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

Chapter 144 New Book Readers

Yuan Wuya had a headache for a long time after reading the book. To be honest, he was very tired from reading, but he couldn't help but open the book and continue reading.

After reading all afternoon, Yuan Wuya closed the page and hurriedly went out to Shuzhong Hall before it got too late.

He clearly felt that Wang Wenlong had written another amazing book in the world, even more powerful than "History of Portugal", but he immediately went to the bookshop and asked the collation man to work overnight to sort out the copies of this book.

The sooner the better.

……

Time came to mid-July of the 28th year of Wanli, and good news finally came from the southwest.

The battle in Banshu started in February and lasted for more than four months and finally ended.

Because of Li Hualong's careful preparation, the whole process was smooth sailing.

Li Hualong's initial policy was to appease the remaining forces and destroy Yang Yinglong.

As Li Hualong's armies were victorious, Yang Yinglong also tried to fake surrender, but the Ming army refused to surrender at all.

Yang Yinglong asked his women to kneel down and cry bitterly on the Tucheng, even if they sincerely surrendered, they were not accepted.

Even the method of lying about Yang Yinglong's suicide by taking poison to delay time had no effect at all.

The Eighth Route Army officers and soldiers arrived one after another, cutting off Yang Yinglong's firewood and water sources, and besieged Yang Yinglong in his lair, Hailongdun.

Facing the solid city wall, the Ming army had no tricks to play.

At this time, Li Hualong's father passed away, and Wanli personally issued an imperial edict requiring Li Hualong to wear white clothes, a filial hat, and barefoot hemp shoes to command the battle.

At this time, Guizhou also entered the rainy season, with continuous rain and continuous cloudy weather. The Ming army and the Bozhou rebels launched a final strangulation in the mud and water.

In mountainous terrain, artillery would have been difficult to use.Coupled with the continuous rain, even the muskets became decorations.

Both sides could only fight hard in the mud.

Sneak attacks counter-sneak attacks, encirclement counter-encirclement, lasted for more than 40 days, and all casualties were insignificant.

After the battle, senior generals such as General Liu Wei, Chief Military Officer Chen Lin, and Wu Guang personally led the soldiers to advance first.

The Ming army tore down the fortresses of Hailongdun one by one, and finally broke through the large city of Hailongdun on June [-]. When the city was breached, Yang Yinglong and his wife and concubines committed suicide, and his sons Yang Chaodong and Yang Zhaolong and more than a hundred tribesmen were captured.

On June 28, the good news that the Boshu Rebellion was completely subsided was finally sent back from the front line.

At the same time, the court was already in chaos.

The weather this year has been really bad.

In order to appease the resentment, Wanli once again made some concessions, first exempting the capital from tooth tax, and then announced that it would stop executions this autumn.

Then Wanli, the minister of civil affairs, announced another news: Announce one thing, Ciqing Palace has been built!
The civil servants were comforted again, because Ciqing Palace was where the prince lived, and with the house built, it seemed that Zhu Changluo was one step closer to becoming the prince.

Then everyone wrote more vigorously.

Together with Wang Wenlong's proclamation, numerous court discussions flocked to Wanli.

Everyone was happy to feel that the emperor could take the second step back if he could take the first step.

Wanli had a headache. Fortunately, he had experienced this kind of thing a lot, so he simply abandoned political affairs and returned to the harem to hide in peace.

He knew that he had made so many concessions, which was enough to make the ministers happy for a while.

……

Tangjia Lane, Changzhou, Suzhou.

A large house with six entrances is located in the shade.

The house is very quiet. If someone were to pass by, they might think that the place is abandoned.Little did he know that a really big shot lived here.The weather in September was very hot, and the servant at home hurriedly ran into the yard under the bright sun: "Master, I bought Wang Jianyang's new book."

Hearing this, an old man in his 70s or [-]s came out of the house: "Bring it to me quickly."

The old servant hurriedly handed the book to him. The old man glanced at it casually, looked at the title of "The Wealth of Nations" and said: "It's hot in the room. Let me set up a table and chairs under the grape trellis, and serve a cup of tea." .”

The servant hurried away, and a young boy came up to undress the old man.

This old man is the famous former chief assistant Shen Shixing. He is 65 years old this year and has lived at home for nine years.

Shen Shixing's face was pale, but his complexion looked good.

He is obviously a polite person. He is actually wearing a long suit in such a hot weather. Although it is made of breathable fabrics, no matter how light the clothes are, even the leg and sleeve coverings still make people sweat just by looking at them. Come.

After walking to the back room, there must be no outsiders, so Shen Shixing took off his toga according to etiquette.

Wearing a bamboo silk garment under the robe, this kind of garment is made of bamboo twigs. Its main purpose is to be worn close to the body in summer. Bamboo can separate a layer of breathable space between the outer garment and the body, making it close to the body. After wearing it, wearing large clothes outside can reduce the stuffiness. The effect is similar to that of a summer mat, but the production is very cumbersome. Just such a piece of clothing can be sold for at least one tael of silver.

At this time, there are more luxurious pearl shirts with the same effect, but the price is higher.

The hundred-bamboo robe that Shen Shixing wore was completely green and yellow. Although it was made from bamboo, judging from the exquisiteness of its craftsmanship, it was probably more valuable than the pearl blouse.

Taking off his Baizhu clothes and changing into a half-sleeved one, Shen Shixing wore a cattail leaf fan, and his appearance changed from that of a great scholar to that of a wealthy old man seen on the streets.

A tea bamboo chair had been placed under the grape trellis in the backyard. Shen Shixing sat on the chair, picked up the "The Wealth of Nations" just printed by Shuzhongtang and opened it.

After reading "History of Portugal", Shen Shixing paid attention to Wang Wenlong.

As the former chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Shixing could see at a glance that many records in the "History of Portugal" were written on the dots, which was enough to show that Wang Wenlong was a person who knew the importance and advance and retreat.

So as soon as he heard that Wang Wenlong had a new work coming to the market, he asked his servant to go to Yuan Wuya to order it.

Shen Shixing was the number one scholar in the 41st year of Jiajing's reign, and later spent several years in charge of studying national history in the Hanlin Academy. He was extremely rigorous in his scholarship. Although he is now in his sixties, his mind is still much more flexible than others.

Yuan Wuya had a headache looking at "The Wealth of Nations", which was not difficult for Shen Shixing to read.

He quickly became immersed in the world of books.

Wang Wenlong first used porcelain production in Dehua, Fujian, to discuss the relationship between division of labor and productivity, and then used maritime silk production in Quanzhou to point out the impact of market size on division of labor.

The first half of "The Wealth of Nations" has three volumes, which cannot be read in one day. Shen Shixing only read one volume and it was already noon.

Putting down the book, Shen Shixing's face was filled with surprise.

In this book he saw many fresh perspectives.

For example, Wang Wenlong believes that exchange is mutually beneficial. Through division of labor and exchange, both parties to the transaction can benefit:

A farmer has grain but needs cloth; a weaver has cloth but needs grain.

Both parties exchanged with each other and both got the supplies they needed.

At this time, people often think that only the seller will profit from the transaction, because the buyer pays and the seller makes money.

But in fact, Wang Wenlong used the above example to point out that farmers are not good at weaving, and weavers are not good at growing grain.

The grain that a farmer exchanges for cloth may only require a few days of farming, but he does not have suitable machinery. If he wants to produce the cloth in exchange for the grain he has paid, he may need to work hard for half a month.

Wang Wenlong pointed out that if this were not the case, the exchange would not occur at all, because if farmers were cost-effective to weave their own cloth, they would definitely choose to weave it themselves instead of buying it.

The same goes for Orihu exchanging grain.

Therefore, Wang Wenlong proved that commercial exchange is not a process in which sellers cheat buyers, but is mutually beneficial.The result of the exchange is that both parties get more than what they paid for.

(End of this chapter)