Chapter 272: Stunned

In Kunning Palace, Empress Ma was fixing her makeup.

Seeing her two sons bring in their wives, grandchildren and great‑grandchildren, she smiled with her eyes narrowed to a slit.

"They're here, they're here! Come in quickly and warm up!"

Everyone saluted; Empress Ma pulled each of them up, hugged Zhu Wenwen and Zhu Huanhuan for a kiss, then patted Zhu QiongJiong's head, praising him as sturdy.

"QiongJiong has grown again, stronger than your brother Xiong Ying was when he was young."

Zhu QiongJiong puffed out his small chest, a look of pride on his face.

Zhu Xiongying laughed beside him, not minding at all; his father had a second uncle, and Zhu Xiongying also had the invincible younger brother Zhu QiongJiong.

He, Zhu Xiongying, will surely not be far behind his father in the future...

Empress Ma looked at this whole family, her eyes growing a bit warm.

Just as she spoke, a eunuch outside announced, "His Majesty has arrived..."

Zhu Yuanzhang strode in, wearing a dark red everyday robe, his spirit vigorous.

He scanned the hall's occupants and nodded with satisfaction.

"Everyone's here, good! Let's go to Qianqing Palace; we'll have the Imperial Kitchen prepare dumplings and chat while we eat."

Inside Qianqing Palace, warmth suffused the air.

A large round table was set, the family seated around it. Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the main seat, Empress Ma on his right, Zhu Biao on the left, and Zhu Yong sat beside Zhu Biao.

The women and children took seats on both sides, lively and noisy.

The palace maids brought out the dumplings, steaming hot, the aroma hitting the nose.

Zhu Yuanzhang lifted his wine cup and said, "Come, let's have a drink first, wishing Great Ming prosperity year after year, peace every season."

Everyone raised their cups and drank together.

After a cup of wine went down, the atmosphere warmed up.

Zhu Shuang, Zhu Gang, and Zhu Di were also present, but whispered among themselves; they dared not speak freely, lest they be rebuked again, since each time they were treated by Imperial Father as examples, bad examples.

Zhu Su, Zhu Zhen, and Zhu Fu, the younger ones, remained, sitting at the lower seats, eating dumplings properly.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at these sons and laughed, "You lot, don't imitate your third and fourth brothers, always causing trouble."

Zhu Shuang and Zhu Gang exchanged a glance, then silently bowed their heads.

Just then, the example arrived...

Zhu Su, with an innocent face, said, "Imperial Father, I, your son, spend every day in the workshop researching herbs, no time for mischief."

Zhu Zhen and Zhu Fu also hurriedly declared their innocence.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction.

While eating, Zhu Yong pulled out the stack of blueprints from his bosom.

"Father, this morning the White-bearded Old Man gave more things again."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up as he took the blueprints.

He opened the first page, glanced a few times, and was stunned.

The paper showed some bizarre shapes and winding lines.

Beside them were annotations; each character was recognizable, but together they made no sense.

"High-Purity Copper Smelting", "Electrolytic Purification", "Alloy Proportion" …

Zhu Yuanzhang looked up at Zhu Yong and asked, "What is this?"

Zhu Yong said naively, "The White-bearded Old Man says this is an Alchemy Capability Blueprint, able to forge purer copper and iron."

"Purer copper and iron—are our current copper and iron not pure enough?" Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

"Not enough," Zhu Yong replied, "The White-bearded Old Man says to create new things we need more pure metals."

Zhu Yuanzhang turned to the next page, which was more blueprints.

"Wire Drawing Process"

"Magnetic Core Material Preparation"

…

"What is this?"

"A wire is an electric cable that conducts electricity; a magnetic core is used for making generators," Zhu Yong explained, but from Zhu Yuanzhang's expression it was clear he didn't understand.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang furrowed his brows even tighter: "What is a generator?"

Zhu Yong scratched his head, thought, and said, "It's... something like a waterwheel; a waterwheel grinds grain when it turns, a generator produces light when it turns."

"Produce light? Second brother, you mean, no candles, no oil lamps, just illumination?" Zhu Biao interjected from beside.

"Yes," Zhu Yong nodded, "The White-bearded Old Man says that in the future every household will have electric lamps; one press of a switch lights up, far brighter than candles."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the blueprint in his hand, then at Zhu Yong, and after a while asked, "Can this thing... really work?"

Zhu Yong chuckled innocently, "I don't know either, but the White-bearded Old Man's blueprint shouldn't be wrong; however we still need the blueprint for a power plant, which I haven't obtained yet."

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment, then handed the blueprint to Zhu Biao, saying, "Biao, keep this and later hand it to the Ministry of Works."

Zhu Biao took it, examined it carefully, and grimaced, "Father, the people of the Ministry of Works are probably unable to understand it either."

"If they don't understand, let them study it slowly; the steam engine blueprints they couldn't read before, yet they built it now. Let them ponder until they grasp it, then they'll understand," Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Zhu Biao nodded.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked again at Zhu Yong, "Yong Er, what else did the White-bearded Old Man tell you?"

Zhu Yong thought for a moment and said, "He said we must first smelt high‑purity copper, then draw it into fine wire, wind it into coils, also make a magnetic core, assemble the core and coil together, and when it spins it will generate electricity."

"Generate electricity?"

"Yes, the electricity produced, sent through wires to every household, will light the lamps."

Zhu Yuanzhang heard it and was startled, finally shook his head and said, "Enough, enough. We don't understand, and we don't want to. As long as we know what you gave us is good, that's all."

He lifted his wine cup, took another sip, and suddenly remembered something: "By the way, the wire you mentioned, should it be copper?"

"Mm."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Biao Er, do we have enough copper?"

Zhu Biao thought for a moment and said, "Reply Imperial Father, in recent years Yunnan's copper mines have yielded a lot, but most of it was used to mint coins. If we need to refine high‑purity copper, it requires a large amount of copper material, so we may have to find another way."

"Then find a way. The thing Yong Er mentioned must be useful. If copper is insufficient, we can source it elsewhere; if that fails, let the Ministry of Works' people think it over, see if iron can replace it."

Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Zhu Biao agreed.

Zhu Yong listened beside them, said nothing further.

He knew clearly that this alchemy blueprint was preparing for a future generator.

Without high‑purity copper, without qualified conductors, even with the generator blueprint we cannot build it.

One step at a time, no rush.

After finishing the dumplings, the sky brightened.

The children couldn't sit still; Zhu Wenwen pulled Zhu Huanhuan's hand and whispered something.

Zhu Qiong Jiong also came over, was rejected by the two older sisters, pouted and ran to find Zhu Xiongying.

Zhu Xiongying took his hand and led him to a side to play.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his grandchildren, his smile deepened.

"Little sister, look at this big family, how wonderful."

Empress Ma nodded, "Yes, how wonderful."

After sitting a while longer, the children began to yawn.

Empress Ma said, "Alright, let's disperse! There's a Family Banquet tonight; everyone go rest."

Everyone rose and gradually took their leave.

Zhu Biao and Zhu Yong walked last.

Exiting Qianqing Palace, snow began to fall again, fine and dense.

Zhu Biao carefully slipped the stack of blueprints into his bosom and said to Zhu Yong, "Second brother, don't worry, these blueprints, big brother will definitely have the Ministry of Works' people study them well."

Zhu Yong nodded, "Big brother handles things, I am at ease."

Zhu Biao laughed, patted his brother's shoulder, "Return now, see you at the Family Banquet tonight."

The two brothers split at the end of the palace corridor, one heading toward the East Palace, the other toward Wu Men.

The snow fell heavier.

When Zhu Yong reached Wu Men, he turned back for a glance.

On the roof of Qianqing Palace, a thin layer of white had already accumulated.

He suddenly recalled the things he had read about in his past life.

Generator, motor, lamp, telegraph…

Those things once thought unattainable were gradually becoming reality.

And all this started from those signed blueprints.

"Prince, get in!" Xiao Zhu ran over, holding an umbrella.

Zhu Yong nodded and slipped into the carriage.

The carriage slowly left the Imperial City.

The wheels pressed into the packed snow, creak—creak.

Through the window, he saw the low houses lining the street, saw the smokestacks of the Ministry of Works' workshop in the distance, and saw the silhouettes of several steamships on the far Qinhuai River.