They were also at their wits' end, so they just left it at that.
Zhu Ci saw that both Zhu Yujian and Yan Yingyuan had looks of sudden realization on their faces, so he said no more and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.
As they left Dashan Hall, many officials turned to glance at the plaque, murmuring about its meaning of "Great Goodness."
It was indeed Great Benevolence. Even though some had previously thought it inappropriate for the Emperor to convert a royal temple into a warming house, they no longer held such thoughts now.
Whether the Buddha could increase grain yields, they did not know, but the seeds coming out of Dashan Hall would most likely be capable.
By the time they left the Imperial Palace, many people had gathered in small groups to discuss what they had seen and heard that day.
Zhu Yujian and Fu walked side by side, he complained in a half-joking manner, "Huaizhang is truly cunning, actually helping His Majesty keep secrets."
Beside them, Yan Yingyuan also chimed in with a good mood, "Exactly, this isn't even a bad thing, so why keep it such a tight secret?"
Fu pushed up his sunglasses and said, "His Majesty naturally dislikes ostentation, besides, there hasn't been much progress so far. I simply couldn't bear to see all of you worrying too much, so I brought you here to take a look. In truth, if this Grand Secretariat hadn't noticed that His Majesty has been acting quite elusive lately and asked about it, His Majesty wouldn't have intended to tell me at all."
Zhu Ci also glanced at him from the side and asked, "This.. doesn't look like how you used to look before?"
Fu tried hard to press down the corners of his mouth and said, "It was a reward bestowed by His Majesty some time ago."
Zhu Ci..
Fine, he suspected that Grand Secretary Fu had never actually bought anything himself; after all, no matter the occasion, whenever they asked, it was always described as a gift from His Majesty.
Yan Yingyuan didn't care about that at all, only saying, "In fact, it is somewhat inconvenient for His Majesty to have the experimental fields located within the palace."
They were all very concerned about the condition of the rice, but Dashan Hall was located in the inner palace; regardless of whether the Emperor had concubines, the inner palace was not a place that external officials could easily enter.
There aren't any now, but what if there are in the future?
Fu explained, "His Majesty has already selected several locations, but it was previously more convenient to use the greenhouses in the palace due to the earthworms, moving would have been troublesome, so nothing was changed. Now, the construction there is complete, we are currently improving the wheat seedlings."
The wheat seedlings are being improved as well?
The two Vice Grand Secretaries and the Minister of Rites spoke in unison.
Fu nodded and said, "Correct, it is just that the progress is far inferior to that of rice, so His Majesty has focused more of his energy on rice."
Well, the Little Emperor's exact words were that he didn't remember how to improve wheat, so he could only have his subordinates try. It would be best if it succeeded, but it wouldn't matter if it didn't; at most, it would just be a waste of some money.
He wasn't that short on money now, he didn't have any particularly extravagant hobbies, so supporting a research center was well within his means.
Fu did not stop him. Most of the profits from the business he partnered with the Emperor on had been reinvested, including his own dividends, so supporting such a research center was not difficult at all.
Yan Yingyuan and Emperor Zhu Yujian said with great excitement, "Where is it? Oh my, why is Grand Secretary Fu keeping even this a secret? Let's go, let's go see!"
Fu did not refuse, instead took them along, but since the Research Center was located quite far in the outskirts, the journey took a lot of time.
Fu had originally suggested that riding horses would be faster, but he was stopped by the other three people acting together.
It doesn't matter if it's a bit further; if we can make it back in time, great. If we really can't make it back, everyone can just stay overnight at my manor.
Zhu Ci said so.
Zhu Yujian hurriedly agreed, "Exactly, there is no shortage of space to sit, let's take the carriage, let's take the carriage."
Fu Jian saw that they all insisted on riding in the carriage, so he nodded and said, "Then we shall ride in the carriage."
The remaining three people breathed a sigh of relief.
Nowadays, which official in the imperial court does not know that the Grand Secretary is a glass person, unable to endure the sun or the wind? The Emperor checks on his health from time to time, frequently rewarding him with precious medicinal ingredients.
If their desire to visit that Research Center caused the Grand Secretary to fall ill, every single one of the three of them would be stripped of their titles by the Emperor.
Important officials? Even important officials would be useless.
The court might still function without them, but if the Grand Secretary were to abandon his post, the two Vice Grand Secretaries in the Grand Secretariat might not necessarily be able to hold the fort.
After all, this man still held the Ministry of Revenue, which was the most important department nowadays.
The group traveled in the carriage, swaying along until they reached the outskirts. When getting off the carriage, Zhu Ci felt a bit dazed.
This so-called Research Center was far too remote; it even had rammed earth roads, he was nearly thrown up from the jolting in the carriage.
Only after getting off the carriage and seeing the building before him clearly, Zhu Ci lost his composure for a moment. He stood there with his mouth slightly agape, looking up in awe, unable to speak for a long time.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Jealous of the Grand Secretary? Those are merely the interest I'm paying back, understand? A little kitty sitting on the dragon throne, looking at the bill and sighing. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 210
Not only him, but the other two Right Vice Censors were no better off either.
Fu waited at the entrance for them to finish being shocked before saying, "Let's go, let's go in and take a look."
Zhu Ci snapped out of his daze and immediately pressed for more details: "This.. how tall is it? It must be at least ten zhang high, right?"
Not just that," Fu said, leading them inside, "There's more underground; all together, it's about ten zhang high.
Zhu Ci and the other two looked at each other; based on that calculation, it was about ten stories high.
How.. how was this built?
It wasn't that they hadn't seen high-rise buildings before; pagodas, for instance, could reach heights of up to twenty zhang, but constructing a pagoda was an incredibly tedious process. For example, the Glass Pagoda of the Great Bao'en Temple took nineteen years to complete its main structure, with the interior decorations included, it took a total of twenty-one years.
Rather than being surprised by the height of this building, the three of them were more surprised by the time it took to build it.
They had not known of such a Research Center before, which suggested that the amount of manpower and resources used was not particularly large; one must remember that when the Glass Pagoda of the Great Bao'en Temple was built back then, although it could not be said to have exhausted the entire nation's strength, it still consumed a significant amount of manpower and resources.
The Glass Pagoda cost approximately two and a half million taels and required the labor of over a hundred thousand military personnel and craftsmen.
How on earth was this Research Center built?
After Zhu Ci and the other two followed Fu into the Research Center, they were instantly struck by the sight before them. Aside from some greenery and a few paintings hanging on the walls, the entire main hall had no other decorations, making it excessively simple.
The walls were white, the floor was paved with grayish-white stones, aside from the hanging paintings, there were only a few mirrors on the walls.
Because the hall was quite large, the lighting was not very bright; all the light was reflected through mirrors.
Fu led them all the way to the front desk and said, "Let's go, let's go register first."
The registration process was also very tedious; even Fu was questioned about the people around him, after completing the registration, one had to press their own seal onto the registration form.
The remaining three followed suit and then followed Fu toward the laboratory in the back.
Zhu Ci followed along and discovered that paintings were also hanging on both sides of the corridor, but the paintings here were very special; they were not of people or landscapes, but of grass.
From a single blade of grass growing bit by bit, every painting grows a little more.
It was not until he saw the final part that Zhu Ci realized the painting was of wheat.
He didn't recognize wheat when it was young, but once the wheat ears appeared, he knew what it was.
Zhu Ci found it quite interesting, yet he could not tell whose handiwork this painting was.
He knew one or two of the famous painters in the world today and had studied them; he had even seen Fu's paintings, but none of them felt like this.
This painting was simply too realistic; looking at it felt as if one were actually seeing wheat right before one's eyes.
But it was precisely because they were so realistic that they lacked a certain artistic conception, as if the artist simply wanted to depict wheat and nothing more.
However, all the paintings in the corridor were stamped with seals. Just as Zhu Ci was about to take a closer look, Zhu Yujian leaned in from beside him.
He walked toward the painting and said, "This painting looks somewhat stiff; it is lifelike, but pursuing mere resemblance at all costs is actually a sign of inferior skill."
Zhu Yujian felt somewhat puzzled. Fu's aesthetic sense was quite good; setting aside the paintings his family collected, his own paintings also possessed a certain level of skill. Why would he choose such a painting to hang?
Fu stopped and said, "The Duke of Xin is mistaken; every one of these paintings depicts wheat ears with such exquisite detail that they could easily be mistaken for the real thing, possessing their own delicate and lifelike charm."
As soon as he spoke these words, the three of them couldn't help but look at him.
When seeing that Fu's eyes were truly filled with appreciation for these paintings, the three of them couldn't help but think, "Damn it!"
Yan Yingyuan couldn't help but lean closer to look at the seal, wanting to see exactly who had such great influence.
Yan Yingyuan's eyesight was not very good nowadays, combined with the poor lighting in the corridor, he needed to lean in close to see the seal clearly.
Once he saw it clearly, he couldn't help but feel a hint of astonishment: "Is this.. His Majesty's work?"
After speaking, he couldn't help but glance back at Zhu Yujian.
And at this moment, Zhu Yujian wished he could travel back in time just to shut his own mouth.
You're the one who talks too much!
It should have been expected. Aside from His Majesty's influence, who else could have allowed such a painting to be hung here?
Yan Yingyuan cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty truly seeks truth and practicality."
Many times, poetry and paintings can reflect a person's character, His Majesty truly remains as indifferent to those flashy things as ever.
Zhu Ci stood there, feeling fortunate that he hadn't said more just now, as he had also thought these paintings were nothing special.
But thinking of the praise Fu had just given these paintings, he couldn't help but sigh with admiration; no wonder the man was a Grand Secretary; just look at how beautifully he spoke.
Especially since His Majesty is not even here right now, yet he is still offering praise; this is what it means to be consistent in word and deed.
Zhu Ci thought about this and glanced at Fu; oh, not only was his praise verbal, but even his expression was impeccable.
He continued walking forward while lost in thought, but as he walked, he suddenly realized something—could the Grand Secretary really appreciate those paintings?
Zhu Ci gave Fu a strange look, feeling that it seemed unlikely, yet not entirely impossible.
Regardless of what these people were thinking, Fu led them on a tour of the first floor.
Most of the first floor and the basement were heated rooms, with massive thermometers hanging inside, each showing a different temperature.
Although the three people who came along were not completely ignorant, they still couldn't make sense of what all this was for.
Finally, Zhu Ci couldn't help but ask, "What is all this for? And what are the results?"
Cultivating the wheat seedlings' cold resistance." Fu paused before saying, "There are no results so far.
By "no results," it means there haven't even been any interim achievements.
There was nothing to be done; Zhu Ci truly did not understand how to cultivate wheat. At most, he could only try to cultivate it like rice, but the problem was that Zhu Ci had not found any more cold-resistant varieties.
It was also unknown whether it was because wheat was not grown in large enough quantities in the South, or if it wasn't grown there at all; in any case, compared to the diversity of rice, wheat was much less varied.
Before finding suitable varieties for hybridization, one could only breed them bit by bit, a process that would take a very long time, potentially even decades.