Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 134
Taichang really had a headache right now. He couldn't think of the imperial examination questions for a long time, and there was a fatal problem with the rubber sealing ring. What should we do?

He couldn't help standing there with the clip in his hand.

Seeing that the rubber was about to burn into a mush, Xu Guangqi quickly ordered someone to dig out the charcoal below, and then asked softly, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?"

Hearing this, Taichang suddenly came to his senses.

He looked around and saw the concern in everyone's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel warm.

Fortunately, I still have a bunch of cronies available.

These people are not like the eunuchs and Donglin in the court, they are all capable, and these people are loyal and willing to contribute to the country and the people.

In fact, he didn't have to worry too much about the imperial examination questions, because Xu Guangqi, Bi Maokang, and Wang Zheng present were all Jinshi, and they must be familiar with the "Four Books and Five Classics".

More importantly, these people are relatively open-minded, unlike those rotten scholars in the imperial court, who can study knowledge, don't know how to apply what they have learned, and even sneer at strange tricks.

The exam questions can help Xu Guangqi and others think about it. As for the rubber sealing ring, it seems that the pressure cooker of later generations also has a sealing ring. Why doesn't it melt?

Taichang frowned and pondered for a while, and finally remembered.

Vulcanized rubber!

In fact, natural rubber is rarely used for rubber in later generations. Most rubber is vulcanized before it is made into products, and vulcanized rubber has high temperature resistance.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but excitedly said: "You know sulfur, right?"

Everyone knows this!

Everyone nodded, expressing that they knew this thing.

Taichang then asked again: "Sulfur powder, should there be a place to use it?"

Xu Guangqi said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, are you talking about the sulfur powder in gunpowder?"

Yes, sulfur powder is used in gunpowder!
Taichang nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, it is that kind of sulfur powder. This rubber must be added with sulfur powder to withstand high temperature. As for how to add it and how much to add, you have to try it before you know."

He glanced around again, then called his name and said: "Chang Geng, you should be familiar with this, why don't you take the responsibility to try it?"

Since Song Yingxing was able to compile the so-called encyclopedia of the seventeenth century, "Tiangong Kaiwu", this shouldn't be a problem for him, right?
To be honest, Song Yingxing did have some research on chemical industry, but chemical industry was not called chemical industry at this time, and he had never played with rubber, and he had never heard of vulcanized rubber.

He thought about it carefully for a while, and then eagerly said: "This, I should be able to try it out."

It looked like he was interested.

Just be interested.

Tech freaks like this, as long as they are interested, they will forget to eat and sleep to drill into it.

Taichang added: "You can try various sulfur powders, because sulfur powders have different uses, origins are different, and the ingredients contained in them are different. Perhaps, the vulcanized rubber produced has different degrees of high temperature resistance. Same."

Song Yingxing nodded again and again and said, "Yeah, I understand."

Taichang nodded slightly, and said to Sun Yuanhua: "Chuyang, you stay and help Chang Geng."

Immediately afterwards, he waved again: "Others, follow me"

After that, he turned around and walked out.

The sealing ring can't be made temporarily. The sealing ring made of unvulcanized rubber will melt when the temperature is high, and it is useless at all. We can only wait for the vulcanized rubber to come out before making it.

He brought everyone to the school where the crown prince and King Xin were studying, sat down directly at the professor's seat, and asked everyone to find a table to sit cross-legged, and then solemnly said: "There are still a few months left in the exam. It's about to start, everyone knows, right?"

The imperial examination can be said to be the top priority for scholars, and everyone knows this.

Everyone nodded, expressing their understanding, even the crown prince and King Xin nodded.

Taichang immediately said directly: "I want to be the chief examiner of the examination. As for the examination questions, I want to come up with something related to what you are studying, or something related to encouraging business and trade, because what Daming lacks now is these Talents in various fields. Question, it seems that there is no relevant topic in the "Four Books and Five Classics", can you think of it?"

this!

Xu Guangqi, Bi Maokang and Wang Zheng all had strange expressions on their faces.

Because the emperor's idea is indeed very different from the content of the "Four Books and Five Classics", you must know that "playing with things loses one's ambition", this is a truth that all scholars understand.

The emperor actually wants to encourage everyone to "play with things". I have to say that this idea is really weird.

What else encourages business and trade, which also deviates from the mainstream thinking since ancient times.

You must know that "food is the most important thing for the people", and the most important thing is to have enough food, and it is secondary to any business or trade!

At least, people of this era think so.

Xu Guangqi thought for a while, but couldn't help reminding: "Your Majesty, your move to encourage business and trade may still work in Nanzhili, because Nanzhili is relatively rich and has sufficient supplies, so everyone can Accept the behavior of doing business. If you go to the Northwest where you can’t get enough to eat, and encourage business, I’m afraid you will be reviled!"

Taichang really doesn't understand why people despise him so much for doing business these days?
Can a dynasty survive on food alone?

How do you fight without money? Where do soldiers’ salaries, military merit rewards, and pensions for fallen soldiers come from?
How can we develop military industry and technology without money?

Money is everywhere now!

Scholars still pay more attention to agriculture than business, thinking that business is not important at all, and it is wrong to even encourage business!

Emphasis on agriculture over business, it can indeed be maintained when there is no war, but it will be over when there is a war!

No money, what a fart!

This may be one of the main reasons for the continuous replacement of dynasties for thousands of years.

If there is no war, nothing will happen. Once there is a war, there will be no money soon. Then, there will be no more, one dynasty will perish, and the next dynasty will continue!
I need money to fight wars, I need money to develop military industry!

What emphasizes agriculture over business?
Could it be that I'm going to watch my country go bankrupt and my family perish just to stick to this convention!

Are you kidding me?
This idea must be reversed, otherwise, the Ming Dynasty will die just like other dynasties in the past.

He thought for a while, and then asked solemnly: "Why does everyone think that agriculture should be prioritized over business? What's wrong with getting rich through business? Tell me about it."

Hearing this, Xu Guangqi said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, to put it bluntly, business is buying and selling. You bought a local specialty and resold it to a scarce place for profit. You didn't produce any new things at all. Moreover, businessmen are after profit. After buying and selling, things This kind of behavior is not only of no benefit to ordinary people, but it will also make them think that their hard work is not as good as a businessman who doesn't do any work!"

Oh, that's what it means.

Taichang finally understands that the reason why he puts more emphasis on agriculture than business these days is because he is afraid that everyone will learn from those traders and be lazy, and then no one will be engaged in production, and everyone will starve to death!

What logic is this?

I have to say that this kind of thinking is really weird. Who said businessmen are lazy?
These people still regard this moment as a primitive society.

In the primitive society, it is true that it is enough to have enough to eat. The problem is that it is not enough to have enough to eat at the moment. Many things cannot be done without enough financial resources!

There is an obvious example in the Hongwu Dynasty. At that time, Jinling City needed to build the city wall and had no money, and millions of troops had no money to reward. The rich merchant Shen Wansan alone donated one-third of the cost of building the city wall, and donated a large sum of money. Use the money to reward the army.

His ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang was lucky, he valued agriculture over business, and he would not recognize anyone when he turned his face.
What's the matter!
Taichang frowned and pondered for a while, and then gave an example: "Fan Li, the sage of merchants, you have all heard of it. If it weren't for his business acumen, the economy of Yue would develop and its wealth far surpassed that of other princes. How could it be possible for Guo to destroy Wu and become one of the Five Hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period?"

Uh, this.

Xu Guangqi thought for a while, and then guessed: "Fan Li, the sage of the merchant, can make the economy of the Yue country far surpass that of other princes. It should be through buying and selling, hurting other princes and enriching the Yue country."

That's right!

Taichang took advantage of the situation and said: "Think about it, is our Ming Dynasty the only country in this world? No, there are Dongying, Nanyang countries, and Western barbarians. Now the Western barbarians are hurting others and enriching themselves. Do you think Think, what will happen if they are allowed to far surpass other countries, even Ming Dynasty? Do you even need to think about the result? If they become the overlord, we will be bullied!"

This is an ironclad historical fact. Although it hasn't happened yet, it can be predicted.

The reason why people in this era didn't think about this is mainly a matter of vision, because everyone's vision is limited to the inside, and they never pay attention to the development of Japan, Nanyang and Western barbarians.

The result is good, the country is closed to the outside world, directly locked up and disabled, and then rubbed on the ground by the developed powers!
No one thinks about this kind of thing, as long as you think about it carefully, it is not difficult to find that the final result must be like this.

Xu Guangqi and the others thought about it carefully, and nodded solemnly: "The emperor is wise."

(End of this chapter)