Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

The questions Zhang Shikang asked were varied, such as how to use steam as power, how to produce electricity, and even explaining that electricity is the electricity of lightning.

And in the smelting industry, how to control the carbon content, and how to smelt alloys to increase the strength of metals.

There were also questions on astronomy, geography, biology, etc. The overall level of the questions was not higher than that of the college entrance examinations in later generations. Zhang Shikang even explained some concepts.

However, most of the questions are as abstract as Zhang Shikang's previous question about how humans can go to heaven.

Looking at the frowning faces of the candidates, Zhang Shikang was not actually complacent about the questions he had set.

During these two years, he has truly felt the difficulty of promoting the overall technological progress of a huge country.

Even though he knew about the two industrial revolutions and that certain inventions were important for the advancement of industrial technology, such as the use of steam power and electricity, as well as chemistry, physics, mathematics, and so on.

But the general progress of various disciplines is complementary to each other. Without the support of one discipline, other disciplines will not be able to keep up.

For example, Zhang Shikang once thought that chemistry was very important. Through simple extraction and a series of reactions, white phosphorus and nitroglycerin could be produced. If these things came out now, the Jianlu and Europeans would have nothing to do.

But the problem is that Zhang Shikang only knew these names but didn't know how to make them.

He also knew that beakers, that is, high-quality glass products, were very important for the development of chemistry. Glass did not react with most chemical elements and was a very good chemical instrument.

So he asked Song Yingxing to do the research very early. Now the glass workshop of the Manufacturing General Administration has made some achievements. Not only has it achieved mass production, but its craftsmanship has also reached the requirements for making chemical equipment.

But the problem is, Zhang Shikang's memory of chemistry basically only lasts for the two years he studied in high school, but he can still remember a few chemical formulas.

Things like the reaction of calcium carbonate and dilute hydrochloric acid to produce calcium bicarbonate. Not to mention that Zhang Shikang could only memorize them by rote, when he told these things to the people in the General Administration of Manufacturing, they were basically staring in dismay.

If you want to use steam power, you need the support of various other disciplines, and electricity is even more difficult.

Before this, Zhang Shikang had been troubled by this for a long time, and thought that with collective wisdom, the situation would be much better.

But in reality, the effect is not that great. Those concepts were too avant-garde for the ancients, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they were fantasy.

Many candidates even thought that Zhang Shikang was asking questions randomly, and that the questions were extremely outrageous and illogical.

This gave Zhang Shikang the idea of writing a book himself. Although he might have only a superficial understanding of various subjects, he knew the ultimate answers to many questions.

Zhang Shikang believed that even if some talents could be recruited through the imperial examination, they would still be too few.

The answers he knew and the reverse process required the participation of more talents, and he believed that only in this way could the technological skill points of the Ming Dynasty be truly accelerated.

The entire palace examination process was unremarkable, and the marking of the papers after the examination was much simpler than that of the metropolitan examination. In just two or three days, the rankings of this spring's examinations had been determined.

As expected, the eldest brother won the top spot in the science and engineering imperial examination, and the boy named Xing also won the title of third place.

When Emperor Chongzhen asked about the top-ranking Jinshi in each subject, no matter whether they were in science, engineering or agriculture, they all chose to join the General Administration of Manufacturing.

This made Zhang Shikang very pleased. It turned out that the top talents often care most about the scientific research environment.

However, during this first attempt to reform the imperial examination system, Zhang Shikang discovered many problems throughout the process.

The imperial examination system provided a bridge to the upper class for people all over the world, and undoubtedly played an important role in social stability and development.

Zhang Shikang did not deny the superiority of the imperial examination system, but in some aspects, its efficiency was still too low.

At a time when eight-legged essay is prevalent and becoming more and more serious, the officials elected may not necessarily be brilliant and capable, but may instead be nerds.

Moreover, subjects such as science, engineering, agriculture, and other subjects that Zhang Shikang wanted to include in the imperial examination in the future were actually very troublesome to test.

This is very inconsistent with the regulations of the imperial examination system. For example, in this imperial examination, there are dozens of subjects such as blacksmiths, smelters, civil engineering, textile engineering, etc.

All of these were crammed into the imperial examination system, making it very strange and requiring a huge amount of manpower and material resources from the court.

This made Zhang Shikang unconsciously think of the way later generations handled the matter.

Compared with the dozens of craftsman types in the Ming Dynasty, such as smelting, civil engineering, and textile, it is similar to the university majors in later generations.

The university diploma in later generations is merely a certificate of the major studied, and college students cannot become civil servants directly.

If you want to become an official, you must take the national unified examination, including provincial examinations and national examinations. A university degree is the stepping stone.

Thinking about it this way, it coincides with Zhang Shikang's previous thoughts.

That is to open a university.

After the European Renaissance, universities began to spring up like mushrooms throughout Europe.

The opening of universities will also help various disciplines to form a systematic knowledge framework, and at the same time resolve the conflicts between masters and apprentices.

With this idea in mind, Zhang Shikang went to communicate with his brother Chongzhen, which made Emperor Chongzhen frown.

Zhang Shikang's idea was too advanced for people at that time. Emperor Chongzhen did not dare to agree to it rashly, but instead called other ministers of the cabinet to discuss it together.

However, Hai Zhongqi and other cabinet ministers all expressed strong opposition to Zhang Shikang's proposal.

The reason is not complicated. If Zhang Shikang's idea is followed, the cost of opening a university in each state capital would be more terrifying than opening a money house.

Zhang Shikang could understand that no matter whether it was Li Banghua or Hai Zhongqi, maintaining the imperial examination system itself was the unshirkable responsibility of scholars and literati all over the world.

He originally thought that good things take time, and at most he could hold a few more meetings. As long as they understood the seriousness of the situation, these old stubborn people would always agree for the sake of the court's development and their brother's desire to revive the Ming Dynasty.

However, in mid-April, an urgent report from outside the country disrupted everyone's plans.

Li Zicheng's Zui Camp, together with Ombu of Guihua City, attacked Borjigin of the Eastern Tumed tribe to chase rabbits, but they were ambushed by Huang Taiji's army.

Li Zicheng and Ombu were defeated. It might be because Huang Taiji had suffered too many depressing things in recent years, so he pursued the defeated army of the imperial court for two full days and nights.

According to incomplete statistics, only 10,000 of Li Zicheng's 30,000 troops were left in this battle, and Ombu also suffered heavy losses.

The two armies retreated back to Huacheng and were surrounded by Huang Taiji's large army.

Not only that, Huang Taiji mobilized the entire country and mobilized 180,000 troops, claiming to have 300,000, pointing their swords directly at the Ming court.

……

PS: You may not believe it, but I feel dizzy and have a headache today, my joints and muscles ache all over my body, my nose is stuffy, I feel groggy and have no appetite. I am still in this state after sleeping for a whole day. Alas.