Confucius temples in later generations, except for the Qufu Confucius Temple, the Beijing Confucius Temple and the current Confucius Family Temple in Qufu and the Quzhou Family Temple, the other Confucius temples were actually ancient schools, that is, academic temples, which were government-run schools.
But many people don't know that the Confucius Temple is actually a school. Therefore, during the reform and opening up in the late Qing Dynasty, some people suggested that Confucius should be promoted as the leader of China in order to confront Christianity, and they also advocated opening the Confucian Temple.
As everyone knows, there is no Confucius temple in China, but Confucius is worshiped in academic temples.
Of course temples can be opened, but how can schools be opened? Can you enter the classrooms, libraries, and laboratories of Tsinghua University at will?
It can be seen that the ancient government-run schools have always been in name only. Most people do not know that the Confucian Temple is actually a school run by the state.
From the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, a kind of folk school emerged. During the Song Dynasty, it began to enter its heyday, that is, academies.
The four major academies, Yingtian Academy, Yuelu Academy, Shigu Academy, and Bailudong Academy, all originated in the Northern Song Dynasty. They can be regarded as injecting fresh blood into ancient Chinese education.
There are three ways to run private academies:
1: It is founded by people with high moral knowledge.
2. Scholars who study knowledge jointly raise funds to establish.
3. Founded by powerful people.
The knowledge taught in academies is different from the knowledge taught in government schools.
The knowledge taught in government-run schools is based on the needs of the country and is beneficial to the country. It has a strong political color.
Private colleges are more flexible, representing the pursuit of emerging things and pioneering innovation.
As the imperial examination system gradually improved after the Song Dynasty, academies basically replaced the status of government-run schools. Therefore, many people do not know that the Confucius Temple is actually a school, because government-run schools are no longer mainstream.
Yang Ming has also been thinking about how to set up schools all over the country without spending money. The only way to prepare for the national examination is to organize it privately.
But you have to tell people first that scholars from private colleges can take the scientific examination, so that someone can raise funds to start it.
In the current court, it can be said that no one except Yang Ming knows what impact the emergence of folk colleges will have on the country. After all, their vision is limited to the current world, and it is difficult to think so long-term.
But if you want to promote the college nationwide, you have to solve the book problem.
Books were priceless treasures in the Sui Dynasty. If you want to popularize them to the public after printing, it is very difficult. Block printing is easy to talk about. It is a simple batch, but the first question is, who will let you print it? How can I print it?
Even the royal children are not allowed to browse the collection of books in the Secretary's Department, so why bother trying to show off to others?
In the final analysis, a major reshuffle is still needed, but the price is too high. If Yang Ming dares to do this, he will be no different from Yang Guang in history.
You can't be in a hurry, and you can't be in a hurry.
Paper mills were under the control of Guitaifu Temple in the Sui Dynasty. There were only more than 20 paper mills in the country, mostly in the north. In the south, Shaoxing, southern Anhui, Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Guangzhou were the centers. The paper quality was basically the same, that is, The output is not good.
The largest papermaking factory in the capital is located at the site of the original Han Chang'an City, which is now called Chang'an County, but the county government is in Daxing City.
Yang Ming, accompanied by several officials from Taifu Temple, went there specifically to have a look.
As for the process, it is probably the same four steps: raw material separation, pulping, paper extraction, and drying.
Moreover, the paper mills in Chang'an still use waterwheels. There is the Yu River here, a first-level tributary of the Weishui River, so there is no shortage of water.
However, there was a problem with waterwheels in ancient times. Because they had wooden bearings, they could not be built very big, and they were very easy to wear. The bearings had to be replaced every three days, so the shipment volume of paper was not large.
The main material for papermaking is old linen cloth, not the raw material of hemp plants, so it is also called hemp paper. Wang Xizhi's masterpieces handed down from generation to generation are made of this kind of paper.
First of all, the raw materials are expensive. Linen is the clothing for food, clothing, housing and transportation. It is directly linked to the grain currency and is a hard currency. People can live without paper, but they cannot live without clothing.
So even damaged linen is expensive.
The raw materials are expensive, the technology is backward, and the shipment volume is low, resulting in the price of paper being very expensive. The quality of hemp paper is also divided into good and bad. It is mainly divided into thickness and thickness. There are high-grade white hemp paper, medium jute paper and low-grade burlap paper. Paper.
Today’s prices are three hundred yuan a piece, one hundred yuan a piece, and fifty yuan a piece, and a piece of paper is not big. In fact, there is no size standard for Sui paper. It depends on your use, such as Jing, Shi, Zi, Ji. The paper standards of the four major categories of books are different. The most popular specifications sold in the capital are four feet long and two feet wide, which is 1.4 meters x 0.7 meters.
The cheapest burlap paper is available to ordinary people. It is also a big expense in the family. When should it be used? Paper money and sacrifices are used to make ancestor funerals.
This is why people often pick up other people's paper money, save it, and then take it out when they need it at home.
The whole piece of paper in the offering represents clothes, which is equivalent to burning clothes for deceased relatives and friends to wear. Because paper is originally made of clothes, there is no need to burn paper money.
Yang Ming stayed at the papermaking factory for three days, and after roughly understanding its craftsmanship, he returned to the palace.
He wanted to improve the papermaking technology. Only when the output of paper was large, the price would be reduced. When civilians could afford it, the spread of writing would become a matter of course.
The problem of raw materials is the best to solve. In addition to linen, mulberry bark, rattan bark, daphne bark, hibiscus bark, bamboo, etc. can actually be used.
Because this type of paper originally existed in the Sui Dynasty, but it was directly obtained from the vegetation itself, the pulp grinding process was too long to become mainstream paper, so improving the grinding process would be enough.
That is to modify the waterwheel, and the main problem of the waterwheel is the bearing. Now that refined steel is available, it is not difficult to make wear-resistant bearings.
There are eight beads in the middle of the two rings. This is the bearing. The main problem is polishing.
If the bearing is not polished smooth enough, it will not be easy to use, but it is completely impossible to polish it to be as smooth as later generations.
Therefore, we can only use the earth method, put the bearings into fine sand, and polish them manually. Although it is very time-consuming, the amount of bearings is not large after all, so this time is worth spending.
In the East Palace, Yang Ming taught the general bearing making methods to Taifu Temple Qing Yuanshou, Shaoqing Yundingxing, and Shaoqing Wang Zhen.
"You make a set first and replace each bearing of the waterwheel with bearings made of refined steel. Give it a try first."
Yuan Shou nodded, stared at the bearing pattern Yang Ming drew on the paper, and said:
"I roughly understand what Your Highness means. It is to use the balls inside to drive the friction between the inner and outer rings to form force. It is not easy to make it and apply it."
"Try it slowly," Yang Ming said with a smile: "The key is that the size and roundness of the beads must be consistent to form a unified force. If any one is too large or too small, or not very round, it will not work."
Yunding Xing nodded and said: "And we have to find a way to insert the balls into the inner and outer rings. The control of this size needs to be studied in detail."
A simple bearing probably consists of these three parts. The outer ring is concave, the inner ring is concave, and the balls are placed in the middle. The three are made separately, so after they are made, you have to be able to put the beads in.
It's actually super simple.
Yang Ming smiled and said: "First put the inner ring close to one side of the outer ring, leaving enough space on the other side. Put the balls here, and then move the inner ring."
"Stop talking, I understand," Yunding Xing slapped his forehead and said with a wry smile: "It's so simple, I didn't think of it, making His Highness laugh."
"It's just a small skill. If you have never seen this kind of thing, you naturally don't know how to use it," Yang Ming said.
Yuan Shou asked curiously: "Where did your Highness learn this new type of bearing?"
"I figured it out myself," Yang Ming said with a smile: "With refined steel, you must make the best use of it. The refinery is under your management. Don't always think about making weapons and tools. In fact, it is useful in many places. You will also use it in the future. You have to think about it carefully."
"I have learned a lesson," Yuan Shou sighed.
In fact, they were not too surprised by what Yang Ming made today. After all, someone else made the refined steel, so they were not surprised.
In fact, the bearings can be modified and widened according to their purpose, and the steel balls can be changed into small cylinders. However, Yang Ming does not need to remind Yuanshou and the others that they have already thought of this. After all, they are professional players. They can do it with just one click and can be made with one tool. , they don’t need to be taught how to extend it.
Next, Taifu Temple began to study the manufacturing of bearings. As long as this thing is built, the waterwheel will have almost unlimited use, and the labor cost will be greatly reduced.
Not only can it be used for papermaking, but it can also be used for irrigation, flour grinding, and threshing.
Yang Ming can now wait quietly.
Feng Yuzhi had never had sex since she had been with him. Yang Ming went to Chen Shuyi's Yiqiu Palace that night. He was supposed to visit his daughter, and he happened to meet Dugu Feng'er.
After a long drought, Dugu Feng'er directly pulled Yang Ming away and nourished Yang Ming with all his strength in her dormitory. She didn't have a child yet.
The noise the two made was so loud that it could be heard very clearly in the courtyard outside the palace. Feng Yuzhi lived next door to Dugu Feng'er. After hearing the noise, he specially moved a ladder over. As a result, the more he listened, the more the spring tide rose and fell. In excitement, he accidentally fell off the ladder and twisted his foot.
"Why are you so careless?" Yang Ming, who only found out about the situation the next day, brought Chen Shuyi and Feng'er over to visit.
Feng Yuzhi, who had a swollen right ankle, used a quilt to prop him up and put a towel on him. Hearing Yang Ming's concern, he pouted and turned his head to the side without saying a word.
Yang Ming is also a little strange, what are you so angry about?
It was Dugu Feng'er who came in from outside the palace, whispered in Yang Ming's ear, and Yang Ming finally realized what he was doing.
Feng'er was outside just now, asking the palace maids how Feng Yuzhi fell. After knowing the result, she herself felt a little embarrassed.
The dormitory is so big, with three floors inside and three floors outside, can you all hear it? Then I'll keep my voice down from now on.
Yang Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He smiled at Feng Yuzhi and said, "Okay, I will stay in your palace recently and wait until you recover from your injury."
Chen Shuyi, who learned the truth, smiled and said: "It's OK if the injury doesn't heal."
Yang Ming and Dugu Feng'er were stunned at the same time and looked at each other. Feng Yuzhi was even more embarrassed and directly covered his face with the pillow towel. (End of chapter)
