Chapter 1131 1126 [Royal Society and Royal Finance]
Zhu Guoxiang does not interfere with scientific researchers.
For example, when Zhang Lixiu talked about the interaction between yin and yang, Zhu Guoxiang did not refute his point of view, but just interrupted the topic and asked him to talk about something else first.
Why?
Because among the mainstream concepts of the ancients, the theories of the two Zhu emperors are more like nonsense. Yin and Yang are in harmony, and the creation of heaven and earth is consistent with the cognitive understanding.
The enthusiasm of explorers cannot be dampened!
Therefore, after the lecture, Zhu Guoxiang affirmed some of Zhang Lixiu's achievements and tried to avoid talking about his scientific yin and yang hypothesis.
As long as Zhang Lixiu is not stupid, he can understand what the Supreme Emperor means.
At the same time, Zhu Guoxiang also guided: "Your discovery is very useful. The existing barometer is not sensitive enough. Can a more sensitive barometer be made to use the phenomenon of different air pressures up and down the mountain to measure the actual pressure of a mountain?"
What’s the height?”
Zhang Lixiu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he drew inferences: "As water flows downwards, and all rivers return to the sea, it can be seen that the height of the sea surface is the lowest. Using the height of the sea surface as the benchmark, the relative heights of different areas and the sea surface can be measured through air pressure. Of course, it must be
The barometer has been improved to be accurate enough, otherwise it would be difficult to measure an altitude difference of tens of feet."
Zhu Guoxiang was extremely pleased that Zhang Lixiu had such an idea.
In fact, Zhang Lixiu is not a genius.
Not only did he partial to subjects when he was studying, but his grades in the subjects he was good at were not among the best.
One of the most important prerequisites for his current academic achievements is that his family has money!
His father hired the best teachers to educate him and spent money to send him to the best academy, but among the academy students he was neither above nor below.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, natural subjects were introduced into the imperial examination. His father also spent money to send him to a government school as a self-financing student, and hired teachers with large sums of money to teach mathematics, physics, and astronomy.
After expending so much effort, Zhang Lixiu still achieved mediocre results.
Then, his father continued to spend money to let him go to Taixue University as a self-financed student, but his grades were still average.
This is very strange. Whether it is the academies of the former Song Dynasty or the Kaifeng Fuxue and Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Lixiu can be average, neither good nor bad.
Just like a chess player, he will win and lose half the time in the amateur ranks, but he will still win and lose half the time in the professional ranks.
You can't figure out where his lower limit is, nor how high his upper limit is.
Fortunately, the Imperial College at that time was not so demanding, otherwise Zhang Lixiu would not have been able to graduate smoothly.
After that, he failed all the normal imperial examinations. Thanks to Ju Ming's reform of the system of subjects, Zhang Lixiu was admitted to the imperial examination and became a magic officer.
Even after joining the Ministry of Industry, Zhang Lixiu was still ordinary. When he was transferred to participate in the development of steam coin machines and steam water lifters, he still behaved ordinary.
He can keep up with the progress of his colleagues, but he has never been outstanding.
So much so that Zhu Guoxiang met this man twice and didn't leave any impression at all.
The Supreme Emperor borrowed a waist knife from the guard, and used it to draw pictures on the tamped mud in front of everyone: "This is the sea surface. Due to the influence of tides, waves and many other factors, the sea surface height has fluctuations and errors. We
You can take an average value and call it sea level, or sea level height."
Zhu Guoxiang drew another mountain peak: "The vertical height of this mountain peak to the sea level is called the altitude."
Zhang Lixiu clapped his hands and praised: "The words sea level and altitude used by Your Majesty are precise and appropriate."
Zhu Guoxiang said: "Go to Luoyang Imperial College, give lectures to the teachers and students there, and then write a paper for publication."
The teachers, students, and officials present all cast envious glances at Zhang Lixiu.
He was actually recognized by the Emperor and was appointed by the Emperor to give lectures at the Imperial Academy. With such an honor, even if he cannot be called a great Confucian in the future, he can still be regarded as a famous Confucian of his generation.
Well, people in today's world also call famous scientists great scholars or famous scholars.
There are quite a few such great Confucian scholars, each of whom has made breakthrough discoveries, and more than 80% of them graduated from Taixue.
Zhu Guoxiang added: "After the lecture is over, you take the lead in improving the barometer. I will ask the Ministry of Industry to allocate funds to you and give you some manpower. When the barometer is improved enough to be precise and sensitive, you can take people to measure altitudes across the country."
"
"Yes!" Zhang Lixiu accepted the order.
Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "While measuring the altitude, if you are still free, you can also study the local geology. Especially those cliffs are the most intuitive. The rock soil on many cliffs is layered, and there are also the ancient creatures you mentioned.
Wrecks. Let’s call them fossils.”
Zhang Lixiu became even more excited.
In the past, he could only conduct research at his own expense. He was surrounded by his followers, and when he encountered difficult problems, he had no one with whom he could discuss them.
Especially after the death of his father, his elder brother had a bad attitude, complaining that he would not take up an official position but would waste money running around. Not only was it not helpful to the family, but it also wasted the family's money.
Now I'm fine, I have everything, and my brother will definitely welcome me with a smile.
Zhu Guoxiang took his wife and children to rest. Before they could get far, Zhang Lixiu was surrounded by teachers and students.
Although many scholars still regard the study of natural subjects as a minor path, and only regard mathematics, which is required for regular imperial examinations, as a major path. But after all, the two emperors support this thing, and awesome scientists will still be sought after.
Moreover, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the younger generation of scholars have been required to take mathematics because of the imperial examination, and even physics for a few years. Many of these scholars have already become officials, and there are also a large number of people in their twenties and thirties who have not become officials. They are very interested in natural sciences.
Maybe I'm not that enthusiastic, but I basically won't discriminate anymore.
Concepts have gradually changed.
Among them, there is also the influence of telegraph and steam engine. Even academic bureaucrats like Huan Guo believe that natural science is of great use and cannot simply be regarded as a craftsman's study.
In the high-end dormitory of the academy, Zhu Guoxiang planned to write a letter.
Li Qingzhao was beside him helping to grind the ink, Shen Yourong asked the female officer to make tea, and Miss Wen called the other concubines and children and grandchildren to go out so as not to disturb them.
Li Qingzhao was still thinking about the content of the lecture: "The earth is really surrounded by layers of air, and the universe outside the air is a vacuum?"
Yu is the edge of the house.
Zhou is the beam of the house.
In the pre-Qin era, the universe was space and the universe was time.
Even as early as "Zhuangzi", the universe had the meaning of infinite time and space, and it completely evolved into a scientific term after the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Guoxiang wrote while writing: "The universe is extremely vast. There must be other gases outside the earth's air. But that gas should be very far away from the earth, otherwise it will be attracted by the earth's gravity. Therefore, it is also It can be said that there is a vacuum outside the earth's air."
Li Qingzhao had a sudden thought: "I have also seen the moon with a telescope. The surface of the moon is full of pits, there are no trees, flowers or grass, and no one can be seen. Is there air on the moon? Is it because there is no air, so there are no living things on the moon?"
"Maybe." Zhu Guoxiang said.
The more Li Qingzhao thought about it, the more he became fascinated. Then he became very interested in poetry. He ran to another room to spread paper and study ink, and wrote words to express his yearning for the mysterious universe.
Shen Yourong was not very interested in this, so he sat next to him reading a novel and put on a pair of reading glasses.
Zhu Guoxiang is writing a letter to his son.
He planned to have his son formally establish the Royal Society, which would attract not only natural scientists, but also experts in literature, history, and art.
For example, those who study epigraphy need to be proficient in history, inscriptions and many other knowledges. The current scope of research has expanded from traditional jades, tripods, and mirrors to bricks, clay seals, military amulets, and Ming vessels... Zhu Guoxiang is trying to bring them to Archaeological direction guidance.
In the letter to his son, the framework of the Ming Royal Society was as follows -
There is one president and three vice-presidents. One secretary-general and three deputy secretaries-general. One chairman, six vice-chairmen and several directors.
It is divided into three categories: investigation of objects, literature and history, and art.
Select various famous figures who have made outstanding achievements as the first members of the Royal Society, grant them all the title of baron, and let them vote for the president, vice president, etc. A small amount of symbolic membership fee is charged.
A group of new members are admitted every year, but no titles are given.
A national conference is held every five years, and three major categories of gold, silver and bronze awards are selected based on academic achievements. Members who are far away do not need to be present in person, but those who are qualified to vote must write a letter as a candidate (primary election) vote.
The gold medal winner must be awarded the title of baron by the emperor.
If there are multiple major achievements at the same time, the emperor can award several gold medals or silver medals at his discretion, and the bronze medal winner will also be awarded a knighthood.
If a member who holds the title of baron wins a gold medal again or makes outstanding contributions, the emperor will upgrade his or her title as appropriate.
These titles are not hereditary, but they do have titles.
When the number of members increases in the future, the members will be divided into three levels and different levels of waist badges (jade pendants) will be made to wear.
Even members without a title, as long as they wear the association badge, officials at all levels must be respectful. Moreover, they are qualified to write letters directly to the emperor, and no organization, including the cabinet, can stop them.
What Zhu Guoxiang did was naturally to encourage academic progress.
From now on, the Four Books, Six Classics and Mathematics will be used to select administrative officials.
All other knowledge, in addition to being used to select military officers (including Hanlin officers), must also be given full honorary status to the best through the Royal Society.
There are only three major categories in the initial design, and they can be split and added in the future.
In addition, the society will establish three authoritative journals, tentatively scheduled to publish one issue every quarter. It can also be adjusted to bimonthly or monthly in the future.
The funds of the society are provided by the royal family. If members have major projects, they can also apply for relevant funds from the royal family.
Today's Ming royal family finances have long been separated from the national finances.
There is absolutely no room for confusion.
The royal family is in Luoyang and has some properties in Kaifeng, which is regarded as the royal family's private land.
Ju Ming even invested in the treasure-hunting trio's fleet, but it is temporarily inconvenient to send people to manage the accounts, because once supervisors are sent, the fleet will not dare to explore easily in the future. The official parachute financial personnel will inevitably lead to risk aversion.
Lord, it goes against Ju Ming’s original intention of overseas exploration.
The treasury has a fixed allocation of 1 million guan to the royal family every year. With the continuous increase in fiscal revenue and the increase in the number of royal family members, Ju Ming plans to increase the fixed allocation to 1.5 million guan.
How much the fixed appropriation of the treasury can be increased in the future depends on the ability of the emperor's successor.
The property paid tribute by the vassal state, including rare treasures, returned to the royal family, while general goods were handed over to the court for processing. The definition was not very strict, and because the amount was too small, neither the emperor nor officials took it seriously.
The income from overseas territories was due to high initial investment, such as sending out troops. Therefore, the ministers did not want the court to spend money in the early stage, but the emperor would get the lion's share later, so they also made adjustments.
Instead, the national customs revenue, including port taxes collected overseas, will be distributed to the royal family at a uniform rate of 5%.
Domestic franchise income, except for the salt tax, which requires profit sharing, is all returned to the national treasury. 2% of the national salt tax belongs to the royal family.
The Ming Dynasty royal family was very rich!
Only when the emperor has money can he be strong-willed and have the confidence to do things.
Of course, it can also be said that the Ming royal family was very poor.
Because in other dynasties, the royal family and the treasury often did not distinguish between public and private affairs. The emperor's internal funds were short of money, so he directly reached out to the treasury. The officials were resentful but did not dare to say anything.
In addition, since the royal family and the treasury are separated from each other, don't even think about asking the emperor to pay for large-scale sacrifices and military rewards.
The most important affairs of the country are sacrifice and military service.
Large-scale sacrifices and rewards to soldiers in the past dynasties, no matter who paid for them in the end, were generally distributed in the name of internal funds. To put it bluntly, the emperor wanted to control the title of "sacrifice and military service".
Don't even think about it from now on. The emperor should not be taken advantage of, and should honestly pay for it from the treasury.