Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 84: What I Saw When I Returned to Beijing, I Feel Wronged! [Please Read]

Crossed the bridge.

Entering the city, Zhu Di felt that the capital had not changed much compared to when he left last year, except that it was a little more prosperous.

As a vassal king, he had to go to the palace to meet the emperor as soon as possible, unlike the other ministers who had to follow the rules when entering the capital.

Walking on the streets of the inner city, Zhu Di soon noticed something new - in a short while, he saw people carrying strange coal balls passing by twice.

Nowadays, many people in the north burn coal, and he has seen coal briquettes many times, whether in the capital or in Peking.

My impression is that the coal slime is kneaded into balls to facilitate trading and shipping.

But the two loads of coal briquettes I just saw looked like logs that had been sawed into short pieces, with eight or nine small round holes on them.

In addition, he also noticed that the people carrying coal all had happy faces and did not seem to feel the hardship of carrying the coal at all.

Not long after walking forward, Zhu Di saw someone pulling a large cart of coal with a mule.

He then stepped forward to stop the man and asked curiously, "Excuse me, are those coal briquettes on the cart?"

The driver was nervous at first after being stopped, but after hearing Zhu Di's words, his expression relaxed and he said, "General, this is honeycomb coal produced by the Qinglongshan Coal Plant."

Zhu Di asked again: "Is this honeycomb coal better than coal balls?"

The driver grinned and said, "Of course. With the coal factory's new coal stove, if you light it carefully, four or five honeycomb coals can burn for a whole day. They start fire quickly and produce little smoke. They are very useful."

"Is it really that useful?" Zhu Di was a little skeptical. "I see, honeycomb coal just has more holes than regular coal balls, doesn't it?"

"Let the General know that honeycomb coal isn't just a simple matter of having more holes. The coal slime has a specific recipe—in recent days, countless coal merchants in the capital have tried to imitate it, but none have been able to make it."

After hearing this, Zhu Di felt that it made sense.

Then I thought, there are few trees in the north, and it is difficult for both wealthy families and ordinary people to get firewood. If honeycomb coal is easy to use and inexpensive, it would be suitable for promotion to the north.

So I asked, "Since honeycomb coal is so easy to use, it should be much more expensive than coal briquettes, right?"

The driver hurriedly said, "It's more expensive, but only two cents a pound. This honeycomb coal is as good as charcoal, but it lasts longer. The cheapest charcoal is three or four cents a pound."

Zhu Di nodded and said to the guards following behind him: "Reward him with a hundred coins."

The guard took out a banknote of the smallest denomination and handed it over.

The driver took it and bowed with great joy, "Thank you, General!"

The guard couldn't help but say, "This is not a general, but His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan."

"It's actually His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan..." The coachman was stunned for a moment.

Zhu Di had already led his team forward.

Not long after walking, Zhu Di saw a shop selling honeycomb coal. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a government shop because the shopkeeper was dressed like a clerk.

"Is the Qinglongshan Coal Yard a government-run operation? Why would a government-run operation sell coal to private individuals?"

Zhu Di didn't understand for a moment and kept muttering to himself.

After walking for a while, when passing by a roadside tea stall, Zhu Di heard the conversation of two tea drinkers.

"I heard that many wealthy families have been in turmoil over the issue of foot unbinding these past two days. The Wang family in our lane is in such a mess that the neighbors can hear it."

"Who says it isn't? I just can't understand it. Isn't it just to ban foot binding? The emperor has issued an order, so why not just follow it?"

"Brother Qi, you don't understand, do you? Rich families love girls with bound feet, and the higher the family status, the more so. Some women bind their daughters' feet at the age of six or seven so they can marry into a wealthy family. The bound feet are so small, no longer than a man's palm."

"How can you work in the fields with such small feet? Even if you don't work in the fields, it will be inconvenient to walk, right?"

"Brother Qi, you don't understand again, right? Women from wealthy families either never leave the main gate or the secondary gate, and when they do go out, they usually ride in a sedan chair. When they do walk, they're very slow. Scholars have a term for it: the lotus step."

"The hobbies of these literati are really strange. I really can't understand them."

"Hehe, so you're not a scholar." At this point, the man lowered his voice, "I heard that it was Empress Ma who brought this up, because she was..."

At this point, the tea drinker finally noticed Zhu Di and others who were standing on the street. He was startled and quickly shut up.

The guard saw that Zhu Di looked unhappy, so he leaned closer and asked, "Your Highness, do you want to arrest this man?"

Zhu Di shook his head. "Forget it. He didn't say anything... This is not something I should be involved in."

He rode forward, his mind pondering, "Did the Emperor issue an edict banning foot binding?"

"Could it be because some people are criticizing my mother?"

"Given Father's temperament, it's not impossible—but why didn't Mother persuade him?"

With doubts, Zhu Di came to the Forbidden City.

The hundred-man guards stayed outside the palace, and only a few personal guards followed him in.

After reporting outside Fengxian Hall, he was soon allowed in.

After entering, Zhu Di saw his elder brother Zhu Biao there, so he bowed and paid his respects, "Your son pays homage to the emperor, and your younger brother pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Flat body."

"Thank you, Father!"

Zhu Biao then said, "My fourth brother has come all the way back to the capital. It must have been very hard."

Zhu Di smiled and said, "We took a lot of boats along the way, and only rode a horse for a while in Jiangbei. It wasn't hard at all."

Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Fourth brother, you're riding a horse to cross the river bridge, right?"

"Haha, big brother understands me."

As he spoke, Zhu Di felt that there was something strange in the way his father and elder brother looked at him, but he couldn't tell what was strange.

Just when he was wondering if his feeling was wrong, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang say: "Fourth Brother, I want to ask you something, and you must answer truthfully."

Zhu Di saw Zhu Yuanzhang's serious expression and became inexplicably nervous. He replied, "Father, please feel free to ask."

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at him and asked, "If your elder brother dies in the future and Xiongying ascends the throne, if you think he is not as good as you in terms of emperor performance, will you replace him?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di was struck by lightning and was completely stunned.

It took him two breaths to come back to his senses. He hurriedly said with confusion and grievance, "How could your Majesty question me like this? According to the rules set by your Majesty, the throne belongs only to the eldest son of the legitimate family. How could your son have any other thoughts?"

Zhu Biao standing aside showed a look of reluctance.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "You just say yes or no!"

Zhu Di said without hesitation: "I will never commit such a treasonous act!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "Okay, I'm relieved to hear your words. However, you must remember my answer today."

Zhu Di was increasingly puzzled, but still replied, "Yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Go to Rouyi Palace to see your mother, then return home to rest and come back to the palace tomorrow."

"Yes, I will retire."

After Zhu Di left Fengxian Hall, Zhu Biao couldn't help but say with some worry, "Father, I'm afraid today's incident will make Fourth Brother feel uneasy. If he learns the truth, he might even resent Liu Kuan."

Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "This matter cannot be concealed. If he were to find out bit by bit in the future, his resentment would only grow even greater."

"As for resentment towards Liu Kuan—what do you think of the Fourth Brother's character? Is he the type who gets easily upset and is petty?"

Zhu Biao said, "My fourth brother is a cheerful and generous person, certainly not a narrow-minded person. But it was Liu Kuan's arrival that made us aware of the Jingnan Campaign."

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment, then changed his tone to a casual one, saying, "Biao'er, among our sons, the seventh and younger are still young, so it's hard to tell."

"But among those above you, besides you, the fourth one is the most outstanding. The fifth and sixth ones are also okay, but the second, third, and seventh ones are all very worrying."

"Although the Fourth Brother did participate in the Jingnan Campaign in history, according to Liu Kuan, he was mostly forced into it. Besides, this isn't something that happened yet, so we can't just imprison him for that, right?"

Zhu Biao smiled bitterly, "What are you thinking, Father? I have absolutely no doubts about my fourth brother. Besides, now that we know what will happen, we will never let things escalate to the stage of the Jingnan Rebellion."

"I simply don't want my fourth brother to fall out with Liu Kuan over this matter. Both my fourth brother and Liu Kuan are the future pillars of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled with satisfaction after hearing this, but then said, "Biao'er, remember, discord among close ministers is not necessarily a bad thing."

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(End of this chapter)