Zhang Weixian was overjoyed, and was about to open his mouth to thank him, but Zhu Youxiao said again: "But if I don't punish you, who will listen to my holy decree?" ”

The ecstasy that had just spread was like being poured with ice water, and disappeared without a trace. Zhang Weixian understood that the emperor still had to punish himself in order to make an example for the people of the world. He was angry in his heart, but he had to say: "Your Majesty, it was originally the fault of the old minister, please ask Your Majesty to punish him heavily to set an example." ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "According to the law, the maximum penalty for violating the patent law is exile." Guogong has always been loyal to the country, I just opened the net, I heard that the British government has 3,000 hectares of land in Baoding Mansion, right? ”

Zhang Weixian didn't dare to deny: "Your Majesty has 3,000 hectares of land in Baoding Mansion and is willing to dedicate it to Your Majesty." When he said this, his heart was dripping blood.

Zhu Youxiao shook his head: "I don't want the Qing family's land, but the 3,000 hectares of land in Baoding Mansion want to be recovered by the imperial court at the market price, and then sold to local farmers, this is a good thing for the people, I believe that Zhang Qing's family will not refuse." ”

Zhang Weixian hurriedly said: "This matter is beneficial to the country and the people, and your subordinates are naturally willing." ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "I know that the British public is concerned with the imperial court, but you have to rest assured that I will compensate you in the future." ”

Zhang Weixian said: "Your Majesty, everything in the minister is given by Your Majesty, and the minister does not need to be compensated by Your Majesty." ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded: "That's it, first of all, you have to wronged the British public, the fine and the resumption of the land will be published in the newspaper, and other things will be talked about later." ”

Zhang Weixian kowtowed again and thanked him and withdrew. After leaving the gate of the Ordnance Bureau and getting into the carriage, he patted the seat hatefully, and he couldn't swallow his breath in his heart no matter what. He instructed his entourage: "Let people go to see the inspection envoy of Beizhili, and at the perfect time, I will personally go out of the capital to meet him." ”

A few days later, the entire process of the first patent case was published in the weekly bulletin. How the British government buys a patented machine and then copies it, and how the court returns a portion of the fine to the patent holder, are all written clearly, like a script. Let the reader read it with relish.

At the bottom of this report, the British government thanked the sincerity of the imperial court in reducing rent, and intended to help donate its 3,000 hectares of land in Baoding Mansion to the imperial court free of charge, so that it could be distributed to the landless poor for farming. The imperial court could not bear to ask the British government to make such a big sacrifice, so it bought the land of the British government at market price and sold it to the landless and landless poor people in Baoding Province.

It is easy for a discerning person to see that the British government not only paid a fine of 30,000 yuan just because it copied three machines, but also was forced to hand over 3,000 hectares of land in Baoding Mansion. And because of someone else's imitation, the patent holder of the printing press received 15,000 yuan from the patent office.

Now everyone in the world understands that the patent law mentioned by the imperial court is indeed going to be true, and the only thing in the world that can be more powerful than the British government is the royal family. Many people who had been watching immediately flocked to Beijing, just wanting to patent their independent secret skills as soon as possible, and then turn them into real money.

The patent office is overcrowded for a while, especially when some people go to apply for patents, and find that what they thought was a unique secret has already been applied for by someone else. After this news was published in the newspaper, some people who were still holding on to thinking that it was their own anyway and couldn't run away after all panicked.

The Patent Office was short of manpower, so it had to apply to the emperor for the transfer of manpower. Zhu Youxiao sent all the students of the Academy of Chinese Literature to the Patent Office and asked them to register their patents. The patent registration requirement must be in a clear and clear vernacular, which made the students of the Academy of Chinese Literature uncomfortable for a while, but gradually felt that the vernacular was more rigorous and detailed in expression than the literary language.

The patent registration incident that occurred in the fifth year of the Apocalypse is considered to be the fundamental reason for the scientific and technological explosion of the Ming Dynasty. Chinese have always had a not very good habit, that is, to keep a hand, as the saying goes, teach apprentices, starving the master is a concrete embodiment of this habit. And now that there is a patent law, those who have technology that others do not have, and those who have artifacts are eager to let everyone in the world learn the technology they have mastered and make their own utensils, because in this way they can get more patent fees.

Ye Xianggao also saw the opportunity, taking advantage of this good situation, and began to publish an article in the newspaper to ask for a redefinition of the word "strange and obscene", thinking that it originally referred to too strange and useless skills and products, but in fact, an item, a skill is made or created, there will always be its use, even if it is used to appreciate, so he believes that the meaning of the word "strange and obscene" should be changed in the future, and it can be used to express strange skills. Extreme ingenuity, but not as useless or addictive.

This view was quickly endorsed by many people, and of course some people thought that it should be changed to strange and ingenious, and it should be better without this obscene word. There is no unity between these two views, some use strange tricks, some use strange tricks, but the meaning of the two words has become almost the same.

The patent registration this time made Zhu Youxiao discover that the scientific and technological level of the Ming Dynasty was not as backward as he imagined. Mining technology such as the fire method has already appeared in this era, and the steam engine, such as flywheels and gears, has long been manufactured.

And the idea that someone has started to build iron-hulled ships, although they are bulky and difficult to maneuver, is already very good.

Zhu Youxiao found that in addition to the ancestral skills, what he invented was generally the surplus wealth of the family. But it's also easy to figure out how to invent and create if you don't have enough to eat. Only when we have enough food and clothing will we have the time and energy to think and generate new knowledge.

This further strengthened Zhu Youxiao's motivation to reduce rents and implement the practice of cultivators having their fields, as long as the Ming people can no longer be busy all day long for food and clothing, there will naturally be more inventions and creations.

There is still a long way to go to achieve this, and there are many difficulties to overcome in the political, economic, and scientific and technological aspects, and there are still many forces that need to be persuaded and appeased, so that there will be no major social turmoil.

Although most of the patents in Zhu Youxiao's view, in fact, are not the direction of scientific and technological progress, but this matter is focused on the affirmation of everyone's invention and creation, Zhu Youxiao knows that it is difficult to make a very obvious progress in Daming's science and technology with his own written knowledge, at most it can only play a role in guiding the direction. But if there are many people involved in the Ming Dynasty and constantly improving the theory, that is the main driving force for the development of science and technology.