Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 293 A Different Way of Governing the Empire (Fourth Change)

Talking with Song Yingxing, Bi Maokang, Tang Ruowang and other officials of the Ministry of Industry, Zhu Youjian was naturally more casual, and directly put up the drawings, and began to explain what the Ministry of Industry should do next year.

"This year, the flintlock gun and the newly developed Daming cannon have made great contributions to defeating the trend of building slaves going south this year. This is the credit of the Daming Ordnance Institute, and it is also the important role played by Daming's industry here. Next year, I hope that the Ministry of Industry can do it again." make more achievements;

Agriculture is the foundation of Ming Dynasty, and the prosperity of commerce is the foundation of taxation, but industry is the foundation of commerce and the biggest driver of agriculture, and the industry of the entire Ming Dynasty still needs to be developed in many places, especially machinery manufacturing and Three aspects of chemical smelting;

The Ordnance Institute needs to make further progress in steel smelting, and then the shooting accuracy and range of flintlock guns must be further improved, reducing the chance of barrel explosion and simplifying the loading process, etc., and whether the artillery is field artillery or heavy artillery in terms of power and maneuverability. The gunpowder also needs to be further improved. The gunpowder should reduce the interference of smoke to the shooting, and it is even better to have smokeless gunpowder one day. There are also explosive weapons in close combat such as the thunder that need to be improved. It is best to further improve the lead device to shorten the wait for the explosion. Time and increased explosive power;
In addition, next year, the Ministry of Industry has to work hard on shipbuilding, and also needs to manufacture some military auxiliary equipment, telescopes, navigation equipment and incendiary flares; "

When Zhu Youjian said this, Song Yingxing, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, Bi Maokang, the left servant, and Tang Ruowang, the right servant all laughed, but at the same time they felt a little embarrassed.

They have never given up on improving the steel smelting and gun manufacturing of the Ordnance Institute, but in many cases, if Zhu Youjian did not guide the direction, their natural science research would also need inspiration just like writing articles.

Otherwise, they would not know which direction to improve. For example, Tang Ruowang, who made the flintlock gun, actually did not know that the more advanced rifles of later generations had rifling, and they were breech-loading. There will be automatic rifles.

Of course, Zhu Youjian also knows that they are also blind people who are catching images now, and he didn't strictly ask Song Yingxing and others to reach a level as soon as possible, so he just said to improve further.

What Zhu Youjian is mentioning now is military industry.

In addition, Zhu Youjian also mentioned civil industries, such as the Daming water conservancy project and various ports and wharves that need to be repaired, as well as the Chidao post station, etc., all of which require Song Yingxing to draw up a plan as soon as possible.

"My imperial mausoleum and palace can be put on hold for the time being, and these important matters will be dealt with first. Song Yingxing, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, will draw up a construction plan a few years ago when he returns. How much will be spent on various engineering construction and industrial development? Coordinated by the cabinet, and then by the cabinet according to the financial plan of the Ministry of Finance and the needs of other ministries;

The Daming Academy of Sciences must establish a complete scientific knowledge system as soon as possible. Just like Confucianism has the Four Books and Five Classics, the scientific system of the Daming Academy of Sciences must have subjects such as physics, chemistry, arithmetic, and biology. A set of theoretical systems must be summed up by specialized people. It may not be comprehensive, but it needs to be summarized as soon as possible based on the classics of the past dynasties, especially the Yongle Canon and the theories of Westerners;

I want Daming to be at the forefront of theoretical knowledge in various disciplines. If possible, you Fang Yizhi can apply to me for a lot of money to go to Western countries to invite the most respected Taixi Confucianism to come to the Academy of Sciences for research. "

Song Yingxing never imagined that one day, the engineering construction and industrial manufacturing of the whole country would receive the attention of an emperor, and even become the focus of the entire empire, and would be coordinated and arranged by the cabinet, and even had to draw up plans.

This made Song Yingxing feel a little more admiration and surprise for the current Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian.

Like the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, did not expect that His Majesty would govern the Ming Empire so assertively and in a planned way. You must know that the Ming Empire before that was only advancing according to the inherent procedures, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. It was all kinds of sacrifices and grand ceremonies, and the empire's focus was nothing more than border checks and disaster relief.Where as it is now, His Majesty the Emperor has his own goals, and the officials also have their own goals. The entire empire seems to have begun to end an inherent cycle and began to enter a step-by-step development.

Just as he proposed to the Ministry of Households that the Ming Dynasty can completely exempt the agricultural tax one day, now Chongzhen Zhu Youjian also proposed a goal to the Ministry of Industry, that is, to make the Ming Dynasty be at the forefront of the world in terms of industrial manufacturing and theoretical knowledge in all aspects. .

Song Yingxing, Fang Yizhi and others agreed to Zhu Youjian's request.

For them, the current Ming Empire is undoubtedly aggressive and ideal under the governance of Zhu Youjian, instead of being exhausted just for suppressing thieves and resisting the establishment of slaves as before. The people are in dire straits.

……

After summoning officials from the Ministry of Completion, Zhu Youjian continued to summon officials from the Ministry of Rites.

Before Chongzhen 18 years ago, the Ministry of Rites was more responsible for the etiquette order and sacrificial ceremonies of the entire country. Now Zhu Youjian attaches great importance to the educational function of the Ministry of Rites.

Liu Zongzhou, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Daozhou, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, and Wang Siren, the newly appointed right servant of the Ministry of Rites, are all famous scholars in the south of the Yangtze River and great contemporary Confucian scholars.

Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou, and Wang Siren also knew that His Majesty was a pragmatic emperor and didn't like empty talk, so they didn't dare to speak easily at this time, and asked Chongzhen Zhu Youjian to advocate Confucian etiquette.

"I summoned you only for three things. One thing is that next year will be the year of the Grand Competition, and the imperial examination is a grand ceremony for talent selection. You must not slack off at all; the other thing is to popularize enlightenment education; the last thing is to be loyal to the emperor. and the promotion of the way of serving the country".

As Zhu Youjian said, he asked Wang Shide, the commander of Jinyiwei, to hand over the list of officials who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty to Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou, and Wang Siren:

"Look, these are my Ming bureaucrats who surrendered to the Qing court, and many of them are your relatives and friends. I wonder why they are all people who have read poetry and books. They have read the principles of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness since childhood, but why did they appear like this?" There are so many scum, is it because there is a problem with my way of moralization in the Ming Dynasty, and many military officers also surrendered to the Qing court, is it because the enlightenment has not been fully popularized?"

Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou, and Wang Siren all showed embarrassment, because Chongzhen Zhu Youjian undoubtedly posed a difficult problem for them at this time. Let them, the great Confucians, talk about Cheng and Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and they can speak clearly and logically, but now let them analyze why With so many officials capitulating, it will be difficult for them to give an answer.

(End of this chapter)