Moreover, without goals and new scientific research projects, what is the use of an academy of sciences, and how can it cultivate top scientists?

The Industrial Revolution would be initiated and led by the Ming Dynasty, whose foundation would be the continuous emergence of scientific and technological talents. The saying "slow accumulation leads to rapid development" is precisely the same principle.

The emperor was confident that through his guidance and encouragement, the Ming Empire would make rapid progress in the field of natural sciences and eventually surpass the leading countries.

That’s right, the Ming Empire had already fallen behind in science, although the consequences of this backwardness might take decades, centuries, or even thousands of years to become apparent.

But no one knew better than the emperor that those who fell behind would be beaten, and no one felt it more painfully than the emperor.

"In fact, according to normal thinking and development, rifled guns came into being before suitable bullets," the emperor said slowly. "This order of precedence may be of some inspiration to Minister Sun..."

Historically, rifled guns were only experimental weapons after their introduction. Because of the rifling, the muzzle-loading bullet had to be slightly larger than the gun's caliber to ensure it remained airtight in the chamber.

The result is that loading the gun is extremely difficult, and usually requires using a hammer to hit the ramrod to push the bullet into place.

This often leads to a more dangerous situation, that is, the barrel ruptures and the bullet is deformed, which fails to achieve the expected killing effect.

The Minié bullet was invented to improve these drawbacks. The caliber of the Minié bullet is slightly smaller than the caliber of the gun, making it easy to load.

The projectile body also has threads to match the rifling, and the tail is hollow and made of cork material. It relies on the heat expansion caused by the fired gunpowder gas to ensure airtightness and make the projectile body rotate along the rifling.

The principle sounds simple, but in reality, Sun Yuanhua and other researchers were deeply impressed.

If it were not for the suggestions and ideas put forward by the emperor, they would never have thought of how to improve the bullets, and the practical application of rifled guns would have been stuck at the first major difficulty.

The only difficulty now is drawing the rifling in the barrel. Once the appropriate machinery is manufactured, there will be no obstacles to rifled guns becoming practical weapons except for funding.

The quality of high-carbon steel knives produced by crucibles is constantly improving, and it is not a difficult task to manufacture wire drawing machines.

Just like drilling smoothbore gun barrels, the improvement in work efficiency from manual to mechanical work was astonishing, and it was also an important reason why the Ming army could be quickly equipped.

"...coaxial with the barrel, the chisel rotates synchronously when it is pulled..."

Sun Yuanhua had a rough idea in his mind. He had long admired Wansui's knowledge and brilliant ideas, so he was not too excited or surprised at this time.

The emperor spoke for a moment, then took a sip of water from his teacup. He then continued slowly, "Once the expansion of the Academy is complete, we will recruit apprentice disciples from the Young Elite Academy. Cultivating pillars of talent from a young age and forming a ladder will ensure that there is no talent gap."

At present, most people in the Academy of Sciences are self-taught people who rely on the knowledge, understanding and comprehension of adults to force themselves to study natural sciences and then climb up.

This method was a last resort and not a long-term solution. That was why the emperor decided to place the children from the Shaoyingyuan there.

It's not enough to start too early. Without a teacher, the emperor can't teach in person, right? After several years of preparation and an inspection of the Academy of Sciences, the emperor believed that the conditions were ripe.

"I obey your order." Sun Yuanhua bowed and accepted the order.

Although Wansui could be said to have a preference for the Academy of Sciences, and by granting them official positions he recruited many students who originally had to rely on the imperial examinations to enter the officialdom.

But old ideas were deeply ingrained and could not be changed quickly. Ordinary families would rarely send their children to the Academy of Sciences to learn what they considered to be "crafts."

But the children in the Youth Academy are different, or rather, they have no choice and do not have much scope for choice.

Moreover, they are not completely new. They know a little bit about reading, writing and calculation. It will be very convenient for them to go to the Academy of Sciences to systematically study natural sciences and then further subdivide the disciplines.

Even though they had no choice, they had to follow the path arranged by the emperor, perhaps even for their entire lives.

But these children can be considered lucky. They were originally orphans who were lonely and displaced, but now they can eat royal food, have no worries about food and clothing, and don’t even have to worry about the future. It can be considered a blessing in disguise.

The emperor inquired about the situation of the people sent by the Ordnance Bureau to Yunnan Province to build a factory. He was satisfied and praised them before letting Sun Yuanhua leave.

The Ming Dynasty now has two largest arsenals, one in Beijing and Tianjin, and one in Guangdong. The Beijing-Tianjin Arsenal is mainly responsible for supplying the northern Ming army, while the Guangdong Arsenal is mainly responsible for the navy.

When the She'an Rebellion was suppressed, a small arsenal was built in Guizhou, mainly for the repair of firearms, the production of ammunition, and the manufacture of light artillery.

Now that the Ming army's attack target was set at Myanmar, it was imperative to build an arsenal in Yunnan Province.

Moreover, after the victory in the campaign against Burma, the Ming army would have to conquer South Asia. The Yunnan arsenal would exist for a long time, and its technical level would gradually reach the standards of the Beijing, Tianjin or Guangdong arsenals.

Because of the different combat environments in the north and south, as well as the navy's combat methods, the arsenals' production and manufacturing also have their own focus.

For example, the Guangdong Arsenal mainly produces naval guns and coastal defense fortress guns; the Yunnan Arsenal mainly produces light artillery suitable for jungle warfare.

The arsenals in Beijing and Tianjin were of the highest quality and produced new products the fastest, supporting the entire northern front. Although the Jiannu were defeated, the north remained the focus of the emperor's attention and management.

Although Lin Danhan was ambitious but lacked talent, he was not taken seriously by the emperor. But to the north, there was the Dzungar Khanate, and even further north...

If the reconstruction of Liaodong is delayed for two or three years, we can consider building an arsenal in Shenyang.

The emperor thought and planned, then stood up from the throne and walked slowly out.

…………………….

By pacifying the Liao and destroying the slaves, and suppressing the She'an rebels, the Ming Empire eliminated the internal strife and seemed to be entering a peaceful era again.

Under such circumstances, some people are trying to figure out the emperor's will and wondering whether the previous purge and high pressure are coming to an end.

During wartime, the imperial court's finances were insufficient, and the emperor had to resort to violent or brutal means to make money. This is understandable, or it can be said that the emperor had no choice but to do so.

Now that the world is at peace, shouldn't the emperor repair his image and practice "benevolent governance" to restore his reputation?

But these people obviously miscalculated. As more than a dozen landlords and gentry in Shaanxi were raided and convicted, their illusions were shattered. They then realized that the emperor had not acted out of necessity, but that this had become a consistent policy.

"In years of disaster, the imperial court reduced or exempted taxes as a gesture of compassion for the people. However, some landlords and gentry accepted the reductions and then oppressed their tenants. This is a betrayal of virtue, betrayal of grace, and contempt for the laws of the land..."

The emperor has issued an imperial decree requiring landlords and gentry to also reduce the tax and grain payments of their tenants by the same amount as the imperial court.

Yet, some landlords and gentry readily accepted the imperial court's tax reductions while maintaining the same treatment for their tenants. They profited from both inside and outside, yet were so ruthless, should their property be confiscated and their property exiled?