Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 154 The Minister of Industry's Conspiracy

After watching Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling leave, Zhu Houzhao instructed Liu Jin, "Send an order to Yan Song to arrange more courses for the Marquis of Jianchang and the Marquis of Shouning. Extend their study time and they will not graduate within five years!"

The Imperial University of Peking is now a boarding school, and students are not allowed to leave the campus except during holidays. Therefore, as long as Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling stay there for five years, they will get into less trouble. In this way, Zhu Houzhao will not have to worry about these two people committing serious crimes in the future and upsetting Empress Dowager Zhang when he punishes them.

The two brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling came to the Imperial University of Peking reluctantly, and Kang Hai also came with them.

"I never thought that we would become classmates with the number one scholar," Zhang Heling said, and Zhang Yanling echoed him: "That's right, how can we teach this!"

Kang Hai also shook his head. He didn't understand why the Imperial University of Peking admitted only those who had passed the Jinshi examination and above, but also allowed the children of nobles and relatives who were uneducated to enroll. Was it to ensure that everyone was educated?
Yan Song came over and bowed. "Welcome to the three new students. The purpose of the Imperial University is to be inclusive and accept all schools of thought. After admission, students are allowed to study freely, but they must complete the required academic credits. This is the "New Student Enrollment Handbook", please keep it. Your files have been transferred from the Ministry of Rites. Now you can choose your subjects."

As he spoke, Yan Song took the three of them to visit various academies of science. Although Kang Hai had heard about the unique teaching methods of the Imperial University before, he was still deeply moved after seeing it with his own eyes. Especially when he saw several former sons of dukes and Zhang Cong, a scholar with a Jinshi degree, discussing something under the ginkgo tree, he felt even more curious.

"Isn't that the boy from the British public family? Why is he reciting a book now? How can he pretend to be elegant? Back then, when this guy was still a kid, he followed me to a brothel! He beat a scholar down the building, and now he's become a scholar himself!"

Zhang Heling, Marquis of Jianchang, said.

Seeing that Zhang Heling was speaking vulgar words, Yan Song and Kang Hai didn't know what to say and just smiled awkwardly.

At this time, Shouning Marquis Zhang Yanling pointed at Xia Yan, who was riding a horse in the parade ground in front of him and shouted, "That guy filed a complaint with the Censorate! He also crippled four or five of my servants. If I don't punish him today, I won't be called Zhang! Someone, come here!"

Zhang Yanling shouted for a long time but no one came. Then he realized that he was now in the Imperial University and was already a student. He had no servants around him, so he had to stop and said sarcastically: "Sir Yan, how do you train students in the Imperial University? They are neither civil nor military. What are we learning?"

"I have already said it, you are free to choose!" Yan Song replied.

"We don't like the Four Books and Five Classics. We want to learn something new," said Zhang Heling.

"Of course there are new things. For example, in science, there are new theories now, such as the theory that the earth is round. You can study it, or you can argue and refute it yourself and write an article. If it is well written, it will be published in the Journal of Imperial University."

"The earth is round? There is such a theory in the Imperial University of Peking? This is nonsense! Although I am not as knowledgeable as Dean Kang, I also know that the sky is round and the earth is square!"

When Zhang Heling heard what Yan Song said, he immediately became interested. He dealt with people from the Imperial Observatory all day long. Although he was unskilled in other aspects, he had some knowledge of astronomy and geography, so he began to talk.

After Zhang Heling finished speaking, Yan Song just smiled and said, "This is a new theory, Your Majesty, which was taught by an old Taoist priest, and there is also empirical evidence. This is an article proving that the earth is round. If the Marquis of Jianchang is interested, you can take a look."

Yan Song majored in science and gave a journal of the Imperial University of Peking to Zhang Heling.

Zhang Yanling also started watching from the side. Kang Hai also became interested and started watching as well.

Zhang Yanling was young and had an active mind, so he read the text the fastest. After reading it, he said, "These are just supporting evidence! Don't take them seriously! If the earth is really round, then if we start from this place and keep walking in one direction, we can return here in the future?"

"That's the theory, but no one in the world dares to conduct such an experiment," Yan Song replied with a smile.

"This is quite interesting. I would like to give it a try sometime in the future!" Zhang Heling said with a smile.

……

"Your Majesty, Kang Hai chose liberal arts and is currently studying "Evolution and Ethics" on his own; Marquis Jianchang and Marquis Shouning both chose science," Yan Song reported to Zhu Houzhao on the latest students enrolled in the Imperial University of Peking. Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh after hearing this. "Evolution and Ethics" was something he wrote based on Darwin's theory of evolution in later generations. He used the Chinese name that Yan Fu used when he translated "The Origin of Species". He wrote it just to broaden the horizons of the students of the Imperial University of Peking, but he didn't expect Kang Hai to choose philosophy and start reading "Evolution and Ethics" first.

However, Zhu Houzhao was quite pleased that his two uncles chose science, because what the Ming Dynasty needed were talents in science and engineering.

"Very good, now Zhang Cong and Xia Yan can graduate, right?" Zhu Houzhao asked again.

"Yes, Your Majesty, they have all completed their credits and have now entered the period of observing politics and becoming Jinshi. Xia Yan chose the Ministry of Works, saying that although the Ministry of Works does not have the same authority as the Ministry of Personnel and Rites, it is the department that truly matters to the national economy and people's livelihood. Zhang Cong chose the Ministry of Rites, saying that the Ministry of Rites is in charge of the academic affairs of the people of the world, and it has great potential in the future."

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh after hearing this and said, "They all have their own ideas. Inform the Ministry of Personnel and approve them to go to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites as observers for six months. After six months, they will be appointed to official positions. I will arrange it myself at that time. In addition, tell the Ministry of Personnel that all students of the Imperial University must have separate files, especially people like Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, who will be designated as the archives of selected students to reserve talents for governing the country and maintaining peace in the future of the Ming Dynasty."

When Yan Song heard what Zhu Houzhao said, he was quite surprised. He thought to himself that according to His Majesty's intention, the Jinshi graduates of the Imperial University would be trained as reserve prime ministers in the future. He didn't know whether the same would apply to him, the Dean of the Imperial University. However, seeing that Wang Yangming had now directly become the Governor of Southern Zhili, it seemed that he would be arranged to be an important official of the empire in the future.

"How is your corn planting going?" Zhu Houzhao asked suddenly. Yan Song was now no different from university professors and officials in later generations. While being in charge of the administrative management of the Imperial University of Peking, he was also conducting agricultural research and was in charge of the first agricultural science in the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, the first batch of corn we planted this spring did produce seeds. After it matured, we harvested a bag. The yield is indeed higher than that of wheat. Moreover, we can plant corn after the wheat is harvested, so we can harvest grain twice.

I plan to sow again next spring, and this time I will plant 10 acres of land. In addition, I plan to sprinkle some phosphorus fertilizer on 5 acres to see if the yield can be higher. If it can be improved, I will start to promote it. "

Yan Song replied.

The phosphate fertilizer that Yan Song mentioned is the latest product of the Royal Industrial Company. It is a fertilizer made by reacting sulfuric acid with phosphate rock. It is also the first fertilizer chemical product produced in the Ming Dynasty. It has begun to be promoted in the imperial farm and has significantly increased the grain output of the tenants of the imperial farm, and it is a big increase.

In addition, phosphate fertilizer was also used in the greenhouse vegetable base of the Royal Industrial Company, so that the off-season vegetables produced by the Royal Industrial Company could not only meet the vitamin needs of the people of Daming in winter, but also ensure the quality and yield of off-season vegetables.

In this era, there are also large farmers who use greenhouses to grow off-season vegetables, but even though some people grow them, the quality of the vegetables cannot catch up with the Royal Industrial Company, because the Royal Industrial Company has chemical fertilizers, so the off-season vegetables grown by the Royal Industrial Company will not turn yellow due to lack of phosphorus.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "When the time comes, I will let you be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture and other places, and you will promote corn planting in the capital area first!"

When Yan Song heard that Zhu Houzhao was planning to arrange for him to be the governor, he was overjoyed and hurried to express his gratitude.

Agriculture is the foundation of everything. Zhu Houzhao does not deny this. If he wants to launch foreign wars in the future, it is naturally inseparable from the development of agriculture. If he can now promote corn throughout the country and increase the grain output of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao will naturally have more confidence to launch foreign wars in the future.

On this day, Zhu Houzhao summoned the Minister of Works Zeng Jian and the Junior Supervisor of the Armory Chi Zong to the Cabinet and the Silijian duty room to discuss the manufacture of weapons for the Ming Dynasty.

The military leadership of the Ming Dynasty's Imperial Guards had been established, and weapons manufacturing naturally needed to be improved. However, the Ming Dynasty was not backward in weapons manufacturing at this time. What was really backward was the system of managing craftsmen. The craftsman registration system greatly restricted the development of the empire's weapons manufacturing level. In the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen, like soldiers, were divided into separate places of origin. The status of craftsmen was very low, even lower than that of civilians. They could not participate in the imperial examinations to enter official careers, nor could they do business. They generally had to serve the court for free and were exploited by officials. Because of this, many craftsmen would resist by means of passive sabotage or even escape.

The Ming Dynasty's military equipment manufacturing was mainly composed of the Imperial Household Equipment Bureau and the Ministry of Works' Military Equipment Bureau, and the number of registered craftsmen in these two institutions was basically decreasing year by year.

"Your Majesty, the number of craftsmen in the Armory Bureau is now thirty-five fewer than in the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign!"

"Your Majesty, the number of craftsmen in the Armory is now less than 300, 12 fewer than in the 18th year of the Hongzhi reign!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but fall into deep thought. He knew that the decreasing number of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty was a common phenomenon. What he was thinking about now was how to change this phenomenon. As far as he knew, Zhang Juzheng had carried out reforms in the late Ming Dynasty. That is, craftsmen were allowed to choose their jobs freely, but they needed to pay silver to the court, and the court would use this silver to hire craftsmen to make weapons.

Zhu Houzhao now decided to change the relationship between craftsmen and Ming weapons manufacturing more thoroughly. He decided to give craftsmen freedom, that is, to abolish the craftsman registration system. After all, the number of civilians with craftsman registration was not as large as the number of civilians with military registration, and the interests involved were not that great. Unlike the military registration system, abruptly abolishing it would not cause dissatisfaction among military landlords across the country.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao did not intend to collect wages from the craftsmen, which would reduce the burden on these craftsmen.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao asked Zeng Jian, the Minister of Works, and Chi Zong, the Junior Supervisor, "What do you think of abolishing the status of craftsmen and returning them to civilian status? The court will then pay for the craftsmen to make weapons, and the treatment of the hired craftsmen will be linked to the quality and quantity of the weapons. In other words, whoever does a better job will get more salary. What do you think?"

Junior Supervisor Chi Zong and Minister of Works Zeng Jian both looked nervous. Deep down, they naturally did not want to let these craftsmen go free. After all, if their craftsman status was cancelled, they would lose a lot of income. After all, the craftsmen had to pay them tribute money if they wanted to hide or escape.

But they also knew that Emperor Zhu Houzhao wanted to change it now, so Zeng Jianxian said: "Your Majesty's move is undoubtedly a move that benefits the people and is indeed a good policy!"

"The eunuchs listen to the emperor's arrangements. It is a good thing to use silver instead of labor," said Junior Supervisor Chi Zongye, but he was extremely resistant in his heart. After all, once the court paid silver to hire craftsmen, it meant that these craftsmen would receive salary and rice like soldiers. Now that the performance evaluation system is in full swing, once the employment system replaces the forced conscription system, it will be difficult for them to benefit from it.

Zhu Houzhao was relieved when he saw that the two heads of the department in charge of military equipment manufacturing had no objection. After all, if these two people agreed, it meant that they could accept the loss of profits brought about by the mercenary system. If their leaders could accept it, they would naturally be able to suppress the officials below, and the officials below would also be able to accept it.

"In this case, the cabinet will draft an edict to change the artisan registration to civilian registration. Artisan registered people can freely choose their jobs like civilian registered people, pay taxes and perform corvée, and can enter the officialdom. The court will recruit artisans to manufacture military equipment on a hired basis in the future. When the edict is issued, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works will work together to complete this matter. Each registered artisan registered person will be rewarded with one stone of grain to reward their contributions to the court over the years. At the same time, the Ministry of Works will recruit artisans on its own. In addition, the Arms Bureau and the Armory Bureau will be merged into the Daming Armory Bureau. A supervisory assistant minister will be appointed, holding the title of Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, to supervise the Armory Bureau, and Junior Supervisor Chi Zongxian will serve as the assistant."

After Zhu Houzhao said this, the chief minister of the cabinet, Ma Wensheng, hurriedly said that he would obey the order, and all the officials present said that Your Majesty was benevolent and loved the people.

Zhu Houzhao just smiled. He found that the officials in the court seemed to be much more obedient recently. He couldn't help but wonder, was it because his previous tough measures made them afraid, or was it because he was now using the interests of the Royal Bank to circle ordinary officials and make other officials completely aware of his power as the emperor?

However, just when Zhu Houzhao issued an edict to abolish the craftsman registration system and restore the craftsmen's freedom to form an ordnance bureau, Shuntian Prefecture submitted a memorial to the emperor, reporting that five or six craftsmen who had just come out of the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Works had used muskets to kill a junior official of the Dali Temple, a director of the Ministry of Revenue, and a messenger of the Ministry of Rites!

Three imperial officials were beaten to death!
This was a shocking case in the Ming Dynasty, and firearms were banned, which made the case even more serious!

But what surprised Zhu Houzhao even more in this case was that the murderer turned out to be a craftsman who had just regained his freedom!

"What's going on? I just gave these craftsmen their freedom, how come they suddenly beat up court officials?"

Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Your Majesty, this is a memorial from Lu Shumu, the Imperial Secretary of the Engineering Department, advising the court to restore the system of craftsmen. The reason is that these craftsmen have unique skills and tricks. Once they have evil intentions, they will make big mistakes and may even rebel and kill the emperor. The court should strictly control them! They should not be treated the same as the villagers!"

At this time, Jiao Fang handed in a memorial. Zhu Houzhao knew without asking that Jiao Fang was reminding him that someone was doing this deliberately in order to force him to restore the craftsman registration system.

"What do you think about this case in Shuntian Prefecture?" Zhu Houzhao asked this question first.

"Killing three imperial officials, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple is already an important official, and he used firearms. This is tantamount to treason and should be severely punished according to the law!" Xu Jin replied.

"The East Factory should investigate this case first. The censors from the Engineering Department have already submitted a report after someone was beaten to death. Isn't that too hasty?"

Zhu Houzhao snorted.

……

At this time, in a secret attic of the Jiaofangsi, a middle-aged man dressed as a rich man pulled an eunuch into the inner room and said, "My master said that you are too anxious. It is unwise to let the censors of the Engineering Department submit a memorial at this time! It is better to kill a few more so that the officials will be scared and force the current emperor to change his mind."

"Okay, I will convey the Grand Minister's opinion to my godfather right away, but my godfather asked me to tell him that the people at the East Factory said that the higher-ups asked them to investigate this case, so you guys should be careful!"

The eunuch said.

"Don't worry! Those craftsmen who killed people are all assassins. They were originally registered craftsmen, but later they couldn't survive and were raised as slaves by our master. Their families are all raised by our master. If they dare to say anything, their families will not survive! Besides, since you have someone in the East Factory, you will naturally find a way to make them be beaten to death in the imperial prison."

The middle-aged man sneered.

"That's true. I'll go first. The palace is under strict inspection now. If I go back late, I'll be targeted by the people in the palace!" The eunuch said and left.

The middle-aged man left after a while, and suddenly appeared at the Minister of Works Zeng Jian's place in the middle of the night: "Master, people in the palace said that the emperor asked the East Factory to investigate this case. It seems that he does not trust the report from Shuntian Prefecture."

"Of course I don't believe it. Who told that eunuch Chi to rush and ask the engineering department to submit a memorial? Our emperor is very smart. In order to prevent the truth from being exposed, you should tell them that your emperor will go to the Arms Bureau in a few days. Ask them to replace the sulfur and saltpeter in the Guangji warehouse with prepared gunpowder, and then find someone to find an opportunity to ignite it!"

"Master! This is regicide!" the middle-aged man said in surprise.

"What nonsense! This is just an accident. It is normal for the sky to rain fire as the weather is dry today. And it is only done when it is absolutely necessary. If Your Majesty does not investigate the matter in the next few days, there is no need to do this!"

This is what the Minister of Works Zeng Jian said.

"Yes!" The middle-aged man walked down.

(End of this chapter)