A few sturdy chamberlains worked together to unload a long, narrow wooden trough from the huge flatbed cart with two rows of wheels. Those who are close can clearly see that the wooden trough is full of water, and there is a small boat floating in it. The boat was no more than a foot long, and at first glance it was not a particularly delicate thing, and it was not even qualified as a tool for the eunuchs.

Zhang Shou completely ignored some of the commotion in the main hall, and when things were stable and the water in the wooden trough gradually stabilized, he stepped forward, reached out and fiddled with the boat in the trough a few times, and after a while stood silently aside. In front of everyone's eyes, for a long time, everyone on the left and right saw that the boat did not move at all,

At this moment, the Confucian scholar, who had just been-for-tat with Zhang Shou, suddenly couldn't help it. He shouted: "Zhang Shou, this is the Wenhua Hall Feast, you think this is a place to play monkey show!" ”

Zhang Shou glanced at the angry bachelor and said lightly, "What is the scripture?" The writings of the sages that expound the principles of the world are the scriptures. However, the principle of all things in the world is not only to teach people to behave and behave. ”

He paused as he spoke, then raised his hand and pointed to the wooden trough, and said with a smile: "For example, the Confucius scholars, who claim to have read the scriptures and history to the fullest, just said that the small countries that are 108,000 miles away from me are not to be feared, because they cannot fly here with wings. However, there is something in this world that is not inferior to the wings of a bird, but you have never noticed it before. ”

Whether it was a person who scoffed at it or a person who was full of interest, at this time, because of Zhang Shou's gesture, they couldn't help but look at the wooden trough. This time, they were shocked to find that the small boat that had not moved at all just now actually emitted a white smoke from the top, and then it moved forward in an instant, so fast that most of the people who couldn't take their eyes off it were just amazed, and the boat crashed directly into the other end of the wooden trough.

And a sturdy chamberlain who was guarding there wore thick gloves, and quickly stretched out his hand to pick up the small boat that had turned out of the wooden trough because of the urgency of castration, and then he couldn't help but take a step back, and then he shouted in a low voice: "This little boat is so strong! ”

"Put the top spring down, don't point the top hole at yourself, to prevent burns!"

Zhang Shou hurriedly reminded that when he saw that the chamberlain carefully complied with them one by one, and finally put the boat firmly on the ground, he said with a smile: "Sea ships rely on sails, river ships rely on sails and rudder oars, if the wind direction is unfavorable, even if the experienced boatman is unable to hurry quickly." However, there was no wind in the hall just now, and no one was rowing on this small boat. ”

"Although the wooden trough is only a dozen feet, the ship is visible to the naked eye in it, and in that case, the Confucian scholar may tell me whether the ship has wings or how it moves?"

Confucius University was simply crazy by Zhang Shou's question. But before he could reply, he heard a fierce voice: "Zhang Shou, you dare to ask!" This is clearly your demon law, and you actually show your demon law at this grand Wenhua Hall scripture feast! ”

Hearing the word demon law, Zhang Shou didn't even move his eyelids, and he didn't even bother to find the person who spoke. Because he really remembers that voice, who else is not a self-righteous second prince? He smiled and said calmly: "For people who don't know the principles of the world and only have interests and losses in their hearts, when they see this boat that they can move, they naturally think it's a demon law." ”

Without waiting for the other people in the Wenhua Hall to react, he looked up at the three princes who were standing beside the emperor with shining eyes, and asked with a smile: "But, dare to ask the three princes, what did you think of when you saw this boat?" ”

"I ......" The third prince didn't expect Zhang Shou to ask him. He hesitated for a moment, and then said calmly, "I just wanted to estimate how fast this ship is, if the sails are hung up again, how long will it take to sail from Ningbo to Tianjin when the wind is downwind, and how much time and manpower can be saved by transporting grain from the south to the north." And ......"

Although he knew that some people would suspect that he and Zhang Shou were teaming up to make a show, he still couldn't help asking: "Also, when the wind is headwind, if you lower the sails and use this boat, will you be able to sail against the wind at sea, and how fast can you go out in this way?" In this way, when the wind direction is not right, is it not necessary to only take the Cao River and not the sea route? After all, the Cao River needs manpower to paddle, such as the waterway from Tianjin to Beijing, because there is often siltation, and even many places need slender men. ”

The third prince had a lot of questions in his heart, and he wanted to continue to talk about it, but when he heard his father next to him suddenly cough, he realized that at this time, he was not in the Jiuzhang Hall of the Guozijian, nor in the Kunning Palace where Zhang Shou taught him these days, but at the Wenhua Hall scripture banquet, which was not suitable for teachers and students to ask and answer such a question.

He hurriedly took a light breath, and then said in a deep voice: "However, the teacher shows this boat on this Wenhua Palace, does he want to say that this boat also contains a truth that we haven't discovered before?" ”

Zhang Shou nodded approvingly, still not caring about some resentful eyes behind him, and said calmly: "The benevolent see the benevolent, the wise see the wise, and there is no furrow in the chest, only the calculating person feels that this is a demon law." After all, whether it is a carriage or a horse, a sea boat or a river boat, although there have been many improvements over the years, if you want to improve the speed, at most it is to improve the sails, not to improve the power. ”

He took the boat from the sturdy chamberlain, and put it back into the trough, and when he saw that it was not moving, he played with it and let it turn in a circle.

Seeing that the boat was no longer moving, he said with a smile: "And this little boat is different, it has another kind of power in it. It was even a completely different power from the machine I used to pay tribute to the emperor's grandfather clock, which used the power of boiling water to boil. ”

It was only at this time that he slowly turned around, calmly looked at the second prince who was staring at him calmly, as if he wanted to swallow him, and said word by word: "And this is the truth about the demon law you just said, Second Prince!" ”

If he was somewhere else at this time, the second prince was sure that he would pounce directly and tear that hateful face and Zhang Shou's whole person to pieces, but he knew how difficult it was to be able to come to this Wenhua Hall today, so even if he was angry, he had to suppress it.

And he glanced sideways at the big brother next to him, his eyes revealing explicit contempt. It's all up to this, and you don't know how to fight to the death? Who do you think caused you to do this?

And the eldest prince, who was originally silent to the point of being a little confused, did not ignore the stimulation of the second prince after all.

In a dry voice, he said slowly: "The Wenhua Hall Banquet is a place where sages gather and talk about scriptures and history, doesn't Dr. Zhang think that it is grandstanding to use this place to talk about the rise and fall of foreign nations that others have never heard of, and to show these worldly principles that you claim can bring convenience?" ”

"But that's right, you are a sensationalist person, otherwise you would not have made the so-called more efficient and labor-saving spinning wheels and looms, which have harmed me to the point where I am now! They all say that I am the main culprit of the civil unrest in Cangzhou...... But ask yourself, after the spinning wheel and loom pass through the world, how many people will want food and clothing! ”

"Just these days, some weavers in Yangzhou who have been dismissed by the owner have gathered in front of the government to make trouble because they are desperate! If your ship is really built, how many boats will have no life because of it! ”

The eldest prince actually grew up, could it really be that the prison disaster made him sober? This is the thought that came to the hearts of many people in an instant. However, Zhu Ying frowned thoughtfully, feeling that something was wrong with this matter. Others are not familiar with the brothers of the eldest prince and the second prince, but she knows best.

Compared with the second prince who doesn't even bother to pretend and has always shown his tyrannical side, the eldest prince is good at disguise, but that disguise is just pretending to be Sven and pretending to be benevolent, but the person in his bones is the selfishness of the former queen. It would be wishful thinking to expect him to have any long-term insight.

Therefore, this set of words is definitely impossible for the eldest prince to think by himself, and someone must have taught him!

Thinking of this, Zhu Ying didn't care about the reaction of others at this time, stood up directly, walked quickly to the side of the Queen Mother, and then whispered: "Queen Mother, someone must have instigated them to stir up trouble!" ”

The Queen Mother quietly shook Zhu Ying's hand gently, but her eyes were still calmly looking at Zhang Shou standing in the middle of the Wenhua Palace. I saw that the person was still standing calmly, and he didn't seem to take the accusations of the eldest prince to heart, but he didn't open his mouth to refute it, but just looked at each other quietly. And when she looked at the eldest prince and the second prince's brothers, she saw one pretending to be calm, but his shoulders trembled slightly, and the other was angry, eager to rush up and fight. At this moment, she couldn't help but sigh deeply.

The brothers were a few years older than Zhang Shou and experienced the biggest setback in their lives, but not only did they not wake up and reflect on themselves, but they wanted revenge and turned the tables around.

Even if you want to emulate the Taijia who came back from the Tong Palace, you must first learn Taijia's forbearance and repentance in the Tong Palace, if you can't get out of the Tong Palace, then everything will be over! The queen's two sons are really stupid, just like she buried herself in her own life!

The Queen Mother and Zhu Ying felt that the eldest prince was stupid, but the Confucian scholar finally woke up because of the eldest prince's words. Realizing the breakthrough, he sneered and said: "Strange weapons are intriguing, although they can be seen to be momentarily profitable, how can they have eternal benefits!" If you neglect to repair internal affairs because of your demagogy at this moment, and only blindly focus on those small countries that are constantly fighting, you are putting the cart before the horse! ”

"Confucius University Scholar is funny, when did I say that I don't practice internal affairs? On the contrary, it is precisely because the emperor worked hard to govern the country, appointed talents, and personally presided over the Northern Expedition against public opinion, bringing peace to the north for at least one or two decades, and the world is prosperous. But it is precisely because it is a prosperous era that we can have more time to be prepared for danger in times of peace and decentralize our eyes from this great tomorrow to the universe. ”

Everyone likes to listen to good words, and the emperor is the same, especially Zhang Shou faintly pointed out that it was his persistence that led to the great victory of the Northern Expedition, and he was even more proud. Therefore, seeing that the Confucius scholar was furious and seemed to be about to go toe-to-toe with Zhang Shou to the end, he immediately coughed: "Chapter Jiu, you just said that your boat can move, it is the power to boil water, what do you say?" ”

The emperor personally came forward to divert the topic, and of course Zhang Shou would not give face. He immediately turned around and waved his hand and said, "Everyone knows that when boiling water, if it is allowed to boil, the boiling steam will directly lift the lid of the pot, and if people stand too close at this time, they will be injured by the hot steam." Therefore, the elders have always warned their children to stay away from the stove, but they do not see the truth......"

Zhang Shou once said in the Banshan Hall and the Jiuzhang Hall that the boiling water is extremely powerful, at this time at the request of the emperor to explain, then said with a smile: "There is actually only a very simple device in this small boat, and what I just did is just ignite the fire, boil the water, and then let the power of boiling steam drive a series of transmission devices, and finally start the propeller to push it forward." ”

"But the reason why I say it's simple is because all this stuff is very coarse, very poorly sealed, and very inefficient, so to make this boat move again, it is not just a matter of adding water, and the life of the whole set of things in it is not good. And this kind of heating is not only unsafe, but also cumbersome. Just because of my request, Guan Qiu was busy for half a month after those clocks. ”

"He hopes to be worthy of the name of the Emperor's Heavenly Workshop, and I also hope that the so-called craftsmen can think of the truth behind some natural phenomena while pondering and improving the appearance of the utensils, just like the former craftsman Lu Ban."

"Just now, the Confucian scholar said that these are strange and obscene. Have you ever thought that if there were no vehicles and ships, and all the transportation in the world would rely on mules, horses and other livestock, then would the imperial court not be able to reach even a little remote place? If there is no ever-changing agricultural tools, then the output of farmland can only be limited to a very low level, and ordinary people are not able to get food and clothing. ”

"If no one thinks of splitting hemp and using kudzu, raising silkworms and reeling silk, planting cotton and weaving cloth, people in the world will only have to use fur to keep out the cold, what is the difference between it and the barbarian wool we laugh at and drink blood?"

"Just now the eldest prince said that the dismissed machine owners in Yangzhou gathered outside the government to protest, but just as mules, horses and livestock carry goods, and simple porters are cornered, better spinning wheels and looms will naturally greatly reduce the demand for skilled workers. Nowadays, the new spinning wheel and loom are promoted by the imperial court, and it is easier to make a response plan than the people who suddenly discovered it. ”

"Like Cangzhou, widen the river, build a marine wharf, and build a new city...... There are always places that need labor, so isn't this a solution to the problem of labor surplus? If we take 10,000 steps back, even if there are no spinning wheels and looms that multiply efficiency, the world is peaceful, the population is increasing, and the land is always only a little bit, will there not be a dilemma where some people can neither find the field to plant nor find the work to do? This kind of hardship due to too many people, even if the limbs are able-bodied but unable to support themselves, has anyone ever thought about it? ”

"In the war years, the population comes first, but in the year of peace, once the population is too much, the cultivated land and the yield per mu cannot keep up. Therefore, I try to introduce overseas high-yield crops, and try to find a way to solve the livelihood of the excessive population, I would like to ask the prince, you just said who has no life, and who wants food and clothing but can't get it, the righteousness is awe-inspiring as if a person with lofty ideals, but who was the person who took the benefits of the people in Cangzhou and made people hungry and cold? ”

Seeing that the eldest prince's face was pale and speechless, Zhang Shou looked at Confucius again: "The elders of the court and the central government want to educate the world and make all the people know the truth, why am I not doing this?" However, Cang Liao knows etiquette and knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing! If strange weapons can make the people of the world easily get food and clothing, if they make the moat a thoroughfare, isn't it the right way? ”