pappabearbooks Chapter 107 Xie Jin Enters the Hanlin Academy and Debates with Fang Xiaoru
Chapter 107 Xie Jin Enters the Hanlin Academy and Debates with Fang Xiaoru
Unexpectedly, this time, Yunwen and Gao Xi had the same idea.
The old emperor was secretly amazed.
In order to retain Fang Xiaoru, Zhu Yunwen took the initiative to make concessions and proposed that Fang Xiaoru and Xie Jin both enter the Hanlin Academy.
Zhu Gaoxi felt relieved. He decided to leave the debate to Xie Jin from now on. He was truly afraid of Fang Xiaoru: Fang was clearly trying to push him to the brink, yet he made it sound so righteous.
Upon receiving the imperial decree, Xie Jin was overwhelmed with emotion and so excited that he became incoherent, repeatedly expressing his gratitude.
Zhu Gaoxi briefly explained the debate to Xie Jin so that he could prepare.
Xie Jin was confident and full of anticipation for the upcoming debate, as if he had been injected with adrenaline.
He finally had a chance to shine, how could he not cherish it?
Yin Changlong cheered him on from the sidelines, expressing his willingness to be Xie Jin's strong support.
Upon receiving the imperial decree, Duke Xu Huizu of Wei hurriedly entered the palace. He went with officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy to assess the teachers and students of the Imperial Academy. He had just finished and returned to his residence.
"Huizu, you are in charge of selecting 20,000 elite troops from the capital army to serve as guards for the Prince of Wu's residence. Leave 3,000 in the capital and take the rest to Wu County to select a site and supervise the construction of the Prince of Wu's residence," the old emperor said with a smile that was as warm as a spring breeze. "The vacancies in the capital army will be filled by the strong and capable guards from various local garrisons."
Xu Huizu respectfully accepted the order.
Zhu Gaoxi was deeply impressed by the old emperor's grand gesture.
Among the feudal lords of the country, the total strength of the three guards ranged from several thousand to more than ten thousand, with a maximum of nineteen thousand, but never reached twenty thousand.
Zhu Gaoxi was stunned by the unexpected stroke of luck that had bestowed upon him 20,000 elite troops, and it took him a long time to come to his senses.
But the Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen was provoked once again. Fang Xiaoru and Xie Jin were arguing fiercely in the Hanlin Academy, spitting everywhere, and were almost pointing fingers and spewing profanities.
Even You Dun was shocked and secretly said to Zhu Gaoxi, "Has Grandpa made up his mind?"
In fact, Zhu Gaoxi was also unsure what the old emperor meant by this.
Anyway, it's not a bad thing.
If they give it to him, he'll take it; he can handle any number of troops.
"Xi'er, did you tell us last time that sweet potatoes should be planted in April?" the old emperor asked, holding Zhu Gaoxi's chubby little hand.
"Yes, Grandpa, the sweet potatoes in the vegetable garden have already been planted."
With limited space in the vegetable garden, Zhu Gaoxi had a lot of sweet potato seedlings left over and was considering who to give them to.
"There is a large open space outside the royal estate on the outskirts of the city. It is inconvenient to irrigate, and in a year, we can't even harvest 100 shi of rice. Go and see if you can plant sweet potatoes. Have Youdun take people with you. If you can plant them, gather people and plant them as soon as possible. It's always a good thing to harvest more grain."
The old emperor hoped that sweet potatoes could be planted in all the arid areas that were difficult to irrigate.
Zhu Gaoxi gladly accepted the order.
The six eunuchs in the vegetable garden were all experts at growing sweet potatoes. Zhu Gaoxi took them all with him and printed hundreds of copies of the planting methods and precautions he had written down beforehand, so that all the boys over ten years old in the school could go with them.
Zhu Gaoxi was once again humiliated by Youdun, who tied him to his body; he didn't want to ride in the carriage.
Youdun said helplessly: "This is the only way to ensure his safety."
Never mind, they're all minor details and not worth paying too much attention to.
Upon arrival at their destination, Zhu Gaoxi sat in the imperial estate drinking milk. You Dun first went to the wasteland to conduct a general survey and deploy defensive forces before coming to pick him up.
A warm breeze was blowing. Zhu Gaoxi closed his eyes slightly, enjoying the sunshine, and wished he could grow up quickly.
Every three steps there was a guard, every five steps a sentry; everything was in place. Zhu Youdun entered the imperial estate and asked hesitantly, "How about I carry you on my shoulder? That way, it'll be easier to see you clearly."
"Brother, no need," Zhu Gaoxi smiled, indicating that he was perfectly fine.
Stepping onto the newly paved stone path, Zhu Gaoxi reached a high point and gazed into the distance.
According to Huang Bin, the eunuch in charge of the imperial estate, this area was originally wasteland, with weeds growing up to half a person's height, and animals such as rabbits, ground squirrels, pheasants, and weasels often appeared here.
The old emperor issued an edict to encourage land reclamation, declaring, "Whoever reclaims it, owns it," and exempted the land from rent and taxes for three years.
After the land was cleared, the water source was below, making it difficult to draw water. Relying solely on rainwater for irrigation resulted in extremely low yields.
The old emperor recently sent someone to buy a plot of land at the price of a medium-sized plot for his grandson's experimental field.
The terrain is steep, and relying on manpower to fetch water is indeed a drop in the ocean and not cost-effective.
After touring around and gaining a good understanding of the area, terrain, and nearby rivers, Zhu Gaoxi returned to the imperial estate.
Based on a rough estimate, there might not be enough sweet potato seedlings left, so Zhu Gaoxi ordered Sanbao to lead six eunuchs to immediately cultivate another batch at the imperial estate, while the boys from the school helped and studied alongside them.
Zhu Gaoxi planned to build a waterwheel to create an automated irrigation system.
"Brother, are there any bamboo groves nearby?" Zhu Gaoxi asked while drawing blueprints, making water pipes from bamboo to divert river water to the ground.
Zhu Youdun looked up at the sky and said, "We have to hurry back. You can't stay at the Imperial Estate. Grandpa told us this repeatedly before we left."
Zhu Gaoxi had no choice but to put down his pen and paper and obey Youdun's request to pick him up and tie him to his body.
Back in the palace, the old emperor was already waiting impatiently in the vegetable garden. As soon as he saw Zhu Gaoxi, he rushed forward and asked, "How is it? Can it be planted?"
"Grandpa, don't worry, I've checked everything, it can definitely be planted, but we need to find some carpenters to build a waterwheel."
Zhu Gaoxi nimbly jumped off Youdun, startling the old emperor, who quickly reached out to catch him, asking with lingering fear, "Are you alright?"
"A carpenter is no problem, we'll find one for you," the old emperor said, finally feeling relieved as he saw his eldest grandson jumping around.
"We didn't have enough sweet potato seedlings, so I sent Han Shu and the other six, along with eleven boys from the school, to stay at Huangzhuang to cultivate them. They haven't come back yet," Zhu Gaoxi said, grabbing a handful of pine nuts and putting them in his mouth.
The old emperor readily agreed.
"Grandpa, I need two days to draw up the blueprints for the waterwheel. We need to send people to build the irrigation canal in advance and transfer some guards over there. More people means more strength."
As they were talking, Yunfei brought over the freshly cooked wontons and served them to Zhu Gaoxi.
"Whatever you say, eat slowly," the old emperor said, taking out a handkerchief to gently wipe his beloved grandson's mouth.
Seeing that Zhu Gaoxi had eaten his fill, the old emperor was worried about disturbing his rest, so he did not stay long. Before leaving, he specifically instructed that there be stew prepared and to supervise his younger brother so that he would not work late into the night and ruin his health.
"Grandpa, don't worry, even if I don't sleep all night, I'll still stay up to watch over my little brother," Youdun joked with a smile.
"With your sharp tongue, we not only love him, but we love you too. He's still young, so naturally we should love him even more."
The old emperor patted the stewed arm twice, and said with a hint of happy reproach.
After dinner, Zhu Gaoxi called Youdun and Sanbao together to discuss the design of the waterwheel.
Zhu Youdun found the record of the high-speed waterwheel in Wang Zhen's "Agricultural Treatise" from the Yuan Dynasty as a reference.
Song Yingxing's "Tiangong Kaiwu" was completed during the Chongzhen era of the late Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Gaoxi recalled that it used components such as a rotating shaft, vertical wheel, and horizontal wheel.
His waterwheel design differed from the one described above, possibly incorporating technological knowledge from later generations. He couldn't recall which book he had read it from; he simply drew it from memory and then handed it over to craftsmen for production. When problems arose, they would discuss and find solutions together.