Chapter 292: Two Prerequisites for a Technological Explosion

Zhu Youjian turned around and walked up to that craftsman, only to find the man already stunned speechless.

He had worked his whole life, and no one had ever told him that what he did could be linked to the word "sage."

Zhu Youjian reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"What is your name?"

The craftsman jolted as if shocked, and hurriedly said:

"Re—replying to Your Majesty, this commoner… this subject is called Lei Zhenxing."

Seeing him so flustered, Xiong Mingyu added:

"Your Majesty, this man is a skilled artisan selected from the Southern Metropolitan Region. His handiwork is truly top-notch, and he was just rated a First-Class Artisan at the Wensi Institute."

Zhu Youjian raised an eyebrow.

The surname Lei? Could he be an ancestor of the Yangshi Lei?

"A fine name! Reviving the family and reviving the nation are one and the same!"

Zhu Youjian looked at his weather-beaten face and said gently:

"This vehicle is already decently made, but it is not yet enough."

"First, the cost of its production must be reduced as much as possible."

Zhu Youjian paused, and his tone turned serious:

"And this reduction is not for my sake, but for the sake of all the people under Heaven!"

"Only when the cost is cut to the extreme can the common people afford to buy it and afford to use it!"

At this point, he abruptly turned around and swept his gaze over the other several craftsmen present, as well as the officials in charge of supervising the work.

Those men felt their scalps tingle and all lowered their heads.

"The bicycles made previously were all kinds of ostentatious and gaudy, even using jewels to inlay the wheels and precious antlers for the handlebars!"

"What were you doing?"

"Did you truly take me for a muddled ruler addicted to frivolous tricks and novelties!"

Those several craftsmen dropped to their knees with a thud, trembling uncontrollably, unable even to utter pleas for mercy.

Zhu Youjian looked at them coldly:

"This first time, I shall let it pass. I will consider it a first offense, not knowing my temperament."

"But if in the future you create things in this manner again, putting your minds on garish decoration instead of putting effort into practical substance,"

"you will be severely punished without leniency!"

"The Academy of Sciences will not tolerate such depraved tendencies!"

Seeing that the warning had been sufficient, Zhu Youjian turned back and continued speaking to Lei Zhenxing:

"Also, this vehicle is only being ridden inside the palace now, which is useless."

"You must take it out and test it on the dirt roads outside the city, on the official highways, and even on mountain paths."

"Wherever it tends to break, wherever it tends to snap, you must record it all, one by one, and then go and fix it."

Lei Zhenxing cupped his hands in salute and took note of the order.

Having arranged the follow-up for the bicycle, Zhu Youjian then turned his head to look at Xiong Mingyu and nodded slightly:

"Minister Xiong, use the bicycle as a pretext to announce the Academy of Sciences' new charter."

Xiong Mingyu's expression turned solemn. He stepped forward, faced the assembled craftsmen and officials in the courtyard, and declared in a clear voice:

"By His Majesty's oral decree, two great matters are hereby proclaimed."

"First, from this day forward, the Academy of Sciences will begin compiling the 'Records of Scientific Supremacy.'"

"Whether an artisan of the Wensi Institute or a scholar of the Academy of Sciences,"

"if one makes a discovery in the principles of Heaven and Earth, or achieves an innovation in craft or technique,"

"then, based on the magnitude of its impact on the Great Ming's national strength and the welfare of the people, five persons shall be selected each year to be entered into the 'Records of Scientific Supremacy,' to leave their names in history."

"Henceforth, the original parade ground of the Valiant Guard Camp shall be designated as the territory of the Academy of Sciences. Once the government offices are constructed, all shall move in together."

"At that time, in front of the offices, just like the steles for New Policy officials, a stone shall be carved to record this 'Records of Scientific Supremacy.'"

At these words, the crowd was first silent, then broke into irrepressible, rapid breathing.

Lei Zhenxing was even more stunned on the spot. Although he came from a family of craftsmen, he could read and write.

He had read, one by one, the principles of the New Policies, the New Policy newspapers, and even the New Policy rumors.

While stirred and impassioned by them, he had also fantasized about his own future prospects.

But his wildest, most outrageous fantasy had only been to become, like Xu Gao in the Jiajing era, the Minister of the Ministry of Works by virtue of his skill. Given His Majesty's focus on practical matters and his spirit of seeking supremacy, this was not impossible.

Yet he never imagined, even if beaten to death, that the highest honor would actually be to leave his name in history!

And moreover, to have it carved in stone on a stele, just like the New Policy officials!

Although it would not be erected between the Altar of Earth and Harvests and the Imperial Ancestral Temple… this was still an extraordinary honor.

Xiong Mingyu gave them no time to react and immediately dropped the second bombshell:

"Second, the establishment of the law of 'patents.'"

"Whoever creates a new technique or improves an old method, upon verification by the Academy of Sciences, shall be granted a 'patent document.'"

"Thereafter, whether merchant or government-run enterprise, anyone wishing to use this technique for profit must pay a 'patent fee.'"

"Apart from a twenty-five percent tax, this fee shall all belong to the inventor."

At this point, he pointed specifically at the bicycle:

"The telescope, the microscope, and this bicycle shall be the first batch of pilot cases."

"The Academy of Sciences, together with the capital's tax office, will conduct a patent auction."

"The share of each person involved shall be apportioned according to the proportion of their contribution and effort."

"If in the future, a common artisan submits a family craft or an independent invention, then there will be no need for apportionment."

The expressions of everyone in the courtyard shifted completely.

If the *Biographies of the Hundred Crafts* was fame, then this "patent" was tangible, solid profit.

Both fame and fortune, right before their eyes.

Seeing that the moment was ripe, Zhu Youjian finally spoke.

"These past months, We have constantly been pondering one thing."

"Why is it that in a matter of months, we have been able to produce the bicycle, the telescope, the microscope, and to systematize the principles of pneumatics and optics?" "Is it that the ancients were inferior in intellect and talent to all of you here? Or that they failed to glimpse the gateway, and so for thousands of years never discovered the principles within?" "From the time of Mozi in the Spring and Autumn period, the principles of optics were already discovered — why then has it taken until today for the telescope and microscope to find practical use?"

When these words were finished, everyone remained silent.

*Your Majesty, weren't you the one who had us make all these things? *

Anyone else could ask this, but for you to ask it... it is truly far too strange.

Zhu Youjian paid no heed and continued speaking.

"Why, over the past thousand years and more, has the advance of our Huaxia's crafts and techniques been so slow? Often centuries passing without a single step forward?"

"Who can resolve this doubt of Ours?"

Silence fell across the courtyard.

Quite a few understood the question, but few grasped the Emperor's line of thought.

Everyone was weighing whether to step forward and speak.

After a moment, a scholar in a round-collared gown, unable to suppress the surging emotion in his heart any longer, gritted his teeth and stepped out from the ranks.

"This commoner, Song Yingxing, ventures a presumptuous word."

He was somewhat nervous, his palms slick with sweat.

As a *juren* who had failed the metropolitan examination five times, this was the first time in his life he had stood within five paces of the Emperor.

Facing this figure from his textbooks, Zhu Youjian's manner was exceedingly gentle:

"Song, my minister — since you have passed the selection examination and entered the Academy of Sciences, you may call yourself a subject."

"Since you are a subject, what is there to speak of 'presumptuous' or not? Come, share your views."

Song Yingxing fought to control the excitement in his heart, striving to remain calm:

"This com—... this subject believes it stems from two maladies: 'inadequate dissemination' and 'hoarding one's worn broom as a treasure.'"

"Inadequate dissemination means that, with the realm so vast, the crafts and techniques of each region cannot circulate among one another."

"Take the matter of rice seed. The north had sporadic planting long ago, yet it was only after ministers like Zuo Guangdou and Xu Guangqi vigorously promoted it that the common people of the north finally learned that dry land could also grow rice."

"Furthermore, things like waterwheel designs and intensive cultivation methods differ between north and south, and their spread is exceedingly slow — hence techniques advance with difficulty."

By this point, Song Yingxing's voice had gradually steadied, and his confidence grew. "As for hoarding one's worn broom as a treasure... that is an even deeper affliction."

"A single craft or technique is the very foundation upon which a family or household secures its livelihood. Passed from father to son, from son to grandson — there are even rules to pass it to daughters-in-law but not to daughters. They hide it and guard it, terrified that others might learn it."

"Once war or chaos strikes, families scatter, and when the person dies, the art perishes. If later generations wish to recover that skill, they must once again grope their way for a hundred years from the very beginning." "Thus, back and forth, Huaxia's crafts naturally advance at a crawl."

When Song Yingxing finished, he bowed deeply, his heart uneasy.

Zhu Youjian listened, then nodded approvingly:

"Precisely so!"

"Minister Song has spoken most truly. Let Us now do a reckoning for you all."

"Suppose there is a man who improves the method of iron smelting, doubling the efficiency of iron production."

"In the past, guarding this secret formula, he would at most earn an extra hundred or a thousand taels of silver a year for his own workshop."

"But if, according to the rules We have established today, it is disseminated across the realm!"

Zhu Youjian's voice rose slightly.

"Throughout the entire Great Ming, every ironworks uses his method, and output doubles."

"Then the gain from it — how could it stop at mere tens of millions, or hundreds of millions!"

"And this doubled output — how many more farm tools can be made, how many more weapons forged, how many more implements constructed?"

"The indirect gains from it — how could they stop at mere billions?"

"Even if the example We have given is somewhat exaggerated, what if it were just a ten-percent increase in output?"

"Ten percent this year, ten percent next year, or ten percent in a decade, ten percent in two decades?"

"Accumulated over days and months, how could it not surpass the accumulation of Huaxia over a thousand years?!"

The crowd listened, utterly dumbstruck, their scalps tingling.

Zhu Youjian did not stop. He took two steps forward, moving among the crowd.

"In high antiquity, Shennong tasted the hundred herbs, and Suiren brought forth fire — both possessed the mind of a sage."

"They established the hundred crafts, brought benefit to all under heaven, and sought neither fame nor profit."

"But We cannot demand that every man be a sage."

Zhu Youjian turned around and spoke, weighing each word:

"From this day forward, We do not care whether the man who submits a craft or improves a technique does so for fame, for profit, or truly out of concern for all living things."

"So long as what he creates brings benefit to all under heaven!"

"Then the Great Ming of today shall treat him as a sage!"

"If he wants fame, We shall have his biography written!"

"If he wants wealth, We shall make him the richest man in his region!"

"This is the method by which the Great Ming shall achieve scientific supremacy."

"Guide them with fame, entice them with profit, and treat them as honored scholars of the realm!"

After a moment of silence, Xiong Mingyu led the applause, and in an instant, the artisan-officials and erudites across the entire square all joined in, clapping together.

The erudites were certainly stirred — most had abandoned the regular career path and the civil examinations to transfer here, and could not help some private unease. The artisan-officials were even more excited: winning both fame and profit was something they had only ever read about in the newspapers, as a treatment and a path open to New Policy officials. Now that such a prospect lay before them too, their delight was beyond words.

Watching this scene of unprecedented solidarity, Zhu Youjian sighed inwardly.

How does one bring about a great explosion of science and technology?

He had always kept a clear reckoning of it in his mind.

This matter has nothing to do with monarchy or democracy.

All that crap about democracy driving the growth of productive forces is sheer nonsense.

Anyone who fantasizes that democracy cures everything is either a god or a fool.

Consider this: at the end of the second industrial revolution, when the First World War broke out, most of the belligerent nations were still monarchies.

Even as late as the Second World War, a number of kings still remained.

Democracy — it is the outcome that emerges when society evolves to a certain stage and the corresponding groups inevitably demand their corresponding rights.

It is a result, not a cause, still less a driving force.

The true key to an explosion of science and technology, in Zhu Youjian's view, lay in only two aspects.

The first is universal basic education. But in this question, education is not the end; the end is to sustain a population possessed of inventive capacity.

So conversely, one need not actually universalize education — carrying out only elite education, or borrowing Confucian education, or stimulating the independent research of artisans, would also suffice.

Early-stage science and technology, after all, is not as abstruse or as specialized as its later stages.

At this moment, all kinds of scientific and technical knowledge are like low-hanging fruit, there for the picking everywhere.

The spread of education determines the size of this population, and thereby determines the speed and scale of the technological explosion.

But for the Great Ming of the present, this advantage is simply too enormous.

Zhu Youjian had conducted a survey of the artisans selected through examination at the Wensi Institute: the literacy rate was seventy-three percent.

And among the craftsmen summoned from Jiangnan, it reached a terrifying ninety-five percent.

(Note: these figures are made up, but not too far from the truth.)

Zhu Youjian even suspected that on the eve of the First Industrial Revolution, the entire literate population of England might not have matched that of the Southern Metropolitan Province alone. The second aspect is the need for a positive feedback loop.

That is, a social form in which one can profit from invention and creation, and which supports and encourages the circulation of technology.

This item is the very key of keys!

Otherwise, the greater part of inventions will go uncirculated, unused, unencouraged.

No matter how large the "potential inventor population," it will all be to no avail.

Technology builds layer upon layer; a single technique must often stand upon the foundation of many other techniques.

Traditional Confucian society disparages artisans conceptually, while feudal bureaucratic society suppresses invention institutionally.

Without sufficient means and mechanisms to break this cycle, scientific and technological renewal can only advance in wave-like motions, taking centuries or millennia to make slow progress.

But as things stand now, the Great Ming's accumulated maladies are deep-rooted; to accomplish these two things, one must still proceed step by step.

To roll out basic education too hastily and comprehensively would be to strike the Confucian scholar-officials directly onto the opposing side.

Those juren and government students who have toiled over the sages' books for a dozen years and more — the moment the examination content is reformed, the whole world will become their enemy.

And a Confucian society that pursues stability and remains unchanged for ten thousand generations —

even though it is now already awash in material desire and swept up in the pursuit of profit,

to shift from "material desire" to "pursuing profit," to "managing and pursuing profit" rather than "pursuing profit through power," likewise requires a process. For now, he could only use the administrative force of imperial power to forcibly knead together a small-scale "scientific society,"

working on this matter from both directions simultaneously: state scientific research projects and the guiding of popular trends among the people.

The capital tax bureau, on the face of it handling tax affairs, was in fact sorting through the merchants — and that, too, was preparation for this scientific undertaking. Zhu Youjian swept his gaze across everyone present and continued:

"The Dao of Heaven and Earth knows no end."

"The more principles we grasp, the more implements we create, the greater the output of all under Heaven can become."

"By the strength of one man, one could once farm a hundred mu; at five dou per mu, the total yield was fifty shi."

"But if we build waterworks, improve tools, cultivate superior seed strains, and exert ourselves in every respect, then perhaps the yield per mu can double, and the total yield become a hundred shi. This, then, is the principle I have repeatedly expounded to you — the principle of driving the growth of productive forces."

"The New Policy resolves the problem of the relations of production; it is about enabling every person to reach the position best suited to him, each performing his office, each exerting his full ability."

"And you, my ministers and artisans — what you do may appear to be mere clever tricks and ingenious trifles, but in truth you are carrying out the improvement of the productive forces!"

"You are enabling every person to create wealth far greater than ever before!"

"Persisting in developing the productive forces shall assuredly be the firm state policy of the Great Ming for the next ten years!"

"And I hope that none of you will ever waver!"

Though this speech was laced with new terms the crowd could not understand, its core meaning was clear to all.

The Emperor was defining the work they were to do as another "foundation of the state," equal in standing to the New Policy!

"Your subjects dare not begrudge their very lives!" everyone answered in unison.

The motivational broth had been served full, the prospects given in full measure; Zhu Youjian would belabor it no further.

"Minister Xiong, tell everyone about the Academy of Sciences' upcoming work arrangements."

"Since this first general assembly of the Academy of Sciences seeks the principles of Heaven and Earth, let us not hold it shut up inside some stuffy hall."

"Let us hold it right here between Heaven and Earth, beneath this bright and open firmament!"

The wind swept across the square, setting Zhu Youjian's dragon robes snapping and fluttering.

He tilted his head up, looked at the warm winter sun, and smiled faintly:

"This also happens to be the perfect occasion to report to the August Emperor of Heaven…"

"Two millennia later, the Divine Farmer and the Fire Driller of a new age are about to descend once more upon the human world!"

"And this time, they are the Divine Farmer and the Fire Driller — yet not only the Divine Farmer and the Fire Driller."