As Li Qiwei pondered how to create a "Fobolore," the Emperor of the Great Ming, far away, was also troubled.
Although the time spent adventuring this time was not too short, it wasn't excessively long either. The imperial court had ministers like Zeng Cheng and Liu Heming assisting with state affairs, and before his departure, the Emperor had specifically appointed the Empress to oversee the nation. Therefore, there weren't many political matters that worried the Emperor.
What truly vexed the Emperor were the internal issues within the Great Ming itself.
For instance, to prevent situations like the Majing Battle, the Great Ming permitted hunters to possess flintlock firearms within designated areas. However, ordinary citizens were prohibited from owning flintlock or percussion cap firearms. Grenades and cannons were even more out of the question; possession of such items would result in confiscation and a few lashes as punishment.
Yet, the citizenry of the Great Ming exhibited a rather poor sense of compliance in this regard.
Cannons, due to their large size, were mostly turned in. But for smaller items like firearms and grenades, very few people complied with the surrender orders.
What was even more critical was that before the Great Ming banned the private ownership of firearms by its citizens, countless firearms and grenades had been secretly manufactured by the populace. Even if the authorities wanted to investigate, they found it impossible to trace everything.
Even after the ban on private firearm and grenade ownership, it did little to curb the trend of private manufacturing. This left the local Imperial Guards in a state of utter confusion – although most people were merely seeking amusement or hoarding these items and tacitly sought out deserted places when using them, who could withstand such a massive base population?
The Great Ming's homeland had a population of a staggering four hundred million!
Four hundred million people! Even if a tiny fraction of them were to cause trouble with firearms and grenades, the resulting commotion would be immense!
Apart from the issue of citizens privately possessing firearms and grenades, there were a multitude of other miscellaneous problems that could give the Emperor a headache.
Take, for example, the Royal Academy.
While the Great Ming Royal Academy bore the title "Royal," it was, in practice, under the dual jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance and the Grand Secretariat. Its funding was also jointly allocated by the Imperial Treasury and the national treasury.
However, the influential figures at the Royal Academy paid no mind to the source of their funding; they only cared whether the Royal Academy's budget was sufficient.
Clearly, the Royal Academy's funding was perpetually insufficient.