Chapter 89 The Big Spinning Wheel
Zhu Zhan basically thought that the weaving room and the main hall were not far apart, but he didn't expect that as soon as he walked out of the main hall, there was already someone waiting at the door with a horse.
Zhu Yuhuan noticed his father's gaze and explained with a smile, "Didn't Dad just say that the river flowing through the imperial farm has been widened? One reason is that it's for the convenience of the weaving room. The journey is a bit far, so please go there on horseback."
The father and daughter mounted their horses together and rode leisurely along the main road of the imperial farm.
Zhu Zhanji glanced at the farmlands not far away. There was a haystack in every four fields, as if they were placed there on purpose.
Unlike neatly stacked haystacks, these haystacks have nothing special about them except that they are piled together.
Zhu Yuhuan noticed Zhu Zhanji's gaze and explained, "Those piles of grass are made of poor-quality straw and damaged rice and millet. Some will be used as fertilizer later, while others will be burned into ash to nourish the farmland."
Seeing how familiar she was with these things, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but jokingly said, "I never thought that the Princess Shunde, who is praised by everyone, is so knowledgeable about farming."
Zhu Yuhuan responded with a smile: "When the world is at peace, who wouldn't want to be a farmer?"
This response resonated deeply with Zhu Zhanji. He couldn't help but burst into laughter and praised, "Well said!"
Wang Jin followed behind, and was even more convinced of Princess Shunde. No wonder Princess Shunde had never fallen out of favor from Yongle to now. This kind of cleverness alone was not something that ordinary people could learn.
In this palace, who could soothe a fierce tiger king like His Majesty as Princess Shunde did? Even the Empress Dowager couldn't say everything she said to His Majesty.
As soon as Zhu Zhanji arrived at the door of the weaving room, he heard an unfamiliar sound coming from inside. The woman supervising the work at the door, Ren, was Zhao Qisan's wife. When she saw Zhu Zhanji, she immediately realized that this was the father of Her Royal Highness the Princess, the current Emperor, and hurriedly knelt down to pay her respects.
Zhu Zhanji waved his hand and walked into the weaving room. Inside, he saw six spinning looms, each two meters high and nine meters long. These complex structures were a combination of a waterwheel and a spinning frame. Each loom had thirty-two spindles, each driven by two leather cords. The spindles rotated, and the strings followed the wheels, which in turn moved all the looms, quickly producing a spool of yarn. One loom produced thirty-two spools, and six looms produced a total of one hundred and ninety-two spools.
Zhu Yuhuan glanced at Ren, who immediately introduced the story fluently: "This is a water-powered spinning wheel modeled after the one in the Book of Agriculture. However, ever since Taizu started planting cotton, the spinning wheel breaks whenever it pulls the cotton, and people have thrown it away to gather dust. Unexpectedly, the princess and the craftsmen came up with an idea and added something..."
Zhu Yuhuan added, "Cotton-stretching wheel."
In fact, she didn't know what this device was called, but she understood that cotton broke because it was too inflexible, so she wanted to ask the craftsmen to help come up with a device to alleviate the problem of cotton breaking. The device should be placed before the yarn is wrapped around the spindle, and the two strands of yarn would be twisted one more time before being twisted into one strand.
When she mentioned what she knew, Ren was less nervous and explained, "With this set of wheels, the cotton won't break, and we can spin the cotton thread quickly."
Zhao Qisan nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Highness ordered us to build a new dam that can control the speed of the water flow. When it's hemp, it's fast, and when it's cotton, it's slow, but it's still much faster than hand-cranking or foot-pedaling!"
Zhu Zhanji had some knowledge of farming, but he knew nothing about things like spinning and weaving. Seeing that the spinning wheel was running smoothly without any stagnation, he could only ask questions about what he knew.
"Why is this spindle upright?" Zhu Zhanji leaned forward slightly to observe the rapidly spinning spindle and said, "During the Yongle period, the Empress Dowager and the Empress urged the concubines in the palace to spin yarn and weave cloth and sell them to raise funds. I have seen the Empress's spinning machine, and the spindle is clearly horizontal."
Speaking of this, Zhao Qi was extremely proud and said, "This was his Highness's idea! He said it would look like a bun when it's erected!"
Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but hold her forehead in her heart. Meeting Zhu Zhanji's gaze, she smiled and said, "After all, it relies on the water flow to spin the yarn. If it is placed horizontally, it will accidentally get tangled, which will be bad. Putting it vertically is more stable."
Zhu Zhanji nodded in understanding, then straightened up and said, "There's only spinning, but no weaving?"
Zhu Yuhuan felt a little guilty and just said, "In the other room, they are researching patterns. Water-powered weaving is a bit difficult and requires a lot of effort from the craftsmen."
There was no way. She had seen the spinning Jenny in textbooks and the water-powered spinning wheel in the "Book of Agriculture" in this life, but she had never learned to weave in both lives combined. She only had a general understanding of the principles of weaving and understood that this process was more complicated than spinning. Naturally, Zhu Yuhuan could not do it with her limited knowledge.
Otherwise, why would she ask Shi Jing to find women in the south of the city who were good at weaving? She herself did not have this talent, but that did not mean that the tenants' wives did not understand it. What if there were some women who were proficient in it?
Zhu Zhanji tapped her forehead and said half-jokingly, "Aren't the craftsmen at Wunong Temple remaking farm tools? Why are you using public property for your own benefit? Let them help you think about the spinning and looms?"
Using public property for personal gain is no small sin, but Zhu Yuhuan was not afraid. Instead, he said with a smile, "This is just a break from my busy schedule. I was just watching, but the craftsmen noticed and took advantage of their break to help me find a way. In the end, I actually made it. Besides, they say men farm and women weave. Just making farm tools isn't enough; weaving is also a serious matter."
Zhu Zhanji shook his head helplessly. Listening to the swish of the spinning wheel, he couldn't help feeling happy. He raised his lips and asked Zhu Yuhuan, "What's the other surprise?"
"This time, the water-powered spinning wheel was able to produce a good harvest thanks to Father's gift of the Imperial Farm. Secondly, I privately consulted Ruan An, the palace historian, and provided him with detailed maps and topography of the Imperial Farm. Ruan Banban was then able to draw the blueprint for the dam." Zhu Yuhuan suppressed a smile and bowed solemnly. "I was on a border patrol with Father and saw the Lu River flooding, ruining the people's harvest. I would like to recommend Ruan Banban to you to repair the Lu River's water conservancy project. This will not only benefit the people, but also facilitate the passage of grain ships on the canal."
Zhu Zhanji was somewhat impressed by the name Ruan An. He looked at Wang Jin beside him and asked, "Is this Ruan An from your hometown?"
Wang Jin quickly replied, "Yes, Ruan An and I are both from Jiaozhi. He does have some knowledge of mathematics and construction..."
"No wonder." Zhu Zhanji laughed dumbly and said, "You know them very well."
Zhu Yuhuan was not panicked, and said with a smile: "I also heard it from the young eunuchs in the inner study hall. Ruan Banban is well versed in classics and history, and occasionally gives them lectures. Daddy forgot that Huai En, who is beside me, is studying in the inner study hall. I also met Ruan Banban when the imperial concubine was pregnant."
Zhu Zhanji then remembered this incident and after a moment's contemplation, he said, "It's not appropriate to let him oversee such a large-scale water conservancy project for the first time. The Tongji River is often blocked, which makes it difficult for the moat to flow smoothly. Let him do this first."
Seeing this, Zhu Yuhuan bowed again and said, "My daughter thanks you on behalf of Ruan Banban."
Zhu Zhanji pulled his daughter up and said with a smile, "The court officials have quite a few objections to my heavy use of eunuchs. Why are you going against them?"
Zhu Yuhuan acted completely unconcerned and said, "As the saying goes, one should appoint people based on their merits. As long as they have talent and can benefit the people, they can be eunuchs or court officials, and anyone can do it."
Zhu Zhanji was very pleased to see her courage and said, "That's right." After that, he couldn't help but feel a little worried. "For such a surprise, I don't know how to reward you for the moment."
Zhu Yuhuan was shy and a little embarrassed. After a long pause, he finally said, "Daddy, if you want to reward me, why not give me a chance to go to Jiangnan? I haven't even seen the scenery of Nanzhili yet."
Zhu Zhanji didn't expect her to have such thoughts. He shook his head helplessly and said, "You, your heart is getting wilder and wilder. Even the north can't let you go." He rubbed Zhu Yuhuan's head and said, "We'll talk about this later. You've been patrolling the border for nearly a month. You've never been away from your mother for so long. She must miss you."
After all, she is a girl and will get married and leave the palace in the future. I don’t know what kind of prince consort can subdue her.
Although Zhu Zhanji did not agree, it was not completely impossible, so Zhu Yuhuan agreed with a smile.
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