CHAPTER 237: CHAPTER 232: BORROWING MANPOWER FOR RESEARCH

"I’m telling you about the same thing," Zhao Ming said, "This school Hanzhang established not only takes in all the children of suitable age from Yushan Hall, but also accepts children from outside who want to study. As long as they pass the assessment and sign the agreement, they can also attend the school."

"Hanzhang not only covers their two meals a day, but also rewards those with excellent grades every ten days. The books, brushes, ink, and paper they use are all free. Do you know what this means?"

Zhao Cheng, who only knew about teaching and had never thought about these things, asked in a daze, "What does it mean?"

"It means a huge expense," Zhao Ming calmly said, "Even a sage would not persist in doing something with no benefit. Why does Hanzhang spend so much to do this?"

Confucius accepted students and still had to take tuition fees.

Zhao Ming said, "Isn’t it to make them serve her?"

If she can’t cultivate their loyalty, why would Zhao Hanzhang go through so much effort and trouble?

Zhao Cheng couldn’t find the words, "Then..."

Zhao Ming looked up at him. Zhao Cheng wasn’t a fool. After holding it in for a long time, he asked, "She didn’t make it clear to me before, so why is she highlighting it now?"

Zhao Ming stroked his chin and said, "Perhaps her ulterior motive is not what it seems."

"Then what is it?"

"It’s about you," Zhao Ming looked at Zhao Cheng and sighed, "Brother Cheng, you’re still too naive. How can you be her opponent?"

Zhao Cheng snorted and said, "What do I have that’s worth her scheming against?"

Hardly after he said this, Zhao Hanzhang brought back the iron ore she collected from Wushan to Wu Castle. Learning Zhao Cheng was with Zhao Ming, she excitedly came over, completely unfazed by having been scolded and kicked out of the school not long ago.

As soon as they met, she greeted warmly, "Uncle, Uncle!"

Zhao Ming looked at Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng turned his head to the side.

Zhao Ming asked with a slight smile, "You’ve been gone for more than half a month. Why did you return to Wu Castle immediately after coming back? Isn’t your county government busy?"

"I came to deliver something to Uncle," Zhao Hanzhang clapped her hands, and immediately a guard brought in a heavy box, "This is what I promised for Uncle."

The guard opened it, revealing rectangular iron blocks inside.

Zhao Cheng was amazed, mouth agape. Although Zhao Ming was also surprised, he remained composed. He looked at Zhao Hanzhang with narrowed eyes, "Did you smelt these?"

Zhao Hanzhang nodded with a smile, "Uncle, can these cover the coal you sent to Wushan?"

Zhao Cheng turned to look at Zhao Ming, "Coal? Graphite? Brother Ming, are you refining iron together? Where did you get the iron ore?"

Privately refining iron is a serious crime akin to rebellion.

However, Zhao Cheng quickly calmed down, considering that among serious crimes, Zhao Hanzhang also privately raised soldiers. The Zhao Family had also exceeded the number of private soldiers entitled to an Earl.

Currently, only Zhao Ming and two clan elders knew that Zhao Hanzhang had an iron mine, one of whom was Zhao Song, so Zhao Cheng was unaware.

Zhao Ming was slightly annoyed, casting a covert glance at Zhao Hanzhang, before explaining to Zhao Cheng, "Hanzhang was lucky and discovered an iron ore deposit in the wild."

Having calmed down, Zhao Cheng was speechless again, "...In Xiping County? Brother Ming, do I look so easily deceived? Our Zhao Family has been in Xiping for so many years, if there was an iron mine, would it be left to her to discover?"

Zhao Ming persisted, "It’s in the county. Xiping County is quite large. Who among us could have truly walked every inch of the land?"

Only then did Zhao Cheng hold his tongue.

Zhao Ming stood up and walked into the yard, picked up an iron block and examined it. It was heavy, and judging by its sheen, it was indeed high-quality iron.

Zhao Ming put down the iron block and nodded, "Not bad, leave it here."

Seeing him satisfied, Zhao Hanzhang also smiled, "Just in time for the spring plowing, Wu Castle can forge some farming tools."

Seeing Zhao Ming staying silent, Zhao Hanzhang had to take the initiative, "Uncle, Tinghan and I have come up with a new set of farming tools. Would you like to try them out?"

"Where are they?"

"They haven’t been made yet," Zhao Hanzhang said, "They’re just drawn out, but due to a shortage of blacksmiths, they can’t be made for now."

Zhao Ming clicked his tongue and asked, "You want me to provide the blacksmiths?"

He said, "Even in Wu Castle, we have to seek out Lu Tiejiang in the county to forge farming tools. Now that you’ve recruited him into the government, what can I do?"

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t believe that there wasn’t a single blacksmith in the large Wu Castle.

Could all those people’s farming tools really depend on just one Lu Tiejiang?

Zhao Hanzhang pulled out the drawings from her sleeve and handed them to Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming took a look and found they really were of farming tools. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, a bit surprised.

Zhao Hanzhang was displeased, "Uncle, does Hanzhang really deceive you?"

Hadn’t she deceived him enough already?

Zhao Ming wasn’t unfamiliar with agriculture, he till the fields himself, so he immediately noticed the changes in the farming tools on the drawings.

He frowned and asked, "How did you derive such designs without having made them? Changing a straight beam to a curved one and adding so much on top."

If they hadn’t tested each aspect, how could they draw up such designs?

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Calculated it."

Zhao Ming glanced at her, eyes filled with suspicion.

Zhao Hanzhang then raised her hand to swear, "Uncle, I’m telling the truth, I’m absolutely not deceiving you."

"You need to change this habit of swearing so readily, do you do this even with outsiders?"

"But Uncle, you’re not an outsider, and I’m telling the truth. Why would I fear swearing?" Zhao Hanzhang beamed, "Uncle, this was calculated by Tinghan. If you don’t believe me, would you not believe him either?"

"Force can be calculated."

Zhao Ming pondered, "Force?"

"Yes, the point of application, the amount of force, they can all be calculated. In Tinghan’s words, everything in the world can be calculated," Zhao Hanzhang added, "Although I don’t quite agree with him on this, facts have proven that calculating farming tools isn’t too difficult."

They had long forgotten what a curved plow looked like, but both knew its basic principles. After Fu Tinghan had a glance at the straight beam plow, he quickly calculated and drew it out.

However, the grinding of many of these iron pieces required great skill, which Lu Tiejiang’s new apprentices could not handle, and Lu Tiejiang was still busy making weapons. Unable to free up time, Zhao Hanzhang had to turn to Zhao Ming, hoping he could sponsor some blacksmiths.

Zhao Ming looked at the drawings back and forth twice. Zhao Cheng stepped forward, took a look at it for a while, then said, "This plow seems more labor-saving, and with the plowshare placed above the plow blade, it can turn the soil open to scatter it, not only saving effort but also plowing deeper."

Deep plowing is beneficial for planting, a principle understood by all who till the land.

Zhao Hanzhang gave Zhao Cheng a thumbs-up, "Uncle, you grasped the key points at a glance, impressive."

Zhao Cheng ignored her, saying to Zhao Ming, "It’s worth a try. There’s still about two months until spring plowing; we can first forge a set to see its effectiveness."

Only then did Zhao Ming nod.

Zhao Hanzhang immediately said, "When it’s forged, I also want to observe."

Knowing she intended to use his people for research, Zhao Ming couldn’t be bothered to argue with her, and nodded in agreement.