The rise of the prince

Chapter 537 The Research Fund of the Palace + The Preparations of Both Sides

A genius is a genius, but the road to genius is not unimpeded.

Zhao Si's idea is hundreds of years ahead of ordinary people. In fact, during the Civil War in country m, time-delay leads were used.

Advanced thinking will inevitably be accompanied by advanced difficulties. The first thing to solve is the problem of the trajectory of the shell.

The flight attitude of round shells is unstable and cannot guarantee front-end contact, so before this idea is practical, it is necessary to change the shell from round shells to a shape that can ensure front-end contact.

Zhao Si decided to take it step by step. The first phase of the plan proposed was to develop a new shell. This shell needs to be more accurate and have a stable flight attitude, so that it can be made into a blooming shell and detonated after impact.

However, this obviously requires a lot of time and money investment. Zhao Si hesitated when he told him, but Li Xingzhou immediately agreed, and immediately asked Shiyu to spend 10 taels from the account to Zhao Si, which was completely used for the new shells. Of course, he also arranged Tieniu as his deputy.

The purpose is to supervise each other, and 10 taels is not a small amount for the palace.

Zhao Si was ecstatic and grateful to him. Apparently, a craftsman like him could have 10 taels for researching his favorite "uncanny skills and tricks". trust him.

10 taels!It has been taxed with several states and governments for several years.

Zhao Si moved directly to the bar shooting range in the backyard of the palace, and lived there directly with the craftsmen and a few soldiers who were testing artillery. They studied day and night, never went home, and only slept for two or three hours a day.

The fourth daughter-in-law of Zhao couldn't take it anymore, she came to the palace to beg to see him, and when she entered, she grabbed his ear and scolded him.

Zhao Si is a good man, but also fearful of guilt. When he was just a good carpenter, he would work with the neighbors in the neighborhood. If the family had difficulties, he would not charge money, and sometimes he would just do it without compensation.In other words, if it wasn't for a shrewd daughter-in-law who took control of him, a good old man like him would be taken advantage of by others.

So Zhao Si always listened to his wife, but this time, he didn't listen to his wife. Her wife was shocked when she heard that King Pingnan offered him 10 taels for his research.

In the end, he didn't stop him, but made a request to Li Xingzhou, wanting to go in and out of the palace every day to take care of his husband.

Li Xingzhou agreed, and specially arranged a carriage for her to go back and forth, because Zhao Si's family also has children, and the family is in the west of the city, and the children also need to be taken care of. Now it is very inconvenient to come to the palace to take care of the husband.

Zhao was very moved.

At the beginning of February, the spring is just right, the willows on the riverside are blooming, the palace is in full swing again, the smoke and dust of steelmaking are covering the sky, the graphite kiln is producing all kinds of exquisite ceramics day and night, and the hydraulically driven water wheel is in the back of the mountain. It does not go out day and night.

Workers coming and going are very lively.

To the north is the ferry of the New Wangfu Industrial Zone. Wangfu's eighth Dingnan-class ship is standing in the port. Now Wangfu has basically closed all the shipping business on the channel connecting the Dajiang River to the Grand Canal.

Cheap price, faster speed and larger transportation volume, the pulley block designed by Qiuer also shines at various ferries, and it has the banner of Wangfu, which is safer and more reliable. The perfect choice for small businesses.

With word of mouth, word of mouth slowly fermented, and merchants continued to join in. When not transporting goods, they can also carry merchants.

Just as Li Xingzhou expected at the beginning, the shipping business soon surpassed the share of perfume, and almost equaled the various wine businesses of the Palace, and more merchants continued to join, and it would soon become the largest business in the Palace.

And far more than that, the advantage of Hangyuan is that it allows Wangfu to get acquainted with businesses from all over the country, large and small, to understand the situation in the whole country, and it also creates more jobs, so that the reputation of Wangfu among the people is getting better and better.

As time goes by, many businesses will become more and more inseparable from the palace.

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. Because of the business squeeze of the palace, many small boat transporters who used to be on the waterway of the great river lost many opportunities. The palace can only recruit some, but some are still forced to survive more difficultly.

These are all changes. This country is changing rapidly with the palace as the center.

However, the influence of the palace relies on the great river. The Grand Canal and the great river continue to exert influence everywhere, and it becomes more and more obvious.

After Yan Kun bid farewell to him, he boarded the big ship, followed by Black Leopard, Yan Gu, and a dozen people from the Western Regions who knew how to grow cotton.

The black leopard came to him and knelt down: "Your Majesty's kindness and virtue, I will remember it in my heart. After I go back, I will definitely teach my tribe well and cultivate well."

Li Xingzhou patted him on the shoulder: "This king will also tell you the truth.

In the past, you robbed your house, I can still forgive you, after all, it was for the sake of living.

But it’s different now. I’ve left half of the grain that Yumianhu robbed from Weizhou for you, which is enough to last this year. When the cotton is harvested in autumn and winter this year, the palace will come to collect it, and then the palace will pay to buy it from you. With money you can buy food and other things.

But if someone goes out to plunder like before, I will personally send troops, and I will not show mercy when the time comes. "

The black leopard swore: "Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely take care of them!"

Li Xingzhou nodded: "I believe you. Also, you said that the old black man next to you is literate and has seen the world. You can ask him if you have anything."

The black leopard nodded, then gave three heavy knocks, and then boarded the boat with a dozen people from the Western Regions and several large bags of cotton seeds.

Yan Gu came forward with three guards and cupped his hands: "My lord."

Li Xingzhou nodded, then patted him on the shoulder and said, "I asked you to go this time to calm people's hearts and to urge them. You grew up in Kaiyuan and know a lot about human relationships. I don't worry about you."

Yan Gu laughed happily: "I will never let down the prince's high hopes."

Li Xingzhou nodded again, and then reminded: "However, you must also remember to be careful, and the task of the three of them is to report the situation in the Taihang Mountains to the king every month. If they don't understand something, you can give guidance, but you can't interfere. Does the Black Panther know when he makes a decision?

After all, you are tourists. The foot of Taihang Mountain is far away, but it is also very close. The big ship of the palace will arrive in half a day, so it is convenient to travel. "

"My lord, my subordinates will remember!" Yan Gugong cupped his hands and said.

"Go ahead and do it well."

Yan Gu is also an old man of King Xiao. Before that, he had been in charge of helping the palace to contact Ban Zhang, Sun Wenyan and others, and he was very good at doing things.

After Yan Shen left, Li Xingzhou asked him to take charge of the Fuzhong Nursing Hospital, but at this juncture, he was once again faced with the situation that no one was available.For the residents in Taihang Mountains, he still can't be completely at ease. Someone needs to supervise and report to him at any time, not just because robbery has been their main business for many years, and he is afraid that they will not be able to change it.

It is also because cotton is really important to the palace. This crop, which was not widely planted until the Ming Dynasty, has strategic value.

In desperation, he had no choice but to send Yan Gu out.

As everyone boarded the ship, the large ship full of goods from the merchants in the capital and the Wangfu's goods slowly left the port under the leadership of Yan Kun and headed for the distance.

At first Li Xingzhou planned to produce eight of these large ships, but he gradually found that it was not enough. The cargo flow far exceeded his expectation, not to mention the human flow.

Jingguo is a big commercial country, Jingguo people are not as good at riding and shooting as Khitan people in war, not as brave as Xixia people, not as brave as Jurchens, but Jingguo people are rich!

This alone makes neighboring countries jealous.

There are many countries that do business with Jing Guo people, and because there are too many Jing Guo people, some countries even set up special sea bans to curb Jing Guo people's trade with them, because if Jing Guo people are allowed to do business, such as Wa country.

Because if Jing Guo merchants were allowed to come and go to do business, the rulers of various countries would be horrified to find that a lot of their gold and silver would be taken away by Jing Guo people.

It is under such a prosperous commercial trade that the cargo flow far exceeds Li Xingzhou's expectations, and a large number of merchants will also take the boat. He and Shiyu, Yan Kun, and Qifang have calculated that the palace needs at least sixteen such large ships , it is estimated that it will not be saturated by then.

But you can wait for the next generation of ships.

Many people have explained that the Ming Dynasty might awaken capital and enter modernization, but in fact, looking at the big picture from a small perspective, the Ming Dynasty basically has no chance.

To put it simply, during the Song Dynasty, foreign countries set up sea bans to restrict the trade of Song Dynasty merchants in their country. Because there were no restrictions, the money was earned by the Song people.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was completely reversed. The Ming and Qing dynasties set up maritime bans to restrict trade with foreign countries, prevent the outflow of silver, and consolidate imperial rule.

Looking at it this way, it is actually clear at a glance. If the capital is awakened, Song is more likely. It is a pity that Song is a very partial country, as can be seen from their annual civil and military awards.

Every year in the Song Dynasty, nearly 400 people take Wenju and two people take Wuju.

This has led to "Dasong" becoming a country with highly developed culture and commerce. In the early and mid-term, the people were very rich, and they could support it no matter how many times they were given, or how many battles they lost, because I was rich.

However, excessive partiality also doomed him to be unable to protect his own wealth and become a fertile ground coveted by all parties.

Xixia has its ideas, the Liao Kingdom has its ideas, the Jin Kingdom has its ideas, and Mongolia has its ideas
Jingguo is slightly better than Song Dynasty in that it is not so partial to science, its martial arts are stronger, and its business is as developed as it, but it is not as civilized as Song Dynasty.

Why do you say Song civilization? In the simplest terms, the territory of the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty were about one-fourth, and the population was about one-seventh, but the Tang Dynasty only had about 50 scholars every year.

What about the Song Dynasty?Where is its civilization.

On average, nearly 400 scholars were recruited each year in the Song Dynasty, and about 4000 in ten years, of which 46.1% of the officials came from poor families!And many are in high positions.

Before the Song Dynasty, merchants and craftsmen could not participate in the imperial examination.

But the Song Dynasty was a real hero regardless of birth, as long as you are a child of an innocent family, you can take the imperial examination, even if your family is a craftsman or a businessman, the imperial examination system can be said to be flourishing, and poor children can also show their strengths !
This is a terrible statistic. Many people must not believe it. So you are from the Song Dynasty?Not only the previous dynasties could not do it, even the subsequent dynasties until the founding of the Republic could not do it.

This is why the Song Dynasty was civilized, and why the Song Dynasty did not sin with words.

Li Xingzhou also wanted to create an upward path in Jingguo like the Song Dynasty, while balancing civil and martial arts, so that children from poor families could have a chance, and businessmen and craftsmen could also defend themselves.

Like Ding Yi's rebellion back then, as a merchant, the court could do whatever he wanted with him. He couldn't bear it. The starting point of his rebellion was not wrong. Why did it lead to this situation?To put it bluntly, businessmen are not allowed to take imperial examinations, and businessmen cannot enter politics, so no one speaks for businessmen.

If they want to protect themselves, they can only rely on high-ranking officials for protection, and business development will be deformed and stagnant.

But if he did it, he would risk the disgrace of the world and become an enemy of the world's aristocratic families, which is not something that can be done at will.

Li Xingzhou shook his head. These are too far away. Right now, we have to go step by step. Building roads and dealing with Xixia is the top priority.

Road construction will have to wait until the southern part of the war is over this year, so what we can do now is to find a way to deal with Xixia
In the imperial garden, the emperor and Prince Kang drank together.

Prince Kang drank a glass, "Haha, this fruit wine from Pingnan Prince's Mansion is refreshing and delicious, and it's not so sinful. It's really comfortable for an old man like me to drink it."

The emperor smiled slightly, "I like to drink it and take it back when the time comes. The kid from Xingzhou sent it, saying that this wine is suitable for me, but in my opinion, it's too bland and lacks heat."

"Yes, yes, is the emperor's drinking capacity? Of course, this small wine is not enough." Prince Kang smiled all over his face, and said that he was going to pour the wine on his own.

"What do you think of the prince?" the emperor asked suddenly.

Prince Kang was taken aback for a moment, the flagon in his hand almost slipped, so he grabbed it tightly.

"Speak." Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, and poured himself a drink, the emperor urged.

"This... the prince is gentle, courteous, frugal, diligent, hardworking, respectful and humble, gentle and elegant"

"I didn't ask you to talk nonsense." The emperor patted the table.

Prince Kang looked embarrassed: "Brother Huang, you, you also know that I have lived in other places for a long time, so I like to travel around the mountains and rivers. How can I know anything about the capital, let alone the prince."

The emperor stared at him, seeing that he looked helpless and frightened, he didn't seem to speak, so he waved his hand at last: "Forget it, it's normal if you don't know."

Speaking of this, the emperor leaned over and whispered to Prince Kang: "To tell you the truth, I went to Jiangzhou before and saw there is a Tubi Mountain Villa, which was also built to welcome the emperor, it is very good.

I want to let the prince go there to reflect. "

Prince Kang's eyes widened, his expression of astonishment was undisguised: "Your majesty, I want to. I want to! Tai... Tai, how can the crown prince leave Beijing! Still..."

The emperor interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "You must understand the meaning, but don't spread it."

Prince Kang nodded quickly: "My brother promises not! I won't even die!"

"A Zhong Daoyu has caused such a big disturbance, let alone the prince." The emperor said: "Now we can't make a mess, let them see it first, let everyone get prepared, understand."

Prince Kang nodded quickly.

The emperor waved his hand and asked him to come closer, and said in a low voice: "But it's not just the crown prince who is preparing, but also King Pingnan. I have said a lot about this matter. You go on my behalf. Make it clear, but don't go too far." ,Understand."

"Understood." Kang Qin also whispered.

(End of this chapter)