The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 337 Xie Jin’s shock

Fang Xiaoru came to Taining County and observed the local people's sentiments along the way.

Being knowledgeable does not necessarily make you a qualified official.

The ability to govern depends on the governance of the jurisdiction.

He came here today not only to meet his pen pal, but also to test his ability as an official.

If Xie Jin has the ability to govern and has a correct attitude, Fang Xiaoru is ready to give him a hand.

If the other party does not have the ability in this area, or has a poor mentality, then the relationship between the two parties will be limited to academic exchanges.

When entering Taining County, the first impression is that it is very poor, which Fang Xiaoru has become accustomed to.

The bitter cold land is no joke.

Except for a few trading cities, the economic situation in Liaodong as a whole is not ideal.

It's okay now, at least the overall environment is peaceful. The situation was even worse during the turbulent years.

This is the suggestion made by Chen Jingke.

Fang Xiaoru observed every common person he met and found that although everyone was vigilant, the expressions on their faces were generally very peaceful.

From time to time, you can still see people walking towards the city carrying fur goods.

Although both are poor, poverty and poverty are still different.

After that, Fang Xiaoru observed the situation in other aspects, and overall it was good.

However, one thing was quite beyond his expectation. He had thought that a well-educated man like Xie Jin would vigorously promote education in his jurisdiction.

From this alone, it can be seen that the local official is a capable official.

"The people in Liaodong have been in turmoil for hundreds of years and have no means of livelihood. What they need most is to resume production and fill their stomachs."

The official explained the situation.

It seems that Xie Jin is not a rotten scholar who only understands scholarship but does not know how to govern the country.

When the imperial court regained Liaodong and the situation stabilized slightly, it ordered the promotion of soybean and rice cultivation here.

It is Bohai rice that is being promoted.

When transporting fur goods, it must be protected by a group of thugs, otherwise they will be robbed if they cannot go far.

Except for a small county school, basically no other academies were built.

"Jie Jin did not blindly promote culture and education, it was just a pragmatic move."

If there are knowledgeable people in the local area, more knowledgeable people can be taught, and the writing style will gradually become stronger.

The folk customs in the Northeast are so fierce.

Not really.

In the past, few people dared to travel, and they would look nervous when they did.

Fang Xiaoru said with a smile: "But he is a scholar after all, so he can't do nothing, so he built the county school."

Ye Yunliu said in confusion: "Why did the teacher say that? Is there anything wrong with Xingwenjiao?"

Fang Xiaoru took the opportunity to teach: "It is natural to promote culture and education, and it is good governance that benefits a place for all generations."

"If we can train one or two talents, it will be of great benefit to the local area."

The prosperity of the literary style in the south was slowly formed in this way.

Ye Yunliu suddenly understood and saluted: "Disciple understands, thank you teacher for your teaching."

His famous name is still very popular. When he heard that the great scholar Fang Xiaoru came to visit, the official was very excited.

"However, the sages have said that if you have a solid warehouse, you will know etiquette; if you have enough food and clothing, you will know honor and disgrace."

"Promoting culture and education at this time will only waste people's energy and financial resources, and achieve half the result with twice the effort."

As a last resort, he could only find an official to reveal his identity.

Then he told him where Xie Jin was going: "The county minister went to the manor in the west of the city to check the growth of the rice seedlings."

Now the people are calm, and only three or five people dare to carry goods into the city, which shows that the public security here is very stable.

When people mention the county magistrate, they mostly praise him.

I won’t talk about soybeans, but the focus is on rice.

Fang Xiaoru said curiously: "Oh, rice seedlings? Can you tell me what's going on?"

"When the local area becomes rich in the future, culture and education will naturally flourish."

"Reading is something you only think about after you have food and clothing."

This shows that the local security is good.

“When you build a county school, you plant a seed.”

This made Fang Xiaoru look at him even more highly: "Yes, he is a pragmatic person."

Fang Xiaoru originally thought that Xie Jin was either at the county government office or at the county school, but he went to both places and still couldn't find anyone.

Only because of hundreds of years of turmoil, Bohai rice has not been systematically cultivated.

Instead of improving, the seeds have deteriorated, and the current yield is only a little over a stone.

If it is a two-crop rice, this yield is barely acceptable.

But the climate in the Northeast can only grow one season a year, so the yield is not good.

Breeding improved rice seeds has become the key.

But in this era, there is a lack of systematic technology for improving rice seeds.

There are only two ways to do it.

One is to promote planting among the people, relying on the people's spontaneous improvements in practice.

To put it bluntly, it is a matter of luck. If you are lucky, the output will increase.

The other is to artificially improve rice seeds where conditions permit.

Rice seeds from all over the country are brought for breeding, and then hybridized with Bohai rice.

It is expected that new rice varieties with cold resistance and high yield will emerge.

The so-called hybrid rice here is not the hybrid technology used by Yuan Lao and others in the previous life. This was unrealistic in ancient times.

The ancient cross-breeding technology was very primitive, which was to plant different types of rice together and rely on natural hybridization.

Then select the best plants among them and keep them as seeds, and continue planting until their characteristics stabilize.

What you get is relatively primitive hybrid rice.

This method is naturally very inefficient, but it is also a no-brainer.

During the Song Dynasty, this technology was used to hybridize Champa rice and native southern rice to create rice with a short growth cycle, good taste, and high yield.

This kind of rice was widely cultivated in China, and it was not withdrawn from the market until Yuan Lao and his hybrid rice appeared hundreds of years later.

Now Chen Jingke hopes to replicate this experience and cultivate high-yield Northeast rice.

As for the taste, it is not a consideration at the moment.

There are seven or eight such artificial breeding bases in Liaodong.

It's just...how to put it, after all, the people here are not stable just after they were newly recovered.

Moreover, growing rice here requires raising seedlings indoors, which is very expensive.

Even so, it is difficult for southern rice seeds to survive here.

The high cost has caused many breeding bases to exist in name only.

There was no training base in Taining County. After Xie Jin took office, he heard that there was one in the neighboring county, but it was not taken seriously.

So I went to ask for it.

The county magistrate next door was worried about this hot potato. When he learned that someone was willing to take over, he packed up and sent all the technicians and rice seeds.

Later, Jie Jin specially set aside a piece of fertile land and recruited dozens of experienced farmers to join him in researching rice seeds.

He himself goes to check on the situation in person every few days.

After learning this, Fang Xiaoru became even more satisfied with Xie Jin.

This is not only a pragmatic person, but also a person with ideas and actions.

It doesn't matter whether he really does it simply for the sake of good breeding, or whether he regards it as capital for promotion.

If he can see the value in it and support it, he has proven his ability.

This is the most important.

After rejecting the official's suggestion to retrieve Xie Jin and asking where the experimental field was, Fang Xiaoru rushed over with Ye Yunliu. When we arrived at our destination, we could see paddy fields in the distance, with green rice seedlings growing in them.

In every rice field, there are several old farmers busy.

After asking where Xie Jin was, he walked straight up.

Xie Jin was working in the fields and was very curious when he heard that someone was visiting him.

Naturally, he didn't recognize Fang Xiaoru, but he could also tell that this person had an extraordinary temperament and was definitely not an ordinary person.

He said very politely: "May I ask my brother, who are you and what are you looking for?"

Fang Xiaoru looked him up and down and saw that his trouser legs were rolled up and his hands and feet were covered in mud, and he felt even more appreciative.

"Jin Shen might as well guess who I am."

Jinshen is the character for Xie Jin.

Jie Jin frowned slightly, not liking this kind of concealment.

Just when I was about to say something sarcastic, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in my mind, and I blurted out:
"Brother Xizhi?"

Fang Xiaoru laughed and said, "Haha...it's exactly someone. Isn't Jin Shen very surprised?"

Xie Jin was overjoyed. He stepped forward and saluted solemnly: "Oh my, it turns out that I really want to hurt my younger brother."

This was a true friendship between gods for a long time, so naturally they were very happy and expressed their admiration to each other.

"Brother is coming, why didn't you tell me earlier so that I can personally greet you."

Fang Xiaoru pointed to his rolled-up trouser legs and said with a smile: "If I had told him in advance, how could I have seen Jin Shen like this."

Xie Jin didn't feel anything was wrong at all and said with a smile:

"I'm just showing off, it's them who really have to do the hard work."

Fang Xiaoru sighed: "How many people can't let go of their figures and don't even bother to look good..."

Jie Jin just smiled and didn't answer the question, and instead said:
"It's okay to have friends from far away. Let's go back and have a few drinks."

The two of them returned to the county government office together and asked the cook to cook several sumptuous meals, all of which were local specialties.

"Haha...I am alone on weekdays. I must stay here longer."

Fang Xiaoru looked around and said, "Why would Jin Geng embarrass himself so much?"

"If you don't want your wife to suffer, you should at least bring a concubine over to take care of her daily life."

Xie Jin explained: "At first, I thought it was still unknown whether Liaodong could survive the bitter cold."

"Only when I got here did I realize that the pain was a little bit painful, but it was far less terrible than I imagined."

"I wrote a letter at the beginning of the year and asked my wife and concubines to come with me. They should be here soon."

Although the Ming Dynasty allowed officials to bring their wives and concubines to their posts, in the bitter cold land of Liaodong, Xie Jin naturally would not let his wife come with him to suffer.

He came to take office with only his servants and staff.

Moreover, they were afraid that officials would be linked to local wealthy households, so they were prohibited from taking concubines in the local area.

Therefore, Xie Jin lived alone, and his residence was a little deserted.

Fang Xiaoru sighed: "People inside the pass regard those outside the pass as tigers, and those outside the pass as barbarians."

"If things continue like this, there will inevitably be estrangement, which is not conducive to the long-term stability of the country."

Xie Jin's expression also became solemn. How could he not know this after serving here for one year.

But he really couldn't think of any better way to deal with this situation.

"I have reported this matter to the imperial court. I hope the princes in the imperial court can think of some good solution."

Fang Xiaoru asked: "Jin Shen is talented and ambitious. He will definitely have a place in the court in the future."

"On such a major matter, you should have your own opinions, why should you leave it all to others."

Xie Jin smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Xizhi is so honored. I don't deserve it."

"It is precisely because I did not understand this principle that I was demoted to Taining."

"Every prince in the court has his own agenda, so why should I make random remarks and make others unhappy?"

Fang Xiaoru frowned and said: "A gentleman should not be lazy in good times and not discouraged in adverse times. Why did Jin Gentry make such depressing remarks?"

Xie Jin sighed: "In the past, I relied on my own talents and knowledge, and no one took me seriously."

"Everyone in the world says that Chen Bandu is the most outstanding person in history, but I really don't accept it."

"I always thought that if the two of us were to change places, I would not be weaker than him."

"But when I really came to the place and wanted to do practical things, I found that I didn't know where to start. Government affairs could only be entrusted to the staff."

"After more than three months of this, I gradually became familiar with government affairs."

"But I'm just familiar with it, but I have no idea how to make improvements to specific problems..."

“In the end, we relied on the imperial court’s five-year plan reminder to find a way to improve the county’s economy.”

"The government affairs of a county are like this, let alone a country."

"It was only then that I finally realized that knowledge is knowledge and politics is politics. There is a huge difference between the two."

Fang Xiaoru was a little dumbfounded and said: "You actually targeted Chen Bandu, Jinshen, you are really..."

Xie Jin laughed at himself and said: "Ignorant people are fearless... What I want to do now is to learn, rather than rushing to express opinions."

Fang Xiaoru felt relieved and said apologetically: "I see, I misunderstood Jin Shen."

Xie Jin smiled and said: "I would also like to thank Brother Xizhi for his guidance..."

The misunderstanding was resolved and the atmosphere became harmonious again.

Xie Jin knew about the relationship between Fang Xiaoru and Chen Jingke, and asked about him specifically.

Fang Xiaoru picked up some and talked about them.

Xie Jin had known about the policy changes for a long time and was not surprised.

After all, it is no secret that the national policies of the Ming Dynasty were all controlled by Chen Jingke.

What really shocked him was the other party's literary attainments.

"You said he created materialism?"

Fang Xiaoru nodded and said, "Yes, it was through his guidance that I realized materialism."

"And he is doing something bigger...I returned to the Central Plains to participate in this."

"When I came to Taining this time, firstly I wanted to meet Jin Shen, and secondly I wanted to invite you back to participate in the grand event."

Xie Jin was shocked and a little excited, but more hesitant:
"This... I wonder why Chen Bandu is reading?"

Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said, "I can't reveal any information to you without his consent."

"And it's not up to me whether you can join or not. I'm just asking for your opinion today."

"If you're interested in participating, I'll give him your work."

"After he saw it and agreed to let you join, you can really join in."

"If he doesn't agree... As a brother, I can only say sorry."

Jie Jin frowned slightly. If someone else used this method to invite him, he would definitely regard it as a humiliation.

But this time it was Chen Jingke who initiated the incident, and the person who invited him was Fang Xiaoru.

These two people are qualified to invite him in this way.

Even being invited was a great affirmation and honor for him.

There were two reasons for his hesitation.

First, Fang Xiaoru was a traitor to Confucianism, and materialism would inevitably conflict fiercely with Neo-Confucianism.

He had no prejudice against Neo-Confucianism or Materialism and did not really want to get involved.

Secondly, he also has his own pride. He also has to consider his own gains and losses when the other party invites him without any end.

Fang Xiaoru could naturally see his hesitation and understand why he hesitated, so he said:
"This matter is not urgent. Jin Shen can think about it slowly. When you have thought about it, just send me a letter."

"I will also read your collection of essays to Chen Ban. Whether he likes it or not, I will write a letter to inform you of the results."

This is the best way. Xie Jin frowned and said:
"In this case, I will thank Brother Xizhi in advance."

After that, the two stopped talking about these things and simply exchanged knowledge.

After staying here for four days, Fang Xiaoru said goodbye and headed home.

(End of this chapter)