"What are you thinking about now?" Zhao Hao looked at her strangely. "I find that you, little girl, are the typical giant in thought but dwarf in action."

Little Bamboo was both embarrassed and angry, and made a gesture to leave.

"Stop, stop, really stop this time." Zhao Hao hurriedly pulled her back. For some reason, he just liked to make love to Xiao Zhuzi. He didn't know if it was because he felt good bullying his idol's daughter, or if it was simply because Xiao Zhuzi was too easily shy.

Isn't it said that tolerance makes one great? Why is it the opposite when it comes to her?

Zhao Hao held her little hand in one hand and flipped through the manuscript with the other.

Zhang Xiaojing was helpless again, knowing that if she didn't let him take advantage of her, he would not stop. She had no choice but to let him hold her hand, wondering in her heart, what happened to this guy, he seemed to have become a different person after going to Japan?

You are a giant in thought and a dwarf in action. I think you are the one... She wrinkled her straight nose slightly, looked at Zhao Hao who was reading seriously, and was a little dazed for a moment.

She had fantasized about studying with Mr. Zhao, who was beautiful and charming, countless times... Of course, this companion meant a companion.

"Yeah, very good." After reading a few pages, Zhao Hao nodded and praised: "This set of Elementary Mechanics is actually quite difficult. It's rare that you can understand these concepts and theorems so thoroughly!"

"Of course, I'm a good student who scored 100 points in math and physics." Zhang Xiaojing came back to her senses after hearing that, and immediately puffed out her chest proudly, with an expression that said 'Praise me, praise me'.

But she didn't realize that the thin clothes could not hide her curves at all, even if she was wrapped in a shawl.

"Yeah, that's great. You are indeed my best student..." Zhao Hao pretended to ignore the breathtaking snow pile, swallowed his saliva and said, "To be fair."

"But there is one thing I don't quite understand." Xiao Zhuzi's strong interest in science is also what makes her different from Mingyue and the others. She approached Zhao Hao and asked in confusion, "Isn't there an article on 'Mechanics' in Elementary Physics? Why is it taken out as a separate course?"

"Good question." Zhao Hao sniffed the beauty's fragrance and said, "Mechanics is indeed a branch of physics. Physics is a discipline that studies the interaction between objects. Mechanics, electromagnetism, heat and light are its five major branches. When they mature in the future, they can all become independent theories. Mechanics is the most important at this stage. We cannot do without it in mining, construction, machinery manufacturing, navigation, and even studying the laws of the movement of the sun, moon and stars. Secondly, it is relatively simple and intuitive, which conforms to the law of people's cognition from simple to complex."

After a pause, Zhao Hao sighed and said, "Although history is created by the masses, it also needs the birth of great men to finalize it. The other four branches have not yet waited for their great men."

"That great man of mechanics, are you referring to yourself?" Xiao Zhuzi smiled and poured him a glass of water.

"I'm talking about Niuzi." Zhao Hao said seriously.

"Nonsense, what's the point of a cow?" Xiao Zhuzi bent down and sorted out the manuscripts he had thrown on the floor. She actually quite liked Secretary Ma's job. Being able to accompany Mr. Zhao every day, watching him produce new knowledge like a high-yielding dairy cow, and being his first reader. Isn't this the greatest happiness?

Even if he has some bad behavior, it's no big deal. Although she is always teased and blushes, Xiao Zhuzi doesn't really hate it, it's just that her education doesn't allow her to cater to him.

Zhao Hao quickly took a sip of tea. The heated room made him feel dry and blinded. Oh, coach, I want to play basketball...

"Follow me." Zhao Hao took a deep breath.

"What?" Xiao Zhuzi moved away from him as if he had been electrocuted.

"I mean, don't go out to sea during the New Year, come and work with me." Zhao Hao said seriously, "Next year I plan to set up a bookstore and a newspaper. Sister Xianglan is very busy with her work in the secretariat, and she is already too busy to be the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. So she is going to hand over her original job at the printing company, and I think you are the most suitable person to take over."

"I can't do that..." Xiao Zhuzi waved her hands and said, "The bookstore is a place where books are published. It's so sacred. I can't take on that responsibility."

"Nonsense, I am more worried about those people." Zhao Hao said with a straight face: "Can they understand my ideas? Can they understand the importance of science? Do they know that I want more people in the Ming Dynasty to open their eyes to the world?"

"You are such a good talker." Hearing him say that, Xiao Zhuzi was like eating honey, and she was not so determined to refuse. "But I'm afraid of messing up..."

"So you have to take over now. Currently, there are only a few dozen masters in the seal company. They print teaching materials and training materials for the group. They haven't published any books yet." Zhao Hao waved his hand and said, "This state is just right for you to get familiar with trial and error. Once you get the hang of it, you can make the seal company independent and expand its scale tenfold, turning it into a large bookstore and publishing our books in Jiangnan and even across the country!"

"Yeah." Little Bamboo couldn't help but look forward to it. Our books...what a wonderful thing.

"Our goal is to enable ordinary people to afford books and read them!" Seeing Zhang Xiaojing listening, Zhao Hao happily grasped her soft hands with both hands, his eyes shining and said: "This is the best way to let ordinary people learn to read!"

"Believe me, as long as we keep going down this path, in ten, twenty, or thirty years, at least half of the people in Jiangnan and a quarter of the people in the Ming Dynasty will be able to read!" Zhao Hao let go of the small bamboo, picked up a piece of manuscript paper full of words, and said excitedly: "Do you know what that means?"

"This..." Zhang Xiaojing shuddered for no reason, and hurriedly wrapped the shawl on her shoulders and said, "But Laozi said that when a government is dull, the people are honest; when a government is strict, the people are lacking. Didn't Confucius also say that the people can be made to follow it, but not to understand it?"

"Hahaha, of course. The exploiting class fears most that the people will be enlightened!" Zhao Hao laughed out loud.

"What is the exploiting class?" Zhang Xiaojing asked puzzledly.

"They are people who use their capital to unfairly seize the fruits of others' labor!" Zhao Hao said a little too excitedly, "Slave owners, landlords, and the capitalists who will soon emerge in the Ming Dynasty are all such people!"

"Uh..." Zhang Xiaojing glanced at Zhao Hao, meaning, what about you? It seems to fit the description as well...

"I'm not. I do business, I run a factory, and I engage in overseas trade. But I'm not a member of the exploiting class, because my goal is to make everyone live a good life!" Zhao Hao shook his head firmly.

He doesn't care how others evaluate him, and no one in this plane can really judge him. For him, self-evaluation is more important, as long as he can maintain self-consistency, he will continue to follow his own path!

Zhao Hao said with a gesture of letting it all out: "And what the exploiting class fears most is mobilizing the masses. But I'm not afraid, because I grew up under the red flag. Fuck capitalism! Isn't socialism with Ming characteristics good?"

"Ah..." Zhang Xiaojing was completely confused. Only then did she understand what Li Mingyue meant when she said, "I can understand every word you say, but I don't know what they mean when they are put together..."

"Mr. Zhao, are you okay?"

"Haha, I scared you, didn't I?" Zhao Hao came back to his senses this time, smiled and touched the little girl's head and said, "Don't worry, I was just talking nonsense. Personal efforts are too insignificant in the face of the course of history, and I am not qualified to choose the path for the two or three hundred million people of the Ming Dynasty."

"This responsibility is too heavy. I am small-minded and can't bear it, so I will never make a choice." He sighed and said, "What I can do is to help them avoid detours and let everyone make their own choices - but this includes not only scholars, businessmen and landlords, but also ordinary people."

"But only the strong are qualified to make the rules, so if they want to have a fair chance and choose their own path, they must first become strong!" Zhao Hao sighed, looking up at the gorgeous rosewood grain on the ceiling of the bed and said, "Ordinary people are illiterate, how can they fight against others? They can only be used as pawns by others, and in the end, the fruits of their labor will be usurped by others..."

The little girl stared at Zhao Hao blankly, feeling an unprecedented shock, even more so than the shock she had felt from the Jiangnan iron flute. After a long while, she finally made up her mind and mustered up her courage. She shyly took Zhao Hao's hand and tremblingly placed it on the place he had always coveted. She looked at him deeply and said:

"I don't quite understand the principles you're talking about yet, maybe I will in the future. But I understand one thing, you don't care about yourself, but about thousands of things that have nothing to do with you. And if you need help, I'm willing to follow you, even if you become an enemy of the entire Ming Dynasty in the future, I'll accept it!"

As expected of Zhang Juzheng's daughter, she was able to keenly sense the potential danger based on her intuition.

But she is still willing to fly into the fire. This is not a literary youth disease, but the love of an idealist...

Zhao Hao was so moved that he started bleeding from his nose.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Is it too dry?" Xiao Zhuzi hurriedly helped him raise his head and stuffed some dates into his nose.

"No, I'm so touched..." Mr. Zhao said in a muffled voice.

~~

They arrived in Jinling on the eighth day of the first lunar month. This time, Master Zhao and his party did not go to the Jiangdongmen Wharf, but instead docked the Science at the Waijinchuan Gate, the northernmost part of Nanjing City.

Qiaoqiao's family and Yu Jiachang had been waiting at the Waijinchuan Wharf.

After both sides exchanged a lot of New Year greetings, they boarded the welcoming pleasure boat and headed south along the Jinchuan River into the city. Then, they followed the Yulin River that had been dug two years ago and went directly to the Furong Pond at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain.

Standing on the deck with Zhao Hao, watching the passenger boats and pleasure boats coming and going on the Yulin River, Yu Jiachang said with pride: "Ever since the young master connected Furong Pond to Jinchuan River, officials and businessmen from the north have made our Xiaocang Mountain their first stop when traveling to Jinling! They are also willing to start from here before leaving Beijing, which can save half a day's journey! This is only during the Chinese New Year. Normally, there are several times more boats on the Yulin River, and even Jiangdongmen is affected."

ps. It’s the third update again, please continue to ask for monthly votes! ! ! !