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

Chapter 267 Bold assumptions, careful verification

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yifan replied without hesitation: "Father, the weather in Nanyang is hot and is most suitable for growing sugar cane!"

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

This son-in-law wanted to encourage him to use foreign troops when he saw the opportunity!
Thinking like this, he shook his head and said: "Let's deal with the remnants of Meng Yuan first!"

Zhang Yifan listened and reminded: "Father, what I want from you is that you can let Nanyang grow sugar cane and we can buy it. In this way, Nanyang can provide us with sugar cane in addition to food!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little dumbfounded.The son-in-law's impression of being tough on the outside was so profound that he thought of using troops to attack him.

If you're just doing business, it doesn't matter.

So, he answered Zhang Yifan: "Didn't you always ask Xiangshan County to buy grain from Nanyang for this kind of thing? Now that you have to do this sugar cane thing again, then just do it yourself, I don't care!"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan immediately said: "Sugar cane is not easy to transport, so we have to build a sugar factory there. Then send people to Nanyang to build a factory?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard that it was just business, he didn't care and said: "Yes!"

With permission, you can go to Nanyang to establish plantations.Yes, the first step has been taken.

At this time, it was getting late, so Zhang Yifan said goodbye to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao and returned.

The next day, Zhang Yifan took the initiative to find Zhu Biao, but unfortunately, Zhu Biao was very busy, so he told the princess. He went to find her the next day, saying that when he sent people to sea, his father was Agreed.

When he went again, Zhu Biao was waiting for him.As soon as they met, he smiled and said, "Yifan, why are you in such a hurry?"

In his opinion, the New Year will be celebrated soon, so we should wait until after the New Year.As a result, Zhang Yifan just couldn't wait.

Zhang Yifan was very thick-skinned when he became thick-skinned. He was not afraid to speak out. He just said with a smile: "I am just anxious, because I think it will take at least three to five years to go to sea. It is too long!"

When Zhu Biao heard this, he nodded with a smile and said: "That's true, the time is not short. So, do you have any ideas?"

"Let's talk in the room." Zhang Yifan said as Zhu Biao walked out of the palace door.

At this time, the Crown Princess happened to come over after hearing the news. She heard that they were going to discuss something, so she ignored them.

After arriving in the hall, Zhang Yifan took out a piece of paper, spread it on the table, and then said to Zhu Biao who was following him: "Brother, I drew a rough picture based on the news I heard. Our world is probably like this …”

Upon hearing what he said, Zhu Biao was very curious and went over to take a look.

On the drawing Zhang Yifan unfolded, there were some messy things drawn on it, but they were marked with Chinese characters, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty was very obvious.Suddenly, he became more curious and immediately looked at it carefully.

Zhu Biao can distinguish the original Goryeo, Japan, Jiaozhi, etc.But further away, he didn't know.However, there are still marks on Zhang Yifan's map.Persia, India, Rome, etc. all have their own labels.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Biao asked in surprise: "How do you know so much?"

Zhang Yifan listened and said with a smile: "Didn't the Mongols fight all the way to the west and get here? They suffered defeats in this place. There is also the Silk Road, and you can also hear some news. . I roughly drew it. But you can be sure that the map will not be accurate, that is, it is only a rough estimate. The countries marked here may not be there anymore. Everything is possible..."

He didn't come up with an accurate map of the world, but he drew a good one. Anyway, he could find an excuse to draw more accurately.

He even painted the North and South American continents.However, he did not write specific information, but put a question mark there.

No, he pointed over there and said: "According to the legend of Xiyi, there may be a huge territory here. It is said that the people here still live like savages. It is really unimaginable that there is such a place in the world. place?"

"Brother, do you think so? The barbarians we think of are probably much more civilized than them."

Zhu Biao was also surprised when he heard this, a bit unimaginable.But suddenly, as if he had discovered a new continent, he picked up the paper Zhang Yifan spread on the table, rolled it up, and asked Zhang Yifan in surprise: "Yifan, didn't you say that the earth we live in is round? In this way , then isn’t this place where the legendary savages live just across the sea from us?”

Zhang Yifan praised Zhu Biao's cleverness in his heart, and then nodded with a smile and said: "Brother is really awesome, he discovered this. I was also thinking about this, so I was anxious to ask him to send people to see if this is the case. of?"

At this time, Zhu Biao's interest was also very high. He looked at the rolled up map and kept checking it.

Then, he made a new discovery and pointed with his hand: "Yifan, why is there a question mark here in Nanyang? Is there such a big territory here?"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan quickly replied: "Brother, didn't I have business with Nanyang when I was in Xiangshan County? I also heard about it, but I couldn't confirm whether it was true or not, so I made a bold assumption, first assuming that there was, and then Be careful to verify, and just wait to send someone over to see if it is true!"

"What a bold hypothesis, be careful to verify it!" After hearing this, Zhu Biao didn't take his eyes off the map, but praised, "This should be the new attitude you advocate, right?"

Zhang Yifan listened, nodded and said: "Yes, I have always advocated this in my new studies."

"Okay, okay!" Zhu Biao nodded again, but suddenly, he seemed to find something again. He raised his head and looked at Zhang Yifan and said: "From this map, if you want to go around in a circle, you have to go by sea. good?"

"Yes, we have to send a fleet!" Zhang Yifan still nodded after hearing this.

After hearing this, Zhu Biao frowned slightly and said: "This sea route is still a bit dangerous. Look at this, you have to cross such a wide sea. What if you encounter a typhoon? This is really dangerous!"

This is for sure. Zhang Yifan did not hide it, but affirmed it and said: "It's really hard to say how many of the fleets sent out will come back. The whole army may be annihilated. That's why we have to prepare in advance. I can also sail out As for the reward, as long as I can come back in the end, I will reward you heavily!"

Now at this time, he has the financial resources to say this.

Zhang Yifan continued to speak righteously: "This is not only to prove my new knowledge, but also to help our Ming Dynasty understand the world, bring back specialties from other places, and improve our life in the Ming Dynasty. It is all beneficial. In the future we Ming Dynasty has a lot of things, and if you want to sell them, you can know who to sell them to!" After hearing these words, Zhu Biao finally turned serious and considered the matter patiently.

He believed that when he heard what his brother-in-law said before, even his father probably didn't think too much about it.

Going to sea is not that easy, and the benefits may not be immediately apparent.However, in the long run, from the perspective of the Ming Emperor, this is actually necessary.

Thinking like this, Zhu Biao said to Zhang Yifan seriously: "Okay, let's think about this carefully and figure out what to do!"

Zhang Yifan wanted more to prove his new learning, no matter the cost. He was the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so of course he had to prepare for a rainy day. It was always right to make more preparations.

So, the two of them discussed the matter carefully.

This discussion exceeded anyone's expectations.Even the Crown Princess came over twice and found that they had been discussing issues, so she didn't interrupt.

The source and number of people going to sea and what occupations they need need to be determined. The ships used must also be the best. What weapons to bring, what gifts to bring, etc. must also be discussed.

We must also consider which route to take, how to deal with the locals, and what to do if there is an enmity.

……

In short, there are many things to consider.Especially because Zhu Biao didn't know much about it and couldn't take it into consideration, Zhang Yifan actually knew it and wanted to bring it up to let Zhu Biao know.

This is what I said for a whole day.It wasn't until the evening that I had a first draft.

For the time being, there are three ways to gather people who go to sea, prisoners who make mistakes, appointed officials, and people who offer rewards.

The He family of Dongguan has always wanted to show favor to the prince. In the past, Zhu Biao was lukewarm. Now he decided to let the He family of Dongguan appoint someone to lead the team.

As the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao has this ability. If he performs well in the He family, he can reuse them in the future.In addition, the He family is running business in Nanyang and is familiar with sea routes, which is also a consideration.

Zhang Yifan offered each person a settling-in allowance of 1000 guan, and would recruit [-] additional people. He promised to bring back foreign specialties and give each person a reward of [-] guan.Of course, these people must be the technical personnel needed by the fleet.

Because the negotiated plan was relatively important, Zhu Biao finally went to the palace to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for instructions.

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised when he saw it, but he had no objections and approved the plan. He also ordered the Nanjing Shipyard to be responsible for building the large ships needed for long voyages, a total of ten ships.During the construction of the ship, the gathering of personnel and all other preparations must be completed.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang was also a little emotional. Zhang Yifan had to spend 15 yuan just to prove that the earth was round and prove the accuracy of his new knowledge.In this world, he is the only one who can be so generous, right?
In order to learn new things, in order to become the so-called eternal saint, I really worked hard!
With Zhu Yuanzhang's support, Zhu Biao's side would send people to follow up on the rest.Zhang Yifan's focus was once again on building steam engines.But the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and it is absolutely impossible to complete the construction of the steam engine before that.

Just the day before, he returned to Liujia Village.

Zhang Yifan discovered that Liujia Village was a little bigger.Both Daniu and Erniu are married, but Daniu doesn't have a child yet, but Erniu has given birth to a boy.

What was a little embarrassing was that when Zhang Yifan passed by, he happened to bump into Daniel studying his bug with a microscope.Obviously, this trend has spread from the capital.

Ever since it was revealed to the public that men can get worms, orders for microscopes have become much longer.

It can only be seen with a Hooke microscope, but this kind of microscope is difficult to make and takes a long time. I originally thought that not many people would buy it, so there were few people who arranged to make a Hooke microscope.

Unexpectedly, he underestimated the number of wealthy people in the capital, and also underestimated their curiosity about men having worms.

Of course, Zhang Yifan estimates that this is also related to the Oriental emphasis on having more children and more blessings, hoping that the children will become successful.Knowing that men's bugs are related to giving birth to children, and also related to giving birth to better babies, the enthusiasm will naturally increase.

Daniel was a little embarrassed after being bumped into by Zhang Yifan, so he explained to Zhang Yifan: "I've always heard about this, but there was no place to ask, so I had to take a look here and think about it. But thinking about it is also blind. After thinking about it, I don’t know if it’s right or not, if my idea is correct…”

Today's Liujia Village is the richest village in the Ming Dynasty, and the Niu family is one of the richest households in Liujia Village. Not only does it have enough food and clothing, it also has the financial resources to buy a Hooke microscope to play with.

Zhang Yifan was about to laugh at Daniel's behavior, but after hearing his words, he suddenly thought of an idea.

That’s right, there is no one here in Daniel to communicate about these new things, so there should be many people in Nanjing who are also interested in new things, but they also have no one to communicate with.Even if there is, it is probably just communication between a few friends.

It seems that it is time to set up a forum to bring together these like-minded people, which is conducive to the dissemination and discussion of new things so that we can go further.

Buy a house and set up an organization like the Popular Literature Starting Point Society, so that they can communicate together, and then create a magazine, bimonthly or monthly, so that they can submit what they find and publish it.At the beginning, you can review it yourself, or you can ask your wife to help review it. Later, a committee will be set up to review the manuscript and decide whether to publish it...

This seems totally fine!

Thinking of this, Zhang Yifan couldn't help but feel happy.I decided immediately that I would start working on this matter as soon as I went there, and it would be a success!
But the New Year is coming after all. After Zhang Yifan went to the meeting, he was still busy with the old age. The 14th year of Hongwu passed like this.

As soon as Hongwu's 15th year came, Zhang Yifan was busier than before.

Previously, during the Spring Festival, he paid New Year's greetings to his wife's relatives.

But starting from the 15th year of Hongwu's reign, he and his wife took in fifty students.Most of these students are the children of high-ranking officials in the capital, and they are all in the capital. Naturally, they want to come to their mentor to pay New Year greetings.

It was just this once a year, and the atmosphere was still festive, so it was hard not to welcome him. He kept going back and forth, and until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Zhang Yifan had no time to deal with the affairs of the magazine.

At the same time, he also received a letter from Zhu Di, the fourth child.

　I tested positive for COVID-[-] last night, but I still haven’t escaped it!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)