I'm really not doing business

Chapter 590: Annotations to the Collection of Philosophers and Hundred Schools of Thought

Wang Qian was betting on the destiny of the country. He was betting that the Suiyuan Chidao Road of the Ming Dynasty would be guaranteed, which meant he was betting on the long-lasting destiny of the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Ming Dynasty was strong, the Suiyuan Chidao tickets he held would soar in value. If the destiny of the Ming Dynasty was sluggish and all kinds of messy things kept happening, then the Suiyuan Chidao tickets in his hand would be just a pile of waste paper and worthless.

Qin Shihuang built so many highways, but how many are left today? The highways of the Ming Dynasty were built on the wooden tracks of the Qin Dynasty's highways. Even the stations and horse-changing facilities were modeled after the Qin Dynasty's system. However, the Qin Empire fell apart after the death of Qin Shihuang, and the highways were also turned into dust, becoming an inconspicuous silhouette in the long river of history.

Wang Qian was betting. He was betting on the longevity of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, that the powerful and ambitious people of the Ming Dynasty would not be able to do anything to Your Majesty, that the newly-promoted military merit group of the Ming Dynasty would not violate the law by force, that Your Majesty would not act rashly and would not commit a scandal like the Ming Yingzong's personal expedition, that Your Majesty would always be diligent, and that Your Majesty would be able to overcome the difficulties.

These are all things Wang Qian is betting on. Wang Qian himself compiled a set of investment guides, "The Four Secrets of Wang Qian's Fortune". But that set of investment guides and valuable ticket analysis, in fact, is ultimately an investment in human nature.

If we don’t invest in human activities, what can we invest in if not in humanity?
It is not surprising that Japan has now begun to gamble on its national destiny. Oda Nobunaga, with the support of the Ming Dynasty, gambled on the national destiny of Japan. After Oda Nobunaga's death, his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, brazenly launched the war of aggression against Korea. He was also gambling on the national destiny, betting that the Ming Dynasty would not really send troops for Korea. Moreover, he gambled twice in a row and was beaten back by the Ming Dynasty both times.

It was not until Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death that Tokugawa Ieyasu took over the position of Shogun and established the Edo Shogunate.

Tokugawa Ieyasu became the final winner of the Warring States Period in Japan.

Mori Terumoto, or the Mori family, has always been a strong candidate for the positions of regent, tenkain, and shogun, because Mori Terumoto fought back and forth with Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. It was only after Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated Mori Terumoto that he established the Edo Shogunate.

Every time, Mori Terumoto was just one step away from defeating his opponent and becoming a general.

"For small countries, it seems that gambling on national destiny is the only option." Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "But isn't North Korea doing well with the Ming Dynasty behind it? In fact, there are ways for small countries to survive."

"In the chapter on the signs of a country's demise, Han Feizi says: A country that is small but does not humble itself, has little power but does not fear the strong, is rude but insults its larger neighbors, is greedy and stubborn but has poor relationships, is doomed to demise."

"Han Feizi, you have to read it."

Small countries have their own way of survival. They exist loyally as vassal states, wavering in the cracks to seek benefits by sitting on the fence to the extreme, or gamble on the fate of the country and put all their lives and property on the gambling table. The winner takes all and the loser takes everything.

Being loyal and faithful as a vassal state, it can even achieve hereditary succession, and Korea is the hereditary Joseon of the Joseon Dynasty;
Sitting on the fence requires extremely sophisticated political talent and art to reap the benefits without completely offending the other party. This requires a test of wisdom. Sitting on the fence means not offending anyone, but it also means offending everyone.

Gambling on the fate of a country is also a way of survival. Anyway, the situation is already so bad, how much worse can it get? There are also examples of this in the long river of history. That is the arrogance of Yelang. The Yelang Kingdom gambled on the fate of the country against the Han Dynasty, and then the entire Yelang Kingdom also became a name in history books.

“A great country must never gamble on its national destiny. At the very least, it will break its back, and at worst, it will perish, just like the Northern Song Dynasty. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the monarch was ambitious and his ministers were arrogant and could not be advised. They colluded with the Jin Kingdom and the Liao Kingdom, and bought the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun with a large sum of money, but could not keep it. In the end, the whole world was lost to the barbarians, and wherever their iron hooves stepped, there was grief and suffering.” Zhang Juzheng was talking about the dangers of a great country gambling on its national destiny. He advised Your Majesty with the humiliation of Jingkang in the late Northern Song Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire. Although it is still backward in some areas, it is fully qualified to call itself so. The more so, the more it must not act hastily, otherwise it will give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage.

The Ming Dynasty was still backward in some areas.

For example, the Ming Dynasty cannot currently call itself the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, because despite the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, the sun still sets on its territory; for example, the Ming Dynasty is still very conservative in terms of overseas expansion, and the huge experimental field of the Yuanxu Islands has not yet borne fruit; for example, in mathematics, the Ming Dynasty's current exploration is only one step ahead of the West, and the mathematics books imported from the West every year are still of reference value to the Ming Dynasty.

It was not until the 11th year of Wanli that the Ming Dynasty achieved a leading scale in woolen cloth manufacturing. The technology of the Ming Dynasty's official woolen cloth factory was even partially behind that of the Mesta Association. The horizontal scale was sufficient, but there was still too little time for the vertical scale.

There is still a lot of room for struggle.

"I appreciate your advice, sir. I have benefited a lot from your words." Zhu Yijun thanked him very solemnly. Whether in the original historical line or now, Zhang Juzheng is extremely qualified as an imperial teacher, and can even be said to be excellent.

"Since you are familiar with Han Feizi, why don't you annotate this book? For example, in the "Wang Zheng Pian" mentioned by you, there is a sentence: Merchants accumulate outside, and the common people are trapped inside, which means the country will be destroyed. In this sentence, some people annotate the word "internal trouble" as advocating private fighting, while the original meaning should be that the people are in dire straits and it is difficult to make a living. Most of their annotations are speculations and are far from the truth." Zhu Yijun talked about the annotation problem of "Han Feizi".

Confucianism became a prominent school of thought in the Central Plains 1,700 years ago, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty abolished all schools of thought and promoted Confucianism alone. The Legalist masterpiece "Han Feizi" has not been lost, let alone its annotations, because people in the Central Plains have had the habit of collecting books throughout the dynasties. However, the annotations have been completely changed.

Zhu Yijun’s meaning was very clear. He wanted Zhang Juzheng to annotate the works of the Legalists, or the works of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Only when a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend can a country prosper.

There are 47 articles in Han Feizi's Wang Zheng, each word is a gem and each sentence has extremely important reference significance, but such pearls have been covered in dust in the long river of history for a thousand years.

"Your Majesty, I am a Confucian scholar." Zhang Juzheng said with some embarrassment.

"Can the performance evaluation system be made by a Confucian scholar? Is the rule of law also a Confucian proposition? Sir, I am your disciple. What you say and do are not like those of a Confucian scholar. Many of the things you do are things that Confucian scholars strongly oppose. Sir, I am already 22 years old this year, not a child. Do you think you can fool a child with the words "Confucian scholar"? " Zhu Yijun indicated that he had grown up and could not be fooled easily!

If you enter, you will be unable to control the people at home, if you leave, you will be invincible to foreign patients, and the country will be permanently destroyed.

Confucianism avoids talking about the attitude towards the destruction of a country. After all, in the Confucian world of great harmony, there is a clear order, everyone is content with their own place and their own duties. In such an orderly world, how can a country be destroyed? If a country is destroyed, it is destroyed. The emperor will take turns to be the emperor, and the family will be passed down forever.

Still taking the "Conquest of the Lost Dynasty" as an example, Wang Guoguang mentioned that the powerful and wealthy people in the Ming Dynasty seemed to be transferring their wealth abroad, thereby evading the unfree laws of the dynasty and gaining true and absolute freedom. What Wang Guoguang was worried about is also reflected in the "Conquest of the Lost Dynasty".

Overseas Chinese scholars who are away from home and have heavy treasury are doomed to fail if they plot against their superiors and interfere in the affairs of the people.

Zhu Yijun tried to comment on this article. If the foreign scholars who lived abroad deposited a lot of money and were given important positions, could participate in state secrets and interfere in people's affairs, the country might perish.

This is what Wang Guoguang is worried about, and it is also one of the forty-seven things in the "Exodus of Destruction". Every one of these things is worthy of vigilance.

Zhu Yijun hoped that Zhang Juzheng could formally abandon his identity as a Confucian scholar, pick up the wisdom of his ancestors, and continue to illuminate the way forward for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng did not respond but fell silent. This was not the first time that His Majesty had made such a request, but he had never agreed before, or had never formally annotated the great works of the various schools of thought. Zhang Juzheng just read them himself and gave lectures to His Majesty after reading them, but he had never annotated them personally.

Zhu Xi annotated the Four Books and Five Classics and became the sage of Zhuzi. If Zhang Juzheng could complete the annotations of the great works of various schools of thought, he would also be a sage of Zhangzi.

Zhu Yijun was building a memorial archway for Zhang Juzheng!

"Your Majesty, I cannot set up a government office to do this. I am the Prime Minister, and this will give others an advantage." Zhang Juzheng could explain the academic works of Legalism, Mohism, Taoism, etc. to the emperor, but he could not lead people to annotate the classics of the various schools of thought.

Because he was the prime minister, once he established a government, even if it was to revise a book, it would be regarded as rebellion.

The reason why the prime minister is the prime minister is that he can set up an office, select his own subordinates, and handle military and national affairs. Even if he just edits a book, the court officials will regard it as Zhang Juzheng's attempt to seize power and usurp the throne. Even though Zhang Juzheng had been regent, he never set up an office, which violated Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral law of abolishing the prime minister.

The Ming Dynasty Code that he is now compiling also makes use of the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College, using the existing government offices of the Ming Dynasty.

To annotate the various schools of thought, it is simply not feasible to continue using the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College, which are completely occupied by Confucian scholars. It is necessary to set up new offices and government offices. This is the contradiction.

"Actually, we can make some adjustments." Zhu Yijun said with a complicated expression.

Zhang Juzheng looked at His Majesty, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this really cannot be changed. Any form of establishing a government office should be regarded as a conspiracy of treason."

"Your Majesty, Taizu abolished the Secretariat not simply because of the Hu Weiyong case, but because during the time of Hu Yuan, those prime ministers successively disrupted the government. Only then did he learn from his mistakes and gave up abolishing the Secretariat, deposing the prime minister and never setting up another one."

"The Prime Minister is only the Prime Minister, not the Prime Minister."

Zhu Yijun immediately said, "What about the Quan Chu Guild Hall and the Quan Jin Guild Hall? Isn't that equivalent to establishing a government office?"

Zhang Hong came up empty-handed, as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat had already gone to the toilet. The discussion between His Majesty and Mr. Zhang gradually became bolder, and the discussion about gambling on the fate of the country was recorded. There was no need to record the subsequent idle chat, as the emperor also needed some privacy.

Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng's discussion was very bold. These were topics that the Ming Dynasty could not touch. Your Majesty and Sir were not old men who drank big bowls of herbal tea and commented on state affairs. The purpose of Your Majesty's discussion was to change the status quo, and this was the most fatal thing.

The Ming Emperor expressed his doubts. What is the difference between the Quan Chu Guild Hall and the Quan Jin Guild Hall and the establishment of a government? What is the difference between the Zuoshi and the prime ministers who established a government?

Zhu Yijun annotated hundreds of great works and injected them into the imperial examination system, completing the counterattack against Confucianism's monopoly on power. He was actually digging up the ancestral graves of the despicable Confucian scholars.

"To establish a government office means to select your own staff to serve. The position of the Great Ming Master is more of a forced personal attachment, and you cannot hold any office. If you want to obtain an official position, you must take the imperial examination. The Ministry of Personnel abolished the method of ministerial recommendation in the 13th year of Zhengtong, in order to prevent the emergence of a prime minister who is unscrupulous under the increasingly serious situation of promoting civil and military affairs."

"Your Majesty, Lin Fucheng, it is your Majesty's special grace that Lin Fucheng can obtain an official position." Zhang Juzheng gave a very realistic example. In a guild hall with a teacher-student system, one cannot hold office. Even if one is given an official position, if one fails to pass the imperial examinations, it is still a huge hurdle for one to become an official.

"The only one who can truly be called the one who founded a government is Hu Zongxian. Hu Zongxian's former aides, such as Xu Wei and Mao Kun, all obtained their official positions because they were Hu Zongxian's aides in suppressing the Japanese pirates. This was also one of the reasons why he was later pursued by Xu Jie. Of course, Xu Jie pursued Hu Zongxian mainly to counterattack against the Yan Party." Zhang Juzheng explained why Hu Zongxian's crime of treason could be upheld.

At that time, the court was still discussing whether Hu Zongxian was involved in treason, in addition to the matter of forging the imperial edict, and whether he had established a government office. When this discussion had not yet come to a conclusion, Xu Jie took action and had Hu Zongxian starve to death in prison, making it an fait accompli.

Of course, Xu Jie was now also beheaded by the emperor himself.

"What you said makes sense, sir." Zhu Yijun agreed with Zhang Juzheng's statement. Although Zhang Juzheng was the Prime Minister and Minister of Personnel, every personnel appointment and dismissal was made after an extremely fierce competition. Even a core disciple like Liang Menglong had to go to Suiyuan to gain credit for the conquest of Altan Khan before he could be recognized by everyone.

Until now, Liang Menglong's position as the Minister of Personnel is not particularly stable, and he usually appears as Zhang Juzheng's assistant.

The All Jin Guild Hall and the All Chu Guild Hall are not equivalent to the Prime Minister's Office. The boundary between them is still the selection of staff members. "So the translation of the works of hundreds of schools of thought can only be done by me personally?" Zhu Yijun spread his hands and said, "How can I have the time?"

Zhu Yijun was really busy. Among all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, his diligence was second only to Emperor Taizu Gao. But he really had no time to do this.

When it comes to diligence in government, apart from Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yijun can confidently say: Who else!
"Your Majesty, Lord Wan Shihe is the most suitable person to do this." Zhang Juzheng recommended a candidate, Wan Shihe.

No matter how you look at it, Wan Shihe is the most suitable candidate. He is a member of the imperial party, and he is a flatterer who will be eaten alive by the court officials if he is out of the emperor's favor. He has read a lot of books and can easily get all kinds of historical materials. He does not have much power. If Wang Chonggu were to open a government office, Zhang Juzheng would only fight to the death to stop him.

This is why Wan Shihe is suitable, because Wan Shihe is not in power, so there is no risk. Wan Shihe has neither financial power nor military power, and he does not appoint or dismiss personnel.

"Indeed, then let's summon Lord Wan to meet him." Zhu Yijun thought about it carefully and felt that Wan Shihe was really suitable.

Wan Shihe, who was working diligently in Wenyuan Pavilion, pointed at himself and said in disbelief when he saw Feng Bao and heard the whole story. "Me?"

Could such a great achievement come out of nowhere?!
"Yes, it was Master Wan who recommended him." Feng Bao said with certainty.

When Wan Shihe arrived at the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace, he was still a little dazed. It was not until His Majesty personally asked him about it and appointed him as the president of the Compilation of Philosophers that Wan Shihe was still a little confused. He said blankly, "How did such a great achievement fall on the head of this minister?"

Faced with such an achievement, Wan Shihe lost all his self-control and became straightforward.

In the eyes of Confucian scholars, this is an act of treason and rebellion against the will of Heaven, but in the eyes of Wan Shihe, this is a merit. Your Majesty requires a hundred flowers to bloom and a hundred schools of thought to flourish, but the reality is that the Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty are still the only ones in power, and only the small flames of agronomy and engineering are flickering and burning. "Compilation of Philosophers" is to add bricks and tiles to this flame.

Once the "Compilation of Philosophers" was completed, Wan Shihe was considered a great sinner in the eyes of traditional conservatives and a great contributor to the reformists.

"Lord Wan, just think about it and you will know." Zhu Yijun said with a smile. Only Wan Shihe was suitable. This also meant that Zhu Yijun had no one else to use in civil service affairs, and those who could be used were in important positions.

"This is a simple matter. Find some Confucian scholars to annotate it together, and I will be responsible for correcting it." Wan Shihe has already started thinking about how to carry it out.

Zhang Juzheng reminded him with a puzzled look: "If you open a government office and build a government office, Lord Wan will be at the center of the storm."

"No need to give him an official position. It's hard to find a three-legged frog in the Ming Dynasty, but there are two-legged scholars everywhere." Wan Shihe didn't understand why Zhang Juzheng kept raising the issue to the level of establishing a government office. In Wan Shihe's opinion, the matter could be done by finding some scribes.

"Strive for perfection. A slight error can lead to a huge mistake." Zhang Juzheng looked at Wan Shihe and said solemnly, "Lord Wan, think about it carefully."

Things are much more difficult than Wan Shihe thought. This is the clarion call for a counterattack against the despicable Confucian scholars. If you want people to fight for their lives and charge into battle, you have to give them official positions and enough benefits. Moreover, like the Royal Institute of Technology, they must be independent of the current bureaucratic system to prevent too much resistance, which would lead to death before the mission is accomplished.

Simple annotations are, of course, easy, but it is difficult to prevent the infiltration and tampering of the "Compilation of Philosophers" by low-class scholars.

Wan Shihe realized the difficulty of this matter.

"Don't worry, take your time. Lord Wan, just do it according to your own ideas and annotate the "Compilation of Philosophers" first. This is to open up the battlefield. As long as the battlefield is opened up, I have plenty of time to play with them slowly." Zhu Yijun signaled Wan Shihe not to be too anxious, and to do the easy things first and then the difficult ones. Zhu Yijun has time and he is still very young.

"I obey your order." Wan Shihe finally accepted the task.

The New Deal of the Ming Dynasty and the Wanli Reform were as mighty as the Qiantang Tide. Everyone was under this torrent, but some people stood on the crest of the tide because of their abilities, such as Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu, while some people stood on the crest of the tide because of luck, such as Wan Shihe. They stood on the crest of the tide, with unlimited glory and unlimited danger.

After Zhang Juzheng and Wan Shihe left after discussing the Compilation of Philosophers, Zhu Yijun opened the memorial.

Wang Guoguang from the Ministry of Revenue conducted a further review of the mill case. Among the four aspects of production, storage, processing and sales, processing is the most likely to form a monopoly. Wang Guoguang also mentioned in his memorial a small incident that Lin Fucheng had mentioned before in Xiaoyao Yiwen, that the grain windmill in the farmer's home was abandoned. Combining the two, we can get an answer, which is a common tacit understanding among meat eaters.

By monopolizing the means of production and tools, they can achieve an absolute dominant position in production relations.

"I have ordered the Southern Court Commander to confiscate the property. Now that I have established my authority, it is time to solve the problem." Zhu Yijun held the memorial from the Ministry of Revenue in his hand and said with a smile, "The Grand Tutor and the Junior Tutor don't have any good ideas. We can only resort to the government-run factories and group production."

Only when government-owned factories produce enough machinery and the prices of the machinery are low enough for ordinary people to afford, can this monopoly based on production tools be broken.

The Ministry of Revenue had no good solution, the only way was production.

What is more interesting is that in the theory of absolute liberalism, there is no such thing as good quality and cheap things in the world, because it is profit that regulates supply and demand. When the profit of a commodity drops to a certain level, no one will make it. In this way, the supply will decrease and the profit will increase, and the production scale will be maintained. Without human interference, only sufficient profit can guarantee production.

There is nothing mysterious about that invisible big hand. It just means profit. There is a saying in "Six Strategies and Proverbs": The world is bustling with people, all for the sake of profit; the world is in turmoil, all for the sake of profit. This is a proverb from the pre-Qin period. It is not new, but the expression is slightly different.

But there was a real business in the Ming Dynasty that was poking fun at the faces of these idiots, and that was coal at six cents a pound. Even if it was honeycomb coal with 20% loess added, it still fully met the daily needs of more than two million people in the capital of the Ming Dynasty at a cheap price.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, a pound of coal cost two hundred coins in Kaifeng Prefecture.

Small profits but quick turnover is also a business method, and Wang Chonggu has practiced the feasibility of this model.

There were so many memorials to review that Zhu Yijun, except for taking breaks, had to face the mountain of memorials and read every one of them. Even if the Secretariat had marked them as unimportant, the Cabinet had posted blank notes, or the Silijian had deemed them not worth reading, the emperor still diligently read through every memorial.

"Very good, very good. Now memorials can basically be written by following the four steps. It seems much easier." Zhu Yijun finally finished reviewing all the memorials that had accumulated during the New Year. He stretched hard and affirmed the changes of his ministers. Compared with the long memorials in the first year of Wanli, which were thousands of words long and contained no real content, the current memorials have become much more refined and mainly focus on the facts.

The eight-legged essay during the Wanli period was about phenomena, problems, causes, and solutions. This four-step eight-legged essay was the most basic form of seeking truth from facts and the most basic form of practice. Such memorials did not seem as tiring as they were before, and there was no need to dig for gold in shit. For Zhu Yijun, this was a great improvement.

It is impossible to neglect government affairs, so we must work hard on standardizing memorials.

Zhu Yijun allowed court officials to reason and explain why they did so, but the length should not exceed a thousand words.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince De asks Your Majesty to go to the Royal Academy of Studies after you finish your work." Feng Bao said in a low voice. His Majesty likes to watch the fun, and also likes strange skills, or machines.

His Majesty couldn't let go of that hydraulic robotic arm and played with it for many days. After the eldest prince Zhu Changzhi's request, it finally came into the hands of the eldest prince, because the Royal Academy of Sciences sent more than a dozen robotic arms to the palace.

"Let's go and take a look." Zhu Yijun became excited upon hearing this and immediately went to the Royal Academy of Sciences.

The eunuch ran very fast and informed His Royal Highness Prince De in advance that His Majesty had arrived in person. Then the royal Gewuyuan inside and outside immediately became active. When the emperor's uncle Zhu Zaiyu came downstairs from the study to greet him, the resolute His Majesty had already arrived at the Sutra Library of the Gewuyuan.

"Your Majesty, how is your health?" Zhu Zaiyu hurriedly bowed his head in greeting.

"Uncle, you are so polite. I am at peace. Please stand up." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Has Uncle come up with anything new?"

"I haven't tinkered with anything new. Your Majesty knows all about the things I've done, such as manufacturing hydraulic printing presses, improving steam engines, and developing steam turbines. I'm ashamed. I haven't made any progress worthy of taking credit for it in front of Your Majesty." Zhu Zaiyu apologized quickly with a face full of shame.

Zhu Yijun still smiled and said, "Technological progress has never been achieved overnight. I know why the emperor's uncle asked me to come here. Is he short of money? Feng Daban, call the eunuch Cui Min to come."

Just for one steam engine, it was worth it for all the Five Classics doctors inside and outside the Imperial Academy to eat idle meals for the rest of their lives.

"Your Majesty, I am not short of money. Let me show you something." Zhu Zaiyu hurriedly stopped his majesty. The Royal Academy of Gewu was really not short of money.

"We're not short of money." Zhu Yijun was a little disappointed. There was no shortage of money either inside or outside the Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Yijun, who was sitting on a mountain of silver, couldn't show off his wealth.

"Your Majesty, please follow me." Zhu Zaiyu brought his majesty to a workshop. Zhu Yijun had been to this workshop many times. It was a laboratory where all kinds of strange experiments were carried out.

"Your Majesty, we have been looking for a standard to reflect heat. Later, we defined the amount of coke needed to raise the water level by one degree as 1, which is the pot in front of Your Majesty. In order to minimize the error, the pot we use is rather strange in shape." Zhu Zaiyu stood in front of a boiler that looked like an alchemy furnace.

Zhu Zaiyu introduced this boiler in detail. There is a vacuum insulation layer between the inner tank and the outer wall to prevent heat loss.

"We found that one unit of coke is needed to raise the temperature of water by one degree, 1 unit of iron is needed to raise the temperature by one degree, 0.1 unit of copper is needed to raise the temperature by one degree, 0.09 unit of soil is needed to raise the temperature by one degree, and only 0.13 unit of mercury is needed to raise the temperature by one degree. Your Majesty, this seems a bit complicated." Zhu Zaiyu wished he had ten thousand mouths. It was a bit difficult to understand.

"Ah, it's just like specific gravity, isn't it specific heat? Water is the standard, and iron, copper, soil, and mercury are even more different. Among them, mercury has the lowest capacity and can hold only 0.03 of the heat of water. Is this difficult to understand?" Zhu Yijun said very calmly.

Zhu Zaiyu used water as the standard to define specific heat capacity, the heat capacity per unit mass of a substance.

"Your Majesty is truly suitable to be a doctor of the Five Classics!" Zhu Zaiyu clapped his hands and said excitedly. Talking to His Majesty is so easy!

"So what specific problem do we need to explain when studying this specific heat capacity?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

(End of this chapter)