People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 367 The Birth of Ming Dynasty Patent Law!!
Emperor Wanli had said this, what else did the other officials have to say?

Should we directly refute the emperor?

Say, what you said is all nonsense.

Or they could argue with the emperor by saying that if there were no scholars like us, the world would be in chaos.

Once you say something like this, congratulations, you will definitely be accused of disrespect by Emperor Wanli and your entire family will be executed.

Even though he is only ten years old, he is ruthless when it comes to killing people.

So when the officials saw the ten-year-old emperor, they gritted their teeth and clenched their fists and said to them: I don’t believe that we can’t govern the world without scholars.

All the officials lowered their heads.

What can they say?

In fact, they know it very well in their hearts.

Even if there is no high position or generous salary, the sense of honor after becoming an official will urge countless scholars to flock to it.

Even though now even craftsmen can become local officials after three years of training, those scholars will never give up.

Even without those privileges, scholars still will not give up.

This is not due to the environment, but is the result of the customs of more than two thousand years.

In the eyes of the common people, no matter what era, officials are always high and mighty and can change one's social class.

So no one can resist such temptation.

When Emperor Wanli said this, he actually saw through the little thoughts of these scholars.

Even though many privileges of scholars have been reduced now, scholars still flock to become officials.

Therefore, Emperor Wanli or Chen Han was simply fearless and didn't care.

No matter how they are suppressed, whether it is cutting their salaries or cutting back on their privileges, a lot of them will be suppressed.

There will still be countless scholars who want to become officials.

Then why should we be nice to them?

Sophia, who was standing nearby, was very impressed after hearing what Emperor Wanli said to the officials.

She discovered a problem during her years in the Ming Dynasty.

It is because these scholars have too many privileges that all the useful talents in society turn to the path of studying, while other careers are neglected.

For example, craftsmen, engineers, pharmacists, doctors, etc., have all been reduced to things that only people at the bottom of society would learn.

In most cases, it is because they have no hope of passing the imperial examination, or their household registration since birth determines that they cannot take the examination, that they quietly do these jobs that are considered menial by scholars.

It is different now. With Chen Han's reforms reducing so many privileges, and the establishment of Imperial University of Peking attracting countless talents, it is actually not important whether or not scholars become officials.

Of course, even Sophia understood very well that after more than a hundred years of accumulation in the Ming Dynasty, the number of scholars far exceeded the number of officials, and the saturation level was very high. Even scholars who passed the imperial examinations could only stay in their hometowns and wait to be assigned as officials.

After they finished their studies, many of them did not aim to become officials, but because their families had industries and needed them to pass the imperial examinations in order to obtain exemptions.

This is also the reason why Chen Han is not worried about the lack of scholars.

With Emperor Wanli's support, Sophia said to the students below again: "Everyone, you have come all the way here, not just for fun, and you did not come to the Imperial University on a whim. In ancient times, a thousand gold coins were used to buy horse bones. Now the first batch of students admitted by the Imperial University, in order to let the world see that our Ming Dynasty values ​​all kinds of talents besides scholars, with the permission of the Duke and after the unified consideration of the college, starting from the first day of your enrollment, the college will subsidize you with two taels of silver per month, and at the same time, free board and lodging. These two taels of silver are entirely to subsidize the needs of your family. There will be an assessment every month, and each of the top ten will be rewarded with at least five taels of silver."

As soon as these words came out, the civil servants below were all shocked.

Not only are all food and accommodation free, but there is also a subsidy of two taels of silver every month.

There are even assessments every month, and the top ten are rewarded with five taels of silver.

As a result, the best person in a year would get at least 180 taels of silver, which is higher than the salary of a seventh-rank county magistrate.

Even just the subsidies and rewards received for studying at the Imperial University of Peking may be much higher than the profits from countless businesses in three years.

Where can I find such a good thing?
He learned a lot, improved his skills, received money, no longer had to worry about his family, and at the same time, he could become an official after graduation.

All the good things in the world happened in the Imperial University.

After hearing this, the officials were stunned and felt extremely unbalanced.

You have to know that they studied hard for ten years, but no one ever gave them any financial subsidies.

Many people even bankrupted their families due to eating too much.

Just think about it, seven or eight people had to support him through the imperial examination expenses, and he had to buy books, candles, study treasures, etc. for months and years, which must have cost a lot.

Why do many officials subconsciously engage in corruption after becoming officials?

It was because their imperial examinations brought too much financial burden to their families.

To support a scholar, an ordinary family has to endure a lot of hard work that is beyond the imagination of most people.

Therefore, this is also one of the reasons why the officialdom in ancient times could not be clean.

Now, Chen Han’s Imperial University has completely solved this problem, so everyone has nothing to worry about.

Chen Han actually dared to put forward such an exaggerated condition. Many officials subconsciously reported to Emperor Wanli that this was against the rules.

But when they saw the expression on Emperor Wanli's face, which was full of approval, they retracted the step they had taken.

Emperor Wanli has just said that he can govern the world even without you scholars.

Now it seems that he wants to make use of other talents. Even if his own people say something, it would be boring, so these people immediately shut up.

Of course, once such conditions were put forward, the talented people who came to take part in the special imperial examination, such as craftsmen, carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, etc., were overjoyed after hearing these conditions.

"There's such a good thing. I thought I had to bring my own food and lodging."

"I've thought about what you said. I even went to the capital on the way here and found a few families. I made an appointment with them to build cabinets for them in exchange for food and lodging in the capital. But I didn't expect that the university would waive all the fees. The Duke is really considerate!"

"Oh my god, that's not all. They also provide a subsidy of two taels of silver every month. Let me ask you all, who among you can guarantee that you can earn two taels of silver every month?"

All the craftsmen below shook their heads.

They can endure hardships, but the wages are generally very low nowadays. They work outside to build houses or make furniture for others, and they are lucky to be able to make a living.

I can save one or two hundred copper coins every month even if I don't have to make this trip.

The condition Chen Han offered now is to subsidize each person with two taels of silver every month, which is a stable income.

Just this amount of income alone is more than that of countless wealthy families.

This income alone is twenty-four taels of silver a year.

If I continue to live in the university and do not need to spend money on food and accommodation, these twenty-four taels of silver can be used by my family.

With twenty-four taels of silver in the house, they could live a more luxurious life than the landlords.

You should know that a family of four only needs four to five taels of silver a year to live a prosperous life.

If you produce and sell your own products at home, you may not need so much.

Twenty-four taels is enough for six families of four to get through a year.

Such conditions have attracted countless craftsmen.

Furthermore, there are rewards for the top ten in the assessment.

Although it may not be possible to get it every time, as long as you can get it once or twice in a year, it will be an income of five to ten taels.

In this way, the family would live a very rich life.

Therefore, just these two conditions have made all the talented people below extremely excited.

I thought that I must try my best in the upcoming exam and put in 120% effort to pass this entrance exam.

This is not the end. Sophia continued, "In addition to the assessment and monthly subsidies, I believe that each of you should have mastered a unique skill, which is also what you call a bread and butter. The Duke is very considerate of you and knows that if you let you share it for free, it will definitely seem like a rogue, so the Duke has established a Imperial University Patent Office within our university.

What does this patent office mean? It's very simple. If the unique skills that each of you possesses are registered with the patent office, what benefits will you enjoy?

First of all, this patent will be used for teaching in school, but the school will not use it for free. Every month, the school will subsidize this unique skill with one or two taels of silver for teaching purposes.

Second, if your unique skills can be useful for the construction of the world, such as a unique skill in mortise and tenon joints for building palaces, and it is used in the construction of the imperial palace, and it is very useful, saving labor, time, and wood, then it is equivalent to your contribution to the construction of the world. If this project or this palace saves one hundred taels of silver with your technology, you can get one tael of silver in patent royalties.

If a project saves 10,000 taels, you can get 100 taels in patent royalties.

The shelf life of this patent is 20 years, which means that during these 20 years, no matter where your technology is used, you must be paid."

After Sophia finished speaking, the craftsmen below were stunned.

Never heard of such a thing.

Each of them has indeed mastered a unique skill, which is their signature skill and their livelihood.

When this kind of thing was originally passed down, some old masters were reluctant to teach it all, unless it was a family tradition.

As the saying goes, if you teach your apprentice well, you will starve yourself to death. Therefore, people cherish what they have, which is an important reason why many unique skills in ancient times were never passed down.

Chen Han knew very well that since he had recruited so many skilled craftsmen to the Imperial University of Peking, it was impossible not to discover their unique skills.

Of course, they will be given corresponding compensation after they are dug out.

Sophia was very surprised that Chen Han actually knew patent law.

After all, even in the West, patent law was not implemented until 1474.

Converted into the time of the Ming Dynasty, that is during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, and it has been less than a hundred years since then.

She believed that very few people in the Ming Dynasty knew about this thing, but she didn't expect that Chen Han actually knew it.

Moreover, it will be implemented in Imperial University of Peking. In fact, he will not only implement it in Imperial University of Peking. Imperial University of Peking is a point. After the trial is found to be useful at this point, Chen Han will promote it all over the world.

The implementation of the Patent Law and the patent system have played a huge role in promoting the protection of science and technology.

The reason why many scientific and technological achievements were not taken seriously in ancient China was that the imperial examination system exclusively promoted Confucianism.

Secondly, there is no corresponding protection for science and technology, and no financial compensation is given to those who create new technologies, so that real talents cannot be discovered and real technologies cannot be produced.

Chen Han implemented the current patent law based on first destroying Confucianism and then promoting the laws of a hundred schools of thought.

Now that the dominant position of Confucianism has been broken, it will be much easier to implement patent law.

When the craftsmen heard about this system, they were amazed. They had never thought that one day they would be able to gain so many benefits with their skills.

If it is really as Sophia said, if her technology can help the construction of the world and save labor, wood and time, then it will be a great help to the engineering.

Moreover, he can also get corresponding economic returns, although it can only be used for a short period of twenty years, but he will have a share of all the profits generated in these twenty years. It is equivalent to depositing a sum of money in a treasury, and interest will be generated every year.

This is definitely a good thing for craftsmen like them.

Some people have skills, but they may never be able to catch a big job in their lifetime, and live in poverty all their lives. What's the point of having skills?
Sometimes technology is even lost.

But it is different now. Although I have come up with this unique technology, which may allow many people to learn and use it, I cannot ensure that every individual who uses this technology will pay the patent fee to me on time.

However, at the court level and at the teaching level of Imperial University of Peking, these two absolute bigwigs will bring them endless benefits.

Just like Sophia said, if your technology is really useful and used by the university church, you will be given a subsidy of one or two taels of silver every month.

Even if there is no grant from the imperial court, one tael a month, twelve taels a year, and two hundred and forty taels in twenty years is the basic guarantee.

Once their technology was used by the imperial court, they would not believe that the imperial court project only cost one hundred taels of silver.

The imperial court's projects would cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. So the fee given to oneself for use might be one or two hundred taels of silver at a time.

If you use it ten times in twenty years, you will be a wealthy man for the rest of your life.

What does more than two thousand taels of silver mean?
In a county, a person with a worth of two thousand taels of silver can rank among the top ten.

So after the craftsmen below heard what Sophia said, they only had one thought.

After I entered university, I made sure to bring my technology to the university's patent office for review and registration.

With the support of the Imperial University founded by the Duke of the State, which was affiliated with the Ministry of Rites of the imperial court, none of them was afraid that the imperial court would not give them the money...

(End of this chapter)