A meal of steamed pumpkin conquered the taste buds of the three people.
The sweet smell lured the people who were working in the fields and they lingered around the people who were eating pumpkin.
Zhu Xiang selected a few large ripe pumpkins and invited them to make a fire and steam the pumpkins together.
Soon, word of the delicious pumpkin spread. Its soft and sweet taste made people unable to stop eating it in this era of scarce sweeteners.
Li Mu asked, "How long can pumpkin be preserved?" He was thinking of using pumpkin as dry food.
Zhu Xiang said: "Choose old pumpkins that are fully ripe and have hardened shells, cut them off with the stems, and store them in a ventilated and dry cellar. They can be stored for up to one year. However, pumpkins are easily damaged during transportation, and they are also easy to rot when exposed to moisture and light. If they are damaged or exposed to light and moisture, they will go bad in a few days at least, or one or two months at most, and it is difficult to use them as military rations or collect taxes."
Nowadays, taxes are collected in kind, such as grain and cloth. This is not because the tax system is backward, but because it is the most suitable system for the present.
In addition to the fact that the country currently needs food more than silver and money, the most important reason is that it is difficult for farmers to pay taxes with silver and money.
Not only did farmers have no fixed channels to sell grain, but every time there was a good harvest, the price of grain would drop significantly. In the era of scarcity of commodity economy, if silver and money were used as taxes, all farmers would be forced to death. In-kind tax was the tax measure that was least harmful to farmers.
When the commodity economy developed greatly, farmers had the possibility to pay taxes with silver. However, because of the instability of grain prices, paying taxes with silver was actually a further exploitation of farmers and accelerated land annexation.
The change from in-kind tax to silver tax in the feudal era was conducive to the stability of treasury revenue and made the dynasty richer and more powerful, but it did not reduce the burden on farmers.
Until the state has sufficient ability to regulate the market and purchases grain from farmers at a higher fixed price regardless of whether the harvest is good or not, the taxes paid by farmers will not become a burden to them.
This was impossible even in the feudal era, let alone the Warring States period, because the state needed strong grassroots action capabilities, logistics and food storage capabilities to purchase food from farmers across the country.
The Qin State was now similar to the feudal dynasties of later times. No matter what farmers planted, they were converted into grains and linen to collect taxes. Even if Zhu Xiang promoted pumpkins and potatoes, these two crops were difficult to store and transport under current conditions and could not be used to pay taxes.
Farmers usually grow a little food on scattered wasteland to satisfy their hunger and use it to save lives during famine. In normal times, they still grow grains such as corn, wheat, and rice.
However, because of the annual famine, beans can also be used to pay taxes, so the burden on farmers will not be too heavy. It's just that compared with corn, wheat, rice, etc., beans will pay more.
After Zhu Xiang explained the disadvantages of pumpkin storage, Li Bing and Li Mu both sighed.
From the farmer's perspective, if they choose undamaged pumpkins and store them in the cellar for a year, it will be enough for the year. But the government will not let farmers grow pumpkins because pumpkins are difficult to store and cannot be used to pay taxes.
The same goes for potatoes.
In addition to taste and eating habits, national tax requirements are also an important reason why farmers choose what to grow.
"It's good enough to fill your stomach." Zhu Xiang comforted the two, "The small vegetable plots in front of and behind the house are not counted as land that needs to be taxed. They only need to plant some pumpkins and potatoes in front of and behind the house to avoid starvation."
Li Bing said, "That's right. Pumpkins and potatoes are good."
Zhu Xiang said: "It's the same for soldiers. Planting more crops when farming can not only ensure food supply, but also enrich their rations."
Li Mu said helplessly: "You really are still worried about the soldiers' rations not being sufficient? If I let you lead the troops, do you still want the soldiers to eat meat?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "In order to boost morale, it is you who should slaughter cattle for the soldiers every month, not me."
Li Mu touched his nose. Although it was true, why did he feel a little embarrassed when Zhu Xiang said it
After Ying Xiaozheng and the others finished speaking, he pulled Zhu Xiang's sleeve and looked up expectantly, "Can pumpkin only be eaten steamed? Are there any other delicious dishes?"
"Little foodie." Zhu Xiang pressed Ying Xiaozheng's head and said, "Look, your uncle will show you some tricks."
Li Bing smiled and said, "It seems that we are in for a treat today. Li Mu, let's go pick pumpkins."
Li Mu asked, "Zheng'er, do you want to pick the pumpkin you want to eat yourself?"
Ying Xiaozheng nodded vigorously.
Li Mu held Ying Xiaozheng's hand, Li Bing walked to the front, and Zhu Xiang walked to the back with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. Several people picked and chose the most pleasing pumpkins in the pumpkin field to add to today's feast.
Ying Xiaozheng selected a pumpkin that was very round and brightest in color, and regardless of the dirt on the ground, he grabbed the pumpkin and pulled it.
Although Ying Xiaozheng was very strong, it was still a challenge for him to pull down a big pumpkin with a vine.
Zhu Xiang said, "Zheng'er, the pumpkin can be cut."
Now that iron was available, there were naturally scissors for farming and gardening.
Ying Xiaozheng didn't know who he was competing with, and said with a red face: "I can do it!"
Zhu Xiang said: "I'm not saying you can't, but using scissors..."
"Hey!" Ying Xiaozheng picked up the pumpkin in one go and pulled it back with all his strength.
Zhu Xiang quickly reached out to protect Ying Xiaozheng.
Sure enough, the pumpkin vine was broken, and Ying Xiaozheng fell backwards, almost falling on his butt.
Ying Xiaozheng proudly held up the pumpkin: "I picked it... ah!"
The pumpkin fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.
With Ying Xiaozheng's current size and strength, it is still too difficult for him to lift the pumpkin.
The scene fell into silence, and Ying Xiaozheng's expression gradually became ugly.
Zhu Xiang: "Zheng'er..."
Ying Xiaozheng pointed at Pumpkin and said, "I sentence you to death! And I will exterminate your entire family!"
Zhu Xiang: "Puchi..."
Li Mu's shoulders trembled, and he tried hard to hold back his laughter in order not to make Ying Xiaozheng even more angry and embarrassed.
Li Bing's mouth twitched slightly. Ying Xiaozheng is indeed the son of Qin. Ordinary children can't make such a cruel joke.
Zhu Xiang said happily: "Okay, let's wipe out the pumpkin family and pick all the pumpkins in the next few days!"
Zhu Xiang asked someone to bring a basket and put the pumpkin that Ying Xiaozheng had picked with great effort but accidentally broke into the basket.
"When cooking, you cut the pumpkin into pieces. Even if it breaks, you can still eat it." Zhu Xiang said with a smile, "Zheng'er picked this big pumpkin with great difficulty. Uncle, how about making it into delicious pumpkin cakes?"
Ying Xiaozheng frowned: "Can it be eaten even if it's broken into pieces?"
Zhu Xiang said, "It just cracked, but it didn't break. Don't worry, when the time comes, you can watch me make pumpkin pie with this pumpkin."
Only then did Ying Xiaozheng calm down.
He snorted coldly and forgave the Pumpkin Family for not giving him face.
"Uncle, I want to pick that pumpkin. Give me the scissors." Ying Xiaozheng rolled up his sleeves, ready to avenge his previous humiliation.
Zhu Xiang said: "Okay, be careful and don't scratch your hands."
Ying Xiaozheng held the handles of the scissors with both hands and stared at the pumpkin vines eagerly. He didn't look like he was picking pumpkins, but rather like he was looking for someone to fight.
Zhu Xiang's stomach ached from trying so hard to hold back his laughter.
Li Mu also continued to pick pumpkins, but Li Bing broke out in a cold sweat.
He was a little confused. Didn't Zhu Xiang and Li Mu discover the cruelty hidden in Ying Xiaozheng's heart? Aren't they afraid
It seems that he is not brave enough. If he wants to continue to be friends with Zhu Xiang and call Gongzi Zheng "Zheng'er", he still needs to practice more.
Ying Xiaozheng is always serious about his work, even to the point of trying to show off.
He picked ten large pumpkins and refused to allow anyone to help him, carrying the pumpkins onto the cart by himself.
Ying Xiaozheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and the mud from his face, looking very proud.
I defeated the Pumpkin Family!
Zhu Xiang smiled and picked up Ying Xiaozheng, whose hands were shaking from exhaustion, and wiped Ying Xiaozheng's little face clean, praising him, "Zheng'er is really amazing!"
Ying Xiaozheng yawned triumphantly, curled up in his uncle's arms, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.
Li Mu asked, "You have been lazy and not picking the melons, just waiting to hug Zheng'er?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Of course. You know that my Zheng'er is very serious. If I don't conserve my energy, how can I bring Zheng'er back home?"
Zhu Xiang kissed his little nephew's face, who looked smug while he was sleeping.
Li Bing thought to himself that Zhu Xiang really doted on his nephew as if he were his own son.
No, I have my own son and I don’t spoil him.
Thinking of his own son, Li Bing got a headache again.
Li Erlang had already arrived in Chengdu City, and he caused trouble as soon as he arrived - when he was wandering around Chengdu City with a sword, he saw injustice and drew his sword to help, and had a fight with several local tyrants.
Li Bing was the county magistrate, and those powerful people immediately forced their own children to come and apologize, but Li Bing was still so angry that his temples were throbbing.
Bashu is a very closed-off county, and it is difficult to govern. The relationship with the local tyrants is very delicate. You can't be too friendly with them, but you can't be hostile to them either. Li Erlang will really cause trouble for him.
Li Bing wanted to take Li Erlang to apologize, but Li Erlang said that he was not wrong. Even though he was beaten by Li Bing, punished to kneel in front of the ancestral tablets and locked up in a small dark room, he refused to give in.
Li Bing was reluctant to let his son go to the barracks, but now he really wanted to entrust Erlang to Li Mu to hone his skills.
Forget it, I will think about my son after I am full. Li Bing decided to escape for a while.
Zhu Xiang carried Ying Xiaozheng back to the courtyard where Li Mu’s army was stationed. He temporarily handed Ying Xiaozheng over to the care of the servants. After washing up and changing his clothes, he went to the kitchen to busy himself.
This time, Zhu Xiang brought all kinds of cooking utensils, including iron pots, stew pots, and frying pans, as well as all kinds of seasonings.
Pumpkin pie made from pumpkin puree and wheat flour, fried in soybean oil until golden brown, sweet and delicious without even adding sugar;
Cut pumpkin and potatoes into pieces and place them at the bottom of the bowl. Marinate the pork belly and wrap it in rice flour with salt, pepper and Sichuan peppercorns and place it on the pumpkin and potatoes. Then a dish of steamed pork with rice flour is ready.
Cut several smaller pumpkins into shreds and stir-fry with lard to make a refreshing white oil pumpkin shreds.
Put pumpkin, soybeans and spareribs into a casserole and stew them together. Just add slices of ginger, garlic, scallions and a little salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and simmer over low heat. The pumpkin and spareribs soup tastes delicious. Putting spareribs into the prepared dipping water can also meet the eating habits of heavy tastes...
After making a few pumpkin home-cooked dishes, Zhu Xiang put rice into a pot and boiled it with water. After the water boiled for two minutes, he poured the rice in the pot into a bamboo dustpan and filtered out the rice grains.
Then Zhu Xiang put the cut pumpkin into the bottom of the earthenware pot, poured the rice in the bamboo dustpan into the pot and simmered it over low heat until it was dry. This is commonly known as Kong pumpkin dry rice.
"Uncle..." Ying Xiaozheng rubbed his eyes and yawned as he walked into the kitchen, "I'm hungry."
"Drink some rice soup first." Zhu Xiang poured a bowl of rice soup for Ying Xiaozheng. "After you finish drinking, take the pumpkin cake out. Your uncle allows you to eat while walking."
Ying Xiaozheng gulped down the rice soup at just the right temperature, wiped his mouth and said, "I won't eat while walking."
Ying Xiaozheng ate two pumpkin pancakes before taking the pumpkin pancakes out.
Zhu Xiang almost laughed out loud.
I can't eat while walking, so I have to eat first and then walk? How can my own Zhenger be so cute
Li Mu also came to help serve the dishes. On the way, he saw Ying Xiaozheng carrying pumpkin cakes and picked one up. When he arrived in the kitchen, he also secretly ate a piece of steamed pork with rice flour and a piece of stewed spareribs.
Li Bing was relatively honest. He was too embarrassed to eat secretly and just waited obediently for the meal to be served.
He looked at the oil on Ying Xiaozheng and Li Mu's lips and said helplessly: "Li Mu, as a teacher, are you specifically teaching Zheng'er to cheat?"
Ying Xiaozheng defended himself: "I didn't eat it secretly, my uncle allowed me to eat first."
Li Mu said, "I did cheat, but I didn't teach Zheng'er. Wasn't it Zhu Xiang who cheated on Zheng'er?"
Zhu Xiang said angrily: "How can it be called stealing if the cook tastes the food?"
Li Bing: “…” It seems that he is not free and easy enough, and still has not fully integrated into the unique atmosphere of getting along with friends.
"Come and try it." Zhu Xiang said with a smile, "If you like it, I'll copy the recipe for you."
Li Bing said: "I won't be polite."
At first he was a little nervous about eating the food made by Zhu Xiang himself, but now he is used to it.
Several people ate with relish and filled their bellies.
There were many green bamboos in Shu County, so Zhu Xiang had people weave bamboo chairs out of them. Now, Li Mu and Li Bing have bamboo furniture in their mansions and other courtyards, and this trend has spread to other families in Shu County.
Shu County is hot and humid in summer and cold and damp in winter, so sitting on the ground is really unbearable. Chairs and stools quickly became popular and have now become a must-have item for every household in Shu County. People are selling bamboo furniture along the streets.
Several people put fur on bamboo chairs and lay on them, enjoying the moon while digesting their food and feeling lazy.
The chair was very big, and Ying Xiaozheng snuggled up to Zhu Xiang, using Zhu Xiang as a cushion.
"The moon is so round." Li Mu sighed.
Zhu Xiang rolled his eyes: "Seeing such a beautiful moonlight, shouldn't you compose a poem? Saying that the moon is so round, is that all you can do?"
Li Mu said: "If you have the ability, come?"
Zhu Xiang immediately sang a masterpiece known throughout the ages, "Song of Water Melody", which was ridiculed by Li Mu and Li Bing.
There was no other way, because the "Shui Tiao Ge Tou" at that time did not conform to the rhythm at all, and there was no word for the tune. Zhu Xiang's impersonation of the "Shui Tiao Ge Tou" was not even as good as a folk song in the eyes of Li Mu and Li Bing.
Naturally, this song "Song of Water Melody" has not been passed down to later generations.
Although he was laughed at by the two, Zhu Xiang was still very excited and sang "Song of Water Melody" in tune.
Li Mu and Li Bing both covered their ears, saying that Zhu Xiang's noise was disturbing.
Zhu Xiang thought he sang well, although he had completely forgotten what the tune of "Song of Water Melody" was.
In order to stop Zhu Xiang from polluting his ears further, Li Bing beat the rhythm with his hands and sang the Book of Songs and some folk songs related to the moon.
In this era, not only the "Book of Songs" existed, but more neat poetry also existed, namely the Yuefu poetry of the Han Dynasty, which had already begun to take shape at this time.
Li Mu cheered for Li Bing and asked someone to bring a zither to accompany Li Bing.
Although Li Mu was a general, nowadays generals and scholars were inseparable, and he was also a man who was proficient in the six arts.
Li Mu played the piano, Li Bing composed poems and sang, and Zhu Xiang hummed as accompaniment.
Ying Xiaozheng yawned and followed suit by patting his uncle's arm as if he was beating a drum.
Zhu Xiang was speechless. Your great-grandfather beat the drum, so you beat your uncle's arm, right? You are so young and don't learn well. You deserve to be blamed for seven generations.
Zhu Xiang said, "Zheng'er, isn't it time for you to learn to play the piano?"
Ying Xiaozheng said: "I don't want to learn. What's the point of learning the piano? I have plenty of people who can play music for me."
Zhu Xiang said: "Other people playing music does not conflict with your learning the piano. Learning the piano can cultivate your sentiments and vent your emotions. For example, when you are in a bad mood, you can play the piano randomly for the people you hate but cannot punish to hear."
Li Mu exerted force and the strings broke.
Li Bing also sang out of tune.
The two looked at Zhu Xiang in unison: "Don't teach Zheng'er a bad lesson."
Zhu Xiang said: "I think this is good."
They both said in unison: "Not good!"
Ying Xiaozheng thought about it and actually felt that what Zhu Xiang said made sense: "Okay, I'll learn. Uncle, will you teach me?"
Zhu Xiang said happily: "Okay, uncle will teach you how to play the huqin!"
Li Mu quickly stopped him: "Let me teach Zheng'er how to play the piano."
Zhu Xiang said: "Do you look down on the huqin? I am the only one in the world who can play the huqin! I want to pass on my unique huqin to Zheng'er!"
He just wants to see Qin Shi Huang play the erhu, what's wrong with that!
Ying Xiaozheng nodded seriously: "Okay, I'll learn the huqin."
Li Mu advised, "Zheng'er, do you know what your uncle said about the huqin? When the huqin sounds, it must be a wedding or funeral. You should just learn to play the ordinary qin."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "But the huqin is unique."
Li Mu was speechless.
Li Bing had never heard Zhu Xiang play the huqin, so he asked curiously, "What is the huqin?"
Li Mu rolled his eyes. "Zhu Xiang said it was a zither introduced to Zhao from the Hu people. The Huqin is played without fingers, but with horsetail rubbing the strings to make a whimpering sound. But I have fought with the barbarians for so many years and have never seen a Huqin. I think the Huqin was invented by Zhu Xiang himself, and he used the name of the Hu people."
Zhu Xiang said: "What you said makes a lot of sense. I have decided that from now on it will be called Qinqin."
Li Mu said: "It would be better to call it Changping Qin. You are Lord Changping, and 'Changping' also has a good meaning."
Zhu Xiang said: "It seems good."
Ying Xiaozheng patted Zhu Xiang's arm: "I want to learn."
"Okay." Zhu Xiang rubbed Ying Xiaozheng's head and showed a malicious smile.
He must paint a picture of Zheng'er playing the erhu and put it in his tomb so that it can be passed down to future generations.
From then on, there were countless pictures of Qin Shihuang playing the erhu in the world, hahahahahahaha.
Zhu Xiang thought about the fans of Qin Shihuang in later generations who would want to laugh out loud when they saw the picture of the old man on the subway playing the erhu.
Ying Xiaozheng didn't know that his uncle was plotting to destroy his heroic image. He yawned a few more times and buried his face in Zhu Xiang's arms: "I'm sleepy."
"Go to sleep." Zhu Xiang wrapped Ying Xiaozheng with a blanket.
He held the sleeping Ying Xiaozheng in his arms and continued chatting with his friend in a low voice.
Let’s talk about the moon, the harvest, Shu County, and the world situation.
After the pumpkin harvest, Li Mu replaced the corn stockpiled in the army with pumpkins and gave the old or moldy corn to Li Bing so that Li Bing could use the corn to rescue more refugees.
In winter, even in the warmer Shu County, the grass and trees withered and it was difficult to find food to fill their stomachs. Refugees who did not want to starve to death would attack towns and create bandit problems.
Due to two consecutive years of floods and the need to support the war against Qin, there was not much grain in the official warehouses of Shu County, but there was plenty in the military warehouses.
Pumpkins taste good but are difficult to store and transport, so Li Mu used pumpkins as winter rations to replace old, moldy corn. In this way, even if he handled the rations privately, it would not be considered a violation of the law.
With these grains, Li Bing accepted Zhu Xiang's suggestion to use work-for-relief, allowing the refugees to do some preliminary work for water conservancy projects such as digging canals.
With something to do, there are fewer bandit problems.
But they had to do heavy labor just to get a little food to fill their stomachs, and many weak refugees could not survive the winter.
This is the drawback of the feudal era's work-for-relief policy. If there is not enough oil, salt or grain, then work-for-relief is actually a death warrant for refugees.
However, in this era, the Qin army was strong, and if the refugees did not accept the work-for-relief and went into the mountains to become bandits, their chances of survival would be even lower. It was the lesser of two evils, so Li Bing's work-for-relief was considered a success.
Zhu Xiang originally wanted to improve the food for the refugees, but after his visit, he sadly gave up the idea.
With the current level of productivity, he has no way of providing enough food for the refugees. Even if he did, doing so might cause greater unrest and turmoil.
Because in this era, even ordinary people may not have enough food every day. If he lets the refugees have enough food, it may cause more people to riot, trigger greater conflicts, and cause more deaths.
Zhu Xiang, who had no better idea of using work as a relief measure, devoted all his energy to planting winter rice and winter wheat.
In ancient times, the south had two crops a year, usually rice-wheat rotation or rice-bean rotation. It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that two-season rice gradually appeared.
Although Lin Zhi was a man with bad luck, he only gave rice seeds to Si Xin, but the rice seeds he gave could choose the variety to plant in which season. Even if the variety could not be selected directly, it was still good.
The seeds Li Bing gave were summer rice, which can only be planted next year.
The seeds extracted would not indicate the variety, so Zhu Xiang could only guess based on his own knowledge. However, the seeds he extracted from the system were harvested and planted again the next year, and the degree of degradation was very low. He guessed that the system seeds might have been optimized to a certain extent. Although the yield was reduced, the traits were more stable and would not drop significantly in the second year like modern seeds.
Of course, Zhu Xiang also taught the farmers and Mohists the simple method of seed cultivation, asking them to conduct artificial pollination every year, cultivate new seeds, and select seeds with more stable quality.
Both the Agricultural School and the Mohist School were once very prosperous, and many disciples of Confucianism joined these two schools.
The Nongjia school represents the interests of farmers, and the Mohist school represents the interests of small handicraftsmen. They are both the lowest class of people, so they can resonate with most people.
Unfortunately, like many schools of thought, they only have political ideals but no specific measures to realize them step by step.
For example, the political ideal of Confucianism, or the slogan, is "Great Harmony". On the road to "Great Harmony", Confucianism also has specific political measures suitable for the present era, such as "unification" and "righteous soldiers". They are also useful to the nobles of the time in terms of etiquette and learning.
But the Agriculturalists and Mohists are not like that.
The farmers hope that no tax will be collected from farmers, that everyone in the world, regardless of their social status, will farm, and that free trade will be banned so that farmers do not suffer losses in transactions. The Mohists advocated universal love and non-aggression, and also hoped that all people in the world would be completely equal.
These ideals are impossible to realize in the present world. Even in the future, they are all very idealistic and do not conform to the laws of real development.
Ideals are slogans, no matter how empty or pretentious they are, it doesn’t matter. The political ideals of Confucianism and Legalism adopted by later emperors were also similarly empty and pretentious.
But the Agriculturalists and Mohists shouted slogans but did not find a path suitable for the contemporary world that would allow them to continue to be a political group.
The Nong family almost gave up their own ideas and accepted the reality; the Mohist school split into three factions, Qin Mo focused on technology, Chu Mo became a ranger, and Qi Mo only knew how to debate. The three factions had attacked each other and the civil war was endless. The Mohist Juzi Ling could no longer command all the Mohists.
They had already begun to decline in this era, and their school of thought gradually declined. It did not disappear after Confucianism became the only school of thought.
The farmers and small handicraftsmen represented by the Agricultural School and the Mohist School were the lowest level of civilians with the lowest risk resistance. They instinctively preferred a country that would end the war. So in the end they all joined the Qin State.
The Qin State was more autocratic in ideology, and there was no soil for the existence of closely connected small groups.
The Qin State would never allow the existence of a "small group" like the Mohist School, which respected great men and could fight against the national army.
When Zhu Xiang left, Xianghe had almost lost Juzi's original power in order to allow the Mohists to continue to serve as officials in Qin. After that, the Mohists only accepted the dispatches of the King of Qin and no longer obeyed Juzi's orders directly.
Xianghe was once distressed by this, but no matter how distressed he was, he could only accept this helpless reality.
If Zhu Xiang had not been there, and if the King of Qin had not allowed the Nong family and the Mohist family to help Zhu Xiang and allow the Nong family and the Mohist family to continue to stay together with Zhu Xiang as a bond, I am afraid that the Nong family and the Mohist family organizations would have been completely absorbed by the huge official system of the Qin State and would no longer exist.
Zhu Xiang told the King of Qin about a prototype similar to the Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Sciences, hoping that even if the Agriculturalists and Mohists could not continue as political groups, they could be preserved as technical groups and leave the seeds of sparks for future generations.
But Zhu Xiang was not sure whether it would succeed.
When he left Xianyang, Xu Ming and Xiang He both stayed in Xianyang to guide and promote cotton. He didn't have to worry about these two for the time being.
He hoped that when Zheng Er ascended the throne, he could find a way out for the schools of his two good friends.
In fact, when Zhu Xiang saw this "worker-peasant alliance", he had the urge to take out... ahem. But he would wait until he was about to die, so he didn't want to die now.
The feudal era has not even arrived yet. It is too early to talk about these things now, even if they are political ideals or empty slogans.
"Alas, without the help of Xu Ming and Xianghe, it is too difficult for me to try to grow rice alone." After guiding one acre of land, Zhu Xiang sat on the edge of the field and gasped for breath.
Raising rice seedlings and transplanting rice rice are both delicate technical jobs, and he needs to explain them many times without getting tired of it before farmers can understand.
But understanding does not mean doing it. The farmer may forget it while doing it, and Zhu Xiang has to start from the beginning again.
If Xu Ming and Xianghe were there, he could first teach the people brought by Xu Ming and Xianghe, who were good at dealing with farmers, and then go and teach the farmers separately.
Zhu Xiang had his sights set on the students he had brought to the academy, but most of them were Confucianists and Legalists, with a few studying Huang-Lao or Lao-Zhuang, and they were all scholars. He was worried that the students would not be willing to work in the fields and interact with farmers.
Rather than farming with themselves, scholars and students should prefer to help Li Bing and Li Mu.
Zhu Xiang didn't expect that he had given up asking the disciples of the academy for help. The disciples of the academy nominated representatives themselves and asked to come and help Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang was very moved. They actually volunteered to go to the countryside to learn farming. These people are all good kids!
When Ying Xiaozheng heard his uncle say that those academy disciples who were older than his uncle were "good kids", he pursed his lips, put his hands behind his back and sighed in an air of being condescending.
Wouldn’t it be that my uncle’s hair has turned grey and his heart has grown old
When did his uncle's hair turn black? He almost forgot what his uncle with black hair looked like.
Zhu Xiang had more assistants.
To his surprise, most of these assistants had actually farmed before.
"This world is so chaotic that a small nobleman may be an official today and go home to farm tomorrow. When Xunzi's family was still the Zhonghang clan, they were also one of the great nobles of Jin. When the three families divided Jin, the Zhonghang clan was forced to flee, so they changed their surnames to Xun and farmed at home, almost like ordinary people. If the Zhonghang clan is like this, what about other families?" said a student.
Zhonghang clan was originally one of the six nobles of Jin State. After losing the power struggle with Zhao clan, they changed their name back to Xun clan to force disaster. After the three families divided Jin, they became ordinary scholars of Zhao State.
Zhu Xiang was curious: "You know a lot about Xunzi's family. Are you a Confucian disciple?"
The student said, "No, I am a Legalist. I know Xunzi because I want to debate with Xunzi, the great Confucian scholar, to defend the Legalists."
Zhu Xiang: "..." Does this mean "the person who knows you best is your enemy"? Zhu Xiang felt that this student was too ambitious.
Zhu Xiang said: "You are studying Legalism, so it is not bad to take Xunzi as your teacher. Maybe the great leaders of Legalism in the future will be students taught by Xunzi."
The student was very confused and didn't know why Duke Zhu Xiang said that.
Zhu Xiang smiled mysteriously: "Just listen to me."
The student said, "Xunzi is the chief priest of the academy, and I am already his disciple."
He said in his heart, but he wanted to take Duke Zhu Xiang as his teacher.
They all claimed to be disciples of Duke Xiang of Zhu, but Duke Xiang of Zhu had never accepted a disciple.
Ying Xiaozheng walked by with his hands behind his back, pointing at the students in the fields.
The student remained silent.
Well, Duke Xiang of Zhu had a disciple, and that was his nephew, Prince Zheng.
Everyone knows that the nephew of Duke Zhu Xiang is not only loved by the old King of Qin, but also by Crown Prince Zhu and his favorite successor, Prince Zichu, who also likes Prince Zheng very much. So as long as Prince Zheng does not die young, he is very likely to become the King of Qin.
Perhaps Duke Zhu Xiang did not accept any disciples because of this concern.
How could the King of Qin have fellow apprentices
Although they have not publicly become his disciples, and Duke Zhu Xiang has not acknowledged them as his disciples, Duke Zhu Xiang teaches them meticulously and takes great care of their lives. Even ordinary teachers cannot do what Duke Zhu Xiang does. In their hearts, they are already his disciples, and they serve and follow him voluntarily.
This is also the reason why they put down their more fulfilling work and came to help Duke Zhu Xiang farm.
The teacher needed people to help with farming, so naturally they followed.
They originally just wanted to lighten Zhu Xiang's burden, but when they accepted Zhu Xiang's teachings, they discovered that they could learn so much knowledge from farming.
It turns out there is so much knowledge involved, including plants, soil, water flow, climate, and even pests and weeds.
These knowledge are not "experiences", but knowledge that can be "scientifically quantified and passed on to future generations".
Duke Zhu Xiang would lead them to do comparative experiments, allowing them to observe the mysteries of nature more intuitively. What they had previously thought was the power of gods, was unveiled one by one under the guidance of Duke Zhu Xiang.
It turns out that humans can understand and use nature in this way, instead of passively relying on nature for their livelihood.
There is not only knowledge but also philosophy in growing rice.
For example, the harmonious coexistence of rice and fish is very consistent with Taoist teachings.
"Not only that, it turns out there is so much to learn when dealing with farmers. If I can teach the farmers, it will be easy to persuade those powerful officials in the future."
“Only by understanding farmers can we understand taxes and how to formulate more practical national policies.”
"If we only read books, we won't know how much an acre of land produces, and we won't know whether the taxes collected are too much or too little, and whether we have been cheated."
"Yes, I don't know how much time it takes for farmers to plant crops in a day, and how long it takes to complete the cultivation. When corvée labor is required, it may delay the farming season."
"Zhu Xianggong said that one needs to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. Knowledge and practice are like bones and flesh, and neither can be missing."
"It turns out there is so much knowledge in farming, you are worthy of being Duke Zhu Xiang."…
When the students were free, they gathered together and compiled what they had learned into a book. Later, they compiled a book for Zhu Xiang that was used for thousands of years in the imperial examinations of later generations. As a result, after the establishment of modern China, the national examinations continued.
If Zhu Xiang were to be reincarnated in this world again, he would still examine his own "Zhu Xiang Zi said".
However, it is unknown whether these “Zhu Xiangzi said” were actually his words.
Now he just tries his best to teach students how to farm, and while teaching them, he tells them some common sense he thinks.
He didn't know that these common sense had become truths and had been interpreted in so many versions.
The rice seedlings were grown and transplanting was completed. Winter finally came and Zhu Xiang could finally take a break.
Li Bing was busy at this time. He had to take advantage of the dry season to measure the water levels at various river mouths and look for places to build water diversion dams.
Although he said he wanted to build a large-scale water conservancy project to reduce flooding in the Chengdu Plain, he only had an idea at the moment and had not yet come up with a specific plan.
When Zhu Xiang learned about this, he was speechless.
He thought Li Bing had a plan in mind and was ready to build the Dujiangyan before he wrote to the King of Qin. But he didn't expect Li Bing to be so reckless and issue the military order without thinking about anything.
Zhu Xiang couldn't help but ask Li Bing: "Since you still don't have any clues, how dare you write to the King of Qin? What if you can't do it?"
Li Bing said: "It's better to do something than to do nothing. Even if we just dig a few channels, it's better than just watching."
Zhu Xiang was speechless again. You are too reckless! Are all your friends of the same character
Oh, me too.
Birds of a feather flock together (clap your thighs)!
(End of this chapter)