In Yanzhou City, where the fiefdom of King Lu of the Ming Dynasty is located, in the palace of General Jingguo, Zhu Yipai, the favorite nephew of the current King of Lu, Zhu Shouhong, and his wife Guo, were hosting a banquet to honor Zheng Haizhu.
This royal couple had a friendship with Zheng Haizhu when they first met and went through dangerous situations together.
In the past three years, the labor force from Liaodong imported into Yanzhou Coal Mine came from Zhang Luo, who was led by Kong Youde, who was brokered by Zheng Haizhu. This time Zheng Haizhu also brought an expert who was said to be able to solve the problem of pumping water in the coal mine.
Similar natures and intertwined interests.
In addition, now that Zheng Haizhu also has an imperial order and is a woman, Zhu Yipai and the Guo family treat her like an old friend in the inner house, rather than an ordinary guest. The family banquet by the lotus pond in the backyard would not have been "enjoyable" even by Zhang Dai's father, Zhang Yaofang, a long-time official of the Lu family.
After having two drinks, Zheng Haizhu looked at the headdress of Guo, the concubine of Zhu Yipai.
The heart-shaped bun is the most common bun style worn by Ming Dynasty women. It is flat and round with a pointed top, like a triangular heart shape.
This kind of refreshing and neat updo, which can be decorated with more beaded flowers, is more popular among royal ladies. Even if the Guo family, the daughter of a warrior, is like the all-powerful female general Qin Liangyu, her love for beauty is no different from that of the beauties of Yingying Yanyan.
When Mrs. Guo saw Zheng Haizhu staring at her sexy bun, she did not hesitate, took off a sideburn and handed it to her.
"If you like it, I'll give it to you to wear. Your hair is too plain, and you're not a nunnery's sister-in-law."
Zheng Haizhu took the gold-embedded temple veil and took a closer look.
The pure gold base is made into continuous clouds, and above the clouds is Maniba, embedded with three plain rubies the size of wolfberries.
Below the clouds, filigree gold thread craftsmanship is used, like a fishing net, to firmly fix the three plain sapphires.
Zheng Haizhu raised his eyes again and looked at the big hairpin in the middle of Guo's bun. It was inlaid with red and blue gems into a lotus seat, holding up a nine-ox golden car. The Buddha on the car had three sides and eight arms, and a crown on his head. There is also the Great Sun Tathagata. The two highest raised golden arms hold two red and sapphires the size of dates. The red color represents the sun and the blue color represents the moon.
Zheng Haizhu returned the temple hairpin to the Guo family and said with a smile: "It is such a majestic treasure. The temple hairpin and the hairpin are a complete set. How can it be separated? Such a bright red and blue treasure, but it comes from outside Yunnan." From Burma’s secret tribute?”
Mrs. Guo exclaimed: "Don't think you don't like to dress up on weekdays, you have really good eyesight."
Zhu Yipai was not surprised.
In the south of the country, including the newly opened Songjiang, there are now three large customs ports. There are also many treasures arriving in Nanyang Xifan. This woman has a trading company at home and knows the secret gems of Burma. What's so strange about it.
As if reading his mind, Zheng Haizhu said to Zhu Yipai: "Your Highness, no matter how high-quality the Qionghua jewelry from Nanyang is, if it is to be used as a beautiful sentence, it requires the skillful hands of my Ming craftsmen. For example, it is like a secret gem." For rubies, ordinary people can only wear them wrapped in soft tin, but Ming craftsmen can inlay them with gold and silver."
Zhu Yipai listened well to his ears, even though he had never been as advocating extravagance as other members of the clan. At this moment, he was quite proud and said: "We have a forest of masters in the Dianbao Office of Lu Mansion. There are two ancestors who are head craftsmen. During the Hongwu period, he was transferred from Yingtian Mansion to King Lu's fiefdom."
Zheng Haizhu felt more confident.
She said goodbye to Mu Zaohua and Xu San, and after entering Yanzhou City, she first visited Zhang Dai's father, Zhang Yaofang, as usual, and asked Zhang Yaofang about the situation of the palace's treasure house.
It is her usual style to do preliminary research before talking to big shots.
So she didn't show off, and confessed that she had persuaded the Gu family to go to Champa station to try a specialized jewelry import business. When she came to Yanzhou, she wanted to invite two craftsmen from the Dianbao Institute to Songjiang to bring a group of people who knew how to use gold and silver. The apprentice of filigree craftsmanship inlaying precious stones comes out.
"Of course, your highness, madam, I also understand that the Dianbao Institute is an internal workshop of the Lu Mansion. Some craftsmanship is not allowed to be passed on to others, and some shapes are not allowed to be arrogant by our private companies, so ordinary craftsmen who draw and filigree can do it. For example With permission, every time our trading company returns, we will select the best rubies, sapphires and diamonds and send them to Lu Mansion."
Zhu Yipai, an ancient man, naturally did not realize that Zheng Haizhu's plan was a bit like technology investment.
He just thought about it and felt that there was nothing unacceptable.
Miss Zheng understands etiquette and speaks respectfully and humbly. She is not allowed to spread things to outsiders or overstep her bounds. In fact, not to mention Beijing, Nanjing and the fiefdoms of various vassals, it is the larger state capitals in Huguang and Jiangnan, used by high-ranking officials and wealthy gentry. The stuff is even more luxurious than the Zhu family's, and there are a lot of people there.
Just lend it to a few craftsmen. It won't be in vain. It was clearly stated that they would donate jewels to express gratitude.
Now that there are so many clans in various places, the treasures and rewards allocated from the Forbidden City have long since stopped. It is much better for Miss Zheng to send genuine and good things than those relatives from Yibin in Lu Mansion to use some broken stones to defraud Lu Mansion out of money.
Zhu Yipai then made a preliminary decision at the dinner table, and Guo also took the initiative to offer advice, saying that when he went into the palace to pay his respects to Princess Meng of Lu, he found a reason to bring up the matter.
Two days later, Song Yingxing arrived in Yanzhou by boat.
Like Xu Guangqi, this scientist, who would have his own name on the surface of the moon hundreds of years later, has already shown his workaholic temperament since he became like a fish in water on Chongming Island.
Zheng Haizhu treated him unceremoniously as a mule, treated him to a big sesame seed cake and spicy soup at the dock, and then dragged him to Chai Tan Mountain.
Now, this is the Yanzhou coal mine that King Zhu Shouhong of Lu gave to Zhu Yipai to take charge of.
"Mr. Song, you have to build something big like a hydraulic hammer machine. However, the ones on Chongming Island are for borrowing water. What we need here is drainage."
At the side of the mine tunnel, Zheng Haizhu pointed to the potholes all over the mountain and said to Song Yingxing.
Song Yingxing looked at several mine pits with underground water leaking out.
The shallow ones can still be pumped up through bamboo tubes, but the deep ones cannot be done manually. There are several deep pits that can only be abandoned.
No matter how great a scientist is, it is impossible for him to have a sudden inspiration in the face of any difficulty.
Seeing Song Yingxing's frown, Zheng Haizhu enlightened and said, "Mr. Song, what is stronger than humans is not only cattle, horses, and mules, but also water."
Song Yingxing pursed her lips: "Then Madam, Chongming's water hammer relies on water."
Zheng Haizhu said: "What I am thinking of is boiling water. We have seen many women cooking in the stove. The boiling soup can lift the lid of an inch-thick willow pot."
Song Yingxing's eyes moved slightly: "Madam, what you mean is, the power of water vapor?"
"My wild thoughts make you laugh."
"Well," Song Yingxing looked thoughtful, "If the pot is big enough, the power of the water vapor will be greater...but how to make the power go back and forth?"
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Zheng Haizhu thought to himself, this is all I can remember, and after all, you are a scientist who is better than Watt. The light of the Chinese people, as long as I give you a direction, you will be able to build a steam engine for pumping water.
As one of my people, you must contribute to the Yanzhou Coal Mine, the money tree of the Lu family. I will pick up the wool of their jewelry craftsmen, and I will be able to pick it up even more.
