If you don't have these skilled craftsmen to build machinery, you can only hold the design drawings and stare dryly.

Zhu Shun recommended his younger brother Zhu Yu to be the head of the musket factory, and there were many twists and turns in the middle, after all, the Ministry of Industry is now in the hands of the Donglin Party.

Fortunately, with his relationship with Wang Chengen, this matter was finally done, which made Zhu Shun breathe a sigh of relief.

The clothes worn by Zhu Yu in charge of the factory were replaced with a soap-edged round-necked jacket and a soap-silk soft scarf drape, which was already red and white.

Zhu Yu, the head of the factory, pushed open the firewood door and walked into the fence courtyard: "Brother, the craftsmen have all been brought over, and they are all the ones with the best craftsmanship in Wang Gong's Bureau." ”

Zhu Shun nodded, and walked out of the fence courtyard with Zhu Yu, the head of the factory, and came to the bank of the Yongding River, which was only covered with a layer of snow.

I don't know when nine signs were erected on the bare shore, Zhu Shun pointed to the nine signs and said: "Let the craftsmen separate, a team of five people, and create things on the drawings in the position marked by the signs." ”

"When they are done, tell the craftsmen to recruit them to be craftsmen of the Zhu family, and if they are willing to do it, they will be given eight pieces of silver, plus a commission."

"Those who are willing to stay will stay, and those who are not willing to stay will let them go back to Wang Gong Bureau, and you will recruit people from Wang Gong Bureau until you have recruited enough thirty people."

Zhu Yu, the head of the factory, nodded heavily, left here, and arranged for the craftsmen to start working.

It didn't take long for the craftsmen to divide up and start building steam engines along the banks of the Yongding River.

Zhu Shun looked at the hot scene on the bank of the Yongding River, and was in a very good mood: "It won't be long before there will be ten steam engines here." ”

"Rising from the ground."

The beginning of spring, the rain, the sting.

Chongzhen's four years passed day by day, and the spring rain that should have fallen in the rainy season still did not fall until the sting season.

Spring equinox, Qingming, valley rain.

From the beginning of spring to the rainy season in the valley, a season has passed, and it will be summer in a few days, and it still hasn't rained in Beizhili.

March is the season of intensive ploughing and sowing, and with the rain moistening, the seedlings will begin to grow in April.

But there has been no rain for a season, and if it doesn't rain again, all the rice seeds sown in the fields will dry up and die, and all the fields in Beizhili will have no harvest.

In order to pray for rain, the people of various counties and townships began to worship the dragon lord for rain.

The weather became warmer, Zhu Shun wore a purple cloth cotton jacket, changed into an azure plate-collared shirt, a four-belt scarf, and a belt inlaid with silver thread on his waist, and rode a little donkey on the bare wilderness to the capital.

After the beginning of summer in April, the harvest of hemp and wheat will begin, according to the situation of Chongzhen's four years, it is another catastrophic year, the bureaucrats and squires and merchants harvested the winter wheat in advance, and transported it to Zhuangzi on the outskirts of the city to stock up.

Zhu Shun was blowing a warm spring breeze, riding on the official road, surrounded by a team of horse gangs, carrying a large amount of winter wheat from the state capital that had not been affected by the disaster.

Zhu Shun kept passing by the short-clothed porter, stopped a person who looked like a steward and asked, "Where did this outsider come from?" ”

The steward quickly glanced at Zhu Shun, dressed well, and his bearing was even better, speaking in Beijing, and hurriedly surrendered his hand: "I've seen this gentleman." ”

"I don't dare to say that I'm just a little steward of the Chen family."

Zhu Shun's little donkey walked relatively slowly, and the housekeeper of the Chen family hurriedly asked the groom to slow down the speed of the grain cart, and asked respectfully, "What's the matter with Mr." ”

Zhu Shun smiled and put on a peaceful look: "How is this year's harvest?" ”

When it came to the harvest in the field, the Chen family steward couldn't help but sigh, and said with a sad face: "Don't mention it, those fields in the Zhuangzi can harvest about one stone of winter wheat every year. ”

"There was a sudden drought this year, and there has not been much rain since the beginning of spring, and the winter wheat is not growing well, and at most six or seven buckets of grain can be harvested per acre of land."

"After shaving the grain seeds, as well as the rations of those companions, I basically can't make much money."

Hearing six or seven buckets, Zhu Shun roughly calculated the winter wheat output of all the fields in Beizhili, and knew it in his heart.

Now the North Zhili has become a house leak coincided with the overnight rain, finally survived the winter, and there was a great drought, as long as it did not rain within half a month, to the beginning of autumn, the North Zhili had to face a great famine.

Zhu Shun arched his hand, sped up and left here, entering the capital through the tall doorway.

When I came to the bustling capital, I led the little donkey into a dilapidated alley full of sewage, followed the potholed road, and bypassed the Candle Temple, where a large number of beggars gathered.

I came to the place I was looking for, the yard rented by the West French.

Zhu Shun came to the door, and just as he was about to pull the sounder, he heard a loud 'boom' in the courtyard, and the roof of the thatched house in the middle was instantly overturned, and puffs of smoke came out.

Zhu Shun tugged at the corners of his mouth, it seemed that Sun Yuanhua's gunpowder purification had failed again, and he stretched out his palm and pulled the ringer.

It was Ambassador Zhang who opened the door, and now it should be called Director Zhang, and when he saw that the person at the door was Zhu Shun, his dark face immediately turned into a smile: "Ten friends are here, come in quickly." ”

"If you look for Lao Sun, you have to wait for a while, this guy is going to pick up the gunpowder slag."

Zhu Shun walked into the courtyard paved with blue bricks, tied the little donkey to a nearby persimmon tree, and said with a smile: "I'm not looking for Sun Langzhong today, I'm here to find Uncle Zhang Shi." ”

Zhang Tao invited Zhu Shun into his thatched house and poured a cup of tea: "Virtuous nephew, please speak." ”

Zhu Shun took a sip, put down the teacup, and said calmly: "I have a way to deal with the drought." ”

Dealing with drought?

Zhang Tao raised the arm of the teacup, froze in mid-air, and looked at Zhu Shun with a calm face with a frown: "Virtuous nephew, there are some things that you can't say nonsense. ”

"Especially with your current sensitive status, you are now a thorn in the side of the Donglin Party and the Jin merchants, and they are worried that they can't find an excuse to rectify you."

"If this sentence is heard by the Donglin Party, they will definitely find a way to let the emperor pardon you to treat the drought."

"You can see the current situation, it has not rained for almost four months, and the water level of major rivers such as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yongding River has plummeted."

"Your Zhu's spinning mill has stopped spinning because of lack of water."

Zhu Shun knew what Zhang Tao was worried about, with the current water level of the Yongding River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, any hydraulic machinery used to drain the water could not be used.

This matter is difficult to explain, and Zhang Tao can't understand it, the steam engine has far exceeded the cognition of these inventors in the late Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Shun thought about it, and this matter was still witnessed by Zhang Tao, Sun Yuanhua, Xu Guangqi and others, and only then would he believe what he said: "Uncle Zhang Shi, this sentence is not my empty nonsense. ”

"That's it, it's just a day of rest today, Uncle Zhang Shishu called Sun Langzhong and Xu Shilang to go to the Beijing Normal University Hall, and when they got there, Uncle Zhang Shishu understood."

Zhang Tao saw that he was so enthusiastic about managing the drought, so he didn't say anything, and went to inspect the disaster near the Yongding River: "Okay, I'll go and ask Xu Shilang now." ”

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