The strongest eldest son of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 98 truly opened Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes!

A complete set of farming tools, including hoes, plows, and sickles, are neatly arranged in the corner of the open space, all wiped clean and shiny.

Upon seeing the farm tools, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up instantly, and his inherent simple and honest nature was instantly awakened.

He strode forward, reached out and grasped the wooden handle of the hoe, casually weighing it in his hand with practiced ease.

Upon acquiring the long-unused farming tools, Zhu Yuanzhang was filled with enthusiasm, a simple and honest smile spreading across his face.

"Haha, it's been a long time since I've touched these things, they feel especially familiar today."

After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves, bent down, and wielded a hoe.

Empress Ma stood to the side, watching quietly with a smile, her eyes gentle, keeping him company.

As Zhu Yuanzhang turned the soil with a hoe, he casually boasted, his tone tinged with nostalgia and self-satisfaction.

"My dear sister, you have no idea. When I was young, I was one of the best farm workers in the village."

"He was proficient in everything from transplanting rice seedlings and tilling the land to weeding and harvesting, making a living on the ridges of the fields every day."

His hoeing movements became increasingly swift, turning over the soil layer by layer, neatly and evenly.

"My biggest dream when I was young was to have a few acres of fertile land, an ox, and live a peaceful life without worrying about food and clothing."

"I can cultivate this wasteland until it is completely flat and level within half a month."

Empress Ma covered her mouth and chuckled softly upon hearing this, then replied gently.

"Since you are so skilled in farming, sir, then you shall have to work hard today."

"Once you've finished cultivating this land, I'll select some good vegetable and grain seeds and plant them for you myself."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a warmth in his heart, and his movements became even lighter, his face filled with satisfaction and gratitude.

"This life, with fertile land at my disposal, leisurely living, and carefree farming, is exactly the life I dreamed of when I was a child."

As he worked, he sincerely praised Zhu Yao, his eyes full of admiration.

"Yao'er is a child who truly understands farming, knows the fundamentals, and deeply understands the principle that food is the most important thing for people."

"No wonder he was able to cultivate such a high-yield, life-saving crop as the sweet potato; the foundation lies entirely in his agricultural heart."

Zhu Yuanzhang worked with increasing enthusiasm, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, yet he showed no signs of fatigue.

"Today I will help this kid cultivate and level all the wasteland."

"When he comes back and sees me, I've saved him so much trouble. He'll surely be grateful, knowing how much his father loves him!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was in high spirits, and he buried himself in turning the soil with a hoe, working for a whole day.

The sun was setting in the west, its afterglow filling the courtyard. He raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead.

Looking at the soft, flat land beneath his feet, which accounted for less than one-tenth of the entire wasteland, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were full of pride.

He straightened his back, stretched his aching muscles, and wore a smug smile.

"Let's cultivate these plots today, and we'll clean up the rest tomorrow. I guarantee Yao'er will be quite surprised."

Empress Ma stepped forward and gently brushed the dust off his shoulders.

"After a long day of work, your back must be aching. There's no rush in the fields, let's go back to our rooms and rest."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked back at the fields he had personally cultivated with reluctance before slowly leaving with Empress Ma.

As night fell and the courtyard lights came on, Zhu Yao and Xu Miaoyun strolled side by side under the eaves, chatting idly.

Zhu Yao brought over a freshly cut coconut and offered it sweet coconut water.

Xu Miaoyun blushed and thanked her softly. The two chatted about their studies and interesting stories, getting along peacefully and harmoniously.

As the moonlight deepened and the night grew slightly cool, Xu Miaoyun bowed and took her leave, returning to her room alone.

With only his own people left in the courtyard, Zhu Yao let out a soft breath, his expression relaxing.

Seeing this, Chen Zhong, who was standing to the side, chuckled and chuckled lightly, cupping his hands in a slight gesture of teasing.

"Young Master is now skilled in both literature and martial arts, and possesses unparalleled wisdom and resourcefulness, but he is rather clumsy when it comes to matters of the heart."

Zhu Yao rolled his eyes at him and retorted in a low voice, clearly annoyed.

"You're the one who's incredibly smart, stop teasing me."

He stretched, a hint of weariness in his eyes, and muttered something under his breath.

"Time for bed. Tomorrow morning, I still need to check on my newly marked vegetable garden."

The night passed in the blink of an eye, and the next day, as dawn broke, the morning light spilled into the courtyard.

Zhu Yao got up early and went straight to his private vegetable garden to check on the land.

As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, I saw Zhu Yuanzhang with his sleeves rolled up, holding a hoe, continuing to work the land.

Upon hearing footsteps, Zhu Yuanzhang looked up and saw Zhu Yao. He immediately stopped what he was doing, his face full of smugness.

He pointed to the flat, soft ground beneath his feet, his tone tinged with pride.

"Yao'er, look! Your father worked hard all day yesterday to cultivate this fertile field for you. Wasn't that diligent enough?"

"Isn't your father amazing?!"

Zhu Yao looked at the mere one-tenth of the cultivated land, a hint of suppressed amusement flashing across his eyes, secretly amused.

"Father...you've worked hard...actually, I have a better way."

Zhu Yuanzhang: ???

Zhu Yao then turned to Chen Zhong and instructed him to have all the new farming equipment that had been prepared moved into the yard.

Several servants responded and carried a simple tiller, sturdy ropes, and pulleys to the ground.

Following Zhu Yao's instructions, everyone firmly secured the pulley system at both ends of the field and erected a neat cableway.

Two robust water buffaloes were brought in from outside the yard and tied to their respective traction ropes, ready to go.

Zhu Yao raised his hand to signal, and the attendant lightly flicked the ox whip, causing the two water buffaloes to move forward steadily, with the traction machine sliding at a uniform speed.

The new plow turns over the thick soil neatly, evenly, and smoothly.

The entire process requires no manual labor to swing hoes; the machinery moves back and forth, making the farming speed astonishingly fast.

In just one hour, all of Zhu Yuanzhang's hard work from the previous day was wiped out.

The entire vast wasteland was thoroughly tilled by machinery, leaving no soil untouched and perfectly tidy.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been watching the whole thing from the sidelines, suddenly dropped his hoe with a thud, freezing completely in place.

His eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape, his face filled with disbelief as he stared intently at the newly leveled, fertile field.

Empress Ma also stopped in astonishment, her eyes filled with utter shock.

One person toils all day and only gets one-tenth of the harvest, while the new machinery finishes the job in no time. The stark difference is striking.

Zhu Yuanzhang strode forward, squatted down, and stroked the pulley farming tool in front of him, his eyes full of amazement.

He looked up at Zhu Yao, his tone urgent and curious, and quickly asked.

"Yao'er, I've never seen this farming tool before. What is it? How can it be so labor-saving and efficient?"

Zhu Yao remained calm and composed as he slowly explained the reason.

"Father, when I was young, I followed my grandfather to reclaim wasteland and farm. There were not enough people and the farming tools were simple, so farming was extremely difficult."

To save time and effort and cultivate more land, I worked on improvements and created this pulley-driven tillage machine.

"Without this equipment, I would have had difficulty quickly cultivating large tracts of fertile land and growing high-yield crops."

Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly stroked the ingenious pulley combination with his fingertips, his eyes filled with amazement and admiration.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing! With clever use, one item can replace the work of dozens of people!"

His eyes suddenly lit up, and the idea of ​​benefiting the people and governing the country welled up in his mind, which he blurted out.

"If this machine could be widely adopted in all prefectures and counties across the land, the efficiency of farming would increase dramatically, and wasteland could be fully cultivated!"

"The Ming Dynasty's grain production will surely skyrocket, and the people will no longer have to worry about famine. This is an immensely benevolent policy!"