The Young Dragon of the Ming Dynasty: Bound to an Industrial Blueprint from the Start

"Wow—Wow wow—"

The baby's cries were clear and crisp, but they startled Zhu Zhanji himself.

Was that sound his?

The blurry scene before my eyes gradually became clear:

The bed has an antique carved wooden canopy, embroidered with intricate patterns, and the air is filled with a faint sandalwood scent.

He tried with difficulty to turn his neck, but found that his body was completely unresponsive, limp and tightly wrapped in soft silk swaddling clothes.

"Your Majesty! The little prince is crying so loudly!" A delighted middle-aged woman's voice rang in my ears.

Then, a beautiful woman's face, slightly pale yet undeniably elegant, came close to his eyes. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but a wide smile played on her lips. She gently touched his cheek with her finger: "My child, Zhanji."

Zhu Zhanji? mother?

A massive influx of information rushed into my mind.

Zhu Zhanji, the eldest son of Emperor Renzong of Ming (Zhu Gaochi), was also known as Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, nicknamed "Cricket Emperor". He had a famous son named Zhu Qizhen and a younger brother named Zhu Qiyu.

and many more!

Zhu Zhanji's baby body suddenly stiffened.

I've become Zhu Zhanji? The fifth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the beloved grandson of the Yongle Emperor, the Zhu Zhanji who will one day father the "Great Ming War God," the Oirat student studying abroad?!

The overwhelming sense of absurdity made him forget to cry.

As a modern engineer who was still working on blueprints for a key national infrastructure project before going to bed and was fairly familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zhan (his name in his previous life) just wanted to go black and die again.

He knew that Zhu Zhanji was not short-lived, but he only lived to be thirty-eight.

He knew where the Ming Dynasty was headed in the future.

They also knew that their unfortunate son, Zhu Qizhen, would later cause a major upheaval, known as the "Tumu Crisis."

"What a disaster!" he wailed inwardly, but what came out of his mouth was just a mumbled "ee-ya".

Just as he was trying to untangle this mess, a very faint "hum" suddenly came from the depths of his mind.

Immediately afterwards, a huge, three-dimensional map, shimmering with a pale blue light, unfolded in his consciousness without warning.

The map was dynamic; the outlines of the mountains and rivers were initially somewhat blurry, but with a slight shift in his thoughts, they quickly became clear.

The most eye-catching feature is a few points of light that shimmer with different lusters, like markers in a game, distributed on the map in a pleasingly sparse manner.

He "looked" at the area of ​​lights closest to him, which was also the most concentrated area of ​​light spots—the area around Shuntianfu (Beijing).

A golden dot marks the location as "[Shallow high-quality anthracite, reserves above Grade A, easy to mine]"; not far away, a silvery-white dot marks the location as "[Open-pit high-grade magnetite, associated copper ore]"; further into the mountains, there are blue and gray dots representing saltpeter and limestone.

"This is... a resource distribution map?" Li Zhan, no, now the infant Zhu Zhanji, was shocked.

Before he could think it through, a simple, ancient scroll, like a phantom, slowly unfurled next to the 3D map.

The scroll is made of a material that resembles silk but is not silk. Instead of text, it contains extremely precise engineering drawings marked with dimensions and explanations of principles.

The first few pages prominently feature "Detailed Explanation of the Improved Guanzhong Plow", "Structural Diagram of the High-Efficiency Dragon Bone Waterwheel", and "Traditional Blast Furnace Ironmaking Process".

Although the name is archaic, the cross-sectional diagrams, stress analyses, and material proportions are clearly products of modern engineering, only presented in terms and pictorial forms that are understandable in this era.

The blueprint library appears vast and boundless, but most areas are shrouded in mist, with only a few blueprints in the most basic agriculture and metallurgy categories clearly visible.

Zhu Zhanji attempted to "flip through" the drawings and discovered that consciousness could drive them, but many more drawings could not be unfolded, seemingly requiring some kind of trigger.

There were no cold system notification sounds, no task interface, and no property panel.

There are only two things: a holographic map of resources and a library of technical drawings categorized by domain but requiring unlocking.

A passive cheat code? An information database plugin?

Zhu Zhanji was stunned for a long time, the baby's little mouth unconsciously open.

A palace maid standing nearby quickly whispered, "Your Highness, is the little prince hungry?"

Crown Princess Zhang (the future Empress Chengxiao) smiled gently, carefully holding the child closer, her eyes filled with the joy and exhaustion of becoming a mother for the first time: "Perhaps you are tired. After all this commotion today, my child should go to sleep."

Enveloped in his mother's warm presence, Zhu Zhanji's chaotic thoughts gradually calmed down.

He looked at his young and beautiful mother and thought of the historical records describing her as "virtuous" and her "good grandson" son. Well, that was him.

Then I thought of my grandfather, the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, who was hot-tempered and ambitious, and his father, Zhu Gaochi, who was fat, disliked by his father, but kind-hearted.

Now that he's here, now that he's become Zhu Zhanji, and has brought with him this seemingly passive but actually infinitely potential "Imperial Blueprint" system, does he really intend to follow the established path, wait decades to become emperor, and then have another "God of War" squander the family fortune?

A very faint, instinctive feeling belonging to an engineer stirred within him.

Those mines, those technologies, if they could be put to use.

But the thought was quickly overwhelmed by the deep sense of powerlessness emanating from the baby's body. He couldn't even roll over; he could do nothing but eat, sleep, and cry.

"Forget it, thinking too far ahead is useless." Zhu Zhanji sighed inwardly, with the helplessness of an adult. "You have to eat one bite at a time, and the Industrial Revolution also had to start from being an unsuspecting baby."

Thus, under the gratified gazes of Lady Zhang and the palace maids, the "exceptionally well-behaved and quiet" little grandson Zhu Zhanji, with his mother's fingertip in his mouth (he resolutely refused to try breastfeeding, as he simply couldn't get past the psychological barrier), slowly closed his eyes.

Just before his consciousness sank into sleep, he took one last "look" at the resource map in his mind.

The golden coal spot on the western hill outside Shuntian Prefecture shimmered with an exceptionally alluring light.

"Coal mines, the food of industry." With this thought in mind, the infant Zhu Zhanji fell into a deep sleep, beginning to accumulate the first strength he would use to challenge this era.

At this moment, the Forbidden City was enveloped in a festive atmosphere due to the safe birth of the emperor's eldest grandson.