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

On the eighth day of the eleventh month, Zhu Zhanji had just woken up and turned to look out the window. It was all gray and hazy. The first snow of the winter had not yet fallen, but the wind was already carrying a chill.

Chun Tao came in to help him dress, and he let her do as she pleased, but his mind was on the news Qian Lai had brought last night: Sun San had made great progress with the detachable carriage; and Wu Langzhong's rust-preventing oil had been tested at the blacksmith's shop for half a month with amazing results.

The sample of Lin Xiuniang's sandalwood flower dew has been delivered to Zhang Shi, and it is said that the Crown Princess likes it very much.

"Where is Your Highness going today?" Chun Tao asked softly as she finished tying her belt.

Zhu Zhanji thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to Xishan Villa first, then Tiemao Lane, and finally Mingyue Tower."

Chun Tao paused for a moment: "Iron Anchor Lane? That place is chaotic."

"With Li Wei with me, I have nothing to fear."

Half an hour later, the carriage left the back gate of the Crown Prince's residence. Li Wei, accompanied by two guards, escorted the carriage westward.

Xishan Village remains unchanged, with wisps of smoke rising from chimneys and coal briquettes piled up like small mountains.

But there were a few new houses in the village, which were expanded by Sun San's craftsmen.

Sun San had been waiting at the door for a while. When the carriage stopped, he quickly went to greet it.

"Your Highness, you've finally arrived!" He exclaimed excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "The carriage is finished!"

Zhu Zhanji got out of the car and followed him toward the workshop.

There was a four-wheeled carriage parked in the courtyard, which at first glance looked no different from an ordinary one.

But Sun San walked to the car, squatted down, and pointed to several iron components above the wheels.

"Your Highness, look, this is a 'quick-release buckle' that I devised." He said as he worked on it.

"First, remove this pin, then loosen these two bolts."

He worked swiftly, and a quarter of an hour later, the entire carriage was unloaded from the frame and landed steadily on the ground.

"Then," Sun San pointed to another carriage next to him, "load this in."

Several craftsmen stepped forward, lifted another, slightly shorter carriage, aligned it with the slot on the frame, clicked a few times, then inserted the pin back in and tightened the bolts.

Another quarter of an hour later, a brand new carriage was assembled.

Sun San wiped his sweat: "Your Highness, this is just a rough draft. If we work with finer craftsmanship, it can be completed even faster."

Zhu Zhanji circled the carriage once, nodding to himself in approval.

In this era, the carriage and frame of a horse-drawn carriage were fixed together; if you wanted to change the carriage, you had to change the entire carriage.

Sun San's design, though still rough, has the right approach.

"Master Sun, if I asked you to use this method to build a vehicle with three different carriages—one for transporting goods, one for carrying people, and one with a canopy for sleeping—would you be able to do it?"

Sun San's eyes lit up: "Your Highness means, how many kinds of work can one cart do?"

"That's right," Zhu Zhanji said. "The Ministry of Works needs grain transport vehicles, but merchants and travelers need vehicles that can carry goods, passengers, and travel long distances."

"If we could make a 'multi-purpose carriage,' with one frame and several compartments—load the cargo compartment when you want to haul goods, and switch to the passenger compartment when you want to haul people—do you think anyone would buy it?"

Sun San rubbed his hands together, his face flushed with excitement: "Your Highness is brilliant! I, I will think of it right away!"

Zhu Zhanji nodded, then looked at the pile of iron components: "Could these clips be made more ingenious? For example, could we use another method to hold them in place instead of bolts?"

Sun San pondered for a moment: "Let me try using a spring pin, or an eccentric wheel."

Zhu Zhanji said nothing more and turned to walk out.

Once in the carriage, he said to Li Wei, "Go to Iron Anchor Lane."

Tiemao Lane is located in the south of the city and is a place where blacksmith shops gather.

Before even entering the alley, you could hear the clanging of blacksmiths striking metal.

Li Wei, accompanied by his guards, stopped the carriage in front of a shop called "Old Wan's Blacksmith Shop." This was a place recommended by Physician Wu; Old Wan was the master craftsman in the area, skilled and honest.

At the entrance of the shop, an old blacksmith in his fifties was squatting on the ground, staring blankly at a hoe.

The hoe was half oiled and half unoiled; the oiled half was shiny and new, while the unoiled half was covered in rust.

Physician Wu, who was standing to the side, rushed forward to greet him upon his arrival: "Your Highness, why have you come in person?"

Zhu Zhanji waved his hand, walked over to Lao Wan, and squatted down to look at the hoe.

"Master chef, how's this oil?"

Old Wan looked up and saw a young boy in brocade robes, and was taken aback.

Li Wei coughed lightly from behind, then quickly stood up: "This, this is an important person?"

"No need for formalities," Zhu Zhanji said, pointing to the hoe. "Tell me, is this oil effective?"

Old Wan regained his senses and nodded repeatedly: "It works, it works so well! I've been blacksmithing for thirty years and this is the first time I've ever seen such a good thing."

"Look, this one, coated with oil, was left outside in the rain for half a month, and it didn't rust at all; the one without oil would have been ruined long ago."

He pointed to the shop: "The old man coated all the ironware in the shop, and business has been going on as usual for the past two weeks. Everything is shiny and new, and customers keep asking if he replaced the ironware with new ones."

Physician Wu said from the side, "Your Highness, I have tried several other ratios and found that adding a little tung oil and beeswax, and then applying it after boiling, makes it even more effective at preventing rust, and it is also not sticky."

Zhu Zhanji stood up, looking at the gleaming ironware in the shop, and pondered in his heart.

Rust-preventing oil is something that every blacksmith shop, carriage shop, and farm tool shop needs.

Border troops are also major users of weapons, and swords, spears, and halberds are most afraid of rust.

"Dr. Wu, what's the cost of this oil?"

"The cost is not high," said Dr. Wu. "The wound-cleansing ointment itself is available, and tung oil and beeswax are common materials. It is not difficult to make. A bottle of oil costs less than ten coins and can be used to coat dozens of farm tools."

Zhu Zhanji nodded: "Continue to experiment, finalize the formula, and hand it over to Manager Qian."

He turned to leave, but Old Wan suddenly chased after him: "Young sir, where can I buy this oil in the future?"

Zhu Zhanji smiled: "Soon, Mingyue Tower will be open next month."

After leaving Tiemao Lane, the carriage headed towards Mingyue Tower.

The back alley remained quiet, and the carriage stopped at the side gate.

When Zhu Zhanji got out of the car, he heard women laughing coming from the back building.

He followed the sound and saw seven or eight women sitting together in the courtyard next to the back building, holding small bottles in their hands, chatting and laughing as they worked.

Lin Xiuniang came out to greet him, and upon seeing him, she quickly bowed.

"Your Highness, what brings you here?"

Zhu Zhanji waved his hand, indicating that she did not need to be so polite.

He stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking at the women, some young and some in their thirties, all neatly dressed and focused.

"Newly hired?"

"Yes, six," Lin Xiuniang said. "As you instructed, they signed a three-year contract with a monthly allowance of two taels of silver, including room and board. They all come from poor families and cherish this job."

Zhu Zhanji nodded and walked into the courtyard.

When the women saw someone coming, they all stopped what they were doing and became somewhat reserved.

Lin Xiuniang clapped her hands: "Don't stop, keep going."

She led Zhu Zhanji into the room and pointed to a shelf by the wall: "Your Highness, this is newly made sandalwood flower dew. The first batch of fifty bottles has already been delivered to the Crown Princess."