I will never be Renzong

Chapter 186 The Aborted Industrial Revolution

For two days in a row, apart from eating, resting, and going to the bathroom, Zhao Zhen reviewed the test papers in the Chongzheng Palace. Since it was written in classical Chinese, many things needed to be carefully considered, so the review speed was not fast.

But Zhao Zhen adopted the selection method, that is, start with a paragraph first, and if you think it is good, put it aside first. Originally, there were 98 Jinshi in the first list, but 22 made mistakes in distinguishing grains, so Zhao Zhen really There were only 76 examination papers for review, so after the first round of review, only 76 of the [-] examination papers for the first-ranked Jinshi could fall into Zhao Zhen's eyes.

Since the beginning of each answer sheet ranges from [-] to [-] words, after Zhao Zhen's first round of grading, it has been more than half a day, and at noon, Empress Cao Danshu personally brought lunch, which was originally eight dishes. The standard of two soups will be changed in the next few days, so Zhao Zhen cut the lunch and dinner meals by half and changed it to four dishes and one soup.

In the past, when Cao Danshu came to deliver lunch, she would more or less tell Zhao Zhen about the harem, but today, after serving Zhao Zhen for lunch, she left without saying anything.

After lunch, Zhao Zhen began to carefully read the fifteen selected test papers, and it took almost two hours to finish reading all the fifteen test papers.

In the end, three were selected from the fifteen test papers, and they planned to determine the top three in the palace examination from these three test papers, that is, the number one scholar, the second place, and the third prize.

Of the three test papers, the first one highly praised what he said about the state-owned system of land, and even speculated that if the state-owned system of land was implemented in the Song Dynasty, how much tax would be paid in a year, and how much cement roads could be used for repairing , and even the armed army, what Zhao Zhen admired most was that in the second half of this examination paper, he even fantasized about what a beautiful scene the Song Dynasty would be 20 years later if the state-owned system of land was implemented.

After watching it, Zhao Zhen suddenly felt that the Song Dynasty was able to achieve brilliant achievements in literature, and the imagination must be rich enough. The prosperity of Song Dynasty culture was equal to the European Renaissance to a certain extent.

For 5000 years, Chinese culture has been extensive and profound, with a long history, and China has always been at the forefront of world cultural and technological civilization since before the Song Dynasty.

So the Renaissance, China was more than 300 years earlier than Europe, but why did the European Renaissance usher in the first industrial revolution, while China stagnated?
Zhao Zhen suddenly remembered what Chen Yinge, a master of Chinese studies, said: The culture of the Chinese nation has evolved over thousands of years and reached its peak in the Zhao and Song Dynasties.

This sentence is quite correct, but the peak of the culture of the Chinese nation also ended in the Zhao and Song Dynasties, so that it was later bullied by the world powers, how many detours were taken, and how much blood, sweat and tears were shed.

Compared with the period of Song Renzong, the stars are shining, the ideology and academics are even eye-opening, but why didn't the industrial revolution finally come after the Renaissance?
In his previous life, Zhao Zhen specially studied the reasons why the Song Dynasty did not embark on the road to the industrial revolution after the peak of the Song Dynasty culture. After various analyzes, he came to a conclusion that the important reason why the Song Dynasty did not embark on the road to the industrial revolution was: Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's position is wrong.

Zhao Kuangyin was originally the general of Hou Zhou, and the emperor of Hou Zhou treated Zhao Kuangyin very well, but it turned out that Zhao Kuangyin directed a Chen Qiao mutiny, and finally added a yellow robe, and turned into a white-eyed wolf.

He knew exactly how Zhao Kuangyin came to the throne, so he released his military power with a glass of wine, and set a national policy of emphasizing literature over military for 300 years in the Song and Song Dynasties.But the Song Dynasty Chongwen did it, so there was the pinnacle of Chinese culture.

Zhao Zhen made a bold assumption in his previous life, that is, the so-called emphasizing culture over martial arts in the Song Dynasty was nothing more than a lie. To put it bluntly, in the final analysis, it was just Zhao Kuangyin's playing of the emperor's power.

Zhao Kuangyin was not in the right position. He was not only worried about military officials, but also worried about civil officials.Therefore, he set a national policy of emphasizing civil affairs over military affairs, using civil officials to suppress generals, and at the same time dug a big hole for civil officials, that is, the huge and cumbersome bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty.

It is precisely because of this huge and complicated bureaucratic system that the civil servants of the Song Dynasty were confined to a fixed circle, so that their thoughts were gradually stifled, and eventually evolved into endless court battles, which also stifled The pace of industrial advancement in the Song Dynasty.

In fact, even if Song Taizu set the tone, the Song Dynasty still had the opportunity to move towards the industrial revolution after its culture reached its peak, and that was during the period of Song Renzong and Zhao Zhen.

During the Renzong period, in addition to economics and culture, the achievements of the Northern Song Dynasty in terms of science and technology were from the top in the world. For example, as a symbolic product of Chinese civilization, three of the four great inventions—movable type printing, gunpowder and the compass—appeared During the reign of Song Renzong. "Wu Jing Zong Yao" is the first military book that records the formula of gunpowder. In addition, the various black technologies written in "Mengxi Bi Tan" are mostly the achievements of Song Renzong, covering astronomy, mathematics, physics, etc. , Biology, medicine, engineering and many other fields are milestones in the history of Chinese science.

Looking at the emperors of all dynasties, Song Renzong's generosity and generosity are undoubtedly exemplary. It is precisely because of his tolerance that China has ushered in the pinnacle of culture, but at the same time, it is also because of his kindness and kindness that the Great Song Dynasty did not end up in the end. can embark on the industrial revolution.

Although the Qingli New Deal failed, in the Jiayou period, the implementation of the Qingli period was generally re-implemented, so the Jiayou rule came into being.

It's just a pity that Renzong didn't have a son, and Yingzong, who succeeded him, succeeded in inheriting the Datong in the midst of exhausting his thoughts.

Song Shenzong was able to make troubles, but he was not a firm leader, so Wang Anshi's reform undoubtedly failed. Afterwards, he carried out a large-scale reform of the official system of the Song Dynasty, which was called Yuanfeng's reform in history, but Song Shenzong felt that The huge and cumbersome official system established by the ancestors is justified, and it is one of the important factors to ensure the country of the Zhao family.

Looking at the test paper in front of him, Zhao Zhen had infinite reveries in his heart. The emperor's power was so alluring that after a few years in power, he began to feel a little swayed.

His idea was very simple and naive at first, that is to occupy the whole world with cannons and cavalry, and let countless beautiful and noble women all over the world kneel at his feet, waiting for his conquest.

As for power, he didn't let it go if he was killed at first, because only the autocratic monarchy can guarantee that Songhua will become a sharp sword in his hand and help him conquer the world.

He has been deeply educated in democracy since he was a child. In his previous life, he has read many novels about being an emperor in ancient times. Many people finally chose the country to move towards democracy. He was thrown to the country of Java.

I have to say that it feels really good to be in power, at least for now Zhao Zhen has begun to enjoy the various benefits brought by this power.

But fortunately, he still maintained a trace of clarity, that is, the Song Dynasty would eventually embark on the road of industrial revolution.

(End of this chapter)