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

"Hearing you put it that way, it seems to be true." Guo Zi pondered for a moment and continued, "But... How can we help the Prince Consort?"

"Do you have any idea?"

Forehead.
Mao Youde was stunned for a moment, then continued: "If I knew, I wouldn't have come to you to discuss it. Lord Guo is more familiar with the officialdom than I am, and he must have more solutions than me. Come up with a solution quickly!"

"So you came to me just for advice!" Guo Zi couldn't help but rolled his eyes at Mao Youde.

"Hehe." Mao Youde smiled awkwardly, "Well, if you can think of a way to help the Prince Consort, I will pay for your foot washing in the future."

"Will you also pay for the foot massage in Tianshang Renjian?" Guo Zi asked hurriedly.

"Of course. If you go somewhere else, wouldn't that lower our taste and level?" Mao Youde said firmly.

"Since you say that, I have to think about it carefully!" Guo Zi nodded.

Just at this moment, Ouyang Lun walked in slowly with his hands behind his back.

"What are you two whispering about? I heard you two talking about foot washing outside. What? You don't even want to do this job anymore, but want to wash your feet? I think you are addicted to foot washing!"

Ouyang Lun looked at Guo Zi and Mao Youde.

When they saw Ouyang Lun coming, the two of them hurriedly saluted and began to explain.

"My Lord, we are discussing going to Tianshang Renjian to wash feet, actually it's for you!" Mao Youde said hurriedly.

Hearing this, Ouyang Lun laughed, "You washed my feet for me? How dare you say that!"

"Mao Youde, if you can't explain, don't explain nonsense! You've made the Prince Consort misunderstand us." Guo Zi quickly stopped Mao Youde from explaining and said, "Prince Consort, this is what happened."

So Guo Zi told Ouyang Lun everything they had just discussed.

"I see." Ouyang Lun nodded after listening. "I'm glad you two are thinking of me, but next time can you please not use foot washing as a bet? Haven't you heard about it?"

"What did you hear?" Guo Zi and Mao Youde looked confused.

"There are people out there saying that our Prince Consort Party is actually a foot-washing party. We go to Tianshang Renjian to have our feet washed whenever we have time! Where can I put my face?" Ouyang Lun said unhappily.

Although Ouyang Lun supported and agreed with the idea of ​​discussing matters through foot washing, he felt uncomfortable when being called a member of the foot washing gang.

"Foot-washing gang? Which bastard is gossiping? Don't get caught by me, or I'll skin him alive!"

"Slander! It's absolutely slander! My party of prince consorts has done so much for the Ming Dynasty. How come we are called the foot-washing party just because we like to talk about things? Do they have any conscience?"

"That's right. Are we the only officials of the Prince Consort Party who like to wash our feet in the entire Ming Dynasty? The officials of the Huaixi Party wash more feet than me, why don't people scold them! They just keep targeting us! It's so infuriating."

Guo Zi and Mao Youde were also deeply hurt by the three words "foot-washing gang".

"Forget it, the mouth is on someone else's body, he can say whatever he wants, but if they dare to say it in front of us, just go up and slap them in the face, and I'll take the blame if anything happens!"

Ouyang Lun said solemnly.

"Yes!"

"Just watch, my Lord!"

After receiving Ouyang Lun's order, Guo Zi and Mao Youde nodded repeatedly.

"By the way, Your Majesty, is there anything we can do regarding the logistics of suppressing the rebellion in Yunnan?" Guo Zi asked quickly.

"My Lord, is this really as difficult as the rumors say? I feel like the Huaixi Party has no good intentions!" Mao Youde muttered, "I heard that recently a few writers who write memorials for others have been given big orders to write articles impeaching you, my Lord."

"Isn't it normal to have articles impeaching the prince consort? There are more than ten articles impeaching the prince consort on the emperor's dragon desk every day." Guo Zi said indifferently.

"There are many people who have impeached me, but they can't do anything to me!" Ouyang Lun shook his head, and then he seemed to have thought of something and turned to look at Mao Youde, "How did you know this news?"

"Ahem, Prince Consort, you know me well. I have been bad at literature since I was a child, so I chose to go into business. Fortunately, Prince Consort appreciated me and made me a civil servant. But writing memorials is really difficult for me, so I asked for a ghostwriter. Prince Consort, let me tell you, I am not the only official in the court who asked for a ghostwriter. There are many!" Mao Youde hurriedly explained, "At worst, I won't ask for a ghostwriter."

"I see," Ouyang Lun said with a smile, "Youde, you misunderstood what I meant. I wanted to say that you should give Zhou Bao the contact information of the person who will write for me later, and ask him to write for me in the future!"

"Forehead"

Hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Guo Zi and Mao Youde were stunned, but after thinking about it, they felt that this was really in line with the character of the prince consort.

"Okay, I'll go talk to Brother Zhou in person later." Mao Youde nodded repeatedly, "But, Prince Consort, are you really not worried?"

"What are you worried about?" Ouyang Lun sneered, "Are you worried that I've fallen into the trap of Li Shanchang and the Huaixi Party?"

"Li Shanchang has some brains, but not much, and he gets more and more confused as he gets older. If this little bit of theirs is enough to bring me down, how could I, Ouyang Lun, have stood firm in the Ming Dynasty court for so many years?"

"Originally I didn't want to get involved in this matter, but you two saw it that day. The Emperor and His Majesty had clearly discussed that there couldn't be any problems in suppressing the rebellion in Yunnan. The logistics this time were a difficult point, but for me it was as easy as drinking water!"

There was some helplessness in Ouyang Lun's words. Training the princes alone took up a lot of energy. He thought that Zhu Yuanzhang would not exploit him too much, but obviously he overestimated Zhu Yuanzhang's moral bottom line and left the logistics of suppressing the rebellion in Yunnan to him.

Of course, this is also related to the sudden rebellion in Yunnan.

"My Lord, how about we mobilize the common people and merchants like we did last time? With the help of the common people and merchants, the difficulty of logistics problems will be greatly reduced!"

As the Minister of Revenue, Guo Zi was also very knowledgeable about logistics.

"Yes! We have the help of the common people and merchants! Last time, we traveled such a long distance from the capital to Beiping without any delay, and created a miracle. It can be done again this time!" Mao Youde nodded repeatedly, "Your Highness, let me handle the matter of contacting the merchants. To be honest, many merchants have come to me privately these days to ask if they can participate in the logistics this time!"

"I believe that with just one word from you, my Lord, many businessmen will come forward to help!"

Mao Youde said this almost with his chest patted.

Mao Youde may be a newcomer in politics, but in the business world, he is a veteran with extensive connections, and is the leader among businessmen!

And he has great prestige among businessmen.

This time I will definitely be able to perform well in front of the Prince Consort.

In the end, Ouyang Lun shook his head and said, "No need for that this time."

"The situation this time is different from the expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty. The mountain roads in Yunnan are rugged and dangerous. We can't solve it by relying on the people and merchants alone. If the people are injured, it will be a big problem."

When Ouyang Lun said this, Guo Zi and Mao Youde were stunned.

Don't you even need the common people?

"My Lord, where is the merchant?"

Mao Youde asked quickly.

"No need to. After using it last time, the merchants also understand the tricks. They might even try to cheat us back!"

Ouyang Lun shook his head. He knew the nature of businessmen very well.

In order to make money, they will do anything for you.

"Your Majesty, isn't it a waste if we don't use these merchants? I can help you keep an eye on these merchants! I guarantee they won't do anything reckless." Mao Youde is a businessman himself, and he knows that some businessmen will use many means to make money.

However, he is still very confident that he can grasp it, so Mao Youde still hopes to fight for it.

"No need. This incident happened suddenly and there was no time to arrange many things. If we use it rashly, it will inevitably be taken advantage of by others."

Ouyang Lun shook his head again.

Seeing Ouyang Lun refused again, Mao Youde had no choice but to give up.

"My Lord, if we don't mobilize the people and the merchants, what else can we do? I'm afraid that the usual logistics management won't solve the problem."

Guo Zi became quite worried.

"Yes! Prince Consort, do you have a better idea?"

Guo Zi and Mao Youde both looked at Ouyang Lun.

"Look how anxious you are. I'm not anxious at all."

"Don't worry, I have already made arrangements for this matter. There will be a special team to handle it."

Ouyang Lun said calmly.

Professional team?!
Hearing these four words, Guo Zi and Mao Youde were both stunned.

"That's right. It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a moment to deploy it. It's time to use it." Ouyang Lun said with a smile, "I have been thinking about this issue since the last expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty. After all, you can't always rely on the people and merchants to serve as temporary logistics."

"The people have their own things to do. When a war breaks out, you mobilize the people. What's this? How is this different from the past when people were often conscripted? As time goes by, the original relationship between officials and the people has changed. As for the businessmen, I won't say much. They are profit-seeking. Once or twice, they may help you out of patriotism, but after too many times, they should be fed up. If they are just fed up, that's still good, but if they cut corners in the process, the ones who get hurt in the end are the soldiers on the front line!"

"That's true!"

"Your Highness is right!"

After listening to Ouyang Lun's explanation, Guo Zi and Mao Youde nodded repeatedly.

"But, Prince Consort, how come we don't know about the professional team you mentioned?"

"Yes! We never heard you mention it."

Looking at the confused Guo Zi and Mao Youde, Ouyang Lun smiled and said, "You two are the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Commander of the Taxation Inspection Department. The so-called professional team is actually the several large state-owned enterprises opened by the court in recent years. Think about what they do?"

"I buy and sell grain and oil."

"And there is also a military-industrial society!"

"And coal! And medicine!"

Guo Zi and Mao Youde spoke up one after another.

"Then what do you think the army needs to quell the rebellion?" Ouyang Lun asked with a smile.

"Of course it's military rations, medicines, weapons and so on!" Guo Zi said directly.

Um! ?

After saying this, Guo Zi and Mao Youde seemed to react.

"It looks like you understand."

"That's right. In fact, the things operated by these central enterprises are what the army needs for logistics. After the last expedition to the Northern Yuan Dynasty, I gave these central enterprises a task and asked them to set up war preparedness departments so that logistical materials can be quickly supplied in case of war. They even conducted many actual combat drills and formulated material supply plans for various situations!"

“Although the supply of materials in Yunnan is a difficult point, it is also included in the material supply plans of major central enterprises!”

"To tell you the truth, while you were still debating whether to mobilize the people and merchants, the supply team of the central enterprises had already taken action, and the first batch of supplies had arrived in Yunnan. It can be said that the supplies had already arrived before the Ming army to suppress the rebellion arrived in Yunnan!"

Ouyang Lun said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Guo Zi and Mao Youde widened their eyes, obviously shocked by what Ouyang Lun said.

"Arrived earlier than the rebel suppression army? This..."

"Is this the legendary saying that food and fodder must be sent before the army moves?"

Guo Zi and Mao Youde were shocked.

"But, Prince Consort, how are these supplies transported?"

“The roads in Yunnan are so rugged and difficult to travel!”

Facing the two people's questions.

Ouyang Lun raised his lips slightly. "Since we are a professional team, we naturally have professional tools. The Institute of Science and Technology has recently developed a small vehicle. I named it Sanbengzi. It has three wheels and can travel 800 miles a day without any problem!"

"And you don't need to eat any grass or worry about getting tired. You can travel hundreds of thousands of miles without having to replace it."

hiss--

Hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Guo Zi and Mao Youde took a deep breath.

Eight hundred miles a day, this is not too shocking. After all, a fast postman with two horses can reach a speed of even a thousand miles a day!
But not having to eat any grass and traveling hundreds of thousands of miles, this is truly terrifying!
This is simply an artifact.

If someone else said this, they naturally would not believe it, but these words came from Ouyang Lun's mouth. You have to know how many miracles Ouyang Lun has created. Others may not know, but as Ouyang Lun's right-hand men, the two of them know it very well.

Ironclad ships and trains. Who else could have created them if not Ouyang Lun?

So this so-called "three-wheeler" is entirely possible.

"In addition to the three sheds, there are also two-wheeled ones, which can be used to travel on rugged mountain roads as if on flat ground. They can carry a lot of supplies, and it is very convenient to transport supplies!"

"But this item has not been announced to the public yet. You two just need to know about it, but don't tell anyone else!"

"Then give some people a big surprise!"

Ouyang Lun said with a smile.

"With artifacts like the three-stranded frame and the two-wheeled machine, there is really no need for common people and merchants!"

"It turns out that the Prince Consort had already made a plan. We were worrying for nothing." (End of this chapter)