Why should a country develop its economy? Because only development can solve problems. Although new problems will arise in the process of development, the problems caused by development can only be solved through continued development.

A country with a continuously developing economy can continue to solve problems even if it has many problems. But once economic development stops, the country loses its ability to solve problems. In such a failed country, old problems cannot be solved and new problems keep emerging. The country can only wait for the old regime and interest groups to be overthrown and regain development space by returning the economy to zero.

Why did the dynasties of China rise quickly and fall suddenly? The fundamental reason is that they were unable to increase the economy and could only keep going through a cycle of stagnation-zeroing-stagnation-zeroing within the scope of the stock.

While history brought the Little Ice Age crisis, which exacerbated the zero-emission crisis, it also brought the Ming Dynasty an opportunity to break out of this vicious circle - the Age of Exploration. Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty did not seize this unprecedented opportunity to increase its output, and could only die at the doorstep of the new era due to the famine and plague brought by the Little Ice Age...

This is why Zhao Hao has always regarded participating in the great voyage as the overriding priority.

But increasing the size of the economy does not necessarily lead to development. The Ming Dynasty may follow the old path of Spain and Portugal, unable to let the general public share the increase in value, nor to let the increase in value lead to development. This is what Mr. Zhao has always worried about.

So he wanted to help the Taizhou School grow and develop, and let them speak for the people who were not qualified to decide the distribution of the cake. He wanted to guide this extremely destructive force, and learn to build something while destroying the cage of science...

The ideal is beautiful, but who knows how the reality will develop?

It is still unknown whether the Taizhou School can survive the persecution of Zhang Xianggong. In this way, Master Zhao is simply marrying for Li Zhi and He Xinyin...

It’s really too big...oh no, too great!

~~

In the early morning of the 25th, the Science arrived at the Sansha Wharf in Chongming.

In just two days, Master Zhao and the three members of the Taizhou School had an in-depth and heated exchange day and night. However, in the "Record of Science Transmission", which records Master Zhao's words and deeds in detail, and the "Taizhou Xue'an", which is a biography of the Taizhou School, the detailed records only end with "Stupid, the problem is the economy!"

As for the content of the conversation over the next day and two nights, both of them were vague.

In the "Records of the Instructions on Science", the disciples said that they had not been with their master at that time, and only said that this "Dialogue in the River" laid the foundation for decades of close cooperation between Science and Taizhou scholars, and was the beginning of the two parties' joint efforts to overthrow the ruling position of Neo-Confucianism.

The Taizhou School Case was written by Li Zhi, an eyewitness. Given his unrestrained personality, he should have recorded every word of such an important conversation. However, he also chose the style of the Spring and Autumn Annals, saying that the "Jiangzhong Dialogue" was a wake-up call from science to the Taizhou School, pointing out the direction for them to move forward in confusion. From then on, they not only made it clear what to oppose, but also what to advocate.

Since then, the Taizhou School quietly interpreted "Daily life of the people is the Tao" as "making people live happier is the Tao we pursue", and set it as the main purpose of the school. It has always insisted on seeking welfare for the people and finally ushered in rapid development. Its influence soon surpassed that of the Wang School and quickly became the most prominent school. Its disciples ranged from teachers and ministers to scholars, woodcutters, potters, farmers and officials, becoming the biggest enemy of Neo-Confucianism... Of course, this is a later story.

Therefore, later historians speculated that it might be because the content discussed by both parties was quite restricted, including some dragon-slaying techniques that should not be circulated, so they were hidden in "Science Transmission Records" and "Taizhou Academic Cases".

They were not just speculation, because in Jin Xuezeng's "Dayangzi Diary", he recorded that when he met his master at Sansha Wharf that day, he saw three people from Taizhou School saying goodbye to their master. Luo Rufang bowed and said, "Sir, you have been so kind to our Taizhou School. If you have any mission in the future, I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

And even a madman like He Xinyin actually followed suit and bowed, saying "I've learned a lot from you." It can be seen that he has benefited so much that he must have been reborn...

~~

Because the ship was about to depart at noon, after separating from the three people from the Taizhou School, Master Zhao only had a brief meeting with Jin Xuezeng at the dock.

This year Chongming Island has achieved great results again. Dayang, who is known for his outstanding performance, must of course show off to his master.

"Under Master's wise leadership and loving care, Chongming's shipping, agriculture, and shipbuilding industries have grown by leaps and bounds, bringing a large number of people to the county. As of September, the county's population has approached 300,000, which is exactly double that of last year!"

It is no wonder that Jin Xuezeng is eager to show off his achievements. In his three-year term, he lived under someone else's roof and was extremely poor. In the second year, he worked like a slave and suffered extremely hard. Now he has finally become Niu Boyi. If he doesn't brag to his master, wouldn't it be like walking in the night in a brocade robe?

"Well, not bad." Zhao Hao nodded approvingly: "At the beginning, your county only had 80,000 people, right? It has increased several times now? It's almost the same as Kunshan back then."

Of course, under the wise leadership of Master Zhao, Kunshan’s population has now exceeded 500,000…

"Hehe." Jin Xuezeng was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. "First, we are very attractive. There are refugees from Henan running here to work. Second, the county is not idle either. I drove all those white-collar workers across the river and asked them to recruit people to work. They recruited 50,000 to 60,000 people from Nantong Prefecture alone. Later, the governor Du was so angry that he put up banners in the city, saying 'Prevent fire, prevent theft, and prevent Chongming'. He also wrote to me saying 'We are of the same roots, why are we so anxious to hurt each other?' Hahaha."

In the early years of Hongwu, Nantong Prefecture governed Haimen and Chongming counties, and Chongming was later transferred to Suzhou Prefecture. Moreover, Nantong Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture, which was also within the integrated Jiangnan region, so the prefect was said to be "born from the same roots".

"You better restrain yourself!" Young Master Zhao kicked him on the buttocks and cursed, "Nantong is also part of Jiangnan. Nankai Division and Du Zhizhou have complained about you several times, saying that you are poaching their own people. This is very bad!"

This is also the reason why Zhao Hao emphasized the integrated and coordinated development of Jiangnan. Otherwise, the scattered prefectures and counties in Jiangnan would definitely poach each other and engage in vicious competition like Jin Xuezeng did.

So Zhao Hao sternly warned Jin Xuezeng that if he dared to poach people from Nantong again, he would be hung up and beaten...

"We didn't catch a single sheep. There are still Fengyang, Huai'an, and Xuzhou. They are not considered Jiangnan, right?" Jin Xuezeng covered his buttocks and blinked pitifully, saying, "After the Yellow River burst its dike, the people in these prefectures had no means of livelihood. Fortunately, we recruited them so that they didn't starve. This is a good deed."

"Now Pan Zhongcheng has blocked the breach." Young Master Zhao sighed and said, "The prefectures, counties and cities are getting anxious and have come to Nanjing to complain, saying that Jiangnan is luring people from Jiangbei and demanding that the two prefectures of Suzhou and Songjiang repatriate the refugees."

"Oh, really?" Jin Xuezeng was surprised. He had never heard of this before.

"Why else would I go to Nanjing? Isn't it just to clean up your mess?" Young Master Zhao snorted. He didn't go there just for the purpose of having fun.

"What do we say now?" Jin Xuezeng asked anxiously. Chongming's local population is small, and its development depends entirely on foreign population. If Nanjing orders a repatriation, it will cost him his life.

"It has been suppressed for now." Zhao Hao sighed, "But I have promised that I will not poach people from the prefectures in Jiangbei next year."

This is also the reason why Mr. Zhao did not stop Jin Xuezeng even though he knew that he was poaching too many people. The growth rate is still too slow if we only rely on the natural flow of population, so we still have to poach people.

Jin Xuezeng was very smart and understood the meaning of the song. He said, "I understand. I will send all the people out right away and dig the last wave before the New Year."

"You filthy rascal." Zhao Hao laughed and kicked him again, this time with love. The disciple won honor for the master, so of course the master couldn't stop loving him.

~~

The autumn harvest was over. Jin Xuezeng told Zhao Hao that Chongming County Farm had reclaimed 200,000 mu of land this year, half of which was cotton fields and half was paddy fields. Under the leadership of agricultural technicians trained by Kunshan Agricultural College, 100,000 mu of paddy fields had achieved an excellent yield of 5 shi per mu!

As a virgin farmland that has just been reclaimed for one year, it is already a great achievement to reach the average level of counties in the south of the Yangtze River. We cannot ask for more.

As for cotton fields, cotton is salt-tolerant and does not require high soil quality. As long as there is sunshine and irrigation, the yield is guaranteed. Chongming Island has both of them. Jiangnan Cotton Textile Company has rich planting experience. Under their guidance, cotton farmers "select seeds carefully, plant seeds early, plant deep roots and short stems, and use sparse and fertile crops". Last year's harvest was good, and this year's harvest is even better.

"One hundred thousand mu of cotton fields, with an output of 400 kilograms of lint per mu. The purchase price of Jiangnan Cotton Mill is 3 taels of silver per 100 kilograms. It's really fucking unfair..." Jin Xuezeng happily reported to his master, "The income from cotton alone is 1.2 million taels of silver. The county can get at least 200,000 taels, right?"

"That's about right." Zhao Hao nodded and said with a smile, "Now that you're rich, you can tile the inner walls of the county town."

"I've posted it a long time ago. Master, there will be a surprise next time you go and have a look." Jin Xuezeng winked and kept it a secret, then lowered his voice like a thief and said, "There is another income that I never expected."

"What income?" Zhao Hao asked curiously.

"Commercial and industrial taxes." Jin Xuezeng whispered, "It's only September, and the county has already received 150,000 taels of merchant taxes, and another 50,000 taels of tax on stalls. That's another 200,000 taels! I have so much money that I don't know how to spend it..."

"You look so ignorant!" Zhao Hao laughed, "You are so happy with just 200,000 taels of industrial and commercial tax? Won't you be scared to death in the future?"

"I heard that Hushuguan can't even collect 200,000 taels a year..." Jin Xuezeng exclaimed.

"You are useless. This is the starting point of shipping. It is not normal to exceed a messy canal customs." Zhao Hao rolled his eyes at him and said, "Don't play nice with me. If you don't know how to spend the money, you can only invest in education and infrastructure. If you can't spend it, give it to the people. How much money can't be spent?"