Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 283 Cut the weeds and eradicate the roots

  Thinking of poor Ouyang Zhi, Fang Jifan felt a little melancholy.

  But the one who is more melancholy is Zhu Houzhao.

   Squatting on Xishan Mountain, Zhu Houzhao weeded, caught insects, and fertilized. Except for a little bit of unhappiness in his heart, it seemed... the process was quite pleasant.

  Every time I went to Wang Shouren's Muxiu, Xishan was bustling. The scholars in the capital and nearby seemed to have mastered the rules, so people came in groups early in the morning.

At this time, those who opposed Wang Shouren were tired of scolding. After all, the imperial court did not denounce other theories as fallacies and heresies, and insisted on arresting and punishing them. It's just "official learning", putting forward your own opinions does not violate the law.

   Those who come here to study are mainly juren and scholars, especially scholars who have tried and failed.

  In fact, this is also understandable. After studying Cheng Zhu all his life, he found that he was useless at all. He read at home every day, and the more he read, the more he lost the point. Suddenly he heard Mr. Wang’s knowledge, and he was shocked to heaven.

   Today is the holiday, and the western mountain is already covered with snow.

  Many people wore thick cotton clothes and came hand in hand.

   There are more than two hundred scholars, and Liu Jian's son Liu Jie is also here.

   Everyone is familiar with each other, so they nodded to each other.

Little Zhu Xiucai was the first to come. In fact, he has been living in Xishan for the past few days, because it is the most troublesome to go back and forth. A jacket with cotton breeches underneath.

  When everyone saw Xiao Zhu Xiucai, they saluted one after another.

  Little Zhu Xiucai is black and thin, but he is very happy to see many 'classmates' here!

   These days, I work hard alone. It’s nothing to be tired. The main reason is loneliness! Occasionally, Zhang Xin would lead him to do something together, but Zhang Xin was too honest, and when he talked to him, he said he was dead. Even Zhu Houzhao's active personality didn't know how to communicate well. The way of communication between two people is mostly left with 'um', 'um', 'oh', 'oh', 'huh? ’ ‘um’ and the like.

The 'classmates' are different, they speak nicely. When everyone met little Zhu Xiucai, they said: "Sir, the most important thing is little Zhu Xiucai. Little Zhu Xiucai has been in Xishan these days, and I have learned a lot after thinking about it." Bar."

   "Mr. Xiao Zhu Fengxing has the unity of knowledge and action, so he must have some experience. Come and tell us."

  Zhu Houzhao was very excited. Sure enough, this land is not plowed in vain.

  Just as he was about to speak, he saw a person approaching slowly.

   This person was Wang Shouren. Wang Shouren walked unhurriedly, and everyone cheered and saluted Wang Shouren again.

  Wang Shouren only nodded, and then looked at Zhu Houzhao: "What did little Zhu Xiucai learn, let's listen to it."

  At this time, Zhu Houzhao seemed a little embarrassed. He thought for a while and said: "The country is based on agriculture, and the most important thing is that the people have food to eat."

   Everyone couldn't help laughing, do you still need to say it? Everyone has known this for a long time.

  Wang Shouren did not laugh at him, but said with a faint smile: "Go on."

Zhu Houzhao thought about it again, and then said: "But how can the people have food? The so-called success on paper is superficial, and I know that this matter must be done. It can be seen that if you want to make people full and not hungry, it is by no means It's just what the readers say."

   This time, everyone fell silent, and no one made fun of Zhu Houzhao, but each of them looked serious.

"This...is Mr. Wang's knowledge of the unity of knowledge and action. Scholars can't just talk about it, but also bow their heads to do it, just like the master taught us to cultivate the land. Does the master just let us cultivate the land? We who have studied, cultivate the land The craftsmanship is less than half of that of the farmers, but in fact, the original intention of this farm is to acquire farming knowledge in action, accumulate this knowledge, and implement actions.”

"It's like... Fengcheng Bo Zhangxin, look at that letter, he has read books, and he is also farming in Xishan, but he is different from ordinary farmers, because he has read books, so he has 'knowledge' Therefore, when he plows the land, he pays more attention to the accumulation of methods and knowledge. Whenever he has any experience, he will record it through bamboo chips. Only after recording it can he cultivate better land. Ordinary farmers rely on the According to my experience, if one mu of land can only produce three stones of grain, but he is different, the same crop, he can produce four or even five stones, why is that?"

"This is why he implemented the unity of knowledge and action. He will constantly observe what kind of crops are best fertilized, what kind of crops need to be watered, and he will even record the growth of crops under different ground temperatures. This is what makes him different from ordinary farmers."

"Scholars always say that they want to govern the country and the world. In fact, this is empty talk! Why did the imperial court confer Zhang Xin as the uncle of Fengcheng, but not these scholars who claim to rule the world? This is because, as an uncle of Fengcheng, although he It’s just to increase the yield of a piece of land, but because of his unity of knowledge and action, he will continue to accumulate these farming knowledge, and in the future, he will spread these experiences and knowledge to the world. How much food can be increased in the whole world? One million stones, ten million stones? Or fifty million stones? What a frightening number, and how many people can these grains feed?"

"What Uncle Fengcheng does every day is actually nothing more than an insignificant thing. Scholars despise it, but his actions, and the true knowledge accumulated by his actions, benefit the people of the world. A hundred highly talented Confucian scholars, ten so-called virtuous ministers, are not as good to the people of the world as he alone."

  The more everyone listened, the more interested they became.

  Little Zhu Xiucai can draw inferences from one example, it is really remarkable.

  Zhu Houzhao didn't enjoy the respect at his father's place, but here, he did.

Seeing everyone listening to him intently, he continued happily: "Now Zhang Xin is planning to cultivate a crop that can grow in the desert. If this crop can really grow in the desert, then...the sages of all dynasties Uncle Xinjian and Uncle Fengcheng can accomplish what we cannot do, do you know how much benefit this will bring?"

"For a long time, the Tatars have harassed our Daming, and the soldiers and civilians in our border town of Daming have suffered unspeakably, but Daming has always been helpless against them. This is because even if our army defeats them, it will not be able to adapt to the desert environment in the end. Had to go back to Guanzhong again.”

  “The Tatars are used to living in the grass, and they are used to grazing, while we Han people are used to farming, and we are also used to settling down.”

  At this time, someone couldn't help but ask: "Why are we Han people used to settle down? We Han people can also go to the desert to graze."

  Everyone couldn't help laughing.

   But as a scholar, after all, I usually have a lot of fantasies, and I seem to think that this may not be impossible.

Zhu Houzhao raised his thick eyebrows, looked at the person who asked the question with a mentally retarded expression, and said: "The Han people want to live in the desert and completely squeeze the living space of the Tatars. The first thing to solve is the two The first is to be able to produce, so it is extremely important to have a crop for them to cultivate. The second is to settle down. The so-called grazing is not that you can raise sheep by enclosing a piece of land. If you want to raise fat, you must have sufficient forage, and if you want to graze, you need to raise cattle, horses and sheep on a large scale. When the water and grass in one place are clean, you have to go to the next place. Therefore, the Tatars herd. Wandering around, the Han people are not good at grazing, but they are not good at living on grass and wandering around. Because the world outside the pass is especially dangerous, dozens of people wander around with sheep, once they meet Tatars or people on the grassland The thieves and bandits are dead without a burial place. This is the same as letting the Han people use their own disadvantages to counter the Tatars’ advantages. The Tatars can’t wait for it. us."

  Everyone thought about it, and finally understood.

"But once such crops can be cultivated, the problem of settlement will be solved. A group of Han people will go out to open up wasteland, and crops will grow in the fields on time. With the harvest, more and more people can be fed. When everyone gathers together, they will You can build a stronghold, and once you build a stronghold, you can garrison permanent soldiers. The stronghold will become a fortress, and the fortress will eventually become a city. Once the Tartars attack us, we can fight against them with a strong fortress. It's a one-year, three-year, five-year battle, but as long as the grain can grow in the ground, it doesn't matter, because we don't have to send food and grass from thousands of miles away, as long as there is food and people, there will be bows and crossbows at that time. There will be guns and iron cannons! If they can’t take us down today, tomorrow we will open up more wasteland to the north and build more fortresses. The fortresses are connected to each other, forming horns and echoing each other. If we lose a battle, That doesn't matter, the population of our Han people is always larger than that of the Hu people... So, no matter whether we win or lose, our city will only grow more and more."

"Next, step by step, we will encroach on more and more pastures, and we will also raise some cattle and horses, but it is not like the Tatars who live on grass. We can raise fewer cattle and horses, and the nearby pastures can supply That’s enough. After all, cattle and horses are not our staple food. In the end, the living space of the Tatars will become less and less, their production of cattle and horses will also be greatly reduced, and the population will become smaller and smaller. In the end, they will not be enough. Why should they become our vassals, completely surrender, and start to learn to settle and farm like us, but if the Tatars have learned this, are they different from the Han people? Maybe after three or five generations, they will also be Han people. Otherwise, they will disappear completely, and there will no longer be any nomads to replace them in the desert, because...there is my Great Ming's world."

  (end of this chapter)