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

Chapter 124 "The Wealth of Nations"

Wang Wenlong sat in his study, spread out the manuscript paper, drank cup after cup of strong tea, but never started writing.

Although I know I want to write "The Wealth of Nations", how to properly explain the British works a hundred years later in this era is a question that needs to be thought about.

Britain began its first industrial revolution in the 1760s, and "The Wealth of Nations" was published in 1776.

From labor as the basis of national wealth to the division of labor that improves labor productivity, to the exchange arising from division of labor, to currency as a digestion medium, and then to the exploration of commodity prices and the wages, land rent, and profits that constitute the price, this book is a comprehensive review of Britain's first Observation and analysis of the process of an industrial revolution.

It would be extremely difficult to write about it without the British Industrial Revolution as an observational sample.

At this time, Wang Wenlong just wanted to make such a discussion like picking a cake out of the ground.

This is by no means as simple as directly copying it, it must be in line with the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty at this time.

"The Wealth of Nations" contains a large amount of data and information from British social practice at that time. The level of detailed production statistics in the Industrial Revolution era is far from comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty, which was still in the agricultural era. In these days, only a few people were required to work in the county warehouse. In charge of the production, life and tax data of everyone in the county, the economic model is basically relatively simple.

However, the narrative logic in the original book of observing results from objective laws cannot be changed, so Wang Wenlong must consult a large amount of information and complete some information himself when there is really no information.

Such detailed numerical information is not enough even if Wang Wenlong has read many history books in his previous life. Fortunately, where he now works is the Chief Envoy Si Yamen, which is in charge of the province's tax household registration data. Wang Wenlong can still find these numbers. .

Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" was written in Britain at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. At that time, facing the great development of industry, the emerging bourgeoisie needed a theory to explain its production and life, and the ruling class also needed a theory to understand the society at that time. .

This situation is somewhat similar to that of the Ming Dynasty at that time. They were also at a loss when facing the arrival of the commodity economy. Wang Wenlong felt that a lot of data should be useful for reference.

In the next few days, Wang Wenlong did not write immediately. Instead, after telling Xu Xueju that he wanted to write a new book and needing to check the information and getting support from Xu Xueju, he immersed himself in the household register of the Chief Envoy Si Yamen.

This is why writing these days requires cooperation with the government. Many materials must be obtained from the government.

Since the opening of the sea in Longqing, Fujian, as a major maritime trade province with foreign trade ports, has actually quietly changed its economic structure. Fujian has a small land and a large population, and people can only make a living by doing business. After the opening of the sea, many industries have become export-oriented: Tea from Wuyi Mountain, Haisi from Quanzhou, and porcelain from Dehua and Jianyang all rapidly expanded their production scale in the decades after Longqing, and the reason was naturally for export.

Wang Wenlong paid special attention to the newly formed industrial clusters, especially Quanzhou's maritime silk production. He looked through many records and recorded the entire process of Quanzhou's silk fabrics re-emerging after the sea opened to the sea.

Buried in the records of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Wenlong even found the feeling of writing his graduation thesis in university in his previous life.

Time flies to early April. Xu Guangqi is finally leaving Fuzhou, and Wang Wenlong also chooses to go north with him. This time, he accepted the invitation of Wushan Society to attend the cultural gathering in late spring.

The letter from Wushan Society came two days ago. The reason was that Yuan Hongdao resigned from the capital again and decided to go back to his hometown of Hubei Public Security Bureau to live in seclusion. He had to pass through Sanwu via the Grand Canal. So when friends of Wushan Society heard the news, they called for help from all over the world. The members of the club went to Jiangsu for a gathering together, which was convenient for hosting Yuan Hongdao.

"Bring all these books with you." Wang Wenlong gave Xu Guangqi a large book box.

"Thank you Jianyang." Xu Guangqi said happily.

In the past few days, Wang Wenlong finally checked almost all the information on "The Wealth of Nations", so he had time to start talking about Western science with Xu Guangqi.

Regarding Xu Guangqi's inquiries about Western science, Wang Wenlong, who had graduated from college for a few years in his previous life, might have found it difficult to deal with them. However, at this time, Wang Wenlong remembered all the textbooks from his previous life in his mind.

In many places, he just took out the contents of the textbook and explained them to Xu Guangqi, which was more accurate than his own summary.

The European missionaries of this era were not generalists. Many of them were just graduates of seminaries before coming to the East to preach. Many of the things they learned were improvised exercises for missionary purposes.

People in the East think that they are learned scholars, but in fact they often just spend a year or two specializing in music, painting, mathematics, astronomy and other professional subjects after reading the Bible.

In terms of practical skills, Wang Wenlong may not be able to match them, but when it comes to science level, the upper limit of these missionaries is not even high school graduation.

For example, "Euclidean Geometry", which is regarded as a guide by Xu Guangqi, can certainly sustain its pioneering role in geometry, but some of its theorems are incomplete even when placed in the junior high school mathematics requirements.And that thick book "Euclidean Geometry" does not contain content beyond the plane geometry and solid geometry of middle school.

Wang Wenlong took middle school textbooks to teach Xu Guangqi, and by the way, he called several craftsmen in his workshop to listen together. This thing was also of great significance for improving printing technology in the future.

But just the middle school content is enough for people at this time to learn.

After boarding the ship, Xu Guangqi was still reluctant to leave: "It's a pity that I haven't finished studying mathematics with Jianyang. How about I quit my job at home and study with Jianyang?"

Wang Wenlong smiled and said: "Don't you need to take a scientific examination first?"

"I don't know if I can pass the exam..." Xu Guangqi said a little frustrated.Wang Wenlong spent half a month teaching only geometry, algebra, and functions. He had no chance to teach more complex probability, statistics, equations, number theory, etc., while Xu Guangqi felt enlightened and had a whole box of notes. He even had the idea of ​​learning from Wang Wenlong.

But Wang Wenlong knew that he did not have time to take such an apprentice. He finally scribbled down the general content, spent two days making several volumes of notes, and then let Xu Guangqi go back to study by himself.

Wang Wenlong knows more complex mathematical content, and after the start of the industrial revolution, people will naturally study it if there is a need.

At this stage, as long as the research on mathematics is sufficient and does not lag too far behind Europe.

Just like in Fuzhou now, it is said that some people have begun to calculate more complicated logarithm tables. This is the work that officials who need a lot of statistics and arithmetic took the initiative after discovering the practicality of logarithms.

Xu Guangqi suddenly said: "Jianyang, your mathematical knowledge is probably beyond that of European missionaries. Why don't you use this skill to write a book?"

Wang Wenlong said with a smile: "At this time, scientific knowledge must be effective in practical applications. If we want to be truly valued, we still need to be able to master resources."

Xu Guangqi thought and nodded in agreement.

Wang Wenlong said this specifically to Xu Guangqi, hoping that he would remember it in a few years.

If we follow the course of history, Xu Guangqi will be a high school scholar within a few years of returning to Songjiang to study this time. That will be the time for him to give full play to his abilities.

In this era, if Xu Guangqi is allowed to devote all his energy to studying mathematics, to be honest, it would be a bit humiliating.

Just like Zhu Zaiyu calculated the twelve average rates, but there was no corresponding application scenario. The final outcome was just that the results were dug out of the pile of old papers by Europeans hundreds of years later, and they received endless sighs and praises.

What the Ming Dynasty lacks in this era is not a famous mathematician, but more people who can rely on technology to change the world.

In fact, if Xu Guangqi passes the Jinshi examination, the content of physics and agriculture will be most useful to him. Physics can make guns and cannons, and agriculture can promote new crops.

So after finishing the content of quadratic equations, Wang Wenlong added the mechanics content in high school physics textbooks to Xu Guangqi.

I can't guarantee whether Xu Guangqi could understand Wang Wenlong just by reading the brief notes, but the worst thing is that he would write a letter then, or Xu Guangqi would gather the questions together and go to Fujian to communicate with each other.

After a period of contact, Wang Wenlong was very confident that Xu Guangqi was a very smart person and was definitely capable of learning this middle school science content.

The friends who saw him off helped Wang Wenlong load his things onto the boat. Just as Wang Wenlong was about to walk across the gangplank, Li Guozhu quietly stood next to him and handed him a box of snacks.

"This is what the Immortal made for you."

Wang Wenlong was stunned and gave snacks to his sister who had not left the court. Li Guozhu was also a little disgusted.

Seeing Wang Wenlong take the snack box and thank her, he finally couldn't help but ask: "What does Jianyang mean to my girl? If we really like her, why not come and talk to her."

Wang Wenlong said: "Brother Li knows my situation, not to mention I have a marriage contract with the Shen family."

"You!" Li Guozhu was angry and helpless.Although Wei Tianjue is dead, no one who was harmed by Li Guoxian dares to propose marriage.

And Wang Wenlong has also agreed on marriage, unless he marries his sister to Wang Wenlong as his side wife, but the Li family still feels aggrieved.

Now Li Dan is still overseas, but Li Guozhu knows that based on his father's character, Li Dan would rather Li Guoxian never marry than do such a shameful thing. In the end, he would probably give Li Guoxian to a sea master of the Li family to get married. .

Li Guozhu knew that with his sister's character, if she ended up like this, she would be sad for the rest of her life.

Li Guozhu said: "My father is coming to Fuzhou in a few months. For the sake of my sister, you go and speak clearly to him."

Wang Wenlong nodded: "I will definitely go during the introduction."

Thinking of Li Guoxian again, Wang Wenlong took the food box and said, "Brother Li went back and told the second girl that Wang Wenlong accepted her food box and was very grateful."

When Li Guozhu heard this, he really wanted to hit Wang Wenlong for a moment, but he was helpless because Wang Long had really done nothing wrong.

(End of this chapter)