The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 578: Cutting down another vassal as a warning to others

The New Year passed quickly, and it was already the 16th day of the first lunar month.

The imperial examination is about to begin.

Early in the morning at about noon, snowflakes were still floating in the sky and it was not yet completely bright, but Wanli still came to the imperial study early in his arms, holding little Zhu Changxun.

Shen Li from the cabinet arrived shortly afterwards. There was no joy on his face, and he seemed to be worried about something.

Wanli knew very well that this guy was just worried about the health of his fellow villager.

After the emperor and his subjects exchanged greetings, he asked with concern, "How is it, is Xinwu okay?"

How to say this.

Shen Li bowed and presented the memorial, then sighed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, although Xinwu is no longer seriously injured, his health is not as good as before. Now he can hardly walk steadily."

This bunch of princes and royal family members are too lawless. Even the Minister of Rites was beaten like this.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said with a murderous look on his face: "He can't take this blow in vain. He dared to hit the Minister of Rites I sent. They are really in trouble.

I have already issued an order to reduce the Chu vassal state as a warning to others, and I will take action in a few days."

This matter is still in the confidential stage, and only Wu Daonan, Luo Sigong, Lu Yi and others know about it.

However, it doesn't matter whether it is kept secret or not now. The secret guards have already gone to the Chu clan, and the Jinyiwei will be here soon.

Even if someone in the capital knew about it at this time, in such a snowy and icy place, it would not reach the Chu clan within four days of an 800-mile express delivery.

Shen Li really didn't know about this.

When he heard that the Chu vassal state was going to be abolished suddenly, he thought that Wanli wanted to avenge Lu Kun.

This favor is really beyond measure. For the sake of a minister, a vassal state was eliminated!
He was so moved that he didn't know what to say.

This guy obviously misunderstood.

However, whether it is a misunderstanding or not, there is no need to explain it at this time, and explanation is redundant.

Wanli thought for a moment and said simply, "We should hurry up and prepare for this imperial examination. Let Wang Zhiyuan, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, be the chief examiner, and Bi Maokang, the Doctor of the Ministry of Works, be the co-examiner.

Marquis Meng is currently staying at the Mountain Resort. Please quickly send someone to summon him back to the capital and have him come to me first."

Oh, that’s what I came here to ask about, but I forgot about it while I was talking!

Fortunately, His Majesty remembered it and the examiners were arranged.

Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand. I will go right away."

After saying that, he quickly bowed and took his leave.

Seeing this, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, with so many officials in the capital, why did you ask Bi Maokang and Master Bi to rush back to take the exam?"

You have to understand the intention of this.

Wanli explained in detail: "Father once told you that the purpose of the imperial examination is to select the talents we need to govern the country.

There are many ways to select candidates for the imperial examinations. Selecting through test questions is only one aspect. We can also select the chief examiner and co-examiners to let the scholars understand what kind of talents we need.

What kind of talents do we need now?

You also know that we are vigorously promoting the virtues of loyalty and diligence, so we need officials who are loyal to the emperor and diligent in their work.

In addition, if the Ming Dynasty wanted to flourish, it needed officials who focused on the study of things and the pursuit of knowledge to drive it forward.

The reason why my father asked Wang Zhiyuan to be the chief examiner of the imperial examination was to let all the scholars in the world understand that we value loyalty and diligence.

As for letting all the scholars in the world know that we value the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things, we have to choose those who ranked high on the list of Jinshi last year.

At this moment, Xu Guangqi and Wang Xiangjin were both in the Nurgan Regional Command and could not come back at all. Wang Zheng also went to Nanjing and could not come back for a while. Li Zhizao was nowhere to be found in some sea area.

The only person near the capital who could make it in time was Bi Maokang, so my father asked Bi Maokang to come back and take the exam together."

Oh, it turns out there is no choice, only Bi Maokang is left.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun could not help but nodded slowly.

Shen Li went back to the cabinet to make some arrangements, then rode out of the imperial city on a fast horse, braving the wind and snow to head straight for the Mountain Resort.

Fortunately, there is a direct road from the capital to the Mountain Resort, and the snow is cleared every day, so there is no problem riding a horse at full speed.

Bi Maokang was completely confused after receiving the letter from the cabinet.

He was developing a revolving flintlock rifle, so why was he suddenly asked to be a co-examiner for the imperial examination?

However, the cabinet had sent a letter asking him to return quickly, as the Emperor wanted to see him again. He had no choice but to put aside his work and ride his horse back to the capital.

He returned to the capital quite quickly. Before noon, he arrived at the imperial study covered in snow.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli asked with concern, "Lord Meng, how are you? Are you cold?"

It's naturally cold to be galloping outside at this moment.

Bi Maokang rubbed his still stiff hands and said, "Your Majesty, it's a bit cold today, but fortunately, it's not cold anymore once we get inside and turn on the heater."

Those who are obsessed with studying things and seeking knowledge usually don't have much brains.

If it were other officials, nine out of ten would say it wasn’t cold.

This simple-minded official is naturally better than an official who is full of tricks.

Wanli nodded slightly and asked, "How is it going? Is the copper wheel made? Is it easy to process?"

How do you say this?

Bi Maokang thought about it carefully, then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, using copper to make the wheel is indeed much easier to process.

However, the wheel is inherently complex and requires too many parts to be processed. If it is to be mass-produced, a lot of processing machine tools will be needed.

I'm currently figuring out how to make the machine tools, but it might take several months to get to mass production."

Well, that's right. A few months is fast enough. Wanli nodded slightly and thought, "This revolver flintlock rifle has a much higher firing rate than ordinary flintlock rifles. We should consider replacing it."

After you make the processing machine tools, don't make ordinary flintlock rifles anymore, just make rotary flintlock rifles.

However, we can’t stand still in terms of muskets. Now that the rate of fire has increased, we must consider increasing the range next.”

Range?

Bi Maokang said with some concentration: "Your Majesty, the factors that determine the range of muskets and artillery seem to be similar. If we want to increase the range, we can either increase the amount of gunpowder loaded or increase the length of the barrel.

However, both of these are difficult. If you put too much gunpowder in, the cartridge case won't hold up. The longer the barrel, the more difficult it is to manufacture, so it's impossible to mass-produce it."

You are wrong, there are other ways to increase the range.

The reason why I didn't tell the father-in-law before was because he was even more of a novice than I was and might not be able to do it.

It's different now.

You are a professional, I told you, you should be able to figure it out.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then raised his hand and gestured, "The muskets and cannons we make now are all smoothbore.

This smoothbore means that the bullets and shells slide out along the inner wall of the barrel and the gun barrel, so the friction surface is a circle.

You know what friction is, right? Friction actually creates a lot of resistance and generates heat, which is the main reason why our muskets and artillery have to cool down after firing about ten bullets or shells."

Frictional resistance?

Bi Maokang imitated Wanli and rubbed his palms together for a while, then said suddenly, "I understand now. The resistance of this friction is indeed very great.

Your Majesty, you mean that we should try to reduce the contact surface so that the frictional resistance will be reduced, right?"

You are indeed a professional.

Wanli nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yes, that's right. The same principle applies to both muskets and cannons. We need to carve a dense circle of rifling in the barrels of guns and cannons to reduce friction."

Uh, isn't that right?
Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang cautiously warned, "Your Majesty, if there are rifling grooves in the barrels of guns and cannons, they will leak. Then the bullets and shells will not be able to shoot very far."

There is a solution to this as well.

Wanli raised his hand and gestured, "You can carve the rifling into a spiral shape, so that the gas inside will leak out in a spiral, and the speed of leakage may not be able to keep up with the speed of bullets and shells.

Moreover, the spiral rifling will make the bullets and shells spin faster and shoot farther.

As for the depth, angle, and density of the rifling, that depends on your continuous testing."

Spiral rifling?
I understand.

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang's eyes lit up and he said, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will go and try it right away."

What are you in a hurry for?
Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "You should wait until you finish the provincial and palace examinations before taking the test."

what?
We have to wait until the palace examination is over!

Bi Maokang said anxiously, "Your Majesty, I'm so bold! Hasn't this wasted a lot of time?"

You don’t understand this.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Lord Meng, there is a saying you should understand: sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood.

You should know how slowly the father-in-law developed things before. Since he had two disciples like you, hasn't the speed of developing things increased by more than twice?

Accepting more disciples is like sharpening a knife. The more disciples you accept, the faster you can develop. Do you understand?

Of course, we can't just recruit random disciples. You have to carefully examine their character before recruiting them. If you recruit someone with a bad character, all our secrets will be leaked.

This is also why I asked you to wait until the palace examination is over before going back to take the test. After the examination, I still have to carefully examine the character of the person you have chosen."

Sharpening the knife will keep you from chopping wood?
Of course I understand this principle.

But after wasting so much time, I am getting itchy and impatient.

Also, how do we examine one’s character?

Bi Maokang thought about it carefully after hearing this, and then asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, you can know a person's face but not his heart. This person's character is difficult to discern. How can this humble official assess this?"

You are good at studying things to gain knowledge, but it is really too difficult for you to understand people's nature.

Wanli pondered and said, “You can try to find out indirectly about this, for example, find out about the candidate’s background and the reputation of his parents and even grandparents.

Aren’t there many folk sayings like this? “A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix; a mouse gives birth to a mouse that digs holes; a tiger father will not have a dog son,” and so on. These all have some truth to them.”

Oh, check your background.

Bi Maokang nodded slowly and said, "I understand."

The imperial examination was about to begin, and candidates from all over the country were rushing to the capital with joy.

Most of them had passed the provincial examination in the special examination last year. It was really a stroke of luck that they were able to take the special examination twice in a row.

Moreover, the number of candidates selected through these two special examinations doubled.

For many people, passing the imperial examination used to be extremely difficult, but now they actually have a chance to get their names on the list of successful candidates!
They were naturally overjoyed.

At this time, Chu Fan was crying loudly.

Wanli suddenly issued an order to weaken the Chu vassal state!

Moreover, all the royal family members of the Chu vassal states had their property confiscated and were exiled to Qiongzhou Prefecture in the extreme south!

As for the reason, it was published in the court bulletin at the same time, saying that the Chu clan was indeed too unreasonable, they had done all the bad things, and they deserved to be demoted.

The common people in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty all applauded, and the enslaved common people in the Chu vassal state even cried for joy.

The other vassal states were trembling with fear. How many dirty things had they not done that the royal family of Chu had done?

What if Wanli goes crazy and kills them all?
(End of this chapter)