I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 480 Controversy and Firearms Production

Zhu Youxiao followed the reputation and found that the person speaking was Sun Shenxing, the Minister of Rites.

Sun Shenxing was agitated now and spoke in a high-pitched voice. It seemed that he was very dissatisfied with Zhu Youxiao's establishment of a Western school in the Imperial College.

Zhu Youxiao had already guessed that someone would object, so he was not upset when he saw him like this, so he smiled and comforted him:
"It's okay. Although I want to set up subjects related to Western learning in the Imperial College, I do not force students to study every subject. You can choose one or two subjects to study. It is not mandatory."

Even so, Sun Shenxing still shook his head in opposition.

Although he was also from the Donglin Party, he was not very interested in Western learning, and he even disliked Western religion.

Therefore, since the emperor announced the reform of the Imperial College last year, he has been very concerned about it and often used his status as the Minister of Rites to personally supervise the reform of the Imperial College.I just hope that the Imperial College, as the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty, can reshape the academic style and teach students who can fight against Western believers.

But he just didn't expect that the emperor was not just a whim, but also intentional, and actually came up with such an idea.

"Your Majesty, I cannot agree with you. The tradition of teaching the Four Books and Five Classics in the Imperial College has always been this way. Even if you teach some arithmetic and astronomy, it is understandable. After all, our achievements in this area are not bad in China, but if you want to use Western learning to enter the Imperial College , I absolutely cannot agree to this."

Seeing that Sun Shenxing refused to give in, Zhu Youxiao's face became even more ugly.

Liu Yishen saw that the scene in the palace was getting worse, so he looked at each other with Ye Xianggao, and then bowed to persuade him.

"Your Majesty, I have an idea. Western learning does have its merits. How about the cabinet allocates some money to the Tongwen Museum in the capital so that it can not only recruit people to learn Western languages, but also recruit people like the Imperial College. Wouldn't it be better for students to study Western knowledge when they enter school, so that the Imperial College would study Chinese culture, while the Imperial College would study Western learning, and the two would complement each other and cooperate with each other?"

Liu Yishen's conciliatory words obviously made Zhu Youxiao not very satisfied.

It may seem like nothing to study Western learning and Chinese culture separately.

But if things go on for a long time, it will easily lead to a split between scholars who study Chinese culture and Western learning. They will exclude each other and look down on each other. This is a very troublesome thing.

More importantly, he knew very well that the West was only in the Renaissance stage.It can only be said that its scientific, technological and cultural progress has just begun, and there are many mistakes in it. Its level of advancement has not yet surpassed Chinese culture by a large margin like the industrial revolution in the late Qing Dynasty.Today, Ming Dynasty is still at the forefront in many disciplines.

Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty studied Western culture, it did not need to accept it in its entirety. It only needed to translate Western works and let scholars learn its dominant subjects.

There is no such thing as the establishment of a capital university for comprehensive study as in the late Qing Dynasty.Zhu Youxiao must never do this kind of move of abandoning the basics and pursuing the weak.

After Liu Yishen finished speaking, the emperor did not express his position, and the atmosphere in the entire court became more solemn.

Many of the people present did not reject Western learning. After all, the Folang cannon and the Hongyi cannon both came from the West. Most of them knew or had contact with Matteo Ricci and others, and knew that Western learning had its advantages.

It's just that the emperor wants to set up Western subjects in the Imperial College, which makes everyone have other ideas.Some people are in favor of it, and some are against it.

Seeing Liu Yishui, Sun Shenxing and others all bowing their heads and saying nothing, Xu Guangqi, the main leader of the Western School, felt a little uneasy when he saw this. He could only bite the bullet and said:
"Your Majesty, I just made a mistake. I think Liu Shoufu's suggestion is quite good. Alternatively, there is nothing wrong with letting the Tongwen Hall of the Capital also offer Western subjects for the prince to study."

As soon as these words came out, everyone else nodded, and Sun Chengzong, Ye Xianggao, Zhao Nanxing and others also stood up to support.

Now it seems that letting the Tongwen Hall of the Capital recruit the prince to study Western learning may not be a compromise.

Seeing the compromise of the ministers below, who all stood up to support Liu Yishui's opinions, Zhu Youxiao remained expressionless.

Wei Zhongxian, who was standing nearby, also turned to look at the emperor, indicating to the emperor whether he needed to stabilize the situation.But Zhu Youxiao ignored him, and after a while he slowly said:
"My dear friends, our country, the Ming Dynasty, is originally a kingdom of heaven. Chinese culture has a long history and is all-encompassing. It is precisely because the Imperial College is the highest educational institution in our country, and now that it has been restructured, its status will probably be even more important in the future.

That's why I thought about using the better subjects in Western learning for Ming Dynasty to learn, and what I learned was only Western technical knowledge, not Western education. I really don't understand what I'm afraid of.Can one or two Western studies defeat my Chinese culture?Is the Ming Dynasty so afraid of Western knowledge?I think Sun Aiqing is worried too much. "

When Sun Shenxing saw this, he stood up to object, but Zhu Youxiao directly waved his hand to tell him to stop talking.

"I have made up my mind to set up geography, Western mathematics, astronomy, natural history and other subjects in the Imperial College. If I, the Ming Dynasty, understand these subjects, they can also teach them. If no one understands them, let Western monks teach them. , wait until suitable training is obtained, and then replace this Western monk."

"Your Majesty, no, absolutely no."

Sun Shenxing was about to object when he saw this, but Zhu Youxiao stopped him as soon as he finished speaking. "Okay, Sun Aiqing, don't say anything anymore. This matter has been settled. Don't say more."

Seeing the emperor's tough attitude, everyone present knew that they could no longer object. Ye Xianggao and others could only stand up and said:
"I will obey your orders!"

Although Sun Shenxing still wanted to object, everyone in the cabinet agreed, so he could only curse Liu Yishen and others secretly without saying a word.

However, he had already made up his mind that this matter was not over yet, and he would have to argue with Liu Yishen and others, and encourage others to write a letter of objection.

From this, it was determined that the emperor would allocate funds from internal funds to fund the military training school. Although there were many involvements in the matter of Western learning, after all, it was the emperor who spent the money, and everyone had no objections.

After the education matters were dealt with, Wang Zaijin, the Minister of the Ministry of War, began to talk about the expenses of the Ministry of War. The money of the Ministry of War was nothing more than two things:

One is to build a navy. This year, the imperial court built Denglai and Tianjin navy, but these two functions inevitably overlap.Therefore, after the Tianjin and Denglai Navy transport the officers and soldiers of the Beijing Camp to Liaodong at the end of the year, the Tianjin Navy will go south and merge with the South Zhili Navy.

But this can only solve temporary needs. Now that sea trade is booming and there are more and more pirates, the construction of a navy in the south has become more urgent.Therefore, the Ministry of War proposed to allocate another 80 taels to Southern Zhili and Fujian and Zhejiang, and asked Bi Ziyan and Yuan Keli to build warships to protect trade routes.

"That's so bad. We must not save this money. Previously, I gave 30 yuan from internal funds to Yuan Keli for the construction of the navy. Now I will allocate more money to build the navy. It should be enough."

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Wang Zaijin saw the emperor so happy and felt much better. He immediately bowed his head and said yes.

"Your Majesty, I still have something to report. Since last year, the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Industry has been casting Krupp cannons, blunderbuss and rifles. In July and August this year, flintlock guns were developed. These firearms are powerful, but The cost is extremely high. The cost of materials and craftsman labor to cast such firearms alone this year was as high as 150 million taels.

Now, as the power of cannons, flintlock guns, and Krupp guns becomes increasingly apparent, the demand for them in both Beijing and Liaodong is increasing.This year I am afraid another 150 million taels will be invested in manufacturing firearms and ordnance.

In addition, as the personnel and ordnance of the Beijing camp become increasingly complete, the cost of logistics and military pay will also increase.Starting next year, the military pay for the Beijing camp will cost no less than 150 million taels, and the food and salary quota will be 100 million shi. "

At present, the Sixth Army of the Beijing Camp has a total of 1000 people. The average military pay for soldiers is one or two and a half yuan, plus about one kilogram of rice. It is indeed this amount.

But even so, Zhu Youxiao still felt heartbroken. This military expenditure is really huge. The total of Jingying, Jiubian, and Liao's salaries is probably 1000 million. This is really a gold-eating beast.

But even though he knew it would cost a lot, Zhu Youxiao also knew that this money could never be saved.

As the trump card in his hand, Jingying not only plays an important role in quelling the She'an Rebellion and establishing the captives.It will even play a role in the future reform of the Nine Sides, so it must not be ignored.

"This matter is as Aiqing said, I am correct. But I am curious. It has been a year since the Ordnance Bureau started manufacturing firearms last year. I have also transferred all the firearms craftsmen from the inner court and the outer court to Tongzhou Firearms The workshop consumes so much now, but I don’t know what its output is and whether it’s worth the money I paid.”

As soon as these words came out, Wang Zaijin was slightly startled, and then turned to look at Xu Guangqi, the minister of the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry was responsible for the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop, and the Ministry of War was only responsible for placing orders.

Xu Guangqi also knew the output well, so he was not surprised when the emperor suddenly asked, so he stood up and answered directly:

"Your Majesty, since the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop was cast in May, the output has been three times greater than that of the Ordnance Bureau in the capital. A total of [-] Krupp cannons of various models have been cast each month, and [-] blunderbuss have been cast. A thousand muskets, five hundred flintlock muskets.

Especially after the abolition of craftsman status, because the court paid wages to craftsmen, the number of craftsmen coming to the workshop to work not only did not decrease, but increased, and the enthusiasm for production was also greatly increased.Moreover, His Majesty has also decreed to encourage craftsmen to develop technology and give rewards and titles. The production process is also continuously improved, and the output will inevitably be higher in the future. "

Ninety doors a month, thousands of cannons and guns. Such a number surprised and delighted Zhu Youxiao.

But it made sense after he thought about it. According to Chen Liangbi, four armies of the Sixth Army of the Beijing Camp were now ready. You must know that according to the establishment, each army has about a hundred Krupp cannons.

It seems that the output of the firearms workshop can definitely keep up with the demand of the Beijing camp, and there are still rich artillery supplies to Liaodong.

But Xu Guangqi hasn't finished speaking yet. He has another good news to say.

(End of this chapter)