Ancient Imperial Examination Daily

Chapter 886

Akagi lit an incense first, took the incense and approached the big rock, bent down and lit the fuse, and then quickly moved away.

After a while, there was only a "boom", the stone was lifted, and gravel chips were splashed from the place where the gunpowder was placed.

Even after listening to Du Jinning's words, Eunuch Wu and Yu Wei were still taken aback by the news, and quickly came up to surround Zhao Wen.They didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they saw that the place where the debris fell was quite far away, and they were standing upstairs again, completely safe.

"This is... gunpowder?" Zhao Huo frowned and asked Du Jinning.

"Exactly." Du Jinning nodded.

To be precise, black powder.

Black gunpowder was invented by alchemists as early as the Tang Dynasty, and was first used in pyrotechnics and acrobatics. It was widely used in wars in the Northern Song Dynasty, and was made into gunpowder weapons such as rockets and fireballs. So Zhao Wei saw the gunpowder weapon just now. It's gunpowder.

After getting Du Jinning's affirmation, he was very puzzled, wondering why Du Jinning wanted to show the power of gunpowder in front of him.

"Don't your majesty think that this gunpowder is extremely useful for digging mountains and opening roads? In addition, if we let people study gunpowder and improve it, using its explosive and fire properties, will it be better used in warfare? Among them?" Du Jinning said.

In Du Jinning's previous life, the Jin people and the Mongols successively learned how to use and make firearms during the battle against the Song Dynasty, which made a great contribution to the Mongolian cavalry almost conquering the entire Eurasian territory.

During the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Shizu's army was defeated in the battle against Syria, and the Arabs seized gunpowder weapons such as rockets, poison cans, cannons, and thunderbolts, thus mastering the manufacture and use of gunpowder weapons.In wars with Arab countries, Europeans gradually mastered the technology of making gunpowder and gunpowder weapons.

It is ironic that in the late Qing Dynasty, Europeans took the gunpowder weapons invented by the Chinese and broke the gate of China, reducing China to a semi-colonial society.

Du Jinning is a woman and a peace-loving person. She once hesitated to give advice on the use of gunpowder. She did not want to let ancient China change from the era of cold weapons to the era of hot weapons with great lethality.

Later, she also figured it out. Instead of letting the Mongols occupy the country with firearms invented by the Chinese, and the Europeans repeat this action many years later, it is better to improve the firearms and use firearms to protect the country so as not to repeat the same mistakes.

Guan Lehe felt that Du Jinning's talking about this topic was a bit dangerous, and wondered whether Zhao He would think that she had a different heart and meddled in the army's firearms.He was eager to protect his disciples, so he quickly brought the topic back: "Aren't you going to reform the imperial examinations? Then what you just messed with has anything to do with the imperial examinations?"

Zhao He's thoughts were pulled back by Guan Lehe's words.He also looked at Du Jinning suspiciously.

"Come on, let's go back to the main courtyard and sit and talk." Du Jinning made a gesture of invitation.

The group went downstairs, returned to the main courtyard and sat down. Du Jinning asked people to serve hot tea and snacks, and then said: "Brother Emperor, I used to say that science and technology are the primary productive forces. You also saw it just now. If we Making machines and applying steam power can play a big role in production and life. Maybe one day, we can plow the land without oxen and hoes; maybe one day, we can also weave without women weaving Weaving cotton yarn into cloth."

"Now we have a high-yield grain, and we also have high-yield crops like corn brought back from overseas; in the future, the scenario I just mentioned will be realized, and the Song Dynasty will become more and more prosperous every day. Think about the countries in the southwest, northwest, and Japan. Don't you want to invade us and bite off our piece of fat? What can we use to resist foreigners? We don't have good horses, and we are not as brave and good at fighting as the horse race. The people are used to living a comfortable life and can beat them Is it? Only by being prepared for danger in times of peace can there be long-term peace and stability."

Zhao He, Guan Lehe, and even Qi Muyuan were all terrified by Du Jinning's words, and a sense of crisis emerged spontaneously.

Especially Zhao Wei, he only felt a chill from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.

In the past ten years, the Great Song Dynasty has not been free from foreign invasions. Xia Jin has also harassed a lot in the frontiers. The generals were stationed at the frontier, and after Zhao Yu ascended the throne, he paid more attention to the stability of the government and the construction of people's livelihood.

Now that he was reminded by Du Jinning, he was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.

Without Zhao He talking, Du Jinning could feel his mood at this time. She didn't stop, and continued: "Developing the economy internally and resisting foreign enemies externally are the prerequisites and guarantees for the prosperity of our Great Song Dynasty. But now, what are the most intelligent and knowledgeable people in Song Dynasty doing? They are studying the Four Books and Five Classics."

She looked at Zhao Wei with sharp eyes: "Is the Four Books and Five Classics really that important?"

If it was another emperor, she would never dare to ask such a straightforward question.But Zhao He was a very pragmatic emperor.He is proactive, has a clear goal, and has a strong ability to act. He is good at listening to other people's opinions.Du Jinning boldly put forward his own ideas only after meeting such a wise gentleman.

She knew that Zhao Yu was not superstitious about the Four Books and Five Classics.He will advocate whatever is good for the development of Song Dynasty, just like when she denied emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business, he would adopt her opinion if he thought it made sense.

Seeing that Zhao Yu was lost in thought, she didn't speak any more, she made a silent gesture to Guan Lehe and Qi Muyuan, and sat there drinking tea quietly.

After a full meal, Zhao Wen woke up from his sleep.

With a long sigh, he stood up, walked in front of Du Jinning, and bowed deeply: "Thank you, Royal Sister, for awakening the dreamer."

Although Du Jinning didn't think there was anything wrong with accepting his salute, he also knew that in this era, it would be absolutely treasonous for the emperor to salute him.She quickly got up and turned sideways, avoiding Zhao Huo's gift.

"Brother Emperor, Jin Ning, as a citizen of the Great Song Dynasty and a third-rank official appointed by the emperor, has the obligation to speak to the emperor. Jin Ning cannot accept this gift from the emperor."

Zhao Wei didn't get entangled in this, he turned around and sat down, motioned Du Jinning to sit down as well, and asked humbly: "Then what does the imperial sister think the imperial examination should take?"

"The Four Books and Five Classics are naturally tested, but the proportion can be reduced. In addition to mathematics and law, other subjects can also be added, such as physics, chemistry, biology, etc." Du Jinning said, "However, human energy is limited, and it is also limited. Talent is limited, so I suggest that the content of each stage of the imperial examination is different, and the higher the level, the more subdivided."

She pointed to herself: "Take the minister as an example. The minister's talent lies in agriculture. When you are a scholar, your ability to read and write is important; when you are a man, you are tested on some basic subjects related to biology; At that time, you only need to take the test of biological knowledge, and after you pass the test, you will be a talent in planting in the Ministry of Industry, and you can work in the Ministry of Industry, or you can go to the local government to take charge of agriculture."

　Second watch, good night

　　
　
(End of this chapter)