Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 107 The advent of the first batch of guns, Ming Manufacturing Bureau!

Offering gold, silver and treasures?

Zhu Yunhuan was so shocked by Yao Guangxiao's question that he almost vomited on the spot.

How did this evil monk connect running a "company" with "sacrifice"?
But soon, he reacted.

Both Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao were geniuses of their time.

A person standing at the top of the pyramid of the Ming Dynasty.

However, even with their understanding, they still believe that although those things are very useful, whether they can be invented depends on genius from heaven and has nothing to do with capital investment.

Naturally, I don’t think the country should invest money in this.

I have to say that, to a certain extent, there is nothing wrong with this perception and it is very reasonable!
Even in the era of scientific and technological civilization in later generations, scientific and technological development is mainly driven by large amounts of capital investment, but many crucial inventions still rely on the momentary flash of inspiration of a genius.

However, it would be absurd to conclude from this that the country does not need to invest a lot of money in scientific research, but can just wait for geniuses to have a flash of inspiration and science and technology will continue to progress.

However, Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao were, after all, figures of the feudal era.

They are all extremely smart, but still cannot escape the shackles of the times.

Zhu Yunhuan pondered for a moment and simply gave up the idea of continuing to explain to the two of them.

For a modern person, these are the most basic common sense.

But for the ancients who had no knowledge of modern science, in order to explain this problem to them clearly, we needed to start from scratch and help them build the foundation of modern science in their minds.

This is too much trouble.

It can't be explained in a few words.

We can only wait for time to slowly change their perception.

Zhu Yunxun said: "Don't worry about these, I know what's going on."

"It won't be long before you can see the results."

Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao looked at each other.

His eyes were still filled with shock and confusion.

But in the end, he didn't ask any more questions.

Although the two did not understand what it meant, they both had to admit that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu's talent in this area was far superior to theirs.

Since His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu said so, he must have a reason.

What's more, this money was originally raised by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu.

However, in the eyes of the two, throwing 30 million taels of silver into doing these things was somewhat unbelievable.

Zhu Yunhuan glanced at the two of them.

Originally, he had considered using one of the two to be in charge of the newly established company.

But soon, Zhu Yunhuan overturned this idea.

He was responsible for pointing out the development direction of the new company, making a large number of innovative inventions, and putting the inventions into production.

For those who are too old, it will be a great mental shock.

Although Yao Guangxiao was known as a demon monk, he was extremely smart.

In fact, what he was proficient in were all Yin-Yang techniques, various conspiracies, tricks and strategies.

Yang Shiqi was well-read and familiar with the teachings of sages and the control and mastery of human hearts.

When it comes to technological inventions and managing related work, the two of them are really not cut out for it.

A suitable candidate has already emerged in Zhu Yunhuan's mind.

That was Zhu Di’s son—Zhu Gaochi!

A famous foreign science writer in later generations once summarized the three laws of science.

First: Any technology that existed when I was born was commonplace and part of the natural order of the world.

Second: Any technology that comes out between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five is a revolutionary product that will change the world.

Third: Any technology that comes out after I am thirty-five is against the laws of nature and will be punished by God!
If there is any group of people who are most likely to accept new things and new technological inventions, it is undoubtedly children and teenagers.

Zhu Gaochi was young and much more stable than Zhu Gaoxu, the mischievous kid who only cared about causing trouble.

But he also has the curiosity of a young man.

I have a natural liking and love for new things.

Moreover, this person is very smart and has strong organizational and coordination skills.

As a senior manager, he does not need to invent things himself.

All you need to do is maintain a strong curiosity, respect new inventions and creations, and organize and coordinate the allocation of resources.

Considering these aspects, Zhu Gaochi is undoubtedly a very suitable candidate.

If the company encounters any obstacles in the process of setting up a factory or other construction, it would be very appropriate for him to step forward to resolve them.

If anything went wrong, it would be a headache for Zhu Di.

Of course, it is definitely not possible to leave such a large sum of money to a teenager to manage.

In this regard, Zhu Yunhuan also had another suitable candidate in mind.

That was Zhao Rui, the steward of Prince Wu’s palace.

This person was once someone that Lu had placed by his side.

Since changing his allegiance and joining his school, he has been very efficient in his work.

Everything in the Prince of Wu's palace was arranged in an orderly manner.

This person also has some talent in accounting.

It would be perfect for him to supervise Zhu Gaochi and manage the accounts of the new company.

After discussing with Yao Guangxiao and Yang Shiqi the further expansion of the Ming Bank and the Ming Daily, and the opening of more branches and newspaper sub-agencies, Zhu Yunhuan left.

When Zhu Yunhuan returned to the Prince of Wu's Mansion from the Daming Bank and saw Zhu Gaochi, he was shocked.

His eyes were black, and he had lost a lot of weight, but he looked extremely depressed!
Because he lost too much flesh in a short period of time, his skin became loose and he no longer looks like a young man.

He looked like an old man whose half body was buried in the ground!
Zhu Gaoxu was sitting next to him, chewing a chicken leg while advising him, "Brother, I think the King of Wu is controlling the amount of food you eat for your own good."

"You are really too fat. It would be good for you to eat less and lose some fat."

As he said this, he took another big bite of the chicken leg and said, "This chicken leg is really delicious, but it's a pity that my brother can't eat it."

Zhu Gaochi turned sideways, looked at the chicken leg in his hand, and smelled the aroma it emanated.

With a gulp, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

A little bit of liquid still flowed out from the corner of his mouth unconsciously.

Zhu Gaoxu jumped up and shouted, "Brother, please don't be greedy, otherwise, the punishment from the King of Wu is no joke."

He put the chicken leg into his mouth again and ate it faster.

This naughty kid really deserves a beating!

It was obvious that he used the chicken leg deliberately to provoke Zhu Gaochi and to show off.

Thanks to Zhu Gaochi's good temper, he was able to endure it.

If it were someone else, Zhu Gaoxu would have been beaten to the ground and begged for mercy.

"Cough cough!" Zhu Yunhuan coughed lightly and walked over.

"Hello, brother Prince Wu!" When Zhu Gaoxu saw him, he immediately showed a fawning smile and ran over happily.

Zhu Gaochi also stood up, revealing a pitiful, frightened, and slightly flattering forced smile.

"Hello, Your Highness King Wu!"

"That's right!" Zhu Yunhuan ignored Zhu Gaoxu, but walked over and patted Zhu Gaochi on the shoulder.

"I see you've done a good job losing weight." Zhu Yunxun said with a smile, "I'm giving you a task now. If you can do this well, you can increase your food intake by 50% from now!"

"Really?" Zhu Gaochi's languid expression suddenly brightened up, and his eyes suddenly shot out a bright and sharp light. During this period of time, he was starving too much.

I always feel like my chest is pressing against my back, my stomach is empty, and I want to eat everything I see.

But there is no way.

The servants in Prince Wu's palace did not tolerate him at all.

His younger brother Zhu Gaoxu, with whom he had a good relationship in the past, not only did not sympathize with his situation, but instead found ways to make him angry.

Zhu Gaochi felt that life was meaningless and that death was worse than death.

How could we not be overjoyed when we heard that we could increase the food supply by 50%?
"How could I, the great King of Wu, lie to you?" Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile.

In fact, although Zhu Gaochi did gain weight and ate too much, it was still too much to lose half of his food at once.

You can’t lose weight like this, it’s too drastic.

What's more, Zhu Gaochi was only in his teens and still a young man.

Zhu Yunhuan did that before mainly because he wanted to make Zhu Gaochi suffer.

As for whether to lose weight or not, that is secondary.

Just looking for a nice excuse.

To put it bluntly, what does it have to do with him whether Zhu Gaochi is fat or not?

If it weren't for the purpose of teaching Zhu Gaochi a lesson, Zhu Yunhuan would not have bothered to care about this matter.

Even if Zhu Gaochi grew to 500 kilograms, it would have nothing to do with him!

If we increase his food by 50%, it will be equivalent to 75% of the previous amount.

This is relatively healthy.

If Zhu Gaochi could have restrained himself, he might have been able to lose all the fat.

On the other hand, he won’t eat too much so that he will have more energy to work!

If you want to eat your fill, you have to work hard.

Want to eat more?
Then do more work!

"Please rest assured, Your Highness Prince Wu, I will complete the task!" Zhu Gaochi patted his chest and promised loudly.

Zhu Gaoxu asked curiously, "What does the King of Wu want my brother to do?"

Zhu Yunhuan's expression suddenly changed. He glanced at him and warned him, "Don't interfere or ask about what I asked you to do. Otherwise, you will be beaten!"

Zhu Gaoxu immediately shrank his head and suddenly felt an inexplicable pain in his buttocks.

He didn't dare ask any more questions.

Zhu Yunhuan withdrew his gaze.

When running a company to conduct scientific research and inventions, we must never let Zhu Gaoxu, a naughty kid, get involved.

You know, the destructive power of naughty children is very terrifying and terrible.

In particular, his inventions also include gunpowder, firearms and cannons.

After driving away Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Yunhuan brought Zhu Gaochi to where the craftsmen were.

Since he started making roller mimeograph machines, he has recruited many craftsmen.

Later, these craftsmen also played a vital role in the production of new banknotes.

The manufacture and production of currency requires strict confidentiality.

Therefore, the craftsmen were dispersed and strictly managed.

But Zhu Yunhuan also recruited a lot of new people.

Right now, these people are making new guns according to his design drawings, looking at the drawings and discussing them.

That's right!

It's making guns!

In fact, during this era in the Ming Dynasty, gunpowder was already widely used, and there were also many fire weapons.

Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to firearms. He ordered the establishment of a special smelting plant to manufacture firearms and equip the army.

Special tactics were also designed for armies equipped with firearms.

But in Zhu Yunhuan's eyes, the Ming army's firearms were undoubtedly too backward.

However, the structure of modern firearms is simple at the same time, but it is also a bit complicated.

He had never served in the army in his previous life, so his knowledge of guns was very limited.

I roughly understood some basic principles, drew a few pictures, and then handed it over to the craftsmen for discussion, research and manufacturing.

By this time, the first batch of guns had been manufactured.

However, the effect after use is not satisfactory.

Every gun has its share of glitches.

This is actually very normal.

No matter what is invented, it is not achieved overnight.

Everything needs to be improved little by little.

The development of guns in human history has also gone through a very long process.

We took many detours along the way, and even stagnated for hundreds of years.

Zhu Yunhuan knew the direction of future development: flintlock, fixed bullet loading, breech loading, locking, rifling... and so on.

But, that's all.

When it comes to specific details, he is completely at a loss.

The craftsmen can only figure it out on their own.

However, with a large amount of financial support, craftsmen are allowed to make mistakes and continue to experiment and innovate. In addition, the development route and ultimate goal are very clear. There is no need to worry about making directional mistakes or clicking on the wrong technology tree. Therefore, the overall progress of gun research is still very fast.

Today, craftsmen are discussing and researching how to solve the problem.

As soon as Zhu Gaochi walked in, his eyes were immediately attracted by the newly manufactured guns.

The gun, which seemed to Zhu Yunhuan to have countless problems, was actually an extremely valuable treasure in his eyes.

Zhu Gaochi had once seen a musket in the Ming army and recognized the gun at a glance.

"This kind of musket looks very powerful." Zhu Gaochi picked up a gun and touched it again and again excitedly.

"They are not finished products yet, just semi-finished products." Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "There are still some minor problems that have not been completely solved."

"But it's soon."

Of course, the guns manufactured in the early days could not be as perfect as those made in later times.

Not to mention that Zhu Yunhuan couldn't understand all the structures and details of the gun, even if he was a mechanical expert, it wouldn't work.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty did not have the processing and manufacturing capabilities of later generations.

Being able to make a simple flintlock rifle at the beginning without any major problems was enough to make him happy.

"Could it be that what His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu asked me to do is related to the musket?" Zhu Gaochi asked while touching the gun.

"This is called a gun, not a firearm!" Zhu Yunhuan corrected him and said, "I plan to spend 30 million taels of silver to establish the Ming Manufacturing Bureau to manufacture guns, gunpowder, and various other machines."

"How much?" Zhu Gaochi asked, a little unbelievingly, "30...30...30 million taels of silver?"

"Yes!" Zhu Yunhuan nodded, looked at him and smiled, "How about you be in charge of the Daming Manufacturing Bureau?"

Zhu Gaochi was stunned.

……

(End of this chapter)