Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Tang He, Feng Sheng and other nobles also followed behind, looking at this and that from time to time, but they did not care about this. After all, they were now princes, and even if half of the people in the world starved to death, it would not be their turn to starve.

Of course, except for the three days ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Congratulations to Your Majesty, with this auspiciousness, the people of Ming Dynasty will no longer suffer from hunger, and the world will surely prosper!"

"God bless the Ming Dynasty, God bless your majesty!"

Although many people have doubts about Li Wei's remarks, this does not prevent them from flattering him.

Li Wei couldn't help but curl his lips secretly when he heard this. It was clearly Wang Jinghong who risked his life to bring it from overseas, so they turned it into a gift from God with just a few words.

Although Li Shanchang and others did not deal well with Li Wei, they followed closely at this time. Except for Li Wei who remained silent, everyone else basically shouted congratulations.

As the saying goes, a person can be flattered by a thousand times, but Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to begin with. He laughed even more when he heard these words. After laughing for a while, he sighed softly and said to Li Wei:

"If these things are really as you say, then the people of Ming Dynasty really don't have to suffer from hunger anymore. This is a great merit of yours!"

Li Wei gently cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is overly complimentary. In fact, the fact that these things can be transported is mainly due to Wang Jinghong and others. They risked their lives to cross the ocean to transport these precious grains."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he turned his head and glanced at Wang Jinghong next to him, and said softly: "Well, Li Wei is right, you also contributed a lot. Let's do this. After you return to the palace, you will get the palm seal of the internal official. In addition, we I will reward you with thousands of coins!"

"Thank you for the gift, Your Majesty!"

Wang Jinghong immediately bowed down and thanked him.

"Haha, get up!"

After rewarding him, Zhu Yuanzhang turned his attention back to Li Wei and said loudly: "As for you, without your guidance, Wang Jinghong and others would not have known about overseas affairs. Your contribution is even greater."

After speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the ministers. His words were to tell the ministers what Li Wei's contribution was so that they could be rewarded.

"Li Wei found such high-yielding grains, benefited millions of people in the Ming Dynasty, and supervised the construction of giant iron-armored ships. He has made outstanding contributions and deserves a heavy reward! A decree was drawn up to grant Li Wei the title of Guanglu doctor, the crown prince's Taibao, and a python robe. Crest!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly, and the accompanying cabinet minister Wang Ben and others immediately respectfully claimed that he was right.

When the officials heard these rewards, they were shocked and confused.

Doctor Tejin Guanglu has the same first-grade title as Doctor Ronglu before Li Wei, but his status is higher, which is the limit of the prose grade. Li Shanchang has this additional title.

This is nothing, what is more important is that of the Crown Prince and Taibao. Although this title is one level lower than that of the Jinguanglu Doctor and is only of the first rank, it is of greater significance.

The Taishi, Taifu and Taibao are collectively called the Three Dukes, who are responsible for assisting the emperor in handling important military and political affairs. The current Three Dukes of the Ming Dynasty are Li Shanchang as the Taishi, Xu Da as the Taifu, and the Taibao is the late Kaiping Wang Chang Yuchun, the weight of these three people fully illustrates the importance of the position of Sangong!
As for Li Wei's current Taibao, he is equivalent to the Prince's "Three Dukes" and is called the Prince's Third Master. Zhu Yuanzhang gave him this title, which is equivalent to naming him Zhu Biao's "Chang Yuchun".

And now there is a more subtle situation, that is, Zhu Biao does not have a real three masters of the crown prince, but shares a team with Zhu Yuanzhang, with Li Shanchang and Xu Da serving as the crown prince's master and the crown prince's tutor respectively.

In this case, Li Wei, the crown prince's Taibao, is quite special. Since both the Grand Master and the Taifu hold the title of both, does Li Wei, the Prince's Taibao, also have to hold the title of both when Chang Yuchun is deceased? What about receiving Taibao?
Li Shanchang's face was gloomy. He stared at this young man who had risen to almost equal status with him in just a few years. His heart was cold. He was not only jealous of the favor Li Wei received, but also hated Zhu Yuanzhang's injustice and coldness.

It is said that once the emperor comes, there are always ministers, but now Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor, has not been replaced yet, so he wants to replace these old ministers first!
Li Wei was not very clear about these subtle official system, but he could tell from everyone's attitudes how important the reward Zhu Yuanzhang gave him this time.

What made him frown was that compared to him, Wang Jinghong's reward was a bit thin. Although he gave the information, it was Wang Jinghong and others who risked their lives to go to sea. If the credit goes to him alone, he will inevitably feel guilty.

"Your Majesty, I think Wang Jinghong..."

Just as Li Wei was about to ask for more credit for Wang Jinghong, Wang Jinghong who was following him quickly pulled him back: "Master Hou, please thank me!"

Wang Jinghong was very discerning and could guess what Li Wei was going to say from his hesitant attitude. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was not the Zhu Di who came later. He was very annoyed by eunuchs doing politics, so it was good to be able to give these rewards.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Wei frowned and had to take back what he wanted to say.

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded lightly and did not care about their little actions.

"Can you grow all these grains?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Li Wei.

Li Wei shook his head gently: "I don't know, but someone knows."

As he spoke, Li Wei signaled to Wang Jinghong, who immediately asked people to bring up the captive Native Americans. After these black-colored natives were brought over, they kowtowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and kept talking.

"Your Majesty, these are the indigenous people of that place. They know how to grow these kinds of crops." Li Wei introduced.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at these people and asked softly: "Can you grow these grains?"

"Abba, Ababa, Abba..."

"Well, very good, then you are responsible for growing this food for us. When the work is completed, we will be rewarded heavily!"

"Aba Aba..."

"Okay, no courtesy."

Zhu Yuanzhang gently raised his hand, calmly ended this international exchange, turned around and walked away.

Li Wei looked confused, scratched his head and thought hard, does this old Zhu understand Indian language? No way!
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang walking away, he could only temporarily put aside his doubts and follow him.

Later, he introduced rubber and other things to Zhu Yuanzhang, but compared to the three main grain types, he did not pay much attention to these cash crops.

"Okay, take us to see your ironclad ship."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced around at these strange crops and interrupted Li Weidao impatiently.

Before looking at the grain, he wanted to take a look at the armored ship first, but he temporarily suppressed it because of the emphasis on grain. Now that he had finished looking at the grain, of course he had to go and take a look at the armored ship.

"Oh well."

Seeing his lack of interest, Li Wei could only put down the natural rubber block in his hand and said.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not attach great importance to it, he still attached great importance to it. In particular, rubber was an important strategic resource and must be seized. Whether it was cultivated by himself or plundered overseas, he could not let it go.

The group of people left here and walked towards the huge ironclad ship.

Under the leadership of Li Wei, everyone climbed up the gangway and boarded the huge ship with all kinds of materials, just like climbing a mountain.

The nobles like Tang He and Feng Sheng, who were originally listless, became very excited immediately after boarding this giant ship.

"This ship is so big!"

"Yes, and it's made of iron."

"If there had been such a huge ship back then, why would we have fought so hard in the battle at Poyang Lake? We could just run over it and be done!"

All the generals touched the guardrail of the deck and sighed. "Your Majesty, this ship is made of steel beams as the skeleton, iron armor as the skin, and wood filling in the middle. It can carry up to 10,000 materials. The most important thing is that this ship has a steam engine driving the propeller. The fastest ship can travel in an hour. It’s more than eighty miles, and if you don’t count other full-strength sailing, it can be reached from the Yangtze River to the mainland of Japan in two or three days!”

Li Wei said loudly that he had not forgotten the purpose of building the ship. He was determined to make a small Japan.

When everyone heard his words, they were even more shocked.

"According to what you said, isn't it true that you can travel thousands of miles a day?" Tang He asked aloud. He was already very interested in the Navy, and now he was even more excited to see him.

Li Wei nodded: "Yes, if you travel in a hurry, you can indeed travel a thousand miles a day. Of course, it is impossible for the navy to travel so fast, but it should still be possible to travel five or six hundred miles."

Although the ironclad ship is very fast, it is impossible to go deep into the battle alone, and it also has to bring those wooden paddle wheels with it.

Fortunately, those ships were also driven by steam engines and were small in size, so their speed would not be too slow.

After hearing this, Tang He felt hot in his heart. It would be great to be able to command this kind of navy to fight!
Before, he thought that the reward His Majesty gave Li Wei today was too much, but now he felt that it was not enough at all. For someone who could build such a big guy, no matter how heavy the reward was, he should be rewarded.

Zhu Yuanzhang carefully examined the large ship with a smile on his face.

He had also seen this kind of armored giant ship on Li Wei's computer, but there was a big difference between seeing it on that small screen and seeing it with his own eyes in reality. Only in reality could he feel the impact of such a huge ship. The shock it brings.

"Your Majesty, now that the ship has been built, let's see if the crusade against Japan can be decided." Li Wei struck while the iron was hot.

Li Shanchang's face changed slightly when he heard this: "Your Majesty, you need to be cautious about this matter!"

Li Wei glanced at him suspiciously, wondering why the old man had to stop the conquest of Japan.

Tang He and others didn't say anything. Most of these generals were militants. If they hadn't given Li Shan face, they would have volunteered long ago.

The same goes for Rutai and others.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded lightly: "Okay, later we will order the Yangtze Guard Station to be transferred to form a navy for you."

In fact, after hearing what Li Wei said about the Japanese invasion of China, he had already decided that a fight was necessary, but he just didn't agree on the spot.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Wei said excitedly.

This matter has been debated for a long time with no result. Now that Zhu Yuanzhang has agreed, no one else will argue again.

But facing this result, some people are happy and some are worried.

"Your Majesty, I also want to participate in naval training, and I hope your Majesty will allow it!" Tang He said excitedly.

Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly startled and looked at Li Wei inquiringly.

Li Wei glanced at Tang He, frowned and said, "I think forget it. Duke Xin is already old, so he might as well rest in peace in his old age."

"Hey, brat, don't think that being young means you're great. I can still beat you two when I'm old. Do you believe it?"

Tang He glared, rolled up his sleeves and started to fight.

Li Wei's mouth twitched, because he had learned from the experience of challenging Lao Zhu in a one-on-one fight before, so he didn't dare to challenge easily this time.

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment, then nodded and agreed: "Okay, then you can help us keep an eye on this kid."

Although Tang He was a distinguished figure in Huaixi, he was also one of the people he trusted most. Li Wei had no naval combat experience, so having a veteran look at him would make him feel more at ease.

Upon hearing this, Tang He immediately rolled up his sleeves happily and said loudly: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Wei curled his lips and emphasized: "Let's talk first, the new army has a new way of fighting, and Duke Xin cannot interfere with me!"

Tang He glared at him dissatisfied.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand: "Okay, you train in your own way, but you should also ask Tang He for advice. Naval warfare is not a child's play, so you can't be careless!"

"Yes!"

The two said yes, both reluctantly.

"If you have any other requests, just ask us!" Zhu Yuanzhang said generously.

Li Wei said: "There's nothing else, just enough money and food."

"Money and food? What kind of money and food? Aren't you responsible for it yourself?"

Li Wei was stunned: "Your Majesty doesn't allow it, doesn't it?"

"Promise now!" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, looking extremely heroic.

Li Wei: "..."

Seeing his unhappy look, Zhu Yuanzhang comforted him: "You don't have to be downcast. Let's do this. You pay for the money and food yourself, and we can provide you with more troops and horses."

Li Wei was even more speechless, then wouldn’t I have to spend more?
Zhu Yuanzhang then opened his mouth to mobilize 100,000 troops. However, under Li Wei's strong opposition, the number was repeatedly reduced to 50,000, including 20,000 from the Shenji Battalion and 30,000 from the Coastal Navy.

When it came to mobilizing troops, Li Wei thought of Shi Jun and Lin Xian whom he met yesterday, and immediately complained: "By the way, I want to impeach Zhenhai Guard Commander Lin Xian. When I met Wang Jinghong yesterday, they were patrolled by Jiang Jiang The soldiers mistook it for a smuggling ship and intercepted it. Originally, with my guarantee, Shi Jun, a patrolling river, had agreed to let it go. However, Lin Xian suddenly appeared and insisted on arresting Wang Jinghong and others as smugglers. He almost You missed something big!"

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Li Wei unexpectedly.

Although Li Wei was famous for being ruthless and scheming in the court, he knew that in fact it was all his deliberate arrangements. Li Wei actually took the initiative to rectify not many people. It was also true that Lin Xian could provoke him to complain. It's rare.

Li Shanchang on the side frowned slightly when he heard his words, and while Zhu Yuanzhang was deep in thought, he begged: "Zhenjiang Guard patrolling smuggling is also official business. I think it is just a misunderstanding. Why does Marquis Jiangdu make a fuss about it?"

"Why am I making a fuss out of a molehill? Do Koreans not know the importance of these grains?" Li Wei said dissatisfied.

"Haha, I just found out about it. I think Lin Xian must not know about it. As the saying goes, it's not strange for those who don't know."

Li Wei looked at Li Shanchang and felt a little annoyed. This old guy used to be silent, but why has he talked so much recently!
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the two of them and shook his head secretly. Li Wei is still a bit young. With his current status, if he really wants to punish Lin Xian, he can find other reasons and ask the people below to impeach him. However, he did not Just complaining to the emperor so bluntly, it seemed like he was deliberately looking for trouble.

"Humph, grain is of great importance. Although Lin Xian made an unintentional mistake, it did almost delay the important matter. We will issue an edict later and demote him to a thousand households!"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly.

Li Shanchang's heart sank when he heard this. He ordered his envoys to go to thousands of households, and the second rank was demoted to the fifth rank. This punishment was not light, but since Zhu Yuanzhang had already said it, he did not dare to say more.

However, Li Wei frowned slightly, still a little dissatisfied.

"No, I have to let Chen Su check this guy later. If he is clean, that's all. If he's not, huh!"

Li Wei snorted secretly. (End of chapter)