"Among the thirteen departments of the Academy of Arts, there is a department called the Scientific Research Department. This is the cradle of science that I planned for the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Gaojie said, "Science cannot develop in a hurry. We cannot say that if we want to develop an intercontinental missile today, we can build it tomorrow. If we want to develop an intercontinental missile, it will take at least a hundred years for the Ming Dynasty."
He had discussed this issue with Lao Feng before. If he wanted to develop nuclear weapons, the most important technology was the refining of uranium-235. To extract enough uranium material to make an atomic bomb requires tens of thousands of high-speed centrifuges with a speed of more than 20,000 rpm. I can’t even understand the atomic bomb, let alone the more technically difficult intercontinental missile.
Zhu Gaojie wanted to build an advanced musket. He could draw a highly precise design drawing using his memory, and then let the blacksmith hammer it out hammer by hammer.
But developing nuclear weapons and developing muskets are two different concepts. Muskets can be hammered out by a blacksmith, while nuclear weapons require corresponding technological levels and national strength.
Zhu Gaojie could speed up the Ming Dynasty's national power. He could develop steam engines and generators for the Ming Dynasty during his lifetime... but he could not raise a country's technological level to a level that did not belong to this country.
Decades are like a drop in the ocean in the long river of time. It is unrealistic to fill the ocean with a grain of millet.
"Although I cannot develop an intercontinental missile in my lifetime, I can put the Ming Dynasty's scientific research on the right track in my lifetime."
Zhu Gaojie continued, "Scientific research in the Ming Dynasty was poor and there was no scientific education capability at all. We must start with the Scientific Research Department to screen out scientific research talents. Only when there are enough talents can we establish the Academy of Sciences and train batches of scientific researchers. , so that our Ming Dynasty’s scientific research level will always remain at the forefront of the world.”
“If scientific research is weak, the country will be weak; if scientific research is strong, the country will be prosperous.”
"If Zhao Kuo from two thousand years ago was given a thousand artillery pieces, you would see whether he could defend Changping. This would be a crushing defeat for scientific research."
Zhu Di frowned solemnly: "So, through strong national power to promote the development of scientific research, the development of scientific research will feed back the prosperity of national power. What our Ming Dynasty needs most is actually scientific research. Through scientific research, we can develop more advanced weapons?"
"Father is wise, but only half wise."
Zhu Gaojie shook his head, "What the Ming Dynasty needs most is indeed scientific research, but it is not to study advanced weapons through scientific research."
Zhu Di was a little puzzled: "What is that? Apart from developing advanced weapons, what is the use of scientific research?"
"Does the Ming Dynasty need weapons?"
Zhu Gaojie asked rhetorically, "With the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, it can fully support the conquest of more than 500,000 sophisticated troops. Which country in the world can stop the Ming Dynasty? Even without advanced weapons, in this era, no country can Can be an enemy of Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Di felt baffled: "Then what kind of scientific research are we doing? Why don't we just do the damn thing? You supervise the country, and I will lead the troops. Let's work together to fight for some provinces in Ming Dynasty first!"
Whether on land or at sea, the Ming Empire was nearly invincible in terms of foreign wars.
Hundreds of thousands of troops can be gathered on land, and Zheng He's navy is the most powerful at sea. With no shortage of silver and food, Zhu Di is confident that in his lifetime, the Ming Dynasty will surpass the Yuan Empire and become an unprecedented glorious country.
What more scientific research do I need when I’m so arrogant?
Just do it and it’s done!
Zhu Gaojie said calmly: "If you go by your thoughts, Zuo Zuo of the Ming Dynasty should not be more than fifty years old."
Zhu Di asked in shock: "What did you say?"
What words!
I led the Ming Dynasty to conquer a wider territory and made the Ming Dynasty more prosperous and powerful. But in the end, the Ming Dynasty became shorter?
In his simulation, even the Ming Dynasty, which suffered many disasters, remained strong for a full 276 years. The glorious empire went into the sunset, and finally collapsed under the torment of Emperor Chongzhen.
"Father, the general trend of the world is that if it is divided for a long time, it will be reunited and it will be divided for a long time. When the empire is strong, it will decline."
Zhu Gaojie said in a deep voice, "If according to your wishes, the Ming Dynasty is allowed to unscrupulously expand its territory and herd horses in the Tianshan Mountains, the Ming Dynasty will surely perish in fifty years. There are three reasons."
Zhu Di frowned and asked, "What three reasons?"
"First, the extreme wall of the empire."
Zhu Gaojie stretched out his index finger and said seriously, "The extreme wall of the empire refers to the limit of the country's rule. This limit is usually the place where the army arrives one hundred days from departure. Within this range, the empire can implement effective rule. Once it exceeds this scope, the country will lose its ability to implement policies and suppress military force."
"It was as vast as the Yuan Dynasty, and when a hero like Kublai Khan was in power, it could barely overcome the huge pressure brought by the extreme wall of the empire. But once Kublai Khan died, the Yuan Empire quickly fell apart."
Zhu Di fell into deep thought. Not only the Yuan Dynasty, but also the Ming Dynasty was already facing troubles at the extreme end of the empire.
Like Shandong, Shanxi, Henan... these provinces close to Beizhili, Zhu Di can wield them like an arm. Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang and other southern provinces can also be ruled directly under the constraints of Southern Zhili.
However, provinces far away from the capital, such as Guangxi, Sichuan, Guangdong, and Fujian, would have gradually lost control if Zhu Gaojie's two western expeditions had not deepened the court's prestige.
Not to mention places like Uszangdusi and Duogandusi. They are already part of China. They are only nominally the territory of the Ming Dynasty and have no actual control at all.
The mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and the problem of the extreme wall of the empire has always troubled every unified dynasty.
"Secondly, there's population pressure."
Zhu Gaojie continued, "The Ming Dynasty's foreign wars have never been based on burning, killing and looting, but mostly on conquering cities and territories. We fight to completely conquer the territory we occupy and assimilate the people here, so that they can live forever Become a wise man.”
"But assimilating a place requires a large population. We have to move a large number of Ming people there first, let the Ming people intermarry with the foreigners, establish a Chinese academy, and let the Han civilization cover the foreign civilization."
"In order to assimilate the three provinces of Jianzhou, Goryeo, and Yingzhou, the Ming Dynasty moved millions of Ming people and built hundreds of Chinese language colleges. It was impossible to restore a large population in a short period of time. Even when the southwest rebelled, the Ming Dynasty Even if the rebellion is suppressed, assimilation will not be possible as before.”
"Because the population is not enough, the population is not enough, and Annan Province cannot be ignored. Otherwise, within three years, Annan Province will be in chaos and there will be endless backlash."
"What should we do? We can only use the worst strategy to kill the survivors of Jiaozhi until rivers of blood flow and kill all the rebels. This will buy time for Annan Province so that Annan Province does not have the manpower to rebel. Wait until the population of Ming Dynasty slows down. Come on, let’s assimilate Annan Province again.”
"It is difficult to conquer a country, but it is even harder to defend it. If we really follow what you said, father, and unscrupulously expand the territory, we will conquer it in the first year and lose it in the second year. It will be a waste of national power. No matter how powerful the country is, I can’t stand the consumption like this.”
Zhu Di frowned and realized that things were not simple.
You worked so hard to get a piece of land, but it turns out that you can't assimilate it. What should you do? You can only hang on for a while. After hanging on, you will find that this land no longer belongs to you.
Who is willing to do this loss-making business?
The previous problem of the empire's extreme wall has not been solved, and another population problem has arisen. Zhu Di feels like his head is getting bigger now.
"Whether it's the extreme wall of the empire or population pressure, it won't cause the Ming Dynasty to fall, right?"
Zhu Di grasped the crux of the problem and asked, "Are you exaggerating a bit?"
"Exaggerating? Father, have you forgotten one thing? War costs money."
Zhu Gaojie said coldly, "The Ming Dynasty is not short of money, but it is short of food. Let alone that we have not yet carried out farming in the southwest, and cannot make the southwest, a large granary province, effective. Even if we turn Annan Province into a farming It is also unrealistic for a large province to maintain hundreds of thousands of troops in foreign wars for a long time."
"You can't buy food only if you have money. If we spread out all the money in the treasury and exchange it for food and grass, we can indeed solve the urgent need, but we will also run into another problem - the loss of silver."
"Whether it is aristocratic families or ordinary people, they all have a habit of burying their money underground. Because this thing is hard currency, they recognize silver but not treasure banknotes. Once a large amount of silver from the national treasury flows into the private sector, , and the people have always been unable to buy silver, and will fall into the dilemma of a silver crisis. The currency on the market will not be able to circulate, and the entire dynasty will turn from living water to stagnant water."
"Furthermore, because the treasury dumps silver into the private sector, it will also create another more difficult situation, inflation."
Zhu Di once again learned a new vocabulary: "Inflation?"
Zhu Gaojie explained: "Because the supply of money exceeds the actual demand for money, a vicious cycle leads to currency depreciation and silver becomes worthless, causing a rapid rise in prices."
"Silver is fixed, but prices are soaring. The country gives money to the people, but the people become poorer and poorer. A simple description is: the people are getting richer, so the people are getting poorer. "
"Currency imbalance leads to economic collapse. Is the country still far from extinction?"
Zhu Di fell into deep thought.
Imperial collapse, demographic crisis, inflation.
Each of them is a disaster that is enough to cause a powerful empire to decline rapidly. If Zhu Di's vision continues, it is estimated that the Ming Dynasty will face these three disasters at the same time.
Expanding territory is sometimes not a good thing. The Yuan Empire was trying to destroy itself. It forced a cup that could only hold one part of water to hold nine parts of water. In the end, not only could it not hold the water, but the cup could not hold it. Will explode.
The more Zhu Di thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he lost his voice and said: "Then I will become a foolish king like the emperor?"
This time, Zhu Gaojie was silent.
Called the Son of Heaven.
Throughout China's five thousand years of history, there is only one person who can win the title of Emperor. His record was quite shocking in any dynasty, and Zhu Gaojie had naturally heard of that name.
The emperor of the clan, the foreign student from Wala, the supreme emperor, the two emperors, the spy of the Ming Dynasty Zero Seven... Zhu Qizhen!
Zhu Gaojie took a deep breath and asked tentatively: "The king of heaven covers the tiger of earth?"
Zhu Di: "?"
Seeing that the old man did not respond, Zhu Gaojie asked again: "Palace Jade Liquid Wine?"
Zhu Di: "???"
Zhu Gaojie: "I am your father."
Zhu Di: "??????"
Zhu Gaojie made up his mind to make a big move. He first brewed his emotions, and then said firmly: "Comrade!"
Zhu Di finally couldn't help it anymore: "Are you fucking possessed by a ghost? What nonsense are you talking about!"
Zhu Gaojie observed his words and made sure that the old man was not disguising himself.
This unscientific!
He had doubted that the old man was a time traveler for a day or two, but he always felt that if the old man was really a time traveler, something was not right.
But the old man could always come up with some new tricks for him. Whenever Zhu Gaojie didn't doubt the other party, the old man would suddenly say two new words.
The AK and M4 have just tolerated it. Now the old man has even used words like intercontinental missiles and "mentianzi". Isn't it a bit too much?
You old man Zhu Di, you still say that you are not a time traveler!
Zhu Gaojie showed his cards: "Brother, stop pretending, I have seen through your disguise, and I have called you dad for so many years. Is it interesting?"
Zhu Di looked unkind: "Why, do you still want me to call you dad?"
Zhu Gaojiu sneered and confirmed that the old man was the time traveler: "When were you born? You're probably not older than me. I was born in 1949. It's definitely enough to be your father based on seniority, but it doesn't matter. I call you brother." , you call me dad, we will do our own thing from now on, no one owes the other."
Zhu Di was trembling with anger: "Have you always been so brave?"
Seeing the old man's expression, Zhu Gaojie also realized that something was wrong.
It seems... the other party doesn't seem to be faking...
How is this possible? The old man just had to write the words "traveler" on his face!
Zhu Gaojie asked tentatively: "Brother, are you really not from time travel?"
Zhu Di forced to suppress the anger in his heart: "What do you think?"
Zhu Gaojie: "Do you want me to guess?"
Damn it!
The opposite side really doesn’t seem to be from time travel!
But if the other party is really Zhu Di, then what he just said...
hiss! The comedy effect is extremely explosive!
The clown is myself!
Zhu Gaojie didn't dare to think about it further. He fell into deep thought, thinking about how he could avoid this disaster.
Wait, he has another trump card!
…
"Grandpa, save me!"
Zhu Gaojie shouted in his mind, "Grandpa, my father is crazy. Go out and teach him a lesson!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was happy: "You had fun playing with him, didn't you? I won't get involved. You can continue playing."
He laughed so hard in the world in his mind!
Damn it, I call you brother, you call me dad, we both have our own things to do.
Can this be nonsense?
However, seeing the father and son playing mysteries and making themselves twitch, Lao Zhu was quite happy. Seeing that Zhu Di was unhappy, he instantly became happy.
Sure enough, the smile doesn't disappear out of thin air, it just moves from one person's face to another.
Zhu Gaojie almost peed: "Grandpa, you can't just ignore death. Your grandson is also working hard for the Ming Dynasty. If you don't think about your grandson, you have to think about the Ming Dynasty!"
(End of chapter)
