Zhu Ming looked through the geographical data of the south and chatted with Zhu Yu about various interesting stories.

This little old man is well-informed, not only has his footprints all over the south, but also lived in the north for many years, and has also been in Kaifeng for a long time.

At the end of the conversation, Zhu Ming said: "You first go to the Ministry of Rites to be a foreigner and sort out the sacrifices in the southern provinces and counties." Those chaotic gods are all outlawed. What is tempting for good, for the benefit of the country and the people, these gods can be kept. ”

Zhu Yu said: "The first thing is to standardize the city gods in various places. ”

"How?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Yu elaborated: "The custom of sacrificing the city god arose in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, mainly in the Jiangnan region, and the people spontaneously built temples to worship it. The Sui and Tang dynasties were brought under the control of the imperial court and gradually spread to the southwest and north. In the Song Dynasty, the city gods have spread all over the north and south, of course, there are still the most in the south, and there is a set of knighthood methods. ”

"However, the Song Dynasty knighted Chenghuang, and it gradually became unruly."

"It's even more chaotic right now. For example, in some states and counties, the gentry and wealthy merchants worshipped the city gods, and even the city gods they worshipped had nothing to do with the local area. ”

Zhu Ming smiled: "For example. ”

Zhu Yu gave an example: "For example, Ji Xin, who followed Liu Bang to the Hongmen banquet, was later burned to death by Xiang Yu. He is a native of Sichuan, who has been fighting in the north all the year round, and has never been to the south, and he has no favors to the people in the south. But from Hanzhong to Xiangyang, and then to Taiping, Runzhou, Wuhu, and Huating...... Ten prefectures and counties take Ji Xin as the god of the city god. ”

"That's true." Zhu Mingwan smiled, he had seen the City God Temple in Hanzhong, and the main god enshrined in it was Ji Xin.

Zhu Yu said: "Many prefectures and counties no longer worship Ji Xin, and the people don't know who Ji Xin is. Turning to worship wild gods of unknown origin, and even some evil gods, the black smoke and miasma disturbed the people's customs. ”

This is the reason why the imperial courts of all dynasties have standardized sacrifices, and faith must be in the hands of the government, and there must be a positive guidance.

Chenghuang were originally all nature gods, and by the Song Dynasty they were generally replaced by historical figures.

When a local magistrate takes office, the first thing to do is to worship the city god, otherwise it is disrespectful to local customs.

Ercheng felt that the Chenghuang did not conform to Confucian tradition, and also suggested that the Chenghuang of the world be banned. There were also officials who cracked down on obscenity and wanted to sweep away the city gods together, but as a result, they aroused public anger and caused a big mess.

This thing can only be controlled and channeled, and it can't be done against the people.

Zhu Yu continued: "The city gods in various places should be dominated by capable ministers and fierce generals. For example, in Chongyang County, the gentry and common people did not worship the city god, but worshiped Zhang Lingya (Zhang Yong). More than 100 years have passed, and the people of Chongyang have cherished Zhang Qianya's good governance. In this case, Zhang Qianya should be named Chongyang City God, and the old City God, which people no longer believe, should be invited away. ”

Zhang Yong, the ancestor of Zhang Bo, is really awesome, and in many places where he governs, the common people have spontaneously built shrines for him, and the incense has continued after more than 100 years. Even Zhong Xiang occupied Hunan, and did not dare to demolish the "Zhang Gong Temple".

Zhu Yu also said: "There are many witch gods in the south, good and evil are mixed, and the people are difficult to distinguish. Within a county, there may be dozens of witch gods. When one or two good gods are selected, they should be built to worship in the City God Temple, and the rest of the witch gods will be banned. For example, if the witch Lin Min people call her Mazu, she can be established as the god of the city god. ”

Zhu Yu said: "There are more battles in the border areas. When the loyal and brave generals of the previous dynasties were selected, they were selected to build temples for the god of the city god to worship, so as to inspire the soldiers and people in the frontier. ”

Zhu Ming approved: "This is appropriate. You ask the local officials to consult the local gentry and choose to set up county and county seats. Remember, the sacrifice to the city god should not be extravagant and wasteful, and should be merged with the Spring and Autumn Society. ”

The main purpose of the Spring and Autumn Shrine festivals is to pray for and celebrate a good harvest, and it is a large-scale festival of the people every year. And it also has the significance of activating the economy, even the people in the poor countryside will participate, which not only gives the people faith and entertainment, but also is beneficial to the local business development.

Zhu Yu suggested: "The date of the sacrifice to the city god can be set on the local Spring Society Day. In this way, they will be sacrificed together, and they will not waste money. ”

Zhu Ming said: "A monument should be erected in front of the City God Temple to engrave the merits and virtues of the City God. At the time of the sacrifice, the officials read the inscription to guide the officials and the people to be benevolent, righteous, loyal and brave, and to do good deeds and accumulate virtue. In the City God Temple, a main god can be set up as the City God, and the attendant is the judge. ”

"The official's words are very true!" Zhu Yu flattered.

The reason why he handed over this matter to Zhu Yu is because he is not only proficient in astronomy and geography, but also familiar with the customs and folklore of various places, and has also studied history, Buddhism, and witchcraft.

In the Song Dynasty, there were still many privately built city god temples, such as Su Mian who resisted the invasion of Jiaozhi and died, and was established as a city god by the local people. Later, Jiaozhi invaded Guizhou in the north, and everyone shouted "Su Chenghuang leads the troops to take revenge", and the Song army immediately became morale-like, so frightened that Jiaozhi hastily withdrew his troops and fled.

There are also officials of the Song Dynasty such as Li Yi and Zhao Rulan, who were also worshiped by the people as city gods immediately after their deaths.

The people know who is a really good official.

These Zhu Ming were intended to be officially canonized as city gods, and the imperial court not only controlled folk beliefs, but also set an example for local officials.

After chatting with Zhu Yu, Zhu Ming looked at Li Yaoguang, who had been sitting quietly.

"You brought a lot of math manuscripts with you?" Zhu Ming asked.

Li Yaoguang held a large stack in his arms, and hurriedly got up and handed it to the eunuch.

Zhu Ming opened it and looked at it, and his brain exploded instantly.

The first page is full of symbols, and it was created by Li Yaoguang himself. This guy was afraid that the emperor wouldn't understand, so he specially explained it with words next to him.

Many of the contents in it actually have corresponding symbols, which is the consensus of mathematical researchers in recent years.

Just like Zhu Yu, although he is far away in Hangzhou, he often corresponds with friends in Kaifeng to obtain the latest academic achievements.

But Li Yaoguang didn't know that he was alone at home behind closed doors, and he had long been out of touch with the mainstream mathematical community.

Zhu Ming closed the manuscript and said, "You first communicate with the scholars in the capital and compare these mathematical symbols." Then you change it again and show what you have studied to other scholars to discuss together. ”

"Yes." Li Yaoguang responded.

Zhu Ming asked, "You only study mathematics?" ”

Li Yaoguang said: "I also dabbled in physics, but I was not proficient in it. Confucian classics, I studied hard when I was a teenager, and I haven't touched them again in the past few years. ”

"Forget it, after you get used to it, go to Taixue to be a professor." Zhu Ming arranged.

"Yes." Li Yaoguang didn't talk much.

This person is too introverted and a bit stupid to be a secretary.

In fact, there is a secretarial organization in the General Administration Yuan, and Zhu Guoxiang is also a person who uses the General Administration Yuan. After Zhu Ming planned to release Fu Zhirou, he also selected and transferred people from the General Administration Yuan, and did not use eunuchs like the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, there are also eunuchs who are life secretaries.

As for the Hanlin Academy, where only literary artists remained, there were also literary and artistic advisors to the emperor, who would be recruited from time to time to take charge of some miscellaneous chores.

The two left separately, and the house price in Kaifeng was very expensive, and Zhu Ming arranged an official dormitory for them.

It is a corridor with a small courtyard, which can not only live by yourself, but also live with family members and a small number of maids.

There is a Mathematical Physics Society in Beijing, which was established by Zhu Guoxiang himself. It is not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and is funded by the royal family, and academic gatherings are held regularly, and the journal is issued once a quarter. There is no membership fee, but the catalogue costs money to order.

After Li Yaoguang learned of the situation, he did not communicate with his peers, but went to borrow the previous issue of the journal.

In a few years, he read the journal in a few days, and only read math-related content.

Then, replace his self-created mathematical symbols with universally recognized mathematical symbols, and then send his mathematical achievements to the editorial department of the society.

About one-third of the formulas and theorems researched by Li Yaoguang have been published by others.

But the other two-thirds, nearly 30 formulas, theorems, are completely new at present.

The editors of the Society of Mathematical Physics were crazy when they got these manuscripts, and they checked them one after another. In less than half a month, this young man became famous in the mathematics community in Beijing, and people came to visit him every day to ask for advice.

Of course, it is only a famous mathematical community, an academic circle with very little influence.

Various natural sciences, which are still seedlings, need to train more people to irrigate.

Even the imperial examination questions, about the natural science part, the imperial court did not dare to make it too difficult at once. Otherwise, it will be detrimental to students in remote areas, as well as students from poor families, and this thing needs to be gradual.

Chemistry, in particular, has not yet been included in the scope of the imperial examination.

The people who are studying chemistry now don't understand it themselves, and they are all doing whimsical experiments.

Mathematics, on the contrary, has improved the fastest, and several basic textbooks have been printed. If you complete all these textbooks, it will probably be equivalent to the mathematics level of the first grade of junior high school in later generations.

In the most recent exam, the most difficult questions encountered by people were only in the first year of junior high school.

In addition, most of the topics belong to primary school content.

In the next general examination, Zhu Ming plans to increase the difficulty, remove all the primary school questions, and all mathematics questions must meet the first year of junior high school standards.

The difficulty of the textbook should also be improved, and the textbook is currently being compiled, and the content is mathematics for the second grade of junior high school.

Zhu Ming called Hu Anguo: "Choose an auspicious day of the zodiac, and I will appoint the eldest son as the crown prince." ”

"Yes!"

Hu Anguo has no objection, and it is of course good to determine the country's foundation early.

Zhu Ming said again: "When the time comes, the crown prince will supervise the country, and the emperor will help handle government affairs." ”

Hu Anguo's expression was extremely surprised.

Why can you play like this?

Zhu Ming said: "I am going to inspect the Yellow River, go to see Cangzhou by the way, and then visit the soldiers in the army." In terms of etiquette, make arrangements, remember not to work the crowd. ”

Hu Anguo hurriedly said, "Obey." ”

In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, Cangzhou once developed into a prosperous business, mainly because it was full of salt works.

However, the Yellow River was diverted 30 years ago, and then the embankment broke several times, coupled with famine and war, which caused Cangzhou to be extremely miserable.

It was full of saline land, and there was not one out of ten people. In recent years, except for a slight revival of the salt industry, the rest of the industry and agriculture have recovered very slowly.

By the way, Cangzhou mentioned here has a very large area under its jurisdiction.

It is bordered by the sea in the east, Nanpi in the west, Tianjin in the north, and Shandong in the south (including Wudi, Leling and other areas in Shandong), all of which belong to the boundaries of Cangzhou.

With such a large territory, there are only five counties.

In addition, except for the salt pans and cities, the population of the countryside is very sparse, and the grain is all dependent on extensive cultivation and small harvests. The regional economy is driven by the salt industry, and it has to buy grain and cloth from outside the country every year.

Zhu Ming wanted to go to Haosheng to inspect it and see how he could recover.

In fact, Zhu Guoxiang should go, the emperor is specialized in agriculture, and it is estimated that he also knows how to manage saline-alkali land.

(End of chapter)