Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 52 Zheng He's Voyages to the West

The curtain continued to turn down, and one of the comments caught Li Shimin's attention.

"The development of hydrogen balloons, helium balloons and hot air balloons was in the same period. I didn't know until I read the history of hot air balloon development that someone had conducted an experiment to tie a hydrogen balloon and a hot air balloon together for flight, but as expected, it exploded. [Cover face]"

"Hydrogen balloons and helium balloons, aren't these the first two elements in the periodic table?" Many people recognized these two elements.

Then everyone thought of the first twenty elements in the periodic table: hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, and neon.
“Not only that, but gold and mercury are the 79th and 80th elements respectively.”

"I'm afraid there are also iron and copper."

"And Tianmu said that both charcoal and honeycomb briquettes can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Oxygen and carbon are both elements in the periodic table."

Everyone was silent for a moment, then suddenly thought of a possibility, and their faces turned pale with shock.

"This shows," Li Shimin said with difficulty, holding the armrest of the chair, "This shows that the elements in the periodic table may be the elements that make up everything in the world."

In other words, if we can explore the secrets of each element in the periodic table, we can understand the mysteries of all things.

is it possible?
Li Shimin was silent. In his opinion, the confidence of those people in later generations who were so reckless, fearless of life and death and disrespectful of ghosts and gods might come from this, and these things might shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty's rule.

But this thing is really lying there. Even if the Tang Dynasty does not study it, the Hu people will take it back for research. Moreover, as the influence of the Sky Curtain becomes increasingly profound, they will have to face this choice sooner or later.

"Huh!" Li Shimin took a long breath and decided to go with the flow.

Fang Xuanling controlled his trembling hands and recorded the discussion. His heart was also filled with emotions.
"Are there any connections between charcoal and coal?" Someone asked in confusion. One is charcoal made from burning trees, and the other is mud dug out from the ground. How can they be related?
Following this line of thought, everyone began brainstorming.

"They can burn, they can all burn!"

"No, no, no. According to Tianmu, they should all contain carbon. Only carbon can burn. Iron, copper, gold, etc. cannot burn."

"Yes!" Everyone's eyes lit up. This inference was indeed reliable. In fact, they were all very smart people. If there was an idea or a clue in front of them, they could see many truths in advance through this clue.

"But how do you explain the strong odor when coal burns?"

"This..." Everyone frowned but couldn't figure out the mystery.

Just as everyone was discussing heatedly, the sky gradually dimmed, indicating that the sky was about to fall into silence again.

Another month passed like this, and during this month, the court had set up another ministry in addition to the six ministries, named Science.

In addition, a number of wise and capable people were selected from the six ministries to fill the position. Of course, many people also recommended themselves, because anyone with a discerning eye could see that His Majesty was very concerned about this, and if they could really make a contribution, they would have a bright future.

When the Ministry of Science was first established, it was faced with huge challenges.

For example: What is a steam engine? The mystery of the elements in the periodic table? The exploration of coal and oil. Why does coal have a bad smell when it burns but charcoal does not? The problem of coal not burning well. How is coal converted into the form of a gas tank in the skylight? How to use oil? The materials used for houses in later generations, etc.

Apart from the exploration and confirmation of coal and oil, which are relatively simple tasks that require traveling around and doing physical labor, the others are more difficult and outrageous than the last, leaving people completely in the dark.

When the Ministry of Science was first established, it was seriously short of staff, so civil servants from the six ministries also took on a cameo role and contributed their efforts.

In addition, His Majesty also had people discuss Tianmu's previous remarks again, and this action actually revealed a lot of things.

For example, it turns out that Professor Tianmu’s homemade fertilizers include several types of ammonia fertilizers and sulfur fertilizers. The ammonia and sulfur here are naturally elements in the periodic table.

This discovery greatly encouraged people and further confirmed their conjecture that elements are indeed the most essential things that constitute all things in the world.

In addition to this busy life, Li Shimin also hired two foreign teachers to learn Tianmu's Hu language. There was no way around it, as many things Tianmu said were in the form of Hu language.

It took a lot of effort to learn all 26 letters, but unfortunately they don’t know the meaning of the nonsense in the periodic table or the meaning of machine fart kick.

In the end, I could only learn some common expressions, like "a po shi nai" and "bu na ne shi gan jiao".

Of course, it was not without gain in the end. The biggest gain was that we guessed that the letters in the upper right corner of the periodic table did not have a clear meaning in Hu language. They might be the symbols used in Hu language to refer to the elements, such as A, B, C, D, etc., which corresponded one to one with the Chinese element names.

If the superiors like something, the subordinates will follow suit, and a wave of Hu language fever swept across a small area in Chang'an City.

As time went by, the research of the Science Department was not without progress. At least they found that coal was easier to ignite if it was broken into smaller pieces than if it was a large piece.

There has also been some progress in solving the problem of the odor when burning coal blocks, that is, the smell is somewhat similar to that of burning realgar.
Because there is absolutely no other way to tell whether two gases are the same, people can only rely on smelling and distinguishing them.

Finally, Fang Xuanling suggested that they should simply sell coal blocks at low prices near the coal exploration sites to allow the public to participate in solving the various coal problems. Although the public may not know the various mysteries of coal, their wisdom should not be underestimated.

There was nothing wrong with this idea and it was quickly passed.

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

The imperial court mainly did a few things, sending people to explore coal mines and oil everywhere and asking local governments to protect them.

The second is to set up a special research institute to study the use of coal and oil. In fact, it was mainly to study the use of oil. After all, at this time, some experience in the use of coal had been gained, such as traditional coking methods, because some people had used coal blocks to make steel before. After comparison, they knew that steel made directly from coal blocks would be more brittle.

Coal is also used by poor people in the private sector. In order to integrate the power of the people, we should jointly study the use of coal, such as how to remove impurities in it.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking about promoting the use of coal mines under the control of the imperial court at low prices, which made him feel a little distressed because it was all money.

Another one was the research on steam engines, but there was only a name for it. The ministers had no idea what to do and could not figure it out. They had to stay in the kitchen and boil water every day after returning home.
There has been some progress on the first and second things, but there has been no progress at all on the third thing.

As for the periodic table, everyone has more or less guessed that the elements in it are the most essential things that make up various substances.

[Did Zheng He make money from his seven voyages to the West? #MingChao#Zheng He's Voyages to the West]

[Zheng He actually made money when he sailed to the West, but only a small number of people made money. However, as time went on, it caused great damage to the overall economic system of the Ming Dynasty.]

[Let’s talk about who made money first. That’s naturally Zhu Di]

[For example, during the Yongle period, there were five expeditions to the northern desert, the southern expedition to Jiaozhi, the conquest of Hami, the establishment of Guizhou Province, the relocation of the capital to Beiping, the dredging of the Grand Canal, the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia, and six voyages to the West.]

[These things are extremely expensive. Even if you do a few of them, you can easily end up ruining yourself, like Yang Guang.]

[As for Zhu Di, his ability was one thing, but where did the money come from? This was naturally inseparable from the huge profits brought by Zheng He’s voyages to the West.]

[There is evidence for all this. The Records of Emperor Yingzong states that during the Yongle and Xuande periods, the emperor made many voyages to the West to purchase gold, pearls, gemstones, and other items, which provided sufficient financial support for the state.]

[During the Jiajing period, some ministers also said that since the Yongle era was changed, envoys were sent out to recruit foreign invaders, and tributes have been pouring in. Rare goods and valuables, rare in previous dynasties, have filled the treasury.]

[In addition, the modern scholar Zheng Hesheng wrote in "Selected Papers on Zheng He's Voyages to the West" that it is mentioned that several voyages brought the Ming Dynasty more than ten times the total revenue of the Maritime Customs in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.]

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

Whether it was Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, or a group of ministers, they were all stunned. Is it possible to make so much money by going into business?
This is too much to give.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel excited. If he had so much money, then the remnant Yuan Dynasty, the Jurchen tribes in the north, and Japan on the sea would all be nothing but dead bones lingering on in a grave.

From the sky, we know that even in the future, trade between countries is mainly based on maritime trade, so strengthening the navy is crucial. Not only can it solve the problem of Japanese pirates once and for all, but it can also create a lot of wealth through trade and replenish the national treasury.

[Well, isn’t that good? It promotes national defense and makes a little money. Why do the civil servants of the later period continue to oppose it?]

[This is actually because Zheng He's voyage to the West was initiated by Zhu Di and executed by a group of eunuchs headed by Zheng He]

[Strictly speaking, this was tribute rather than true trade. Although the profits were huge, they all went into the inner treasury, which was the Zhu family’s own private treasury.]

[Although all this money was spent on serious major projects, it is undeniable that the entire Ming Dynasty financial system did not see a penny]

[Not only did they not see it, the Ministry of Revenue also had to spend huge amounts of money on shipbuilding and labor for each voyage to the West.]

[Also, Zhu Di did something that lacked great virtue at this time. He ordered that spices such as pepper and sappanwood be converted into salaries based on market prices and distributed to officials.]

[This is like when you go to work and suddenly your boss tells everyone one day: Brothers, we will not pay you wages from today onwards. Everyone go to the warehouse to take some inventory home. Do you think you can agree to this?]

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

All the ministers understood that it was because he did not differentiate between family and country.

The thought of converting my salary into various spices in the future makes me feel overwhelmed.
After all, this thing is not like food, and you can't use much of it.

Moreover, there is no profit to be made from this kind of salary reduction. It is calculated based on the market price. You can't sell it at a higher price than this, right? After all, if you are selling it, other people are also selling it, and the government is also selling it.

So if it were me, I would probably be against going to the West to do business.
In Jinling City, some merchants were more acutely aware of this matter and could not help but sneer. It was a simple truth: the more people selling goods on the market (the more goods there were), the lower the price of the goods would be.

If the market price is converted into salary, the best way to deal with the spices is to rush to the market to sell them, because if you go too late, the goods will be worthless.

But these words cannot be said, so I just smiled and got away with it.

During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin certainly felt that Zhu Di's behavior was inappropriate, but there seemed to be some problems involved. However, he couldn't figure out what the problem was, so he raised it.

Cheng Yaojin said carelessly: "Hey, this is easy to understand. In a disaster year, the grain harvest is poor, so rice and wheat are expensive. In a good year, the grain harvest is good, so the price is lower."

"In other words, by the time officials took these spices to the market to sell them, the price of these spices was no longer worth the price," someone added.

Everyone smiled at each other. It seemed that Zhu Di had indeed acted unkindly.

Li Shimin understood that if he had not looked into it carefully, he might have really overlooked these details, which would have eventually led to a rift between the monarch and his subjects.

Moreover, there was no distinction between family and country. All the money earned from each voyage to the West was deposited into the inner treasury, while all the costs were borne by the entire country. Naturally, the six ministries had legitimate reasons to openly oppose it, and the so-called waste of money and time was not slander.

Sure enough, Tianmu’s next words further confirmed these views.

[Also, the problem with this system of salary reduction is that when distributing things, it is calculated based on the market price of the Ming Dynasty. For example, if the market price of 100 jin of pepper is 20 liang, then you can take 40 jin back with your salary of 200 liang.]

[However, how much is the purchase price of this thing? When purchasing in Southeast Asia, 100 kilograms can be bought for only one or two taels of silver. When paid as salary to ministers, it is a direct profit of 20 times.]

[Zhu Di certainly made a fortune, but this was a typical case of forced buying and selling. You had to take it whether you wanted it or not. However, when the ministers took these spices and luxury goods to the market to sell, they found out that]

[Due to the existence of maritime trade, the supply of spices in the market has increased dramatically, and the price of this thing has dropped a lot. Originally, 100 jin could be sold for 20 taels, but now it’s good to be able to exchange for 10 taels.]

[As voyages to the West became more frequent, the price continued to fall. Who could have endured this in any other era?]

[This kind of immoral behavior is not only happening in the area of ​​official salaries, but also in the employment of civilians and the expenditure of military pay.]

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City, Hexing Tea and Snack Shop.

Everyone had no doubts, because what Tianmu said was in line with common sense, and that was how the market worked.

So when we heard that this kind of "salary reduction" behavior is still prevalent in all walks of life, we were all shocked. It's too dark.

You bought the things at a low price, sold them at a high price to pay for our labor, and then sold them at a discount, leaving us with nothing but all the spices we worked so hard to buy. This is really a lack of virtue.

However, has His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan never noticed the unfair consequences caused by this behavior?

"Bah, how could he not know? I think he was just blinded by greed!"

"Be careful!"

"Tsk!"

In front of Wuying Palace.

The ministers were already numb, and they were all old foxes, so naturally they could not believe that this was unintentional.
Some other people who secretly supported the King of Yan were also speechless at this moment.
No, even if I work with you, I still don't see any benefits.
"It's really difficult to be an official in the Ming Dynasty," Hu Weiyong thought secretly in his heart.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned a little dark. Although this was not a glorious thing to do, it was only the fourth brother's behavior that was not kind.

Tianmu talked so much, mostly discussing the situation where there is no distinction between family and country, which means that maritime trade is still very profitable.

As long as you can make money, that's good.

[It is equivalent to the Ming Dynasty royal family being the only entity in overseas trade, using platinum purchased at low prices to openly exploit various fields at the time regardless of market price fluctuations]

[He opened up a unique high-price and high-profit light-selling channel of his own. The so-called meager salary made it difficult for low-ranking officials to make ends meet.]

[Do you think such voyages to the West could still gain support from the general public? That is why although Zheng He made money from his voyages to the West, it did not help the overall economy.]

[It was because the Zhu family at that time had no concept of economics and did not allow the entire nation to benefit from this action. However, we cannot blame them, and the economic-related theories had not yet appeared in the West at the same time.]

[So after that, those European countries were able to reap huge dividends during the Age of Exploration, not because they knew much about economics, but because they knew how to rob, causing so much trouble in Africa that it has not recovered to this day]

[We Chinese people would never do such a cruel and insane act, so the abrupt end of Zheng He's voyages to the West was regrettable and inevitable]

Zhu Yuanzhang secretly thought that the so-called Age of Discovery was probably about maritime trade, but what about economics?

"What do you think economics is about?"

"Economics, managing the country and benefiting the people should be the art of governing a country."

"Bullshit, in connection with what was said before the sky curtain, it should be about studying the ins and outs of doing business." Someone retorted casually.

This statement did win everyone's approval, but is doing business really worth such a intensive research?
After witnessing the subtleties of later knowledge, the ministers naturally no longer had the contempt they had before. In fact, just a steam engine and the periodic table would have been ridiculed as wasted time.

At this point, I was just surprised. I was surprised that such a big fuss was made, not that it shouldn't be done.

"I think that economics is not so superficial." Song Lian pondered. Since the sky fell, his thoughts began to change slowly. He saw that many diverse knowledge in later generations could truly benefit the people, so he was happy to think about it.

(End of this chapter)