I

Three months ago, Ji'an Mansion.

The army has been sent out, Zhao Han stayed in Ji'an, and the military and political affairs were grasped.

Zhang Bingwen, the political envoy of Jiangxi, was officially promoted to one of the three chief secretaries, responsible for assisting Zhao Han in handling government affairs. It's a bit like the cabinet ministers of Ming Dynasty, but there is a fundamental difference. Zhao Han's head secretary does not have the power to draft bills, and must be released after a long time.

"General Town, here is the memorial letter for the magistrate of Anfu County, I am afraid that we should pay special attention to it." Zhang Bingwen handed over an official document.

Zhao Han took it over and took a look. He was a little funny at first, but soon frowned.

It was originally just a small case, and it happened at the end of last year.

A soldier was rewarded for his meritorious service. When he returned home during the Chinese New Year, he brought back a copper bun for his wife. This is the jewelry around the bun, and it is also decorated with wreaths, pearls or other decorations. Generally, only ladies are eligible to wear it.

The soldier's wife used to be the maid of the landlord's family.

She went out wearing jewelry during the Chinese New Year, showing off that it was made of gold, and happened to meet the former mistress. The hostess satirized a few words, and the two sides had an altercation immediately, accompanied by the act of scratching each other's hair.

The two cried and went to the village head. The village head asked them why, asked them to apologize to each other, and promised not to quarrel over this matter in the future.

As a result, the two women were not convinced, and each took their families, and made a fuss with the mayor.

One said that the other party insulted him first, and the other reported that the other party was wearing gold jewelry, which must have been snatched by the husband while fighting outside.

The mayor did not dare to be negligent, and immediately asked someone to inspect the goods, and found that it was copper.

The matter should have ended here, and the woman who was born as a landlord suddenly clamored to abide by the township covenant. Then, the group began to discuss seriously whether soldiers' wives were eligible to wear a bun according to the township agreement.

In the end, the trouble went to the magistrate of Anfu County.

The county magistrate believes that the highest legal principles in Jiangxi should be based on the articles in Datong Ji. Even if there is a conflict between "Da Ming Law" and "Da Tong Ji", "Da Ming Law" should be sidelined, not to mention it is only a township agreement.

The article in "Datong Collection" says that all peoples are equal in personality, so ordinary women can also wear a bun.

The letter written by the magistrate of Anfu County to Zhao Han did not discuss the case itself, but how to regulate and guide the township agreement.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, in the vast rural areas of China, there were no laws, only township agreements.

Unless people are killed, the government doesn't care at all.

Zhao Han put down the letter and asked, "Do you know when the Xiangyue appeared?"

Zhang Bingwen cupped his hands and said: "The truth comes from "Zhou Li". Promoting the drinking ceremony in the township, let the famous elders educate the people, and let the elders handle the disputes in the villages and towns. The elders can also be regarded as a kind of village agreement. It was included in the "Encyclopedia of Xing Li" and then spread to the world. As for the real implementation, it is actually through Yangming's theory of mind."

"What does this have to do with Duke Yangming?" Zhao Han really didn't know.

Zhang Bingwen explained: "During the Zhengde period, the atmosphere was corrupt. Taizu's village drinking ceremony has existed in name only, and those village elders are no longer capable, but take the lead in oppressing the people."

To put it more clearly, Zhu Yuanzhang used village elders, grain chiefs, and village chiefs to rule the countryside. With the development of society and economy, in the mid-Ming Dynasty, these grassroots ruling forces were completely corrupted.

Zhang Bingwen went on to say: "When Duke Yangming suppressed bandits in southern Jiangxi, he had to educate the people in southern Jiangxi besides paying light taxes, resettling refugees, and exterminating bandits. Therefore, Duke Yangming formulated the Baojia system based on the "Lü Family Township Treaty" " is the original, let every Baojia sign a township treaty. Southern Jiangxi was ruled by this, and later Yangminggong's disciples became officials, and followed this method in various places. However, instead of using Baojia, they called together the local clans and made an oath together. Township agreement."

"This method works well. During the Jiajing period, the imperial court ordered it to be popularized throughout the world."

Wang Yangming's influence is not limited to creating the study of mind and pacifying bandits. His Baojia and Township Contract Law lasted until the Republic of China, building a Chinese rural political ecology for hundreds of years.

After the township agreement was formulated, although the gentry and wealthy families still acted recklessly, most of them had to abide by the village agreement on the surface.

That is to say, if the gentry and aristocrats make trouble, the basic rules must still be followed, and if they break the bottom line, they will be stabbed in the back by the villagers.

In addition, Wang Yangming's township agreement also influenced the formulation of family rules for hundreds of years in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The township covenant can be understood as an enlarged version of the family rules, which are enforced under the Baojia system. Or, the big local households voluntarily join in and pledge to abide by their agreement together.

The specific contents include: do what is good, correct mistakes, respect the old and love the young, urge each other, help each other, standardize words and deeds, and standardize etiquette. Advocate trustworthiness, don't hand over bandits, work diligently...and so on and so on.

Under each item, there are detailed regulations, and if someone violates it, everyone will discuss and deal with it together.

Why did Zhang Bingwen remind Zhao Han that he must pay attention?

Because according to the letter from the magistrate of Anfu County, many local gentry are quietly promoting the township agreement again. Maybe some people are out of good intentions, but more people probably want to grab the right to speak at the grassroots level!

Many village chiefs saw that the content of the township covenant was very good, and in order to facilitate the management of the village, they even took the initiative to cooperate with the gentry to make troubles.

This is shaking Zhao Han's foundation!

Zhang Bingwen not only mastered mathematics, but also proficient in "Datong Collection". He suggested: "The general town and the township covenant can be promoted. After all, they all persuade people to be good. But we must pay attention to two points. First, those who violate the township covenant , cannot be mediated and disposed of by the gentry; second, a few entries in Xiangyue contradict each other with "Datong Ji", and these contents must be deleted!"

"That's very kind," Zhao Han nodded and said, "Let the villages and towns submit the contents of their township agreement. You bring a few people to be responsible for finding the inappropriate parts, and hand them over to me for review after deletion."

"Yes!" Zhang Bingwen immediately took the order and left.

Zhao Han wrote another note, and after it was stamped, he asked the secretary to forward it to each department.

This note is for the salary of the village head.

The village head doesn't have much to deal with, the main thing is to resolve trivial disputes in the village, so people from the village must be in charge. If a foreigner is appointed as the village head, unless he is extremely capable, he will not be able to accomplish many things at all.

In the past, the village chiefs used love to generate electricity without wages. After the freshness passed, it was inevitable that they would feel slack, so they helped the gentry to promote the township treaty, because it would save trouble if the township treaty was formulated.

The village chiefs must be paid wages. Power generation with love will not last long, and there may be people who use power for personal gain in the future.

They will think in their hearts, I have paid so much, and I have no salary, so it is normal to get some benefits.

Paying wages certainly cannot prevent this phenomenon, but it can reduce it. Because in the ancient agricultural society, if the village head had no right to collect grain and pay corvee, he would not be able to get any money at all. With wages, there will be face and face, which will make the village chiefs much more stable.

What needs to be most vigilant is not the village head's corruption, but the village head's bullying and stealing!

In the next month, Zhao Han's administration will focus on two major tasks: standardizing the township agreement and paying the village chief's salary.

Zhang Bingwen brought a few scholars to collect the township treaties from various places, delete, delete, modify and submit them, and Zhao Han personally revised a few more.

Then, there are two types.

The vulgar version was distributed to every village and town.

The elegant version of the text was compiled into the new edition of "Datong Ji".

The name of the article is "Datong Township Covenant", which can be understood as "Datong World Values". Respect the old and love the young, make good friends, work hard at home, obey the law and work hard, and so on.

Don't think it's useless, hundreds of years later, it will become the consensus of all peoples.

The reason why the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people is largely due to the subtle influence of the township agreement. Even if the people are illiterate, they will gradually understand the truth through word of mouth, and use this to educate their children and grandchildren, thus forming a good quality of a nation.

When Li Zheng was besieging Changsha, Chen Xisong from the Farmers' Advising Office suddenly asked to see him.

"What kind of improved seeds have been cultivated, or have some new agricultural tools been researched?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

Chen Xisong was the one who presented the "Agricultural Book", and was thrown to work as the head of the Agricultural Persuasion Institute. He took out a mechanical drawing and said excitedly: "General Town, the water turns the spinning wheel, and it can spin cotton yarn."

Zhao Han was taken aback for a moment, then ecstatically.

A hydraulic spinning machine with more than 30 spindles, this damn thing was simply against the sky in the 17th century!

Zhao Han hurriedly looked at the blueprint, but he looked confused and asked, "How can it be improved?"

Fearing that Zhao Han would not understand, Chen Xisong explained in detail: "The reason why the spinning wheel cannot be spun with water is that the tension of the cotton sliver is not enough, and the yarn often breaks when spinning with water." Chen Xisong pointed out Looking at the drawing, he said, "Look at the general town. I have added a traveling car, a pressure plate, and three gears here. The water-turned spinning wheel drives the rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft passes through the three gears to slow down the rotation speed and reduce the sliver. Through the pressure plate of the small walking car, hook the spindle bar, the yarn is held, and the walking car also holds the yarn. The rotating shaft rotates the spindle bar through the rope sleeve, and the yarn can be twisted .”

Zhao Han understood it, the main reason is to add three gears, and at the same time assemble more detailed carriages, pressure plates and spindle rods.

However, this thing must have a flaw, and the sliver must first be rubbed by hand. Secondly, the spun cotton yarn is very thick and cannot be used to weave fine cotton cloth, but can only be used to weave some coarse cotton cloth.

In a word, the positioning is the low-end market, which can produce thick cotton yarn in large quantities!

Zhao Han was very satisfied, and said to Chen Xisong: "Continue to improve in the future, and this time you will be rewarded with ten taels of silver. In addition, within five years, other merchants who use this spinning machine must give you a sum of silver every year, otherwise They will be confiscated by the government!"

"Thank you, Chief Town!" Chen Xisong was overjoyed, the Chen family was about to get rich.

In ancient times, there was no concept of patents. If it was an ordinary spinning machine, it would be difficult for Zhao Han to manage it.

But the water conservancy spinning machine is different. It is too big, so check it out for sure.

Giving Chen Xisong the patent right for inventions can stimulate craftsmen to invent and promote the spinning wheel. For the benefit of the Chen family, they must take the initiative to promote it, and only hope that the whole Jiangxi will use this kind of machine.

Zhao Han is very happy, the industrial technology revolution seems to have begun.