The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 514: Only Scholars Can Control the People's Production
The list of tribute scholars is out.

Wanli was watching with great interest.

He saw several talents he wanted, but also saw the treacherous minister Wen Tihen.

He would naturally promote and appoint talented people, and would crush treacherous officials to death.

It's no wonder that he suddenly expanded the number of candidates by more than two times, which really gave many people opportunities and selected quite a few talents.

Then he saw another celebrity.

Bi Maokang.

This guy is a famous firearms expert. He not only created the first flintlock rifle in the Ming Dynasty, but also created the world's first shotgun, the fire-breathing pear blossom gun!
He asked with great interest, "What is Bi Maokang's background?"

Well, you might not like this.

Li Tingji said carefully, "Your Majesty, Bi Maokang is a scholar. The Bi family of She County is a famous scholarly family in Huizhou Prefecture. His elder brother, Bi Maoliang, has already passed the imperial examination in the last year of the Wanli reign.

This person is good at fine brushwork and studied under the famous Nanzhili artist Wang Daokun. Wang Daokun also came from an aristocratic family. The Wang family of Huizhou is a well-known official family in the entire Nanzhili.

Oh, he’s a noble family.

It doesn’t matter, as long as you like to study firearms.

Wanli nodded slightly and continued reading.

After looking at the first 500 or so names, he didn't see any other historical celebrities except for a few who looked like Donglin.

He was still a little unsatisfied, so he ordered Ke Yong and Sun Hai to unfold the second list.

Soon, he saw a name that seemed to have some impression on him.

Wang Xiangjin?
The name that has been recorded in history doesn't seem to be this, but it also seems to be.

He simply asked, "What is Wang Xiangjin's background?"

This person has an extraordinary background.

You might not like it, though.

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji said carefully, "Your Majesty, this Wang Xiangjin is also from an aristocratic family. The Wang family of Huantai is a famous official family in Jinan Prefecture.

His grandfather, Wang Chongguang, was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing, and served as the Left Councillor of Guizhou.

His father, Wang Zhiyuan, was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Jiajing and served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

His uncles Wang Zhiyou and Wang Zhidu became Jinshi in the fifth and twenty-third years of the Wanli reign respectively.

His elder brothers Wang Xiangqian and Wang Xiangkun became Jinshi in the fourth year of Longqing and the forty-fourth year of Jiajing respectively.

His cousins ​​Wang Xiangmeng, Wang Xiangdou, Wang Xiangjie and Wang Xiangheng became Jinshi in the eighth, twenty-third, twentieth and twenty-third years of the Wanli reign respectively.

However, this person does not seem to be keen on fame, wealth and power. I heard that he seems to like growing fruits and vegetables.

He seems to be quite famous in this field. He must have eaten the Apple Emperor. It wasn't originally called an apple; it was named by Wang Xiangjin.

This guy, how many Jinshi have the Huantai Wang family produced?!
Was Apple named after Wang Xiangjin?

I really need this kind of talent. We need to grow more grains, and more fruits and vegetables.

Wanli was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What is the reputation of the Wang family in Huantai as an official?"

This is pretty good.

Li Tingji explained carefully: "Your Majesty, Wang Chongguang died in the line of duty. At that time, the late emperor wanted to build a palace and ordered the felling of many huge trees in the mountains. Wang Chongguang personally led the craftsmen into the mountains to cut down trees, but unfortunately he contracted malaria and died in the mountains.

Wang Zhiyuan was a relatively upright official. Rumor has it that he was a member of the Yuanfu clan and was purged by Zhang Siwei's group in the 11th year of the Wanli reign.

Well, this family is pretty good, at least they are not corrupt officials.

Wanli nodded slightly and continued reading.

He didn't know how long he looked before he finally saw a celebrity.

Wang Zheng.

This guy is a famous mechanical expert. It is rumored that he has developed the technology of self-propelled fire ships.

To put it simply, a self-propelled fire ship is a steamship. Unfortunately, no one in history paid attention to this invention that could change the times.

However, things are different now.

He asked directly, "What is Wang Zheng's background?"

How do you say this?

Li Tingji explained carefully, "Wang Zheng's origins are farmers in Jingyang County, Xi'an Prefecture. However, his father was a scholar, and his uncle, Zhang Jian, was somewhat well-known in Guanzhong and was skilled in making instruments."

That's the person.

Wanli read the list carefully, but there were no other celebrities mentioned after that.

However, quite a few talents were selected this time.

These talents are what he needs, and they are also what the Ming Dynasty needs most now.

Li Zhizao was the talent he needed most. The Ming Dynasty was expanding its territory, and its territory had more than doubled.

The problem is that the people in the court who specialize in drawing maps don’t seem to be very good, and the maps they draw don’t suit their tastes.

It's not that he has high requirements for maps, the key is that the map has to be drawn accurately. What he doesn't like means that the map is not drawn accurately and is nothing like the maps of later generations.

This question is very important. We don't have satellites now, and the world is so big. A slight error on the map may actually mean a deviation of hundreds or thousands of miles. This is naturally not acceptable. A deviation of hundreds or thousands of miles in the vast ocean would be a disaster.

It can be said that Li Zhizao came at the right time. He now needed an accurate world map to dominate the sea.

He needs talents like Xu Guangqi even more. Although this person may not be the greatest agronomist in history, he is the epitome of agronomy for thousands of years.

The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration compiled by this person was later called the ancient agricultural encyclopedia. It can be said that there was nothing in agronomy that this person did not understand.

Food is the most important thing for people, and grain is the foundation of a dynasty's stability. If this person is used well, there will definitely be no food problem in the Ming Dynasty.

Bi Maokang's role was also very important because there were very few firearms experts at that time.

The importance of firearms these days is unquestionable. It can be said that whoever possesses the most advanced firearms will be invincible.

Now the development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty still depends on him as the emperor to promote it.

He was just a dabbler and didn't really understand firearms. Moreover, as an emperor, it was impossible for him to devote himself to studying firearms.

Now that we have Bi Maokang, the Ming Dynasty will definitely stay ahead if we put him in charge of the development of firearms.

This is the fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty remained invincible, which shows the importance of this person.

Wang Zheng is even more amazing. The reason why he is not very famous in history is because he was born at the wrong time.

Historically, the Ming Dynasty, in which this person lived, did not attach importance to machinery, and no one knew how important steamships were.

All the research this person has done is in vain.

However, things were different now. He was preparing to develop a steamship, and this person appeared at the right time.

It can be said that as long as the steamship is developed, Ming Dynasty’s position as the maritime overlord will be secure.

There is also Wang Xiangjin, who is only good at growing fruits and vegetables, and seems not as important as the other three.

But after a dynasty solved the food problem, the vegetable basket became the focus. Rice and vegetables must be eaten together. It is definitely not enough to have rice without vegetables.

It can be said that Wang Xiangjin's importance is similar to that of Xu Guangqi.

The question is, there can only be one top scorer, and there are only three places in the first class, so how is the ranking determined?

He was just thinking about it, but little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but touch his stomach and said, "Father, I'm so hungry."

Well, it's dark now.

The little guy must be starving.

Upon hearing this, Wanli waved his hand hurriedly and said, "Alright, that's it for the Gongshi list. You've all worked so hard for so many days, I won't keep you for dinner. Go back and have your meal and rest."

The palace examination hasn’t been discussed yet.

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji said cautiously, "Your Majesty, last time you said you would personally answer the questions for the palace examination."

I have thought about this a long time ago.

Wanli said without hesitation: "For the palace examination, I have chosen a question: Only scholars can be capable and control the people's production. What do you think?"

Only scholars are capable of controlling the people's production?
"Mencius. King Hui of Liang, Part One"!
You asked me what I think?
My dear teacher, I will listen to you.

Besides, this question comes from the Four Books and Five Classics, so there is no problem in using it as a question for the palace examination.

Li Tingji bowed repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I think this question is very good."

That'll do.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

The third prince is so hungry that I shouldn’t have been nagging him.

The problem is, you ordered so many people, there is not enough space for everyone in Class A.

Li Tingji said carefully, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Highness, please forgive me, but I have one more question. Your Majesty, how will you rank these candidates you have selected?"

I can't decide this question either.

Wanli thought for a moment and said simply, "I won't decide this time. Li Zhizao, Xu Guangqi, Bi Maokang, Wang Xiangjin, and Wang Zheng will be the top five. As for the specific ranking, it will be determined based on the quality of their articles."

Fortunately, I asked a question.

It turns out that Zhao Bingzhong is not the person you want.

If I put this guy in the front, then he will most likely win the top spot, because the other five people on the list of tribute scholars are ranked much lower than him.

Li Tingji nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

After saying this, he asked Zeng Tongheng to take the list of tribute scholars together, and then he quickly bowed and took his leave.

(End of this chapter)