Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 273: The Dark Side of the Bingchen Examination (Part 2)
"Brother Song, please come this way."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Zhang."
As the compiler of the Encyclopedia of Chinese Crafts in the 17th century, Zhu Youdong is very familiar with Song Yingxing's name.
This man passed the Jiangxi provincial examination last year (29 years old), and then went to Beijing to participate in the joint examination with his brother Song Yingsheng who also passed the examination at the same time. From 1616 to 1628, the two brothers participated in five joint examinations and failed all of them. Finally, the two brothers, frustrated and discouraged, gave up the idea of taking the imperial examination and followed their own interests.
This is how classic works like "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" came into being.
For Zhu Youdong, there was no benefit in having one more Song Yingxing among the Ming Dynasty officials, and no harm in having one less. But letting Song Yingxing waste twelve years on the imperial examination was a huge loss.
Therefore, I will let you pass the imperial examination in advance. After passing the imperial examination, you will be a member of the imperial court, and also my person...
Of course, although the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty are full of shady dealings, such as the provincial examinations, the provincial examinations, and even the metropolitan examinations, there was a period of time in history when the Donglin Party could make all the candidates in Jiangsu and Zhejiang their own people, and Qian Qianyi had no bottom line in doing shady dealings in the imperial examinations. But Zhu Youdong is different from them: he is the crown prince! If the crown prince took the lead in doing shady dealings in the imperial examinations and was caught red-handed, the damage to the country's credibility would be fatal.
Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to publicly call someone like Song Yingxing to Xinghua Palace. Not to mention these two, Zhu Youdong also had someone privately warn the twelve candidates from Fangshan who participated in the imperial examination this year: It’s okay if you all do poorly in this year’s imperial examination. But even if you all do well, I can only admit half of you at most - there is no other way, the feelings of the scholars in the world must be taken into consideration.
Therefore, even if we want to leave questions for these two brothers, we have to be careful about the method and approach.
This matter has to be done by the Jinyiwei.
As a professional spy agency in the country, Jinyiwei has all kinds of talents. After receiving Zhu Youdong's order, Tian Ergeng sent a Jinyiwei from Jiangxi to approach the Song brothers in the name of a fellow villager.
Of course, in those days, the proportion of scholars in each province was extremely small. Even if the juren from different provinces had never met each other, they could quickly find a common acquaintance once they mentioned their names. Therefore, it was not possible to directly pretend to be a juren from Jiangxi.
What should he pretend to be? He could only pretend to be a middle-aged Jiangxi man who had no hope of passing the imperial examination and had come to Beijing to live with his relatives.
In short, after Tian Ergeng locked onto the Song brothers according to Zhu Youdong's request, he immediately sent a "Beijing Drifter" to approach the Song brothers. This "Beijing Drifter" who was generous and friendly quickly won the favor and trust of the Song brothers. On the third day of February, six days before the examination, this "Beijing Drifter" successfully brought the two brothers to visit the Fangshan Laboratory in Tsinghua Park.
"Brother Zhang, this Fangshan Laboratory is known as the place where the Ming Dynasty has the most brilliant research skills. Every invention inside can bring in countless profits. How did we get in like this?"
"Hahaha, Chang Geng, don't worry. I'm very familiar with the people here. Besides, Fangshan Laboratory is now divided into two major sections: civilian and military. I'm just taking you to visit the civilian laboratory."
"Oh, I see. Although I can only watch a part of it, I am very grateful. To be honest, Brother Zhang, I am not very interested in this imperial examination. It's just that my family hasn't had a Jinshi for many years, and it's hard to continue in the village, so I had to do it reluctantly. My greatest interest is still in these techniques of studying things."
"I understand, I understand. I myself have failed the provincial examination for many years, so how could I not know that many scholars in our Ming Dynasty actually do not like to take the imperial examination. It is just that they are forced to serve in the army if they fail to pass the imperial examination, and it is difficult for them to compete with the Ming government in their hometown if they fail to pass the imperial examination, so they do it reluctantly."
"That's right."
"Let's stop talking nonsense. Please enter this room. Look, this is the 'Huijuan' spinning machine that was successfully developed by the Fangshan Laboratory of our Ming Dynasty three years ago. It was named after the sister of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of our Ming Dynasty. This machine can be used to spin yarn, which can increase the efficiency of our current cotton yarn workers by eighty to one hundred times. Please look again, this is the 'Changluo' flying shuttle, which was named by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in memory of Prince Huiren. With this machine, the efficiency of weaving can also be greatly improved. And this is called the 'Youxiao' machine. It was improved by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's brother Zhu Youxiao based on the flying shuttle and the 'Huijuan' spinning machine. It uses water power as a power source, and the cotton yarn spun is fine, soft, and strong, and its efficiency is hundreds of times more than that of the current ordinary looms in our Ming Dynasty..."
"Hiss~~ I've heard for a long time that something developed by Fangshan Laboratory can change the color of the sky and the earth, but I didn't expect it to be so advanced. Brother Zhang, since this thing can improve the efficiency of spinning and weaving so much, why not make it public earlier? If this thing appears in the world, the cost of clothing for the people of our Ming Dynasty will definitely be much cheaper."
"Hahahaha, let me answer this question for the two of you."
"I?" Looking at the boy who suddenly appeared in front of them, who was about the same height as the two of them, but looked only fifteen or sixteen years old. The two Songs looked at each other, and quickly reacted, then bowed in great surprise: "Student greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Well, please don't be polite. The imperial examination is coming soon. In order to avoid gossip, I have no choice but to do this. Please forgive me."
"I dare not. It is an honor for my students to be valued by His Highness."
"Okay." Obviously, these two people are not pedantic. Zhu Youdong nodded and said, "You two, I could have made these things a long time ago. But why didn't I dare to make them public? Of course, it's because if we just show them to the public, it will cause social unrest."
"The students seemed to have grasped something, but they didn't get what they wanted."
"Haha, I want to ask you, if this 'Huijuan' spinning machine is made public, will it be widely adopted by the people?"
"certainly."
"In the past, a weaver could only produce a few ounces of cotton yarn a day. With this, we can produce several kilograms of cotton yarn a day. So, can the cotton production keep up?"
"cannot."
"Then what?"
"Well, the students understand. Then the price of cotton will soar, and the people will convert their grain fields into cotton fields, and then the price of grain will soar."
"What else?"
"Uh..." Song Yingxing thought for a moment and said, "Also, many weavers in Ming Dynasty will lose their jobs and have no food or clothing."
"Anything else?"
"besides……"
"Hahaha~" Zhu Youdong laughed heartily: "It doesn't matter if you can't think of it for now, go back and think about it carefully. Thinking of the problem is not a skill, you still have to think about how to solve such problems. After all, we can't completely stop using new technologies just because the emergence of new technologies will bring some social problems, right? To be honest, these things are not finished products. My Fangshan Laboratory is still researching machines that can continuously provide stable power anytime and anywhere. With that, the real industrial revolution will begin."
The Song brothers just listened to the Industrial Revolution. But no matter what, as two brothers who were not mentally retarded, they knew very clearly: This is the topic of this year's examination, right? Otherwise, His Highness was full and told them this?
"You probably understand why I'm telling you all this. That's why you must keep today's incident to yourself. Once you leave this door, don't say a word to anyone outside! If this matter gets out, the prestige of the court will be damaged, and your career will end here. So, please, please!"
"Yes, Your Highness, we are grateful for your kindness to our students. This matter will never be spread to others."
"Well, this Zhang Zongqi is from the Jinyiwei. He is just following orders, so please don't be dissatisfied with him."
"I dare not. We have no such thought."
"Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness!"
"Hey, you work for me, how can I let you suffer any injustice?" After giving his subordinates an order, Zhu Youdong walked up to Song Yingxing and patted him on the shoulder: "Chang Geng, prepare well, I am very optimistic about you. After the palace examination, I will send you to the Fangshan Laboratory... You see, this 'Youxiao' machine is really an improvement completed by my younger brother. Although he is only eleven years old, his talent in mechanics is more than a hundred times stronger than mine. He has only studied basic physics in Fangshan School for a few years, but he can already apply what he has learned. I firmly believe that if you enter Fangshan, your role will be even greater!"
"Your Highness, I am so lucky to have your Highness know my humble name and personally remind me of it. Please rest assured, I will do my best for you in the future, until my death!"
