met free Chapter 224 Flushing Toilets: You Deserve It
Chapter 224 Flushing Toilets: You Deserve It
Could the Zhu Emperor allocate special food supplies for the prisoners?
The answer is obvious: impossible.
The reason why Emperor Zhu specifically allocated food for the five thousand exiled scholars was because those five thousand people were scholars, and no matter how inhumane these five thousand scholars were, Zhu Chongba was unwilling to watch them starve to death.
To put it bluntly, Emperor Zhu still held onto a last glimmer of hope for those five thousand scholars, hoping that one day they would repent and change their ways.
But it's different when it comes to prisoners of war. Emperor Zhu could send them all to one place to farm, and could tacitly allow Chang Yuchun to kill prisoners directly and then say a few words about how prisoners' lives are also lives, advising Chang Yuchun not to kill prisoners so easily next time. But it was absolutely impossible for him to allocate special food for prisoners.
After all, food was scarce in the Ming Dynasty, and people in many places were still starving. Emperor Zhu had to tighten his belt to provide food for Xu Da's Northern Expedition. Where would there be any extra food for prisoners to eat?
In fact, Emperor Zhu was quite extreme in some respects—for example, he forbade intermarriage between different clans; for example, some people could only wear pigskin boots and walk on the sides of the road, and if they walked in the middle of the road, the people could beat them to death without mercy; for example, the men of the Pu family in Quanzhou were slaves for generations, and the women were prostitutes for generations.
As for the common people of the Ming Dynasty... as long as they don't kill officials or rebel, and just pay their taxes honestly, there's basically nothing else to worry about. Ordinary people can curse the emperor as much as they want, and merchants are not allowed to wear silk clothes in public, but they can wear them secretly at home. Scholars can write books to mock the emperor as much as they want, as long as they don't go crazy in front of him.
Therefore, Magistrate Yang did not expect that old man Zhu Chongba would allocate grain specifically for the prisoners.
After another slight sigh, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng picked up his pen again and continued writing and drawing.
Magistrate Yang decided to first develop a plan for the county town and a renovation plan for the backyard of the county government office.
The planning of the county town can be done without rushing; the plan can even be for five, ten, or even twenty years.
Because the population of Ningyang County has been growing, and Emperor Zhu Chongba will soon launch a large-scale migration to Shanxi, Ningyang County will eventually no longer lack manpower.
As darkness fell, Magistrate Yang finally produced a renovation plan for the county government office that was barely satisfactory to him.
The toilet in the backyard needs to be changed from a squat toilet to a flush toilet. The rough design of the toilet has been drawn up. I'll tell Wang Laowai and the others about it later, and then let them burn a few to test it out.
We won't install a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) in the house, because Empress Ma might provide Jin'er and Yu'er with a dowry bed. A heated kang would be inconvenient, so we'd rather add a heated wall to the house.
The original idea of a monkey-shaped solar water heater with a black painted iron tube was abandoned. After all, Jin'er and Yu'er were princesses of the Ming Dynasty, and they would definitely have a lot of maids and servants. Naturally, someone would help them boil water.
Aside from these, there's not much else to change in the backyard of the county government office. The only difference is that the windows need to be replaced with frosted glass; once the ironworks is up and running, we'll figure out how to get fully transparent glass.
After finalizing the county town renovation plan and the county government office backyard renovation plan, Magistrate Yang sent Limpy Five to summon Wang Laowai and several carpenters to the county government office.
"This is for storing water. There needs to be a mechanism inside. When you pull the rope, the water will flow down. When you release the rope, the mechanism inside will close and stop the water flow."
"The water flows directly into the toilet, but not all of it can be flushed away. A bend needs to be designed here so that some of the water is blocked after flushing to prevent odors from flowing back through the bend."
Magistrate Yang pointed to a simple diagram and said to Wang Laowai and several carpenters, "We need to leave an inlet here. The water that flows through the bend in the pipe will go through this inlet into the sewer and then into the latrine. If conditions permit in the future, these sewers can be used to flush water directly to places further outside the city, so that the city will no longer have to smell foul odors from time to time like before."
Wang Laowai stared at the blueprints for a long time before finally bowing and saying, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will definitely find a way to manufacture the toilet you requested."
The carpenters immediately declared, "Don't worry, sir. This flushing and stopping mechanism is not difficult. We can make it in just a few days."
Magistrate Yang nodded in satisfaction, then instructed Wang Laowai, "You need to think carefully about the size of this toilet."
After Wang Laowai and the carpenters took their leave, Magistrate Yang had another idea and began to plot against Zhu Chongba and Zhu Biao.
First of all, I am a very good son-in-law and a very good brother-in-law. I never forget my father-in-law and son-in-law when there is any good thing, such as this flush toilet.
Secondly, the people of Ningyang County, grateful for the kindness of His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince, wanted to present the flush toilet to them as a tribute after they invented it.
Furthermore, I was somewhat young and naive in the past, causing a lot of trouble for the officials in the capital. Therefore, I intend to give each of you a flush toilet so that you can also experience the convenience of life.
Finally, it just so happens that the people of Ningyang County are rather foolish, and they burned a few extra toilets when they were being made. There might be a few hundred, or even a few thousand, leftovers. If you officials wish to buy them, I can arrange for them to be delivered to the capital.
After all, both Emperor Zhu Chongba and Emperor Zhu Biao, the Executive Vice Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, said the toilet was good after using it. Don't you officials in the capital want to experience it for yourselves?
And what about the wealthy gentry and merchants in the capital and other places? Don't you want to experience how comfortable and convenient it is for officials to use the toilet?
Even if none of you want to experience it, you should at least think about your wives and children, right?
Think about it, is it better to smell the stench and hear the buzzing of flies in the summer, or to enjoy a toilet environment without flies and without odor?
In winter, is it more comfortable to sit on a toilet with a cushion or to squat in a dry toilet?
Then, Magistrate Yang's thinking inevitably began to go astray once again.
Relying solely on the advertising efforts of Emperor Zhu and Emperor Xiaozhu would only reach the capital and surrounding prefectures and counties. However, if a magazine or similar publication could be used for advertising, the reach would extend to the entire Ming Dynasty.
Magistrate Yang had even come up with an advertising slogan: "Brand X flush toilet, you deserve it."
Unfortunately, the literacy rate in the Ming Dynasty is still frighteningly low. Even if magazines are produced, not many people will read them. We still need to think of other methods.