My father Yongle, building a five-good family

Chapter 40 Dragon Boat Model
Zhu Gaoyu waved his hand and treated this fellow shopkeeper with special familiarity:
"Where are you going today? I have nothing to do, so I'll go for a walk with you. By the way, how are we going to have breakfast?"

Tie Xuan pondered for a moment, "Let's eat sesame cakes. Xu Ji's sesame cakes at the end of Chang'an Street are pretty good. How about we eat while walking?"

"Okay."

A moment.

Zhu Gaoyu held the hot sesame cake in his hand and took a bite. It was crispy, salty and fragrant, leaving a delicious taste on his lips and teeth.

It is worth mentioning that this time it was Tiexuan who paid.

When strolling, most of the time, for Zhu Gaoyu, he was walking aimlessly.

But when they arrived at the west side of the Qinhuai River, Zhu Gaoyu's attention was caught by a huge monster.

Tie Xuan looked at the boy's shining eyes and immediately understood:
"This is the Longjiang Treasure Ship Factory, which mainly manufactures various types of fast ships, yellow ships, canal ships, and sea vessels. I heard that many skilled craftsmen from the late Yuan Dynasty also worked there."

Zhu Gaoyu was ready to make some moves.

But Tie Xuan seemed to see through his thoughts at a glance and immediately poured cold water on him:
"There are many workshops in Longjiang Baochuan Factory. They are similar to carpentry workshops, paint workshops, twisting workshops, etc. They contain many secrets. Ordinary people may not be able to enter."

Zhu Gaoyu gave him a sidelong look, a little smug:

"Look at my jade pendant."

The jade pendant has cloud and dragon patterns painted in gold, strung with jade beads. There is a gold hook on the top of the pendant and a small four-colored ribbon underneath.

No matter how low-key he dressed, anyone who was interested could tell Zhu Gaoyu's true identity just by looking at the jade pendant.

Tie Xuan almost slapped his forehead.

Got it!
Almost forgot about this!
By the time they slowly arrived at the gate of Longjiang Baochuan Factory, the foreman outside had already noticed this strange pair.

The age difference between these two men is so big that Tie Xuan looks like he could be Zhu Gaoyu's father.

However, when taking action, Tie Xuan would always, intentionally or unintentionally, lag half a body behind Zhu Gaoyu, and when he spoke, his expression would occasionally reveal a hint of respect.

This strange relationship made the squad leader unable to help but take a step forward and tentatively asked:

"The Longjiang Treasure Shipyard ahead is not open to ordinary people. May I ask if the two adults are..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Gaoyu patted the jade pendant.

The small colorful ribbon under the jade pendant made the squad leader's eyes freeze.

There are some things that, even if you haven’t eaten pork, you have always seen pigs run!

In an instant, his expression became more respectful than Tie Xuan's, and there was even a hint of flattery on his face.

The social status of craftsmen in the early Ming Dynasty was not high. The most annoying thing was that no matter whether they were resident craftsmen living in Jinling or shift craftsmen who "took turns going to Beijing and worked for three months" once every three years, working in Jinling was considered voluntary labor and they could only receive some rice every month.

Therefore, when the foreman of the craftsmen saw Zhu Gaoyu, he was trembling with fear, but also filled with excitement and excitement.

Apart from anything else, even if I can only get some reward money and go back to improve the lives of my wife and daughter, that would be good.

Thinking of this, the team leader became even more enthusiastic when entertaining the guests.

He also deliberately ignored Tie Xuan, who followed Zhu Gaoyu and used his connections to get into the Baochuan Factory.

As he walked, Zhu Gaoyu felt that two eyes were not enough.

Various ships and workshops appeared before his eyes, and there were many things that Zhu Gaoyu did not understand, but he did not ask first, but observed silently for a while.

The foreman did want to please him, but Zhu Gaoyu's height and age were too conspicuous, and the supervising officials inside saw him not long after he left.

The supervising official who came over was a sixth-rank official appointed by the Ministry of Works. When he saw Zhu Gaoyu, he didn't pay much attention at first, but when he saw the jade pendant hanging on Zhu Gaoyu's slightly protruding leather belt.

In an instant, Manager Lin's eyeballs almost popped out.

Whose ancestor is this?
How did you get to this corner?
He pushed aside the foreman of the craftsmen next to him and said with a sneer:
"What are you..."

Zhu Gaoyu coughed twice:

"Keep a low profile. I'm going out in a low profile this time." When Manager Lin heard this, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly.

Isn't this nonsense?
Since he could walk into the Longjiang Baochuan Factory with this jade pendant in his arms, Zhu Gaoyu was destined to not be able to keep a low profile.

However, Lin soon became enthusiastic:

"You came to the Treasure Shipyard... to pick a ship? It's not something I can easily decide on for a canal ship or a seagoing ship, but I still have the right to choose a small speedboat. Speaking of which, there are quite a few ships parked on the Qinhuai River in Jinling. Do you have any requirements for the ship?"

Zhu Gaoyu grinned:
"I want a dragon boat!"

Dragon Boat?!
When Chief Lin heard this, his legs and feet almost went limp.

This is to punish him to death!

If the dragon boat was really given to Zhu Gaoyu, even if he had ten heads, they would not be enough to be chopped off.

He rested his hands on the table next to him and forced a smile:

"You said... you want a dragon boat?"

Zhu Gaoyu scratched the back of his head and said, "Actually, I don't really want to..."

Before he could finish his words, Manager Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

so far so good……

Things aren't too bad.

Then I heard Zhu Gaoyu's words:
“I want to build a…”

Master Lin staggered again.

You might as well get a dragon boat!

Tie Xuan originally felt that it was not a good idea to see that Chief Lin pushed the foreman away, but when he saw Zhu Gaoyu's intermittent words, he was almost frightened to death.

Suddenly, an inexplicable sympathy slowly rose up...

Tie Xuan coughed lightly and explained to Zhu Gaoyu:

"It's not the dragon boat you think of. It's the dragon boat built by Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty. And it's not that big. I just want to recreate a delicate model."

This is what Zhu Gaoyu told Tie Xuan when he came.

As for why he wanted this thing, Zhu Gaoyu had already thought of an excuse, but Tie Xuan didn't even ask. This made Zhu Gaoyu feel uncomfortable.

Isn't he curious at all?
Didn't he ever think of asking himself?

Tie Xuan really didn’t think of asking him.

Sometimes, knowing too much is not only useless, but also brings trouble.

As for what the dragon boat model is used for...

Zhu Gaoyu actually had a plan in mind a long time ago, and even his seemingly "accidental" visit to the Baochuan Factory today was actually a carefully planned one.

September 18th is Tianshou Saint Festival, which is also the birthday of Grandpa Huang. I want to give him a novel and inexpensive gift...

Is there anything that could be more thoughtful and unique than the dragon boat model made by Zhu Gaoyu himself?

But first... you have to be able to do it.

Relying on the memories in his mind, Zhu Gaoyu did have an IQ and hands-on ability beyond what he should have at his age. However, without the assistance of skilled craftsmen, it would obviously be a fantasy for him to conjure up a model of the dragon boat built by Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty.

So, he set his sights on the Longjiang Baochuan Factory.

First update today

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(End of this chapter)