Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 102 The Good Royal Brother Who Makes a Fatty Face
At six o'clock in the afternoon on the ninth day of the ninth day of November in the first year of Taichang...

The intermittent heavy snow continued again, and Zhu Youjian's carriage from the armor factory had just returned to Xuqin Palace.

At the same time, the Wenhua Palace can be said to be filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Officials of the five major parties, headed by the Zhejiang Party, do not talk to officials of the Donglin Party, relying entirely on non-partisan officials to act as the mouthpiece.

At such times, officials without party affiliation have become a tiring group of people.

Fortunately, because of the existence of one thing, they can warm up when they sit down.

"This briquette and coal stove made by His Royal Highness is really good. It boils water to make tea and warms up without ashes. Although there is some smoke when it is lit, there will be no more smoke after burning. It is really good."

"It's just that the name is too indecent."

In a side hall of the Wenhua Palace, during the lunch break, several civil servants sat on their chairs, with a briquette stove in the middle.

In addition to boiling water, they warmed their bodies.

"And these things, too bad..."

A head of the official department sighed and said, and the people next to him also looked at the side hall where the cabinet ministers worked, and then shook their heads.

"Stir, stir, stir up the Ming Dynasty into a puddle of muddy water, I'm afraid they will be happy."

One person spoke boldly, while the person next to him remained silent.

Seeing this, he didn't bother to say anything.

But they didn't say anything, but the side hall where the cabinet ministers work started a confrontation.

"I'm afraid only the courtiers will be happy about the restructuring of the Jingcha..."

Yao Zongwen sat under Sun Ruyou to help deal with some memorials, and satirized Yuan Huazhong who was sitting opposite him.

"Hmph..." Yuan Huazhong didn't bother to care about this villain, and he just dealt with the memorabilia in hand, and at this time, a memorandum of the Ministry of War also came to him.

He opened it for a look, then frowned and handed the memorial to Liu Yixiu.

Seeing his frown, Liu Yixiu opened the memorial curiously. After seeing the content, he also frowned and picked up his pen. After writing down his opinion, he put it on the pile of memorials that needed to be dealt with by the emperor.

Under such a pile, the eunuchs who were piled high were soon sent by the eunuch of the Rites to take them away.

However, when the memorial was taken away, the eunuch of the Supervisor of Rituals deliberately took out the memorial from the Ministry of War and handed it to another human being, "Take it to Xuqin Palace."

"Yes..." Seeing this, the little eunuch walked out of the Wenhua Palace with all the memorials of the Ministry of War that had been processed by the cabinet, and then took the other six memorials to Qianqing Palace.

Seeing this, Liu Yixiu could only talk to Yuan Hua who was next to him:
"During this period, Long Live handed over the memorial to the Fifth Highness to the Fifth Highness. How can a ten-year-old child with a yellow mouth handle the memorial? What if the Fifth Highness grows older in the future?"

"It's not like the prince has dealt with the memorial." Yuan Huazhong comforted Liu Yixiu and said:

"Emperor Jing helped Yingzong deal with it back then. During Xiaozong's time, he would occasionally let King Xing deal with it. Ten years ago, Emperor Shenzong also let King Lu handle the memorial."

"My Prince Liujing's handling of memorials is not an isolated case, brother Ji Hui don't need to worry too much."

"What's more, when the first emperor passed away, it was His Highness the Fifth Highness who supported Long Live to take the throne, and His Highness the Fifth Highness is also a virtuous king."

Yuan Huazhong's view is the view of most civil officials today.

Although they all felt that Zhu Youjian was in charge of the military and consulted the memorials of the Ministry of War, such a move was a bit excessive.

But because there are too many seniors in the old Zhu family who have done this, let's not talk about it, let's talk about Emperor Wanli and King Lu.

When King Lu became a vassal, he directly mobilized soldiers and horses along the road without going through the Ministry of War, the cabinet, and Emperor Wanli. This crime was too great.

But when the ministers impeached King Lu, Emperor Wanli turned a deaf ear to it, which disappointed everyone.

Compared with King Xing and King Lu, Zhu Youjian is much better.

He neither exploited the people's fat or anointed the people, nor did he find fault with the civil servants. Except for participating in government affairs at certain times, he accompanied Zhu Youxiao's younger brother to deal with the memorials at other times.

The only thing worthy of criticism is the matter of the seven guards and one battalion of the Yanshan Daying Camp.

"Alas..." Thinking of this, Liu Yixiu sighed, and continued to deal with the memorial. At the same time, Zhu Youjian, who had just returned to Xuqin Palace, had just sat down for a long time, and saw the front of the military memorial. Here comes the little eunuch.

"Your Highness, this is today's memorial from the Ministry of War, please read it..."

The little eunuch handed out the memorial at the entrance of the main hall of Xuqin Palace, and Wang Chengen subconsciously wanted to take it, but Zhu Youjian suddenly said:

"I won't be eating at Xuqin Palace today, did Brother Huang have any meal?"

"Long Live hasn't eaten yet, but dinner has already been prepared in the Imperial Dining Room." The little eunuch responded honestly.

"Then drive to Qianqing Palace for a meal, just to deal with the memorial." Hearing this, Zhu Youjian smiled and asked Wang Chengen to prepare the chariot.

Seeing this, Wang Chengen put away the memorials of the Ministry of War, and then asked people to prepare the chariot.

After Zhu Youjian changed into the prince's crimson uniform, he got into the chariot and rushed to Qianqing Palace with Wang Chengen and the little eunuch who was in charge of ceremonies.

Two quarters of an hour passed, and when the chariot arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youjian clearly noticed that the number of Jing troops on both sides of the palace gate was more than before.

He turned his head, looked at the little eunuch and asked:
"How come there are more clean troops at the gate of Qianqing Palace?"

"Return to Your Highness." The little eunuch saluted and said:
"After Wei Zhanyin was promoted to Dongchang Zhanyin by Wansui, he advised Wansui to add another [-] people to the inner court's pure army."

"Therefore, not only the gates of the Qing Palace, but also the guards of each palace in the inner court have a few more people than before."

"Hmm..." Wen Yan and Zhu Youjian frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.

As the gate of Qianqing Palace opened, Zhu Youjian also got out of the chariot, and walked into Qianqing Palace with Wang Chengen and the little eunuch holding the memorial.

A group of people had just walked through the long Qianqing palace road when they heard the sound of planing wood.

In this imperial palace, the only one who dares to plan wood at this time is the good emperor brother.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian walked directly into the main hall of Qianqing Palace, and said loudly to the Hall of Mental Cultivation:

"Brother Huang, I'm here!"

As soon as Zhu Youjian's voice sounded, the sound of planing wood stopped, and then there was the sound of rustling clothes.

Zhu You, who was wearing a coat, walked out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation in a middle coat and said with a smile:
"How? How about the armor factory?"

He came out, took Zhu Youjian's hand, and asked Zhu Youjian what happened after going to the armor factory in the morning.

Faced with the questioning, Zhu Youjian could only smile and say:
"The armor factory was emptied last time, and now we have to train the army again to realize that it turns out that it is so expensive to equip a soldier."

"Hehe, it's nothing compared to the military salary." Zhu Youxiao smiled, and incidentally said something that made him feel a little helpless.

Yes, military pay...

It was less than two months before the New Year's Eve, and after the New Year's Eve, the military pay for the first half of the first year of the Apocalypse would be paid.

Right now there are still more than two million taels owed, plus the military pay in the first half of next year, it will be more than seven million taels.

There is no way to get out so much money and internal money, so I can only squeeze to see if I can delay it any longer, and send out this year's owe first.

"Brother, don't worry, next year I will definitely help my brother find a way to make up part of the military salary."

"What can my younger brother do? But if the Imperial Horse Supervisor recruits more soldiers and horses, I will ask Wang An to allocate military salary to my younger brother..." Zhu Youxiao comforted Zhu Youjian instead.

Zhu Youjian could only explain with a helpless smile: "I'm going to use the briquette to do some business with the Beilu Mutual Market. When the time comes, I will sell the cattle and horses from the Mutual Market to the Central Plains. I think I can make a lot of profit."

"Honeycomb coal? The one sent by my brother?" Zhu Youxiao asked curiously:

"How much money can such a small thing make?"

"Brother, don't underestimate him." Zhu Youjian grabbed his hand, walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, sat on a chair, and said in detail:
"Brother, do you know what items the North Prisoners lack for a year?"

"Iron pot, salt, tea, food, firewood." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile:

"Of course I know these things, but how much firewood can I use?"

"Brother, don't underestimate this little thing." Zhu Youjian explained:
"There are hundreds of thousands of households in Beilu and Monan and Mobei on the grasslands. In the four seasons of the year, spring, summer and autumn use a little less firewood, but they still need more than ten catties a day."

"Instead of honeycomb coal, at least ten catties is enough."

"If it's winter, thirty catties a day is considered less."

"Even if I exchange a thousand catties for a low-grade horse for this briquette, and sell it to the capital, at least I can make a profit of three taels of silver."

"If you sell it to the Central Plains as a draft horse, you can earn eight or nine taels."

"This is still a low-grade horse. If it is a medium-grade horse, it can be sold for five taels of silver in the capital, and it can be sold for twenty taels in the Central Plains."

"As for the top-grade horses, they will naturally be bred in the Imperial Horse Supervisor."

"According to what you said, after one year, that northern prisoner will not be able to use six or seven thousand catties of your briquette?" Zhu Youxiao felt that his brother's thinking was simple, but Zhu Youjian laughed:
"Of course there won't be so many. After all, in spring and autumn, the manure of cows and horses on the grassland can be used as firewood after drying."

"I probably did the math. Anyway, every herdsman needs at least three thousand catties a year, that is, three low-grade horses."

"If it's true what my brother said, wouldn't my brother earn millions of taels of silver every year?" Zhu Youxiao said in a teasing tone, obviously he didn't believe that this thing made so much money.

"That's not enough." Zhu Youjian calculated the cost for Brother Hao and said:
"One catty of honeycomb briquettes is the cost of one penny, and one thousand three hundred catties is one, two or three pennies."

"Even if a low-grade horse is traded to the Central Plains, and the cost is deducted, the grass bundles on the road will only earn seven taels of silver."

Seeing what Zhu Youjian said, Zhu Youxiao also laughed and said, "If my younger brother said that, would you sell [-] low-grade horses for only [-] taels of silver?"

"Exactly..." Zhu Youjian cried with a sad face.

"You slippery head!" Zhu Youxiao patted Zhu Youjian's shoulder with a smile, and then exposed:

"You only talk about low-grade horses, but you don't mention farm cattle, medium-grade horses, and sheep."

"Nowadays in the Henan area, an ordinary cow can be sold for forty taels of silver, and a sheep can only be bought for four taels of silver in Nanzhili."

"If you can exchange a thousand catties for a low-grade horse, then you can exchange three or four sheep."

"No matter how you do the calculations, a sheep can make a net profit of three taels of silver."

"That can't move..." Zhu Youjian couldn't laugh or cry and said:
"Even if it is transported by sea to Songjiang and Suzhou, it will take fifteen days."

"In fifteen days, I'm afraid I have to eat fifty catties of hay to keep from losing weight."

"Even if a large ship is used, a ship can transport at most [-] sheep, and [-] ships can transport [-] sheep. Not to mention the cost of chartering the ship, even hay needs to eat [-] million catties."

"With so much hay, at least fifty ships are needed."

"The matter of the boat is simple..." Zhu Youxiao looked at a young eunuch next to him, and ordered:

"Ask people to see how many warships there are in Tianjin Wei Navy and Denglai Navy."

"Brother wants to transfer the warship to me?" Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up. If Zhu Youxiao really transferred the warship to him, then he would have more maneuverability.

"Let's see how many there are first." Zhu Youxiao let it go with a smirk, and soon, the little eunuch also walked back quickly, saluting Zhu Youxiao:

"Long live, there are twenty-eight warships in the Tianjin Wei Navy, thirty-two in Dengzhou Wei, and forty-three in Laizhou Wei."

"Although there are one hundred and thirty-five warships in the three places, there are twenty-seven warships for four hundred warships, fifty-two warships for three hundred warships, and fifty-six warships for less than three hundred warships."

"So much?" Zhu Youxiao was a little surprised, but Zhu Youjian was dizzy.

He has never had time to study the navy of the Ming Dynasty. Although the navy of the Ming Dynasty has records against Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Japan in his memory, he still doesn't know the specifics.

Seeing his dizzy appearance, Zhu Youxiao explained to Zhu Youjian, and after the explanation, Zhu Youjian became speechless.

The so-called four hundred material warships are just one hundred and thirty to forty tonnage.

This almost overturned Zhu Youjian's stereotyped image of the Ming Dynasty's treasure ship as an aircraft carrier, and Zhu Youxiao also explained embarrassingly:

"Since the voyage to the Western Seas, our navy in Ming Dynasty has been abolished, and the warships in Tianjinwei and Denglai once added up to less than thirty warships."

"At present, there are more than [-] ships, which were produced in a hurry during the Korean Japanese invasion."

"..." Hearing this, Zhu Youjian became even more desperate.

The Japanese invasion in North Korea happened more than [-] years ago. Are you sure that this group of old antiques will not sink into the sea?

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian could only cry and say with a mournful face:

"Brother, can't you give me a newer boat?"

"Uh... Well, Yingtianfu's Longjiang Shipyard can still build it, but Jiangnan doesn't have so many big logs. With the craftsmanship of those carpenters, I'm afraid they can't even build a big ship with [-] materials."

Zhu Youxiao replied in embarrassment, feeling very guilty, but he still comforted:

"However, if I make a move, as long as there is a large enough wood, it is not surprising to think about making six hundred materials."

Six hundred materials are only less than two hundred tons... Zhu Youjian was in a trance for a while.

With a ship of [-] tons, how could he play ocean trade?

Zhu Youjian was a little sad, but he didn't know that the main European warships of this era were no more than five or six hundred tons of Galen galleons.

But since the problem has arisen, even if Zhu Youjian doesn't know about it, he can only discuss it with the good emperor brother:

"If there is enough big wood, can my brother make a big boat with three thousand materials?"

"Three thousand ingredients?" Hearing Zhu Youjian's question, Zhu Youxiao's back molars almost gnawed.

The treasure ships of the Ming Dynasty with [-] materials are already the pinnacle of craftsmanship, but even so, it was not until the eighteenth century that the West developed warships exceeding [-] tons.

Right now, what Zhu Youjian said is almost to make Zhu Youxiao the best shipbuilder in Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to refuse, but looking at Zhu Youjian's eyes, a sense of vanity suddenly rose in his heart.

It seems that since the death of Huang Kao, my good brother has been calm and witty, and I sometimes need his help. I didn't expect, I didn't expect, this kid also has such a time...

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao almost made up the picture of himself building a big ship with three thousand materials, and then being admired by Zhu Youjian.

"Of course...no problem...hehehehehe..."

Zhu Youxiao gritted his teeth and said this while smiling incidentally.

But his smile was quickly broken by Zhu Youjian.

"Then if that's the case, can my brother build a big ship according to the drawings I drew?" Zhu Youjian's mind flashed.

He didn't know that the current good emperor brother didn't know how to build a ship, so he just thought that shipbuilding was something that the other party could do easily.

So he thought, although he has not seen the general structure of a western ship, but he has seen the shape, maybe the good brother can design it, so that Daming's shipbuilding technology will once again lead the world.

"My brother still wants to draw pictures?" Zhu Youxiao suddenly felt a little guilty, he was afraid that he would not be able to make what his brother wanted.

"I can draw. I have seen the Xiyi ships painted by Matteo Ricci. I heard that their ships are fast and good at fighting. So I want to ask my brother to see if they can be built."

As he spoke, Zhu Youjian looked around, then took a piece of paper from the table in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and began to draw on the table of Hao Huangxiong's painting furniture.

Although he has never seen a real western warship with his own eyes, but he has seen a movie.

He still remembered the Black Pearl when he watched Pirates of the Caribbean in his previous life, so under his vigorous writing, he immediately drew four outlines of the Black Pearl, front, back, left, and right.

The good emperor brother has been watching beside him. After seeing the drawing, he blew on the ink and said:

"Can this warship be equipped with so many cannons? And this sail, how did it bulge?"

"Ah?" Zhu Youjian was stunned for a moment when he heard Brother Haohuang's words, and explained:
"Westerners' boats are different from ours. Their boats use soft sails, so they need to untie the sails every time they operate."

"This soft sail is a bit windy, and it has great advantages in speed and load. It is also safe if there is a small storm at sea."

"However, the disadvantage is that the operation is complicated, requires a large number of crew members, and takes a long time to raise the sails."

"Then according to what my brother said, wouldn't it be possible to reduce the complexity of the operation by combining the hard sail and the soft sail?" Zhu Youxiao looked at the drawing and began to ponder:

"Soft sails and hard sails are not a problem, the main thing is this cabin..."

Zhu Youxiao got a headache, how could he make a boat, and now it seems that his younger brother doesn't know everything about boats. If he said something wrong, he might be disappointed.

Thinking of Zhu Youjian's disappointed appearance, Zhu Youxiao immediately pretended to be mysterious:

"This boat is not a big problem, and the difficulty is not too great, but it takes a lot of time to get the wood. If there is suitable wood..."

Hearing this, Zhu Youjian thought it was really that simple to build this boat, and while admiring the good carpentry done by Brother Huang, he couldn't help but pat his chest and say:

"It's simple. My brother asked someone to tell the king of Siam. In Siam, ask someone to find a tree that is more than ten feet high, called annatto, purple teak, and blood tree, and then cut it down and send it to Guangdong. The Guangdong Navy can transport it to the capital."

Annatto, also known as teak, is a world-renowned precious wood. It is the only board that will not bend and crack under seawater erosion and sunlight exposure. Zheng He’s voyages to the West were all made of teak.

Right now, Daming's national prestige is still there, as long as the king of Siam is passed on, judging from Siam's respectful attitude towards Daming, he should not refuse, and maybe he will take this opportunity to pay tribute.

"Um... okay..." Hearing that his younger brother had solved a problem, Zhu Youxiao only felt that he might really have to learn how to make a boat.

"Ahem! Alright, I will ask the King of Siam to bring the purple teak you mentioned, and it will take about a year to arrive..." Zhu Youxiao felt a little guilty, and then coughed again:
"Anyway, my brother can just wait, isn't it just a Xiyi boat worth three thousand? It's just a trivial matter!"

"Really?" Zhu Youjian didn't expect Brother Haohuang to be so confident.

"Of course..." Zhu Youxiao continued to feel guilty under the questioning. He only felt that if he was asked further, his majesty as a brother might be lost, so he said quickly:
"Okay, you don't need to spend so much time discussing such trivial matters, let's eat first." After finishing speaking, Zhu Youjian motioned for the meal to be passed on.

With such a gesture, Zhu Youjian had no chance to ask questions, and Zhu Youxiao also asked someone to bring over the Eight Immortals table and chair he made a few days ago, and kept introducing his masterpiece to Zhu Youjian.

But I have to say that all kinds of furniture he made are indeed exquisite and unexpected.

Not only tables and chairs, Zhu Youxiao also took out the drawings of the three halls of the outer court, and told Zhu Youjian his thoughts.

This blueprint was drawn by him stroke by stroke, it was very delicate, and seeing him so happy, Zhu Youjian was also willing to be a listener.

However, before the introduction of Jinshen Hall, the last of the three main halls, dinner was served on the table.

Fresh shrimp with pepper and vinegar, roast goose, lamb head and hoof with fire, garlic vinegar and white blood soup, steamed fresh fish, broiled clams, fried fresh shrimp, frog legs, chicken breast with bamboo shoots, and another dish is sea cucumber, sole and shark tendon , fat chicken, and pork tendons are stewed into a dish, which smells very delicious.

"This is my own seafood stew, brother can try it."

Seeing the most important dish on the table, brother Haohuang swallowed quickly, and then picked a lot of dishes for Zhu Youjian.

On the other hand, Zhu Youjian, looking at the table of meat and vegetables, did not see a single piece of green, so he couldn't help but care:

"Meat and vegetables are delicious, but my brother can't just eat meat and vegetables."

"What's wrong?" Zhu Youxiao muttered and asked while eating roast goose.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian could only explain to Zhu Youxiao how diet affects human life, and said specifically:

"Although eating vegetables may not lead to a long life, most people who only eat meat have a short life."

When Zhu Youjian said this, Zhu Youxiao instantly felt that the pork tendon in the bowl was not fragrant...

(End of this chapter)