Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 246 There is a letter from the South!
Moon stars are rare.

Xia Zhibai walked on the streets.

There was almost no one on the street, only the sound of night watchmen could be heard in the distance.

Xia Zhibai turned around and looked at the closed door of Li's Mansion, a solemn expression flashed across his face. He did not think of persuading Li Shanchang, he just wanted to make Li Shanchang's ideas loosen up. He and Li Shanchang, or the entire court of civil and military officials, had fundamentally different ideas.

It has been thousands of years since ancient times.

The local area has always been self-sufficient and the people do not have a deep understanding of geography.

Today, the South is developed and can even supply the North. In the eyes of many southerners, the South has done enough for the Ming Dynasty. The court should not be too greedy, and should not suppress the South for the so-called national interests.

Under the influence of this kind of ideology, a saying from later generations is actually very appropriate.

Even if you are a dog, you should be born in the South.

The idea he proposed of migrating population and going against the mainstream is a big problem.

What he has to do now is to break down regional barriers and achieve complete unification from economy to administration. This kind of thing that shakes the entire world pattern with one's own strength will naturally be opposed by people all over the world.

Today's Ming officials are still stuck in old ideas.

There is no thought of danger, retreat or change.

Although they knew of the existence of the steam engine, their understanding was very one-sided. They simply thought that the steam engine was used to make salt and would not have much impact on the world.

Even though he had previously advertised that steam engines could be used to make steam locomotives to transport goods and do other labor-intensive tasks, hearsay was ultimately false, and Ming officials were only willing to believe what they saw with their own eyes.

What you hear will only become a joke.

They also failed to understand the rapid changes that the rapid development of steam engines had brought to the world.

They always maintain the old ideas of governing the world.

Mainly local.

Prioritizing development to consolidate existing advantages while maintaining advantages by squeezing out other places. This ultimate method of internal friction has been prevalent in China for thousands of years. However, times have changed, and today's production relations and productivity are changing.

Ming Dynasty needs its own political economy!
Only when the main points are put forward and known to officials all over the world, will the officials of the Ming Dynasty take any action.

Xia Zhibai strolled down the street, with thoughts about political economics constantly flashing through his mind.

The main object of study of this discipline is production relations, and production relations ultimately rely on productivity. However, it would be very difficult to explain these two concepts clearly to the officials of the Ming Dynasty. The only thing he can do now is to do it in a simple and crude way.

Use tangible social changes to make these people feel and realize it.

Otherwise, if the later concept of "making cakes" is mentioned, I am afraid no one will be interested. People nowadays have no interest in making a big cake, because no matter how big the cake is, it will only fall into the hands of the Ming royal family, and very little of the profits will be shared by them. Instead of trying hard to gain benefits, it is better to consolidate oneself and make money honestly.

This comes easier.

Xia Zhibai stopped.

He raised his head, looked at the sky, and said thoughtfully: "If you don't move forward, you will move backward. Once you leave the shore and get on the boat, you will be unable to stop."

“There’s no turning back for me either.”

“There’s no going back!”

When Xia Zhibai returned to the salt shop, it was already late at night.

As soon as he returned to the salt shop, Lu Cang handed him a letter and whispered, "Master, a letter has been sent from the south."

"South?" Xia Zhibai was stunned, then he seemed to think of something, nodded, and reached out to take the letter sealed with ink: "I see, it's getting late, you should go to bed early."

“Remember to read more books.”

Xia Zhibai gave a reminder and turned to walk towards the study.

Lu Cang did not leave. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "Master, I just saw Governor Zhou go out. Governor Zhou was acting suspiciously at night. I think he has no good intentions."

Hear the words.

Xia Zhibai laughed, he stopped and said, "I know about Governor Zhou. He told me before that it's nothing more than a meeting with Li Sheng. What's the big deal? Governor Zhou and Li Sheng's family are old friends. How can he completely disregard the friendship between the two families just because he works for me?"

Lu Cang was a little anxious, and said in a hurry: "Master, but Li Sheng betrayed you before, and the blueprint was taken out by Governor Zhou."

Xia Zhibai said, "It's been more than a year since the incident happened. Now that the world is in turmoil, there's no need to bring up the past again. Besides, Governor Zhou has been working diligently over the past year and has basically not made any mistakes. How can one keep dwelling on that one mistake?"

"I am short of staff now. As long as we can do our job well, what does it matter if we have some minor shortcomings?"

"People should be tolerant of others."

"Besides, I can roughly guess what Li Sheng wants to ask Zhou Ning. It's nothing more than that the Salt Transport Bureau and I have recently come together, and he has suddenly become a discarded pawn. He is terrified and wants to ask Zhou Ning for some information. But the information Zhou Ning knows is actually nothing."

"It was supposed to be announced after a while."

"It doesn't matter whether I tell Li Sheng or not."

"Don't worry."

"I never hide anything related to technology. I want to promote it. Whether one more person knows it or one less person knows it, it won't have much impact on me. You should be more open-minded and stop focusing on one person or one thing. You should look at the long term and see what is happening in the world."

Xia Zhibai gave a few simple words of persuasion and then turned back to the study.

Lu Cang pouted, looking somewhat unwilling.

He didn't trust Zhou Ning very much now. Qing Zhi came over, folded his arms, and teased, "Er Gou, I told you before not to ask, but you didn't believe me. Now you know, how could Brother Xia not know about Zhou Ning's situation? Zhou Ning had contacted Brother Xia in advance before."

Lu Cang snorted coldly and said unhappily: "I am also thinking about Brother Xia."

"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens."

"Who knows if Zhou Ning will stab me in the back again."

"Wasn't what happened last time enough to hurt people?"

"If it weren't for Brother Xia who had already taken control of the salt market in Yingtian Prefecture, the salt shops in Kyoto would have been in danger. This time, Brother Xia has recruited hundreds of engineers from the north. All of them are now in the salt factory. With so many people, if they really develop something good and Zhou Ning gives it to Li Sheng, wouldn't Brother Xia be at a big loss?"

"I just can't believe it."

"Just like what the book says, you should not have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against others."

"Brother Xia just has such a good heart."

Hearing what Lu Cang said, Qing Zhi looked at Lu Cang suspiciously and asked, "Did you do something in private? Otherwise, with your attitude, there is no reason for you to keep talking."

"explain."

"What did you do behind my back?"

Qing Zhi put his hands on his hips and questioned Lu Cang.

As the big sister among the few people in the past, she still has a strong suppressive power on Lu Cang.

Lu Cang's thoughts seemed to be exposed and his face turned red.

Lu Cang lowered his head, not daring to look directly into Qing Zhi's eyes. He just saw Qing Zhi walking towards Xia Zhibai's study, and panicked. He quickly reached out and grabbed Qing Zhi, saying uncomfortably: "After I saw Zhou Ning go out, I went to find a few beggars I knew before and asked them to help watch over him."

"What else?" Qing Zhi asked coldly.

Lu Cang smiled awkwardly, scratched his head, and whispered, "I also told those people to beat up Li Sheng if they see him. It would be best if they strip him naked, which would also be a way to vent Brother Xia's anger."

Qing Zhi rolled his eyes at Lu Cang and said unhappily, "You are really good at this."

"What did Brother Xia say before?"

"Don't cause trouble, don't cause trouble, but you go and cause trouble yourself."

"I'm just so angry. I can't keep being bullied like this. Li Sheng is not a good person. Sister Huaque, please be kind and spare him. Don't tell Brother Xia. I promise you, no one will think it was us who did it." Lu Cang said in a low voice.

Qingzhi snorted coldly and said, "Then you'd better pray that Li Sheng doesn't report it to the authorities. If he does, you'll just have to wish for the best."

"Looking at Li Sheng's stupid look, I don't think he would dare to do that." Lu Cang said nonchalantly.

Aokiji shook his head speechlessly, too lazy to pay attention.

Xia Zhibai was not aware of the little episode outside the house, as he was reading a letter.

This letter comes from the South.

The writer of the letter was Yuan Gong, who was staying in Yuhang.

There wasn't much in the letter, it just briefly described the current chaotic situation in the South.

Of course, the focus is still on describing how each state and county responded.

Basically, they are all held high and placed lightly.

Mainly for scare purposes.

But there was no substantial punishment, as if the situation was being deliberately indulged. Even among the cooks, various rumors were spread from time to time. Now the cooks' dissatisfaction with the salt factory had gradually spread to him, the instigator.

Many kitchen owners in the south knew of his existence.

There will be no shortage of bad words.

The kitchen owners' emotions had been completely aroused by various provocations. Some busybodies even openly clamored that when Xia Zhibai came to the south, they would make sure Xia Zhibai would be in great trouble. They also made various threats that they would never leave their homeland.

Hostility towards Xia Zhibai in the South is growing.

Xia Zhibai chuckled.

The local governments in the south have good tactics.

Before he took any specific action, he had already made public what he was going to do, thereby instigating the emotions of the kitchen owners and directly shifting the blame to others, shifting all the original local conflicts to his own head.

Xia Zhibai said: "Since the local government is promoting my reputation so much, if I don't go to the south in person, wouldn't I miss out on the goodwill of the local government?"

"Things have to be resolved eventually."

"Now all the contradictions are focused on me."

"How can I escape?"

“And there is a very deep science in political economics.”

"It's propaganda!"

"We must truly come from the people and go to the people, and more importantly, we must gain the recognition of the people."

(End of this chapter)