Daming: After self-explosive time travel, Lao Zhu's mentality collapsed

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I heard it's a newly opened steel smelting plant, and Lord Chu is personally supervising it."

"Now we have plows and shovels to use!"

"Look at the posture, just based on the pomp, it must be right!" The people talked about it, full of yearning for a better life in the future.

One day, Chu Ze was inspecting the smelter. He was dressed in plain cloth, mingling with the workers, with a gratified smile on his face.

Suddenly, a worker came running over in a panic: "Master Chu, something bad has happened!" "The blast furnace in the northwest corner has exploded, and many workers are buried under the rubble!"

Chu Ze was horrified and quickly ran away with the worker. When he arrived at the scene, he saw a mess, with bricks, tiles, sand and stones flying everywhere, and thick smoke billowing.

"Get out of the way, let me do it!" Chu Ze shouted. He rushed forward and worked with the others to dig through the rubble and search for survivors. Soon, seven or eight workers with bruises all over their bodies were dragged out from the pile of bricks and tiles.

"Hurry, send them to the Imperial Hospital!" Chu Ze ordered anxiously.

Chu Ze heaved a sigh of relief only after the wounded were sent away. He looked around, frowning: "What went wrong? Wasn't the blast furnace designed strictly according to the blueprint?"

The Minister of Industry who came over was also very upset: "Your Excellency, I don't know the reason. We strictly checked every link, but something went wrong."

Chu Ze pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "I see! The lining must be made of inappropriate materials. In order to be fast, we used the most common bricks and stones, but we didn't know that high-temperature slag has extremely high requirements for the lining. Without special refractory materials, no matter how sophisticated the process is, it will be in vain!"

The Shangshu slapped his forehead and shouted, "Master Chu, this is a brilliant idea! I am so stupid that I actually forgot about this."

Chu Ze patted his shoulder and comforted him: "It's okay. Bumps and bruises are inevitable in technological innovation. The key is to learn lessons, sum up experience, and you will be even better next time!"

The minister nodded repeatedly, suddenly realizing: "Thank you for your advice. I will go and prepare the materials right away, and I promise that there will be no more mistakes!"

In this way, under Chu Ze's personal supervision, the project was rebuilt for another three months. Although there were many setbacks during the period, under Chu Ze's careful guidance, all the technical difficulties were finally overcome one by one.

Finally, on a sunny morning, the new steel smelting plant was completed. Zhu Yuanzhang personally visited the site and lit the blast furnace himself.

"With this steel, the prosperity of all industries in the Ming Dynasty is just around the corner!" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the blazing fire and was overjoyed. He turned around and patted Chu Ze beside him, praising him: "My dear minister, you are worthy of being a pillar of the country. You can build such a magnificent steel kingdom in such a short time!"

Chu Ze bowed to express his gratitude and said modestly: "This is all thanks to the wisdom of the emperor and the great help of the craftsmen and the people. I am just adding some fuel to the fire."

Suddenly, the sound of rapid horse hooves broke the silence. A horse galloped over, and the man on the horse was covered in blood and his face was pale.

"Your Majesty, this is bad!" the man shouted at the top of his lungs, "The news came from the northwest border that the Tatar cavalry raided our garrison and our army suffered heavy losses. Your Majesty, please send reinforcements as soon as possible!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious when he heard this. The Tatars had been provoking him repeatedly in recent days, and he had been worried for a long time. He didn't expect that this time they would come with such a fierce force and show their fangs. "Come here, quickly send a message to the Military Affairs Office to immediately mobilize the army and rush to the northwest overnight! We must kill all the Tatar rebels to calm the people!"

"Wait a minute!" Chu Ze suddenly said, "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, if we rashly send troops now, we will probably play into the enemy's hands."

"What do you mean?" Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

Chu Ze said solemnly: "The Tatars have repeatedly provoked us, and it is obvious that they are well prepared. If we act rashly, we will be ambushed and suffer heavy losses. It is better to wait and see what happens, and we may be able to turn defeat into victory."

"Also, the border is in danger, and it may be difficult to mobilize a large army to arrive quickly. It is better to select elite soldiers nearby, equip them with my newly cast artillery and muskets, and use surprise troops to advance first. With the power of this new firearm, it may not be impossible to turn the tide of the war!"

Chu Ze spoke eloquently and made a thorough analysis, which made Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes light up: "Great! Using new firearms to defeat the enemy, such a good strategy, why didn't I think of it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately made a decision and ordered Chu Ze to quickly select elite soldiers, equip them with new firearms, and rush to the front line. Chu Ze accepted the order and immediately assembled 3,000 musketeers and 20 cannons.

The journey was dusty and urgent. In a blink of an eye, the reinforcements arrived at the northwest front. Looking around, we saw smoke rising everywhere, the Hu cavalry rampaging, and the Ming army gathering and waiting for orders. Their morale was low, and it was obvious that they were being ravaged by the Tatar cavalry.

"Comrades, we are facing a powerful enemy. It is time for us to make achievements!" Chu Ze rode forward and encouraged the three armies loudly. "Although we are outnumbered by the enemy, we have new firearms in our hands. We can defeat the enemy chieftain with one against a hundred!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Ze gave an order, and the musketeers raised their muskets in unison. There was a roar, and thousands of flames shot directly into the Tatar formation. Before the Tatar cavalry could react, they were beaten to the ground, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Then, twenty cannons began to bombard in turn, invincible. Huge stone balls opened up bloody paths in the enemy's formation, tearing the Tatar cavalry into pieces.

"Witchcraft! It must be witchcraft!" The Tatar generals wailed. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, they had no choice but to flee in panic.

"Hurry! Pursue the victory!" Chu Ze gave an order, and the Ming cavalry launched a counterattack like a storm under the cover of new firearms.

For a moment, the sound of killing shook the sky and blood flowed like a river. The Tatars could not withstand this overwhelming attack and finally fled in disgrace.

Great victory! Great victory! In this battle, Chu Ze, with only 3,000 musketeers, defeated the Tatar cavalry that outnumbered him by several times. This is a classic example of the weak defeating the strong!

"General! The general is mighty!" The soldiers of the three armies all cheered and admired Chu Ze very much.

When the news reached the capital, the whole country rejoiced. Civil and military officials submitted memorials one after another, asking for an imperial decree to confer the title of "Northwest Anti-Tatar Marshal". Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly pleased and immediately issued an imperial decree to confer the title.

At the front, Chu Ze was also busy. He built fortifications and consolidated the defense line while leading the cavalry to advance. With the help of new firearms, he was invincible. In just a few months, he turned the tide of the war in the northwest!
"Your Majesty, I have something to report to you." One day, Chu Ze sent someone to deliver an urgent report at full speed, "All the generals under my command have made great achievements, but Sun Xi is the most brave and good at fighting, and has repeatedly won the first merit. This man is strategic and well-versed in military tactics, and is capable of taking on important tasks. I implore the emperor to summon him to the capital, grant him important tasks, and entrust him with military power. In this way, our army will be able to achieve greater success, and the Tatars will no longer be a threat to us!

Zhu Yuanzhang read the memorial and nodded continuously. With Chu Ze's recommendation, he must be a rare talent. He immediately issued two imperial edicts, one summoning Sun Xi to the capital, and the other appointing him as the commander of the Tiger Guards, with full responsibility for military and political affairs.

In this way, under Chu Ze's strategic planning and Sun Xi's fighting, the war in the northwest was won one after another, and the Tatars dared not act rashly again. Everyone in the court and the country praised him. (End of this chapter)