My father Yongle, building a five-good family

Chapter 30 Xiaosi, how do you know so much?

Zhu Gaochi scratched the back of his head and sighed.

Seeing Zhu Gaoyu stretching his head to come closer, he did not hide anything and even took the initiative to show it to Zhu Gaoyu.

After watching him for a while and seeing that he didn't say anything, Zhu Gaochi became happy:
"How about it, you don't understand?"

Hey.

There's really no way to refute it.

The paper was a little wrinkled from being held for a long time, but it actually had no words on it. Instead, it was a square and neatly structured drawing.

If it were text, Zhu Gaoyu might be able to understand it at least half way, but if it were a drawing... then he would be really helpless.

But he didn't care and handed the drawing back:
"Brother, what are you looking at this blueprint for?"

Zhu Gaochi scratched his hair in annoyance, then sighed:
"Recently, the seniors in the Ministry of Works have been discussing how to repair and dredge the thirty-six steep slopes of the Lingqu Canal in Xing'an County, Guangxi. During class today, the teachers used this matter as an after-class question."

Lingqu Canal in Xing'an County, Guangxi...

Zhu Gaoyu thought about it and felt that the name was familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

Then he listened to Zhu Gaochi speaking slowly:
"The Lingqu Canal in Xing'an County was built during the Qin Dynasty. After it was built, it was extremely unique. The most important points are also the questions raised by you, sir."

Zhu Gaoyu actually likes listening to this kind of thing.

The person in my memory also has a similar personality, so in a small part of my memory, that person is always traveling all over the country and has seen a lot of beautiful scenery.

Even though Zhu Gaoyu could see the exact same scenery through these memories, he still couldn't help feeling a little envious.

I really want to experience such magnificent scenery in person.

This is much more interesting than sitting in the Wenhua Hall and studying the Four Books and Five Classics for the whole day.

As for the other side, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui didn't care at all about the things like Lingqu Canal, water system, and dams mentioned by their eldest brother.

Xiao Jixiang stood quietly aside.

The two of them took a bag of walnuts from Xiao Jixiang. Zhu Gaosui used a small copper hammer to break the walnut shells, and then Zhu Gaoxu peeled off the broken shells, picked out the meat inside, and piled it neatly aside, preparing to peel them all later and enjoy them together.

Zhu Gaoyu took a glance and calmly moved the walnut meat into the palm of his hand.

When he raised his head, he found that Zhu Gaochi had his eyes on the palm of his hand at some point.

Zhu Gaoyu immediately showed a flattering smile, and then he was a little stingy and seemed very reluctant to give half of it to Zhu Gaochi.

The corner of Zhu Gaochi's mouth twitched slightly.

He didn't mean to share the walnuts...

But I'll just take it.

He picked up one of the walnuts and put it in his mouth. He found that the walnut peeled by the second and third sons was much sweeter than the ones he usually ate.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion…

After swallowing the walnut, Zhu Gaochi continued to explain the problem in today's class to his younger brother:
"The teacher asked us four questions, which just happened to correspond to the four characteristics of Lingqu Canal in Xing'an County."

“First, why is the dam designed with a trapezoidal cross-section and what are the benefits of this?”

“Second, why is the top of the dam paved with huge stones?”

"Third, why are there fishtail grooves at the joints between every two boulders and are they firmly fixed with iron ingots?"

“Fourth, why is fish-scale stone used on the downstream slope?”

After listening to this series of questions, Zhu Gaoyu sounded more and more familiar, and he felt as if he had heard similar words before in his memory.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Isn’t this the world’s oldest lock canal - the Xing’an Lingqu Canal?

Xing'an Lingqu Canal is one of the three major water conservancy projects of the Qin State, along with Zhengguo Canal and Dujiangyan.

This question... Zhu Gaoyu is really good at it! As for why...

This has to start with the tour guides at tourist attractions...

But now is not the time to reminisce about those things.

It’s time for me, Zhu Gaoyu, to show my power before the people again!

Zhu Gaoyu puffed out his chest and raised his head with a bit of pride:
"Brother, I know this question!"

Zhu Gaoxu was still peeling walnuts over there. When he heard this, he immediately sneered:
"You know? You know shit! If you knew, even a sow could climb a tree..."

Zhu Gaoyu was too lazy to pay attention to him.

His stupid brother...

Before Zhu Gaoxu could continue speaking, Zhu Gaoyu said:

"The trapezoidal cross section disperses the impact of floods."

"The top is paved with huge rocks to increase weight and stability. Brother, think about it, if the flood comes, what if the top of the dam is made of small rocks and it floats up?"

"As for why there is a fishtail groove and why it is firmly fixed with iron ingots, that is also very simple. Dams have existed for too long and it is inevitable that water will seep in. Fishtail grooves and iron ingots are used to prevent water seepage and stabilize the dam."

Zhu Gaochi listened to his younger brother's chattering. The problem that had troubled him for a long time was solved just like that. His face gradually became dull.

Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui stopped peeling walnuts.

The two of them just looked at each other, feeling like waste.

This fourth brother... where did he hear so many things? !
In fact, once the principles here are understood, it is not as difficult as imagined.

The reason why the master used this question to test many princes and grandchildren of the emperor was because most of them had never been exposed to this content.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangement, these princes and grandchildren would govern the fiefdoms in the future.

Although you don't need to be proficient in water conservancy engineering, you should have some understanding of it.

Well, it just so happened that the Ministry of Works was discussing the Xing'an Lingqu Canal recently, and the gentleman from Wenhua Palace brought this matter up to stimulate discussion.

Zhu Gaochi found that the last question had not been asked yet, so he couldn't help but ask:

"What about the last question?"

Zhu Gaochi has always acted like an elder brother in front of his younger brother, and in the eyes of Zhu Gaoyu, he knows everything.

This was the first time that he humbly sought advice from Zhu Gaoyu.

Zhu Gaoyu became arrogant.

As his desire to teach others a lesson came up, he began to spit and pointed fingers:
"You can tell what fish scale stone looks like just from the name. This rough stone with patterns on it can slow down the river water and reduce the scouring force..."

Zhu Gaochi nodded and listened attentively.

At the same time, a doubt arose in his heart.

He doesn’t even know these things, so how does Xiaosi, a five-year-old kid, know them?
The most important thing is that everything he said always felt a bit forced, as if he had heard it from somewhere and just said it without too many details...

Zhu Gaochi asked suspiciously:

"Xiao Si, where do you know this?"

"guide……"

Zhu Gaoyu was talking so excitedly that he almost blurted out the truth.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and made amends immediately:

"I found this when I was browsing some miscellaneous books in Dad's study..."

Today's first update~
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(End of this chapter)