I studied in modern times

Chapter 1058 Progress of the Specialized Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau

For the next period of time, Zhao Xu began to go into AFK mode.

The administration of state affairs was basically handed over to the team of officials led by Lü Gongzhu and Pu Zongmeng—their abilities were beyond question.

Pu Zongmeng, in particular, was full of energy and enthusiasm.

In other words, they are greedy and like to enjoy themselves.

Is this even a problem?
Overeating is just a problem!

As long as Zhao Xu keeps things in check and gives a gentle reminder from time to time, that's enough.

Moreover, there were a whole bunch of eyes watching Pu Zongmeng.

Especially the old party leaders in power in the capital.

They all wanted to get rid of him so they could take his place.

The censors of the Censorate were all keeping a close eye on Pu Zongmeng.

They just wanted to create a big news story and rise to power by stepping on this infamous Right Chancellor in Shilin.

Therefore, Pu Zongmeng was extremely cautious.

They dared not leave any leverage for anyone to use against them!

This actually improved the efficiency of the capital city quite a bit.

Outside the capital, Wen Yanbo, Feng Jing, and Zhang Fangping were riding high, experiencing a second spring in their lives!

Every day, students and former officials from all over the country would line up and bring various gifts to greet him.

Everyone was hoping to secure a good position and a good spot in the future [Yuanyou Grand Ceremony] bookstore.

no way!
These officials are mostly over sixty years old.

There's no hope for his official career.

There's no way to get promoted anymore.

I thought this was how my life would be.

That's impressive. When you retire, you get promoted again, and then you get a nicer-sounding honorary title. Then you can go home and retire with a high-ranking official position.

Who would have thought that a holy emperor would emerge from the imperial court!

He allocated millions of strings of cash in one go, and with the help of three elders, established the Yuanyou Grand Ceremony Bookstore.

The entire nation was to be mobilized to compile a magnificent work that encompassed all books from the time of writing, including those on astronomy, geography, yin and yang, medicine, divination, Buddhism, Taoism, and arts and crafts, all compiled into one book.

This is the golden age of literature in the world!
This has never happened before, even in the Han and Tang dynasties!
Anyone who participates must leave their name.

Then... it's possible to achieve lasting fame and be remembered for generations to come!

The news sent shockwaves through the entire country!
Countless veteran civil officials who had been entrenched in the positions of prefectural judge, governor, and judge quickly sprang into action.

Those with connections should use them; those without should find a way in.

Suddenly, the problem of aging officials, which had plagued the Song Dynasty's officialdom for decades, seemed to have found a solution.

As these veteran bureaucrats expressed their desire to join the Yuanyou Grand Bookstore.

The workload of the Ministry of Personnel was instantly relieved.

Hundreds of pits appeared all at once.

Wang Zishao wakes up with a smile every day!
Amidst the turmoil in the court and among the people, Zhao Xu steadily advanced his own affairs.

He continued to leave the palace every five days to inspect the various government offices in Kaifeng Prefecture.

We listened to the opinions of the heads of key departments such as the Street Office, the Shop and Housing Affairs Office, and the Urban Commerce and Taxation Bureau.

Then, he would occasionally visit the specialized ordnance manufacturing bureau.

After listening to reports from Shen Kuo and relevant officials, he focused on the gunpowder department, glass department, and papermaking department.

As it turns out, science and technology are materialistic.

As long as you are willing to invest and the direction is correct.

Then we will definitely see results!

Especially in the early days of pioneering!

This was true during the Western Industrial Revolution, and it remains true in the Song Dynasty today.

As a result, almost all the projects that Zhao Xu was concerned about made great progress.

In the gunpowder division, new granular gunpowder formulas and new bronze for cannons were developed.

Meanwhile, the technology of casting cannons using iron molds is also under steady development.

As for Liuli Si, it benefited from huge domestic demand and the needs of the Liao Kingdom.

The glass industry is booming, with profits growing rapidly.

Through spending real money, the first monocular telescope was crafted by the artisans.

If the Astronomical Bureau obtained such a treasure, Su Song, after using it, immediately requested that additional telescopes for astronomical observation be added to the Yuan You Hun Yun Terrace. Zhao Xu, of course, readily agreed.

The first telescope for astronomical observation is expected to be available by June.

I wonder what kind of expressions the astronomers of the Song Dynasty would have when they saw the craters on the moon and the rings of Saturn through their telescopes.
This will inevitably impact the Confucian theory of the interaction between Heaven and humanity.

But that's okay.

Not many Song Dynasty Confucian scholars believed in this!

The reason why the theory of the interaction between Heaven and Man still has vitality is purely because the scholar-officials need this thing to restrain the imperial power.

Of course, the destructive power of ideological upheaval must be taken into account.

Zhao Xu did not intend to promote the astronomical telescope; he would only test it internally.

Then, gradually, let the scholar-officials get in touch with them.

Like boiling a frog in lukewarm water!

Of all the projects, the one that has made the most progress and the greatest advancement is undoubtedly the paper manufacturing company.

It's mainly the paper manufacturing industry; there are too many and too wide application scenarios now.

The Paper Manufacturing Division is responsible for the research and development and improvement of paper, as well as the development of ink and printing technologies.

However, the demand for better paper and better printing technology in Bianjing City now is dozens or even hundreds of times greater than it was in the eighth year of the Yuanfeng era!
Putting aside everything else, the circulation of the Bianjing Xinbao and Bianjing Yibao alone was enough to support the entire papermaking department.

Not to mention the large-scale issuance of Song-Liao paper money.

And the resulting demand for paper, ink, printing and dyeing, and anti-counterfeiting technologies.

All of this caused the paper mill to expand tenfold in just three years!
Today, it has become a huge organization with thousands of skilled craftsmen and employees, and more than 300 officials at all levels.

Thanks to Zhao Xu's generous rewards, the papermaking department was able to report one or more new technologies almost every month.

New types of paper, new types of ink, new movable type technology...

The result of this frantic iteration is that both the Bianjing Xinbao and Bianjing Yibao now use movable type printing machines.

Its technological level was roughly similar to that of the Gutenberg printing press in Europe.

It was this technology that enabled the circulation of the Bianjing Xinbao newspaper to continuously break new records.

Today, the highest daily circulation has reached 100,000 copies!
It spread throughout the entire Kaifeng Prefecture!

It also flowed with merchants from all over the country to various prefectures and counties, and even to the Liao Dynasty, Western Xia, Qinghai-Tibet, Jiaozhi, the Five Families of the Southwest, Dali Kingdom, and other places.

The achievements of the dedicated ordnance manufacturing bureau were so outstanding.

Zhao Xu naturally had no choice but to reward him!

Therefore, on the day of Gengwu in May (25), an imperial edict was issued—Shen Kuo's official rank was changed from Chaoqing Dafu (a sixth-rank official) to Zhongsan Dafu (a fifth-rank official), promoted to Academician of Longtu Pavilion, and enfeoffed as Duke of Kuaiji Commandery, with an additional 400 households of fief and 100 households of actual fief.

At this point, Shen Kuo's official rank and honors finally returned to the level before the defeat at Yongle City in the second year of Yuanfeng.

At the same time, Zhao Xu also bestowed the title of Lady of Lin'an County upon Shen Kuo's wife, Zhang.

Compared to the additional titles bestowed upon Shen Kuo, Zhao Xu's bestowal of titles upon his wife undoubtedly pleased Shen Kuo more.

This can be seen from Shen Kuo's immediate reaction—when he entered the palace to express his gratitude, he especially thanked Zhao Xu for bestowing a title upon his wife.

This is truly something that makes one want to chuckle.

It should be noted that under the Song Dynasty system, the bestowal of favors upon noblewomen was theoretically issued in the name of the Empress/Empress Dowager.

Therefore, generally speaking, when expressing gratitude, noblewomen would enter the palace to express their thanks to the Empress/Empress Dowager.

There is no need for subjects to express their gratitude to the emperor.

Shen Kuo's actions undoubtedly exposed his bronchitis.

It made people, both in and out of government, laugh at it for a long time.

Shen Kuo's nickname "Shen Jichang" became even more famous, and his wife Zhang's reputation was inevitably affected—there were always some envious people who enjoyed gossiping and taking pleasure in belittling others.

Furthermore, an imperial censor impeached Shen Kuo and his wife Zhang, arguing that their husbands' behavior was improper and damaged the reputation of the court.

His wife, Zhang, was even labeled a "shrew," a "vicious woman," and "lacking in the virtue of a noblewoman."

Upon seeing this, Zhao Xu simply smiled and wrote a reply: "Other couples playfully paint eyebrows in their private quarters; why are you so harsh?"
On the yellow paper of the memorial, the emperor wrote a line of red characters: "The state supports you, the censors, with your salaries so that you may correct the merits and demerits of the government and criticize the administration of ministers, not so that you may pry into the private affairs of other people's homes!"
This is blatantly protecting Shen Kuo.

Upon learning this, Shen Kuo naturally rushed to the palace to express his gratitude.

Of course, Zhao Xu didn't help Shen Kuo for nothing.

Sure enough, when Shen Kuo left the palace, he had a new assignment—to be appointed as the head of the Hanlin Academy of Astronomy!

At the same time, he had an additional task—to organize the astronomers of the Hanlin Astronomical Academy to collect folk and official star-gazing techniques and combine them with a compass to create a device that could determine one's own location and the direction of a target by observing star patterns, no matter where one was.

This is essential for future ocean voyages.

As for the sextant, Zhao Xu dared not hope for it for the time being—he wanted to first get the astrolabe from Zheng He's era!

(End of this chapter)