Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 625: Germ Theory

Cai's Academy, Xu You returned to Guanzhong to report on his work, and he also came to visit because of admiration.

However, no one in Caixue welcomed Xu You, but they did not dare to turn him away.

In the hall where the dragon bone characters were traced, Xu You was also flipping through a stack of rubbings, referring to a list of characters that had been preliminarily deciphered.

In modern times, there is no shortage of scholars who study ancient Chinese. In terms of the shape, meaning, and voice of characters, modern people have more advantages in deciphering dragon bone characters.

Even Xu You could memorize most of the deciphered character tables in the time it takes to have breakfast, and could also read some superficial dragon bone rubbings by guessing.

These dragon bone rubbings are also classified according to the nature of their content. The rubbings that can be read by the public are mostly daily records and divination.

The more confidential ancient records will naturally be concealed.

It was not until lunch time that Xu Youcai left the hall with his entourage.

In the cafeteria, Xu You was stirring the bone soup with a spoon, his appetite was very poor.

In ancient times, there were all kinds of bloody sacrifices, but cannibalism was a common practice among the nobles.

How can such a thing be publicized?
This was the daily routine of the ancient nobles, so the virtue of the ancient wise kings naturally cannot stand up to scrutiny.

A feeling of absurdity filled Xu You's body and mind. Comparing it with his own life experiences, he felt that he was on the verge of madness and collapse.

It wasn't that he couldn't accept such ancient records, but the young self in his memory seemed to have been betrayed.

That was his fondest memory.

Thinking of his young wives and concubines, and his hungry children, Xu You decided to forget these conflicting cognitions. He must live in the present.

He now has the secrets of so many people in his hands, how could he be defeated by such a small thing?

So he took a sip of the broth from the earthenware bowl and said to the leader of the escort, "Feed the horses and we will set off for Ganquan later."

"They have been fed with bean feed and clean water."

"Ah."

Xu You nodded, picked up the steamed wheat cake and took a bite. Everything about the university town was good except that they did not provide white rice, and even the broth did not have much meat.

He also heard a lot of jokes about the university town cafeteria, the most typical of which was the wild vegetable egg soup.

However, salt is produced in abundance in Hedong, and the amount of salt to put in a pot of soup is fixed.

After the meal, he took two guards to the toilet, and one guard went in first to investigate.

Xu You looked at the notice standing in front of the toilet and felt very curious.

I went forward to read and found out that the Taiping Dao wanted to scrape saltpeter.

All the houses in Guanzhong have been transformed into fortresses. The toilets in a fortress are specially built. They are an important source of fertilizer and a public resource that must be distributed uniformly.

In centralized toilets, it is very convenient to scrape saltpeter, which is only done during the slack season in spring and autumn.

For example, here, a notice issued in February this year required the school to scrape off three inches of old soil from the ground and walls.

Xu You also found it strange that when the Hedong Salt Lake produces salt, it also produces saltpeter.

In addition to Taoists who like saltpeter, they also use white saltpeter as medicine.

The only people left were the leatherworkers. There were plenty of beasts under the shogunate, and the leatherworkers needed a lot of saltpeter to make leather.

According to the information he had, saltpeter seemed to be related to the manufacture of rockets used by Da Sima Zhongjun during the Battle of Chanhebi.

That batch of rockets was transported all the way from Guanzhong by Da Sima, and they were never exposed during the previous fierce battle and confrontation.

During the decisive battle with Yuan Shang, the surrendered troops who were reorganized on the battlefield fired only three rounds of rockets, causing chaos in Yuan's camp and leading to its collapse.

Xu You frowned slightly, feeling that the rocket manufacturing secrets might be leaked faster than he expected.

After the guard checked the toilet, Xu You quickly solved his personal problems.

He stopped wandering around and immediately led his men to the Weishui Floating Bridge.

The floating bridge is connected by boats and covered with wooden planks, allowing vehicles to travel north and south.

In the east of Ganquan, inside the warm room.

Black Bear lay on his side, patting his sleeping daughter with his left hand, with nothing in his mind.

During this time in Chencang, he regained some of his composure.

The people will not become immediately well-off just because of the appearance of steam engines or hot air balloons. Human physical strength is limited, material accumulation is slow, and it takes time for technology to be expanded and put into practical use.

The Weishui canal alone is enough to put a strain on the manpower in Guanzhong. It is far from the time when materials are abundant and a large number of manpower can be gathered to carry out large projects.

Even the various remaining canals in Guanzhong have only been restored in an orderly manner and have not been restored to their original state; not to mention the construction of dams along the water systems.

The unusually hot and slightly dry weather this year is a warning. In a period of sudden climate change, agricultural and animal husbandry production is the first priority, followed by food storage, and then the overall productivity improvement brought about by the growth of handicrafts.

If we want to spiral upward, pulling one of the indicators too hard will definitely cause bigger trouble.

The only advantage is that there is no longer any external military threat, the cost of garrisoning the border is on par with the cost of farming and animal husbandry, and the entire nation does not need to bear heavy military expenditures.

Therefore, in the next few years, we need to maintain a rough balance among the external forces, so that no one can become stronger and no one can die.

Internally, performance evaluation is conducted every three years, and reliable and stable talents are promoted.

Don't make trouble yourself, and don't give officials room to make trouble.

Another thing is that order in the Western Regions has not been restored yet, and new forces may flood into the Western Regions next year.

Zhen Mi came quietly barefoot and sat beside the couch. Her face was more plump and radiant. She whispered, "My dear, it's time to eat."

"it is good."

Black Bear stood up carefully, and the wet nurse and the female official who came in with Zhen Mi stepped forward to take over.

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After coming to the outer hall and washing up simply, Black Bear began to eat.

The food was coarse rice, but the dishes were quite rich, including vegetables that are hard to find in winter, such as bean sprouts, leeks, and soaked mushrooms. The main dish was a roast goose.

He tore off a goose leg and put it on Zhen Mi's plate before tearing off the goose leg for himself.

Basically, they would have one leg for breakfast, and the rest would be shared by the female officials and wet nurses. Even the goose bones would be made into soup, which would become the maids' dinner soup.

After breakfast, Zhen Mi assisted Hei Xiong in handling official documents.

Basically, he would open and fold the official documents one by one, and then Black Bear would read and make comments.

In less than an hour, all the accumulated documents were processed and sent to the secretary's desk for copying and filing.

During the rest of the time, Black Bear read in the study, and Zhen Mi would also read with him.

She has the ability to assist in government affairs, which is an ability that Ma Yunlu cannot match.

Living in Dongxiang, Black Bear has less pressure in governing the country.

Zhen Mi was holding the recently published "Nature", which was the second largest weekly newspaper after the court bulletin.

The articles were selected jointly by various schools of Chang'an University and then printed. They were the results of various explorations of nature, including some short travel notes by scholars.

It was early morning when Fa Zhengcai arrived at Dongxiang and handed over the official documents that had been piled up in the morning and the senior official he was going to meet with at noon.

There were no major government affairs in the winter. In order to ensure the implementation of the performance evaluation in the spring of next year, the governors of the surrounding counties were recalled to Guanzhong in batches to report on their work.

During the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, counties and kingdoms reported their expenditures in winter, but Guanzhong never conducted such comprehensive financial statistics and expenditure meetings.

Financial matters all revolve around the distribution of food and ironware and are part of daily official business.

Only because Guanzhong's governance scope is relatively small can such in-depth vertical financial allocation be carried out.

In the future, as the territory expands, it will be necessary to delegate power to the outer counties and kingdoms. If power is delegated, the position of the Grand Minister of Agriculture in charge of finances must be restored in order to hold reports.

During lunch, Black Bear was flipping through the September issue of Nature delivered yesterday, and saw that the first article recommended by the directors of various libraries was "Germ Theory". He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and then looked at the author, and as expected, he was a Taoist priest from Mount Zhongnan.

The reading content mainly focuses on two arguments. One is the necessary factors for seed germination and the linkage between cuttings and propagation. The second involves dietary guidance, which believes that over-grinding of refined rice is not conducive to longevity. At the same time, it is also speculated that eating only grain germs is excessive and not suitable for life.

After the guards served the food and left, Black Bear asked Fa Zheng, who was sitting next to him, "What do you think of the first article in Nature yesterday?"

"It is quite insightful and very inspiring. Many people in the cabinet discussed it and thought that he should be rewarded handsomely."

Fa Zheng said, and then hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the fifth article "On Dwarf Horses" also came from Mount Zhongnan, but it is unsightly."

Black Bear turned the page and read. "On Dwarf Horses" had more than a thousand words. This Taoist advocated breeding short and strong horse breeds based on "On Good Breeds" to assist in transporting ore in mines. At the same time, he proposed to promote the matter of destroying mountains and temples in Nanzhong as soon as possible.

This Taoist priest believed that the southern barbarians were short and strong, making them very suitable for capture and mining. He also believed that their short stature meant they would eat less, which would reduce food expenditures and facilitate mining and improve efficiency.

For a group that relies on hunting and gathering, being tall is obviously a disadvantage.

Shentu Bei, the governor of Yanmen County who came to report on his work, had also taken his seat. He had no reaction to the conversation between the two about which article in Nature the two were talking about, and looked confused.

Black Bear only met one person at a time for this kind of performance review.

Basically, just comfort them with kind words and coax them first.

Even during the Great Purge, unless the county magistrates were involved in rebellion or treason, they would be summoned to Guanzhong and have some unimportant official positions and offices restored for them, and they would be kept in seclusion.

For example, the Grand Herald, the Four Barbarians Hall, and the Music Bureau.

After raising them for a period of time, if they are old enough to be used, they can be employed. If they are not useful, they will be given the title of Marquis and a fief of three to five hundred households, and then they can be settled in Guanzhong for retirement.

(End of this chapter)