The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 516: The Great Learning: Eight Principles of Investigating Things and Seeking Knowledge

After the palace examination, the capital was bustling for several days.

When the noise died down, the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination event came to an end.

The second and third class Jinshi gradually entered various government offices in the capital or took up positions outside the capital, while the top three in the first class and the Shujishi had to enter the Hanlin Academy to continue their studies.

Officials of the Hanlin Academy also have another nickname, which is the Prime Minister.

This means that they all have the potential to enter the power center of the court and become cabinet ministers or even cabinet chief ministers.

At this time, the power of the Ming Dynasty Cabinet was quite large. No matter what the matter was, the emperor would only decide whether to do it or not, and the specific way of doing it was all decided by the Cabinet.

In other words, the cabinet is in charge of everything, and there is a lot to learn if you want to become a cabinet minister or even the chief minister.

Xu Guangqi, Bi Maokang, Wang Xiangjin and others were all mentally prepared to study hard for several years.

Who would have thought that early in the morning at about 11:00 AM, not long after they arrived at the Hanlin Academy and had barely sat down, the current emperor actually sent the imperial guards with war horses to take them to the imperial city.

At this time, all the passages in the imperial city were densely packed with imperial guards on both sides. These imperial guards were all riding horses, and their weapons and equipment were in good order, as if they were ready to go to war at any time.

What is this for?

They rode their horses in confusion from Dong'an Gate into the imperial city, circled the palace halfway, crossed the Taiye Lake, and arrived near Xi'an Gate.

At this time, Wanli and young Zhu Changxun had been waiting on horseback for a long time.

When little Zhu Changxun saw them coming, he couldn't help but ask, "Father, can we set off now?"

His Majesty and the little prince are actually wearing military uniforms!

Only then did Xu Guangqi and others discover that Wanli and young Zhu Changxun were hiding among the imperial guards. They hurriedly dropped the reins in their hands and bowed to salute.

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go, let's go to the Summer Palace with me."

Going to the summer resort at this time?

Xu Guangqi and others were still confused.

It's March now, and it's not hot at all. Why go to the summer resort?

They followed Wanli with confused faces.

Because of the company of little Zhu Changxun, they did not ride too fast. It was already past noon and the sun had been out for a while before they arrived at the Summer Resort, which was dotted with water wheels.

After Xu Guangqi and others entered the Mountain Resort, they couldn't help but show a look of shock on their faces.

Because it is completely different from what they imagined.

They all thought that the so-called summer resort should be full of pavilions and towers and have picturesque scenery.

Who would have known that this place is densely packed with small courtyards and large workshops, which can be said to be extremely spectacular, but has nothing to do with being picturesque.

Wanli took them directly to the largest workshop on the Chaobai River.

The scene inside the workshop almost made their jaws drop.

They had never seen such a large workshop, let alone such large equipment.

This workshop is even taller than the Huangji Palace. The platform inside is like a city wall, several feet high. There is also a furnace built on the platform, and the molten iron in the furnace is constantly flowing out.

The orange-red molten iron actually flowed down from the high platform, flowed between the two large rollers, and came out as a pancake-like iron plate.

Then, the iron plate was transferred by the rolling iron pillar to a super-large guillotine. The guillotine was constantly lifted up and chopped down, just like cutting paper.

The half-meter-long iron plates were quickly and neatly stacked on a truck, and then the low flatbed truck was pushed away, and then another truck came.

Wanli saw their shocked expressions and said with some pride, "How about this steel plate rolling machine? It's pretty good, isn't it?"

Is this machine just good?

Wang Zheng was the first to react, and he said excitedly, "Your Majesty, I wonder which god created this machine. I would like to become his disciple."

At this time, the so-called god-man rushed in hurriedly.

Wanli raised his hand and introduced: "Father-in-law, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei."

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi and others hurriedly bowed in greeting.

Wang Zheng actually fell to the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Father-in-law, I would like to be your disciple. Please accept me as your disciple."

What is this for?
Yongnian Earl Wang Wei was stunned.

Wanli smiled slightly and said, "Father-in-law, I have sent you a disciple. Please accept him."

Are you kidding?

He is wearing a formal official robe, so he must be a Jinshi.

How can I, a craftsman, accept a Jinshi as my apprentice?

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei was stunned for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, I am only a craftsman by birth. I really don't know what I can teach you, my Lord."

You can teach others a lot.

Wanli did not answer but asked: "How is the development of the steam engine going?"

Uh, this is really a bit embarrassing.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said with some shame, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The steam piston seems to be fine. The problem is the valve switch, which has stumped me again."

Valve switch?
Upon hearing this, Wanli looked at Wang Zheng lying on the ground and simply waved his hand, saying, "Liangfu, get up first. Let's go and see what's wrong with the valve switch."

What steam piston?
What valve switch?
Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng climbed up with curiosity on his face and followed the crowd to another workshop not far away.

This workshop is not very big. It only has a boiler, an iron table and a few shelves, and is only a few meters in radius.

There seemed to be a gun barrel on the iron platform, but there were many strange things connected to the barrel. When Wanli saw this strange steam engine, he was a little confused.

This was not the impression he had of a steam engine at all.

He found everything made by Yongnian Earl Wang Wei a bit puzzling.

But fortunately, he knew the general principle.

He waved his hand decisively and said, "Father-in-law, show me what's going on."

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei immediately waved his hand and ordered the craftsman next to the boiler to open the valve to supply steam.

Then, a magical thing happened. The iron rod in front of the gun barrel-like object actually moved back and forth by itself.

Moreover, there are two iron oars connected to the front of the iron rod. When the iron rod moves back and forth, the iron oars also move back and forth.

There seemed to be no problem with the steam piston, but steam was overflowing from the two switch valves, causing the iron paddle to jerk when sliding.

Wanli understood at a glance that there was indeed a big problem with the steam valve.

A steam valve should not be treated like a door.

If it is to turn on or off the water source or even the oil pipe, there is really no problem if the valve is made like a door.

But opening and closing steam is not like opening a door.

The concept of ball valve gradually appeared in his mind.

He raised his hand and gestured, "Father-in-law, this valve cannot be made like a door. It will be too difficult to seal it.

You need to make the valve into a ball, a ball that is larger than the steam pipe, then make a hole in the middle of the ball that is the same size as the steam pipe, then make a larger hollow ball to tightly wrap this ball, and then connect the handle of the switch.

In this way, when the valve is turned, steam can flow as long as the hole is aligned with the pipe. Otherwise, steam will not flow if the hole is not aligned.

The ball valve seals very well, you will know it if you try it."

You know this without trying it. A hollow sphere wrapped in a sphere with a hole will definitely be sealed well.

The problem is that a ball with a hole is easy to make, but a hollow ball is not easy to make, especially a hollow ball that can be clamped around another ball and still be airtight.

Upon hearing this, Yongnianbo Wang Wei said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to make this hollow sphere."

Well, that's indeed a problem.

Hollow spheres are difficult to make, so valves are difficult to mass-produce.

Wanli tried to recall for a while, then continued to gesture, "The valve of the steam engine can actually be made into a cylinder with four holes, two inlet and two outlet, corresponding to the steam inlet and outlet of the front and rear chambers of the steam piston.

That way, you just have to move the cylinder up and down with the iron rod outside the piston, and the steam will flow in and out without any problem."

What he said seemed more abstract than teaching.

However, when he demonstrated, he made a round hole in one hand, and the index finger of the other hand represented a cylinder. He also demonstrated the positions of the four holes and the corresponding finger gaps.

This gesture is very intuitive. As long as the cylinder moves up and down, two of the four holes will correspond to the air inlet of one cabin and the air outlet of another cabin, while the other two holes are completely sealed.

Moreover, cylinders and round holes are much easier to process than spheres and hollow spheres. The machines they use to process gun barrels, cannon barrels, bullets, and artillery shells can be used to process cylinders and cylindrical holes.

Upon seeing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded excitedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I understand."

Seeing this, Wang Zheng looked at Wanli with admiration, as if he had seen a god.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "I'm glad you understand. Let's go and have a look at other workshops."

Then, he took Xu Guangqi and others to visit all kinds of workshops in the Mountain Resort, including those that processed muskets and cannons, cast boiler pipes, manufactured oil barrels and pipes, and so on.

The more Wang Zheng watched, the more excited he became, acting like a madman.

Bi Maokang was also very excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Wanli then took the group to the huge workshop where muskets were assembled, and then he said solemnly: "I believe you have all studied The Great Learning, and I believe you are all familiar with the Eight Points of The Great Learning.

Investigate things, seek knowledge, be sincere, have a correct mind, cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world.

Among the Four Books and Five Classics, "The Great Learning" is excerpted from the 42nd chapter of "The Book of Rites". Why was "The Great Learning" extracted from "The Book of Rites" among the Five Classics and made one of the Four Books?
This is naturally because "The Great Learning" has its unique features. As long as one learns the essence of the eight principles of "The Great Learning" and puts them into practice, then, not to mention becoming a sage, one will definitely have no problem becoming a capable minister in governing the country.

The problem is that many scholars nowadays regard the last four of the Eight Principles - self-cultivation, family regulation, governance of the state, and peace in the world - as golden sayings, and they say them every day, as if "The Great Learning" only had these four principles and no eight.

Their purpose is not to cultivate themselves, manage their families, or pacify the world. They just want to govern the country, seize the power to govern the country, and thus gain benefits for themselves.

However, they deliberately ignored the true essence of "The Great Learning" - the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things.

Today's scholars have been led astray. Most of them study just to fight for power and gain the greatest benefits for themselves.

Liangfu and Menghou, I know that you have learned the true essence of university, and what you want is to study things and acquire knowledge.

Therefore, today I have shown you the results of the study of things and the pursuit of knowledge. I can also let my father-in-law teach you everything here, so that you can carry forward the study of things and the pursuit of knowledge.

Are you willing to learn from the father-in-law?"

Is there any need to ask this?

Wang Zheng and Bi Maokang immediately knelt down and said sincerely, "Father-in-law, please accept me as your disciple."

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei only then realized that Wanli was too busy, so he wanted him to teach these things to Wang Zheng and Bi Maokang.

He also knew that Wang Zheng and Bi Maokang were able to pass the imperial examination, which meant they were definitely much better than him. He was just a craftsman who was familiar with literature and writing, while these two were from a formal professional background.

These two disciples will definitely carry forward everything here.

He thought it over carefully, then nodded solemnly, "Okay, I'll take you in on behalf of His Majesty. I hope you can carry forward the path of studying things to gain knowledge."

(End of this chapter)