Tongzhou Pier is almost full of ships, and ships traveling from south to north gather here.
As the end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the terminal for water transportation from south to north, the terminal here has surpassed Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou and other places in less than two years, becoming the second largest terminal after Jinling Longjiang Terminal.
It is not easy to replace the Longjiang Terminal. After all, it is supported by the Yangtze River, and many goods in the south need to dock there.
The Security Bureau provided a boat and took Zhu Wenkui, Yu Qian and others all the way south, and also visited the bustling Tianjin Port along the way.
After years of construction, Tianjin Port has become the first port in the Ming Dynasty. It not only has the strongest navy stationed in the East China Sea, but also built a large number of civilian docks for berthing of southern sea ships.
As the Ming Dynasty's control over Dingyuan Province became more stable, businessmen began to move towards Dingyuan Province, hoping to get rich through minerals there.
The imperial court issued a statement allowing merchants to mine any minerals in Dingyuan Province except gold and silver. But after nearly two years, many businessmen began to curse.
Damn, what you say is nice, you are allowed to mine any mineral except gold and silver, but you have other minerals...
I wanted to dig coal, and I searched for more than a year, but I couldn't find even a coal pit. I wanted to dig for iron ore, but I found it here. But this iron ore mine is small and thin. Mining it will cost a lot. If I don’t mine it, it will be a waste of resources. I can only continue to mine and curse people...
Leaving Tianjin Port and continuing south, the ship arrived in Cangzhou.
Yu Qian wanted to see the Cangzhou Iron Lion, Han Xiayu wanted to eat Cangzhou's golden jujubes, and Zhu Wenkui wanted to see the people's livelihood here so that they could go ashore in Cangzhou.
Cangzhou can only be regarded as an inconspicuous small town. Although there has been some improvement over the years relying on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, it is not an important town after all, and not many businessmen will stay here too much.
But even so, the main street in Cangzhou is still a bit lively, with people coming and going, and the sound of hawking is noisy.
When passing a teahouse, the roar of cheers inside attracted Zhu Wenkui, Yu Qian and others, and they followed them to the teahouse.
The storyteller stood on a high platform, slapped the paperweight in his hand, and made a clear sound, and then began to cadence: "As we arrived at the small pavilion, a bottle set was set up: a plate of green plums and a bottle of boiled wine. The two sat opposite each other, enjoying themselves. Drink freely. When the wine is half full, suddenly the clouds are overcast, and the rain is coming. From a distance, I point to the dragon hanging in the sky, while Cao and Xuande stand on the railing to watch..."
"Brother Nian, this is talking about the Three Kingdoms."
Yu Qian heard this and whispered.
Zhu Wenkui smiled and saw that there were no empty tables in the teahouse. When he saw that there were only two people at the table, he walked over and wanted to share a table.
Both of them are rough men in civilian clothes, both in their thirties.
One man is a simple and honest man, holding a banana fan in his hand, with one foot on the stool, his clothes are half unbuttoned, and his chest muscles are exposed. The other man seems to be even more taciturn, holding a book in his hand as a leaf fan to blow the wind, and holding a book in his other hand. Holding the tea bowl, taking a sip from time to time.
Wang Damiao moved the cattail leaf fan, looked at the young man walking over, and put his foot down.
Zhu Wenkui raised his hand and saluted: "I would like to ask you two brothers if we can share a table together so that we can have a good time." Xiu Shuzhu
"student?"
Zhang Quan put the book on the table and looked at the visitor.
Zhu Wenkui and Yu Qian looked at each other. Yu Qian took a step forward and said with a smile: "I'm still studying."
"Come on, sit down."
Zhang Quan and Wang Damiao greeted happily.
Wang Damiao looked at Yu Qian and said with a smile: "I, Yao, are about the same age as you. I study in a county school and got a top score of 20 before the summer vacation. Which county school do you study in?"
Yu Qian didn't know what to say. If he told them that he was in the Imperial College, they probably wouldn't believe it. Thinking that Zhang Bozhi was also his teacher, he said, "I studied in Wanping County.".Ь.
"Wanping, isn't that a county school in Beijing? It's amazing." Zhang Quan sighed, and asked the waiter to serve tea, and then looked at Zhu Wenkui: "This little brother, should he be admitted to the government school soon?"
Zhu Wenkui just wanted to laugh at Yu Qian, but in a blink of an eye it was his turn, so he had to reply: "Come on, gentlemen said, as long as
If you study hard and don't slack off, there is still hope of going to the Imperial College. "
"Okay, this is our Ming Dynasty good boy."
Wang Damiao sighed and was about to continue talking when Zhang Quan interrupted Wang Damiao and said to Zhu Wenkui, Yu Qian and others: "Look, the exciting part is coming."
Zhu Wenkui and Yu Qian looked at the storyteller.
The storyteller was talking about "cooking wine to discuss heroes" and soon said: "Cao Cao pointed his finger at Xuande, then pointed at himself and said: "Today's heroes are only envoys and Cao Er!" Xuande heard this and ate it. Startled, the spoon and chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground. "
"coming."
Zhang Quan and Wang Damiao whispered.
Then Zhu Wenkui, Yu Qian and others heard a sudden "click" of thunder. The sound was so loud and shocking that it was followed by the roar of thunder!
After the thunder, there was the sound of pouring rain, which seemed to be pouring.
Zhu Wenkui looked at the sunshine outside and then at the storyteller.
"good!"
The whole hall was cheering, and even Zhang Quan and Wang Damiao couldn't help but stand up and applaud.
"This is--"
Yu Qian was a little surprised.
Wang Damiao sat down and said with a smile: "This is Old Liu Tou's unique skill. He can shout out the sound of thunder, rain, birds, horse hooves, and even the sound of weapons clashing. Listening to his story is like being there. The environment is very comfortable."
Zhu Wenkui looked at it in admiration: "It's really amazing."
Yu Qian was also filled with admiration, this is such a talent.
Think about it, if Mengchang didn't have special skills such as "roosters crowing and dogs stealing", he wouldn't be able to return.
Zhu Wenkui looked at the book in Zhang Quan's hand and couldn't help but ask: "What book is this brother reading?"
Zhang Quan patted the book and said with a smile: "You are a scholar, so you should know the four great classics. This is one of them, "Yingya Shenglan"."
"The Four Great Classics?"
Zhu Wenkui looked at Yu Qian.
Yu Qian shook his head and said don't look at me, I don't know either.
Zhang Quan looked at Zhu Wenkui and Yu Qian who were looking at each other, frowning and said: "You don't know? This is not possible. How can a scholar not read the four great classics?"
Wang Damiao was also puzzled: "My wife likes the four major classics, haven't you read them?"
Zhu Wenkui said with a smile: "We have read "Yingya Shenglan". The author of the book is named Ma Huan, who was a scribe in Zheng He's fleet. This book records what happened during Zheng He's great voyage. Many countries, scenery and customs, geography and mountains, kings’ language, climate and products, tidal routes, etc. However, we don’t know what the four famous books say.”
Seeing Zhu Wenkui speaking easily, Zhang Quan relaxed his brows and said with a smile: "I don't blame you if you don't know. Everyone is immersed in reading. These four masterpieces were set by Zhonghua Book Company at the beginning of this year, and they were said to be based on sales. Based on the sales volume, four books were selected. This "Yingya Scenic Views" is the fourth one."
Yu Qian asked curiously: "What are the first three books?" Wang Damiao pointed at the storyteller and grinned: "The first one is "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the second one is "Water Margin", and the third one is "The Legend of the Three Kingdoms". "The Founding Annals of Taizu".
Zhu Wenkui and Yu Qian nodded repeatedly.
"The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was published after Emperor Jianwen took over Luo Guanzhong's manuscript. Its appearance marked the end of the anti-Japanese strategy in the Hongwu period. "Water Margin" was subsequently published and caused a craze in Jinling.
But to be honest, after these two books came out, they were only "best-selling" in some big cities, such as Jinling, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Kaifeng, Xuzhou and other places. In some prefectures and counties, not many people bought and read the books. , not to mention sales.
But times are changing.
After entering the Jianwen Dynasty, the Imperial College took the lead in restructuring, introducing miscellaneous students to the Imperial College, and then extended this restructuring to Fuzhou and counties. At the same time, the imperial court was still vigorously developing culture, education and literacy, and the amount of money invested in the field of education every year had reached an astonishing level.
After the establishment of social studies, imperial culture and education entered a new stage, forcing teenagers to enter social studies, and compulsory education emerged.
My son is studying, I am literacy, let the people become literate
The rate has been significantly improved. After more than ten years, especially the last five years of education, there have been many people who can read and write among the common people.
Zhu Wenkui knew that this was what his father Zhu Yunwen said: market culture.
I thought it would take another ten or eight years for development to reach this stage, but I didn’t expect to see the growth of market culture in this small place in Cangzhou.
Zhu Wenkui looked at Wang Damiao and Zhang Quan and said, "I dare to ask what you two do for a living?"
"Farming, haha. Why, you can't read when you are farming? Our Yaozi said that if you don't know how to read or read, you will become a fool and do stupid things. Although we are old farmers who are bitter, we are not fools who are bitter. Old farmer."
Wang Damiao said cheerfully.
Yu Qian nodded repeatedly: "Yes, everyone in the world should be literate and read. Only in this way can knowledge be passed down from generation to generation. If there are more scholars, there will be more smart people. If there are more smart people, the Imperial College will be able to study more knowledge, and the Ming Dynasty will Can be stronger."
Zhu Wenkui picked up the tea bowl and tasted it, and said with a smile: "The emperor said that knowledge comes from the people and the people, but the least literate are the people and the people. This has prevented many good cultures and technologies from being passed down. It is really a pity. . If more people are literate and read, then culture and technology will no longer be easily lost. If the emperor sees that the people are talking about the four classics, he will be very pleased."
Zhang Quan clapped his hands: "The Emperor is absolutely right. If the Emperor had not been diligent in his political work and promoted literacy over the years, we would not have thought that we would be able to see this. Speaking of which, there are too many stories on the sea. .I heard that Ma Huan also went with the fleet. I wonder what story will come when he comes back this time..."
Yu Qian looked at Zhu Wenkui: "The fleet has been away for nearly two years, is it about to return?"
Zhu Wenkui thought for a while and said: "According to the original plan, they should meet this month. If everything goes well, they may not be returning home at this time." xь.
"Do you know about the navy?"
"Uh, this, I heard the gentlemen talk about it a bit."
"Everyone, come here, there is news about the navy."
The storyteller Old Liu looked at Zhang Quan and Wang Damiao fiercely. He didn't notice that he was about to say "Yuan Shu is dead" and he was going to reward him with money. How could I eat with your voice...
