Zhu Jinsong was well aware that the "Fushou Gao" was a double-edged sword, capable of harming both the user and others, regardless of how skillfully it was wielded.
Especially as the living conditions of the Great Ming populace improved, it was possible that someone might one day seek out some form of excitement.
After careful consideration, Zhu Jinsong spoke solemnly, "Regarding the matter of 'Fushou Gao,' let us set it aside for now. Once we have sufficiently disrupted Europe, this substance will be thoroughly prohibited, with only its medicinal research being preserved."
"Conversely, our Great Ming should indeed increase investment in the Royal Academy, further widening the gap between us and the European nations, so that they may fall into complete despair and abandon all thoughts of catching up."
However, before Zeng Cheng and the others could bow in agreement, Liu Huaiwen was the first to step forward, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this minister believes that increasing investment in the Royal Academy is not advisable. Maintaining the status quo should suffice."
Seeing that Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, and a host of esteemed elders like Zeng Cheng were all looking at him, Liu Huaiwen, feeling immense pressure, could only brace himself and explain, "Our Great Ming's annual investment in the Royal Academy is already not low. Last year, it reached one billion dragon yuan, which translates to ten million taels of silver."
"That is ten million taels of silver! How much money does our Great Ming treasury actually have?"
"What's more critical is that despite investing so much silver, often there isn't even a discernible result."
"If we were to further increase investment in the Royal Academy, other projects might be affected?"
Liu Huaiwen's words were not without merit.
The Great Ming had been pouring money into the Royal Academy for years, and the amount invested each year was substantial.
In the beginning, one achievement followed another. Today, a new model of firearm was developed, and tomorrow, the efficiency of steam engines was improved.
It could be said that it was precisely due to the continuous achievements of the Royal Academy that the Great Ming successfully caught up with and even surpassed the European nations in terms of industrial technology, thus avoiding falling too far behind due to the devastation caused by the Qing Dynasty over the years.
The problem was that the Royal Academy was a research-oriented institution, not a brood hen that could lay eggs every few days. Research institutions could not produce results every few days.
The reason for the constant stream of achievements in previous years was that the Great Ming was still in the phase of learning, absorbing, researching, and improving. Many projects were already being researched or had been researched by European nations, or they were facilitated by Zhu Jinsong, the transmigrator emperor, with his cheat-like advantages.
As the research progress of the Royal Academy gradually caught up with and even surpassed that of other countries on the globe, Zhu Jinsong, the transmigrator emperor, became increasingly busy, and the ideas he could provide to the Royal Academy became fewer and fewer. The period of explosive output from the Royal Academy had effectively come to an end.
The current Royal Academy had entered the forefront of scientific research. Most of its projects were at the nascent stage or completely non-existent on the current globe, and many were concepts proposed by Zhu Jinsong based on his memories from his past life.
It was a genuine process of "crossing the river by feeling the stones," where every step forward required careful and repeated experimentation, summarization, and improvement.
Under these circumstances, the Royal Academy naturally became a voracious, gold-devouring beast.
To put it plainly, every experiment conducted by the Royal Academy now represented a significant amount of silver evaporating.
If not for the Great Ming's high tax revenue and its continuous "bleeding" of European nations to sustain itself, the Great Ming's finances might have been overwhelmed by the Royal Academy!
Yet, Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, was now demanding an increase in investment in the Royal Academy. But the Great Ming's investment in the Royal Academy was already outrageously high!
Liu Huaiwen even wished he could show Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, and all the esteemed elders in court like Zeng Cheng, the account statements for the Great Ming's investment in the Royal Academy.
In the first year of Emperor Sheng, the Royal Academy was established, and the national treasury allocated ten million taels of silver as startup capital – this ten million taels of silver nearly emptied the treasury!
From the second to the fifth year of Emperor Sheng, the national treasury allocated thirty million taels of silver annually to the Royal Academy. From the sixth to the eighth year of Emperor Sheng, the national treasury allocated fifty million taels of silver annually. And for the three years from the ninth to the twelfth year of Emperor Sheng, the national treasury allocated eighty million taels of silver annually to the Royal Academy, reaching an unprecedented one hundred million taels of silver last year!
One hundred million taels of silver! It nearly crippled the finances of France, driving Louis XVI to the guillotine. France's fiscal deficit was only two hundred million taels of silver, and that was a deficit accumulated over many years!
To clear that two hundred million taels of silver deficit, Louis XVI had to confiscate the property of countless French nobles, seize the profits of the Dutch East India Company, and plunder territories from the Habsburg family, only to clear it after several years.
The Royal Academy, however, had an investment of one hundred million taels of silver just last year!
Therefore, even knowing the importance of the Royal Academy to the Great Ming, and understanding that the research conducted by the Royal Academy was crucial for the Great Ming to continue leading other countries on the globe, Liu Huaiwen absolutely refused to agree to further increase investment in the Royal Academy.
However, to Liu Huaiwen's surprise, Zhu Jinsong merely let out a cold laugh and said, "When I speak of increasing investment in the Royal Academy, I am not just referring to increasing investment in terms of funds and materials, but to increasing investment in the researchers of the Royal Academy."
"In other words, I intend to increase the proportion of subjects like mathematics, physics, science, and biology in the school curriculum, guiding more and more people to engage in learning and research in these areas, and expanding the scale of the Royal Academy."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Liu Huaiwen's expression darkened even further.
Expanding the scale of the Royal Academy, what difference does it make from increasing financial investment?
None at all!
The larger the scale of the Royal Academy and the more researchers it has, the more research projects can be undertaken, and the more funds will naturally be required.
After some thought, Liu Huaiwen still couldn't help but advise, "Your Majesty, our Great Ming has already been leading all other countries on the globe for many years. Even if our Great Ming progresses step by step, they will not be able to catch up."
Zhu Jinsong, however, let out a cold laugh and retorted, "Leading them for many years?"
"Then let me ask you, since the Jiashen National Calamity and the Manchu invasion of the Central Plains, the scientific development of the Central Plains has stagnated. Over the past century and a half, European nations have been progressing, and the gap in science and technology between our Central Plains and the European nations was completely widened by over a century by the Manchus. This is correct, isn't it?"
"But what about now?"
"Since our Great Ming successfully overthrew the Qing, it has only been a short decade or so, yet many scientific technologies have already caught up with and even surpassed those of the European nations. This is also correct, isn't it?"
"Now, Uncle Huaiwen, do you still believe that a gap of many years is something other countries cannot overcome?"
Without waiting for Liu Huaiwen to reply, Zhu Jinsong slowly tapped the table with his fingers and said word by word, "To my knowledge, the European nations and the Americans have never given up their research into electricity, nor have they completely abandoned their research into steam engines."
"In terms of military equipment, it's somewhat better. After all, they are currently at war. As long as France purchases military equipment from our Great Ming, other countries will have no choice but to purchase military equipment from our Great Ming. They will not have the resources to invest in military equipment research and development in the short term, so our Great Ming is still somewhat ahead."
"But what about when they are no longer at war? Or, what if a European country is fighting a war while reverse-engineering our Great Ming's military equipment and simultaneously conducting their own research?"
"Our Great Ming is progressing, and in many areas, we have already surpassed the European nations. This is true, but the gap is not yet so large as to plunge the European nations into complete despair. It is not yet time for us to rest on our laurels."
ps: There was an update yesterday, but it was taken down by 404...