prosperous age

Chapter 847 936 Yu Mai

"Removing Shilang Fu will reduce the opposition in the Ministry of Household Affairs. As long as Shilang Guo insists, there will be no obstacles to shipping rice by sea."

Up to this time, Wang Guoguang was still fooling him like a three-year-old child and said to Wei Guangde with all his heart.

Wei Guangde was actually angry and even wanted to ignore the matter.

He believed that under the current situation, it was right to support grain transportation by sea. Not only could it save the court a lot of transportation costs, but most importantly, it could avoid the impact of floods in the Yellow River, ensure that rice from the south could be transported to the capital in time, and stabilize the north.

What's more, Wei Guangde didn't want to abandon water transportation, but just let merchant ships use the canal. The water lock fee collected to maintain the smooth flow of the canal, and the river workers on both sides of the river also had a way to survive, so they would not rise up just to survive.

Moreover, Wei Guangde thought that he had made a concession, that is, most of the grain was still transported through canals, and only sea lanes were maintained to transport a small amount of grain.

Even with such a policy that benefits the country and the people, Yang Bo and Wang Guoguang still hope to gain benefits from themselves, so Wei Guangde has to rethink the relationship between the Shanxi Gang and the big businessmen in the south, especially in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou.

However, relaxing the maritime ban policy that Ming Dynasty has implemented for more than a hundred years will not happen overnight, and can only be done slowly.

Coming from a later generation, he knew the significance of opening up the sea to the country, not only to improve the economy, but also to see the world in the eyes and break the country's isolation.

The Ming Dynasty was an open dynasty. It was not as complacent as the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It was still willing to absorb the most advanced technology of this era.

In fact, if the Ming Dynasty could last for a hundred years, it might be able to develop smoothly by taking advantage of the wave of the Western Industrial Revolution.

Wei Guangde only focused on three tasks when he came here. One was to open the sea and allow the Ming Dynasty to integrate into the international order of this era and become the maker of the Eastern order.

With the current transportation and communication conditions, matters in the West are too far away to be considered.

As for emulating Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom in occupying colonies all over the world, it's better to just go to sleep.

The Ming Dynasty had so many problems of its own that it couldn't take care of them. If you still thought about going out to seize territory, even the civil servants around you could spit on them to death.

As for the second one, that is to find the root that supported the so-called "Kangxi and Qianlong Dynasties", that is, sweet potatoes. The output of this thing was huge. It was precisely because of the large-scale cultivation of sweet potatoes in China during that era that people would not starve to death. During those more than a hundred years, the world was peaceful and was praised as the so-called "prosperous age".

In addition to being relatively unable to eat in the late Ming Dynasty, the "sweet potato prosperous age" can barely be called a "prosperous age".

Now that he is here, Wei Guangde naturally hopes to find that thing as soon as possible. The peppers are already there, and the sweet potatoes and corns should appear soon.

Wei Guangde has attracted a lot of attention to sweet potatoes and corn before. One is good for planting. It is said that it is easy to survive as long as it is planted and has a large yield. Corn is suitable for growing in mountainous areas and under drought conditions. It is really the best in the late Ming Dynasty. food crops.

It's just that Wei Guangde is not an old scholar who studies history after all, and he doesn't know that what he is looking for is actually far away in front of his eyes, growing not far from him, and is also used as an ornamental plant, just like the original peppers. Same.

Because of Wei Guangde's intervention, vast areas of pepper fields have now appeared in Jiangxi and Nanjing, and Wei Guangde has already satisfied his appetite.

In fact, Wei Guangde's third mission is naturally to want to live a good life in this life, and his small goal of comfort and enjoyment has been completed long ago.

Now he eats well and sleeps well, which is better than the living standard of most people in today's society. It is already the highest quality of life.

Of course, in Wei Guangde's view, it seems that the living conditions are still not as good as those of ordinary people in later generations, because the current technological level is like this.

Wei Guangde finally agreed to Wang Guoguang's request, and he proposed that Fu Yi be the censor of the right capital of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate and take charge of the affairs of the court, just to gradually complete the goal of opening up the sea in the Ming Dynasty.

Although Fu Yi got his wish and went to the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, served as the censor of the right capital, and took control of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, but what he didn't know was that his name had already been written down in Wei Guangde's notebook, and he was destined to be a lifelong man. His official career has come to an end, and Wei Guangde will never allow him to go any further, even if he breaks up with Zhang Juzheng and Wang Guoguang over this.

As the days passed, the government affairs were carried out in an orderly manner with the assistance of Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and others.

There was no court meeting on this day. It was the day when the little emperor Zhu Yijun was in class.

According to the class schedule arranged by the Ministry of Etiquette, Wei Guangde went to the cabinet to check it out in the morning, processed a few memorials, and then walked out of the duty room.

After leaving the cabinet door, Wei Guangde walked directly to the Wenhua Hall to the north.

The location of the cabinet is not far from the Wenhua Palace. Wei Guangde has already walked outside the Wenhua Palace before even having half a cup of tea.

At the entrance of Wenhua Hall, Wei Guangde called to the chamberlain on duty at the door and asked, "Has His Majesty arrived?"

"Back to Mr. Wei Ge, His Majesty has just arrived and is having breakfast inside."

The chamberlain was stopped by Wei Guangde and immediately replied respectfully.

Wei Guangde nodded and then stepped into the Wenhua Hall.

At this time, the young emperor Zhu Yijun, who was already sitting in the Wenhua Hall and facing south, was yawning and obviously did not wake up.

This scene was seen by Wei Guangde who walked to the door. When he stepped into the Wenhua Hall, the little emperor instantly became energetic, his fatigue disappeared, and he immediately sat upright.

After Wei Guangde entered the palace, he first saluted the young emperor. After the ceremony, he stood up and before the young emperor Zhu Yijun could speak, he asked loudly: "When did your majesty rest last night? Why did you come to the palace?"

"This is Master Wei, last night"

Zhu Yijun was suddenly questioned by Wei Guangde and was speechless. He didn't know how to answer.

"Mr. Wei Ge, yesterday He Luowen and the official gave the emperor a heavy copying assignment, and the emperor didn't finish it until very late."

The eunuch at the side now opened his mouth to explain for the little emperor.

Wei Guangde didn't bother to ask the eunuch's name, but looked at Zhu Yijun and said, "I guess your majesty must have been playful again during the day, otherwise the homework assigned by the official will not affect your majesty's rest." '

In this era, the homework assigned by the Japanese officials to the emperor was nothing more than reciting or copying the books of the sages or the ancestral teachings of the emperors. It was definitely not a lot.

If the little emperor really interfered with his rest in order to complete his homework, then it can only be said that it must be because of his playfulness that he delayed the time to do his homework.

"Your Majesty, when the late emperor was here, you had the late emperor to protect you from wind and rain, so you were very free and at ease in the palace during those years.

But now the situation is different. You have ascended the throne and become the emperor. No matter how young you are, you are still the emperor, the lord of the world, and you must shoulder your responsibilities.

You are young now, so naturally you don't have to do this for the time being, but you still have to study hard and lay the foundation for your future self-governance. "

Wei Guangde did nothing else and taught the little emperor Zhu Yijun a lesson according to what had been discussed long ago.

The little emperor's curriculum was set by the three cabinet ministers and Lu Shusheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs. The teaching was different from teaching in a private school because there was no imperial examination.

The purpose of teaching in private schools is not only to make students literate, but also to prepare for the imperial examination. Therefore, the four books and the five classics are required to be studied, so that you can answer the questions correctly after seeing the eight-legged essay.

The profession of emperor is very special. It is a inheritance system, and one can hold power without taking the imperial examination.

Of course, there are similar military positions, such as hereditary hundreds of households, thousands of households, and command, which can also take power when one reaches the age.

From the perspective of rights, a hereditary military position seems to be better than a hereditary title, because it has real power, but a title does not have real power. It depends on the distance between the knight and the emperor before the emperor arranges official positions. The course for the young emperor Zhu Yijun mainly focused on studying "The Great Learning" and "The Book of Shangshu". According to the arrangement, he should first read "The Great Learning" ten times, then read "The Book of Shangshu" ten times, and then the lecturers would follow suit.

In fact, this was not decided by Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde, but based on the study courses of Emperor Yingzong.

Wei Guangde studied "Shangshu", but he met the requirement of giving lectures to the little emperor.

However, the book "Shangshu" is the most troublesome among the Four Books and Five Classics. Very few people have chosen it. Although the number of words is small, it is prohibitive because it requires a strong memory.

The vocabulary used in "Shang Shu" is very ancient, and the writing habits are also very different from today's. Based on this, most people will not read it.

"Shangshu" is the name of the Han Dynasty. It was called "Shu" before. As a history book in the form of narratives, "Shangshu" is one of the earliest existing official archives in China. It is unknown how many chapters there were in the beginning. It is said that it was deleted by Confucius. Sorted out.

Qin Shihuang burned books and harassed Confucian scholars, and banned the circulation and study of "Poems", "Books", and the works of hundreds of schools of thought.

Fu Sheng, a native of Jinan, was a doctor of the Qin Dynasty. Under the book-burning order, he hid Shangshu in the wall. During the subsequent wars, Fu Sheng fled everywhere. It was not until the early Han Dynasty that society settled down. When he went back to look for books, he found that more than ten articles had been damaged and only twenty-nine articles were left.

It is not easy to memorize "Shang Shu". Without the text, even a scholar like Fu Sheng could not restore the whole book, so he had to use the remaining 29 chapters to teach in Shandong.

The popular writing system in the Han Dynasty was official script, and the books hidden before Fu Sheng were written in Qin seal script or ancient Zhen script.

Therefore, when Fu Sheng was teaching, he had to translate ancient texts into "modern texts". In the Han Dynasty, when doctors of the Five Classics were established, they used the modern text "Shang Shu" as teaching materials.

How difficult is it to understand "Shang Shu"?

In the words of Liang Qichao, a master of Chinese studies, if you read "Shang Shu" without reading the annotations, you will not understand it.

There is a saying in "Shangshu·Pangeng": "Pi is the auspicious descendant of Di Gao."

Do you feel like "you know every word, but you don't know what they mean when they are put together"?

But looking at the comments, it is easy to understand that "Di" is a modal particle and has no meaning.

"Gaohou" means Gaozu or ancestor.

"Pi Nai" means so and then.

"Chong" means greatness.

"Fuxiang" means ominous and sinful punishment.

The plain clothes are connected together, which means "the ancestors will bring disasters heavily".

Despite this, "Shangshu" is an important part of ancient Chinese culture and one of the Confucian classics. It records the politics, military, culture, institutions and other aspects of ancient times.

"Shang Shu" is divided into four parts: "Yu Shu", "Xia Shu", "Shang Shu" and "Zhou Shu". Each part records historical events and political systems in different periods.

The contents of "Shangshu" include political systems, legal systems, religious systems, military systems, economic systems, etc. The most important thing is that it records the political systems and legal systems of ancient times.

Chapters such as "Gan Oath", "Tang Oath" and "Pangeng" in "Shangshu" are important documents for studying ancient political systems and legal systems.

In addition, "Shangshu" also contains some philosophical thoughts. For example, the chapter "Xian Yi De" embodies Confucian moral thoughts, believing that people should abide by moral norms and pursue moral perfection.

The "Hong Fan" chapter expounds the Confucian view of destiny, believing that destiny is sacred and people should comply with it.

In general, "Shangshu" is an important part of ancient Chinese culture and is of great value for studying ancient Chinese politics, military, culture, systems and other aspects.

Since it is so important, the obscure "Shangshu" has become a required textbook for emperors. It has been the knowledge that every emperor needs to learn since the Han Dynasty.

After the lecture was finished, the young emperor went to the Nuan Pavilion to rest. The Supervisor of Ceremonies sent the memorials of each yamen to the Imperial Library, and Wei Guangde was waiting on him.

If there are other officials, they will go to the west wing to rest and wait at this time.

Wei Guangde is giving a lecture today, so he has to be aside. If the little emperor has any questions, he can explain everything in the book clearly and clearly. The emperor will be wise tomorrow, and he will naturally become familiar with the affairs of the country over time.

After reading the book, the little emperor still had to practice calligraphy under the guidance of the Zhengzi official. The emperor's calligraphy level was not required to be very high, but it should not be too bad.

As lunch time approaches, Wei Guangde also wants to talk about the summary of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian". According to the previous lecture, he has skipped it and will go on to explain the rise and fall of the previous dynasty directly.

At this time, Zhu Yijun's morning classes were over. There were no classes scheduled for the afternoon, but usually the lecturer would assign homework, such as what articles to memorize or how many calligraphy pieces to practice.

When Wei Guangde was about to retire, the little emperor suddenly said to him with a smile: "Master, I will not go back to the palace today. I will have lunch here. Master Wei will accompany me.

The imperial dining room had a dish yesterday. Although it was mild when you first tasted it, it had a different taste when you tasted it again. "

"Then I thanked Your Majesty."

Hearing that the little emperor gave a banquet, Wei Guangde was fine. The imperial meal was actually not as delicious as he imagined. It was just that, not as good as the signature dishes of big restaurants outside.

However, since the little emperor was interested, Wei Guangde would not refute his intention and accepted it happily.

Wei Guangde put away the paper that the young emperor had used to practice his calligraphy, which was to be taken back to the cabinet.

These papers are placed in order. After a long time, the progress of the emperor's calligraphy can be known and compared.

However, when Wei Guangde saw one of the dishes at the banquet, his eyes widened. Before he could greet the little emperor, he picked it up with chopsticks and looked at it repeatedly.

"Master Wei, you have never seen this thing before."

Wei Guangde realized that he looked like Meng Lang just now when the little emperor on the throne uttered sullen words.

"Your Majesty, what is this?"

Although Wei Guangde already knew, he still pretended not to know and asked.

"This thing is called Yumai. It was grown in Xiyuan. It matured some time ago, so I asked Yushanfang to make it."

The little emperor was very happy that Wei Guangde didn't know him, so he gave him a popular science guide.

"Is there always this thing in the palace?"

Wei Guangdehu asked doubtfully.

(End of this chapter)