Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 430: Zhu Yunwen's little thoughts, how did Kaiping Diaolou come about? [Please subscribe]

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, greenhouses are indeed an important agricultural technology in later generations. They mainly refer to the use of materials such as glass or plastic film to build relatively closed and light-transmitting sheds."

"Then, through electricity, drip irrigation and other facilities, we control the internal temperature, moisture and even the nutrients needed by the crops, allowing for highly precise cultivation."

"In this way, even in the harsh winter, we can use greenhouses to produce vegetables and fruits that are only available in spring and summer. Even in the icy and snowy conditions of Luohuangdusi, we can grow Jiangnan fruits and vegetables, and even produce quite high yields."

"Your Majesty should remember that future generations planned to build an underground base on the moon, where they would grow rice, fruits, vegetables, and other crops to achieve self-sufficiency."

"Greenhouse technology is one of the keys to achieving this goal. By simulating the environment required by crops and providing them with a suitable growth space, agricultural production can be carried out even in extreme environments."

Zhu Yuanzhang was pleasantly surprised after listening to Liu Kuan’s explanation of greenhouse cultivation technology.

In his opinion, although it is difficult for Ming Dynasty to use this technology now, it will be of great use in the future - in his mind, any technology that is beneficial to agriculture will be of great use.

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said, "After hearing my brother-in-law's explanation, I remember that the Book of Han recorded the practice of using houses and charcoal fires to protect and cultivate vegetables."

"There are also records of fruit and vegetable cultivation near hot springs in the Tang Dynasty. Liao Dynasty historical books even mention an extraordinary incident of watermelons being grown in the north using the 'straw dung covering' technique."

"Thinking about it now, these should be the exploration of greenhouse cultivation technology by our ancestors."

After listening to Zhu Biao's words, Liu Kuan also remembered something and said, "Come to think of it, I do remember that the Ming Dynasty later developed a greenhouse cultivation technology in Beijing that was a little more advanced than the previous generation, allowing the royal family to eat some fruits and vegetables in winter."

"I don't know if it's because it's expensive to make, so it wasn't widely used, and the royal family could only enjoy it in small quantities."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "We don't have plastic film in the Ming Dynasty, but we do have glass and electricity. Can we now do real greenhouse cultivation?"

"This winter, there really aren't many fresh vegetables to eat. It would be great if my sister and I could have a few bites, and even let the people buy some too."

Liu Kuan pondered for a moment and said, "Given the current conditions in Daming, we can indeed develop greenhouse cultivation technology."

"After the government office opens, I can set up a research institute under the Tiangong Academy to specifically handle this matter."

At this time, Zhu Yunwen, who was already a young man of thirteen or fourteen, suddenly raised his hand and said, "Grandpa Emperor, Teacher, I want to participate in this research."

"Your Majesty, I also want to participate in this research." Zhu Zhi, the King of Liao who was the same age as Zhu Yunwen, raised his hand.

"I want to, too."

"Me too."

Zhu Zan and Zhu Quan, who were one year younger than the two, also raised their hands to request, and for a moment the atmosphere became like a classroom.

"Hahaha, good." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed. "Since you've all finished the main course, why don't you all participate in this research together and strive to achieve results as soon as possible."

Zhu Yunwen felt a little helpless. He didn't expect that there would be people vying for such a job. It was too difficult for him to make any contribution.

That’s right, Zhu Yunwen took the initiative to request to participate and even preside over the greenhouse research, not only because of curiosity, but mainly because he wanted to accumulate merit - although it was not military merit, but perhaps when Zhu Biao ascended the throne in the future, he could ask for it and turn similar merit into military merit?
In that case, he could also go out to sea and establish a fiefdom earlier.

He didn't really yearn for military life, but now it seems that after the "greenhouse cultivation research" mission is completed, he still has to go to the army for some training, or even go to the frontier or overseas to make meritorious deeds.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang asked a few more questions about greenhouse cultivation before letting Liu Kuan play the last video.

The video is titled "This building exploded! Guangdong's only world cultural heritage site!"

Noticing that the host was the Planetary Research Institute that produced high-quality videos, the Zhu family became intrigued and began to watch with great interest.

"The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying!"

The video actually began with a clip from a movie they had seen before, "Let the Bullets Fly."

Then, I saw the male commentator I had seen in the Yin Shang Fengshen video last year standing on a four-story Western-style building, holding a telescope and reciting the lines from the movie. With several other Western-style buildings behind him that incorporated traditional Chinese elements, it actually matched the movie "Let the Bullets Fly" very well.

"A hundred years ago, 3000 watchtowers rose from the ground in Guangdong. They were a mix of Chinese and Western, local and foreign, strange and bizarre."

With the first sentence of the commentary, various watchtowers appeared in the camera, which made Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others look surprised.

When they watched "Let the Bullets Fly" that year, they thought the architectural style was very strange. They didn't think much about it at the time and just thought it was deliberately built by later generations for filming the movie.

But now when I see these watchtowers, I realize that the style of the real watchtowers is even more bizarre than those in the movies.

I saw the most eye-catching watchtower among them. The Islamic-style dome and the Western-style divided spire seemed to be integrated into one. Below it was a cement-carved and lacquered "such and such Pavilion". The corners of the walls were decorated with Chinese auspicious beasts, and the fence pillars were Western style... It's hard to describe.

The most important thing is that everyone just thinks its style is weird, but not ugly, and it even has a strange architectural beauty.

Kaiping Diaolou is a nationally protected cultural relic site and Guangdong's only World Cultural Heritage site. So, what happened in Kaiping, Guangdong over a century ago to give rise to so many bizarre Diaolou?

"Brothers, let us take office in Kaiping together!" Four big red characters "Kaiping Diaolou" appeared on the screen, and then it was pierced by a bullet, and the video entered the main topic.

"If I were born in troubled times, I would build a castle for myself."

The narrator appeared again on the roof of a blockhouse, holding a Mauser pistol, shooting at the enemies outside, with bursts of gunfire.

"In the movie, Huang Silang threw down his hat here and disappeared in the rubble. But unlike the movie, this real-life watchtower, built in 1925, has withstood the brunt of the gunfire and remains impregnable a century later."

The video camera zoomed out, allowing everyone to see the entire blockhouse.

"The four corners of the roof are designed into protruding cylindrical shapes, commonly known as swallow's nests, with shooting holes on them, which are conducive to multi-angle shooting."

"All the doors and windows are made of thick iron plates, just like a military fortress."

"What were the people of Kaiping on guard against a hundred years ago? Were they really bandits?"

The video then begins to tell the story of Kaiping's past using a semi-deductive approach, supplemented by some footage.

"In 1913, news broke in Kaiping that the county magistrate had been kidnapped by bandits!"

"It's clear that the content of the movie 'Let the Bullets Fly' is not completely fabricated - those are not ordinary bandits, but armed groups with hundreds or even thousands of people, equipped with modern guns and cannons, and they may even be local warlords."

After seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others understood - the situation was just as they had guessed before, because so many watchtowers were built among the people during the troubled times.

This is similar to the fact that during the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, landlords and powerful people liked to build forts or large mansions with military functions.

The following content of the video also confirmed their guess.

"In fact, as early as the late Ming Dynasty, Kaiping people had the habit of building castles - this is the oldest surviving watchtower in Kaiping. Look how thick its walls are, nearly one meter."

In the video, the narrator enters a mottled watchtower in traditional Chinese style and gives a practical introduction.

"And the entire house only has this tiny window used as a firing hole. What kind of world would allow the people of Kaiping to build their homes like this?"

"China's repeated turbulent times gave rise to a series of fortress-like defensive structures. These include the towering watchtowers of western Sichuan, the Hakka earthen buildings shaped like missile silos, and the sprawling mansions of Shanxi."

"The original Kaiping Diaolou were similar in style to these buildings, but the chaotic times of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China had already surpassed the swordplay of the cold weapon era, thus pushing the architectural style of Kaiping Diaolou in a different direction..."

In the video, the commentator takes the camera into a five-story reinforced concrete blockhouse, only to see that the inner floors have long disappeared and the building is hollow, but the blockhouse is still standing and appears to be very solid.

"It was a time when the outside world was advancing rapidly. Gold mines, railways, foreigners, bandits, thousands of Kaiping people had to go overseas to work in order to survive, and some were even sold to foreign countries as pigs."

"The port was packed with Chinese people waiting to board ships. Fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, all yearning for the gold mountains overseas that would allow them to change their fate."

"However, during voyages lasting dozens of days or even months, they were crammed into small, dark cabins, where disease, hunger, and even death awaited them."

"Of all the people on a boat, sometimes only 70% can make it to shore alive. But is that safe once you're ashore? No, the gamble has just begun."

In the video, the commentator came to the gate of a relatively ordinary blockhouse.

"Across the entrance to this building, called 'Ye Sheng Ju Lu,' hangs a couplet: Youth thrives, the yellow race strives for strength!"

"One can imagine what the poster went through overseas to hang such a permanent couplet on his doorstep."

"It was a period of national humiliation filled with blood and tears. Overseas Chinese workers were treated as worthless as ants. They were sent to open mountains, dig mines, and build railways. They did the most dangerous work and received the meager wages, keeping only enough to survive and sending the rest back home..."

The video played to this point, finally explaining how the Kaiping Diaolou were built, but it made Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiongying and others feel upset.

Zhu Biao originally had some objections to the Ming Dynasty's current practice of immigrating Japanese men to Southeast Asia to open up wasteland, build roads and even fight wars.

But now, after learning from the video about the miserable fate of overseas Chinese workers in later generations, he began to reflect.

The video then turns back to the theme of Kaiping Diaolou - taking the famous "Rui Shi Lou" as the starting point, it introduces how Kaiping people mainly use Diaolou, forming a group of Diaolou in the same village, and then building a defense system of dense bamboo forests and ponds to cope with conflicts in troubled times.

Soon, the video introduced a long couplet, which caught Zhu Biao's attention again.

"Cloud dragon, wind tiger, encounter always in mind, however, the ambition is not worried, only win the lake and sea life, empty mountain years."

"Life is like a dream, a phantom of the night-blooming cereus. Why not let your passion run wild and live up to this beautiful spring scene, a great piece of writing?"

The horizontal banner reads "Only talk about love and romance."

(End of this chapter)