Chongzhen: I am the king of prosperous times

Chapter 319 Glass and the Telescope
"My lord... Song Yingxing, head of the Armed Forces Institute, Tang Ruowang, please see me."

Han Zanzhou walked into Dongnuang Pavilion, cupped his hands to Emperor Chongzhen, and said, "They have something that they want to dedicate to the emperor, and they hope to allocate funds for research."

"Xuan."

Emperor Chongzhen spoke without even thinking about it.

The talents gathered in the Military Equipment Institute, especially the principals like Song Yingxing, are all treasures. No matter what needs they put forward, Emperor Chongzhen will satisfy them one by one.

Especially now that the internal funds have become extremely substantial, things that can be settled with money are not things!

"Chen... Song Yingxing, pay homage to Your Majesty!"

"Chen...Tang Ruowang, pay homage to Your Majesty!"

The two people who were led into the Dongnuang Pavilion bowed to Emperor Chongzhen, holding a long copper tube in Tang Ruowang's hand, which attracted the attention of Emperor Chongzhen.

Is that a telescope?
"The two gentlemen are exempt from courtesy."

Emperor Chongzhen stretched out his hand to signal, and said: "You two Qing family, what is the purpose of coming to the palace? If you have any needs, just ask me."

After Song Yingxing and Tang Ruowang looked at each other, Tang Ruowang stepped forward and said in fluent Chinese, "Your Majesty, what I want to offer is called the Telescope.

Previously, the minister and Bishop Deng Yuhan had presented this object to the imperial court so that the Qin Tianjian could observe the sky. This time, he entered the palace to implore His Majesty to allocate another sum of money to the Military Equipment Academy. "

Wang Chengen and Han Zanzhou frowned slightly, looked at Tang Ruowang, offered a binoculars to the emperor, and wanted to fight for more money.

You must know that in these days, almost 100 million silver has been allocated from internal funds to the Armed Forces Academy.

No matter how good this telescope is, it is not as important as studying gunpowder, firearms and artillery.

The appetite of this Western missionary is really not ordinary.

"Bring it up for me to see."

Emperor Chongzhen said: "I remember this telescope, standing in the same place, I can see the scenery several miles away, I knew this thing before.

But he was busy with the government affairs of the country and ignored this matter. "

In fact, the binoculars that Tang Ruowang was talking about were binoculars, which had been spread to Daming very early, but they did not attract enough attention.

After being reminded by Song Yingxing and Tang Ruowang, Emperor Chongzhen had an idea in his heart.

"If this thing can be mass-produced and installed in the army, especially for scouts, it will be of great help to the battle situation on the battlefield."

Emperor Chongzhen took the binoculars presented by Wang Chengen, lifted it up, looked outside the Dongnuang Pavilion, and said, "But the single-eye binoculars are somewhat inconvenient after all, why didn't you think about changing them to binoculars?

Also, the observation distance and focus of the telescope are not particularly good. Song Qing, Tang Ruowang, the money you want to fight for is to improve these problems, right? "

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Song Yingxing stepped forward, cupped his hands and said, "At the Armed Forces Institute, during the symposium, it was discovered that Guochao didn't pay enough attention to the binoculars.

If the quality of the telescope can be improved and a better telescope can be developed, whether it is distributed to the army or engaged in astronomical research, it will be an excellent thing. "

I'm afraid I just want to engage in astronomical research.

Emperor Chongzhen sighed in his heart, looking at Tang Ruowang, his attitude towards the group of Western missionaries gathered was very clear.

It is to make good use of missionaries to absorb the essence of the West, discard the remaining dross, and develop and strengthen the local technological system.

In fact, the development of Daming in some fields has been left behind by the West.

If you don't catch up bravely as soon as possible, the gap between the two sides will gradually widen as time goes by. This is not what Emperor Chongzhen wanted to see.

After all, under the tide of the age of great voyages, Da Ming should not only limit his vision to the local land of Da Ming, but also learn to look at the world.

"Is 5 taels of silver enough?"

Emperor Chongzhen put down the binoculars, thought for a while, and said: "To delve into the matter of binoculars, we must make a corresponding adjustment on the side of the Armed Forces Institute.

It is necessary to manufacture corresponding telescopes according to different needs.

By the way, Tang Ruowang, among the missionaries gathered at the Xishan Armed Forces Institute, are there any talents who are proficient in glass making? "

"Your Majesty is talking about Liuli?"

Tang Ruowang hesitated, looked at Emperor Chongzhen and said, "Yes, according to what I know, there are at least seven people who are proficient in colored glaze, especially..."

"It's good to have it!"

Emperor Chongzhen stretched out his hand to Tang Ruowang and said, "In this way, after you leave the palace and return to Xishan, transfer all those missionaries who are proficient in colored glaze to one place.

Wang Banban, you call the inner factory to select a group of young craftsmen and go to Xishan for training.

Let them learn how to make colored glaze as soon as possible. I want to build several factories for firing colored glaze and producing colored glaze in Huangzhuang. "

Things like glass were manufactured a long time ago, but the Ming Dynasty, which was dominated by small-scale peasant economy, including the previous Yuan Dynasty, did not make effective use of this product.

Glass products were scarce and relatively expensive under the Ming Dynasty.

But in the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, it was just a pile of sand produced by a special process.

If Huangzhuang can master the corresponding production technology, mass-produce glass products, and sell them to various places in Daming, it will definitely be a good income.

"In the future, the Armed Forces Institute will submit a memorial every month."

Looking at Song Yingxing and Tang Ruowang, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "In addition to the development of firearms and artillery, we also need to discuss more about other products.

For those with practical value, no matter how much money is needed, I will allocate it in time. Don't think it is a waste of money. No matter how much money is spent on research, I don't feel sorry for it. "

If it is not the current Ming Dynasty, it is a traditional agricultural country without a basic primitive industrial system. Emperor Chongzhen wants to call Song Yingxing and the others to study steam engines.

With this artifact, what direction will Ming Dynasty go in laying a large-scale railway?
But without an established scientific and technological foundation, or even a primitive industrial system, Emperor Chongzhen would not have thought about it.

Unrealistic.

Wanting to run before even learning how to walk, isn't that pure whimsy?
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, the Armed Forces Academy will definitely do a good job." Tang Ruowang immediately stated after hearing this, "I will definitely not disappoint Your Majesty's high expectations."

It seems that the charm of preaching made Tang Ruowang and his group of Western missionaries want to gain trust, so that Catholicism can grow stronger in Ming Dynasty.

Looking at Tang Ruowang with a positive attitude, Emperor Chongzhen secretly said in his heart, but whether it is Catholicism or other religions, if you want to spread it in Ming Dynasty, it is not in line with the core of the rule, and if you don't accept reform, it will definitely not work.

(End of this chapter)