Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 112 The Wind Blows the Fragrance of Rice Flowers

In early September of the 13th year of Hongwu, in the golden autumn season, the golden rice fields of the imperial farm swayed in the autumn breeze.

Electric poles were erected from the fields, pulling electric wires to the workshop by the river.

The electric pole was made of wood and was very simple.

The workshop also made a simple circuit breaker for small power usage.

Once it leaves the power station, the current has already been transformed to a power suitable for modern household consumption.

Fortunately, the rated power of modern household electricity is high, and the lathe Zhu Yunfeng bought is 3000 kilowatts, which is just enough power.

The generator can generate several hundred kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour, which is more than enough for factory operations.

The three little ones have been very tired during this period. Ji He has lost several kilograms out of his 280 kilograms, and his face seems not as round as before.

Each of those milling, drilling, grinding, punching, sawing and lathe tools weighs a ton. It is extremely troublesome to disassemble and assemble the tables, and we have to drag over raw materials such as steel and aluminum.

seriously.

The things I bought myself were secretly transported to Ming Dynasty like a thief, and it was so tiring, it was just like working like a slave.

But the sense of accomplishment is real.

On September 6, the second crop of rice gradually matured and would be ready for harvest in half a month.

Zhu Yunfeng was lying on the hillside west of the imperial farm, enjoying the rare tranquility of the afternoon.

This morning they moved in the last saw and cutting machine, and also brought in a bunch of small tools like angle grinders and electric drills.

Basically, all the tools a small processing plant should have are available.

This way.

Zhu Yunfeng has provided Daming with a large number of excellent seeds and built a small power station, a small factory, and a simple chemical laboratory.

If we also count the other supplies given to Lao Zhu.

Maybe it doesn't mean much in modern times, but in one of the poorest small countries in Africa, it is already considered top-notch.

And this is just a change in less than a year.

By next year, Zhu Yunfeng will let Lao Zhu use AK, drive a car, and ride on a big warship - just buy some engines and start working.

"dinner time."

Zhu Di came up with a pot of chicken and said jokingly, "Here's the chicken soup."

"Damn, what kind of nonsense has this kid watched? Has he gone from watching young ladies to watching porn?"

Zhu Yunfeng got up from the ground, brushed off the grass debris on his body, and thought to himself.

Zhu Biao and Ji He followed behind him, both holding dishes and rice.

The key is that the meals are cooked using electric rice cookers and induction cookers, which are made in a small workshop at the foot of the hillside and are completely modern.

"I'm so exhausted these days. How about taking some time to relax? Where is the old man fighting now?"

Zhu Yunfeng squatted on the ground and said while holding the bowl.

"We have already eliminated the threat from the northwest border, subdued the Tibetans and the Western tribes, and are now preparing to march south to attack Yunnan."

Zhu Biao replied.

"Good fellow, do you fight so fiercely?"

Zhu Yunfeng was surprised.

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Thanks to your drone and silver coins."

"How to say?"

"You probably don't know how much silver coins are worth among the people now?"

"what?"

Zhu Yunfeng wondered, "Why is the value so high?"

Zhu Biao raised a finger and said, "One silver coin can be exchanged for one string of six hundred copper coins and one ounce and four ounces of silver."

"Well, there is such an operation. Bad money drives out good money, right?"

Zhu Yunfeng held the bowl and opened his mouth wide.

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "There's nothing we can do. The craftsmanship of the silver coin is so good that it can't be made with a mold. It has been circulated among the people and everyone loves it."

Even though Zhu Yunfeng only provided one-third of the Ming Dynasty’s treasury income every year.

But the problem is that silver coins are high-quality coins, and the purchasing power of a silver coin worth one guan is actually higher than that of one tael of silver and one guan of money.

Many people would rather use copper coins and silver than silver coins, and would hide the silver coins if they received them.

This is actually a typical process of bad money driving out good money. Because the good money is so good, no one is willing to use it, so its value is pushed up all the way.

This means that the more than 1300 million silver coins provided by Zhu Yunfeng every year had a purchasing power of more than 2000 million taels of silver, bringing huge benefits to the court.

At present, the grain production of the people is not high enough, just enough to be self-sufficient. Even if the court has money, it may not be able to buy enough grain.

But didn’t Zhu Biao just cut taxes significantly?

As taxes were reduced, people paid less grain, and the market became full of grain.

The Ming Dynasty then used silver coins to pay salaries to officials and buy grain in the market. While allowing silver coins to flow smoothly into the market, it was also able to purchase large amounts of grain and fodder to prepare for Zhu Yuanzhang's war.

"It doesn't really matter. The supply of silver coins is low right now, and the people will definitely treat them as rare items. Once you buy a large amount of gold and silver here and use the silver to make silver coins, the production will increase and the price will naturally go down."

Ji Hyuk interrupted.

Zhu Yunfeng thought for a while and said, "Then the proportion from our ancestors should be raised. The equipment is given to you, and you can make it by yourselves. I won't make any profit here."

"rest assured."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "During this period, we have already purchased a lot of gold with silver coins. In fact, father said that he would give you a ratio because he was afraid that you would take too much at once and not care about the affairs of the Ming Dynasty after you have money. But for me, we are all family. Father rewards meritorious service and vassal kings with hundreds of taels of gold, let alone between you and me? I will be the boss at that time, and you can take as much as you want."

'move.'

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He looked at each other and felt warm in their hearts.

really.

Sincerity is the sure winner.

Old Zhu is a very deep-minded and suspicious person. He appears to be very nice to Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He, but in fact he is on guard against everything.

Compared with Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao was indeed a man who could accomplish great things. Not only was he upright and capable, but he also knew how to win people's hearts and make them loyal to him.

If Zhu Yuanzhang took the hegemonic route, then Zhu Biao took the kingly route.

Perhaps in troubled times, hegemony is more useful than the kingly way. The stories of Cao Cao and Liu Bei have already proved this point.

But now the world is at peace, and the kingly way is the right way!

"Let's go and get to work."

After finishing his meal, Zhu Yunfeng threw his bowl and chopsticks onto the wooden plate that was brought to him, stood up and stretched.

In fact, he is already very rich.

Not to mention the gold obtained from the Hongwu Dynasty every month, after all the operations, the monthly profit can be around 20 million.

Just talking about Zhu Di during the Yongle Dynasty, he fleeced more than 400 million people.

And it’s good for both worlds.

In modern society, gold is a strategic resource and all countries are in great need of gold reserves.

Zhu Yunfeng's acquisition of gold not only increased my country's gold reserves, but also brought a large number of industrial products to Ming Dynasty, thus solving the sales problem.

In addition, their own farmland and factories provide a large number of jobs. After a shopping spree, including building factories and hydropower stations, their county's GDP has increased significantly this year alone.

The Yongle Dynasty was able to greatly increase grain production, while the Hongwu Dynasty not only increased grain production but also developed certain basic industries.

We have truly achieved a win-win cooperation.

Zhu Yunfeng has been trading money back and forth and currently has more than 300 million yuan in deposits and a large number of assets of various types under his name. He is already considered a wealthy man.

But for him, money is no longer important; the most important thing is the sense of satisfaction.

Seeing the country that my ancestors founded getting better day by day, the people living and working in peace and contentment, and the country becoming rich and powerful, I feel a sense of accomplishment in my heart. This is the country that I conquered.

Zhu Yunfeng stood on the hillside and looked far to the southwest. The fertile fields stretching for thousands of miles were golden.

In more distant places, tens of thousands of acres of land have been opened up this year, and a lot of corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts and even peppers have been planted.

Modern high-yield crops have taken root in Daming, and Daming has a bright future.

In the afternoon, everyone assembled the last machine.

The workshop is located on the east side of the imperial farm, about one mile away from the Qinhuai River.

Because the Qinhuai River occasionally floods, it would be bad if the workshop was submerged by a flood.

So for basic water use, we just dug a canal and installed a filter, which was enough to meet the factory's water needs.

After all, it's just a small workshop.

At this moment, the workshop is built with iron sheets, surrounded by iron frames, the ground is paved with cement, electrical wires are brought in from outside, and the power switch is placed near the door.

There were a large number of guards protecting them outside, and more than a dozen craftsmen inside, all of whom were recruited from the weapons workshop in the city.

Zhu Yuanzhang's Nanjing City now has plenty of everything except ordinary citizens.

Other officials, soldiers, and craftsmen also had it.

In fact, the current city of Nanjing has basically no commercial or residential significance.

After conquering the city, Zhu Yuanzhang relocated the indigenous people. In recent years, he finally managed to recruit some new residents, but in the case of Hu Weiyong, they exiled and massacred them.

The impact of the Hu Weiyong case is not that wide now, but it has not yet reached the level of the late Ming Dynasty when it attracted a large number of people to come in.

Therefore, the number of ordinary citizens is still far less than that of special occupations.

These craftsmen were originally responsible for manufacturing weapons for hundreds of thousands of troops in and outside Nanjing and surrounding cities. Zhu Biao found the best craftsmen among them.

"We're about to start work, how are you feeling now?"

Zhu Yunfeng patted Zhu Di on the shoulder.

Zhu Di took a deep breath and said, "Now I just feel that I am somewhat useful."

"Get it done."

"Crack!"

Zhu Di pressed the switch of the machine.

In an instant the punching machine dropped down and slammed hard on the platform.

"what is this?"

"It's really amazing, if you put a mold on it"

“It can actually move on its own.”

Many craftsmen were amazed.

This stamping machine is very large, three meters high and weighs two tons.

Although the parts sent over were disassembled, it took Zhu Yunfeng, Zhu Di and others three full days to assemble it.

But it is easy to operate after assembly.

After connecting the power supply, place the molds to be printed in the upper and lower mold positions, then place the silver coins in a fixed position, and press the switch to directly generate dozens of Hongwu silver dollars.

Zhu Di turned off the stamping machine and walked to the lathe. After starting it, the cutting tool began to rotate instantly.

Then he tried the other machines to make sure they could all start up normally.

"It's OK. They can all be used."

Zhu Di said.

Zhu Biao let out a long sigh, nodded and said, "Okay, fourth brother, I'll leave this to you."

“I try to spend a few days teaching them how to use it.”

"Ah."

"I'm so tired, let's go out and have a rest."

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He's backs were already wet with sweat; they were exhausted from installing this last stamping machine.

When I walked out of the workshop, Zhu Di was still inside, and there was a creaking sound of machines coming from inside.

The electric wires outside are stretched all the way from the power plant by the river to the workshop here.

Seeing electric wires being laid across the fields, Zhu Yunfeng couldn't help but recall what he saw in the rice fields when he was a child.

At that time, when walking in the countryside, you could hear the croaking of frogs, and sometimes you could see scarecrows and telephone poles on the ridges of the fields.

Especially in midsummer, power outages become commonplace.

Now when I walk in this field, my mood has become different.

"You have all worked hard during this period."

Zhu Biao put his hands behind his back and chuckled, "What are your plans next?"

"Let's start chemistry tomorrow."

Zhu Yunfeng turned his head and looked in the direction of the factory, and said, "Old Four has realized his own value. He will definitely make his own gun tomorrow. I have to speed up and make the bullets."

"Bullets are easy to make. If you have a factory, you can just make blank bullets on an assembly line. But your primer needs to be reliable. If you don't get it right, you might end up blowing yourself up."

Ji Hyuk said worriedly.

Now I have a small workshop and can make basically anything.

Firearms and bullets.

But the bullet needs a primer in it.

Although diatom nitroglycerin is relatively stable, it was the main primer for firearms in World War II.

But what about the production process?
"piece of cake."

Zhu Yunfeng waved his hand and said, "I have read many methods of making it online before. If you are careful when mixing concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid, it will not explode. Only when glycerol is added will it explode."

"That's good."

Ji Hyuk felt relieved.

“And you can add diatomaceous earth ahead of time so there won’t be a problem.”

Zhu Yunfeng was walking along the ridges of the fields.

Zhu Biao, still wearing his loose robe and walking with his hands behind his back, said, "If it's dangerous, let someone else do it."

"They don't know how to operate it, and other people's lives are lives too."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his head. "Anyway, we have protective clothing for the experiment. The most important thing is that sulfuric acid and nitric acid are both toxic, so we have to avoid direct contact. When I drip the glycerin in, I'll use a long dropper and stay away from it. Don't worry."

These days, you can buy anything if you have money.

When he bought experimental equipment, he directly said that he wanted something safer. The dropper alone was three meters long.

If diatomaceous earth is added and then glycerin is added, and it still explodes, as long as there is not much of it and the distance is three meters, it should be safe.

So there is actually no need to worry.

After all, industrial nitroglycerin is produced in factories, and is usually produced in tons. If it were really that dangerous, no one in the world would have produced nitroglycerin long ago.

"That's good."

Zhu Biao felt relieved. What he feared most was that Zhu Yunfeng would have an accident.

The three people walked slowly along the ridge of the field.

In the evening, the fiery clouds in the sky dyed half the sky, and crows returned from their flight and landed in the woods southeast of the Qinhuai River on the opposite bank.

A breeze blew by, bringing with it the fragrance of rice flowers.

(End of this chapter)