When Zhao came to this world, he was not only afraid but also disappointed. In his impression, the Song Dynasty was the peak of Chinese science and technology culture. The major cities he saw, whether it was Guangzhou, Quanzhou at the beginning, or Lin'an after the recovery of Jiangnan, were covered with dilapidated old houses and ruins. Of course, there were some reasons why he had just experienced wars, but the first impression he had was declining.

From Zhao's perspective, although those buildings are tall, majestic, and even magnificent, they have no artistic concept, no artistic taste or aesthetic sense in the eyes of a science student who lacks aesthetics. This reflects that the Song Dynasty has stagnated for a long time in material and spirituality, and its pursuit of art has been lost and has become unimportant. The price of raw materials and the difficulty of processing are the elements that determine the value of handicrafts.

From these situations, the quality of craftsmen can also be reflected from the side. Zhao Xiangxiang felt relieved. Those craftsmen who did not read much, engaged in such a "low-minded career", could only follow the old ways and follow the examples of the ancestors. Not only is it difficult to make progress in craftsmanship and technology, but the aesthetic taste is even more unlikely to be of high level. They can only make a fuss about materials and complexity in order to sell for a good price.

Therefore, in Zhao's eyes, although this painting that everyone praised, has a skillful technique and bright color, it still has a decay. The author is still immersed in his nostalgia for the glory of the past, but has not been able to break through his inherent obsession, without reflection and innovation. With the praise of a group of echoers, he feels that the old-fashioned atmosphere is filled with the smell of decay everywhere.

As the saying goes, things are unpredictable, but Zhao feels that there are examples to follow in the formation of today's situation. In his previous life, he remembered a Viman hero named Thanos. He adhered to the concept of "resources are limited and unable to support population expansion" and continued to provoke wars. He felt that this view seemed to be verified in the Song Dynasty. The population continued to break through historical records, and the production efficiency and development level of the whole society continued to decline, and the technological development stagnated and it was difficult to innovate.

Modern scholars have a basic consensus on the exhibition of social civilization, which is whether a society has fine division of labor, whether culture and art are sufficient, and whether handicrafts are excellent. These indicators actually depend directly on a basic indicator: how many proportion of members of a society can escape the production of essential products of survival and focus on the exhibition of other skills. In short, the higher the surplus rate of a society, the more prosperous the civilization will be.

There is no doubt that the higher the labor productivity of a society, the higher the surplus rate of the whole society; and labor productivity comes from technological progress. Naturally, technological progress will bring about an increase in the surplus rate of the whole society. Is there any problem with this view?

Some people have given different views. They believe that technological progress can indeed increase labor productivity in the short term, but population growth will soon pull down labor productivity. As a result, it only increases the population, and only takes a few or more than ten generations to return to the starting point. The conclusion is that in traditional society, unless technological progress continues to emerge or there will always be new land for cultivation, in the long run, technological progress will not continue to increase the surplus rate, so civilization will not always move towards prosperity.

Zhao feels that the two views have their own advantages. The emergence and development of cities are one of the criteria for evaluating social prosperity in a period. People who are separated from food production usually live in cities. Therefore, the urbanization rate is an indicator that intuitively reflects the degree of prosperity of civilization. We all know that before modernization, the urbanization rate of most traditional agricultural societies was very low, and they thought that this proportion was the norm.

Population growth is also regarded as an indicator of social prosperity. Some scholars believe that unless there is a disaster, civilization always tends to progress, and large-scale elimination of wars, plagues and famines always reduce the level of civilization.

Zhao thought it was not applicable in the Song Dynasty. It is not difficult to show a phenomenon in Chinese history. Whether it is cultural art and ideas, artifacts, or organizational models and institutional elements, the most important source is mostly in the Song Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the earlier pre-Qin period. These historical periods correspond to the stages of relatively relaxed population pressure.

The industrial ecology of the Song Dynasty was very similar to England on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. Its core feature was the widespread use of non-human energy and labor-saving machinery, and hydraulic workshops were blooming everywhere, including large hydraulic spinning wheels. However, after the Song Dynasty experienced the Jingkang Rebellion, the court crossed the south of the Yangtze River. With the movement of the political center and the influence of war, the population moved southwards in large numbers. The population in the south of the Yangtze River increased sharply, but social prosperity did not continue to develop and flourish.

The reason for this is that Zhao thought that from reality, Jiangnan had been fully opened in the Song Dynasty. Under the technical conditions at that time, the land had been fully opened. The increase in population after the South Transportation made the land use basically saturated, and military failures made them unable to obtain new land through war. From a political perspective, when the population in traditional society grew to approach its limit, it would inevitably lead to large-scale wars, but the rulers could not intentionally establish a system to effectively lower the population to avoid such periodic population growth and elimination.

However, under the huge population pressure, the governing class will naturally evolve into such a system, which will make China's production technology and organizational methods no longer move towards saving manpower, but towards the direction that allows more people to "live". After all, labor is much cheaper than efficient machinery. In this way, iron hoes replace oxen, hydraulic power for pushing mills is replaced by human power, and the textile industry becomes a family side-employed production.

Zhao's experience also verified this point. When he went to Qiongzhou, it was still a barren land, sparsely populated, and in a state of difficulty in self-sufficiency. This required machinery to fill in the shortage of manpower and improve productivity. This was why he could get the default and support of his subordinates, letting himself "dogless" and use his strengths without interfering too much.

However, after the recovery of Jiangnan, the situation has changed. Although the Jiangnan region has also experienced the invasion of the Mongolian Yuan in the south, the process is very short-lived. Coupled with the change of the Mongolian Yuan policy, the population loss in Jiangnan is relatively small, which is not enough to change the current situation of insufficient land supply. On the contrary, the occupation of the Mongolian Yuan and the migration of the northern population to the south lead to more serious land annexation, and the scarcity has not been alleviated.

In this case, the development of science and technology will not be so urgent, and the inherent thinking will cause Zhao to become negative or even oppose the promotion of technological innovation. Then his plan to set up a Academy of Sciences and cultivate scientific and technological talents and craftsmen is naturally hindered, and he feels that there is no need to spend money and energy to do these things.

Zhao did not think so. On the one hand, if the land cannot be increased, the income from the land tax is basically no possibility of increasing income. Increasing taxes will lead to an increase in the burden on the people and unstable people; on the other hand, the increase in farmers who have lost their land will lead to them becoming refugees, and the population flows to cities to survive is inevitable, which is also a factor that leads to social instability.

Therefore, Zhao's strategy is to absorb refugees from lost land through industry and commerce, convert these people's identities into industrial workers, and produce more products. These products can be sold through foreign trade to obtain more surplus value, and the court can increase more taxes. When the country has money, military equipment can be updated, so it is able to complete its own unification cause.

In addition, Zhao knew that China's manufacturing level began to improve, but it was after the British and French coalition forces burned the Old Summer Palace and enlightened officials started the "Western Affairs Movement". In the late Qing Dynasty, the imperial examinations were abolished and the modern Western academic system was introduced, including the establishment of many modern vocational schools and universities to open engineering colleges. Many young people entered schools and majors for mining, textiles, smelting, and machine manufacturing. "Made in China" slowly bid farewell to the ancient repetitive labor that had little innovation and based solely on experience, and made a real qualitative leap. It was these stubborn and conservative forces that made Zhao's plan difficult to implement, so how could he not be angry...

"Where did the kids come here to show off after reading a few sages?" Zhao's words made the people present sound extremely harsh, and someone immediately accused him.

"Haha, I am not as knowledgeable as Mr. Xugu, and can understand the intention of the saint, but I cannot do anything about the attack from the Yuan Dynasty. As a minister of the shepherd guard in the area, he led his people out of the city to welcome him for thirty miles. Is the saint teaching me to repay you in this way?" Zhao saw that it was an old pervert and replied, curled his lips and smiled.

"What do you know? You dare to teach a lesson. Protecting the country and the people is the responsibility of the pastor. The Mongolian Yuan is powerful and the troops are at the city. This is a last resort to protecting the people. It is just as the saying that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall!" Fang Hui said with a sneer.

"Oh, Mr. Xugu's words about 'Death and Frontier' are just bullshit!" Zhao Wuming was angry after hearing this, but thinking about his purpose here, he shook his fan and cooled down, and of course there was nothing good about it.

"A child is ignorant and even speaks dirty words. When he enters summer, he will be in the air, and when he enters the air, he will be in the air. As long as he practices the way of Yao and Shun, what's wrong with who is the master..." Deng Mu was quite embarrassed to see that he was exposed and said to him.

"Mr. Wenxing Meng Lang, we are all taught by the saints. We should know the principle of eating the king's fortune and being loyal to the king. How can we speak nonsense?" Chen Pu was also angry when he heard that he said such a traitor, fearing that he would say something traitorous and interrupted his words in a deep voice.

"You treat me with national soldiers, and I should repay me with national soldiers! You treat me with passers-by, and I should repay me with passers-by!" Deng Mu was crazy, but the more someone refuted, the more he became excited, and turned his face and said, "Now the officials value clerks and military personnel, and they don't take scholars seriously, and they suppressed me, Jiangnan scholars, making it difficult to fulfill their ambitions. They are doing the way to destroy the country. If anyone knows the name of Mr. Shitang today, but cannot be praised in the court, he has to be with a lowly servant, so why should he be called for his voice!"

"Wenxing should be angry? You are already outside the world, so why bother with the rise and fall? Drink two cups here, no matter the sky and the earth are sinking, what do you have to do with us?" At this time, a Taoist dressed in a Taoist priest pulled Deng Mu away and politely persuaded him. Zhao Gangkang learned from the other people that this man was named Ma Zhen. After the fall of Song Dynasty, he escaped from the Rendao Sect and lived in seclusion on the bank of West Lake. He met his elders every day and immersed in the purity and indifference.

"Alas, Taizu vowed to rule the world with the scholars and officials, but now he is almost destroyed by foreign tribes. How can we not be wrong? We should reflect on ourselves." At this time, Zhang Yan sighed from the side.

"If the late emperor had not favored treacherous and slanderous people, and had isolated the way to accept advice, and refused to put down his clothes and ruled the world, how could there be a disaster at that time? And now the emperor still holds power tightly and attacks the gentry with a warrior. Where can there be a place for scholars to live in? The way of the sage king is farther away from the way of the sage king." At this time, a middle-aged scholar said, looking at his outfit as if he was a defeated scholar.

"Yes, the lord should be above the top, not to follow his own intentions, not to interfere with villains, not to control them with a mere rope, so that his ministers have no trouble of restraint, and then they can be blamed for success. However, the emperor now controls the government, does not listen to the loyal advice of his ministers, and insists on his own actions. He ignores the people of the world and refuses to discuss peace with the Mongol Yuan, but advocates another border quarrel." Another scholar Fu He said.

"A man's body is a charity and the people in the world will follow him. But when the son is young, he takes everything himself and seizes the power of the priest, and refuses to accept advice, and brings the world into danger!" Other scholars also blamed him one after another.

"You..."

"Young Master, it's too noisy here, so I'd better go there for a while!" Ma Duanlin knew that something was going to be bad today when he saw the little emperor talking, but he was squeezed out of the circle by the scholars who rushed up. Now he saw that the little emperor was going to fight against the scholars again, and hurriedly let the two accompanying guards squeeze out a crack and pull His Majesty's words.

"It's really outrageous..." Before Zhao finished speaking, he was caught in the guards and rushed out of the crowd, but he still shouted in resentment.

"Young Master, when I came out, I promised me that I would just listen and say nothing, so why would I say nothing?" Ma Duanlin saw that the little emperor was still relentless and said in his ear.

"Oh!" Zhao immediately lost his temper when he heard this, but when he saw the provocative gaze of a scholar, he glared back with hatred, but he still sighed and sat back.

"Young Master, don't be angry. These people don't understand the ambition of your son. They are all talking nonsense, don't pay attention!" Ma Duanlin quickly changed the little emperor to accompany him and said to Xiaojing. However, he was nervous and regretful to bring His Majesty to "get more knowledge". However, he was also angry that those people didn't know the true god. If they really angered this person, there would be another bloody storm. They would not be bothered if they died, and would also involve the entire Shilin.
Chapter completed!