Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

"What's the difference between this and before? I'm still a beast of burden!"

Ouyang Lun muttered.

"What's the use of being a beast or not? I've already given you an imperial edict. What else do you want?" Zhu Yuanzhang said unhappily.

"Is it your imperial edict that I want? What I want is to reduce the burden!" Ouyang Lun protested: "Is it that you didn't listen to all I said?"

As he spoke, Ouyang Lun spread his hands and continued, "In a word, if it's like in the past, I won't do it, even if there is an imperial decree."

Seeing that Ouyang Lun was determined to "reduce the burden", Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao looked at each other.

Zhu Biao took the initiative to speak: "Father, Brother-in-law Ouyang, do you think this is a good idea?"

"For the key projects that Father just mentioned, Brother Ouyang still has to personally monitor them. As for ordinary cabinet affairs and normal government affairs, I can handle them myself. Of course, if I encounter something that I cannot solve, I still have to ask Brother Ouyang to take action personally."

"how?"

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded first.

"I think Biao'er's idea is good. Biao'er has become more and more skilled in being the emperor in the past two years. He can handle many things by himself. But if there is a problem in the court, you, Ouyang Lun, should go up. After all, you are the consort and minister of the Ming Dynasty. If you don't go up, who can solve it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke loudly, perhaps worried that Ouyang Lun would still not agree, and continued: "Ouyang Lun, we have already made all the concessions we should make, so don't push your luck!"

"If we really fall out, people will certainly call me a tyrant who abandoned his meritorious officials, but they won't say much better about you, for being arrogant and self-righteous, for selfish interests that ignored the overall situation, and for contradicting the emperor. You will be despised for any of these!"

Ah!
I was spurned?!

It must be that you, Zhu Yuanzhang, are madly trying to discredit me!
Zhu Yuanzhang is such a bad old guy.

Ouyang Lun was not a greedy person. Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to give him an imperial edict of pardon and reduce his workload to a certain extent, which could be considered as progress this time.

I will work on it slowly in the future.

"The Emperor is wise!"

"I admire you very much!"

Ouyang Lun said loudly: "I will work hard from now on!"

"That's good enough." Zhu Yuanzhang was barely satisfied with Ouyang Lun's final statement.

"Your Majesty, I remember that I still have a lot of official business to deal with. Now that this matter has been settled, I will take my leave first. In addition, please remember to send someone to deliver the imperial edict of pardon to the clan house. If I don't get the imperial edict for a day, I will not be able to calm down and work seriously. It will be the Ming Dynasty that suffers the loss!"

After saying that, Ouyang Lun walked out directly.

"This kid is very smart!" Zhu Yuanzhang muttered as he watched Ouyang Lun leaving.

"Your Majesty, I still have some government affairs to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." Zhu Biao bowed and left the hall.

More than twenty princes of the Ming Dynasty lived obediently in the clan residence.

They lived in a four-person room with bunk beds. The entire room was only about ten square meters in size. For the princes whose palaces often spanned hundreds of acres of land, this room was worse than a prison.

There were also princes who expressed their protest on the first day of their stay, and as a result, they had their credits deducted.

Credits are a very important thing in the student handbook. In a word, these credits are related to their final academic performance. The higher the credits, the more likely they are to rank in the top three.

When the other princes who originally wanted to protest saw that they would lose credits for complaining about accommodation, they immediately shut up. Only the first few princes had credits deducted, and they looked depressed.

Because the study time is only three months, the courses of the princes are quite full.

"Zhu Wenhai, how are the princes?"

Ouyang Lun was enjoying a massage in the study. He looked at Zhu Wenhai who walked in and took the initiative to ask.

"My Lord, everything is going according to your plan, but the princes seem to be having trouble keeping up with the courses you have arranged for them, especially in mathematics. Many princes have cried and are giving me suggestions on whether the mathematics can be made simpler. They are princes, not accountants. In the future, the accounting will naturally be done by the subordinates. It is good for them to understand it."

"Master Zongren Ling, do you want to see if you want to?"

After Zhu Wenhai finished his report, he immediately looked at Ouyang Lun, waiting for Ouyang Lun's next instructions.

“Why? Reduce the difficulty for them? Then why let them come to learn?” Ouyang Lun rolled his eyes and continued: “Wen Hai, you are also an elder in the clan house, and I taught you mathematics personally. You should know how important mathematics is!”

"If everything can be done by the people below, then why does the court need these princes? The awareness of these princes is not high enough!"

"Go back and tell them that there is no room for negotiation in mathematics. The difficulty we are giving them now is at most the level of a middle school student. If they don't learn it now, they may not even be able to compare with middle school students in a few years!"

"How can I be a vassal king and win the support of the people by then? I am afraid I will be fooled and have to count money for others!!"

"Yes, I will go back and tell them right away." Zhu Wenhai nodded repeatedly.

"Well, you are responsible for the education of the princes. I have already taught you how to educate them. Just follow the plan. If the princes cause trouble, don't be polite to them. Punish them when necessary. I will take responsibility for anything that happens!"

Ouyang Lun warned.

"Please rest assured, Lord Zong Ling, I will never show mercy!" Zhu Wenhai nodded heavily. It was very pleasant to work with Ouyang Lun. There was enough room for development, and he would never let his subordinates take the blame. The only requirement was to get things done well.

After Zhu Wenhai walked down, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Guo Zi walked in again.

"Your subordinate Guo Zi pays respect to His Majesty the Prince Consort!"

Guo Zi walked in and immediately saluted Ouyang Lun.

"Didn't Old Guo tell you that we should be more casual when we are just the two of us in private?" Ouyang Lun said as he looked at Guo Zi who was bowing.

"It's the Prince Consort." After hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Guo Zi's expression was much more relaxed.

"Old Guo, what's the matter with you coming here?" Ouyang Lun asked.

"I do have something to report to the Prince Consort." Guo Zi nodded. "Then sit down and talk." Ouyang Lun pointed to the chair beside him.

"Yes." Guo Zi walked to the chair and sat down slowly. "My Lord, although the new year has just begun, many projects in Daming have been completed. Of course, most of these projects started last year. Now more than 90% of the roads in Daming have been completed!"

"The main project today is the renovation of dilapidated houses in urban areas, and all localities have begun to report on these projects."

Hearing this, Ouyang Lun thought for a moment and said, "The renovation of dilapidated houses in urban areas is a key project, and it will take a long time. The quality of the houses and the speed of completion are very important. In particular, the interests of the people must be given priority. The demolition work is the top priority, and the compensation for demolition must be in place!"

"Yes!"

Guo Zi nodded. "Although the demolition is not under the jurisdiction of my Ministry of Revenue, I will discuss it with the Ministry of Works and carry out the work strictly in accordance with your instructions, Your Majesty."

As Guo Zi spoke, he took out a small notebook and a pen from his sleeve and started to record.

Seeing Guo Zi's behavior, Ouyang Lun was also quite surprised, and hurriedly asked: "Old Guo, how do you know how to take notes?"

"I don't need anyone to teach me this. I have figured it out on my own. The purpose is to quickly record the instructions from my superiors to avoid forgetting them later. Of course, the main reason is that this pen and notebook are easy to use!" Guo Zi said with a smile.

The notebook used by Guo Zi was exactly what the printing house produced. A stack of blank paper was made to look like a book, and the cover was even hardshell, so people could write whether they were standing or sitting. Of course, a pencil was indispensable!

“Is it useful?!”

Ouyang Lun asked with a smile.

This notebook and pencil were developed by engineers from the Academy of Science and Technology under his arrangement, and were recently launched on the market. Unexpectedly, the effect was so good and Guo Zi fell in love with them so quickly.

"It's very easy to use, much more convenient than before, and I can record anytime and anywhere!"

Guo Zi nodded repeatedly and continued, "My Lord, it's not just me, now all the civil and military officials in the court have fallen in love with this notebook and pencil!"

"My Lord, this notebook and pencil were not made by you, were they?"

"Of course, this was not invented by me, but I did propose this suggestion. Those people at the Academy of Science and Technology worked hard enough to successfully bring it to the market so quickly!" Ouyang Lun said slowly.

"."

"It's really you, my Lord!"

"Yes, I should have thought of this a long time ago." Guo Zi suddenly realized.

"If you find it comfortable to use, then it means it's pretty good. If you have any suggestions, you can also bring them up so that we can continue to improve it!" Ouyang Lun said with a smile, "Okay, that's all about the notebook and pencil. You can talk about other things."

"Yes!"

Guo Zi nodded, and then began to check his notebook. "The progress of the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway is also impressive. Since construction started at both ends of Beijing and Beijing, three quarters of the entire Beijing-Pingcheng Railway line has been completed. It is estimated that the two sides will be able to be successfully connected before the middle of the year!"

"Qi Tai was in charge of the Beiping end, and the repairs were relatively fast. Qi Tai is quite capable."

Qi Tai.

Ouyang Lun frowned slightly when he heard the name.

Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng were both members of the Huaixi Party, and were also Li Shanchang's disciples. It was Li Shanchang who recommended Huang Zicheng to be responsible for the construction of the Beiping section of the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway.

This is Li Shanchang's biggest chess piece in intervening in the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway.

Since the construction of the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway began, Qi Tai has been like a nail stuck in the Beijing section of the railway, and from what we can see so far, he has achieved good results.

Of course, Qi Tai was just a pawn. Behind him were Li Shanchang and the Huaixi Party. Their purpose was very simple, which was to rely on Qi Tai to share the credit of the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway.

Ouyang Lun knew about the purpose of Li Shanchang and the Huaixi Party from the beginning, but he did not oppose it. He even supported it. The reason was very simple. Although this was a move to strengthen the power of the Huaixi Party and Li Shanchang.

However, the Huaixi Party was indeed doing something, and in order to defeat Ouyang Lun, they were extremely serious in the process of building the railway and did not do anything bad to the railway.

Moreover, only competition can bring about progress. Both sides were holding a grudge, which was also the reason why the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway was built so quickly.

If the truth was told that Li Shanchang, Qi Tai and the Huaixi Party wanted to destroy the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway, Ouyang Lun would not be polite. It would be best if everyone worked hard to build the railway, and Ouyang Lun would not mind sharing more of the credit. After all, Ouyang Lun did not care about credit at all.

"The Beijing-Pinggu Railway is an important project of the Ming Dynasty. The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works must cooperate closely!"

"Yes." Guo Zi nodded, and then asked, "My Lord, everyone below is asking, after the railway is built, when can we see the legendary train? Everyone is worried that if the railway is built, but there is no train in the end, then wouldn't the railway be built in vain?"

"Haha, I think it's not the people below who are worried, but you, Guo Zi and Shan Anren, right?"

Ouyang Lun saw through Guo Zi's thoughts at a glance.

"Hehe, I am indeed worried. Lord Shan has told me many times, and the people below also have this idea. When Lord Shan and I went to inspect the construction site, many officials and workers asked about it. They all wanted to know what the Ming Dynasty's trains looked like. Neither I nor Lord Shan have seen it, so naturally we can't say it." He said with some guilt after his true thoughts were exposed by Ouyang Lun.

"What does a train look like? Aren't they all on the railway planning drawings? Could it be that you and Shan Anren haven't even looked at the planning drawings?" Ouyang Lun said unhappily.

"Of course I have seen it, but after all, I haven't seen the real thing. I don't understand many things and I'm afraid to say something. It would be best to have the real thing so that my subordinates can feel it for themselves. In this way, if the people below ask again, we can answer confidently." Guo Zi said cautiously.

"Haha, Lao Guo, Lao Guo, if you want to see the train, just say so directly. Why do you have to take such a big detour? You are really something!" Ouyang Lun muttered.

"Okay, I already know what you're thinking. Don't worry, the research and development of trains is no slower than the construction of your railways. The Academy of Science and Technology has made an important breakthrough. When your railway is a little longer, the first prototype will appear on the railway. By then, I will inspect whether the railway you built is up to standard!"

Hearing this, Guozi's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will go and tell Lord Shan about this later. He will definitely be so happy that he will jump for joy!"

“Is there any problem with the railway engineering supplier?”

Ouyang Lun asked.

Ouyang Lun had no worries about the construction of the railway project. After all, through the construction of the Great Wall, roads and other buildings, the Ming Dynasty had sufficient experience in infrastructure construction and had trained a large number of skilled workers. In addition, the key technologies for building railways had all been mastered by the Science and Technology Institute. With the competitive construction of Shan Anren and Qi Tai, the project was quite secure, unless someone caused trouble.

In order to share the credit, the Huaixi Party will certainly not attack the railway, so there is only (end of this chapter)