xiangshan County.

Xiangshan County is divided into 11 districts. Of course, the population distribution is more or less.

Zhang Yifan wanted to fulfill his promise, so he held a literacy competition in the square of the county government on a unit basis.

On this day, the people in Xiangshan County were talking about this matter.Especially in Fangdu, when it's their turn, every household puts on New Year's clothes, and the whole family, men, women, old and young, rushes to the square to participate in the competition.

As long as you know a word, you may get a penny. Naturally, such an easy way to make money does not discriminate between men, women, and children.

Zhu Di naturally participated in such a rare event.

The sergeants who maintained order in the square were also sent by him.Because the soldiers of Baihu Station in Xiangshan County can also participate in the competition as long as it is their turn.

The navy soldiers isolated passages and divided the area into two parts: the competition area and the audience area.

On the temporary stage set up, Zhang Yifan introduced Zhu Di: "Look, they queue up. They have to write down their names first, get a number, and then go to the competition area to wait. If they get a number later, they can Let’s start the literacy competition.”

"Your move is really...not bad!" Zhu Di looked at the crowd below, shook his head with a smile, "Look over there, those two little dolls are also competing, and over there..."

The old ones need someone to help them; the young ones still have hugs, both boys and girls, and there are also many old men and old ladies, which really opened Zhu Di's eyes!

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan said with a smile: "The poorer the place, the more active they will be in using this trick. Because for them, even if they only know a word and get a penny, that is great."

"Haha, don't brag first, let's see the results later." After hearing this, Zhu Di also said with a smile, "You may not be able to spend this thousand dollars!"

Theoretically speaking, one thousand guan of money can only be taken away by a thousand people who can read the entire Thousand Character Text.It's just a lower-class county. It's absolutely impossible for so many people to be literate.

Zhang Yifan did not refute this. Anyway, the result will be announced soon, and it will be easy to see.

There are ten lines in total, regardless of gender, all lining up to write their names and receive numbers.

Zhang Yifan and Zhu Di were bored sitting all the time, so they walked over to see what was going on.

Especially Zhu Di, when he saw a little girl about seven or eight years old standing in line, he went over and took a look: Wang Yinv.

Seeing this name, Zhu Di smiled and said to Zhang Yifan: "Why does this name look so much like yours?"

Zhang Yifan smiled and did not answer. It was hard for him to say. Many people who did not have a name chose Zhang Yi, Wang Yi, Liu Yi, etc. in order to pass the test of writing names. Anyway, there is no word better than "一." "The handwriting is better."

Only this surname cannot be changed, and those with complicated strokes can only blame their ancestors.

It is also for this reason that Zhang Yifan stipulated that names will be numbered to show distinction.Otherwise, if there are two families with the surname Liu, their children will all look like Liu Yi and Liu Er. How can you tell them apart?Not to mention, there are more than two families named Liu.

I saw these people who came to the competition, after writing their names crookedly on the paper, the clerk would rewrite his name on another piece of paper, and then mark which team according to A, B, C, D, and then In addition, the numbers in Arabic numerals were marked on both sheets, and then the one written by the scribe was given to the contestant for him (her) to hold, and the other sheet was folded and thrown into the lottery box .

"What's the word?" Zhu Di was a little curious when he saw it, and asked quietly in a low voice.

How can the majestic King Yan be illiterate?Don't let outsiders hear it!

Zhang Yifan smiled after hearing this and answered him in a low voice: "These are numbers. It's easy to write. I saw it was useful, so I used it."

Arabic numerals have actually been introduced to China a long time ago, but they have not been accepted by China. They will not be accepted by China until mathematics is widely used in the late Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, China actually had this kind of thing, but it’s really hard to say in which corner you can see it.Zhang Yifan doesn’t need to introduce anything about Arabic numerals.

"Is it easy to use?" Zhu Di asked disapprovingly after hearing this.

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan walked back to the stand, and then asked Zhu Di: "You want to lead an army. I know that there are 230 six people in a thousand households, and they all lead 120 and three soldiers. How many troops does your army have in total?" "

Zhu Di: "..."

Zhang Yifan smiled when he saw it and said, "I'll give you the abacus, let's compare?"

Zhu Di: "..."

If you don’t like this yourself, why should you compare?
Zhang Yifan failed him because there was no quill pen on the table and his calligraphy was too poor. Zhu Di, who was successful at this time, would be slapped in the face by him because Zhu Di's handwriting was slightly better than his.

I saw him picking up the brush and starting to calculate the equations, and then said to Zhu Di at the same time: "Let me show you my method!"

It was just a simple multiplication and the answer was soon there.

Then he said to Zhu Di: "Look, this kind of number, from 0 to 9, can be written in one stroke. Isn't it much faster?"

When Zhu Di saw it, he did not immediately agree. He called a scribe and asked him to calculate it with an abacus. After comparing it with Zhang Yifan's answer, he began to seriously look at these strange numerical characters.

After a while, he nodded and said, "It's indeed simpler, but to be honest, it's so ugly!"

Zhang Yifan: "..."

Seeing his expression, Zhu Di quickly explained: "I mean, this symbol is so ugly, not that your handwriting is ugly."

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan asked him: "Then do you think we humans invented words to look good or to help memory?"

"Of course it's to help with memory!" After hearing this, Zhu Di answered without thinking, then paused and then added, "It also has to look good!"

Zhang Yifan ignored him, and after a while, he asked him again: "Words are a tool to help memory, and they are also a tool for inheritance. This is its main function. If it is based on this purpose, then the simpler The easier words are to memorize, the easier they are to help pass on. But I think today’s words are too complicated to write.”

At this point, he pointed to the crowd in the audience and said to Zhu Di: "Look at them, each one of them is thinking of naming one, two, three, four, just to make it easier to write. So I think we need to make more names If the common people are literate and learn more of the good things passed down by their ancestors, the threshold for writing must be lowered. In other words, the writing must be simplified and easy to remember, what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di turned to look at the crowd below, then turned back to Zhang Yifan, and said seriously: "What you said seems to make sense."

Zhang Yifan also said seriously: "Look at my Xiangshan County. In the past, we have spent a lot of effort to recruit people who can read and write to serve as clerks and clerks. There is no way. There are too many people who can read and write." Less. Why I set up this competition is not because there is a lot of money, but because there is a real shortage of people!"

"So, I plan to promote some simple and easy-to-remember ones in Xiangshan County. I don't ask for any beauty or not, I just want more useful people to use them."

After hearing this, Zhu Di nodded and said, "That's not bad!"

Zhang Yifan knows that it is not easy to break the tradition.If you take too big a step, you can easily pull your balls.Therefore, it is definitely not possible to promote simplified characters, but Arabic numerals can be used to test the waters first.

He is currently chatting with his good friend Zhu Di about this idea, and will influence him first, and then slowly influence others. He hopes that one day in the future, it can influence more people, making it easier to popularize culture, and also for To pave the way for the promotion of scientific knowledge.

The two of them were chatting on the stage. After an unknown amount of time, Zhang San came up to the stage and said: "My son-in-law, Your Highness, all the preparations have been completed, and the competition can begin!"

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he turned around and looked down the stage. He saw that in the competition area, there were families gathered in piles, holding a piece of paper in their hands and whispering.It looks like they are recognizing each other's numbers.

Because Zhang Yifan realized that there were too many names with the same name, and if they were announced at short notice, no one might be able to remember them well, so the whole family helped memorize them.

At this time, after Zhang Yifan heard Zhang San's report, he waved his hand, and a group of sergeants brought several baskets from behind the stage, and with a "crash", all the contents fell onto the stage at once.

These things are nothing but copper coins.

The sound of pouring money was indeed not loud, but the original "buzzing" sound in the square suddenly disappeared.Regardless of whether they were bowing their heads or chatting with other people, they all turned their heads to look at the stage.

Looking at the mountain of copper coins, it was like magic, firmly attracting everyone's attention.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Yifan walked to the stage and shouted loudly: "There is plenty of money; those with talent can take it. I announce that the competition has begun!"

After he finished speaking, he reached out, pulled out a folded piece of paper from a large box in front of him, and then opened it.

During this process, everyone's eyes were on the magistrate's movements, and they all listened with ears pricked up.

Zhang Yifan opened it and read out: "Number A-1342, come on stage and learn to read!"

There was a row of soldiers below who were specially used to deliver messages. After hearing the words of the Prince Consort, they roared out unchanged.

"Number A-1342, come on stage and learn how to read!"

There is no way, there is no speaker at this time, even if the paper is rolled into a bucket, it will not be transmitted very far.Therefore, it can only be transmitted manually.

When the sergeant shouted the words, you could see that most of the people in the competition area immediately lowered their heads to look at the piece of paper in their hands, and at the same time there was a "buzzing" sound.

"Oh, it's not me, we are from Team C!"

"Team A, our family is all here, take a look, how many numbers are there?"

"..."

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman excitedly held up a piece of paper and shouted loudly: "It's me, it's me, it's me..."

Hearing this voice, many people felt regretful and then turned to look.

Most people in Fangdu know each other.

Upon seeing this, many people suddenly started whispering again.

"Isn't that Butcher Qian's wife? She's the one with the loudest voice when selling meat, so no wonder she can shout so loudly!"

"I couldn't even write my own name before. How many words can I recognize now?"

"Don't you know? Qian Wangyi, her name is, it is said that Butcher Qian beat her with a butcher's knife until her butt became swollen before she could write it well."

"Haha, it would be embarrassing if you didn't recognize a word of it!"

"..."

People who are close by, including fellow villagers, also have prospects for that middle-aged woman.

This Qian Wangyi probably didn't hear anything because of the middle-aged woman. He glared and replied: "If I get the money, you can give me a double portion; if you don't get a cent, half a catty of pork, here you go." Don’t you want to gamble?”

Hearing this, the people around him laughed. Some wanted to bet, some did not want to bet, and some analyzed the odds. It was very lively.

Zhang Yifan watched this scene on the stage and did not stop.

This competition is not an imperial examination. At most, it is the kind that guides people to read, become literate, and enjoy themselves with the people.

The people below are making noise, just look happy.

But obviously, someone was unhappy and shouted loudly: "Stop dawdling, it's a waste of time, don't you know, hurry up!"

Each workshop lasts for one day. To prepare, it means one afternoon, one and a half hours.If it's so ink-stained, I don't know how many people will be drawn in the end.

Upon hearing this shout, others began to urge him.

This Qian Wangyi, under the gaze of everyone, walked up to the stand with his head held high.

However, as soon as he arrived in the stands and faced the county magistrate, the aura of killing pigs and selling meat suddenly disappeared, and he became a little uneasy.

She didn't know whether it was because she was about to become literate or because she saw the county magistrate at such a close distance that made her uneasy.

Zhang Yifan didn't say anything, walked to another wooden box, took out a piece of paper, unfolded it, faced Qian Wangyi, and asked at the same time: "What is this word?"

At this time, everyone was watching, and the original "buzzing" sound disappeared without realizing it.

Qian Wangyi clenched his hands, a little uneasy. When he saw the word, he was overjoyed and shouted quickly: "Day, day, this is the word day!"

The joy is beyond words.

This word, simple, happened to be a word she knew.

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan smiled slightly and said to the scribe next to him: "Record, know a word!"

Then, he folded the word again, put it aside first, and then went to get another word from the wooden box.

The people below, after seeing this on the stage, started whispering again.

"I know this word too, what a pity!"

"Who says it's not? It's a simple word. I think everyone knows it. It's really shit luck!"

"..."

During this meeting, Zhang Yifan took out another word and unfolded it.

Qian Wangyi may have recognized the first word just now. At this time, he gained confidence and obviously relaxed a little.

When she saw the second word, she showed a look of ecstasy again and shouted loudly: "Oh my God, my God, this is the word Tian!"

It was really amazing. This second word happened to be one of the few words she knew. This was equivalent to earning two cents!
She actually didn't know that there was something fishy in this literacy box.

Zhang Yifan classified the characters in the Thousand-Character Essay in advance and divided them into several piles according to the level of easy or difficult to pronounce.

Looking at the middle-aged woman on stage, he picked out the words that were easiest to pronounce and took the test.

Of course, it's definitely not because the middle-aged woman who butchered a pig is as beautiful as a flower, but because she is the first one. If she goes down without knowing a word, the atmosphere will not be enthusiastic enough.

That's it, when Qian Wang recognized the fifth one, it was actually quite simple, but she blushed and read it blindly once, but it turned out to be wrong, and she lost the qualification to continue literacy.

But she was still obviously very happy. She took four copper coins from the pile of money and lifted them high up into the stands.For those who didn't know better, they thought she was returning from a victorious battle.

Immediately, the atmosphere in the square became even more enthusiastic.Even the daughter-in-law who kills pigs can win four cents, which makes other people even more confident.

So, all kinds of aunts and sisters, uncles and children, who had their numbers called, came on stage one after another and began to read and collect money.

After presiding over the first dozen or so, Zhang Yifan went back to sit with Zhu Di, and then watched the competition of literacy and receiving money continue.

At the beginning, Zhu Di didn't actually take it seriously, but as the literacy competition continued, he finally became serious.

(End of this chapter)