Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 259 How about some deception?

Half an hour later, the family banquet was over and everyone dispersed. Zhang Yifan and his family had also gone back.

However, the prince Zhu Biao still stayed with Zhu Yuanzhang and did not leave, but the prince concubine went back with her son and daughter first.

There was still no one else in the side hall.Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were both silent and did not speak.

It could be seen that both of them were still shocked and still digesting what Zhang Yifan said.

After a long while, Zhu Yuanzhang stood up, walked to the seat that originally belonged to Zhang Yifan, and looked at the tea cups and coffee table placed on the coffee table.

This is what Zhang Yifan used to demonstrate that the earth revolves around the sun and the moon revolves around the earth.

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the tea lid representing the earth, turned it around, and murmured to himself: "This statement seems to be able to explain what we know now. Maybe... the truth... is this?"

When Zhu Biao heard this, he stood up, walked to Zhu Yuanzhang, looked at the things on the coffee table and said: "At least Yifan's investigation of objects is correct so far. His method seems to pay attention to reasoning. Deducing the truth from existing reality seems to be called logic."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, and sat down where Zhang Yifan had been sitting. Then he tapped the coffee table with the fingers of his right hand rhythmically, and said: "Just because Temujin can rise from the grassland, it does not necessarily mean that Western Yi cannot rise." ! Only focusing on the country and being complacent, one day in the future, we may follow the path of the Song Dynasty."

Having said this, he looked up at his successor and said, "Do you think this is possible?"

Zhu Yuanzhang eventually became the founding emperor from a beggar. He would definitely not despise anyone, otherwise, he would not be where he is today.

Therefore, he was very concerned about the possibility mentioned by Zhang Yifan, even if it was just a possibility.

When Zhu Biao heard his father's words, he felt a little embarrassed. After thinking for a while, he replied: "My son, I have heard Yifan say that if you fall behind, you will be beaten. This backwardness can be in various aspects. For example, It is said that once our Central Plains dynasty and the grassland barbarians fall behind militarily, they will invade the Central Plains. Or if the Central Plains dynasty's government is corrupt, but the barbarians can have clean and honest government and clear rewards and punishments, they will also invade the Central Plains. And the richness of the Central Plains has always been of concern to all barbarians. Therefore, I think it is better to believe that it is there than to believe that it is not!"

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with emotion and said: "Yes, there is no trivial matter in the affairs of the country! If you are prepared, you will be safe!"

Having said that, he fell silent.

Zhu Biao could tell that his father was thinking seriously again.

Yes, Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed thinking. To be precise, he was reflecting.

Some of the things he had prepared before, such as what ideological weapons he used as ideological weapons to maintain the rule of the Zhu Ming Dynasty?To this end, he worked hard to revise Confucianism and prepared to use it to select officials through the imperial examination.

Originally, he thought his approach was definitely correct.

However, after Zhang Yifan said this, his vision is no longer limited to the country, but to the entire world, which is a problem.

His set of Confucian ideas of worshiping the emperor can only be limited to the country.If there is only such a system in China, and a genius like a son-in-law appears abroad, it will be really dangerous.

As the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang was best at military affairs.Not to mention anything else, it was just Zhang Yifan's improved gunpowder, coupled with new artillery and muskets. He knew very well how powerful this was and how strong the impact on the previous Ming army would be.

If these innovations in firearms appeared abroad, among the barbarians, once they coveted the Central Plains and the imperial army did not have them, they would not be able to defeat them, or at least they would suffer big losses. This is for sure.

Not to mention, the eldest son-in-law also predicted that something like boiling water would one day replace animal power.If a car wrapped in iron is conjured up, and the car is driven by that thing, and there are muskets and artillery inside, how can we fight?
Is it possible for such a thing to appear?At least from the perspective of the eldest son-in-law and the content of his current teaching, it is indeed possible.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but reached out and rubbed his forehead, feeling a little helpless.He keenly discovered that after the appearance of the eldest son-in-law, the world would change more and more.

Fortunately, the eldest son-in-law is from the Ming Dynasty and is his son-in-law. If he appears in other countries and works for other countries, although he doesn't know what will happen in the future, at least it will be very troublesome for him at the moment.

His new learning, at least in terms of practicality, was far stronger than Confucianism.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang remembered Zhang Yifan's proposal before leaving.He said that his new learning was similar to practical learning, focusing on studying things for people's use; in terms of ideology, it actually still needed guidance from Confucianism, or the theories of various schools of thought.

Mencius, a Confucian, said that it makes sense that the ruler should be taken lightly and the people should be taken seriously.What he means is that the king must put the people first, not the king first.If that is the case, and the king puts his own pleasure first and does not pay attention to the livelihood of the people and the country, then the change of dynasty will be inevitable.

If Mencius really meant this, maybe he deleted it by mistake!

When Zhu Yuanzhang thought of this, he couldn't help but rub his forehead again.Today, when Zhang Yifan said it, my brain was really tired.

While he was thinking about it, Zhu Biao started to speak: "Yifan said that if he died, he would be burned into ashes and scattered in the rivers. Isn't this a crushing of bones and ashes? Why did he say that?"

Crushing bones and scattering ashes is what one would do if one has deep hatred!However, Zhang Yifan did this to himself, which made Zhu Biao confused.

Afraid of having your tomb robbed or your body trampled on, you wouldn’t have to crush the bones and scatter the ashes yourself, right?
After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang had another headache.According to Zhang Yifan, this conflicts with his original idea.

Although the imperial tombs have been protected by all dynasties, tomb robberies do exist.When a dynasty comes to an end, without the guardians of the tomb, it is difficult not to be visited by tomb robbers.

Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally reluctant when he thought that his body would be tortured by tomb robbers in the future, and his money and other things would be stolen.However, if this kind of thing is really put forward, it is a sure thing!
I have a headache, I really have a headache!
As for what Zhang Yifan said, he still didn't consider it.

But there is another point that Zhu Yuanzhang is already considering.Is it necessary to bury a living person?

For example, if Zhu Yuanzhang dies, or his son, a vassal king, etc. die, is it worthwhile if concubines are buried?
In order to stabilize the dynasty's rule, most of his and his children's marriages were with the founding heroes.If human sacrifice is implemented, will relatives and the like be willing?

In the original history, Zhu Yuanzhang killed many people. Before his death, the founding heroes were all famous, so he naturally had no scruples.

But now, in this dimension, because of Zhang Yifan's butterfly effect, the Hu Weiyong case was not classified as rebellion, so no one else was implicated. Most of the heroes, including Deng Yu and others who would have died unexpectedly, were also involved. Still alive and well.And the children of these heroes are all married to the royal family, and they have to be buried alive, so they will have scruples after all.

Furthermore, Zhang Yifan also said that everything is empty after death, as well as the importance of the influence of the evolution of people's hearts on the dynasty.With all these factors, even if it was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to accept the ashes being crushed, the burial of living people was indeed affected.The construction of imperial mausoleums usually starts when the emperor first ascends the throne. It can be said that it is a very time-consuming and financial-intensive project.

Zhu Yuanzhang is of course no exception. Even though he attached great importance to people's livelihood at the beginning of the founding of the country and worked hard to restore people's livelihood, his own tomb was still under construction.

In fact, anti-theft was considered when the imperial mausoleums were first built, and various measures were taken to prevent them.It is also because of this that the construction of imperial tombs is very time-consuming and laborious.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, rubbed his forehead again, and then said: "Yifan's knowledge should be included in the imperial examination. You go and talk to him first and let him compile some appropriate knowledge. If it can be used for the imperial examination, I will take a look after it is decided. This matter must be done as soon as possible, the imperial examination has been delayed for too long!"

I don’t care about other things for the time being, but since this matter has been decided, it must be done first.After all, it is promulgated nationwide, and students across the country must be given time to study.

Zhu Biao listened and quickly agreed.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang gave instructions: "Make one of his water-boiling things as soon as possible and show it to me!"

"Yes, Father, I will contact him when I get back!" After hearing this, Zhu Biao immediately agreed again.

Later, when he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang had no other instructions and was just thinking about things, he resigned.

………………

On Zhang Yifan's side, someone was already waiting for him after he returned home from the Forbidden City.

It was Zheng Jingxue, who was in charge of the glass factory, who brought a pile of account books to report to Zhang Yifan on the situation of the glass factory.

It was not only because Zhang Yifan was the major shareholder that he was so active, but also because Zhang Yifan had allocated shares to him, and even more because his father had served as the inspector of the newly established province. All of this was because of Zhang Yifan.

Zhang Yifan heard that he was waiting for him, but he didn't withdraw, so he went directly to the study to meet him.

We had not seen each other for about a year and a half. When we met again, Zheng Jingxue was a little more respectful and reported to Zhang Yifan in a very serious manner. Even though some of the content of the report had been sent to Peking by letter before, he still reported it very seriously. detailed.

Overall, the glass factory made far more money than they imagined.

There are so many rich people in the capital. Even if glass products are priced very high and are priced according to the concept of luxury goods, they are still very popular. If you want to buy them, you have to queue up.

Several times, I wanted to open a branch factory and expand production capacity, but in the end I was rejected by the major shareholder, Zhang Yifan.

In fact, Zhang Yifan doesn't take the matter of making money from glass seriously.

Among the shareholders of the glass factory, there were the prince and the prince's consort. They took the lead in using glass, and it would be strange if other dignitaries did not follow suit.

At this time, Zhang Yifan was concerned about other things.No, I heard him ask Zheng Jingxue: "Have you made all the glassware I wrote to you before?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Jingxue quickly replied: "Don't worry, Prince Consort, I came here just to show Prince Consort."

With that said, he opened a big box he brought, brought it to Zhang Yifan, and opened the lid at the same time.

Inside the big box, there should be another shelf, padded with silk, and some glassware placed on it.

When Zhang Yifan saw it, he first took a thin stick and looked at it. This was the mercury thermometer he requested.

Take freezing as the 0-point scale, boiling water as 100 degrees, and then mark the average. This is the thermometer.

Zhang Yifan looked at the thermometer and found that the temperature was more than fifteen degrees. From his own feeling, it should be about the same.

This thermometer definitely has room for improvement, but it should probably be usable.

After looking at it for a while, he put down the thermometer and went on to look at other content.Including straws made of leather, beakers with engraved volumes, etc., they have indeed been made.

Seeing Zhang Yifan looking at these glassware carefully, Zheng Jingxue said from the side: "In terms of cost, these things are more expensive than the ones we sell."

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan knew what he meant by this, so he looked at it and replied: "These will be teaching tools from now on and cannot be sold as luxury goods. Just a small profit. In addition, we must find ways to continue to improve, and I have to find ways to reduce costs. In my new study, these glassware are very important things.”

Having said this, he also had a headache.Whether it is a physical experiment or a chemical experiment, in addition to glass, rubber is also very important.

However, today’s rubber is still in South America!Don't think about rubber for at least a few years.

In South America at this time, the colonists probably hadn’t even gone there yet, and it was still the era of Indians!
Otherwise, encourage a few princes to go there. At least the Indians look similar, not as different as the Westerners.Educating them is also educating the world. It is also one of the beliefs of Confucianism, and they have their place.

After his thoughts wandered for a while, Zhang Yifan came back to his senses and stopped thinking about these distant things for the time being.After learning about the situation at the glass factory, he began to care about his other courtyard in Liujiacun.

From the very beginning of the design of the separate courtyard, the functions of the academy were designed in advance, including some laboratories.

Zhang Yifan decided to go there tomorrow and take a look. If there is no problem, he can place his current group of students in Liujiacun and stay in another courtyard.

Unexpectedly, before it was evening, news came from the East Palace, asking his family to come over for a dinner.

　Ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)