Wang Yuan's laboratory is still under planning, and there are no novelties to make the emperor happy for the time being. He asked: "Your Majesty, can you learn from the study of things?"
Zhu Houzhao suddenly felt a headache and said, "This statement comes from the Book of Rites."
Wang Yuan said in a serious tone: "The classic of ministerial governance is the "Book of Rites". The "Book of Rites" says: To achieve knowledge is to examine things, and then to know. This laboratory is the place where ministers examine things, and I want to use this to understand everything.
Everything in the world.”
Zhu Houzhao was greatly disappointed by this and said angrily: "Wang Erlang, I thought you were an interesting person, but I didn't expect you to want to be a poor old man!"
Under the watchful eyes of Wang Dao, Qian Ning and Li Ying, Wang Yuan suddenly approached Zhu Houzhao's ear and whispered: "Your Majesty, I feel that Zhu Xi's method of studying things is wrong, and the methods of studying things by the sages of the past dynasties are also wrong, so I plan to find another way.
, to set a precedent for all generations. This matter is too big, I dare not tell others, otherwise it will inevitably lead to criticism. I only believe in Your Majesty, and I hope that Your Majesty will keep it a secret."
The same thing is different when expressed differently.
Zhu Houzhao immediately became interested and secretly whispered to Wang Yuan: "I was right about Erlang. You believe me and I believe you. Tell me, how do you plan to investigate the objects?"
Wang Yuan was still pretending to be a learned scholar, and said: "A fake horse rider is not good at running a thousand miles; a fake boat is not capable of running water, but it can cut off rivers. A gentleman is born without exception, and he is good at fake things.
.In order to understand things, we must also be good at fake things. Otherwise, how can we make guesses out of thin air? There are all kinds of utensils in your laboratory. With the help of utensils, you can study everything in the world."
"What utensils are there?" Zhu Houzhao asked quickly.
Wang Yuan said: "These utensils have not been made yet. I have asked someone to contact the craftsmen in Yanshen Town, Shandong Province, and I want to make a telescope and microscope out of colored glass. Using a telescope, you can observe things thousands of miles away, and even the moon itself.
.Using a microscope, you can observe the details, or you can know that there are 84,000 insects in a bowl of water as the Buddha said."
Zhu Houzhao asked in surprise: "Is there really such a precious mirror?"
Wang Yuan explained: "I need glass that contains no impurities, no bubbles, and is absolutely pure and transparent to make lenses! When it can be made depends on the craftsmanship of the craftsman."
The monarch and his ministers whispered to each other through their ears, which made Wang Dao next to him look dumbfounded. He didn't know that he could communicate with the emperor like this. He thought to himself: Brother Ruoxu is indeed a holy family, and he and his majesty are like close friends for many years.
Qian Ning and Li Ying were not surprised. They had been with Zhu Houzhao for a long time and knew that the emperor never had any airs.
Suddenly, Zhu Houzhao asked Qian Ning: "Is there a glaze official kiln in Yanshen Town?"
Qian Ning said confusedly: "There should be. The medicinal jades worn by civil and military officials above the fourth rank are all made by Yanshen Town. Presumably these are all made by official kilns."
Zhu Houzhao immediately said: "Send the order to Yan Shen to town the official kiln and summon the craftsmen immediately to make pure, transparent and free of any impurities. Whoever can make it the fastest and pass the inspection, I will promote him to the Ministry of Industry!"
"I have noted it down," Qian Ning agreed.
Zhu Houzhao said to Wang Yuan again: "After you have made the two mirrors, bring them to the Leopard Room immediately!"
"I accept the decree." Wang Yuan said with a smile.
In Zhu Houzhao's understanding, he thought that telescopes and microscopes were just like bronze mirrors, which relied on reflected light to see objects, but they were made of colored glass.
The more Zhu Houzhao thought about it, the more miraculous it became. He even suspected that Wang Yuan was lying to him, so he warned him again: "We must build the two-sided mirror within this year!"
Wang Yuan said: "I will do my best."
Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Have your ribs healed?"
Wang Yuan replied: "It's no longer a problem, but the imperial doctor warned that you have to be careful within three months."
Zhu Houzhao said: "After the injury recovers, there is no need to sit in the camp to train the soldiers. I have given the six thousand soldiers to Zhu Ying for special management, and promoted Pan Gui to be responsible for training the soldiers."
Wang Yuan reminded: "Your Majesty will hand over the soldiers to Zhu Shaojian. I am very relieved. I and Zhu Shaojian have a fateful friendship on the battlefield. But you must know that the reason why the morale of those six thousand soldiers is high is because they do not eat."
Pay is free, don’t exploit and deduct money, be sure to pay attention to food and wages!”
Zhu Houzhao said spiritually: "Zhu Ying is not a fool."
The first time Zhu Ying went to war with Wang Yuan, he was promoted to five levels and became the Royal Horse Guard. The second time he went to war with Wang Yuan, although his rank was not improved, he was ordered to take charge of the Warrior Battalion (one of the Imperial Guards).
Now he is allowed to sit in camp and train 6,000 soldiers. It can be said that the holy family is prosperous. Even if Zhu Ying is killed, he will not dare to embezzle Mo's military pay.
At least not now!
Those six thousand soldiers had already received great attention from the emperor due to their outstanding performance, and they were also troops led by Wang Yuan himself. If he was greedy for money, food and salary, and offended both the emperor and Wang Yuan at the same time, he might as well find other ways to make money.
.
Although Wang Yuan was not greedy for military power, he still felt regretful. From the moment he returned to Beijing, he was deprived of the right to train troops. Firstly, the civil service group was trying to suppress it. Secondly, Zhu Houzhao did not dare to let Wang Yuan continue to get involved in the army.
Wang Erlang's fighting prowess is terrifying, and he is a top scholar, so it's easy to make people think of him.
From now on, unless there is a critical moment, Wang Yuan will never think of leading troops in his life.
It is a pity that Wang Yuan only trained those 6,000 soldiers for more than two months, and they were only half-finished products.
After chatting about the business, Wang Yuan found that Zhu Houzhao was very bored and seemed to have no interest in mathematics and geometry. He immediately joked: "I am short of money, your Majesty, is he short of money?"
"Who in the world is not short of money?" Zhu Houzhao asked back, and smiled again, "I remember that you rewarded meritorious service. Not only were you rewarded with a house and fertile land, but you were also rewarded with a hundred taels of silver and three thousand guan of treasure notes. Is this all used up?"
Wang Yuan said with a playful smile: "Who thinks there is too much silver? What's more, the treasure banknotes are useless, and I need dozens of slaves. How many months can one hundred taels of silver be used? Spring is the time when the economy is in decline, and rebels and thieves are everywhere.
There is a serious shortage of food in the capital, and the market prices of millet and white rice have soared tenfold!"
Zhu Houzhao was very surprised and asked Qian Ning: "The price of rice in the capital has skyrocketed tenfold?"
Qian Ning said with a wry smile: "It's not that it jumped tenfold immediately, but from last year to now, the price of rice has increased tenfold overall."
Wang Dao was also sighing beside him. This was the reason why he wanted to take his mother to Nanjing to join relatives instead of bringing her to Beijing. His family had no property, he had no position during his period as a sage, and he couldn't even find opportunities to make money.
He is also an honest man and unwilling to accept donations.
In addition, the price of rice in the capital has skyrocketed, and the salary is only enough to support one's own expenses (direct grain distribution). How can I support my mother when I bring her to Beijing?
Although Zhu Houzhao has all the characteristics of a faint king, he is particularly sober when he should be sober. He scolded: "The household department is full of wine bags and rice bags. The price of rice is so high. What do they do for food?"
Wang Yuan said: "The Ministry of Household Affairs is also very difficult. After all, there is indeed a shortage of food. Moreover, private merchants are hoarding money and raising the price of rice in every possible way. Merchants who can farm rice in the capital must be attached to nobles. The Ministry of Household Affairs can
What can we do with them?"
"fart!"
Zhu Houzhao stood up and cursed: "Why do so many people follow Liu Liu and Liu Qi to rebel? It's not because they can't live! If the people in the capital can't afford to eat, what should they do if they rebel in Beijing? Why don't you just rush into my leopard room?
!Juning!”
"I'm here!" Qian Ning immediately bowed and waited.
Zhu Houzhao said: "Your Jin Yiwei will immediately contact the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Punishment. If any merchant dares to hoard food, no matter who he is attached to, his house will be confiscated and executed directly by me!"
Qian Ning smiled and said: "I accept the decree!"
Jin Yiwei will definitely make an unjust, false and wrong case this time and take the opportunity to extort money from merchants. But Jin Yiwei will take action and unjust, false and wrong cases will definitely bring down the price of food. Xiuchundao doesn't care about your market economy.
Wang Dao, who had been silent all this time, looked at Wang Yuan with admiration in his eyes, thinking: Brother Ruoxu's method of admonition is really brilliant, a few words can relieve the suffering of the people in the capital. What about the fortunate minister? If he can
To benefit the people, I am also willing to be a lucky minister.
Wang Yuan chuckled and said: "Your Majesty is overthinking. I just want to make a few small bucks to buy rice myself. I have not advised your Majesty to crack down on unscrupulous merchants."
Zhu Houzhao laughed and scolded: "You Wang Erlang, you actually made fun of me. Tell me, do you have any way to make money?"
Wang Yuan asked: "Your Majesty and Li Sanlang are still playing Cuju?"
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "I'm still playing. It's just fun to watch, but it's very boring to play. As soon as I came on the stage, everyone else became lame, and they all treated me like a fool."
Wang Yuan said with a smile: "After the crisis in the capital was over, Zhang Dugong's six thousand soldiers no longer trained strictly. The school ground is so big that a piece of land is empty. What a pity. It is better to turn it into a Cuju ground. In the middle is
Observation platforms were built around the stadium for the soldiers to play games with the teams from the Leopard Room."
Zhu Houzhao asked: "How to make money from this?"
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Your Majesty can come to watch the game in person, and invite nobles, relatives, and wealthy businessmen. Watch the game for free at the beginning, and then you can charge tickets after they are all addicted!"
"How much can you charge for this?" Zhu Houzhao looked down upon him.
Wang Yuan continued: "You can organize a league and include folk clubs (football clubs). Once you play, you will give the team a certain amount of compensation. Half a year is a season, and the top three teams will be decided. The first place will be the champion.
The second runner-up will be the runner-up, and the third runner-up will be the third runner-up. Both will receive trophies with His Majesty’s signature. The Cuju opera is already popular all over the world, and with His Majesty’s encouragement, as well as formal competitions and rules, the rich households in the city also
Aren’t you going to watch the game enthusiastically?”
Zhu Houzhao asked: "How much can you charge for a game?"
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Let's go to the minimum, there are five thousand spectators in one game. Tickets worth two taels per person are not expensive, right? After one game, the ticket revenue is one thousand taels!"
"Sure enough, it's a good deal!" Zhu Houzhao was moved.
Don't look at the Lantern Festival, where local tycoons spend a lot of money fighting for their wealth, and buying a lantern costs several hundred taels. But that is a fight for wealth. How can we fight for wealth without extravagance? One thousand taels is a very large amount of wealth.
Even when the emperor rewards civil and military officials, unless they have great merit, they will only reward them with a few taels or dozens of taels of silver at a time.
Wang Yuan continued: "If the Cuju League becomes popular, you can also find wealthy households to advertise. That means advertising widely. The stadium will be surrounded by a fence with blank cards or wooden signs on it. If the merchants are willing to pay,
Just write their font size on the wooden sign, which is called a billboard!"
"Is there anyone willing to be taken advantage of?" Zhu Houzhao asked.
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, think about it, who can afford to pay two cents to watch a game of football, who is short of money? For example, the Hongbaoxuan in the north of the city sells jewelry. There are several competitors in the capital.
Home. If he pays for a billboard to be placed at the Cuju venue, it will be seen by at least five thousand wealthy people, and he also has His Majesty’s emperor-like temperament. Why don’t everyone choose this store when buying jewelry?”
Zhu Houzhao clapped his hands and exclaimed: "Wonderful! If Erlang goes to the capital, he will definitely become a wealthy businessman."
Wang Yuan said happily: "Your Majesty is so complimentary."
Wang Dao rolled his eyes when he heard this, and the wealthy businessman also praised him? This is a curse, right? Moreover, these two people, who are not monarchs and ministers, actually discussed business in a serious manner.
Zhu Houzhao suddenly frowned: "Our football games are getting popular, what should we do if other people build stadiums and come out to grab business?"
Qian Ning said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, if anyone dares to compete with your Majesty for business, Jin Yiwei is not a decoration!"
Wang Yuan quickly dissuaded: "That's not the case. Your Majesty, think about it this way. The more folk games there are, the more popular Cuju will be and the more people will watch the games. I'm afraid that five thousand seats won't be enough by then. We don't need to worry about it.
Others just need to ensure that their own football games are orthodox. They can even encourage private players to play football games. They are playing in the second and third leagues, and we are playing in the first league. When the time comes, the last two players in the first league must be thrown out.
Go to the second league, and the top two teams in the second league can also be promoted to the first league. In this way, the competition will be more exciting and attract more people!"
Zhu Houzhao tasted it carefully and suddenly smiled and said: "You should be made the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Taicang will definitely not be short of money by then."