unclear

Chapter 16 Show a little hand first
"Forget it... Mr. Qiansui, do you want to see the self-ringing bell of Xi Monk's tribute with your own eyes?" After listening to Wang An's suggestion, Chen Ju's eyes seemed to have an idea, he put on a smile again, and extended the invitation very politely.

The Shouhuang Palace is not located in the Forbidden City, but on the north side of Meishan Mountain.Since Yongle, when every emperor, empress, and empress dowager of the Ming Dynasty died, their coffins were first placed here, and tablets and portraits of the ancestors of the Zhu family were also enshrined.

The so-called self-ringing bell of the Western Monk's tribute is located in the main hall. Together with the beautifully carved nanmu base, it is two meters high and divided into upper and lower floors. It is supported by pillars at the four corners and has small doors on both sides for winding.

The dial on the front is different from the clocks of later generations. It is not Arabic numerals but Chinese characters, and it is not 24 hours, but twelve hours.The hour hand is made into a soaring eagle, with its beak pointing to the corresponding time.

The upper floor is beautifully decorated with a strong Christian-style tower spire and a cross inlaid with gems.The whole clock looks gleaming on the outside, but is actually made of gilded copper. The inside is even more primitive. The movement is actually made of iron, and therein lies the problem.

With the assistance of a group of craftsmen from the Imperial Prison, Hong Tao dug his head into the inside of the chiming clock and quickly discovered the fault point with the help of sunlight reflected by more than a dozen bronze mirrors. It was a very primitive and unknown escapement device.

Its T-shaped shaft and lateral crown wheel are severely corroded, but they are not completely rusted. In addition, the elastic output of the iron spring is extremely non-linear. This allows the clock to run when the spring is tightened, but the power is insufficient to rotate. It weakens immediately and then stops.

Another conclusion can be drawn from this. This self-sounding iron movement clock must have been at the beach or on a boat for a period of time. As the saying goes, it has been affected by moisture.The seaside environment is very corrosive to iron, but it will not affect normal operation.After arriving in the dry north for a period of time, the rust gradually solidified and the fault was revealed.

"These grandsons are really good at craftsmanship... they can produce watches locally!" But in Hong Tao's eyes, this chiming clock can provide much more information than that.

The second information we can get from the dial is that it is most likely not produced in Europe.At this time, the Chinese language had not yet spread to Europe. It was unlikely that the craftsmen there could carve the Chinese characters so neatly. Compared with the Chinese characters on the dial, their own calligraphy was like a spider crawling.

So the question is, besides Europe or the Mediterranean, where else can such high-tech products be manufactured? The first thing Hong Tao thought of was Macau.

Then it’s time to sigh and worry. The Portuguese have exposed their fangs of industrialization and displayed them vividly in front of the Ming Dynasty, but they have not yet aroused enough vigilance from the court. It is true that people without long-term worries must have short-term worries.

"Beak hammer... file... lamp oil..." No matter what the Portuguese or the Dutch are doing at this time, whether they are eyeing the Ming Dynasty, the key issue before Hong Tao is a pile of gears, springs, pendulums and simple bearings .

Under the expectant and uneasy gazes of Chen Ju and Wang An, the usually timid and dull prince was uncharacteristically giving instructions one after another and one action after another. He jingled and jangled for seven or eight minutes before he stopped.

"Click... click... bang, bang, bang... click, click, click... ding!"

As soon as the craftsmen tightened the strings on one side, the huge self-ringing bell resumed its noisy noise, and the heavy weight began to swing.With a burst of rapid metal friction, the crisp bell rang through the hall!
"Idiot, why don't you thank Master Qiantose for rescuing me? I'll write it down for you first, and we'll keep it together next time!" Chen Ju breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the chiming clock had resumed operation.I just saw the prince pounding inside with a small hammer, and I really regretted it to the extreme.If the clock was broken, the responsibility would really fall on me. It was all because the white-bearded Western monk had confused his mind and did such an unwise thing.

But as the bell rang, I felt that my decision just now was wise.He grabbed the cloth towel held by the young eunuch on the side and wiped the dust for the prince with his own hands while scolding the stupid and dazed craftsmen in the palace.Immediately, a large group of people knelt down and cheered. To them, the prince had indeed done a good thing and saved his butt from a lot of sins.

"Eunuch Chen, you also know that I want to build a self-ringing bell for my father, mother, and queen mother. Are there any suitable craftsmen who can help me?" Hong Tao regained his composure and wiped his hands casually. Let’s bring up the old story again.

On the way here, Wang An had told the chief eunuch exactly what he wanted to do, but he didn't get a clear answer. Now it's time for him to give some indication.

"Master Chitose just calls me by my first name. I am His Majesty's retainer and also His Highness's retainer. This is how it should be..." Chen Ju's attitude has changed greatly, and he has taken the initiative to lower the level of address and etiquette.

"My father-in-law handles important court affairs for your majesty every day. He is the pillar of the country. Your majesty has made it impossible for me to use it! Academician Shen just taught etiquette this morning and I dare not violate it. If Eunuch Chen can help find a suitable craftsman, I will be grateful. Not enough."

But Hong Tao doesn't think this is a good thing at all. The emperor can call you by your name because he has the power of life and death.After all, the prince is only a potential emperor in the future, and he can't do anything casually at the moment. Let's do whatever the etiquette says.

"The affairs of the craftsmen are all taken care of by the old slave. You don't have to worry about it, Lord Chitose. It's just that the internal officials have a certain number of supervised craftsmen. If they are deployed, His Majesty Bingming needs to know about it. There are many craftsmen in shifts who are not very skilled and may not be able to be used. It is better to send out all the remaining craftsmen. , the craftsmanship is acceptable, and the deployment is a little casual, but the money and food paid must be prepared by the East Palace itself. "

Seeing that the prince had no intention of fawning over him, Chen Ju did not continue to test him and started talking about business.The meaning is very clear: there are craftsmen, but some cannot be paid unless the emperor agrees; some can be given, but the craftsmanship is not very good; and some have no problem with the craftsmanship, but the employer needs to pay the salary.

Hong Tao also heard Wang An introduce this situation. There are three main types of craftsmen requisitioned by the palace.Those who stayed in the imperial city for a long time were called Zuojiang. They were given a fixed salary of money, grain, and salt every month. They only had to work for ten days, and the rest of the time they could do private work to make money.

Craftsmen who come from all over the country to serve are called shift craftsmen, and they rotate once every four years for a period of three months.Shift workers don't get any wages but only take care of their meals, and even travel expenses have to be paid in advance.The last type is called retained craftsmen. As the name suggests, they were originally shift craftsmen. They had to stay and continue working only because of their good skills or work needs.

This kind of craftsman is the most miserable. He works long hours without wages and cannot be subsidized by private work. The only chance to make money is to work in the homes of princes and ministers in Beijing.But this kind of work must go through the eunuchs in charge, and whoever gets the most benefits will get it. Not every craftsman can have a turn.

(End of this chapter)