Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 92 The Xunzhou Incident: The Wheels of History Roll Forward
With Wang Ao handing over the gift list, Zhang Fu and his wife felt relieved.

He originally thought that his younger sister Zhang Xiuping was compromising and that she must know that her brother was not having an easy time in the court, and that the current emperor was tyrannical, so she obeyed the imperial decree.

Now it seems at least we won't be bullied.

I've heard that Prince Qi is a reckless and unruly person.

If what's unfolding in the sky is the truth, wouldn't that ensure his sister lives a good life from now on?!

Zhang Fu remained calm and composed, simply ordering his servants to welcome the procession delivering the betrothal gifts into his residence. He also invited Wang Ao, as the personal envoy of the two mansions, to have a simple meal at his residence.

This was in accordance with the rules, so Wang Ao accepted the order and stayed.

After all, staying behind to see what kind of food Zhang Fu's family was eating would be very valuable for Prince Qi.

Meanwhile, inside the palace, Zhu Di sat quietly alone.

No palace maid dared to disturb him, except for a eunuch named Gou'er, who had recently won Zhu Di's favor.

"Your Majesty, you have been worrying and working hard all day, which is really bad for your health."

Zhu Di pretended not to hear.

"Why not have some sweet soups or drinks? They'll be more soothing and help clear your mind."

The dog observed Zhu Di's expression.

Not saying anything is a good thing; not frowning is an even better thing.

"Someone is coming."

With a wave of his hand, the palace maid who had been waiting for a long time finally brought over the sweet soup she was carrying.

"These are lotus seeds from Jiangnan, preserved with the finest honey, and then..."

Before Gou'er could finish speaking, Zhu Di picked up the bowl and gulped it down in one go.

Clean and tidy.

Boom!
The bowl was slammed onto the table, wobbled twice, and thankfully didn't fall.

The dog knew that this was all it could say.

He waved his hand, ordering the palace maids to clean up.

The hall was quiet; even the dog found its own breathing noisy.

Just then, the sky opened up once again.

Zhu Di remembered that he had been locked in his room before, allowing him to watch alone, and immediately shouted, "Close the door! Close the hall! No one is allowed to come in!"

"Yes!"

The dog didn't know why, but it knew what it was supposed to do.

He hurriedly ordered all the doors and windows to be closed, and stayed by Zhu Di's side.

This is the reigning emperor; he cannot be without someone by his side.

"You go out too."

Zhu Di frowned.

Who knows what will happen when the sky bursts open!

"Yes."

The dog was well-behaved, backing away as it prepared to go out.

Just as he was about to step out the door, with his foot already raised, Zhu Di changed his mind again.

"return."

"Yes."

The dog did as instructed, closed the door, and returned to the palace.

The Emperor's intentions cannot be guessed, nor should they be.

The dog knew that its job was to stay by the dog's side.

He wasn't Zhu Di's longest-serving favorite, but he was recently the most popular. This was because he was a man of few words, tight-lipped, and decisive in his actions.

[Dear friends, after the previous update, some fans left messages hoping I could talk about the glorious history of our Ming Zhongzu Emperor in more detail. This great emperor of all time didn't just have that title, right?]

I understand you all so well. Sometimes, the empty words in textbooks are meaningless. What's most meaningful? It's the details that concern our lives!

Today, I'll show you what daily life was like in Xunzhou under the construction of Emperor Zhongzu of the Ming Dynasty. First, as we mentioned before, if you're a visitor to Xunzhou, you need to get your passport stamped. With your passport, you can move freely within Xunzhou.

The scene shifted from the building called the Customs House to the streets of Xunzhou.

The houses were neatly arranged, with roads connecting them in all directions, and red and green lights flashing at each street corner.

"What is this? Have you ever seen it before?"

Zhu Di pointed at the dog and asked.

"Your Majesty, even you, with your vast knowledge and experience, have never seen such a thing, let alone this humble servant."

The dog was also very curious.

The roads here are comparable to the Sixteen Thoroughfares of the capital!

This is the earliest traffic light personally designed by Emperor Zhu Gaoshuo. Let's see how it was used.

As soon as the red light flashed, pedestrians on both sides stopped automatically; when the green light flashed, they started walking together again.

When the people of Xunzhou saw this, they treated it as an everyday occurrence, showing no surprise whatsoever, and everyone acted in accordance with the rules.

They've managed to educate the people so well!

Could it be that there are secret guards?

[With the installation of traffic lights, traffic conditions in Xunzhou have improved significantly. Collisions between pedestrians and vehicles are reduced, and transportation efficiency has been greatly increased.]

Of course, we all know that if everyone walks, traffic lights are not very useful. The traffic lights in Xunzhou were only built after the number of vehicles reached a certain level.

The vehicles in Xunzhou were different from those elsewhere because before the Ming Dynasty, ordinary families couldn't afford to ride in carriages.

[As for Xunzhou, when Zhongzu was still the Prince of Qi, he directly broke the restrictions.]

He said vehicles are merely tools for movement, and people shouldn't be limited by them.

Even if there are differences in social status, they should be determined by a person's talent and ability, not by the vehicle they ride in.

So next, let's take a look at the vehicles in Xunzhou.

As the scene shifts, vehicles come and go side by side on the streets of Xunzhou.

These vehicles all resemble horse-drawn carriages in appearance, but they are not pulled by horses.

"This...this carriage can move on its own?!" Zhu Di exclaimed in surprise.

Could it be that the fourth brother discovered some incredible evil magic in Xunzhou?!

[You read that right, these vehicles use steam technology.]

When water boils, it produces steam. When this steam is trapped in a confined space, pressure is created. This is why we often see steam push open the lid of a kettle.

Through pipes and gears, steam is transformed into the power source for the vehicle.

That's what gears are like.

As he spoke, a circular piece of wood appeared on the screen, with a ring of serrated defects around the edge, evenly spaced and uniform in size.

The gears started spinning on the screen.

The rotation of gears drives the rotation of wheels.

However, since a single gear has a limited capacity, you can think of increasing the wheel's diameter.

This is how our wheeled vehicle came to be.

However, a gear rotates very slowly. In such cases, a combination of gears of different sizes can be used. The smaller gear has a smaller radius and rotates faster, driving the larger gear with a larger radius.

This is a differential gear.

Through systematic design and manufacturing, it is possible to generate steam by burning very little coal, thereby propelling the vehicle.

[This is how the Qiwang chariot, manufactured in Xunzhou, came to be.]

coal?!
This kid actually used coal to do such a pointless thing!

So, his true nature is still to eat, drink, and have fun, isn't it?

No, my fourth brother isn't that simple.

Zhu Di became suspicious.

(End of this chapter)