To give a typical example, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it was known as the prosperous era, and the Qianlong Emperor was fighting wars, engaging in "ten perfect martial arts", repairing the Old Summer Palace, and compiling the "Four Libraries Quanshu", which was very rich and chic. But what about the common people under his rule? According to the records of the British envoy Margarney during the Qianlong period, the low-level Chinese he saw were similar to beggars. They would scramble to jump into the sea to pick up meat thrown away by the British, and then take it home and carefully marinate. Abandoned babies are everywhere in Beijing. It can be described as hunger in the prosperous world.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the world had just been pacified, and the productivity had not yet recovered, especially in the Hexi Corridor, which was far away from the center, and it was even more impoverished. Zhu Yuanzhang's prosperity was based on his effective grassroots management organizations, the Lijia system and the grain chief system, which allowed him to effectively control the country's tax revenue, so as to constantly enrich his treasury, as for the common people at the bottom, they were still poor.

Zhu Ao said to this group of craftsmen: "You craftsmen have made great contributions to the construction of my Su Domain, but your life is very unsatisfactory, and this king also sees it in his heart. The king has come here today to discuss with you. ”

As soon as Hu Laohan heard this, he immediately said with great trepidation: "If Your Highness has anything to do, even if you have orders, I really don't dare to wait for the word discussion." In his heart, he wondered whether Zhu Ao was a blessing or a curse when he said this, after all, there were too many things that the officials had done in recent years.

Zhu Ao said: "This king knows that you used to work according to the shift system or the living and sitting system, and this king came today to change this way of working. "The so-called shift means that the craftsmen take turns to serve in the official workshops every year or five years, with an average of three months per shift. Residence refers to ten days of service per month, and if you do not serve, you must pay one penny a month to be hired by the government.

All the craftsmen were staring at each other, not knowing what kind of medicine was sold in Zhu Ao's gourd, and in the end, Hu Laohan mustered up the courage and said: "Dare to ask Your Highness, what kind of work does Your Highness want to be?" ”

"Hire." Zhu Ao said categorically: "This king wants to make some irrigation tools such as waterwheels, and all the craftsmen hired by me will give five buckets of grain every month, and there will be rewards for never dragging *** good, but if he is lazy and slippery, he will be sent to the slave camp." ”

The so-called slave camp was where the families of the convicts and the slaves brought by Zhu Ao lived. Zhu Ao will not be kind enough to care for them humanely, if the criminals are well-off, then they will simply go to crime. What he needs most now is labor, and criminals are the cheapest labor. Zhu only gave them life-sustaining rations every day, and forced them to reclaim the land and do heavy work. If you are sent to a slave camp, it is better to live than to die.

When all the craftsmen heard Zhu Ao's words, they all looked at each other, on the one hand, they were delighted with the rich remuneration given by Zhu Ao, and on the other hand, they felt that this prince was so majestic that he sent people to slave camps at every turn. But they all hope that they will be chosen, after all, no one wants to live a good life, and Zhu Ao said that the premise of being assigned to the slave camp is that they are cheating and playing tricks, and they don't do a good job, who thinks about these moths all day long. Besides, the prince Chitose is so good to their craftsmen, if there are still people who cheat and cheat, then their conscience is eaten by dogs, and it is not too much to be sent to a slave camp.

Hu Laohan arched his hand and said, "Dare to ask His Highness what kind of waterwheel he wants to make?" Is it a keel car or a chain bucket water wheel? How many people do you want to hire? ”

Zhu Ao said: "No, what this king wants to do is a large waterwheel with a diameter of six or seven zhang, which can irrigate nearly 1,000 acres of fertile land." The number is naturally the better, depending on how many people you have. ”

All the craftsmen were very surprised when they heard this, and they didn't say that they had seen the waterwheel with a diameter of six or seven zhang, or they had never heard of it, was this possible? This little prince is too whimsical.

Hu Laohan said: "Your Highness, please forgive me for being short-sighted, how can there be a waterwheel with a diameter of six or seven zhang in this world, and the small ones will not do it." ”

Zhu Ao smiled slightly, and said with a pleasant face: "Don't worry. I'll give you the drawings and the main points, you just have to do what they say. ”

Now not only the craftsmen, but even martial artists like Qu Neng also wondered, how could this prince who grew up in the deep palace still make a waterwheel? Dainu was no longer surprised by this, she had already seen Zhu Ao's whimsy, so a detailed map could be drawn, and it should be no problem to make a waterwheel.

Speaking of which, Hu Laohan couldn't shirk anymore, and said: "Since this is the case, the little ones must do their best." Dare to ask the prince, where are the drawings, can you let the small one take a look at it first. ”

Zhu Ao said to Dai Nu: "Go find some paper and pen, and this king will draw them for you." ”

It seems that the prince is going to surprise everyone again, Dai Nu is happy in his heart, who doesn't want his man to have a chance? Even if the other party is the prince, he can have no worries about food and clothing, and said, "The slave will go." ”

Zhu Ao glared at her, and was so frightened that Dai Nu immediately changed his words and said, "Yes, the concubine obeys orders." ”

At this moment, some unkind people couldn't help but want to laugh, and after seeing that this prince had already tasted the forbidden fruit for the first time, he took this little girl into the account.

Dai Nu's face turned red, and she hurriedly ran away, and everyone knew her relationship with Zhu Ao, so they naturally waited carefully for her, and quickly sent her pen, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Zhu Ao spread the paper on a table and quickly drew the drawing. Hu Laohan watched from the side and praised again and again: "Wonderful, wonderful." What a clever workmanship. If this thing is made, it is not a problem to irrigate thousands of acres of fertile land, and this thing is propelled by the hydraulic power of the river, without manual and animal power, it will save a lot of manpower. ”

Zhu Ao smiled: "How is it?" Beard head. Can it be made? ”

Hu Laohan frowned and pondered for a while, and said, "There should be no problem, the little one is willing to work for the prince and make this thing as soon as possible." ”

Zhu Ao praised: "You first gather people to make a try, and after success, we are increasing production." The treatment will be distributed as I said before. ”

Hu Laohan said: "The villain obeys the order, and the villain will start to prepare." ”

In fact, Zhu Ao knows that there are many canals in Hexi since ancient times, such as the Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, and Tang Dynasty, all of which have built a lot of water conservancy here, although these canals are abandoned, but they can also be dredged, and the canals have always been the main force of irrigation in the Hexi Corridor. Zhu Ao's purpose in making this big waterwheel is twofold: the first is to make the best use of things, since there are abundant water resources in the west of the river, then this water power can not be wasted; The second is to come up with a practical and fresh weapon to shock everyone and make them worship themselves, so that they will have much less resistance to implementing the law change here.