Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 73: 71 Repaying kindness (second update)

Zhang Yifan was the enemy of everyone in the front hall just to marry her!With a husband like this, this life is enough!
After finishing speaking, Zhu Jingjing came back to her senses and quickly introduced to Zhang Yifan: "Come and meet my queen mother!"

Queen Ma couldn't help but shake her head. This Jing Jing, luckily she still remembered that she was there!
To be honest, she also admires Zhang Yifan.For Jing Jing to risk everything like this, I have to say that if Jing Jing married him, she would be happy!

Thinking like this, when she saw Zhang Yifan saluting her, she smiled and said: "Go and change your clothes quickly, don't catch a cold!"

When the mother-in-law sees her son-in-law, she likes him more and more; when the father-in-law sees his son-in-law, he becomes annoyed!This rule seems to be true in this royal family.

Zhang Yifan was overjoyed to know that this person in front of him was Empress Ma, and she was so kind and kind. He thanked her quickly, and then went to change her clothes after paying tribute to the Crown Princess.

After Zhu Jingjing watched his figure disappear, she turned around and proudly said to Queen Ma: "Mother, he outshone all those people in the front hall. He deserves to be the most talented man in the Ming Dynasty!"

"..." Queen Ma couldn't help but be speechless after hearing this.

The number one genius in the world, how dare you say that!

But having said that, just because he was able to fight with the scholars in the front hall and withstand the pressure of those civil and military officials, he was indeed considered a first-rate talent.

He fought so hard for Jing Jing, and it was not in vain that Jing Jing lost his temper in the harem.

At this time, Queen Ma actually recognized Zhang Yifan.However, it was Zhu Yuanzhang who made the final decision.

In this regard, Zhu Jingjing was very confident and said to Queen Ma: "My mother has never been to Liujia Village. After my father goes there, he will definitely be shocked!"

She will definitely not be able to go to Liujiacun and her party.Even from now on, she probably won't be able to leave the palace until the matter has a result.

However, this did not stop her from imagining that her father would definitely designate such useful cement as a national treasure after being shocked, and then reward Zhang Yifan heavily.

Zhang Yifan will definitely not ask for any other reward, he just wants to be the consort.In this way, you can get what you want!
Thinking of this, Zhu Jingjing sweetened herself.

........................

When Zhang Yifan went to change his clothes, the guard who had his horse robbed finally came back and reported the situation to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang had already been impressed by Zhang Yifan's eagerness, and now he was even more impressed. He felt that Zhang Yifan cared so much about his daughter, and his favorable impression increased even more.

And when Zhang Yifan changed his clothes and appeared in front of him, his eyes lit up again, and his favorability increased even more.

I have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang is actually also a face-controller.When he opened the imperial examination before, the talented scholar Guo Chong, who originally ranked first, chose another man, Wu Bozong, as the top candidate because he did not like his appearance.

Zhang Yifan's appearance is good, and he passed this test.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang rushed to Liujia Village with a large group of civilian officials and military generals.

Although the rain has stopped, the muddy roads are unavoidable.

I don't know how many fast horses trampled on this official road, and mud and water splashed, causing many civil servants who had begun to pamper themselves to suffer.

Fortunately, it's only thirty miles away. It doesn't take long to drive quickly.

By the time they arrived at Liujia Village, the place had already been controlled by the imperial guards, and all the villagers were waiting at the head of the village to greet them.

Zhu Yuanzhang had been sitting in the Jinluan Palace for a long time, and a rare trip like this reminded him of the wars in the north and south when he was still a Red Scarf Army.Thinking back to those days, he felt energetic and the blood in his body seemed to be ignited again, which made him feel very good.

After arriving at the end of the field, he was stunned when he looked up and saw Liujiacun.Just like the Crown Princess, Zhu Di and others before, they were shocked!
It has to be said that in this era when bungalows are common, especially in front of people who have never seen cement, a village suddenly appears with two floors built entirely of cement, hidden among many willow trees that have grown tender green branches and leaves. , it’s really shocking.

Houses built with cement also look different from houses of this era.

When Zhu Yuanzhang led a large number of civil and military ministers and drove their horses onto the cement road, everyone lowered their heads to pay attention to the cement road, with curiosity in their eyes.

After experiencing thirty miles of muddy official road, setting foot on this cement road definitely gave me a sharp contrast.

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly dismounted from his horse and stepped on the concrete road with his feet. After feeling the ground, he even stamped his feet hard, and then checked where he stamped his feet.

He was very surprised by the concrete road he had never seen before.Looking back, he wanted to go to the cement room to see the situation.

Standing at the first house in the village, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ordered: "Call the owner here and tell me that I want to see his house!"

After hearing this, the guard on the side immediately agreed and prepared to call someone from the crowd on the other side of the kneeling ground.

"No need, this house belongs to me." Zhang Yifan heard from the side and stood up immediately and said.

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised when he heard this, but he didn't say anything about it. He just walked in with his hands behind his back.

Before he went in, some guards had already gone in to enforce martial law.Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about this. He entered a courtyard and most of the ground was paved with cement. He entered the house, touched the walls, walked around, and even went upstairs to the balcony to look at the nearby scenery.

During the whole process, he didn't say a word.

As for other civil servants and generals, they all remained silent.Just like Zhu Yuanzhang, he was looking at the new things in front of him.

I have to say that except for this cement house, which is rare, the rest of the house is just bare bones. It’s really poor!

It wasn't until Zhu Yuanzhang finished visiting Zhang Yifan's home that he walked along the cement road.Among them, he also visited several other houses. After walking through the main road of Liujia Village and seeing that all the houses had the same layout, he looked at Zhang Yifan and confirmed: "How much did it cost to build this village with cement?" Time, how much did it cost?”

"Back to Your Majesty, the young and old of our village worked together, and hired young laborers from surrounding villages to help. It took a month to complete the renovation. The total cost was about three hundred guan." Zhang Yifan immediately replied, "Because we have to rush If it is completed before the rainy season, the cost will be more expensive. Moreover, the cement house and cement road have shortcomings, so we can only make do with it now. We will repair it after the rainy season when we have time."

The cost spent on cement alone amounted to about [-] guan, and the remaining [-] guan or so was spent on labor, food and raw materials.

King Zhu Di of Yan heard this from the side and added to him: "Father, I have seen the village before the renovation, and it was all thatched houses!"

In fact, most of the villages where Han people gathered in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and the more remote ones, mostly had thatched houses.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew this situation well.Likewise, he was even more shocked when he saw the two-story concrete building.

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he calculated in his mind that with more than 100 families, one family has about three jobs and a year's income. It is really possible to live in such a house and environment while frugally. ah!

While he was thinking about it, Zhang Yifan already took the initiative and said: "Your Majesty, please go to the river and take a look. There is a section of the river there that has been built with cement."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately remembered that Zhang Yifan said that this cement was also very useful in water conservancy construction.

At this time in the Ming Dynasty, it was a time when all kinds of wastes were waiting to be renovated. Zhu Yuanzhang took measures to open up wasteland for farming and build water conservancy projects across the country. If cement is really easy to use, then it will be put to use.

So, he immediately waved his hand and led the civil and military officials to the river.

Just outside the cement workshop, the part of the river where the hydraulic facilities are located is reinforced with cement.

Zhu Yuanzhang brought his people over. Needless to say, he immediately saw the rivers built with cement, compared with those built without cement.As for the result, it is self-evident.

Hu Weiyong has been following Zhu Yuanzhang. Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang's expression, he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied, but he was not satisfied!

If this cement was designated as a national treasure by Zhu Yuanzhang, he would be so shameless. It has been so long since he was slapped in the face, and it still hurts just thinking about it!
However, he had to admit that this cement was really unheard of, and it was definitely a very useful thing for the court.It can be used in building the Great Wall on the border and cities, etc.

So what to do?Don't do anything?
With a roll of his eyes, Hu Weiyong immediately took the lead and said before Zhu Yuanzhang could make a final decision: "Your Majesty, I think the price of this cement is also the key. You can't just listen to how much the cement is. You must see it and estimate it." Just pay the real cost!”

Zhu Di heard it from the side and answered him: "It's simple. This is the cement workshop next to it. You might as well let them bake it now, so my father will have an idea!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he nodded immediately.This cement is so easy to use, so of course he is also interested in knowing how it is fired.

As a result, what is surprising is that those who went to deliver the message to the cement workshop came to start work, but no one was found.

"Your Majesty, according to people in the village, those people were worried about Zhang Yifan. After Zhang Yifan rushed to the capital, they also went to the capital to look for him!"

Zhang Yifan didn't know about this, so when he heard it, he couldn't help but be a little moved.

Kiss or not, we are still fellow villagers!

Zhu Yuanzhang was also a little surprised when he heard this, and in the process of sending someone to look for him, he curiously asked about Zhang Yifan's situation.

Of course Zhang Yifan wouldn't hide it, so he told him that he grew up in the village eating hundreds of meals, and after he had money, he repaid the village, established a village community, renovated houses, etc.

During this process, he did not say anything about Zhu Jingjing, but only said that Zhu Di gave the money.Anyway, it was indeed Zhu Di who gave it to him, and Zhu Di was also around to prove it.

Zhu Yuanzhang listened to these details and realized that Zhang Yifan took the gratitude chart so seriously, which made him feel more favorable towards Zhang Yifan.

No, after hearing about it, he was interested in chatting with Zhang Yifan and said, "Why would you think of such a strange thing as setting up a village community?"

Zhang Yifan listened and replied without hesitation: "The grassroots people want to use the whole village's ability to build the village and build the village into the richest village in the Ming Dynasty. In this way, in the future, His Majesty can follow the practices of Liujia Village Promote it across the country, and by then, all villages in the Ming Dynasty will be like Liujia Village, with ample food and clothing, and no worries about food and clothing!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his eyes lit up, and he was immediately attracted by the prospects described by Zhang Yifan.

If that were the case, the Ming Empire he founded would far surpass that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and he would be the only emperor throughout the ages, isn’t it an exaggeration?

He was just happy when he heard Li Shanchang suddenly shout coldly: "How bold, you are just a commoner. How can you think of His Majesty when you are living in the countryside? Could it be that you are trying to attract unruly people to rebel?"

(End of this chapter)