Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 242: Cultural wonder, a wise minister for the world!
"Zhang Juzheng."

Zhu Houcong called out.

Zhang Juzheng quickly responded, "I am here."

"Wonders will harm the country. Emperor Chengzu Wen's Yongle Encyclopedia cannot become a cultural wonder. Instead of putting it on the shelf, it is better to select the essence of it and compile a practical book. The words on astronomy, geography, yin and yang, medicine, divination, monks, and skills should be each compiled into a simple book, which is clear and can be used by the people. The cabinet and those who are kind should work together on this matter." Zhu Houcong thought for a while and said.

The huge size of "Yongle Encyclopedia" and "Chen Family Books" and their "abandonment" made Zhu Houcong feel a little sad.

I can't help but think of the three great books of later generations, "The Militia Training Manual", "The Military and Civilian Dual-Use Talents" and "The Barefoot Doctor Manual".

During that special period, a large number of practical talents were trained for flower growers, which improved the country's overall medical level, enhanced national defense security, and promoted the smooth transition from military to civilian use.

Different methods apply to different periods. The Ming Dynasty was not later generations, so it was impossible to copy the methods of later generations to save the country and strengthen the nation.

Even nowadays, the compilation of magical books like "Militia Training Manual" and "Military and Civilian Dual-Use Talents" can only be circulated among the military and cannot be leaked.

But something like the Barefoot Doctor's Manual can be used by all people.

"Handbook of Astronomy", "Handbook of Geography", "Handbook of Yin and Yang", "Handbook of Medicine and Divination", "Handbook of Monks and Taoists", and "Handbook of Crafts" selected concise and practical words and compiled them into books for the people of the Ming Dynasty to learn. Not only that everyone can become talented, but everyone can be as talented as a dragon.

But it can also achieve an effect similar to "Learn math, physics and chemistry well, and you will not be afraid to travel around the world."

Among the hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty, 90 million were illiterate and could not even write their own names. However, the world had now entered the Age of Navigation.

Five thousand years ago, China was the absolute overlord, and five thousand years later, China will certainly still be the absolute overlord.

It is definitely not acceptable to have 90 million illiterate people, or even more.

Literacy will be the responsibility of the social education program that is about to be launched, and in order for the Chinese people to go out into the world and become a beacon of the world, it is necessary to instill these practical knowledge into everyone's mind.

The divine will descends.

The corners of Zhang Juzheng's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Gao Gong, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were not much better. Only Hu Zongxian, who had never entered the Hanlin Academy and had never participated in the revision of the Yongle Encyclopedia, remained indifferent for the time being.

To accurately find practical advice from more than 20,000 volumes of books is a task even more arduous than compiling another copy of the Yongle Encyclopedia.

To compile a book, one only needs to copy and engrave the rare books, ancient books, classics, etc. and classify them. One does not need to care about the ideological content of the book, let alone whether there are any private opinions entangled in the book.

The so-called spectacle.

It doesn't have to be beautiful.

But it must be big and spectacular, so that when people see it, they will feel like they are looking up to a towering mountain.

It's not difficult.

Just let people keep piling up "things".

For example, the Great Wall, the Leshan Giant Buddha, and the Yongle Encyclopedia, as long as people are willing to spend time and put in effort, they will be completed one day.

But what His Majesty wants to build is to raise the "stepping stones" under the feet of tens of millions of people throughout the world.

Since ancient times, “rituals were not given to common people” and culture has had no connection with common people.

By opening up many community schools, the emperor gave common people the opportunity to acquire etiquette and knowledge, and to enlighten people, which was like giving common people a "key" to open the door to the world.

Common people have to find the door to the world by themselves. If they open the wrong door, they may fall into an abyss.

As for the practical book, it is the door to the world chosen by the emperor for the common people, and the common people just need to insert the key.

However, the gate to the world that His Majesty chose is not a naturally existing one.

This door to the world has to be built by the cabinet itself. The cabinet has to screen through millions of volumes, discard the dross and retain the essence.

Then compile these "essences" into one or several thin books in the most concise and straightforward language.

Any kind of "essence" has thousands of volumes, thousands of scrolls, and tens of millions of words.

What the cabinet needs to do is to compress it a thousand times.

Micro-speech righteousness.

It also has to be a profound message that everyone in the world can understand.

Since ancient times, the book with the most profound meaning is "Spring and Autumn Annals".

The "Spring and Autumn Annals" was compiled and revised by Confucius based on the "Spring and Autumn Annals" compiled by the historian of the State of Lu. It begins with Duke Yin of Lu and ends with Duke Ai of Lu, and records the history of 242 years in concise language and obscure expressions.

The cabinet, however, had to record China's 5,000 years of history, humanities, geography and other practical knowledge.

Not only should it be written, but people should also be allowed to practice it. How can practical learning be realized without practice?
Zhang Juzheng and his companions were in despair.

When will I be able to fulfill His Majesty's expectations in this lifetime?

Zhang Juzheng was not a person who liked to shirk responsibility, but at this moment, he could not help but test the waters by saying, "Your Majesty, how about you think about it again?"

Gao, Hu, Li and Chen did the same. They raised their heads and showed sighing expressions.

Zhu Houcong couldn't help laughing, shook his head, and reminded: "I have already told you to choose to write with good people, not to let the cabinet complete it alone. You always want to take all the credit for yourself."

People.

Always think about getting as much benefit as possible.

Just like when Emperor Chengzu Wen ordered the compilation of the "Yongle Encyclopedia", later generations only remembered Xie Jin and Yao Guangxiao who presided over the compilation, and the others were summarized with a word "etc."

All the credit goes to Li Jin and Yao Guangxiao.

However, there is no specific editor for the Barefoot Doctor Manual.

The credit and merit for benefiting all Chinese people go to all participants and contributors.

Take the compilation of the "Medical and Divination Handbook" as an example. The cabinet can call on famous doctors from all over the world to participate in the compilation, explore all kinds of diseases and pathologies in the world, and then analyze the symptoms and give prescriptions for the right medicines. Perhaps there will not be a need for too many medical books for reference, and the handbook will be ready.

It is not about asking the cabinet to actually verify each and every one of the contents of the Chinese medicine book in the Yongle Encyclopedia.

Let’s not talk about whether so many medical prescriptions are effective or not. Even if they are, it is impossible to find so many patients willing to be the ones to conduct the trials themselves.

Many medical prescriptions use aconite to treat fever.

Anyone who is a little timid would not dare to drink the aconite decoction. For such illnesses, we must start from the human heart and try to find alternative prescriptions.

It is impossible to list all the things that happened. He cannot wait that long, and the Ming Dynasty cannot wait that long either.

We must be flexible in our work; the Ming Dynasty is about to take off and there is no time to waste.

Zhang Juzheng's cabinet breathed a sigh of relief, knelt on the ground, and said in unison: "There is no wiser than Your Majesty."

Huang Jin followed suit and bowed.

Zhu Houcong waved his hand and said, "Since there is nothing else to do, let's go back to the cabinet and do our work. Regarding the Ryukyu annexation, you will write the letter to the Ryukyu Kingdom's Zhongshan King Shang Yuan and the Ryukyu people, Zhang Juzheng."

"The minister obeys the order!"

……

Twenty thousand miles of straight road to do things according to the order.

Zhang Juzheng wrote the reply to the letter from the Kingdom of Ryukyu in one go.

Regarding the compilation of the Handbook of Hundred Schools of Thought, the cabinet had first divided the work within it. As the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng naturally became the supervisor who could get most of the credit.

Gao Gong and Hu Zongxian served as vice presidents, and Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin served as presidents. They each performed their duties and organized and were responsible for specific work in various aspects.

The first thing he did was to order Nanjing to send all the books in the Wenyuan Pavilion of Nanjing to the north. In the past, Emperor Chengzu Wen moved the capital to Shuntian and only selected some of the books to bring to the new capital.

In the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign, a fire broke out in the Wenyuan Pavilion in Nanjing, and the original manuscript of the Yongle Encyclopedia was burned.

Fortunately, after the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia was completed, a copy was also made.

The original manuscript is gone, but the copy is still there.

In April of the 36th year of the Jiajing reign, a fire broke out in the palace of the secondary capital Nanjing. The Fengtian Gate and the three main halls were all burned down. As luck would have it, the copy of the Yongle Encyclopedia stored in the Wenyuan Pavilion in Nanjing was almost destroyed in the fire.

This time, the cabinet took the opportunity to transfer all the Yongle Encyclopedia books from the Wenyuan Pavilion in Nanjing, and also intended to re-record them.

That is to copy and print several more copies of the "Yongle Encyclopedia" to prevent this work, which cost countless officials and workers a lot of effort, from being damaged by accident.

This is of course a very labor-intensive and expensive undertaking.

But now the court has no shortage of money or people, and the cabinet unanimously agrees to copy and publish ten copies.

It was expected that a thousand people who were good at calligraphy would be selected, and then painters, polishers, paper makers and other craftsmen would be allocated from the imperial palace. The Xinxinsi, Guanglu Temple and Hanlin Academy would be responsible for the supply of charcoal, wine, food and monthly rice respectively. After the re-recording was completed, the copy of "Yongle Encyclopedia" would be returned to the Wenyuan Pavilion in Nanjing.

The cabinet expects to complete the overall matter within five years, with a budget of around one million taels of silver.

This matter was reported to Yuxi Palace by Fu Yingzhen, the secretary of the Cabinet.

At the same time as receiving the approval of the imperial edict, Fu Yingzhen also sent a message back to the cabinet that the emperor had gone into seclusion.

For the birth of the royal heir.

Since his wedding day last year, His Majesty has gradually stopped caring about state affairs. He only makes decisions on some major events and is busy at other times.

For more than ten days in a row, he dealt with the Empress, Imperial Noble Consort, Noble Consort and some concubines. It is said that the palace historians who wrote daily records for the emperor dared not record them anymore.

No matter how talented a person is, he cannot live without rest.

If the daily records were written in this way, later generations who checked them would think that the historian was deliberately debauching the emperor.

fortunately.

The iron-clad emperor finally had the idea of ​​taking a break. The historian thought for a long time and wrote a number on the daily record, "The emperor has not rested for ten days since the wedding."

What kind of profound ideas the cabinet is ordered to convey depends on the results, but the historians are very knowledgeable about profound ideas and are well versed in the writing style of the Spring and Autumn Annals.

For the first time, the cabinet felt that it was a good thing for the emperor to retreat and cultivate himself, as the dragon's health was more important.

In the minds of Zhang Juzheng and others, the emperor must live at least another twenty years, if for no other reason than for the sake of the Ming Dynasty.

The emperor's previous descendants either died or grew up disabled. To put it bluntly, there is no point in deposing Prince Yu and Prince Jing.

And pass the throne to the emperor's grandson.

It has been a way to bring disaster to a country since ancient times.

The Ming Dynasty learned enough from the lesson of Emperor Jianwen once.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun, the son of the deposed Prince Yu and the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, was not at all among the candidates that the cabinet had in mind for taking over the country in the future.

What the cabinet hopes is that the emperor will give birth to many children, educate them carefully, wait for twenty years, and choose a wise man to inherit the throne.

I hope Your Majesty is in good health and has many sons, so that our Ming Dynasty can prosper.

What Fu Yingzhen brought back was good news.

In a relaxed atmosphere, the five cabinet ministers sorted out the unfinished business of the previous year, the New Year plans of the six ministries, and the miscellaneous matters reported by the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and then it was time to go off duty.

The five ministers left the palace together, and Zhang Juzheng asked Chen Yiqin, "Yifu, when will you leave Beijing?"

The purpose of inviting Chen Yiqin to Beijing was to verify the authenticity of the imperial seal. Now that the imperial seal has been obtained, Chen Yiqin should continue to implement the national policy of "surveying the land and distributing the land equally to the people."

"Why, is the Prime Minister looking forward to my leaving Beijing?" Chen Yiqin asked jokingly.

Zhang Juzheng nodded seriously and said, "That's true. If you're not in Beijing, the cabinet will have fewer things to do."

It was Chen Yiqin who proposed to open more community schools.

The compilation of the sacred book was initiated by Chen Yiqin.

Two things.

Each event is more challenging than the last.

Zhang Juzheng was really worried that if Chen Yiqin stayed any longer, more trouble would arise.

People are all made of flesh and blood, and no matter how talented they are at multitasking, there is a limit. Over the past six months, Zhang Juzheng has been exhausted both physically and mentally, and feels old from the inside out.

If this continued, Zhang Juzheng was worried that he would not be able to support his dream of ruling the country for twenty years and would die of exhaustion prematurely.

"It's not like..."

Chen Yiqin looked at the Prime Minister, then at the Prime Minister, and then at his two colleagues. He paused and said, "I will leave after the fifteenth day and the Lantern Festival."

He can leave at any time.

But the elders had finally made the trip to the capital, so they always wanted to stay for a while and enjoy themselves before leaving.

After getting the promise, the wrinkles on Zhang, Gao, Hu and Li's faces smoothed out a little, and they said goodbye to each other.

……

Saibei, Fengzhou Beach.

The 100,000-strong Ming army and 30,000 cavalrymen of Sun's army completed the encirclement of the Northern Tartar Khan's tent, but they were not in a hurry to launch a general attack.

The news that Altan and his granddaughter Yeer Zhongjin had fled far to the west had already been known to both sides.

The Northern Tartars were in an uproar.

Bahanaji, the general of the Ming Dynasty, sent a message to Wang Chonggu, and persuaded his uncles and brothers to surrender.

Wang Chonggu gave Han Naji time, but only one day. If the Northern Tartars failed to recognize the current situation, they would have to be wiped off the geographical map.

In the Khan's tent.

After his father Altan Khan fled, the power to manage the affairs of the Northern Tartars naturally fell to his eldest son Senggelinqin.

Altan's eight sons gathered here, with Hanaji appearing here to replace their father. The situation of eight sons and one grandson was full of weirdness and strangeness.

Altan's three leaderless sons, the seventh son Bodasili, the eighth son Gunchuk, and the ninth son Jamsu, have been clamoring to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army to defend the dignity of the grassland.

But Altan's other sons, including Sengge, said nothing.

Bodaxili, Gunchuk and Jamsu have nothing to lose except their lives, while Sengge and his companions have enjoyed the grassland for decades and have long been unable to let go of this world.

Fighting your life is fine, but committing suicide is not.

Hannaji knew that the time was ripe, so he looked at his uncle Sengge and said, "Hawala, the Ming army promised that if you lead the people to surrender, you will inherit the title of Shunyi Prince of the Ming Dynasty in the future, and enjoy the prince's title and salary for life.

And my uncles, the titles and rewards of the Ming Dynasty remain unchanged, and you will enjoy endless wealth and glory!"

"May the world serve as a wise minister and respect the wise emperor!"

In the Khan's tent, Shan shouted.

(End of this chapter)