Chapter 540: The court officials of the Ming Dynasty used movable type printing on the emperor
Li Kaifang survived the imperial cane because he was the best at arithmetic. His brothers and friends were respectful, and his benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, and filial piety were all outstanding. It is based on this premise that we can get the encouragement of the Ming Emperor. As for whether someone will go to the Meridian Gate to perform Fu Que all day long, Zhu Yijun is full of expectations!
Not only Zhu Yijun, but also the eunuchs in the palace and the Tiqi from Zhenfusi are waiting.
Zhao Mengyou asked the Tiqi to use the imperial staff. The Tiqi were not even proficient in the old skills and had to put a cushion on them because their hands were raw. After all, they had not had the imperial staff for more than ten years.
The Confucian scholars during the Wanli period always lacked some courage. At the beginning, Yang Tinghe and his son directly gathered more than 260 stubborn people and shouted that the dynasty has supported scholars for 150 years and died for justice. Just today, I went to Wuyang Wuyang's Fukue in front of Huangji Gate, it was so lively.
No one was killed by the imperial staff this time. Zhu Yijun sincerely hopes that Confucian scholars can take courage after seeing this scene!
Come to Fugu! Come and challenge! Let’s add some fun to Zhu Yijun’s boring life with so many things to do.
"Are you willing to enter the Imperial Academy? If not, you can continue to join the court as an official." Zhu Yijun asked about Li Kaifang's whereabouts. Li Kaifang is a double-listed Jinshi, which means that he can make a two-way choice. If If he insisted on becoming an official, Zhu Yijun would not stop him, but it would be a pity for his arithmetic genius.
The bureaucrats and scholars of the Ming Dynasty were integrated. This was an inevitable result of low productivity. The intellectuals who had mastered a large amount of knowledge were both bureaucrats and scholars, which also made science and engineering in the Ming Dynasty very difficult. Only technology , without science, it is a pity that a systematic and formulaic knowledge system has never been formed.
The purpose of enrolling Jinshi in arithmetic from the Royal Academy of Sciences is to break this dilemma. Studying by subject is not only about teaching and cultivating talents, but also reflected in the social division of labor.
"The students are willing to go to the Royal Academy of Geosciences." Li Kaifang has nothing to hesitate. He likes to look up at the stars. He is full of curiosity about the infinite truth of all things in the world, and is full of yearning for the unknown world.
Li Kaifang's favorite collection of miscellaneous newspapers is the "Gewu Bao" of the Gewuyuan, which always records various interesting truths and explores the boundaries of human cognition. This is such a romantic thing.
"Okay! A very smart choice." Zhu Yijun smiled.
Li Kaifang is the horse bone who bought the horse bones for thousands of dollars. Even if he has no achievements in his life, it is enough. He is the first in the examination, and he enters the Gewuyuan, which serves as an example and can make others Students of the Ming Dynasty saw another path, the highest palace of knowledge, not only the Hanlin Academy, but also the Gewu Academy.
Li Kaifang, a double list nominee, can choose the Royal Academy of Sciences, and the top fifty on the arithmetic gold list will also choose to enter the Academy under the influence of their role models.
Under the leadership of Li Kaifang, the top fifty on the arithmetic gold list eventually chose to be candidates for admission to the Academy of Physics. At this point, the emperor added fifty arithmetic Jinshi, which was implemented and became the custom of the Ming Dynasty imperial examination. .
The main purpose of the struggle is to increase the number of fifty personnel.
Zhu Yijun was in a very good mood, strolling back to the Wenhua Palace, and continued to study the Youlong in his hand. According to the sea test of the Youlong, Daming will conduct in-depth research on the mass production version. Optimization, with a production capacity of twelve ships a year, will allow Daming to completely establish its dominant position in maritime trade.
After Hai Rui left the Imperial Academy, he went to look for Wang Chonggu, but could not find him. Wang Chonggu went to Xishan Coal Bureau and was not in the capital. Wang Chonggu rarely worked in Wenyuan Pavilion or the Ministry of Punishment. Most of the time, After the court meeting, Wang Chonggu went to Xishan Coal Bureau and Yongding Woolen Factory to work.
It was not until night that Wang Chonggu entered the city before the city gate closed. Because of the Chi Road, Wang Chonggu was able to travel so quickly. The Chi Road from Xishan Coal Bureau to Daming Jingtang, It is also the busiest Chidao in the Ming Dynasty. Wool enters the factory, alkali noodles from Xuanfu Datong enter the factory, iron materials from various places enter the factory, woolen cloth, honeycomb briquettes, coke, and ironware come out. The iron pots produced in Jingxi are sold overseas, and demand exceeds supply. .
Counting the section of Jingxi Chidao alone, the Chaoguan Branch has actually fully recovered the cost of Jingxi Chidao. Starting this year, this Chidao has begun to make a profit.
However, the overall Chidao project still suffers serious losses. This is the state of the country. Some Chidao must be repaired even if they lose money. If it is profit-oriented, then don’t repair the ones that lose money. Some places will never be repaired. Without Chi Dao, you will always be in poverty.
"Dad, Mr. Hai is here." Wang Qian poured his father a cup of tea.
Wang Chonggu did not bother to drink tea, and stood up directly and said: "Please come quickly."
Hai Rui rarely violated the curfew, although the curfew policy of the Ming Dynasty capital had already been somewhat It exists in name only, especially for the ministers of the imperial court. How can the captains dare to control the activities of the ministers after dark? But Hai Rui rarely violated this rule. He obviously had something important to do.
Hai Rui and Wang Chonggu greeted each other, sat down in the study, and began to chat.
“So Hai Zongxian came to me to ask about anti-corruption?” Wang Chonggu asked with a solemn expression after figuring out Hai Rui’s purpose.
Hai Rui nodded and said: "Yes."
For experience in this area, you can only ask corrupt officials. Hai Rui lacks experience in this area. It is a new topic, and it is also a new performance growth point. Corrupt officials are Hai Rui's indicator.
“There are so many doorways here.” Wang Chonggu was silent for a moment, not knowing where to start.
"Roughly divided into four aspects, card, eat and take. These four aspects are not used alone, but cycled and used flexibly."
Wang Chonggu Yi Jiajing thirty-sixth year, the three halls of the Ming Dynasty Palace Fifteen doors on two floors were both damaged, that is, the central axis building was burned down and then rebuilt as an example. Hai Rui explained the doorways inside in detail.
Hai Rui was stunned for a moment, how could he do this!
Cards have artificial limits. People are selfish, but everyone who has a small amount of power in their hands wants to realize it. This phenomenon is common, and the limits of cards are still invisible. Setting limits means that the doorways and rules inside are not accessible to outsiders. Anyone who understands can enter, and those who don't understand can only linger outside the door.
Eating means eating and drinking, not for the sake of food and drink, but for the exchange of favors, such as this drink, without Guojiao, you can't even invite people, exchange of favors and socializing at the dinner table are all in Dingjian It’s more common in big jobs. If you drink well, it’s yours even if you don’t have the qualifications. If you don’t drink well, it’s not yours even if you are qualified in all aspects. You can gain emotional value here, and you can also gain a network of contacts that you can continue to use in the future.
As for taking, in addition to accepting bribes, it is just taking advantage of others. This great project is a mountain of gold and silver. If you don’t take it, others will take it, so everyone takes it together. Taking bribes is an art, taking money is not Take it directly, that would be so insulting to politeness! Most of the money is obtained through economic comprador brokers. The brokers and compradors communicate with each other. After the transaction is completed, the money will not go directly to the person's hands, but the non-existent distant cousin will come to take the money.
As for asking, it means asking for bribes. No one will ask for it blatantly, but once resistance suddenly arises during the project promotion process, sensible people should know that someone wants something, specifically what they want and how much they want. To judge for yourself, just like Wang Jiaping did in Guangdong and Guangxi, the wealthy households in Guangdong and Guangxi who were accustomed to Yin Zhengmao and Ling Yunyi directly asking for pledges really couldn't stand Wang Jiaping who had to guess everything.
If you want to kill or cut into pieces, give me the right words.
The reason for asking for this link is to conceal it, to play hard to get, to be secretive, that is, it is unclear, and it is back to the aspect of being stuck. The vagueness of the rules gives the power of interpretation, and the advantage is to maximize benefits.
This forms a cycle. The fuzziness of the rules is conducive to setting limits, and setting limits is conducive to gathering tool people who can make profits. Taking this link is a gain, and the main point is the fuzziness of the rules.
When an official can skillfully use these four skills of card, eating and taking, it is the time to mature.
Wang Chonggu said with a smile: "Generally speaking, as far as these four aspects are concerned, specifically, there are many ways to do it. In fact, it's okay to eat, drink, and get some essentials. It's just engineering matters. , this is normal, the biggest problem is to buy at all levels, this is the most terrible thing."
"Isn't the biggest problem the problem?" Hai Rui was stunned, he was somewhat surprised. We underestimated the difficulty of fighting corruption in this huge undertaking.
The logic of getting stuck and taking things is very strict, but now there is actually a more serious problem.
Wang Chonggu has always been like this. In the large-scale construction projects he presided over, he focused on the large and let go of the small. The quality of the projects must be guaranteed, and the daily rations and labor remuneration must be distributed to the poor coolies. As for other things, he No matter how talented he is, there is nothing he can do to ensure the quality of the project and ensure that the poor coolies can get their wages. This is Wang Chonggu's limit. He rarely cares how much the people in the middle get.
What made Wang Chonggu gnashing his teeth during the construction of Ding was the layers of purchasing and subcontracting, which meant that the quality of the project could not be guaranteed. At the same time, the payment of labor compensation had to go through too many hands. As a result, the coolies who have finished their work cannot get paid.
The emergence of the Engineer Regiment Battalion is, in a sense, Wang Chonggu was fed up with the uncontrollable subcontracting at different levels, so he organized a construction team by himself, and made plans based on the structure of the Beijing Battalion. Coupled with the production method of the government-factory group, as the project became larger and larger, it finally became what it is now.
In the beginning it was just to facilitate the construction of Dingjian.
Layers of subcontracting means that with each additional layer, there is an additional layer of corruption. Layers of subcontracting represent unclear rights and responsibilities, and constant subcontracting. While accountability is difficult, the aspects involved There are too many, making investigation difficult, and kicking the ball around has become the norm. Whoever you go to find is out of my control. Eventually, as time goes by, no one cares.
The biggest evil thing in Dingjian is the drag-and-drop rule. Layers of buying and subcontracting are the biggest evil in Dingjian.
Wang Chonggu concluded: "Once the level of purchasing exceeds three levels, the future of the project will become uncertain. Once it exceeds five levels, the project will inevitably be unable to be completed. Instead of fighting corruption, it is better to grasp this layer of subcontracting. As long as the rights and responsibilities are clear, I don’t think it’s a problem if you want to get things done.” , all achieved through layer-by-layer purchasing. "
"Your Majesty said, the priority is to purchase layer by layer."
Wang Chonggu is trying his best to persuade Hai Rui. What he actually said is that if the water is clear, there will be no fish.
He actually doesn’t like Hai Rui, because he is not from the same place at all. In Wang Chonggu’s view, Hai Rui is the kind of honest minister who can’t get rid of the sand in his eyes. There is no comparison with him, a sycophantic minister who has overstepped his bounds and amassed sycophants. When they went together, Hai Rui came to ask, and Wang Chonggu explained according to his own understanding. As for how effective it was, it was unknown.
“I would like to be taught.” Hai Rui gained a lot after listening to the experience shared by Wang Chonggu.
"Um, Mr. Hai, do you think what Wang said is reasonable?" Wang Chonggu asked in great surprise. Hai Rui actually agreed with his statement, which surprised Wang Chonggu.
“Anti-corruption and tax collection also require costs.” Hai Rui shook his head and said, “We can only focus more energy on things that have a worse impact.”
Practice tells Hai Rui, it is unrealistic to want everything in the world to be clean. He can only ask himself to be clean, and he can only achieve his own cleanliness. And from the perspective of contradictions, he is to grasp the main contradiction and alleviate it. When there is a major conflict, the secondary conflicts will be resolved incidentally.
There are too many people involved in the Dingjian project. It is better to catch the big fish and then pull out the carrots to bring out the mud, which will be more efficient in anti-corruption. Hai Rui could still distinguish between priorities, primary contradictions and secondary contradictions.
"It turns out that Hai Zongxian is also an official." Wang Chonggu said with a smile: "They are all doing things for His Majesty."
"Of course." Hai Rui did not correct Wang Chonggu's words. He was indeed doing it for Your Majesty. To do things, but also to do things for Ming Dynasty.
His Majesty actually doesn’t make much money from the construction of Chidao. If he really makes money, it would be faster to make more plantations overseas. After all, His Majesty has the people of the world at heart, so according to the decree, Still focus on building the Ming Dynasty.
The Jingka Chi Road was actually built by His Majesty at his own expense. If His Majesty did not spend the money, no one would blame Him.
But what Wang Chonggu said is correct. Your Majesty has the world in mind, and His Majesty = Ming Dynasty. It is true for Your Majesty, but it is not true for Dao Ye and Emperor Longqing.
Since the first year of Wanli, the emperor has not asked for an extra penny from the national funds, and even helped the national funds to tide over the difficulties without even asking for interest.
When His Majesty lent money to Taixi, everyone gave a thumbs up when looking at the interest rate charged by the loan sharks. Even the Ming Dynasty's powerful officials said, "It depends on Your Majesty."
"I have this memorial here. Hai Zongxian will see if we can jointly submit the memorial." Wang Chonggu shook his sleeves and took out a memorial. After reading it, Hai Rui's eyes darkened. More or less unstretched.
The content of this memorial is extremely explosive. It was created by Wan Shihe and sent to Wang Chonggu, asking Wang Chonggu if he wanted to jointly submit a letter.
Hai Rui thought for a while, then wrote his name on the three memorials, which had roughly the same content, and chose to leave.
This memorial went around in the hands of the ministers, and was finally sent to Wenyuan Pavilion, and then to the imperial study room of Tonghe Palace.
After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun asked with a dull expression: "Why are there names like Hai Rui and Shen Li in it?"
"Hai Zongxian went to Wang Cifu to ask about this tripod. Wang Cifu knew everything about the anti-corruption issue at Jian Da Gong. After talking about his experience, he took out this memorial. Hai Zongxian had to sign it even if he didn’t sign it. Otherwise, how could Hai Zongxian ask Wang Cifu in the future? ?”
“Shao Zongbo is the official of the Ministry of Rites. This memorandum comes from the Ministry of Rites. If it is approved by the ministry, Shao Zongbo will naturally sign it.” Feng Bao explained the details.
Hai Rui was forcibly tied together, but most of the time Hai Rui did not participate in such things. This time they encountered each other and could not escape, so they had to sign. Shen Li was a party involved and could not escape. In the past, it was better to write your name generously.
The content of the memorial can be roughly summed up in one sentence, that is, the court officials of the Ming Dynasty jointly used movable type printing against the emperor.
Wulong Chi Road will become Six Dragon Chi Road. The Chi Road to Kaifeng is itself part of the Beijing-Guangzhou Chi Road. The preliminary mapping and planning have been done by the Ministry of Engineering long ago. After the money was in place, people began to be recruited, and even the location of the official factory was determined. At this time, a problem arose. Chidao needed signage.
For example, Beijing West Railway Station, Xizhimen, Meishikou, Caishikou, Deshengmen, and Beidaying all need to have plaques. It would be a waste of the emperor's time to have each plaque inscribed by His Majesty himself.
Then all the signboards use Zhu Yijun’s large characters. Select the written characters to form the signboards, which became the answer given by the Ministry of Rites. His Majesty’s large characters have always been fond of vulgar characters, and he has read more than ten In recent years, the font has been extremely standardized and easy to recognize. At the same time, it can also fill every corner of Chidao with the word loyalty.
loyalty!
Collecting all the words written by His Majesty over the years and printing them with movable type, it is very possible to create a font similar to official script, regular script, and Guange style.
The Ministry of Rites was not motivated simply to flatter him, but mainly because His Majesty’s handwriting is calm yet sharp. It looks good and is indeed easy to read.
People like Hai Rui and Shen Li have always kept a respectful distance from the content of this memorial. After all, it is an act of flattery. But this time we caught up with it, tit for tat. In officialdom, it is also about human relations. Yes, if Wang Chonggu helps but Hai Rui doesn't, then no one will help Hai Rui in the future.
This was originally an all-out approach that would be criticized by others, but with the addition of Hai Rui and Shen Li, things have changed.
After all, Hai Rui is the official official and Shen Li is the second official. The two of them used their personal reputations to protect the reputation of the courtiers and standardized their writing for easy identification. How could this be an act of flattery? ? This is obviously to make Ming Dynasty better!
"These scholars are so shameless when it comes to flattering them! They don't do business every day, just thinking about this little thing." Feng Bao said with a look of disgust and anger, Daming It would be strange if Feng Bao was not angry that the ministers from the outer court had taken away the work of the inner prison!
The eunuch actually lost to the outer court in the matter of flattery, which really made Feng Bao angry. This kind of backwardness in flattery is not the first time. The last time was a new one. When the land was created, the gates facing the capital in various places were called Tonghe Gate.
When the scholar really tries to flatter himself, the eunuch is no match for him.
"Let the Ministry of Rites use official script for the next chapter, so there is no need to use my calligraphy." Zhu Yijun thought for a while and still rejected the memorial. He was mainly afraid of the death of the society and saw his own writing wherever he went. The words were hung everywhere, which was a bit embarrassing.
Don’t worry about someone imitating the emperor’s handwriting and forging documents to do bad things. The most important thing in official documents is the seal, not the words. Most people don’t know that the emperor’s seal is three inches, and the first and second grades are two inches and five cents. The following One point is deducted for each level. The smaller the official, the smaller the seal. Forging a seal is a technical job, and of course it is very punishing.
Zhu Yijun is also growing up, and his fonts are also changing, becoming more majestic and sharper.
And this kind of thing has to be declined twice, and then when the ministers invite each other, Zhu Yijun, as the emperor, agrees with a look of 'it's all you who have harmed me', then it is regarded as It was in line with etiquette and the golden mean, and what he didn't want was for the courtiers to ask for orders repeatedly.
Zhu Yijun chose to refuse, and the Ministry of Rites quickly sent the second memorial, which had been prepared long ago, to Tonghe Palace. After being rejected again, the Ministry of Rites signed the third memorial to the public on the same day. The good memorial was sent to the palace. Zhu Yijun reluctantly kept it for one day and returned it to Wenyuan Pavilion the next day. He reluctantly agreed to the request of the Ministry of Rites.
All signage along Chidao will be in Huangge style, which is the font used when the emperor was still studying.
Wan Shihe was scolded so badly once again. I have seen flatterers before, but I have never seen flatterers like this. Let’s just stop calling them Wan Zhizhi and call them Wan Wu Gu. They are still implicated. Hai Rui and Shen Li's reputations were damaged together! Dazongbo Wanshihe didn't respond at all. He was busy, how could he have time to respond to this? Anyway, His Majesty finally agreed.
The Ministry of Rites is flattering. This is not a day or two. It is not unusual for such a thing to happen. The key is that the memorial has the signatures of such stubborn officials as Hai Rui and Shen Li, so it is open to criticism. It became embarrassing. These two had excellent reputations, so Shilin could only hold his nose and admit it, and just pretend that this incident never happened.
The Imperial Examination was an episode, but the imperial examination was still the top concern among the public.
After the general examination came the palace examination. The palace examination was divided into two sessions, one for Confucian classics and one for arithmetic. However, the arithmetic session lasted longer and the emperor paid more attention. Fifty arithmetic scholars In the end, only 21 people passed the selection of the Royal Institute of Technology. The remaining 29 people will go to the Royal Institute of Technology to teach. When they can teach, they will continue to prepare for the Royal Institute of Technology.
Some people are not limited in talent, but have not received systematic arithmetic education, so they do not know the solutions to some problems, and have not even seen them. After systematic study, the probability of these people being admitted to the Royal Academy of Mathematical Sciences Very big.
Zhu Zaiyu and Xing Yunlu were extremely satisfied with Li Kaifang. They were both geniuses in arithmetic, so naturally they had many topics in common.
The capital city is extremely lively. Those who were nominated for the gold list were naturally proud of the spring breeze and saw all the flowers in Chang'an in one day.
Five thousand people gathered in the capital, but in the end only 350 people became new scholars, and the rest were losers.
And Zhu Yijun got a memorial written by the Ministry of Household Affairs. This memorial is an extension of the first volume of Class Theory. It clearly distinguishes between the poor coolies and the rural gentry. What kind of people can be qualified? Call them rural sages and gentry?
Poor tenants, a household with less than five acres of land, and a family with less than one acre of land, are destitute tenants; farmers, one household with less than twenty acres of land, each with five acres of land, are farmers. ; A peasant household with a farmland of less than fifty acres per household, and each family having about ten acres, is a peasant household; a middle-class household is a household with a farmland of less than a hundred acres, and a household with less than twenty acres per household is a middle-class household.
This area is the domain of poor coolies, even the middle-class families. The middle-class families can barely be regarded as poor families, but once there is a natural disaster or man-made disaster, the land will be poor, and the middle-class families will be poor. The family will still decline rapidly. For example, before Li Kaifang's father died of illness, he was a middle-class family. After long-term illness, the middle-class family turned into abject poverty with no guarantee of livelihood.
Only a wealthy household with a farmland of more than 300 acres and each household with more than 50 acres is qualified to be called a wealthy and peaceful rural sage. A household with a farmland of more than 1,000 acres has a household with more than 50 acres. Only those with more than 100 acres are considered gentry.
This is a very clear division. According to this division, the Ming Dynasty has completed the census of Dingkou and Qingzhang in Shandong, South Zhili Shishifu, North Zhili and other places, poor tenants, farmers, farmers The proportion is 86.64%, the proportion of middle-class households is 3.08%, and the proportion of rural gentry and above is 10.28%. This is in line with the Ministry of Household’s previous estimate of the overall situation of the Ming Dynasty, that is, 80% of the world is in extreme poverty, and 90% of the rural people are Eighty-eight farmers are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Some rural and middle-class families can afford to support a retired scholar even if they try their best.
This memorial in the Ministry of Revenue only states the current situation, neither the existing problems nor the solutions. The meaning is also very clear. The Ming Dynasty is indeed changing with each passing day, but the situation is still not optimistic. , with the continuous advancement of the Wanli Reform, fundamental contradictions appeared in front of the court, and the road to Ming Dynasty's greatness again was long and difficult.
Ming Dynasty is good enough. Can Ming Dynasty’s New Deal be stopped? The answer is of course no, because stopping at this time means that everything in the New Deal will be destroyed. The New Deal cannot be retreated or stopped, because there is a cliff behind it, and there are wolves, tigers and leopards behind it.
As the New Deal continues to be implemented, a piece of good news reaches the capital. The Feiyun in the dock is finally getting ready to launch.
The Feiyun is a sailing battleship based on the design of a fast sailing ship. The entire ship is built for war. It can be said to be armed to the teeth. The Ming Dynasty has the manufacturing capacity of sailing battleships, which means that the Ming Dynasty can conduct ocean warfare. This is very, very important for the Ming Dynasty to open the sea.
Sail battleships are more complex than merchant ships, and due to the large amount of gunpowder, it will take some time to store and manage them and form combat effectiveness.
But this is also the world's first sail warship. Its launch marked the opening of the Ming Dynasty to the sea and officially opened its eyes to the world.
Trading ships and selling goods across the ocean requires force to protect them, otherwise the numerous plantations will be nothing more than meat on the chopping board.
(End of this chapter)