The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 119 Xu Guangqi enters Fujian

Zhang Hang recounted: "People grow sweet potatoes to meet their food rations, but after paying taxes during the New Year holiday, they still have to pay rice."

"The local government said that if people are allowed to plant sweet potatoes, the price of food in our county will definitely rise by the end of the year. So half a month ago, they specially called us to go to the county for a meeting, and we were told that planting sweet potatoes is just to tide over the famine. This was done as a last resort, and now that the famine has passed, people cannot be allowed to grow sweet potatoes again."

"Is there such a thing?" Wang Wenlong felt that the county magistrate's operation was quite speechless.

"We are also suffering because of being caught in it. Master, please come and see." Zhang Hang took out a folded note from his pocket. Wang Wenlong took it and took a look. Sure enough, it was a notice issued by the county to the household, instructing the young man to Planting sweet potatoes.

Chen Jinglun was also quite surprised. He stepped forward to take a look and said to Wang Wenlong: "How can this yamen do things like this? Let's go back and talk to Lord Fantai."

Wang Wenlong took a careful look at the statement, shook his head and said: "He didn't even pay a cent on this statement, and he also knew that this matter was done in a disgraceful way, just to prevent anyone from filing a lawsuit. When the time comes, they will push it forward, and we will It’s useless to say it.”

"How...how can anyone do something like this?" Chen Jinglun was quite angry.

Wang Wenlong thought for a while and said to Zhang Hang: "We should continue planting sweet potatoes. Please stop obstructing us. We will help you communicate the matter."

What solution does Wang Wenlong have?
That is of course marketization.

Farmers in previous lives grew sweet potatoes for two main purposes. One was to keep the small ones for their own consumption. The larger ones were reluctant to eat and used them all for grinding.

In the previous life of Fujian, sweet potato powder was still a local hard currency until Wang Wenlong was a child. Whether he picked it up at a buying point and sold it, went to the city to sell it himself on the streets, or sold it to a wealthy boss in the village, there was no need to worry. market.

As for how to pay taxes?The main contents of Zhang Juzheng's reforms are two: the whip method and the examination method.

Among them, the examination method was used to assess the political performance of officials. Some parts were abolished after Zhang Juzheng's death, but the one-whip method of merging land taxes, corvees, and other miscellaneous matters in various states and counties into one method to collect silver has been passed down.

Asking farmers to pay taxes in cash was the formal tax method at this time.

These county government officials banned people from planting sweet potatoes but left little reason. Even if Xu Xueju was present, it was hard to say anything. But if the people paid tax money and the local officials were unwilling to accept it, then Wang Wenlong could move Xu Xueju out.

……

Fuzhou Min'an Wharf.

Among the fleet of ships crowded in front of the banknotes waiting to collect taxes, Xu Guangqi was looking out of the ship curiously.

This spring, when he heard that the missionary Matteo Ricci had arrived in Nanjing to preach, Xu Guangqi could not suppress his curiosity, so he left Songjiang and went to Nanjing to meet him.

Matteo Ricci has been active in the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years, and his understanding of Chinese culture is far better than that of other Western missionaries. Decades of life have made him understand that China is different from those uncivilized colonies, and Chinese civilization has strong vitality. , which cannot be replaced by foreign religion at all.Therefore, Matteo Ricci maintained a respectful attitude towards traditional Chinese customs. For example, he allowed Chinese believers to continue the traditional worship of heaven, ancestors, and Confucius. He also wore Han costumes and studied Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist classics. From this, he was in harmony with the Ming Dynasty. The scholar-bureaucrats had a common language, and then he used some Western treasures to attract Chinese people, such as maps, astrolabes, prisms, "Elements of Geometry", etc., and gradually became a famous "Fan Monk".

Of course, people in the Ming Dynasty basically regarded Matteo Ricci as a stranger who could pinch, calculate, and be witty. This stranger could also speak the contents of the Four Books and Five Classics, just like later generations of foreigners could interpret Tang poetry and Song lyrics. Who wouldn't be curious after watching this?

Moreover, Matteo Ricci was also very smart. He discovered that scholars in the Ming Dynasty thought that after he had mastered the core of learning, he deliberately created his own image as a scholar. He often said some pretentious words and translated the aphorisms of European philosophers into Chinese and compiled them into "Making Friends". "On", the fast memory method popular among Westerners at this time was compiled into "Xiguo Jifa".

Just as Wang Wenlong's insights from later generations were able to achieve miraculous results in the Ming Dynasty, Matteo Ricci's knowledge from foreign lands also made many literati feel novel.

This is the reason why missionaries these days are able to thrive in the Ming Dynasty. They really have knowledge that the people of the Ming Dynasty have never seen.

Three years ago, Wang Zhongming, the Minister of Rites in Nanjing, recommended Matteo Ricci to Beijing to celebrate Wanli's birthday. However, the Korean War was about to start, and foreigners were strictly prohibited from entering the capital, so Ricci failed to go and stayed on the road for three years. At this time, he He returned to Nanjing at the invitation of Wu Zhongmin, the head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, to draw a world map.

Xu Guangqi was appointed by Jiao Hong, and originally he should have joined Jiao Hong's sect. However, after Xu Guangqi passed the imperial examination a few years ago, Jiao Hong was frustrated due to court disputes. Xu Guangqi lost a big supporter, and he went to Beijing to take the exam and failed, so Then he stayed in Songjiang and sat in the restaurant.

Originally, history said that Ricci was going to get to know Xu Guangqi this year. Xu Guangqi, who was confused, admired Matteo Ricci's knowledge, so he followed him happily, and from then on he served Matteo Ricci like a master.

But at this time, Xu Guangqi had already read Wang Wenlong's "History of Portugal" and "Evolution of Heaven". He had been disenchanted with European civilization and no longer admired Matteo Ricci's stuff.

Not only Xu Guangqi, but also Wang Wenlong's masterpieces had actually affected the Jesuit missionary work at this time.

This is a purely psychological reason: At the end of the Ming Dynasty, only Europeans knew about mathematics, geometry, and astronomy in the Age of Discovery, and everyone naturally took a high look at it. But now that Wang Wenlong's book has been published, it has become popular all over the world. Many scholar-bureaucrats in the Ming Dynasty have discovered that Wang Wenlong Such a Ming Dynasty person knows no less than Europeans.

It is said that what the Ming Dynasty did not have is the pearl of science, but what the Ming Dynasty did have is ordinary knowledge.

People share this sentiment, and Ming scholars immediately felt that European stuff was just like that.

Matteo Ricci suffered deeply from this. Originally, he could shock all the officials in Nanjing by taking out a world map, but with the popularity of "History of Portugal", especially the "History of Portugal" published by Yuan Wuya Zhongshutang in Suzhou 》 is on the market, this book turns to the prologue, the first two pages are a double-page world map, including simple longitude and latitude lines, the names of countries in the world, the main commercial waterways between continents, the strongholds of each colony, the establishment time and other information.

Although Matteo Ricci's world map is more accurate, the Ming Dynasty scholars at this time did not care about this. They just wanted to know some information about the outside world. It was enough to see that the shapes were very similar.

So, why can’t people understand more clearly when they buy a copy of "History of Portugal" than a mediocre world map?

Matteo Ricci was quite speechless. With the publication of Zhongshutang's "History of Portugal", the map drawing work he had been busy for several months had gradually become unnoticed.

At this time and space, Xu Guangqi came to Nanjing and interacted with Matteo Ricci. He also felt that Ricci was a very knowledgeable scholar, but he had no intention of following him, nor did he plan to become a Catholic.

(End of this chapter)