"My Fujian iron casting industry is extremely developed, but it is also shackled." Kong He pointed to the blast furnace on the side, and the endless Jiufeng Mountain on the side: "The iron-making time is getting longer, the trees are cut cleanly, and the prince looks at these peaks, they all seem to be shaved and not yet wearing hats, bare!" ”

Although the distance is still far away, Xu Zixian can also see the place that Kong He is pointing to, indeed as Kong He said, those endless mountains have changed from green mountains to bald mountains, and there are almost no trees taller than one person as far as the eye can see, and the decent trees have been cut down, and the entire mountain, one after another, is empty.

Because of the climate, the grass and trees are easy to grow, so there are still small trees and shrubs about half a person tall on the mountain, and there are also wild grasses that have not withered yellow, and it looks like the green mountains and clear waters, but the damage to the environment caused by these ironworks in front of you is also quite obvious.

"There is still sour water, and the air is dirty, so it goes without saying." Li Yi said: "But the people can't afford to have an opinion on the iron field, it's very simple, working as a miner in the iron field, the income is quite good, at least more than 100 wen a day, even if the smell is unpleasant, the water is difficult to drink, what is the big deal?" However, the mountains are hollowed out, and there is no wood to burn charcoal to make iron, and there is no wood to build ships, which is the biggest obstacle to my Fujian. ”

Xu Zi first glanced at Fu Qian, who came out, and said, "Brother Mu, what do you think?"

Fu Qianshi didn't rush to speak, he had become quite calm after being in the Hou Mansion for such a while. Xu Zixian's trust in him, Li Yi and others' tolerance, as well as not worrying about food and clothing, and no longer worrying about family plans, all made him more calm and easier to gain his knowledge.

After thinking about it for a while, he said: "In recent years, most of the iron yards have bought wood from Liangzhejiang Road and Guangnan East Road, as well as Jinghu South Road. Although the roads are open, the transportation of vehicles and horses is not suitable, and in terms of building tracks, the national strength is simply not able to do it now. It is also difficult for each family to work together for self-cultivation by merchants, and this is a huge amount of money, although the iron farm owner has money, it is not easy to raise such a huge amount of money. The plan for today is to delay, when it is not easy to even buy wood, it is estimated that the time has come for the extreme change. From the side of the imperial court, if you can't collect the iron tax, from the two central governments and the three divisions, to the local prefectures and counties, you don't want to make trouble, and it is better to have more than one thing. It will also be delayed to the point that it cannot be delayed before it will be resolved. If you don't take the overall situation, you can't do it. And judging from the many governance actions of the two governments, three divisions, temples and princes, hehe......"

Xu Zixian praised: "Muzhi is a bit old and seeking the country, and it is beneficial." ”

Fu Qian's face was slightly red, and he arched his hand and said: "The foolishness of a gain has been ordered by the prince of the world recently, and he has paid some attention to miscellaneous studies and practice, but it is just a scholar's opinion." ”

"It doesn't matter if you're a scholar or a martial artist." Xu Zixian said: "If you want to do something important, how to do it." It makes a big difference whether you plan and then act, or wait for the pressure to come up. If governing the country is like chess, take one step and watch three steps, it is best to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall, which is done by a fool. I think that there are some fools of this generation in the rulers of today. ”

Everyone agreed, and the martial artists didn't understand, but when they saw a group of smart people, they all respected, and they all came out with a convincing look on their faces.

Xu Zixian said to Qin Dongyang again: "I only recently discovered that during the Taizu period, there were artillery and firecrackers, and Taizu said that there was no disadvantage to the enemy with artillery and firearms. Today, there are only bed crossbows, divine arm bows, hard bows, horn bows, and of course throwing guns, but they have never seen the use of firearms. ”

"It seems that the prince has been reading the martial arts chronicles written by Taizu Nian recently." Qin Dongyang smiled slightly and said: "Taizu praised firearms, but he dominated the world, relying on fists and feet and spears, and later went to the east and west, and did not use artillery, it may be that Taizu himself felt that he overestimated firearms." During the period of Wuzong, someone proposed to delete the chapter on firearms in the Wubei Zhi, but Wuzong did not allow it, saying that the ancestors were determined by a hundred battles, even if there were small flaws, it was still not enough to hide the greatness of Taizu's success in a hundred battles, so the chapter on firearms still remained, but everyone in the world knew that it was just a good look, and firearms were useless. ”

"Why do you say it's useless?" Xu Zixian said: "When I was young, I once fired firearms, and I felt like the sky was falling apart. ”

"The sound is the sound," Qin Dongyang said: "You can't go far, you can't break the armor, and the same is true for the cannon, but the gun in your hand?" ”

"Do any of the Semu nations use firearms?"

"It doesn't seem that there are any of the countries of the Celestial Empire, followed by the Oriental and Southern Seas Kingdoms, as well as the Wa Kingdom, Korea, the Champong Kingdom and other countries, all of which have no firearms."

"That's right." Qin Dongyang continued: "It seems that there are firearms used by the Hongyi Kingdom, but they are not sophisticated, and they also use bows and arrows, knives, spears, and firearms just to make a strong appearance." ”

Xu Zixian nodded silently...... Of course, he had the idea of a musket for a while.

The traveler must understand firearms, after all, in an era dominated by cold weapons, firearms should be powerful weapons of mass destruction.

But after understanding it, I realized that more than 300 years ago, Taizu of Great Wei proposed to replace crossbows and bows and arrows with firearms, but the result was still a failure.

The main reason is that the gunpowder is not up to par, and the casting manufacturing process is also very rough.

Xu Zi first looked at a few muskets in the library, the barrel was too short, the casting was too rough, the gunpowder power was also small, and the range of twenty steps could not break the armor, this thing was far worse than a bow and arrow, not to mention compared to a strong crossbow like the Divine Arm Bow.

In the Great Wei army, there were ten sword cards, twenty long or spearmen, twenty crossbowmen, and fifty archers.

Sometimes the number of archers could reach sixty, that is, heavy infantry lined up in front, and strong crossbows and hard bows behind them, covering the nomadic cavalry from a distance.

In this kind of warfare, there are few defeats in the head-on battle of the Great Wei, but the enemy cavalry can use high mobility to roam, harass back and forth, and cut off the grain route.

Therefore, on the battlefield on the front line of Hebei, it is not difficult for the Wei army to win, and it is quite difficult to annihilate the enemy cavalry.

Since the rise of Donghu, the Wei army has suffered many heavy defeats and suffered many losses, mainly due to the lack of strong cavalry.

The performance of the musket, suddenly taken out, without a fundamental technological breakthrough, will not be more eye-catching than a strong crossbow and a hard bow, and the strategic passivity caused by the lack of strong cavalry cannot be solved with a musket.

As soon as he thought of this, Xu Zixian was most less inclined to equip artillery and muskets now.

Of course, he still won't give up completely, and Xu Zixian is not easy to grasp the timeline of the Great Wei, but from the perspective of the use of firearms, it seems to be the situation in the fifteenth century, that is, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

Gunpowder and casting process are not up to par, slowly improved, to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty after a long time there is no obvious change, to the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the technology of casting cannons and guns began to advance by leaps and bounds, the cannon is cast bigger and bigger, the power of the musket gradually overshadows the bow and arrow, become the mainstream of the army's weapons and equipment.

Artillery and muskets can be handed over to Fu Qian and studied slowly, without worry, let alone expecting to become a secret weapon to break the enemy.

Although he was slightly disappointed with this result, Xu Zixian was not seriously hit.

With the current status, connections, manpower, and financial resources of the Hou Mansion, even if Fu Qian produces a qualified musket tomorrow, it is just a treasure for others, with Xu Zixian's current strength, he can't keep it at all, let alone train an army dominated by musketeers, which is a fool's dream.

Talk all the way to talk, but soon to Gukou Town, here is very close to Jiulong Mountain, belongs to the military state artery, the wide official road passes through the town, forming a cross street, the endless stream of business travelers pass through from here, most of them are going to Zhejiang and Jianzhou, there are also merchants from Zhejiang and Jinghu, come from outside.

Unlike the multi-colored merchants and Zhangzhou merchants in Nan'anze Town, they are less than a hundred miles apart, and the origins and whereabouts of the merchants who come and go are very different.

Wu Shizhong is a very famous big man in Gukou Town, the official road in the town is longitudinal and horizontal, and the business travel is non-stop, so it is more noisy and noisy, his home is located in the north of the town, Xu Zixian and his party entered the town, many people know that it must be a noble person who came to visit Wu Shizhong, when Xu Zi asked for directions first, many children rushed to lead the way, but it caused Xu Zi to smile first.

"Shizi, one last time." I saw a village from afar, surrounded by bamboo, and the road into the village was quite winding and deep, and everyone knew that Wu Shizhong's residence had arrived. Li Yi finally reminded: "Please be prepared to be looked down upon by the prince." ”

"If you can look at me, it's a face." Xu Zixian smiled and said, "I know that an old marquis came to visit Dr. Wu on a whim, but he didn't even meet him. It would be nice to see me! ”

"The son of the world is wise." Li Yi didn't say more, in fact, he was a serious scholar, and he still had a lot of respect for a doctor like Wu Shizhong, who was familiar with ancient and modern times.

For Xu Zixian himself, it really doesn't matter.

The so-called great master of Confucianism is nothing more than that. From the first saint Confucius to Mencius, Yan Hui, Zeng Shen, Xunzi, and then to those doctors at the turn of the Qin and Han dynasties, one by one, from Confucius's Zhou to the ancient, even those true Confucians who are pedantic and heavenly beings for two thousand years are just going around in the old range.

Give an ant a basket, no matter how big and wise some ants are, they are actually still spinning around in the basket.

And Wu Shizhong is not even a big ant, he is a medium-sized ant, he is familiar with ancient books and classics, and his exquisite skills are outstanding, but he has not created his own doctrine and created a school, and he has never been regarded as a real great achievement.

Of course, Xu Zi couldn't say that he was killed first, and not only offended Wu Shizhong, but even those Confucian scholars and officials had to offend a large number of them.

Famous Confucians like Wu Shizhong are medium-sized ants, so what are they?

Walking through the bamboo forest, more than a dozen people dismounted early and led the horses, and the children who led the way in front of a house stopped, pointed to the house, and said, "This is it." ”

Li Yi stepped forward to develop the reward, and the children happily took the money to buy candy, and Xu Zixian personally knocked on the door.

This courtyard is inconspicuous, the courtyard wall is rammed earth, there is no gatehouse in the front yard, the sedan hall, into the courtyard is the main house plus the partial compartment, from the partial door and then enter, it is a large bamboo forest, there is a house located in the bamboo forest between the shades.

"It is better to eat without meat than to live without bamboo." In front of the courtyard gate, there is a pair of couplets written by Wu Shizhong himself, Xu Zixian read it with great interest, and praised: "It's really elegant." ”

Li Yi and the others already looked pale, and even a little nervous, in front of the Confucian Gate, these scholars were like elementary school students who went to school, and the nervousness was quite obvious.

But the generals didn't care, they stood far away and scattered, waiting for the result.

Xu Zixian asked people to send the worship post in, and an old servant in Wu Mansion who was over sixty years old, with white eyebrows and bowed waist, came over to pick it up, took a look, and said: "It turned out to be the prince of the Hou Mansion, and my master is unhappy, so he may not meet." ”

At this time, a group of little tricks ran over in the yard, and when they saw a group of people on horseback at the door, they seemed to be surprised, and they were playing into the distance.

These children, the eldest of whom was only seven or eight years old, and the youngest of three or four years old, were hobbling, yellow-skinned, and thin, and appeared to be in a state of chronic malnutrition.

Xu Zi stopped the old servant first and said, "These are Dr. Wu's children?" ”

"Yes, there are four, the youngest is a girl." The old servant said: "The child's mother suffered a crime in childbirth and passed away two months ago, leaving these little guys without their mother to take care of them, and they are very miserable." ”

"Dr. Wu is a well-known person in China, it's not difficult to continue the string, right?"

"Hey!" The old servant smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "Our lord's temper! ”

Wu Shizhong Qinggao is almost a little weird, the yard is good, it should be repaired when he was an official, he has been dismissed for a long time, his savings have been used up, the courtyard is in tatters, he does not seek land and money, he is poor, and he lives a hard life with the title of a celebrity, normal people, how can they push the girl into this fire pit? Besides, Wu Shizhong has four children, all of whom are young, if he has money to pay back, he is poor, and he raises a few more children, Wu Shizhong, a widower, seems to be decided.

Xu Zixian waited outside for a long time, and the old servant finally came out and invited everyone into the backyard Zhuxuan to meet.

"After all, the prince still has Dr. Wu's blue eyes." Li Yi said in a low voice: "How many nobles have come back from the wall outside the gate of this courtyard, and they have been so embarrassed. ”

"Yes." Xu Zixian smiled and said, "Originally, I also thought about not being allowed to enter this time, but fortunately, Dr. Wu gave face." ”

Everyone walked together, there are not many houses in this courtyard, the place is quite large, but the open space is not cleaned, dirty, and there is some killing scenery.

In front of the bamboo pavilion in the backyard, Wu Shizhong, who was dressed in a green robe without any ornaments, and did not wear a headscarf or hood, was holding a book and waiting to meet in front of the door.

It is similar to the imaginary image, medium height, thin face, and obvious aggression in the eyes, which is the usual image of a learned and tall scholar with a not very good temper.

"It turns out that the respected driver is the prince of Nan'an, who is the back of the article." Wu Shizhong nodded, there was a trace of curiosity in his eyes, more precautionary, he said, "I don't know what you are doing here?" ”

"I won't talk to Dr. Wu much." Xu Zixian said: "I want to invite Dr. Wu to be a guest of my Hou Mansion, and with Dr. Wu entering my Hou Mansion, I will definitely strengthen the reputation of my Hou Mansion, and I think it will be a great help." ”

Wu Shizhong laughed when he heard this, and said: "The prince of the world is also calm, not like other nobles to talk like that, what admiration for knowledge, asking for advice day and night, frank and interesting." ”

Xu Zixian said quietly: "The way of learning is as vast as the sea, my generation is a layman, how can I have time to learn any real knowledge?" What is aspiring is to protect the local people and glorify the ancestors, that is, the laity. ”

"If I want to be an official, there are many places where I can be an official." Wu Shizhong said with a cold face: "It is not easy to get a high-ranking official, and an official position like a seven-grade guest is easy to obtain." However, if I am rich and rich, I don't want to be an official since I was a teacher, I only want to read and write at home. ”

This is the expected result, Xu Zixian said with a sincere face: "The guests of the Hou Mansion are just sacrificed to the Jingshi every three years, and it is more difficult to go back and forth, but it takes two months. The rest of the time will not bother Mr., Mr. can read and write books as usual, the Hou Mansion also has a lot of books, for Mr. to read, if you are interested, there are young and talented people, Mr. can take the time to teach, reading and cultivating talents, is the favorite thing of readers, I don't know what Mr. thinks? ”

"No need, I have my own books to read." Wu Shizhong said quite coldly: "Wu Zhong, send off the guests." ”

Wu Zhong is the old servant, and when the master speaks, he rushes over to see off the guests.

Xu Zixian was polite and did not entangle, and bowed goodbye to Wu Shizhong.

Li Yi and the others were dressed in neat official robes, but Wu Shizhong didn't even give them a chance to talk.

After leaving the bamboo garden respectfully, Li Yi exhaled and said, "Dr. Wu seems to have a bad temperament, and it hasn't been a day since this happened, I don't know why?" ”

Xu Zixian smiled slightly, knowing that Wu Shizhong's knowledge was at a more critical point.

This person follows the line of science, and believes that all things in heaven and earth are operated by reason, reason determines the occurrence and development of all things, everything has laws in everything, heaven and earth are profound, and the good and evil of people are determined by reason, and there is only one reason word between heaven and earth to operate everything, and everything is attributed to the ultimate reason.

And the profundity of people's good and evil and insight is the yin and yang under the reason, only the evil qi, reading and reasoning, learning from things, making things to the extreme, and exhaustively studying the truth of heaven and earth, then Huo Ran is unimpeded and realizes the truth of heaven.

The way is to read books, talk about ancient and modern figures, learn from the past and present, and seek the truth in all things in the universe, that is, the way of perfection.

Xu Zixian has a general understanding of this set of theories, but he is not very interested, and there is no way to help Wu Shizhong solve the problem.

Chinese philosophers have great deficiencies in logic and dialectics.

Or they are too procrastinated and indulged in sexuality, good and evil, and at most they are inducted into the rulers of the world, and there is no systematic discussion of actual politics, system, and science.

In the case of Wu Shizhong, Xu Zixian felt that he should be Cheng Yi's lineage, and in the end, it was Wang Yangming's heart lineage.

The study of mind was evident in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, but what is the benefit of things?

Things are not good and evil, the universe is yin and yang, and philosophy without the support of mathematics and logic is nothing more than a dojo in a screw shell, and the pattern is too small. Moreover, judging from Wu Shizhong's writings, he still has not stepped out of the shackles of Cheng Yi and failed to flourish, but there is an obvious shadow of mind in his writings, and he is still struggling with whether to be a prophet and a follower, or a prophet to know later. Whether it is the development of action, or the result of knowledge, Wu Shizhong has not yet decided.

Xu Zixian does not plan to interfere in this matter for the time being, if the study of mind is launched, Wu Shizhong himself will have the reputation of being a sage in the world, just like Wang Yangming, he will be called a saint when he is alive.

At this time, Wu Shizhong was not a person from Nan'anhou Mansion, Xu Zixian's power was not strong, and Wu Shizhong's reputation was too loud, which was not a good thing for Nan'anhou Mansion.

Since we can't start from the academic level, we can only find another way.

Out of the bamboo garden, Xu Zi first called the old servant Wu Zhong over and asked about the family situation of the Wu Mansion.

"The prince also saw it." Wu Zhong said: "There are only me and the master in the family, and there are four small tricks, the food and clothing are all sitting and eating the mountain, the original is not in debt, the officials brought out of Beijing are saved, and there are a few acres of thin fields to live, the lord is exempt from the military service and the acres of land are taxed, the housewife is seriously ill, and the savings are all gone, and now they still owe more than 300 yuan of money, pharmacies, doctors, and clothing shops, taverns, restaurants, rice and flour stores, and so on, each family ranges from dozens to ten. Now, if I want to make good wine for the old man, I can't do it. ”

Wu Zhong said a few words, and then said to Xu Zixian: "The prince doesn't have to keep the money, I have to run back to pay it back." In the past six months, there have been many people who have sent money, but they have all been rejected by my lord or returned. The lord said, courtesy to others, there must be something to ask. If you use your money well, you have to do things for others. ”

"It's not a way to sit and eat empty."

"Isn't it?" Wu Zhong shook his head and sighed: "I just said that there must be an official to do, so that a few little tricks will not be punished." Although the lord disagreed, it meant that there were some activities. If the son of the world can invite him, I will be grateful. ”

Xu Zixian said with a smile: "I have a way, but I have to do it in a few days to save some face for Dr. Wu." In addition, you need your help, and if you help with this, the matter will almost be done. ”

Wu Zhong said solemnly: "As long as the old man can be called out of the mountain, the young ladies will no longer be offended, and even if the old servant and I are expelled from the house, it is very cost-effective." ”

"That's fine." Xu Zixian said: "We'll talk about it in a few days." ”

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I'm delayed today, so I'm sorry for sending a big chapter.