Peking.
A brand new college was established here.
At the entrance of the academy, there were seven large characters:
Ming Royal Military Academy!
The college has already been completed and students have begun to arrive.
The Military Academy is different from the other three academies. Whether it is the Medical Academy, the Agricultural Academy, or the Mathematical Academy, there is no one behind the scenes to support and promote it except the imperial court.
Farmers do not have the ability to come together and strongly support agricultural colleges.
Both doctors and imperial physicians regarded their medical skills as treasures. Not only did they not support medical schools, many people were even very resistant to them.
The accountants have a low status and are also unable to support the development of the School of Mathematics.
Only the Military Academy is different.
Those noble military officials, relying on their contributions to the founding of the country, were granted titles of dukedom and had tremendous power. If it were at the time of the founding of the country, they might not care about this small military academy at all and would not have given it too much support.
But over the past decade or so since the founding of the country, these meritorious and military officials have gradually felt the changes .
When they were fighting for the world, generals and warriors like them were the most popular.
But as the world was conquered, they felt more and more that their status was about to be lost, especially their right to speak in the court, which had long been snatched away by those eloquent civil officials.
This caused many nobles to have a very strong sense of crisis.
At this time, the emergence of the Military Academy naturally received strong support from this group of nobles.
After the military academy was established, elites from the military across the country were sent here one after another.
Because Su Che promised Zhu Di that if he could run the military academy well, he would be rewarded with the title of General of the Northern Expedition and would be given enough soldiers and generals.
Such rewards greatly stimulated Zhu Di's motivation.
For the sake of this military academy, Zhu Di worked from dawn to dusk, doing everything to the utmost, seeking help and building relationships in various ways. The reason why he had the support of so many nobles was not entirely because these nobles attached importance to the military academy, but also partly because of Zhu Di's tireless harassment!
In addition, Zhu Di also corresponded with his father and discussed many times, and received a lot of useful suggestions.
Zhu Di also had some ideas of his own and added them to the curriculum of the Military Academy.
With the successful opening of the Military Academy, the first day of classes also began.
The first course these elite soldiers from all over the country received was mathematics.
For a qualified general, mathematical knowledge is absolutely indispensable. The estimation of food and grass, the mobilization of troops and the judgment of marching distances all require a certain amount of mathematical knowledge.
During this math course, many elite soldiers who were full of confidence were overwhelmed. They were all confused - why do they have to learn math?
Many students have this confusion.
Some students even raised their own questions.
Faced with such a question, the teacher could not help but sneer and scolded directly: "If you can't even learn this little math, how can you become a qualified general?"
"In The Art of War, there is a question called 'I don't know the total number of things', which asks how many things there are."
"The original text is: Now there are things whose total number is unknown. When you count three by three, there are two left. When you count five by five, there are three. When you count seven by seven, there are two left. How many things are there?"
"When Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War, he knew the importance of mathematics. So many years have passed, and now you think mathematics is not important?"
"What a bunch of idiots, hopelessly stupid. Anyone who asked a question today will have their tasks doubled!!"
Zhu Di walked past the door and nodded when he heard such a scolding. Many of the people who came to teach were retired veterans, and they were not afraid of this group of so-called elite soldiers.
After this scolding, all the students lowered their heads obediently and began to study seriously.
As the first class ended, the second class began after a short break.
These students thought the second lesson would be slightly easier.
However, the difficulty of the second class once again exceeded their imagination.
The second class is about physics!
If the math class just made them feel overwhelmed, the physics class really made their scalps tingle and their whole bodies went numb!
In ancient times, there were many works on mathematics, such as "Zhou Bi Suanjing", "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art", "Zhuishu", "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Book", "Sun Zi Suanjing", "Si Yuan Yu Jian", and "Su Li Jing Yun".
There are even those related to geometry. In the 34th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi began to collaborate with Matteo Ricci to translate "The Elements of Geometry". The base text used was the Latin version compiled by Clavius.
There are also books on physics, such as "Lun Heng", "Ling Xian", "Huainanzi", "Mojing", etc.
When these students heard the physics knowledge, they were all dumbfounded, but they still started to learn it.
After all, we have the foresight from the first class. If we still dare to ask the teacher why we have to learn these strange knowledge, punishment will be inevitable.
After the second class, it was time for lunch break. After listening to these two classes, many students' previous arrogance had been completely destroyed. The skills they were proud of were nothing at all in this military academy.
Fortunately, those who can enter the military academy are all elites from various places, and their IQs are not too different. The reason why they are all numb is that it is their first time and they have not yet adapted to it.
In the afternoon, they finally started the course they were more familiar with, which talked about the configuration of military weapons and the deployment of troops.
This familiar course finally helped these students find some confidence. It seems that they are not hopeless!
But very quickly .
The fourth class in the afternoon left the students dumbfounded again.
The fourth course teaches chemistry knowledge!
The students who were full of confidence a second ago, became withdrawn again...
In addition to the common types such as gunpowder and porcelain, the ancient chemical achievements also included considerable accomplishments in metal smelting.
In ancient times, people mastered the method of refining mercury very early on.
When writing about the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang in the Records of the Grand Historian, there is a relevant record: "Mercury was used to represent the rivers and seas."
It is estimated that there are between 100 and 120 tons of mercury in Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum.
But Qin Shihuang was not the first person to love mercury.
Even earlier, Duke Huan of Qi had a mercury pool in his tomb.
In other words, people had mastered the means of refining mercury during the Spring and Autumn Period, or even earlier in ancient times.
In addition, alchemists have made great contributions to chemistry.
The chemical knowledge is certainly not to enable students to make elixirs, but to let them know the principles of this knowledge.
Even Zhu Di hadn't thought of this kind of course, but Su Che took the initiative to bring it up, so that these students could have an extra course like this...
When the fourth class ended, the first day's literature class was temporarily over, and military practice courses were waiting for these soldiers.
From small things like jungle camouflage, fire making and cooking, and food gathering to big things like combat formations, battlefield transfers, target reconnaissance, and the use of various military equipment, the students of these military academies are fully scheduled.
After a full day of classes, almost all the students were exhausted.
At this time, Zhu Di stood up and began to give these students psychological support, making them understand the rarity of this military academy and that they must cherish this opportunity.
Now the opportunity to change their destiny is right in front of them. If anyone doesn’t seize it, they may never have such a good opportunity again.
As the leader of the four major academies, the Military Academy must set an example for all the scholars and literati in the world to look up to!
Let them know that there is more than just Confucianism to govern the world!
My father wants to open up new paths.
As soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, we must open up a new path for the emperor!
Following Zhu Di's passionate encouragement, the students forgot their tiredness and their resistance to unfamiliar knowledge. They made up their minds and resolutions to learn as much as they could in this academy and to stand out! !
at the same time.
In the imperial palace of Yingtian Prefecture, Su Che looked at the memorial in his hand and couldn't help but frown.
The Military Academy was progressing very smoothly, but the Agricultural College, Mathematical College, and Medical College were different. The progress was very slow, which was quite different from what Su Che had expected.
There are very few people willing to support these three colleges.
This won't do. According to Su Che's plan, the other three academies, even if they lag behind the Military Academy a little, must not lag behind too much.
In this case, we must change our thinking.
Su Che thought about it and decided to fool those nobles and military officials into supporting the other three academies.
As for the reason, it is also very simple.
These three colleges can provide certain assistance to the Military Academy.
Doctors trained in medical schools can join the army as military doctors. Does that mean that even doctors are no longer needed when we go on marches and fights?
Students taught by the School of Mathematics can be responsible for part of the military logistics.
The Agricultural College is even more critical. Once the Agricultural College has achievements, it will certainly make the Ming Dynasty's spiritual rice more sufficient. Isn't it the food that matters when marching and fighting? The food and grass must be sent before the troops move. Without the support of sufficient food and grass, the war cannot continue at all.
so.
The nobles should not only support the Military Academy, but also the other three academies!
Thinking of this, Su Che immediately began to write so that those nobles could understand the truth!
As for the possibility that these nobles may not support it?
Su Che was not worried.
The reason is simple, there is no point in not supporting it!
I have written to you and explained the interests involved. Do you still want to refuse to give me face? How can this be? You have to give more or less!
As for why the noble military officials were asked to contribute instead of the civil officials, the reason was very simple. Even if the civil officials contributed, they would probably mess things up completely! It was not uncommon for these people to have bad intentions and not contribute at all.
Wu Chen’s thinking is simpler and easier to fool!
After Su Che finished writing the letter, he looked at the other memorials again.
Since the cabinet was formed, the workload of both Su Che and Zhu Biao has been reduced a lot.
Although the cabinet was only initially formed, they soon began to play their own role.
Under the leadership of Zhu Biao, these cabinet ministers worked diligently and extremely hard.
With these cabinet ministers, Zhu Biao gradually had some time to rest, his stress was reduced a lot, and his health has improved a lot recently.
Su Che didn't want Zhu Biao to die early, and he absolutely didn't want an old man to see his young one die, so he urged him less and showed more care and concern for him.
When the cabinet showed results.
The one-whip system, which had been implemented long ago, finally got on the right track.
Thanks to Fang Keqin's unremitting efforts, the Single Whip System was successfully implemented throughout the Ming Dynasty, which to a large extent eliminated all kinds of exorbitant taxes and levies, and also eliminated the room for management corruption.
Of course, this does not mean that corruption has been completely eliminated, because it is obviously impossible to completely eliminate it. All we can do is try our best to reduce it.
In order to fully implement the Single Whip Law, Fang Keqin was not afraid of offending anyone, whether they were local officials, nobles, or even members of the royal family. He did not care.
If Su Che had not dispatched the imperial guards to serve as Fang Keqin's guards, he would probably have died several times.
Fang Keqin had offended too many people, and his reputation was getting worse and worse. The praise he had received before had completely disappeared. Many local officials, wealthy families, and even some royal relatives wanted to skin Fang Keqin alive.
As Fang Keqin gained more and more infamy, his reputation among the people became better and better.
Even though Fang Keqin's reputation has become extremely bad due to the slander of people with ulterior motives, as if he is the biggest villain and the biggest traitor in the world, the people have sharp eyes. Those people at the bottom of society know clearly who is doing good things and practical things for them.
Fang Keqin is the executor of the Single Whip Law.
The benefits this policy brings to them are real.
The lives of the lower-class people are getting better and better after being freed from those exorbitant taxes. The treasure notes that they could not spend before can now be used to pay taxes and even to offset corvee labor!
Of course, most people did not choose to use treasure notes to offset their labor service because they did not have that much money.
Most of those who paid money to pay off their labor service were wealthy families.
The money used to offset the labor service was used to buy food, and part of it was given as subsidies to those who performed labor service.
Although this money is not much, combined with a good meal, it is a very rare thing.
This is really great for the lower class people.
As long as there is a full meal to eat, what does corvée labor matter?
There’s even money to be made!
How is this corvée?
This is clearly a reward from the imperial court!
Before this, corvee labor not only required the people to work hard, but also required them to bring their own food and even endure various inhuman treatments.
But now, with the implementation of the Single Whip Law, things in these aspects have been greatly improved.
People's lives are gradually getting better. In their view, isn't this the credit of the "evil" Fang Keqin?
"Biographies of Honest Officials in Ming Dynasty" records: In that year, Fang Keqin followed the king's order to implement the Single Whip Law and established benevolent policies for the people. As a result, people all over the world built ancestral temples for him to praise his merits and restore his reputation!