Di Ming

Chapter 164 Picking Ferns and Slaying the Serpent
Early the next morning, Ning Caiwei woke up in Ning's room and came over to see Zhu Yin and Ning Qingchen.

Zhu Yin and Ning Qingchen also got up. Zhu Yin was practicing the Qi family's "Xinyou Knife Technique," while Ning Qingchen was writing and drawing on paper.

The boy's swordsmanship was already quite good; although he still struggled to wield the Embroidered Spring Blade, his technique was precise and disciplined.

I was covered in sweat again early in the morning.

Noticing Caiwei's arrival, Zhu Yin turned around with his knife in hand, looking at the girl in the halo of the rising sun with his eyes slightly narrowed.

He then twirled his sword, sheathed it, and stood quietly beneath the tree, his white robes flowing gracefully. A morning breeze blew, and locust blossoms, like snow, fell upon the young man's shoulders.

Ning Caiwei walked up to Zhu Yin, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, wiped the fine sweat from his forehead like a little wife, and then took the embroidered spring knife from his hand.

Then, with a flick of the wrist, the blade reflected her exquisitely beautiful and youthful face, a fleeting glimpse of her stunning beauty.

Then Ning Caiwei began practicing the "Xinyou Knife Technique," with moves exactly the same as Zhu Yin's, except that she had a dance background, making her movements even more graceful.

She's starting to resemble a dashing female knight-errant. Zhu Yin noticed that she was deliberately learning from Ding Hongying.

By the time she finished practicing a set of sword techniques, she was covered in sweat.

She returned the knife to Zhu Yin, wiped the sweat from her face with a handkerchief, and smiled brightly:
"I've been out of practice for two days, and I'm already a bit rusty. With a few more years of practice, I'll be more than capable of defending myself. Our hard work won't be wasted. Hmm, shall I go take another shower?"

Ning Qingchen had been eager to test Ning Caiwei ever since she saw her. Now that she had finished practicing her swordsmanship, she immediately put away her paper and pen and ran to her sister's side with her short legs.

"Sister, I'm researching some traditional methods for manufacturing medicines..." Ning Qingchen said, tilting her head up, and glanced at Zhu Yin with a half-smile.

Upon hearing that she could develop several drugs within two months, Ning Caiwei immediately said:
“Sister, medicine is of course meant to save lives. But without the participation of capital, relying solely on the moral strength of a very small number of people, medicine cannot develop significantly and will eventually decline.”

"You are noble and selfless, with a compassionate heart and a dedication to healing the sick. You are a beacon of light for your patients. But people like you are few and far between."

“Great advancements in medical technology absolutely require the involvement of capital. Therefore, I believe that we can combine saving lives and making money, which is not contradictory.”

"Saving lives is of course the primary goal, but making money can be a secondary goal, right?"

"Don't look at me like that. You've misunderstood. I'm not trying to profit from the national crisis. I really am not."

"Capital is not just money and business; it's also a highly efficient way to integrate resources. We need the efficiency of capital, you know?"

"Giving the prescription directly to the government sounds selfless, albeit altruistic, act of saving lives without making a single penny. But the efficiency might disappoint you, and the outcome might infuriate you."

Ning Qingchen's little face was full of smiles. She pointed at her older sister with her little finger and said to Zhu Yin, "Little Tiger, you lost."

Ning Caiwei was both amused and exasperated. "You made a bet with Little Tiger? Betting on my character, huh? You think I would profit from a national crisis like this?"

Zhu Yin patted Ning Qingchen's head. "Dr. Ning, your sister wants to make money, but that's different from profiting from a national crisis. After listening to what your sister said, I also think it's inappropriate to directly hand over the prescription to the government for epidemic prevention. It may seem selfless, but good intentions may not necessarily lead to good results."

“Your sister is right. The medical industry must have the participation of capital. It cannot be built up by your personal efforts or by the moral strength of a noble person alone.”

Ning Caiwei patted her younger sister's head and said earnestly, "Take our Ning family for example. Many people say we are big capitalists and have an industry monopoly. But the Ning Group's biotechnology has filled a gap in the domestic market, ensuring that China is not controlled by the West in biotechnology."

"Ning's advanced materials are world-leading, a strategic advantage that even the West envies. Ning's cultural and entertainment industry has also made significant contributions to enhancing China's soft power and resisting Western cultural aggression."

"Aren't these all due to the power of capital? Without decades of capital operations by the Ning Group, could these achievements have been made? Ideals and knowledge alone cannot drive technological change."

"Take your prescription for example. If we don't keep it a secret and make it completely public, do you think the people will benefit? You're too naive. Someone will always make money from this. If we don't, someone else will. Do you think this is about profiting from a national crisis?"

"If the prescription for the anti-epidemic drugs is made public, it will only allow those powerful and wealthy to profit from the national crisis. Do you believe that by then there will be chaos and utter mess?"

"We have a monopoly on the prescriptions, which allows us to make efficient arrangements and use our control over the drugs to help the government better prevent and control the epidemic and save lives."

“You were once a director of the Ning Group, so even if you have no business sense, you should be able to understand this principle.”

Ning Qingchen nodded, her smile sweet. "President Ning, I'm not being unreasonable. I'll get the prescription. I don't care if you make a profit or not, but I have only one request: the price of the medicine must be cheap enough."

"Alright," Ning Caiwei said helplessly, "I promise you."

"Don't worry about the drug business, I can handle everything. One of you should focus on drug research, and the other should concentrate on your studies."

Ning Qingchen's face hardened. "I will check the accounts later. You can't pursue exorbitant profits on conventional drugs. If I find out that you are pursuing exorbitant profits on conventional drugs, I will make the prescriptions public."

Ning Caiwei opened her mouth, but could only manage a bitter smile.

She felt that she was increasingly losing control of her younger sister.

Because the younger sister found a little tiger to back her up.

Ning Qingchen then said smugly to Zhu Yin, "How about it, little tiger? I won, didn't I?"

Zhu Yin was speechless. Although he agreed with Ning Caiwei's approach, he still smiled at Ning Qingchen and said, "You won."

Ning Qingchen added, "Immediately purchase large quantities of realgar, orpiment, antelope horn, alum, artemisia, and atractylodes. We should also buy what we have in our medicinal herb garden, because our production is definitely not enough."

……

At the end of May, Zhu Yin finally advanced to the advanced class as planned and entered Shuaixing Hall for further study.

In less than a year, he went through Guangyitang, Xiudaotang, and Shuaixingtang, completing the journey that others would take four years to complete.

In the May monthly exam, he received a score of eight points for the first time.

According to the system of the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty, getting eight points was one of the conditions for participating in the provincial examination.

He was confident he could get nine points in the monthly exams in June and July.

Under Shen Yiguan's strict tutelage, Zhu Yin completed all the problem-solving exercises in the Four Books and Five Classics, accumulating more than 5,000 problems in half a year. His level of writing in the eight-legged essay improved rapidly, and he was no worse than those veteran tribute students, and even approached the level of deputy tribute students.

Even Zhu Yin, when reading his own essays, would find them "steady and conservative, smooth and elegant, and old-fashioned."

Even when writing the eight-legged essay, one's mindset would involuntarily become more refined, composed, conservative, mature, and cautious.

It's like he's become a different person.

It seems that without this state of mind, the essays written in the eight-legged essay style become too sharp and lose the "sage-like flavor" of the eight-legged essay style.

Zhu Yin had long understood that the eight-legged essay would subtly shape and change a person's character and way of thinking. This was what was known as "enslavement" or "domestication."

They call it "education" or "moral education".

It's perfectly normal for someone as unrestrained and unconventional as Xu Wei to fail the imperial examinations. His personality was too strong, too confident, and too self-centered, so he couldn't write "excellent" eight-legged essays.

Zhu Yin was able to write it because he was much more patient and resilient than Xu Wei.

Therefore, when Xu Wei saw Zhu Yin's eight-legged essay, he couldn't help but shake his head and say:
"What kind of writing is this? It's pretentious, vague, empty, and grandiose. Is this what you call an article?"

Shen Yiguan laughed and said, "The essays you look down on actually have a better chance of passing the exam. In my opinion, Zhihu's essays are already quite good."

He reminded Zhu Yin not to be influenced by Xu Wenchang, but to focus on preparing for the exam using the methods he had taught him.

Zhu Yin secretly focused his review on the Doctrine of the Mean, buying all the Four Books essays on the Doctrine of the Mean that were available in Nanjing, all written by past successful candidates in the imperial examinations.

He bought and read all the articles written by the main Hanlin scholars and officials of the Imperial Academy, studying them carefully. He often got up at the crack of dawn and went to bed late at night.

Because the examiners were from these very backgrounds.

Starting in early June, Zhu Yin suspended the Xuan Society's literary gatherings and focused entirely on preparing for the exams.

With only two months left to prepare for the exam, I must give it my all!

……

On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, red and green flowers are displayed in the sun.

The sixth day of the sixth lunar month is the Tiankuang Festival, also known as the Insect King Festival or the Aunt Festival. Customs of the Tiankuang Festival include scholars airing their books, women airing their clothes, children washing their hair, and the bride's family welcoming her married daughter back home.

That day, all of the Zhu family's books were aired out.

Besides Zhu Yin's Four Books and Five Classics, there are also Xu Wei's calligraphy and paintings, Qi Jiguang's military treatises, and so on.

Among them, the most eye-catching is Xu Wei's manuscript of "The Record of the Summer Gods".

He kept a close watch on him, especially on Qi Jiguang.

"The Summer God Chronicles" has been written for more than half a year and has reached more than 200,000 words. It is getting more and more exciting.

Bodhi and his disciple, the stone monkey, both emerged.

Upon seeing the manuscript of "The Summer God's Tale," Zhu Yin immediately thought of Journey to the West and Wu Cheng'en.

Wu Cheng'en was also a child prodigy who became famous at a young age. However, he was kind-hearted by nature and could not be tolerated by the officialdom. He was unable to pass the imperial examinations and his life was full of hardships and poverty.

His son died young, and his wife passed away early. He lived a lonely life until the age of eighty-three, his later years filled with desolation.

Zhu Yin knew that Journey to the West was published by Shidetang in 1592, ten years after Wu Cheng'en's death.

At this time, the manuscript of "Journey to the West" was hidden in Sheyangyi, the former residence of Wu Cheng'en in Huai'an, and should be in the hands of Wu Cheng'en's family.

This is why Zhu Yin did not believe from the beginning that the author of "Meiping Jin" was Wang Shizhen, but rather the ill-fated Xu Wei.

The authors of every classic Chinese novel were impoverished scholars with tragic lives.

Wang Shizhen, a high-ranking official from a wealthy family, lacked the mindset and patience to create great works.

Because Wu Cheng'en was poor, he couldn't afford to publish "Journey to the West" during his lifetime. The manuscript was sold after his death.

Shidetang was a renowned printing house in Nanjing, and many books were printed and published there. However, the Journey to the West published by Shidetang was unsigned.

It is clear that the manuscript of "Journey to the West" was bought by someone. However, the person who bought the manuscript did not impersonate the author, nor was it necessarily noble; rather, they simply dared not use their name.

This has led to the author of "Journey to the West" remaining a mystery for hundreds of years, and many parts of the work still being missing.

It wasn't until the early years of the Republic of China that it was verified that the author was Wu Cheng'en.

More than 200,000 words of the later version of Journey to the West were added by later generations. As for the content of the additions, Zhu Yin thought it was mediocre.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yin immediately summoned Zhou Desi and instructed him to take some men to Huai'an to handle a matter.

Purchase the manuscript of "Journey to the West"!
Zhu Yin rushed to buy "Journey to the West" to protect the manuscript and publish the book ahead of time.

However, the manuscript of "Journey to the West" is voluminous, and it is not something that can be done in a short time to organize, verify and publish it.

Therefore, Zhu Yin planned to buy the manuscripts and, after the provincial examination, invite members of the Propaganda Society who were willing to organize the manuscripts to help him organize and proofread them.

……

That day, Zhu Yin came home from school and told Xu Wei and Qi Jiguang some news.

Stonemason Liu Ruguo rebelled in Susong, calling himself the King of Shuntian Anmin and the Grand Marshal on Behalf of Heaven, and gathered tens of thousands of followers.

Zhu Yin knew about the Liu Ruguo uprising in history, a typical example of rebellion forced upon the people by officials. The Liu Ruguo uprising lasted for more than half a year, and was not suppressed until March of the following year.

Moreover, the uprising mainly took place in several counties in Southern Zhili Province near Taihu Lake.

Zhu Yin said, "I heard that when local officials and troops quelled the rebellion, they actually killed innocent people to claim credit, cut off the heads of civilians, and impersonated Liu Ruguo's subordinates. This caused the people to become angry and more people joined the rebellion, which led to the large number of rebels."

Zhu Yin couldn't call it an uprising; he could only call it a rebellion against the people.

He also had utter contempt for the Ming Dynasty's military merit system.

The military merit system of the Ming Dynasty was extremely backward, even absurd.

Duke Zhu Hui led his troops to drive out the Mongols, beheading twelve people. The number of meritorious soldiers reported was as high as 12,000.

In the struggle for the head, they even killed each other, murdering innocent people to claim credit.

Many Han Chinese who were taken to Mongolia feared the Ming army more than the Tartars and dared not return. This was because the Ming army would kill them and cut off their heads as a reward for their service.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, the practice of killing innocent people and claiming credit for their crimes was a malignant tumor that could not be eradicated despite repeated prohibitions. This resulted in a very poor impression of the government army among the people, and soldiers were even more despised.

This system of military merit was practically designed to kill innocent people and claim credit for them.

Qi Jiguang said, "The government troops are truly incompetent. With such behavior, they are bound to cause a major disaster sooner or later. I get angry just hearing about these acts of killing innocent people and claiming credit for them."

Xu Wei seized the opportunity to say, "The world is in chaos, and soldiers and bandits are indistinguishable. This is a sign that the world is about to change. Righteousness is lacking while evil is abundant. The way of the virtuous is waning while the way of the petty is flourishing. Killing innocent people and claiming credit for their deeds will only escalate, and there will be more and more rebels. This dynasty is probably not going to last long."

Qi Jiguang wanted to refute, but found he had no way to refute, so he could only sigh.

The more disappointed he was with the court, the more he doubted whether his loyalty to the court was worthwhile.

Sigh, Li Chengliang might be right.

Having a large army and wielding significant power actually allows one to accomplish more.

"Enough, enough! I've been in Jiangnan for almost half a year, and there are more and more things that make me angry. I don't want to be driven to my death by anger, so I'd better leave as soon as possible."

“Brother Wenchang, why don’t you go out to sea and relax? If we leave, Zhihu can focus on his exams without worrying about us. We can’t help with the imperial examinations anyway.”

Xu Wei laughed and said, "I couldn't be happier! Let's go out to sea now and find some peace and quiet for a while! We'll set off tomorrow."

"Ha, what a load of rubbish about the sea ban! It's just a formality. We can leave whenever we want!"

Qi Jiguang also said expectantly, "Inspired by foreigners, Zhihu left behind many novel inventions on the island. This time I want to see how many the craftsmen have made. That crystal telescope, I think it has a chance."

The two elderly men set off without hesitation. The next day, they left Nanjing and headed south to Zhejiang, intending to sail from Ningbo.

Just two days after Qi Jiguang and Xu Wei left, Zhu Yin received a piece of intelligence.

Enraged by Ning Caiwei's large-scale recruitment of workers, the Zhang and Liu families are finally about to take action.

In order to stop Zhu Yin from recruiting workers, the two families sent people thousands of miles away to secretly contact the Zhou family, who were officials in Shaanxi, saying that Zhu Yin and Ning Dajiao were carrying out large-scale construction on the Zhou family's land, building factories and destroying the feng shui.

Please ask the Zhou family to step in, take back the rented house, and drive away the Zhu family.

This is just the first move, cutting off the fuel supply at the source.

At the same time, the two families also bribed the prefect of Yingtian, asking him to order the demolition of the Zhu family's factory on the grounds of illegal construction, in the name of the owner, Zhou.

The third tactic was to contact the leaders of the displaced people in Zhenjiang, telling them that the Zhu family was charitable, wealthy and benevolent, and that they should come to the Zhu family to "beg for food".

The fourth tactic was to instigate the Wei family, the largest landowner in Jiangning County, to forcibly buy the fertile land that the Zhu family had acquired from the Wang family. Finally, they would buy it back from the Wei family at an inflated price.

In reality, they were using the power of the Duke of Wei's manor to force the Zhu family to relinquish the Wang family's estate, and then seize it for themselves.

Ning Caiwei laughed upon hearing the news: "The luring of the snake out of its hole has been successful; we can now slay it."

"Little Tiger, you can focus on your exams. I'll handle this and won't distract you."

Zhu Yin trusted Ning Caiwei's abilities and nodded with a smile:

"Alright, I'll wait and see what happens: Picking Ferns and Slaying the Serpent!"

P.S.: I'm on a business trip today, and typing on my phone has made my eyes tired. Typing on a phone is so tiring, boohoo... That's all for now. Goodnight!
(End of this chapter)