Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 91: Patience and guidance! (Subscription required)
Leaving the saltworks.

Taking some free time, Xia Zhibai returned to Kyoto.

He sat in a teahouse opposite the Kyoto Salt Shop in Yingtian Prefecture, drinking a large bowl of tea and leisurely looking at the passers-by below.

A counter sign hanging outside a salt shop in Kyoto.

It has increased from six zeros yesterday to more than 30,000 kilograms.

This is yesterday's sales volume.

After yesterday's incident, people still come to the Kyoto Salt Shop to buy salt in an endless stream today.

Xia Zhibai speculated that this popularity would continue for a few days.

But it won’t always be this popular.

The people have limited spare money and their demand for salt is also limited. In addition, for a normal family, three kilograms of salt per person per year is enough.

Salt is still a little expensive nowadays, and many families still live a frugal life. As for buying a lot of salt to pickle things like in later generations, there are very few such families nowadays.

It is not easy to obtain 500,000 kilograms of salt.

"This number one scholar is a number one scholar. He is always different from others when doing things."

"How much has this reduced the price of salt?"

In the teahouse, someone was looking at the busy salt shop in front of him, his eyes full of emotion.

Yingtian Prefecture has no shortage of salt.

They also have easy access to salt.

But it was the first time in their long lives that they had seen salt as cheap and of such good quality as the one sold at the Kyoto Salt Shop. If it were at other times, the salt sold at the Kyoto Salt Shop would have cost more than 40 or 50 cents per pound.
This is all top quality salt, better than what is sold in other salt shops.

"I got a great bargain this time."

"Originally, the salt at home ran out about ten days ago."

"At that time, I wanted to buy salt at 30 wen per pound, but my wife wouldn't let me. She said I should wait until the Jingdu Salt Shop opened and then check the price. It turned out to be a great bargain. Fine salt at 15 wen per pound. In the past, we could afford it as laborers."

A middle-aged man in coarse cloth, shirtless, holding a large bowl of tea, spoke with shining eyes.

He was a farmer nearby.

Only during the slack season would he do some manual labor in the city to supplement the family income.

Before the middle-aged man finished speaking, someone else took over the conversation.

"Who says it's not?"

"I thought it was a wrong transmission when I heard it yesterday."

"This is really a pie in the sky. I even bought it several times."

"I bought five kilograms at one time, which is enough for a year."

"I just don't have any money in my pocket, otherwise I would like to buy more, but the 500,000 kilograms ordered by the salt shop is too much. Can Yingtianfu deliver it?"

"Next month, the price will go back to 20 wen. 15 wen is a good price. It would be great if it could stay at this price forever."

The dark-faced man licked his lips, with some reluctance and desire in his eyes.

The middle-aged man put down the big bowl of tea, picked up the rough cloth hanging around his waist, wiped the sweat off his face, and said jokingly, "Don't even think about it. Even if he is the top scholar, how can he be taken advantage of all the time? But this top scholar is different from the others. He was said to have contributed high-yield grain and made salt at such a low price."

“This person really cares about us.”

"It would be great if all the officials in the world were good like this, knowing how to think about us."

"Haha, how can there be so many good officials? All crows are black. We are lucky to have a good time. We have a good emperor and a good top scholar. Otherwise, our life would be just like that. When will the high-yield grain seeds you mentioned be distributed to us?" someone muttered.

The teahouse suddenly became quiet.

Will it be sent?
Can you send it?
Can it really fall into their hands?

No one knows, and no one can answer.

Xia Zhibai leaned against the window, looked at a few men chatting, and then looked up at the sky.

Will it be sent?
Probably not in the short term.

If Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted to issue it, he would have announced it to the world long ago.

Why would it drag on until now?

There is only one truth: Zhu Yuanzhang did not want those grain seeds to be distributed.

To be precise, Zhu Yuanzhang did not want the emergence of high-yield grain to destroy the world structure he had established long ago.

Zhu Yuanzhang is old.

Not only do people get old, but their hearts get old too.

He was afraid of change, and was also afraid that if the change was not handled properly, it would affect the Zhu family's empire.

If he had a longer life, he might dare to give it a try, but he was nearly sixty years old, so how could he really gamble on how long he had left to live?

If you lose the bet.

Zhu Biao failed to control himself and lost his kingdom.

It will be too late to regret then.

Xia Zhibai could understand Lao Zhu's thoughts, but he would not listen.

He wants to pry the foundation of the world bit by bit, quietly lay out the world, and completely change the existing corrupt soil in the world.

He has time, patience, and determination.

Xia Zhibai withdrew his gaze and waited quietly for Hua Lun to arrive.

Heiwa has sent back a message saying Hua Lun wants to meet him in this teahouse.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Until dusk.

Hua Lun's figure appeared quietly.

He seemed very worried that his meeting with Xia Zhibai would be noticed by someone with ulterior motives, so he was very cautious in everything he did.

However, Hua Lun's actions, in Xia Zhibai's eyes, felt like he was trying to cover up something, and he couldn't help but laugh and cry. He didn't expose it either.

Instead, he cooperated and went to a private room.

Seeing that he and Xia Zhibai were the only ones in the room, Hua Lun breathed a sigh of relief. He bowed to Xia Zhibai and said helplessly, "I had no choice but to do this. You have a bad reputation in the court now. When you wanted to abolish the 'scholar' system, it made many scholars dissatisfied."

"I am in the Imperial Academy, so I have to be cautious."

Xia Zhibai nodded to show his understanding.

He looked at Hua Lun and asked curiously, "Then why did you come to see me today?"

Hua Lun didn't say much, he just took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, put it on the table, and then pushed it in front of Xia Zhibai.

Xia Zhibai opened the paper.

Just seeing the content clearly, he couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

A. Arabic numerals?
His face trembled slightly, and he didn't know whether he should laugh or what.

Hua Lun didn't notice it and continued to talk to himself, "I passed by your salt shop yesterday and saw the counting symbols on it. I felt that they looked familiar. Today I took some time to look up some information in the palace and indeed gained something."

"Those symbols outside your store are Arabic numerals."

"Although there are slight differences, they can be ignored if you compare them slightly."

Hua Lun looked serious.

Xia Zhibai was speechless.

Hua Lun didn't need to remind him that they were Arabic numerals, but they were a little more recognizable than those recorded by historians.

Xia Zhibai asked: "What exactly do you want to say?"

"If you are just here to verify whether the numbers I handed to the clerk are Arabic numerals, I can give you a definite answer: they are Arabic numerals, and there is no difference from what you showed me."

"I can also tell you that this was brought over from Arabia, but it was not created by the Arabs."

Xia Zhibai was a little confused.

Didn’t he understand the significance of Hua Lun’s visit?
Hua Lun pointed at the numbers on it and said, "I didn't pay much attention to these symbols before, but when I saw the counting card yesterday, I found that this counting system seems to be more convenient and more intuitive than the one we usually use."

"What else?" Xia Zhibai looked confused.

"What else?" Hua Lun was stunned for a moment and looked at Xia Zhibai blankly.

Xia Zhibai's face was filled with black lines.

Hua Lun came to me "sneakily" just to tell me that I used Arabic numerals?

Xia Zhibai took a deep breath and said calmly, "This set of numbers does have many advantages, and it is also helpful in improving arithmetic skills. However, in the past, the Chinese people did not care much about such foreign things, and they always believed that local ones were the best."

“And so it was ignored again and again.”

"It's good that you can see the difference."

"If you want to apply this system to the court, convenience alone is not enough."

"The court officials are very conservative. Your rash submission will not have a very good effect. Instead, you will be considered as eager for quick success and too eager to highlight yourself."

Hua Lun quickly waved his hands and said, "I have no intention of submitting a petition."

"I just want to ask you, can this number system be used in conjunction with counting sticks?"

“That way, it will be much easier to process a lot of data, less prone to errors, and much easier to review.”

Hear the words.

Xia Zhibai gave an affirmative answer.

"can."

“And it fits perfectly.”

“It’s just a different way of writing.”

“The essence has not changed.”

"This set of digital symbols will also become the mainstream in the future."

"The old writing system, or the old algorithm, is ultimately too out of touch with reality. This is intentional by the literati, but also by the conservative mentality."

"It's more about deliberately raising the threshold for learning."

“Let fewer people master the knowledge.”

Hua Lun was stunned.

He hadn't thought about it so much.

He was just excited to use this set of numbers. He was currently mainly dealing with memorials from the Ministry of Revenue. If there was no problem with this set of numerical system, then with a little study, he might be able to improve his speed in handling related political affairs.

This is also why he came to ask Xia Zhibai.

Just want to know if it's feasible or not.

Xia Zhibai obviously thought more deeply, and was a bit cynical.

Xia Zhibai looked at Hua Lun from head to toe, and suddenly a smile appeared on his face. He said, "Hua Lun, do you want to please His Majesty?"

Hua Lun sat up from his chair, looked at Xia Zhibai with a vigilant face, and said in a serious tone: "Xia Zhibai, I'm warning you, don't try to hit on me. I won't be fooled by you. You've been deceiving me enough, don't try to hurt me again."

Xia Zhibai was confused.

When did he ever cheat anyone?
This is pure slander.

Xia Zhibai said unhappily, "Do I have to plot against you? I can really provide you with a way to please His Majesty, but I want you to do something for me, something that you can easily do and will not have any impact on you."

Hua Lun's expression changed again and again.

He still didn't dare to trust Xia Zhibai easily.

He had suffered enough.

Xia Zhibai patiently persuaded him, "If you really do what I say, you may not have to stay in the Hanlin Academy to be a talent reserve, but can directly enter the six ministries or other government offices to work, and realize your ideals and ambitions."

"You're really not interested?"

(End of this chapter)