Kangxi's southern tour had three purposes, one was to inspect the renovation of the official road from Beijing to Jiangnan, the other was to inspect the reinforcement of river embankments, and the other was to see the Gewuyuan established in Jiangnan and the competition between foreigners and Jiangnan scholars in the ideological field.

Since the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi, under the guidance of Fu Suni, the minions of the Nine Elder Brothers have fired cement, and Kangxi has ordered all parts of the country where limestone can be mined to vigorously burn cement for the transformation of official roads and the reinforcement of embankments.

Now, four years have passed, and all localities have reported the results of the renovation of official roads and the reinforcement of embankments, and Kangxi wants to test it.

Therefore, this southern tour itinerary took into account both land and water.

The official road of Zhili is still very well repaired because it is under Kangxi's nose, the road surface is wide, and the thickness of the cement road is about 6-7 cm, which meets the specified requirements.

Along the way, the bumps of the carriage have also been greatly reduced, and the speed has been greatly improved, Kangxi is very satisfied.

"Lao Jiu, the cement you got is really good, at this speed, from the capital to Jiangnan, you can save half the time."

Wenda, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, replied: "Back to the emperor, the servants actually measured it, and the speed of the cement road has increased by more than sixty percent and nearly seventy percent compared with the previous official road. ”

Kangxi laughed loudly: "Okay, very good!" At the beginning, I wanted to crown Lao Jiu as Baylor, and many people objected, saying that no military merit could not be knighted. Now look at the cement road that Lao Jiu made, so that the marching speed of the army and the speed of grain and grass transportation have been greatly improved, isn't this credit enough to give a Baylor Jue? ”

Wen Da immediately said: "According to the slave, the ninth master's credit, not to mention Lord Baylor, is also the king of the county." ”

Wenda, as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, naturally wants to improve the value of the Ministry of Industry, and the higher the recognition of Brother Jiu because of cement, the higher the value of their Ministry of Industry will naturally rise.

Brother Jiu smiled: "Lord Wen, Master is still young, and he still needs more experience." Lord Baylor was ashamed, but Lord County didn't dare to think about it. ”

Now among the brothers, the county prince is also the eldest brother and the third brother, if he is now named the county king, it will really become the target of public criticism.

The prince looked at Brother Jiu, and a trace of coldness flashed in his eyes from time to time.

On February 22, Kangxi summoned Mei Wending, a scholar of historical arithmetic.

Mei Wending is the first master of the Qing Dynasty calendar, proficient in the essence of Chinese and Western arithmetic, and is praised by the world science and technology history circles as the "three world science giants" with Newton, Guan Xiaohe, which shows the depth of his knowledge.

At this time, Mei Wending's beard and hair were all white, but his body bones looked very tough, his eyes were bright, and his expression did not show the slightest old age.

Kangxi greeted with a smile: "Mr. Mei has a high birthday this year?" ”

Mei Wending said with a smile: "The grass people are seventy years old this year. ”

"Ouch, the old gentleman doesn't look like a person in his seventies, I don't know what kind of way to cultivate his body?"

Mei Wending said with a smile: "When the grass people were young, they were also meatless and unhappy, and they sat quietly every day to study arithmetic, and their health was not very good at a young age. Later, the doctor in the city instructed him to eat more vegetarian and less meat, exercise more, and then maintain an active mind, and there was no other special way to maintain self-cultivation. ”

Kangxi sighed: "The old gentleman can still arrange the time for activities and exercises freely, but I am busy with government affairs, and I often sit for half a day, so what can I do?" ”

As for the lack of meat, the imperial doctor has also mentioned it many times, but Kangxi can't insist, as the king of a country, if he can't even satisfy a little appetite, then what's the fun of living?

Mei Wending bowed slightly: "The emperor has every opportunity, and it is indeed hard work for the people of the country and the world." ”

Mei Wending was very repulsive to the Manchus, who were slaughtered by the Manchus after entering the customs, even his elders were also slaughtered by the Manchus.

Because of this, the imperial court repeatedly recruited Mei Wending to become an official in the court, but he rejected it.

However, in recent years, Mei Wending has made some changes to the Manchu court.

First of all, the compilation of Kangxi's dictionary, judging from what he has learned, is of great help to the inheritance of civilization in the future.

Secondly, the invention of cement, the transformation of official roads across the country, and the consolidation of river embankments, Mei Wending also saw the value of them, both of which are beneficial to people's livelihood.

Again, the invention and promotion of wool thread not only enriched the people's clothing and improved the quality of life of the people, but also curbed the development of Mongolia.

These items made Mei Wending see that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was still helpful to the country and the people of the country, and it was not like the original Yuan Dynasty, which exploited the Han people without a bottom line.

Moreover, Mei Wending felt that in recent years, the imperial court has reduced its suppression and defense against the Han people, and its control over writing and thinking has also been relaxed. In recent years, there have been a few more Han women among the wives of the children of the clan, and there are also a few people in the clan who are married to Han men as wives.

Such a change made Mei Wending feel that the "Manchu and Han families" that Kangxi had been talking about seemed to have a little possibility.

Therefore, this time Kangxi summoned him here, he also wanted to observe carefully and see what kind of thoughts this Manchu emperor had in his bones.

After some contact, Mei Wending's impression of Kangxi is not bad, that is, the prince feels a little gloomy and arrogant, and he does not have the temperament of a master.

Brother Jiu said at this time: "Mr. Mei can be said to be a pedantic man in arithmetic and calendar, and now the imperial court also attaches great importance to arithmetic and Gewuxue, why not go to the Gewu Academy in the capital to teach and educate people?" ”

Mei Wending was very fond of Brother Jiu, who proposed phonetic transcription and sentence reading, invented cement, and invented wool thread, and he smiled gently: "Jiubeile, the grass people are already seventy-three, and one foot is in the coffin, so the matter of teaching and educating people should be left to their young people." ”

Brother Jiu said: "Mr. Mei has a strong body and bones, and it is no problem to live for another twenty or thirty years, if your knowledge can be passed on to more people, it will be the blessing of the Qing Dynasty and the luck of the people." ”

The thirteenth elder brother also said: "The hibiscus drunk there is very effective in nourishing the body, and the holy blood rice nourishes qi and blood, if you go to the capital, you will definitely live a long life!" ”

Kangxi also said: "Old man, don't postpone it any longer." In the past, we were at the forefront of the world in all the theories of the Central Plains, and now, a few small countries in Europa have surpassed the Qing Dynasty in many doctrines, especially in arithmetic, geometry, and physics. If we don't catch up, in another hundred and ten years, our knowledge in the Central Plains will be reduced to the second or third rate. ”