The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 29: Buying an Official Position and Selling a Title
It seemed that Wanli was really planning to build a summer resort.

After the Ministry of Works summoned 20,000 craftsmen, he ordered them to start building walls on both sides of the Chaobai River.

In the valley where Miyun and Huairou are located, except for a small circle around the two county towns in the southwest and northeast corners, the rest of the area was surrounded by walls.

He created a large frame that was nearly twenty miles long and wide.

This guy, the land he enclosed is almost as big as the capital city. I don’t know how big the summer resort he wants to build will be.

None of the civil and military officials in the court could do anything about him.

At this moment, he controls most of the military forces in the capital. The Beijing Camp, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Imperial Guards are all controlled by his promoted confidants.

Moreover, he is rebellious by nature and loses his temper easily. He will even chop people if they are irritated.

No one wanted to be destroyed by the rebellious young emperor for an insignificant summer resort, so no one dared to interfere with his construction of the summer resort.

He seemed extremely anxious and kept urging the Ministry of Works to recruit craftsmen so that the project could be completed as soon as possible.

He had recruited almost all the craftsmen who could be recruited near the capital.

As for materials, he bought them like crazy. He almost bought out all the wood near the capital.

As a result of his reckless actions, the construction of the Summer Resort was naturally done at an alarming speed.

Not long after, rows of water wheels were erected on both sides of the Chaobai River within the wall.

This doesn't seem surprising, because the most commonly used method of preventing heatstroke and cooling down nowadays is to use water trucks and water rooms.

That is to build a house that is slightly lower than the waterwheel, and then place a large water trough on the roof, with two rows of holes on both sides of the large water trough, so that the cold water pumped up by the waterwheel can fall from the tiles to the eaves.

There are also gutters installed under the eaves, connected to rivers or canals for irrigating farmland.

In this way, the waterwheel can lift the cool river water into the gutter on the roof, and then it will continue to fall through the holes and tiles, just like rain, which is very cool.

Many wealthy people have built such water rooms in their homes, which are indeed very cool to live in during the summer.

Wanli was building the Summer Palace, so it is not surprising that he ordered people to build this kind of water room.

However, the number of water wheels he ordered to be built seemed to be a bit too many. The water wheels were lined up for several miles on both sides of the Chaobai River, and it seemed that they were still being built non-stop.

If calculated in zhang, one li is 150 zhang, and the width of the river bank occupied by a waterwheel of two or three zhang is at most about four zhang.

In other words, at least seventy or eighty twelve-bucket water wheels can be parked on both sides of a one-mile-long river.

There would be hundreds of water wheels in a river several miles long. Why did he order people to build so many water wheels? Was it just for fun?

Wanli naturally would not tell others why he ordered people to build so many water wheels.

He did order people to build water rooms, and quite a few of them. One water wheel corresponded to one water room.

However, most of the water rooms are not used for living, but as blacksmith workshops!

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei and his family worked hard with tens of thousands of craftsmen, and the first blacksmith workshop was built in just ten days.

Early in the morning at about 1 a.m., when it was just getting light, he couldn't wait to take Li Xuancheng, Shan Sinan, Qi Jiguang and others to the first blacksmith workshop built in the middle of the river bank.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei had been here for a long time. At this time, flames were already rising from the six stoves, and the hammers were clanging down. Sparks were flying under the six hammers, and the scene was quite spectacular.

Forging pig iron seems very simple. The six old blacksmiths hold the red-hot iron block with a large clamp and drag it back and forth on the anvil. When the hammer comes down, they turn it over, drag it back and forth a few times, and wait for the hammer to come down. They just repeat this cycle over and over again.

Wanli looked at it for a while, then couldn't help asking, "Father-in-law, how is the forging effect of this waterwheel?"

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said excitedly: "Your Majesty, we tried it all night yesterday, and the effect of forging the waterwheel is better than we imagined.

It turned out that our estimate was quite different, because a person would get tired if he swung a sledgehammer, and it was simply impossible to swing it continuously with one hammer after another as fast as a waterwheel.

In fact, the time of forging is not calculated by time, but by the number of forgings. Generally, it is considered good if a blacksmith can swing the hammer a hundred times in an hour.

In other words, one fire actually means forging about four hundred hammers.

This waterwheel is incredible, it can swing more than 1,200 hammers in an hour!

Originally, twelve blacksmiths working in shifts could only produce about 42 kilograms of wrought iron per day. But with this waterwheel and six sets of hammers, and twelve blacksmiths working in shifts, they can produce at least 1,500 kilograms of wrought iron per day."

This efficiency is increased by more than thirty times?
However, this is not surprising. The biggest advantage of using hydraulic kinetic energy is that it does not require fatigue.

Even the strongest people get tired, and a sledgehammer weighing over 20 pounds is no small feat; it's almost as heavy as a bucket of water. It's a struggle for most people to lift it up and down, let alone swing it. Even the strongest people need a break after swinging more than ten times, and they're already breathless after swinging a hundred or so. These breaks only take up a lot of time.

In fact, the frequency of more than 1,200 hammers in one hour is not high, because one hour is equivalent to two hours in later generations, that is, one hundred and twenty minutes, seven thousand two hundred seconds. More than 1,200 hammers in one hour is about one hammer every five or six seconds.

Young and middle-aged people can usually run twenty or thirty meters in five or six seconds. Five or six seconds to hit someone with a hammer is not fast at all. The key lies in the continuity and never stopping.

In fact, this is not considered fast, because the Chaobai River they have encircled is interrupted and the water flow is not very fast. A hammer every five or six seconds is equivalent to a waterwheel taking more than sixty seconds to make one circle.

The water flow at the northernmost end of the Chaobai River they trapped was more than twice as fast as here. There, it was estimated that one hammer struck every two or three seconds, and more than three thousand hammers could be struck in an hour.

Wanli silently estimated for a moment, then asked, "Father-in-law, this hammer speed is something most blacksmiths can handle, right?"

Yongnianbo Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "The speed of this hammer is not very fast. The average blacksmith swings his hammer about twice as fast as this. It's just that they can't hit it too many times in a row before they have to rest."

Wanli asked again, "Does this mean that even if the hammer falls more than twice as fast, the master can still adapt?"

Yongnianbo Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, we have tried this. The water flow in the Baihe and Chaohe Rivers is too fast, and the old masters can't react to it. The Chaobai River is better. The speed at the northernmost end is also something the old masters can react to. In fact, most blacksmiths only need to practice at this speed for a few days to adapt."

This middle section is about the same width as the river channel in the south, and the water flow speed is actually not much different. It's just that the river channel in the north is much narrower, so the water flow speed is more than twice as fast as this.

If calculated at this speed, the northernmost waterwheel with six sets of hammers can produce more than 4,000 kilograms of wrought iron per day by forging continuously. On average, one waterwheel can produce about 2,000 kilograms of wrought iron per day.

If you want to produce 10 million jin of wrought iron per month, you will need 5,000 water wheels and 60,000 blacksmiths.

The problem with blacksmithing is not that big, because the forging is done by a waterwheel, and the blacksmith does not need to swing a hammer. Anyone of any age can do it, and one household can have two or three blacksmiths.

The problem is that the river section they have enclosed is only twenty miles long. Only about eighty water wheels can be arranged for one mile, and twenty miles can only accommodate one thousand six hundred water wheels.

There is also the issue of wages. He originally thought that earning two or three hundred thousand taels a month would be enough. It would cost sixty thousand blacksmiths to produce ten million kilograms of wrought iron. Although they don't have to spend much effort, it still takes time. No matter what, they still have to be paid one or three taels of silver a month.

It seems that we cannot produce wrought iron for trade here, but can only make weapons and equipment. The forging of wrought iron can only be arranged between Qian'an and Luanzhou. The distance between the two cities is more than 60 miles, which is just enough to accommodate 5,000 water wheels.

He pondered for a while, then said decisively: "Father-in-law, we only need to build 1,500 water wheels and workshops here. After they are built, you can arrange 10,000 craftsmen to go to both sides of the Luan River between Qian'an and Luanzhou to build water wheels and workshops, and build 5,000 sets.

At that time, all the experienced blacksmiths will stay here to forge weapons and equipment, and all the newbies will be sent to the Luan River to forge wrought iron."

what?
There is no big problem with manpower. They have recruited more than 20,000 blacksmiths and more than 30,000 carpenters. Moreover, there is no problem for carpenters to build water wheels and workshops. The key is the money.

The materials and labor for a waterwheel and six sets of hammers together cost at least more than ten taels of silver. Building a simple blacksmith workshop would cost at least more than twenty taels of silver. One set would cost about forty taels, and five thousand sets would cost two hundred thousand taels.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei silently estimated it, then said carefully: "Your Majesty, five thousand water wheels and workshops will cost at least two hundred thousand taels, and that doesn't even include the money for the land."

Wanli said without hesitation, "Money is not a problem. After we build five thousand waterwheels and workshops, we can still earn over 100,000 taels a month after deducting labor costs. The key is speed. As for the land, go find Zhang Guozhang and ask him to forcibly requisition it in my name!"

Well, if money is not an issue then that's fine.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli made some general arrangements for forging the ten-fire fine iron and making swords, spears, and halberds, then returned to the water room specially built for him to prepare to review memorials.

He still had to review the memorials every day, but the people who helped him review them became Li Xuancheng, Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong.

He didn't care that only the Imperial Household Department could review memorials. He just did whatever he wanted and ignored any rules that were not in his favor.

Not long after the noon hour, today's memorials arrived at full speed.

The sun was shining brightly in the water room, but the eaves on both sides had formed curtains of water as if it was raining heavily, and it was unusually cool inside.

Wanli, Li Xuancheng, Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong sat around the large round table for dinner, reviewing memorials skillfully.

Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen was responsible for distribution. Important matters were still approved by Emperor Wanli, while unimportant matters were handed over to Li Xuancheng and Zhang Yuangong.

Originally, Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen distributed the memorials quite quickly. However, after picking up a memorial, he suddenly stopped and his expression changed slightly.

There weren't many important matters to begin with, so Wanli was relatively free. Seeing the expression on the face of Duke Cheng, Zhu Yingzhen, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Yingzhen, what's wrong? What happened?"

Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and handed the memorial in his hand to him.

When Wanli took it and looked at it, he was stunned.

Your humble servant, the Minister of Punishments, Yan Qing, hereby reports: According to the confession of the criminal You Qi, Duke Chengguo bribed people to buy the military examinations, and twelve of his relatives passed the examinations one after another. Nine of them were promoted to the rank of Captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and three were promoted to the rank of Commander of the Beijing Camp. I believe that such buying and selling of official positions and titles is a disaster for the government, and they should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others.

The cabinet voted: Duke Cheng and his relatives should be dismissed and investigated immediately, and no tolerance should be shown to the evildoers.

This kid, this expression, this is most likely true!
(End of this chapter)