Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 222: Traveling through time to leave offspring

Zhu Changluo has made a three-year agreement with many people, which means that from the third year of Taichang to the fifth year of Taichang, the next three years will be the time for him to continuously consolidate his achievements, lay a solid foundation, and accumulate strength.

There is no need to rush to make more changes to other things. Always give your subjects time to adapt and change.

This also means that he can have more time for himself and just focus on the direction of the one room and four courtyards.

The emperor has more time, and the harem is of course happy.

At the end of last year, the queen was pregnant, and the emperor frequently visited the new bride, but no good news came.

The emperor did not visit any new people at the end of this year, but both Shufei and Xiupin were pregnant.

Before the Spring Festival, there were only two important things left on Zhu Changluo's schedule: one was the annual report of Changminghao, and the other was Baijiayuan.

Regarding Baijia Garden, it was more of a new hobby that the emperor was planning to develop: in the next three relatively free years, he would study strange and ingenious techniques based on Wansui Mountain north of the Forbidden City.

It’s not surprising that besides loving storytelling, Xinjun also started to like carpentry, gunpowder, and blacksmithing, right?

Baijiayuan is actually the academy of sciences in Zhu Changluo's mind, which is to be linked with the Military Equipment and Armament Park.

Changming's annual report remains the same as last year.

Although they appear to be distributing dividends, they are actually widening their losses.

But Wang Jiayue was given the title of Shenpin, and Xiupin Zhang Fu was pregnant. Wang Xun and Zhang Zhizheng both said that Changming had a bright future.

In particular, the emperor arranged new actions starting from the third year of Taichang.

"I have already made a private trip to Zhejiang, and then to Fujian and Guangdong." Wang Xun said respectfully in front of Zhu Changluo, "Changming is already well known to everyone, and your majesty has shown favor to my daughter. I am still quite treated with courtesy in these three provinces. Especially through the introduction of Lord Longjiang, I have made friends with several sea merchants who are willing to form a partnership with me. Now, I am just waiting for your majesty to come."

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "Let's start the business first. If they want to board this ship, they can't wait until I have everything ready. Now, the most important thing is the sea ship. Silk, porcelain, tea, these goods, I will let the eunuchs prepare them."

"Zhayanghang bought large timber from Korea and Liaodong and built new ships. This year, there are about 20 ships."

"Not yet." Zhu Changluo frowned. "Matteo Ricci summoned some people from the West on my order. The shipwrights of the Zhayang Company have only been repairing ships in recent years. The old Zhayang ships of the Zhayang Company are fine for sailing along the coast of Korea and the Ming Dynasty, but it is still a bit risky to go to Southeast Asia. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. Now that we have enough money, it is time to learn from the strengths of the Cantonese ships, the Fujian ships, and the Western ships and build a new treasure ship."

The Portuguese first established a foothold in the Malacca area, and the Spanish also appeared in the Philippines.

Over the past two years, Zhu Changluo has also been paying attention to intelligence in these areas.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty now also has maritime trade, and the scale is not small.

But if Zhu Changluo wanted to do it based on Changminghao, he could not take such a big risk like them, ignore the losses along the way, and try every means to evade his own taxes.

The bigger the target, the more people will be watching it.

On the vast ocean, real pirates, opponents pretending to be pirates, and Western cargo ships used for both business and warfare don’t care about the Changming sign.

The relationship with the coastal defense road and the escort of ships on the sea need to be considered.

And the foundation of everything is more reliable sea vessels.

Unfortunately, the treasure ship is no longer there. Even if it is, there is a lack of large timber to rebuild the three main halls, so it would probably be difficult to rebuild it on a large scale.

Zhu Changluo did not want to simply rebuild the ship. He wanted to learn from the strengths of others, make improvements, and reintegrate the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry to a new level.

After thinking for a while, he said, "You should discuss with the several sea merchants who are interested now and find a location in Lianzhou Prefecture, Qiongzhou Prefecture or other suitable places in Guangdong. As for large wood, Jiaozhi probably has a lot of it, and it is easier to transport large wood from the deep mountains of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi. Since Changming will go out to sea for trade in the future, I will make some arrangements to equip it with escort warships to avoid being bullied by Western warships. Where there is profit in maritime trade, there will be conflicts. Before that, Changming just needs to supply them with more good goods. You Shanxi merchants have never touched the sea before, so you need to understand."

Another point also involves Zhu Changluo's arrangements for the royal family.

Until today, except for the King of Shu, the King of Lu, and the King of Chu, Zhu Changluo has not allowed other vassal kings to join the Changming system.

Later, in order to incorporate their granted lands and other things into the system of imperial management, they had to give them some benefits in exchange.

Allowing the children of royal families to go to school and engage in business is one aspect, but there is another point that Zhu Changluo has always been considering.

Anyway, it is the era of great navigation and colonization. If the pirates can go there, why can't I?

There were only so many royal families, and Zhu Changluo wanted to spread them all out. Being free and being a true vassal state master were the seeds of the future for the Ming Dynasty.

It would be cheaper to govern and educate the country as if it were your own than to send officials directly from the imperial court, right?
But to go out, we have to use force.

These forces must be controllable, or at least not backfire easily.

Wang Xun didn’t know that the emperor was thinking so much at the moment, but he still obeyed the order.

First build more suitable sea vessels and prepare a protection system.

For Zhu Changluo, this also involved the reform of the Cao Army in the following year.

In the inland canal transport, they have actually lost their basic characteristics as a "military" and are actually a group of public institutions. They are not good at fighting, but they are the first to make money, and they are very good at smuggling private goods.

But the navy on the inland rivers is really useless on the sea.

The coastal defense roads in the coastal provinces are actually not much different, and they are basically all in the shallow waters along the coast.

The Ming Dynasty’s naval construction should also be put on the agenda.

After making such calculations, at the end of the second year of Taichang, the Ming emperor, upon hearing that arrangements had been made for the transportation of the tens of millions of taels of stolen silver, could only sigh that the money was still not enough.

……

After the Chinese New Year, the reconstruction of the outer court of the Forbidden City officially began.

The Forbidden City is the supreme one and the center of the future imperial court. Naturally, many great craftsmen gathered in the Forbidden City.

The first area to be built was the area south of Qianqing Gate where Jianji Hall was originally located.

The towering stone platform is divided into several floors. Originally, there were horizontal corridors here. The Jianji Hall and the Rear Left Gate and Rear Right Gate separated the front court and the harem into a buffer zone.

Due to the lack of large timber, Zhu Changluo decided to build the main brick and stone structure directly on the stone platform supporting the three main halls.

As for the part closest to the Qianqing Gate, a shorter palace wall with more symbolic significance was to be built, and a gatehouse was to be built to separate the outer court from the harem. On the north side of the clanging construction site, Zhu Changluo sat outside the Qianqing Gate and watched with interest.

After a while, a group of master craftsmen and professors of various subjects who had been transferred from various places to Baijiayuan since last year came to Zhu Changluo.

And there is Xu Guangqi.

After they finished their greetings with trepidation, Zhu Changluo said, "Since I have granted you positions at the Imperial College, you should all be my subjects from now on."

Among them, there are people who burn colored glass, carpenters, mirror grinders, forgers, experienced farmers, and Taoists who make elixirs...

Most of the professors of miscellaneous studies were scholars who had failed in the imperial examinations.

The emperor suddenly granted them official titles, but did not teach them anything in the Baijia Garden, which made them at a loss as to what to do.

"Zixian, have you talked to them?" Zhu Changluo looked at Xu Guangqi.

"I have said it all." Xu Guangqi bowed and replied.

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "Then tell me one by one. All the houses around Wansui Mountain can be used. Tell me clearly what you each need and which apprentices you need. Ruoyu, remember everything."

All he can do is give money, resources and status first.

What he wants is clear: more new technology.

We want to build a blast furnace there to improve the iron and steel making processes, yes.

It’s fine to make the elixir there, since Zhu Changluo will go there in the future to study the chemical changes involved.

Everything is just beginning now. After completing their studies, the people in Baijiayuan will be granted the same status as Jinshi. Of course, they do not have to become craftsmen themselves, but they must at least understand the relevant technology, be able to manage that direction, and discover more talents.

The apprentices they brought in could also be protected by the emperor, who would summarize and pass on the experience from generation to generation.

Seeing that the emperor was listening carefully to their needs, they gradually became bolder in speaking.

Of course the Taoist priest who was making the elixir thought that the emperor might be like his great-grandfather, so he made very high demands with shining eyes, indicating that there would be no problem with the elixir.

Zhu Changluo hesitated for the first time, looked at Xu Guangqi, and then said: "I am not asking for immortality. Some of the things refined by the alchemists are now of great use, such as gunpowder. I allow you to be in the Wanfa Hall north of the Great Gaoxuan Hall. In addition to testing some new things and trying to figure out their properties, you can also let the students of Baijiayuan see the wonderful changes during refining. In addition, I also want to know the reason why various things change after refining, which is why I asked you to come."

Taoists: ???

Zhu Changluo sighed inwardly: "Let's go and settle it first. If you have thought it through, prepare it first. Also, Zixian, please ask Matteo Ricci and others to go over there and talk to them first. You should also be attentive. You know best what I want."

After receiving the order, Xu Guangqi took them away and went around to Wansui Mountain.

Zhu Changluo thought about it, and then instructed Liu Ruoyu: "Go and send over some of the ingenious tools that the Western barbarians have presented to them in the past two years, and let them study them first."

To be honest, Zhu Changluo himself didn't have much idea how to guide those who actually mastered the skills and those who could use their brains to get on the right path.

Ultimately, it would be best to summarize the rules and form some specialized knowledge and disciplines.

Zhu Changluo had been away from the days when he was most familiar with these principles for a long time. Of course, he remembered some "principles" and "expressions", but they were of little use to him as a teacher.

It is only suitable for giving them guidance when they have questions in certain directions.

After looking at the construction site for a while, he said something from time to time, and Zou Yi, who stayed there, took note of it.

He remembers becoming more and more confused: What happened to the emperor?
There are various tools and many craftsmen working on the construction site.

Most of what the emperor said were questions.

For example, how can a thousand-pound boulder be moved by two or three skinny people using long poles?

Why should the crowbar be placed closer to the boulder?

"Your Majesty...what do you want to do with this?"

"I am studying things." Zhu Changluo said casually.

Zou Yi was also educated, and studied things.

But what does Your Majesty want to convey?

As the first month of the lunar year passed, the Imperial College was about to reopen, and Chen Jiru finally decided to go north to the Taichang Temple.

But after the New Year, the concubines in the harem who had been eagerly waiting heard that the emperor always watched the craftsmen building things outside the Qianqing Gate, and always came up with many questions that they couldn't figure out.

During this period, there were some other state affairs, and when important ministers were summoned, they were all in Qianqing Gate recently, and the emperor seemed absent-minded.

"Your Majesty?" Shen Shixing asked. No matter how the imperial examination was arranged this year, couldn't the emperor concentrate?

"...Oh, Shen Taichang, tell me more."

Zhu Changluo was not acting. These days he had been thinking about the contents of at least three thousand whys that he would throw to Taichang Temple and Baijiayuan.

He has made it clear that he respects knowledge only when it is useful to the country.

Besides pondering those pure philosophical concepts like qi, li and xing, shouldn't we also think about how to investigate things and acquire knowledge?

This is a difficult question.

As we all know, Wang Shouren was obsessed with the issue of knowing through investigation of things for a long time without any obvious results.

Now Zhu Changluo wants everyone to change their way of thinking and always do enough foreplay to appear convincing.

The emperor went insane first, and then he brought out more insane people. After going insane, maybe he would summarize some kind of rules.

Zhu Changluo not only wanted some useful objects, but also some seeds of scientific thinking.

Crossing without leaving any seeds...

(End of this chapter)