Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 205: The Development of Science! Voyage! News!
Since the establishment of the academic journal Science, Daming has been like a sleeping lion that is slowly waking up.

The number of talents hidden among the people is far greater than Zhu Yunhuan expected.

Especially on specific engineering problems.

He was amazed by many unique solutions.

Even in the areas of mathematics and physics, which Zhu Yunhuan thought were still a wasteland, there were many in-depth discussions.

Some people just read Zhu Yunhuan's three laws of force, drew inferences from them, made many proofs, and applied them to solve practical engineering problems.

It made him ashamed.

Sure enough, a top student is a top student no matter where he is.

Some top students can deduce various changes and use them to solve problems just by seeing the principles and formulas.

However, even if a poor student has done the exercises a thousand times, he still only knows the results but not the reasons.

It goes without saying that most people have no interest in the three laws of force.

But there are also a few geniuses who began to conduct in-depth research on it.

The same is true for mathematics.

Most people feel that it is too difficult and boring.

But there are always people who enjoy it.

As the highest and only academic journal in the Ming Dynasty, Science journal brought together the ideas of geniuses from all walks of life in the Ming Dynasty, and the discussion on scientific issues became increasingly in-depth.

The number of people in the editorial department has also increased again and again.

It was a hodgepodge at first, but division of labor quickly emerged.

Learning by subject is called science.

As professional discussions become increasingly in-depth and slowly move beyond the scope of ordinary people's common sense, specialization naturally emerges.

Zhu Yunhuan also quickly seized the opportunity and divided the "Science" journal into several major sub-journals, including mathematics, physics, engineering and manufacturing, metallurgy, architecture, agriculture, medicine, and geography.

In mathematics, the journal Science vigorously promotes Arabic numerals for counting and calculation.

In fact, Arabic numerals have long been introduced into China.

It is simply because China has another mature counting system, namely the counting rod system.

The counting rod system has a very broad mass base in China. In addition, Arabic is contrary to the traditional vertical writing habit, so it has never been promoted in China and is only used in specific fields.

Now, under the leadership of Zhu Yunhuan, the "Mathematics" special issue of the "Science" journal directly uses Arabic counting and disseminates related calculation methods and writing methods, using the unique influence of the journal to quickly establish new habits.

What surprised Zhu Yunhuan a little was that the private purchase volume of the "Mathematics" special issue was much higher than he expected.

However, most of the mathematical problems studied are still relatively elementary.

Mainly used for bookkeeping and accounting.

Solve economic problems such as the calculation and sale of gold, silver, copper, iron, cattle, horses, pigs and rabbits.

Zhu Yunhuan also shared the double-entry bookkeeping method there and promoted it nationwide.

As for further improving the level of mathematical research, that can only be left for slow development in the future.

The special issue of "Physics" was mainly based on the three laws of force proposed by Zhu Yunhuan, but gradually some other things were introduced.

The number of subscribers also numbers in the thousands.

That’s quite a lot for an academic journal.

The special issue of "Metallurgy" mainly studies the development of various types of minerals such as iron ore and copper ore, as well as the research on gunpowder. Since cement is also fired, it is also classified as metallurgy.

Although Zhu Yunhuan knew that this was not reasonable, under the current circumstances, this classification was the best way to do it temporarily.

After all, although cement has been invented and is produced and used in large quantities, further research and improvement are still needed.

Putting it into disciplines such as "architecture" actually distances it from the current relevant professionals.

"Agriculture" teaches farmers how to grow crops and vegetables, as well as raise chickens, pigs and cattle. Zhu Yunhuan also describes methods of selecting and breeding seeds.

Don't underestimate these.

Farming is a technical job.

Since ancient times, the government has had the responsibility to encourage agriculture and sericulture, and also taught the people how to farm.

But this kind of teaching is not in-depth, and most of the methods are still explored by the old farmers themselves.

Veteran farmers are also willing to see other people’s methods, so the “Agriculture” special issue is also sought after by many people.

The "Medicine" special issue does not simply copy and paste drug knowledge from medical books, but shares various different cases encountered by doctors in practice and explores corresponding treatment methods.

The "Geography" special issue mainly describes the geological characteristics of various places, records water and drought disasters, etc.

Zhu Yunhuan also thought about setting up a special issue of "Chemistry", but later gave up.

For the Ming Dynasty today, this is a bit too advanced and the timing is not ripe.

The same is true for astronomy.

It would be easy to turn science into metaphysics if we publish a special issue on astronomy at this time.

In addition to specialized issues on specific subjects, the original Science journal is still published, still in a hodgepodge format.

This also makes it convenient to explore new things, including chemistry and astronomy, and prepare for future development.

The most popular special issue is still engineering and manufacturing.

Most of the discussions on steam engine manufacturing are in this special issue.

As the research deepened, there were already thousands of design drawings of the steam engine.

After repeated discussions, the practical and feasible solutions were revised into several versions.

The manufacture of a brand new steam engine was finally put on the agenda.

Compared with the extremely inefficient and faulty steam engine that Zhu Gaochi first built, the new steam engine had more than 300 improvements.

Even the steel used was very different from before due to the improvement of metallurgical level. But after it was actually manufactured, it was found that although the new steam engine had greatly improved efficiency and produced the same power, it required four-fifths less fuel, but it still had many problems.

The cylinder was not sealed well enough and after working for a period of time, leakage began to occur.

The same is true for many other parts, which have many problems.

The newly manufactured steam engine always had various faults during the trial run.

The maintenance time is much longer than the normal operation time.

Zhu Yunhuan was not discouraged. Instead, he gave high praise to the relevant manufacturers and those who improved the many design plans and technical details.

The difficulty of building a large, practical steam engine was far beyond his expectations.

The Ming Dynasty lacked a lot in industry.

Still in the stage of crazy make-up lessons.

But the research, development and manufacturing of the steam engine was like digging up an unprecedented industrial gold mine, which promoted technological progress in various disciplines and many industries in the Ming Dynasty.

For example, after the steelmaking technology advanced, Zhu Yunhuan ordered craftsmen to use simple steel gears and wood to make a foot-operated rice thresher.

In his previous life, he was born in the countryside and had seen a foot-operated thresher when he was a child.

The working principle is very simple.

But it is very effective.

Using a foot-operated thresher can increase the speed of rice harvesting tenfold.

There are many similar small inventions.

For example, someone used the principle of drilling to make a simple hand-made lathe.

This is also the product of the development of the steam engine.

Because a borehole is needed to process the cylinder of a steam engine.

When the bed frame was invented, Zhu Yunhuan felt like he had found a treasure and immediately ordered it to be used in the manufacture of artillery barrels.

The artillery made in this way will be more sturdy and durable.

More importantly, it can also be used in the manufacture of guns.

It is not just about processing a simple gun barrel, but more importantly, it can be used to cut rifling inside the barrel.

In this way, a "rifle" was successfully manufactured.

The accuracy of bullets has made a qualitative leap, especially when shooting at long distances.

The development of science is often not subject to human will.

The new troops had not even had time to warm up their guns when they were faced with a new round of equipment.

Inventions of all kinds continue to emerge.

Someone invented matches, and someone else improved looms and spinning machines...

The technological revolution is imminent.

But Zhu Yunhuan soon discovered a serious problem.

The Ming Dynasty did not lack labor.

Inventions like the thresher can greatly improve efficiency.

But in the final analysis, its greatest function is to reduce manual labor time.

However, Ming Dynasty's "humanoid machines" were cheap and abundant.

Inventions that replace labor, shorten working hours, and improve production efficiency may seem wonderful, but their actual effects are extremely limited.

Even if the steam engine was invented, one loom driven by a steam engine could replace the original forty looms, but what would happen after that?
It simply leaves the original weavers with nothing to do.

It will promote social development, but this development process is far slower than Zhu Yunhuan originally imagined.

Even if technology advances rapidly, society will still develop slowly.

In order to truly achieve national prosperity and people strength in a relatively short period of time, the Ming Dynasty needed vast overseas colonies.

Obtain raw materials from there and explore overseas markets.

Just like many poor countries in later generations, they are not short of technology.

Because many technologies are public and readily available.

Poor countries have not yet developed to the stage of truly confidential high-tech, nor do they need it.

But backward and poor countries can never develop.

The most important reason is that the market has been occupied by others.

The products produced by poor countries are destined to be unable to compete with the rich countries that have already seized the initiative in terms of quality and brand. They cannot be sold, and it is difficult to form a positive feedback cycle, thus falling into a vortex where economic development can never improve.

If a poor country is itself a big country, it can also lay the foundation through its own internal market and eventually produce competitive products.

If it were just a small country, it would become an unsolvable problem.

After realizing this, Zhu Yunhuan quickly made a decision to send Zheng He to lead a fleet to the New World.

His original plan was to wait until winter to set sail.

The wind direction at that time is more favorable for long-distance sailing, and the possibility of encountering typhoons is also smaller.

But the situation was changing faster and faster, plans often could not keep up with the changes, and the date of traveling to the New World had to be brought forward.

A few months passed in the blink of an eye.

At the time of autumn harvest, the army that had gone on an expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty finally sent back news.

……

(End of this chapter)