Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 232 Zhu Yuanzhang's Ultimate Move!
After hearing what this person said, the people around him all breathed a sigh of relief.

Good! Good! At this crucial moment, we still have to rely on Mr. Jinglian to step forward.

People like Liu Bowen had long since become the emperor's lackeys.

He's nowhere near as good as Mr. Jinglian!
Since Mr. Jinglian has taken action this time, the problem shouldn't be too serious.

They don't need to worry too much.

This time, many people are filled with worry.

The articles published in the Ming Daily, which were manipulated by people on the emperor's side, completely stunned them.

Many people felt as if a bucket of water had been poured over their heads, instantly extinguishing their blazing, arrogant flames.

Although it hasn't been completely extinguished, it's certainly much less intense than it was before.

It is no longer as prosperous as before.

Although many people have already refuted those absurd views.

People should not believe these things; they are all fabrications by that lackey Luo Guanzhong, deliberately confusing right and wrong.

We absolutely must not fall for this wicked trick.

However, the Daming Daily was simply too large in scale.

Rather, it had the backing of the imperial court, and that scoundrel Luo Guanzhong wrote something very persuasive.

It inevitably affected many people, causing many to waver.

The enthusiasm for this matter has waned, and quite a few people have even decided to stop participating in it altogether.

They believed that what the Daming Daily said was correct, and that what they, as scholars, should do most now was not to denounce the emperor, nor the industrial university, nor toilet paper.

Instead, it should be directed at those aristocratic families and high-ranking officials who don't treat people like human beings and use cloth, silk, and other such materials for latrines.

These circumstances left many people watching with growing anxiety and utterly bewildered.

At the same time, some people are also preparing to follow the example of the imperial court and start their own newspapers in the future.

Learn this method used by the imperial court.

They now have a profound understanding of the immense role newspapers play.

If the imperial court can use such methods, then they can certainly use them too!

They're good at writing, that's exactly what they're good at.

As for the money, manpower, and resources needed to print newspapers, there's no need to worry.

Once this is done, there will surely be many enthusiastic and like-minded people who will donate money and supplies to help the newspaper run.

Of course, these are things that can only be done later.

It's not very helpful in getting through the current difficulties.

This is like trying to quench a thirst with water from afar.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Jinglian came out of retirement.

Go directly to the emperor, speak up for them, argue your case, and point out the emperor's faults!

If Mr. Jinglian does this, their current situation will be greatly improved.

This will surely make the emperor realize his mistakes, turn back from his wrong path, and recognize his errors!

Mr. Jinglian truly lived up to his name. Whenever such important matters arose, he always stepped forward at crucial moments, unafraid of powerful figures, solely for the sake of Confucianism.

Such people are the true great Confucian scholars, and they are truly worthy of our respect.

People like Liu Bowen should be despised.

What they didn't know was the kind of shock that Mr. Jinglian, whom they so highly praised and regarded as their hope, was experiencing at this very moment.

……

"Your Majesty, this...this is impossible!"
How could one person possibly cultivate so much land?

Song Lian looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and spoke, full of surprise.

They felt that the emperor was indulging in wishful thinking.

"Everything is possible."

Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "This world is developing."

It has been moving forward from ancient times to the present.

Although sometimes we encounter disasters or other situations that may cause us to regress or stagnate.

But overall, it has been on the rise and moving forward.

How did our ancient ancestors cultivate the land?
Slash-and-burn agriculture is incredibly slow in terms of cultivation efficiency.
Then, tools gradually developed, such as wooden, stone, and bone tools.

After bronze appeared, bronze tools were made.

Later on, iron plows and oxen were used to plow, and livestock were domesticated for farming.

Hoes, plows, rakes, and all sorts of other tools also appeared.

Work efficiency has been steadily increasing. Compared to ancient times, the amount of land that one person can cultivate is more than that of ten people.

The output of one person cultivating the land is far greater than that of ten people.
The historical facts are there; why can't we, in the future, ensure that the labor of one person surpasses the labor of ten people today?

"Your Majesty, if you say so, you are right."

But... that technology only developed from ancient times until now.

Today, farming techniques have become quite sophisticated.

Furthermore, whether it was using livestock such as oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules to plow the fields and pull carts, or using various farming tools such as hoes and harrows, all of these had already been perfected.

There are simply no conditions for achieving great development.

Where can one find more useful large livestock than oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules to plow the land?

What kind of tools should be developed to enable agriculture to develop significantly again, achieving the vast difference between the slash-and-burn agriculture of ancient times and the present day?

Song Lian looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked, feeling that he had found a major loophole in what the emperor had said.

Currently, all tools, livestock, and other resources are being utilized to their fullest potential.

It's unlikely that there will be any further progress.

Even if there has been progress, it is far from being astonishing.

Let alone one person being worth ten, it's impossible for one person to be worth two.

In ancient times, people never imagined that one day they could domesticate cattle and horses and use them to plow the fields.

How could anyone have imagined all of this happening now?
If that's the case, then can't we continue to improve our farming tools and technologies, and achieve significant further development?

"Your Majesty, please forgive my ignorance, but I really can't think of anything that can replace oxen and horses for plowing, and is far more useful than oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules."

"machine."

Zhu Yuanzhang uttered these two words to Song Lian.

"machine?"

Song Lian repeated the sentence with some confusion.

"Yes, it's a machine."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in affirmation.

"What Mr. Song said is very true. Cattle, horses, donkeys, mules and the like have been developed to their fullest potential. Indeed, there are no livestock more suitable for farming than them."

However, we can develop in other areas. We don't necessarily have to focus on livestock like cattle, horses, donkeys, and mules. We can also develop machinery.

Machines are the only true measure of success.

For example, we can manufacture machines to pull carts and plows.

This machine can work more efficiently than ten cows, or even dozens or hundreds of cows!
what? !

Upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Song Lian was taken aback.

The way they looked at Zhu Yuanzhang changed.

There was not only shock, but also a great deal of confusion.

The way they looked at Zhu Yuanzhang was as if they were looking at a feverish person talking nonsense.

Your Majesty, what... what are you saying?
Has he gone mad from the fever? How could he be spouting such nonsense?
This kind of thing can't possibly be true no matter how you look at it!

Not to mention what kind of machine it is, it can replace oxen and horses for plowing, but it can even be as good as dozens or even hundreds of oxen!
It seems impossible just thinking about it!

Let alone him, no one, including him, would believe that what the emperor was saying at that moment was true.

"Your Majesty's words are difficult for me to understand, and I dare not agree with them."

After a long while, Song Lian finally managed to utter this sentence.

The fact that he did not directly confront Zhu Yuanzhang at this time, accusing him of nonsense and fabricating lies, and pointing his finger at him to curse him, shows that he was already very well-mannered, and that Zhu Yuanzhang was of a high enough position.

"Mr. Song, we're not kidding you, we really can make this kind of thing."

That machine is different from oxen and horses; it's a four-wheeled vehicle.

This type of vehicle does not rely on feeding on grass or being pulled by oxen or horses.

Instead, it is powered by adding water to coal.

They possess immense strength, far surpassing that of livestock such as oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules.

No matter how big the livestock is, it can't compare to him.

Moreover, this thing never tires; as long as it doesn't break down and has enough fuel, it can keep running indefinitely.

And this is only the most basic level.

If we can continue to refine and improve our technology, we may eventually be able to create new machines that are far more user-friendly and powerful than these.

Human strength has its limits, and so does the strength of livestock.

But the power of machines is inexhaustible!

Song Lian looked at Zhu Yuanzhang as if he were looking at someone with a serious problem. What His Majesty was saying sounded very tempting.
But... where can these things be achieved?
That's just wishful thinking!

No! It's even more impractical than wishful thinking!
"Your Majesty, even if we could really make the kind of machine you described, wouldn't we still need many people to do things like weeding, loosening the soil, and harvesting crops?"
"That's impossible. How could one person carry ten, or even more?"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed upon hearing this, "Haha, if machines can be used for farming, why can't they be used for weeding or other things?"

For example, machines can be used to harvest wheat and rice.

When the terrain is flat, one person can harvest hundreds or even thousands of acres a day by operating a large combine harvester!

Moreover, the harvested crops can be harvested and threshed in one process.

In the blink of an eye, the harvesting and threshing were all completed.

All people need to do is take the harvested grain back and dry it.

Even drying is unnecessary; the grain can be dried directly using a drying machine.

It's even cleaner and faster than air-drying.

As for weeding, which you are worried about, it can also be done by machine.

Machines can be used to spray pesticides; vehicles or drones can be used.

A drone is something that can fly in the sky.

Operated by humans, it flies close to the fields and evenly spreads the prepared pesticides on the fields to kill weeds.

By the way, after these pesticides are sprayed into the fields, the weeds will die on their own.

There's no need for anyone to use a hoe to remove it, stroke by stroke.

Moreover, it can remove weeds without harming crops.

When Zhu Yuanzhang spoke of these things to Song Lian, his heart was filled with emotion and nostalgia.

When I first awoke in the modern world, I saw that small four-wheeled vehicle, with a plow to till the land and a simple combine harvester to harvest the wheat.

He was already astoundingly talented.

Later, as he came into contact with more and more things and saw more machines, his understanding was constantly being refreshed.

Even now, it still fascinates and amazes people.

It makes one think how wonderful it would be to bring all these good things to their own Ming Dynasty.

There will definitely be earth-shattering changes.

Those tractors, not to mention the large tractors, even just the small four-wheeled tractors produced by Luoyang YTO Group, were absolute marvels in the Ming Dynasty.

Even setting aside farming, such a vehicle would be invincible in war.

Compared to these, any cavalry would be utter trash.

Even heavy cavalry were sent flying, horse and rider alike!
Song Lian was stunned, truly stunned.

Looking at the emperor's expression, it had completely changed.

What kind of machine can harvest thousands of acres a day, and not only harvest, but also thresh at the same time?

And then there are those planes flying in the air, and those pesticides that, once applied, only kill the weeds but not the crops...

Each and every one of these incidents sounds so outrageous!
This is something I've never heard of before.

How is this possible!

What kind of shock has Your Majesty suffered? But... please don't think you've gone mad!

That said, although he also felt that His Majesty was too harsh on Confucianism.

Whether there's a reason or not, they'll always find a way to criticize Confucianism.

They still want to wield the hoe against the very roots of Confucianism.

However, it cannot be denied that His Majesty is indeed a man of great talent and ambition.

Without him, the world could not have been unified so quickly.

It's impossible that the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty could be swept away so quickly, and the situation could develop to this point.

He didn't want to see the current emperor suffer too much of a shock and go insane.

If that were to happen, it would certainly be a great loss for the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty... are you dreaming?"

Song Lian couldn't hold back any longer and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang to ask this question.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Indeed, I am dreaming, dreaming that one day these things will appear in my Great Ming Dynasty."

But it's not really a dream, because these things can actually happen.

"What Your Majesty has said is something I have never heard of or seen before."

"Perhaps... only immortals could do that."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "It is not something that immortals can do, but something that humans can indeed do."

It's normal that Mr. Song can't understand it now.

Most people find it difficult to imagine things they have never seen before or that are beyond their imagination.

If the people of ancient times had heard of our present state, wouldn't they have been astonished? It would have been like listening to a myth.

Upon seeing Song Lian, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to say something more, but before he could speak, he continued, "Mr. Song, let's establish an industrial university, including offering courses in arithmetic and physics at the Imperial Academy."

The goal was to achieve this, a prosperous era that seems unimaginable at this moment.

"Really...it's possible to do all that?!"

Overwhelmed with emotion, Song Lian momentarily forgot the proper etiquette between ruler and subject.

He looked directly at Zhu Yuanzhang and raised his voice to ask the question.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded vigorously in affirmation.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he held up five fingers: "Five years. In five years, I think the industrial university will be able to produce a car that can move automatically without the help of oxen or horses."

Of course, the initial vehicles will definitely appear rudimentary, and their performance in all aspects will not be very good.

But as the technology matures, this car will become better and better every day.

Zhu Yuanzhang set a deadline.

The steam engine was the core of industrialization, and out of curiosity, he later studied its working principles in detail.

As far as the current level of industry in our Great Ming Dynasty is concerned, we have the corresponding principles we know, as well as some aspects of the structure of steam engines.

Then encourage all kinds of talented people to work towards this goal.

With all their efforts, it was not impossible to build a steam engine in five years.

If things go quickly, it won't take five years at all.

With the development of steam engines, the priority must be given to the development of steam locomotives and the laying of railways.

Once the railways are laid, whether they extend south or north, the control over the various territories of the Ming Dynasty will be exceptionally strong.

Wherever the railway is laid, that area tends to become more stable.

Once the railway has been laid, it is virtually impossible to easily separate these structures.

This is definitely a powerful weapon.

After people started working on steam engines and put them into use, efforts should also be made to develop internal combustion engines.

While getting these things done, it's also necessary to put the vigorous development of mining, smelting, and other related industries on the agenda.

If we can get all of these out and make them move forward steadily, then the Ming Dynasty will be invincible!
"Your Majesty, I will do my best to live as long as possible, hoping to see what you have mentioned five years from now."

If it were true, then even just one glance would be enough to die without regret.

Song Lian bowed solemnly to Zhu Yuanzhang and said...

"Haha, don't worry, you'll definitely be able to make this."

You'd better try to live a little longer, because the Ming Dynasty will change faster and faster in the future, with new things happening every day, and there will be endless wonderful things for you to see!

After saying that, he changed the subject and said, "Now, do you know why we need to establish an industrial university?"

"understood."

Song Lian nodded.

"If it can truly develop to the point Your Majesty describes, then it truly deserves Your Majesty's attention."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Haha, it's good that you understand."

"But Your Majesty, I feel that some things were not done quite right."

Song Lian spoke up again, and Zhu Yuanzhang wasn't too surprised by it.
Looking at Song Lian, he said, "Tell me."

"I believe that Your Majesty places too much emphasis on industrial universities and neglects Confucianism, and has too many prejudices against Confucianism."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. "We have not underestimated Confucianism. Confucianism is of great use."

It is indeed very good in terms of ideas, but it also contains a lot of dross.

We just want to extract the essence and discard the dross.

Moreover, many people have misinterpreted Confucian classics.

It's disgusting.

Society is developing, and many things need to be updated accordingly.

Classics cannot remain unchanged, and even sages are not infallible.

Song Lian shook his head: "Your Majesty, I do not agree. Classics are classics and cannot be altered. Sages would never make a mistake."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled upon hearing this.

He knew Song Lian would react this way, but fortunately, he had prepared a killer move.

"If that's the case, then tell me about how decaying grass turns into fireflies..."

(End of this chapter)