The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 747 Impersonating yourself, there's nothing more satisfying than that!
It's so satisfying to impersonate yourself!
Shen Le was a little embarrassed at first, but he quickly became convinced. How could he explain to his family where he got this knowledge? How could he know to do this without having read any books or studied it?
As a junior member of the family, he directed the family's "dragon bone waterwheel can be broken down into various processes, which the carpenters can then work on separately. As long as the processing precision is well controlled, it can be assembled."
The commander said, "Most parts of the waterwheel can be made of bamboo or wood, but the main shaft must be made of iron; we cannot cut corners here."
He persuaded his family to "collect less rent, at least leave more for the tenants; in chaotic times, people are more important than property."
Convincing his family that "the dragon bone waterwheel plan should be presented to the government to improve relations and allow the county magistrate to gain merit is more important than buying the poor people's land during a disaster year"?
How much effort did he have to expend to establish his authority, and how much effort did he have to subdue those elders!
Let alone the word "filial piety," which can make him unable to move, with just a glance from his father, servants would come and carry him back to his room, and he could not move no matter how hard he struggled!
Now that's great, Shen Le can directly issue a false imperial edict. Well, not exactly a false edict, since he himself is the "Shen Le" from back then, isn't he?
The first wave of crisis for the family has finally passed, and the way the family looks at him is completely different from before.

The third uncle, who was in charge of family affairs and was the father of this body, discussed the matter with several elders and surprisingly spared no expense to invite a scholar from the county to teach him to read and write.
"The ospreys cry, on the islet in the river..."

What the hell?
Should I start learning from the Book of Songs?
Shen Le was on the verge of tears. "My time isn't wasted like this! I've already learned all of this! I memorized it like crazy in modern times!"

"A-Yue, you're not allowed to be naughty!" This time, the body's father, with a dark face, came personally to suppress him:
"This gentleman's ancestors once traveled to Luoyang and copied the Xiping Stone Classics by hand. A fragment of the copy is still kept in his family! If you can learn even a fraction of his skills, it will be enough to benefit you for a lifetime!"

The Xiping Stone Classics! Shen Le's eyes lit up instantly. The Xiping Stone Classics were the last brilliance of Eastern Han culture. Cai Yong petitioned Emperor Ling of Han to correct the classics and have them engraved on stone. Forty-six stone tablets were erected in front of the Imperial Academy in Luoyang.

This is the earliest officially commissioned Confucian classics in China, engraved on a stone tablet. Both the text and Cai Yong's calligraphy are treasures of Chinese culture—unfortunately, too many have been destroyed!
The forty-six stone tablets, each ten feet high and four feet wide, were destroyed when Dong Zhuo burned down the palaces and temples in Luoyang. During the reign of Gao Cheng of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the stone tablets were moved from Luoyang to Yedu, but they fell into the water halfway there, and most of them disappeared.

During the Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty, the stone scriptures were transported from Yedu to Chang'an. However, for some unknown reason, the Construction Bureau used the stone tablets as the foundation stones for the pillars. By the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, when Wei Zheng went to collect the remaining fragments of the stone scriptures, they were almost completely destroyed.

Of the original 200,911 characters in the stone scriptures, only about 8,800 characters remain today!

"I was rude just now, please forgive me, sir!" He bowed deeply to the ground and remained there for a long time.

"Please teach me, sir! Please teach me the scriptures!"

Even without the stone scriptures, a handwritten copy would be fine! He'd memorize them by rote and take them back to the modern world! Right, he wanted to find a chance to visit Luoyang sometime in his life; it should still be possible to see some of the stone scriptures now…

If we do the math, it's 234 years now, and the Wu Kingdom fell in 280. If I try my best to live to 50, I should be able to see it then.

Of course, considering the short lifespan of ancient people and the unknown end of the pottery's memory, he still had to work hard to improve himself and try to go see it as soon as possible!
To improve oneself, the best methods are twofold: first, to cultivate oneself into a child prodigy; and second, to elevate one's family. The former is not difficult; his speed in learning and memorizing various classic texts has already astonished his teacher.

As for the latter...

Shen Le, with a self-righteous air, seized every opportunity after school to wander around every corner of the family compound, pointing fingers and making pronouncements:

"My ancestor told me that piling things up and burying them to let them decompose slightly would make them more fertile! — Come on, do as I say, start by digging a hole here..."

"Put in the manure, weeds, fallen leaves, and stove ash, layer by layer..."

"Our ancestor said that if you don't have enough compost, you can go to the river and collect water hyacinths! Water hyacinths are also very useful!"

Even if he is a famous child prodigy, he will still get a few glares if he points fingers here and there.

However, by waving the banner of "the ancestor told me," at least the family can allocate a separate plot of land for him to do as he pleases, while the tenants cover their noses and diligently follow his instructions to mix and compost.

When the first batch of dark brown, loose, odorless compost was applied to the field, and when the rice in that field was finally harvested, the yield was significantly higher than that of the neighboring fields, all doubts vanished:

What our ancestor said is true!
The child prodigy in the family didn't mispronounce the ancestor's words!

Shen Le thus gained greater authority. More land, more tenant farmers, cultivating and harvesting according to his instructions:
"Our ancestor said that after the rice harvest, we can plant alfalfa in the field. The grass that grows can be cut to feed the cattle, and the rest can be plowed into the field to fertilize it!"

"Our ancestor said that we shouldn't be afraid of the cold weather. We can keep the seedlings indoors and use shallow trays to encourage their growth. We can then plant them in the fields when the weather warms up, which will allow us to make up for lost time!"

"Our ancestor said to tie bamboo strips and stones to the riverbed like this! Great! Lower a small boat down, block the river mouth, and you can catch big fish from the bottom..."

"The ancestor said..."

As these measures were implemented, the yields in the fields steadily increased. Even if the land rent remained the same, families and tenant farmers were able to accumulate more grain.

Tenant farmers were better able to feed themselves, and their families had more savings, which they could then expand into other areas.

Plant mulberry trees!

Raising silkworms!

Plant hemp!

Plant citrus!
Brewing!

Firing porcelain!

papermaking……

Shen Le's modern cramming education was truly effective. Although he didn't know how to raise silkworms, he could draw the structure of several flower towers and teach his family to weave expensive brocade.
Although he doesn't know how to brew wine, he can build simple distillation equipment to distill the fruit wine and mulberry wine that he has already brewed into spirits.
Although he was not good at making paper directly from scratch, he was able to guide his family to find a suitable Qingtan tree for papermaking and improve the papermaking process to produce high-quality paper that was smooth as jade and soft and flexible in texture.

As for porcelain, well, when he was firing the porcelain tower, he was tempered and refined through countless trials. At least when it comes to firing white porcelain, if he admits to being second, no one in the surrounding counties would dare to claim to be first!

In just ten years, the family population doubled, while the family fortune increased nearly tenfold. Shen Le, now in his fifteenth year, no longer needed to constantly claim "as the ancestor said," and had become the family's leader.
The only pity was that the scholar who had taught him only taught him for a year before resigning. Shen Le wanted to continue his studies, but he was stopped by him:
"Children from poor families... It's not like it was decades ago anymore. Families like yours have no chance of getting ahead..."

Instead of studying hard, I'd rather practice martial arts and try to make a name for myself in the army... If I could become a county lieutenant or something, I could protect my family..."

Shen Le remained silent. Zhuge Liang had already passed away, and Sun Quan was beginning to decline. In the entire Wu state, social classes were solidified, and it was no longer an era for those from humble backgrounds to rise to prominence.

As for using all sorts of strange and cunning tricks to climb the social ladder and gain fame? That's courting death!

In his later years, after the death of his crown prince, Sun Quan's two sons vied for the throne, sparking a power struggle between the two empresses. Court officials took sides. At this juncture, anyone from a humble background without connections who got involved faced certain death!

The biggest pitfall was that two years before his death, Sun Quan killed both of his infighting sons and installed another as emperor! None of the ministers who took sides benefited...

Let's farm, let's farm...

Accumulating grain was the foundation of the family, and developing industry and commerce enhanced the family's wealth. Then, more land was acquired, and more tenant farmers were recruited.

Even members of the family and tenant farmers were selected to learn martial arts and strong men were trained to form a small team—whether it was traveling merchants or fighting for water and protecting fields, martial arts were indispensable!
Step by step, we will increase the power of our family!
Shen Le was making a very clever plan. Give him another ten years, just another ten years... In just ten more years, a group of children his age would become the backbone of the family, and the family could muster at least two hundred soldiers!

However, the world did not grant them another ten years of peace. Shen Le had just turned fifteen when the cold sound of a gong once again shattered the tranquility of the Shen family manor:
"The army is about to set out to conquer the Yue tribes! One out of every five able-bodied men from every registered household must be selected! You have three days to bring your own weapons and provisions and report to the county magistrate's office! Failure to do so will be considered disobedience!"

The male members of the Shen family who were in charge gathered once again in the ancestral hall. Shen Le's father in this life, Shen Dun, who had just succeeded his deceased third uncle as the head of the family, had a furrowed brow.

Below, the uncles and brothers were even more pale-faced, sighing and lamenting.

"One out of five men will be selected! Our clan has multiplied to this day, and there are fewer than a hundred able-bodied men left! This... this selection means that every household, every family, every branch will have to select someone!"

"The Shan Yue are fierce and hide deep in the mountains. If we go in... will we even come back alive?"

"In previous years, tenant farmers were always made to take their place, right? Just give them more resettlement allowance and provisions..."

"Yes, yes! Let the tenants go! We'll pay!"

"Sigh, another large sum of money is going to be spent... Our family's situation has only just started to improve..."

Although they sighed and complained, they were not panicked. The family had grown to own nearly half of the fertile land by the lake, and the number of tenants, servants, and laborers dependent on the family totaled several thousand.

Sending dozens more people to replace their own sons to the battlefield was almost a common practice for wealthy families to deal with conscription and forced labor—who would want to go to the battlefield and suffer?
When I was a poor man, I had to perform corvée labor and fight in wars. Now that I've become a landlord, I still have to perform corvée labor and fight in wars. Haven't I become a landlord for nothing?

"This money should be paid from the clan's assets..."

"No, no, the tenants are replacing individual households. Those households with enough male members who should have been conscripted should first provide some..."

"I think the resettlement funds should be allocated according to the number of male members in each family..."

"How is this any different from expenditures from clan property?"

Shen Le stood aside, listening silently.

He is now fifteen years old. Because of his prodigy status and his undeniable achievements in leading the family to wealth over the years, he is already qualified to participate in such core family discussions, despite his young age.

Even if he doesn't constantly raise the banner of "Ancestor," he still has a place in family discussions.

He listened quietly to his elders' discussion, his brows furrowed slightly, feeling that something was amiss: it was certainly a good thing not to go to the battlefield, but something seemed wrong with this path.
Go to the battlefield...go to the battlefield...money and supplies...human lives...military merits...military merits!
Without personally going to the battlefield and earning military merits, the family will forever be locked in this corner, with no way to rise in status!

For children from poor families, military merit is the fastest and most reliable path to advancement. Simply focusing on farming or business, without military protection, ultimately leaves them as fish on a chopping block!

“Father, uncles and elders,” Shen Le took a deep breath and stepped forward. His voice was clear and resonant, carrying an undeniable weight that echoed throughout the hall.
"I have an objection! In this conscription, someone from the Shen family should be selected to fight!"

These words shocked everyone in the room. Shen Dun looked at his son in astonishment: "A-Yue, what do you mean by this? Do you want your uncles and cousins ​​to go and die? —Or, or..."

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the portrait in the main hall, the question "What did the ancestor say?" tugged at the tip of his tongue, then he swallowed it back. Shen Le had already answered loudly:
"It's not about sending people to their deaths, but about seeking survival, and even more so, seeking progress!"

Before his elders could question him, Shen Le swept his gaze over everyone and said in a deep voice, "A minor official position bought with money from the county government is never the same as an official position earned through military merit! Without military merit, my Shen family will always be at the mercy of others for extortion and exploitation!"

"Then what do you mean?"

“My Shen family should volunteer! However, we don’t need to follow the fixed rule of selecting one out of every five able-bodied men,” Shen Le replied firmly.

"Over the years, I have selected and trained able-bodied men and instructed my retainers, and now my family has a fighting force. I will lead it, select four clever and reliable cousins, and then choose a group of men from among the well-trained household servants."

Once enough men have been gathered, along with the strongest and most trained able-bodied men from among the tenant farmers, form a team and go to battle!

"You're going?!" Shen Dun stood up abruptly. "No! Absolutely not! You're the pillar of the family. What if something happens to you..."

"Precisely because I am the pillar, it is all the more my duty to go!" Shen Le declared resolutely.
"Under our dynasty's system, local militias are organized by village, township, or clan, and the village elders and clan heads are naturally the leaders. If I don't go, and the Shen family doesn't go, these tenant farmers will be forced into someone else's ranks, and their deaths will be in vain."

Only I can lead them well, unite them all, and make them distinguished in the military!

He raised his face, his voice resounding throughout the hall:
"With a team in command, I won't start as a mere soldier. It will be easier for me to take heads and earn military merit! Even the lowest level of military merit can secure an official position for a member of the Shen family in the county!"
The county constable and assistant county magistrate might not dare to dream of such things, but even a minor official like a constable or patrolman, in charge of the security and taxes of a village, could at least offer some protection to one's family! This is something that cannot be bought by paying tenant farmers to take one's place.

(End of this chapter)