Save the Bachelor of Heaven

The sixteenth year of Qianlong was another great year for the imperial examination.

This year, the imperial examination produced an extraordinary talent, Liu Yong, the son of Liu Tongxun, also known as Liu Luoguo, who was highly praised by later generations.

In fact, Liu Yong was not from an orthodox imperial examination background. He participated in the examination as an Enyin Juren because of his father Liu Tongxun.

The so-called favor promotion refers to the emperor's favor and the promotion of officials' children into official positions.

There are specific standards for this. For example, if the first-rank official of Gong, Hou or Bo is born, the fifth-rank official of the ministry will be used. If the second-rank official is born, the sixth-rank official will be missing. If the third-rank official is born, the seventh-rank official will be used. Born with eight grades of lack of use.

Therefore, as long as you are an official of the fourth rank or above, you can be assigned a different role, the lowest being the eighth rank. However, the imperial court also stipulated that the son of the master must pass the assessment, and only when his virtue and talent are ensured can he be taught.

However, although Liu Yong was a benefactor, he actually had real talent and learning. Not only was he brilliant in writing and writing, but he was also proficient in arithmetic, geography, and foreign languages, except for physics, which was slightly inferior.

After the palace examination, in order to avoid suspicion and avoid making Xiang Nan think that he was trying to flatter the superior, the examiner ranked Liu Yong's paper first, so he chose the paper of Wu Hong, an examinee from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as the first place.

In fact, Wu Hong's talents and learning are also very good. Not only is he excellent in literary talent, but he is also honest and self-responsible. The key is his ability to recognize people. He has served as the examiner of the provincial examination for many times. When he once served as the examiner of the southern Hunan examination, after seeing the articles of five candidates, he said that these five people would definitely go to high school.

Sure enough, these five people all ranked among the best in the end, so they were praised for a while and were called "discerning men". But it is a pity that when Wu Hong was about to be re-employed, he accidentally ate puffer fish and died of poisoning. It was really a pity.

Xiang Nan has read Wu Hong's articles and feels that his talents and learning are also good. But in the end, Liu Yong was selected as the top scholar in this imperial examination.

In addition, Wu Hong was ranked second and Rao Xueshu was ranked third. Rao Xueshu is also a great person, knowledgeable in classics and history, quick in thinking and kind-hearted.

He once presided over the reconstruction of the Ganzhou Guild Hall in the capital to provide a gathering place for people in his hometown. They also paid for the collection of villagers' bones and buried them to prevent them from being exposed to the wild.

…

After the palace examination, the top pick, the second pick, and the top pick paraded through the streets, and then entered the palace to express their gratitude.

Xiang Nan also met Liu Yong for the first time and found that he was not hunchbacked like the legend. On the contrary, he had a normal figure. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

But that’s fine too. What he valued was Liu Yong's talent and learning, not his hunchback. Moreover, "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" is originally mostly a joke.

For example, Liu Yong is 30 years older than He Shen, has never been in the military aircraft department, and has only served as a co-organizer of the Bachelor of Science and the Minister of Civil Affairs. There is no way to compare with He Shen, let alone fight;

Another example is that Liu Yong did not dissuade Qianlong from creating a literary inquisition. On the contrary, he was the initiator of two literary inquisitions, and gained political capital by informing others and was promoted;

For another example, Liu Yong did not play three books a day. On the contrary, he always acted wisely and protected himself, which led Qianlong to accuse him of "never being willing to do things sincerely and being lazy at work."

Of course, Liu Yong is not entirely to blame for all this. The blame is also due to Qianlong, a man who was extremely power-hungry and suspicious. During his tenure, he established a literary prison and put everyone in danger.

Coupled with the fact that he was dim-witted in his later years and favored He Shen, Liu Yong and other ministers had no choice but to give in and avoid the enemy for the time being.

Later, after Jiaqing came to power, Liu Yong performed very well. He was diligent in government affairs, honest and upright. Even in his eighties, he was still working hard on state affairs.

Therefore, as Confucius said, "The ruler is like a bowl, and the people are like water. The bowl is square and the water is square, and the bowl is round and the water is round."

The king is like a cup, and his ministers are like water. If the cup is square, then the water is square. If the cup is round, the water will be round.

…

"Qing and the other three are all talents selected by me. They are not only talented in literature and art, but also knowledgeable and well-informed. They are very popular with me." Xiang Nanduan sat on the dragon chair and said to the three people in the audience, "But although they are highly knowledgeable, , we must apply what we have learned in order to become the pillars of talent that the country needs.”

"I will remember the emperor's entrustment, and I will do my best until my death." Liu Yong and the other three said in unison.

"Okay, reward!" Xiang Nan nodded and said.

Then a eunuch brought a tray, which contained the finest Four Treasures of the Study. Chengni inkstone, Huzhou pen, Huizhou ink, and fine rice paper.

"I have high hopes for you. I hope that the three of you will show your talents, work hard and make more contributions to the country and the people." Xiang Nan also asked.

"I thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!" The three of them were so excited that they all bowed down.

One was that the reward was too generous, and the other was that the emperor gave them the Four Treasures of the Study, which showed that they were highly regarded, and they were naturally grateful.

Subsequently, all three were appointed editors of the Hanlin Academy.

The so-called Hanlin Academy was mainly responsible for compiling books and writing histories, drafting edicts, serving as readers for members of the royal family, and serving as imperial examiners. A noble status is a stepping stone to becoming a senior minister or even a local official. The editor is a seventh-grade official.

The three of them kowtowed and thanked each other again.

…

In May of the 16th year of Qianlong's reign, Xiang Nan built the first coal tar refining plant not only in China but also in the world in northern Beijing.

The so-called coal tar is a by-product of the coke industry and coke oven gas industry, and has always been regarded as a waste product. But in fact, coal tar contains huge amounts of wealth.

Because aromatic compounds such as benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, xylene, phenol, and aniline can be separated from coal tar. These compounds can be used in chemical production and are the most basic chemical raw materials.

For example, benzene can be used to make explosives, and trinitrotoluene is TNT explosive; benzene can also be used to treat drugs, such as aspirin, sodium salicylate, sulfa; benzene can also be used to synthesize resin, synthetic rubber, camera film, and so on.

The construction of this coal tar refining plant represented the beginning of Qing's chemical industry.

Before this, although there were explosives factories, glass factories, etc. in the Qing Dynasty, they all used natural raw materials.

For example, the nitric acid used in nitroglycerin is made from natural saltpeter; the soda-lime glass in the glass factory is also fired with alkali taken from the natural alkali lake.

Only this coal tar refining factory is made from the waste products of coke production. It is the product of secondary chemical processing. Compared with the manufacturing of gunpowder and glass, the level of precision is undoubtedly much higher.

Therefore, Xiang Nan was particularly concerned about this factory and specially sent three young men, Liu Yong, Rao Xueshu and Wu Hong, to supervise the work.

The three of them are all freshmen, full of courage, and with the new officials taking office, they will help keep an eye on it. As long as the construction is carried out strictly according to the drawings, there will be no problems.

"The three of you are responsible for supervising the work. You must strictly follow the drawings and construction requirements." Xiang Nan told the three of them, "Otherwise, a slight negligence will be a huge disaster. Even cutting off your heads will not be enough. This is what I have entrusted to you. Your first task must be done well and don’t let me down.”

"I obey," Liu Yong and the other three said in unison.