Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 142 Zhu Di’s good wife
The eighth day of September.

Just as Zhu Di finished meeting Zhou Wang Zhu Ju and headed to Tianjie Temple.

After the dynasty was over, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the Chunhe Hall and found that the Crown Princess Li Yao, the talented Wang Qihong, and the elected attendant Shuying were not there, and only a group of palace maids were taking care of Queer and Xiaoli.

In March last year, Queen Xu looked through the list of family members of Beijing officials below the fifth rank, and carefully selected a well-educated and beautiful concubine for Prince Zhu Gaoxu, namely Quan Shuying.

The reason why Queen Xu chose Quan Shuying was not because of Quan Shuying's beauty and talent, but because of her cultivation and background.

Quan Shuying is the only daughter of Quan Jin, the prime minister of Guanglu Department, and Quan Jin is a well-known filial son in Xuzhou.

Quan Jin lost his father when he was ten years old. His grief was so great that he cried to death.

At the end of the Hongwu period, Quan Jin's mother passed away at the age of 90. He built a hut next to the tomb and observed mourning for three years, which earned him respect from people.

After Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, he selected talents from all over the country. Quan Jin was recommended by Xuzhou local officials to be elected in Beijing, and was later awarded the title of Prime Minister of the Guanglu Temple Treasures Department.

Guanglu Temple has four departments, each with a department chief, commonly known as "Guanglu Department Chief", which is a seventh-grade official position.

After Quan Jin took office, he never skipped official duties because of his low position and little power. Instead, he was serious and cautious, treated his colleagues with sincerity, and would wake up early and leave work late every day.

In addition, he did not take a concubine because his wife only gave him one daughter. Instead, he attached great importance to the education of his only daughter Quan Shuying.

Empress Xu believed that a woman who grew up in such a family environment would definitely have good character and talents.

That's why she chose Quan Shuying as Zhu Gaoxu's concubine from among hundreds of women of the right age.

Facts have proved that Queen Xu is very discerning, Quan Shuying is virtuous and generous, treats people well, and gets along very well with the Crown Princess Li Yao and the talented Wang Qihong.

"Daddy hug!"

When Xiaoli and Queer, who were three years and four months old, saw that Zhu Gaoxu was back, they quickly left the palace maid who was looking after them, spread their legs, and ran towards Zhu Gaoxu one after another.

Zhu Gaoxu knelt down, picked up the two children on the left and right, and said, "Why don't you see your mother?"

"Mom was sent away by grandma." Xiaoli said overly.

Que'er added: "Mom said she was going to learn brocade weaving from grandma."

At this moment, Kang Ping bowed and reported: "Your Majesty the Crown Prince, dozens of looms were sent to Kunning Palace this morning. There was also a civilian girl sent to the palace with the looms."

"Go and tell Liu Jingzhong to come see me."

After Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he immediately ordered Kang Ping.

Not long after, Liu Jingzhong came to Chunhe Hall.

"My servant pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Flat body."

"Liu Jingzhong, a loom was delivered to Kunning Palace this morning. Do you know about this?"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Liu Jingzhong who had just stood up and asked in a deep voice.

Liu Jingzhong lowered his head and said respectfully: "Back to Your Royal Highness, I heard that the Queen has contacted the concubines and said that she wants to learn brocade weaving. She has been busy for several days."

"Mother, this is a well-intentioned thing!"

After Zhu Gaoxu received the exact news, he was very moved and said.

Liu Jingzhong echoed: "Your Highness has a clear view."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Liu Jingzhong, please go and collect the reward."

"My servant thanks His Highness the Crown Prince for the reward."

Liu Jingzhong bowed and accepted the order, then withdrew.

"Kang Ping, clear the way ahead and go to the treasure room."

Zhu Gaoxu held the two children and gave instructions to Kang Ping who was standing by.

"Okay, I can go to the treasure room with daddy to play!"

Que'er happily shook her little hands and said.

Xiao Li said anxiously: "Dad, I want a magnifying glass later, is that okay?"

"of course can."

Zhu Gaoxu gently touched Xiaoli's nose with his forehead and said dotingly.

Later, he went to the treasure room and selected a four-foot-tall mercury mirror and a pure copper crystal-faced oblate spherical pocket watch.

"Kang Ping, find a box to put the pocket watch in, and then ask someone to put the mirror up. Follow me to Kunning Palace later."

Zhu Gaoxu got a small magnifying glass for Xiao Li and Que'er respectively, and then gave instructions to Kang Ping.

"Slaves have orders."

Kang Ping bowed.

Kunning Palace.

At this time, the main hall was filled with concubines, including Zhu Gaoxu's concubines, namely the Crown Princess Li Yao, the talented Wang Qihong, and the selected attendant Quan Shuying.

In front of the concubines, there were the latest weaving machines.

Queen Xu was looking around at everyone and talking.

"We eat food and money from the national treasury and use gifts from the court. We don't plant any land for the country, but we have enough to eat all day long. We don't weave an inch of cloth for ourselves, but everyone wears silk and satin. Now that the country is in trouble, we should do it for the country. Share your worries and solve your problems."

"Today, I have invited Master Luo, the brocade weaver, for everyone."

Queen Xu looked at the middle-aged commoner woman who was proficient in brocade weaving who came in from outside the palace, and then said to the concubines.

Jinnai is the best among Chinese silk fabrics that are famous overseas and sought after by all countries.

The word "Jin" is a combination of the word "Gold" and the word "Bo". "Shi Ming·Cai Silk": "Jin is gold. It takes a lot of effort to make, and its price is as high as gold. Therefore, only the venerable will be convinced."

In other words, brocade is a luxurious and precious silk that only high-ranking officials could afford to wear in ancient times.

In the well-known idioms "icing on the cake" and "flowers like brocade", the word "jin" is used to describe beautiful things or beautiful scenery. It comes from the name of a type of silk fabric, which shows that "jin" has a long history.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, brocade weaving technology developed rapidly and there were many varieties of designs and colors.

In the Yuan Dynasty, it was the heyday of brocade weaving technology. Gold and silver threads were used as weft threads to weave magnificent gold brocades.

"After we have finished our studies, we can teach others. There are thousands of concubines and maids in the harem. If each person has a loom, how much brocade will be woven in a month? Let's say tens of thousands of yuan at least!"

Queen Xu's idea is very practical. Even if you can't weave tens of thousands of pieces in one month, it is still worth it if you can weave tens of thousands of pieces in three months.

The operation difficulty and technical requirements of brocade weaving are very high. The brocade weaving requires the cooperation of two people, the flower puller and the weaver, using a jacquard wooden machine.

The specific situation is that the flower puller sits on the upper level of the loom and is responsible for lifting the warp. The weaver sits under the loom and is responsible for weaving the weft and applying gold and color. The two people can only produce five or six centimeters a day.

If you want to weave a 78 cm wide brocade, there will be [-] silk threads on its fabric surface. All the flower patterns will be composed of these [-] threads, starting from the longitude and latitude lines that establish the silk threads. At the end of the weaving process, the whole process is as complex and arduous as programming a computer.

Therefore, this kind of craft cannot be replaced by machines even 500 years later, so it is said that "every inch of gold is worth every inch of gold."

"In the future, the brocade we have woven with our own hands can go overseas with the imperial treasure fleet, in exchange for money for our Ming Dynasty to build ships, provide disaster relief, and rejuvenate the country."

Empress Xu spoke in a high tone about the bright future to the concubines.

There is no way, Yongle Emperor Zhu Di is very lucky to have a virtuous woman like Xu as his queen and a good housekeeper.

"Mother, we are willing to learn and we are willing to weave!"

Crown Princess Li Yao was the first to express her stance.

“We are willing to learn and weave!”

The talented Wang Qihong, the selected servant Quan Shuying and other concubines in the harem said in unison.

"Okay, then today, I will be the first to become a disciple, and I guarantee that I will be the first to succeed and the first to become a disciple."

Queen Xu looked at Master Luo and said: "From now on, you are our brocade master. If we do something bad, you can say what you need to say and punish us if you need to."

"Your Majesty, common girls don't dare." Master Luo quickly bowed.

"No matter what you dare to do, only a strict master can produce a great disciple!"

Empress Xu first denied Master Luo's remonstrance, then looked around at the concubines and asked, "Do you think so?"

"Yes!" Crown Princess Li Yao replied appropriately.Other concubines also agreed.

"Prince is here!"

As the eunuchs on duty outside the palace gate sang and shouted, Empress Xu and other concubines in the harem all learned that Zhu Gaoxu had arrived.

"Greetings to the queen when the baby is given to the mother."

Zhu Gaoxu took the lead in saluting Queen Xu.

Queen Xu helped Zhu Gaoxu up and said, "I'm fine."

All the concubines in the harem greeted Zhu Gaoxu one after another, and Zhu Gaoxu bowed in return.

The two parties finished their ceremony.

Empress Xu asked Zhu Gaoxu, "Are you here to persuade me not to weave brocade?"

"The child has made a special trip to give gifts to his mother."

After Zhu Gaoxu said this, he turned to look outside the hall and motioned to Kang Ping and others to bring in the mirror.

"Wow! What a clear mirror! So magical!"

It was the first time for many concubines to see the mercury mirror, and they couldn't help but subconsciously exclaimed.

Not long ago, Zhu Di gave Empress Xu a mercury mirror with a diameter of one foot, so Empress Xu was not too surprised when she saw this huge mercury mirror.

Zhu Di told her last time that this thing was made by Mo Qiaosi.

Today, there is nothing for sale in the market in Jinling City. Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, there is no place to produce this thing.

"Okay, you all should learn brocade weaving from Master Luo first."

Queen Xu looked around at the concubines and said.

"Follow your mother's orders!"

All the concubines said in unison.

After a while.

Kunning Palace.

In the Queen's study.

Queen Xu and Zhu Gaoxu were sitting on both sides of the tea table, talking.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "The pocket watch I gave to my mother last time was broken because the spring was broken."

Queen Xu asked curiously: "Why did the clockwork break?"

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu briefly introduced the working principle of the mechanical watch to Queen Xu.

The so-called mechanical watch is a clock that provides power through the rotation of the spring inside the movement. It is mainly composed of the prime mover system, the transmission system, the escapement speed regulator, the pointer system and the winding dial system. For manual mechanical watches and automatic mechanical watches.

A manual mechanical watch fully winds the main spring of the movement by turning the crown of the watch. When the spring is completely exhausted, it drives the gear to run and drives the pointer to keep time.

As for the automatic mechanical watch, there is a self-winding movement inside, which is mainly driven by the oscillating weight in the movement.

Of course, automatic mechanical watches are an idea that can be realized in theory. Currently, Moqiaosi has not yet produced an automatic mechanical watch, but it has found a research and development direction.

The latest pocket watches can run the dial for about twelve to twenty hours without repeated winding.

Because the spring has to withstand a lot of pressure, it often breaks.

Therefore, Mo Qiaosi is researching alloy materials in order to make the spring stronger and almost unbreakable.

In addition, Mo Qiaosi is following the direction pointed by Zhu Gaoxu and studying to add some additional functions to the clock, such as calendar, alarm time, moon phase indication and measuring time period.

"Mom, the pocket watch I sent you this time has a new function, that is, a calendar mechanism."

Zhu Gaoxu took out the oblate spherical crystal pocket watch from the brocade box and handed it to Queen Xu respectfully. At the same time, he said: "With this pocket watch, every time the hour hand moves around, that is, twelve hours, the day displayed on the calendar will move forward by one hour. day."

"Is it so amazing?"

Queen Xu marveled at the superb craftsmanship of Mo Qiaosi's craftsmen, quickly took the pocket watch and looked at it carefully.

"Mom, my son saw an interesting story when he was reading a few days ago." Zhu Gaoxu continued.

Queen Xu played with her pocket watch and asked casually: "What story?"

"There was a farmer who opened up a piece of wasteland as a farmland and planted many vegetables. After a few months, the vegetables grew up, but the farmland was also covered with weeds."

Zhu Gaoxu said slowly: "In order to get rid of the weeds, the farmer has tried his best, but the weeds in the field can never be completely removed. Once they are pulled out, another one will grow. Mother, tell me, what method can we use to get rid of the weeds? Is there no weeds growing on the farmland?”

Empress Xu thought: "I'm afraid this is impossible. Grass grows in the ground just like fish grows in the river. Where there is water, there must be fish, and where there is fields, there must be grass."

"But under the guidance of his wife, the farmer in the story finally found an extremely effective method." Zhu Gaoxu added.

"What method?" Queen Xu put away her pocket watch and asked curiously.

Zhu Gaoxu replied: "The farmer's wife said, you are always thinking about weeding, why don't you replace the vegetables with millet?"

"Millet?" Queen Xu asked a little puzzled.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Yes, it is millet. If the fields are full of millet, where can there be room for weeds?"

Millet is an annual herbaceous plant. In ancient times, it was called millet, millet, or sorghum, and among the people it was also called foxtail grass.

During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, it was known as "the leader of a hundred grains" and was once the most important food crop for the ancestors of China.

People are familiar with the idiom "the good and the bad are mixed" about Setaria and millet, which means that in normal millet fields, Setaria grows unevenly.

The fibrous roots of millet are thick, and the stalks are strong and upright. When grown, they are ten centimeters to one meter or more high.

Generally, when mature, the ears of grain are golden yellow and have oval seeds. Each ear contains hundreds to thousands of seeds. The seeds are very small and mostly yellow. After peeling, they are commonly known as millet.

Queen Xu naturally knew what millet was, and now she finally understood why Zhu Gaoxu told this story.

"Gao Xu, you want to say that the human heart is just a field. If we want to keep weeds from growing in our heart, we can only plant the seeds of kindness, right?"

Zhu Gaoxu had long been accustomed to the unusually intelligent Empress Xu, and immediately nodded and said: "My mother brought the loom into the harem and asked the master to teach the palace people to learn brocade weaving. This is equivalent to setting a good precedent for the stability of the harem."

The concubines have things to do, and they have brocade weaving matters in their minds, so naturally there will be fewer people thinking wildly.

Once people's hearts are clean, there will be fewer disputes.

In this way, the harem will be much more peaceful.

"It is true that there are many people in the harem who have free time, and once people have something to do, they will not think randomly. Our Ming Dynasty's silk, porcelain, tea, and lacquerware are sold overseas, and silk brocade is the most precious thing among them."

Queen Xu explained slowly: "My original intention of bringing the loom to the palace was not to stabilize people's hearts, but to relieve your father's worries."

"Mom, you can just start this kind of thing, but don't work too hard to weave brocade and hurt your body."

Zhu Gaoxu knew that Empress Xu in history was too worried and overworked, which led to her physical weakness, and she could not afford to fall ill, and finally passed away at the age of only more than 40 years old.

"As the master of the harem, if I don't do it myself, how can I set an example?"

Queen Xu couldn't understand why Zhu Gaoxu would say such hypocritical words.

In her impression, Zhu Gaoxu has always been an extremely pragmatic person.

"Mom, I don't know. Although the country is in trouble, it is only a small one." Zhu Gaoxu said in a low voice.

Empress Xu asked: "If it was just a small difficulty, why did the Ministry of Revenue force the Ministry of Revenue to issue national bonds and borrow money from the people in Zhili?"

“In the past few years, the imperial court has invested a large amount of money in Mo Qiaosi and the Military War Bureau. In addition, it has sent troops to expedition to Timurid State, and built fourth-level roads, academies, banks and other projects. As a result, the national treasury is indeed short of money and there is a surplus of internal funds. Not many."

Zhu Gaoxu continued: "The issuance of treasury bonds by the Ministry of Revenue is a way to solve the court's lack of money, but in fact, treasury bonds are just something children use to divert the attention of courtiers."

He lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "Mom, I have discussed with my father and plan to bring the mercury mirrors, pocket watches and other items produced by Mo Qiaosi to the market."

"Did your father agree?" Queen Xu asked.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "Father has no reason not to agree. Mother doesn't know anything. The child has sent someone to try it secretly. When he got a small mercury mirror in the market, it sold for 500 taels of silver yuan, and people were rushing to get it."

"You just like to tell me nice things and lie to me. If this is true, what's the difference between it and stealing money?"

Empress Xu felt that what Zhu Gaoxu said was too exaggerated and didn't believe it at all.

(End of this chapter)