Daming: If I find a great-grandson, I will teach an emperor through the ages

Chapter 23 Goodbye Zhu Sixteen

On the other hand, Cao Wei started his journey of building the world's first steam engine.

To build a steam engine at this time, although it is not too difficult, it is definitely not easy.

First of all, the various components of the steam engine require higher technological requirements, at least higher than Cao Wei's previous requirements for making gear sets and pulley sets.

So this time Cao Wei found the best blacksmith in the town within a radius of twenty miles to make the various parts of the steam engine.

Of course, Cao Wei needs to pay more to the blacksmith.

After Cao Wei showed the drawings of the steam engine parts he drew to the blacksmiths, he roughly calculated that it would cost Cao Wei a full twenty taels of silver to build all the parts of the steam engine.

This pained Cao Wei terribly!
You must know that he spent less than a hundred copper plates in total to build the gear set and pulley set.

Two liang of silver is much more expensive than a hundred copper plates!

But thinking about it, blacksmiths need to hammer out the various parts he wants, and it is really laborious.

So despite the pain, Cao Wei still accepted the price.

Mainly because he had earned ten taels of silver from Zhu Shiliu before, and Cao Wei could still afford the two taels.

The blacksmiths grinned, with white teeth showing on their dark faces: "Come and get it in half a month."

……

When Cao Wei returned home, he saw someone again.

Zhu Shiliu!
The one who stole his wisdom!
In fact, he was far away from home when he saw Jiang Yu, whom he had fought against before.

If Jiang Yu is here, Zhu Shiliu must be there too!
Cao Wei's steps became vigorous immediately.

This is the second meeting with Jiang Yu, and there is no story between the two of them, so Cao Wei directly pushed the door away.

I saw Zhu Shiliu talking with Cao Ying, both of them had bright smiles on their faces.

Cao Wei gritted his teeth.

Beside the two of them, there was a middle-aged man with a small goatee on his chin, sitting there quietly.

"Zhu Sixteen!" Cao Wei shouted.

The three people in the courtyard turned to look at the same time.

Cao Wei's upper lip was slanted to one side, and he walked over with a face of dissatisfaction.

"You still dare to come?"

Yan Zhenzhi was so frightened by Cao Wei's aggressiveness that his pants were almost wet.

Fuck you don't want to die?

How dare you talk to the emperor like that?

However, before coming, Zhu Yuanzhang had told him that Cao Wei and his son did not know their identities and should not create any complications.

So even though Yan Zhen was scared to death, he still remained silent.

If possible, he would like to sew Cao Wei's mouth shut.

Yan Zhenzhi felt regretful at this moment. If he had known better, he should not have let Zhu Yuanzhang take him to see the so-called genius who designed the steam engine.

This scene... was a bit too exciting for him!
"Why don't we dare to come?" Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and looked at Cao Wei with a smile.

"Hmph! You still have the guts to say, let me ask you, did you make that hot air balloon yesterday?"

"Hot air balloon?" Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled.

"It's that big Kongming lantern that flew out from the direction of the imperial city!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "We made it."

As he said that, he looked at Yan Zhenzhi at the side: "This is our good friend, who works in the Ministry of Industry, and he helped us get it out."

Cao Wei jumped up immediately, "You are plagiarizing my wisdom!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Cao Wei pointing at himself, and felt an urge to step forward and slap him twice.

Ever since he became the emperor of Ming Dynasty, no one dared to talk to him like that, especially pointing at his nose!
But in the end he sighed, and said silently in his heart: We don't care about people who are about to die.

He took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and waved it in front of Cao Wei's eyes. It was twice the size of the previous twelve taels.

Cao Wei immediately took his hand back, with a faint smile on his face.

"Old Zhu, what are you doing?"

"Pfft, cough...cough cough cough!" Yan Zhenzhi almost choked to death on his own saliva.

Zhu Yuanzhang said softly: "The Kongming Lantern was built and will be of great use to the court. This is a reward."

Cao Wei pointed at himself, a little in disbelief.

"For me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

Cao Wei suddenly laughed, took the silver ingot and put it into his arms, a bulging lump.

"I knew it, old Zhu, you are a real person." Cao Wei's face has completely changed, filled with strong enthusiasm.

Just when Cao Wei became happy, Zhu Yuanzhang stared at him and said:

"I heard that you came up with a steam engine again?"

Cao Wei's smile stopped abruptly.

He looked at Cao Ying on the side in disbelief.

He only told Cao Ying about the steam engine this time.

He had only been out for half a day, and Cao Ying had already betrayed him?
Facing Cao Wei's unbelievable expression, Cao Ying was a little ashamed.

"Father, Grandpa Zhu said that this steam engine is also of great use to the court. This time the reward is even higher!"

"Oh?" The expression on Cao Wei's face changed again.

Yan Zhen looked at Cao Wei, whose face was changing, and was amazed!

What a wonder!
Even changing faces has become so arbitrary.

Cao Wei has sat down safely here, and he is looking at Zhu Yuanzhang steadily.

"Hey, Mr. Zhu, if you build this steam engine and present it to the court, how much reward can you get?"

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and stretched out two fingers casually.

"20 taels?" Cao Wei asked in surprise.

"200 taels." Zhu Yuanzhang said nonchalantly.

Cao Wei almost jumped up.

200 two!
Is it really that valuable? !
His breathing suddenly became heavy...

This is because Cao Wei has never seen the world.

After all, he has been in Daming for so many years, and as a farmer, he has never seen how much money 200 taels is.

If the steam engine could really be built, the expenses that the imperial court could reduce would be incalculable, not counting a mere 200 taels or even a drop in the bucket.

It sounds like Cao Wei only got 200 taels for building a steam engine, which is not much.

But in fact, if it were replaced by ordinary people, these 200 taels would really not be available.

We must know that the status of farmers and artisans and merchants is very low at this time. Even if they have made some outstanding contributions, the imperial court is unlikely to give too many rewards.

Because doing so will make the scholars dissatisfied.

If these mud-legged people can receive the same treatment as them, how can their specialness and superiority be demonstrated?
At most, a few taels of silver are enough to get things done.

The main reason why Zhu Yuanzhang treated Cao Wei so preferentially was Cao Ying.

Cao Ying will stay by Cao Wei's side for another year.

It's fine if you didn't know before, but now that Zhu Yuanzhang has recognized Cao Ying, how can he just watch his grandson suffer hardships with Cao Wei?

Eat only two meals a day.

Zhu Yuanzhang cried when he thought about it.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Yuanzhang brought these 200 taels to Cao Wei in order to improve Cao Ying's living standards.

(End of this chapter)