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

"This is not possible!" Fan Yunlin said anxiously: "Xuanzai, you have been out and about these days. I don't know how arrogant these rural villagers have become. They often steal oracle bones. As the price of oracle bones becomes higher and higher, some people even plan to If they don't have enough money, they will definitely snatch these oracle bones and sell them off, and it will be difficult to get them together again."

Dong Qichang shook his head helplessly and said: "When nothing can be done, we have no choice but to make rubbings of all the oracle bones we excavated. Even if they are somewhat damaged, we can still leave a complete genealogy for future generations to study."

Fan Yunlin frowned and said, "Otherwise, I'll ask my friends in the officialdom for help."

"It's useless," Dong Qichang said: "Even the prince can't help. Chang Qian, it's useless for you to invest in your own connections. Then you will fall in like me."

Fan Yunlin looked at the oracle bone in his hand and fell into deep self-doubt. It was obviously something that the court should do, but now no one was willing to protect it. Even though the world famous people had caused such a huge public opinion, they still couldn't do it in the end. Change the ending.

At this time, the two of them saw Zhao Kan running in hurriedly: "Xuanzai, Changqian, the imperial court has sent troops! The emperor clearly issued an order to have soldiers from Anyang Guard protect the excavation of oracle bones. The newspaper also said that it was planned to use The Ministry of Rites set up a museum to conduct research on oracle bones.”

"Really?"

"It's absolutely true!" Zhao Kan excitedly slapped a newspaper on the table, then gasped and laughed: "Wang Wenlong's method really worked."

"What does this matter have to do with Jianyang?" Dong Qichang was still active in the capital two days ago and did not participate in the Oracle Bone Society signature organized by Zhao Kan. He did not even know about it.

Fan Yunlin also looked happy, and quickly explained Wang Wenlong's strategy to Dong Qichang. Dong Qichang couldn't help but become more and more surprised as he listened.

In the end, he couldn't help but sigh and said: "I have been busy in Anyang for a long time, but I didn't expect that Jianyang would solve it with just a few letters in Nanjing!"

Fan Yunlin said with admiration: "Wang Jianyang was in Nanjing and first mobilized the Donglin Party and then the Oracle Society. He also lobbied Mr. Shen Ge, always weighing the pros and cons of the situation. This is simply sitting in Nanjing and dispatching generals. Where is it? Is it as simple as writing a few letters?”

Dong Qichang nodded repeatedly when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Jianyang has done such a great job in protecting the oracle-bone warriors. I should prepare a gift and go back to Nanjing as soon as possible."

Zhao Kan agreed and said: "You should go, you should go, even our Oracle Bone Society must share his kindness."

"Isn't Jianyang from the Oracle Bone Society?" Fan Yunlin was a little surprised.

Dong Qichang also reacted to this statement: "He has contributed a lot of money to fund oracle bone research, but it seems that he has not yet joined the society."

"When we go to Nanjing, it's time to take care of this matter as well." Zhao Kan said.

"It's best to invite him to Anyang again. His exegetical research methods will be very enlightening for us to study oracle bone inscriptions." Fan Yunlin added.

Dong Qichang nodded repeatedly and quickly took the car back to Anyang City to prepare gifts and set off the next day.

The journey from Henan to Nanjing is not far, because in this era the Yellow River diverted the Huai River to the sea. As long as you arrived in Kaifeng, you could take a boat all the way to Hongze Lake, and then transfer to Nanjing Yingtianfu without getting off the boat through the complex water network.

A few days later, Dong Qichang came to Wang Wenlong's home with the good news about the oracle bones in Anyang. At this time, Mao Wenlong's letter was still on the way. Wang Wenlong first learned the latest news about protecting the oracle bones from Dong Qichang.

"We should have a drink about this matter." Wang Wenlong was also happy. It happened that Deng Zhimo of "Suzhou Xun Bao" also came to the Imperial College today. He came to Nanjing to discuss the operation of Xun Bao with him, so Wang Wenlong took Dong Qichang and Deng Zhimo with him. He and Pan Xiu returned to their home in Jilong Lane together. Li Guoxian and Mrs. Ma hurriedly went to cook. Shen Yixiu didn't know how to cook, so he prepared tea on the side.

"Will the research on oracle bone inscriptions be subordinated to the Ministry of Rites in the future?" Wang Wenlong asked curiously at the tea table. "I think this is what the Di newspaper means, but I think this approach is a bit inappropriate." Dong Qichang nodded and replied.

Which department is responsible for the protection of oracle bone inscriptions? Emperor Wanli has not issued clear instructions yet. For the time being, it is under the Ministry of Rites. It is probably that the study of oracle bone inscriptions is regarded as part of the study of ancient etiquette. This is not wrong.

In ancient China, the institutions to which this kind of academic research belonged were often set up according to specific circumstances. For example, if the emperor wanted to compile a xx ceremony, he would contact the Ministry of Rites or the Hanlin Academy, or sometimes other yamen, and hang a The department will appoint a person in charge, and then the person in charge will go to the private sector to find editors with relevant technical capabilities.

Hearing Dong Qichang's words, Deng Zhimo was a little surprised: "Didn't the Oracle Bone Society always think that the imperial government should study the oracle bones? Now that the Holy Emperor has asked the Ministry of Rites to participate, why does Dong say it is inappropriate to participate in politics?"

"The study of oracle bones is too complex, and the dates extend for a long time. One or two generations of epigraphers cannot finish it." Dong Qichang explained, "Because the Ministry of Affairs inevitably has a date limit, and it cannot be studied in one or two years. Needless to say, if there is no result in ten or twenty years, then the officials who are not responsible will be reprimanded. But if the research on oracle bones cannot produce enough results, wouldn’t it be embarrassing? What’s more, even if there are results, how can the research on individual Stop studying it after ten or twenty years? This thing is not that simple."

After digging out oracle bones for so long, Dong Qichang had a rough idea of ​​the difficulty of this undertaking. He was already prepared that he would never be able to fully understand the oracle bones he dug up.

Wang Wenlong also agreed with what he heard. To put it bluntly, this research method in the Ming Dynasty was a lump sum system.

This system is very convenient for responsible religious canonization, calendar calculation, and agricultural administration books.

Just choose a person in charge. Anyway, by a certain deadline, you can produce corresponding research results.

But studying Oracle is obviously not suitable.

Oracle is digging more and more, and an editor will never finish the research until he or she dies, and there is no way to explain it to his superiors.

"I think that the study of oracle bones can actually create a society. This society has a semi-official status. Reputable people will recommend the members of the society in writing. These society members are equivalent to the past compilation, history compilation and so on. They are not counted as officials, but they are given high honors, a certain amount of funds are given to the society, and they are hired for a long time to conduct research in corresponding directions. In this way, these scholars can make a career out of this and the research can continue." Wang Wenlong said thoughtfully.

Pan Xiu on the side asked: "Does Jianyang mean that the imperial court funded an organization like the Physics Society?"

"That's right." Wang Wenlong nodded and said, "This society can be called the Royal Society, or the imperial society, or the government-run society. Its status should be higher than private organizations like the Physics Society. It will definitely attract many epigraphers to compete for the position of editor. Bit."

"If it is further stipulated that only those with research results can become researchers or editors, it will prevent people from being left without food, and the research can be continued without specially assigning people to manage it."

Dong Qichang listened carefully while drinking. Finally, he couldn't help but put down his glass and thought carefully. Finally, he nodded repeatedly and said: "Royal Society... This method is good! Jianyang! This method is good!"

Dong Qichang praised repeatedly and beamed with joy. He had now focused all his attention on the research of oracle bones. Recently, he was worried that it was not suitable to rely on the Ministry of Rites to study oracle bones. The government-run society mentioned by Wang Wenlong was something he had never thought of. way, and it seems very feasible at first thought.

Wang Wenlong knew that according to the original historical development, fifty-five years later, the United Kingdom would fund the establishment of the Royal Society, which was also the oldest scientific society in the world in the original world history.

The study of oracle bone inscriptions was best led by private individuals and funded by the imperial court. The result of this combination was the Royal Society system that was once popular in European history.

(End of this chapter)