Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 139 The Terror of the Little Ice Age

"Girl? Where are you, girl?"

In the flower corridor of the harem, Old Zhu started wailing from a long distance away.

The flower corridor here is exquisite, as if it were carved by nature, and it is breathtaking.

Surrounded by a dazzling array of carved cultural relics, each one is ingeniously crafted, fully demonstrating the profound cultural heritage.

There are also lush green plants such as ivy, which are winding and hanging naturally, like green ribbons, adding a bit of vitality and wildness to this world, creating a beautiful picture that is completely natural.

This place is where Empress Ma cultivated her character.

Given Queen Ma's temper, she certainly didn't want to waste people's time and money to build this place.

There is already a back garden, so why build another similar place?

But Old Zhu had a stubborn temper and simply ignored her instructions, ordering people to complete the task in less than fifteen days.

It’s just to give my sister a good place to rest.

In the entire harem, all concubines are not allowed to enter this place. This position belongs to Queen Ma.

When the palace maids saw their emperor's fawning look, they all made way and bowed their heads.

At this moment, Lao Zhu was so happy that he wanted to share his joy with his sister and ignored the servants.

"Girl? Girl, where are you? Come out quickly, I have something to tell you, and it's a good thing!"

“Zhongba! Keep your voice down! Xiongying and Yunxun just fell asleep. If you wake them up, you’ll have to coax them to sleep later!”

Old Zhu, who was originally happy and wanted to share his happiness with Queen Ma, saw a pair of resentful eyes at the door of the house in front.

Empress Ma lowered her voice and scolded Old Zhu with a tone of anger at his lack of resistance:

"It's already this late, why are you coming to my place instead of checking the cards or staying up late to handle your work?

Don’t you know that Xiongying usually takes a break at this time?

You are shouting and yelling, you don't act like an emperor at all. If this matter gets out, I wonder if you will be ashamed."

She had finally managed to coax her grandson, who was playing and trying to use a magnifying glass to look at the sun, moon and stars, to sleep, but she didn't expect that Old Zhu would start yelling at her as soon as he entered the door.

If Queen Ma was not angry, she would not be the queen.

"Hey, hey, our darling grandson is asleep? Oh, that's good, he's asleep, so he won't bother me when I talk to you about something later.

Sister, I came to you to tell you a good news."

"Good news? Never mind, you can tell me later. Come with me first and I'll show you something."

Queen Ma raised her eyebrows and did not seem to be very interested in what Zhu Yuanzhang said. Instead, she took him to the next room without waiting for his response.

The next second, Lao Zhu was pressed down onto the stool.

Seeing this, Lao Zhu quickly thought of something and coughed twice in embarrassment.

"Well, girl, it's not the right time now. Why don't you just listen to me first and then we can talk later..."

"What are you thinking about? You are such a shameless Zhu Chongba. I am so old and you are still thinking about these nonsense. You are so shameless."

"If you want to think about these things, go find the sisters, don't look for me. I'll take care of you. There are so many things I need to do every day. I'm tired even if you're not."

Queen Ma glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, then found a pair of shoes from a box.

"Lift your feet and take a look. Do these shoes fit you?"

Old Zhu looked at Empress Ma's mysterious appearance, wondering if she asked him to come over for something, but he didn't expect that she was actually making a new pair of shoes for him.

Looking at the pair of wrinkled hands, Lao Zhu's eyes were filled with tears and he couldn't help but recall the difficult times they had gone through.

When Old Zhu married Ma Xiuying, he swore to heaven that he would only be good to her.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had no big ambitions and only wanted to protect this small family.

If his adoptive father had not been too suspicious of him, forcing him to embark on the path of self-reliance, there would probably be no Emperor Hongwu now, but only Zhu Yuanzhang who came from Fengyang.

As time goes by and decades pass, Ma Xiuying still maintains the habit of making a new pair of shoes for Lao Zhu every month.

Compared with the golden boots made exclusively for the royal family by the Suzhou Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, the pair of shoes made by Empress Ma does not have as many fancy embroidery.

It is just a simple piece of cloth sewn together with a pair of slightly soft and comfortable insoles.

She knew best what kind of trauma Lao Zhu's feet had suffered when he was young. He knew that they could not be covered for too long, nor could he wear shoes with too hard soles.

It won't work if it's too soft. Only Queen Ma can determine the level of comfort.

Looking at this pair of simple shoes, Lao Zhu couldn't help but smile.

"Sister, we won't need so many shoes in the future. Just make fewer. The shoes you make for me now are enough for me to wear until I'm 70 or 80 years old."

Although she said so, Old Zhu still raised his feet obediently, and Empress Ma personally changed his shoes for him.

Measure some more after finishing.

"Oh, your feet seem to be smaller recently. Could it be that you are getting older? Forget it, I'll adjust them when I get home."

"Don't worry! Sister, don't change it, don't change it. The problem with the foot is ours. It's okay. The shoes are good shoes. If you go back and make some changes, when can I wear these new shoes?"

After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang snatched the shoe from Empress Ma's hand and held it against his chest as if it were a treasure, as if there was nothing better in the world than this thing.

Seeing her husband like this, Queen Ma smiled, picked up the old shoes on the ground, and then asked.

"Alright, alright, look at your inexperienced appearance, you don't have the airs of an emperor at all.

Tell me, you were looking for me in a hurry just now. Did something happen? Tell me quickly.

In order to avoid your happiness having no one to share it with, if others knew about it, they would say that I am not qualified to be the queen. "

"Bullshit! Whoever dares to say anything bad about our sister, I'll be the first one to not let him off!"

Upon hearing what Empress Ma said, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately pretended to be angry and shouted a few words.

After maintaining his angry look for a few seconds, Lao Zhu chuckled, then turned solemn and told Yang Chen everything that happened today.

Whether it was "productive forces determine production relations" or "economic base determines superstructure", or even the transfer of imperial power to the countryside brought by the Ming Mass Service Center, almost all of them were told to Empress Ma by Zhu in his own way.

It was he who told Empress Ma that he wanted to find Yang Chen to learn about the dragon-slaying technique. Then Empress Ma went to find Zhu Biao in person, and Zhu Biao went to find Yang Chen.

After going around in circles, I found that my husband had completed these three tasks quietly.

At the same time, Queen Ma was also shocked.

She fully agreed with Yang Chen's proposal to build a Daming Mass Service Center and employ capable veterans from the garrison system to serve as tax guards.

"Yang Chen's proposal is very good. It can relieve the burden on the old soldiers we have in the frontier. According to your previous idea, Chongba, the guard system adopts the hereditary system of farming.

From now on, if one person joins the army, the whole family and descendants will all serve in the army. Someone told me this before.

The lack of enthusiasm in the frontier garrisons has led to many deserters. This will provide a way out for the very few people who are tired of war, and they will inevitably be more loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

The method of working remotely is really unexpected, but on the other hand, I am worried that if these tax guards are kept in local time for too long.

Will he be harmed by corrupt officials as he is accustomed to the company he keeps?
By then, will the people still be the ones who suffer? "

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it for a while after hearing this, and said in a low voice:

"Don't worry, sister. We have stipulated that this remote office will not last too long. We believe that each tax guard can only serve in one place for a maximum of one year.

We believe that without long-term contact, these tax guards will not have time to be contaminated.

Besides, didn’t that bastard Yang Chen say that he would personally teach those veterans?

By then, I can make them more loyal to the court. I don't believe that these old soldiers who only knew how to fight with swords and guns in the first half of their lives will betray me, right?"

When this was mentioned, Empress Ma became a little worried, and said as if she knew it well:
"Zhongba, did Yang Chen tell you what method he would use to teach those old soldiers to read and write?"

Without giving it much thought, Lao Zhu responded directly, “No, this guy is keeping us in suspense, talking in mysterious ways, and he’s not willing to open his mouth at all. He won’t say anything even when we ask him, which is really a headache.

Sister, do you think this guy is not good enough? "

Queen Ma thought about it for a moment and nodded and shook her head.

“It’s not that it’s impossible, but I think it’s a little difficult. However, we don’t know what will happen in the end. After all, Yang Chen can always create things that we don’t understand.

Just choose to believe him, just like Xiongying, a child who knew how to study astronomy since childhood.

He even shouted that he wanted the old guys from the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to come out and see if the stars in the sky were really as vast and boundless as Yang Chen said.

Although she was puzzled by Yang Chen's confidence in teaching the old soldiers to recognize and master 500 common words and mathematical arithmetic, Queen Ma still stood on his side.

The reason is that she has witnessed Yang Chen create too many miracles with her own eyes.

“Compared to the tax guards, I am more curious about the two dragon-slaying techniques that Yang Chen told you. They are truly admirable.

What kind of person can say such words? If he was born in Ming Dynasty, he would definitely become a saint! "

Old Zhu also expressed his curiosity about this, but unfortunately, Yang Chen refused to say who was the first to discover the slogan.

"By the way, Chongba, speaking of the method of sending old soldiers away, I remember Yang Chen seemed to have told you that the military farming system seemed to be a great obstacle to the Ming Dynasty. Have you ever thought about taking some time to solve this problem?"

Regarding the military farming system and the garrison system, Zhu Yuanzhang established them in order to enable these border troops to protect the Ming Dynasty well.

Later, Yang Chen found out that this system of later generations had been destroyed by someone, and he was immediately furious.

It’s a pity that at that time, Lao Zhu was so angry that he didn’t think of asking Yang Chen to propose a solution.

In the end, it could only be put on hold temporarily. Now that it was brought up again by Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but fall into deep thought.

“We do need to find a way to solve the military farming system, but not now.

As of now, this method is very suitable for the present. Didn’t that bastard say that every policy has a time limit?

The validity of the military farming system and the military garrison system has not expired, so there is no need to abolish them temporarily."

Hearing this, Queen Ma didn't say much.

She is only responsible for ensuring that Lao Zhu does not make big mistakes. As for the rest, it depends on what Lao Zhu himself thinks.

"By the way, Chongya, Xiongying told me something recently."

"what's up?"

Empress Ma suddenly remembered something and then mentioned Yang Chen's fertilizer production to Zhu Yuanzhang.

While teaching Zhu Xiongying, Yang Chen wanted to allow these children to see the diversity of biological species with their own eyes, and also to let the seeds of science sprout in Zhu Xiongying.

A lot of interesting experiments were arranged.

There are physics, chemistry, and various practical operations.

Once again during spare time, Zhu Xiongying asked if there was any way to make plants survive better.

Taking this opportunity, Yang Chen found some fertilizers from his mansion.

Take it back to Zhu Xiongying and plant two identical potted plants for yourself.

One of the plants was fertilized with the fertilizer given by Yang Chen.

After less than seven days of changes, Zhu Xiongying miraculously discovered that the potted plants fertilized with chemical fertilizers not only grew fast, but also grew very well.

It is many times better than the other plant.

At that time, Queen Ma was very curious about this. It was not until Zhu Xiongying got the answer from Yang Chen that she realized that there was actually "meal" for plants in the world.

In the eyes of Queen Ma, fertilizer is a good thing that allows plants to thrive after eating it.

Later she found out that these things could increase grain production several times.

It was originally good news, but the problems that followed were right in front of us.

Fertilizers can double the yield of grain, but it is ultimately nature that makes grain grow. If nature is not favorable, no amount of fertilizer will be of any use.

She clearly remembered that a big part of the reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty was the weather.

Yang Chen described the process of the Little Ice Age as vivid, saying that both Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were people who had experienced severe cold during their ordeal.

The two men knew very well that during the cold winter months, people would not be able to survive the winter without food, and would be worse off than roadside dogs.

Dogs have fur to protect them from the cold wind, but poor people have nothing.

"Sister, if this is the case, then if we can't solve this small glacier problem, our Ming Dynasty's productivity won't be able to develop!"

"But how can we solve the problems in heaven with our mortal strength?"

Old Zhu was in a very depressed mood. Why didn't his Ming Dynasty have any good weather?

All kinds of bad things happened to him.

Especially during the Little Ice Age, if there was only one, Lao Zhu could still be confident that he could wait until it was over and then slowly restore people's livelihood.

However, in the Little Ice Age, the emphasis is on the word "period".

This means that the cold period will continue in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, during which the entire Ming Dynasty will suffer persecution caused by the climate.

"Who says that human power cannot change things? I only believe that man can conquer nature!
Didn’t Yang Chen say that if productivity is increased, it will definitely affect the entire country?

Now if we want to solve this problem, we must develop productivity so that the economic foundation is not so weak.

Don't you realize that the Ming Dynasty's economy is a little shaky?"

Empress Ma was not discouraged, but encouraged Zhu Yuanzhang, who looked froze.

"What do you mean, sister?"

"My Ming Dynasty occupied the Central Plains and recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that had been out of the hands of the Han people for hundreds of years. Even so, the recovery of people's livelihood was very slow.

At the beginning, you insisted on unifying the North and the South to restore China, forcing the Han people in the north to communicate more with the south, and you also proposed that the rich people in the south move to the north.

Unfortunately, the North was enslaved for many years and lost many qualities that the Han people had.

How difficult is it to develop in a short period of time? "

Queen Ma stood up, walked around the table, took a teapot, and poured some tea into the cup.

“Ever since I learned that fertilizers can increase food production, I’ve been thinking about how to help Yang Chen find a way to rely on these things to keep the people of Daming alive as long as possible.

They would not be unable to survive in the severe cold and would not resort to selling their daughters. "

Her words were full of concern for the safety of the people. Empress Ma suddenly turned around and looked at Zhu with shining eyes.

"Oh, right, Chongba! Xiongying once told me that in class, Yang Chen described someone being able to survive in extreme cold for several years. This must be the experience of future generations.

How about we ask Yang Chen directly? "

"What? Surviving in extreme cold for several years? This is a joke! Does he think I'm muddled? No, no, he must be tricking Xiong Ying."

Upon hearing this, Lao Zhu quickly shook his head to deny it, believing it to be a lie no matter how you look at it.

"Zhongba! I know why you don't believe it, but this concerns the lives of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty. I won't tolerate your reckless behavior.

During the Little Ice Age, people starved to death, livestock were covered in ice and snow, and common people could not survive the winter. As someone at the pinnacle of power in the Ming Dynasty, would you want to see such a scene?"

Old Zhu remained silent.

After a moment, he spoke:
"We need to discuss this matter with Biaoer."

Seeing this, Queen Ma didn't say much.

As a woman, I have said everything I should say. What to do next is to leave it to my husband and son.

(End of this chapter)