Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 401: The Split of the Utilitarian Faction

Any sophistry is often not convincing in the face of facts, especially the experiment of two iron balls falling to the ground at the same time. After being repeatedly proven, the voices of the people attacking Jia Lian suddenly stopped.

On the contrary, there is more discussion among the people about practical learning.

Because there are so many real examples around us, for phenomena like leverage, people just apply them but don't explore their theories.

The reason why natural sciences did not emerge systematically in the land of Chinese civilization is that the agricultural civilization lasted too long. In order to stabilize their rule, the emperors adopted Confucianism, which in turn divided people into three classes: scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, and suppressed the other three classes for a long time.

The scholar-official class controlled culture, power, and the right to speak, and seemed unshakable. But in fact, the scholar-official class relied on imperial power because they did not have military power.

Emperor Chenghui, who was determined to reform, saw that the existence of the scholar-official class was destined to undermine the imperial court. In order to solve this problem, new variables had to be introduced.

This is what Taizu did, allowing craftsmen to become officials.

Emperor Chenghui watched from the sidelines, mainly to see how far Jia Lian could go. As a result, the situation turned out that as long as the imperial power did not fall, Jia Lian would remain invincible.

The vitality of practical learning is too strong. They are all things happening around us. As long as Jia Lian sticks to it step by step, this knowledge will gain a firm foothold.

The future is unknown, but at least before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Jia's practical learning had gained a certain reputation in the capital and attracted many scholars.

With the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a vigorous debate has come to a temporary end as everyone celebrates the festival.

The residence of Cabinet Minister Pan Jixun was very lively on the Mid-Autumn Festival, and a number of pragmatic officials came to his house to seek a meeting.

In the corridor waiting for an audience with Lord Pan, as a group of officials gathered together to chat, the topic of Jia's practical learning became a hot topic.

The pragmatic officials are mostly pragmatic officials who like to do practical things and emphasize the importance of political achievements. This group of officials actually suffers a lot in the square. Why?
After taking office, such officials are often willing to spend manpower and financial resources to build water conservancy projects, encourage agriculture and sericulture, and construct bridges and roads.

To put it bluntly, it is a way to improve the local economy and increase local tax revenue.

But the game of officialdom is played differently, because of the system of floating officials. If an official works in a place for three years and fails to produce results based on the initial investment, he or she may be transferred away.

This way, the successor will have an advantage. The primary purpose of most officials in office is to get promoted. Therefore, what should be done during the three-year term is of course mainly short-term projects with quick results.

Many officials who advocated practical achievements have learned their lesson after suffering a few setbacks and no longer pursue quick-result projects while in office. Although they still talk about practical achievements, they actually focus on litigation, education, and taxation while in office.

As for the life and death of the next person, they are not indifferent. So, don't think that the pragmatic faction is a progressive force. In essence, most of them do not share the same ideas, but are a group of ghosts with no background who get together for warmth. Just when Pan Jixun entered the cabinet, everyone saw the opportunity for His Majesty to use the pragmatic faction.

With a flag and people striving for their own interests, a team was naturally formed quickly. Whether you believe in the so-called theory of merit or not is another matter.

Of course, you still have to recite the scriptures. If you don’t believe in them yourself, how can you expect others to believe in them?
In short, the pragmatic school was happy to see Jia Lian arguing with the Neo-Confucianists and the School of Mind. Because there were many science and engineering enthusiasts among them, and some of them were Jia Lian's supporters. They believed that the pragmatic school lacked a theoretical basis and only talked about the idea that being an official should be based on doing things first. Now Jia Lian's practical learning has supplemented the theoretical foundation of the pragmatic school to a certain extent.

This group of people are mainly technical bureaucrats, including those from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Revenue. When they talk about practical learning, they are mostly in favor of it. They believe that practical learning can play a huge role in actual work.

Another part is the so-called scoundrels, and the characteristic of this kind of people is that they are good at talking.

No, when they talk about practical learning, they are not endorsing it, but advocating that the so-called practical learning is just repeating what others have said. Who is this person?
Smart readers must have thought of it, yes, Gongshu Ban.

He is Gongshu Ban, also known as Lu Ban, who was equally matched with Mozi and was included in textbooks.

You know what, they even found evidence for this view, which comes from the "Taizu Yulu" published by the imperial court.

There is a sentence that goes like this, [In the Zhou Dynasty, Gongshu Ban was a distinguished guest of the king because his knowledge was useful. Now that I have inherited the name of Zhou, I have appointed Gong as an official. What's wrong with that?]

This is a very far-fetched view, and it is said simply to wave the banner of Taizu and make those who disagree with it retreat.

"Hunk" is a relatively broad term, which actually refers to the opportunists. These people have no background in terms of political future. The pragmatic faction is weak and they will have more opportunities after joining.

The speculators can be compared to the eunuch party, they are a group of people who are all trying to get promoted and have flexible bottom lines.

The technical officials were very unhappy after hearing the arguments of the idiots, and they even blamed Gongshu Ban? You don't understand technology? Do you understand the importance of basic theory?

The emergence of Jia's practical learning explained many mysteries of technical theory, because the viewpoints of Jia's practical learning were verified one by one in practice.

Do you know why pulleys are used? Do you know why gears are used? Do you know why we need to pad the wheels with grass when they get stuck in the mud? Do you know the principle of how a musket fires?

Forget it, there’s no point in talking to these amateurs.

Technical officials are a bit good. At most, I will ignore you and I don’t bother to argue with laymen.

Therefore, there was definitely no quarrel at the scene, it just ended in a bit of unpleasantness, and then a group of technical officials got together and talked enthusiastically about the cases of Jia's practical learning in practice.

But not every technical official has a good temper. For example, Wang Dongning, the deputy director of the Ministry of Works, has a straightforward temper.

He arrived a little late today, and when he entered the door, someone caught him trying to sell the so-called Jia's practical learning, saying that it was just a parrot. He responded rudely, "You know shit! Jia's physics is the ultimate truth between heaven and earth. Compared with Gongshu Ban's theory, Jia's practical learning is just a summary of experience in application."

The Hunzi faction is not going to accept this. They are slandering Jia's practical learning in order to fight for the right to speak for the pragmatic faction. How can you stand on Jia Lian's side?

You traitor!
The technical officials were not happy with this. Although they were few in number, they were all capable and believed in practical operations. How dare you, who can only talk, bark in front of us? The two sides started fighting directly. At first, the technical officials tried to reason with them, saying that Jia Lian's practical learning was reasonable and could be verified by experiments.

The gangsters will not listen to reason with you and start to make trouble. You mention the city gate tower, and he mentions the hip axis.

Wang Dongning, who was straightforward, couldn't stand it anymore, so he stood up and said, "There are people like you in the merit faction. I am ashamed to be associated with you. Goodbye!"

His departure set an example for the seven or eight technical officials who followed him, who also felt it was boring to stay there, waited for a whole morning, were very angry, and did not even see the Prime Minister, so they simply followed suit and left.

There were not many technical officials in this group, only about a dozen. Their departure did not seem to have much impact, but in fact it led to a split in the pragmatic faction.

The science and engineering guys were serious about it, so they got together after going out and felt that they had the same interests, so they simply went to find Jia Lian to ask for advice on Jia's practical knowledge.

It was a major holiday, and these people just came without even sending a visiting card in advance, which was very rude in itself.

But what can I say? The science and engineering guys think that Jia Lian would definitely not care about it, otherwise he would not have come up with the Jia family's practical learning.

During the festive season, Jia Lian was not idle at home. He had been busy compiling teaching materials for Jia's practical studies and contributing to the Minsheng newspaper.

Here, a group of unfamiliar officials came as uninvited guests. After listening to the report from the doorman, Jia Lian was completely confused.

Now that you're here, you have to go and take a look. You can't just chase them away.

Jia Lian dressed neatly and went out to greet them.

As soon as they met, Wang Dongning asked presumptuously: "Master Jia, I have a mystery in my mind. Can you help me solve it?"

Jia Lian was also a little confused, but he still answered politely: "Excuse me!"

"I have looked at the model ship sent by the English. The differences between it and the ships of our dynasty are mainly concentrated in two aspects. One is the pointed bottom of the ship, and the other is the use of soft sails. May I ask, Lord Jia, what are the differences between these two aspects?" Wang Dongning seemed to have been holding it in for a long time, and asked a lot of questions.

Jia Lian didn't mind his slightly reckless attitude, and was even very happy, because finally someone was willing to study these things. Wang Dongning must have a very high IQ to be able to pass the imperial examination. When such a person joins, it is a welcome with drums and gongs.

"You have two questions. Let's talk about the bottom of the ship first. Western ships are mainly used on the ocean. The design of the pointed bottom ship is similar to that of a tumbler. This design is more resistant to wind and waves and is convenient for ocean voyages. The design of the soft sail is the same. No matter which direction the wind blows, the ship can sail with the help of the wind. In contrast, the ships of this dynasty mainly sail in the near sea, and the combination of flat-bottomed ships and hard sails has greater advantages. If we want to be specific about the theoretical level, there is a lot to say, and it will not be clear in a short time. In short, mechanics belongs to the category of physics. There is a great scholar named Newton in England in the West who established the classical mechanics system. The book that Lord Guo brought back is still being translated. You can go and see the finished book later. You should be able to find the answer you want."

Jia Lian only explained from the application level, and Wang Dongning got the answer, which made him satisfied but also dissatisfied. After learning about Newton's classical mechanics, he said he must read his masterpiece.

Jia Lian smiled calmly and thought, Newton also has calculus! Let's learn it!
Seeing that Wang Dongning had taken the lead, the other officials naturally did not want to fall behind and raised their own questions one after another.

Someone asked: "Why does adding rifling to the barrel greatly improve shooting accuracy?"

Jia Lian replied: "The existence of rifling creates a spiral force in the chamber, causing the bullet to spin at high speed, greatly improving stability within a certain distance. After the bullet leaves the chamber, it is affected by gravity and flies in an arc, so a ruler is installed on the rifle. When aiming, the point where the bullet's flight path overlaps with the target is calculated in advance. From the perspective of accurate shooting, the more horizontal you hold the gun when aiming, the more accurate you will be. Have you seen the experiment of two iron balls falling to the ground at the same time? The acceleration due to gravity is constant, and this is how the ruler works."

Someone else asked...

Jia Lian answered one question after another. Before they reached Jia Lian's courtyard, each of them had asked a question that had been puzzling them for a long time.

Everyone's questions were different, and Jia Lian gave reasonable explanations that were acceptable to the questioners.

Logically speaking, convincing the technical staff is the easiest thing. In Jia Lian's opinion, this group of people is actually the easiest to approach, as long as they recognize your technology.

When Jia Lian saw this group of people, he wanted to add them to his group immediately. So, he generously took out the classic collector's edition revolver.

"Look at this, everyone. This is called a revolver because the magazine pours out to the left. The manufacture of this gun depends on the percussion cap made by the R&D Department. The manufacture of the percussion cap requires sulfuric acid and nitric acid. This belongs to the field of chemistry. Let me tell you a secret. The so-called Jia's practical learning is actually for external use. Physics and chemistry are not the same subject, but two sub-disciplines. In principle, the manufacture of revolvers applies physics to the manufacture of guns, and chemistry is used in the production of ammunition. You see, in the future, as long as cavalry units are equipped with revolvers on a large scale, when they fight at close range, facing opponents holding cold weapons, it will be a one-sided massacre. My original intention of promoting practical learning is actually to strengthen the country."

It is difficult for any science and engineering man to resist the temptation of guns. Everyone took one and took turns playing with it before reluctantly returning it to Jia Lian.

Jia Lian continued to seduce them: "If you like, you can go to the R&D room to buy one, but you have to register in advance."

When he said this, Jia Lian's capitalist attributes came into play. As for what these people did after buying guns, what did it have to do with Jia? If they really wanted to kill someone, Jia Lian would also have something to say. Kitchen knives can also kill people, so why not ban it? Anyway, Jia Lian's argument was reasonable. His purpose was only one, to promote it.

For the time being, Jia Lian only plans to sell it to officials, and the purchase is limited according to their status. There must be no flooding, and there must be a limit on ammunition. Sell at most six rounds, and you can come back to replenish after you have used them. I am not afraid of trouble, but I am afraid that you will hoard ammunition to do something big. No one else can make ammunition.

Of course, Jia Lian also had to report to the emperor in advance. Since he had bought a gun, officials who wanted to meet the emperor in the future would have to be searched in advance.

If Emperor Chenghui wanted to hold Jia Lian accountable, he would have reasons. The R&D Department no longer needed funding from the imperial court and had to support itself. How could it be possible without doing some business?
Besides, bullets are just decorations after the gun is used up. As long as you control the ammunition well, there won't be any big problems.

Jia Lian didn't care whether something would happen in the future. He would wait until it happened and he would always find a reason to justify himself.

In short, guns are innocent, and using guns to commit crimes is the criminal's job.

After finding out why these people came here, Jia Lian realized that Jia's practical learning had been arguing with other schools of thought, and the pragmatic school had split first.

While secretly rejoicing, Jia Lian shed a crocodile tear for Pan Jixun.

(End of this chapter)