Top Scholar

Chapter 323 Su Lu's Intentions

The large amount of supplies sent by An Guirong greatly improved the living conditions in Longchangyi.

Wang Shouren pasted thick paper on his windows, so he no longer had to worry about wind and rain getting into the house.

Inside the house, a mosquito net was hung on the bamboo bed, and a brand-new cotton quilt was laid out, so there was no longer any need to wrap oneself in a felt blanket and sleep on a straw mat.

The trunk Su Tai had prepared for him contained several sets of clothes for both dry and wet cleaning. On the table were blue and white porcelain teacups and teapots, and even the Four Treasures of the Study, a Go set... For Wang Shouren, who had almost no material desires, this was more than enough.

The warehouse was also piled high. Five bushels of rice were stored in bamboo woven bins, and millet and wheat were tied tightly in thick burlap sacks, piled up in the corner.

The earthenware jars were filled with rapeseed oil, while the covered earthenware pots contained the most precious salt… Guizhou does not produce salt; all salt must be transported from Sichuan, crossing mountains and valleys. Therefore, the Luoluo people have a saying: 'Salt is the sweat of the mountains, requiring a thousand-mile journey to carry,' and another: 'A pound of salt can be exchanged for a bolt of cloth.' This full jar of salt was enough to trigger an invasion by the Miao people.

The kitchen was also filled with new appliances, including pots, pans, and bowls, so people no longer needed to use bamboo tubes to eat or drink.

The area under the stilted house also became lively. Inside the bamboo fence enclosure, several plump little piglets were sleeping soundly after eating their fill.

Several hens, with a brood of fluffy yellow chicks, were pecking at scraps of chaff in the corner of the yard. A flock of mallards waddled out of the yard to forage in the nearby stream.

Beside the inn, in the vegetable garden cultivated by Su Lu and Wang Shouren, various vegetables had already sprouted green shoots. The bean vines planted when they first arrived were climbing up the bamboo trellis, twining and hooking onto the bamboo poles. The pumpkin seedlings' leaves were spreading out larger and larger, their edges curling a tender yellow; in a few more days, they would be ready to be picked and cooked…

The once desolate valley has finally come alive with the warmth of human life.

~~
Actually, the most important supplies An Guirong sent were various medicinal herbs for repelling mosquitoes and eliminating miasma. This was very important, as the peak season for miasma was approaching, and without treatment, people could really die.

"Excuse me, everyone, what exactly is this miasma?" Wang Shouren, who had never experienced the power of miasma before, sincerely asked for an explanation.

“Miasma is miasma…” The people at the post station exchanged bewildered glances. Su Tai scratched his head and said in a muffled voice:
"According to what we mountain folk say, it's because the weather is too hot and there's too much rain. The decaying leaves and grass in the mountains have been sitting for too long, and they release toxic dampness. If you get a little bit of that, you'll get a headache and fever. If it's severe, you'll get shivering and feel cold all over, like you've fallen into an ice cellar. Then you'll get a high fever and become delirious."

“It’s not just malaria. I have a guard who, while looking for a horse that year, accidentally wandered into the wetlands and contracted malaria. When he came back, he was delirious. Luckily, he was young and strong, and received timely treatment, so he recovered.” She Yunluo continued:
"The elders all say that the miasma in autumn and winter is the most poisonous, called 'mother miasma,' which gathers in the forest and cannot be dispersed, and even birds dare not fly over there!"

The warrior Luo Luo also said fearfully, "It's an evil spirit from the mountains and marshes attached to the air. People from the north get infected as soon as they come into contact with it. We locals can withstand it for a while, but we can't hold out for long."

The crowd offered various explanations for the miasma, but they all shared the same fear…

After listening attentively, Wang Shouren asked Su Lu, "Hongzhi, what are your thoughts?"

“Teacher, the Lingwai Daida says: ‘All diseases in the South are called miasma.’” Su Lu replied: “Among them, the most influential is malaria, especially malignant malaria, which is almost the general representative of miasma.”

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I remember something." Wang Shouren slapped his forehead and said:

“I remember that in the fifth volume of the Tang Dynasty’s ‘Secret Essentials from the Outer Terrace’, there is a record of ‘Nineteen Prescriptions for Mountain Miasma and Malaria’: ‘Miasma and malaria are two separate names, but they are actually the same. They may be accompanied by chills followed by fever or fever followed by chills. In Lingnan, they are generally called miasma, while in Jiangbei, they are generally called malaria. This is due to the difference in dialects, not because they are different diseases.’”

“Exactly,” Su Lu nodded.

"Is there a cure for this miasma, or rather, malaria?" Wang Shouren asked. "My frail body can't withstand such extremes of hot and cold."

“There is a cure, but the disease comes like a landslide and goes like pulling silk, often with a poor prognosis.” Su Lu said, “Therefore, prevention is far more important than treatment for malaria.”

“Of course, prevention is always the best approach,” Wang Shouren said. “Then how should we prevent it?”

“Two words: mosquito prevention.” Su Lu replied, “The so-called ‘pathogenic miasma’ is not real gas, but a large number of mosquitoes that can spread the disease gather and fly together. From a distance, it looks like a dark, ethereal cloud of gas, which is then mistaken for ‘miasma’. Once people and animals are bitten by these mosquitoes, they may become ill.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, "That's why in ancient times, military campaigns against Lingnan or the Southwest were always launched in winter, because there are no mosquitoes in winter."

“That makes sense,” She Yunluo said. “Our older generation also says that we should only go into the forest when there are no mosquitoes.”

"I see." Wang Shouren gave Su Lu a thumbs up and said, "Good disciple, you have taught your master another lesson... I have never heard of miasma being a swarm of mosquitoes before."

"The teacher has never been here before, so naturally he can't imagine what a swarm of mosquitoes looks like," Su Lu sighed softly.

"Looks like we need to take good care of mosquitoes!" Wang Shouren rubbed his hands together, genuinely afraid of malaria. He then frankly explained, "I can transcend gain and loss, honor and disgrace, but I still feel I haven't transcended the thought of life and death." "Then why are we still going to ask for a beating in court?" Su Lu asked.

"I never expected that pleading for mercy would result in being flogged in court," Wang Shouren said with a wry smile.

"Even the teacher cursed Liu Jin as a treacherous official, so why didn't he beat you up?" Su Lu said.

“That was just a title; it didn’t actually mention eunuchs at all,” Wang Shouren said.

“Maybe they only read the title…” Su Lu advised, “Anyway, teacher, please don’t be a clickbaiter in the future.”

"Clickbait?" Wang Shouren was amused by his statement and nodded, "Okay, I won't do that again."

~~
So the next day, everyone at Longchang Post Station was mobilized for a major mosquito prevention campaign before the start of summer!

They cleared away all the weeds within a radius of a hundred feet around the post station and spread a large amount of lime on the ground to prevent the weeds from growing back and to kill the insect eggs in the ground.

They also cleared the ditches in the corners of the walls, filled in the low-lying areas, and overturned all the jars and pots, all with the same goal: to prevent water from accumulating.

Following the experience of the Luo Luo people, She Yunluo also had the man named Ma Yi Azhuo deliver several hundred lemongrass plants, which she planted in front of and behind the house, even surrounding the entire courtyard. The strong lemon scent then enveloped the entire Longchang Post Station. This fragrance was harmless to humans and animals, but it could repel mosquitoes.

When the Miao chieftain heard that Mr. Yangming was afraid of mosquitoes, he quickly sent him their specially made medicine sachets, which were dark and smelly, but had a miraculous effect in repelling mosquitoes.

Thanks to these multiple layers of protection, the small Longchang Post Station became a mosquito-free zone. While mosquitoes were already rampant elsewhere, there wasn't a single one in Longchang Post Station.

Wang Shouren indeed remained lively and energetic, showing no signs of being afflicted by malaria...

“It seems that what you said is correct, Hongzhi… Miasma is mosquitoes, and preventing mosquitoes is preventing miasma!” At night, Wang Shouren lay comfortably on a bamboo chair and said to Su Lu beside him, “Could it be that you also reached this conclusion using the ‘hypothetical-deductive method’?”

"You could say that." Su Lu nodded, thinking to himself that he actually needed a microscope, but all scientific discoveries are basically inseparable from this method.

“I’m increasingly convinced that your method is incredibly powerful; perhaps it can be used to explore the path of sages.” Wang Shouren said, sitting cross-legged and looking intently at Su Lu. “How about you use this method to help me analyze the bamboo?”

"..." Upon hearing this, Su Lu's heart pounded, and he secretly exclaimed, 'They're here!'

The reason he wanted to become Wang Shouren's disciple and follow him to Longchang Post Station in this desolate mountain wilderness was for this very moment!
Because the famous "Enlightenment at Longchang" that everyone knows about in later generations happened here!
From a young age, Yangming aspired to become a sage. For once he became a sage, he would be able to perceive all the mysteries of the world, see through all false appearances, and understand all the principles of the universe. He would even be able to fully comprehend and grasp the laws and essence of all things under heaven!
This is so cool, isn't it? But why can everyone resist this temptation?
Becoming a sage is even more difficult than becoming an immortal. Over thousands of years, it is said that at least several hundred people have become immortals, but those who have become sages can be counted on one hand...

So no matter how tempting it is, it's useless.

But Wang Shouren was no ordinary man. He believed that if he was going to do something, he had to do the most difficult thing, so he embarked on this path of no return.

So how does one become a sage? Zhu Xi said one must "investigate things," because the sage said, "When things are investigated, knowledge is extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the will is sincere, the heart is rectified; when the heart is rectified, the person is cultivated; when the person is cultivated, the family is regulated; when the family is regulated, the state is governed; when the state is governed, the world is at peace!"

Therefore, investigating things is the first step to becoming a sage.

So why can investigating things lead to becoming a sage? Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi explained that it is because mastering the ultimate principle of heaven and earth makes one a sage, and that one ultimate principle, the so-called 'Dao', exists in all things.

This means that there are profound principles of the universe contained within everything. Therefore, if we investigate one thing today and another thing tomorrow, sooner or later we will be able to comprehend that one and only Great Dao!
The method to become a sage is the highest secret of Neo-Confucianism; go and practice it!
To this end, he mastered the Five Classics, studied Buddhism and Taoism, and even became thoroughly familiar with military strategy, apocryphal texts, and the works of various philosophers. Then, following the teachings of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, he spent more than a decade investigating things to gain knowledge, attempting to uncover the unique 'principle' in the universe!
As a result, they couldn't even figure out the reason for the bamboo shoots...

This made Wang Shouren begin to have some doubts about his lifelong beliefs.

Finally, in this desolate and remote Longchang Post Station, far from the world of Neo-Confucianism, at the lowest point in his life when he had almost lost everything, he had an epiphany!
Thus, he finally realized his ideal, became a sage who shines through the ages, and founded the great Yangming School of Mind!

However, the problems with the philosophy of mind are also very serious, so serious that many people blame Wang Yangming for the downfall of the last Han dynasty.

So Su Lu wanted to come and see what exactly the 'Enlightenment at Longchang' was all about, and whether there was any possibility of him helping to cover up Yangming's mistakes...

P.S. I'm posting two chapters now; the next chapter is still halfway through...

(End of this chapter)