Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Buy a scholar, bribe a scholar——"

"These all cost money!" 』

After Zhang Pu left, Zhu Youjian sighed in his heart.

Whether it is to expand the number of Jinshi or to expand the number of people, more expenditures will be required.

It also costs money to let a scholar enter a school to study——

After all, many students are studying in prefecture schools and county schools and are paid six dollars a month. You can't become a college student and not be given rice.

Moreover, after these people graduate, they must be assigned jobs and be responsible for their future.

These things give Zhu Youjian a headache. Because if the speed of development cannot keep up, and a large number of college students will be unemployed after graduation, the trouble they cause when they gather together will be more troublesome than if they are scattered in different places now.

But Zhu Youjian was unwilling to leave the students to control public opinion in the countryside. Health workers have become a major hazard to local governance, and no one can ignore it.

And Zhu Youjian couldn't bear to leave so many scholars unused -

These are the scholars accumulated over the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if these people are stubborn and don't want to learn science, they can be allowed to teach so that Ming Dynasty can have more literate people.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian finally decided to imitate the policy towards college students in the 1980s, allowing these people to study in university halls for free and granting them bursaries.

If the work cannot be arranged, let these people join the army——

The military protection system requires many scholars.

At the same time, the newspapers, periodicals and printing and publishing industries also need to accelerate their development and use this industry with great potential to attract a large number of readers.

Thinking about these things, Zhu You asked Wang Chengen:
"Who are the people in the inner court who are suitable to supervise Ming Pao?"

Wang Chengen thought for a moment and said:

"Cao Huachun, Zheng Zhihui and others have written many articles these days."

"Most of the commentator articles in the Beijing News were written by them."

"These people are familiar with newspapers and should be able to do the job!"

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly when he heard Cao Huachun's name. This person was named Wang An. After Wang An was killed by Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tigan, he was sent to Nanjing. After Zhu Youjian dealt with Wei Zhongxian, he transferred him back.

It's just that Cao Huachun came back unluckily. Zhu Youjian had already dealt with Wei Zhongxian at that time, and he was no longer needed as Wei Zhongxian's enemy. On the contrary, he was quite dissatisfied with the Donglin Party, which was causing trouble in the DPRK and China.

Cao Huachun was under the name of Wang An, and Wang An had a close relationship with the Donglin Party, so he was not much favored after his return and was just idle in the palace.

Under the deliberate suppression by Wang Tiqian and others, Cao Huachun's name never appeared in front of Zhu Youjian again.

Until this time, Wang Chengen brought it up.

Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun have a history. Historically, he was promoted by Cao Huachun. Now that Cao Huachun was in ruins, Wang Chengen gave him a hand and asked Cao Huachun to work in the inner palace and usually write articles in newspapers.

Now when the emperor asked about it, Cao Huachun was recommended by Wang Chengen as the first one based on his previous contribution to writing articles.

Zhu Youji realized that Wang An had a good relationship with the Donglin Party, and that Cao Huachun should also be good at dealing with literati, so he planned to appoint him. But thinking about the school affairs, he gave another order:
"Bring Cao Huachun, Zheng Zhihui and other chamberlains who wrote manuscripts, as well as chamberlains from the inner study hall."

"I'm going to hold an exam to see their abilities."

I plan to use exams to discover a few talents.

Wang Chengen quickly went out and brought these people over. Zhu Youjian said:
"I want to build a large school and train students all over the world."

“But we suffer from insufficient money and food, so we can’t fully afford it.”

"You are all students, help me think of a solution."

"It doesn't matter what your literary talent is, just write down a few suggestions."

Paper and pens were distributed and the exam was conducted on the spot.

Cao Huachun, Zheng Zhihui and others all knew that the opportunity had come.

For the eunuchs in the inner court, this was no less than the palace examination in the outer court.

They thought hard one by one and made suggestions to the emperor.

Because there was no requirement for literary talent, they were worried that the emperor would not have the patience to read it, so many people listed their suggestions in the form of memorials and short verses.

After a while, someone handed in the test paper. This person was none other than Cao Huachun recommended by Wang Chengen. He was very senior in the palace and was eager to get ahead. He didn't care whether other eunuchs would criticize him or not.

So he was the first to submit the test paper in the exam held by the emperor.

Zhu Youjian looked at his suggestion and nodded slightly, quite approving of the encouragement for the gentry to donate money to the school. said:
"Cao Qing wrote well!"

"Since you proposed to donate money, you will be responsible for this."

"All schools are allowed to erect monuments and engrave donation lists."

“If someone donates a large amount, he or she can name a building in the school or name a scholarship.”

Model the way later universities treat donations and accept private donations.

Cao Huachun was very happy when he was praised by the emperor and said:
"I will definitely handle this matter well and live up to His Majesty's trust."

Then someone else wrote the article, and Zhu Youjian checked it one by one. I also praised the articles written by Zheng Zhihui, Wang Zhixin and others.

However, what pleased him the most was Fang Zhenghua's article. This young eunuch put forward suggestions for the students to work:
"Most of those scholars are focused on writing, but are not proficient in practical matters."

"I think they should be allowed to work early and practice in the yamen affiliated to the school."

"This will allow them to familiarize themselves with the actual work in advance, and it can also replace some officials."

"Their six buckets of rice are similar to those of officials!"

This suggestion is quite in line with Zhu Youjian's wishes. It reminded him of work-study programs, part-time study and other methods.

If these college students are allowed to work every other day and arrange their study time well, it is possible to achieve this effect and cultivate more talents.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian looked at Fang Zhenghua and said approvingly:

"Your idea is good, so I will appoint you to take charge of this matter."

"You are allowed to graduate from the Neishu Hall in advance and be awarded the title of Ninth-grade eunuch. As the Chief of Ceremony, you will assist the Eunuch Gao Shiming, the Chief of Liturgical Affairs, to participate in the establishment of various yamen schools."

"In addition to the Neifu Supervisor Industrial and Commercial School and the Jinyiwei Safety School, we established the Qintian Supervisor Astronomy School, the Shanglin Yuan Supervisor Agricultural School, the Imperial Medical College Medical School, and helped Sun Qifeng to establish the Normal School."

"These schools must plan well to recruit as many students as possible while saving money."

Put Fang Zhenghua beside Gao Shiming and learn from Gao Shiming.

When others heard about this appointment, they all looked at Fang Zhenghua with envy. After the emperor banned relationships between names, uncles, etc., no eunuch in the inner court openly confirmed these relationships. However, there is always a distance between people, and the relationship between superiors and subordinates in daily interactions begins to become closer.

The current method used by many eunuchs to train successors is to recruit promising people to their side. Defend these people openly in the same way you would protect your subordinates.

Fang Zhenghua was transferred by the emperor to Gao Shiming's subordinate, and he obviously became Gao Shiming's successor. From now on, Gao Shiming's relationship in the palace will be inherited by him.

Those little eunuchs in the inner study hall who have not graduated yet are envious of this.

But those eunuchs were alert, feeling that the emperor was reminding them. Let them know that everything they have is given by the emperor, and even choosing a successor requires the emperor's permission.

Zhu Youjian appointed Fang Zhenghua and said to Cao Huachun:
"Cao Qing wants to assist with the donation and construction of various schools, but what is more important is the affairs of Ming Pao."

"From now on, you will supervise Ming Pao Company as the eunuch in charge of the internal affairs."

"Help Zhang Pu run Ming Pao without losing control."

He promoted Cao Huachun's status to eunuch and became a member of the senior eunuchs of the inner court.

Cao Huachun was excited to express his gratitude, and Zhu Youjian rewarded Zheng Zhihui and Wang Zhixin, and promoted them to the inner palace prison to assist Wang Chengen in his work.

Especially regarding the "Beijing News" matter, Wang Chengen will gradually withdraw. After all, he is the supervisor of the inner government, and it is impossible for him to be in charge of a subordinate organization for a long time. Zhu Youjian asked him to choose someone to take over the newspaper industry.

While Zhu Youjian was arranging these things, the scandal of Guanglu Temple was already fermenting.

There is a problem with Guanglu Temple's accounts. This is something that all officials know tacitly. They are not surprised by this matter at all.

But what many officials didn't expect was that Guanglu Temple was so bold, and even after the emperor explicitly abolished the purchase of merchants, it still implemented it in disguise.

This let them know that Guanglu Temple was doomed. Just to maintain his prestige, the emperor wanted to show Guanglu Temple to the monkeys.

Zhou Yanru looked at the newspaper article and couldn't believe that there were so many shortcomings in Guanglu Temple. He had no idea about the so-called purchasing by merchants.

If he had known that the people below were so courageous, he would definitely not have spoken for these people and suggested to the Secretary of Commerce that Guanglu Temple should purchase the goods themselves.

Now, he is stuck in the ditch due to this matter. He could already imagine how furious the emperor would be.

After Xue Fengxiang walked out of the palace and heard the news that he had been promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry and that the emperor was going to appoint Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry to be in charge of the Department of Commerce, Zhou Yanru even understood that this was because of the involvement of Guanglu Temple——

If he is implicated like this, what will happen to him, the person in charge of Guanglu Temple?
He was so panicked that he hurriedly asked for help, hoping to find someone to say good things to the emperor. But after Wen Tiren and others disappeared behind closed doors, Zhou Yanru realized that he had been abandoned by the officialdom:

"This is how to do ah? 』

"Do you really want to take the initiative to declare your property as Wen Tiren said?" 』

Thinking of Wen Tiren's proposal and his current lack of presence, Zhou Yanru was itching with hatred, knowing that this boss was trying to harm him.

But now he is hated by people and dogs, and no one wants to pay attention to him. There seems to be no other option besides this path:
"Wait, wait!" 』

"Maybe there will be a turning point!" 』

To comfort himself, Zhou Yanru planned to wait for change.

Anyway, officials in Ming Dynasty worked very slowly. According to his impression, it would take at least several months to investigate a case.

It is impossible for the emperor to deal with himself for no reason without conclusive evidence.

However, what Zhou Yanru didn't expect was that Zhu Youjian deliberately took this incident as a model and renovated Guanglu Temple from top to bottom. So on the next day, the three legal departments of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment, as well as the two inner court yamen of Jinyiwei and Neifujian, as well as public opinion supervisors selected from various newspapers, gathered at Guanglu Temple. Start cleaning up accounts and inventory.

Naturally, a veteran accountant is responsible for cleaning up the accounts. Most of the public opinion monitors are supervising the inventory. As the public opinion supervisor appointed by the emperor, Zhang Pu came to participate in this matter in the name of the editor-in-chief of "Ming Pao" even though "Ming Pao" did not publish a single newspaper.

Thinking of the emperor's instructions to him and the requirement to promote science, Zhang Pu said loudly:
"There are many things that are unclear about measuring grain with stones."

"Can any of you tell me how much a stone weighs?"

Zhou Jiachun, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, said:
"In ancient times, one stone was four jun, and one jun was thirty kilograms, so one stone is one hundred and twenty kilograms."

"Song Dynasty man Shen Kuo once said: Ninety-two and a half kilograms of ordinary stone is the method."

"But in this dynasty, we will still take one hundred and twenty catties."

When Zhang Pu saw an official answering, he immediately continued loudly:
"Are the ancient Jin and Song Dynasty Jin the same as the current Jin?"

"One stone of grain weighs one hundred and twenty kilograms?"

"If we don't figure this out, we can't inventory the inventory."

"Perhaps there are some mermaids out there trying to pass off the truth."

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed a handful of rice, then grabbed a handful of rice and said:

"Look, can the same one stone of grain be lumped together?"

"Can the weight of unhulled rice and hulled rice be the same?"

Listening to Zhang Pu's eloquent talk, some officials became impatient. Yang Suo, the imperial censor of the Imperial Procuratorate who was responsible for prosecuting the prosecution:

"Speak directly if you have something to say, Mr. Zhang, and come up with your solution!"

Zhang Pu stopped trying to sell things off and said:

"These grains should be inventoried according to the metric system set by His Majesty."

"According to the metric system, one cubic meter is one thousand liters, one stone is ten buckets, and one bucket is ten liters."

"So stone is a unit of capacity, it means one hundred liters."

"It has nothing to do with the so-called weight, the weight must be calculated separately."

Everyone frowned upon hearing this, thinking that it was just unnecessary to take off their pants and fart. Just weigh it once. Is it necessary to weigh the capacity and weight separately as Zhang Pu said?

Some officials already felt that Zhang Pu was making trouble unreasonably. The public opinion monitor arranged by the emperor is purely whimsical.

But Zhang Pu ignored the looks of these people and continued to talk:

"The weight of grain should be calculated according to different types."

"The weight of grains of the same volume may be very different."

"Students once calculated that one stone of rice weighs about eighty to one hundred catties; one stone of rice weighs one hundred twenty to one hundred forty catties."

"The relationship between volume and weight is called test weight by students. The higher the test weight number, the better the grain quality."

"White grain is the highest quality grain supplied to the emperor. Not only the highest standard, but also the middle-to-high standard!"

Officially following the emperor's instructions, the concept of test weight was proposed. And requires that white grains be produced according to high standards——

Those who fail to meet this standard are naturally the officials of Guanglu Temple who are passing off the quality as good, hoping to evade prosecution by the court.

The scientific concept of grain fighting was proposed by Zhang Pu on this occasion. (End of chapter)