It was raining heavily outside the palace, which was not considered luxurious. In the distance, lightning and thunder could be heard from the direction of the sea, and the howling of wind and rain made the palace room feel like a ship on the sea.
Zuo Wenhuai was sitting on a chair in the middle of the imperial study, talking to the young-looking emperor in front of him about a series of things about the southwest. Zhou Pei, Cheng Zhouhai and others were also around.
"... Regarding the development of Gewu here, when I came here, Mr. Ning once mentioned that the southeast is suitable for the development of sea-ship technology. For artillery and other things on the battlefield, the technologies we brought are enough, and the southeast is just right.
Along the coast, there is a need to develop commerce and trade. From this route, the benefits of research may be the greatest..."
"But sea-ship technology is of little use on the battlefield." Zhou Junwu looked at Zuo Wenhuai and smiled, "On the battlefield, after all, artillery, gunpowder and other supplies are reliable. Relying on these sent by Mr. Ning, we may be able to defeat Wu Qimei
, but if one day we finally encounter the Chinese army on the battlefield, during the time we have been studying sea ships, the Chinese army’s artillery, rockets and other items have been replaced for several generations. In the end, it will not be for China.
Do you want to get married in the military?"
"Excuse me... I can speak frankly." Zuo Wenhuai hesitated for a moment and then raised his hand, "Even if we develop artillery together, the southeast side will not be able to catch up with the Chinese army."
He followed Zuo Xiuwen and set out from the southwest with a group of young people from the Zuo family, crossing a distance of thousands of miles and arriving in Fuzhou not long ago. In his mind, he still regarded himself as a soldier of the Chinese Army, but his identity was affected by this.
I knew that these words might be a bit treasonous to everyone in front of me. But fortunately, no one showed any anger after saying it.
The eldest princess Zhou Pei, who had a graceful attitude, even smiled: "Why?"
"There are two problems with the development of quwu studies. On the surface, it seems that it is just a study of quwu studies. Just invest money and manpower and let people rack their brains to invent some new things. But in fact, the deeper thing lies in the popularization of quwu studies thinking. It
Researchers and everyone involved in research work are required to try to have a clear concept of inquiry, one is one, two is two, and let people know that the truth will not be transferred by human will. Researchers involved in direct work must understand this.
Officials at the top management must also understand this. Anyone who does not understand will affect efficiency."
When Ning Yi taught in Southwest China, he talked about the investigation of objects in great detail, so Zuo Wenhuai also spoke clearly and clearly at this moment.
"The study of studies and the thinking of studies complement each other. If the research work is done well, the thinking will be improved. If the thinking of studies is improved, the study of studies can naturally be done better. In the Chinese Army, Mr. Ning has been teaching people about studies since the Xiaocanghe period.
It took more than ten years to learn the basics of thinking before we can achieve today's results. Southeast needs to catch up in these two aspects. First, it will take several years to fully understand the existing results. After that, we will make new things. At that time, the test will be to think about things.
Already."
"For more than ten years in the Huaxia Army, they have been doing research and making breakthroughs every day. In this process, the researchers have formed a clear comparison, induction, and summary method. Here in Southeast, they copied other people's existing technology.
Maybe researchers take a look, pat their heads, and find that they understand it. It’s that simple. But when they study new things, they will find that their thinking is simply not enough.”
Zuo Wenhuai paused: "As far as I know, your Majesty has been imitating and studying hot-air balloons and artillery for a long time. These objects are already available to the Chinese army, but they are very difficult to copy. Your Majesty will be the craftsman.
Get them together and let them use their brains, and give money to whoever has a good idea. But the method of these craftsmen is to pat their heads and try this and that. This is luck. But real research still lies in research.
The ability to compare, summarize, and summarize. Of course, since His Majesty has been promoting the study of things for so many years, there must be some people who have such a methodology. But if you really want to be at the forefront of the world, you must be the best in the world in this kind of thinking ability.
First, it’s better if you don’t recognize your relatives. If you’re vague, you’ll fall further behind.”
"I like your statement about not recognizing relatives." Zhou Junwu replied seriously, but it was not easy to see what he was thinking. Zuo Wenhuai looked around and found that both Zhou Pei and Cheng Zhouhai had solemn expressions, and then stood up
He stood up and held his hands in his hands: "It's... the young minister Meng Lang."
"It's okay." Jun Wu smiled and waved his hand, "You have studied in the Southwest for many years, and you have such a straightforward temperament. My Yang Zuo family invites you back, and what they need is these straightforward truths. From these
From what I said, I can see what kind of place the southwest is. Don’t change it and continue to talk about why you want to study shipping ships.”
"Simply relying on a thorough understanding of ready-made technologies will have limited effect on cultivating research thinking, because these researchers can easily feel that they have made results and can deceive others, and their pressure is not high enough. Then it is better to find someone who is more urgently needed and whose results are not
Let people do research on areas that are easier to test. For those who can solve problems frequently, we can easily select them and eliminate the fittest to help them develop the correct way of thinking."
When Zuo Wenhuai said this, Jun Wu and Zhou Pei nodded in the room, and Cheng Zhouhai said: "Our sea-going ship technology has always been developed. Nowadays, shipping along the southeast coast is developed, and there is no shortage of places.
. Mr. Ning asked us to care about sea ships, and it is not a good idea to be afraid."
"There will always be a shortage of money." Zuo Wenhuai looked at a few people. He was new here and didn't know much about these things, so he hesitated to speak. Then he said: "In addition, Mr. Ning once said that the ocean is vast.
, on the one hand, it connects various foreign countries, and shipping is profitable. On the other hand, the ocean is barbaric. Once you leave the shore, you can only rely on yourself for everything. In the face of various pirates and enemies, can the ship be strong?
, whether the artillery can shoot a few more inches is a real matter. Therefore, if we want to promote long-term technological progress, the ocean environment may be more critical than the land."
"Of course, this is... the thinking of the southwest side. Mr. Ning is far-sighted. In the past few years, he mentioned the benefits of opening up the sea several times in casual chats, mostly talking about long-term benefits. Now that Wen Huai is here, he can
The short-term benefits that come to mind are nothing more than maritime trade. It costs too much to maintain troops, but sea trade is very profitable. Moreover, if the ships are better and the cannons are better, you will be better off at sea. I don’t think this principle is always true.
It will change..."
After Zuo Wenhuai arrived in Fuzhou, there would be an interview with Junwu almost every other day. At this time, talking about the ocean was more like chatting. After he handed over the words, he no longer persisted. After all, this kind of general direction thing
It cannot be said in a few words. And regardless of whether we develop maritime research or not, the work of replicating artillery must be given top priority. This is something everyone understands.
After chatting like this for a while, the heavy rain gradually subsided, and Cheng Zhouhai saw him off from the palace. When Cheng Zhouhai returned to the imperial study, Jun Wu and Zhou Pei, brother and sister, were holding teacups and talking in low voices.
After bowing his head, Jun Wu waved his hand and asked him to sit down wherever he wanted.
"This man from Southwest is admonishing us." Zhou Peidao said, then looked at Cheng Zhouhai, "Do you think this is Southwest's idea, the Zuo family's idea...or his own idea?"
"Ning Yi's thoughts are very clear." Cheng Zhouhai smiled, "He can give us artillery, give us objects, and he can let us defeat other people. With his usual domineering attitude, he might also want to
Let us train him some researchers who have that kind of thinking. In the future, he will conquer the world and take it all into his pocket. Let us develop maritime technology. Maybe he will come over in the future and this technology will be his."
"What Wen Huai said makes sense." Jun Wu smiled while holding the teacup, "The thinking of studying objects is very important. When I built the Institute of Studying Things in Jiangning, I hired a large group of craftsmen and raised them every day, hoping that they would do the best work.
I ordered some good things, and when I got them, I didn’t hesitate to reward them. I even wanted to give them official titles... This is not wrong, but with this method, those craftsmen are just trying their luck after all, and they still have to let them go.
Their method of comparison, summary, and induction is the right way. When he said it, I just felt like a wake-up call. If I could have heard these words earlier, I would have saved myself a lot of detours."
He took a sip of tea, and the reason for his serious expression may be that he remembered the past events with Ning Yi in Jiangning. Unfortunately, he was too young at the time, and Ning Yi could not talk to him about these complicated things. At this time, he realized that several years
When a detour can be solved with just a few words, your mood will eventually become complicated.
Cheng Zhouhai said with a smile: "I originally wanted to say that Mr. Ning just threw the artillery technology over because he didn't want us to develop our own conspiracy to think about things. But if you think about it, there are actually some people who got the advantage and sold it out."
"The young people in the Zuo family have been taught well, so there is no need to embarrass him." Zhou Pei said, and then frowned, "However, when he mentioned shipping, it was not without purpose. I got the news yesterday that Wu Peiyuan shipped from Jiangnan West Road
The shipment that arrived was robbed on the way. I don’t know if it’s true or not yet. Several shipments from Guangzhou have to be postponed. From last year to now, many people who originally shouted to support our side have now begun to complain.
Both ends. Fujian originally has high mountains and long roads. They put some obstructions on the way and many things cannot be transported in. Without trade, there is no money. With the current commercial tax on sea trade, we can only survive until August."
"The last few times I've been out of the palace, I think everything looks pretty good and prosperous." Jun Wu murmured while drinking tea.
"You lifted the sea ban, distributed acres of land, encouraged mulberry farming, and encouraged commerce. Of course, the small people in Fuzhou lived well. But the original big families did not rely on doing small business in Fuzhou and buying some snacks and cakes.
They used to have people outside and connections in the army, so they took advantage of convenience to transport things out of Fuzhou and bring things in from outside Fuzhou. Now we have taken back most of the power here, and those who have lost power will run away.
Go to other places to do business. If the water is clear and there are no fish, can we still rely on those selling cooking cakes and farmers to transport things out?"
"You have done a lot of things this year, all with money." Zhou Pei clapped his fingers, "You have raised the two armies of Han and Yue outside, set up military preparation schools, let the generals come to study, and run newspapers
, expand the Institute of Geosciences, conduct population and land census, and build an ordnance workshop...This time when things from the southwest come, you have to expand the Institute of Geosciences. You have no money to expand, so you can only adjust slowly..."
In fact, this is not the first time that Zhou Pei has been nagging like this. Since the new imperial court in Fuzhou made its intention of "respecting the king and rejecting the barbarians" clear, a large number of Wu Dynasty nobles who originally stood on Jun Wu's side have slowly begun to take action.
Changes. Suggestions on the policy of "ruling the world together with the scholar-bureaucrats" have been put forward, and the senior ministers in the court are making all kinds of insinuations in the hope that Jun Wu can change his mind.
In the outside world, some old Confucian scholars who were originally loyal to the Wu Dynasty and wanted to support Fuzhou stopped their actions. Some of the teams transporting supplies were endangered on the way. No one directly opposed Junwu, but these people on the transportation road
The powerful forces only slightly relaxed their threat to the nearby mountain bandits and caravans. Fujian was originally a place with rugged mountain roads, which subsequently led to the continuous reduction of commercial and transportation capabilities.
People are waiting for Jun Wu to regret and look back. Jun Wu, Zhou Pei and others also understand that as long as he stops this tendency of centralizing power, the original loyal ministers of the Wu Dynasty will also make supportive actions one after another——
At least it's better than supporting Wu Qimei.
Junwu looked at the map on the wall of the study room. The territory he actually owned now was not large, ranging from Changxi (Xiapu) in the north to Quanzhou in the south. Many places to the south belonged to him in name, but in fact he was waiting and watching, wavering.
, the two sides maintained a superficial harmony, and sent some supplies from time to time. Junwu did not continue to use troops southward for the time being.
The power of the small court in Lin'an is now concentrated in the Yongjia (Wenzhou) area north of Changxi. A large number of fortifications have been built to block Junwu's northward advance, and coastal defenses have also been strengthened. This is the clearest line of conflict between the two sides. In theory, since Junwu is known as
Orthodoxy, it is impossible to stay in Fuzhou all day long. Sooner or later, we have to choose to fight in Yongjia, and then return north to Lin'an.
"Will we have money if we capture Yongjia?"
"It will be better outside the mountainous area, but further outside we will still be controlled by Wu Qimei, Tie Yan and others. Sooner or later we will defeat them."
"Destroy them, and the next step is to defeat the Fair Party." Jun Wu looked at the map, "He Wen is still unwilling to talk?"
There was silence in the study.
"...I recently talked with General Yue. Fuzhou has just taken root. There are not many artillery for the time being, but it doesn't matter. According to Han Yue, if we go all out, we can barely defeat Wu Tie's million-strong army, but once
If we move north and highlight the mountains in the southeast, we must be prepared to fight a series of major battles... If we can take Lin'an back, we may have some luck, but looking at the current momentum of the Fair Party, I'm afraid they won't stop for a while.
.”
When Jun Wu said this, Zhou Pei said: "You are already the emperor, and now everyone is watching what we do. If we keep hiding in the southeast and delay going north, I'm afraid people's hearts will change."
"Go north, defeat Lin'an, and then defeat He Wen. I will raise my arms and call the world back. I think so too. But no matter how I think about it, I always feel that the changes in the army, especially in this year, the Fair Party in Jiangnan, are different from the past.
Peasants' uprisings and religious riots are different. They use the method spread by Mr. Nannan Ning. But if the method can reach this level in one year, why doesn't Mr. Ning use it? I think such violent methods are not superhuman.
Whether it can be controlled or not depends on the right time, place and people. It cannot last long. Sooner or later, something will happen to it. I can't just hit it when it is burning the most."
"No emperor in history has ever been afraid of rebellion..."
"We only have a few cities, so we have forgotten the thousands of miles of territory we once had. Think of yourself as a little emperor in the southeast, and slowly expand your territory." Jun Wu smiled, and he looked up at the map without moving for a long time.
open.
"Sea trade..."
He whispered.
…
It is already summer in Fuzhou. The sea breeze comes and goes, there are a few more thunderstorms, and the scene in Fuzhou city changes enthusiastically.
After the little emperor showed his political tendency of respecting the king and repelling the barbarians, the large-scale commercial operations that were originally going to Fuzhou stopped a lot. However, after the original coastal port became the core of the political power, the increase in commercial scale washed away such signs.
Various reforms have won over the hearts of the people at the bottom and the scholars at the bottom, and coupled with the traffic of ships, the scene on the streets always makes people feel full of vitality.
In mid-May, about twenty days after the arrival of the Southwest China Army Group, some complicated atmosphere was gathering in the city.
It was a moonlit night at a restaurant called Gao Fulou in the east end of Fuzhou City. The waiters sent away the guests early, wiped the floor again, hung up lanterns, and decorated the environment.
Near Hai hour, a carriage stopped outside the building.
In the large private room at the top of Gaofu Building, a private party began to take shape.
The first person to arrive here was Gao Fulai, the owner of Gao Fulai and one of the most famous maritime merchants in Fuzhou. After Gao Fulai, there was another big businessman Shang Bingchun who owned a fleet.
The third person to arrive was a fat man with a white scarf on his head. This man's name was Pu Annan. His ancestors were foreigners who migrated from Arabia. After several generations of Han Chineseization, he has now become a wealthy man who occupies a place in Fuzhou.
The fourth person to arrive was a fat old Confucian scholar with half a head of white hair and calm and proud eyes. This was Tian Haoran, the head of the Tian family, a prominent family in Fuzhou.
After the four people sat down and exchanged a few words, the fifth person was led through the secret passage. This person was tall and well-proportioned, with dark and rough skin. At first glance, he looked like a man on a ship who often traveled to sea. He was the most powerful pirate on the southeast coast."
"Dragon King" Wang Yikui.
He silently pulled up the fifth chair at the round table and sat down.
"Drink tea."
Gao Fulai said.
Wang Yikui picked up the tea cup, sniffed it, drank it in one gulp, and put it down.
"Let's get down to business." Gao Fulai said, "Everyone has heard the recent news. A bunch of bastards from the Chinese Army came to chat with our new emperor about the wealth at sea. The court is short of money, so now it plans to develop sea-going ships.
, in the future, they will release the two fleets and make money with us. I heard that their ships will be equipped with iron cannons from the southwest... The emperor wants to focus on shipping, and next, our maritime business will prosper."
He said festive words, but his eyes were cold and his words were also cold.
The Wu Dynasty attached great importance to trade and did not ban the sea too much. When the Wu Dynasty still ruled the entire Central Plains, maritime trade in the southeast was developing well. However, occupying a vast land, the Wu Dynasty court had never officially intervened in maritime trade. As long as
After paying the tax, the scholar-bureaucrats did not get involved in the barbaric things of maritime merchants. They had the reserve of a gentleman who stayed away from the kitchen.
When the Wu Dynasty moved south to Lin'an, the southward shift of the economic center made it easier for Fuzhou and other places to receive various goods, further promoting the development of maritime trade. During this period, of course some wealthy families noticed this piece of fat and came to try to get a piece of the pie.
.But the sea is a barbaric place, and ordinary forces cannot unite and find it difficult to penetrate deeply. After that, they experienced more than ten years of fighting until the Jurchens went south again and the Wu Dynasty collapsed.
When Jun Wu, Zhou Pei and others came to the southeast to conquer Fuzhou, the maritime merchants here adopted a positive attitude and donated a lot of property as military expenses to support the little emperor's fight northward. On the one hand, of course
It is to leave a lasting impression. On the other hand, becoming a temporary political center will naturally attract more business transactions.
But now, the little emperor is preparing to study sea ships and sea trade...
"...shouldn't do this."
The fat Pu Anan put his hands on the table and spoke calmly.