My son A Fei has the appearance of a sword master

Chapter 119 With you as a sailor, the ship in Ming Dynasty cannot be capsized.
Not to mention being a prince in name only, even if the son of the Happy King was granted the title of Gusu Hou, he would have nothing to lose.

Because Gusu is already under the control of Happy City, the Happy King is equivalent to the local emperor there.

Even without the title of prince, the imperial court still did not dare to touch Happy City, and the happy king and his son did not have to blame the imperial court.

If a vacant position can allow Happy City to be used by the imperial court, then the imperial court will make a lot of money.

Li Tianxin nodded happily, and then said sternly: "To clear out the powerful gentry along the southeast coast is only to treat the symptoms. If the root cause cannot be cured, the Japanese pirates will continue to kill them."

"We still have to vigorously develop our military power. There are too many countries on this land. In the future, we should wipe out Liuhe and incorporate all of this land into the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

"Those Japanese pirates are just an excuse for us to send troops. As long as there are people from any country among the Japanese pirates, we can beat them."

"Especially those small countries in southern Xinjiang. Fighting them is not just a matter of expanding their territory. They have some local specialties that are very useful in improving national power, which our Ming Dynasty does not have."

"Oh?" Zhu Jianshen asked with interest, "What about?"

Li Tianxin said: "For example, a thing called rubber is extremely tensile and wear-resistant. It can be used in various aspects such as industry, agriculture, military, transportation, tool manufacturing, medical treatment, etc. It can be said to be of great use."

"Just to talk about the simplest usage, our current carriages all use wooden wheels. It is uncomfortable to sit on them, and it is also laborious for the horses to pull them, and they are very easy to wear."

"Rubber can create a tire that is both tough and elastic. Not only is that tire not easily damaged, but it will also be much softer even if it rides on bumps, and it will also save more horsepower."

After listening to Li Tianxin's description, Zhu Jianshen nodded slowly, and he could think of its function almost instantly.

Just the improvement of "transportation efficiency" is enough for him to pay attention to.

Just listen to Li Tianxin continue: "Not to mention the local products, the southern Xinjiang area is extremely rich in gold mines, tin mines, and jade mines, as well as pepper, a spice resource that is more expensive than gold."

The more he listened to what Li Tianxin said, the more moved Zhu Jianshen became, but he also knew very well that those small countries in southern Xinjiang were not that easy to fight.

He helplessly said to Li Tianxin: "Since the Tang Dynasty, our Central Plains Dynasty has fought against southern Xinjiang countless times, but we have never succeeded. Can we do it?"

Li Tianxin said decisively: "Take back that '?' word of yours. It will be absolutely fine for us two brothers to join forces."

"You are responsible for raising millions of troops for the Ming Dynasty, and I am responsible for helping you create powerful weapons. In less than 20 years, I will help you sweep across the world and have a territory larger than that of the Meng Yuan Dynasty."

Hearing what he said, Zhu Jianshen's eyes lit up and he asked excitedly: "Have you been tinkering with something powerful these days?"

Li Tianxin grinned and said: "It can be called an epoch-making thing, just like in ancient times, people transitioned from using stone tools to bronze tools."

"I divide the historical development process of China over the past several thousand years into three stages. The earliest stage is called the Stone Age."

"People of this era polished stones into stone axes, stone spears and other tools for daily work, hunting and preying, and protecting their lives."

"The second stage was the Bronze Age. People began to be able to make bronze utensils from some mineral deposits. This is the so-called 'epoch-making'."

Li Tianxin's words were very plain. Zhu Jianshen understood immediately after hearing it and said: "So the period from the Bronze Age to the present is the Iron Age?"

Li Tianxin smiled and nodded: "Yes, it is the Iron Age, and what I am about to create now will turn the Iron Age into the Steam Age."

"Steam?" Zhu Jianshen looked at Li Tianxin with confusion. This was obviously beyond his scope of cognition, so he asked shamelessly: "What is the steam age?"

Li Tianxin explained: "It is an era when a device is used to convert steam into various types of power and apply it to various fields."

"Have you ever seen the scene where the water in the pot is boiled and the lid is lifted?"

Zhu Jianshen blinked and said calmly: "I haven't seen it before, but I can probably imagine that the boiling water lifts the lid of the pot, so what?"

"..."

Li Tianxin patted his forehead speechlessly. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He actually asked an emperor if he had ever seen boiling water.

He stood up, casually took an imperial pen from the imperial desk, and said to Zhu Jianshen, "Watch it."

He placed the imperial pen horizontally in his palm, then continued to output small bursts of infuriating energy, holding up the pen and floating it in the sky above his palm.

Then he made the infuriating energy spiral, and the pen was immediately driven to rotate.

"See? My Qi can be regarded as a kind of power, and the steam I mentioned can also do the same thing, and steam can be obtained by just boiling water."

"I can use the true energy as power to make this pen rotate, and I can also use the steam obtained by boiling water to make other things rotate."

"You can imagine if there was such a device on the carriage. It only needed to boil water to make the wheels turn. There was no need for horses to pull the carriage, and the speed was faster than horses pulling the carriage. What changes would this bring to the Ming Dynasty? "

"If you install such a device on a ship, you only need enough coal to boil water, no sails, no people to row oars, and the ship can move quickly. Even if it goes upstream, there will be no stagnation. The water transport of the Ming Dynasty How much should the level be improved?"

"These are just two of the ways to use steam power. It can cover all aspects, beyond your imagination. Is this an epoch-making product?"

Zhu Jian looked deeply at the pen spinning endlessly in Li Tianxin's palm, and said excitedly: "Forget it, it is definitely an epoch-making product. This is so fucking epoch-making."

Being able to make an emperor use foul language shows how shocking this incident was to Zhu Jianshen.

Li Tianxin grinned, cut off the Qi output, let the pen fall back into his hand, and continued: "With the advent of the steam engine, our Ming Dynasty can greatly improve both its productivity and industrial level."

"I will be able to make many powerful firearms for you. When the time comes, let alone a few small countries in southern Xinjiang, we can fight all the way to the end of the world."

After listening to Li Tianxin's words, Zhu Jianshen became proud and waved his hand: "Okay, as long as you can do what you said, we two brothers will do what Meng Yuan Temujin failed to do back then."

At that time, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty conquered Europe in one go, but in the end they were unable to go further due to population constraints and other insurmountable reasons.

As long as the Ming Dynasty's technology improves for an era and there is sufficient food as a guarantee, Li Tianxin is sure to swallow the entire Eurasian continent within a hundred years, bringing the Western powers to an end before they even begin.

Zhu Jianshen looked at Li Tianxin with burning eyes and said, "How long will it take you to get that so-called steam engine out?"

Li Tianxin pondered for a moment and said decisively: "It will take up to three months. In fact, we just need to make a steam engine, but it won't take that long. Ten days and a half is enough. The later testing is the most time-consuming."

"I have to make sure that every component is meticulous to the extreme, and then write down the data and size ratios of various component sizes, so that no mistakes can be made whether the steam engine is enlarged or reduced in the future."

Zhu Jianshen said: "Okay, just go ahead and do it. If you want craftsmen, I will give you craftsmen. If you want materials, I will give you materials. If you want to be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, I will remove you now."

Of course, to say that it is a withdrawal, it is definitely not a removal from office, but a transfer, and it must be a promotion.

After all, the minister of the Ministry of Industry is doing a good job and has not made any mistakes. It is not justified to dismiss his official for no reason.Li Tianxin quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't make such a fool of yourself. My wife is pregnant now. I have to stay at home with her. I won't go anywhere."

"After she finishes giving birth, I still have a lot of things to do. You might as well go to Fenyang to build a factory. I can pay for it myself, you just need to hire someone."

"In the future, I will be responsible for helping you create things to build a strong country and strong army. I can also be at home with my wife and children."

Zhu Jianshen said with great interest: "My sister-in-law is pregnant. When did it happen?"

Li Tianxin smiled and said: "I discovered it after I returned from the last bandit suppression in Beizhili. So I'm afraid I won't be able to come with you on your birthday this year. I'll come and have a drink with you when you hold your coronation ceremony next year. "

Zhu Jianshen nodded and smiled: "It doesn't matter. Taking good care of my younger siblings is the most important thing. After all, what he is carrying can also be regarded as my future in Ming Dynasty."

"I have agreed to build a factory in Fenyang. You will be the commander-in-chief of the factory, and I will transfer the Ordnance Bureau to you."

"Fanzi, I guess you don't need me to send people, right? I will give you special approval. The iron cavalry can be expanded to the size of a thousand-household station."

Li Tianxin was stunned when he heard this. After being stunned for a few seconds, he raised his hand and patted his forehead, and said in a dumbfounded way: "There was something wrong with my expression, and you also misunderstood."

"The factory I'm talking about should be called a 'workshop'. I just need a place dedicated to manufacturing things. I don't want you to set up another department."

The workshop is the factory of this era, and when he said factory, Zhu Jianshen understood it as departments similar to the East Factory and the West Factory.

So Li Tianxin made a mistake and turned himself into a factory owner.

Zhu Jianshen was stunned, and then he laughed and said: "Well, as the saying goes, you are not joking. Since you have already said that you will build a factory, let's make a mistake."

"The things you want to make are very different from the current era. You also need to keep them confidential. It would be more appropriate to build a factory."

"Anyway, you contribute your own money and efforts to this department, and the court only provides some craftsmen. I guess those courtiers won't say anything."

After hearing what he said, Li Tianxin no longer refused and took the position of factory governor.

Li Tianxin continued: "In the next few years, there should be no major wars in the Ming Dynasty. You can shift your focus to resource accumulation."

"Increasing the mining of various mineral resources, especially coal, sulfur, saltpeter, and lead ore, will be of great use in due course. Copper, iron, and tin are also top priorities."

"Aren't there millions of refugees now? You can provide work-for-relief services, let them work, and then take care of food, food, and housing, and give them some wages. I believe most people are very happy."

Zhu Jianshen's eyes lit up, he clapped his hands and said, "What a great idea, let's do it like this."

Li Tianxin continued: "The other thing is that some departments, positions, and even ancestral systems that are useless to the country should be abolished when they should be abolished, and abandoned when they should be abandoned."

"Don't be too influenced by the ministers in the DPRK. What we want to create is a new era. The old and pedantic ideas can no longer keep up with the development of the Ming Dynasty."

"You must make good use of greedy ministers and sycophants, but you must put a rope around their necks and never let them escape your control."

Zhu Jianshen's eyes flashed coldly, and he obviously understood what Li Tianxin meant. He nodded solemnly and said, "You are right. Some of the ancestral systems established by Taizu are indeed out of date."

"If it is to be abolished, there will be many stubborn old guys who will oppose it. These people hold high positions but have not contributed anything to the development of the Ming Dynasty. When the time is right, they can be arranged to go home and take care of themselves."

The ancestral system established by Taizu, among other things, was that those with high status were exempted from taxes, which would lead to serious land annexation problems.

When the Ming Dynasty was first established, there were many wastes waiting to be revitalized, and the court was seriously lacking political talents. In order to encourage people to study and participate in scientific examinations, Taizu established an ancestral system.

As long as a scholar can obtain the title of scholar, he can be exempted from corvee service and apply for partial tax exemption. If he can obtain the title of scholar, the amount of tax-free land can reach [-] acres.

This was naturally useful at the time. This move made up for the lack of political talents in the court as quickly as possible.

But now, the number of officials has long been saturated. Not to mention scholars and scholars, there are even many Jinshi who have been waiting for a lifetime and have not been able to wait for an official position.

Since those with high status were exempted from taxes, they would annex a large amount of people's land, resulting in the emergence of many landowners in the Ming Dynasty who did not have to pay taxes.

After people lose their land, they lose their livelihood security. Once something happens, they can easily become refugees.

And the land that should have paid taxes no longer needs to pay taxes, and the national tax revenue will decrease year by year.

In today's era, the Ming Dynasty could still collect 700 million to 200 million taels in taxes a year, but by the Zhengde period decades later, the annual tax revenue was only about 800 million taels.

Therefore, this ancestral system is actually a system that shakes the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and must be abolished.

In addition to this ancestral system, there are many other ancestral systems that were of great use in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but will increasingly undermine the country as time goes by, and they all need to be abolished.

However, the abolition of these ancestral systems will undoubtedly affect the interests of those with official status. Among the families of those courtiers, there are countless members of the clan with official status, so of course they will oppose it.

At this time, Zhu Jianshen needed someone in the court to attract firepower for him.

The most ideal one is naturally the kind of lone minister who is devoted to the public good, but in the absence of lone ministers, greedy ministers and sycophantic ministers can also be used.

Greedy ministers and sycophants are not necessarily incompetent ministers, but they are better at figuring out their superiors' intentions, flattering them, and stepping on their colleagues to get to the top. As long as they are used well, they can also play a big role.

There are greedy ministers and sycophants who attract firepower in the court and promote the abolition of the ancestral system. They secretly send Dongchang and Jinyiwei to collect evidence of the courtiers' illegal activities.

If you use some means and beat them one by one in private, things will be done smoothly.

Li Tianxin was deeply relieved to see that Zhu Jianshen was willing to listen to his advice, but he could also roughly understand why Zhu Jianshen was so courageous now.

The biggest reason is that he has now become a martial arts master.

Practicing martial arts is not necessarily about fighting with others. Practicing martial arts is about practicing courage. The courage of people with strong martial arts skills will be completely different from that of ordinary people.

"When I have free time, I will write down some methods for strengthening the army and give them to you. It is up to you to judge whether military reforms should be carried out, or when they can be carried out."

"What I can do for you is to contribute all the things I have that are useful to the Ming Dynasty. After all, you are the master of this country, and you must ultimately control the general direction."

"If the Ming Dynasty is a ship, I am at most a sailor, but you are the captain and helmsman. It is up to you where the ship will sail."

A hearty smile spread across Zhu Jianshen's face, he raised his hand and held Li Tianxin's shoulders tightly, and said with a smile: "With you as a sailor, no matter how big the wind and waves encounter, the Ming Dynasty ship will not capsize."

"Hehehe..."

(End of this chapter)