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

Chun Tao stood on the slightly higher steps, her voice clear and gentle, conveying the young master's meaning: "His Highness is considerate of the farmers' hardships and has waived this year's rent, so everyone can farm with peace of mind."

There's another job that needs some manpower.

On the black soil slope behind the mountain, we need to clear the site, dig up some soil and rocks, and conduct some experiments.

The work wasn't easy, but it provided two full meals a day, plus some extra pay to supplement the family income. However, there was one condition…” she said, her tone slightly somber.

"The location and content of this job must not be mentioned to anyone, including one's own wife and children. Just say that it is to help a nobleman renovate his courtyard behind the estate."

If anyone leaks this information, not only will they lose their job, but the rent will remain the same, and they will also be held accountable. Anyone willing to work, step forward, sign a contract, and you can start work today.

Before the shock of the rent-free period could be fully digested, this job that provides meals and pay has come crashing down on us.

The farmers looked at each other in disbelief.

Old Han's lips trembled, and for the first time, a spark of life returned to his cloudy eyes. Almost instinctively, he pulled his son, Han Shitou, forward a step.

Seeing this, the other households quickly followed suit. As long as they could have enough to eat and some extra money, they were willing to do anything, even more difficult work, let alone just digging for cover.

The contract was prepared in advance by Li Wei. It was simple and clear, and the confidentiality clause was the main constraint. He had the heads of each household put their fingerprints on it.

Meanwhile, the only two people on the "craftsmen" list who had some carpentry skills and an old man who knew a little bit about masonry were also quietly taken to a secluded woodshed at the back of the yard.

Zhu Zhanji still did not appear. Only Chun Tao and Sun San, the down-on-his-luck man who was specially selected from the list, said to have been a blacksmith by his ancestors and who also liked to tinker with ironware, but who could only repair farm tools now, had a longer conversation.

The content of the conversation was unknown to outsiders. All that was known was that when Sun San came out of the woodshed, his face was flushed with a mixture of excitement, nervousness and disbelief, and he was tightly clutching several sheets of straw paper with strange lines drawn on them and some dimensions written on them.

In the days that followed, Sun San and the two old carpenters and bricklayers would often gather in the woodshed or in Sun San's dilapidated house, gesturing and hammering away at the blueprints, making things that no one else could understand:

Several wooden sieves of different sizes, several oddly shaped shovels and rakes, and several thick, cylindrical wooden molds.

The black soil slope behind the mountain was simply fenced off with branches and thorns by Li Wei and a few villagers who had signed the contract, turning it into a forbidden area that outsiders were not allowed to enter.

The Han family, father and son, along with several other households, carefully began digging for the shiny black coal within the enclosure, following the method relayed by Sun San, which was supposedly from "a nobleman who had read it in an ancient book."

Mining is a purely manual task, using picks and shovels to dig out coal chunks of varying sizes along the exposed coal seams.

At first, they simply piled the excavated coal aside.

A few days later, Sun San arrived with the finished wooden sieves and special tools.

He demonstrated how to break large pieces of coal into suitable sizes with a hammer, then pour them into bamboo and wooden sieves with different apertures, and shake them vigorously.

Fine coal dust and some soil were sifted out, leaving relatively clean coal blocks of uniform size.

This is the first step, called "screening to remove impurities".

Next, following instructions, they hastily built a gentle slope with stones and planks beside a flat tributary of the Jade Belt River, and laid flat stone slabs on it to create a long, slightly sloping "chute".

The crushed and sieved coal blocks are shoveled to the top of the chute, where the introduced river water slowly washes them down.

Lighter coal chunks are carried down by the water flow and collect in the pool at the bottom; while heavier impurities such as gangue and pyrite are mostly left in the middle or upper part of the chute.

This is "hydraulic flushing," which, although rudimentary, can effectively remove some inorganic sulfur and ash.

The washed, wet coal was spread out on the hillside in a sheltered spot to dry.

Sun San then pointed out that a covered shed was built on the edge of the drying ground using straw mats and wooden poles. A pit was dug in the ground, and a simple brick stove was built on it, saying that he wanted to experiment with "different methods of burning".

Throughout the entire process, Zhu Zhanji only went to see it from a distance twice. Each time, he was simply held by Chuntao and watched quietly from a distance for a while, never getting close or offering any opinions.

All specific instructions are transmitted through a chain like Chun Tao → Sun San → Old Man Han.

The farmers only knew that this was a "novel method that the nobleman had seen in an ancient book." Although they found it tedious, they could eat their fill every day and receive dozens of coins at the end of the month, a "wage" they had never dared to dream of before. So they carried it out meticulously without any complaints.

They didn't understand anything about industry; they only knew that these black stones, after being processed several times, did seem to be "purer."

While a primitive industrialization experiment was quietly taking place on the back mountain of Xishanzhuang, the outside world was undergoing rapid changes.

News of the war in the south was not entirely isolated, even in this remote mountain village.

Occasionally, passing peddlers or soldiers who had been relieved and sent back to their posts would bring a few words.

The news of the Yan army's victory, the imperial army's defeat, and the breach of the Yangtze River's natural defenses—a mix of truth and falsehood—continued to stir ripples in people's hearts.

The servants who came to the Prince's mansion to deliver supplies or messages increasingly revealed a suppressed excitement and tension in their expressions.

Eunuch Wang was going to the city more often than usual, and each time he returned, his expression was complicated.

The villagers were talking amongst themselves, both fearful of the possible impact of war and vaguely sensing that the world above them was about to change.

This atmosphere of impending doom even affected the workshops in Heitupo. Old Han and the others became more silent while working, their eyes filled with apprehension.

On this day, Eunuch Wang returned from the city, his steps hurried, his face showing an unprecedented mixture of excitement and awe.

He went straight to see Zhu Zhanji, dismissed his attendants, and spoke in a very low voice, which trembled uncontrollably:

"Your Highness, great news! The Prince, no, His Majesty! His Majesty's army has captured Nanjing in June! The false emperor, Jianwen, has disappeared in the palace!"

In July, His Majesty ascended the throne in Nanjing and proclaimed to the world that the reign title for the following year would be "Yongle"! Our Prince is now the Emperor! You, you are the eldest grandson of the Emperor!

Even though Zhu Zhanji was mentally prepared, he was still shocked when he heard the definite news.

The Jingnan Campaign finally came to an end in this way, and my grandfather, Zhu Di, ascended to the throne amidst blood and fire.

This means that Zhu Zhanji's status will undergo a qualitative leap, from the grandson of a local lord to the eldest son of the imperial crown prince and the future heir to the throne!