The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 247: Waterwheel Country
It is almost the afternoon and the sun is setting in the west.

Most of the craftsmen at the Baochuan Factory had been working for more than an hour after lunch, but the imperial guards had not eaten yet.

Many people were so hungry that they felt dizzy. Deng Zilong finally led the navy officers and soldiers to bring food.

That guy, the food was shipped in boats, and most of the food was stored in wooden barrels half a person's height. I don't know how many rice and vegetable barrels he had.

The imperial guards couldn't wait to carry the bucket off the boat, pick up their bowls and chopsticks, and start drinking around the bucket.

Seeing this, Old Yang and several foremen who accompanied Wanli everywhere couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

They also want to get a bucket.

The problem was that Wanli not only didn't let them go to eat, but also took them to the yamen.

They were so hungry that they felt dizzy and their feet were a little unsteady.

The government offices in the Ming Dynasty were all regulated, and a canteen was definitely a must.

Wanli took a group of people to the dining hall.

The canteen in this yamen is naturally not as good as a restaurant. It basically has one or two large tables with long benches on both sides.

However, at this moment, the long table that was several meters long was filled with wine and food, and there were many food boxes and rice buckets placed next to it. Deng Zilong, Yu Zigao, Peng Xingu and four naval lieutenant generals were still moving things in.

Seeing this, Wanli raised his hands repeatedly and said, "Alright, alright, sit down and eat first. If it's not enough, go get more. Come on, everyone, sit down and eat quickly."

After saying that, he went straight to the middle seat on one side of the table and pulled Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan to sit down.

Li Xuancheng sat next to Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan without hesitation, and Shan Sinan also sat next to Wanli without hesitation.

Seeing this, Xu Weizi hesitated for a moment, but still sat next to Shan Sinan. The Peng brothers and several commanders of the imperial guards sat to both sides without hesitation.

Deng Zilong was dumbfounded when he saw that Wanli's side was almost full.

Well, does that mean he should sit opposite the Emperor?
Wanli was so hungry that he couldn't stand it anymore. Seeing Deng Zilong and several other foremen standing there stupidly, he raised his hand and said, "Come and sit down quickly, Yunqing, sit across from me, come on."

Okay.

Deng Zilong quickly asked several officers under his command to sit down together.

The foremen of the craftsmen were still standing there stupidly.

They didn't dare to sit down. In those days, craftsmen were not even qualified to sit down and dine with the emperor, let alone dine with scholars with official titles.

This lack of qualifications does not mean that you cannot sit at the same table with scholars who have achieved academic titles, but that you cannot eat in the same room with scholars who have achieved academic titles.

If there was a scholar with a degree in the house, they would have to stand outside to eat.

Wanli said helplessly: "Old Yang, please sit down quickly, I am so hungry."

Uh, His Majesty is very hungry, so we dare not delay any longer.

Seeing this, Old Yang asked several foremen to sit down carefully on both sides.

Wanli glanced at Li Xuancheng, then said impatiently, "Eat quickly."

Oh.

Li Xuancheng quickly picked up a few dishes that Wanli and Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan liked and put them in their bowls. He ate them like rice, and then savored them carefully. Only then did he pass the bowls of dishes to Wanli and Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan.

Wanli picked up the bowl again and said, "Give me some more rice."

Li Xuancheng quickly took the bowl, ran to the rice bucket, scooped a spoonful and put it in his mouth to taste it, then poured a bowl for Wanli.

Wanli asked him to bring another bowl to Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, then he picked up his chopsticks and said, "Everyone, please don't be polite. Eat quickly. We still have things to do after you finish eating."

When everyone saw that he had started eating, they picked up their bowls, filled them with rice, and started to eat quickly.

This guy only ate one bowl, while many people had three or four bowls.

Everyone was indeed starving, but he was better off. After all, he didn't have to work. He just walked around and looked around, and his energy consumption wasn't very high. After eating a bowl of rice, his hunger almost disappeared.

He asked Li Xuancheng to fill another bowl, and ate it slowly before saying solemnly, "Yun Qing, you seem to have been to the deep mountains and old forests, right?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I have been to many deep mountains and old forests. When those bandits are suppressed and have no other choice, they will go to the deep mountains and old forests where there are few people."

Wanli asked again, "Are there many large trees there? I mean towering trees over ten feet tall."

Deng Zilong recalled: "There are many towering trees in the deep mountains and old forests. Because there are no roads, and there are also wild beasts and poisonous insects, most people dare not go in."

That's good.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Think about it, where is the deep mountain and old forest closest to Nanzhili? I mean you have been there."

I have been to many deep mountains and forests.

Deng Zilong thought carefully for a while, then suddenly realized, "Your Majesty, the area around my hometown, the Gan River, is the one I'm most familiar with. The Gan River is over a thousand miles long, and has more than ten major tributaries flowing into it. Rowing a boat there will take you into many deep mountains and old forests."

His hometown, Jiangxi, was right next to Nanzhili, and it took less than a thousand miles to row from Jinling. Moreover, when they rowed there, their boats were empty, so they only needed to take some food with them. When they returned, they sailed downstream, and they could row a thousand miles in a day.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Very good. Tomorrow you will lead one hundred centipede ships, five thousand naval officers and soldiers, and one hundred craftsmen to the deep mountains and old forests over there to find towering trees over ten feet tall. Cut down whatever trees you can use."

All under heaven belongs to the king. Others who go into the deep mountains and old forests and cut down trees indiscriminately are stealing wood. He sends people to cut down trees at will, and it doesn't matter how much they cut.

Now he saves money on buying wood. The biggest cost of shipbuilding is wood. He should have thought of this earlier.

As for why no one has done this before, it is probably because it is too labor-intensive.

Although the wages are not very high these days, it is still quite expensive for thousands of people to go into the mountains to cut wood. The food and transportation costs alone are enormous.

He was thinking that the naval soldiers needed to be paid anyway, and since they had nothing to do at the moment, it would be a good opportunity to cut down trees and build ships.

Otherwise, the monthly food wages for five thousand soldiers would be tens of thousands of taels, plus the rations and transportation costs, and I wonder how many trees I would have to cut down to make the money back.

Deng Zilong was very concerned about building naval warships. He went to the deep mountains and forests to cut trees just to build naval warships and develop the navy. Not to mention cutting trees, he would even go to cut people.

He nodded without hesitation and said, "I will obey your order."

Ordinary people are afraid of poisonous insects and wild beasts when they go into the deep mountains and forests, but they are not afraid. They have guns, and they can also bring some medicine to repel poisonous insects.

There should be no problem with timber. There are so many remote mountains and old forests in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty that it would probably take decades to cut them all down.

Next comes the issue of sawing timber.

Wanli discovered that the most labor-intensive part of shipbuilding was actually sawing wood.

Nowadays, wooden planks and boards are still sawed out by hand. It would probably take two craftsmen at least an hour to saw a board that is more than ten feet long. It is too time-consuming and laborious.

This repetitive labor can actually be solved by using a waterwheel.

He seemed to understand why the Netherlands, such a tiny country with a population of less than one million, could build five or six hundred ocean-going ships a year.

Are all the people over there carpenters?
This is of course impossible, the Dutch should be using windmills to saw wood.

The Netherlands is known as the country of windmills. They probably became the overlord of the sea by utilizing wind power.

Wind power is not as stable as water power.

The Ming Dynasty could use water power to do many things.

He could have vigorously developed hydraulic machinery and made Ming Dynasty a country of waterwheels.

Thinking of this, he asked again: "Old Yang, there should be a carpenter here who can make a waterwheel, right?"

It is not difficult to make a waterwheel, but the investment is too high and most people cannot afford it.

Old Yang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, there are still many water wheels in Jiangnan, and there must be many carpenters who have made water wheels."

That's enough, there's no need to transfer craftsmen from the Summer Resort.

However, the sawing of lumber and wooden boards still has to be done by the Summer Resort.

Wanli thought for a moment, then gestured and said, "Zhongyang, I want you to make something for me, something to hold the sawn wood and planks on the water cart.

The saw blade of this thing has to be made into a round shape. The small one has to be the size of a washbasin, and the large one has to be bigger than a foot basin.

In addition, belt acceleration is required, that is, the two pulleys are of different sizes, the large one is more than ten times larger than the small one. The large one is installed on the water wheel shaft, and the small one is installed on the saw blade side.

This pulley also has to be made of tempered steel, and it has to have a pattern carved into it like a fishing net so it won't slip. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Peng Shugu's face was filled with shock.

This thing is simple to say and simple to do, but no one has thought of it.

Your Majesty is truly a god.

He nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Just understand.

Wanli immediately instructed, "You will be making the navy centipede boats to go back to the Summer Palace. Have Wang Guozhang make them quickly. I'll make a hundred of them for you first and bring them over. You'll have to keep making them later. The waterwheel over there can also be equipped with these things to saw wood and planks."

Peng Shugu nodded repeatedly and said, "I obey your order."

The next step is to recruit craftsmen.

After Wanli finished his meal, he asked Li Xuancheng to draft an edict, ordering the Nanjing Ministry of Works to send a letter to recruit craftsmen from the vicinity of Jinling City, recruiting 100,000 households at a time, and all of them to assemble at the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard.

At this moment, even Pan Jixun, the Minister of Works of Nanjing, was stunned.

One hundred thousand craftsmen are not one hundred thousand people, that means at least three hundred thousand or four hundred thousand people with their families. The Baochuan Factory is so small that there is not even enough space for them to stand!

(End of this chapter)