Zhu Youzhen is ready to directly merge the War Bureau into the Royal Arsenal, anyway, the War Bureau is directly under the jurisdiction of the Inner Government, there is no such complicated personnel relationship, Sun Yuanhua and Chen Yujie are both in Beijing, there are these two people in charge, plus Zhu Youzhen now has silver, and the millions of taels of silver copied from the house are not used, this arsenal should be able to open soon.

However, it is easy to drive, but there is not enough manpower. The number of craftsmen is only a few hundred, and the production process is backward in this era, and the output is very not optimistic.

Xu Guangqi proposed that blacksmiths could be recruited from Guangdong to come to Beijing.

"Foshan, Guangdong, iron-making technology is the best in all provinces, there are thousands of craftsmen engaged in iron-making all year round, the iron produced there is of excellent quality, and the fire guns made are far superior to those in the north. Of the eleven Hongyi cannons at the head of Ningyuan City, three were purchased from the Francophiles, and the rest were all shipped from Guangdong. His Majesty can recruit a group of skilled blacksmiths from Foshan, and all of them will be given the martial arts positions of the nine grades from the nine grades, and then they will be given a good salary, and they will gladly come to Beijing. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded: "Very good, I will give an order to send people to Guangdong for 600 miles in an expedited manner, so I will recruit 1,000 people first!" ”

Giving a large number of official positions from the nine grades is nothing in Zhu Youzhen's opinion, just now as many as thousands of cute officials have been eliminated from Jinyiwei, and let these blacksmiths make up for it.

Seeing that the emperor agreed to his proposal, Xu Guangqi was encouraged: "Your Majesty, the minister has another proposal, I don't know whether to talk about it or not." ”

Zhu Youzhen said: "Speak." ”

"When it comes to firearms and artillery, the firearms of the Xiyi people are the most sophisticated, far better than the firearms made by my Ming Dynasty. The Franc machine people in Guangdong and Macao opened a gun factory, specializing in the production of muskets and artillery, the Xiyi people called the musket arquebus, there are many Yi people who know how to make guns and cannons in Macao, the minister suggested that the Yiren craftsmen were recruited into the royal arsenal with a generous salary to help us make cannons. ”

Xu Guangqi said, and then looked at Zhu Youzhen with a worried mood. After all, he summoned Yi people into the arsenal, and he was afraid that the emperor would feel uncomfortable.

Zhu Youzhen's face changed slightly, and his mood was a little complicated. He suddenly remembered the situation he saw in the picture, after the Tatar Qing seized the Ming Dynasty, they closed the country, and the technology of the Xiyi people changed with each passing day, and finally two hundred years later, the Xiyi people opened the door of the Tatar Qing with guns, and since then China has fallen into more than a hundred years of decline, from the top of the world to the rapid degeneration, becoming a semi-colony of the Xiyi people.

If it is not my race, its heart will be different, and Zhu Youzhen has a vigilant attitude towards these Yi people. But now, the Xiyi people can't threaten the Daming Dynasty.

One day, I will definitely send troops overseas to seize the colonies from the Yi people, Java, Malacca, India, and even the New World, wherever the sun and the moon go, it will be a clear land! Zhu Youzhen said secretly in his heart.

"Your Majesty?" Seeing that Zhu Youzhen didn't speak for a long time, Xu Guangqi called softly.

Zhu Youzhen came back to his senses: "Just do as you say, since the Xiyi people's guns are better than ours, we must learn their skills and strive for our guns to surpass them." Xu Shangshu, I heard that you know a lot of Xiyi people, so it's up to you to handle this matter. If the blacksmith of Xiyi wishes to come, in addition to giving him a large salary, I will also grant him the status of a tartar official at his discretion. ”

Xu Guangqi said happily: "This is good, those Xiyi people are definitely willing to serve the imperial court." ”

Xu Guangqi likes to study Western studies and has contacts with many Western missionaries, which is not difficult for him.

Speaking of the Xiyi people, Zhu Youzhen suddenly remembered the various advanced technologies of the later generations seen in the picture, compared with the current Ming Dynasty and four hundred years later, it is undoubtedly compared with the savages.

Four hundred years later, in the world, there is no longer a imperial examination in China, but there are countless schools that train talents in various subjects. Can I open a school like the one in the afterlife? This thought suddenly surged in Zhu Youzhen's heart.

In the current Zhu Youzhen's view, except for a group of officials who do not know the five grains, the imperial examination is useless to the people of the world, and all kinds of disciplines in later generations are really useful knowledge.

But Zhu Youzhen also knew that his idea was very dangerous, which was tantamount to being the enemy of all officials from the imperial examination, and it was tantamount to completely overthrowing the current system of the Ming Dynasty, even if he was the emperor, it was very difficult to do it.

However, I can start little by little, subtly, and one day, when I can really control the whole world, I can abolish the system of selecting officials for the imperial examination!

"Xu Shangshu, I have an idea." Zhu Youzhen's eyes were blazing.

"I seem to have a lot of craftsmen who know all kinds of skills, but in fact there are very few, and I still need to recruit people from Guangdong and Xiyi to set up an arsenal to make guns, and many of my skills are even lagging behind Xiyi.

Xu Shangshu wanted to set up a academy to study various skills, such as arithmetic, agriculture, iron smelting, and medicine. ”

Xu Guangqi asked, "Does Your Majesty want to set up an academy to train craftsmen?" ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head: "It's not about cultivating craftsmen, but about cultivating scholars who know all kinds of techniques, of course these people can be craftsmen, and they can also be officials." For example, the sweet potato and corn you mentioned can be cultivated by the academy to study their cultivation techniques and train specialized personnel who can be sent to various places for agricultural officials to promote them. For example, the art of iron-making and cannon-making, there are many iron factories in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, but the level is different, the academy has developed a new type of gun, and the trained talents can be sent to the subway factories as officials, so as to improve the performance of guns and various weapons in all aspects, the guns are sharp, and the army is not more combative? ”

Xu Guangqi said very excitedly: "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

As the person with the deepest contact with the West, Xu Guangqi liked to study Western studies more than to be an official, he studied arithmetic, collaborated with the Yiren missionary Matteo Ricci in translating the Geometry Originals, and wrote the books "Pythagorean Meaning" and "Measuring Similarities and Differences".

Xu Guangqi is interested in agriculture and is the author of books such as "The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration", "Sweet Potato Shu", "Agricultural Relics and Miscellaneous Books", "Draft Agricultural Book", and "Taixi Water Law". He also tried to plant and cultivate sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes and other Panbang crops from the Xiyi people.

Xu Guangqi was also interested in astronomy, and was working with the missionary John Tang to prepare a book entitled "The Chongzhen Calendar".

Xu Guangqi was also interested in military affairs, and wrote various training regulations and codes such as "Selecting and Practicing 100 Characters", "Selecting and Practicing Rules", "Practicing Art Rules", "Shuwu Rules", "Forming Names and Rules", "Fire Attack Strategy", "Gunpowder Making Law" and other training regulations and codes.

It's a pity that in the Ming Dynasty, where the imperial examination was prevalent, it was difficult for his works to enter the "Hall of Elegance", and in the eyes of those who read, the Four Books and Five Classics and poems are really useful knowledge.

Xu Guangqi didn't expect that Zhu Youzhen would be interested in these miscellaneous studies, and would set up a special academy to study and spread these knowledge.

Zhu Youzhen said with a smile: "This academy is called the Royal Academy of Sciences, how about you as the first president?" ”