My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 271 Old Zhu Wants to Be the Leading Actor
Crying is contagious. After the two brothers Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu started crying, the eyes of the two brothers Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunhuan also turned red, which made Zhu Yuanzhang instantly feel overwhelmed.

If it were in the past, Old Zhu would have scolded his grandson for being impolite and taught him a lesson. However, things are different now. After learning about the future of his grandson from Old Li, Zhu Gaochi, the Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yunwen were forced to disappear by his fourth uncle.

He couldn't bear to scold him.

He hurriedly used both coaxing and deception, and ordered the palace maids and eunuchs to serve these little ancestors well, and then called for Empress Ma. When Empress Ma came, she glared at them, and only then did the crying of the little brats stop.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang feel a little emotional. It seemed that in the eyes of his grandchildren, the imperial grandmother was more useful than himself, the imperial grandfather.

After Empress Ma took her grandchildren away, the inner palace finally became quiet, and Zhu Yuanzhang was finally able to calm down and reply to the letter.

"Old Li, I am glad to see you.

It has been many days since I received your letter. The railway tracks are also an eye-opener for me. I have recently ordered Minister of Works Li Min and others to supervise their construction. I believe that it won’t be long before we can see trains running on the land of the Ming Dynasty.

I originally thought that you would not have any good solution to this problem that has troubled China for thousands of years. I was just asking you at the time, but I never thought that you actually came up with a solution, and it is so amazing.

Sometimes I am also curious, is there anything in this world that you, Lao Li, don't know?

Although railways and trains are already on the agenda, this also brings up a problem, which is actually an old problem, that is, the number of qualified workers is really insufficient.

Although the Ming Dynasty already has the Imperial Academy of Craftsmen to train workers, and factories also provide training to newly recruited apprentices, the pace is still too slow.

I have also thought about this issue seriously and believe that there are two reasons. First, a qualified worker must be literate and able to read and write. In your words, Lao Li, he must be a cultured person. Although in the previous dynasty, the Yuan court did not prohibit the Han people from reading and writing, there were still only a few people who could read and write.

Even after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, private schools and academies sprang up all over the country. However, it was only sixteen years and there were still not many educated people, resulting in even fewer people who could become qualified craftsmen.

Secondly, except for the Academy of Craftsmen, there is no official school in the Ming Dynasty that teaches technology. The main education system of the Ming Dynasty, from private schools to academies and then to the Imperial College, is based on the Four Books and Five Classics and historical records. The only thing that has something to do with technology is mathematics.

Although this way of talent training is sufficient to train qualified officials, it is far from enough to train qualified workers!
Li Min also suggested this to me. After summarizing Li Min's suggestions, I decided to make the Imperial Academy of Craftsmen the highest institution of technical official education, and set up a secondary technical official school under it to train basic technical workers.

Students of secondary technical official schools can choose to continue their studies after graduation and enter the Craftsman Academy by passing the examination, or they can enter the factory and become basic workers.

Under this, in private schools or in separate official elementary schools, technical subjects would be added to the children’s enlightenment stage so that they could receive scientific training from an early age.

If such a system can be implemented, it will be able to provide the Ming Dynasty with a steady supply of technical talents.

However, when we brought up this matter in the court, we encountered strong opposition from the literary elite. They believed that having the academy built by craftsmen in the capital was the limit of what they could accept, so they let the matter drop for the time being.

We understand that those scholars are afraid that science will grow stronger and eventually replace Confucianism, so they are madly opposed to it and are not even afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang will raise his butcher knife again.

However, no matter how much resistance there is, we must push forward this matter. This is related to the future development of the Ming Dynasty, and we cannot allow such pedantic literati to try to stop a chariot with their bare hands!

There is another problem. Although the number of qualified workers in Yingtian Prefecture is barely sufficient at present, this is because after we reformed the official introduction system, Yingtian Prefecture has attracted cultural people from surrounding areas and even the Lianghuai area.

Lao Li, you once told me that developed regions will attract talents from underdeveloped regions, which will lead to slow development of underdeveloped regions. I wonder if we can use the transfer payment method you mentioned to compensate them. But how should the transfer payment be implemented?

By the way, today Huaiqing led Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Gaochi and other children to play in the palace, saying that they were filming a movie.

We took a look at it and found it quite interesting and full of childlike fun, so we'll pass it on to you and give Huaiqing some guidance.

But this reminds us that maybe the Ming Dynasty can also make its own movie.

By the way, Lao Li, do you think our Lao Zhu is suitable to play a major role, just like Li Yunlong in The Bright Sword? Let’s also shoot a Bright Sword of the Ming Dynasty, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when the Yuan court was corrupt and cruel, and the people were living in misery. Our Lao Zhu rose up, shouted the slogan of expelling the Tartars and restoring China, and bravely drew the sword against the Yuan court.

Old Li, what do you think of this idea?
This will not only show Zhu's great ambition to rule the world, but also show the hardships he faced when he started the rebellion. It will also let the people know how hard it was to establish the Ming Dynasty and rebuild the Han Dynasty."

Having written this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but start fantasizing in his mind that the people all over the country were witnessing the majestic appearance of their emperor through the white curtain. Wow, this feeling was so refreshing from the scalp to the heels!

"By the way, we asked Li Min to make two Dragon Controlling Heavenly Secret Furnaces, one for Xu Nian and one for Li Momo. Old Li, your friend is Old Zhu's friend. They are just making a few small gadgets. Just ask for it."

After finishing the letter, he put it in an envelope and called Zhu Funing again.

When Zhu Funing heard that he was going to give the movie he made to Li Han to watch, he immediately looked shy, but his eyes were full of joy.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but joked: "Huaiqing, are you reluctant to show it to him? Or just give up."

Zhu Funing's cheeks immediately puffed up, and Zhu Yuanzhang burst into laughter. Only when Li Han was mentioned did this girl act like a girl.

He copied the videos from his mobile phone to his computer, and then copied the videos to a USB drive. Now he is very proficient in using computers.

"Dad, what do you think of Li Han? Will he think that my daughter is unruly after seeing this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Funing with some distress and patted her head. "Don't think too much. Li Han is not that kind of pedantic person. Maybe after watching the movie you made, he will think you are very smart."

Zhu Funing immediately smiled happily, then skipped away.

He put the USB drive into an envelope, sealed it, and went to the Buddhist temple. He then personally moved the two Dragon Yu Tianji Furnaces to the Buddhist table.

This matter has to be done by him personally. Although people in the palace probably already know that the Buddhist temple is not simple, the secrets contained in it must never be revealed to others.

Without Zhu's order, no one, not even Empress Ma, could enter. As for what was in this Buddhist temple, let others guess.

After placing the letter on it, a blue light appeared, and then the letter and the Long Yu Tian Ji Furnace disappeared.

Although he had seen this scene many times, Zhu Yuanzhang always felt it was extremely magical every time. This also made him confirm once again that Lao Li was definitely not an ordinary person!

(End of this chapter)