Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 109 The case of destroying gold banknotes
A quarter of an hour later, Xiang Bao arrived at the Wuying Hall, knelt down and said, "I, Yin Xiangbao of the Heavenly Mansion, pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor."

"Flat body."

Zhu Di looked at Xiang Bao who was kneeling on the ground and said loudly: "Xiang Qing, are you here because of Li Bing and Gao Yanchang's destruction of gold coins?"

"Your Majesty is wise, I ask for your Majesty's sanction."

After Xiang Bao stood up, he said respectfully.

When he entered the palace just now, he had already seen the patrolling censor Gu Zuo standing in the palace, so he roughly guessed that Zhu Di should already know the ins and outs of the gold banknote destruction case.

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu, His Majesty Dan, and asked, "Gaoxu, what do you think of this matter?"

"Father, after the imperial court implemented the new currency system last year, it promulgated and publicized the revised laws and regulations related to Tongbao. So far, no one has dared to destroy gold banknotes, copper coins, and silver coins."

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment and then said: "As the saying goes, 'One's deeds do not matter one's heart.' Although Li and Gao did not intentionally disrespect the icon of Grandpa Taizu, what they did was actually disrespectful to the icon of Grandpa Taizu." . Therefore, I believe that these two people must be punished to warn the world."

"How do you think these two people should be punished?" Zhu Di asked.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Since both of them are first-time offenders, they can be given a lighter sentence without being punished. They will be fined with hard labor for half a year, and each will be fined 2000 taels of silver yuan as a punishment. What does the emperor think?"

Since the introduction of new coins in the Ming Dynasty last year, the official documents and written language of the imperial court have used "pieces" as the unit of measurement for silver coins, but the traditional "liang" is still used to refer to the quantity of silver coins in spoken language.

Zhu Di nodded and said, "Yes."

He then glanced at Gu Zuo and Xiang Bao, and asked, "Gu Qing, Xiang Qing, do you think this treatment is fair?"

"No punishment is not enough to uphold the king's law. Heavy punishment is suspected of going too far. Such labor and fines can not only reflect the benevolence of the court, but also demonstrate the principle of maintaining the law, so I have no objection."

Xiang Baogong said: "It's just that in the capital, there must be more than just Li and Gao who have done this kind of thing. If I encounter such a case again, will I be tried and judged according to this example?"

After hearing what Xiang Bao said, Zhu Gaoxu faced Zhu Di, bowed and added: "Father, the emperor and my sons suggested that after Tianfu Yamen punishes Li and Gao, the imperial court can issue a report to all the prefectures and counties in the world. .”

"We also asked all prefectures and counties to post notices to tell others, like Li and Gao, who accidentally tore the icon of Grandpa Taizu in the picture album, or embedded gold banknotes in other calligraphy and paintings to serve as handicrafts. Anyone who takes the initiative to report to the local government Those who surrender themselves to the Yamen will be exempted from the penalty of hard labor and will only be fined 500 taels of silver yuan as a warning."

"On the contrary, if you are caught knowingly committing a crime, your sentence will be an additional one!"

"Yes." Zhu Di nodded while stroking his beard.

Gu Zuo continued: "Your Majesty, I have one more thing to report."

"Say." Zhu Di said.

Gu Zuo said: "I inspected the neighborhoods in Xicheng and found that many painting shops sell albums containing gold banknote molds. This trend cannot last forever. I seek your Majesty's sanction."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu again and said, "Prince, what do you think?"

"Father, I have the courage to make a suggestion. In response to this matter, the imperial court can issue a supplementary order."

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a while and said loudly: "If it is prohibited to use Ming Dynasty Tongbao patterns on promotional materials, documents, albums and other printed materials or other items, including gold banknotes, silver coins, and copper coins, the local government and county yamen should order them to make corrections."

"The prohibited patterns of the Ming Dynasty Tongbao will be destroyed, and the prohibited income will be confiscated. Those who manufacture prohibited items will be punished with a fine ranging from 5 taels to 3000 taels of silver yuan, depending on the severity of the case."

Gu Zuo answered: "May I ask Your Highness the Crown Prince, what happens if someone violates the ban again after being punished?"

"If you commit the crime again, the fine will be increased ten times and you will be sentenced to exile." Zhu Gaoxu said.

Zhu Di listened to the conversation between Gu Zuo and Zhu Gaoxu just now, then glanced at Gu Zuo and Xiang Bao, and asked, "What do you two think?"

"I have no objection." Gu Zuo and Xiang Bao said in unison.Zhu Di said: "In that case, Gu Zuo?"

"I'm here," Gu Zuo said, bowing.

Zhu Di ordered: "As the prince just said, write a memorial about the handling of incidents such as Li and Gao, and submit it to the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate for review and form supplementary provisions of the law, and then submit it to my imperial approval. , choose a day to promulgate and implement it.”

"I obey the order," Gu Zuo said respectfully.

Zhu Di waved his hand and said, "Everyone, please step back."

"Your Majesty, please retire." Gu Zuo and Xiang Bao said in unison.

After the two people retreated, Zhu Di stood up and walked down from the dragon chair, came to the main hall, and said to Zhu Gaoxu: "Gaoxu, you told me two days ago that you planned to build a comprehensive medical center in the capital. In the name of the royal family, we recruit famous doctors from all over the world, and capable doctors sit in the clinic to consult and make medicines."

"I have thought about it for two days and feel that this matter can be given a try. Following my instructions, select young and reliable people from the Ministry of Industry, Internal Affairs and Supervision, and Imperial Hospital, let them act boldly, and strive to open up the hospital before the end of the year. It has been initially completed with a view to officially opening it to the outside world next year.”

Zhu Gaoxu bowed and said: "Dad, as the dean of Jinling Regular College and the deputy director of Jinling Women's Hall, I want to do many things at the same time, but unfortunately I don't have the skills to do it. I hope dad can send one or two close men. A capable internal official can also help the children."

He himself has trusted generals, but Wei Xian, Geng Xuan, and Fu Rang are all guards of Chunhe Hall. These people are not allowed to leave the palace easily, and they cannot enter and exit the palace at will to visit Zhu Di or Queen Xu, or to contact workers at will. People from the ministry, internal officials, and imperial hospitals.

However, the eunuchs who were close to Zhu Di did not have these concerns.

Although Kang Ping was a close eunuch of Zhu Gaoxu, his scope of activities was mainly limited to the Chunhe Hall and the prince's official agencies such as Zhan Shifu, Zuo Chunfang, You Chunfang, and the Economic Bureau. The places he could set foot in were difficult to compare with Zhu Di's. Comparable to trusted eunuchs.

"Who do you want me to send to assist you?" Zhu Di asked.

Zhu Gaoxu replied: "As far as the boy knows, Wang Yan, the eunuch of the Military War Bureau, is very well-organized and highly valued by his father. His ability should be enough to help the boy."

"The Bureau of War is looking for ways to improve the flintlock musket. Gou'er (Wang Yan) may not be able to draw his weapon for nearly half a year."

Zhu Di rejected Zhu Gaoxu's request without hesitation.

Zhu Gaoxu knew that compared with the musket, the flintlock gun still had many shortcomings, although the ignition device had been improved and the rate of fire had been increased.

For example, the rate of fire of a flintlock gun itself is slow. First, black powder must be poured out as a primer, then the projectile is pounded into the front barrel, and then guided with a purge, and finally the shot is fired. Therefore, during training, ordinary soldiers can shoot within 60 seconds. Five rounds is pretty good.

In addition, even if a front sight is installed, the hit rate during actual combat training is still only [-] out of [-], because smokeless gunpowder has not yet come out, and black powder will produce a lot of smoke after burning, which affects the shooting sight.

Moreover, flintlock muskets will be exposed to wind, rain, moisture to the gunpowder, insufficient percussion powder, damaged flints, blocked fire doors, nervous soldiers and other reasons, leading to failure to fire. Some soldiers may even forget to load projectiles when they are highly nervous.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's silence, Zhu Di explained: "Currently, the Bureau of War is improving the rifling and considering loading projectiles in the breech. Some craftsmen who make fire guns have even proposed making multi-chamber fire guns."

Zhu Gaoxu understood that at this time, whether it was a bird gun or a flint-haired gun, they were all firing one shot at a time.

If you can load projectiles at once, you can fire more rounds, which is definitely the most intuitive way to increase the shooting speed.

"The most important thing is to improve the fire gun." Zhu Gaoxu said.

Zhu Di changed the topic and said: "The Chief of Ceremonies and the Young Supervisor Hou Xian is smart and eloquent, and he dares to do his job. How about I ask him to assist you?"

"It's all up to dad's arrangement, I have no objections," Zhu Gaoxu said respectfully.

Zhu Di asked: "This spring, the number of school-age children enrolled in compulsory schools in Yingtianfu was far lower than the prediction of the General Administration of Education. At that time, you summoned Xia Yuanji, the minister of household affairs, to ask about the story of previous dynasties' control of private lending. It passed in the blink of an eye. Three months later, do you have any clues about this matter?"

(End of this chapter)