I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 206 Taking over
The formal administrative order was quickly issued and related matters began to move forward quickly.

Zhu Houxuan even specially prepared a thick business contract for this purpose and planned to take it to the Ministry of War to have it stamped with its seal.

Zhu Houxun also initially figured out some data about the manufacturing of military equipment in the Ming Dynasty.

First of all, the measurement units used in the manufacture of military equipment in the Ming Dynasty are very special.

This is because the Ming Dynasty learned the lesson of the Song Dynasty bureaucrats' manipulation of data and manufactured weapons in units of "units".

In order to make the data look good, Song Dynasty bureaucrats would count the number of armor pieces and arrowheads (arrow shafts are more expensive than arrowheads and not easy to store) and then add them together.

That is to say, if a certain place reported that it had produced 10000 pieces of military equipment this year, it would include a set of armor, the helmet and several hundred armor plates of the armor, the arrowhead and the shaft of an arrow.
The Song Dynasty bureaucrats did the same in terms of finance. A bundle of hay, a bundle of wormwood, a pound of tea, a stone of grain, a string of money, a piece of silk, etc., although of different values, were all "1", so the total income was over million.

Each set of weapons in the Ming Dynasty included: a helmet, a body armor, a waist sword, a bow, two bowstrings, thirty arrows, five muskets and arrows, and a bag (a bag for the bow and arrows).
Every two sets of weapons additionally include: a spear/a saber, and a round/long shield (shield).

Zhu Houxuan arrived at the Ministry of War with his attendants. The new Minister of War, Wang Qiong, personally greeted them at the gate of the Ministry of War. He was very respectful and enthusiastic towards Zhu Houxuan's arrival.

His predecessor Lu Wan had been dismissed from office by Zhu Houzhao.

Wang Qiong was a man of great calculation, political skills, and good at making friends. After the Zhengde reign, he had been working in the six ministries in the capital.

Unlike Yang Tinghe, who was promoted to the highest position in the Imperial Academy, Wang Qiong's career was full of collusion with eunuchs and favored officials. For example, he is now on good terms with Qian Ning and Jiang Bin, and is not on the same page as Yang Tinghe.

It is very thought-provoking that Zhu Houzhao placed Wang Qiong in the position of Minister of War. Even Zhu Houxuan had to sigh that Zhu Houzhao's political skills were becoming more and more sophisticated.

After some greetings, Zhu Houxuan handed several business contracts to Wang Qiong and said, "Grand Marshal, this is the contract for the manufacture of military equipment between the Ministry of War and the Ming Royal Group that I drafted. Please take a look at it."

Although Zhu Houchun had a great reputation in the capital, he seldom made friends with ministers. This was Wang Qiong's first time dealing with Zhu Houchun. At first sight, she felt that Zhu Houchun was humble and polite, without any arrogance of a member of the royal family, and she couldn't help but feel a liking for him.

"Your Highness Prince Jing is too polite. With your reputation, why do you need a contract?" Wang Qiong took the business contract, put it aside, and said very politely.

"After all, it is a matter of state. The Royal Group attaches great importance to it, so we have drawn up this contract to stipulate the responsibilities and obligations of both parties in advance. This way, when there are problems in the future, we can follow the terms agreed in this contract, and avoid damaging the harmony." Zhu Houxuan said with a smile.

After hearing what Zhu Houxuan said, Wang Qiong picked up the business contract that had been put aside and began to read it. He saw that the contract clearly stated the responsibilities and obligations of both parties, as well as how to deal with certain situations, such as the time for the Ministry of War to deliver raw materials, the delivery time and standards for manufactured military equipment, and so on.

The more Wang Qiong read, the more surprised he was. This contract was written in great detail and was extremely thorough. All aspects were taken into consideration, and the methods for dealing with unexpected situations were all impartial. In this contract, the Ministry of War and the Royal Group were equal, and there was no situation of one being superior or taking advantage of the other to suppress the other.

This made Wang Qiong feel relieved. The King of Jing was much easier to get along with than he had imagined, and he was not overbearing at all. However, to be on the safe side, Wang Qiong still read the contract twice more and asked the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of War to read it once. Only then did he officially sign the contract and use the seal of the Ministry of War.

To be honest, there is no precedent for this matter. If it weren't for the face of the Ming Royal Group, he would not have signed this contract, let alone used the seal of the Ministry of War.

Zhu Houxuan also carried the jade seal of the Ming Royal Group with him and signed and used the seal on the deed.

Finally, the two parties exchanged contracts.

Zhu Houxuan also found out the number of weapons he had to manufacture each year through the contract. The fixed weapons he needed to manufacture each year were:
朱红油铁圆盔3600顶、铁牌盔240顶、青甲3600件，腰刀3600把、长枪1800根、圆牌240面，撒袋1800个、腰刀带3600条。

The irregular military equipment requirements are determined every quarter, and firearms are an example of irregular military equipment requirements.

This does not involve the manufacture of gunpowder at all, because the manufacturing method of firearms was completely secret in the Ming Dynasty, but the manufacturing formula of gunpowder was extremely confidential. Of course, Zhu Houxuan was not interested in this.

Some people may say that for a country as big as the Ming Dynasty, the amount of military weapons produced each year is too little. This is because the garrisons also have the right to manufacture military weapons, and the number of military weapons manufactured each year is no less than that in the capital. Moreover, the quality of military weapons made by the border garrisons is much better than that made in the capital, because the quality of military weapons made by the border garrisons is really a matter of life and death.

In addition, 12,000 craftsmen who were conscripted from the capital to make military equipment were also assigned to the Ming Royal Group.

In fact, with this demand for military equipment, the Ming Royal Group's manufacturing capabilities can quickly produce it, and the manufacturing quality can be even higher.

At the same time, it can also be seen from the side that the work efficiency and enthusiasm of craftsmen are low under the craftsman household system.

This also stifled the creativity of the craftsmen, resulting in little progress in the Ming Dynasty's military equipment in the 100 years after its founding. Many pieces of equipment remain the same as they were when the country was founded.

In fact, for Zhu Houxuan, the significance of accepting the order from the Ministry of War is that he can finally carry out the research and development of military equipment openly. These orders have basically no profit, but the qualification to carry out research and development is crucial.

After signing the contract, Zhu Houxuan went straight to the workshop of the Military Equipment Bureau to take over the more than 12,000 craftsmen. At all times, he paid more attention to the role of people.

The living conditions of many of these craftsmen were not very good, and could even be said to be quite harsh, but they were all very excited about Zhu Houxuan taking over, because Zhu Houxuan had always enjoyed a special reputation among the craftsmen.

Zhu Houxuan also inspected the manufacturing process of various military weapons. To be honest, the production of these weapons was really unremarkable on the technical level, and the materials used were not very good. As for the quality of the iron materials provided by the Ministry of War, even if they were produced at a discount, the quality of the manufactured weapons was worrying in his opinion.

As the inspection progressed, an idea gradually became clear in Zhu Houxuan's mind - should he design a new set of standard armor for the Ming army?
The new chapter is already being written, and we will try to resume the normal update schedule.
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(End of this chapter)