The propaganda department received the emperor's hint and quickly put it into action.
Therefore, the latest newspapers are praising the officials for their benevolence and righteousness. They know that the Qing Dynasty's treasury is made up of the people's hard-earned money. After lending money to help them in their time of need and relieving their immediate crisis, they find ways to repay the debt, which is truly admirable.
After this matter was completed, Yinzhen had the money taken out separately, and based on the amount of money, he had a plan for building the academy drafted.
There were many Manchu bannermen in the capital, and a considerable number of them went to school. Of course, this "many" cannot be compared to the modern era, as the population base is different.
According to the plan, Yinzhen intended to build eight academies first.
Four of these schools were used to educate the children of the Eight Banners, so they didn't have to spend money on their studies and were even exempted from meals. However, the money that the court had previously promised to the Eight Banners was naturally gone.
Of the other four, two were used to provide individualized education for those who were not academically gifted, teaching them skills to make a living, somewhat similar to vocational schools. The last two academies were for those who were academically gifted.
Because there were not many well-read members of the Eight Banners, Yinzhen planned to open one of the academies to Han Chinese students, also free of charge, but with equally high requirements.
According to the standards of the imperial examination, only students with household registration in the capital city could participate, and at the very least, they needed to have the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations) to be eligible to take the selection exam.
Of course, if a student's grades consistently rank in the bottom 100 for five consecutive times, then they can no longer use the academy's resources.
Having made this plan, Yinzhen summoned the Minister of Revenue, the Minister of Works, the Minister of Rites, and Zhu Tao.
Originally, Yinzhen had planned to call the propaganda department over, but after thinking about it, he decided to finalize the plan first since the matter was still undecided.
Four people, four departments.
Yinzhen swiftly assigned tasks: the Minister of Works and Zhu Tao were jointly responsible for the construction of the academy, while the Ministry of Works was in charge of implementing the construction.
In addition to these responsibilities, Zhu Tao is also in charge of the subsequent selection process, since the Ministry of Education is bound to be in charge of these matters. As for the Ministry of Rites, it is naturally responsible for setting the exam questions, which is the Ministry of Education's responsibility. However, the Ministry of Education is mostly staffed by young people, and their exam questions are not convincing to the public. Therefore, the Ministry of Rites is needed to step in on this matter.
Of course, this task will naturally be handed over to the Ministry of Education for the rest of the time.
As for the Ministry of Revenue, it was even simpler; it was responsible for settling accounts and taking silver from the national treasury.
The others were used to the Emperor's unpredictable ways. The Ministry of Education, where Zhu Tao worked, was one of Yinzhen's ideas. However, Zhu Tao was now inwardly complaining that the Emperor must have really been a time traveler.
Bookstores (libraries), academies (compulsory education)... even if he were a history idiot, he would understand that the emperor must have had some extraordinary encounters.
Yinzhen told Yunrong about this, and Yunrong had no objection. She understood the principle that reading should enlighten people and help them distinguish right from wrong.
"You told me some good news, so I'll tell you some good news too."
"What good news?" In fact, Yinzhen had some guesses, after all, he knew what Yunrong had been busy with lately, but he still looked at Yunrong with a puzzled expression and asked.
Yunrong said with a smile, "I made three finished bicycles."
Yinzhen had seen bicycles before, but in China they weren't called bicycles, they were called "foreign cars," and you could tell from the name that they came from the West.
During the Republic of China era, rickshaws were considered luxury items, and only wealthy families owned them.
Yinzhen smiled and said, "Congratulations, Madam, your wish has come true."
Yunrong's joy is genuine.
For Yunrong, the construction of a bicycle was not difficult, but the difficulty lay in the substandard materials and parts.
The Qing Dynasty has begun to develop some material smelting technology, but the technology is still limited, especially with Yunrong alone. So if the materials used for the bicycle are not right, the lifespan will be too short, and its existence will be meaningless.
If it were just about materials, that would be fine, since Yunrong has the skills, and with more training, she could make up for the shortcomings. The most difficult part is the parts.
Bicycles may look simple in construction, but they contain a lot of large and small parts. Yunrong's laboratory is fortunate in that she can still find the parts, but if the bicycle is to be put to market, it is impossible to rely entirely on her small area.
Therefore, the production of parts is very important, and for this reason, Yunrong specially assembled a number of machine tools that can produce parts.
The materials used in these machine tools are of good quality. If there are enough, it would be possible to build a factory and set up an assembly line.
"I've already drawn detailed diagrams of the parts needed for this bicycle, and I've also provided detailed instructions on how to assemble them. Any craftsman who can read will be able to understand them. We'll find a factory and prepare plenty of machine tools, and then this bicycle can be produced on its own..."
Yunrong talked on and on, and Yinzhen basically understood what she was saying.
How do you plan to sell the bicycles?
Yunrong had also considered this issue: "The Imperial Household Department is not suitable. The profit margin on bicycles is too large. In the next five to ten years, they can only be used for luxury goods purchases. The Imperial Household Department is not suitable to get involved."
Yinzhen understood: "You want to hand it over to Wu Yiming?"
Yunrong nodded: "That's right, Wu Yiming has some talent in business. Nowadays, Wu's Department Store has attracted many wealthy families. If bicycles are sold anywhere, there will be a large customer base..."
Although the Imperial Household Department has been reorganized, it is indeed not suitable for the department to take the lead. It would be appropriate to leave this matter to Wu Yiming.
"I'll listen to you. Do you plan to use people from the Imperial Household Department or Wu Yiming's people?"
Yunrong shook her head and said, "No need for that. This time the situation is a bit different. We already have machine tools. The most important thing for bicycles is the production of parts. Once we have the parts, we can do assembly line production. Then we can find some meticulous and careful people and have craftsmen teach them how to assemble bicycles. That will be fine."
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