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

Chapter 192 City of the Future
Surrounded by the surging crowd, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a satisfaction he had not felt for a long time.

Only at this moment did he finally understand what it felt like for an emperor to gain the recognition of the people.

He hadn't felt this way for quite some time.

Now that he was in Zhenjiang Prefecture and was loved by the people, Zhu Yuanzhang found that he was liking Yang Chen more and more.

At the same time, in the carriage following behind.

Yang Siyi narrowed his eyes slightly, lowered the curtains, looked at Teng Yi and said:
"How is it? Is this Zhenjiang Prefecture really as described in the legend?"

Teng Yi looked stable and analyzed calmly:

“Indeed, I have read many ancient books that record the people’s yearning for a better world, but compared to this, I feel it is nothing special.

To be honest, I feel that the current Zhenjiang Prefecture can surpass the legendary Peach Blossom Spring. Look at the cheers outside and the joy of the people.

In the past, this would probably only happen when the Ming Dynasty had a bumper harvest and there was no war, and the whole family was happy during the New Year, and the elders would watch the younger generations set off firecrackers.

Now the people can only read the letter like this because of the appearance of His Majesty. The merchants stop what they are doing and take the initiative to stand up on the street to applaud and watch.

This is really incredible. I never thought I would be able to see such a vibrant scene in my life. This is simply a scene that only appears in a prosperous era!"

"Brother Teng is right."

Yang Siyi nodded, looked up into the air and couldn't help but sigh:

"This place is comparable to the capital and far superior to Jiangnan!"

As the dragon chariot left the busiest crowd, it soon drove into a wider and more official avenue.

After walking forward for about another twenty minutes and leaving the city, the group soon saw an open view.

There are many people working here, but these fields are very strange. Houses have been built in some places. Although the houses are simple, it can be clearly seen that there are heating equipment around these houses.

You can tell at first glance that it's not simple.

After Yang Chen's detailed explanation, they realized that these heated rooms were specially used for growing vegetables.

The method of growing vegetables is also very simple, using hydroponics.

Nowadays, Yang Chen has made some experienced farmers understand that the reason why fruits and vegetables can grow is mainly because there are many trace elements in the soil. These invisible trace elements are food for plants.

As long as the plants are given enough of these foods, they will grow.

Although the farmer did not know what trace elements were, he followed Yang Chen's advice and soon discovered that he could actually grow vegetables without soil.

In this way, people can have enough vegetables to eat even in the cold winter.

Even if there is no surplus, at least there is not a serious shortage.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very surprised to learn of this situation, as it obviously overturned his original understanding.

You must know that Zhu Yuanzhang himself was born a peasant. Before he was eight years old, he not only plowed the fields himself, but also herded cattle for the landlords.

Even during these years, he often grew vegetables with Queen Ma in the backyard.

Unexpectedly, Yang Chen told him today that Zhenjiang Prefecture has been able to grow vegetables without the need for vegetables.

How could this not shock Zhu Yuanzhang?
What on earth happened to all this?
Zhu Yuanzhang was eager to know, so he asked:

"Boy, what methods did you use in Zhenjiang Prefecture? You were able to make such a drastic change. I have to admit that I underestimated you before!"

These words were something Zhu Yuanzhang had never said before, and even Empress Ma found them incredible.

No one expected that Yang Chen could make her husband admit defeat. In the eyes of Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang had already admitted that he was no longer capable, otherwise he would never have expressed such a feeling.

Zhu Biao was also shocked. He had guessed that Yang Chen might bring them many surprises, both in terms of people's livelihood and weapons, but he never expected that such an earth-shattering miracle that went against common sense would occur.

Seeing this, Yang Chen raised his hand and pointed to a slogan outside.

Everyone turned their heads to look over.

There were several large characters carved on a huge piece of wood.

“Science and technology are the soul of productivity, and innovation is the source of development.”

"Your Majesty, I have never used any magical methods. I only rely on scientific methods. Mastering these means mastering the means to make the Ming Dynasty even more powerful."

Yang Chen looked at a ten-story building in the distance.

This building was built by Yang Chen using the mechanical structures he remembered and combining them with the capabilities of current technology to build the building.

It is a bit like an office building in later generations, but it is much smaller than an office building.

The overall height can reach an astonishing 46 meters.

Actually, this is not surprising.

According to the construction technology of the Central Plains, during the Song Dynasty, someone built a pagoda nearly 90 meters high.

Therefore, with Yang Chen spending a huge amount of money, this 46-meter-high building is not only where he lives, but also his office.

It's just because he doesn't like living in a mansion that is too big.

Living in a high-rise building and being able to see the entire Zhenjiang Prefecture at a glance is the living environment he wants.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to recall something Yang Chen had once said to him.

'Science and technology are the primary productive force'

Only today did he fully understand how wise this sentence would be once it was applied to the national policy of ruling the world.

He once regarded ancient books as the absolute method to govern the world, but now it seems like a complete joke.

It was a laughable joke, but any one of Yang Chen's methods was countless times better than any he had used before.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang sigh:
"Hahaha! Sister, we are old."

When the voice fell, not only the people in the dragon chariot were stunned, but Zhu Chong who was driving the carriage outside was also stunned. It was the first time he heard his father admit that he was old.

Or say it in front of everyone.

Looking back on the past, Zhu Yuanzhang's overbearing, dictatorial and irresistible image began to appear in Zhu Chong's mind. At that time, after years of oppression, he vowed that he would never become a puppet under his father's command in the future. He would definitely do something big to prove to Zhu Yuanzhang that even if he was not as good as the old man, he would not be so bad that he would always be ignored. So Zhu Chong began to work hard in this direction.

He's taken many wrong turns over the years.

Until now, I finally got my father's recognition, but I only heard from my father that he admitted that he was old.

Zhu Chong instantly felt very uncomfortable.

At the same time, Queen Ma covered her mouth and smiled:

"Zhongba, we are old, so I always advise you not to care too much about this position. Sometimes, it is not a bad thing to hand over the things above to Biao'er as soon as possible."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed awkwardly, then looked at Zhu Biao who was at a loss:

"Yes, we have to leave eventually. The young people will do the rest. It's time for us old guys to leave."

Zhu Biao, who didn't understand what was going on, thought his father was delivering his will, so he quickly interrupted:
"Father! You and Mother will surely live a long life in the future. I am very satisfied with my current status. I don't care whether I can sit on the emperor's lap or not. I only care about you two!"

Old Zhu was stunned. He saw that his son seemed to have misunderstood, so he quickly explained:
"Haha! Biao'er, don't think too much. I was just expressing my feelings just now. Some of what Yang Chen said does make sense."

Glancing at Yang Chen's always smiling face, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed again:
"The world of the young comes so fast, but we have to accept our fate. Ever since you showed up, we have been on guard against you, because we are worried that you have evil intentions. Biao'er is young and he trusts you, but we are different. We have been through bloody storms and are used to keeping a backup plan when doing anything. Otherwise, a single misstep will lead to eternal regret, which is the saddest thing. We have seen too many similar things, so we have to do this.

Let me be frank. Unless I hang you on the wall, you will never escape my sight for the rest of your life!"

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of hiding anything. In short, he treated Yang Chen with the most insightful attitude.

What proved his intention was that everything he saw today made him feel both relieved and frightened.

The good news is that people all over the world will probably have a good life in the future.

Over the years, in order to make life better for the people, Zhu Yuanzhang built water conservancy projects and carried out large-scale construction projects. On the one hand, he wanted to build a land of abundance like Sichuan.

During the Qin Dynasty, although Sichuan was a plain, it lacked a developed water system, resulting in a shortage of water for farming by the people, and the crops could not grow without water.

The importance of water conservancy to the world is self-evident.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not like Qin Shihuang, he had to admit that Qin Shihuang had a long-term vision.

Whether it is the Zhengguo Canal in Dujiangyan, Sichuan or the Lingqu Canal in Guangxi, without exception, they have allowed later dynasties to enjoy the shade.

To this end, he also mobilized huge forces and began construction activities across the country.

Unfortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang was completely blind in this regard. If he wanted to cross the river, he didn't even have the qualifications to touch the stones. Others built their projects in a gradual and incremental manner, but he built them by force.

Rely on absolute manpower and material resources to build.

In the end, you will only get half the result with twice the effort. Zhu Yuanzhang once thought that this was the result of being lazy.

But now I realize that it is not the case at all, but that he just doesn't understand.

The fact that Yang Chen alone, together with the help of the refugees, was able to govern Zhenjiang Prefecture in an orderly manner was enough to illustrate the importance of science.

This made him believe even more that following Yang Chen's method would definitely make the Ming Dynasty stronger!

At the same time, this is also the source of Zhu Yuanzhang's panic.

He was afraid that Yang Chen possessed such ability that he could seize the Zhu family's rule in an instant. Old Zhu was the emperor, and he knew very well that once the people's prosperous times arrived, there would be a scene of a hundred schools of thought contending with each other.

It was absolutely impossible to monitor everyone at the same time, so all he could do was monitor Yang Chen.

Faced with Zhu Yuanzhang's words that were partly threatening and partly oppressive, Yang Chen did not take them to heart.

Instead, he was very relaxed and didn't care at all, saying nonchalantly:
"As for your majesty, as long as you don't interfere with my privacy, I hope your majesty can meet this small request of mine. As for other matters, no matter what you want, I will not care."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were like a bucket of cold water, breaking the peaceful atmosphere. Empress Ma couldn't help but frowned and said angrily:

"Okay, Chongba, we've been traveling for half a day, Xiongying is already tired, I want to take him to rest, you come with me, leave the rest to the young people, don't get involved in other things, Yang Chen has his own plans, you are jumping here to make decisions."

Just when Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to argue, Empress Ma did not give him a chance to resist and dragged Zhu Yuanzhang away by the legs.

The person responsible for taking Queen Ma away was Xiaochun.

The four of them originally came from the imperial palace and were well versed in all kinds of royal etiquette. Yang Chen knew that in the entire Zhenjiang Prefecture, no one was more suitable than them to be responsible for the daily life of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma.

After the parents and son left, Zhu Biao looked at Yang Chen embarrassedly and whispered:

"Brother Yang, I'm sorry. You know my father's character. He is used to being cautious and it's hard for him to trust others easily. So don't take what I said just now to heart. You and I are friends of gentlemen. We are open-minded and the world can bear witness to that. I will never be by your side."

"Stop!"

Yang Chen interrupted the other party with a smile, saying that it didn't matter:

"Okay, Ah Biao, I know what you mean. Don't worry, even if you arrange someone to be around me, I won't mind. Sometimes when you sit in this position, many things are beyond your control. If you don't do it, the people under you will do it.

If you really don't guard against me, I'm afraid I will really feel uncomfortable for a while."

Faced with Yang Chen's carefree attitude, Zhu Biao felt guilty.

Others trust you completely, but you have to be vigilant again and again because of your identity. In this case, can the two of you still be considered friends?
Zhu Biao didn't know whether what he did was right or not, but reason told him that as an emperor in the future, perhaps it would really be as Yang Chen said, many things would be beyond his control when sitting in this position.

After a long time, Yang Chen turned and left, saying:
"Come on, Abia, let's go somewhere else and talk."

Zhu Biao came to his senses and hurriedly followed.

In the elevator, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma watched the equipment under their feet moving on rollers. On the side, nearly fifty men were constantly stepping on the fixed equipment, causing the ropes and chains to pull several people up to a certain floor.

This scene shocked Zhu Yuanzhang deeply. He had never seen such a magical thing.

"Xiaochun, what is this? How can it pull people to a higher place?"

Queen Ma held Zhu Xiongying in her arms and couldn't help but ask Xiaochun.

"In reply to the Queen, Xiaochun actually doesn't know what the principle is, but the master once told us that all the movements of all things in the world follow the principles of things, which he calls physics.

This ladder that can pull people up should be called an elevator, but there is no electricity, so the master was too lazy to change the name and just let all of us call it an elevator.

As for how to do it, he said it's called the lever principle plus a movable pulley system, which can allow a person to pull up weights that are several times heavier than himself.

The people who brought us to the seventh floor were carefully selected from the refugees. They only had strength, so the master arranged them to work here."

(End of this chapter)