Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 416: The Emperor of Pleasure?

The emperor seemed to have begun to enjoy himself. Although he did not make a long-distance tour in the eleventh year of Taichang, he arranged to go to Chengde Prefecture to escape the summer heat.

Although it was only less than a month, the total time added up was enough for a season.

Fortunately, since it is not a tour, there is no need for such a grand ceremony and the cost is not much.

Now the royal carriage has just crossed the Chaohe River and is walking on the new coastal road.

There were actually people arguing loudly among the not-so-large imperial team.

Zhu Changluo put down the curtain, opened it, and looked back: "Why are you speaking in a foreign language so anxiously? Ruoyu, go and call the two priests over. I want to hear what they are arguing about."

Soon, Galileo and Kepler came riding over together. Wang Zheng was afraid that something might go wrong, so he rode over as well.

"Is it the tides or the planetary orbits that are causing the trouble this time?"

Zhu Changluo asked directly, and Kepler immediately said: "Although there is no way to observe and prove the gravity that His Majesty the Emperor said, with His Majesty's knowledge, I believe in this theory! But he insisted that the tidal rise and fall is caused by the acceleration and deceleration of the earth planet we live on, saying that I think that the moon causes tidal rise and fall is superstitious astrological tradition! In addition, he completely ignored the changes in the size of the sun's outline in observations, and insisted that our earth planet must revolve around the sun along a perfect circular orbit, not an elliptical one!"

Looking at Galileo's flushed face, Zhu Changluo raised the corner of his mouth slightly with amusement: "Galileo, I heard you guys were arguing loudly just now, you should have a basis for rebuttal, right?"

"The book of nature must be written in mathematics!" Galileo said in a muffled voice, "If the existence of gravity cannot be proved by observation, how can we calculate and prove the elliptical orbits he mentioned?"

"Hasn't the Imperial Astronomical Observatory been doing this? The moon orbits the earth roughly once a month, and the earth orbits the sun roughly once a year. Try to measure it with a telescope, although the difference in size is almost indistinguishable within the range of what the naked eye can see. Find a way."

Two people have been arguing about these things recently.

The advantage of being in the Ming Dynasty is that no matter what the Sun-centrics say, they will never be targeted by the Inquisition.

But now the two people's disagreement is on the principles and specific rules behind it.

For example, the question that the two people are arguing about now, whether the planet's orbit is an ellipse or a circle, is actually not easy to prove.

After all, it is not easy to calculate the specific parameters of the moon's orbit with the current telescope's observation accuracy. How can we obtain the most accurate raw data for calculation when we cannot take photos of the visual size observed through the telescope?
"Your Majesty? Do you think my guess is correct?"

Kepler's eyes were full of anticipation. After all, the existence of the concept of gravity provided new support for his long-held views.

Because he observed the relationship between the regularity of tidal fluctuations and the waxing and waning of the moon, he speculated that the formation of tides was related to the rotation of the moon around the earth. If it were not for the existence of gravity, the cause of the elliptical orbit would not seem to be self-consistent - although according to his observations, only this kind of orbit can explain why the moon and the sun sometimes look bigger and sometimes smaller.

"I agree more with Kepler's inference, but it does need to be proven." Zhu Changluo replied with a smile, "Of course, we also need to consider the rotation of the earth and the refraction of light when it passes through the air. This is a long-term project. We need to make more observations, record data, and then make inferences and prove it."

After Zhu Changluo said this, Galileo seemed even more unconvinced, but he couldn't come up with any more reasons to refute, so he just sulked.

"Galileo, if there is no external force that can be proven, why do you insist that the earth will accelerate and decelerate?" Zhu Changluo consoled him, "You don't have to be obsessed with this now. Here, in the Ming Dynasty, and in the Institute of Research, haven't we all recognized the laws of celestial movement? As long as we accept the existence of universal gravitation, then not only the heliocentric theory, but all celestial bodies are guided by this law. Even the sun should be rotating around a more powerful gravitational source in the starry sky."

"Your Majesty, the great emperor, but the existence of gravity..."

"Human life is short, and the space-time scale of the universe is too vast." Zhu Changluo sighed, "Let time take over the dispute. Regarding the observation and proof of the laws of celestial motion, it may take a lifetime to record some data and come up with conjectures belonging to this generation of scholars. This matter does not need to occupy all your energy, and you can focus on things on a smaller scale. I think your thinking on mechanics, acceleration, and inertia has more in-depth value."

"Your Majesty, are you talking about the use of projectiles?" Galileo did not want to continue to be frustrated by the discussion about the laws of celestial motion. "Your Majesty, are you going to escape the summer heat and take us with you? Are you going to observe the firing of artillery again?"

"Not this time." Zhu Changluo's eyes were filled with anticipation. "Let's go to Fengrun County first. I want you to participate in the research of a machine that can change the world. This involves a lot of thinking about the laws of nature. Not only the laws of motion, but also the strength of different substances, including thermodynamics and mechanics..."

The road the imperial carriage took was a new straight road from Tongzhou to the former Kaiping Zhongtunwei.

Originally, the land roads in this area were not good. After all, the main route was from Tongzhou to the southeast via the Grand Canal to Zhigu. If you wanted to go to Liaodong, you would go there along the coastal road.

But the east side of Beijing today is not simple. It has both the military industrial park in Zunhua and the coal and iron park where Kaiping Zhongtunwei was originally located.

Although Zhu Changluo remembered the Kailuan Coal Mine, after much investigation, he finally found that although some places with coal were found in Chengde Prefecture, more coal and easier to mine were still in the Zhongtunwei area of ​​Kaiping.

This reminded Zhu Changluo of the place called Tangshan, but there is no such prefecture, state or county name yet.

Now that the location had been determined, it was natural that the main research and experimental base for the steam engine was located in Fengrun County, located between Kaiping Zhongtunwei and Zunhua.

In the future, this area will become a coal, iron and military industrial base, and there is also a planned chemical industry. Therefore, a new road was built from the east of Tongzhou to directly connect Beijing to Shanhaiguan.

After arriving in Fengrun County, Zhu Changluo got off the carriage to stretch his body, then looked back at the road.

"Ziyuan, have you arranged for the lime in Jingxing to be delivered to Hebei Province?"

The person Zhu Changluo was questioning was named Li Ruoxing, with the courtesy name Ziyuan, and he was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Taichang. The emperor had asked him to accompany him this time because he had just been promoted from the prefect of Zhending Prefecture to the right councilor of the Hebei Provincial Executive Yuan, a third-rank official in charge of industry and commerce.

The original Shuntian Prefecture had already given the three counties of Zunhua, Yutian and Fengrun to Hebei Province, and the area where Kaiping Zhongtunwei was located was separated from Yongping Prefecture to form the new Tangshan Prefecture today.

The first prefect of Tangshan Prefecture was Xiao Dehe, the former magistrate of Baodi, whom Zhu Changluo admired when he came here.

Now Xiao Dehe was welcoming the emperor outside Fengrun County. Seeing that the emperor was asking about Minister Li, he listened obediently.

The positioning of Tangshan Prefecture is very special. In the future, Li Canzheng will be in charge of them more, as well as the Official Property Council and the Privy Council that have direct access to the central government.

Upon hearing this, Li Ruoxing said, "After the governor and provincial governor take office, in addition to the reform of the government offices in various prefectures and counties in Hebei Province, another thing that should be handled by me is this. I was promoted to my current position from the prefect of Zhending, and I am very familiar with Jingxing County. Before the imperial edict arrived, I was in Jingxing with my colleagues in the Ministry of Official Property to survey the land and select a site."

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "Lime has many uses. Let's make lime and cement in Jingxing first. Then the road from Zhending Prefecture to Beijing will be built first, so there will be no problem with sales."

"I understand. After I follow Your Majesty to Chengde Prefecture, I will take care of this matter as soon as I return."

Zhu Changluo was then greeted by the prefect of Tangshan and the magistrate of Fengrun and went to the carriage that had been arranged for them.

From early spring to now, he has relaxed his mindset and has been guided by many long-term plans. Lime is not a new thing, and it is usually used in a large number of ways. The "sheep eye lime" from Jingxing County, Zhending Prefecture, is a tribute, and the lime there was used in the construction of the Forbidden City.

That is a natural treasure bestowed by Taihang Mountains on the local area, and the history of burning lime is very long.

The change of Northern Zhili to Hebei Province was the first example of the reform of local government offices starting in the 11th year of Taichang.

With Beijing here, Hebei Province inevitably had a gap in the middle. Shuntian Prefecture, the imperial capital, gave up the three counties of Zunhua, Yutian, and Fengrun, but took over Jinghai County, the northeasternmost county of Hejian Prefecture. Therefore, the direct-controlled prefecture where the imperial capital was located included the future Tianjin in the southeast, with its own seaport. The Beijing Camp was placed between Wuqing, Gu'an, and Liangxiang, and the base of the Beiyang Fleet was temporarily set up in Dagu.

Hebei Province also gained something. Xuanfu Town in the north now directly reaches the old Kaiping Guard, and Zhangbei Grassland has been brought under the control of the Ming Dynasty. Although it is not possible to separate the border town system of Xuanfu Town within the border wall, the relatively safe Baoan Prefecture, Huailai Guard, and Yanqing Prefecture have been combined with Weizhou and Guangchang in Shanxi to form a new Yanqing Prefecture, with the prefecture seat located in Huailai.

For this new Hebei Village, Zhu Changluo and other ministers gave them some industrial and infrastructure plans based on long-term considerations.

Among them are the lime and cement industries developed in Zhending Prefecture based on Jingxing lime.

Cement is of course a new thing. This era originally had its own building adhesive material, but since there was a knowledgeable emperor who also had his own scientific research system and experimental manufacturing system under his control, this simple thing already existed - it was something they were working on when they rebuilt the Fengtian Huangji Hall.

Now we just need to continue to expand the scale and really increase the production scale and application scenarios of this thing.

Because the court's expected fiscal revenue has increased, it will have to be spent in the future.

The Nanyang strategy cannot rely solely on the previous transportation system to control the more important southern capital.

This is an ambitious north-south land transportation trunk line plan.

This is just the beginning. It will be enough for Zhu Changluo to show some concern after he finishes walking on this new straight road from Tongzhou to Fengrun.

The highlight of a trip to Fengrun is still to visit the "steam engine base" here.

At present, there is nothing there, just a research institute that brings together some people and craftsmen from the Institute of Research.

For the convenience of bringing in some customized steel structures from Zunhua, they were assembled and tested here, and will be tried out and improved in the Kaiping Coal Mine in the southeast in the future.

Of course, once successful, this will also become a huge steam engine production base because there are so many application scenarios.

Xiao Dehe certainly didn't know why the emperor attached so much importance to that place, and the emperor didn't want him to accompany him. He just stayed there for a few days with the priests of the Boyan Institute.

Then the emperor kept several officials from the Academy of Sciences and gave them three instructions.

"First, we need to sort out the civil affairs of Tangshan Prefecture. Second, we need to provide food, clothing and daily necessities for the staff of the Institute of Research and the Institute of Machinery. The money will be paid by the Imperial Treasury and the Government Property Office. The third thing is particularly important. We need to seize this opportunity to turn Tangshan Prefecture School into a school specializing in the study of nature. I have instructed them to live in the prefecture city and give lectures at the prefecture school in their spare time."

Xiao Dehe nodded repeatedly: "I understand, I will definitely do it!"

Zhu Changluo patted his hand again, saying, "You have done a good job. In the future, you will be the Hebei Engineering and Machinery University under the Ministry of Culture and Education. I wonder how many people who are interested in natural science and the top scholar will come here to study."

"I will definitely seize this opportunity!"

He saw the emperor smiling and saying to the director of the Academy of Scientific Research, the two Westerners, and the three priests, "As for the technical difficulties, I'll ask you to stay here for a while and concentrate on solving them. After all, the Chengde Palace has not been built yet. I'm going there mainly to make the people of Chengde more loyal. You will have the time to go there for a leisurely vacation in the future."

Wang Zheng bowed and said, "How could we, the ministers, come here hoping to enjoy ourselves? Your Majesty, rest assured that I will gather the strengths of all the ministers in the Institute of Research and Development and create this divine weapon first."

Xiao Dehe blinked his eyes: Artifact? What artifact?
The emperor looked at a Westerner and asked, "Galileo, what do you think of this? Is it worth doing your best?"

"After seeing the prototype they have assembled, I understand it." Galileo lowered his head. "It is indeed the crystallization of countless knowledge. I believe that if it can really be manufactured, I will definitely have a better understanding of the wonders of nature."

Zhu Changluo nodded with satisfaction: "You have worked together to overcome the difficulties one by one. I believe that with your full participation, it will not be long before it comes out. If the emperor and his subjects can see the scenes I have described to you in their lifetime, that will be the real prosperity, the beginning of a new era for learning and life!"

Today, in the so-called "Mechanical Institute", the steam engine is not even a prototype, but is still in the stage of pressurizing the boiler and using steam to generate power.

But since there is Zhu Changluo, and these people are very knowledgeable in natural sciences, and I have talked to them about this thing before. Now that I have seen the initial results presented by the Ming Emperor's personal concentration of efforts, it seems that this kind of machine that generates steam by burning fuel and then uses it as power is no longer out of reach.

Then the future might really be a new world as described by the emperor.

Galileo and Kepler were now very glad to have come to the East, because there was an emperor here who was as knowledgeable and enlightened as a prophet, who could provide them with endless inspiration and sufficient resources for them to carry out their research.

Of course, the endless supply of wise scholars among so many people in the East is also admirable. Their skilled craftsmen seem to be able to make anything they want.

Then, of course, they must become pioneers of a new era as the emperor said. Their academic achievements and their reputation will surely spread throughout the world and be praised forever by future generations.

Along with the steam locomotives and steam ships mentioned by the emperor, they spread from the East to the whole world.

After saying goodbye to them, Zhu Changluo turned north and prepared to go to Chengde Prefecture from Xifengkou on the bank of Luan River via the original Jizhou Town.

He is relaxed and full of confidence.

Galileo and Kepler are certainly useful, but the scientific research talents and skilled craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty are more useful.

As the accumulation in all directions becomes more solid, there will be a day when they will bear fruit.

The industrial revolution he was waiting for would not be too far away.

Although he seemed to be going there to enjoy the summer heat, he was actually doing something with a more far-reaching impact.

Take good care of your body, then enjoy yourself, then explore.

(End of this chapter)