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

Chapter 65 The great virtue of famine relief
"The most popular book in Fujian right now is naturally Wang Jianyang's "History of Portugal". I wonder if Ru Xi has read it?"

"History of Portugal" has long been popular in Nanjing. Ye Chengxue said with a smile: "This time I returned to Fuzhou because I wanted to visit Wang Jianyang, the author of "History of Portugal", and I also wanted to invite him to give lectures in Jiangnan."

"History of Portugal" became a big hit. As soon as someone mentioned it, it immediately sparked discussion: "This book is really good. I had no idea that there were so many ways to do maritime trade before reading it."

Ye Chengxue smiled and was unwilling to express his position on this.

"History of Portugal" was popular in Nanjing, and the history written in this book had even begun to influence public opinion in the Qing Dynasty. Some people proposed national business policies based on this book, and public opinion from various factions had different reactions to the mercantilist ideas in the book.

Those representing the public opinion of small businessmen believed that the Portuguese mercantilism was a weapon for the development of the country, while the landlords and government officials and merchants engaged in monopoly business denounced the Portuguese's behavior as rebellion against Tiangang.

Ye Xianggao is a member of the Donglin Party, and there are forces from these two factions behind him. He dares not offend anyone, and even Ye Chengxue cannot express his opinion on which side is correct.

Just as Ye Chengxue was trying to get away with it, the scholars in the legend started a discussion on "History of Portugal". Someone asked Ye Chengxue:

"Sir, what do you think of the Portuguese strategy of strengthening the army?"

Ye Chengxue smiled and said: "Strengthening the army is the right thing to do. This behavior of the Portuguese is extremely wise."

The Donglin Party supports strengthening the military, and also supports actively using troops externally to protect the dignity of the Ming Dynasty. The only problem is that they are not in power, so they do not need to consider military expenses, training and other troubles. The Ming Dynasty won the battle and took it for granted, so they took the opportunity to elect their own Donglin If you are a party member, if you lose the battle, you will write a letter to scold and start a party struggle.

Another scholar asked: "Sir, what do you think of the Portuguese colonization of Africa and South America?"

Ye Chengxue said: "The expansion of territory is an unparalleled achievement. The kings of Portugal in this dynasty were quite capable."

"If Sir, when Prince Joao founded his country, would he support Prince Joao's knights or Princess Beatrice?"

With the popularity of "History of Portugal", many readers are intoxicated with the stories of "History of Portugal". They have read "History of Portugal" very deeply, and have begun to substitute Chinese history.

Take the story of Joao's founding of the country, for example. The earliest people in the Ming Dynasty sympathized with Prince Joao and felt that Princess Beatrice was a usurper.

But with the understanding of Portuguese history, everyone gradually discovered that according to the Portuguese system, Beatrice should be the successor, and behind her was the support of the royal family and the landlord class, which was equivalent to the scholar class of the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, Prince Joao was able to win the throne by relying on businessmen and warriors, figures that the scholar-bureaucrats disliked.

As a result, some scholars felt that João was committing rebellion by launching an uprising, and even used this to allude to the Jingnan Campaign. The quarrel between the two groups even reached the point of writing articles criticizing each other.

Ye Chengxue heard that he didn't dare to answer this question. He quickly changed the subject with a smile and said: "The ship will dock soon. Everyone, prepare to go ashore to rest."

As soon as his boat docked, several other small boats that had not stopped quickly gave way to let Ye Xuecheng stop first.

When Ye Chengxue returned to Fujian, he brought his father's official title lanterns with him. One pair was "Shang Shu" and the other pair was "Nanjing Libu Zhengtang". Two more pairs of door guns and a pair of pink cards for quiet avoidance were inserted on the ship. With such official titles, The body was so majestic that no ship along the way dared to offend, and even the checkpoints let it pass directly.

Several people watched the boatman dock, and Ye Chengxue asked: "What boundary is this?"

The boatman said: "If I come back to you, I have already arrived in Minqing. There is a village on the nearby shore, and there is a wine shop in the village. You can go to the village to have a drink, and there are also hotels where you can stay. We will sail again tomorrow."

Ye Chengxue nodded, and he and his party returned to Fuzhou and hired three large boats. There were also servants on the two boats, and everyone got off the boat together at the small pier.

As soon as I approached the village, I saw a group of villagers returning home from hoeing.

Some scholars wondered: "It's already winter, why are these farmers still going to the fields?"

Another person looked at the appearance of the villagers and wondered: "The rain in Fujian this year is not good. I heard that the situation in Jianyang is better. The closer to the coast, the drier it becomes. How come the people in Fujian and Qing seem to be living a good life?"

At that moment, a scholar grabbed the boatman and said, "Come up with me and ask."

Fujian has different pronunciation for ten miles apart. Without the help of the boatman to translate, it would be really difficult for them to communicate with the local people.

The boatman thought that he would be able to get more rewards if he had fun with these literati, and he would not be tired if he could say a few words, so he walked forward with everyone.

They grabbed a farmer and asked, "Isn't there a drought in Minqing this year?"

"Let me tell you, the harvest in Minqing this year is not good either. I'm afraid it will only be [-]% to [-]% of what it was in previous years." "This is strange. Why don't you people look hungry?"

When the farmers heard this, they bowed their hands and worshiped God: "This is all due to the blessing of the God who saved famines."

"Our village was originally going to flee famine this year, but the melon and vegetable fairy taught us how to replace melon and vegetables, and we managed to escape the famine by growing vegetables."

A group of literati were quite curious when they heard this.

"What is Guacaidai?"

"This is strange. I have never heard the name of this immortal before."

"Isn't it some kind of obscenity?"

"It must be an obscene sacrifice."

"In the year of great disaster, all kinds of snakes, insects, rats, and ants appear."

"..."

The farmer's face was startled when he heard this: "The famine-rescuing immortal is a great benevolent person. Without this immortal, our village would starve. Sirs, please be kind!"

After he finished speaking, he left angrily. He actually didn't give these scholars any face. He was really angry.

Only a group of scholars were left looking at each other.

"What's wrong with this farmer?"

"How come you are so grand?"

Everyone was very curious, but the farmer was gone, and a group of scholars could only find another family to ask who the melon and vegetable fairy was.

They strolled into a farmhouse on the roadside. The family was still on the ground and the mother was preparing to cook.

The old woman looked around nervously when she saw so many people wearing big headscarves walking into the yard.

Ye Chengxue said quickly: "We are just taking a look, you don't need to panic."

The boatman helped translate: "These gentlemen are curious to see you cooking. Don't worry about them. You can just go on as usual. I will ask for the reward for you later."

After hearing that there was a reward, the old woman nodded and went to the house to get the food.

The old woman shakily took out a basket of radishes, a few sugar cane, and a small bowl of rice from the house, and walked to the stove with these vegetables.

She first bowed to a mimeographed portrait on the stove, and then placed these cooking books in front of the portrait as an offering.

The old woman knelt down tremblingly in front of the statue of the Melon and Vegetable Immortal, and said gratefully:

"If there were no immortals to teach them the magic, my whole family would have starved to death. My wife prays to God every day to bless the immortals to live a long life and be full of children."

Although the offering was only a basket of melons and vegetables, the mother-in-law was extremely pious and almost shed tears as she spoke with gratitude.

Ye Chengxue saw that the clothes were all patched, and the old and frail old woman was kneeling on the ground, and he felt deeply in his heart.

The mother-in-law bowed devoutly, then got up and took a basket of radish and sugar cane to the stove to cook.

(End of this chapter)