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Chapter 32 Progress and Deficiencies

Generally speaking, the first year after being crowned prince went quite peacefully, with no big commotion or anything outstanding.In the eyes of the courtiers, the prince was studying hard and trying to ease the relationship with the emperor. Although the progress was slow, he was progressing steadily step by step, which was in line with their ideals.

In the eyes of the queen, although the prince is not his legitimate son, he is still close enough. If there is a good thing, he must first think of the emperor and the queen. Apart from his biological mother, Concubine Wang Gong, the closest person in the palace is also her nominal empress.Compared to the other princes, it was closer.

The empress dowager actually had the same idea as the empress. She did not want to break the ancestral rules, and she did not want Concubine Zheng, who was particularly good at charming the emperor, to become empress in the future. It would be a disaster for such a woman to preside over the harem.On the other hand, Concubine Wang Gong is much better. Even if her mother becomes the empress dowager based on her son, she will not be too arrogant and domineering.

Hong Tao had no place to ask what the emperor's attitude was, and he couldn't tell much about it.This cheap old man is really kind-hearted. He is completely indifferent to the prince, and he loves the third child as much as he should. He seems to love whoever he wants.It can’t be said yet. Whoever says it will be unlucky. At worst, he will be scolded, and at worst, he will be dismissed from his post.

There is no need to think about Concubine Zheng's attitude. As such a strong and scheming woman, she must hope that her son can become a prince, and she must be thinking of ways.It's a pity that Emperor Wanli is really not confused, and the empress and empress dowager are more determined. She alone can't make things happen.There is nothing to do but curse every day.

The status was saved and there was a small gain.In the past year, Time Workshop has sold a total of six self-ringing bell frames, including two bronze bells and two silver bells, with an income of 1560 taels.

There are also two customized models, which are not only much taller, but also have added decorations and puppet machine springs. Small animals come out to tell the time every hour, and they sell for a total of 2100 taels.

Compared with the monthly salary of tens of thousands, the income of more than 3000 taels of silver is neither too much nor too little, but when coupled with the development trend of glass kilns in the western suburbs, it cannot be ignored.

The two kilns produced qualified coke from the first kiln in August, and fired basically transparent glass from the first kiln in September.At the same time, seven or eight master craftsmen who mastered some of the processes of coking and glass-burning were trained, as well as dozens of skilled workers.Hong Tao paid more attention to these workers than to the finished product.

In November, the finished glassware named Liuguangzhai began to be shipped in small batches. Due to the limitations of the blowing process, it cannot be made into too complicated and fancy shapes. For the time being, it mainly looks like ordinary wine sets and tea sets. There is only one selling point, transparent !
As the saying goes, if you are not afraid of a thousand moves, you are afraid of a single move.Fully transparent glassware is indeed very unique compared to traditional porcelain and pottery, and is somewhat more expensive. The first batch sold for 2 taels of silver.

If you want to ask why one batch is sold at a time, this is one of Hong Tao's tricks to hide from others.The glass kiln was jointly run by the Crown Princess's father and Li Zhizao. If he opened a shop in the capital and sold it, he would soon be investigated, and then he would find Donggong.

In order not to be exposed so quickly, Hong Tao asked his father-in-law to find friends in Nanjing Jinyiwei, who would purchase the goods from the glass kiln through wholesale and quietly transport them to the south for sale.

At the end of September, Nanjing Jinyiwei sent people to Beijing and took away ten sets of samples. The sales must have been good after returning. Then a few guys claiming to be Suzhou businessmen came to the door with Nanjing Jinyiwei's handwritten letters and boxes of gold ingots, and bought all the finished products at once. All bought.

Hong Tao turned around and took 500 taels of gold for Wang An to give to Chen Ju. It was not a bribe but a dividend, from the glass kiln.Not only will there be one this year but next year, as long as the glass kiln is there every year.

Although it was not stated explicitly before, and Chen Ju did not dare to openly have a relationship with the prince, the county magistrate was not as good as the current manager. In the minds of the emperor and the courtiers, the chief eunuch spoke more effectively than the prince.

In addition, glassware cannot be kept secret forever, and sooner or later it will be transmitted from the south.When the emperor asks, it will be completely different if someone helps to say a word and if no one helps.If it is designated as a tribute by the royal family, the person sent to supervise it will still be a eunuch.Instead of sharpening your skills before the battle, it is better to form a good relationship in advance.

With a stable status and income, just to be able to gain a foothold and move forward, we need people and talents.Even if Hong Tao knew that it would be 5000 years beforehand and 5000 years later, his mind was filled with great ideas for governing the country, and no one could help him implement them. In the end, he still couldn't accomplish anything.

How to gather talents around you without attracting the attention of the emperor, the harem and the court is a big problem that tests your strategy.Hong Tao thought that he didn't lose too many points on this question, at least he could pass.The first is high-end talents, and Li Zhi is definitely one of them.After getting to know each other during this period, Hong Tao became more and more fond of taking time to go to the Siyi Pavilion to play chess with the old man and argue with him.Being able to ask a representative of a school of thought until he was speechless and bowed his head in deep thought gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.

What is commendable is that Li Zhi resonates with his own thoughts in some aspects. For example, he does not blindly worship sages and saints, nor does he only respect Confucianism. He opposes the excessive promotion of Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism, advocates independent thinking, and advocates improving the status of women, etc.

Although I still can't escape the historical limitations in my bones, it was very, very difficult to achieve this step in the Ming Dynasty.Many people complained to the emperor because he accepted female disciples to attend classes, saying that he was immoral and a moral scum.

In Hong Tao's eyes, Li Zhi could help him unite some Ming Dynasty officials to provide support in the early stages, and he could also use his pen as a gun to seize the commanding heights of public opinion and fight a culture war.This job is the most suitable for him and he is most willing to do it. It greatly makes up for his shortcoming, which is the shortest one.

Next are practical talents, including Li Zhizao, Matteo Ricci, Pang Diwo, Guo Jujing, and their friends and colleagues.As long as they have certain abilities in specific work, not only middle- and lower-level officials who can only write eight-legged essays, but also private gentry belong to this category.

These people will become the specific person in charge of a certain job in the future, or simply become factory directors, mine directors, or managers.They provide themselves with a stage to realize their ideals and ambitions, and they help them strengthen their hard power, creating a win-win situation.

No matter how much you try to deceive, and no matter who deceives you, in the end it is all fiction, and real agriculture, industry, and commerce are the backbone.If you want to get up from the ground, it is not enough to rely on deception. You must have strong bones to support you.

Again, ordinary talents, that is, craftsmen in watch workshops, coking kilns, and glass kilns.They are the final link to realize all ideals. No matter how good the plan is, if there is a lack of sufficient quality and quantity of workers, it will still be a flower in the mirror.

Finally, there is help, and Wang An counts as one.After seven or eight years of inspection, he can basically be regarded as a trustworthy subordinate.Chen Ju barely counted half of it, not because he didn't want to, but because it was hard to tell whether others would.

Shen Yiguan, Shen Li, Ye Xianggao, and several officials who came to give lectures at the Jingyan can also be regarded as non-staff personnel. As long as they reveal their goodwill to reduce commercial and mining taxes, they will be very happy, and they feel that the prince is a good man. Talent.These people cannot provide direct assistance for the time being, but they can check and balance other people to ensure that they are not manipulated at will.

In addition to her achievements, there are also shortcomings. For example, her biological mother Wang is still trapped in Jingyang Palace and cannot see each other. After she became the prince, her situation became slightly better. No one dared to bully her anymore, and her food and drink expenses also increased. A lot.But after not seeing my son for a long time, the mental pressure became heavier than before.

I heard from Wang An that her mother's eyes were getting worse and worse, her vision was blurry and she had double vision.This makes Hong Tao have to worry about diabetes or cataracts?Anyway, no matter what kind of disease it is, there is no cure at the moment, and it is very uncomfortable.

Another example is that he failed to make Emperor Wanli change his mind, change his views and further delegate power, making himself a true successor to the highest power.

The chiming clock, telescopes, reading glasses, and glass tea sets were all given away, but they still couldn't bring the distance between father and son closer.On the contrary, his younger brother Fu Wang became more and more favored and was conferred with him. Now that he has grown up, he still stays in the capital and is not a vassal.

When a minister in the court asked about this, Emperor Wanli pretended to be deaf and ignored him. When he was really worried, he simply said that he wanted to arrange the marriage of his third son and build Prince Fu's Mansion in Luoyang. He would not be able to get the money for a while until the construction was completed. Go again.

(End of this chapter)