dognovel Chapter 135 What a waste, you bastard!
Chapter 135 What a waste, you bastard!
Under Li Shanchang's coercion and enticement, Kong Xixue finally had no choice but to accept the task of compiling the "Hongwu Dictionary".
Emperor Zhu Chongba was very satisfied with this, as were the civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty court.
It's important to know that Kong Xixue was handling the "Hongwu Dictionary," a work of over 30,000 characters. To understand the pronunciation, definition, and examples of more than 30,000 Chinese characters, the various classical texts involved were vast and numerous. If Kong Xixue hadn't taken over, the high-ranking officials in the court would have felt like banging their heads against a wall just thinking about it.
After all, everyone had a lot of official business to attend to and no extra energy to compile the Hongwu Dictionary. Only Kong Xixue, a descendant of Confucius, could rally a large number of scholars to do this.
Even Emperor Zhu and others unanimously believed that Kong Xixue was a good minister who knew how to share the emperor's burdens. It would not be a loss to confer the title of Duke Yansheng on him now, let alone wait until the completion of the Hongwu Dictionary.
Even Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate who had always disliked the lineage of the Duke of Yansheng, gave a thumbs up after learning that Kong Xixue had taken on the task of compiling the "Hongwu Dictionary".
It's all thanks to Master Kong Xixue; otherwise, how could the three-thousand-character version of "Hongwu Zhengyun" and "Hongwu Dictionary" have been completed so quickly?
As for how many years Lord Kong Xixue would have to bury himself in his books, how many favors he would have to give, whether he would go bald young, or whether he would be scorned by those scholars who felt deceived, these were not issues that Magistrate Yang cared about.
Magistrate Yang was also very busy, hosting a banquet for Wang Qiong, the interpreter who had once again come to Ningyang County to deliver gifts.
"Doesn't it smell good? This chicken has been raised for more than half a year, and the meat is just right now. If it were raised for a few more months, the meat would become too firm and not as tender."
"Brother Wang, why don't you try these mushrooms? They were cultivated by the people of Ningyang County themselves, and they can still grow in winter. Take some with you when you go back."
"And this bok choy, it's a bit too tender, but it's perfect for adding to the meatball soup. It not only makes the soup clearer, but also adds a touch of sweetness and fragrance."
"Brother Wang, try this bun again. It's full of pork filling, paired with a handful of tender scallions. It's truly fragrant but not greasy."
Then, Magistrate Yang pointed to a plate of green beans with disdain and said, "This stuff is really not presentable, but it can be preserved for a whole winter after being cooked and dried. If you add some pork, the taste is barely acceptable."
Magistrate Yang then pointed to a plate of garlic chives and scrambled eggs: "This is indeed a good dish. The garlic chives can mask the fishy smell of the eggs, and it has a slightly crunchy texture when you chew it. Combined with the soft and glutinous texture of the eggs, it is definitely a good dish in winter."
"..."
As Magistrate Yang introduced the situation, Wang Qiong was completely stunned.
The dishes that Magistrate Yang served to himself were not particularly rare, but in the late autumn, when winter was approaching, these dishes became extremely rare.
Especially the tender green bok choy and the garlic chives that looked exceptionally fresh. These things are so rare at this time of year that it's hard to even see them, let alone eat them. Even the current Prime Minister, Li Shanchang, couldn't easily get his hands on them. Even if he occasionally received them as a reward from His Majesty, their quality was usually not as good as what Magistrate Yang brought out.
After regaining his senses, Wang Qiong simply asked, "Brother Yang, have hot springs been discovered in Ningyang County?"
Yang Shaofeng shook his head with a smile and said, "It's hard to even find a regular spring in this wretched place like Ningyang County, so how could there be a hot spring? These vegetables weren't grown using hot springs, and they're not the same as the vegetables grown in Wentangjian."
Wang Qiong grew increasingly eager and finally mustered the courage to ask, "I hope Brother Yang can be so kind as to offer some guidance?"
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "This thing sounds complicated, but it's actually very simple to make. First, prepare a room and put several stoves in it. If the room doesn't have windows, use it to cultivate mushrooms. If it does have windows, replace them with double-glazed windows to ensure lighting. It can also be used to cultivate garlic sprouts, or perhaps to grow bok choy and scallions."
Actually, when it comes to glass, Magistrate Yang was really furious.
The idea of glass was brought up by Magistrate Yang when he inspected the cement kiln some time ago.
Just as Magistrate Yang mentioned preparing some sand to burn together, Old Man Wang, who always had a crooked neck, blurted out, "Does Your Excellency want to make glass?"
Damn it, Wang Laowai's words scared Magistrate Yang so much that he almost asked, "Odd changes, even remains the same."
Then, Magistrate Yang learned about the glassmaking process from Wang Laowai.
Then, Magistrate Yang almost went crazy with anger.
Look at the other time travelers, they're always burning glass to make money.
But when it was his turn to time travel, he discovered that the Ming Dynasty had already been able to make its own glass!
Damn it, how much money will this cost?
Of course, everything has two sides. Although Magistrate Yang could not make a fortune by burning glass, it made it much easier for him to have people burn glass to make windows.
Wang Qiong was even more surprised.
"window?"
Wang Qiong glanced at the windows on both sides a few times, then turned back to Magistrate Yang with a bewildered look and said, "Brother Yang, instead of making and selling glassware, you're using it as windows?"
Magistrate Yang began to complain without any politeness: "What use is this piece of junk except for making windows? Yes, this piece of junk can fetch a high price, but let alone Ningyang County, how many people in the entire Shandong Province can afford it?"
"If we were to transport them to Jiangnan, not to mention whether they would be as exquisite as the glassware made in Jiangnan, the bumpy ride would probably cause them to shatter into pieces by the time they arrived. If we were to fill them with straw and chaff to prevent them from being jostled, we could not transport many at a time, and the cost would go up even further."
"So, instead of going through all that trouble, we might as well just use it to make windows."
"In this way, every household can use these windows to create a greenhouse and grow some vegetables in winter. Wouldn't that be much better than just selling glass?"
After hearing Yang Shaofeng's explanation, Wang Qiong almost cursed Yang Shaofeng for being a spendthrift.
That's glass, you bastard!
Instead of using it to make cups and saucers to sell at high prices, you use it to make windows, just so that people can grow vegetables in winter?
What a waste of resources! What a waste of resources, you bastard!
Just as Wang Qiong was secretly complaining, Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Let's not talk about the windows for now. Let's talk about the vegetables grown in Ningyang County. Brother Wang, do you think there's any potential in this business?"
Wang Qiong forced himself to calm down and pondered for a while before saying, "If Brother Yang intends to sell these vegetables in Jiangnan, it would actually be more profitable to sell them directly in glass cups. However, when it comes to making it convenient for people to grow vegetables and then sell them, I must say I admire you."
After a slight hesitation, Wang Qiong tentatively asked, "Brother Yang, how do you plan to sell these vegetables? Will you sell them to the palace first, or directly to the common people?"