Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 313 Chapter 313 The Prince Consort is really good at technology!

Everyone says that the food in the palace is delicious, but it also depends on who the emperor is.
Wang Buli was not belittling the skills of the imperial palace chefs, it was just that Zhu Yuanzhang had never eaten anything fine.

The level of this imperial chef is not even as good as the food prepared by the chef in Shengchunlou.

Of course, as a highly sensitive person, Zhu Yuanzhang would never eat out easily, for fear that someone would harm his life.

After finishing the meal without any appetite, Wang Buli refused to have a second bowl of rice, saying that he was full.

Zhu Yuanzhang, on the other hand, started to clean his plate by pouring all the soup into his rice, leaving the plate clean. There was really no waste at all.

Chang looked at her brother-in-law who was so reserved and did not persuade him to eat more.

She had lived outside the palace in her early years. Although her father died early, the living standard in the mansion had always been high.

Chang secretly wondered why Wang Buli, who was so strong, could feel full after eating just one bowl of rice in the palace.

Even though Zhu Yuanzhang was very caring towards his eldest son's wife and son, Zhu Yuanzhang's aura inexplicably made people want to escape and they didn't really want to get close to him.

Crown Princess Chang still had some difficulty holding her son who had become a little stronger, so she had to put him down and let Zhu Xiongying run on the ground.

Wang Buli was not paying attention to the dinner table, but was observing Zhu Xiongying.

This child now looks rosy-cheeked and as naughty as a calf, not weak at all. How could he die young?
"Brother-in-law, do you want to take Xiongying's pulse?"

When Chang saw Wang Buli looking at her son, she felt a little worried.

After all, the good reputation of Wang Buli's family medical skills had long been spread.

When Chang saw him staring at her eldest son like that, she began to tremble even more.

"Ah?" Wang Buli was stunned. "Sister-in-law, my nephew looks healthy. There's no need to take his pulse. He's quite strong."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment as he was putting rice into his mouth.

There is indeed something wrong with Xiongying's death from illness.

With the birth of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yuanzhang became more and more certain.

If he had not died young, according to the age arrangement, it would be Zhu Yunwen who ascended the throne. After a few random operations, the fourth son Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Rebellion and seized the throne.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of letting any other son except Biaoer inherit the throne.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't tell whether Xiongying was really sick or was harmed by someone.

What he saw in the fairyland was that his first wife died first, and then Xiongying.

Perhaps he was so immersed in grief that he had no time to care about anything else.

"Our eldest grandson has indeed become much tougher. He plays with sand every day and runs around in the palace."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "We are very happy to see this."

Chang's heart, which had just calmed down, was lifted up again.

After all, as the eldest grandson, he is most likely to inherit the throne in the future.

If we continue to play around like this, there might be problems.

"Xiong Ying is still young, what's wrong with playing more?"

Queen Ma also knew that Xiongying would die young.

Therefore, he chose not to force his grandson to study hard.

Zhu Biao was not a stupid man. Before his father took him into the fairyland, he had entered it several times and saw the future of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Zhu Biao was unaware of the circumstances of these incidents.

So he guessed that there must be something wrong with Xiongying, which was why he was a little angry with Xiongying at first, and then let him play freely and was not in a hurry to cultivate his studies.

Zhu Biao believed that the only reasonable guess was that his son did a really bad job after ascending the throne, which made his father somewhat unhappy.

Zhu Biao didn't have much to say about letting Xiongying go now. He would train him well when he was older.

If it doesn't work, change someone else.

Zhu Yuanzhang had a very deep affection for Zhu Biao. He had experienced the pain of losing a son in the fairyland, so he was unwilling to let his son experience this pain too early.

He was the only one left in his family in his early years, and he was still the only one left in his "family" in his later years.

Zhu Yuanzhang was heartbroken after experiencing this pain in advance.

But it is still in the future, and he has always believed that he has the ability to change, so the pain has been weakened a lot.

Wang Buli also agreed with Queen Ma's words that there was no need to push the child too hard.

Especially in an environment like the Ming Dynasty, children were very likely to die young.

Can you believe that a small cold can kill someone?
The medical level is too poor.

"Children who jump around a lot prove that they are strong. Not everyone is a prodigy like Xie Jin. Most are ordinary and are not in a hurry to learn."

Wang Buli added another comment.

"So, brother-in-law, when do you think children should start learning?"

Zhu Biao was willing to ask for advice humbly. When it comes to health preservation, Wang Buli is more professional.

"At least eight years old or later."

Wang Buli thought that in the past most children would enter the first grade at the age of eight, and since Zhu Xiongying had enough nutrition, it would probably be no problem for him to receive the Confucian education at the age of eight.

Of course, the most important thing is the hurdle of premature death in the past.

This is all Wang Buli could remind you of.

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly caught the word "eight years old" from Wang Buli's mouth, and continued chewing his food without asking.

So it was only after Zhu Yuanzhang's clean plate operation that the scene was finally over.

Wang Buli said goodbye to the whole family and strolled back home.

Inside the princess's mansion, Zhu Mingxiu sat at the dining table with his chin in his hands.

According to normal calculations, my husband should have returned home long ago. Even if he spent the night outside, he would send someone home to inform him.

Finally, I heard the maid's report that the prince consort had returned home.

"Husband, come and eat. What has taken you so long today?"

Wang Buli entered the dining room and complained as he washed his hands:
"I was planning to sneak back home after returning from the city, but I was called into the palace to do some work, and ended up being asked to stay for dinner by my father, so I came back late."

"Ah?" Zhu Mingxiu also understood why her husband didn't send anyone back to pass on the message so late today. Who in the palace could easily run errands for the Prince Consort? "Then I'll eat it myself."

"No, I'll eat with you. It's just that the food in the palace is really not to my taste."

Zhu Mingxiu laughed, then felt that he had been a little too presumptuous, so he turned his head away.

After all, after living in the palace for so many years and marrying Wang Buli, she discovered that eating is not just about meat and vegetables, but also about pursuing delicious taste.

She felt that even the food at her parents-in-law's home tasted much better than that in the palace.

Now even Zhu Mingxiu is unwilling to eat in the palace.

So the couple ate at the table and talked about some interesting things.

Wang Buli put down his bowl and chopsticks and then thought of something else: "The Queen Mother may come to you in the near future and ask you to teach the abacus method to others."

"Oh."

Zhu Mingxiu nodded slightly. She was quite good at abacus.

"But my husband, this is your exclusive secret recipe. If you just hand it over, won't the Queen Mother give you something as a reward?"

"It's okay." Wang Buli washed his hands again:
"Your husband has many exclusive secret recipes, so one or two won't make a difference. Besides, this isn't an overly advanced method."

"Hahaha."

Zhu Mingxiu took two steps at a time and jumped up to hang on Wang Buli's back: "I knew my husband was the best!"

“Don’t do strenuous exercise right after eating.”

Wang Buli's hands, which had not been wiped clean yet, lifted up Zhu Mingxiu's buttocks and slid down to support her thighs.

"Oh, my hands are still wet." Zhu Mingxiu said coquettishly.

"Just wipe it and it'll be dry."

Wang Buli carried her on his back and walked slowly into the room.

A group of constables and yamen runners led the way.

In the whole Jiangning County, the only person who could have such style was Wang Buli, the county magistrate of Jiangning County.

Even the county magistrate is not as stylish as him.

Of course, under normal circumstances, Wu Wei would not have had the opportunity to display his ceremonial guard and parade through Nanjing city because his rank was too low.

Except for the place where the treasure notes were made in the imperial palace, the rest of the manufacturing sites of the Ministry of War were set up in other places.

For example, Wanggongchang, where gunpowder was stored in Beijing, was the royal arsenal.

It was not placed outside the city, but three kilometers away from the palace, which made it easier to control.

It was also to prevent the arsenal from being occupied by enemy troops outside the city in the future when the city had to be defended, and would be used against the emperor inside the city.

Wang Buli led his men to this remote arsenal and sent someone to knock on the door. Zhong Niu simply showed the decree written by the prince and was invited in.

In fact, there was no need for Wang Buli to provide any proof, as the people at the arsenal had received the notice yesterday.

The emperor established a new department called the Arms Bureau, which was specialized in manufacturing firearms such as bowl-mouthed guns, gun arrows, and signal cannons, as well as their accessories, and under it was a gunpowder department.

Zhu Yuanzhang regarded firearms as sacred objects and strictly controlled their manufacture and use.

Everyone was very excited because the Prince Consort was coming to supervise the manufacture of firearms.

After all, Wang Buli's reputation for treating craftsmen well had long spread, and everyone was looking forward to working under Wang Buli day and night.

After all, Lao Zhu was following the tradition of the Yuan Dynasty, and craftsmen were in the status of labor slaves. It was only since last year that the status of craftsmen was slightly improved.

But for now, it still has a strong worker-slave model.

The head craftsman Lu Hou hurriedly led everyone to salute. In fact, in the wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the usage rate of firearms was only one-tenth at most.

Moreover, the development of firearms was still in its early stages, and incendiary firearms could only be used for fire attacks in specific situations.

The hand cannon is slow and complicated to load, has a slow firing rate and a low hit rate. When the enemy approaches, it is still necessary to use various cold weapons to fight.

The more lethal bowl-mouthed gun could neither destroy the enemy's strong city defenses nor destroy the enemy's buildings.

To win the final victory in siege battles and water stations, soldiers still need to hold various cold weapons, climb walls and fight.

Wang Buli nodded slightly and asked Lu Hou to bring the roster over so that he could take a look at it first. At the same time, he told everyone not to be so nervous.

For a long time next, everyone will get together to work and there is no need to be tense.

Wang Buli had to admit that Lao Zhu was a detail-oriented person and the classification of craftsmen was extremely detailed.

At present, the number of people allocated to him by Lao Zhu is not many, only twenty-three people, including a gunpowder department.

Most of these people were from Fengyang Prefecture and the three prefectures of Nanchang, Yuanzhou and Ji'an, which were areas where Zhu's power developed early and was occupied.

As Zhu Yuanzhang gained a foothold in Nanjing, craftsmen followed him.

The firearms manufactured by this group of people were not only to be supplied to the Ming army in Jiangyin, Zhenjiang and other places, but also to places as far north as Zhangjiakou.

Lu Hou took Wang Buli to wander around the newly designated military equipment area.

In short, everything was prepared in advance, and it didn't seem like it was arranged at the last minute.

"My Lord, please look at this pistol."

Wang Buli picked up the pipe and took a look at it.

There is an inscription on it.

The place of manufacture, manufacturing unit, supervising official position, the military craftsmen, civilian craftsmen, teaching craftsmen, apprentice military craftsmen, names of teachers and apprentice soldiers who designed, manufactured and used the muskets, as well as the weight of the muskets and the year and month of manufacture.

When a batch of firearms are manufactured in the future, Wang Buli feels that his name will also be engraved on them.

"I don't understand any technology either. You guys will have to put more thought into the research and development."

Lu Hou and others quickly expressed their willingness to do their best, and asked the prince consort to rest assured that they would do their best.

After strolling around, Wang Buli said:

"Go to the kitchen and take a look. What are we going to eat these days?"

Lu Hou didn't expect that the prince consort didn't ask anything after looking around for a long time, and went straight to check the food stored in the kitchen.

So a group of people watched Wang Buli lift the lid of the rice jar, which was full of brown rice, and then looked at the wilted vegetables:

"Not eating meat is fine, but don't we even have a little oil and water on weekdays?"

"My Lord, it's good enough to be full."

"Where's the ledger?"

Lu Hou quickly took out the account book and showed it to Wang Buli. After a careful look, he found that the Ministry of War had only approved a small amount of money, namely, one thousand strings of cash.

"Developing new weapons is very expensive. What can we do with this budget? It's hard to eat and drink well. How can we research new firearms if we don't have the energy?"

Wang Buli asked Zhong Niu to take people to purchase supplies first, and then he went to the Ministry of War with the account book.

The eyes of craftsmen such as Lu Hou immediately lit up.

Whoever dares to say that the Prince Consort doesn’t understand technology again.

Let’s not get angry with anyone!
He is so tech savvy!

When the big-eyed Shangshu Lin Rong saw Wang Buli coming in, he was stunned at first, then he thought of the order from the Secretariat and smiled:
"Does your Majesty think that there are not enough personnel or not enough supplies?"

"Minister Lin." Wang Buli bowed respectfully before sitting opposite him. "Did Minister Lin approve this money?"

"For matters like approving money, the Ministry of Revenue should naturally be responsible, and we have to go find Yang Siyi."

Wang Buli immediately raised his head, turned around and left, and heard Lin Rong say with a smile:

"Sir, if there is anything that needs to be done by the Ministry of War, just send someone. If you come in person, my men will be very nervous. I am also worried that someone else might embezzle money and fall into your hands."

Wang Buli waved his hand, then stopped and said, "In this case, please ask Minister Lin to go with me to the Ministry of Revenue to find someone, so that he won't kick the ball back and forth."

Lin Rong was stunned, then stood up: "Okay."

Wang Buli was always helping the Ministry of War, and any new firearms developed in the future would have to be taken over by the Ministry of War.

It can't be that a registrar is in charge of such a core department.

Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi was also stunned when he saw Wang Buli and the others coming.

"Minister Yang, it's hard for me to help you without money."

"what?"

Hearing this, Yang Siyi immediately stood up and explained: "Prince Consort, we are all helping His Majesty, how can you be helping me?"

"You are the one who approved the money. You are so stingy that you only approved 1,000 guan. Researching new firearms can easily lead to waste and injuries. This amount of money is not enough."

Wang Buli sat aside, while Lin Rong agreed with him repeatedly with an expression of deep agreement.

The emperor had made the final decision on this matter, and the Ministry of Revenue only approved one thousand strings of treasure notes, which was a bit stingy indeed.

"There is no such thing as getting results without spending too much money!"

Wang Buli continued to show off: "Please give me more money, Minister Yang. I'll give a thousand strings of cash to the beggar!"

Yang Siyi pulled his beard and looked very embarrassed. This little money was taken out of the special fund for canal renovation.

This Military Equipment Bureau was a newly established department and had no budget at all.

What does it mean to beat a beggar? If a thousand strings of cash fall into the hands of a beggar, he will definitely jump for joy and be so excited that he won't be able to sleep at night.

If this money had been given to His Majesty in his early years, he would not necessarily have been forced to join the rebel army.

But everyone knew that the prince consort Wang Buli was the most favored by the emperor. Even on New Year's Day he was arranged to sit next to him, and the prince sat on the other side.

"One thousand strings of cash is not enough. I wonder how much more the Prince Consort wants?"

Wang Buli held up a finger and said, "It depends on the subsequent results. In the early stage, I will be granted 10,000 guan."

"Ten thousand strings!"

Yang Siyi's voice was a little broken.

Lin Rong looked at Wang Buli with both eyes wide open. The prince consort really dared to ask for money openly.

"Please wait a moment, Prince Consort. I will go and ask Prime Minister Hu for instructions." Minister Yang left immediately. This kind of difficult problem should not be solved by himself.

He felt that Wang Buli's appetite was too big.

A newly established military equipment bureau requires 10,000 strings of cash in the initial stage. Does it want to build muskets and cannons that can be used to attack Nanjing City from one end?

Lin Rong was more responsible. Although he knew that Wang Buli would not spend money recklessly, he was also very curious:

"Prince Consort, does developing new firearms really cost a lot of money?"

"Of course, the gun barrel alone is extremely difficult to make. If it were made and used by soldiers, it would blind them.

By then, the reputation of firearms would be ruined. Who among the Ming soldiers would be willing to use firearms easily?
Quality control must be strict to avoid this kind of thing.

Otherwise, if we spend a lot of money and resources to develop advanced firearms, but no one is willing to use them on the battlefield, wouldn’t that be a waste?”

Wang Buli leaned back in his chair and said, "Minister Lin, strict quality control of firearms means that a lot of money needs to be spent."

"Swords, spears, swords, and halberds are not expensive to make, so why is Your Majesty still pursuing firearms?"

Lin Rong thought that firearms would be enough.

Moreover, firearms are not easy to use in weather such as rain, snow, and strong winds, and they are also very inconvenient to transport.

"Make a batch to fight against the Japanese pirates. Bows and arrows are more likely to be damaged at sea."

Lin Rong nodded slightly and didn't say anything more, as long as it didn't take away the entire army's equipment.

While drinking tea, he began to ask about the Grand Canal project.

Lin Rong knew that Wang Buli had obtained a lot of silver and money for the court through this project, enriching the treasury of the Ministry of Works.

His Ministry of War was just in need of such a talent, and he never expected that Your Majesty would send him in. This is truly a great thing.

Even though the Military Equipment Bureau was newly established, it was still under the Ministry of War.

Lin Rong also hoped that Wang Buli would continue his efforts and earn some money for the Ministry of War.

It’s a pity that the Ministry of War cannot carry out any projects, otherwise it would have followed suit, or at least found out a few things first.

(End of this chapter)