Chapter 87: The Answer is So Noble

"Master, good!" "Master has arrived!" The difference between these two greetings was not obvious, but Zhang Yao felt a stark contrast, even a significant difference. The former was the greeting the villagers of Zhang Family Village gave him, while the latter was for Chen Xie.

Both were greetings, but the former was filled with awe, with only numbness and instinct in their eyes. The latter, however, was more relaxed, like a greeting between acquaintances, with a deep sense of affection.

Why was this so? When a villager was left behind, Zhang Yao couldn't help but think about this issue. What had changed these villagers? Was it the smooth road underfoot? Or the clean road surface? Or perhaps the children's reading voices coming from the neatly arranged classrooms?

As he walked through the school gate, coincidentally, the bell for the end of class rang. The clear and pleasant bell sound echoed, and children rushed out of the classrooms, carrying backpacks (made of ancient fabric), some picking up the baskets left in the corridor outside the classroom, and walking in groups of three or five. Seeing the two people walking towards them, the children greeted them with smiles, "Master, good," and then walked past naturally, without standing by the roadside to let the master pass, as their elders would.

"These children go to gather pig grass in the afternoon, so they carry baskets," Chen Xie explained. Zhang Yao nodded expressionlessly, looking at the children in the corner of the schoolyard, who were lining up, each holding an aluminum lunch box.

"The children are queuing for their meals. The lunch boxes are not given for free, nor is the food. Children over 11 years old can go to the kiln to pull bricks, or pull coal, or pull coal ash to fill the roads. They receive tokens after working, and 5 tokens can be exchanged for a lunch box, and 1 token for a meal. The school encourages children to work together to earn these tokens. Younger children are not allowed to work; they must attend school every day and receive one free lunch. The school uniforms are also free. I am not unable to support these children, but I want them to understand from a young age that those who do not work do not eat." As Chen Xie walked, he explained, and Zhang Yao's calm face showed excitement, nodding frequently.

At this moment, Zhang Yao noticed the school uniforms the children were wearing. The boys wore gray trousers and blue jackets, while the girls wore light blue dresses with a black and white checkered unbuttoned coat. The only uniform item was the shoes, which were the same for both boys and girls—green shoes with black toes (liberation shoes).

"This school, in principle, only admits children from Zhang Family Village. Craftsmen from the workshops who are not from this area must serve for ten years before their children can enjoy this treatment. Therefore, their children can study here, but they must pay a small amount of silver each month to enjoy the same treatment." Chen Xie explained, and Zhang Yao finally understood why he could see so many children. Many of these children were from the workshops nearby. As long as they were on Chen Xie's territory, all children over seven years old, regardless of gender, had to attend school to learn to read and count. Three years was the minimum, and if parents wanted their children to continue their education, they had to pay.

"Si Hua, just for this school, the people of Zhang Family Village and the craftsmen will be forever grateful to you." Zhang Yao was deeply moved, but Chen Xie smiled slightly, "Uncle Zhang, I don't think your view is entirely correct. I do these things for my own benefit and don't expect their gratitude."

"Oh, why is that?" Zhang Yao was interested. This was clearly a good deed, so how did it become a personal benefit?

"Indolence is human nature! Charity only breeds laziness. I pay the villagers to build roads, which seems to help them, but it actually helps me. When the roads are built, the carts can run faster, and the products from the workshops can be transported out. When the people are well-fed, they have the strength to work and earn more silver. Most people are greedy and foolish and don't understand this. That's why there are so many landlords in the Ming Dynasty who only care about the rent from their land. Similarly, agriculture is the foundation of the country. If the people are not well-fed, the country will not be stable, and the landlords will not collect rent. If there is a natural disaster, chaos will ensue. Therefore, I must spend silver to build irrigation channels and dig deep wells. When the land yields well, the people can be well-fed, and then they can work for me. The principle is simple, but unfortunately, many people don't see it." Chen Xie continued to explain, and Zhang Yao agreed deeply.

However, Zhang Yao overlooked a crucial issue: the agricultural productivity of the Ming Dynasty. Without modern fertilizers and high-yield crop seeds, people would still go hungry. If they can't even get enough to eat, how can they expect to eat meat?

When Chen Xie stood on the moral high ground to condemn others, this logic was actually flawed. Without the high-yield seeds of modern society, the people of Zhang Family Village would still go hungry. Indeed, if the landlords were morally upright, the people might not starve to death and would not rebel.

Chen Xie's arguments were based on a false premise. However, Zhang Yao didn't see through this, so he felt that the people were indeed foolish. This was a fundamental flaw of the feudal system, the irreconcilable contradiction between population growth and limited arable land. Modern society solved this problem with agricultural technology, but the Ming Dynasty could only watch helplessly. Thus, land consolidation became inevitable. Any feudal autocratic dynasty, when it reached the critical point of population and land, would face disaster with even a small natural disaster, like a spark falling on dry grass.

The problem of the Ming Dynasty was a large and complex issue, fundamentally the contradiction between land and population growth. If this main contradiction could be resolved, other contradictions would be overshadowed. Understanding this, one could think about other issues.

The foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty was very developed. Merchants earned silver, part of which was used to develop industry and commerce, but more was used to buy land and bury it in jars. Undoubtedly, this was a distorted prosperity. When the wealth from commercial activities could not alleviate the social contradictions, the last straw for the Ming Dynasty was lost.

Clearly, Zhang Yao and Chen Xie viewed the issue from different angles. From Chen Xie's perspective, his actions were very clear: to improve the living standards of the people of Zhang Family Village and the craftsmen without hindering his ability to earn silver, creating a relatively better-off group dependent on him. These people were undoubtedly the foundation of Chen Xie's security. Without Chen Xie, they would starve, sell their children and wives, and even that might not solve the problem, leading to starvation or rebellion.

Conversely, Chen Xie used them to achieve significant commercial benefits.

A modern person could easily see this relationship, but a person from the Ming Dynasty would find it difficult. This was the limitation of history. Therefore, Zhang Yao believed that while Chen Xie's actions were for his own benefit, they were also driven by his higher moral standards. There were many landlords and gentry in the Ming Dynasty, including Zhang Yao himself, who did not act this way. Even Zhang Yao himself could only reduce rent during natural disasters and donate grain and silver when there were refugees. He would not take the initiative to do more.

Since this was the case, it could only be that moral factors were at play.

At this point, Zhang Yao felt he had found the answer to why Chen Xie was so committed to his military career. It was simple: to provide a stable foundation for the people of Zhang Family Village and all those who depended on him for survival. Zhang Yao, well-versed in history, knew the harsh reality: in times of chaos, people were worse than dogs.

Chen Xie, to maintain this peaceful and stable life, started from a high moral standpoint. The answer was so noble!

After reaching this conclusion, Zhang Yao was moved by his own reasoning!

Doing good deeds without leaving a name was too costly, and Chen Xie would not do it. Wearing a hat of high moral standards was necessary. While the people were grateful, he would also pull in a group of local strongmen to open workshops and earn silver. Like a snowball, it started in Dengzhou, then moved to Huangxian and Muping, gradually expanding outward. This was Chen Xie's current plan.

"Si Hua, I understand. I will fully support you in the defense of Huangxian." Zhang Yao finally agreed.

The rest of the journey was not important. Winning Zhang Yao's support meant Chen Xie's plan was halfway successful. However, Zhang Yao was still patient and said to Chen Xie, "Nothing should be rushed. First, secure Qishan as a retreat. Once the foundation is solid, the plan to defend Huangxian can be put on the agenda." In essence, it was the strategy of having multiple retreats. Chen Xie did not think much of it but agreed to follow his advice. There was still time, and there was no need to rush.

With a good mood, Zhang Yao returned home, but Chen Xie still had one more thing to do. This would also add a halo to Chen Xie, and such things were always beneficial.

Ding, ding, ding, the sound of the gong echoed through the village. Villagers who were squatting on the ground eating and chatting were very sensitive to this sound. They stood up, stretching their necks to look in the direction of the sound.

Mengzi, the gong beater, shouted, "Tomorrow at the hour of Si, all heads of households gather at the stone mill. Master has something to discuss." The gong sound in Zhang Family Village meant that Master had thought of something that would provide more ways for the villagers to earn a living.

After hearing Mengzi's announcement, Old Ge quickly finished his bowl of millet and wild vegetable porridge and returned to his second son, who was squatting at the door eating a bowl of millet porridge. "I don't know what Master will say. Let's go together tomorrow and listen."

Old Ge's second son looked nervously at his bowl of millet. His father ate millet, and he ate millet porridge, which would not sound good if it got out.

"It was secretly made by my wife..." Old Ge interrupted him unhappily, "What are you hiding? It's just millet porridge. With the divine doctor Master, we will eventually be able to eat millet porridge every day."

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