Chapter 135: The Single-Minded Sage

By the time April arrived.

The last bit of cold had completely vanished. The long-awaited summer heat finally descended, and the air seemed filled with vibrant life.

At this point, the sweet potatoes finally yielded results. One sweet potato plant produced over a dozen tubers, growing exceptionally well. Fang Jifan continued his cultivation as usual.

However, to prevent pests, these dozen or so sweet potatoes were cultivated using various methods—some grown in water, others in soil. The immediate task was to mass-produce seedlings.

But… half a month had passed, and the Capital still hadn’t seen any rain.

In previous weather patterns, after winter passed, it was usually followed by a spring of continuous drizzles. Now, however, the entire spring season had been engulfed in winter’s chill. When winter finally receded, it transitioned directly into summer.

The impact of the Little Ice Age was far more complex than just endless snowfall. The prolonged lack of rain caused distress throughout the Western Hills Tuntian Hundred-Household Office because… they needed to channel water…

Zhang Xin had turned dark and thin.

He had long lost the tender, fair appearance he had when he first arrived at the Baihu Station. Rolling up his sleeves revealed arms as dark as charcoal. With his swarthy face, if a crescent moon were stamped on it, he could have played the role of Judge Bao.

Fortunately, he was an honest man. As a young man from a noble family, he had never experienced hardship before. Yet here, he didn’t complain much. Fang Jifan told him to do something, and he did it.

This made Fang Jifan very grateful to Uncle Zhang. If not for Uncle Zhang’s daily minor beatings and thrashings every three days, how could they have such a docile Deputy Hundred-Household Commander Zhang?

In short, Deputy Hundred-Household Commander Zhang was very handy to use and was a great helper.

The other Commandants initially wailed every day, but gradually, they got used to it.

People, after all, are shaped by discipline. Every time Fang Jifan came to the Western Hills and saw the bustling labor scene, he felt particularly satisfied.

What was worrying, however, was the prolonged severe drought. It seemed like the heavens refused to shed a single drop of rain, causing the land in the Western Hills to crack.

This reminded Fang Jifan that in the twelfth year of the Hongzhi reign, the Capital experienced a major drought.

This drought would last a full month and a half. For the Capital, which had just endured winter, it was nothing short of a disaster.

The reason Fang Jifan had initially overlooked this drought wasn’t due to poor memory.

In fact, in his previous life, despite having qualifications but no background or connections—not even a girlfriend—the only thing he did was bury himself in the archives reading.

His memory was truly exceptional. Moreover, various historical records could be cross-referenced. For example, what was recorded in Beijing’s local chronicles often corroborated with the Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty. Or the Ming History compiled by Qing scholars, although conflicting with the Veritable Records and local chronicles in some aspects, still had many points of mutual verification.

The reason Fang Jifan overlooked it was simply that records of droughts in historical documents were too frequent, especially in the north. Almost every year, there were entries like ‘Shandong drought,’ ‘Shanxi drought,’ ‘Capital drought,’ ‘no rain.’ If more severe, it was often ‘Huaibei drought, no rain, people starve, cannibalism occurs’… With such drought records, it was no wonder Fang Jifan paid little attention.

Those brief lines in the historical records didn’t evoke much feeling when read—they were just short passages.

But truly living in this era where survival depended on the heavens, and witnessing it firsthand, was truly shocking.

Looking at the cracked yellow earth, various manors, and countless people bustling about to channel water—yet many rivers had dried up. Even channeling water had its limits. Sometimes, fights over water were unavoidable. Even under the Son of Heaven’s feet, Shuntian Prefecture found it hard to prevent.

Fortunately, the Western Hills was a Military Agricultural Colony, so no one dared to come and seize water!

In this world, only Fang Jifan seized from others.

In Fang Jifan’s heart, he really hoped the sweet potatoes would grow quickly and produce more seeds. Besides having high yield per acre, the biggest characteristic of sweet potatoes was their drought resistance. If they could be widely planted, who knew how many lives could be saved.

But it was a pity. Right now, even if they started cultivating seedlings, who knew how much time would be wasted.

Thinking this, Fang Jifan was at the manor of the Tuntian Hundred-Household Office one day, looking at the sweet potatoes in basins and water jars. These sweet potatoes had all sprouted new shoots. He had endless expectations for the sweet potatoes, but he didn’t know if he should report this matter now. Unfortunately, based on past experience, even if he did report it, people would probably see it as a fantasy.

Feeling slightly depressed, he stepped out of the Greenhouse and bumped into Wang Shouren.

This guy again? He still hadn’t left?

Clearly, Wang Shouren had come specifically to find him. He looked somewhat excited and said eagerly, “This student has figured it out.”

“What?” Fang Jifan looked at him strangely, really not understanding this person.

Wang Shouren, like a fool, had bright eyes and said, “This student has figured out why Wang Shi was defeated. Those gathered in Guizhou were mostly armies from other regions. These external armies had no experience fighting in Guizhou. So even though Lord Wang’s deployment was steady, still…”

“Lunatic!” Fang Jifan directly rolled his eyes at him!

Are you an idiot? I thought you had figured out something important, but after all this time, you’re still obsessing over this matter?

Fang Jifan was truly impressed by Wang Shouren. This man, revered by countless later generations as the Great Scholar of the School of Mind, the Sage who founded his own school—how could he be… so single-minded?

Indeed, seeing is believing!

Right now, Fang Jifan had many things troubling him and naturally had no mood to deal with him further. He couldn’t be bothered and started to walk away.

“This student’s guess is correct, isn’t it?” Wang Shouren seemed already accustomed to Fang Jifan’s ‘rudeness.’ In fact, everyone around Fang Jifan seemed willing to get used to his temperament.

Actually, this was easy to understand. Anyone who encountered Fang Jifan didn’t have high expectations of him to begin with. To put it bluntly, given Fang Jifan’s reputation, if he didn’t relieve himself on the street, it would already exceed many people’s expectations! They would think this notoriously infamous guy wasn’t as shameless as rumored, and might even develop a favorable impression.

Fang Jifan didn’t stop walking and said impatiently, “Aren’t you annoying? This is all old news.”

But Wang Shouren still followed him. This strange young man was persistent, trailing behind Fang Jifan: “This student truly admires Young Lord Fang’s foresight. It’s laughable that this student thought himself well-versed in military strategy—it was all just armchair theory. I’m truly ashamed.”

“Young Lord Fang, how about we find a place to sit, have a drink?”

“Young Lord Fang… This student seeks guidance humbly. I only hope Young Lord Fang will not hesitate to teach.”

Fang Jifan was busy. He had many important things he wanted to do. He respected Wang Shouren—but he respected the historical Wang Shouren who quelled rebellions, had high prestige, and became the Exemplar for All Ages—not this current version who muddled over everything all day, dug to the bottom of every matter, and bothered him while he worked.

Just kidding, this Young Lord deals with matters worth several taels of silver every minute. Where would I find time to chat idly with you? Figure it out yourself. Mull it over slowly. In twenty years, won’t you become a master?

Fang Jifan quickened his pace. Unfortunately, Wang Shouren knew martial arts and could walk swiftly. Like a shadow, he stuck closely to Fang Jifan, still saying: “Young Lord Fang, when three walk together, one must be my teacher; Young Lord Fang is highly talented… This student has only one question. Once asked, I will not pester further.”

Sigh…

Fang Jifan sighed. He was completely defeated. He had to stop and turn back: “Ask. This Young Lord is in a bad mood. Quickly, or else… this Young Lord will beat…”

He originally wanted to say “beat you until even your mother wouldn’t recognize you,” but upon careful thought, he realized he probably couldn’t beat this guy. One must have self-awareness.

Wang Shouren looked deeply at Fang Jifan and said, “How did Young Lord Fang make such an accurate judgment? Young Lord Fang is clearly so young…”

Fang Jifan was silent for a moment, then said: “Unity of Knowledge and Action.”

Four words…

Wang Shouren halted.

This “Unity of Knowledge and Action” was originally proposed by Wang Shouren himself in history, during the third year of the Zhengde reign, when he was lecturing at the Guiyang Academy.

But now, he was here, hearing Fang Jifan speak these four words.

Of course, the “Unity of Knowledge and Action” proposed by Wang Shouren was more philosophical. The so-called “knowledge” referred to human thought and consciousness; “action” referred to the implementation and practice of that thought and consciousness, meaning one’s thoughts should be integrated with one’s actions.

But Fang Jifan’s “Unity of Knowledge and Action” here was clearly regarding the judgment about Guizhou. It meant that one shouldn’t merely engage in armchair strategy but must consider actual conditions. One must both learn knowledge and test true understanding through practice.

Wang Shouren was stunned…

Clearly… these four words from Fang Jifan were enough to give him insight.

He frowned deeply, his whole person seeming to sink into thought. Suddenly, he became oblivious to Fang Jifan, neither hearing nor seeing him.

Fang Jifan couldn’t be bothered with him anymore. Originally, he was going to check on the Commandants’ work digging channels to channel water, but now he changed his mind and went home first.

Returning home in a gloomy mood, just as he entered the hall, he saw Xu Jing peeking in from outside.

Fang Jifan glared at him, sighing inwardly. Why were his disciples becoming more and more like him, each so sneaky? He said sternly, “Get in here.”

“Yes.” Xu Jing entered cautiously, seemingly afraid of being noticed, and couldn’t help looking back a few times before stopping.

“What is it?” Fang Jifan couldn’t stand this furtive behavior.

Xu Jing said in a low voice, “Mentor, we had a visitor today.”

Fang Jifan said grumpily, “So there was a visitor. What does that have to do with me?”

Xu Jing hurriedly said, “They came to see Grandmaster. Hearing Grandmaster wasn’t in, they asked about Mentor. Seeing Mentor wasn’t in either, they left a note. Oh, right, they also gifted a pair of Jade Discs. They said they heard Mentor liked small trinkets, so they sent two pairs for Mentor to play with as he pleased. If he didn’t like them someday, he could just throw them away.”