My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 337: Admiral of the Navy

Looking at Yang Siyi's careful calculation, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh. He was such a good person in the past, full of righteousness and good looks, but now he is more shrewd than those businessmen in calculating.

The number one accountant in the Ming Dynasty is well-deserved!

"You two ministers are right. I think so as well. Therefore, I will leave this project to you two to take full charge!

Li Min will be in charge of the operation of the entire project, and Yang Siyi will be in charge of the budget and allocation. We will issue a special decree to you to act at your convenience. "

"Sir, obey the order!"

Li Min and Yang Siyi respectfully accepted the order, and Li Min continued:
"This brand new large-scale project, from steel smelting to the manufacture of propellants, involves almost all the current industrial categories of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I decided to follow the manufacturing process pioneered by Liu Sanwu, who is in charge of the Industry Department, starting with the simplest and solving one category at a time.

Well, according to industrial terms, each subsystem is solved separately, the quality of each subsystem is strictly controlled, and then assembled. I believe that it will not be long before this brand new battleship will sail on the ocean of Daming!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was relieved by Li Min's work, and then he said: "To build a navy, it is not only necessary to build warships, there is another equally important thing."

Having said that, he paused, then looked at Xu Da and the other two who were gathered around the design drawing and imagining how a naval battle should be fought.

"Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, Tang He, the three of you listen to my orders!"

"Chen is here!"

The three of them suddenly came to their senses and spoke in unison.

"I order the three of you to start forming a naval department from today onwards. The existing naval forces responsible for coastal defense will be placed under the navy. Xu Da will be in charge of overall command, and Li Wenzhong, Tang He and you will be responsible for organizing manpower and training!"

"Sir, obey the order!"

The three of them brightened up when they heard this. Xu Da even smiled and said, "Your Majesty, if you let me coordinate the command, does that mean that I will be in charge of the newly formed navy from now on? Am I the Grand Admiral of the Navy from now on?"

Zhu Yuanzhang got angry when he saw Xu Da's aggressive behavior, but it was not a good time to discourage him. He suppressed his anger and said in a low voice:
"If you do a good job as the Grand Marshal, you, Xu Tiande, can be a good choice. If you don't do a good job, Li Wenzhong and Tang He are also good candidates!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will issue you a military order and will definitely handle this matter beautifully!"

Xu Da finally managed to become serious, but then his true colors showed up again, and he said to Li Wenzhong and Tang He, "Forget about the position of the Grand Admiral of the Navy!"

Li Wenzhong was too lazy to pay attention to him and shook his head helplessly, but Tang He said bluntly: "Xu Tiande, don't be too proud too early. His Majesty said that Duke Cao and I are also excellent candidates!"

"Hehe, His Majesty is trying to comfort you two, can't you hear it?"

Seeing that Xu Da was becoming more and more complacent, Zhu Yuanzhang coughed and interrupted his fantasy.

"The strange man Li Han also sent me information about the formation and training of the navy. You should take a good look at it and make sure to do it beautifully. Otherwise, I will hold you accountable, especially Xu Tiande. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The three of them answered in unison, their voices so loud that they were deafening.

Seeing the three people's full spirits, Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly satisfied and then asked Li Min:

"Lord Li, when will the railway from Yingtian Prefecture to Songjiang Prefecture be completed?" Li Min thought for a moment and replied, "At the current speed, it will take about three months, and it should be completed and open to traffic before the end of the year."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and turned his gaze to Yang Siyi.

"There is a third matter, Lord Yang, and I have decided to let you handle this matter."

"Your Majesty, please speak." Yang Siyi said respectfully.

"I order you to conduct a comprehensive economic survey of the entire Jiangnan region within three months, including the ten prefectures in Jiangnan and the prefectures that have close trade with the ten prefectures. What industries does each prefecture have, how much is its annual output, which families are in control, where are the advantages, how much is the cost, and how many people are in the industry? All of this must be clearly counted!"

Zhu Yuanzhang paused, then continued: "Also, what kind of trade is there between the various states, what are the main trade products, how much is the trade volume, and how much population flows between the various states every month and every day!"

"This..." Yang Siyi was confused. Isn't this just an inventory of the warehouse? The only difference is that the inventory has been expanded to the entire Jiangnan region. He really thinks of himself as an accountant.

"What's wrong, Yang Aiqing?"

Seeing Yang Siyi's confused look, Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "Are you having any difficulties?"

"The difficulties can be overcome, but I just can't understand what the point of doing so is?" Yang Siyi expressed his doubts.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I also don't understand why the industries in Jiangnan area need to be investigated so thoroughly. Could it be..."

Li Min thought of something else, but this idea was too scary. Even though the aristocratic literary world was now in decline, he did not dare to speak it out rashly, fearing that Zhu Yuanzhang would think he was guessing the emperor's intentions, so he quickly shut up.

Although Xu Da and the other two heard what Zhu Yuanzhang said, they did not think much about it. Their minds were all focused on how to build a navy.

"Lord Li, you are right. However, we need to use another, more covert method to quietly dismantle the control of the aristocracy over Jiangnan."

"Your Majesty, what do you mean by that? What does this have to do with understanding the current state of the Jiangnan industry?"

Yang Siyi and Li Min immediately became interested and asked quickly.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood with his hands behind his back, revealing a mysterious expression. Then, he explained to several people the method he learned from Li Han, adding his own understanding.

From the laying of the railway network, which has brought about an increase in population mobility and impacted the local grassroots structure, to the complementary cooperation between industries in various places to form an industrial chain, and then to each place leveraging its own advantageous industries for balanced development, the two were stunned.

After a long while, Li Min recovered from his shock and said tremblingly, "I thought that building railways and running trains was to speed up the transportation of freight. I didn't expect that it would bring such a drastic change. I didn't expect that running trains could bring so many unexpected benefits!"

Yang Siyi also agreed. "I originally thought that the struggle with the gentry would continue for a long time, but I didn't expect it to be broken up in this way. I'm afraid that the big families in Jiangnan will never understand why they were defeated by the flow of people brought about by the railway!"

"Wait, Your Majesty, and the two ministers, what are you talking about? Why did the Jiangnan gentry be defeated? Why don't I understand what you are saying?"

At this time, Xu Da came over and looked at them blankly with a curious look on his face.

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "If you don't understand, don't listen. Xu Tiande, you should think about how to manage the navy!"

(End of this chapter)