After the four of us went ashore, we immediately attracted the attention of passersby.
Walking on the streets of Du Guangfu, Wen Rourou said excitedly, “Is this Jiudong City four hundred years ago?”
“Yes, it’s better four hundred years ago. Look at these residences along the street, all with blue bricks and gray tiles, and the beams, frames, doors, and windows are mostly natural wood, which looks very elegant,” Old Lin said.
“Did your Jiudong City preserve any of these Ming Dynasty folk houses?” Wen Rourou asked curiously.
“The folk houses were not preserved, but a public toilet from the Ming Dynasty was,” Old Zhang laughed.
After walking for a while, more and more people gathered around, and we were completely surrounded.
At this time, two yamen runners came forward and said that the Prefect wanted to invite us over.
We followed the yamen runners to the Prefect’s Yamen.
Entering the Yamen, what came into view was a main hall, where the Prefect held major political activities and court hearings.
The yamen runners led us through the main hall and into the inner hall.
The inner hall was where the Prefect conducted daily official business, heard private cases, and met with officials from other places. Compared with the previous main hall, it was more private and tranquil.
The furnishings in the inner hall were not complicated. Besides simple tables and chairs, there were a few vases and carvings.
Just as we sat down, a man of about fifty years old, wearing an official hat, with a goatee, and a tall and thin figure, walked out from the inner residence.
“This is the Prefect of our Du Guangfu,” one of the yamen runners introduced to us.
“My surname is Li, and I am the Prefect of this prefecture. I heard that the four of you came from the sky. I wonder what kind of deities you are? What is your purpose in coming to my Du Guangfu?” The Prefect looked at the four of us and said with a smile.
“This is a long story. We are actually from Du Guangfu four hundred years later. However, Du Guangfu four hundred years later is no longer called Du Guangfu, but Jiudong City. We traveled through a cave located in Du Guangfu that was excavated in the first year of the Tianqi era,” Old Lin said in a clear and unhurried manner.
“You just said that you came from an underground cave in Du Guangfu, and that this underground cave was excavated in the first year of the Tianqi era. Can you take me to see this underground cave?” the Prefect said in surprise.
After the four of us exchanged opinions, we all agreed that Jiudong City four hundred years later had undergone earth-shaking changes, but there were still traces of Du Guangfu four hundred years ago. We all said that we could try to find it.
In the end, the four of us unanimously decided to start searching from the clue of the public toilet in Du Guangfu.
The Prefect called a Clerk, who said that there were more than twenty public toilets built in Du Guangfu.
When we heard that there were more than twenty public toilets in Du Guangfu, we were all dumbfounded, and we didn’t know where to start. It seemed that we could only compare them one by one.
After wandering around Du Guangfu for an afternoon, we locked onto a public toilet on a main street.
The Clerk said that this public toilet was built by a private individual, and it had only been built recently, and it was free for passersby to use.
We saw a notice posted on the outer wall of the toilet, which read: Liu Family’s fragrant new pit, gentlemen from far and near are welcome, this house is willing to provide toilet paper.
Wen Rourou didn’t understand, so Old Zhang explained: “The Liu family has built a new toilet, and people from far and near can come here to use the toilet, and toilet paper is provided free of charge.”
Wen Rourou giggled non-stop after hearing Old Zhang’s explanation.
We saw that people coming in and out of this toilet were constantly flowing, because ordinary people at that time could not afford grass paper, but using the toilet here could use grass paper for free, which was naturally very attractive.
After returning to the Prefect’s Yamen in the evening, the Prefect hosted a banquet to entertain us, and also invited several local gentry to accompany us.
During the banquet, everyone listened to us talk about the historical development and social changes of Du Guangfu over the past four hundred years, and they all marveled.
The next day, we went straight to this public toilet and searched for half a day, but we didn’t see the entrance to the underground cave.
After returning to the Yamen, the Prefect suggested that we excavate an underground cave in Du Guangfu, and said that he would allocate a sum of money specifically for excavating the cave.
After the four of us discussed it, we felt that this underground cave had to be excavated, otherwise we would not be able to return to Jiudong City four hundred years later.
After studying the soil in Du Guangfu, Old Lin discovered that this was a magical land – the soil could absorb light and sound.
According to the underground geological structure in Du Guangfu, Old Lin determined the specific location for excavating the underground cave and the direction of the passage.
Of course, the matter of the four of us and the excavation of the cave was also reported to the Imperial Court in a timely manner.
When the Emperor Zhu Youxiao learned about this matter, he was very interested and immediately issued an imperial edict to summon us.
When we rushed to the Capital, four boats of wood cut from Du Guang Mountain had just been delivered to the Royal Palace.
A double blessing arrived, and Zhu Youxiao was overjoyed. He immediately summoned his ministers and conferred the titles of Savior of Suffering Heavenly Lord, Primal Sage Heavenly Lord, Lord of All Gods, and Earth Mother Heavenly Lord on Old Lin, Old Zhang, me, and Wen Rourou, respectively.
After court, we followed Zhu Youxiao to the Imperial Garden, where many exquisitely crafted wooden utensils were placed.
Zhu Youxiao sat among the wooden utensils and asked us, “Four Heavenly Lords, what tools do you plan to use to excavate the cave?”
“We want to develop an automatic cave excavator and an automatic soil conveying machine, and we also plan to invite some skilled craftsmen to participate in the manufacturing,” I replied.
“Let me participate in your research and manufacturing,” Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.
“If Your Majesty participates in person, then we couldn’t ask for more! I’ve long heard that you are ingenious and good at woodworking. These wooden utensils around you were all made by you personally, right?” Old Lin interjected.
Zhu Youxiao nodded and then asked, “How many caves are you planning to excavate?”
“Excavating one underground cave is enough,” I replied.
“Excavate nine underground caves,” Zhu Youxiao said meaningfully.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty had the most advanced iron and steel smelting technology in the world.
It took us more than a month to manufacture the automatic cave excavator and the automatic soil conveying machine.
We first dug the passage, and after digging the passage, we started excavating the cave from the innermost part of the passage.
After the first underground cave was excavated for more than three months, both the automatic cave excavator and the automatic soil conveying machine disappeared into the cave.
We believe that this underground cave has connected the past and the future, and the automatic cave excavator and the automatic soil conveying machine may have traveled to the past or the future.
After the automatic cave excavator and the automatic soil conveying machine disappeared, we manufactured the second automatic cave excavator and automatic soil conveying machine.
Next, in the passage, from the inside to the outside, we successively excavated the second, third, fourth… underground caves.
Every time we excavated an underground cave, we would manufacture another automatic cave excavator and an automatic soil conveying machine.
After all nine underground caves were excavated, for safety reasons, we installed a protective door at the entrance of the passage.
Old Lin was responsible for carving patterns and installing mechanisms on the protective door.
Can the underground caves we excavated really travel to the past or the future?
Not to mention the people of Du Guangfu, even we ourselves were not sure.
Although no one in the Ming Dynasty in the first year of the Tianqi era believed in time travel, there was one person who absolutely believed.