When it comes to collusion between officials and businessmen, the first thought that comes to mind may be bribery or investing to make money together.

Of course this did happen, but the approach taken by the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan was more long-term, more covert, and more effective, which was to set up academies and provide financial assistance to students.

On the surface, donating money to support education is a philanthropic act, doing good things will bring good reputation, but this is not the main purpose, but rather a long-term investment.

Among the students sponsored by wealthy merchants, some would undoubtedly pass the imperial examinations and become officials. Even if they were only successful candidates, they could only become minor local officials. For the wealthy merchants, this was a return on their investment.

The reason is simple. After students who have received financial aid become officials, they often give some conveniences to businessmen out of gratitude.

It may start with something as simple as providing appropriate care within reasonable limits.

Over time, closer ties will form, creating complex relationships. In the end, officials and businessmen are likely to be linked together, forming a community of interests.

The benefits of doing this are obvious, as the cost of pleasing customers is much lower than paying as you go.

In simple terms, giving someone a helping hand when they are still young is much better and more effective than waiting until they are successful and then giving them something extra.

It was a truly far-sighted and prudent investment. Zhu Youxiao was extremely impressed.

Think about it, scholars may come from a family of officials or the sons of merchants. Even without any support, they still have connections with merchants.

For students from poor families, the academy provides food and accommodation, as well as famous teachers, which must be quite attractive.

But who could have imagined that behind the philanthropic donations to support education, there would be such a long-term and shrewd calculation?

Oh my god, even I hadn’t thought of this before!

If you can afford to spend the time and money and have the patience, this is an investment that may take more than ten years or even decades to see the benefits!

Seize all academies? Zhu Youxiao immediately shook his head and rejected the idea.

Regardless of the purpose or calculation behind it, the positive significance of donating money to support education cannot be denied. It is not advisable to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Think about it again, let me think about it again. There must be something here that I can't understand from my perspective.

Well, let’s try to think from a businessman’s perspective and see if we can get the answer!

Zhu Youxiao was good at thinking from other people's perspectives, and he gained a lot of enlightenment and inspiration from it.

As soon as he "changed" himself into a businessman, Wang Tigan sent in the list of military scholars who had passed the imperial examination.

Zhu Youxiao stroked his forehead helplessly and turned back into the emperor.

The rules for the provincial, metropolitan, and palace examinations were finally finalized. Although formal, Zhu Youxiao no longer handled the examinations personally, as he had done during the Spring Examinations.

The publicity effect of "spending a fortune on horse bones" has already become apparent. The use of imperial treasury to provide travel expenses for the military examination has made this military examination one of the largest in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youxiao was not worried about admitting too many students and having no place to accommodate them.

The current restructuring of the new army is still very rough. After training in martial arts and adding a large number of grassroots officers to the new army, the overall quality of the new army will be greatly improved.

Knowledge is power, Zhu Youxiao firmly believed in this.

The decline and even disappearance of cold weapons is an irreversible historical trend; in wars using hot weapons, higher cultural and knowledge levels are required of officers.

Looking through the list, Zhu Youxiao hoped to find one or two celebrities to focus on training. But after looking for a long time, he was a little disappointed.

I don't know any of them...

Besides this, Zhu Youxiao's eyes stopped at a name. It looked familiar. The young emperor frowned, wondering if it was the guy's deceased father.

……………………

The young emperor was speculating about others, and others were also speculating about him.

In Xu Guangqi's residence in the capital, Sun Yuanhua and Li Tianjing were discussing work and matters with Xu Guangqi.

The emperor had approved the establishment of the Calendar Bureau. As the organizer and leader of the calendar compilation, Xu Guangqi naturally had to focus all his energy on compiling the calendar.

Moreover, Xu Guangqi's wish was to compile a calendar that combined the advantages of Chinese and Western calendars and reached the highest scientific level at that time.

This not only requires translating some Western astronomy books, but also manufacturing instruments and equipment for observation and performing a large number of calculations. There is also the matter of hiring personnel for the calendar bureau and dealing with financial matters. The work will be quite tedious.

For this reason, he felt that he no longer had time to take care of other things, so he had to explain everything clearly to Sun Yuanhua, who was already able to take on the responsibility.

Li Tianjing is the deputy leader of the Calendar Bureau and will assist Xu Guangqi in completing the compilation of the calendar.

"Changde and I have roughly calculated that compiling the calendar will probably take at least five or six years." Xu Guangqi stroked his beard and said to Sun Yuanhua, "Chuyang will have to take on the work of the Ordnance and Gunpowder Bureau and the Steelmaking Bureau alone."

Sun Yuanhua bowed and said, "You don't have to worry about that. Teacher, just focus on completing the almanac. I will leave the rest of the work to you. I will do my best and not take up your energy."

Xu Guangqi smiled and nodded, saying, "You don't have to do everything yourself; that would be too tiring. Promote more officials and talented people to share your burden. Your Majesty still has great trust in you. If there are any difficult matters, please submit more memorials and petitions for your instructions."

Sun Yuanhua nodded in agreement, then asked with some doubt, "Teacher, do you know when Wansui first began to study Western learning and gain a deep understanding of it?"

Xu Guangqi hesitated for a moment, then looked at Li Tianjing. Seeing him shake his head slightly, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "I don't know the exact reason behind this either. However, I do have some personal guesses."

Xu Guangqi waved his hand, feeling that it was somewhat disrespectful to discuss the emperor in this way, and continued, "Well, it's just random speculation, so let's not talk about it."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!