Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Even though Zhu Youjian already held Zhang Pu in extremely high regard, he still did not expect him to bring him such a big surprise.

Looking at the dozen or so manuscripts that Zhang Pu had initially collected, Zhu Youjian was truly surprised to find that science had already flourished so much in the Ming Dynasty, which made him quite gratified.
"You've done a great job at the Academy of Sciences, collecting so many manuscripts in such a short time."

"I made the right decision to entrust the Academy of Sciences to you. I hope you will continue to strive for excellence!"

After praising Zhang Pu, Zhu Youjian instructed him to continue recruiting researchers and allocated 100,000 taels of silver.

After winning the Liaodong Campaign, he no longer needed to prepare funds for possible wars, and had much more funds at his disposal, which he planned to invest in science and technology.

The Hanlin Academy, the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Literature and Art, the Academy of Equipment, as well as the specially established technology fund and awards, will all receive his support and will obtain more funding next year.

His role as emperor will shift from controlling the overall situation to focusing on key priorities—

He planned to take a good rest and hand over more work to the ministers.

Zhang Pu was very excited to receive the emperor's praise and a check from Shuntian Bank.

Now that he has the money to print "Science," he can increase bonuses and encourage artisans to print it as quickly as possible.

However, the most important thing was the manuscript, which he requested from the emperor:
"Your Majesty's 'On Yin and Yang' is rather obscure, far less easy to understand than 'On Contradiction'."

"Your Majesty, please allow 'On Contradiction' to be published in the first issue of 'Science'."

Zhu Youjian thought about it for a moment and did not agree to this.

Because he considered "On Contradiction" to be philosophy, it was more suitable to be placed in "Hanlin".

Science should focus on science and technology, not become a hodgepodge.

He said to Zhang Pu:

“Articles on classics, history, and philosophy are more suitable for publication in the Hanlin Academy.”

"Science may touch upon this topic, but it should not deviate from the main theme."

"I hereby set one requirement: at least 60% of the articles published in Science must contain numbers and use mathematics to explain the principles."

This stopped Zhang Pu from going astray, from accepting all kinds of articles.

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Pu was startled and realized that he had been somewhat carried away.

The emperor asked him to develop science, not to have him compete in a contest, but to truly develop this field of knowledge.

The foundation of science is mathematics. If we deviate from this main thread, what difference is there between it and other disciplines?

He reflected on his actions and remembered the emperor's teachings.
-
After giving him some pointers, Zhu Youjian did not completely refuse Zhang Pu's request. He ordered a young eunuch to bring out a manuscript and presented it to Zhang Pu, saying:

"I have another article here, which is about practice and understanding. I have just finished the understanding part."

"Originally, we intended to submit this to Mr. Qian for publication, but since Science magazine needs it, we will take this part out and publish it separately as Epistemology."

"Science is the study of understanding and transforming the world. We must use the correct methods to understand the laws of all things and use experiments to test scientific theories or hypotheses."

"This article should be of guiding significance to science. You can organize it and publish it in my name."

Zhang Pu was overjoyed upon hearing this and eagerly took it to read.

Just as the emperor had said, this article was not yet finished, and the relationship between knowledge and practice was not fully explained.

However, this was enough for him. As long as the emperor's articles existed, it could be said that the emperor treated "Science" and "Hanlin" equally, and that the two were top-tier journals of equal status.

In particular, he felt that this article, which he considered to be the foundational theory written by the emperor for practical learning, was now being published in "Science," giving him the feeling of having his home stolen.

"By drawing upon the strengths of various schools of thought and supplementing Confucianism with their wisdom, science itself is a discipline that integrates diverse perspectives."

Practical learning is also one of many schools of thought; we should absorb its essence from the past!

Zhang Pu chuckled to himself, already imagining how furious Qian Qianyi would be upon seeing this article.

Zhang Pu couldn't even imagine how wonderful it would be if the emperor were to publish "On Practice" in "Science" in the future:
Look, the foundational knowledge you've acquired is all going to be published in Science.

How dare you, with your practical knowledge, argue with science?

Imagining this scene, Zhang Pu thought of the "experiment" that the emperor had just mentioned and decided to figure out the meaning of these two words first, formulate a complete method, and seize the word "experiment" first.
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Unaware of Zhang Pu's thoughts, after Zhu Youjian saw him off, he carefully examined the inspection report submitted by Han Kuang and Yang Jingchen.

As Han Kuang said a few days ago, the only place he truly controlled was Beizhili.

Even that's just polite talk; the southern part of Beizhili didn't receive much material support this year due to flooding. It's only because Lu Xiang-sheng led half of the Tianxiong Army that his contribution seems so significant.

In other places, apart from the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area providing a lot of living supplies, only a few scattered places sent supplies and soldiers.

Most of these decisions were based on the personal integrity of local officials, and in many places, the imperial decrees were simply ignored.

In these places, the various official documents issued by the imperial court were almost useless.

For example, some places are completely unaware of price controls during wartime, let alone have any idea how to implement them.

In some places, although the authorities knew about it, it became a tool for corrupt officials to forcibly purchase goods.

Zhu Youjian was furious about this and decided to severely punish these officials. Han Kuang wanted to reform the bureaucracy, so he was sent to take down the corrupt officials.

However, areas that should be developed should also be developed. After pondering this, Zhu Youjian instructed Wang Chengen:
"Send the Minister of Works, Shang Zhouzuo, to present a report on the industrial development of Beizhili to the emperor."

Upon receiving the order, Wang Chengen immediately went to summon Shang Zhouzuo. Although Shang Zhouzuo was unaware of the reason, he quickly arrived. As the Minister of Works, his position in the court was not high, and the opportunity to be summoned alone was rare, so he dared not refuse.

Zhu Youjian asked him:

How many industrial and mining enterprises are there in Beizhili?

What is the current gross domestic product (GDP)?

Shang Zhouzuo was speechless and could not answer, because he had never compiled statistics on this aspect.

Even though he learned from Wang Chengen the purpose of the emperor's summons, he was still surprised that the emperor would ask such a question.

In the end, he could only pick and choose, saying:

“Beijing has the Mingzhi Newspaper Park, where printing and publishing are developing rapidly, and there is even a shortage of local space.”

“There are many coal mines in Xishan. In recent years, honeycomb briquettes have become popular in Beijing, and many mines are currently operating them.”

"Tongzhou and Zhuozhou have arsenals, Caofeidian has a steel plant, and Zunhua and Qian'an have iron mines. This year, due to the war, they have been expanding."

"In addition, Zhangde Prefecture, which was incorporated into Beizhili, is also mining the Cizhou iron mine and preparing to build a steel plant."

These are all famous factories and mines. Zhu Youjian, seeing that he knew them like the back of his hand, nodded inwardly and then asked:

"Any more?"

"Is that all?"

Shang Zhouzuo, thinking about the application submitted by Song Yingxing, said again:

"There are also Yongping County, which was incorporated into Shuntian Prefecture. The areas of Kaipingwei, Hegezhuang, and Fengshankou have flames and are suitable for burning ashes and frying iron, especially large pieces."

"Viscount Song is organizing artisans to coke the coal here and try to use it for iron smelting."

"If we can smelt good iron, then we will have entered the coal and iron age that His Majesty spoke of!"

This news finally brought a smile to Zhu Youjian's face.

According to his memory, Kailuan Coal Mine was formed by the merger of Kaiping Coal Mine and Luanzhou Coal Mine. The coal in this area has a low sulfur content, which is indeed suitable for steelmaking.

The so-called Kaiping Guard is not the Kaiping Guard outside the Great Wall, but the Kaiping Zhongtun Guard in Yongping.

Thinking that it was a military garrison and the land belonged to the government, Zhu Youjian said happily:

"We must act quickly on this matter and spare no expense."

"If we can successfully forge cannons from steel smelted from coal, I will not hesitate to bestow titles upon them."

"Royal Energy Group will establish Kailuan Coal Mine Company with the local garrison and provide various forms of support."

"We should increase development of the Kailuan Coal Mine and the Qian'an Iron Mine, and focus on developing the steel industry in Yongping."

This steel city will continue to develop in this direction.

Shang Zhouzuo agreed, deciding to increase support, and then heard the emperor ask:
"You're in charge of industrial development planning, do you have any proposals?"

How should the nation's industry develop?

Shang Zhouzuo was indeed considering this matter, and replied:

"I have already sent documents to the local industrial and commercial bureaus to investigate local industrial and mining enterprises. We are preparing to increase the development of existing mines and explore new mines at the same time."

"The Ministry of Works, together with the Imperial Household Department, has sent people to explore the Fuxin Coal Mine, Fushun Coal Mine, and Anshan Iron Mine that Your Majesty mentioned."

This attitude made Zhu Youjian nod, feeling that Shang Zhouzuo was still willing to do things.

However, he was not optimistic about this sprawling approach, especially since the only area the imperial court could actually control was Beizhili.

After considering these days, he has decided to first develop the industry in Beizhili and then drive the development of other places.

He said to Shang Zhouzuo:

"I intend to establish the Governor-General of Northern Zhili, who will also oversee the directly administered departments of various ministries and be responsible for the overall development of Northern Zhili."

"For this first governor-general position, I favor you, the Minister of Works, to concurrently serve as the governor-general, focusing on the development of industry in Beizhili and making relevant plans."

"Beijing is a place with a large population and limited land, so we can focus on developing the cultural and publishing industry."

"The Tianjin Administrative Office has convenient transportation and focuses on developing commerce and trade services and light industry, planning related industrial parks like the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area."

“Yongping has abundant resources and has now resolved the crisis in the Shanhaiguan direction. It can also plan an industrial park, focusing on the development of heavy industries such as coal and steel.”

"You and the people from the Ministry of Works, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Imperial Household Department should come up with a plan to take Shuntian Prefecture as the leader and drive the industrial development of Beizhili."

The focus has shifted from the national perspective to a local perspective.

After expelling the Jurchens, Zhu Youjian was no longer in a hurry to expand the territory. He was content with maintaining local stability and did not want to create chaos in the name of development.

In this era, there is no such thing as a major industrialized nation. If he can develop the industry in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, he will have unparalleled strength.

England could dominate the world with its small territory, and so could it with its northern Zhili province. (End of Chapter)