Chapter 1140 The Empire's Leek Harvester (Fifth Update, Please Subscribe)

“Six six six” is wrong, it should be “nine nine nine”. What does the invention of number mean?

For the Ming Dynasty, which had only existed for 13 years, this seemed like a trivial matter not worth mentioning, but in fact, it was a major event with far-reaching impact.

Not only was it the beginning of sophisticated organic chemistry in the empire and even in the world, but more importantly, it, along with chemical fertilizers, opened the prelude to modern agriculture.

Of course, there are definitely impacts, such as its high toxicity and high residual content. While it seems to be an improvement, it also makes people eat pesticide-containing meals in advance!

However, it has little impact on the top officials of the empire. After all, they can eat special supplies.

All this is a story for later. For Daming, this invention at the end of the 13th year of Shengde was just one of many inventions. After 20 years of consistent development, the empire's scientific research has been on the right track and on the highway of virtuous cycle development.

Thirteen years of Shengde!

What does this year mean to the imperial scientific community?

Even if historians study this year, they still don’t have a clear idea of ​​why, because so many inventions are born every year that people often overlook this year.

Of course, this does not mean that there were no major events this year. At the end of this year, in order to increase the influence of the Ming Empire, Emperor Zhu finally took out the explosives prize that he had been dreaming of.

"10 million yuan!"

Faced with this number, even Queen Charlotte was shocked by it.

"What! 10 million yuan!"

The reason why she was so surprised was that the empire itself had corresponding rewards for scientists who invented and innovated. For example, the winner of the "Royal Science Award" selected by the Royal Academy of Sciences every year would not only receive a considerable bonus, but would also become the winner of the "Qingyun Medal" the following year.

The dual blessing of wealth and status had long made the Ming Dynasty form a trend of chasing scientists - celebrities and socialites love scientists the most, which is an obvious example. In the newspapers, there are always gossips about single scientists.

But now he is actually going to set up another award.

"That's right."

Nodding, Emperor Zhu took out a cigar from the cigar box, lit it and took a puff of the smoke.

"That's 10 million! In recent years, the science of the Ming Empire has been flourishing. Although scientists are sought after by all walks of life, and the empire is also willing to give scientists various rewards, all of this will have a great effect on the development of science and technology. But..."

Emperor Zhu said, thinking of the Nobel Prize created by Nobel in another world.

"The Royal Science Award belongs to the Ming Dynasty. I want to create one that is awarded to the whole world, regardless of nationality or race, to reward scientists who have made groundbreaking contributions to the scientific development of mankind..."

“No restrictions on nationality?”

Charlotte opened her green eyes wide and looked at Emperor Zhu in surprise.

"Yes, regardless of nationality, even scientists from hostile countries are welcome."

In fact, there is another advantage of not having any nationality restrictions, which is that you can reap the rewards!

Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was not sure whether the Nobel Prize had the effect of harvesting talents, but the "dynamite award" he wanted to organize definitely had the effect of harvesting talents - to produce a wave of scientists, and then introduce them to the Ming Dynasty by providing them with a better scientific research environment. This was the most important thing. Moreover, as of now, the Ming Empire was the country with the most relaxed scientific research environment and the most abundant scientific research funds in the world, without a doubt.

Scientists may have a motherland, but aren't there still a few scientists who immigrate? Especially in this era, how did the United States become so powerful? Isn't it by harvesting talents from all over the world?

"Charlotte, setting up a scientific award facing the whole world can not only win the empire a reputation worldwide, but the biggest benefit is to show the world the broad-mindedness of the Ming Empire. At the same time, when they arrive in Ming, it is also an opportunity for Ming to recruit top talents. Even those nominated scientists can be invited to Ming. When they attend the ceremony in Ming, the university can send them an invitation to invite them to give lectures or even teach. Even if we only keep three or five people every year, it will be enough. You know, those people are all world-class scientists!"

Well, every year three or five nominees are left to teach in the Ming Dynasty. It’s a relief that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang could think of this. In later generations, let alone Nobel Prize winners, even the nominees could be regarded as “national treasure” level scientists.

If three or five nominees can be retained from around the world every year, the empire will be the one to win the grand prize. The talents they cultivate will be enough to put the scientific development of the Ming Dynasty on another fast track.

"Is this your real purpose? To gain talent."

Charlotte looked at her husband and understood what he meant.

"Talent is the most precious wealth in this world. Only a country that possesses talent can stand at the top of the world forever. Charlotte, after discovering the New World, although the Spaniards robbed so much gold and silver in America, what happened next? Now it is still the poorest and most backward country in Western Europe. Colonial plunder cannot make a country strong, but science is the foundation of a country's strength. Britain has never relied on plundering colonies to become the world's number one power. They rely on science! They rely on the productivity driven by science."

In another world, many people attribute the strength of the imperialist powers to their plundering of colonies, which is simply missing the point. Spain, which plundered the most gold and silver from the Americas, was already the poorest and most backward country in Western Europe by the middle of the 19th century. The gold and silver from the Americas did not make Spain strong.

On the other hand, what did the rise and strength of Britain, the United States and Germany rely on?

science!

In fact, Germany's rise coincides with the time when it became the world's scientific research and academic center. As the birthplace of the Second Industrial Revolution, science is the main fuel for the rise of Germany.

Foreign plunder may bring wealth, but if a country or nation wants to stand at the top of the world forever, it can only rely on science.

Emperor Zhu was so happy to think that the science award could become a talent harvester in disguise that he couldn't help but grin and laugh.

"Talent! As long as we grab the world's top talents, we will always stand at the top of the world!"

Looking at the laughing emperor, Charlotte thought for a moment and said:

"Your Majesty, since this matter is so important to the empire, isn't 10 million too little? Well, how about increasing it to 20 million?"

20 million!

How much is the Dynamite Prize in history?

Nobel wrote his will on November 27, 1895, donating all his property of more than 31.22 million Swedish kronor to establish a fund, with the interest as a bonus every year. This amount of money is roughly equivalent to 9.8 million US dollars. The gold content of the Ming Yuan is the same as that of the US dollar.

Ten million Ming Yuan, twenty million Ming Yuan.

There doesn't seem to be much difference. If it were 20 million, wouldn't it be more sensational?

"Alright."

After Emperor Zhu agreed, Charlotte thought about it and asked again.

"So this award is called..."

"Emperor Shengde Award!"

Emperor Zhu's answer made Charlotte nod in satisfaction, and then she asked again.

"So what are his selection criteria?"

"The selection criteria are very simple—"

Emperor Zhu exhaled a puff of smoke and directly chose plagiarism.

"Awarded to the person who has made the greatest contribution to humanity in a given year."

(End of this chapter)