Chapter 154 The conspiracy of the Minister of Industry
After Zhu Houzhao watched Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling leave, he ordered Liu Jin: "Send an order to Yan Song and ask him to arrange more courses for the Marquis of Jianchang and Shouning, and extend their academic time. They will not graduate within five years! ”
Capital University is now a boarding school, and students are not allowed to leave the school unless on vacation. Therefore, as long as Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling stay there for five years, they will be able to cause less trouble. In this way, Zhu Houzhao will not have to worry about the two men committing major crimes in the future. When I punished him, I made Empress Dowager Zhang sad.
The two brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling came to the Capital University reluctantly, and Kang Hai came with them at the same time.
"I didn't expect that we would become classmates with the No. 1 Scholar," Zhang Heling said, and Zhang Yanling also echoed: "That's right, how can we teach this!"
Kang Hai also shook his head. He also didn't understand why the Capital University only admitted people with Jinshi or above, and on the other hand, allowed the children of nobles and relatives to enroll who were ignorant and unskilled. Is it for the sake of education without discrimination?
Yan Song came over at this time and bowed first: "Welcome to the three new students. The purpose of running the Capital University is to be inclusive and accept the learning from hundreds of schools. After admission, students are allowed to study freely, but they must complete the required points for their studies. This This is the "New Student Admission Handbook". Please keep it. Your files have been transferred from the Etiquette Department. Now you can choose subjects. ”
With that said, Yan Song took the three people to and from various academies of science. Although Kang Hai had heard about the unique teaching method of Capital University for a long time, he was still very touched after seeing it with his own eyes, especially after seeing several former students. When the prince's son and Zhang Cong, a scholar with a Jinshi background, were discussing something under the ginkgo tree, he found it even more novel.
"Isn't that the boy from the British family? Why is he holding a book in his hand now? How can he pretend to be elegant! I think back then, when this guy was just a boy, he followed me through the brothel! He knocked down a scholar and now I started to become a scholar myself!”
Zhang Heling, the Marquis of Jianchang, said.
Seeing that Zhang Heling was full of vulgar words, Yan Song and Kang Hai couldn't say anything, so they just smiled awkwardly.
At this time, Shouning Hou Zhang Yanling pointed at Xia Yan who was galloping on the school field in front and shouted: "That boy is the one who filed the complaint to the Metropolitan Procuratorate! He also maimed four or five of my slaves. I won't take care of you today." Without him, my surname is no longer Zhang! "
Zhang Yanling shouted for a long time and saw no one came, then realized that she was now at the Capital University, she was already a student, and there were no domestic slaves around her, so she had to stop and said sarcastically: "Yan Siye, how do you, the Capital University, train students? Yes, this is neither civilized nor martial, what should we learn?”
"The official has already said it, you are free to choose!" Yan Song replied.
"We don't like the Four Books and Five Classics. We want to learn something new," Zhang Heling said.
"Of course there are new ones. For example, in science, there are now new theories, such as the theory that the earth is round. You can study it, or you can argue and refute it yourself, and write it into articles. If you write well, you will be praised. Published in the Journal of Capital University ”
"The earth is round? Does the Capital University still have such a theory? Isn't this nonsense! Although I am not as knowledgeable as Kangzhangyuan, I still know that the sky is round and the earth is round!"
When Zhang Heling heard what Yan Song said, he immediately became interested. He dealt with people from the Qintian Prison all day long. Although he was uneducated in other aspects, he also had some understanding of astronomy and geography, so he started talking.
After Zhang Heling finished speaking, Yan Song just smiled and said: "This new theory, described by your Majesty, was taught by an old Taoist, and there is evidence. This is an argumentative article about the earth being round. If Marquis Jianchang is impressed, If you are interested, you can take a look.”
Yan Song entered the science department and gave Zhang Heling a copy of the journal of Beijing Normal University.
Zhang Yanling also watched from the side. Kang Hai also became interested and quickly followed suit.
Zhang Yanling was young and had an active mind, so he was naturally the quickest to read. After reading it, he said: "These are just evidence! They cannot be taken seriously! If the earth is really round, does it start from this place and keep walking in one direction?" , can you come back here in the future? ”
"It stands to reason, but no one in the world dares to experiment like this," Yan Song replied with a smile.
"This is quite interesting. I would like to give it a try in the future!" Zhang Heling said with a smile.
……
"Reporting to your majesty, Kang Hai chose liberal arts and is currently studying "Tianyan Lun" by himself; Jianchang Marquis and Shouning Marquis both chose science." Yan Song reported to Zhu Houzhao the status of the latest students admitted to Capital University, and Zhu Houzhao was stunned after hearing this. I couldn't help but burst out laughing, Tianyan said it was him What was written based on later Darwin's theory of evolution used the Chinese name Yan Fu used when he translated "The Origin of Species". He only wrote it to open the eyes of students at Capital University, but he did not expect that Kang Hai would choose philosophy. Ke, I also read Tianyan Lun first.
However, Zhu Houzhao was quite pleased that his two uncles chose science, because what Ming Dynasty needed was science and engineering talents.
"Very good. Now Zhang Cong and Xia Yan can graduate," Zhu Houzhao said and asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty, they have all completed their credits and have now entered the period of Jinshi. Xia Yan chose the Ministry of Works. He said that although the Ministry of Works does not have as much power as the Ministry of Officials and Rites, it is really powerful in matters related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Department, and Zhang Cong chose the Ministry of Rites, saying that the Ministry of Rites is responsible for the academic affairs of the world, and it will have great potential in the future.”
After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile and said: "They all have their own ideas. I informed the officials and approved them to go to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites to become Jinshi Scholars of Guanzheng. They will train as trainees for half a year. After half a year, they will be appointed to official positions. I will arrange it myself at that time." In addition, he told the officials that all students at the Capital University must be registered separately, especially people like Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, who were ordered to be selected as a student archives to reserve talents for the future governance of the Ming Dynasty. "
< br>
Yan Song was quite surprised when he heard what Zhu Houzhao said. He secretly thought that according to His Majesty's wishes, the Jinshi graduates from the Capital University would be trained as prime ministers in the future. He didn't know if he, a Siye from the Capital University, would do the same. In this way, seeing that Wang Yangming has now directly become the governor of Southern Zhili, it seems that he should be arranged to be an important minister of the empire in the future.
"How is your corn planting going?" Zhu Houzhao asked suddenly. Now Yan Song is no different from the university professors and officials of later generations. While responsible for the administrative management of Capital University, he is also conducting agricultural research and is responsible for the first agricultural science institute in the Ming Dynasty. .
"Back to Your Majesty, the first batch of corn sown this spring has actually set seeds. After it was ripe, I harvested a bag. The yield is indeed higher than that of wheat. Moreover, corn can be planted after the wheat is harvested, so that two crops can be harvested.
I plan to sow again next spring, and this time I will directly plant ten acres of land. In addition, I will try to sprinkle some phosphate fertilizer on five acres of the land to see if the yield is higher. If it can be improved, I will start to promote it. ”
Yan Song replied.
The phosphate fertilizer Yan Song mentioned is the latest product manufactured by Royal Industrial Company. It is a fertilizer made by the reaction of sulfuric acid and phosphate rock. It is also the first fertilizer chemical product produced by Daming. It has already begun to be promoted in Huangzhuang and has significantly made people famous. The grain output of Huangzhuang tenants has been increased, and it has been greatly improved.
In addition, phosphate fertilizer has also been applied to the greenhouse vegetable base of Royal Industrial Company, so that the off-season vegetables produced by Royal Industrial Company can not only meet the people's demand for vitamins in winter, but also ensure the quality and yield of off-season vegetables. .
In this era, it is not that there are no large companies using greenhouses to grow off-season vegetables, but even if some people grow them, the quality of vegetables cannot catch up with Royal Industrial Company. Because Royal Industrial Company has chemical fertilizers, the off-season vegetables grown by Royal Industrial Company will not Yellowing due to phosphorus deficiency.
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "When the time comes, I will ask you to patrol Shuntian and other prefectures, and you will first promote corn cultivation in the Gyeonggi area!"
When Yan Song heard that Zhu Houzhao planned to arrange for him to be governor, he was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him.
Agriculture is the foundation of everything. Zhu Houzhao does not deny this. If he wants to launch foreign wars in the future, he will naturally be inseparable from the development of agriculture. Now if corn can be promoted nationwide and the grain output of the Ming Dynasty increases, Zhu Houzhao will naturally be more confident. to launch foreign wars in the future.
On this day, Zhu Houzhao summoned Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Chi Zong, the young eunuch of the War Bureau, in the cabinet and the supervising room of the ceremonial department, about the manufacturing of weapons in the Ming Dynasty.
The military leadership of the Ming Guards has been established, and the aspect of weapon manufacturing naturally needs improvement. However, the Ming Dynasty is not actually backward in terms of weapon manufacturing in this era. What is really backward is the management of the craftsman system, and the craftsmanship system has a huge impact. Limiting the development of the empire's weapons manufacturing level. In the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen and sergeants were divided into separate ancestries. The status of craftsmen was very low, even lower than that of civilians. They could not participate in the career, enter the official career, or engage in business. Generally, they had to serve the court for free, and they were not allowed to do business. They have to be exploited by officials, and because of this, many craftsmen will resist by passively slacking off or even running away.
The Ming Dynasty's ordnance manufacturing was mainly composed of the Inner Court War Bureau and the Ministry of Industry Ordnance Bureau, and the number of registered craftsmen in these two organizations basically decreased every year.
"Back to your Majesty, the number of craftsmen in the Military War Bureau is now thirty-five less than in the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign!"
"Back to Your Majesty, the number of craftsmen in the Arms Bureau is now less than 300, which is 12 fewer than in the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign!"
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but fell into deep thought. He knew that it was a common phenomenon for the number of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty to decrease year by year. What he was thinking about now was how to change this phenomenon. As far as he knew, Zhang Juzheng reformed this phenomenon in the late Ming Dynasty in history. , that is, craftsmen were allowed to choose their careers freely, but they were required to pay craftsmen's silver to the court, and the court would use this silver to hire craftsmen to make weapons.
Zhu Houzhao now decided to change the relationship between craftsmen and Ming Dynasty weapons manufacturing more thoroughly. He decided to give freedom to craftsmen, that is, to abolish the craftsmanship system. After all, the number of common craftsmen was not as large as the number of civilians with military status, and the interests involved were not that great. There are many, unlike military status, which will cause dissatisfaction among military landlords across the country.
At the same time, Zhu Houzhao did not intend to collect class craftsmen's silver from the craftsmen, which would also reduce the burden on these craftsmen.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao asked Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Chi Zong, the young eunuch: "Do you think that the craftsmen's status will be cancelled, and these craftsmen will be given civil status, and then the imperial court will provide money to hire craftsmen to make weapons, and the treatment and weapons of the hired craftsmen will be Quality is linked to quantity, which means whoever does well and does more will get more salary. What do you think? ”
Chi Zong, the young eunuch, and Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, both looked tense. Naturally, they did not want to let these craftsmen go free. After all, if the craftsmen's registration was cancelled, they would lose a lot of income. After all, the craftsmen were hiding and running away. You have to pay them filial piety money.
But the two of them also knew that Emperor Zhu Houzhao naturally wanted to change his question. Therefore, Zeng Jianxian said: "Your Majesty's move is undoubtedly a move that benefits the people and is actually good governance!"
"It is actually a good thing for the ministers to listen to the emperor's arrangements and use silver to do the work," the young eunuch Chi Zong also said, but he was extremely conflicted in his heart. After all, once the imperial court provides money to hire craftsmen, it means that these craftsmen will be the same as the sergeants. They still receive Lumi, but now they are admitted to a major law school. Once the forced recruitment system is abolished with the employment system, it will be difficult for them to benefit from it.
Zhu Houzhao was relieved when he saw that the heads of the two departments responsible for arms manufacturing had no objections. After all, these two people had to agree, which meant that they could accept the loss of profits caused by the employment system. Their leaders could If you accept it naturally, you will be able to suppress the officials below, and the officials below will be able to accept it.
"In this case, the cabinet has drafted a decree to change the status of craftsmen to civilians from now on. People with craftsman status can freely choose careers like people with folk status, pay taxes and serve as corvees, and can enter official careers. From now on, the imperial court will recruit craftsmen to make weapons under the employment system. After the decree was issued, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works were ordered to coordinate to complete the matter, and the registered craftsmen were Each household was given one stone of grain as a reward for their years of service to the court. At the same time, the Ministry of Works recruited craftsmen on its own. In addition, the Military War Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau were merged into the Ming Dynasty Ordnance Bureau. With the title of Zuo Shilang, he supervises the affairs of the Ordnance Bureau, and the young eunuch Chi Zongxian serves as the co-organizer. ”
After Zhu Houzhao said this, Ma Wensheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, hurriedly said that he obeyed the order. All the officials present said that His Majesty is kind and loving to the people.
Zhu Houzhao just smiled. He found that the officials in the court seemed to be much more obedient recently. He couldn't help but wonder, was it because he had made them afraid because of his tough tactics before, or was it because he was now using the interests of the Royal Bank to encircle ordinary officials? Did he completely make other officials realize the power of his emperor?
However, just when Zhu Houzhao had just decreed the abolition of the craftsmanship system and allowed the common craftsmen to freely organize and establish the Ordnance Bureau, the Shuntian Prefecture issued a memorial, reporting that there were five or six craftsmen who had just come out of the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and held fire. A young minister, a head of the Household Department, and a pedestrian in Dali Temple were beaten to death with blunderbuss!
Three imperial officials were killed!
This was considered a shocking case in the Ming Dynasty, and firearms were banned! This makes the case even more serious!
But what surprised Zhu Houzhao even more about this case was that the murderer turned out to be a craftsman who had just regained his freedom!
"What's going on? I just gave these craftsmen and common people their freedom, so why did they suddenly kill court officials?"
Zhu Houzhao asked.
"Your Majesty, this is the memorial to Lu Shumu from the Engineering Department. It advises the imperial court to restore the system of craftsmen. The reason is that these craftsmen are all equipped with extraordinary skills. Once they have bad intentions, they will make big mistakes, even There is a possibility of rebellion and murder, and it should be strictly controlled by the court! It should not be treated as the same as the villagers! ”
Jiao Fang handed over a memorial at this time. Zhu Houzhao knew without asking that Jiao Fang was reminding him that someone was doing this deliberately to force him to restore the craftsmanship system.
"What do you think of this case in Shuntian Mansion?" Zhu Houzhao asked first.
"Killing three imperial officials, the young minister of Dali Temple is already an important minister, and he also used firearms. This is tantamount to treason and should be severely punished according to the law!" Xu Jin replied.
"Dongchang will investigate this case first. As soon as the person was killed, the spokesman from the engineering department reported it. It was too urgent!"
Zhu Houzhao snorted.
……
At this time, in a secret attic of Jiaofangsi, a middle-aged man dressed as a rich man pulled an eunuch into the inner room and said: "My master said that you are too eager. At this time, It is unwise to let the officials from the engineering department submit a memorial! It is best to kill a few more to scare the officials before forcing the current emperor to change his mind."
"Okay, I will convey the opinions of Da Sikong (Minister of Industry) to my godfather, but my godfather asked me to send a message that the people over at Dongchang said that the higher ups asked them to investigate this case. You guys Be careful!”
The eunuch said.
"Don't worry! Those craftsmen who killed people are dead soldiers. They were originally registered craftsmen, but later they couldn't survive and were raised as slaves by our master. Their families are all raised by our master. If they dare to say anything, , their family members will not survive! Besides, since you have people in Dongchang, you will naturally have a way to get them killed in prison."
The middle-aged man said with a sinister smile.
"That's right, I'll take the first step. Nowadays, the palace inspections are strict. If you go back later, you will be targeted by the palace people!" The eunuch said and left.
The middle-aged man left after a while, and suddenly appeared at Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, in the middle of the night: "Sir, the people in the palace said that the emperor asked Dongchang to investigate this case. It seems that Shuntian Mansion cannot be trusted. Report.”
"Of course I can't believe it. Who told Eunuch Chi to hurriedly ask people from the engineering department to submit a memorial? Our majesty is very shrewd. In order to prevent the incident from being exposed, please go and explain. In a few days, your majesty will go to the Ordnance Bureau. You ask them to replace all the sulfur and saltpeter in Guangjiku with prepared gunpowder, and then find someone to light it up!”
"Master! This is regicide!" The middle-aged man said in surprise.
"What nonsense are you talking about? It's just an accident. It's a dry day and it's normal for some fire to fall from the sky. And it's only done as a last resort. If His Majesty doesn't investigate it thoroughly within these few days, naturally it won't be necessary. So! ”
Zeng Jian, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, said.
"Yes!" The middle-aged man walked down.
(End of chapter)