Chapter 91: Follow the guidance! (Please subscribe)
Leave the salt factory.
After stealing some spare time, Xia Zhibai returned to Kyoto.
He was sitting in the teahouse opposite the Kyoto Salt Shop in Yingtian Prefecture, drinking a large bowl of tea and leisurely looking at the pedestrians coming and going below.
A counting sign hanging outside a salt shop in Kyoto.
It has gone from six zeros yesterday to more than 30,000 kilograms.
This is yesterday’s sales volume.
After yesterday’s fermentation, today there is still an endless stream of people coming to the Kyoto salt shop to buy salt.
According to Xia Zhibai's estimation, this level of popularity will continue for a few more days.
But it won’t always be this popular.
People's spare money is limited, and their demand for salt is also limited. In a normal family, a person can use three kilograms of salt a year.
Salt is still a bit expensive nowadays, and many families still live a life of tight clothing and food. As for those who buy a lot of salt to pickle things like later generations, there are very few such families in modern times.
Half a million pounds of salt is not that easy to achieve.
“This number one scholar is the number one scholar, and what he does is different.”
“How much will the price of salt drop this time.”
In the teahouse, some people looked at the busy salt shop in front of them, their eyes filled with emotion.
There is no shortage of salt in Yingtian Mansion.
They also have easy access to salt.
But this is the first time they have seen the salt sold by the Kyoto Salt Shop for such a cheap price and with such good quality after living for so long. If it had been at any other time, it would have been the salt sold by the Kyoto Salt Shop. Which one is not worth forty or fifty cents per pound?
This is good quality salt, better than what other salt shops sell.
"I got a big deal this time."
"Originally, I ran out of salt at home about ten days ago."
"At that time, I thought about buying it for thirty cents a pound. I've got salt, but my mother-in-law refused to give it up. She said, wait until the salt shop in Kyoto opens, and then look at the price. Not to mention, I'll get a big advantage at this time. Fifteen cents per pound of fine salt. , In the past, this was what we laborers could afford?”
A middle-aged man wearing coarse cloth, shirtless, holding a large bowl of tea, said with shining eyes.
He is a farmer nearby.
But during the slack time, I would do some labor in the city to supplement the family income.
Before the middle-aged man finished speaking, someone took over.
“Who says it’s not true?”
“I thought it was a mistransmission when I heard it yesterday.”
“This is really a piece of pie in the world, and I’m even more surprised. I bought it several times.”
"I bought five kilograms at one time, which is enough for a year."
"I just don't have any money in my pocket, otherwise I would like to buy more, but the five hundred thousand kilograms ordered by this salt shop is too much , can it be completed at Yingtian Mansion?”
“The price will return to twenty cents next month. Fifteen cents is a good price. It would be great if it could stay at this price.”
The dark-faced man licked his lips, with some reluctance and desire in his eyes.
The middle-aged man put down the big bowl of tea, picked up the coarse cloth hanging around his waist, wiped the sweat with all his strength, and joked: "Don't even think about it. Even if you are the number one scholar, how can you always be taken advantage of? ? But this champion is different from others. He was said to have donated high-yield grain and produced such low-priced salt."
"This man really knows how to think of us."
"It would be great if all the world were full of good officials like this, who knew how to think of us."
"Haha, How can there be so many good officials? The world is as dark as crows. We are all in good times. We have a good emperor and a good champion. Otherwise, this day will be like that. It is the high-yielding grain you said. , when will it be delivered to us?" someone muttered.
The tea house became quiet for a while.
Will it be sent?
Can I send it?
Can it really fall into their hands?
No one knows, and no one can answer.
Xia Zhibai leaned against the window, looked at the men chatting, and then looked at the sky.
Will it be sent?
Probably not in the short term.
If Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted to spread the word, he would have told the world long ago.
How could it be delayed until now?
Then there is only one truth. Zhu Yuanzhang did not want those grain seeds to be distributed.
To be precise, Zhu Yuanzhang did not hope that the emergence of high-yield grain would destroy the world line he had set early.
Zhu Yuanzhang is old.
Not only are people getting older, but their hearts are also getting older.
He is afraid of change, and he is also afraid that if he does not handle the change well, it will affect the Zhu family.
If he had lived longer, he might have dared to give it a try, but he was nearly sixty years old, how could he really dare to bet on how much life he still had?
If you lose the bet.
Zhu Biao failed to control it and lost his country.
It is too late to regret it.
Xia Zhibai can understand Lao Zhu's thoughts, but he will not listen.
He wants to pry the foundation of the world bit by bit, lay out the world quietly, and completely change the existing rotten soil of the world.
He has time, patience and determination.
Xia Zhibai withdrew his gaze and waited for Hualun's arrival.
Hei Wa has sent a message back, and Hua Lun has arranged to meet at this teahouse.
Time passes minute by minute.
Until dusk.
Hualun's figure quietly appeared.
He seemed to be very worried that his meeting with Xia Zhibai would fall into the eyes of interested people, so he was cautious in everything he did.
It’s just that Hua Lun’s actions, in Xia Zhibai’s eyes, gave him a feeling of ‘there is no three hundred taels of silver here’, and he couldn’t help but laugh and cry. He didn't reveal it either.
On the contrary, they cooperated and went to a private room.
Seeing that he and Xia Zhibai were the only ones in the room, Hualun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He cupped his hands towards Xia Zhibai and said helplessly: "I have no choice but to do this. You have a bad reputation in the court now. What happened back then?" Fan's desire to abolish the 'scholars' has aroused dissatisfaction among many scholar-bureaucrats. ”
"I am in the Hanlin Academy, so I have to be cautious."
Xia Zhibai nodded to express understanding.
He looked at Hua Lun and asked curiously: "Then why did you come to see me today?"
Hua Lun didn't talk nonsense, he just took out a piece of paper from his sleeve. , placed it on the table, and then pushed it in front of Xia Zhibai.
Xia Zhibai opened the paper.
Just seeing the contents clearly, I couldn't help but feel a look of astonishment on my face.
Ah. Arabic numerals?
His face trembled slightly, not knowing whether he should laugh or what to do.
Hua Lun didn’t notice, and said to himself: “I passed by the Yanyan Shop yesterday and saw the counting symbols on it. I thought it looked familiar. I took the time to look up some information in the palace today. , I really got something.”
“The symbols outside your store are Arabic numerals.”
"Although there are subtle differences, as long as you compare them a little, you can ignore the differences."
Hua Lun looked serious.
Xia Zhibai was speechless.
No need to remind Hua Lun, they are Arabic numerals, but they are more recognizable than those recorded by historians.
Xia Zhibai said: "What exactly do you want to say?"
"If you are just here to verify whether the numbers I gave to the clerk are Arabic numerals, I can give you a definite answer. They are Arabic numerals, and there is no difference from what you showed."
"I can also tell you one more thing. , this was passed down from Arabia, but it was not created by Arabs.”
Xia Zhibai was a little confused.
Didn’t he understand the significance of Hua Lun’s trip?
Hua Lun looked serious. He pointed to the numbers on it and said, "I didn't pay much attention to these symbols before, but when I saw the counting cards yesterday, I found that this counting system seems to be better than The one we commonly use is more convenient and intuitive.”
"What else?" Xia Zhibai looked confused.
“What else?” Hua Lun was stunned for a moment and looked at Xia Zhibai blankly.
Xia Zhibai had a black line on his face.
Hua Lun looked for himself 'sneakly' just to tell himself that he was using Arabic numerals?
Xia Zhibai took a deep breath and said calmly: "This set of numbers does have a lot of merits, and it is also helpful to improve arithmetic skills. However, in the past, the land of China did not treat this kind of foreign I don’t care much about the local things, and I always insist that the local ones are the best.”
"So it has been ignored again and again."
"It's good that you can detect the unusualness in it."
"If you want to apply this system to the court, it is just convenient It’s not enough.”
“The ministers in the court have very strong conservative ideas. If you rush to the throne, you won’t get very good results. Instead, you will be considered as eager for quick success and too eager to highlight yourself. "
Hua Lun quickly waved his hands and said: "I have no intention of going to Shang Shu."
"I just want to ask you, can this numerical system be used in conjunction with calculations?"
"That way it will be much easier and less prone to errors when processing a lot of data. When reviewing, It will be much easier."
Hearing this.
Xia Zhibai replied in the affirmative.
“Yes.”
"And it fits perfectly."
"It's just a different way of writing."
"The essence has not changed."
"This set of numerical symbols will also be the world's future The mainstream. ”
“The past writing system, or the old algorithm, was too unrealistic after all. This was caused by the intentional actions of the scholar-bureaucrats and the conservative mentality.”
"Most of them are actually deliberately raising the threshold for learning."
"Let fewer people master knowledge."
Hua Lun was stunned for a moment.
He didn't think so much.
He just wanted to use this set of numbers because he was happy about it. He was currently mainly dealing with the memorials from the Ministry of Household Affairs. If there were no problems with this set of number systems, then he might be able to improve his related skills with a little study. The speed of political affairs processing.
This is why he came to ask Xia Zhibai.
Just want to know if it is feasible.
Xia Zhibai obviously thought deeper and was a bit cynical.
Xia Zhibai looked at Hua Lun back and forth, a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth, and said: "Hua Lun, do you want to please His Majesty?"
Hua Lun jumped up from the chair. He sat up, looked at Xia Zhibai with a vigilant face, and said in a serious voice: "Xia Zhibai, I'm warning you, don't try to trick me, I won't be fooled by you, you are already deceptive enough. Don’t try to hurt me again.”
Xia Zhibai has a black line on his head.
When has he ever tricked someone?
This is pure slander.
Xia Zhibai said angrily: "As for me plotting against you? I can really provide you with a way to please His Majesty, but I want you to do one thing for me, and you can do it easily. It won’t have any impact on you.”
Hua Lun’s expression changed again and again.
He still couldn't believe Xia Zhibai easily.
He had suffered enough.
Xia Zhibai said seductively: "If you really do as I say, maybe you don't have to stay in the Hanlin Academy to recruit talents, but you can directly enter the Sixth Ministry, or other official offices, and make great contributions. Fist and kick, realize your ideals and ambitions.”
“Are you really not interested?”
(End of this chapter)