The person who came to report the news was the dog who was waiting outside Xu Mansion. It seems that no one coming from the village can enter the inner house, so Gou'er, an internal official, was the one to pass the news on his behalf. Zhu Su confessed his crime to Xu Da and Xie, left the table and went outside the pavilion.
"What's up?"
"Mr. Yao sent someone to report that there was a civil unrest in the Zhuangzi cement kiln, and someone set fire to it at night." Gou'er said to Zhu Su.
"Civil chaos?" Zhu Su was a little surprised. After figuring out the ropes and successfully developing cement, Zhu Su handed over the cement kiln to the Ministry of Industry. It's true that I haven't asked about the situation there for a long time.
Could it be that the Ministry of Industry pushed too hard and pushed the craftsmen back?
"Has the chaos spread? Is everything okay elsewhere?"
"It's okay. It calmed down quickly. When Li Qianhu arrived with his troops, the fire on the kiln had already been extinguished. There were no major casualties. It's just..."
Zhu Su was a little surprised. Since there were no casualties, Yao Guangxiao hurriedly sent people to find what he was doing. If there is no spread, that is the matter of the Ministry of Industry. We can just let the Ministry of Works handle matters on their own, and they have nothing to do with us.
"It's just that Mr. Yao specifically asked me to tell you that the loom in the small workshop next to the cement kiln is missing." Gou'er continued.
In fact, he was a little puzzled. It was just a loom, so there was nothing special to emphasize about it.
Unexpectedly, when he heard the word "loom", His Highness the Fifth Prince was stunned at first, and then his face turned pale.
"Loom?"
"The loom is missing?"
The loom in the dog's mouth is the Jenny machine invented by Zhu Su. After studying the existing looms in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Su successfully made the first version of the Jenny loom with eight spindles after several failures.
The spinning efficiency was successfully increased to eight times. If you continue to add spindles, you can even improve it even more.
The workshop for improving looms happened to be near the cement kiln, so it was put under the charge of a Langguan from the Ministry of Industry together with the cement kiln. Many people sneered at Zhu Su's insistence on playing with things like looms. No one could have imagined how much energy is hidden behind this small loom, and what kind of waves it will cause in human history.
Except Yao Guangxiao!
Thinking about it, Yao Guangxiao guessed that the so-called grassland strategy was based on this humble loom from what Zhu Su told him before about "sheep eating people".
Therefore, after discovering that the loom was missing, he hurriedly sent someone to report to Zhu Su.
"Uncle Xu, aunt. Something happened in Zhuangzi. I'm afraid I have to excuse myself."
Zhu Su returned to the pavilion and confessed to Xu Da and Xie. "When I have some free time another day, I can come back and apologize to my uncle and aunt."
"You kid, what are you saying about whether to apologize or not?" Xie said.
Xu Da saw something was wrong with Zhu Su's expression, so he looked solemn and asked: "Is it important?"
"It's no big deal. Li Qianhu has put an end to the chaos."
"I just have something I care about and want to go back and check it out."
Zhu Su replied. Xu Da nodded. "Li Rong is a fierce general. With him in charge, I don't think there will be any big chaos."
"Since your Highness is interested, you can go on your own. Come here to talk when you have more time."
Zhu Su nodded, bowed again, got up and left. The rapidity of the footsteps made the Xu family in the pavilion look sideways. Mrs. Xie couldn't help but wonder when she saw Zhu Su leaving in such a hurry: "Didn't you say it's already settled? Why is His Highness the Fifth Prince leaving in such a hurry?"
Xu Da lightly twirled his short beard thoughtfully, then suddenly turned his head and asked Xu Yungong: "Yungong, you have been with His Highness for a long time. Do you know that there is anything in this village that would make His Highness so nervous?"
Xu Yungong paused for a moment, frowned and thought for a while, then said: "Your Highness usually doesn't care about anything. He is only concerned about the investigation of things."
"Could it be that the rioters destroyed the cement kiln and glass kiln in Zhuangzi? Or the firearms test workshop or other places..."
"A few fire kiln workshops were destroyed and rebuilt. They are just some strange and cunning things."
"We are walking in such a hurry. If we bump into one or two evildoers on the road, the son of a rich man will not be able to sit down..." After realizing it, Mrs. Xie began to worry about Zhu Su's safety.
"What mother said is wrong." It was Xu Miaoyun who refuted Xie.
"His Fifth Highness's knowledge is mostly practical."
"Those things he made may be able to turn stones into gold, defeat the enemy, or benefit the country and the people. How can it be summed up in four words: miraculous skills and obscene skills."
"There may even be more advanced uses...it's just hard for us to know."
She looked at the direction Zhu Su was leaving and gently pinched the corner of the embroidered skirt.
…
"Why did the cement kiln suddenly become chaotic?" Disliked that the carriage was too slow, Zhu Su simply abandoned the carriage and rode a horse, riding out of the city towards Huangzhuang. Dozens of soldiers were divided into two teams of guards, holding torches to illuminate the official road. They were not afraid of not being able to ride at night. While speeding, Zhu Su asked a young sergeant beside him. The young sergeant's name was Di Meng. He was the one who was ordered by Yao Guangxiao to report the loss of the loom, and he was also one of the more than twenty soldiers in training. On that day, the two teams formed a mandarin duck formation. One team was facing Zhu Su, and the other team was facing Di Meng.
"Your Highness." Di Meng was also riding a horse. Regardless of Zhu Su's speed, he was always half a body behind Zhu Su's right side, thinking that Zhu Su was guarding his side. "No one knows the details. The owner of the cement kiln, Mei Langguan, is putting out the fire and won't let us get close to the cement kiln easily."
"The reason why the loom was lost was because one of our brothers had a sharp eye and saw the mess in the workshop..."
"Well..." Zhu Su bit his lower lip and thought. Mei Ying, who is in charge of the cement kiln, is a Langguan of the Ministry of Industry. It is normal for Li Rong, the Qianhu Office's Qianhu, to be unable to suppress him. I haven't been in charge of the cement kiln for several months. The most likely reason is that Mei Ying exploited him too much and aroused the resentment of the craftsmen, so he burned down the coal kiln. But what did they do with the loom?
"Dog!" Zhu Su shouted, and the dog on Zhu Su's left side quickly came up to meet him. "You should go first and check out the glass kiln, steel kiln, and firearms workshop to see if any craftsmen are missing."
"Also, go to several inns in the market and ask if the Korean named Wang Zaixian is still staying in the market!"
Gou'er was stunned and didn't understand how his prince thought of killing the Korean man named Wang.
But after all, he didn't ask any more questions. After answering, he held the torch and rode away.
"It can't be that this cosmic country stickman is here to steal things." Zhu Su gritted his teeth. Originally, I was only wary of the Korean named Wang Zaixian secretly learning my science and technology, but I never thought that the other party would put his hands into the industries in Zhuangzi.
However, except for glass and cement, other things have not yet shown their potential. A mere Korean must not know the actual value and function of things such as looms.
Moreover, the cement kiln had always adhered to the "assembly line" production principle. Even if they captured a few cement craftsmen during the chaos, they would not know the exact formula. As long as the loom is recovered, it will be no big deal... After comforting himself in this way, Zhu Su continued to beat the horse and found that his Suwang Village was already in front of him.
(End of chapter)
