Chapter 427 Let the emperor feel a sense of urgency spontaneously ('Brother Zhuge Liang' has started)
After explaining the direction of subsequent improvements to the "Hooker Steam Engine" by Robert Hooke, he actually did not expect Hooke to produce results in just a few years, because he was well aware of the difficulty and hardship of scientific research.
Historically, it took 82 years from Newcomen to Watt, which is equivalent to the eighty-year cycle from the "zero industrial revolution" to the "first industrial revolution".
Of course, Zhu Shuren also knew very well that in the 82 years between Newcomen and Watt, not everyone was engaged in research and development. At least half of the time was in a state of stagnation. Ming Dynasty can obviously cut down this wasted time.
Lose.
To give the simplest example, in the original history, Newcomen built his steam engine in 1705 and applied for a patent from the British Patent Office, because the product did not significantly improve productivity and was expensive.
When the capitalists calculated it, they felt that there was no difference in how much money would be saved by using or not using this thing. On the contrary, they would have to pay Newcomen a patent licensing fee, which would bring even less profit. Most of the money saved would be given to Newcomen.
After you earn it, you save a little bit.
So the capitalists chose to ignore Newcomen's invention in a tacit understanding, and waited in vain for twenty years. In the "Patent Laws" of later countries around the world, the validity period of protection for invention patents was not basically the same.
About 20 years?
The number "20 years" was originally copied from the British Patent Law. At the beginning of the 18th century, other countries on the planet did not have patent laws, and only the United Kingdom had this law.
Therefore, the choice of capitalists is actually to wait for 20 years until the validity period of your patent protection expires and the Newcomen steam engine becomes a public technology, and then pounce on it without spending any money.
The period from 1705 to 1725 was completely wasted.
After the Newcomen steam engine was finally used in industrial practice in 1725, people discovered various problems that needed improvement.
But because Newcomen's 20-year patent period was wasted in vain, Newcomen didn't earn a single penny in patent fees. So after he discovered the problem, he couldn't come up with the money to continue his research and development work, and spent subsequent
For about 15 years, he begged for alms from capitalists to invest in his continued research and development.
This kind of encounter was not only encountered by Newcomen, but also by Watt 80 years later before the improvement was successful. After Watt took over the research and development of the steam engine, he spent at least half of Newcomen's time wasting the patent protection period and developing steam engines.
invest.
It can be said that in the entire 82-year research and development cycle from Newcomen to Watt, at least 30 years were spent on the capitalists waiting for the patent to expire and the delicious food would be wasted if people don't spit out the bones. There are more than 20 years spent on
The desperately poor inventor continues to beg for research and development funds because he cannot recoup his investment. The time actually spent on scientific research will never exceed 25 years.
Of course, being able to spend 25 of the 82 years on actual research was already the fastest on the planet at that time.
After all, the UK has a Patent Law, but it has only cultivated the habit of forcing capitalists to spend money for patents, which has been cultivated for more than 80 years. After Watt's success, the British scientific research investment system was finally established in the following decades and entered a blowout period.
At the same time, Germany and the United States did not even have patent laws (France followed relatively quickly, but France did not lead a single industrial revolution). They had 80 more years than the British and felt that it was "whitewash" until 1868.
After Faraday invented the generator in 1998, Demi felt that it was time to exert his efforts during the second industrial revolution, and then began to catch up and establish a patent payment awareness.
As for China in history... It’s not a boast, it’s not a bad thing. No matter how much you compare with Germany, Mi felt that “whitewash is right” for about 120 years. It wasn’t until the beginning of the 21st century that the social atmosphere of “whitewash is wrong” really began to be gradually cultivated (
Although the patent law was enacted in 1984, in fact, in the last 15 years of the 20th century, the country was basically in vain, and the rule of law had not yet been established to that extent)
…
Zhu Shuren is very aware of the lessons of blood and tears in this period of history, so he also knows that the normal research and development cycle from Newcomen to Watt should never be 82 years, but at most 25 years——
Even if he does not instruct Hooke and allows Hooke to develop freely, as long as the research and development funds provided by the Ming Dynasty Internal Affairs Office are sufficient. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty Internal Affairs Office will undertake the task of "helping the early immature steam engines and providing trial and error scenarios for industrial applications."
Don't be like the Western private capitalists who wait 20 years to expire.
Then, the Ming Dynasty can save at least 60 years of human technological progress, or even more.
This is the superiority of the Ming Dynasty's system of using national power to engage in scientific research. It reflects the greatness and excellence of the Ming Dynasty in concentrating its efforts on major things, without letting selfish monsters slow down the progress of human history.
However, Zhu Shuren is also very clear that today's era is not suitable for directly promulgating the "Patent Law" in the modern sense.
The reason is also very simple, because if we follow the British patent law in the era of Newcomen and Watt in later generations, it means that "technological innovation requires the disclosure of principle details in exchange for a certain period of monopoly protection from the court."
To put it bluntly, when Newcomen applied for a patent for a steam engine, he had to disclose in detail how the thing was made, its principle and structure, so that those skilled in the field could learn how to make it. Then, the imperial court protected him.
20 years of living alone as a reward for encouraging him to go public.
Many of the leading technologies currently invented by Ming Dynasty are still concentrated in the field of biochemical environmental materials, and if the formulas in those fields are well kept secret, the number of years that they can be used alone to reap the benefits will be far more than 20 years.
Just like the formula of Coca-Cola in later generations. Although it is no longer a secret in the 21st century, at least in the first half century of Coca-Cola's birth, competitors could not test its ingredients, so the Coca-Cola Company would not be stupid enough to give it
Apply for a patent on the formula and then make it public. Then you can only eat it alone for 20 years at most. After 20 years, won’t others be able to use it for nothing?
Therefore, whether to promote the patent system needs to be combined with the times. Only when the times progress to the point where the industrial revolution is about to begin, and many technological innovations, even if they are not applied for, will not be able to survive the 20-year confidentiality period under other people's disassembly and reverse research copycats, then only then can we
It is patents that truly exert their power and continue to ensure the protection of people's scientific and technological innovation.
But in any case, Zhu Shuren felt that Ming Dynasty’s legislation and system construction in these aspects must be supported to a certain extent. If the management system cannot keep pace with the times, “backward production relations that restrict productivity” will eventually appear.
Now it has been fifteen years of being well-off, and it was already the beginning of the "Third Seven-Year Plan of the Ming Dynasty" that he originally formulated. Although it has been delayed due to various changes and the Galdan of the northwest Junggar tribe has not yet been killed, the Ming Dynasty himself
The reform and development of farming should not be delayed by the external environment. What needs to be done must still be done.
…
So, after inspecting Hooke's Newcomen steam engine sample, Zhu Shuren spent more than half a month in seclusion and thought hard. He immersed himself in writing and drawing and made some policy plans on paper.
Then he came out of seclusion and convened the emperor's son Zhu Ciyu, his cousin Zhang Huangyan, his brother-in-law Fang Yizhi, and his wife Fang Ziling, the president of the Academy of Sciences. They held an internal meeting behind closed doors about continuing to deepen policy reforms in the next few years.
As for Shi Kefa, the original titular chief minister of the cabinet, let me make a digression: It is very unfortunate that people are born, old, sick and die. In the end, the Shi Kefa failed to survive the peaceful farming period of 67 years that just passed, and finally died of illness four years ago at the age of
seventy years old,
Shi Kefa was able to live to this age, which was considered a long life at the time. He died at a healthy age and lived a very happy life in his later years. He lived in the sanatorium specially provided for him by Zhu Shuren for more than ten years in total.
After everyone had arrived, Zhu Shuren was not in a hurry to announce his thoughts directly, because his son was already thirty years old after all, and he could no longer teach him how to do things like a young man. It would still easily cause depression and rebound, so he needed to let Zhu Ciyu
Spontaneously feel the urgency to do something.
Therefore, Zhu Shuren took everyone to see Hooke's steam engine without talking about anything.
The steam engine has been slightly adjusted compared to when Zhu Shuren first saw it more than half a month ago. The main reason is that a cold start rocker handle was temporarily installed to allow the starting inertia to be established faster. Before starting the engine,
The tinkering time can also be shortened by several minutes, making it look smoother.
But other places have not been changed yet, after all, the time given to Hook is too short.
Zhu Ciyu and others were also greatly shocked after seeing the steam engine generate power by burning coal and firewood. They vaguely felt that today's world is undergoing major changes that have not been seen in a thousand years. There are too many changes happening every day.
Already.
And because it is not convenient to demonstrate the work of mining and pumping water in the research institute of the Academy of Sciences, the power output end of the steam engine was not demonstrated with the water pump. Instead, under Zhu Shuren's personal instructions, it was used in the past half of the year.
For more than a month, an experimental Xiaowan spinning machine with the largest number of spindles was temporarily modified.
The traditional human-powered Xiaowan spinning machine and silk reeling machine can now generally pull five or even eight spindles at the same time. Among them, the five-spindle spinning machine was built as early as the 16th year of Chongzhen, and the eight-spindle spinning machine
It is also an old model from the 2000s of Longwu. It has been more than 20 years since then and has been widely popularized throughout the country.
Later on, the Academy of Sciences actually continued to tinker with spinning machines, silk reeling machines, and subsequent improvements in looms.
Even when Dong Xiaowan herself got older, there was no need for men or women to serve Zhu Shuren. From the age of forty, Dong Xiaowan gradually retreated into seclusion and went back to study the skills of the embroidery workshop she had at home when she was a girl. (Dong Xiaowan is only three years younger than Zhu Shuren.
Years old, so I am already fifty years old now. I have been in seclusion and studying the loom for ten years.)
Therefore, in the following, spinning machines with twenty or thirty spindles, or even more spindle structures, were gradually manufactured, but they lacked market testing. Those with more than twenty spindles could at least be used for spinning machines driven by waterwheel power.
No matter how many yarn machines there are, the power output of the waterwheel will not be balanced enough and it will easily break down, so it will only stay at the level of testing prototype machines.
Strictly speaking, the research and development speed of this machine is not very fast. In the Western history of parallel time and space, after the initial birth of the Jenny Spinning Machine, it also took several years to go from five spindles to thirty, fifty or even more spindles.
Ten years later. The follow-up work is just engineering running-in and mechanical optimization, and there is no qualitative change.
Now, Robert Hooke has built the Newcomen steam engine, which finally provides a power source for spinning machines with more than thirty spindles.
At this moment, in front of Emperor Zhu Ciyu and other ministers, there was a steam engine made by Hooke, and at the output end was dragged a latest 48-spindle parallel spinning machine made by Dong Xiaowan himself.
Driven by the power of the steam flywheel, the twisting speed of the 48 spindles runs very evenly and smoothly.
There is no problem that the power output of the waterwheel-powered spinning wheel suddenly increases or decreases. Once the force changes too fast and the tension of some yarns changes too much in a short period of time, it is easy to break.
Zhu Ciyu knew exactly what this meant. That is, if we go back forty years, to around ten years of Chongzhen, ten years before he was born, the spinning women at that time could still wind spindles by hand.
Nowadays, a steam engine drags the largest Xiaowan spinning machine. As long as it is given enough water and coal, it can produce automatically, which is equivalent to the spinning productivity of fifty civilian women forty years ago.
This is a force that can produce continuously as long as there is enough coal and water!
In order to protect and strengthen this power, and in order to allow this power to continue to evolve on its own, Ming Dynasty indeed needs to adjust and protect its system.
The old "Laws of the Ming Dynasty" and all the stumbling blocks that have fallen behind must be adjusted.
Zhu Ciyu wanted to change, but he suddenly felt that he didn't know what to do. So, after at least five or six years, he regained the mentality of actively seeking knowledge when he was young, and couldn't help but ask for advice:
"Father, you are well-informed. My son really wants to make some drastic changes so that Ming's laws can adapt to this kind of power. However, my son is confused for a moment and can't figure out where to start. Could you please give me some advice?"
"
Zhu Shuren laughed secretly in his heart. This boy really wanted to take the initiative to ask for advice. It's not like he likes to preach, he is too fatherly.
"In the past fifteen years, in the first half of the Ming Dynasty, we reformed the tax system, carried out abolition and decentralization, and increased the proportion of industrial and commercial taxes. In the second half, we implemented reforms in mathematics and science, and added new channels for selecting officials and talents.
Admitted to Nanjing University.
Now that the laws to change money and people are almost advanced, and the number of new scholars in the court is gradually increasing, it is time to attack the last and longest-standing problem of the Ming Dynasty.
At present, we should change the official system, change the "Huidian", and fundamentally re-formulate the "New Ming Code", breaking the rule set by Taizu that "future generations can only add exceptions to the law, and cannot modify the original "Ming Code" to become law.
Disadvantages.
The Ming Dynasty has been a country for nearly 310 years. It almost collapsed in the middle, but in the end it was reborn like the Guangwu Zhongxing. Since ancient times, the Tang Dynasty has not been as long as the Ming Dynasty, and the two Song Dynasties only have more history than the Ming Dynasty.
In just a few years, the ancestral laws have completely exceeded the lifespan of a dynasty, and fundamental changes must be made.
I believe that the Ming Dynasty’s resurgence and the decades-long rise in national strength, as well as the fact that the Ming Dynasty is stronger than the previous dynasty, will allow people all over the world to see the Ming Dynasty’s confidence and support this change.”
Zhu Ciyu nodded: "Okay, let's take a long-term view and strive to spend another five to ten years to chew through the hard bones of the third stage."
——
PS: The new book "Brother Zhuge Liang" has been released
Let's do this. Let's make a pact today. The new book will earn more than 200 yuan every day, and the old book will be updated to two times until the book is completed.
(I am currently updating four to five thousand words once, and two updates are already 10,000 words. There are still about ten updates left to finish the book. If the new book is not added, this book will be completed in ten days. If the new book is added quickly,
This book can be finished within five days.
If there is a second update, I will release it before 5 p.m. If not, the increase in revenue on that day is too small and does not meet the conditions for an additional update. Please don’t wait.)