Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 172: Money is what we fight in wars

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, then looked at another box and asked curiously: "Is this one also filled with bone china?"

Li Wei lowered his head and glanced at the box he placed on the ground, feeling a little hesitant.

Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang's ignorant look, if he saw these clear and transparent glass tea sets, wouldn't he immediately adopt them for imperial use?

If he doesn't allow anything to be sold, doesn't it mean that all his hard work for so long has been in vain?
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw his grumbling look, he immediately understood that there must be other treasures among them.He immediately raised his head, put on the airs of his father-in-law, stretched out his hand and commanded:

"Open it for us and take a look!"

"..."

Li Wei hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly picked up the box and placed it on his imperial desk to open.

I saw that the neatly arranged glassware was like crystal, crystal clear and sparkling with reflected light.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened in shock: "Is this... is this a crystal?"

It's not that he has never seen crystals before, but such completely transparent crystals without a trace of impurities are extremely rare. A vessel made of such crystals is simply a treasure!
Li Wei curled his lips and said: "No, this is glass, something similar to colored glaze, which is also fired."

Glaze is fired at low temperature, while glass requires high temperature. The difference between the two is still very big, but Zhu Yuanzhang probably didn't understand it when he told it to him. Li Wei was too lazy to waste any words.

"is it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang put his head down and looked carefully at these crystal-like tea sets.

"Your Majesty, although this thing looks good, it is actually made of sand. There is nothing strange about it."

Seeing his eyes shining, Li Wei quickly made a disparaging comment. This glass will have many uses in the future. Whether it is a reagent bottle for chemical experiments or making various mirrors and telescopes, it will be indispensable.

"Huh, is it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and glanced at him after hearing this.

"Yeah!" Li Wei nodded repeatedly.

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered. He could see through Li Wei's little thoughts at a glance.

Leaving Li Wei aside to dry, he took out a small glass teacup, poured Kuding tea into it, and held it up in front of his eyes.

Kuding tea is gently shaken in a transparent glass, shimmering with attractive color.

Zhu Yuanzhang took a sip and said twice: "Tsk, that's better! This one is also for the imperial use!"

"No, Your Majesty. This glass has many other uses besides making utensils. If it is used by the royal family, I will not be able to make many good things."

Li Wei's expression changed and he hurriedly explained.

"What are you afraid of? I just allow you to use it."

"..."

Li Wei couldn't refute it for a while, but this glass would never be allowed to be used by the emperor. They were counting on making a lot of money from this thing.

Developing science and technology is a very expensive matter, and even the imperial court cannot always support him in vain. Even now, as the Arms Bureau is a big spender, other ministries are also complaining.

What's more, if he wants to cause trouble later, he will definitely have to rely on himself.

"Your Majesty, at least you allow me to sell one of these two, otherwise I will have no money here and won't be able to make other things." Li Wei said helplessly. "What are you afraid of? If we allocate money and food for you, you will not be left behind. How much do you need?" Zhu Yuanzhang said generously.

Li Wei glanced at him and said loudly: "Let me give you 100 million yuan first."

"One hundred...ahem, what do you want so much money for?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was choked and coughed. One million guan was not a small sum. There were so many craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry, and their annual salary was less than 100 guan. Adding in various material costs, it was not enough to use 50 million guan in a year. Li Wei was only one The Ordnance Bureau dares to open its mouth and ask for so much. This is too much!
Now the biggest money-maker in the Ming Dynasty, apart from the Ministry of War, which fights wars, is the Ministry of Industry. The world is full of wastes waiting to be renovated. Building cities, bridges, roads and ships requires money. When the cabinet was first built, Li Wei gave Xue Xiang the budget table. The shipbuilding alone cost 50 million yuan.

If Lao Zhu hadn't stepped on the money printing machine like crazy, none of these things would have been possible.

But Li Wei is indeed not asking for high prices. As for the steel-making furnaces of the Ordnance Bureau, each one costs at least [-] to [-] guan. Now the artillery he makes, a relatively cheap franc... Well, the cost of the divine machine gun It also costs about a hundred guan, and the large Shenwei cannon costs nearly [-] guan. This does not include the ones that were scrapped during the experimental stage. In just over a month, the cannon foundry has used tens of thousands of guan. .

In the age of firearms, all you need to fight is money. If you don’t have money, you don’t have to do anything.

"Your Majesty, making firearms is inherently expensive. If you really want to make firearms on a large scale, you have to spend a lot of money. I know the court is not well-off. I am not trying to share your Majesty's worries. Please allow me to sell these. If I make money myself, I can save a lot of money for the court."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned deeper and deeper as he listened to Li Wei's nagging. Of course he knew that firearms cost money. The previous flintlock guns cost a lot, but the power of firearms was far beyond that of cold weapons. These things must still be purchased. make.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and put the glass cup and the bone china cup together. Looking at these two treasures, he couldn't bear to part with either one.

But he knew that what Li Wei said made sense, and that Li Wei was indeed very profitable. For example, the Minghuang Chamber of Commerce made 30 million yuan last year.

"Your Majesty, just use the bone china as your royal use. Look how beautiful it is! It's milky white!"

Seeing his hesitation, Li Wei quickly pointed at the white bone china cup and praised.

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes at him, knowing that he just wanted to sell this glass. He took a long breath and finally reluctantly gave up.

"Okay, then you can sell this kind of glass."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Seeing that he finally agreed, Li Wei also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get ready, we'll go over tomorrow to take a look at your new artillery."

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he gave instructions. The two things Li Wei took out at random gave him a big surprise. He was looking forward to what those new artillery would look like.

"Yes, I obey the order." Li Wei readily agreed.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him, showed a satisfied smile, and said: "In the future, you can change your name to father in private."

Li Wei was stunned for a moment, then readily agreed: "Okay, Your Majesty!"

After saying that, Li Wei secretly curled his lips, "I haven't changed my words about Queen Ma, how could I change my words and call you an old man!"
Now that he was in Wuying Palace, it was not considered private, so Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about him.

"Your Majesty, if there are no other ministers, please leave first."

"Well, let's go."

Zhu Yuanzhang said softly.

After hearing this, Li Wei bowed, turned and left the hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the exquisite bone china and glass in front of him and couldn't help but chuckle in a low voice. This brat was finally willing to take the initiative to do things. It was not in vain that he had used so many methods.

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(End of this chapter)