Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 81: Coal Plant Prediction, The Harm of Foot Binding [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Zhu Biao found a memorial and placed it on Zhu Yuanzhang's desk.

"I think Liu Kuan's reforms at the Qinglongshan Coal Yard are equally worthy of attention. I've personally tried the honeycomb coal and coal stoves, and they're truly excellent."

Zhu Yuanzhang flipped through the memorial and found that it was from Yu Xian, the head of the Science and Technology Department, requesting that coal plants be established in northern cities such as Beijing based on the Qinglongshan model.

The memorial described in detail the various advantages of honeycomb coal and coal stoves, stating that they could completely replace firewood and could be of greater use in the north.

Zhu Biao continued, "After winter, the north is much colder than the south. Therefore, I believe that not only should we set up coal factories in the north to produce honeycomb coal and coal stoves, but we can even make the honeycomb coal formula public so that people in various places can produce it themselves."

"With cotton-padded clothes, honeycomb coal, and coal stoves, the worries of people in the north about freezing to death will be greatly alleviated!"

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial and said, "Biao'er, I understand your deep concern for the people, but have you ever considered that if the honeycomb briquettes formula is made public, the Northern Yuan and Western Fan will also learn about it very quickly?"

"Besides, how could ordinary people have the ability to make honeycomb briquettes themselves? Even if the honeycomb briquettes formula were made public, it would only be used by local gentry and powerful people to make money from the poor people."

"It would be better if the imperial court built coal factories in various places, kept the production of honeycomb coal secret as much as possible, and then sold it to the people at a lower price."

"In this way, not only can the imperial court profit, but the people can also enjoy the benefits brought by honeycomb coal."

"If local officials are competent enough, the promotion of honeycomb briquettes may not be slower than the method of making the formula public."

When Liu Kuan discussed the reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty in history, he mentioned the harm caused by the gentry and powerful people several times. Therefore, Zhu Biao now has a lot of understanding and knowledge about the gentry and powerful people.

Nowadays, the only people who can mine coal are government officials and local gentry and powerful people. It is indeed difficult for ordinary people to obtain coal directly.

Therefore, after listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Zhu Biao could not help but show shame and said, "I am not thoughtful enough. If it were not for your father's reminder, I would have done something bad with good intentions."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, "You are just too concerned about your people."

Zhu Biao thought for a moment and said, "Father, since we are planning to establish government-run coal yards in various places, can we set up a special organization to manage them?"

Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his brows, thought for a moment, and said, "In the future, not only will the people need a lot of coal for daily use, but trains and the ships Liu Kuan mentioned will also require a lot of coal."

"It's foreseeable that within a few years, the Ming Dynasty's demand for coal will inevitably surge many times over. The stakes involved are enormous, and there are many related matters. It's indeed necessary to establish an organization to coordinate and dispatch them."

"But there's no need to be too anxious right now. We can ask Liu Kuan later to see what he thinks, or if there's anything we can learn from him."

Zhu Biao couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

He finally realized that his father was trying various ways to get things out of Liu Kuan.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang knocked on the imperial desk and said, "There is one more thing you need to be mentally prepared for - the fourth brother will arrive in the capital in a few days."

"Your son knows." Zhu Biao's expression did not change.

As early as when they heard Liu Kuan's account of the Jingnan Campaign on the Loujiang Gate Tower, the father and son had considered summoning Zhu Di back to the capital.

Because there were too many affairs in the court later, and the father and son still had a lot to consider about Zhu Di's affairs, they sent people north to summon him after more than half a month.

Because it was not an urgent summons, neither the person who summoned it nor Zhu Di's journey south would be too fast.

But given Zhu Di's character, he wouldn't be too slow.

Judging from the time, he should be arriving in the capital soon.

···
Liu Kuan went to the Ministry of Industry's Science and Technology Department to meet with Su Quan, exchanged some ideas, and then returned to his mansion to rest.

After he finished bathing, Zhu Huilan asked the kitchen to bring the prepared lotus seed soup and two plates of snacks to the dining table in the side hall.

It was afternoon and not yet time for dinner, so Liu Kuan ate something to fill his stomach.

Zhu Huilan was talking to him with a smile on her face.

"My dear husband, you don't know that ever since my mother and I learned the radio gymnastics, every morning after getting up, she would call the brothers and sisters who still live in the harem to practice together. The last time I went to the palace, Xuan Le complained to me about it."

Liu Kuan laughed and said, "If they knew that you were the one who introduced this gymnastics to the palace, they would probably draw a circle and curse you."

Zhu Huilan had heard this before and knew it was a joke, so she said, "There will definitely be some complaints, but I'm sure they'll know it's for their own good, so no one will take it to heart."

"As long as you practice this radio gymnastics every day, it will definitely be beneficial to your health." At this point, Liu Kuan suddenly remembered something and looked at Zhu Huilan's feet, "I forgot to ask before, do you have bound feet?" The reason why Liu Kuan ignored this matter before was because the maids in his house did not have bound feet.

Although Zhu Huilan's feet are slightly small, their shape and size are still within the normal range.

As far as Liu Kuan knew, the custom of foot binding among Han women began in the Song Dynasty.

But at that time, it was only popular among the upper class, and the practice was not very common. However, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, foot binding spread to all classes.

Regardless of their wealth or status, Han women all considered small feet to be beautiful, and foot binding became a necessity for women.

In pursuit of small enough feet, parents would even bind their girls’ feet when they were a few years old, making them no longer than three or four inches and becoming deformed. In fact, the mentality of pursuing small feet in society at that time was already deformed.

As for the situation in the early Ming Dynasty, Liu Kuan was still unclear. Although he had seen some women, he couldn't stare at their feet. Even if he did, he couldn't see anything because of the skirts and shoes.

Zhu Huilan asked, "My husband, are you talking about foot binding?"

Liu Kuan nodded, "That's right."

Zhu Huilan smiled, "Of course my sisters had bound feet, but my mother and several concubines grew up in troubled times and were not able to have their feet bound when they were young, so they grew up with natural feet."

"It doesn't look to me like your feet have been bound," Liu Kuan asked in confusion.

"Unless they started binding their feet at a very young age, and the binding was extremely tight, how could it be so easy to tell?"

When saying this, Zhu Huilan was still a little embarrassed. After all, feet were a private part for a woman at that time.

The man in front of her was her husband, and there were only maids around - if there were outsiders around, she would never talk about this.

Liu Kuan seemed to be thinking about something.

He speculated that foot binding should have been very popular among the middle and upper classes at that time, but people's pursuit of small feet was not as perverted as it was later, and there was no such thing as three-inch golden lotus or four-inch silver lotus.

However, if we let it go, I am afraid that in a few decades or even hundreds of years, it will develop into the kind of deformed trend that we have seen in history.

Thinking of this, Liu Kuan immediately said solemnly: "Madam, there is something you must explain to the Queen."

"What's the matter?"

"No foot binding!"

"Foot binding is prohibited?" Zhu Huilan was puzzled. "Why?"

Liu Kuan said: "Because in a few decades, the practice of foot binding will become more and more rampant and become extremely deformed, becoming a major evil custom that destroys Han women..."

Then, Liu Kuan talked about the deformed pursuit of bound feet by people in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

"At that time, women had their feet bound from childhood, so their feet were only four or five inches, or even three inches wide. They could hardly walk, let alone work in the fields. They could only stay at home weaving and doing some light household chores."

"That's not all. Some people bind their daughters' feet when they are five or six years old to make them small enough, causing their feet to become bent and deformed."

"Can you imagine what it would be like if your feet were bent and wrapped three inches apart?"

When Zhu Huilan imagined it for a moment, she couldn't help but shrink her feet and felt a chill all over her body.

The maids Xia He, Qiu Yue, Tao Yao and others who were listening also had expressions of fear and confusion on their faces, and they couldn't understand why people in later generations would pursue such deformed feet.

Isn’t foot binding meant to make the feet look better?

My feet are all broken, how can they look good?

Liu Kuan added, "The most important point is that women with bound feet find it difficult to exercise, and prolonged periods of inactivity will deteriorate their health, which in turn will affect their fertility."

"Therefore, the bad custom of foot binding is not only a torture for Han women, but also increases the chances of women dying in childbirth and babies dying prematurely!"

Zhu Huilan's pretty face paled for a moment before she came to her senses. Then, with a determined look, she looked at Liu Kuan and said, "Don't worry, my husband. I will explain the harm of foot binding to our mother and ask our father to issue an imperial decree to ban women's foot binding!"

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(End of this chapter)