The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 444 Misfortunes never come singly
Fu Zhong is the son of Fu Youde. Due to the unspoken rule that father and son, or brothers, cannot hold high positions in the same dynasty, he has never held a specific position.

But he was often given special missions, such as inspecting local areas and monitoring the implementation of new policies.

This also means that he is no stranger to the new policy.

There is absolutely no problem with his identity and status. He is the son of Fu Youde, so who dares not give him face?
Old Zhu said, "We promised Fu Youde a long time ago that we would let him come back to enjoy the happiness of family life, but there were too many things that delayed it until now."

"I don't know what he's saying to me."

"It just so happens that there is nothing going on in the court right now, and the surrounding areas are relatively stable, so let him come back."

"After he leaves office, Fu Zhong can come out and govern the area."

Zhu Biao did not agree directly. Fu Zhong had advantages, but also disadvantages.

The biggest drawback is that he has never been in charge of a local government, and he is going to take over Temasek directly. I don’t know if he can shoulder this responsibility.

Xu Chai Lao’s lesson is not far away.

Zhu Yuanzhang could naturally see his son's concerns and said:

"Let him go to Temasek to be Fu An's assistant first. If he is competent, let him continue to do the job."

"When Fu An enters the cabinet in the future, he will be promoted to a full-time position."

"If he is not competent, let him come back and find someone else to assist Fu An."

This is indeed the safest way. It not only takes care of the Fu family and fulfills the relationship between Emperor Zhu and his subjects, but also does not delay important affairs of the court.

Zhu Biao finally nodded and agreed to the personnel appointment.

As a result, the imperial court issued two decrees in succession, one of which was to appoint Fu Zhong as the Chief Secretary of the Temasek Governor's Office.

The second was to transfer Fu Youde back to Beijing.

Smart people naturally know what these two decrees mean.

But it didn't cause much commotion.

It's just a normal transition from the old to the new, and it's really not worth making a fuss about.

It is rare that Fu Youde has persisted until now before retiring.

You know, veteran generals of his time, such as Feng Sheng and Xu Da, have basically retreated to the second line now.

Moreover, Fu Zhong's appointment as the Chief Secretary of the Temasek Governor's Office also shows that the status of the Fu family has not been affected.

For the Fu family, this is great news.

Fu Zhong first went to the palace to express his gratitude, then tidied up his house and looked forward to his old father's return.

Chen Jingke had no objection to this appointment.

Fu Zhong and he are brothers-in-law, and they often deal with each other due to work.

He knew Fu Zhong quite well. He believed that he was a steady and far-sighted person.

Not a top talent, but outstanding compared to most people.

It is more than enough for him to be the Governor of Temasek.

Now that the candidate for Governor of Temasek has been decided, he can finally put his mind at ease and return to work.

At the same time, good news came.

The planting area of ​​autumn sweet potatoes has reached 50,000 acres and has become popular in Luoyang.

Lao Zhu asked all provinces, prefectures and counties to send specialized personnel to Luoyang to learn planting techniques.

Next year, Yinshu will be expanded to the whole country.

We strive to have Yinshu sold to thousands of households within three to five years.

The ministers naturally supported this plan.

They not only expressed their support verbally, but also took practical actions.

Bring Yin potatoes back to your hometown for planting promotion.

It not only responded to the call of the court, but also gained a good reputation in his hometown, which can be said to be killing two birds with one stone.

People are also looking forward to high-yield and high-quality varieties.

Ordinary people who had nothing to do could only wait for the imperial court to send them the seedlings.

Those who have connections have already started trying to get the seedlings and plant them in advance.

Old Zhu was naturally very pleased with this situation.

As I said, if the Yin potato became popular sooner, fewer people would starve to death.

Not long after, another good news came: the railway tracks were repaired.

The final length of this single track was sixty-one miles and it took nearly a year to build.

This efficiency is naturally very low.

But considering that this is the world's first railway and everything is being explored from scratch, it is normal that it is a bit slow.

Moreover, through this road construction, the Ming Dynasty trained a group of skilled technicians and workers.

This is the seed.

The completion of the railway was not a small matter, so the imperial court sent Zhu Xiongying to preside over the completion ceremony.

Chen Jingke naturally followed.

There is not much to say about the process. Anyway, Chen Jingke was deeply moved when he saw this railway.

After so many years, we are finally entering a new era.

The ceremony was over, and a very realistic problem was presented before us.

What should be done with these technicians and workers?
As has been the case in the past, when a project was completed, the craftsmen and workers would either return to the Ministry of Works to do other things or be sent home.

Chen Jingke naturally didn't want to see this situation.

These people are all seeds, how can they be disbanded like this?

So he proposed that all those involved in the construction of the railway should be under the management of the Railway Bureau.

"They have only one duty: to build the railway."

“When we are not repairing the railway, we are maintaining it and researching the technology to repair it.”

"For example, how to dig a tunnel in the mountain, how to build a sky bridge to connect the natural chasm..."

"Only by training a team of highly skilled workers can we realize the grand blueprint of connecting the whole country with railways."

This proposal naturally won the approval of Zhu Biao and others, and even the ministers had no objection.

After all, everyone knows the use of trains.

It is very necessary to train a group of specialized railway workers.

Just like the canal transportation, the Ming Dynasty maintained a canal transportation system involving millions of people.

However, Chen Jingke's subsequent proposal caused quite a bit of controversy.

The issue of treatment of railway workers.

Chen Jingke felt that their pay should be improved, after all, building roads was too tiring.

In the future, we will have to travel through mountains and rivers and go to far away places, and we may stay in some desolate mountains and wilderness for several years.

The corresponding treatment must be improved.

The ministers thought that doing so would cost too much.

It is reasonable to increase the remuneration for those who work in the field, but not everyone works in the field, right?

How can we improve them all?

So, at Zhu Biao's suggestion, a compromise solution was put forward.

Daily benefits remain unchanged, and subsidies and salaries for field work will be paid based on actual circumstances.

So everyone is happy.

But Chen Jingke knew that the ministers had taken the initiative to make concessions in this matter.

If you change to other projects, forget about improving workers' treatment.

These people are very strict about the financial budget and have no control over how the court spends money privately.

But every penny of official money must be fought for.

Of course, they made concessions not because Chen Jingke had a lot of face, but because of the railway.

Again, railways are too important and no one wants to create obstacles due to minor issues.

The tracks are repaired, and we're just waiting for the train.

Chen Jingke took some time to visit the research institute and saw a giant machine that had taken shape in the assembly workshop.

Wu Bingrang ordered his men to start the train and said proudly:

"The boiler and power system have been assembled and will be started up for an hour or two every day for running-in."

"The supporting equipment that is being manufactured now, once it is assembled and run-in, we can start the real test run."

"…About another month."

Chen Jingke was very pleased: "Not bad, I will commend you all then."

"Have you summarized the production process and standards?" Wu Bingrang said loudly: "They are all being carried out simultaneously. If you hadn't repeatedly asked for process and standardization, we could have completed it three months ahead of schedule."

The difficulty of making the original train is actually not high. With the technical capabilities of the Ming Dynasty at that time, it is not difficult to make it.

In particular, the research institute gathers the country's top craftsmen.

They can come up with many simple solutions to many seemingly troublesome problems.

But the "local methods" are basically tailor-made, to put it bluntly, they are only suitable for this one machine.

If you put it on another machine, it won't work.

As a time traveler, Chen Jingke knows too well the importance of process and standardization.

So he firmly rejected the "local method" and insisted on standardization.

Using the same method, an infinite number of identical trains can be 'copied'.

This means that when problems arise, they cannot be solved with simple methods, but must be solved from the root.

Then develop unified standards.

The consequence is that the speed of car manufacturing has been slowed down.

But for Chen Jingke, a slower speed doesn’t matter.

A little extra effort now can save a lot of time later.

After that, he took another turn and returned to the palace to report the situation to Zhu Biao.

But as soon as he entered the palace, he heard the news that the Crown Princess was pregnant.

He hurried to the East Palace and found that Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, Xu Da and others were there.

Even Fuqing is there.

Everyone had a smile on their face.

Seeing Chen Jingke coming, everyone started to make fun of him.

Old Zhu and Madam Ma kept saying that this child came at the right time, which meant that he had a destiny with the Chen family.

Even Zhu Biao, Xu Da, Fuqing, Xu Miaojin and others agreed with it.

There are too many coincidences.

Fuqing had been married for so many years without any news, but Xu Miaojin became pregnant not long after entering the palace.

Then not long after, good news came from Xu Miaojin.

No one would believe that these two children are not destined to be together.

Chen Jingke disagreed in his heart. He thought it was just a coincidence that Fuqing was pregnant at this time.

Xu Miaojin is pregnant, purely due to Fuqing's influence.

In the previous life, there was a phenomenon that the menstrual cycles of several girls in the same dormitory would be similar.

Some girls have unstable menstrual cycles, which will become stable after living in the dormitory for a period of time.

This situation is very common.

A similar situation exists with pregnancy. When a woman becomes pregnant, there will inevitably be other pregnant women around her.

In cities, people are more distant from each other, so this kind of situation is less common.

This situation is quite common in rural areas where neighbors often visit each other.

If one person is pregnant, within a few days a large group of neighbors will spread the good news.

This phenomenon has not yet been explained by science.

Many people said in an absolute tone that this was all nonsense and did not exist at all.

Some people even seriously infer that people in the same dormitory have similar living habits, so their menstrual cycles are similar.

But they ignored another fact.

The girls in the next dormitory have similar living habits, so why are their menstrual cycles different from those of the girls in this dormitory?

A more reasonable inference at present is that women during their menstrual period or pregnancy will exude a unique scent.

This kind of atmosphere will influence each other, and eventually make the menstrual cycles of several girls in the same dormitory become similar.

The scent emitted by a pregnant woman will stimulate the women around her, making it easier for them to conceive.

It’s just that this breath cannot be detected by current science.

Moreover, many people in the folks will try to use this method to treat difficulties in conceiving.

As long as there is no problem with your body and it is simply difficult for you to conceive, being with pregnant women frequently will increase the probability of conception.

This is the case with Xu Miaojin.

Fuqing and she have always had a good relationship, and since their child was engaged at a young age, their relationship became even better, and they often met privately.

It is normal to be influenced by Fuqing.

However, Chen Jingke is not a straightforward person with low emotional intelligence. Since everyone thinks that they are destined to be together, then it is fate.

He didn't force these principles.

The Crown Princess' pregnancy is naturally a big event for the Ming court.

All the ministers congratulated him.

The threshold of Xu Da's house was almost broken down.

Even Chen Jingke's house became lively again.

But at this moment, bad news came from Yunnan that Prince Mu Ying of Xining was critically ill.

Upon hearing this news, Ma couldn't hold back her tears.

"My poor Ying'er, do you want me, an old man, to send off the young one?"

Old Zhu's eyes were filled with tears as he blamed himself: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."

"Mu Ying wrote several letters, wanting to return to Beijing to fulfill his filial duties, but we kept him from returning by citing the heavy burden of Yunnan."

"If we had let him come back earlier, nothing would have happened today."

Zhu Biao was also very sad and almost suffered from high blood pressure.

Although he was Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son, Mu Ying was the eldest of his adopted sons, and Zhu Biao always regarded him as his brother.

How could Zhu Biao not be sad when he heard the news that he was critically ill.

But even so, he still had to suppress his worries and comfort the two old people:

"Don't worry, Dad and Mom. The letter said that my brother is just seriously ill... I believe that he will be fine."

Old Zhu finally reacted and said quickly: "Where is Jingke? Where is Chen Jingke? Call him over quickly..."

"No, no, no, tell him to go directly to Yunnan, as fast as he can, and bring Mu Ying back to us."

Chen Jingke was also very shocked when he received the news. He didn't expect that Mu Ying would have problems at this critical juncture.

Although he had only met Mu Ying a few times during the Chinese New Year, Chen Jingke respected him very much.

Mu Ying was a generous person who treated others sincerely without any affectation. He served in Yunnan for many years without any complaints.

The key point is that he has a very good relationship with the Zhu family. He regards Zhu and Empress Ma as his parents, and also regards Zhu Biao and others as his brothers.

In his previous life, Empress Ma died of illness, and he was so sad that he vomited blood.

Zhu Biao's death from illness dealt him the final blow, and he passed away in grief two months later.

This kind of feeling is very touching throughout the entire history.

There is a reason why Old Zhu has more than twenty adopted sons but only treats the Mu family well.

Now that he is critically ill, Old Zhu and Empress Ma don't know how sad they should be.

Compared to Mu Ying's health, Chen Jingke was more worried about something else.

Can Empress Ma and Zhu Biao withstand this blow?

Therefore, he was very hesitant about Zhu's order to go to Yunnan.

I am going to go to the palace to negotiate with Old Zhu, or let Zhu Su go over.

In fact, his worries were not unnecessary. Before he could even reach the palace, he was stopped by a eunuch who rushed over.

"Marquis Anping, please come to the palace immediately..."

Chen Jingke's heart sank, and he asked, "What's wrong?"

The eunuch replied: "The queen... fainted."

Chen Jingke took a deep breath, calmed himself and said, "Hurry and enter the palace."

However, there is a saying that good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone. As soon as he entered the palace, he saw Du Tongli running towards him.

"Marquis Anping, hurry up... hurry up and follow me..."

Chen Jingke finally panicked and asked, "My Lady..."

Du Tongli said as he ran, "It's not the Queen, it's His Majesty."

"Your Majesty heard that the queen was unconscious and couldn't bear the shock. He had a splitting headache and then fainted."

(End of this chapter)