Chapter 459 The Gift Prepared by Zhu Di! Infinite Possibilities!

It was early November in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu.

Because he was traveling on a merchant ship powered by a mixture of animal power and sails, it took Fang Xiaoru more than 20 days to arrive in Beijing.

The news that Zhu Di was coming back soon spread in Jinling.

It aroused great discussion and expectations among the people.

"Have you heard? My grandson is getting married and King Yan is coming back."

"I knew it earlier. It spread throughout Jinling."

"I still remember the grand occasion when King Yan sailed into the Qinhuai River with 300 warships and fired thousands of cannons. I don't know what kind of shock King Yan will bring to us this time."

…

"Didn't I say at the beginning that when rural villages and communes were fully built, everyone's life would be easier? But look at it now, I feel that life is more miserable than before."

"What nonsense are you talking about? I have relatives in the village outside Jinling City. Since the establishment of the local village community, I can still have a full meal even if I am not working. I will tell you a secret quietly. In these years, I have directly communicated with you through this relative. We buy homespun cloth, eggs, rice, flour, grains and oil from their village. If the rent in Jinling hadn’t been getting more and more expensive, life would have been better than before.”

"Yes, yes, I also have relatives who farm in the village. Although the money they get is still not much, in recent years, even if they eat Wowotou, they can still eat a full meal of pure grain. Let me tell you, the people in our city Life is becoming more and more difficult because there is no employment share system.”

…

A rumor smearing the local village community and targeting Zhu Di loomed in the lively discussions among the people.

Hu Mansion.

Today, the Hu Mansion has become the base camp of the Anti-Yan Alliance, a secret political and economic organization hidden underwater.

study.

Hu Weiyong and Lu Ben looked through a thick stack of rosters.

At some point.

Lu Ben put down a roster in his hand, patted it, and said with a smile: "Hu Xiang, over the years, you have used Hu's business as a cover to develop this anti-Yan alliance that has achieved great results! In addition to Fujian and Mongolia north of the Great Wall, In the Han Demonstration Zone, a needle cannot penetrate and water cannot penetrate. In other places, there are core members and peripheral members of our anti-Yan alliance. In just a few years, the core members have grown to a thousand people..."

Among them are officials from the local government.

There are also local merchants who are extremely wealthy and powerful.

For example, that Shen family son-in-law Gu Xuewen!

In the future, they will also pull all the Shen family's first and second houses who stayed in the Central Plains on board their ship in an orderly manner.

If we can use the first and second rooms of the Shen family to drag down the third room of the Shen family who followed Zhu Silang to the sea, it will be like planting a thunder around Zhu Silang!

Especially valuable are the military generals.

When Hu Weiyong was prime minister, he had a good relationship with Huaixi Wuxun.

As for the Wuxun Group, it was precisely because of Zhu Silang's sudden rise that it suffered the most.

Ever since Zhu Silang's classic battle across the grassland.

The entire Wuxun Group no longer dared to bargain with Emperor Zhu.

In addition to the rural village community proposed by Zhu Silang, with Emperor Zhu's support, Emperor Zhu's prestige in the hearts of the people was immediately unshakable.

Emperor Zhu cleverly seized this opportunity.

Divide the military power controlled by Wu Xun.

The peak period is these few years.

On the one hand, the troops and horses that Wu Xun had been in charge of were assigned to the vassal king.

On the other hand, by reorganizing the new army, the millions of elites of the Ming Dynasty were reorganized into an orderly and chaotic organization.

Coupled with the military rank system, the hidden dangers of small groups such as nepotism, rural parties, and hilltops in the military have been effectively combated.

Many people were depressed and felt that Emperor Zhu established the Ming Dynasty and gave Huaixi martial arts honors that were missing when he was knighted, so they hated Zhu Silang deeply.

First he did business with Hu Weiyong, and was gradually drawn into the anti-Yan alliance.

During the army reorganization.

Under the guidance of him and Hu Weiyong, they actively studied the new military drills. Some people became models because of their outstanding performance and were praised by the prince.

Thus promoted to the new army in the Beijing camp.

Not much though.

However, among the new troops in the Beijing camp, there are hidden members of the anti-Yan alliance who lead the new army in the town.

Such a result is very great!

"In addition to the core members, there are even more peripheral members. Give us a few more years, and the ultimate programmatic goal of our entire Falling Yan Alliance will definitely be achieved!"

Hu Weiyong glanced at the excited Lu Ben.

The final purpose of the program?

Did he strangle Zhu Silang?

Or support Zhu Yunwen to aspire to the supreme position?

Hu Weiyong smiled, and then said with emotion: "This time our effect in smearing Zhu Silang is not obvious, and we dare not make too big a move, lest Emperor Zhu discover the clues..."

In order to deal with Jin Yiwei.

They have also developed a very strict organizational system.

After all, Emperor Zhu's eagle dog is really powerful.

The smile on Lu Ben's face disappeared...

snort!

He hummed: "They are all a bunch of stupid people! If you want to change the blind worship of these stupid people, I'm afraid it will take some time."

After Fang Xiaoru brought back the news that Zhu Silang would be back.

The people of Jinling showed great expectations and excitement.

Therefore, they made a fuss about the fact that the lives of the people in the city have become increasingly difficult in recent years.

I want to attribute this problem to the rural community.

Throw dirty water on rural communities.

If it can be done, Zhu Silang's prestige in the Central Plains will definitely be lost overnight.

However, if the ignorant people believe in one person, it will be difficult to change this concept.

Their covert actions to throw dirty water.

There wasn't any waves.

But that’s okay.

When the life of the people in the city became more difficult, he would not believe it, and the stupid people would still blindly believe in Zhu Silang.

When the time comes, with a little guidance, maybe Zhu Silang can be pulled down from the altar in the hearts of the ignorant people!

…

Just when Jinling, and even the entire Ming Dynasty, was in turmoil because Zhu Di was going to return to the court at the time of Zhu Xiongying's wedding.

Zhu Di was also preparing to return to the court.

The palace.

The government hall.

Zhu Di was convening a meeting of three groups of sea, land, civil and military.

A long table eight meters long and four meters wide, Zhu Di sat facing the entrance of the meeting hall, facing north and south.

The two groups of civil and military people sat on both sides of the long side of the long table.

Jiang Jinzhong, the Minister of Finance, was reporting on the various incomes and expenditures of the Yan vassal this year. "Except for the capital Yanjing, this year, the total surplus of the treasury generated by the various departments of industry, agriculture, fishery, animal husbandry and commerce is negative one million taels..."

…

"The total surplus of all walks of life in the capital Yanjing is two million taels, and the total surplus for the whole year is one million taels."

After Jiang Jinzhong finished his summary, he moved his eyes away from the memorial in front of him and raised his head.

Yu Jing couldn't help asking: "Minister Jiang, are you wrong? Although our maritime trade with the Ming Dynasty has been decreasing year by year in recent years because of obstacles set up by people within the Ming Dynasty, the number of merchant ships in Yanjing Bay has increased several times compared to previous years. How come the surplus is 500,000 taels less than last year!"

The Navy Department is still thinking that when they pay New Year's greetings to the prince this year, they will cry about being poor and get another fund.

Not to mention adding a few warships.

At least build a few more logistics transport ships.

With only one million taels left in the surplus, how can he ask for it?

"Old Jiang, are you civil officials spending money lavishly and wasting all the money!"

"Yes, Minister Jiang, have you checked whether the people below are corrupt!"

...

The generals who attended the year-end summary meeting of the Navy Department and the Army Department one month in advance, after Yu Jing took the lead, raised questions one after another.

Zhu Di did not stop them, but watched with a smile.

He did not create opposition between civil and military officials, but a balance.

Instead, he guided his civil and military officials to become familiar with the process of questioning and answering.

Everything in Yan Fan is new.

A group of civil and military officials from the Central Plains who have accepted traditions need someone to guide them if they want to become familiar with, adapt to, and accept this new political system.

"Yu Tongzhi, Tan Tongzhi." Ye Mao smiled and said, "To explain this problem, we must start from the overall situation. I will assist the prince and take charge of all the civil service departments. I will have a more comprehensive understanding of where the money is spent..."

Tan Yuan and others gradually calmed down and looked at Ye Mao.

Ye Mao is equivalent to the prime minister, but not the prime minister.

The same rank as officials from various departments.

In daily administration, when dealing with memorials submitted by the lower level, it cannot be decided by one person. Meetings must be held with various departments, and the minority obeys the majority to vote.

After making opinions on the issues submitted by local memorials, submit them to the prince, and at the same time mark everyone's opinions.

For general minor matters, the prince will directly pass them.

In the vote, although the minority obeys the majority, if the difference between support and opposition is not large, the prince will deal with it seriously, and sometimes agree with the opinions of the civil service departments.

Sometimes they will veto.

In short, it is to focus on the big and let go of the small.

Ye Mao is a minister who does not hold a powerful position in various ministries.

Rather than being a prime minister, it is better to say that he assists the prince and coordinates the various ministries.

He has power.

But it is definitely not as great as the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the Ministry of War.

It does not exist in their Yan Fan.

The armed forces of Yan Fan are the Navy Ministry, the Army Ministry, the Logistics Ministry, and the Training Ministry.

The Logistics Ministry mainly coordinates logistics with the civil service ministries.

The Training Ministry provides preliminary training for new recruits of the Navy and the Army.

In peacetime, the four ministries are not subordinate to each other.

Once wartime, generals and staff will be immediately drawn from the four ministries to form a joint logistics command for coordinating operations.

Such joint logistics department formation and training have been carried out countless times over the years, and everyone is already familiar with it.

Anyway, based on the feeling of being in it over the years.

It seems that this arrangement is better and smoother than the establishment of the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commander-in-Chief Office by the court.

In peacetime, each department has clear responsibilities and there is no buck-passing.

In wartime, the four departments are under the unified Joint Logistics Department.

At the end of each year, they have to make a budget for their military expenses.

This money includes the soldiers' salaries, armament maintenance, exercises, training, etc....

After the budget is made, the money will be locked by the Ministry of Finance, and it cannot be used for anything unrelated to the military.

And if the four military departments want to use it, they have to apply.

The use must be jointly supervised by the Ministry of Finance and the Inspection Department.

This kind of expenditure budget belongs to the peace budget. Once in wartime, according to the rules of Yanfan, there is no budget, and everything is based on winning the war.

Ye Mao looked at the four military departments staring at him eagerly, smiled, and unfolded the memorial, "First of all, this year is the last year to pay the final payment for the renewal of 150 warships of the navy. For the whole year, the final payment of 800,000 taels will be paid for the navy!"

...

Ye Mao started with the navy and summarized them one by one.

At the end, he closed the letter and said with a smile, "In fact, our income this year is very high, but due to the new navy, the new Century Bridge, the farmland irrigation project, and the permanent road running through Luzon and Dongfan, the deadline for paying the final payment to each factory has come, so this year's surplus is less than last year."

"In the past few years, we have carried out large-scale construction, and all the financial burdens caused by it have been paid off this year. With the completion of this large-scale construction, starting next year, our rural grain output under Yanfan will be higher, and with the new Industrial products such as carriages, bicycles, and clocks will begin to be sold to the outside world next year. It can be predicted that our Yan Fan will usher in an explosive period next year. We estimate that our Yan Fan’s financial savings next year will be at least three million! "

The military generals headed by Yu Jing and Tan Yuan suddenly beamed.

This is amazing!

How much savings did the Ming Dynasty make over the years?

It seems to be five to six million.

But the Ming Dynasty had tens of millions of people!

On the other hand, what about Yan Fan?

There are only over three million people!

This is all due to the good development of Yan Fan's industry.

"My lord, I didn't expect this industry to be so profitable."

"I used to think that engaging in industry would make our Yan Fan's weapons better and better. I didn't expect that we could still make so much money!"

"No, let's not talk about anything else. Just say that two mules or donkeys can pull an animal-powered harvester to harvest crops. In the Central Plains, if one person can take care of ten acres of land, it is as high as the sky. But look at our Yan Fan , In each rural village, now only 30% of the labor force is working on the crops, and the rest are working in the village workshops. "

…

Zhu Di allowed everyone to discuss for a while.

He also presided over next year’s full-year budget.

Big goals for governance and construction next year.

Wait until everything is decided.

It's already afternoon.

In the meantime, everyone just made do, discussing things and eating something casually.

Zhu Di looked at the sky outside and it was getting dark.

He concluded: "Next year, in the military, a group of old brothers who have been with us for several years, are already old, and have no hope of promotion will retire. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Training, and the Ministry of Finance must make plans and prepare in advance. The land provided to the old brothers and retirement subsidies must be in place. If someone does not want to go back to farming and wants to engage in industry and commerce, you must also help check and provide certain support..."

Over the years, military education has continued uninterrupted.

All the soldiers studied engineering and agricultural courses.

Some old brothers may want to engage in industry and commerce based on the knowledge they learned in the military.

"Relocate these old brothers as much as possible to villages where Luzon locals gather. Our old brothers who have received military education are all valuable talents. Now under our rule, the villages where Luzon locals gather , Rural village communities are still very underdeveloped and need someone to take the lead and set an example.”

…

The civil and military classes nodded unanimously.

There are many reasons why rural communities in Luzon, where locals gather, are underdeveloped.

First of all, these Luzon locals have bad traditional habits and are the kind of people who have no motivation when they are full.

Secondly, the degree of enlightenment cannot be compared with that of the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Neither his vision nor his skills in serving crops are sufficient.

"Our development is gratifying, but we must also pay attention to the hidden dangers, especially in our Yanfan, if the development of rural communities is unbalanced, especially if the rural communities with mostly migrant residents develop rapidly, while The development of the villages where people from Luzon are concentrated has lagged behind, eventually forming a serious imbalance, which will definitely bring a lot of disadvantages and troubles to our business in the future. "

"I went out for a walk this year and discovered a phenomenon. The locals in Luzon are not born lazy. It's not that they don't want to live a better life. They just don't know how to live a better life. At the same time, they don't have a role model to learn from. Before we came here, they never had any Seeing better, no one taught them how to become better.”

"In some villages where immigrants and Luzon locals live together, the people of Luzon have been infected by the simplicity and kindness of our people after observing our immigrants. They have worked hard and hard over the years."

…

"Why should I ask our old brothers in the army to go to the village where Luzon people gather?"

"First of all, over the years, we have occasionally pulled our military brothers out to go into villages to build village roads and carry out construction. After the initial fear of our soldiers, the local people in Luzon have now developed trust and admiration for our soldiers. As long as the old brothers in the army are assigned to these villages where locals from Luzon gather, I believe they will be easily accepted by these people. "

At first, the soldiers were pulled out to build roads and carry out construction in the villages.

It's not just for construction.

In fact, it’s just to prepare for today.

"Secondly, our brothers in the military are all knowledgeable and skilled soldiers. Over the years, they have received our military education and not only mastered skills and knowledge. I believe that their moral character has been cultivated by our melting pot. It can also stand the test. In the future, in our military, when they reach the age and have no chance of promotion, they will all retire. Let them go home to marry and have children. At the same time, what they learned in the military will be brought to the people, whether they are engaged in industry or commerce. , or go to the villages to farm, I have reason to believe that they can have a positive impact on our civil society in Yanfan. "

He is very confident about this.

A soldier of the imperial court may become a ruffian after he ceases to be a soldier.

But in these years, at least the vast majority of the new Yanfan troops who have been educated with the people's view of history will not become ruffians who bully good and fear evil, and bring harm to their neighbors.

In a foreign land, I want to rule a group of foreign people.

And assimilate them into Chinese people.

It’s not just about giving some benefits.

The military must also establish a civilized and righteous atmosphere in addition to deterrence.

"Okay, that's all I've said. Does any of you have anything to add?"

Wow!

The two classes of cultural relics stood up together, and the military stood at attention and turned around, raising their hands to salute Zhu Di.

The civil servants were not as neat as the military, so they turned around and bowed, "I obey my orders!"

Zhu Di stood up and said with a smile: "It's getting late. In a few days, I will go back to Ming Dynasty with the princess. Today I am in the palace and inviting everyone to dinner. Just think that this year's New Year's Eve dinner has been brought forward. You go home and pack up first." Come to the palace with your family soon."

"yes!"

"As you command!"

…

Zhu Di came out from the main entrance of the Yizheng Hall surrounded by everyone.

"Dad..."

Just after coming out, when the civil and military teams were about to return home to prepare, Qihua's excited voice came.

Zhu Di and the civil and military squads looked at the sound.

Qihua came in a hurry on a bicycle, carrying Jin Douzi. After approaching Zhu Di, Jin Douzi couldn't wait to be the first to say: "Dad, the steam engine..."

Before he finished speaking, his ears were grabbed by Qihua.

Zhu Di glared at Qihua with a smile, then asked happily: "Has the Industrial Research Department developed a steam engine?"

Jin Douzi didn't dare to take the initiative this time and looked up at Qihua.

Qihua nodded and rubbed Jindouzi's ears, "Dad, brother, senior brother Dongxu, they are all looking at that big iron guy."

Zhu Di happily said to Ye Mao and others: "Let's go and have a look. Send someone home to inform the family members to enter the palace during dinner."

Steam engine!

Unexpectedly, those craftsmen finally made it.

Not to mention the steam engine’s contribution to industry and commerce.

The steam engine gave humans wings to migrate.

Zhu Di led a group of people out of the palace, took a carriage, and drove straight from the Century Iron Bridge to the Industrial Research Department on the south bank of Yanjing Bay.

The Research Division is located in the industrial area of ​​South Bank.

It is to allow the master craftsmen inside to easily get help from various factories in the entire industrial zone.

Temporarily creating parts and so on can be completed as quickly as possible.

The Industrial Department is in the center of the industrial zone, in a large courtyard with red brick walls.

When Zhu Di and his party entered in a carriage, they startled the craftsmen and children who were watching.

Everyone turned around, and after Zhu Di got off the carriage, they immediately bowed and saluted: "Meet the prince!"

Ta-ta-ta...

Zhu Di heard a rhythmic and regular roar.

He immediately looked past the crowd and looked back.

"No gift!"

He waved his hand and walked straight towards the direction from which the sound came.

Everyone made way for a passage, and Zhu Di finally got a glimpse of the whole picture.

There was an upright boiler that was as tall as a person, with charcoal fire burning brightly underneath, and an iron pipe connected to the top.

The curved iron pipe extends to the left and enters a large, square iron box. The other end of the iron box is connected to a reciprocating shaft, which uses a connecting rod to drive a wheel to rotate rapidly.

The civil and military teams followed Zhu Di and circled around the large roaring machine several times.

Up and down, look at everything carefully.

"Master Yang." Zhu Dichong waved to the master craftsman standing nearby.

Yang Liuliu, this is a craftsman who followed Zhu Di to sea.

He is not the kind of craftsman who cannot read a word.

The family has an ancestral craft, is literate, and knows how to draw.

During the Ming Dynasty, they mainly built houses for wealthy families and made some exquisite furniture such as dressing tables.

The mortise and tenon structure is just a basic skill for people.

I have thought about it myself and built all kinds of furniture such as dressing tables with hidden compartments and structure, which are very impressive.

Fujianese.

Yang Liuliu came to Zhu Di with a smile and said, "Your Majesty."

Take a look.

Even the prince calls him Master Yang.

In the Ming Dynasty, one would not even dare to think of this.

He has built houses for many wealthy families in Fujian, and furnished them with furniture that the ladies and gentlemen rave about.

But people always only praise the furniture.

Never gave him a shred of respect.

Zhu Di pointed at the boiler, "Why is this boiler not the rivet structure I saw last time I came here?"

"Your Majesty, the rivet structure is not good. If the air is trapped inside too much, it will cause air leakage or even burst. We finally asked the iron factory to design the mold first, and then poured the boiler with molten steel. In addition to the gas guide The joints of the iron pipes and the entire boiler are a whole, which does not leak and does not crack. After repeated tests, we also set up a shrapnel air valve on it, using steel shrapnel and sinking. This watch factory makes the kind of clockwork steel sheets..."

Zhu Di looked at Yang Liuliu and the position of his fingers.

"Your Majesty, this is the structure we designed using a reciprocating bellows. There are two connecting rods connecting the wheels. The upper thick connecting rod provides power to the wheels. The lower connecting rod is connected to the box. The valve mechanism includes a valve mechanism. When the gas flows into the left side and pushes the cylinder piston to the right, the wheel drives the thin connecting rod, which blocks the left air inlet. Steam flows into the cylinder from the right air inlet. Push the piston to the left, and so on, and the wheel will rotate..."

Others may not understand.

But Zhu Di understood everything.

He walked closer to the big iron box and noticed that it was not a whole, but two symmetrical halves.

Fastened together using mortise and tenon structure.

The gap between the two halves is pressed by a circle of black rubber, which is obviously to ensure air tightness.

This is certainly not the optimal design.

But it's already pretty good.

"My lord, this thing can turn the wheel, and it's so fast, it must be able to turn the turntable of our warship, right?" Yu Jing couldn't wait to ask.

"Master, there is also the rotary steel-making furnace we are designing." Wang Jinmi said excitedly: "Master Yang said that by redesigning the connecting rod mechanism, the furnace can be made to rock back and forth, left and right, and the rotary steel-making furnace we are currently studying , We lack such motivation now.”

…

Immediately, everyone proposed various ways of luck.

For example, can irrigation trucks that rely on wind power and water conservancy be driven by steam engines? In this case, they only need to use enough coal.

Some people also asked, since it can drive wheels, can we add another wheel to run.

Whether it can be achieved.

It is not yet known how many difficulties must be overcome to achieve this.

But looking at this big guy, everyone couldn't help but imagine countless possibilities for it.

These are all daily difficulties.

There is an urgent need for a more stable power to solve the problem.

The steam engine is undoubtedly a more trouble-free and more stable power.

As long as there is coal and water to burn the boiler, it will be fine.

It has great advantages over unstable wind power, water power, and livestock power that is prone to disease and troublesome to raise.

Zhu Di raised his hand and everyone fell silent.

Zhu Di looked at Yang Liuliu and said, "Master Yang, have you heard everyone's high hopes for this steam engine? I hope you will continue to work hard. Everyone who participates in the research will be rewarded according to our reward regulations. This steam engine is yours." You led the research. From now on, as long as no one improves the steam engine you designed and copies it, how about it being called the Sixty-sixth Steam Engine?"

Master Yang grinned, too excited to speak.

After a while, he shyly said: "Your Majesty, the Sixty-sixth Steam Engine is too vulgar. Without Your Majesty, I would not have been able to develop the steam engine. Moreover, Martha, who was still in the iron smelting plant, also inspired me a lot. I feel that in the future, I will not be able to develop the steam engine." It would be better to name the prince..."

Zhu Di smiled and waved his hand, "Sixty-sixth steam engine sounds very nice. Sixty-sixth is a great success! It means that we will become more and more smooth in the future. What a good meaning."

He doesn't need to compete with the people below for the naming rights of inventions.

It's not necessary.

Zhu Di pointed at the steam engine, "I want to take this steam engine back to the court and give it to the hero as a congratulatory gift. Does Master Yang have any objections?"

"No, it would be an honor for me to be able to make a gift for my grandson!"

…

Two days later.

After Zhu Di settled everything.

Prepare to return to the DPRK.

Bicycles, new-style horse-drawn carriages, clocks as tall as a person, and steam engines wrapped in red silk were loaded onto the ship from the Navy Pier...

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