Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 116: Father and son have a tacit understanding, and the victory is announced! [Subscribe]

Before Mao Xiang arrived, Zhu Yuanzhang talked to Zhu Biao about the national flag again.

Zhu Biao naturally agreed with what he heard and was quite satisfied with the national flag "designed" by Liu Kuan.

He then took the opportunity to say, "I heard from my mother that my father has sent people to Shaanxi and Shanxi to convey his order, asking my second and third brothers to return to the capital and to allow them to study again in the main hall."

"My second and third brothers are already adults and have already been appointed as feudal lords. Doing this might embarrass them. Wouldn't that be a bad idea?"

"Not good?" Zhu Yuanzhang was angry again. "Don't the things they did in their fiefdom embarrass us?"

"If we don't call them back and discipline them, not only will the people in the fiefdom suffer, but I'm afraid they'll kill themselves at any moment!"

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was really angry, Zhu Biao had to give up the idea of ​​continuing to persuade him.

Then he reported another important matter.

"By the way, Father, the Gun Factory under the Arsenal has reported that they have developed a bird gun based on the information provided by Liu Kuan. I will go over and inspect it tomorrow. If there are no problems, I will have them begin production."

Because of the information provided by Liu Kuan, the Military Equipment Bureau was almost copying it. The speed of producing results was not fast, and Zhu Yuanzhang was not very surprised when he heard the news.

He warned, "Firearms are dangerous after all. If you want to test the gun, be sure to take good precautions."

"My son understands."

Neither the father nor the son mentioned going together to inspect the bird gun. This was a tacit understanding formed over the years, in order to avoid the two of them being in danger together and disrupting the continuation of the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Biao was leaving, Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the more than a thousand craftsmen he had executed.

So he said, "Go back and take some money from the treasury to compensate the families of the more than one thousand craftsmen who were executed that year. Remember, it must be in your name."

Zhu Biao glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and replied, "Your Highness understands."

He knew that Zhu Yuanzhang did this not only because he felt guilty and wanted to make up for his past mistakes, but also because he wanted him to show mercy to avoid being hated by the families of the craftsmen.

But the latter may not have much effect.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang did this more to reduce his guilt.

Not long after Zhu Biao left, Mao Xiang arrived.

The ceremony is over.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked directly, "How is your investigation going on between Duke Han and Hu Weiyong?"

Mao Xiang lowered his head and said, "There has been no progress so far."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "If you are short of funds or manpower, you can tell me, but you have to work hard."

"Also, assign another team to secretly investigate the strange incidents in Zhongdu and the secret pressure exerted by the craftsmen on Shengfa, to see if they are related to Duke Han."

Another Korean man?
Mao Xiang's heart started pounding when he heard this.

Suddenly, I felt that this founding father, who had shown some of the power of the prime minister since becoming the Grand Councilor, had probably reached the edge of a cliff and was only one step away from falling and being smashed to pieces.

Coming back to his senses, Mao Xiang saw Zhu Yuanzhang looking at him expressionlessly, and he quickly replied, "I obey your command!"

···
···
The north wind is howling.

The Liu family's carriage rumbled across Changgan Bridge.

Inside the carriage, Liu Kuan tightened his mink coat and said, "The weather is really getting colder."

Liu Laifu, who was sitting beside him, smiled and replied, "It's almost the twelfth lunar month, isn't it getting colder? In previous years, the price of firewood and charcoal would go up at this time of year. Poor families couldn't afford to buy them, so they could only stay indoors and endure the cold. Now they use the honeycomb coal invented by the master, so the weather isn't as hard as before."

"You're quite good at flattering people." Liu Kuan smiled and then asked, "The price of honeycomb coal hasn't increased, has it?"

"No, it's still the same price as when it was first released. It's just that sometimes if you go too late you won't be able to buy it."

Liu Kuan said, "The production is still insufficient. By next winter, there should be no shortage of honeycomb coal in the capital."

As they were talking, the carriage stopped and they had arrived at Sancai Printing House.

Acting manager Lin Ajiu came out upon hearing the voice.

"How's the owner?"

Liu Kuan smiled and nodded, "Okay."

After saying that, he took his servants Arong and Liu Laifu into the printing house.

In the front yard, Lin Ajiu's two sons and three other carvers were busy processing the wood for carving.

Not only does wood carving require special woods such as sugar pear wood, but it also needs to undergo multiple special treatments before it can become qualified wood for carving.

The two middle-aged and elderly people were wearing cotton coats, but the three young people were only wearing cotton inner coats and coarse cloth jackets, with their sleeves rolled up, as if they didn't feel the cold.

Seeing Liu Kuan coming in, several people stopped immediately and came over to greet him.

Perhaps Lin Ajiu had instructed that everyone, including the three newly hired engravers, bowed and saluted instead of kneeling.

Liu Kuan signaled them to continue working, and then said to Lin Ajiu, "I have already written the publication."

As he spoke, Liu Kuan took the cowhide bag from Arong, took out the first issue of "Natural Science" that he had compiled in the past few days, and handed it over.

Lin Ajiu took it carefully, but did not rush to read it. Instead, he said, "Master, it's cold outside. How about we talk inside?"

"also."

Immediately, several people came to the main hall of the front yard.

Lin Ajiu asked Liu Kuan to sit down, while he stood and flipped through the book in his hand.

Including the cover, the book was no more than twelve folios, with a single page about a foot long and seven inches wide.

The text is written on both sides of the pages, and almost every page has one or two illustrations.

The illustrations are not complicated, they are all simple drawings with fine brushwork.

The handwriting was elegant, unlike that of a man like the Dong family. As for whether the illustrations were from the Dong family, he couldn't tell. Liu Kuan asked, "Manager Lin, how long do you think it will take to complete the engraving?"

Lin Ajiu estimated the number of words on each page and said, "Master, each page of this book has at least 300 words, and at most nearly 500 words, all in small regular script with flowery characters. Counting the nine illustrations, it would take the six of us half a month to complete the engraving."

Liu Kuan had been to the printing house once before and had a better understanding of woodblock printing.

If a skilled engraver wants to ensure the quality of the characters he carves, he can only carve a hundred or so characters a day at most.

Among the six engravers in Sancai Printing House, only three middle-aged and elderly people, including Lin Ajiu, are skilled in the art. The other three young engravers have only been apprenticed for a few years and their skills are average.

Considering that he had high requirements for the printing quality of the publication, completing it in half a month was not considered slow.

But if there are other things that delay it, it’s hard to say.

For example, the government sent an urgent printing task, a certain engraver was sick, etc.

Therefore, Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's hire two or three more carvers."

Lin Ajiu knew Liu Kuan didn't care whether the printing house was profitable, so he agreed directly. However, he secretly decided that if possible, he would take on more work without delaying Liu Kuan's work.

When he came to his senses, he asked, "How many copies of this book are you going to print?"

“Let’s print a thousand copies first.”

A thousand copies?

Lin Ajiu was surprised again after hearing this.

It should be noted that at that time, apart from the Confucian classics needed by students in official schools, few other books could sell thousands of copies.

If it is privately published without the purpose of profit, most of the copies will be dozens or at most a hundred, which are enough to distribute to relatives and friends.

This book called "Natural Science" is obviously not a Confucian classic. It seems to be a kind of miscellaneous notes. Judging from his many years of publishing experience, it belongs to a niche among the niches.

He really didn't know why Liu Kuan wanted to print thousands of copies at a time.

So he reminded me, "Boss, how about we print three to five hundred copies first, and then print more if it's not enough later? Anyway, the engraved blocks will be kept, and it won't be a big deal to print more."

The cost of woodblock printing was not too low at this time.

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Well, let's print 500 copies first."

After explaining the task, Liu Kuan learned some other aspects of the printing house from Lin Ajiu, then left and took a carriage back home.

As the weather got colder, he rarely rode on the Cloud and Snow when he went out. He either walked or took a carriage.

Only when I have free time occasionally will I ride my horse to the bridge outside the city for a stroll...

Not long after entering the inner city, Liu Kuan heard a loud shout, accompanied by the sound of horse hooves approaching rapidly from a distance.

"Great victory!"

"Our army has decisively defeated the barbarians at Baishi River! We have captured Darima, a general under Bazala Walmi, and taken tens of thousands of prisoners! Our army has entered the important Yunnan city of Qujing!"

The knight who brought the victory trotted past Liu Kuan's carriage and headed towards Liren Street, attracting many people along the way to come out and watch.

Speaking of which, this is the third time that Lao Zhu has publicly announced his victory in the past half month.

According to Zhu Biao, because the Ming army had the help of a telescope, after gathering troops on the border of Huguang and Sichuan, they quickly detected the enemy situation they needed, and then launched an attack on the Yuan Liangwang forces in early November.

As soon as the army entered Guizhou, most of the local Miao and Man chieftains surrendered, so the Ming army quickly captured important places such as Puding and Pu'an, and launched a major battle with the Yuan Liangwang army on the Yunnan-Guizhou border.

Now it seems that the Ming army won a great victory in this battle as in history.

"I wonder if the Tiger Crouching Cannon that Zhu sent to his troops was able to make it to this battle."

Liu Kuan was curious, but did not go into the palace to ask.

It was dark, and Zhu Huilan was still waiting for him to come home for dinner. He could wait until tomorrow to ask for the details of the Battle of Baishi River.

···
The next morning.

Liu Kuan was handling official business and polishing memorials in the Science and Technology Department when a eunuch brought Zhu Yuanzhang's oral order and summoned him to the palace.

He originally thought that Lao Zhu wanted to take the initiative to share the details of the Baishi River victory, but it turned out to be another matter.

"The commander guarding the bridge has urgently reported that they've discovered what appears to be peeling paint on the railings, and some of the already exposed steel is showing signs of rust. Any explanation for this?"

Liu Kuan was slightly stunned after hearing this.

Then I remembered that this bridge needed to be looked after and maintained, just like a railway.

However, he had never been involved in bridge construction before, so he ignored it for a while.

Coming back to his senses, he said, "Although this cross-river bridge is built primarily with steel and concrete, it also requires regular care and maintenance, just like a wooden palace."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't blame Liu Kuan for not telling him earlier, but asked directly: "Do you know how to maintain it?"

"I have never been involved in this kind of thing before. I can only go to the bridge and take a look before I think about it."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "Then hurry up. This is the only bridge across the river that the Ming Dynasty has right now. I don't know when we'll be able to build one."

"If possible, we must maintain this bridge and prevent it from decaying prematurely."

"Wei Chen understands."

Liu Kuan said this and was about to leave.

But then Lao Zhu warned again: "Be careful - I still say that your safety is the most important."

Liu Kuan was moved again, nodded in agreement, and left the palace.

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)