My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 265 Li Min's Thoughts

The Imperial Academy of Craftsmen trains skilled workers needed by factories on a half-yearly basis. So far, it has sent thousands of workers to major factories.

After arriving at the factory, these workers quickly became the backbone of the factory and laid a solid foundation for the smooth production of the factory.

However, with the increasing number of factories and the increasingly higher technical requirements for workers, the shortage of workers is also getting bigger and bigger.

Moreover, the improved steam engine built by the students of the Craftsmen Academy also made Li Min realize that training workers in the academy model was an effective way.

The only drawback is that the number of workers trained is still too small.

At first, he thought about building a few more technical academies to expand the scale first. However, after an accidental chat with Lou Ying, the director of the Imperial Hospital, he changed his mind.

Since obtaining the "Barefoot Doctor's Manual", Lou Ying has been making every effort to promote the medical book, but in the process, he also discovered a serious problem.

It was okay in the Imperial Medical Service, but at the local level, the medical standards of doctors in various clinics could not be unified very well, because the so-called superb medical skills actually depended more on the doctor's experience, which is a very subjective thing. Even for the same symptom, different doctors could come to different conclusions.

It’s not that these doctors are not good at medicine, but that they have no unified standards when treating patients, and their starting points for their four methods of diagnosis are also different.

Moreover, many doctors, when teaching and learning, are accustomed to keeping some of their skills to themselves, that is, they will not pass on their unique skills to others, and the habit of cherishing their own skills is very serious.

Therefore, Lou Ying decided to petition His Majesty to open a new medical school, using the "Barefoot Doctor's Manual" as the standard textbook to teach medicine and train doctors.

Li Min was completely enlightened by chatting with Lou Ying. He instantly realized that the reason why the training of workers was slow was because these craftsmen had not received any unified standard education before entering school.

All knowledge about industry can only be relearned after entering the Craftsmen Academy, which greatly slows down the speed of talent training.

In Li Min's idea, a new school should be established below the Academy of Craftsmen to teach more basic knowledge according to the standards of industrial talents, such as arithmetic, the application of various units such as meters, centimeters, tons, the cultivation of basic knowledge such as lever arm, torque, horsepower, etc.

Just like industrial assembly line production, the new knowledge taught will be standardized and promoted nationwide.

The Imperial Academy of Craftsmen, as a higher-level institution, was dedicated to training high-level elite technicians or research talents for the Ming Dynasty, specializing in the improvement and innovation of new machinery, or the research and improvement of other industrial products such as steel, explosives, and sugar.

More advanced institutions like Jiangzao Academy can be built, and even one can be built in each wealthy province.

After graduating from a lower-level artisan school, students have received complete industrial knowledge training. If they want to go further, they can enter advanced institutions such as the Artisan Academy. Even if they fail, they can directly enter the factory and become industrial workers.

still alright……

Li Min also had a bold idea, which was to add industrial training courses to local academies, so that even if students failed to pass the examination to become scholars, they could still go to artisan schools.

Even basic industrial knowledge can be introduced and cultivated when children are just starting to learn.

Of course, if this measure is implemented, it would be tantamount to shaking the cornerstone of the literary world and would inevitably face tremendous pressure from the literary world. Li Min might even be scolded by the literary world as a sinner for all ages.

Therefore, this matter must be approved by His Majesty. Without His Majesty's consent, this matter will never be accomplished.

Just as he was writing furiously, suddenly, a familiar voice came from outside the door, "Minister Li, is Minister Li here?"

Isn't this Wang Jinghong, the eunuch who holds the seal of the palace? His coming to the house must mean that His Majesty wants to summon him to the throne. Putting down the pen, Li Min cleaned up his clothes, then walked out, bowed and said, "Eunuch Wang, please forgive me for not being able to greet you in person as I was in the study the whole time. Please forgive me."

Wang Jinghong smiled tenderly. Although he was the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and a man who had the final say in the palace, he was not so arrogant as to glance at Li Min.

For the eunuchs, the most important thing is vision. Now, the Minister of Works Li Min and the Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi are both popular figures in front of His Majesty. It is no exaggeration to say that they are His Majesty's left and right arms. He will not be stupid enough to embarrass himself in front of Li Min.

"Minister Li, you are too kind. I just arrived. It seems that His Majesty has taken a liking to Lord Li. That is why he sent me to summon Lord Li to the palace to meet him."

"Thank you, Eunuch Li." Li Min said with a smile.

"In addition to you, His Majesty also summoned Wei Zuoqian, the Minister of Works, and Yang Siyi, the Minister of Revenue. I think this is because His Majesty has another big project and wants to hand it over to you gentlemen. Lord Li is a loyal minister to His Majesty!"

Wang Jinghong revealed some information to Li Min in advance. As Li Min was a second-rank official who was highly valued by His Majesty, he did not mind using some information to win Li Min's favor.

"Thank you very much, Eunuch Wang."

After seeing Wang Jinghong off, Li Min changed into his official uniform and rushed to the palace without stopping.

Li Min's wife looked at his hurriedly leaving back, sighed softly, and there was some pain in her eyes. Ever since His Majesty entrusted him with the important task of industrial development, her husband has not had a good rest. Even during the New Year, he was at home writing development plans.

Looking at the six ministries of the imperial court, there is no minister as busy as my husband, who doesn’t know how day and night work when he is busy.

When he arrived at the palace, he happened to meet Yang Siyi and Wei Zuoqian in front of the Meridian Gate. After exchanging greetings, the three of them walked together towards the inner palace.

When they arrived at the bedroom, the three saw Zhu Yuanzhang holding a piece of paper in his hand and looking at it intently, with a very serious expression on his face.

The three of them walked into the bedroom and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang, saying, "Your Majesty, long live your Majesty!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the three people coming, he immediately smiled and said, "My three beloved ministers, please stand up quickly. I have told you many times that there are not so many rules in this inner palace."

Without waiting for the three to ask, he said directly: "I came to you because I have something I want to show you."

After saying that, he ordered people to give the three people seats, and then stuffed a thick stack of papers into Li Min's hand. Yang Siyi couldn't help but be curious, so he leaned over to take a look.

Although Wei Zuoqian was the Minister of Works, a whole rank lower than Li Min, he was Li Min's subordinate and also his right-hand man. Since His Majesty said it was for three people to see, he also leaned over to take a look.

When the three of them first saw the word "railway", they were a little confused. Their thoughts were the same as Zhu Yuanzhang's: railway, building roads with steel, this was a little unbelievable, right?

However, as the three of them continued to flip through the pages, the expressions on their faces were also exceptionally interesting.

First they were suddenly enlightened, then they became serious, and then they were relieved. Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing as he observed the expressions of the three people.

It was exactly the same as when he first saw it. Now, it was time to shock them as well.

After a while, Li Min raised his head, his face full of shock, and then said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, if this can really be realized, it will completely change the situation of Ming Dynasty and even the whole world. This is the first project in the history!"

(End of this chapter)