Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 192 is released! The Big Bang Era!
Jinling has always been known for its bone-chilling winters and furnace-like scorching summers.

In winter, the biting cold wind blows through the streets and alleys, reaching everywhere, while in summer, the heat waves are rolling, as if you are in a furnace, baking you to death.

As His Royal Highness the Crown Prince returned triumphantly, the atmosphere in Jinling City suddenly heated up, as warm as midsummer.

The reward for the steam engine aroused the ambitions of countless people.

That was a promise made by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself, that whoever invents it would be granted the title of Duke.

Even just a few improvements can be richly rewarded.

The first people to go crazy about this, of course, were the craftsmen in the Manufacturing Bureau. Who would be willing to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn things around?

Afterwards, the students of the Imperial College also showed the same enthusiasm, even more than that.

Scholars have always been most eager for fame and fortune.

Although they have no experience and don't know how to manufacture, they are knowledgeable and cultured, and they are all very smart people.

The operating principle of the steam engine is not complicated, and they can understand it at a glance.

In order to obtain the title, many students of the Imperial College simply left the Imperial College and went deep into the factories of the Manufacturing Bureau to learn more details.

Take a gamble!
Getting a place on the imperial examination is originally a gamble.

How many people can actually make it to high school?

In comparison, the principle of the steam engine seems so simple, why couldn't it be built?
Once it is created, it will be the title of Duke, which is much higher than the top scholar.

Therefore, driven by their dreams, a group of students entered the Manufacturing Bureau.

The addition of these people brought a strong impetus to the design and manufacturing of the Manufacturing Bureau.

In the following period of time, students and craftsmen of the Imperial College jointly put forward more than one hundred effective modification suggestions for the original steam engine.

What Zhu Yunhuan didn't expect was that it even included content on improving steelmaking technology and enhancing casting technology.

A steam engine that can operate efficiently is far more complicated than originally imagined.

It involves a large number of parts and a series of industries.

The large steam engine built by Zhu Gaochi before was built with no regard for operating efficiency and actual conditions.

In practical application, it is useless.

It is not easy to build a steam engine that can be used efficiently.

But technology has always been like this.

From research and development in the laboratory to final production and widespread application, it is a long process in itself.

The first batch of products are usually not very good and need to be gradually improved based on feedback from use.

This is also true in later societies.

Although Zhu Gaochi's steam engine was large and useless, it served as a path for early technical verification.

This put the research and development of the steam engine on the right track.

The main body of the Ming Manufacturing Bureau is outside the city of Jinling, but it also has a service center inside the city. When Zhu Yunhuan came to inspect, he saw many people coming in and out, and they were extremely busy.

"What the hell is this? I don't understand it!" Zhu Gaochi shouted.

Zhu Yunhuan walked forward and everyone hurriedly greeted him.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Zhu Gaochi's eyes were red, and it was obvious that he had not had a good sleep for a long time.

But there is no sign of change in his obese body shape.

It seems that he has never treated himself badly when it comes to food.

After taking charge of the Manufacturing Bureau, the previous restrictions on Zhu Gaochi's food were gradually lifted, and Zhu Gaochi resumed his previous indulgence in eating.

Sure enough, it is not easy for fat people to lose weight.

Unless you are really poor and can't afford it.

"What did you say just now that I don't understand?" Zhu Yunxun asked with a smile.

"This is it." Zhu Gaochi handed it over. "This is a plan to improve the steam engine. It has some pictures drawn on it. It looks very strange. I can't understand it at all."

Zhu Yunhuan took it and looked at it, and was stunned.

This is not a complete plan to improve the steam engine, but only to improve a small part of it.

What shocked Zhu Yunhuan was that this person analyzed and calculated the power of the steam engine when it was running in his plan.

In a sense, this has already taken shape as the prototype of basic physics in later generations.

Of course, his analysis and calculation methods were not very scientific, but he was on the right track.

If we continue to calculate, perhaps in a few years, we will be able to study the three major laws of force.

"He is a talented person." Zhu Yunxun said with a smile: "What is his name? I want to meet him."

"I heard his name is Lai Wen'an. He left the Imperial College a few months ago and came to the Daming Manufacturing Bureau."

"I learn the craft from the craftsmen every day."

"I heard that this person has a very good understanding and can often come up with new ideas that ordinary craftsmen can't think of."

"This design that claims to be able to improve the steam engine was submitted by Lai Wen'an."

"Everyone said they didn't understand it, but he insisted it was okay to do it this way."

Zhu Gaochi suddenly stopped talking here and asked, "Can you understand what Lai Wen'an wrote?"

Zhu Yunxun smiled and nodded: "It's not too profound, I can understand it."

"You are worthy of being the Crown Prince." Zhu Gaochi was full of admiration: "I thought he was just writing and drawing nonsense to deceive me."

"No." Zhu Yunhuan shook his head: "Go and call Lai Wen'an. I want to see him."

Soon, Lai Wen'an arrived.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." He knelt down and kowtowed heavily.

His voice was trembling, as was his body, and he seemed very nervous.

"Did you write this?" Zhu Yunxun picked up the paper with pictures and text.

Lai Wen'an raised his head slightly and took a look: "It's the common people."

"Not bad, although it's not perfect, the idea is very good." Zhu Yunhuan praised and asked, "Have you studied arithmetic before?"

"I have been very interested in arithmetic since I was young. Later, I went to school to learn to read and write. I also used my free time to read a lot of arithmetic books." Lai Wen'an's tone gradually softened, and he was no longer as nervous as before.

"I heard that you were a student of the Imperial Academy. Why did you abandon your status as a student and volunteer to work in the Manufacturing Bureau?"

It was still the early years of the Ming Dynasty, and the court had a great demand for officials and talents.

Even if the students of the Imperial College failed to pass the imperial examination, they still had the opportunity to be selected to become officials.

But the quality is usually not high and the prospects are average.

But no matter what, officials are just officials, and they are far inferior to ordinary people.

Even though craftsmen could get a good salary, their social status was much lower than that of officials, and their work was much harder.

"Although I have had some interest in poetry and prose since I was young, I only like to recite poems and compose couplets."

"I am not very happy with the words of the sage. I am afraid that I have no hope of passing the imperial examination."

"On the contrary, I am fond of arithmetic and making various wooden objects for my enjoyment." "If I stay in the Imperial College, I will only be a low-ranking official if I am selected to serve in the government."

"I listened to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's talk about science at the Imperial College that day, and I deeply agreed with him."

"I decided to stop pursuing the teachings of saints and take the path of science instead."

"Then we came to the Daming Manufacturing Bureau."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed out loud.

He had never seen the name Lai Wen'an in the history books of his previous life.

But different environments are bound to bury many talents.

Perhaps it was because Lai Wen'an was not suitable for the imperial examination, and the Ming Dynasty in history did not provide him with the soil for development, so an outstanding science and engineering talent was buried.

This is not surprising.

The stagnation of scientific development in China for thousands of years is bound to bury countless talents in science and engineering.

Lai Wen'an talked a lot, and seeing that Zhu Yunhuan had a kind attitude, he became bolder and bolder, and was no longer as reserved as when he first met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"It's a pity that there is no one to communicate with in the Manufacturing Bureau." He added: "Sometimes I come up with a good idea and want to ask others for help, but I don't know who to ask."

"If someone could give me some pointers, maybe I would be enlightened."

Zhu Yunhuan's heart suddenly moved.

Something seemed to flash through my mind.

Exchange...forum...community...search engine...paper...technical journal...

Correct!
One of the important reasons for the technological explosion in later generations was the presence of places for scientists and professional technicians to communicate with each other.

In the Internet age, there are forums and search engines!
If you encounter technical problems, just search online and they will be solved immediately.

If you can’t find it, ask in the forum, there will probably be someone who knows it.

After all, no one is God and it is impossible to master all knowledge.

But everyone has his or her own strengths, and may know some scientific knowledge or practical skills that others don't know.

Programmers of later generations basically cannot do without search engines and forum communities when programming.

The same is true for many other jobs.

When faced with a problem that cannot be solved, the first thing people think of is to look for answers through search engines or professional forums.

Most of them can be resolved quickly.

Don't underestimate this point, it may improve work efficiency by a hundred or a thousand times.

In the past, I was often stuck with inexplicable technical problems, but since the advent of the Internet, I can often find the answers in a short time.

What about the time without the Internet?
There are also scientific research papers and scientific and technological special issues.

That's right.

No matter how hard later scientific researchers complain about how many problems and flaws there are in the paper system, everyone knows that scientific research cannot be separated from the support of the academic paper system.

When doing scientific research, you must read the latest papers and stand on the shoulders of others.

If we lower our requirements a little, then we can read various professional scientific and technological magazines.

These were later replaced by online search engines and professional forums.

For example, in the era when the Internet was not yet popular, "Electronics News" was once the favorite reading material for countless electronics enthusiasts, electronic technology workers, electronic product development engineers, electrical appliance repair practitioners and other technical personnel.

Countless professionals have learned a variety of practical techniques from it.

I also wrote articles about the problems I found in my actual work and published them in the "Electronic News".

In the current Ming Dynasty, scientific research has just begun.

A professional scientific and technological journal is needed.

Let everyone post the problems they encounter in practical work and the related solutions on it for reference by others.

Sometimes, you can also ask for help on it, publish the problems you encounter, and solicit solutions from all readers.

Everyone brainstorms and communicates through journals.

The more Zhu Yunhuan thought about it, the more excited he became.

If Ming Dynasty had a professional scientific and technological journal like this, it would have made an enormous contribution to the advancement of technology.

and also.

Zhu Yunhuan had never known how to pass on the knowledge he had mastered to people of that time in an appropriate way.

It is very difficult to compile a complete textbook because there is no one to communicate with, no one to guide, and no way to copy or learn from others.

Zhu Yunhuan asked himself and felt that it would be difficult to compile it well.

It can only be put on hold.

But what if those scattered knowledge were published in batches in professional scientific journals?

To be more precise, this is in line with the general law of development of things.

Human knowledge was initially unsystematic.

It was discovered bit by bit through research and exploration in the long process of development.

Finally, it is compiled into teaching materials for all students to study.

He was always thinking about writing textbooks and imparting complete knowledge, but he was completely misguided.

There is no need at all!

and also.

To make a steam engine that can be used and operated well, some knowledge of mathematics and physics is probably needed.

Zhu Yunhuan himself possessed this knowledge.

It's just because of forgetfulness that it leads to a lack of system.

As long as we publish professional journals and everyone communicates together, we can slowly piece the knowledge system back together.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunhuan could no longer bear it, and asked someone to bring pen and ink, and wrote the word "science".

Daming is going to publish a journal - a scientific journal!
This journal will enable the Ming Dynasty to truly enter an era of scientific and technological explosion.

Then, Zhu Yunhuan continued to write: The three laws of force!

……

half a month later.

The first professional academic journal in the Ming Dynasty, Science, was published.

Countless skilled craftsmen, scientists and technicians have expressed their own experiences and thoughts on it, imparting and exchanging professional and technical knowledge.

Zhu Yunhuan's "Three Laws of Force" were also officially published.

From then on, the Ming Dynasty officially entered an era of scientific and technological explosion.

……

(End of this chapter)