Xinshun 1730

Chapter 391 The Dilemma of Science

The emperor can be regarded as a religious leader in a certain sense, and there are some things that the emperor is not easy to express: the study of farming and the study of villains.Witch doctors and musicians are all craftsmen, and gentlemen despise them.

The emperor is promoting practical learning with great fanfare. What is this for?
If the money given is more than that of the Imperial Academy, and the doctoral level is equal to that of the Imperial Academy, then the emperor is a disqualified emperor and will be sprayed to death.

His mouth is full of righteousness, and his heart is full of business. The most fundamental reason is that he is worried about robbing him of a place in the imperial examination in the future.

The emperor wanted to do something, but he didn't want to cause an uproar, so he could only use this awkward way to declare that the Academy of Sciences was a "second-class person", lower than the orthodox Imperial College.

The "Renaissance of Practical Learning" practiced by the Northern Confucianism is also a fool's dream.Just like Dashun still gave up the policy theory to engage in stereotyped writing back then, if you want to do this, you have enough money, but if you don't have enough money, it depends on the folks, so the quota will definitely be monopolized by various associations.

After all, there is still no money.

If there is no money, but also to ensure the fair distribution of old cakes, it can only be unfair in a small area.

Practical learning can only be carried out in the capital, Liangjiazi, Songjiang, and Jinghai, and cannot be extended to the whole country.

However, this method is actually not working well.

The Academy of Sciences has to be rich.

The British Royal Society, which has no money, not only has less funding, but also has to pay for membership. After Newton died, it has now become a "noble exchange salon".

If you study theology or law, you have unlimited prospects and unlimited money. If you are engaged in science, you have no money to get it. It depends on your interest, which is nonsense.

So Britain, which had produced Bacon and Newton, immediately moved its academic center to France following the death of Lord Niu.

Because ... the French Academy of Sciences has an annual grant.

However, Dashun's Academy of Sciences is unlikely to get funding, the emperor has made it very clear.

On the household government side, it is impossible to let go, why should the money be given to these students?With this money, why don't you build more villages and spread the words of the sage?

On the emperor's side, even if there is internal money, it must be a bowl of water. To subsidize the Academy of Sciences, it must subsidize the Imperial College.

Parents' short-sighted thoughts can be imagined as a sister-in-law relationship.The sister-in-law's parents-in-law bought gold and silver, but if the younger siblings didn't, that's fine, as long as the younger brother is not the eldest son, but a concubine; vice versa.

Confucianism is the eldest son, and practical learning is the son of the concubine. This must be clarified.Conversely, the scholar-bureaucrats wanted to dismiss the exam and ask the Qing emperor to take the side.

This is a matter of attitude. Scholars form associations to write newspapers, and public opinion must be prepared for a rainy day. The emperor can't afford to provoke them, and he dare not provoke them.

The money for setting up practical schools and academies of sciences is considered to be taken from the future Japanese indemnity, which can be directly transferred without taking the account, and then it will not work.

Seeing what Liu Yu wanted to say, Li Gan said with a smile, "Aiqing is rich, and in Weihai, she subsidizes practical studies and runs workshops. If you contribute money, it will be easy for me. I also know that you have invested a lot of money in the navy. I remember all this, but I really can’t pay for this matter. If I don’t pay, if you have the ability to ask the household government to pay, you might as well discuss it in the court..."

Liu Yu thought what the hell, it would be fine if I had that ability.

"Your Majesty, money can be used for financial support, or please donate. But what about fame? Common people ask for fame and fortune. Fame, won't His Majesty give it to you? Doctor of the Academy of Sciences, from the fifth rank, and then down to the sixth rank, Ruo Guozijian Assistant Professor, is the sixth rank, Then the assistant professor of the Academy of Sciences is only the sixth grade, and there is no possibility of being an official. If you do something, it’s okay to reward some names?"

Li Gan asked back: "What name do you want me to reward? From the fifth rank, the third rank robe, and the third rank rule? What about the doctor of the Imperial College? Where is the assistant teacher of the Imperial College? I heard that you are in Weihai, and you reward the craftsman with tens of thousands of taels for a piece of machinery. , even if the cannon is bored, according to the rules, I can only reward 500 taels or 1000 taels. You can't let me reward Xu Forbidden City for riding a horse?"

"If you make a boring machine, do you want to be rewarded with a third-grade robe? If the great Confucian of the Japanese country produced "Mencius Justice", should I also be rewarded with a third-grade robe? If the great Confucian of the country wrote a book "Six Enlightenments", should I be rewarded?" Riding a horse in the Forbidden City?"

After finishing speaking, he laughed again: "Aiqing is the heir of a noble family. I think Aiqing is too proficient all the way, but she thinks that the fifth grade is too low? Not low, not low. Not everyone is like you, Jinyiyu Even if you don’t have the status of an honorary guard, you can’t look down on the fifth rank.”

"There won't be too much funding for a year. I also know that you encourage practical learning and reward craftsmen in Weihai, and it costs tens of thousands. But you can pay, it's a donation, and it's similar to playing in the eyes of scholar-bureaucrats."

"Some people spend a lot of money on painting boats, and some people spend a lot of money in the Academy of Sciences. In the eyes of some people, they are all playing, and there is no difference."

"You want me to bear the title of 'Emperor Carpenter'?"

"I can't afford to pay. Anyway, you are a dead pig and you are not afraid of boiling water. Everyone in the court knows that you are a heretic, so they can make a noise and attack you."

"I promise you that when Nanyang affairs are settled in the future, if there are really two or three Henan tax revenues, some more money can be allocated every year. But the name can only be given here."

Liu Yu bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, please see for yourself, so that those who have meritorious service can see the sky."

Li Gan thought for a while, got up and paced around a few times, and sighed faintly.

He was actually a little embarrassed in his heart, Liu Yu invested a lot of money in the navy, and also invested a lot of money in the Qingzhou army, but the detailed work said that those people were grateful to the emperor when they were paid, and they had no selfish intentions. Li Gan could trust this.

If Liu Yu really wanted to gain military power, or engage in a private army, he would not have promoted military reforms, nor would he have resorted to writing all he had learned throughout his life, and he would have kept nothing private.

Is it useful to engage in science?
Li Gan didn't have much experience before, so it's hard to say.

But now, the new cannons have been equipped with the Forbidden Army, and there are also a lot of taxes collected from new items such as glass and matches every year, which is clearly visible.

Liu Yu didn't engage in the textile industry, and the handicraft industry went bankrupt. They were all scratches or things from scratch. I didn't see the disadvantages brought by technological progress to the imperial power, which is the best base for small farmers, but the benefits are real. seen.

Liu Yu threw a lot of money in Weihai, which made the emperor feel a little pained.He also knew that with Liu Yu's temperament, the money issue would not be resolved, and although he was embarrassed, he accepted it calmly.

Now that Liu Yu didn't mention money, it showed that the funding was still the same, but now he only asked for a name for those craftsmen, which was a bit difficult.

The original calendar war between the East and the West was already in full swing: Why does Your Majesty value the Barbarians and the Di and despise the Xias?

Li Gan really didn't want to wear such a big hat. When he personally met these craftsmen, the next sentence was: Why does Your Majesty value lowly careers and despise gentlemen?

After pacing around for several times, Li Gan finally nodded and said, "Yes, but not now."

Liu Yu didn't know what time the emperor was talking about, but he didn't ask.

Li Gan thought to himself, after the war against the Japanese is over, with the power of victory, I will visit the Huaihe River, the Canal, Jiangnan, and Songjiang, and then I will meet Confucian scholars, talented children, great Confucianists, and academic leaders from all over the country, and then I will come back to see these Craftsman, low key, or doable.

But he wanted to see the events of the Canal, Lianghuai, Jiangnan, and Songjiang with his own eyes, so he couldn't say at this time, and he didn't say when.

Seeing that the emperor had let go, Liu Yu said, "The minister first kowtowed to His Majesty on behalf of those craftsmen."

The emperor accepted it safely, which is a matter of course under the three views at this time. The emperor was able to save face and meet these craftsmen in person, which was considered a great face.

Liu Yu was actually quite satisfied with being able to achieve this.

He knew what was going on in the Academy of Sciences at this time. The power point of science had not yet been reached, and science was not technology.

After Newton's death, the Royal Society became an aristocratic society.

The Russian Academy of Sciences has been shining since it was first established a few years ago, but now it is also forced to disperse.

Leibniz advocated the establishment of the Berlin Academy of Sciences all his life, without a penny of funding, and Frederick described science as "empty formula waste" and "meaningful word-for-word", relying on "calendar monopoly" to earn funds , a group of top scientists rely on astronomical technology to sell calendars.

Although the French Academy of Sciences can be regarded as the academic focus at this time, when Liu Yu came to this world, the French Academy of Sciences still firmly believed that there is no gravity.

It wasn't until the second and third years after Liu Yu came to this world that Voltaire went to attend Newton's funeral, and then he brought back the theory of universal gravitation. Here comes the letter, don't believe Newton's gravitational nonsense.

As for the translation of Newton's great work into French for official circulation, it may have to rely on Voltaire's concubine, and it is estimated that there is no French version yet.

Liu Yu has blurred the concepts of science and technology, and has been fooling the emperor. He knows that what the emperor wants is not the science that shakes the god-given power of the king, but the technology that can protect the power of the emperor, so he has been investing money only for results.

He even spared no expense to prepare another road for the future, so that when the situation is not going well, rely on "the Grand Canal that does not need water, only needs two rails, and can communicate east, west, north and south" as the final guarantee.

It's a particularly awkward time for science at this point.

It is on the threshold of quantitative change and qualitative change, but whether it is a Jenny machine, a steam engine, a boring machine, or a nautical clock, it has nothing to do with scientists, but is made by craftsmen by hand.

Newton lost to craftsmen who were good at rubbing nautical clocks. The power of science is really a joke at this time.But no one would have thought that what Frederick denounced as "vain formula waste" and "meaningful words" would become the most powerful existence in just a few decades.

The meaning of science at this time in the West is no different from that of Eastern poetry, ancient precepts, and classics.

Some aristocratic members of the British Society spent their entire lives drawing various mushrooms; Newton quietly denied the Trinity and spent his entire life proving the existence of God; the preface to the mathematical principles of natural philosophy says that God created the world, and The laws of the world's operation, and then leave it alone, so all scientific discoveries are to prove the laws set by God...

This was originally a game between the priesthood and the aristocrats. In Dashun, it was to figure out what is meant by Gang Chang, what is meant by Heavenly Dao, what is meant by Qi, and what is meant by Yuan.

British aristocrats painted mushrooms for fun, wasn’t Xu Xiake just for fun?Too.

Behaviorally, there's really not much difference.

But with more play, natural history emerged, which then paved the way for descriptive biology.

Therefore, the way of copying will not work. There are too few scholar-bureaucrats interested in Xu Xiake's style of play, so they can only choose Liu Yu's route of starting a new one to change the three views and investing money in technology to see results.

Liu Yu didn't expect too much from the emperor, and it was unexpected to be able to get to this point, and it was also the return of the new cannon and glass brought by the huge amount of money he had invested in before—although this had nothing to do with science, But Liu Yu pretended to be related, and the emperor couldn't figure it out, thinking that he had to learn science to do it, so he supported it.

That being the case, to be able to have the honor of being "received" by the emperor, coupled with the official rank from the fifth rank, is considered acceptable.It is estimated that no matter how many people come, Liu Yu is satisfied.

He must be in charge of the Academy of Sciences, and he can't find anyone else.This gave him a lot of room for maneuver.

The emperor didn't even mention the nonsense of who would take the lead in formulating the regulations in the Academy of Sciences, and said directly: "After these things are done, after you are newly married, you might as well talk to your practical teacher Dai Shilang. How to plan, the geometry of the land, the garden For construction, as long as it does not exceed the limit, if you are willing to donate, you can get money to expand, as you like. Land, I can give; money, I only have so much."

(End of this chapter)