Since Wang Yuan assisted the country, the system of the Ming Dynasty has been constantly changing.
As long as their own interests are not compromised, officials are accustomed to change and enjoy it.
Just this winter, Wang Yuan reformed the system of rest for officials.
New Year's Day (the first day of the first lunar month), Shangsi (the third day of the third lunar month), Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Winter Solstice are determined as legal holidays, and officials across the country can take one day off. On the first and fifteenth day of each month, officials across the country can take one day off. However, various departments
Someone must be left on duty, and vacations must be canceled in case of emergency business.
For Beijing officials, the first and fifteenth day of every month are the days when the emperor holds court meetings.
The Great Court Meeting is of a ceremonial nature and will not be held regularly if the emperor is lazy. At the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, the ministers were very tired, so the Great Court Meeting was a day for the monarch and his ministers to relax. The emperor would also give banquets to the ministers until the seventh year of Zhengtong.
Only then did the banquets given at the court meetings on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month be cancelled. Now Wang Yuan stipulates that the court meetings on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month will be held on time at nine o'clock in the morning. The officials do not have to get up in the middle of the night and can go and have fun after the court.
In addition, the old practice of having a ten-day holiday during the Lantern Festival has been retained, and the old practice of the Imperial College having two days off every month has also been retained.
Only Shujishi had five days off. This special treatment was canceled by Wang Yuan, and Shujishi enjoyed the same holidays as ordinary officials.
After Wang Yuan streamlined administration, laid off employees, and strengthened assessments, officials in various government offices in the capital were actually very busy at work. People cannot be mentally exhausted all the time. They must take regular holidays. Only by combining work and rest can the efficiency of work be improved.
There were three important festivals a year in the Ming Dynasty, namely New Year's Day, Winter Solstice and the Emperor's Birthday.
During these three days, the emperor would either give banquets to the officials or food to the officials. If he did not give anything, it meant there was a big problem and the celebrations would be canceled due to natural disasters.
Today is the winter solstice, and I will give food to all the ministers.
In previous years, they were given corn, peanuts, melon seeds and other items. This year, each person was given a half-sized turkey.
The turkey was raised in the chicken farm of the first minister Wang Yuan, sold to Honglu Temple, and then given to civil and military officials. It also came with two fertilized eggs, which you can take home to hatch chicks.
At this moment, there were several ministers outside Dong'an Gate, pointing at the turkeys in each other's servants' hands and chatting.
"This exotic bird from Yinzhou is even fatter than a native chicken from China."
"It's really fat, but I don't know why it's called a turkey."
"The reason for the king's name is unknown."
"I plan to take it home and raise it for viewing and painting."
"It's best to watch, the meat doesn't taste good."
"Brother Anping, have you ever eaten turkey?"
“I’ve tried it before, and the chicken legs and wings are pretty good. The meat in other places is old and poor.”
"..."
In recent years, there have been more and more new things, and turkey is just one of them.
Nowadays, in the homes of wealthy officials and nobles, every family has a self-ringing clock, and there are also servants who specialize in serving the clock. They usually wipe the dust and occasionally lubricate the clock.
There are more and more officials wearing glasses. Older Confucian scholars wear reading glasses, and young scholars wear myopia glasses. They are all monocles, which are hung on the chest when not in use and placed on the bridge of the nose when in use. The lenses are made of glass.
There are some with crystal, some with tortoise shell frames, some with jade, some with gold, silver and copper. Some people already call glasses the "fifth treasure of the study".
Copernicus was accompanied by an interpreter. He saw the officials holding turkeys and asked, "Why do Chinese officials each have a chicken?"
The translator smiled and said: "Today is the winter solstice, and the emperor rewards the ministers. This kind of turkey comes from Yinzhou and is not easy to see at ordinary times, so the emperor rewarded each of the ministers with one."
"Winter Solstice?" Copernicus didn't understand it because the translator didn't know how to translate it, so he directly used the Chinese syllable of "Winter Solstice".
The translator explained: "After this year, things will start to pick up."
Copernicus instantly understood that today was the return of the sun and the origin of Christmas in the West.
Many peoples in the Western world regard the winter solstice as the birthday of the sun god. The sun gods of Rome, Syria, and Persia were all born on the winter solstice. The birthday of the Roman sun god was fixed on December 25 due to the old age and inaccurate calendar.
This day is called the "Festival of the Sun God".
In the past, Jesus did not have an exact birthday. Countries celebrated Jesus' birthday indiscriminately, in the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. It was not until 354 AD that the Bishop of Rome named the "Feast of the Roman Sun God" and arranged Jesus' birthday on this day, "Christmas".
” This emerged.
During the Republic of China, the Chinese called Christmas the "Winter Solstice in the Western Calendar", which was actually a mistake.
Copernicus continued to wander around the city and saw several groups of traveling scholars one after another. He asked curiously: "Why do all the young scholars in China carry a sword?"
The translator laughed and said: "Nowadays, we are advocating restoration, and young scholars admire everything about the prosperous Tang Dynasty. It is the habit of scholars in the prosperous Tang Dynasty to leave the country with a long sword, say goodbye to relatives, and travel to distant places (to go to the country with a sword, to say farewell to relatives and travel far away). This is especially true for scholars in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
In the south of the Yangtze River, merchants are booming now, and the heirs of merchants are rich in wealth. In their weak years, they must study with swords. The sword is a symbol of a gentleman, and a gentleman is a philosopher with noble moral character. At the same time, the sword can also guard against evildoers and can defend oneself when encountering robbers.
"
"It turns out that Europe is also experiencing a Renaissance." Copernicus nodded.
The translator's name was Zhang Huang, who came from a Guangzhou maritime merchant family and was currently studying at the Beijing Institute of Physics. Wang Yuan heard that Copernicus had come to China. Although he did not meet him immediately, he still arranged for an accompanying translator.
Copernicus looked at those Ming scholars who were traveling and studying with swords, and couldn't help but feel envious. They were born in a great era of a great country.
As for Europe, it’s too dark!
In fact, many of these scholars who went to the country with swords and left their relatives to travel far away were just looking for excuses to travel around. They were born with no worries about food and clothing, and they had no confidence in the imperial examinations. They simply followed the legacy of the Tang Dynasty and carried a broken sword.
They have fun everywhere. The best among them can also write travel notes and poems and send them to newspapers to earn fame and royalties.
Nowadays, a kind of travel literature has emerged, focusing on nostalgia for famous mountains and rivers, and frontier fortresses. Some people even go to the Western Regions to find out ancient place names such as Loulan, Luntai, Cheshi, and Jiaohe.
This summer, a traveling scholar rose to fame.
This man's name is Chen Zongru. His father was a pirate who later became a sea merchant. Chen Zongru studied under famous teachers when he was young, and followed his father to Nanyang and India. After becoming a scholar, he did not want to take the imperial examination again. He first went to Beijing to study physics, and actually learned
My head hurt, so I simply invited my friends to go to Hetao, and he was responsible for all the expenses of the accompanying scholars.
These guys even left the Yinshan Mountains in the north, rode horses to Mobei, and circled around the territory of the Oara Mongols. Then they went to Jining (Ulanbucha), and rode eastward all the way to the Tatar-Mongol royal court.
He was warmly received by Mongolian Bodi Khan and finally returned by boat from Liaodong.
Along the way, Chen Zongru wrote hundreds of poems, which were published in the Yanjing Xunbao and reprinted by several other newspapers, quickly causing a sensation in the northern literary world.
This guy writes all frontier fortress poems, and his style imitates Wang Changling, Wang Han, Cen Shen and others. He is known as "the number one contemporary frontier fortress poet".
Zhang Huang talked about Chen Zongru's poems, but unfortunately the translation was too poor. He said awkwardly: "Mr. Copernicus, Chinese poetry is difficult to translate. You need to learn Chinese characters yourself to appreciate the style."
Copernicus said: "I will work hard to learn Chinese." Just as he was saying this, Copernicus suddenly widened his eyes and pointed to the street ahead, "What is that?"
Zhang Huang was also a little confused. He saw Wang Su, the prince-in-law of the court, riding a strange car with the princess behind him. The princess tightly grabbed the prince-in-law's clothes and screamed in panic from time to time. All passers-by looked at them.
go.
Zhang Huang explained: "This is the son of the chief minister and the princess. They are husband and wife. This car is very strange. It may be some new machine. The son of the chief minister is also a profound scholar."
Just a bicycle.
Moreover, it is a bicycle without a chain. The front wheel is small, the rear wheel is small, and the pedals are fixed on the front wheel axle. It is very laborious to pedal.
Wang Yuan said to his son: "If you want to save effort on your bicycle, you have to add a chain and achieve it through the leverage effect."
Before the chain was finished, Wang Su took the princess and went out for a ride on his bicycle.
The young scholars who were traveling far away with their swords were very excited when they saw the bicycle. They stopped Wang Su with clasped fists and saluted, and then invited the consort and the princess to have a drink and chat.
After Wang Yuan's reform, the clans of the Ming Dynasty had greater freedom. Although princes and clans at the county and king level were severely suppressed by Qingtian, princesses and middle- and lower-level clans could have fun as they pleased.
Moreover, the salary of the clan members can be withdrawn directly from the local government, and they no longer need to be exploited by higher-level clans. This is equivalent to depriving the princes and princes of their financial rights.
Most of the clan supported Wang Yuan's reforms, and their lives were much better than before.
The traveling scholars surrounded the prince consort and the princess, all of them in high spirits and full of endless vitality. This Ming Dynasty is no longer a stagnant pool of water, and is rushing towards the enlightened and open road.
Looking back on the past, at least in terms of culture and thought, no one is willing to go back to the past.
Copernicus returned to the inn, took out his quill and wrote to his best friend Philippe Buolaxi: "Dear Philippe, long time no see. I have been in Beijing, the capital of China, for five days. Tomorrow, I will go to see "Travel to the East"
Mr. Camilo, the author of "The Diary"...Everything I saw in China shocked and moved me. The people here, from nobles, officials, scholars to low-level citizens, all have a high-spirited spirit. This is true in China.
It cannot be seen in any European country..."
"China is not bound by any religion. The people here can do whatever they like within the scope of the law. Through the scholar who translated for me, Mr. Zhang Huang, I can probably understand that China was also
Their academic school, Confucianism, gradually developed into Confucianism. Scholars named Cheng and Zhu gained the right to interpret Confucian scriptures and banned the thoughts of other scholars. However, Chinese Prime Minister Wang Yuan and his
The teacher Wang Yangming gradually broke this shackles. Another scholar Zhang Cong carried out the Renaissance movement in China. The sculptures of Confucian leader and philosopher Wang Confucius were demolished nationwide by this Zhang Cong scholar. As a result, China's
Scholars no longer worship Confucius’ idols, but only worship Confucius’ thoughts.”
"China also has humanism, or it has always been humanism. The core ideas of scholars here are benevolence and righteousness. I forgive my inability to explain these two Chinese words very accurately..."
"I also came into contact with Chinese doctors. China has real medical skills and they have a clear understanding of the human skeleton. I saw with my own eyes that a Chinese man had his arm broken, and the doctor used his clothes to set the patient's bones. But it is strange that the Chinese doctors
They don't pay attention to anatomy, and they have nothing to do with Galen's theory. Next, while studying Chinese astronomy, I will also study Chinese medicine. Perhaps, I can combine Chinese medicine with European medicine..."
Copernicus was not an astronomer, he was a priest first and a doctor second.
Today's mainstream medical ideas in Europe come from the ancient Roman physician Galen.
Because the human body cannot be dissected, Galen's anatomy was derived from the dissection of monkeys and pigs. Galen believed that the heart generates internal heat, the liver can make blood, food nutrients flow into the liver through the veins, and are converted into venous blood to nourish the whole body. The lungs can breathe heaven and earth.
Yuan Qi flows into the pulmonary artery, meets and mixes with venous blood to produce arterial blood and human body aura. The aura flows to the brain through the arterial system, and then spreads to the whole body through nerves and arteries.
The terrifying bloodletting therapy in Europe was spread in the hands of Galen. His theory is that blood is not circulated, but produced and used by the human body. Whether the body fluids are balanced determines health or disease. If you are sick, it is an imbalance of body fluids.
, the excess blood needs to be drained. Then healthy blood is re-created through the body's self-healing system to achieve body fluid balance. The more serious the illness, the more blood must be drained.
In another time and space, about 150 years later, King Charles II of England underwent a brutal bloodletting therapy using Western medicine.
The king's blood vessels were cut open and 700 ml of blood was drained. He then took emetics and had an enema made of cinnamon, fennel, beetroot and salt. The enema was given every two hours for five days. Finally, he was shaved.
He shaved off the king's hair, ironed his scalp with iron, and squeezed out the blood blisters. He then used pigeon dung to smear the soles of the king's feet, stuffed sneezing powder into his nostrils, and covered his body with hot plaster. He also ground the human skull into powder.
Mixed with laxatives for the king to drink.
Charles II, who was tenacious in his life, endured the full set of treatments according to Galen's medical theory. He expressed his gratitude in his last words: I am very sorry that I have troubled you for so long. Thank you for your hard work.
Copernicus, who proposed the heliocentric theory, was a master of bloodletting and a well-known Polish miracle doctor in Europe. Patients all said that Copernicus had superior medical skills.