Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Fang Yizhi's human-powered rail car also caused a sensation among college students.

Although the weather is cold in winter, there are still many people who go to experience it.

They found this kind of vehicle that could move like a boat without being pulled by horses extremely novel.

Zhang Pu, who was born in Suzhou, sighed:

"They say that ships go south and horses go north. After this type of car appears, I guess it will be changed to ships go south and horses go north."

"In the future, the world will be covered with railroad tracks, and people will also have such rail cars. Wouldn't that be extremely convenient?"

The other party praised Yizhi's invention of a human-powered rail vehicle, believing that this type of vehicle would benefit both the country and the people.

He was well-informed and had learned from Cao Huachun that the emperor intended to grant Fang the title of Zhiyuanshi. This time he came from the Imperial College to tell him the good news.

Fang Yizhi was very surprised when he heard that he was going to be granted the title of Yuanshi, because in his opinion, this kind of human-powered rail vehicle was far from perfect.

And because it still requires human labor, it is still inevitable that people are criticized as beasts. He was given a special status as a Yuanshi for this invention, which he thought was too much praise:

"What virtue and ability do I have to be granted the status of a Yuanshi?"

"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by you all, but the invention of this human-powered rail vehicle was made possible by the craftsmen of the Vehicle Institute."

"Especially the crank connecting rod that connects the wheels, which was recommended by Engineer Liu."

"I heard him say that this structure was first proposed by Your Majesty. How dare I take credit for it?"

Some people frowned when they heard about the structure of the human-powered rail car and the emperor's achievements. Someone whispered:
"The late emperor liked carpentry, and the present emperor likes machinery."

"Don't let some people pander to you and create another Wei Zhongxian."

This also made many scholars worried.

In the first few years after he ascended the throne, Emperor Tianqi had great trust in civil officials, but later, because he was obsessed with carpentry, power shifted to Wei Zhongxian.

If someone in the inner court flatters the emperor and makes him addicted to machinery, and another Wei Zhongxian appears, that would be very bad.

Some worried scholars had already planned to submit memorials to the emperor or publish articles in newspapers to criticize the emperor's tricks and persuade him to pay more attention to state affairs.

However, Zhang Pu, who often went to the palace to see the emperor, knew that the current emperor was completely different from the previous emperor.

The previous emperor liked to do carpentry work himself, while the current emperor likes the progress of machinery. He only wants to see the results and has no interest in doing it himself.

If you want to please the emperor, you have to produce results constantly. People who have this ability have no energy to meddle in court affairs.

For example, Lü Xiang and Bo Jue were so busy with their research that they didn't have enough time. Even the emperor had to summon them to let them put their work aside for a while.

Xu Guangqi was busy with government affairs, so he had few achievements. Even the Complete Book of Agricultural Administration was compiled by Chen Zilong, who was arranged by the emperor.

Thinking of this, Zhang Pu had something to say, and said to everyone:
"Your Majesty not only attaches importance to machinery, but also to agriculture."

"There are two quotas for the student Yuanshi this year. Besides Brother Fang, there is Brother Chen Zilong."

"The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration that he edited has been approved by the Emperor and will be published by Mingzhi Bookstore."

"Because of this achievement, he was specially granted the status of a Yuanshi."

This news once again caused a sensation among college students, and many people were secretly moved.

They couldn't invent machines like Fang Yizhi, but how difficult could it be to edit and proofread books?

Chen Zilong was specially granted the status of Yuanshi for his achievement in editing and proofreading the "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration". If they also compiled a similar book, could they also become Yuanshi?

Some people also thought that the reason why Mao Yuanyi was specially granted the status of a Yuanshi was because he compiled the "Wu Bei Zhi". This made them feel that compiling a book was a shortcut to obtaining the status of a Yuanshi.

Zhang Pu managed to change the topic to this point, and he was secretly sweating. For a newspaper publisher like him, it was the most difficult to deal with articles that criticized or alluded to the emperor.

If he published it, he might anger the emperor, but if he didn't, it would damage his reputation among the scholars. He was more than happy to divert the topic with something else.

So he told everyone the interesting stories he had heard from Cao Huachun and others:

"In addition to the two classmates, there is also a painter who was specially granted the status of a Yuanshi this time."

"Do you know who it is?"

Some people don't know this, but some people just think about it and then suddenly realize:

"Zeng Jing!"

"It must be him!"

"It is said that the leader of the Jianlu was shot dead this time thanks to his painting skills."

The previous war in Korea was also reported extensively in newspapers in the capital.

Many people were extremely concerned about the mobilization of troops by the imperial court.

After Hauge, Yangguli, Shuotuo and others were shot dead one after another, the bounty cards launched by the court became famous overnight.

Nowadays, this card game is not only popular in the army, but also becomes an entertainment tool for the people of the Ming Dynasty, and is even used as a gambling tool in casinos.

Zeng Jing, who drew the portraits on the cards, is also well-known, and many people praise his lifelike painting skills.

When many people heard Zhang Pu say that a painter was specially granted the status of Yuanshi, the first person they thought of was him.

And because of his previous achievements, some people think he deserves the title:
"Zeng Bochen's painting skills are truly pioneering."

"In the future, his Bochen School will surely become very popular in the world!"

Some people don't like this painting style that absorbs Western painting techniques and has a strong sense of three-dimensionality, while others like it very much.

The current emperor is one of the fans, and he used his painting skills to launch a bounty card against the Jianlu.

Under the leadership of the emperor, the Bochen School has established a firm foothold in portrait painting.

It is said that the Jinyiwei were learning painting skills from him so that their portraits would be more like the real person when they were wanted.

Some people also spoke up for Chen Jiru, believing that with his painting skills and reputation, he should be granted the status of a Yuanshi.

However, some people disagreed, believing that although Chen Jiru had noble aspirations and was well-versed in many fields, he was not worthy of being a Yuanshi:

"Chen Meigong was a hermit. He had a great reputation, but not many achievements."

"If he can become a Yuanshi by relying on his reputation, wouldn't the Yuanshi become a Juxiaolian?"

He had an argument with some people who admired Chen Jiru about whether he should become a Yuanshi.

Zhang Pu was even happier when he saw this, because the more intense the debate became, the fewer people would be idle and willing to advise the emperor.

Naturally, he was spared the trouble and did not have to consider which articles to publish or whether to edit them.

Being quite adept at manipulating public opinion, he even planned to open a column in the newspaper to introduce each Yuanshi and analyze the reasons why they were specially granted the status of Yuanshi.
-
This trend soon spread to the capital. Many people began to be curious about the Yuanshi specially granted by the current emperor. According to the previously established system, the number of Yuanshi specially granted by the emperor is 10% of the number of Jinshi.

In the first year of Chongzhen, eight hundred Jinshi were admitted, and in the following three years, theoretically eighty more could be granted Yuanshi status.

But until this year, few people had been awarded the title of Yuanshi. The emperor did not grant this title, also known as "national scholar", to anyone easily.

In addition to the three people who were initially awarded the title, Qian Jiazheng, Sun Yuanhua and Mao Yuanyi, the emperor granted the title of Yuanshi to three righteous men from Fanyang, Sun Qifeng, Lu Zheng and Zhang Guozhong, at the beginning of last year. At the end of the year, he granted it to four more people, Lu Xiang, Gu Yanwu, Feng Menglong and Ling Mengchu, as well as ten outstanding officials who were not Jinshi officials recommended by the Ministry of Personnel.

This year, ten officials were also specially granted the status of Yuanshi, including Han Yun, Zhang Yongan and other military officials who performed outstandingly on the front lines, as well as Fang Yizhi, Chen Zilong, Zeng Jing and Bo Jue.

There are thirty-six Yuanshi in total, which is exactly the number of Tiangang.

After the names of these thirty-six people were widely publicized in newspapers, some people even gave them a name, "Thirty-six Celestial Beings", to see how they performed and whether they were worthy of being national heroes.

Gu Yanwu, who returned to the capital from Jiangling Principality, also received a wave of attention because of this.

After learning about his deeds this year, many people believe that although this student Yuanshi is young, he is worthy of being a national hero.

As an instructor, he not only compiled the "Outline of Army Grassroots Construction" with Zhang Yongan, but also participated in the Battle of Beihai Island and the Battle of Korchin, and made certain contributions.

But that’s not all. What’s even more amazing is that he also improved firearms and invented a self-priming powder system, which was used in a new generation of muskets.

As a result, he was granted hereditary knighthood and became a nobleman.

This legendary experience was written in the newspapers at that time. College students in Beijing were all proud of it and thought that he was worthy of being a role model for students.

However, Gu Yanwu did not think that these things were a big deal. The so-called "Outline for the Construction of Grassroots Armed Forces" was compiled by him and Zhang Yongan under the guidance of the emperor.

Although there was a lot of praise for this in the army, he knew that these were more of the emperor's will, and they just wrote them down through their hands based on practice.

Not to mention the Battle of Hokkien Island, where the new army didn't even break a sweat before the Matsumae clan was forced to negotiate peace and surrender.

Instead, the battle of Khorchin, which plundered the old and weak, seemed more like a war to him. However, the new army was not the main force in this war, and the Black Dragon Battalion led by Gao Yingxiang played a greater role.

The bandit leader, who had gathered his old troops, used his old methods to plunder the grasslands, causing panic among the Khorchin tribe and attracting the few elite troops left behind.

As a result, the new army and the soldiers of Jiangling Principality successfully plundered the old and weak left behind by the Khorchin tribe and obtained a lot of livestock and slaves.

In this battle, Gu Yanwu shot and killed two enemies with his musket, and truly found the feeling of being on the battlefield. Many new army soldiers also began to like fighting after being distributed with spoils of war such as cattle and sheep.

However, Gu Yanwu, who was born as a scholar, did not like to rob the old and weak. His most proud achievement was to improve the fire gun, eliminating the trouble of pouring gunpowder.

When he was granted the title of Duke of Jiangling, he learned that the self-priming system was used in the new generation of fire guns. In the future, he would not need to pour the gunpowder and could fire faster.

He was so delighted that he asked for a new generation of muskets almost as soon as he returned to the capital.

But what he didn't expect was that the court decided to equip elite troops such as the Imperial Camp and the Patrol Camp with breech-loading muskets.

The operating procedures of this musket are the same as those of the smoothbore musket using a gravity-priming system, and the firing rate is also similar, both reaching five or six rounds per minute.

Most soldiers accepted this, and because the breech-loading musket could be fired while lying on the ground, they liked this musket with better concealment.

However, because Gu Yanwu was blind in his right eye, he hated this kind of musket that not only required pouring primer, but also required using a pointed tip to poke open the paper-wrapped bullet through the primer hole.

He originally organized his soldiers to invent the self-flowing priming system because he didn't want to pour the priming powder. But he didn't expect that the muskets used now still need to pour the priming powder, and even worse, they need to poke the priming hole.

This made him so angry that he started to curse and couldn't help but go to Xu Guangqi to argue:

"Didn't they say that the second generation of fire guns used self-flowing primers?"

"Why did it become a rear-mounted one?"

"If we all use breech-loading muskets, how will we use flechettes and shotgun shells in the future?"

It is well known in the army that arrow-shaped bullets and shotgun shells can only be used for smoothbore muskets.

Some snipers who are good at arrow-shaped bullets still use smoothbore muskets.

Many snipers and observers have one carrying a rifled musket and the other carrying a smoothbore musket, and the two complement each other.

Ordinary soldiers naturally cannot do this, they can only choose one type of musket.

Xu Guangqi explained:

"There are also smoothbore breech-loading muskets, but the new army is an elite force, so rifled muskets are preferred."

"If necessary in the future, smoothbore guns can be issued."

He explained to Gu Yanwu that many gun barrels that had been worn flat due to failed rifling were used to make smoothbore muskets.

However, most of these muskets were transferred to Korea to equip the Dongjiang Town Army.

If the new army needs smoothbore muskets in the future, they can be equipped at any time.

This is not what Gu Yanwu wanted to know. He said:
"What about the self-priming flintlock musket?"

"Hasn't it been confirmed as a standard weapon?"

"I heard that its cost is only one-fifth or one-sixth of that of a breech-loading musket, and its firing speed is about the same. Why not use it?"

"The breech-loading muskets we use now still need to pour the gunpowder."

There were many complaints about pouring the primer, and especially about poking the primer hole.

In his opinion, this operation procedure was simply inhumane, and he didn't know how other soldiers accepted it.

Xu Guangqi almost laughed out loud when listening to Gu Yanwu's complaints.

He had also heard that Gu Yanwu's original intention in inventing the gravity-flowing priming system was to avoid the back-priming of gunpowder.

The emperor had previously greatly appreciated this and had it perfected.

If it weren't for the sudden rise of breech-loading muskets during the Korean War, the new army would now be equipped with self-propelled flintlock muskets.

This made him hold back his smile and explain to Gu Yanwu:

"The equipment of a weapon depends not only on the cost but also on the tactics used."

"The Equipment Department has a slogan. I wonder if you've heard of it."

"If you don't know, I suggest you go to the Equipment Department and take a look. The slogan is written in the lobby of the Equipment Department."

He pointed in a direction to Gu Yanwu and asked him to go and see it in person.

Gu Yanwu entered the Equipment Department for the first time in his life with confusion.

This department is located in the former Front Military Governor's Office and occupies quite a large area.

As soon as Gu Yanwu entered the door, he saw a few large characters that caught his eyes, and he couldn't help but read them out loud:
"Equipment determines tactics, and tactics influence strategy." (End of this chapter)