The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 194 Establishment of Naval Yamen

When the officials arrived, they were naturally very surprised to see the room full of colored glass.

Especially when they learned that Chen Jingke's betrothal gift was not these colored glazes, but the method of making them.

Shocked and almost speechless.

Zhu Yuanzhang is naturally very happy to let you watch the joke. Now you know who is the clown.

Afterwards, Chen Jingke specially introduced the characteristics of various colored glaze wares to these people.

He naturally knows where the key point is:

"Have you seen this color? It is made from gold powder as the main material, supplemented by a variety of rare materials."

"This color is made from platinum..."

When everyone heard that the colors were made of gold and platinum, they subconsciously thought that the colored glaze must be made of more precious materials.

No one doubted his words. Liuli has been used as jewelry and jade since ancient times.

Especially the high-quality colored glazeware is extremely valuable.

It is reasonable for this kind of treasure to use precious materials.

"These glazed vessels are different from the previous ones and can withstand high temperatures..."

"Use this transparent glass cup to make tea and watch the tea leaves unfold one by one..."

"That's the real enjoyment..."

Everyone was moved by his description.

But looking at his wallet, he could only feel excited.

Zeng Tai, the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, thought more and said tentatively:

"Your Majesty, the imperial court has a method for making colored glaze. Will it be sold to others in the future?"

Everyone immediately understood what he wanted to express. How to divide the money from selling colored glaze?

Should it all go into internal funds, or should some of it be given to the Ministry of Household Affairs?

Thinking of this, the ministers' eyes couldn't help but light up.

Although the court now relies on printing and issuing new banknotes, it has no financial problems for the time being.

But now everyone has a better understanding of treasure money and knows that this thing has an upper limit.

Don't issue too much, otherwise it will depreciate.

When the issuance of new banknotes reaches the upper limit, the court can only rely on tax revenue to survive.

Those days were very difficult.

If there is more financial resources like Liuli, the financial pressure will be greatly relieved.

It took Chen Jingke two months to make more than a hundred pieces of glazed wares, which was a considerable output.

Selling them all can cover next year's annual income.

Selling five or six times a year... I don't dare to think about it, I simply don't dare to think about it.

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression changed, and he wanted to steal money from me. You think there are too many genealogists.

Immediately I wanted to scold them and tell them not to have such wishful thinking.

But before he could speak, Xu Da said first:

"What Zeng Shangshu said is wrong. The method of making colored glaze is Chen Bandu's betrothal gift to the princess, not to the court."

"As for whether the Liuli is sold and where the money obtained after the sale goes, it is up to Your Majesty and Your Majesty."

"As foreign ministers, we'd better not overstep our bounds."

As he spoke, he winked at him.

Although Zeng Tai didn't understand what it meant, he was not stubborn and said:

"Hey, this is the first time I saw so many treasures. I was so confused that I told nonsense. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he had surrendered, he was not too embarrassed and said: "You are also dedicated to serving the country. We don't blame you. Just retreat."

With this episode, the ministers' thoughts were no longer on Liuli.

Liuli is important, but how to distribute Liuli's profits is more important.

Zeng Tai saw an opportunity and asked Xu Da: "Wei Guogong, I wonder why you stopped me?"

Xu Da sighed: "Zeng Shangshu is confused. Is it appropriate for you to talk about this matter today?"

Zeng Tai was stunned for a moment before he reacted.

Indeed, it is the emperor who invites everyone to see the betrothal gift. It is indeed unreasonable to discuss the profit sharing at this time.

Anyone else would be unhappy.

Xu Da continued: "And such a big matter is not suitable for discussion in front of the ministers. How do you want your Majesty to answer?"

"I know, I understand that you are dedicated to serving the country. I don't know, I thought you were trying to force me into a palace."

Zeng Taihan came down and bowed down quickly: "Thank you Duke Wei for your guidance. I was dazzled by Liuli and became confused."

The ministers visited for a while and then left with good sense.

The group of people returned to Qianqing Palace. Concubine Zheng Ding knew that they had to talk about business, so she left on the pretext that she had something to do.

Princess Fuqing was hesitating whether to leave too, but Queen Ma said:

"You should also stay. We will be husband and wife from now on. Knowing more about him will help him better."

Now she felt shy and stood behind Queen Ma with a blushing face.

Xu Da originally wanted to leave, but Zhu Yuanzhang kept him here:

"Why are you, a matchmaker, leaving in such a hurry?"

Xu Da smiled and said: "Such a large betrothal gift makes me, a matchmaker, look good on my face. I can't help but want to show it off to others."

Everyone laughed.

After joking for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously: "Tiande, select some trustworthy elite soldiers from the army to protect Jing Ke's parents."

Xu Da replied: "This matter is easy to handle. Many old brothers will retire during this military reform."

"I'm worried about how to arrange for them. Going to Jing Ke's house is a good way out."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Chen Jingke and Zhu Xiongying again and warned:

"You two must bring enough guards when you leave the palace."

"Even if you want to visit privately incognito, you still need to bring enough secret guards."

Li Ling was so stupid that there was no guarantee that no one would kidnap them for Liuli.

The two of them naturally understood the importance and hurriedly agreed.

After talking about safety matters, we started to discuss how to sell Liuli.

Chen Jingke said: "The output of colored glaze is very high. Without adding more craftsmen, the people who experimented with me can make hundreds of pieces every day."

"Of course, the more exquisite it is, the longer it will take."

"Things are rare and valuable. We must control production, otherwise colored glaze will become worthless soon."

Naturally, everyone had no objections, and finally everyone agreed to test the water by producing a hundred pieces every month.

Given the current social situation in the Ming Dynasty, these colored glazes cannot even make waves.

As for the price of each piece, Chen Jingke had no involvement.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma and others all know the prices of luxury goods better than he does.

Anyway, after the final calculation, if the plan goes well, one can earn millions of dollars every month just from the glass.

The reason why the calculation is so conservative is that as the number of colored glaze products on the market increases, the price will decrease.

Again, the price of colored glaze used to be high because it was too scarce.

Now one hundred pieces are produced a month, and we don’t know if the court will suddenly increase production.

Everyone's concerns will naturally increase, and they will no longer pay such a high price to buy.

After all, those rich people are not fools.

Immediately, Chen Jingke made a suggestion:

"We must open export channels and sell colored glaze to overseas countries."

"In this way, the domestic stock of colored glaze can be reduced. Only with a small stock can prices be maintained high."

"And it can also give everyone a hint that Liuli is more valuable abroad..."

"If the imperial court releases some news from time to time, for example, in a small country, colored glaze is sold for a sky-high price..."

"The leader of a certain country is obsessed with colored glaze and is willing to trade his throne for colored glaze..."     "More news like this will help stabilize everyone's confidence in colored glaze and allow more wealthy people to buy it."

Xu Da was shocked. This kid must be a good hand even if he doesn't become an official and goes into business.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded repeatedly, and then said: "If you want to open the sea, just say it directly. There is no need to beat around the bush to convince us."

Chen Jingke argued: "Today is really not..."

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him and said: "You admitted it, right? Not today. Then you were deceiving us before, right?"

Chen Jingke: "..."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "We know that the advantages of opening the sea outweigh the disadvantages, but this matter cannot be rushed."

"If the country is not stable, how can we safely open the sea? Let's wait two years before we talk about it."

Xu Da began to make calculations in his mind. Seeing this, Chen Jingke's next focus should be the ocean. It is necessary to plan in advance.

Now that we are talking about opening up the sea, Chen Jingke is ready to take the opportunity to say a few more words:

"Ships are the foundation for managing the ocean. Without large ships suitable for long voyages, everything is empty talk."

"But shipbuilding takes a very long time. From design to completion of a ship, it can take as short as a few months or as long as one or two years."

"Especially designing a new ship type requires years of testing."

"The imperial court can start building ships now to avoid running out of ships."

Xu Da interjected: "The Ming Dynasty can build a large ship that can accommodate a thousand people. It should be able to meet the needs of going to sea, right?"

Chen Jingke shook his head and said: "It's OK, but most of the boats built in the Ming Dynasty are flat-bottomed boats... The sea is very rough and the waves can only be driven offshore."

“If you want to go to the distant sea, you must build a sea-going ship specifically for the sea.”

Xu Da looked confused. He really lacked understanding of the sea, let alone ships.

Zhu Yuanzhang said thoughtfully: "You have studied shipbuilding before and designed several new ship types. They are all sea-going ships, right?"

Chen Jingke said: "Yes, those are some of my ideas for sea ships. But I don't know how to build ships, so I don't know if it is feasible."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately made a decision and said: "You will know if you can give it a try."

"Give your ideas to the shipyards in Shandong, Zhejiang and Fujian and let them study them."

Although the Ming Dynasty banned the sea, it did not stop shipbuilding.

Zhu Yuanzhang built shipyards in Zhejiang, Fujian and other places to build ships and prepare for Japan.

As for the shipyards in Shandong, they were established to protect the salt drying fields in Qingzhou.

It is indeed appropriate to let these three shipyards be responsible for the research.

Chen Jingke took the opportunity to put forward some other suggestions, such as hoarding a large amount of wood, training boatmen, etc.

"Once it opens the sea, with the size of the Ming Dynasty, it will probably require tens of thousands of sea ships."

"The imperial court takes the initiative and prepares in advance... By then, it will be able to make huge profits just by building ships."

"If the plan goes well, the imperial court can even build a navy that spans all over the world without spending a penny."

Now that it was decided to open the sea, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally knew what to do.

What's more, shipbuilding is indeed a big business, he said:

"Okay, let's also issue a decree to expand the shipyard and stockpile wood."

Chen Jingke added: "To develop sea trade, we need a navy that is strong enough."

"It takes several years of training to build a navy and develop it into combat effectiveness."

"I suggest that the imperial court establish a special naval office and start training naval officers from now on."

"Japanese pirates are rampant, aren't they? It's just a good time to practice with them."

"If the navy of the Ming Dynasty can't even deal with Japanese pirates, don't even think about going to sea."

These words were suspected of referring to Sang scolding Huai, and Zhu Yuanzhang's nose almost became angry.

But for the sake of Liuli’s betrothal gift, we endured it.

"Tiande, please adjust the duties of the Fifth Army Governor's Office. The former Military Governor's Office will be responsible for naval affairs."

"Create us an invincible navy."

"It's useless to practice with Japanese pirates. Just practice with RB."

Chen Jingke said this kind of thing, and said happily: "Your Majesty is still brave, but I am too petty."

"Have you heard it, Duke Wei? His Majesty said that the Ming Navy's first goal is to destroy RB."

Xu Da also heard that Chen Jingke was very prejudiced against RB and wanted to destroy it quickly.

As an ally and elder, he naturally wants to support.

However, as the leader of the military, he did not express his position easily, but said:

"If you want to train a strong army, actual combat is indispensable."

"We can target Japanese pirates in the early stage, and then attack other countries when we have a certain combat effectiveness."

"It's just a good opportunity to learn about the domestic situation of RB."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Know yourself and your enemy and you will never be defeated. I sent someone to inquire about RB's situation two years ago."

"A message was sent back a year ago, and a chart to get there was brought back."

"Now they are understanding the local situation in detail, and I think there will be new information coming back soon."

Chen Jingke was a little surprised. He thought the spies had never sent back any news, but he didn't expect that the charts had been sent back a year ago.

Is this normal?

Daming's route to RB is no longer a secret. There is no way there has been no news for so long.

As for why Zhu Yuanzhang did not tell him about this, he did not ask.

That's not necessary.

As long as Lao Zhu is willing to play RB, anything will work.

Compared to the time when I first traveled through time, the current process is already very gratifying.

At least Lao Zhu agreed to expand the shipyard and study new types of sea-going ships.

The key is to set up a special naval office. This is the most important thing.

This means that the development of the navy will be on the fast track.

After that, the topic returned to Liuli again. With Chen Jingke's suggestion, everyone's imagination was opened.

Many constructive suggestions were made.

Zhu Xiongying said: "You can sell it to Beiyuan and sell it to them through smuggling."

"Liu Li cannot be eaten or drunk. If they buy one back, their strength will be weakened."

"It can also help us stabilize the price of colored glaze...it serves multiple purposes."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded repeatedly and said: "Those vassal countries can all sell it. I think they will be very interested in this thing."

Chen Jingke once again made a suggestion: "The southern vassal states have a hot and rainy climate and are rich in food."

"The Ming Dynasty can definitely purchase food from there."

"Just exchange it for luxury goods such as glass, silk, and porcelain. A piece of glass can be exchanged for a boatload of food."

"The imperial court can do more if it has food in its hands."

There is another point that Chen Jingke did not mention. In order to enjoy themselves, the monarchs of those countries would force the people to work and increase the oppression of the people.

When the sky was angry and people were complaining, the Ming Dynasty King descended from the sky and successfully took over.

By then Southeast Asia will belong to the Ming Dynasty.

With these granaries, we will be able to cope with the Little Ice Age more calmly in the future.

(End of this chapter)