Chapter 21: The Principles of the World

Li You stood up; the day before, he had asked Yu Zhengchun about the little girl who ate with a tile when she first arrived, and only then did he learn of a place called Xi Keng.

Xi Keng was actually not far, located in the mountain ravine behind the wooden shed.

The Daba Mountain Range is the general term for the mountainous areas along the borders of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei provinces; it is also the boundary mountain between the Sichuan Basin and the Hanzhong Basin. After long-term intense river cutting, the mountain body formed many deep gorges with steep slopes, creating numerous large plateaus and deep ravines.

The road in this ravine was extremely flat, clearly having been constructed, because this area had previously been private property of the Huizhou merchant An Jia; coal was mined here, but the coal quality was poor.

Furthermore, crossing mountains and ridges was required to enter Mian County; by the end of the Wanli reign, when tax eunuchs raised alarm signals everywhere, it had already been abandoned.

Previously, nearby villagers would come here tirelessly, laboriously digging for a long time, then transporting the coal out to exchange with wealthy families for some grain.

But later, when Longlin Mountain became a bandit den, these remaining coal cinders became resources for Longmen Fortress; the coal-mining work was basically handed over to these children, even though some were not yet five years old.

When Li You entered the ravine, he heard the sounds of coal mining inside, but the noise was not loud; only upon approaching did he realize this ravine had been mined very deeply, resulting in a large pit.

Standing on the edge, Li You saw several busy small figures below, covered head to toe in black, like little black dogs, constantly wriggling down there.

Under Yu Zhengchun's lead, Li You followed, stepping deep and shallow, down into the pit.

At the pit bottom were six children; seeing Yu Zhengchun return, they all rushed over, especially the little girl who had been beaten by the yellow-haired man that day, who ran the fastest.

Surrounding Yu Zhengchun, they shouted excitedly; small hands reached into his wide robe and indeed felt a steamed yam the size of a fist.

"Yam, yam, yam..."

The little girl suddenly screamed with joy; the sound was extremely crisp and cheerful, like little hooks that made Li You's lips involuntarily curve into a smile.

"Xiao Juzi, don't let it get cold; divide it up and eat quickly!" Yu Zhengchun called out with a smile.

The little girl named Xiao Juzi nodded, took the yam back, and handed it to Yu Zhengchun.

Yu Zhengchun carefully peeled the skin, then broke the yam apart again and again, breaking it repeatedly, before finally distributing it to the group of children before him.

Among them, two boys were slightly older; swallowing their saliva, they waved their hands saying they were not hungry. Yu Zhengchun did not press further and gave the rest entirely to these five younger children.

Finally, holding the yam skins in his palm, he divided them into three portions, walked over and gave them to the two older boys, while stuffing the remaining strip into his own mouth.

But how could this bit of yam be shared among five or six people?

The little girl named Xiao Juzi licked her fingers while turning back to look at Li You with pleading eyes.

Blood scabs still remained on her face, from the day the yellow-haired man smashed her rice bowl and it fell on her.

Li You scratched his head; he really had nothing to eat on him. If he had food, he might have eaten it himself long ago, because he himself was hungry all day long.

"If Sister Xing has any leftovers, I will secretly bring them over..."

Yu Zhengchun said to them, "Mr. Li himself cannot even get full here; you little gluttons, stop staring at him!"

For the first time in this world, Li You witnessed such a heartwarming scene of brotherly love and sibling harmony, allowing him to see for the first time that however evil the world, some people still preserved kindness.

He rubbed his hands together and smiled gently, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, big brother will definitely bring you food!"

"Really?"

"Big brother?"

"Really!"

Li You's words caused the children to pause in surprise; Yu Zhengchun was already accustomed to pointing at Li You and saying, "This one is Ceng Ruan, this one is Hei Liuzi... uh, his brain is a bit unusual... and there is Xiao Juzi, Song Baishun, Da Niu..."

"And this is the scholar gentleman I told you about the day before yesterday, who knows immortal medical arts; he is incredibly powerful and can bring the dead back to life!"

While speaking, Yu Zhengchun patted their heads, introducing them to Li You.

"Is it true?"

"Then can you save my little sister... my father and mother told me to take good care of her... but she died of illness on the road last year..."

A slightly older boy named Mei Dan'er, with wide eyes, spoke while his eyes turned red.

The atmosphere, which had just begun to grow lively, suddenly fell silent; everyone looked at Li You with pleading eyes, and even Yu Zhengchun showed expectation.

"I cannot," Li You said softly.

"Sigh..."

Yu Zhengchun, being older, sighed, suddenly thought of something, and immediately said with great enthusiasm, "Scholar, can you teach us to read and write?"

"Read and write?" Li You couldn't help but say, "What use is there in studying and reading? Right now, we still need to figure out how to fill our stomachs!"

"Ah..."

Li You's words left the children dumbfounded; except for Xiao Juzi, who looked completely bewildered, everyone else looked at Li You in disbelief.

Li You's "theory of the uselessness of studying" naturally stemmed from his past life, but in this era where every dynasty ruled together with scholars, the significance of studying and reading far exceeded its social function itself.

This was purely due to class dynamics; according to the Ming dynasty's class rule, one could say there was a Zhu family Great Emperor above, a few officials and nobles as Middle Emperors below, and finally countless village scholars as local petty emperors.

The so-called "imperial power does not descend to the countryside"; many people mistakenly believe that in remote mountain villages, there is no Ming legal authority, but this understanding is incorrect.

"Village Drinking Banquets," "Deer Cry Banquets," and others fully demonstrate that everywhere, local powerful families governed civil affairs; these people might have outwardly complied while inwardly disobeyed, or embezzled for themselves,

but in essence, they remained an extension of the Ming court's power, and this administrative method was extremely effective in the early Ming due to its low cost.

"Studying allows one to become an official!" Song Baishun, who had a delicate appearance, shouted at Li You.

"Yes, if you study, you can eat white flour buns," Xiao Juzi said cheerfully, licking her lips again.

Li You did not know what to say for a moment.

He truly felt studying was useless; during his schooling, he often felt he knew a great deal and could speak eloquently, but when it came to action, he could do nothing and do nothing well.

After dropping out and experiencing the cruelty of society, plus having spent his parents' hard-earned money during school yet being unable to repay them, he held studying in very low regard.

"Before, I heard the private school teacher say that studying clarifies principles; when I become an official, I will surely understand the principles, and then the world will not be so chaotic!"

Song Baishun suddenly spoke up, his eyes shining with spirit.

"Studying can clarify principles?" Li You paused; could studying really make people understand the principles of the world?

But there are too many principles in the world; those who say "all occupations are inferior, only studying is noble" are scholars, and those who say "nine out of ten people deserve a cold shoulder, and a scholar is useless in a hundred ways" are also scholars;

those who say "better to be shattered jade than intact tile" are scholars, and those who say "the pillars are too hard and the water is too cold" are also scholars...

The principles of scholars sound correct when heard, but are forgotten when acted upon; perhaps they were never meant to be practiced by oneself, but only used to preach to others.

The source of most principles may simply be the justification and comfort sought for one's own behavior at that time.

With the world in such chaos, among the high officials of the court covered in silver badges, which one does not understand reason? It is precisely because they understand too much and too many kinds of reason that they cannot hold fast to their original heart.

Nevertheless, Li You still said, "Very well, I can teach you to read and write!"

After speaking, he felt strangely ashamed. As he walked back, his mind kept thinking:

"Having traveled through time, what exactly can I do in this world?"

Even if he had no definite answer in his heart, having seen that era of great peace and prosperity, who could stand by and watch this current ghostly world rot away like this forever?