Zhejiang, Haining Acropolis.

When the courtiers thought that Zhang Zhou was escorting the prince north and was going to replace Ma Wensheng as the secretary of the military department, Zhang Zhou turned south and took Zhu Houzhao to Hainingwei to participate in the foundation of the "Jiangnan Shipyard".

In addition to Tang Yin and Xu Li, the two figures who were scheduled to participate in the great cause of "Jinghai", there were also Zhu Fu, the new Nanjing garrison minister who took the initiative to come, in addition to some local officials, Hainingwei generals and others, as well as a few special personnel, in addition to Xu Jing, who has always been like a fart, there are also three new "disciples" of Zhu Houzhao, Sun Che, Gong Yeping and Hu Feng.

"Sir, what a big ship, can I go up and have a look?"

When Zhu Houzhao arrived at the beach, his spirit got up, and he pointed to the sea ship moored at sea and was excited.

The shipyard has not yet been built, but the ship already has.

Daming has sea ships in the south of the Yangtze River, before Jiajing, Daming City Boshi and Southeast Asian small countries are also very close, Daming has also built some sea ships for Jinghai, but each ship is an old ship with more than 40 years of age, even if it has been repaired, but it still gives people a feeling that the wind will blow away.

There was no need for Zhang Zhou to remind him, Yang Peng on the side reminded: "Your Highness, you can't get on the boat, it's dangerous." ”

Zhu Houzhao said with a disdainful face: "It's on the coast, how dangerous can it be?" Besides, with so many people, even if I fall into the water, can I still drown? ”

Zhang Zhoudao: "Prince, do you remember that I told you that you had a water catastrophe in your life?" ”

"Cut ......" Zhu Houzhao was sullen.

Xu Li walked over with a leisurely stroll and said, "Lai Guogong, what are you going to do with this boat?" Isn't it going to be this ship to recover so many islands in the sea one by one? ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "I answered for Mr., he wants to send a ship to the ocean, it seems to be in the east, far, far away, there is a piece of land, on which there are all kinds of treasures. ”

"Huh." Xu Li could only smile with an embarrassed but polite smile.

Zhang Zhoudao: "This ship is used as a model for shipbuilding, but the rigidity of the side of this kind of ship is not enough, and it needs to be further improved. ”

When Xu Li heard this, he couldn't help but look at Zhu Fu on the side, probably to make Zhu Fu difficult.

But Zhu Fu turned his head to the side, when he didn't see his hint.

Xu Li could only say in person: "It's not an old man pouring cold water, this boat, to say the least, costs eighteen thousand taels of silver, it's still an ordinary ship, I haven't transferred money and grain to repair ships for many years, if you build dozens of them a year...... That...... Doesn't it mean that if you don't say anything a year, you have to prepare four or five hundred thousand taels of silver for shipbuilding? ”

Zhang Zhou sighed: "You have a lot of sense. ”

Xu Li was stunned, and was so praised by Zhang Zhou, saying that he was reasonable, and Xu Li was still a little flattered.

"I also know that it is impossible for the imperial court to allocate too much money and grain, so I can only use local materials......" Zhang Zhou pointed to the sea in front of him.

Xu Li asked, "Fishing?" ”

Zhu Houzhao also pointed to an area of white flowers not far away and said, "Sir, what is that?" Shiny, is silver still produced here? ”

As Zhu Houzhao spoke, the people present also followed his hand and looked at a beachhead in the distance.

But I saw a wide beach, there were puddles of water, which were filled with seawater, and the puddles were three or five connected together, and the further back they went, the less water seemed to be, and under the sunlight, they reflected a silvery white light.

Xu Jing rushed to Bai at this time and said: "This is what Zhang Shi proposed earlier, the place to dry the sea salt by the method of beach drying is to use the terraced fields by the sea to send the seawater to the high place with a water truck, and then flow from the high place to the low place step by step, and somehow ...... The further down it flows, the whiter the salt that can be precipitated out of the water becomes, comparable to the salt of a good well. ”

Hearing this, Xu Li's face didn't know how embarrassed he was.

Daming has two Zhejiang salt farms in Zhejiang, which is the way of frying salt in the stove, that is, boiling salt with firewood, as for the method of drying salt since ancient times, but there are too many salt impurities in the sun, and the salt cycle is more than ten days, it is difficult to ensure that there is no weather change in more than ten days, so that the salt drying method has not been promoted.

The beach drying method is said to have been popularized and used by the Fujian people in the Changlu salt area in 1522.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, in the Hangu salt area, the invention used the method of two willow buckets to lift seawater.

In 1844, the county magistrate of Ninghe County used a water wheel to lift water, instead of two people Liu Dou to draw water, the water lifting capacity was increased tenfold, and one hundred acres of water could be lifted at a time.

Yang Peng asked: "Are there salt farms and stove households in Hainingwei?" ”

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "No, I will use the people in the military household and cooperate with the people recruited by the local government to open a small salt factory by the way, produce and sell it by myself, and solve the problem of shipyard use." Because the preparation is not sufficient, and many things need to be done by me personally, and it will not be implemented until this year. ”

Yang Peng said: "It's just such a place, I'm afraid I won't be able to dry much salt." If it's windy and rainy, it's all ruined. ”

Zhu Houzhao pouted and said, "Will it rain on this day?" ”

The biggest problem in Jiangnan is that there are rainy days, but now it is the tenth month of the lunar calendar, and there is very little rain.

Moreover, the principle of the beach drying method is to repair three to five pools, first send the seawater to the highest pool, and wait until the sun is exposed to a certain extent, and the impurities with low solubility, such as sediment and calcium sulfate, will be precipitated first.

After reaching a certain saturation, dig the edge and let the brine enter the second pool, wait for a few more days, and then go down in turn...... Finally, it is sent to the crystallization tank.

At that time, the sea salt obtained was no longer the kind of sea salt obtained by ordinary sun exposure or decoction, the color was first-class, and when it rained, it was not guaranteed, or even a crystallization pond.

In the past, the salt obtained by the salt drying method was not good, because all the impurities were together after drying, so it was strange that the salt could be better.

In the bitter brine of the salt dried by this method, some "industrial products" that Zhang Zhou needs can also be left, and Zhang Zhou will also let people re-dry them and transfer them to other places for the production of chemical raw materials.

"It's just a little project, make some money to make up for the shortfall, but it makes you laugh." Zhang Zhou said with a smile.

Xu Li said: "If Lai Guogong wants to preside over the salt administration, it's a big deal to mention to Your Majesty that it is okay to hand over the salt farms of Liangzhejiang or Lianghuai to you to take care of, do you have to find another way?" I'm afraid I can't do anything with this little manpower. ”

Zhang Zhou sighed: "I don't preside over the affairs of the salt farms, no one will be convinced that I will take over the salt farms, the salt production of the Ming Dynasty is already so much, and there are many princes and nobles who occupy the nest, so that many salt merchants can't redeem the salt." The military needs of the northwest of the Ming Dynasty also rely on these salt leads, so I still be practical and try it myself. ”

Xu Jing couldn't listen to it anymore, he said: "What comes out of the sun is all good salt." ”

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "By the way, when a few people go back, one person will send a few bags of salt, which will be regarded as my gift and try it." ”

Except for Sun Che and the few bags of salt that they were probably rare, the people next to them were all from official eunuchs, they did not lack those bags of salt money, and they rashly ate the salt that was sunburned, just like a guinea pig, and there was no place to redress if they died.

And because Daming couldn't afford to buy salt, he ate the "coarse salt" obtained from seawater and salt, and he was poisoned and left sequelae, and even died because of it.

……

……

Zhang Zhou was to stay in Hainingwei for two days.

The main thing is to convene craftsmen and hold a shipbuilding mobilization meeting, and the drawings are provided by him, and in addition, Tang Yin will supervise the construction, as for Xu Jing, he is only responsible for drying salt.

In addition, Zhang Zhou still has a task to complete, which is to teach Zhu Houzhao to swim.

Be prepared.

"Sir, can I really float in the water? That's so interesting. Zhu Houzhao is still very keen on swimming.

But since ancient times, there have been very few kings who know water, and two emperors of the Ming Dynasty died because they fell into the water and contracted diseases.

And in front of Zhang Zhou, there was one standing alive.

Zhang Zhoudao: "If you know how to swim if you drown, you can at least get some chance of survival in the face of water calamity, so as not to choke on water." Stuff in the water for twenty counts. ”

Zhang Zhou is like a strict swimming coach, guiding Zhu Houzhao to dive.

Yang Peng hurriedly pulled Zhang Zhou's clothes and said, "Lai Guogong, the matter of the prince going into the water is too dangerous. ”

Zhang Zhou said: "The water in this pool has been tempered, and it has not reached his waist yet, are you worried that he will get a cold, or are you worried that he will be drowned?" ”

"Giggle...... No, a few numbers won't work. Zhu Houzhao poked his head out of the closed "swimming pool".

Zhang Zhoudao: "Continue to practice, I will teach you the essentials, and today I will bathe you!" Add two more buckets of hot water to him. ”

Zhang Zhou is also lamenting that it is very troublesome to teach the prince to swim, if Zhang Jun wants to practice, he can directly throw people into the water, no matter what weather you have outside, now it is actually a group of people around a bear child.

Zhu Houzhao spent a day, from the beginning of the time he liked to go into the water, to the later killing, he didn't want to go into the water.

In the end, I barely learned...... Dog planer.

Zhang Zhou also wanted to teach this kid more swimming postures, but he also found that this kid's skin was a little buffled, and it was almost the same if he could learn the same.

"I'll leave for Beijing tomorrow and arrange a car." Zhang Zhou said, "Call the people with the troops over again, I will draw a few maps, and whatever route I will follow when I go to sea in the future, all listen to me!" ”

……

……

Zhang Zhou currently only has a slightly larger sea vessel on hand.

Going directly to the Americas, obviously beyond the mission of this ship, then go to the South Seas first, and bring back some items that seem to be of little use in this era, but are actually very important to him.

Just as Zhang Zhou was preparing to return to Beijing.

Zhu Youzhu fell into a panic again.

The third son of the emperor, that is, the current "second" Zhu Houxuan, was sick, and the high fever did not go away, and he also cried, which made him finally have a "double insurance", and he was suddenly afraid that the "four major are empty".

Because of his son's illness, Zhu Youzhu didn't even have much energy to participate in the early dynasty, and it wasn't until the dissolution of the court that the new head of the household department, Tong Zhong, raised a topic that he was slightly interested in: "...... Cai Guogong Zhang Zhou played a new salt field around Hainingwei, using the so-called method of drying salt, opening hundreds of acres of salt fields, and gradually expanding the salt fields, and the dried salt will be used for shipbuilding and military dispatch. ”

Zhu Youzhu already wanted to dissolve the court, but when he heard this, he raised his head, and said with a little more excitement in his eyes: "I have known about this matter for a long time, and I gave him permission to do this." ”

Tong Zhong said: "Your Majesty, the coarse salt obtained from drying salt needs to be re-purified, which consumes manpower and material resources. If coarse salt flows into the market, it is no different from private salt, and it is really not suitable to set this precedent. ”

Zhu Youzhu frowned and said, "If there is something, let's talk about it after Bingkuan returns to Beijing." Retreat! ”

It's rare to change to a new Hubu Shangshu, but I didn't expect that Toutie would oppose Zhang Zhou's proposition at first, so it would be regarded as a "negative model" by Zhu Youji.

He didn't bother to listen to the reasons for that.

He still has to go back to check on his son's condition, and he doesn't have time to deal with this group of people.

……

……

The court was dissolved.

Because of his previous "excellent performance", Tong Zhong got a good impression score on the side of the traditional Wenchen as soon as he came up.

On the way out of the palace, many ministers accosted him in the past, and at the same time expressed their dissatisfaction with Zhang Zhou's unauthorized opening of the salt farm.

Tong Zhong didn't care if it was appropriate for Zhang Zhou to open a salt farm, he only cared about whether the salt that Zhang Zhou used to dry the salt method would be to make money for the sake of making money, and the black-hearted and unscrupulous merchants would trap the people?

So Tong Zhong went over to ask the three cabinet members for help, but only Xie Qian stopped and listened to what Tong Zhong said.

Xie Qian smiled: "I think there is nothing wrong with Zhang Bingkuan's move. ”

He became an unscrupulous businessman, and if something happened and the public was angry, then our group should be happy.

Why don't you let him take the initiative to rush forward and make trouble for himself? Are we going to stop him?

Tong Zhong said: "In order to open a salt factory and divert the silver that should have belonged to the treasury for private use, does Elder Xie Ge think that this move is appropriate?" ”

Xie Qian was surprised and asked, "Did Zhang Bingkuan say that the salt he made doesn't need to be taxed?" ”

He Zhong thought for a moment.

It seems that Zhang Zhou really didn't mention it, and the emperor didn't say anything about it.

"Huh." Xie Qian said with a smile, "It's just that Zhang Bingkuan wants to build a salt factory in Hainingwei, so he uses it to build a ship. ”

As he was talking, Ma Wensheng passed by the two of them quickly, and said, "I don't think so, right?" ”

Ma Wensheng is still the secretary of the military department, and the secretary of the ministry is still vacant.

The errand of the Ministry of Officials is currently being done by Cheng Minzheng.

Xie Qian said with a smile: "Why should you worry about the negative picture? I don't believe that a man will never make a mistake, and we don't expect him to make a mistake in the use of troops in the north, so should we expect him to make a mistake in something he is not good at? ”

Ma Wensheng wanted to say that if Zhang Bingkuan dared to do it, he must have such confidence.

But he expected that Xie Qian would definitely not understand this.

And Xie Qian said this in front of Tong Zhong, obviously just to represent the cabinet, in fact, does Xie Qian really think that Zhang Zhou will fail?

Ma Wensheng didn't know what Xie Qian thought specifically, and at this time, he wouldn't just go to make a comment.

……

……

Next to the Qianqing Palace, in the newly repaired Xinuan Pavilion.

Zhu Youzhu and his virtuous concubine, as well as the second prince Zhu Houxuan, and a group of people from the Tai Hospital are diagnosing Zhu Houxuan.

"What's going on? You still haven't figured out what your illness is? Is it only when Bingkuan is here that you can diagnose the disease well? ”

Zhu Youzhu didn't have a good temper with a few imperial doctors.

The hospital envoy Zhonglan has already retired, and I heard that she died of illness immediately after going back.

And now the envoy of the Tai Hospital is Wang Yu.

Wang Yu is very fond of drilling, in the fifth year of Hongzhi, he played on his own to apply for promotion to the court judge, was impeached by the famous minister Wang Shu, said that he "is not restless in his position, I hope to be promoted, it is not reasonable, and the law is intolerable", in history in July of the twelfth year of Hongzhi, he got his wish to get the position of the right general government envoy and the judge of the Tai Hospital.

But because of Zhang Zhou's presence, the hospital has been almost a stagnant in the past two years, and Wang Yu has only filled Zhonglan as an envoy so far.

The emperor's attitude towards the Tai Hospital in front of him is very revealing.

Seeing that his boss didn't speak, Liu Wentai took the initiative to come out and said, "Your Majesty, the second prince has prescribed the right medicine, and I believe he will be cured soon." ”

Liu Wentai is also a "ruthless person".

It is the key person who killed the two emperors of Xianzong and Xiaozong, Xianzong died when the crime was not serious, but he was reduced to the imperial doctor, but Xiaozong was even more excessive, Xiaozong was just because he personally went out of the city to pray for rain in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, and it really rained a little rain, and it was only nine days from the onset of illness to death...... In the summer, he was directly given the "medicine of great heat", and Zhu Youzhi suffered a nosebleed on the spot, and the minor illness directly became a national funeral.

If Liu Wentai had said so before, Zhu Youzhu might have believed it.

But there is no harm without contrast.

Zhang Zhou can even be cured of smallpox, and he is stunned to let a disease that circulated in China a few years ago disappear, and you Liu Wentai are still here to say that it will be okay immediately? Believe you, a ghost!

"I don't care! Study Bingkuan's book now! ”

As he spoke, Zhu Youzhi took out the baby care manual left by Zhang Zhou, and then asked Li Rong to hand it over.

Several people from the hospital were embarrassed.

When we treat people's diseases, we actually have to look at other people's prescriptions? Your Majesty really doesn't give face.

But due to the emperor's will, they could only acquiesce, and went back to "study" with the pamphlet.

……

……

Zhu Youzhi was in an irritable mood.

Over there, the Empress Dowager Zhou called him over, probably to ask about the condition of her great-grandson, so Zhu Youzhu patiently went over to visit.

Empress Dowager Zhou retreated from everyone around her, and then asked her grandson solemnly: "Emperor, you didn't find anything strange about the prince's illness, right?" ”

Zhu Youzhu was stunned.

He seemed to understand what the Empress Dowager Zhou was referring to.

"The mourning family doesn't like to maliciously speculate on others, but there are some things, it's better to be on guard, or it may be that the feng shui of the palace is not good, your child is too sick, it seems that only the prince ......"

When Empress Dowager Zhou said this, she probably felt that it was not good to continue this topic, and sighed lightly, "If you spend Bingkuan, it's yours." You also know he can do it all. But I don't know, Bingkuan, did he also calculate the fate of the little prince? ”

Zhu Youzhu thought about it, Zhang Zhou really didn't mention what kind of illness this child would have.

"Imperial grandmother, Bingkuan once said that this child is obtained beyond the number of fate, and for him, even the destiny of heaven is unpredictable." Zhu Youzhu said.

"Hmm." Empress Dowager Zhou nodded, "Don't worry too much, it will always be better." You're going to have to work hard, too! If you have more children, why worry so much? ”

(End of chapter)