Can you live forever

Chapter 182 Massive gunpowder, insane (two in one, leader plus 55)

It has been nine years since Mr. Yangming's death. In the past nine years, not only has the theory of mind not declined, but it has been promoted more widely. Yangzhou, as a cultural frontier, is extremely popular with Yangming's theory of mind.

Mr. Yangming said "the way of a sage is that my nature is self-sufficient".

They think that everyone can be a saint, so we should be equal in personality. Therefore, those who believe in the philosophy of mind are all pursuing equality in personality.

Mr. Yangming said "There is nothing outside the mind".

They think that they should follow their nature and develop their individuality, so each of them is unique and has great individuality.

Mr. Yangming said "the unity of knowledge and action".

They thought that, like the famous scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, they should arrive at their pleasure and return with their heart's content. They should follow their inner thoughts without delay and implement them immediately.

However, Mr. Yangming also said to "deliver conscience".

Many people ignore that they are not learning Yangming's mind, but using Yangming's mind as a cover to liberate their animal nature. Scholars also use nothing outside their minds as a cover for not studying well. I despise the imperial examinations and oppose studying stereotyped essays, but I don’t want to study stereotyped essays anymore. Many people don’t even read books...

This is the same as the happy education pursued by later generations.

Under the logic of "Six Classics Annotating Me", Yangming's School of Mind has become popular across the country at an incredible speed, but its real roots have also been broken.

Mr. Yangming had many disciples, but none who really understood the mind.

Hai Rui has learned the essence, but no one thinks that Hai Rui is a student of mind learning.

Those masters in the late Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi, Liu Zongzhou, Huang Zongxi and others blamed Lu Wang Xinxue for the death of the Ming Dynasty. Although it is ridiculous, Xinxue did bring huge changes to the society of the Ming Dynasty.

It's like a catalyst.

A thousand people see Xinxue, and there are a thousand people who understand it. Anyway, I have nothing outside my heart...

The changes brought about by Xinxue have both advantages and disadvantages. Here in Yangzhou, the first benefit Zhang Zhixiang saw was "equality".

Although this equality is one-way.

Traffickers want to be equal to literati, literati want to be equal to literati, women want to be equal to men... People are no longer satisfied with the concept of class solidification.

The lower-ranking people lack "respect" for the upper-ranking ones.

From Zhang Zhixiang's point of view, this is a good thing, but to traditional rulers, this is "propriety collapses and happiness deteriorates".

As a woman, Chen Feiyuan showed her face outside and took the initiative to meet men. For the children of the world, it was not very unusual. The strange thing lay in her psychology.

Why can't women do what men can do?

This was unimaginable before the rise of Xinxue, such as "women don't give way to men", also refers to ability, not rules.

Chen Feiyuan is a very competent guide.

The first thing to know about a place is to eat. Chen Feiyuan knows almost all the delicious food in the streets and alleys of Yangzhou City. She took Zhang Zhixiang and the others to eat, eat, and play for a long time, but it seems that the entire Yangzhou City has not visited even one tenth of it. Similarly, there are countless wonderful things waiting for them.

According to Chen Feiyuan, the fun of Yangzhou City can't be fully experienced in one month.

The nightlife in Yangzhou is also very lively, Chen Feiyuan took them to the theater.

Thousands of people are seated in the theater for a penny of silver, and cold drinks with peanuts and melon seeds are sold. Legendary operas are performed on the stage. Southern operas of the Ming Dynasty evolved into legendary operas during the Zhengde and Jiajing years, and a large number of good scripts of this period also appeared. .

Now we are playing the latest "The Tale of the Sword", which tells the story of the leopard head Lin Chong bravely fighting against the treacherous ministers Gao Qiu and Tong Guan, expressing his protest against the dark rule...

"Darkness reigns... Interesting."

Of course, Zhang Zhixiang saw what "The Tale of the Sword" was metaphorizing. It was nothing more than to accuse the Jiajing Dynasty of its dark rule, and there was no "all positive and prosperous dynasty", and Tong Guan, as an eunuch, was crowned king during the Northern Expedition of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures during the Song Huizong period. Is it as bad as the history books say?
Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, the one who really made a difference, dared to go to the Northern Expedition, and made big moves was none other than Song Huizong.

Cai Jing, Gao Qiu, and Tong Guan supported Song Huizong, and they all became traitors.

The same reason.

Zhang Cong and Yan Song supported Jiajing, one became a lucky villain, and the other became a treacherous minister.Really, from history books to operas, never let go...

Leaving aside the metaphor of "The Story of the Sword", the level of opera is still very high.

The plot is ups and downs, exciting, and the performance is full of tension. You can feel Lin Chong's grief and unyielding persecution by treacherous officials.

A play lasted two hours.

It was already Haishi when the show ended, and Zhang Zhixiang paid for all the expenses today, so Chen Feiyuan used this as an excuse to express that she was the host and invited the three of them to stay overnight.

Fuwei Escort Agency is a famous Escort Agency in Yangzhou, and there are two to three hundred escorts alone.

There are also dozens of people staying in the Escort, so the Fuwei Escort has a large yard and enough guest rooms. The big treasurer, Chen Fusheng, is Chen Feiyuan's father.

Chen Fusheng was not too surprised when his daughter brought guests home.

Invited Zhang Zhixiang and the others to have a cup of tea, asked a few words, and arranged a good room for them.

Silent all night.

After waking up the next day, I heard some hustle and bustle in the bodyguard bureau. There were quite a lot of people gathered, about 600 people. Looking at the clothes, there were nearly [-] bodyguard masters.

This is to call up all the people who haven't been in the dart yet?

"Wake up?"

Chen Feiyuan was still dressed as a Jianghu heroine in a well-dressed outfit, and with a lunch box in her hand, she came to Zhang Zhixiang's guest room to say hello, glanced into the room, and confirmed that Zhang Zhixiang and Wang Cuiqiao slept in separate rooms, so she couldn't help smiling .

"Is this a big job?"

Generally speaking, only one-third of the Escorts with good business may even rest in the Escorts. Now that almost all the members are called, it must be prepared in advance.

Chen Feiyuan didn't think there was anything to avoid, so she told him: "The firework dealer Chu's family is going to open a big new firework workshop."

"Bought a large quantity of gunpowder from the Nanjing Ministry of Industry."

"There are quite a few ships."

"This thing can be used as fireworks or cannonballs. Worried about robbers and robbers, the Chu family hired us as an escort and greeted us half a month in advance. No, we will set off immediately when we are ready, go to Yingtian with the ship, and then escort return."

"The journey is not far, and it only takes three to five days to go back and forth, but the Chu family gave 3000 taels of silver."

"It's good business."

Although there are many water bandits these days, they don't dare to rob everything. The Fuwei Escort Bureau has a good reputation in Nanzhili, and the general robbers rob so much gunpowder, the government will not sit idly by.

Small bandits dare not move their minds, and big bandits are not on the road.

Chen Feiyuan didn't think there would be any mistakes.

"How many ships of gunpowder?"

Zhang Zhixiang keenly sensed that something was wrong. It happened to coincide with Jiajing's southern tour, and it was almost time for a confrontation in Yangzhou. At this time, the Fuwei Escort was transporting gunpowder for the fireworks workshop...

"Add up, more than [-] catties, the Chu family's business is getting bigger and bigger."

Chen Feiyuan didn't think there was anything unusual about it. One hundred thousand catties of gunpowder for fireworks could be digested in only one or two years in the Yangzhou market.

Zhang Zhixiang couldn't help thinking of the explosion at Wang Gong's factory.

The gunpowder reserves of the Wang Gong factory in the capital are thousands of tons all the year round, and sometimes two to three thousand tons. According to calculations by later generations, the explosion at the Wang Gong factory was equivalent to [-] tons of TNT, similar to that of the little boy in Fusang.

There must be another reason for the explosion of Wang Gong Factory, not just the simple gunpowder explosion, but someone must have premeditated it.

Because the sixth year of Tianqi was the time when Wei Zhongxian "persecuted" Donglin Qunxian the most...

"One hundred thousand catties of gunpowder, how much is it really?"

Zhang Zhixiang was thinking about things, and subconsciously murmured, in view of the power of the Wanggong factory explosion, Zhang Zhixiang subconsciously felt that if Nanjing was going to take action, it should be more than that.

Chen Feiyuan didn't know what Zhang Zhixiang was thinking, and replied: "It's not too much. The main reason is that only the imperial court has bulk gunpowder. How much to buy depends on the relationship with the Ministry of Industry."

"There are so many fireworks manufacturers in the south of the Yangtze River, which company can't buy tens of thousands of catties of gunpowder from the Ministry of Industry every year?"

"After a year, the Ministry of Industry will have to sell two to three million catties of gunpowder at least."

Chen Feiyuan said it was unintentional, but Zhang Zhixiang grasped the key point keenly. The Nanjing Ministry of Industry sells thousands of tons of gunpowder to the fireworks dealers every year!
It can be seen that the Nanjing Ministry of Industry has several times more gunpowder reserves than the capital!
If thousands of tons of gunpowder explode...

Immortals are hard to save.

"The Chu family can import so much gunpowder, so it can be seen that the fireworks are pretty good. Let's go buy fireworks and set them off by the river at night?" Zhang Zhixiang said to Chen Feiyuan with a smile.

Chen Feiyuan's eyes lit up, and she responded immediately.

At this time, Wang Cuiqiao and Zhang Jingdu also finished washing up, and they were also very excited when they learned that the fireworks would be set off, especially Zhang Jingdu, who grew up on the mountain since she was a child, but she had never experienced such a novelty.

The fireworks shop of the Chu family is very large, not only there are firecrackers and lights that fly into the sky.

There are slow-burning guns in hand, and there are also hand-held fireworks guns, which are almost the same as those of later generations. The best-selling one is called lotus lantern.

It can be placed on the surface of the river and then ignited, and the flaming lotus will slowly fade away on the surface of the water.

Many girls like to make wishes when they put lotus lanterns on.

Therefore, on ordinary days, there are many people who buy fireworks, and those who have new stores opening and weddings and weddings also come to buy them. The store can be said to be very lively.

Zhang Zhixiang not only wanted to buy fireworks, he mainly wanted to see the Chu family's fireworks workshop.

Then he asked the shopkeeper: "Is there that kind of custom-made fireworks that can make words appear when placed in the sky?"

The shopkeeper smiled and replied: "A man named Zhang Shizhe from Qiantang wrote a poem: Hundreds of silk lanterns are held in the air, and the goddess's new makeup is colorful. It's really like cutting dragons and wielding long swords, and madmen blow flute across the Dongting."

"As long as the guest officials can afford it, even if you want a pair of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", our Yuqing Fireworks Shop can make it for you."

"Just tell me what scene the guest officer wants."

While the shopkeeper was talking, he glanced at the girl behind Zhang Zhixiang, and didn't know who this young man was going to show his love to.

Hearing what the shopkeeper said, Zhang Zhixiang took a piece of silver and put it on the counter.

"My request is more complicated, can I tell the master of the fireworks directly? The ten taels of silver is counted as a deposit." Seeing Zhang Zhixiang's generous spending, the shopkeeper smiled and accepted the money, and called a clerk to bring Zhang Zhixiang They go straight to the fireworks workshop.

……

"Mr. Zhang, this is our Master Master of Yu Qingxing. Master Zhao, if you have any requirements, please discuss with Master Zhao directly. We will calculate the price after finalizing."

Zhang Zhixiang withdrew his wait-and-see eyes and said with a smile, "No problem."

"Master Zhao, to tell you the truth, it is useful for me to order these fireworks. Did Master Zhao hear about His Majesty's southern tour? Well, yes, the emperor is now in Huai'an, and he will arrive in Yangzhou in a few days."

"I have written a poem, and I plan to release it for your majesty when he arrives in Yangzhou."

"Hey……"

"It's a coincidence, when His Majesty sees my literary talents, won't I be able to flourish in the future? Don't worry, as long as your company's fireworks are good, my money will be indispensable."

Zhang Zhixiang is not short of money.

Participating in the martial arts conference, after the first round, there will be five taels of silver in interest, and then doubled every round, and he finally won the championship. After a total of 11 rounds, he won 5120 taels of silver.

Among them, 120 taels are cash silver, and 5000 taels are treasure notes.

When Zhang Zhixiang made this request, Master Zhao immediately understood it, and felt that the business should be profitable, and then he was thinking about how to realize Zhang Zhixiang's request.

But the young servant's eyes lit up, he asked Zhang Zhixiang to chat with Master Zhao first, and he went to find a supervisor.

The steward said: "This is a good idea. However, in the final analysis, it still depends on how well the poems are made and whether there is any literary talent. Otherwise, the emperor will not care if the fireworks are put in the sky."

"Forget it, we don't need to think about it, we are only responsible for selling fireworks."

"You go to inform the shopkeeper and tell him to sell to those scribes in private, don't do it openly, or that Mr. Zhang will trouble us."

"Tsk tsk, I'm afraid this month's revenue will double."

The manager was very happy, and rewarded the buddy with five taels of silver, saying that he would be promoted if he had the opportunity in the future.

Zhang Zhixiang didn't expect that the reason he found so casually turned into a marketing strategy. When Jiajing came to Yangzhou, he must be in a daze. Yangzhou's literary style is so prosperous?Fireworks are set off at night, and the sky is filled with poems and articles...

Of course, Zhang Zhixiang doesn't care whether he knows it or not.

What he cared about was Yu Qingxing's new workshop.

"One hundred thousand catties of gunpowder? Hehe, there is such a thing. I didn't expect it to have spread. The owner has built a new workshop, which is more than ten times bigger than this one, and it's in Dongcheng."

"However, the workshop has just been built and is currently only used as a warehouse."

"When will we move there? The owner hasn't said a plan yet."

Master Zhao told Zhang Zhixiang about the situation of the new workshop, and Zhang Zhixiang asked some more. The excuse was whether the new workshop had new technology and was more stable. Poor, the key lies in human craftsmanship.

Zhang Zhixiang didn't quite believe it, he insisted that he was going to show the emperor the poems, he must not make a mistake, he had to go to the new workshop to see it before he would believe it.

Finally, the steward of the workshop was attracted.

The steward doubled it and asked the price to be 200 taels. Zhang Zhixiang paid 100 taels directly, and then he agreed. He took Zhang Zhixiang to see the old workshop's utensils, introduced them in detail, and then took him to the new workshop for comparison. ...

(End of this chapter)