Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 504: No Hurry

By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, when Neo-Confucianism developed, the trend or thinking of scholars had gone astray, and the pursuit of the study of things was extremely extreme. That is why Wang Yangming went to study bamboo.

To put it bluntly, it is a bit similar to the light talk of the Jin Dynasty. Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind only brings the deviated study of things back to the focus on people.

Among the scholars of the Ming Dynasty, many talked about their nature, but few were willing to die for their king.

Emperor Chenghui had long been dissatisfied with the trend of scholars not emphasizing practicality. The view that the eight-part essay restricts people's thinking is correct, but not comprehensive.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, many scholars did not read history books, and even did not read much Tang and Song poetry. This phenomenon was very common. The root cause was still in the system. In order to become an official, they stuck to the Four Books and Five Classics.

In fact, the saints have already made it very clear: the golden mean.

Well, it is not ruled out that the scholars at that time, in order to have novel ideas, created some messy things, after all, they wanted to attract attention and generate traffic.

All I can say is, that's human nature.

There are always people who are unwilling to be lonely, want to do something big, and will not stop until they say something shocking.

The questions in the imperial examinations were even more bizarre. It was considered fair to put two unrelated sentences together as a question. Some people even put a zero as a question.

This situation has little to do with the thoughts of saints. If Confucius knew about this, he would probably be so angry that he would open his coffin and stand up.

The sutra is a good one, but it is often misinterpreted by later generations. Most of these cases are due to personal selfishness.

There is a view that what the gentry of the Ming Dynasty missed most was the tax farming system of the Yuan Dynasty. Well, there is some truth to this, but it ignores the fact that people in the Yuan Dynasty were divided into four classes.

In the eleventh year of Chenghui, spring passed amidst turmoil.

Jia Lian, who was in Guangzhou, gradually adapted to the climate here with only two seasons a year.

The citizens of Guangzhou were initially shocked by the army's marching around the city during morning drills, but later became accustomed to it.

Jia Lian, who attached great importance to the army, got up early that day and went to the military camp to inspect the training situation.

The total strength of the current provincial garrison, including Jia Lian's governor's standard-bearing troops and the garrisons along the coastal areas, is approximately 30,000.

The real core combat force is the provincial garrison that is currently training, with a total of about 15,000 people.

Originally, Jia Lian planned to expand the scale a little bit, but he soon realized that more soldiers is not necessarily better, and maintaining an army is a very expensive thing.

With the existing financial resources, it is not too difficult for Jia Lian to support such an army. The difficulty lies in the navy, which is basically a bottomless pit.

It’s not enough to just have a boat, you also need to support people.

The size of the South China Sea Fleet has not yet been finalized, and the number of ships is constantly increasing.

"The twenty-mile march was good, but it's not enough. We will go to Southeast Asia in the future. The local geographical environment and climate will be a big test for the soldiers. The General Staff should arrange for the troops to conduct adaptive exercises in a similar environment. I think Qiongdao is very suitable. Let's make a plan first. This army must not only learn how to fight on land, but also adapt to the sea. Your Majesty, give me five years. I suggest three years for training and two years to clear Southeast Asia. Let's encourage each other."

Thinking about the navy, Jia Lian gave a few instructions and then turned to go to the navy base.

Compared with the expenditure on the army, the navy is a bottomless pit.

Governor Jadai came to visit, and as the temporary actual commander, Jim led a group of officers to line up to welcome him. It was because he didn't have a band, otherwise he would have played music to welcome him.

"Salute!" There were naval soldiers standing in rows on both sides of the road. When Jia Lian came over, he raised his hand across his chest.

At the dock, two third-class battleships were hoisting supplies. Jim stood aside and introduced: "The third-class battleships launched at the beginning of the year are still too slow at the shipyard. There are only twelve third-class battleships in total now. I went to the shipyard to see that there are a total of five ships in the dock. Even if five more docks are added, at most ten more battleships can be added by the end of the year. It is far from thirty ships."

Jia Lian said nothing, walked forward and went aboard to take a look.

When I climbed onto the deck, my feet were shaking slightly, which meant I was inside the dock. Once I was out on the sea, I was afraid I would have a hard time keeping my balance.

A row of soldiers were sticking their butts out, wiping the deck diligently.

"These are all new recruits. After boarding the ship, all new recruits have to clean the deck for a period of time." Jim introduced carefully, fearing that Jia Lian would have any dissatisfaction. After all, he was an outsider.

"Let's go and see the cannon!" Jia Lian said nothing more, without any expression on his face. He followed Jim down the deck and into the gun cabin.

Looking at the cannon, Jia Lian finally took action, took out a white handkerchief, and pretended to wipe the barrel of the cannon a few times. He took it out and took a look, and found that it was stained with a little grease, but no other dirt.

"Good!" Jia Lian was just acting. In fact, he knew nothing. The purpose of doing this was to warn his subordinates. Don't bully me because I'm an amateur.

Well, I really thought too much. At this stage, no one in the navy would fool around. Seeing the rapid expansion of the navy, they all saw opportunities for advancement and they didn't have time to perform well.

Everyone in the navy knew how much importance Governor Jia Dai attached to the navy, to the extent that he even personally participated in the design of the uniforms.

Well, Jia Lian directly copied the uniforms of modern navy! It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand, just copy it!
When Jim and other foreigners saw the new uniforms, they admired Jia Lian because he was an expert. This new uniform was very suitable for sea voyages.

Of course, the same goes for the army's uniforms. People initially thought they looked different, but they got used to them after a while. They certainly wouldn't think that the court was short of money and skimped on fabrics.

In comparison, the current uniforms of the British lobster soldiers look bulky and heavy, and are also very flashy.

The navy uniform, white on top and blue on the bottom, with a big hat, looks very smart.

Speaking of uniforms, some merchants in Guangzhou City have made a lot of money. Of course, the majority of the profits come from the Xue family business, which has driven the development of some local industries.

The industries that really developed in the province were shipbuilding, smelting, casting, forging, hardware, etc., because without these industries, warships and guns could not be built.

Just now Jim complained that the shipbuilding was too slow, but in fact Jia Lian knew very well that the biggest obstacle was not shipbuilding but cannon casting.

A third-class battleship has nearly a hundred cannons. The current cannon foundry can produce at most thirty cannons a month, most of which are 24-jin cannons.

"Governor, the twelve-jin cannon cast by our army can ensure that it can fire at a distance of six hundred meters and penetrate the enemy's warships. In this respect, it is far superior to the naval guns of various countries at present. The most popular tactic at present is to seize the T-head. The best firing distance is about five hundred meters, and a little closer is the combat range of the twenty-four-jin cannon. We have the advantage in range, and as long as we operate properly, even if we meet the Royal Navy, the worst that can happen is a draw." Jim flattered subconsciously, but he had a reason to flatter.

Little did he know that Jia Lian was very dissatisfied with this. After all, the percussion cap had been invented, but the breech-loading cannon was still a long way off.

According to the news from the capital, the breech-loading needle-percussion gun has been produced. The experimental results show that it can fire 500 rounds without the needle breaking. The advantages are fast loading speed and the ability to fight in bunker conditions. The disadvantage is that the maximum range is insufficient. The locking mechanism of the breech-loading artillery cannot be solved at present. The concept of self-tightening of the gun barrel proposed by Jia Lian is currently being explored by the top talents in the R&D Department, and there is no clue for the time being.

There is some good news. At least the technology for casting cannons with iron molds has been very mature. If we want to increase the production capacity of the cannon foundry in Guangzhou, we still lack skilled workers.

Jia Lian paid his workers very well. One month's salary for a skilled worker was enough to support a family of five.

But it still takes a long time to train a skilled technical worker.

As a modern soul, Jia Lian is very clear about the importance of skilled workers to the manufacturing industry. Once the talent is cut off, even if you have the technology, you will still be at a loss if you don’t have enough workers.

The problem is that heavy industry really burns money, and the payback period is very long, with no payback at all in the short term.

Having built so many guns and cannons, there is no way to make back the money if you don’t go out and rob. The key is that you can’t live without this thing, otherwise you will be a NATO Europe, enjoying the protection of the United States for free, but Trump will end up in the crematorium if he withdraws from the group. (PS: I feel that Europe is a waste, and I look down on Europe even if I sit at the children’s table. After all, the children’s table is also served, and now it’s just a plate of food.)
Jim was not surprised at all by the advanced arms manufacturing industry of the Great Zhou Dynasty. After all, the Eastern Power was well-known in Europe. It was like a paradise on earth. It was normal to make a few advanced cannons. It would be strange if they couldn't make them. And the new percussion cap guns made Jim even more astonished. The European powers today still used flintlock guns.

Jim didn't know that Jia Lian was already thinking about the breech-loading cannon. A batch of breech-loading rifles had already been trial-produced and were being tested in the north and south to see how effective they were.

The R&D department can make money now, thanks to the King of Xining and the King of Dongping, as well as the former Prince Zhongyi in the Lake Baikal area. They have become the largest buyers and almost monopolized the R&D department's production capacity.

Li Heng wrote to me last month, expressing his feelings that the profits from arms were too amazing. A flintlock rifle could earn 20 silver dollars. This was robbery. Even if it was robbery, the buyer had no power to fight back. If you don't buy from here, you have nowhere else to get this product.

In fact, the technical content of the flintlock rifle is not high. For the King of Dongping and the King of Xining, the biggest obstacle comes from the rifling technology and the ability to mass produce.

The cost of making it yourself is higher than the selling price from the R&D department. In that case, you might as well buy it.

Li Heng also said in his heart that the Prince of Dongping had recently used a large amount of gold to purchase arms, and he might have discovered a gold mine.

Jia Lian didn't care about this. What big gold mines could there be in the Northeast? The real big gold mines were in Australia and North America.

Unfortunately, it is too far away. I will probably have to wait until old age in this life to see the reality of people from the University of Tokyo crossing the Pacific Ocean and mining gold on a large scale.

Alas, the people of Dongda have too much local sentiment, and it is really difficult to migrate on a large scale. We can only take action when a natural disaster occurs.

Li Heng also said something in his heart. The King of Dongping bought a lot of people from Japan and Korea, but a young man only got five kilograms of rice, which was simply not worthy of being treated as a human being.

When seeing this, Jia Lian felt helpless. Lord Dong had simple values, which was why he felt that King Dongping's behavior was inhumane.

Jia Lian estimated that because of the shortage of manpower, the King of Dongping would have to buy at least hundreds of thousands of people to grow potatoes in the Far East in the future.

It should be said that the land is really fertile. Sakhalin Island also has oil. Where can you go to seek justice?

After finishing the inspection of the fleet, Jia Lian left. On the way back, he couldn't help but think secretly that no matter what, he could not fall behind in technology.

The resistance was too great, so I decided to stay in Guangdong and Guangxi. Vietnam was not far away, and there were good quality iron ore there. At worst, I could explore Australia, where there was no shortage of coal and iron.

For northerners, Guangzhou's long summer is too torturous.

Even though she was dressed tightly, Si Qi was still very worried that her nipples were a little too big. She would sweat if she moved a little, and her nipples would be exposed accidentally, which even a bellyband couldn't cover.

When Jia Daizhitai looked over, Si Qi hurriedly took the tray to cover her chest. The Second Master was good in every way, except that his eyes were sometimes too direct.

Si Qi was in a good mood recently because she received a letter from her family. When Pan Youan, that bastard, went out to hang out at night, he had an argument and was put in a sack and beaten with a club. One of his legs was broken. After seeing a doctor, he was also lame. Because of this incident, the girl's family broke off the engagement. Even if he had the status of a juren, he would not be able to be an official in the future.

"Second Master, was it you who arranged for Pan Youan to be beaten?" Si Qi, who couldn't help but be curious, finally asked.

Jia Lian really didn't know about this matter. After all, he didn't specifically tell him how to deal with it. He just said that he didn't like that bastard and if he had the chance, he would deal with him and make sure he couldn't be an official.

I really don't know how that bastard Ni Er did it. When Si Qi asked about it, Jia Lian of course denied it.

"You said you don't care, how could I arrange this? But I did say that if you don't like him, so what? There are many people who don't like him, not just me." Jia Lian told the truth, but only half of it. Si Qi couldn't help feeling a little happy after hearing this. It would be great if it was arranged by the Second Master, which means he values ​​me.

"Is that so? I still have to thank you, Master." Si Qi knew Jia Lian's reputation in the capital. If he really said that he disliked Pan Youan, Pan Youan's life in the capital would be really difficult. The reason was actually very simple. Even if Jia Lian did not make any arrangements, there were many people who secretly took action to please Jia Lian.

"No need to thank me. Just take the tray away and stop acting like a thief." Jia Lian teased, and Si Qi blushed immediately, and spat softly, "Second Master, you are not serious!"

Seeing that she was just saying it but had no intention of running away, Jia Lian couldn't help but reach out to increase the intensity of his teasing. At this time, Ying'er came in, lifting the curtain, holding a cup of cold tea in her hand.

"Master, the herbal tea prepared by Second Madam is very effective in relieving internal heat. I added honey to it, please try it." Ying'er came forward, ignoring Si Qi's presence, and put both hands to Jia Lian's mouth.

Jia Lian opened his mouth helplessly and drank it. He did not blame Ying'er for being so unbridled. After all, the strong resentment was felt by everyone at the door.

Speaking of honey, Jia Lian thought of white sugar, the technology of which was written in Tiangong Kaiwu, but the difficulty was the yield of sugarcane. Moreover, it seemed that people preferred brown sugar.

In fact, Europeans prefer sugar. Many places in Latin America are run as sugarcane plantations.

I drank a bowl of herbal tea brought by Ying'er, which tasted quite good. After putting down the bowl, I saw that the two of them did not leave. They were looking at each other, and there was a sense of confrontation.

Jia Lian had a headache, so he stood up and said, "It's hot in the room, let's go out for a walk."

Although the cold dish was very effective, the time traveler's body was very hot-tempered. He left the study and went straight to the yard next door.

Xiren and Qingwen live in the same yard. Now they are sitting on recliners with a basin of cold water under their feet. They really don't want to move because it's too hot.

Hearing the sound of wooden clogs rubbing against the stone slabs, they both sat up and looked at the door. They found that it was Jia Lian who came in, and they both stood up quickly.

"Isn't Si Qi on duty today? Why did the Second Master come to our yard?" Xiren, who had a little tea, quietly lowered her collar while speaking.

Qingwen quietly rolled her eyes and took the palm-leaf fan in her hand: "Second Master, please sit down!"

Jia Lian sat on the recliner which was still warm. Qingwen handed the palm-leaf fan to Xiren, took away the wooden basin, changed the water, and brought it back to place at Jia Lian's feet.

Xiren sat aside, fanning Jia Lian to drive away mosquitoes and talking to him.

"Si Qi is in a difficult situation too! Second Master, please be understanding." Jia Lian wanted to laugh when he heard the taste of tea, and he was too lazy to explain. No matter how much Xiren liked tea, she was absolutely loyal to him.

The cool breeze under the tree was very comfortable. Jia Lian lay down without answering, soaking his feet in the cold water, and his anger instantly subsided a lot.

Qingwen came back with a wet towel and began to wipe Jia Lian's face, saying, "Second Master, you should stay for a while or leave. We are just servants and cannot bear the resentment of the concubines."

"Hmm!" Jia Lian responded while skillfully placing his hands behind him and sliding down along the arc. Qingwen twisted her waist to avoid it but failed. She frowned slightly and bit her teeth lightly to avoid making any sound.

Xiren sighed in her heart. She could feel that Jia Lian cared about Xiangling the most, followed by Qingwen, and she ranked third.

Qingwen wiped her face and ran away, almost spraining her ankle. She glared at Jia Lian fiercely and said, "You just like to bully people."

Jia Lian laughed loudly and stayed here for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, he got up and said in his wooden clogs, "Let's go!"

Xiren was a little disappointed but still got up to see him off, after all, she was not on duty today.

In the room where mugwort was burned to repel mosquitoes, there was still a little smell that had not dissipated. Si Qi, who was wiping the bamboo mat with a wet towel, heard the noise, turned around to look at Jia Lian, and continued to kneel on the bed to wipe the bamboo mat.

"Is Ying'er gone?" Jia Lian asked with a smile. Si Qi hummed in a nasal voice, and when she turned around to leave, someone hugged her waist. She struggled for a while and then sat down.

Jia Lian's joke was heard in my ears: "Little hoof, you want to leave after making me angry?"

Si Qi, who was already undecided, quickly glanced at the door curtain being fluttered by the breeze: "The gate to the yard is still unlocked."

(End of this chapter)