My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 418 "Memorial Requesting the Establishment of the Royal Academy of Practical Learning"

Su Ze looked at Zhang Bi and started talking about the mechanical field he was familiar with. Zhang Bi looked very confident, so Su Ze suddenly said:
“Master Zhang, Huang Shaoshi wrote a letter a few days ago. He has completed the work of making the table of the lunar distance method and is preparing to return to the capital to present it to His Majesty.”

"As for that bonus."

Zhang Bi was stunned after hearing this.

To solve the problem of navigation, the Crown Prince offered a reward of up to five thousand silver dollars for anyone who could solve the problem.

Zhang Bi's high-precision marine chronometer and Huang Ji's lunar angular distance method, developed under the guidance of astronomical surveying, are respectively the best in the fields of clock method and celestial clock method.

This matter originally didn't generate much buzz.

The reason is simple: ordinary people don't care about longitude measurement at all, and precision clocks and celestial clocks for timekeeping are very advanced topics that ordinary people can't even get close to discussing.

But as time went on, all of this began to change.

As the number of merchant ships in the Ming Dynasty increased, topics related to navigation gradually began to attract public attention.

For ordinary officials and citizens, the technical aspects of navigation are not of great interest.

However, news about the New World attracted the attention of the entire Ming Dynasty.

News of the Spanish colonization in the New World gradually spread to the Ming Dynasty through Spanish captains traveling between the New World and the Portuguese docking at Ming ports.

The Hongyi people established colonial rule in the New World, which was rich in gold and silver. The Hongyi used treasure ships to transport ships of gold and silver across the ocean. As the news about the New World was increasingly mentioned in the Commercial Daily, it became common knowledge in the capital.

The Commercial Daily also published a story called "Treasure Island," a popular novel about a Ming Dynasty captain who discovered an island where a stranded foreign treasure ship was moored, and who brought back a large amount of gold and silver, becoming rich overnight.

Although this story was scorned by the literati, who considered it clichéd and full of money, it had a huge influence among sailors. Who wouldn't want to discover a treasure ship stranded at sea?
It wasn't just the treasure ship.

With the huge profits brought by the Japanese silver company, the idea that "silver exists in many places around the world" has become deeply ingrained.

While the Ming Dynasty was indeed the center of the world, the world was vast, and many places also contained buried gold and silver ores. This idea had already spread.

The Japanese Silver Company had a special trading license, which naturally made it more profitable than other merchants. Ordinary merchants could not compete with the Japanese Silver Company in trade with Japan.

These merchants began traveling to ports in Southeast Asia and making contact with the Spanish, hoping to trade silver with them.

Indeed, some of the captains established contact with the Spanish.

The Spanish are facing a serious crisis.

A large influx of gold and silver is not a good thing for a country.

The large influx of silver led to imported inflation, exacerbating Spain's domestic crisis.

Starting in 1500, prices in Spain quadrupled, but land rents did not, which meant that the real value of land rents plummeted.

Land rent is the anchor of the feudal economy. The collapse of land rent destroyed Spain's daily price system, and the crisis even spread from Spain to the whole of Europe.

The influx of silver not only destroyed Spain's feudal economy but also caused the collapse of Spanish industry.

The abundance of cheap silver led the Spanish to discover that importing industrial goods from other European countries was more cost-effective.

Silver was so cheap that importing cloth from England or the Netherlands was cheaper than weaving cloth in Spain, resulting in the bankruptcy of Spain's already weak domestic industry.

Agriculture was also destroyed because land rent was anchored to food prices; the devaluation of land rent also led to the devaluation of agricultural products.

Under such circumstances, ordinary Spaniards began to flock to the New World to seek their fortune or abandon agriculture to engage in trade, leaving large amounts of land uncultivated.

The Spanish brought back large quantities of silver, but due to their own industrial and agricultural decline, they ended up having to buy food and industrial goods from other European countries.

Meanwhile, the Spanish were embroiled in several wars.

First, there was the Netherlands crisis.

In 1516, after the death of King Ferdinand of Spain, his grandson Charles V ascended to the throne.

Charles had inherited the Netherlands from his father (son of the Holy Roman Emperor) in 1506, and now also held the land as King of Spain.

From then on, the Netherlands became a Spanish territory.

However, when the Spanish were colonizers, they treated both Americans and their European compatriots inhumanely.

Spain established many religious courts in the Netherlands to oppress and control the Dutch. In the last decade, the resistance in the Netherlands has become increasingly fierce. In order to suppress the Dutch, Spain has invested a lot of gold and silver.

The Spanish also fought a fierce naval battle with the Ottomans for control of the island of Malta. Although the Spanish were victorious, they had spent a great deal of money and resources building the Spanish Armada to fund the war.

The Spanish also realized that gold and silver alone were not enough.

Or, to put it another way, directly shipping the gold and silver back might not be the most economical option.

The Spanish soon discovered that only the Ming Dynasty could absorb so much silver.

So the Spanish tried to open up a sea route to Asia, traveling from their South American colonies to Luzon, trading South American silver with Ming Dynasty merchants in exchange for Ming Dynasty goods, which were then shipped back to Europe.

Commodities in the Ming Dynasty were a more reliable form of hard currency than gold and silver, and since they were for consumption, their influx into the market would not cause inflation.

However, the Spanish did not know that their wishful thinking had given the Ming Dynasty a new idea.

Why trade silver with the Spanish?

Once this question surfaced, everyone started to think about it.

Yes, why trade silver with the Spanish?

Su Ze had already written about his observations and experiences in South America, also known as "Nanzhou," in the Yuefu Xinbao newspaper.

At that time, Suze had made it very clear that there were native people in the South, and that the Spanish had only started to control the South in recent decades.

If that's the case, aren't you Spaniards also occupying someone else's land?

In that case, why can't we, the people of the Great Ming Dynasty, mine gold and silver in the southern regions ourselves?

After this most basic idea emerged, the idea of ​​sailing to seek new continents began to appear among maritime merchants.

However, exploring new continents is very difficult.

Without GPS technology, the Spanish forged this sea route with human lives at their disposal. Moreover, the Spanish controlled the islands along the way. If the Ming Dynasty wanted to acquire this route, it would have to fight for each island one by one, which would be far too costly.

This is when the value of the longitude method became apparent. Everyone then understood Su Ze's foresight!
If accurate positioning is possible, ships can bypass some Spanish-controlled islands and navigate directly to the New World using positioning.

Such exploration is equivalent to exploration with a map, which greatly reduces the risk factor.

Then came the Crown Prince's offer of a 5,000 silver dollar reward, which ignited the longitude war.

Everyone knew that the Crown Prince's bounty was definitely Su Ze's suggestion, and more people began to get involved, trying to solve the longitude problem.

For example, some people have tried to improve the Jupiter positioning method by using higher-powered telescopes to find Jupiter's moons and create a Jupiter timeline that is easier to observe.

Others have tried to improve the clepsydra and create a more stable timer, but the clepsydra can only work in a stable environment and cannot be used on ships.

Others studied pendulums and tried to create pendulums that could remain accurate on ships, but the results were not very good. However, this did promote the development of pendulum clocks.

Su Ze even saw that someone had summarized the pendulum law, but unfortunately the craftsman who researched this law did not leave his name. However, the pendulum law in this world will no longer be called Galileo's pendulum law.

The most promising contenders at present are Huang Ji's lunar horn distance celestial clock method and Zhang Bi's nautical chronometer method.

A few months ago, the Yuefu Xinbao newspaper reported on the progress of the two, and this battle of longitudes even became a betting odds. However, because no one knew which method would break through, the betting odds were ultimately not set.

Su Ze didn't arrive either, yet both methods of measuring longitude achieved breakthroughs simultaneously.

Su Ze knew that both methods were actually correct.

Marine chronometers have been widely used in the past and have always been an excellent method for measuring longitude.

The lunar distance chronometer method also has its advantages. As long as the captain or navigator has astronomical knowledge, they can calculate the longitude with a sextant and a lunar distance calculation table, which is much cheaper than an expensive marine chronometer.

Unfortunately, before the advent of precision machining tools, marine chronometers could only be handcrafted by top craftsmen like Zhang Bi. A craftsman like Zhang Bi might not be able to handcraft a qualified marine chronometer in a year, which meant that marine chronometers were inevitably luxury items, and often a fleet could only have one.

Of course, when sailing on the high seas, it is best to use both methods to eliminate interference errors and achieve more accurate positioning.

Zhang Bi was naturally aware of his competitors' news, and when he heard that Huang Ji had also made a breakthrough and was about to return to the capital, his face turned pale.

Zhang Bi was naturally tempted by the reward of five thousand silver dollars.

With this money, he could continue his research and create a more sophisticated marine chronometer.

However, the reward was offered by the Crown Prince's palace, and Huang Ji was the Crown Prince's teacher; the two had a close relationship.

Huang Ji was a graduate of the Hanlin Academy and held the position of Junior Secretary, while Zhang Bi was merely a low-ranking craftsman.

The huge difference in their social status made Zhang Bi, who was originally determined to win, begin to feel anxious and uncertain.

Seeing Zhang Bi like this, Su Ze said:
“Master Zhang, there’s no need to worry. I know Huang Shaoshi’s character. He certainly won’t use his relationship with His Highness to win.”

"I will also ask Your Highness to preside over this competition fairly."

Hearing this, Zhang Bi felt a little relieved. Since Su Ze had made a guarantee, he believed that the competition would be conducted fairly.

After all, given Su Ze's prestige, he couldn't possibly be lying to me.

Zhang Bi left with his nautical clock, while Su Ze picked up the memorial and began to ponder it.

The issue of longitude is crucial to the future of navigation; it is an extremely important technological development.

In the original timeline, it was precisely because Britain was the first to solve the longitude problem that it was able to wage guerrilla warfare against the Spanish Armada in the Caribbean Sea, using privateers, and ultimately replace the Spanish as the maritime hegemon.

The Ming Dynasty navy was undoubtedly the number one navy in Asia.

However, compared to Spain, which borrowed money to build ships, it still lags behind in scale on a global scale.

Unfortunately, shipbuilding is limited by materials, and the timber needed to build a fleet also requires time to process.

Mature captains and sailors require extensive training and real-world experience to develop.

The Spanish became a maritime superpower by relying on the sea and trade, and they bet almost everything on their fleet.

The Ming Dynasty was a powerful land-based nation and had no naval tradition.

Therefore, if you want to overtake others by taking a shortcut, you naturally have to rely on technology.

Gunboat technology and navigation technology are equally important. If both can be mastered, the Ming Dynasty's navy can overtake others and become a maritime power.

To advance technological development, we can no longer afford to take small-scale approaches; we must elevate the status of scientists.

Su Ze thought for a moment, then picked up a blank memorial.

Memorial Requesting the Establishment of the Royal Academy of Practical Learning

Su Ze's memorial was very simple: he requested that a Practical Learning Society be established under the Hanlin Academy, and that talented people in practical learning be recommended from both official and private sources to form this society.

The Practical Learning Society is not an official position, but an honorary title. Experts in the field of practical learning can regularly exchange ideas and publish the latest practical learning findings here.

Su Ze then proposed that after the establishment of this Practical Learning Society, relevant experts should be invited to form a Longitude Committee, which would then decide the final winner of the Crown Prince's 5,000 silver dollar longitude reward.

After finishing writing, Su Ze did not directly stuff it into the portable Ming Dynasty magazine.

Since the goal is to promote practical learning, it's essential to involve Gao Gong. Su Ze plans to visit Gao Gong with the memorial, asking him to help pass it through the cabinet, which would also save valuable prestige points.

Since it was official business, Su Ze went directly to the cabinet with his waist token and asked the secretary of the Imperial Secretariat to hand the memorial to Gao Gong.

A short while later, Gao Gong met Su Ze in the side hall where guests were being received.

After Gao Gong became the Grand Secretary, he vigorously promoted practical learning, but the results were not very good.

The reason is quite simple: practical learning is a combination of science and humanities and social sciences stitched together by Su Ze, plus the big basket formed by Confucianism, so naturally anything can be stuffed into it.

After Gao Gong became the Grand Secretary, his subordinates, in order to curry favor with him, also began to talk about practical learning.

Many people don't even know what real learning is; it's just a repackaged version of the old "philosophy of mind." They just follow the chief minister's lead and shout about real learning.

Gao Gong also understood that these old hands in officialdom had little interest in academia; academia was merely a status symbol, a ticket to network, and they had no loyalty to it whatsoever.

But the more this happened, the more anxious Gao Gong became.

I can't stay as the chief minister forever. What will happen to Shi Xue when I step down?
Therefore, upon seeing Su Ze's "Memorial Requesting the Establishment of the Royal Practical Learning Society," Gao Gong immediately put aside his official duties and met with Su Ze.

(End of this chapter)