Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 552 Yege'er in the Central Plains
In the end, the emperor saw those two thick books, with clear punctuation and a strict format, which would not cause any additional ambiguity for later readers.

Wang Jing entered the palace through a eunuch serving the emperor.

After seizing power

The emperor once considered recalling his true maternal clan, the Liang family.

Unfortunately, the Liang clan had already been exiled during the reign of Emperor Ming, and now they were exiled again, resulting in significant population loss.

Even though the emperor, to show his closeness and respect, posthumously honored his maternal grandfather who died in prison and granted titles to his three surviving maternal uncles, it was still not enough to help the Liang family recover quickly.

After all, once a person is gone, they're gone.
Having a child and then raising them to be successful also takes time.

then,

The emperor now trusts and relies on the eunuchs who have always been by his side and played an irreplaceable role in his power grab.

The power of those in the inner palace thus expanded.

Fortunately, the emperor was not truly an innocent youth.

The talent inherited from the Liu family, along with the lessons of his predecessors and his own experiences, enabled him to realize the impact that the growing power of eunuchs would have.

This is a group of people closest to the Heavenly Family.
Everything about them was concentrated within the imperial palace in Luoyang, and their every move inevitably stirred up trouble within it.

Unfortunately, the saying "the darkest place is under the lamp" often causes the masters of the palace to overlook those turbulent events.

Empress Dowager Dou, who had already moved into the Southern Palace and frequently rebuked the emperor, was only looking at poetry and distant places, ignoring the lessons learned from the past.

An emperor would not allow the weapons he previously used to fight his enemies to become chains that bind him.

Liang family,

Those close relatives by marriage
They will become a new force supported by the emperor to counterbalance him.

Size and size are mutually restraining, and internal and external are mutually balancing.

This is the approach a monarch should take.

but,

There's no rush now.

He is still very young, not yet twenty years old, and full of vigor.

If one were to fall into the intrigues and power struggles at this point, then that would be the end of one's life.

As the emperor who rules over all under heaven,
Even if there are shadows around us, we must still uphold the basic principles of honesty and integrity.

Intrigue cannot accomplish great things.
The annals of history will never praise the achievements of such conspiracies.

……

"Make a copy of these books and store them in the palace."

"Then, through the White Tiger Temple, we will spread this message to enlighten people and help our Great Han continue to cultivate and expand."

The emperor closed the book and gave this order.

Without hesitation, the eunuch beside him stepped down and began to carry out the decree.

The young emperor then rose and went to the inner palace to visit his concubines.

His body grew stronger and his power more secure, and naturally, his harem also became more abundant.

With the downfall of the Dou family, the emperor needed to appoint an empress for himself, thereby further weakening Empress Dowager Dou's power and status from a legal and institutional perspective.

After all, although the latter had moved to the Southern Palace, as long as she still held the title of "Empress Dowager," the emperor would have to outwardly be filial to her.

The harem did not have its own mistress, and many things needed to be reported to her and obtained her permission.

For this,

How could the emperor not be worried?
Fortunately, he was still young when he seized power.

Even though Empress Dou wanted to control the emperor from top to bottom and inside to outside, she never directly chose an empress from the Dou family for him.

He's only fourteen, not even fully grown yet. There's no use in rushing him. We might as well wait two more years.

As a result, things took an unexpected turn, and many things were unpredictable.
The example of Duke Dao of Jin, who returned to the state from Chengzhou at the age of fourteen and ascended the throne, swiftly subdued the powerful ministers who were capable of assassinating the ruler.
Centuries later, it was staged again in Luoyang.

People often say, "We should learn from history."

Such exceptional talents and geniuses are truly rare.

Even those who read extensively don't take it seriously.
Not to mention the Dou family, led by Dou Xian, who didn't like reading.

in this way,

This allowed the emperor to be unusually relaxed and at ease when facing his harem.

……

"This book is really boring!"

"The writings of the philosophers of the pre-Qin period are still more enjoyable to read."

Lady Yin, who was favored by the emperor and received extra support from the emperor due to her family's status as a maternal relative, expressed her disdain and disappointment after hearing that the emperor had acquired a precious book and had taken a look at it.

"Why do you think that?" the emperor asked her.

Consort Yin, who was the same age as the emperor and was often praised for her liveliness and intelligence, said:
"The writings of the philosophers are beautiful and rich in metaphors, but this book is just dry talk about what is and why, and it also contains things like mathematics and astronomy... If it weren't for the illustrations, I really wouldn't be able to read it at all!"

She held her head, looking like she couldn't take it anymore and was dizzy.

The emperor liked her cuteness, so he went along with her words and laughed.

However, in his mature-beyond-his-years mind, he couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment at Yin's pure innocence and naivety.

The emperor was exceptionally intelligent from a young age, and he never harbored any undue fear of the harem because of Empress Dowager Dou's precedent.

Although Empress Dou was harsh and cruel, enjoyed indiscriminately attacking the late emperor's harem, and even discussed with her family the possibility of deposing and killing herself,

However, she always seemed to be taking good care of herself, otherwise the late emperor wouldn't have entrusted her with raising two children who had lost their mother.

Moreover, even without the genuine love and care of elders,
The emperor had two kind older brothers by his side from a young age. After he became aware of things, in his occasional confused dreams, he could enjoy a rare moment of warmth in the arms of his birth mother, whose face he could not see.

Therefore, the emperor's personality was relatively normal.

He was just a little disappointed:
It's a real shame that such a genius like him couldn't find a peer of similar genius to accompany him.

The two books on investigating things and understanding principles presented by Wang Jing, though lacking the resounding and inspiring words of a sage, still explain how the universe operates from another perspective.

This unprecedented angle,
This was quite novel for the emperor, who was in the prime of his youth, exploring and learning, yet had already reached the pinnacle of his life.

Those seemingly divinely ordained "calculus principles" were further confirmed when the emperor curiously experimented with a few arithmetic problems and obtained positive results, prompting him to exclaim in amazement.

With the precedent set by the "Agricultural Canon,"

There is no doubt that these two books will bring about changes to the world in the future.

Moreover, the Han dynasty of today is different from the Han dynasty of the past.
The founding emperor was a learned scholar.

Emperor Ming was so learned that he personally took to the stage and left the great Confucian scholars of the court and the countryside speechless in debate.

After the late emperor held discussions on the classics at the White Tiger Hall, he directly centralized the "right to debate the classics" into the court.

Therefore, in spreading the teachings of the sages and winning the hearts and minds of the people,

There was no need for the emperor to be in a hurry.

Now that the "Tao" has been established, the "skills" naturally need to be improved as well.

The Analects states:
If a workman wants to be good, he must first sharpen his weapon.

Promoting advanced technologies so that people around the world can do more, better, and faster is in line with the natural order and human nature.

"Your Majesty, what do you think of my newly written calligraphy?"

Consort Yin's soft, clear voice interrupted the emperor's thoughts.

She brought out a scroll and presented it to the emperor.

The emperor then composed himself and continued to deal with the future empress he had already chosen.

And on the other side,
Having only recently entered the palace and yet to meet the emperor, Deng Sui heard about Wang Jing's presentation of his book and the emperor's commendation. Curious, she asked someone to extract a few articles from "Mingwu" for her to read. She read them intently, her eyes growing ever brighter.

After a long time,

She rubbed her eyes and exclaimed in admiration:
"really interesting."

"If everyone in the world could use the knowledge in this book, the world would surely become more prosperous!"

The palace attendant who was close to him laughed and said, "Can something that is not written by sages and does not teach the principles of being a good person really benefit the world?"

Deng Sui said, "Benefits are earned through actions, not just words."

"Besides, if it weren't for the skillful craftsmanship, I wouldn't be able to live in such a large palace!"

She pointed to the thick beam overhead and said playfully.

The palace maid smiled and shook her head. "You're right!"

"But it's late, you really should go to sleep."

Don't put down your book when it gets dark.
Your eyes will get blurry if you keep doing that!

Deng Sui listened to the advice and went to sleep, but she was still thinking about when she would be able to see the emperor.

……

"The Central Plains are indeed different from the West!"

“When I read descriptions in books or explanations from predecessors, I always felt like I was looking at them through a veil.”

"Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, my astonishment has only increased."

Located on the land at the very center of the world,

He died at the age of ninety-five, and was personally mourned by the current Roman emperor Augustus. The Great Teacher of the West, who was also draped in a purple robe on his coffin, was leaning on his cane, walking slowly with his Father in heaven, admiring the scenery of the Middle Kingdom.

He did not ask God to take him to Luoyang, the capital, to see what the emperor who ruled the world looked like, or what the ministers who governed the country looked like.

After all, many things

It is unnecessary to focus on only one corner or one city.

To understand how the central government is doing, one only needs to look at how the local areas are faring.

Besides, I've been living a leisurely life in Rome for so many years.

Yorgias had already witnessed enough of the grand dramas in Augustus's court.

Even though he hadn't tasted the flavors of the Central Plains yet, there was really no need to torture himself further.

He felt relaxed and happy when he saw more of the lives of the people in the Central Plains.

"With so much grain in the farmland, it's no wonder that the people don't own as much land as those in the West."

As he passed a field, Yege couldn't help but bend down, squat on the edge of the field, and reach out to touch the ears of grain that had formed on the soil.

The fruits are packed tightly together, most of them plump, weighing down the stems and making them look like their necks are about to break.

This was a "plumpness" he had never seen before, even after years of cultivating the land in Guangye City in western Thailand and using many methods of fertilization and harvesting.

"The water and heat in the West are not as good as in the Central Plains, and the land has not been able to bear the sweat of thousands of years of cultivation, so it is normal that it cannot produce more grain."

"Fortunately, the land is vast and sparsely populated, so if the quality is not good, we can make up for it with quantity, and it can still support people."

Grain is very delicate.
When Shennong selected it from the boundless green grass in the wild,

It has thus been carefully nurtured by generations of farmers.

Even if they still have to endure wind and rain,

Farmers will remove any weeds that appear around them;
Farmers would move away any stones they encountered at the base of the tree.

The nutrients in a piece of land, under the hands of a farmer with boundless favoritism, will only supply one type of crop.

How could this not make the grains more "delicate"?

Recalling the hardships he had faced leading his followers in reclaiming the wasteland, Yako nodded in agreement.

They continued walking.

When you travel from the prefecture to the county, and then from the county to the villages and towns,
Thinking about the schools, institutions, itch, and order he had seen, Yege'er couldn't help but sigh again:
"They value education and are willing to share knowledge with the people. No wonder this land has such a large population and such a prosperous civilization."

Even the truly advanced parts remain in the hands of the powerful and wealthy.

But once those simple skills are passed down, they always bring about some changes in people's lives.

The progress and development of a civilization,

And it's always inseparable from those subtle changes.

"The children here all know the Nine-Nine Rhyme and can read and write some characters."

"Even the elderly in the village could learn about the country's situation and comment on matters of state and public opinion through proclamations issued by the imperial court."

"It's much better than the West."

I think of the wild people running happily in the jungles of northwestern Thailand, whom I had spent most of my life trying to tame but failed to do so.
Thinking of the nobles in Rome who monopolized vast amounts of knowledge, unwilling to share it even when suppressed by Augustus's power...
Yege let out another sigh.

He really couldn't understand it.
The westward migration of the Qin people clearly brought paper, a powerful tool for carrying knowledge, to the West. So why hasn't Rome popularized it over the years?
"Different needs!"

God, sensing what his eldest son was thinking, smiled and explained to him, "Although more paper is used in the Central Plains than in other regions, the people still use it relatively infrequently."

Even if the world is at peace, and we are currently living a prosperous life,
But the people, who have endured the hardships of life, will not relax because of this.

The principle of "a new emperor, a new court" applies.
They may not be very clear about it.

However, they were still keenly aware of the impact that different emperors' rule had on the world.

There is no eternally reigning monarch in the world, and naturally, there are no policies that remain effective forever.

Moreover, when the dust of the times falls on an individual, it always becomes a mountain that crushes families and destroys lives.

The pain of a nation's upheaval can kill countless people.

Therefore,
In order to better survive the turmoil caused by the transition from the old to the new and the changing of the world,

Even after a bountiful harvest, people couldn't help but be frugal, even stingy.

Ordinary people don't believe in things that are so grand as to be beyond their own comprehension.
They would only use the bloodline and lessons painstakingly passed down by their ancestors, like marmots on the grasslands, to dig cellar after cellar for their descendants, storing up many things to ensure the basics of survival.

As for reading

What good is reading those works by the philosophers of the pre-Qin period?

The current emperor has relaxed the standards for recommending candidates based on filial piety and integrity, but no matter how you calculate it, only one candidate can be selected from 200,000 people each year.

How could ordinary people be qualified to participate in such fierce competition?
They were content with learning enough commonly used characters and basic arithmetic skills relevant to daily life, and were reluctant to spend their limited funds on precious books.

After all, after the invention of paper,

While the price of books has indeed decreased, it is still not something that farmers in the fields can easily afford.

It's not that we can't afford one or two books even if we just open our wallets.
But the shrewd common people, after calculating on their fingers, always felt that reading one or two books was useless, and it would be better to use the money to buy food to cook and cloth to make clothes.

Of course,
The public was still quite accepting of the "miscellaneous newspapers" sold by some vendors who did not want to leave their names or footprints.

The "miscellaneous newspaper" was only the size of a quarto sheet, a thin sheet, and felt of very poor quality. Even the ink characters on it were pitifully small, and you had to stare at it and get close to see them clearly.

It contains stories and fables written in simple and easy-to-understand language, as well as many recent developments in various places, imperial decrees, and jokes about everyday life.

It's cheap, and several people can chip in to buy one, so they can hold it and crane their necks to watch the fun.

It can only be said that gossip has indeed promoted the spread of knowledge.

"In the end, the most important thing is people's livelihood."

"However, given the current emperor's abilities and the scenery we just saw, the future looks promising."

As Yege'er looked at the villagers in front of a village, who were laughing heartily at the "miscellaneous newspaper" with its utterly nonsensical writings, a slight smile appeared on his aged face.

Then he remembered:
"I wonder when such prosperity and peace will reappear in the Western Sea."

(End of this chapter)