Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Everyone bowed to see the emperor off. In the Fengtian Hall, everyone in the cabinet handed the draft of the imperial treatise to Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, and asked him to organize and write it.

And this work, in fact, to a certain extent, is of the same nature as writing a posthumous edict for Emperor Daxing.

In short, the official version of the records that can be seen by outsiders and circulated in history books are all written by Xia Yuanji.

The four princes and the remaining five ministers of the Fifth Army Governor's Office have all left. Except for Jiang Xinghuo and Xia Yuanji, only the cabinet "San Yang", Hu Guang, Jin Youzi, etc. who need to confirm each other and explain the meeting minutes are left here. Five people.

While Xia Yuanji was sorting out the cabinet materials, Jiang Xinghuo also took a cup of tea, sat across from the cabinet and said: "Everyone, this court debate is not only an innovative update of the Ming Dynasty's economic system, but also an innovative update of the Ming Dynasty's economic system. It has extremely profound strategic significance for the development of Ming Dynasty in the next ten years and is worthy of being remembered by our generation."

After speaking, Jiang Xinghuo looked at the expressions of everyone in the cabinet.

Of course, Jiang Xinghuo is not just sitting around and talking nonsense, but is trying to understand the attitude of the first generation cabinet members of the Ming Dynasty towards this matter. After all, these people, especially the "Three Yangs" among them, if nothing else happens, will definitely become the Ming Dynasty in the future. of pillars.

Of course, everyone in the cabinet knew that the Imperial Preceptor would not target the enemy unintentionally, but a wallflower like Hu Guang would not express his position casually, so it was not surprising that he would pretend to be deaf and dumb.

As for Jin Youzi, who had Zhu Di's back, he didn't really want to interact with Jiang Xinghuo, so he didn't say anything.

Yang Shiqi packed up the pen and ink in his hand, pondered for a moment and then said: "I believe that this court debate is indeed worth remembering. In addition to the analysis and summary of Wang Anshi's past reforms, the most critical point is the prediction of the future situation of the Ming Dynasty. Research and judgment.”

Well, after listening to your words, Yang Shiqi seemed to have said everything, but in fact he said nothing.

Yang Rong was decisive and bold: "I would like to suggest that 'all the people are the basis' should still be added to this court treatise, but it is not added in other places, but in places that give examples of the economic situation of the Northern Song Dynasty, and it must be added Emphasizing the importance of this national policy to the commercial prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty. After all, this regulation is the basis of economic development and the cornerstone that enables the Ming Dynasty to do its best to promote commercial development in the next ten years."

Yang Rong chose something that seemed important but was actually quite insignificant to express his position.

However, Jiang Xinghuo didn't say anything. It would be a great improvement for traditional scholar-bureaucrats like "San Yang" to realize the importance of business and business taxation. Often the most difficult to change.

Yang Pu was cautious in character, thought for a few moments, and said with approval: "What Mian Ren said is reasonable. It is difficult to draw a conclusion easily on whether the 'scholars, farmers, industry and commerce' should maintain the emphasis on agriculture and suppress business, or change to the principle of focusing on all people. It must be treated with caution, but the court must have an attitude, and this attitude must be conveyed to all yamen."

After going around like this, Jiang Xinghuo had a rough idea of ​​the personalities and abilities of the famous "San Yang".

how to say? It is no wonder that after the death of Emperor Yongle, the Ming Dynasty went through the Hongxi, Xuande and Zhengtong dynasties, and its strategy became more and more shrinking and its hips became more and more stretched. In the second year of Xuande, the Chief Envoy of Jiaozhi was abolished, and in the fifth year of Xuande, Zheng He made his last voyage to the West. In the ninth year of Xuande's reign, the Nu'er Gandu Division was moved to the capital, and in the fifth year of Zhengtong's reign, the Xuanwei Division of Old Port changed its owner.

The achievements of the Yongle Dynasty's twenty years of external expansion were basically abolished in the hands of the "San Yang" in front of them. China went from being at the forefront of geographical discovery to falling far behind the Western world.

Just as choices at critical moments in life can often affect a person's lifelong destiny, the same is true for a country.

Although the "Three Yangs" allowed the Ming Dynasty to recuperate and save money, and although it allowed the Ming Dynasty to survive for twenty years, after the "Three Yangs" stepped down, the Ming Dynasty also reached a moment of prosperity and decline, and did not escape the fate of decline. .

So from this point of view, Jiang Xinghuo felt that since in the history of the previous life, representatives of the civil servants group such as "San Yang" controlled the government of the next era, and the results were like this, it would be better to cultivate them as early as possible. talents to carry out the policy.

Although the reform has just begun, Jiang Xinghuo is no exaggeration to say that he is indeed thinking about the next generation, or even the next generation.

This is not about Jiang Xinghuo popping champagne at halftime, but it is indeed worthy of consideration.

This year is the first year of Yongle (1403). According to the history of his previous life, Emperor Yongle could still live for twenty-one years. By 1424, there were no accidental deaths. Jiang Xinghuo was only in his early forties, which was when he was in the prime of life. .

And Jiang Xinghuo is the same age as Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu, and is even younger than the "Three Yangs". It is no exaggeration to say that as long as Jiang Xinghuo can always stand firm in the temple of the Ming Dynasty, he can at least be the same as the "Three Yangs". It brought the Ming Dynasty to the time point of the original Tumubao Incident (1449), so Jiang Xinghuo did not need "Sanyang" to inherit his political ideals.

What Jiang Xinghuo needs is to cultivate a group of talents during the reform process, and then develop the Ming Dynasty well. If Yu Qian can be taught and transformed by him, then at the end of the eighth life, Jiang Xinghuo can safely hand over the Ming Dynasty to Yu Qian.

As for Yu Qian, can he really manage so many things in the future?

Zhuge Liang chose his successor and chose the Three Prime Ministers of Shu and Han, but in the end it only lasted for thirty years. Jiang Xinghuo was not arrogant enough to think that he was stronger than Zhuge Liang.

Eighty or even one hundred years later, whether it is because of the booming overseas trade and mercantilism, the merchant class has entered the stage of history, or some strange historical deviation has occurred, it will be the choice of later generations. .

If he is still on this historical line in the ninth life, instead of going to another historical line, he may be able to observe how the Ming Dynasty's offline monarchy/constitutional monarchy was established. As for further things, we can only wait. The seeds he planted took root and sprouted.

"So, if Sanyang can strive for reform, they can reform it. If they cannot reform and cannot adapt to the Ming Dynasty's expansionary future strategy, then they can only be allowed to shine in a suitable position. If they stay in the center, they will still use traditional Confucianism. It is definitely not possible to live a restful and fussy life with the people."

Jiang Xinghuo has made up his mind, and Xia Yuanji has almost sorted it out. The writings of the cabinet members are all clear and neat. After all, they are the founders of the "Taige Style", and the recorded contents are also true. He only needs to edit the cabinet records. People record the cutting and arrangement, stick the paper together with glue, and then add the content you want to polish, and it's done.

Xia Yuanji then took out the draft paper of "Fengtian Palace Theory" and handed it to Jiang Xinghuo.

Looking at this document, which looked a bit like a blackboard newspaper posted by primary school students with glue, but was destined to be as famous as the Western Han Dynasty's "Salt and Iron Theory" in later history books, Jiang Xinghuo browsed carefully.

There is no doubt that this is the programmatic document of the second stage of the reform, and it cannot be overemphasized.

After reading the document, Jiang Xinghuo added or deleted a few parts on the draft paper and handed it to Xia Yuanji.

"Just do it this way."

Xia Yuanji planned to follow Jiang Xinghuo's instructions to edit the imperial treatise into a formal document, and then distribute it within yamen across the capital to give officials a heads up and let them understand what the imperial court meant.

"Master, how many copies of this treatise need to be printed?"

Hu Guang asked from the side.

Xie Jin was originally in charge of the matter with the printing office of the Imperial College in the cabinet. Now that Xie Jin was transferred to the President's Reform Affairs Office, this job was left to Hu Guang.

When Jiang Xinghuo heard this, he paused and slowly uttered three words: "Three thousand volumes."

"Three thousand volumes?"

The cabinet members present could not help but be a little surprised when they heard this.

It stands to reason that something like an internal reference document usually only appears when important matters are discussed in court meetings, because this version is revised and printed in accordance with the highest standard format, the printing cost is not low, and it uses special paper. , usually each yamen was given out one to three copies for circulation. Now it has to be given out 3,000 copies, which means that the high-ranking officials in Beijing basically only have one copy per person and may still have a surplus.

However, three thousand volumes means that it will probably cost several thousand taels of silver. This is not a small amount of money for any ministry, but money should still be a small matter for the national teacher. After all, the business tax of 2.1 million taels is promised It came out, but the question is, why did the National Master print so many? This kind of violation of tradition is completely unnecessary. There must be some deep meaning in it!

So what's the deep meaning? This made everyone in the cabinet think deeply.

If you think about it carefully, for the emperor, has the reform faction really grown stronger through this court debate?

not at all.

The central bank has divided the power of the Ministry of Accounts, and the person who will manage the central bank has not yet been determined. At the same time, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Accounts, has to take the lead in writing the minutes of the court meetings and briefing the officials. Later, he has to face the problem of dividing the cake. , will inevitably be resented.

It seemed that if all went well, the emperor would get more money to carry out his great work without having to pay any price.

Of course, fate had already secretly marked the price, but Zhu Di didn't know it.

If everyone in the cabinet thinks more darkly, perhaps the resentment of various ministries and temples in the imperial court will not change anything, because their fear of Jiang Xinghuo will make them dare not speak out.

But as the reform officially enters the second stage, it is equivalent to swimming from shallow water on the beach to deep water where the feet cannot touch the ground. While the reformists face more challenges, their relationship with the imperial power will also become more intense. Subtle and complex.

The emperor may not necessarily waver in his support for the reformists, but if he can take advantage of the opportunity of the court debate to control the conflicts within the court in an orderly manner, then for the emperor, it may be better to kill two birds with one stone.

But at this time, Jiang Xinghuo suddenly issued instructions to print a total of three thousand more copies. Could he be putting pressure on the courtiers?

When they received the copied manuscript, they thought about it and got together to proofread it. In this document, many of the more acute issues during the court debate were retained, while other contents that were not conducive to the reform were also retained. Some details have been slightly adjusted to avoid causing trouble.

Everyone in the cabinet present thought together and looked up at Jiang Xinghuo.

You see, this is a typical example of being clever but being misled by cleverness. You think too much.

"The Imperial Master is prepared for a rainy day."

Jiang Xinghuo was a little confused and didn't understand what they meant. Why not just print an internal reference document? What's wrong with printing more?

Jiang Xinghuo only said: "Print according to normal official document standards, not according to the highest standards agreed by the court."

After everyone in the cabinet heard Jiang Xinghuo's words, they suddenly realized, oh, it turns out that the National Preceptor wanted to directly characterize it as a published official document, rather than a reference document for discussion.

At this time, Xia Yuanji handed Hu Guang the revised draft that he had transcribed on white paper, and said solemnly: "You can proofread it one last time and send it to printing. This cannot be wrong. This matter concerns the country." Ben, don’t be careless.”

In fact, at this moment, Xia Yuanji vaguely guessed why the emperor chose him to do this.

In fact, this was also a test deliberately made by the emperor - the emperor needed to see the real bottom line of the ministers in the court, or in other words, the interests of various ministries and temples in the matter of making money.

There is no doubt that some high-ranking officials in the DPRK will protest against Jiang Xinghuo's actions. They will believe that if business restrictions are relaxed, some disputes will definitely arise between various departments.

Is it difficult to understand?

If the old fiscal distribution pattern is broken, even if new money comes in, not everyone will benefit. There will be a new round of dividing the cake. Some people will get more, and some will get less. It is never possible to satisfy everyone, and once there is dissatisfaction, the resentment will naturally be directed at the person responsible for cutting the cake.

And this person is Xia Yuanji. The emperor is still sitting high on the dragon throne overlooking everything.

When everything was done and the manuscript of the imperial treatise was sent to the Imperial College Printing Office for printing, the people in the cabinet were still pondering the Imperial Master's intentions, but Jiang Xinghuo was already preparing to go home.

——————

In the prison, old acquaintances gathered together.

"Jiang Xinghuo, you fucking framed me!"

When Xian Zhan saw Jiang Xinghuo coming, he angrily grabbed the iron bars of the cell and shook his handcuffs and leg shackles, making a "ding-dong" sound.

Jiang Xinghuo was too lazy to talk to him. His teacher Wang Jing was about to be "retired", and Xun Zhan naturally lost the value of being imprisoned. Being convicted of bribery would not cost anyone. After all, times have changed, and there is no need for skinning. It's true, but the fate of being relegated to a deserted place is inevitable.

"Let me ask you back, is the Longchang Post Station of the Chief Envoy of Guizhou still in need of a Post Cheng?"

Jiang Xinghuo suddenly explained in a confused manner. Ji Gang was a little confused, but he still agreed.

"If you need it, send it to him there."

Next, Jiang Xinghuo continued to move forward and came to Li Zhigang and others.

Huang Xin has completely withered. Today is the death anniversary of Taizu. Jiang Xinghuo can still come here. The victory or defeat is already self-evident.

"Can you tell me what happened today?"

Jiang Xinghuo didn't answer him, but asked Ji Gang, "Where is Kong Xilu?"

Ji Gang was stunned for a moment. The news he just received showed that there were all the prisoners in the prison.

After asking the cell boss Lao Wang, he found out that Kong Xilu had gone to the yard above to tinker with things.

Seeing this, Jiang Xinghuo didn't rush to find Kong Xilu. Instead, he briefly told Huang Xin and Li Zhigang what happened today. Although it was just one-sided words, since it was Jiang Xinghuo who said it, the two of them didn't believe it, but they looked arrogant. Not the same anymore.

Huang Xin naturally became extremely depressed and dejected. After all, the debate competition and the assassination operation that he had high hopes for failed, and finally the mourning ceremony on the anniversary of Taizu's death also failed. Huang Xin, at the expense of himself, targeted The offensive launched by the reformists ended in a complete failure, which was equivalent to losing both the wife and the troops, and all the work was in vain.

"Good cannot defeat evil. Good cannot defeat evil!"

Huang Xin sighed and said: "You, such a treacherous and evil person, can survive the storm safely. That's all. Anyway, I have already disregarded my own honor, disgrace, life and death. How do you want to deal with it? Kill or behead, you can do whatever you want."

After saying that, he closed his eyes, obviously feeling despair.

Jiang Xinghuo gave him a strange look.

"The troops will be dispatched to Annan in more than ten days, and there is still a lack of an inspector there. I think you are quite good, and you will be able to make a good contribution to your crimes."

When Huang Xin heard this, he opened his eyes in shock.

"You won't kill me?"

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said: "Although you are a bit pedantic, you are loyal and useful to the country. How can I kill you? Wouldn't it be better to keep people like you to influence the Annan people with benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust?" "

After saying that, Jiang Xinghuo turned to Li Zhigang and said a few words, but they were things that Li Zhigang needed to pay special attention to if he went to Annan.

This is of course necessary. After all, as the new commodity dumping market of the Ming Dynasty, the territory of Annan will be divided into two. The Red River Delta area in the north will be established as the Chief Envoy of Cochin, while the southern area will be ruled by Chen Tianping.

The position of Chief Envoy of Cochin involves not only the governance and royalization of the original Annan people within the Chief Envoy of Cochin, as well as communication and management with local chieftains and dignitaries, but also involves external exchanges with the dismembered Annan Kingdom. There are really too many things to pay attention to. If Jiang Xinghuo doesn't talk to Li Zhigang about the key points and let him use his days in prison to think about and simulate how to govern in the future, Jiang Xinghuo is really afraid that Li Zhigang will not be able to do it anymore. things.

Li Zhigang was overjoyed when he heard this and thanked him repeatedly.

"Don't be too happy first."

Jiang Xinghuo said calmly: "There is no guarantee that the joint trial of the Three Laws Division will be successful. I only give you a chance, but whether you can grasp it in the end and whether you can do well in the position of Chief Envoy of Cochin depends on your ability and luck. "

Li Zhigang responded respectfully.

In addition, Jiang Xinghuo told Li Zhigang about his father-in-law's business name and that he needed to help in the unarmed free trade zone tomorrow, and asked him to write a letter home.

After doing this, Jiang Xinghuo stood up and said goodbye: "I have something to do with Kong Xilu. I hope you can be released by this time next month."

After saying this, he left with a few guards.

"Thank you so much, Imperial Master, for your support! I will repay the Imperial Master's kindness with all my heart!"

Looking at Jiang Xinghuo's leaving figure, Li Zhigang was so excited that his whole body trembled.

He had been waiting for so long, hoping for the stars and the moon, and finally had such an opportunity, how could he waste it?

Moreover, as long as he does a good job in the position of Chief Envoy of Cochin, there is no need to worry about not being able to return to the center in the future.

Compared with squatting in prison, even if he went to Annan, Li Zhigang felt that his future was infinitely bright.

With Jiang Xinghuo's departure, everything soon returned to calm, even Xun Zhan who made a fuss outside stopped making a fuss.

Well, I guess I didn’t know where Longchang was when I came to Xinzhan.

——————

Under the new crooked neck tree.

The gray-haired Kong Xilu was holding a wooden pestle and carefully pounding garlic in a stone mortar. White smoke was rising from the distiller next to him.

Of course Kong Xilu did this not because he wanted to eat dumplings, but because he was seriously conducting the research Jiang Xinghuo had given him. He was so serious that he didn't realize it until Jiang Xinghuo came in.

"You finally came!"

Seeing that Jiang Xinghuo was finally willing to come to see him in the prison, Kong Xilu was very excited. Since Jiang Xinghuo left that day, Kong Xilu had never seen him again, let alone chatted with him like today.

As the designated Dragon Field of the Ming Dynasty, Kong Xilu has practiced here for many days and already feels that he has made great progress. He has many doubts in his mind that need Jiang Xinghuo to answer.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and stepped forward.

Jiang Xinghuo could tell from Kong Xilu's expression that he must have encountered a lot of confusion recently. After all, groping for himself on the new path of physical objects was tantamount to a blind man groping for an elephant. Very difficult.

Of course, Kong Xilu felt quite happy to be able to find a new path. After all, he had reached the pinnacle of Confucianism and Taoism over the years, and there was an abyss down there, and there was no way out for a long time.

In fact, before Kong Xilu came out this time, at some point, he had already planned to give up. Unfortunately, God still let him encounter the most unlikely variable. Although he didn't know why this happened suddenly. Things recorded in history books seem to be made up, but at this time, Kong Xilu undoubtedly believed that there was an arrangement somewhere. Since he found a new path alive, he would definitely make a breakthrough in the future.

Jiang Xinghuo paused, then slowly said: "I heard from Ji Gang... you have been very sleepless and forgetful of food recently."

Kong Xilu was moved for only a moment. When he was about to say something, Jiang Xinghuo asked directly: "Is there any progress?"

Kong Xilu awkwardly touched his twisted beard and said, "Not yet."

After listening to Kong Xilu's words, Jiang Xinghuo frowned slightly. He always felt that something was strange.

Logically speaking, shouldn’t allicin be so difficult to prepare?

Yes, Jiang Xinghuo had no intention of letting Kong Xilu rub penicillin with his hands, although in the online novels he read in his previous life, it seemed that every time traveler could directly point out the technological point of penicillin using ancient conditions.

But in fact, whether crude penicillin can cure a disease or kill a disease basically depends on God and the old man tossing a coin.

Let’s not talk about the preparation method and purity, etc. Let’s talk about the same patulin. Like penicillin, this thing is a mold that lives on the surface of fruits, and they are highly similar. They are also antibacterial and soluble in water, but Penicillin is an antibiotic, while patulin is a complete poison.

Even if you have a crystal microscope with your hands, how can you tell the difference between penicillin and patulin if you are not a time traveler in biology, bacteriology or other related majors?

In comparison, allicin, which is also an antibiotic, is undoubtedly much simpler.

Allicin can effectively treat whooping cough, meningitis, acute dysentery, diphtheria, loss of appetite and other diseases. It can also improve the body's immunity. It has quick effects and outstanding curative effect. It was a life-saving medicine in ancient times, but it is not without its shortcomings. The normal dosage of amoxin is 40 mg each time, three times a day. It can only be maintained for 3-5 hours under normal temperature conditions. It can be maintained for a longer time under low temperature conditions, but it also needs to be prepared and used as needed.

Even if patulin is not considered, the difficulty of hand-preparation of penicillin and allicin is completely different.

Penicillin first needs to collect green moldy substances. Then, because there was no corn juice in the first year of Yongle, the mixed juice of rice and potato can only be used as a substitute culture solution. Penicillium needs to be thrown into the culture solution for seven days, and then the culture solution is used in a jar. After filtering, pour it in, then pour in three times the rapeseed oil and stir until the liquid separates into three layers. Only then can the top two layers be taken out and absorbed with carbon powder.

Do you think this is the end? No, there are many steps to rub penicillin by hand. You also have to wash the carbon with distilled water. After washing, first put acidic water, then alkaline water, and then filter it again to get the penicillin solution.

At this time, the preparation of penicillin is not considered successful. Put the penicillin solution into the prepared staphylococcus culture dish and wait for three to five days. If a circle appears around the penicillin solution, it means that the penicillin extraction is successful. If If there is no change, then try it again.

In other words, a penicillin experiment would take ten days to start.

And what about allicin?

The first step is to peel and pound the garlic.

The second step is to put it into a jar and soak it in distilled water for a few hours, then throw it into the still for distillation.

The third step is to squeeze out the towel wrapped around the distiller pipe to get a golden yellow liquid with a strong garlic smell, which is allicin.

The steps are simple and it only takes a few hours to complete an experiment.

But no matter what, these few days have passed. If Kong Xilu hadn't fished, wouldn't there have been no progress at all?

"Is distillation the temperature where it's almost boiling but still some way off?"

"yes."

Kong Xilu nodded seriously and replied: "Burning several stills at different temperatures at the same time."

After a moment of silence, Jiang Xinghuo checked the seal of the still and found no fault. The garlic was also normal.

In this way, possible variables are basically eliminated.

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "Have you tried another method? Use white wine."

"Liquor?"

Kong Xilu was stunned for a moment, then asked cautiously: "Isn't that one for me to drink?"

Jiang Xinghuo: "."

Something obviously went wrong.

Jiang Xinghuo clearly remembered that he handed Wang Bin a note with precautions and told Wang Bin to give the note to Ji Gang and ask Ji Gang to provide the necessary items including a distiller and the alcohol content. If you have enough control, ask the second prince to transfer it directly. Together with the white wine, Kong Xilu drank it all!

Isn’t Kong Xilu very particular about food and drink? Why is it that liquor, which is at the bottom of the alcohol contempt chain in this era, is still drunk so enthusiastically?

Seeing that Jiang Xinghuo seemed angry, Kong Xilu smiled and said: "Maybe there is some misunderstanding, hahaha..."

It's okay if he doesn't say "hehe", but Jiang Xinghuo gets even more headache when he says "hehe".

Kong Xilu smiled while secretly observing Jiang Xinghuo's expression.

Seeing that Jiang Xinghuo still had a sullen face, Kong Xilu coughed guiltily, changed the topic and asked, "What is the other preparation method?"

"Step one, mash the garlic."

"The second step is to dry it over a slow fire. After the drying, the garlic is completely crushed into powder."

"The third step is to soak it in high-strength white wine for a period of time. The upper liquid that comes out is allicin."

Jiang Xinghuo sighed silently: "Although I don't know why the first method cannot prepare allicin, but time is tight now, so I can only try the second method."

"In addition, we should pay attention to the enzymatic decomposition time of allicin. It should be a quarter of an hour. At the same time, the ambient temperature should be slightly higher, preferably a little higher than the human body temperature (45°). If it cannot be done, Well, under the current summer temperature conditions (30°), a higher concentration of liquor is needed to prepare it better. Remember, the purpose is not to prepare it, but to prepare it well and quickly. This thing It’s for life-saving purposes.”

"When will you tell me the principles here, as well as the principles of the new way of physical objects?" Kong Xi asked in rapid succession.

"I will tell you the truth behind this right away. As for the difficulties you encounter in the new way of physical objects, I will also give you answers."

Since he wants people to work, Jiang Xinghuo must give him some benefits.

"Then who are you trying to save after all your hard work?"

Jiang Xinghuo was silent for a few moments and then said, "Save a person who doesn't deserve to die."