Daming: Old Zhu, we agreed not to rush!

Chapter 96 The Busy Su Jing

The next morning.

After finishing the boxing breakfast, Zhu Biao started to study again.

With yesterday's theoretical foundation, today's content is much simpler.

After explaining the knowledge of focal length, the rest is to grind the glass by hand.

Su Jing thoughtfully prepared all kinds of polishing tools, and left everything to Zhu Biao to operate slowly.

"For the polishing step, there is no shortcut for now, just try slowly to find the most suitable focal length."

Su Jing said to Zhu Biao: "It may fail many times, but I believe you can."

Zhu Biao nodded seriously: "Master Su, don't worry, students are not afraid of failure."

Necessary encouragement is still needed, after Su Jing finished explaining, he did not continue to stay with Zhu Biao.

I have taught everything that should be taught, and whether I can do it or not depends on Zhu Biao himself.

As for Su Jing, he also has his own things to do.

In the southernmost part of Lishui County, Su Jing is inspecting a papermaking workshop on the bank of the river.

Papermaking has been around for a long time. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun used bark, hemp heads, cloth, fishing nets and other raw materials to make paper through processes such as frustrating, pounding, frying, and baking.

But by now, that is, in the early Ming Dynasty, papermaking has been continuously improved in the process of development.

Su Jing's paper mill mainly produces two kinds of paper.

One is the rough paper used for packaging products. The color is yellowish and the surface is not very delicate. It is not suitable for writing, but it is cheap.

The other is bamboo paper, the process is more complicated, the cost is much higher, and the price is naturally more expensive.

Facing this papermaking workshop, Su Jing still attaches great importance to it.

Because he has been keenly aware that the market's demand for paper will only become stronger.

However, Su Jing is not very satisfied with the entire papermaking process now.

Because papermaking is a skill, when it is passed down, it is mostly operated by one person from the beginning to the end.

That is to say, every process needs to be followed up by a worker from the initial selection of raw materials to the final output of paper.

Su Jing had never intervened in production before. Such a production method was inefficient, but it was barely enough.

After all, there were only so many market demands at that time, and although the efficiency of doing so was slow, it was sufficient.

Now Su Jing already has the idea of ​​expanding production in his mind.

Such a model must be changed!
The assembly line is the most efficient way of production.

Although in the previous life, an assembly line sweatshop was usually considered a squeeze, but in the early Ming Dynasty, an assembly line factory that could provide stable jobs was undoubtedly very popular among the common people.

After all, Su Jing's factory has never defaulted on wages.

His reputation is also quite high among the people in Lishui County.

"No, we have to train the entire staff first."

Su Jing looked at these workers who were working and muttered to herself.

Staff training, this is something that Su Jing has done a lot in his previous life, and he is very familiar with it.

Now that it has been decided, Su Jing immediately began to implement it.

He immediately found the person in charge of the current paper mill and asked him to tell all the workers that there will be a seven-day training after get off work tonight.

Salary is paid as usual, and board and lodging are all included.

But there is a requirement that during these seven days of intensive training, you cannot go anywhere.

When Su Jing said it, the person in charge of the paper mill couldn't believe it.

Is this such a good thing?
For seven days, all food and lodging are covered, and there is no need to go to work.

He was so scared that he quickly asked a few more words, that is, the person who spoke, Su Jing, so that these workers could be convinced, otherwise, they would all think it was human trafficking.

Su Jing's previous good reputation allowed the first step of his staff training plan to be carried out quite smoothly.

The days that followed were quite simple.

Zhu Biao polished the glass all day long. In order to let the frontline soldiers use the useful binoculars as soon as possible, Zhu Biao forgot to sleep and eat.

Su Jing also didn't have any secrets, and passed on all his previous experience in polishing and calibration to Zhu Biao, as well as a standard convex lens and a standard concave lens.

After teaching these, Su Jing began seven days of special staff training.

For Lai Yong, it was seven days of training, while for Su Jing, it was seven days of training.

Whether it is Zhu Biao or Su Jing, they are all focused on their own affairs.

When the two of them were concentrating on their work, one of them began to feel restless.

The Forbidden City, inside Fengxian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang paced back and forth, and the doubts on his face were almost written on it.

Forget about his son Zhu Biao, now he is busy with the telescope every day and has no time for other things.

But what about Su Jing?

five days!
It's been five full days, and I don't stay at home all day, but in a paper mill, I don't know what I'm doing.

"Su Jing, you boy, what are you doing?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said something to himself, completely unaware that the current self has paid too much attention to Su Jing.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Korea is asking to see you."

The eunuch's summons sounded.

"Xuan."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately returned to normal.

Soon, Li Shanchang came in and respectfully said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, I am here to report."

"Oh."

Zhu Yuanzhang said happily: "Shanchang, what you are talking about should be about the implementation of the prince's anti-corruption decree."

Li Shanchang immediately said: "Your Majesty, you have been carrying out this matter for the past few days, and now it is basically completed. Thanks to Your Majesty, everything is going smoothly."

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite satisfied when he heard the news that everything went well.

Li Shanchang continued: "According to what I have seen, His Royal Highness's decree has been effective, and the atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty Hall is improving. His Royal Highness's move is really a blessing to the Ming Dynasty."

It's better to brag about the prince Zhu Biao than to brag about his good work.

As Zhu Yuanzhang's Prime Minister Zuo, Li Shanchang knew exactly what he should say.

"Shanchang, you are right."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "The prince is so capable, I can rest assured. You have worked hard during this time."

"Your Majesty is serious, and the minister is only following the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince, which is nothing."

Li Shanchang lowered his head and said.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Shanchang, and said with a smile: "Shanchang, you have been with me for a long time. You and I, the monarch and my ministers, I will not say any polite words, just tell me what reward you want."

"I'm terrified. I just did some trivial work, and I don't deserve your majesty's love."

Li Shanchang immediately knelt down towards Zhu Yuanzhang and said respectfully.

"Shanchang, get up quickly, you haven't made a mistake, why kneel?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had a somewhat reproachful tone, but the expression on his face was quite satisfied.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Shanchang got up and said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Taichang Temple is very cooperative in pushing the administrative order this time, and it also makes the work of the minister much easier."

"Oh, you mean Hu Weiyong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang recalled a little and asked.

Li Shanchang nodded and said: "Exactly, as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, he has little to do with this anti-corruption matter, but he is very serious, and I am deeply impressed, that's why he mentioned such a sentence."

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "I understand."

"By the way, next year's Northern Expedition and the matter of food and grass for the rear army, we still have to worry about it."

Li Shanchang immediately bowed his hands and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely do my best to protect the food and grass of the soldiers."

Don't think that Li Shanchang will figure out Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, but his own ability is absolutely beyond doubt.

"Okay, Shanchang, you are really my Xiao He!"

Zhu Yuanzhang patted Li Shanchang on the shoulder happily and said.

Li Shanchang also said immediately: "Thanks to your majesty's love, Shanchang will definitely live up to your majesty's entrustment."

After reporting the matter, Li Shanchang left Fengxian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood, and thought that Zhu Biao and Su Jing had no news for five days, so he didn't care so much.

"By the way, how is Lao Wu now?"

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his head and suddenly thought of the fifth-year-old Zhu Huan. This agricultural college has also been established, and research on crops is already underway.

The fifth child who vowed to take the initiative to study at the beginning, what is the situation now?

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became interested.

"Speaking of which, I haven't been to the Agricultural College yet, so I just happened to go to see it."

After Zhu Yuanzhang said something to himself, he set off directly to the Agricultural College.

In a field outside Yingtian Mansion, this is the experimental field of the Agricultural College.

Yang Siyi, Shangshu of the Household Department, was following the fifth prince, Zhu Wei, and was very careful, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

This is the Fifth Prince, if something happens to him, then he, Minister of the Household Department, may not have enough brains.

At the beginning, when he knew that the fifth prince Zhu Wei was coming, he was quite surprised.

I thought Zhu Wei was just curious, so he came over to have a look, but he didn't take it seriously.

After all, Zhu Wei is only nine years old now, just a pure child.

But after Zhu Wei came, Yang Siyi found that things were a little different from what he had imagined.

Even though Zhu Su is young, he didn't come here to play around. He really came to study hard. He did everything by himself, and he didn't feel tired or dirty at all.

So, although Yang Siyi followed Zhu Wei and looked after him carefully, he didn't show any impatience.

Now that autumn has just entered and it is also time for wheat sowing, Zhu Wei is observing the condition of the land in the experimental field.

"Master Yang, before the wheat is planted, the land needs to be plowed. How is the depth determined?"

Zhu Wei asked Yang Siyi.

"Returning to the fifth prince is mainly based on the depth of the roots of the wheat after it grows."

Yang Siyi answered immediately without hesitation. He used to be Secretary of Agriculture, not Minister of the Household Department who was airborne.

He continued: "Of course, in order to more accurately study the relationship between wheat yield and land plowing depth, we also tried to increase the plowing depth by a few points in another experimental field."

What Yang Siyi was talking about was exactly the method of controlled experiments, which was exactly what Zhu Biao instructed, that is, what Su Jing had taught.

Don't look at it as a simple solution, but in Yang Siyi's eyes, it is quite shocking.

It was a line of thought that he had never thought of before.

With the guidance of this methodology, he is also quite confident that the Agricultural College can produce results.

Listening to Yang Siyi's answer, Zhu Su nodded silently, and then continued to observe in the field, asking questions from time to time, why Yang Siyi was on call, and answered whatever he asked.

Not far away, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been here for a while, was quite relieved to see this scene.

This fifth child is indeed not just talking for fun, he is really interested in this aspect.

That being the case, maybe now I should think about how to let Su Jing teach Zhu Xi.

(End of this chapter)