Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 107 Developing Mining: The Beginning of an Industrial Empire!
Zhang Xiuping knew that for Prince Qi to have gone this far was already an act of extreme honesty towards her.

Because these are all matters of the imperial family, matters of military and national affairs.

Zhang Xiuping's questions went beyond the scope of a young woman inquiring about marriage. If others heard them, it would not only damage her reputation but also the lives and fortunes of the entire Zhang family.

“Your Highness, since you are so frank, I am also willing to be frank with you.”

Zhang Xiuping gently bit her red lips.

She was already beautiful, and her simple attire when she came to worship Buddha only made her look like a lotus emerging from the water.

In the dimly lit Buddhist hall, the light streaming in through the window fell directly on Zhang Xiuping.

The incense smoke enveloped Zhang Xiuping in a thin layer of mist.

The light dissolved in the smoke, like a thin veil draped over Zhang Xiuping.

It also resembles Guanyin in Buddhist paintings, and Guanyin in secular paintings.

Zhu Gaoshuo heard the sound of his heart fluttering.

"Your Highness, having agreed to the marriage, I will never go back on my word. From this day forward, we are one, our interests intertwined, our destinies intertwined. All I ask for is your honesty."

Although Zhang Xiuping had a gentle face, like a fairy maiden, she also possessed a heroic spirit in her brows, similar to that of Zhang Fu.

The decisiveness in making the decision was also similar: "In the future, does Your Highness Prince Qi really intend to emulate His Highness the current prince?"

This is a life-or-death question!

This is no different from asking yourself directly whether you will start a rebellion, is it?
"What I've always wanted is for the world to prosper. Who is the emperor, who sits on the dragon throne—can I, a prince in a fiefdom, really concern myself with all that?"

Zhang Xiuping asked in confusion, "But in the sky..."

"The heavens haven't told us everything yet. Even I can't know what I'll be thinking in the future."

Zhu Gaoshuo was telling the truth.

Indeed, it is true that he wanted to develop an industrial empire, but it is also true that he did not develop it for the sake of the throne.

"My dream may sound like a castle in the air to you. And no one may believe it."

"I want everyone to have enough to eat. I want everyone to have nice clothes to wear."

"This kind of day is definitely possible. Our great China has the right time, the right place, and the right people."

"Our marriage will also be intertwined with matters of national importance. I cannot guarantee the future course of events."

"But I can be sure that Princess Qi will only ever be you. I will never marry anyone else in this lifetime."

"Whatever position I hold in Xunzhou, that's what position you hold in Xunzhou."

Zhang Xiuping was speechless.

She had never heard such a bold confession.

I've never seen anyone dare to say such explicit love words in front of a Buddha statue.

That's utterly outrageous!

But isn't this Prince Qi, the very embodiment of treason, the very man before us?

She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say to Prince Qi.

Words are no proof, but Prince Qi's attitude was exceptionally sincere. Suddenly, at that moment...

[Gentlemen, thank you for waiting. I haven't been slacking off during this time; I've been doing some research.]

As we mentioned last time, Princess Qi, who later became Empress Dunzhuangwen, Zhang Xiuping, was one of the founders of Xunzhou Jewelry Design.

Suddenly, the sky opened up, and Zhang Xiuping heard her name called. Her eyes widened so much they almost popped out.

What... what did they say?!

Zhu Gaoshuo, sitting calmly to the side, said, "If you have any questions, you might as well take another look and confirm them yourself."

Jewelry design is now a strong program at Xunzhou University, and our talent is highly sought after globally. Zhang's design style has become a classic in history.

However, we must understand that Xunzhou was still developing at the time. The people had just started using coal briquettes and coal stoves; where would they find the money and the environment to develop jewelry design?

Is it similar to the Ming Dynasty's earlier courts, where jewelry design was specifically designed for the royal family and nobles?

[That's not the case. Our Princess Qi is a woman with the world in her heart. Her jewelry design philosophy is rich with profound insights. But enough of that; let's first look at some beautiful jewelry designs to cultivate our taste and improve our aesthetic appreciation.]

On the celestial canvas, jewelry designs began to switch continuously.

At first, it was quite ordinary: lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlaid hairpins, carved lacquer boxes, and mother-of-pearl inlaid screens all utilized local products from Xunzhou.

They also offer jewelry made from various seashells, ranging from earrings to decorative items for everyday furniture.

Xunzhou is a harbor, and seashells are everywhere. These are originally worthless little things, but Zhang Xiuping collected and used them, polished them, and combined different parts of different seashells to make them into exquisite ornaments.

She then combined the same techniques with lacquerware craftsmanship, along with the woodcarvers she and Prince Qi brought, to develop a similar style for home life.

Looking at the exquisite items on the sky, Zhang Xiuping smiled with delight, but her expression quickly turned desolate.

"These things, though exquisite, are ultimately just women's possessions. They are also external things."

"Within Xunzhou, it's just a matter of finding joy amidst hardship."

Zhu Gaoshuo was amazed that Zhang Fu's younger sister had such an amazing vision. If she weren't from ancient times, she might have become a female general in modern times!
“Young lady, there’s no need to rush. With your vision and magnanimity, you naturally don’t need to worry about your abilities. Now that we’ve arrived in Xunzhou, we’re bound to achieve great things.”

These jewelry designs developed a unique style and, along with Xunzhou's local products, began to circulate to other places.

Their production costs are not high, and their selling price is also reasonable, so many merchants are willing to buy them to give as gifts or resell them.

[Gradually, a complete industrial chain was formed. These jewelry designs, using seashells as the main material, brought Xunzhou tens of millions of dollars at almost zero cost.]

With this gold and silver, Princess Qi began researching how to incorporate even rarer minerals into her jewelry.

She personally visited craftsmen to learn inlay techniques, and together with the artisans she brought from the capital, they developed high-temperature ore forging methods, secondary impurity filtration methods, rare ore purification methods, and high-hardness ore carving techniques, among others.

Besides being used to carve exquisitely beautiful diamonds, these techniques, originally developed for jewelry design, were later applied to the smelting and refining of minerals.

At a time when metals were scarce and rare metals were even more precious, these techniques instantly increased Xunzhou's mineral reserves by half.

[Combining techniques such as steel cutting, jewelry designs that may seem like mere embellishments in everyday life are actually closely related to our military industry.]

As mentioned before, gemstone design has led to better utilization of minerals. The sale of jewelry and other items has also brought in real money.

We're going to take a look at the pearl farming industry in Xunzhou.

(End of this chapter)