Di Ming

Chapter 186 Madam, Distinguished Guest!

On November 12, Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang led their troops back to Daishan Island.

The first thing to do was to bury the 120 Eight Banner soldiers who died in the southern campaign.

The funeral included a memorial service, the breaking of the urn, the funeral procession, the burial, and compensation for the family members. The event lasted for five days.

Zhu Yin ordered that the fallen soldiers be posthumously awarded the title of Heroic Captain. A shrine to the fallen soldiers was built in Daishan, where the memorial tablets of all the soldiers who had died in the past two years were enshrined, and a martial arts monument was erected.

It was stipulated that the Eight Banners soldiers and civilians must come to offer sacrifices during festivals.

Zhu Yin's posthumous pensions for fallen officers far surpassed those of the Wanli Emperor.

The first step is a one-time compensation of fifty taels of silver to the family. After that, they receive one tael of military pay every month until all three conditions are met: all children have reached adulthood, the widow has passed away, and both parents have passed away.

If one condition is not met, the payment will continue.

In addition, the families of fallen heroes and officers receive priority in recruitment and promotion. Those who are harmed will have their perpetrators punished more severely.

Wounded soldiers who were seriously injured or disabled and unable to serve in the army were granted the rank of Zhaoyong Xiaowei and received a one-time compensation of thirty taels of silver. They were then recruited into the three major factories and state-run fish farms and properly resettled, with a monthly salary of no less than one tael and five mace.

Similarly, officers of the Zhaoyong rank also enjoy the same preferential treatment as the families of martyrs.

The announcement of the compensation payments further boosted morale among the military and the people. Although a considerable amount of money and provisions were spent, Zhu Yin's control over the Eight Banners became even more secure.

Qi Jiguang couldn't help but sigh:

"If the imperial court provides such relief to the Eight Banners soldiers, what need is there to worry about unrest in the world or unrest on the borders?"

Ding Huogen seized the opportunity to provoke, saying, "Even a renowned general like the Commander-in-Chief, who was loyal to the country and made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty, ended up being dismissed from his post and stripped of his salary, and was almost driven to death by debt. What about the soldiers who died in battle?"

Zhang Cha, who had long been entrusted by Zhu Yin, spoke ill of the emperor, saying, "If the court is cruel and ungrateful, and the emperor is cruel and ungrateful, how can the world be at peace? There would be no justice if there were no great chaos."

Qi Jiguang remained silent, only sighing in regret.

For more than a year, Ding Huogen, Xu Wenchang and others had been "slandering the court" and "criticizing the emperor and father" at every turn, and he had gotten used to it.

……

On November 18th, Zhu Yin promulgated the "Provisional Commercial Law." This law regulated commercial activities, most importantly by using heavy taxes to suppress large-scale private businesses, but not individual businesses.

Today, life on the islands of Daishan is peaceful and stable, and a well-organized community has been formed.

Many essential professions have also resumed. Although the place is small and the population is small, it can be said that "all industries are thriving".

The circulation of money was thus facilitated, and money could be spent.

Of course, brothels, gambling dens, loan sharking shops, and other similar businesses are prohibited on Daishan Island.

Commerce was not prohibited on Daishan Island. However, Zhu Yin levied high commercial taxes to suppress private commerce, thus destroying the environment for its development.

Because the Eight Banners system of the Jinghai Army was close to military control and a planned economy, the already scarce human resources had to first meet the labor needs of the Eight Banners conscripts and public factories.

There was nothing that could be done about it. The population was too small to allow private businesses to develop and compete for human resources from the Eight Banners army and public institutions.

In reality, the Manchu Eight Banners system was similar to a military-controlled system and a planned economy. Even after Huang Taiji occupied the entire area outside the Great Wall and usurped the throne, he still tried every means to suppress private commerce within the country and support agricultural production and artisan manufacturing.

Small countries with few people are truly suited to a system based on public ownership.

If Zhu Yin were to actually seize power from the Ming Dynasty in the future, he certainly wouldn't do things this way. Not only would he not suppress private commerce, but he would also encourage and support it.

Nowadays, Daishan Island only has small vendors, all of whom are individually owned. This satisfies the island's commercial needs without requiring much labor.

...

Zhu Yin also did not forget to visit the Japanese woman who had been captured more than a year ago.

The six Japanese women were not imprisoned, but instead taught a group of teenagers Japanese and Japanese customs.

These boys were, of course, "family members" of the clerk's quarters.

Of course, they themselves also became family members of the Records Office, and even joined the Han Chinese community to become wives and mothers of Daishan Island.

Zhu Yin, wearing a mask, visited them and personally bestowed upon them money, grain, cloth, and jewelry as a gesture of favor and appeasement.

The Japanese women, like a group of Han women, gathered their robes and bowed deeply, saying, "We thank the General for his reward."

Zhu Yin said gently, "Although you were originally Japanese, today we are one family. As long as you admire China, your destiny will be yours. You may even return home in glory in the future."

Upon hearing this, the Japanese women were filled with gratitude and anticipation.

They were both daughters of Japanese farmers, living a miserable and pitiful life.

Previously, in Matsuura Tadanobu's army, they were essentially just camp girls, playthings, with no dignity whatsoever.

The samurai did not treat them as human beings just because they were their kin. They not only bossed them around but also frequently scolded, beat, or even killed them.

Samurai are fierce on the battlefield, and just as domineering in front of women.

However, after marrying a Han Chinese man on the island, she actually started living a more human life. Compared to Japanese men, Han Chinese men are more gentle and considerate.

Now she has a husband, children, and businesses on the island, and life is much better than before.

Therefore, they now not only identify with Daishan Island and their new home, but also feel grateful to the mysterious and dignified Xiao Jieshuai.

Afterwards, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei visited various primary schools.

When the three major factories were established last year, Zhu Yin ordered a large sum of special funds and grain to be allocated to establish schools in various banners and adopt a six-year education system.

All children aged five to eleven, regardless of gender, must attend school. The school system is six years long, with the first three years being lower primary school and the last three years being upper primary school.

The education provided by the schools in each banner was, of course, also part of the daily management of each banner. However, all schools had to abide by the "School Laws" promulgated by Zhu Yin.

The so-called teachers only need to be familiar with the "Thousand Character Classic" and "Elementary Learning Forest", know addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and have good language expression skills. More than a hundred qualified teachers were selected, more than 80% of whom were male teachers, and there were also more than 20 female teachers.

Teachers were classified into three grades based on their academic level. The monthly salary for the first grade was two taels, for the second grade it was one tael and five mace, and for the third grade it was one tael.

The school has been operating for ten months, using the curriculum and class hour system of later generations.

The curriculum consisted of Mandarin Chinese and simple arithmetic, similar to that of private schools throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, this is only a temporary and helpless measure.

The two visited each of the primary schools, and all of them were already in regular classes. The two thousand school-age children on each island were divided into more than a dozen schools, and the atmosphere was very lively.

At each school they visited, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei personally greeted the teachers and students and bestowed upon them paper and pens.

It took the two of them three whole days to inspect all the schools on each island.

As soon as they returned to the governor's office, they discussed improving the curriculum.

The schools are all on track, and the teachers have gained some experience, so we can start subject reforms next year.

A fire was lit inside the house, crackling and burning the old ship planks, making the whole house warm and cozy.

The three men sat around the fire, discussing how to reform the academic discipline.

Ning Qingchen, wrapped in a fox fur coat like a ball of fluff, seemed uninterested, stretching out her small hands to warm herself by the fire while thinking about her Ah Jin.

Won't Ajin freeze to death in Nanjing when it gets cold in winter?

Before she left, she put a lot of thought into keeping Ah Jin warm so that the beautiful snake could get through the winter.

The shiny black dog lay at Zhu Yin's feet, cozy and drowsy, occasionally wagging its tail and licking its fur.

Lately, it feels like it has all the energy in it but nowhere to use it.

Zhu Yin took a few sips of the milk powder Ning Caiwei had prepared, wiped the milk mustache around his mouth, and said:
"The increase in subjects starts from the upper primary school, while the three years of lower primary school still only teach Chinese and arithmetic."

"Mathematics in upper primary school will be strengthened and will be made a core subject alongside Chinese language. However, it will have nine fewer lessons per month than Chinese language."

In their design, students would have two days off every ten days. Excluding summer and winter breaks, there would be 24 school days per month, with six classes per day. Subtracting all holidays throughout the year, the average number of classes per month would be over 130.

Ning Caiwei scribbled on the paper, "That means there are 48 Chinese lessons and 39 math lessons per month for the three years of elementary school, which is 87 lessons in total. How should the remaining 45 lessons be divided?"

Zhu Yin smiled and said, "Tell me your thoughts first, and let's see if we share the same idea."

Ning Caiwei waved the paper and pen in her hand, "The remaining 45 classes per month, that's 15 classes per ten-day period. Our timetable is based on ten-day periods, so we just need to divide these 15 classes into periods."

"History classes are definitely necessary; they must be offered as a separate course, a minor subject. There will be three periods every ten days, focusing solely on general history. As for historical perspectives, we must reject class narratives that are too strongly ideological."

Zhu Yin nodded and smiled, "That's exactly what I was thinking. A class-based view of history is unacceptable because classes will always exist."

"Of the eight historical perspectives, there is one that is most suitable for us and for Chinese civilization."

"There are eight more historical perspectives?" Ning Qingchen finally raised her head with interest, no longer thinking about her Ah Jin. Ning Caiwei was also hearing about the eight historical perspectives for the first time. She studied economics and business and didn't know much about literature and history.

Zhu Yin added a piece of firewood, patted the black tiger at his feet, and said:
"Historical materialism is also unsuitable. It is too theoretical and ignores the strong humanistic aspect of history. It may be used by scholars, but it is not suitable for national education."

"A global historical perspective is too advanced; we don't have that kind of broad perspective, nor is it suitable for us."

"Of the remaining five, there are the civilizational view of history, the heroic view of history, the social view of history, the ecological view of history, and the modern view of history. The civilizational view of history and the social view of history are the most suitable for us."

"The key is to see which perspective—civilizational or social—is most suitable for us."

Ning Caiwei said, "The view of history as a civilization is the mainstream view in later generations, right?"

Zhu Yin pondered for a moment and said, "The civilizational view of history is indeed the most widely used, but it can't be said to be the mainstream. Because other historical views are also used quite a lot."

"For an ancient civilization like China, a civilizational historical perspective can not only effectively cultivate national self-confidence, but also more easily provide a scientific methodology, and is more conducive to drawing on the humanistic spirit from history to guide the direction of national development."

“Our history is narrated from the perspective of civilizational history, which makes it the least likely to go astray. In ancient times, there was no independent discipline of history, and the ancient people’s view of history was the cycle of the Mandate of Heaven and the cyclical nature of the Five Elements. This view of history is too old and is certainly not suitable for the future of Chinese civilization.”

Ning Caiwei said, "Then let's choose the civilizational historical perspective. Once we've chosen the historical perspective, the teaching content will be easier to determine."

Zhu Yin nodded: "I agree, let's go with the civilizational history perspective. I'll write the textbooks gradually. Just a simple general history, it's for elementary school, so it won't be much work."

Ning Caiwei scribbled a few lines on the paper. "History class is three periods every ten days, so there are twelve periods left. Calligraphy class, physical education, geography, what else? It's hard for us to teach physics because it's not convincing."

Zhu Yin said, "We won't teach physics and chemistry. First, no teacher knows how to teach them. Second, they're completely unrelated; how can truths appear out of thin air and be understood by the public? They're inexplicable."

Even Ning Qingchen nodded her little head.

The little tiger is right. Take Newton's laws and other fundamental physics principles, for example. You can't just throw them out and force society to accept them as absolute truth, can you?
Even if you prove it with experiments in public, how can you convince the public that it is a valuable truth and not a meaningless game?

Zhu Yin continued, "We can't teach physics and chemistry for now, but we can't do nothing either. Let's start by teaching 'The Study of Nature,' introducing plants, animals, and natural phenomena to stimulate thinking. As long as it doesn't involve the underlying principles, it'll be fine."

Suddenly Ning Qingchen said, "We also need to teach 'Biology,' explaining the human body, diseases, reproduction, bacteria, and hygiene. As long as we don't delve into the principles and only discuss the surface phenomena, there won't be any problem. I'll write this textbook."

Ning Caiwei smiled and said, "Qingchen is right. These simple facts should also be disseminated. But we don't need to create a separate course called 'Biology'; we can just add them to 'The Study of Things'."

Zhu Yin agreed, "Then add it to the course 'Investigation of Things,' making the course 'Investigation of Things' very important. It will also require three lessons every ten days."

The three discussed the course and finally decided on a strategy.

The plan is to compile the teaching materials within six months before implementing the new curriculum guidelines.

Ning Caiwei continued, "There's also the matter of law. Our army uses the 'Military Law Regulations,' while the civilians still use the Great Ming Law. The law enforcement and judicial bodies are all led by the Eight Banners officials. Is this appropriate?"

"Forget it." Zhu Yin shook his head. "With such a small population, do we really need to build a special government office and hire a group of people to handle cases? We don't have anyone available. Let's just hand them over to the officers of each banner."

"Civil affairs, litigation, mediation, public security, production, and warfare... all these matters are handed over to the officials at all levels of the Eight Banners. This is what is meant by streamlining the government and reducing the number of soldiers. It is most suitable for small countries with few people."

Zhu Yin had already thought about this matter.

He established a judicial office in Luzon, but not here.

Luzon not only has 50,000 Han Chinese, but also a million indigenous people. It's impossible not to establish a judicial office there.

There are only about 20,000 people here, spread across four islands. Even the most populous island, Daishan, has only 12,000 people. How many lawsuits could there be? There's no need to build a judicial office.

Zhu Yin thought for a moment and added, "Just set up a judicial commissioner, and let Ding Huogen hold the position concurrently. He will have the authority to oversee criminal cases and inspect the Eight Banners prisons."

Ning Caiwei agreed, "That's simple."

The next day, Zhu Yin appointed Ding Huogen as the judicial commissioner to oversee criminal and judicial matters of the Eight Banners.

Next, Zhu Yin arranged the work tasks for the three major factories and state-owned fish farms for the following year.

Ning Caiwei was also busy during this time. She went through all the accounts of the factory, the fish farm, the Eight Banners, and the Jiedushi Mansion.

All the treasuries, granaries, armories, and other warehouses were also inspected.

Then, she formulated simple and easy-to-implement accounting regulations and personally appointed a team of financial officers to manage accounts and expenditures and conduct independent accounting.

With this move, she immediately seized control of Daishan Island's finances!

From now on, all generals, banner chiefs, factory directors, and warehouse directors will lose the power to easily withdraw money and grain, and must undergo financial audits.

Even though Ning Caiwei was far away in Nanjing, she could still remotely control the finances of Daishan Island.

……

On November 28, Zhu Yin and others left Daishan Island and returned to the mainland by boat.

On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, more than two months later, Zhu Yin and the others finally returned to Qingqiao Village.

Qi Jiguang was somewhat lonely. Shen Yiguan was reinstated and returned to the capital, and Xu Wei served as the prefect of Jingzhou, both of whom performed admirably.

What about yourself?
He felt he wasn't old enough to lead troops into battle, but the court seemed to have forgotten him. To this day, not only has he not been reinstated, but his salary hasn't even been restored.

If it weren't for the fortune I've made in the last two years, I'd probably starve to death.

Qi Jiguang only stayed in Qingqiao for a few days before deciding to return north.

"Young Tiger," Qi Jiguang said directly to Zhu Yin without any formality, "I won't be spending the New Year with you this year. I'm going back to Dengzhou. I haven't been home for a year or two, and I miss it very much."

"Now I have plenty of money, more than enough to pay off my debts. I have paid off all my debts to the Kong family and other creditors, and I can finally stand tall."

Qi Jiguang looked somewhat emotional. Since meeting his adopted son Zhu Yin, he felt he had never felt so relaxed and carefree.

Although he wanted to return to Dengzhou, the thought of his wife, Wang, leaving him filled him with sorrow.

While Wang was resolute, it was my own doing to push her into that situation. My actions back then truly broke her heart.

Madam, I have paid off my debts, and I will not take any more concubines or squander my money. Would you still like to come back?

Thinking of this, Qi Jiguang felt somewhat saddened.

Zhu Yin, of course, knew Qi Jiguang's thoughts. He didn't expose them, but instead said understandingly:

“Your son has long been preparing for your father’s return north. Father can leave at any time. In fact, Father should also be returning to Dengzhou for the New Year. After the New Year, your son will go to Beijing to take the imperial examination, and then go to see Father after the examination.”

Qi Jiguang nodded and smiled, "What a filial and good child, thinking of everything so thoroughly. With you and Caiwei supporting each other, I am very relieved."

"I'll leave tomorrow, or it will be too late. After the New Year, I'll come to Beijing to find you. Whether you pass the exam or not, we'll meet in the capital."

That evening, Zhu Yin hosted a banquet to bid farewell to Qi Jiguang.

The next day, Qi Jiguang boarded the carriage that Zhu Yin had prepared in advance, and accompanied by several servants, left Qingqiaoli to return north to Shandong.

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei saw Qi Jiguang off, and only after watching the carriage disappear into the distance did they reveal a playful smile.

"There was bound to be a lot of joy when my godfather returned to the Dengzhou Junior Guardian's Mansion."

Ning Caiwei asked, "Will the plan succeed?"

Zhu Yin laughed and said, "Absolutely. If they can't even get this done, then the Records Office is utterly useless."

Ning Caiwei smiled, "So, Godfather will be able to have a good New Year this year."

……

Heavy snowfall in the North.

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Qi Jiguang finally returned to Dengzhou despite the heavy snow.

Looking at the familiar archway of the Qi family mansion covered in snow, and thinking of the changes that had taken place over the years, Qi Jiguang couldn't help but sigh:

"When I left, the willows were swaying. Now I return, the rain and snow are falling."

Sigh, it's really raining and snowing heavily.

He entered the Qi family mansion covered in snowflakes and found that the once empty house was now much more lively.

He saw the lady's maid!
Qi Jiguang was overjoyed, but before he could ask anything, he heard a familiar voice:

"Qi Yuanjing, where have you been?! You've kept this old woman waiting for ages!"

"You still know how to come back!"

Qi Jiguang turned his head and saw an old woman wearing a mink coat, looking at him angrily, holding a rolling pin.

Qi Jiguang was overjoyed. "Oh, Madam! Madam, what a distinguished guest! What a distinguished guest!"

P.S.: That's all for today, I'm so tired. At least Qi Shaobao and his wife are reunited, since his wife isn't a bad person. Thank you, goodnight!

(End of this chapter)