strictlysupreme Chapter 1904: Borrowing People from the Prince
Chapter 1904: Borrowing People from the Prince
Many places in Prince Ji’s mansion now need guards.
Medical school, research institute, paper mill and printing house.
These are the main focus of care, and Li Shen uses a form similar to security guards in each workshop.
They are not regular guards in the Imperial Guard Battalion, but young and strong men with fiefs in the manor who are relatively trustworthy.
They usually keep watch at night, so there is no need for so many people to guard during the day when they are working.
Li Shen's workshop was located in the middle of the four villages on the Huangzhuang side, forming an encirclement.
If a stranger enters during the day, he will easily be discovered because the people working in the village are from four villages.
Li Shen knows almost all the village guards, so under this mode, he doesn't need to send guards over.
But even so, Li Shen's guard battalion was becoming increasingly insufficient.
He had too many secrets. That's why Li Shen thought of borrowing someone.
"Borrow people?" Wang Hongfu and the others were a little surprised when they heard Prince Ji's words. Could they borrow people for such a matter?
"Your Highness Prince Ji, how can we borrow people for this guard job? Even if we can borrow them, it's not safe. Who knows if they will steal from the company?"
Manager Yu said.
The purpose of guarding is to keep secrets and prevent outsiders from coming in, but if you ask someone else to guard, you never know, they might be spies.
“Yes, Your Majesty, if we borrow someone to guard us, it may not be very safe and we cannot trust them 100%.
Besides, it is not so easy for the prince to borrow people. "Wang Hongfu also echoed.
“Of course I know, don’t worry, I have already thought of a solution.
I am going to borrow the six guards from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Li Shen smiled slightly.
"Borrowing people from the prince? But the prince's six generals are also palace soldiers. If they are bribed by someone..."
Wang Hongfu was a little worried.
“I’m not asking them to guard here. Don’t forget that there are still a hundred people guarding the medical school.
I asked the prince to borrow 200 men, saying it was for the purpose of protecting Sun Simiao and those medical experts.
There are no secrets in the medical school. The main purpose of sending a hundred people there is to protect the safety of Sun Simiao and others.
It doesn’t matter if the prince takes over.”
"Your Highness, do you want to transfer the 100 people from the medical school here?" After hearing Prince Ji's words, Wang Hongfu understood Li Shen's intention.
"Yes, that's right.
Moreover, I just had an idea. What Manager Yu said is right, this place is likely to be coveted by others.
I am planning to build a new academy of science next to the Dongshan military camp, so that if something happens, the guard camp can provide reinforcements immediately.
This is my dearest treasure, I cannot afford to lose it." This was also Li Shen's impromptu decision.
He suddenly thought of this problem just now. There is no village in front and no shop behind here. If he is attacked, there will be no time for reinforcement.
It would be better to build it directly next to the military camp so that those who want to make a move will give up.
"It would be great if it was built next to the military camp, but Your Majesty, this would require a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources."
Wang Hongfu reminded that the finances of Prince Ji’s Mansion were tight now, so there was no extra money to build an academy of sciences.
However, Li Shen said indifferently:
"There's no rush. Just build it first. Steel bars and cement are not expensive. This time, I plan to use corvée labor.
I have exempted them from taxes this year, so it is understandable that they work for me for free.
Twenty days of corvée per person should be enough."
The Tang Dynasty stipulated that adult males should perform 20 days of corvée labor each year.
"In this case, it won't cost too much. After I stay here, I will choose a location and report to His Royal Highness Prince Ji."
Wang Hongfu felt relieved after hearing this.
"Okay, I finally made it here, let's go check out the other research groups."
Since he was already here, Li Shen might as well take a look at what these people were tinkering with all day long.
Under the leadership of Manager Yu, Li Shen came to Research Group 3.
As soon as I entered, I heard the sound of tinkling.
"Manager Yu." An old man came over to greet him.
"His Royal Highness Prince Ji has arrived and is coming to see you." Steward Yu said.
"Your Highness Prince Ji?" The old man was stunned, and then he saw Li Shen standing beside him, with a look of panic on his face:
"I have met His Royal Highness Prince Ji."
"Well, no need to be polite. I'm just stopping by to take a look. You don't need to be nervous." Li Shen had a amiable smile on his face.
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji." The old man bowed and expressed his gratitude.
"I'm asking you, what is the main research here?"
Looking at the wood everywhere, Li Shen asked curiously.
"Replying to the prince, we are carpenters here, and are studying spinning and weaving machines."
The old man glanced back before replying.
"Loom?" Li Shen's eyes lit up. "Did you get anything?"
Today's looms are improved flying shuttle looms.
But Li Shen feels that there is still room for improvement and he has not yet done it to perfection.
"I'm sorry to disappoint His Royal Highness Prince Ji. We have tried many methods, but we can't make the loom weave faster.
So we’re discussing whether or not to put this aside and look into something else.”
The old man shook his head, feeling a little discouraged and lost.
The craftsmen here are all carpenters, and many of them have been doing carpentry for decades.
I originally thought that if I could improve it, I would be able to receive a large sum of money as a reward, but after so much research I have not been able to succeed.
Seeing the old man's look, Li Shen smiled and encouraged:
“Don’t be discouraged. The road to science is long and arduous, and you can’t succeed by just one person.
Only by combining the strengths of all schools can we succeed.
You might want to discuss it with other groups, and maybe you’ll get some ideas.”
"Your Highness, what you mean is that this loom can weave faster?"
The old man looked up at Li Shen. He wondered if Prince Ji had never encountered this before, so he pretended to know.
Li Shen nodded:
“Yes, the loom can be made faster and produce better cloth.
I have an idea. Let me tell you. Find a quiet place."
The old man quickly took Li Shen to his office area.
Li Shen found a pen and paper and began to tell the old man his thoughts:
“My idea is to see if we can combine the loom and the water wheel together.
You see, this is like a waterwheel. There are pretend gears here, and the gears drive it to the factory.
This is a loom. Think about how to use this gear to rotate so that the loom can weave by itself.
That is... This thing, I think, should be..."
Li Shen told the old man some common sense things he knew. The old man was amazed and suddenly realized.
"Okay, you guys have to figure out what to do on your own."
Li Shen put down his pen.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have already understood the general idea. I will discuss the rest with them in detail.
But we need to do this next to a river, and I don't think this place is suitable."
(I find this single joke hard to get over, right? It’s been more than a year, and there are still so many people playing it.
When I have someone else, I will have to write a notice to let you know.)