Chapter 15 Curious Zhu Xiongying
The prince's so-called new law and so-called political economy may seem inspiring, but in fact they are frightening. After being shocked, all the prince saw were revolution, fate, and murderous intent. The originally certain future suddenly became blurry.
If the prince were left to make the decision, he would never be able to carry out comprehensive reforms.
Even in the prince's view, Zhu Yuanzhang did all kinds of things more to provide cover for He Xi.
Because of Zhu Yuanzhang's various actions, people all over the world could not see He Xi who was extremely deviant in Liaodong. Saw. I dare not mention it either.
It's just that the prince never had the confidence to resist Zhu Yuanzhang.
He was more willing to follow Zhu Yuanzhang's layout.
If you don’t know the future. The prince actually had no sense of crisis. He felt that his throne was as secure as Mount Tai. This was true even after there were differences of opinion with Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, the prince represents too many people behind his back. As long as Queen Ma is still here, she will never allow such a thing to happen.
But now he really has a sense of crisis.
On the one hand, I am confused about the future and cannot see clearly. I don’t know where Ming Dynasty will go. On the other hand, I am more worried that my own lineage will be threatened.
It doesn't matter how he feels about the new law. What matters is if the new law prevails. Zhu Xiongying is the future emperor, not someone else. If the new law fails. The prince has other arrangements. That's not enough for outsiders.
Zhu Yuanzhang also tacitly approved of some of the prince's actions.
So, one of the reasons for this complexity. Zhu Xiongying went north with Princess Anqing.
Children don't understand this. Zhu Xiongying is now half-grown, which is when he is most naughty and mischievous. Following Princess Anqing on the boat, she was even more excited to jump up and down. There are countless questions.
Zhu Xiongying asked: "Aunt, what is that?"
Princess Anqing looked over from a distance and saw a tall tower on a high ground beside the port. Also painted white. Very eye-catching.
Princess Anqing said: "Oh, it's a lighthouse."
Zhu Xiongying said: "What is a lighthouse?"
Princess Anqing said: "It is used to put out lanterns at night to guide the direction of ships."
While Princess Anqing explained to Zhu Xiongying, there was some tenderness in her eyes. These tendernesses were not for Zhu Xiongying, but for He Xi. She remembered that He Xishangzou built this lighthouse. Originally it was only available in Ningbo and other places. But now with the opening of the ocean. Lighthouses are built in almost all so-called ports on the seaside. became the standard.
The School of Engineering and Science also designed a lighting system reflected by bronze mirrors to increase the brightness of the lights. Made the lighthouse more useful.
It's just that that's not what Princess Anqing cares about. It was the sweet love between the two of them.
Zhu Xiongying seemed to have questions that he didn't ask, and some of them Princess Anqing didn't know. Princess Anqing suddenly became annoyed, and immediately called Yang Zhen over and said to Zhu Xiongying, "If you have anything to do, just ask him."
Left in a hurry. He said he was going to take care of He Yuandao.
Zhu Xiongying was just lost for a moment and then said: "What are those?"
Yang Zhen said: "Back to Your Highness, it is for loading and unloading. There is a wheel below. Driven by cattle, horses or people on both sides, the food can be sent to the ship. However, it is generally not packed this way. It is either packed in bags or boxes, and now I was really in a hurry. That’s why I pretended like this.”
Yang Zhen gave a brief introduction. Three common loading and unloading methods at terminals.
The first is manual loading and unloading. Generally speaking, workers carry sacks and step on the trestle to load goods onto the ship. That is bagged.
The second type is boxed. Similar to later containers. But the size is much smaller. Use pulleys and levers to lift it into the ship. This is also relatively new and has only been used in the past few years. However, the box sizes vary. There is no unified specification yet.
The third type is the current one.
Similar to a conveyor belt. Pieced together piece by piece. Bulk cargo can be sent into the cabin. It's just driven by human or animal power, so it can't be sent too far or too much. There is also some waste.
Zhu Xiongying asked in detail, and after understanding the principle, he stopped asking.
Zhu Yuanzhang had asked about Zhu Xiongying's studies. Therefore, Zhu Xiongying’s studies included scientific knowledge. It was dictated by He Xi, summarized by the School of Engineering and Science, and adapted from the textbook. Levers, pulleys, and Newton's three laws are all explained.
It's just a reference to the real thing to give Zhu Xiongying a deeper understanding.
Zhu Xiongying said: "Why are you so anxious?"
Yang Zhen said: "Because of the great famine in Shandong. Food is urgently needed. This time, the imperial court directly recruited us. We have to transport the food to Denglai together. If we go earlier, fewer people will starve to death."
If He Xi knew about the drought in Shandong, it was still a rumor. A prediction. But now it has become a fact. So far this year, there has not been a single rain or snow, and there was little rain last winter. It can be judged now that the success in May this year is almost zero.
It is already the time of the lean season, and Shandong's food supply is already in short supply. Coupled with the expectation of severe drought and no harvest, the price of grain in Shandong has risen to the sky. Therefore, the imperial court issued an order to exempt Shandong Province from paying taxes this year. In addition, ships were directly requisitioned to transport one million stones of grain to Denglai.
Today, the Ming Dynasty's finances are very healthy. There is money, food, and ships.
It was just the Goryeo War that occupied the transportation volume of government ships. Only temporary recruitment is necessary.
Zhu Xiongying seemed to understand. Nod.
But he still underestimated the concept of natural and man-made disasters.
After all, the world is so big today, and there are some problems every year, such as the Dateng Gorge in Guangxi. This originated from the chaos last year. The chaos everywhere last year has been calmed down one by one. Only in Dadengxia, Guangxi, the situation is getting worse.
The reason is very simple. Dateng Gorge already had a problem that was maliciously detonated.
The Yao people of Dateng Gorge live deep in the mountains. With Dateng Gorge as the center, there are more than a dozen county-sized areas where the Yao people live. Zhu Yuanzhang's previous policy was to acknowledge the status quo. It is governed according to the customs, as long as the Yao people do not come out to cause trouble.
Zhu Yuanzhang's policy was followed for more than a hundred years, until the Chenghua period. Because the population increases. The Han people and the Yao people competed for land. Only then launched a fierce confrontation.
Let Da Tengxia rebel and surrender again and again, and fight many times.
Most of the time, it is difficult to build, but easy to destroy.
In order to let the Han people and the Yao people live in harmony, Zhu Yuanzhang even killed an official who was harmful to the Yao people. Only then could the Yao people be calmed down.
But even if Zhu Yuanzhang is the emperor, he cannot give in unconditionally and is the one who started the fire. I don’t know if it’s a real vendetta or a fake vendetta. Anyway, several leaders of the Yao people died, and several officials of the imperial court died. In this case, Zhu Yuanzhang could not give in.
Even if they knew there was something fishy going on, they would still ask the Yao people to hand over the murderer. The Yao people themselves do not pay.
If it were a TV series, there would definitely be a detective at this moment to find out the truth and deal with the mastermind behind it. Let the Han people and the Yao people reconcile.
Unfortunately, this is reality.
There were conflicts between the Yao people and the Han people, but it was because of their small population. There is more land. This conflict is not too intense. Given this practical factor, it is difficult for both parties to trust each other. At this point, the truth no longer matters.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang's previous concessions to the Yao people were not without side effects.
Yao people sometimes can't figure out what the court needs. An official was punished by Zhu Yuanzhang. and was killed by the Yao people. Both are dead, but their temperaments are completely different. So, starting last year, the Battle of Big Vine Gorge began.
It's just that there were a lot of troubles in various places at that time, and Dadeng Gorge was inconspicuous.
Now the chaos everywhere has subsided. Dateng Gorge is exposed.
Some time ago, Zhu Yuanzhang specially ordered Gu Cheng, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, to suppress it.
It has become the focus of the court's attention. However, this is also an old focus, and now the new focus is the severe drought in Shandong. Some people seem to be secretly saying that the severe drought in Shandong is God's will. As a result, the severe drought in Shandong caused more struggles that Zhu Xiongying could not understand.
Zhu Xiongying is well aware of these, and is also no stranger to the severe drought in Shandong. After all, he is the grandson of the emperor, so he should have access to education and information channels. It's just that he is young after all. He didn't know what a line or a few lines of words he saw really meant to the people below.
What does it mean to them?
When Zhu Xiongying truly understood what the severe drought in Shandong meant, it was at Denglai Port.
