Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 289 Water-Blocking and Sand-Flushing Method

The Zhang brothers were scratching their heads at home today, circling around the vase, and thinking for a long time, but still had no answer.

Zhang Yanling said, "Brother, I think that guy just wanted to evade us and didn't want to be our student, so he deliberately said this unsolvable problem."

"In my opinion, this question has no solution!"

Zhang Heling shook his head and said, "No, no, no, it may not be unsolvable. Since that kid asked the question in that way, there must be an answer."

"Let me think about it."

Zhang Yanling asked, "Brother, have you been thinking about this since noon?"

"Have a drink of tea."

Zhang Yanling came over with a teacup in his hand, and said angrily, "Fuck! How can there be flies in the sky? What a waste of good tea."

He blew heavily to blow away the flies, then brought the tea to Zhang Heling and said, "Brother, drink tea. It won't make you sick if you drink it even if it's not clean."

Zhang Heling's eyes widened, and he angrily said, "You! You bastard! Are you trying to murder my own brother? You gave me the tea to drink? Why don't you drink it yourself?"

Zhang Yanling hugged the dog's head, fearing that his elder brother would get angry and hit him.

Zhang Heling was suddenly stunned, then he laughed out loud: "Haha! Hahaha!"

"I know, I know! So that's it, so that's it!"

"Second brother, you did a good job, a good job! You woke up the eldest brother, very good, this is very good!"

Zhang Yanling looked confused and thought to himself, I didn't do anything, why is my brother so excited?
Zhang Heling pulled Zhang Yanling and said, "Let's go! Let's go to Chen Ce's place. I have figured out the answer!"

Zhang Yanling's eyes widened and he said, "Really? Big brother is really smart!"

He hurriedly followed Zhang Heling towards Huaihua Hutong.

As it was getting dark, Chen Ce was ready to go to sleep. The sound of dripping rain was the most comfortable to sleep with, but the knock on the door interrupted Chen Ce's comfort.

Chen Ce asked outside: "Who?"

The Zhang brothers said excitedly: "Chen Ce! We got it, we got it! Open the door quickly!"

"Ha ha!"

Chen Ce: “…”

"Oh, teachers, I'm going to bed. Good night."

Chen Ce did not open the door, but called the two uncles-in-law perfunctorily. It would not cost him a single cent anyway.

He is different from Li Mengyang and his group of people who respect teachers. The title of teacher is worthless to him.

Chen Ce didn't know why these two guys kept asking him to become their disciples. He felt sleepy and didn't want to think about it. It was not like he couldn't regret it.

The Zhang brothers left Huaihua Hutong excitedly. Zhang Yanling held an umbrella for Zhang Heling and said quickly, "Brother is awesome!"

"But, big brother, you haven't even given the answer yet, so why did he accept you as his master?"

Zhang Heling smiled faintly and said, "Because he knows I can answer it, and he trusts my wisdom."

"The answer is actually very simple. Add water to the vase."

Zhang Yanling: “???”

"Then?"

Nima!

Seeing his second brother's innocent face, Zhang Heling didn't want to pay attention to him and said angrily: "Then we are now Li Mengyang's master's ancestors. If he impeaches us next time, it will be an act of betraying the master and destroying the ancestors!"

...Early the next morning, Zhu Houzhao first attended Yang Tinghe's lessons in the East Palace. In the afternoon, Fei Hong asked for leave. Zhu Houzhao was happy and at ease, and took Liu Jin to find Chen Ce.

"Little brother, do you have any way to get the money?"

Chen Ce: "Ah? How much do you want? I'll ask the newspaper company or the courier to get it for you."

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said, "It's not enough. It will cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver."

Chen Ce frowned and asked Zhu Houzhao, "Why do you suddenly want so much silver?"

It is obvious that this is not what Zhu Houzhao wants. Perhaps the court is short of money again.

To control floods?
Zhu Houzhao said: "To control the flood, I heard that the Ministry of Works wants to recruit 100,000 corvées, which will cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. The Ministry of Revenue cannot afford so much money."

"The emperor's treasury can't come up with that much money. Without money, there's no way to tame the river."

Chen Ce asked in return: "Why can't we control the river without money?"

Zhu Houzhao said as a matter of course: "To clean up the silt in the Yellow River, we have to wait until the flood season is over. Tens of thousands of corvées will go down to the river and dig out the silt bit by bit. Laborers need money, transporting silt needs money, everything needs money. How can we do anything without money?"

Chen Ce asked: "Why do we need to clear the silt like this?"

"It is better to govern the river with the river than to govern it with people. The river is swift in nature. If we take advantage of its nature and use its power, we can make it shallow or deep. Governance is in our hands."

"If you want to go deep in the north, then you should extend the dike southward, and the north will be deeper by itself. If you want to go deep in the south, then you should extend the dike northward, and the south will be deeper by itself. If you want to go deep in the middle, then you should use the dikes in the south and north to connect them, and then you will reach the middle, and the middle will be deeper by itself."

"If you want to silt up the beach and strengthen the embankment, then use this method in reverse."

This is the water-control and sand-flushing method invented by Pan Jixun in the Ming Dynasty. It is very suitable for clearing silt from the Yellow River, consolidating dams and preventing dike breaches.

Zhu Houzhao was confused. He was not an expert either, so he asked Chen Ce dully, "What, what do you mean?"

Chen Ce said: "It is to use water to attack sand. We use the rapidity of the river to open the mouth of the river and impact the silt and sand to the downstream. Repeat this process to clean up the silt and sand under the river."

"Wouldn't it be possible to have civilians and corvée laborers go into the water to dig out the mud and sand? If we really have to dig it out manually, how much manpower and workload would it take?"

"Change the way, save time, effort, money and manpower."

Zhu Houzhao suddenly realized: "So that's it!"

Although I didn't understand it, I was deeply shocked.

Yes, it was normal that Zhu Houzhao didn’t understand, as he was not a professional talent like the ones in the Ministry of Works.

But it is enough to know the process. If he doesn't understand, the court has professionals who understand it. Otherwise, why does the court spend money to support these officials?
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince memorized his younger brother's words by heart, and fearing that he would forget them, he recited them twice before quickly returning to the palace.

Qianqing Palace.

The six ministries of the Cabinet and Emperor Hongzhi were still holding small court meetings. It was obvious that Emperor Hongzhi's treasury could not come up with so much money.

The Ministry of Industry believes that the Ministry of Revenue should stop promoting commercial tax reform and focus on the Ministry of Industry's important matters first.

The Ministry of Revenue also refused to give in. Qin Hong believed that if the commercial tax reform was successful, it would become the second largest source of fiscal revenue for the Ming Dynasty in the future, even surpassing agricultural tax to become the largest source of fiscal revenue. Naturally, he was unwilling to stop.

The two ministers began arguing again with red faces, until Zhu Houzhao entered the hall, then they resumed their elegant and easy-going demeanor of scholar-officials, and smiled and nodded to Zhu Houzhao, bowing their hands to greet him.

Emperor Hongzhi said to Zhu Houzhao: "Father is discussing important matters. Please come back later."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Father, how do you know that I am not here for serious business?"

"Father, I came here to tell you that it doesn't cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver or mobilise hundreds of thousands of corvée labourers to dredge the Yellow River and strengthen its dams."

As soon as these words came out, the hall was instantly quiet! Suddenly, many eyes stared at Zhu Houzhao. The Minister of Works Xu Guan spoke first and asked, "Your Highness, what should we do?!"

(End of this chapter)