Emperor Chongzhen saw that these two people said this, so he continued: "What Qing and others said is right, the importance of the terrain sand table goes without saying. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info but what I want to say is that the sand table production is very different, and the most important thing is accuracy.

"And to be accurate, you have to have a lot of people to go to the field to explore, to investigate on the spot, to go there in person, to see with your own eyes. This requires a large number of talents who are proficient in mountain geography. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Xu Hongzu, who was standing on his side slightly, and then said: "This is also the reason why I have traveled thousands of miles to recruit Xu Hongzu, the assistant teacher of Nanjing Guozijian, to Jingshi. ”

After saying this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the ministers who were bowing down and serving, and continued: "I plan to set up a geographical society in the Ministry of War, which will be called the Huangming Geographical Society, and the new secretary of the department, Xu Hongzu, will serve as the director, and I will personally serve as the president of this geographical society.

"Every year, I allocate 50,000 silver dollars from the treasury as the fund of the Imperial Geographical Society, which recruits, dispatches or sponsors all talented people who are interested in geographical discovery to explore the geographical boundaries of mountains and rivers at home and abroad."

As soon as Emperor Chongzhen's words came out, the ministers and attendants in the Wuying Hall were stunned and looked at each other.

Emperor Chongzhen knew that such a practice would definitely cause controversy and even opposition.

In fact, he didn't have to be the president, the reason why he did it was to let the world know how much the emperor attached importance to this geographical society and geographical exploration.

If within a few years, the Ming dynasty and the opposition can set off a wave of geographical exploration, then it is worth the amount of infamy that the emperor bears at this time.

Sure enough, as soon as the emperor's words came out, several important ministers who were still praising the emperor Shengming before, and everyone's faces changed.

Several important ministers headed by Li Guowei, the first assistant of the cabinet, solemnly knelt on the ground one by one, asking the emperor to retract the appointment of the president of the Geographical Society.

Li Guowei kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, with the respect of the Son of Heaven, deigns to be the president of a newly established Geographical Society, which is really incredible. ”

The Minister of Military Aircraft, the British Minister Zhang Weixian, also said: "If Your Majesty wants to show the importance of the Imperial Ming Geographical Society, you can appoint an important minister to serve as the president, so why risk the disapproval of the world and make your ministers shocked and inexplicable!" ”

As an emperor, he condescended to condescend to serve in the imperial court, which happened once in the history of the Ming Dynasty, that is, Emperor Zhengde of Ming Wuzong.

In order to be able to personally lead the army to crusade against the Mongol tribes, Emperor Zhengde once issued an edict, appointing himself as a mighty general, and gave himself the pseudonym Zhu Shou.

After this decree came out, the government and the opposition were in an uproar, and many courtiers objected, but Emperor Zhengde was unmoved, and still in the name of the mighty general Zhu Shou, he led the army to the battle, and he also won the victory.

Therefore, it did not take long for Emperor Zhengde to once again ask the cabinet to appoint himself as the mighty general of Zhenguogong.

Emperor Zhengde left Beijing for nine months in this name, went to the northwest to conquer the little Mongolian prince Boyan Mengke, and really drove out the Mongolian tribes in Koubian, and the northwest was stable for more than ten years.

After Emperor Zhengde returned from victory, he was appointed as Taishi, and since then there has been an official position called Taishi Zhenguo Gong Mighty General, and he has become the highest-ranking minister under the emperor himself.

And this is also the so-called absurdity of Emperor Zhengde, which was most criticized and criticized by Wenchen after that.

In history, why Emperor Zhengde did this, no one can say now.

But people in later generations can imagine that if the emperor's ministers can't do anything but engage in infighting in the court, and can't solve a series of thorny problems that the emperor wants to solve, then does the emperor have any other way than to do this?

Maybe that's what Emperor Zhengde thought at that time.

But the reputation of Emperor Zhengde has since been as smelly as it is in history.

Could it be that Emperor Chongzhen, the rare lord of Zhongxing in the Ming Dynasty, wants to learn from the absurd practices of Emperor Zhengde?

This was the first reaction of all the courtiers in the Wuying Hall at this time when they heard that Emperor Chongzhen was going to personally assume the position of president of the Huangming Geographical Society regardless of the respect of the Ninth Five-Year Plan of the Son of Heaven.

"Your worries, I know, you are afraid that I will follow the example of Emperor Wuzong and decree to appoint myself as the president of the Imperial Ming Geographical Society." Emperor Chongzhen saw that the courtiers in the Wuying Hall were all kneeling on the ground to persuade him to take back his fate, so he said: "You are wrong. The Huangming Geographical Society, although it is located under the name of the Ministry of Justice, is only a private society, not a yamen of the imperial court.

"Except for Xu Hongzu, the director, who serves as the secretary of the Ministry of Justice, there will be no other imperial court positions and officials.

"Including the president of whom I personally serve, it's just a title. is not an official of the imperial court, and there is no royal court. Even the fifty thousand silver dollars I have allocated from my inner pocket, I will not use a single penny.

"The reason why I am the president is not only to show the world the importance of the mission of the Geographical Society, but also because the funds of the Geographical Society are my internal funds. It's just an ordinary people's family, doing something together, and having money and shares, how can they be named.

"If you are willing to contribute, whoever gives the most money will be given the title of the president. What do you think? ”

A few courtiers who originally wanted to give advice, after hearing it, it turned out that the emperor meant this, whoever pays more money can come to be the president, no grade and no rank, a bit like the Wenhui Poetry Society of the folk scholars, what is the president of the president, it's just a nice thing to say, it's just a joke.

Xu Guangqi, Sun Chengzong and others looked at each other, and they didn't continue to speak.

Emperor Chongzhen asked the kneeling ministers to get up, and then continued: "I, the president, have only been in office for one year, that is, at the beginning of the establishment of the Geographical Society, I helped them to check and point in the direction. As the president of the Geographical Society, I will never leave Beijing to investigate the geography of mountains and rivers in person. At this point, you can rest assured. ”

The confused courtiers hadn't figured out what was going on, so Emperor Chongzhen changed the topic again, looked at Niu Juming, who was speechless, and said: "Niu Aiqing has led everyone to make sand tables during this time, and the results are remarkable. Now Gyeonggi, Saibei, Liaoxi, and Liaodong have all been completed, and the remaining sand tables in Datong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Sanbian should be completed as soon as possible before September. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Xu Hongzu again, and then said: "I recruited this Xu Hongzu and put him in the Ministry of War, which is also for this purpose. Xu Hongzu has surveyed many places such as famous mountains and rivers on the three sides of Shanxi and Shaanxi, and you must cooperate sincerely to complete it as soon as possible.

"If necessary, you can continue to send people to various places to conduct on-the-spot surveys, and manpower and material resources are not spared, so as to ensure that the Ming terrain sand table in the Wuying Hall is accurate and accurate."

After the emperor said this, Niu Juming and Xu Hongzu hurriedly bowed down to receive the order.

In this way, the Huangming Geographical Society was established in the emperor's conversation and laughter, and more easily, the matter of Emperor Chongzhen personally serving as the first president of the Huangming Geographical Society was also decided between the conversation and laughter.

For the several ministers who were in the Wuying Hall at this time, although the emperor did this a bit like Emperor Zhengde himself appointing himself as the mighty general of the Taishi Zhenguo Gong, but after all, the president of the Huangming Geographical Society was not a position in the imperial court, and he did not need any will of the imperial court, it was just verbal.

If you don't take it seriously at all, it's definitely not okay, but if you take it too seriously, it will inevitably seem that you are making a little fuss and can't hold your breath, and you don't have the steady cultivation and open-mindedness of being a minister.

And the reason why Emperor Chongzhen did this was not that he really wanted to be the president, but to open the door for Xu Hongzu to carry out geographical expeditions in the name of the Huangming Geographical Society in the future and create more convenient conditions.

If this is also managed, then in the future, if the emperor and his concubines set up a poetry society in the palace and serve as the president, should the ministers of the foreign dynasty seek death and live to write to dissuade them?