Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 183 A big reward! A deeper purpose!

After Zhu Yunhuan finished speaking, he walked over again, patted Zhu Gaochi on the shoulder, and said: "If you do this well, you won't have to worry about the position of prince in the future!"

Zhu Gaochi's heart trembled.

He is older than the naughty boy Zhu Gaoxu and more mature mentally.

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan's promise, he was immediately excited.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will build the steam engine even if it costs me my life." Zhu Gaochi patted his chest and promised.

Afterwards, he quickly summoned the craftsmen and conveyed Zhu Yunhuan's orders.

In an instant, the craftsmen were excited.

"Is it true that if you build a large steam engine, you will be awarded the title of Duke?"

An old craftsman with white hair and beard asked tremblingly.

It's unbelievable.

Since ancient times, it has been said that "all things are inferior, only reading is superior."

This reading specifically refers to reading the books of sages. Even if craftsmen can recognize a few words, have read Lu Ban's book, and can skillfully make tools, they are not considered scholars.

A craftsman's only hope in his life is to have enough food and clothing.

That's all.

I dare not even dream of being granted a title of nobility or appointed as prime minister.

"His Royal Highness promised it himself, how could it be false?" Zhu Gaochi shouted, "When has His Royal Highness ever treated you unfairly? You all know how he treated you."

The craftsmen nodded one after another. How could the treatment provided by the Daming Manufacturing Bureau be described with more than just the word "good"?
But it’s extremely good!
Experienced and highly skilled craftsmen can receive salaries and rewards that are several times higher than the county magistrate's salary!
However, the work done by craftsmen is "lowly", so they cannot enjoy the happiness of being a superior person like the county magistrate.

"Then we must fight!"

"I'm determined to get this duke!"

"Don't grab it, it's mine!"

"I know there are a few areas that can be improved. I must fight for the title of Duke for the Ouyang family."

"To bring glory to our family, this is the day!"

……

All the craftsmen were jealous!
As the saying goes: When there is a big reward, there will always be brave men!
Before this, there were many people who just held the mentality of doing their own job well.

We all work for a salary, and if we can complete our work tasks, we are already considered excellent workers!

But now, everyone is racking their brains to think about how to do better!

Duke!
That’s the Duke!

After countless life-and-death experiences on the battlefield, being the first to climb the ladder, breaking through the enemy lines, beheading generals, and seizing flags… He risked his life, and it would be harder than ascending to heaven to be awarded the lowest rank of nobility!
Not to mention the highest rank of Duke!

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that as long as useful improvements are made, rewards will be given according to merit.

Since even the title of Duke has been offered, the rewards for other people who are to be rewarded based on their merits must also be high.

If you don't fight hard, you'd be a fool!
For a time, the craftsmen were crazy about it!

"Your Highness, is the steam engine really that important?" Zheng He couldn't help but ask after leaving.

As a general of the Ming Dynasty, he knew better than the craftsmen what the title of Duke meant.

"That is a magical weapon that can truly change the world!" said Zhu Yunxun.

The steam engine was widely used as a power machine and was a symbol of the First Industrial Revolution.

From then on, factories replaced workshops on a large scale, and machine operations replaced manual labor.

Human beings also moved from agricultural society to industrial society.

Need I explain how important the steam engine is?

Zhu Yunhuan suddenly remembered something and ordered, "Go and pass on the order to draw up the blueprint of the steam engine and send it to the students of the Imperial College for study."

"Tell them that whoever can come up with a way to improve the situation and encourage the Ming Dynasty Manufacturing Bureau to build a steamship that can be used normally will be granted the title of Duke!"

"Anyone who can come up with an effective way to improve the steam engine will be rewarded."

He had already lectured on science at the Imperial College a few months ago.

There were quite a few students in the Imperial College who were interested in this.

Among those people, there are many smart people with extraordinary IQs.

Although they are not craftsmen and have no practical experience, they may be able to find a breakthrough in principle.

Moreover, this is also an excellent bait, telling those students that it is not only by reading the books of sages that one can succeed in life and become a general or prime minister.

The same can be done with scientific research.

This will reverse the trend that has existed for thousands of years, which has focused on the teachings of sages and downplayed scientific principles.

It's not just about building a steam engine.

More importantly, horse bones are worth a fortune!
Let all students and people all over the world know that by taking the path of science and creating the tools needed by the country, they can also achieve great success and be awarded titles and honors.

This will encourage more scientific inventions.

This era is different from the later generations. In the era of technological explosion in the later generations, technological inventions have, in a sense, been isolated from ordinary people!
He has never received any education above the undergraduate level, and has never studied for a master's or doctoral degree, so scientific inventions have nothing to do with him.

This is because the science and technology of later generations have already explored to an extremely deep level.

Ordinary people are far away from that level.

Without decades of rigorous scientific training and without building a solid foundation, it would be impossible to carry out scientific research.

If you must do it, you will probably just become a useless folk scientist and become a topic of conversation among people after dinner.

But this era is not yet.

In this era of technology, there are still many shallow and simple things that have not been unearthed.

Ordinary people can figure it out as long as they think deeply, and they can improve the technology as long as they work hard.

This is the greatest significance of the reward!

Sure enough, as soon as Zhu Yunhuan's order came out, it was like throwing a huge rock into a calm pond.

The news that anyone who could build a practical large steam engine could be awarded the title of Duke spread quickly.

The entire Ming Dynasty was shocked!
……

The road from the pier to Jinling City has changed from a bumpy road to a wide and majestic concrete avenue.

It has to be said that the Ming Dynasty’s infrastructure capabilities are indeed very strong.

In just a few months, many counties and cities near Yingtian Prefecture had paved a number of cement roads.

In an era when there was no large machinery and all construction relied on manpower, this speed was a miracle.

But from another perspective, such things are not surprising in Chinese history.

Otherwise, China would not have been able to build the unrivaled Great Wall.

The genes of the infrastructure maniac have been hidden in the blood of the Chinese people for thousands of years.

Of course, achieving this also relies on the sweat and even the blood of millions of working people!
After the warship docked, there was a grand triumphal ceremony. Civil and military officials came together. A large number of people also gathered in the distance to watch.

When Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was brought ashore, the crowd cheered loudly.

The next person to be brought ashore was Huang Zicheng.

Zhu Yunhuan had not reported Huang Zicheng's matter back to the court before.

When the court officials saw Huang Zicheng, who was sent to Japan as an envoy, coming out wearing prison clothes and handcuffs and shackles, they were all confused.

The civil servants even began to riot, not understanding what was going on.

Huang Zicheng has been famous since he was young. He won the first place in the imperial examination and the third place in the palace examination. He has a very high prestige and reputation among Confucian scholars.

Although he had previously been the teacher of King Xian and secretly instructed King Xian to compete with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for the position of Crown Prince, that was long gone.

Since he was not punished at that time, why was he arrested after being sent as an envoy to Japan?
In the crowd, Qi Tai's face suddenly turned extremely pale, and his hands and feet felt cold.

Huang Zicheng was arrested, but what about me?
Zhu Yunhuan did not immediately announce Huang Zicheng's charges.

After all, there are many things to do today when we return victoriously.

There is no rush to decide how to deal with Huang Zicheng.

After the prisoners were brought ashore, several descendants of the Japanese emperor followed them.

They saw the beauty of Nanjing, the docks and city walls that stretched for dozens of miles.

They all opened their mouths in shock, looking like country folk coming to the city for the first time.

I have long heard that the Central Plains is prosperous and far beyond what Japan can compare to. After seeing it today, I realized that it is indeed worthy of its reputation.

They looked at the cement road on the ground for a long time without understanding what it was. They were just filled with amazement.

Compared to this, Kyoto is just a small mountain village.

This also planted the idea in their hearts that they must never become enemies with the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Zhu Yunhuan waved his hand, and the soldiers carried boxes of silver from the boat to the shore.

Twenty million taels of silver, one thousand taels to one box, a total of 20,000 treasure chests.

He specifically ordered all the boxes to be opened.

All the civil and military officials were stunned. Before this, even the officials in charge of the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue had never seen so much silver.

The people watching from afar saw this and gasped in shock.

The impact of 20,000 boxes of silver was so great that it made many people's hearts beat faster and they were dizzy.

The scene became extremely quiet.

Before this, people had heard that Japan had paid 20 million taels of silver as compensation to the Ming Dynasty, but they were still skeptical.

Because it has always been an old tradition for the imperial army to exaggerate its military achievements when it goes to war.

After all, military achievements are military merits, and military merits are generous rewards, such as official titles and noble rank, which can be passed on to descendants.

There are huge interests involved.

The generals would naturally try to find ways to report more military merits.

Even if the general commanding the army is incorruptible and honest, he still has to consider the brothers under his command.

The brothers sacrificed their lives and shed their blood on the battlefield, risking their lives, and only then did they defeat the enemy and achieve great things.

He would definitely try every possible means to win more rewards for his brothers. This is human nature.

The court officials were also well aware of this, and as long as it was not too excessive, they would turn a blind eye and treat it as true.

After all, it is not easy for soldiers to earn some military merit, and the court cannot be too harsh.

The figure of 20 million taels of silver is too shocking.

The people and officials took it for granted that there was something fishy going on.

After all, it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who personally led the troops into battle, and he just gave the silver as a reward to the soldiers, so there is no way to find out the amount of silver.

It was not until this moment, when I saw the 20 million taels of silver in front of me, that I realized that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had not said a single exaggeration or untrue word.

"This is the compensation that Japan gives to my Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Yunhuan slowly swept his eyes across the room and spoke in a deep voice.

Taking out the silver was not just for them to see, but had a deeper purpose.

He wanted to use this to motivate the Ming government and the people to support the war.

"Part of this is to compensate for the military expenses of our Ming Navy."

"The other part is to compensate the people of Ming Dynasty who were harmed by the Japanese pirates."

"The court doesn't want a penny of this money."

"I have decided to take out one tenth of it to celebrate this great victory and reward the people of Jinling City."

"Half of the remaining money will be used to reward the Ming navy officers and soldiers who are going on this expedition."

"The other half will be used to compensate the people who have suffered so much at the hands of the Japanese pirates!"

……

(End of this chapter)