Several months had passed since Fang Zheng parted ways with Xiang Shaolong. On this day, Fang Zheng arrived in Daliang, the capital of the State of Wei.
After setting his goal, Fang Zheng finally found some drive. He began gathering orphans and refugees displaced by war, laying a foundation for his sect. At the same time, he was also searching everywhere for talented people.
As a modern man, Fang Zheng knew very well that if a nation wanted to become prosperous and powerful, improving productivity was indispensable. Yet although this was the Warring States era, when the Hundred Schools of Thought contended, Fang Zheng found that their so-called contention was almost entirely over differing approaches to cultural and political rule. Fundamentally, there was no real difference.
That left Fang Zheng somewhat regretful. In his view, a nation could only flourish and grow strong by raising productivity. It could not achieve that goal solely through reforming political institutions. To put it bluntly, the disputes among the Hundred Schools of the Warring States period were basically no different from modern arguments over political systems. You promoted republicanism, I promoted democracy. You liked dictatorship, I liked freedom... In short, they were all the same kind of thing. It was not that these matters were unimportant, but focusing only on them was clearly not enough.
Of course, thinking about and reforming political institutions was essential, but raising productivity and advancing technology were equally important. Intellectual progress required material progress as well. So as Fang Zheng traveled through the various states, aside from taking in commoners who had lost their homes to war, he also recruited scholars from the Hundred Schools. Fang Zheng had plenty of money, after all. Why would he care about such a minor inconvenience?
Members of the Agricultural School, who focused