Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 169
With the assistance of Zhao Jun, Zhang Zongyi interrogated the craftsmen from the Ordnance Bureau. However, these people did not see clearly. They only remembered the last words Li Wei shouted and insisted that Xu Yong was the one who assassinated him. .

Zhang Zongyi tried for several days and found nothing else, and because Han Yike was supervising on behalf of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he was not allowed to use torture. In the end, Zhang had no choice but to end the case hastily.

Li Weiguan was reinstated and returned to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry. With the blessing of his consort, his status was even better than before.

When Li Wei returned to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, Sun Jian, a subordinate who had been beaten twice for entering the door with his left foot first, couldn't help but secretly feel lucky. Fortunately, he did not seek revenge because Li Wei was demoted, and even gave him a gift during the Chinese New Year. Thanks for posting.

After Li Wei came back, he immediately made adjustments to the various yamen he belonged to, not to mention the Arms Bureau. After Xu Yong died, Lu Ti was naturally promoted to envoy again, and then other managers were also replaced. He was the one who took the lead in applauding all of them.

Other leather making bureaus and pottery kilns have also been replaced by people they trust.

Zhu Yuanzhang acquiesced to his actions and waited for him to show results.

Li Wei planned to cast the cannon first. The Ming Dynasty's artillery was still in its infancy, and its actual combat performance was extremely poor. There was a lot of room for improvement. A slight improvement would be enough.

The Ordnance Bureau now uses the clay mold method to cast cannons. Before the advent of the hydraulic chambering machine, this method continued for hundreds of years. Although the iron mold method appeared in the late Qing Dynasty, the cannons made that way cooled too quickly because the iron molds cooled too quickly. , all made of white iron, with high carbon content, brittle and easy to explode.

Instead of spending so much time studying this thing, it's better to study the lower chamber. Anyway, the steel is available now.

Although the hydraulic chambering machine cannot be made for the time being, as long as the gun casting material is replaced with steel and the gun body structure is improved, it is enough to use the clay mold method to make a high-quality artillery with much better performance!

Li Wei directly designed two simple artillery pieces. One was similar to the Folan machine, which divided the cannon into two parts. One barrel was equipped with three sub-cannons. Although the range was only one or two miles, it had a fast rate of fire.

The other is a more traditional front-loading smoothbore cannon, but the barrel has been lengthened and the structure has been optimized. The range should be three or four miles.

The most important thing is that Li Wei added sights and adjustable-angle gun mounts to both types of cannons, so that the accuracy of the cannons will be greatly improved in the future, unlike today's bulky cannons that can only be fired blindly.

Moreover, the wheels used for the gun carriage and simple bearings greatly reduced the burden of marching.

In addition to these two, there is also a simple mortar. This thing is very simple. Just add a bracket to the barrel. However, since there is no detonating powder, you still have to rely on an ignition fuse. It is a little more troublesome to use, and its power is not as powerful as a flying thunder. Cannon comparison, but the thunder cannon is not a conventional weapon after all. It is too dangerous to use. Normally, this kind of mortar must be used.

Returning to the Ordnance Bureau, Li Wei summoned hundreds of more reliable craftsmen to set up a new cannon foundry, and then handed over these three different types of artillery to them for research and manufacturing.

Over at the pottery kiln, Li Wei also asked them to start producing glass. This thing is also very important. In the future, you will have to use glass bottles to study chemistry.

Research on hydraulic lathes must also continue. In the future, steam engines will be inseparable from making bores and cutting cannons, as well as generators and motors, all of which must be continued.

Although he has to work on all these things, he will not bring out all the latest things, especially in terms of weapons. He will first break through the key technologies and make the key components without assembling them. No one else knows about them except him anyway. What are the things for.

Li Wei's life returned to a busy state. After making arrangements for the Arms Bureau, he came to the Minghuang Chamber of Commerce again.

The economy is the lifeblood of a country. Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to the military, but he didn't know much about the economy. Apart from being good at robbing, he could only let himself develop. Most of the current civil servants, including those in the civil service, knew nothing about it. This is an opportunity for him.

"I've met the Prince Consort!" As soon as Li Wei entered, Wu Qi nodded and bowed respectfully to him.He is no longer the indifferent person he used to be.

Not only has he regained his official position now, but he also has the status of consort. Wu Qi, as a domestic slave of the royal family, can be regarded as half of his master.

"Ah."

Li Wei glanced at him and hummed softly.

This Wu Qi is really a dog slave.But most eunuchs are like this, and there are only a few like Wang Jinghong, the little virtuous man.

Back in the main hall, Li Wei asked people to find Laifu and Shen Jing, wanting to know about the situation of the Minghuang Chamber of Commerce.

If you don't ask, you don't know. This question immediately made him angry.

"Sir, there have been many imitations of our own products on the market recently. I don't know where they got the secret recipes from, but they are not much worse than us. Shen Bin's Chamber of Commerce has used these imitations to steal a lot of us. business.”

Laifu said with a solemn expression, and glanced at Shen Jing after speaking.

Shen Jing hurriedly explained: "Master Li, I definitely didn't leak this secret recipe. It was..."

As Shen Jing spoke, he glanced at Wu Qi who was standing aside. Wu Qi's eyes changed and he yelled in panic: "What do you think I'm doing? The workshop is yours, not mine."

Li Wei frowned and said nothing. Wu Qi had arranged many eunuchs in Shen Jing's workshop. The secret recipe in the workshop was leaked, and they were either the craftsmen who worked or the eunuchs who wanted to eat.

But it is useless to pursue these matters now. Once the secret recipe is known to others, they can make it.

There is no patent protection now, and the only patents are those that are exclusive to the court, such as salt and iron.

If he asked Zhu Yuanzhang to order the Minghuang Chamber of Commerce or the Royal Monopoly, it would naturally solve these problems, but this is not the right way, and he will definitely be impeached by the courtiers for competing with the people for profit.

After thinking about it, Li Wei decided to use commercial methods to solve commercial matters.

"Shen Jing, find some reliable merchants to come tomorrow. I have something to discuss with them." Li Wei said softly.

"Okay, Master Li." Shen Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Li Wei didn't blame him.

Then Li Wei ordered: "From now on, our product packaging will be printed with the words Minghuang Chamber of Commerce. I have His Majesty's royal inscription in my hand. I will bring it over tomorrow."

"Master Li actually has His Majesty's imperial pen? That's great!"

Shen Jing and Laifu were both surprised when they heard this. With this thing, although those imitations cannot be banned, they will never dare to fake the name of their Minghuang Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, these imperial writings are also an excellent publicity stunt.

When Wu Qi heard this, he was also shocked. He thought that Li Wei had fallen out of favor after being demoted. However, what he didn't expect was that not only was Li Wei restored to his original position, but he also became the consort. He casually took out His Majesty's With his royal pen, the Holy Family is even better than before.

"Well, let's do this for now. Wu Qiqi will stay for a while, and you can leave."

"Yes!"

Shen Jing and Laifu respectfully resigned, while Wu Qi stayed alone and uneasy.

"Prince-in-law, what are your orders?"

Wu Qi asked carefully.

Li Wei glanced at him coldly and said in a deep voice: "I know all about the minions you sent to embezzle money in Shen Jing's workshop, and I have asked Shen Jing to keep the evidence. If I present the evidence to Your Majesty, what do you think will happen to you?”

Wu Qi trembled all over, his face instantly turned pale, and his legs went weak before he knelt down: "Prince-in-law! Prince-in-law, please forgive me! I don't dare to do this anymore!"

Li Wei looked at him like this and felt very disdainful, but he didn't intend to beat him to death.

Instead of killing him and doing the same thing again, it's better to hold the evidence in your hands and let him be honest.

"Take all your people back, and then hand over all the money you are greedy for. I will not report this matter to Your Majesty for the time being, so you can take care of yourself!"

"Thank you son-in-law!"

When Wu Qi heard this, he was overjoyed, but then he looked troubled: "Prince-in-law, it's okay for me to withdraw you, but the money..."

This money is not a small amount, they have already spent a lot, and it may be difficult for them to come up with it now.

Li Wei's face turned cold: "You must make it up for me, otherwise you have to explain it to His Majesty!"

"Yes, yes, I will definitely make up the money, I will definitely make up the money!"

Wu Qi was so frightened that he quickly agreed. If the money is gone, he can make more money, but if his life is gone, he is really gone. He has no choice but to use his previous wealth to fill the hole.

"That's good, step back!"

"Yes, the servant will leave."

Wu Qi resignedly left the main hall.

After Li Wei finished dealing with him, he thought about it and went to Laifu to look at the accounts of the past few months.

Sure enough, his profits had shrunk significantly in the past few months, which made him frown.

After asking Laifu about the specific situation, Li Wei silently thought of a way to deal with Shen Bin.

Turning the account to the end, one of the income caught his attention.

"Where did the money come from?"

he would ask confused.

Laifu took a look and replied: "Oh, this is the discounted money from old banknotes."

"What's going on with the discounted value of old banknotes?"

"Sir, doesn't the imperial court now have a bank to exchange old banknotes for new banknotes? However, due to the limited amount, many ordinary people still cannot exchange old banknotes for new banknotes. Some people are anxious and afraid The old banknotes will be invalidated, so we will voluntarily discount them. When we collect the old banknotes, we will naturally settle the discount accordingly. When the time comes, we can go to the bank's warehouse to exchange for new banknotes and we can make some money."

After Li Wei heard this, he was immediately surprised.

"In fact, it's not just that. Some merchants also specialize in buying discounted old banknotes with new banknotes, and then go to the bank to exchange for new banknotes in full amount, so as to earn the difference." Laifu added.

In fact, there has always been a phenomenon that ordinary people like the new and dislike the old banknotes. After all, these banknotes are not easy to preserve and are very easy to be damaged. Especially the words on them will become blurred when exposed to water. If the words cannot be seen clearly, then the money will be useless.

(End of this chapter)