Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 156: With the advent of science, the Ming Dynasty opened a new chapter!
science?

The many Imperial College students below, including the chief academic officer, teachers and others, all looked bewildered.

What is science?
Their first reaction was another school of thought similar to "Neo-Confucianism".

Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism had a wide influence in this era.

If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to "speak on behalf of the Emperor" and create "science" in addition to Neo-Confucianism, it would be an earth-shattering event.

The entire Ming Dynasty Confucian scholars will change because of this.

Thinking of this, many people in the audience felt their heartbeats quicken and even their breathing became heavy.

"Speaking on behalf of the sage" is the lifelong pursuit of every Confucian student.

Those who could do this were all great scholars who were famous at the time.

In a sense, although it has some relationship with imperial power, the relationship is not very strong.

For example, Zhu Xi is the most respected scholar among Ming Dynasty scholars today.

When he was alive, although he was considered a high-ranking official in the court, he could not be called a "powerful minister."

Later on, he suffered a blow and was dismissed from office.

But this did not affect his lofty reputation among Confucian scholars at all.

Instead, he was hailed as the "greatest sage" by countless scholars.

The "Neo-Confucianism" advocated by Zhu Xi also became the most prominent school of thought in the early Ming Dynasty.

Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is talented, has an extremely noble status and power over the world, he is only a teenager after all, not a great scholar of the time.

He wants to set up his own sect. How many people among the Confucian scholars will respond and support him?

Of course, there are definitely many people who come to curry favor with the powerful.

But what about the boycotters?

There are countless literati who consider themselves to be noble and aloof.

If the entire Confucian community could be completely suppressed simply by being an emperor, then emperors of all dynasties would not have to promote "Confucius" to maintain their rule. Wouldn't it be better to directly canonize themselves as saints?

Anyone who thinks about it knows that this is impossible.

After a long period of development, Confucianism and its influence have penetrated into every corner of society and cannot be replaced by a generation of emperors.

If this were to be done, it would only make the emperor a laughing stock.

Or like Qin Shihuang who "burned books and buried scholars", even if he was the greatest emperor in history who swept across the six kingdoms, he would still be subject to the harshest criticism from later generations.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the changes in their expressions and guessed what they were thinking.

The word "science" is common sense to people in later generations.

But to people of this era, it is still new and difficult to understand.

Of course, they will associate "science" with "Neo-Confucianism", "Xinxue" or the other eight schools of Confucianism.

However, it is a good thing for them to think this way, as it can reduce the difficulty of promoting "science" for themselves.

Zhu Yunhuan proposed the concept of "science" in the Imperial College after much repeated consideration.

It is too difficult to push the Ming Dynasty into the industrial age and the era of scientific and technological civilization relying only on the scattered knowledge in one's mind.

Development will also be very slow.

The most important point is that although he had received systematic modern education, the knowledge he could remember at this time was not systematic.

Many key knowledge points have been forgotten.

For example, as someone who studied science and engineering at a university, Zhu Yunhuan clearly remembered the formulas and principles of calculus.

But when he wanted to write down calculus and teach it to people of that time, he discovered another fatal problem.

To learn and master calculus, you must first learn elementary mathematics in elementary school, junior high school, and high school.

In other words, Zhu Yunhuan needed to first write mathematics textbooks for elementary, junior high, and high schools.

This really stumped him.

If it were in later times, he could search for information online, refer to what others have written, and ask him to write basic textbooks for primary, middle and high schools. He would have the confidence to complete the task.

After all, most articles in the world are plagiarized.

It’s the same when it comes to compiling teaching materials.

Just look up some information here, copy a little there, and a textbook can be compiled.

But this is the Ming Dynasty. Not only can he not find any valuable information, there is not even anyone around him who can discuss with him and help him find flaws and loopholes.

It is an almost impossible task to organize all the knowledge that has been learned and now returned to the teacher, and then compile it into a complete textbook with a complete knowledge system based only on scattered memories.

After repeated thinking, Zhu Yunhuan felt that instead of pondering alone, it would be better to bring "scientific" ideas into the Ming Dynasty.

It is better to teach people to fish than to teach them how to fish!
Let students all over the world receive an ideological baptism, so that some of them can step into the world of science.

If Europe can give birth to a figure like Newton, then the Ming Dynasty can certainly do the same!
All we need to do is liberate students' minds and help them open the door to a new world.

Before this, Zhu Yunhuan had already done a lot of preparation, and the time was almost ripe. Today was the critical moment to ignite this fire.

"To acquire knowledge, one must study things. Only after studying things can one acquire knowledge!"

In order to help the students understand better, he directly introduced the Confucian concept of "investigating things and seeking knowledge".

In fact, this was also the popular term for "science" during the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty.

To study things is to explore the principles behind things. From this point of view, it is indeed similar to science.

The problem is that for thousands of years, Confucian scholars have directed the study of things towards humanistic philosophy rather than developing it towards natural science.

That is, using natural phenomena to endorse one's own views, rather than analyzing the scientific principles behind the natural phenomena.

As soon as they heard the word "Gewu", everyone in the audience showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

After all, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism also emphasized the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things, so they were naturally very familiar with it.

I just don’t know how His Royal Highness’s “science” is different from Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism?
Zhu Yunhuan smiled faintly and waved outside, and immediately a guard brought in a drum mimeograph machine.

He smiled and asked, "You should have seen this thing, right?"

"Yes!" the students answered one after another.

Today, drum mimeograph machines are produced in very large numbers.

As the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial College was already equipped with a drum mimeograph machine.

Used to print teaching notes or other learning materials for students.

The teachers of the Imperial College all praised this item highly and considered it a "divine weapon".

Because using a drum mimeograph machine to print books and handouts is so convenient and fast.

This was something we could not imagine before.

From this we can also see what a genius His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is, who invented the drum mimeograph machine.

When Zhu Yunhuan spoke of this, everyone showed admiration.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince has made a great contribution by inventing this device. Even thousands of years later, it will still be heavily recorded in history books." A student flattered.

Zhu Yunhuan motioned with his hand for everyone to be quiet, and slowly said: "The fact that I was able to invent the drum mimeograph machine is the result of studying things to gain knowledge, and it is also the subtlety of science."

boom!
These words were like a thunderclap, exploding suddenly in everyone's mind.

For a moment, everyone was stunned, with disbelief written all over their faces.

They all know about the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things.

However, through the study of things to gain knowledge, he invented the drum mimeograph machine, this... this... this is too incredible, right?

Zhu Yunhuan was not in a hurry to explain, and continued: "Cement, I believe you have all seen it."

Not long ago, a piece of cement was built in a square inside the Imperial College for students to carry out extracurricular activities.

This incident caused a great response in the Imperial College, and the students were all amazed by it.

Many people have also written articles to discuss cement.

This was of course also an intentional arrangement by Zhu Yunhuan.

Let students get in touch with new things to stimulate them.

"Cement was also developed by me through scientific research and together with the craftsmen."

"You don't have to feel weird."

"The science I am talking about today is a discipline that explores the truth and essence of things."

“Whoever masters this knowledge can use it to invent all kinds of new things or improve existing devices.”

"For example, a carriage that runs faster, or a wooden ox and flowing horse that doesn't need to be pulled by horses or people."

"For example, tools that can plow the fields faster."

"For example, there are ways to triple the grain yield per mu."

"All of this can be achieved by studying science and exploring the truth of things."

“That’s the essence of science.”

Zhu Yunhuan spoke eloquently and of course also combined some necessary "improvements" to make the word "science" more easily accepted by the world.

“Science has actually existed since ancient times.”

"Suiren drilled wood to make fire, Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and planted grains, Cangjie invented characters, Leizu raised silkworms and wove silk, and Youchao built a nest with wood."

“What they used was science.”

"Later, when all the ancient sages passed away, science gradually became lost."

"In later generations, only a few people such as Lu Ban and Mo Zi understood science."

“Therefore, they created many inventions that have been passed down through the ages.”

"The learning of sages encompasses everything, and 'investigating things and seeking knowledge' is a crucial learning, which is also science."

"The scholars of later generations only focused on explaining things, but did not delve into the underlying principles. They only talked about things but misled their studies, which led to the loss of science. This is the greatest regret over the past thousands of years."

Zhu Yunhuan's eyes swept slowly over everyone. Whether it was the officials, teachers, or students of the Imperial College, they were all extremely shocked at this moment.

If you learn science, can you invent something that will last forever?

Is there such magical knowledge in the world?
Their first reaction was disbelief.

In their view, those inventions were given by God, passed on to the world by humans.

But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince told them that it was science.

And it was because Taisun himself had studied science that he was able to invent such magical things as the drum printer and cement.

Is this true?
For a moment, everyone was in extreme shock.

Although scholars looked down on craftsmen, believing that "all things are inferior, only reading is superior".

But no one would look down on a master like Lu Ban.

Scholars will still give great respect to the pioneers of an industry.

same.

If a scholar could invent a tool that would change the lives of millions of people, no one would refuse such an opportunity.

Because this will go down in history.

Leave your name in history and bring honor to your family!
This is the dream of many scholars!

Even if you don’t get recorded in history for “speaking for the sage”, who cares? It’s a thousand times better than being unknown.

Compared to studying and becoming an official, it is more attractive to them!
“Practice what you have learned!”

"The Ming Dynasty needs knowledge that can be used for the people and for all the people in the world."

Zhu Yunhuan said loudly: "This is why I am reopening the science course today."

"I can invent the drum mimeograph and cement, and I believe that many of you, once you master science, can invent more and better things."

"For example, farming methods that can increase food production several times."

“A medical approach that can cure more diseases.”

"A weapon that can increase the combat power of the Ming army tenfold or a hundredfold, thereby sweeping away the surrounding barbarians and bringing eternal peace to the world."

"All these things are possible if you learn science."

"With science, everyone in our Ming Dynasty will live in a house made of blue bricks and tiles, rather than a thatched hut."

"With science, even the poorest people in our Ming Dynasty will no longer have to worry about food and clothing."

"With science, our Ming Dynasty will enter a prosperous era that has never been seen since ancient times."

……

These words made the students present feel excited.

A pair of burning eyes looked at him.

Zhu Yunhuan keenly noticed the changes in their expressions and knew that what he said had taken effect.

The word "science" has already planted the seeds in the hearts of the students.

It will take root, sprout and grow healthily in the future.

"Today, I will teach you what the law of science is and how to understand science!"

“Science is first and foremost a natural science. It is a discipline that describes, understands, and predicts natural phenomena based on empirical evidence from observation and experiment.”

“Observation and experiment are the foundation of science. To learn science, one must first learn to observe and experiment.”

"Science has stagnated for thousands of years because most scholars do not observe seriously, nor do they conduct experiments to verify facts. They just talk about popular opinions without exploring the truth."

……

Zhu Yunhuan slowly explained what science is and how to use scientific methods to discover and summarize the laws of nature.

The students below were all listening with fascination.

Science is obvious truth.

Many of them are actually summaries of past experiences, thereby discovering the patterns therein.

Once you have mastered the rules, you can apply them.

Lowly craftsmen all understand these principles, but scholars always turn a blind eye to them.

However, craftsmen will not write down their observations and the rules they have summarized in books and pass them on to the world.

Instead, they regard the "science and technology" they possess as "secret" and do not easily pass it on to others.

Many of them were gradually lost.

Then the next generation will summarize the experience and discover the rules... instead of making further improvements based on the foundation of the previous generation.

Generation after generation, over and over again.

The development of science and technology has stagnated like this!
Generation after generation, people are doing useless work.

Zhu Yunhuan knew the reason very well.

Therefore, he chose to teach science in the Imperial College instead of going to the Ming Manufacturing Bureau to teach science to the craftsmen.

Craftsmen are actually born with a natural understanding of science.

In a sense, they are the group that is best and most responsible for being taught science in this era.

The problem is that craftsmen will cherish their skills and hide them away, not passing them on to others, or only passing them on to their sons.

Because they think this is a skill for making a living.

He taught his apprentice and starved himself to death.

Art should not be passed on easily!

They are right to think so.

Because in ancient society, where productivity had not developed, it was a highly inward-looking society.

Once technology spreads, it will quickly become inward-looking and worthless.

This makes it difficult for craftsmen who originally mastered the technology to make a living by relying on their skills.

In order to keep their jobs, they certainly cannot easily pass on the skills they have mastered, but must keep them strictly confidential.

Zhu Yunhuan had already taken improvement measures, such as asking craftsmen to collectively discuss how to make guns.

Break down the original barriers and communicate with each other to promote development.

But this is not enough.

Changing the craftsmen's mindsets will take time.

But scholars are different.

Scholars don't make a living by relying on those techniques.

What scholars want is fame that will last for generations.

If they have mastered the technology, they will write books and biographies to tell everyone about the technology so that their names can be recorded in history.

This will allow future generations to stand on the shoulders of their predecessors and promote the continuous advancement of technology!

Inventors and scientists in history who are remembered by later generations may not actually have mastered the best technology at the time.

It was only they themselves, or other scholars, who recorded his techniques and passed them down to later generations.

So he became a scientist with far-reaching influence!
This is why it is so important.

Otherwise, if the technology is lost, there will be no waves in history, and future generations will not know about this technology, let alone promote the progress and development of science and technology.

The person who discovered this technology will not become a famous scientist in history books, but will remain unknown forever.

There are countless such things in the thousands of years of history.

This is also the root cause of the stagnation of scientific development in ancient China for thousands of years.

There is no communication or inheritance of technology, only constant repetition.

Constantly reinvented.

Naturally, it is impossible to develop and improve!
If Su Shi goes to Shizhong Mountain, he will find out the reason why the bell rings.

Is it true that no one among the other locals, living nearby, has ever discovered it?
of course not!

It’s just that the people who made the discovery are uneducated and don’t know how to write down their discovery and pass it on to the world!

But Su Shi went there and wrote an article "Notes on Shizhong Mountain", and the mystery of Shizhong Mountain was unveiled from then on.

This is a skill that only people who read books have, and this is the power of words!

And from that day on, as Zhu Yunhuan taught at the Imperial College, science was established as a subject.

From then on, scholars all over the world became deeply involved in the development of science and technology.

They recorded the phenomena they observed, the results of their experiments, and the laws they mastered in writing and wrote books and biographies.

They will communicate and discuss with each other to learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses.

They are more afraid that others don't know about this technology than they are afraid that others know it.

Communication and inheritance are the most important cornerstones of scientific development.

The skills a person can master, the experience he can summarize, and the laws he can observe are always limited.

Only by pooling everyone's strength and standing on the shoulders of our predecessors can we improve science and technology step by step, surpass our predecessors and reach a new level.

This is the key to scientific development!
With the participation of a large number of scholars and their tireless communication and dissemination of technology, the development of science will officially enter an era of big bang from a long period of stagnation.

……

In the twelfth month of the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, the crown prince Zhu Yunhuan gave lectures at the Imperial Academy and founded a scientific school.

The Ming Dynasty opened a new chapter from then on.

……

(End of this chapter)