Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 331 An ominous sign! Arrogance and arrogance!

Become!

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu's heart was filled with joy.

The feeling of pride was rising up and was almost beyond words.

As expected, the military factory director Wu Zicheng and factory supervisor Zhang Muyang were ultimately unable to withstand the heavy pressure he exerted.

Humph, what rules and regulations, what process regulations, in the end, don’t they still have to be controlled and executed by people?

I am an important official in the Ministry of Justice who is favored and valued by His Majesty, and the son of the Prince of Yan of the Ming Dynasty!
He is also the younger brother of the chief official of the imperial court's Assets Department. How could they be unwilling to accommodate even the slightest procedural flaw?

As long as they can successfully trick the batch of muskets into their hands this time, the subsequent matters will be as easy as sailing with the current.

Zhu Gaoxu's face remained stern, without revealing any flaws. He just snorted coldly and said, "That's more like it. Then open the warehouse quickly."

Wu Zicheng and Zhang Muyang did not dare to slack off any longer and hurried forward to make arrangements.

Soon, three thousand muskets were carefully moved out from the tightly locked warehouse of the military factory.

Zhu Gaoxu strode forward, casually opened a box of muskets, took out a musket, and played with it carefully in his hands.

For ordinary people, muskets are mostly just something they have heard of but rarely seen.

If ordinary people really want to see it, they can only have the chance to see its majestic appearance at a grand and solemn military parade.

Furthermore, they would only be seen when a major case occurred and the Anti-Theft Division of the Ministry of Justice or the Special Guards of Yingtian Prefecture were dispatched to carry out missions.

In addition, let alone ordinary people, even ordinary runners in the yamen would hardly have the opportunity to come into contact with such things that were strictly controlled by the Ming Dynasty court.

However, as a senior official in the Ministry of Justice, Zhu Gaoxu had naturally seen muskets many times.

At this moment, he took the musket in his hand and looked at it carefully, and he knew that the quality of this musket was still top-notch.

Although there is still a certain gap compared with the most advanced new muskets of the military, it is more than enough to arm an ordinary army.

After all, he came to apply for it in the name of the Ministry of Justice's Internal Security.

It is naturally impossible to obtain the most advanced new musket.

Those are sophisticated weapons that can only be equipped by the military's front-line combat troops.

"The gun is good, but where are the bullets?" Zhu Gaoxu slowly put the musket back into the wooden box and asked calmly.

You know, the official document he issued clearly stated that there were three thousand muskets and a full one million rounds of bullets.

"Your Highness doesn't know."

Zhang Muyang hurried forward and explained with a smile on his face: "Since the establishment of the Imperial Assets Department, many factories under the original Daming Manufacturing Bureau have undergone a series of adjustments and integrations."

"The task of manufacturing bullets has now been transferred to a specialized bullet production factory."

"Our military factory is currently only responsible for the production of rifles and does not participate in the production of bullets."

"The few bullets we have are only used to test the performance of newly produced guns and will not be distributed to the public."

"My young prince, I'm afraid you can only get the one million bullets you want from the bullet factory."

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer.

His original carefully planned plan was to launch a "mutiny" immediately after receiving the 3,000 muskets, occupy the military factory in one fell swoop, and then seize other more sophisticated weapons and equipment.

But now, with guns but no bullets, his entire plan instantly came to nothing, like drawing water with a bamboo basket.

"Got it!" Zhu Gaoxu forced himself to remain calm and nodded calmly. Then he ordered his men to load the muskets onto the carriage, and he got on the carriage and drove away quickly.

As he watched Zhu Gaoxu and his group walk farther and farther away until they disappeared from his sight, Wu Zicheng frowned tightly.

He suddenly said, "I always feel a little uneasy in my heart, as if something is not right."

"It's fine for the young prince to receive these three thousand guns, but why did he apply for one million rounds of ammunition?"

"The Ministry of Justice's internal guards are not the combat troops that charge and fight on the front lines, so their daily bullet consumption should be minimal."

"A million rounds of ammunition... do they need that much?"

Zhang Muyang pondered for a moment, then said: "Although we don't use so many bullets on a daily basis, training is an indispensable part."

"You received so many bullets, probably for daily training."

"Some time ago, His Majesty issued an edict to establish the Dragon Guard, Eagle Guard, and Tiger Guard. They are not numerous, but the bullets they use for training are far more than a million."

Wu Zicheng's worry didn't subside at all when he heard this. Instead, it became even more serious. He said worriedly, "You have never worked in this military factory before, so you don't know much about the specific situation here."

"Bullets are not cheap. They cost a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources."

"Only a few elite special operations troops personally designated by His Majesty would consume a large amount of bullets in daily training."

"Those are elite troops that were built with massive amounts of bullets and countless amounts of money."

"In addition, even for new soldiers, a lot of basic training is first carried out during training to allow the soldiers to master the key points and techniques of gun operation."

"The final live-fire shooting training was to use as little as possible to save bullets as much as possible."

"The internal guards of the Ministry of Justice are only responsible for internal security and vigilance, which is not the same as the army that fights externally."

"And how come so much live ammunition is used for training?"

"No matter how you look at it, there's something indescribably weird about this matter."

Although the Ming Dynasty was rapidly entering the industrial age under the leadership of Zhu Yunhuan.

But compared with the highly developed productivity societies in later generations, it is still incomparable.

In this era, bullets are very expensive.

During military training, bullets will not be wasted.

Zhang Muyang shook his head slightly, looking nonchalant, and said, "What could be so strange about it?"

"The young prince is someone that His Majesty highly values and trusts."

"He came in person to receive it, holding an official document from the Ministry of Justice."

"In my opinion, you should stop worrying about this. It's just groundless worry."

"Once the approval from the Imperial Assets Department arrives tomorrow, we will complete the formalities and all of this will have nothing to do with you and me anymore."

Wu Zicheng sighed and said helplessly, "I hope so. But I can't calm down in my heart. I always have a bad feeling lingering in my mind."

……

After receiving the guns, Zhu Gaoxu was extremely anxious and did not dare to delay for a moment. He hurriedly drove the carriage towards the bullet production factory.

He knew clearly that he was undoubtedly in a thrilling race against time. After all, if Wu Zicheng and Zhang Muyang did not receive the official document from the Imperial Assets Department as scheduled tomorrow, they would immediately notice that something was fishy.

Therefore, all his plans and actions must be completed within this short period of time today, otherwise he will be doomed.

The distance between the bullet factory and the gun factory is actually not far.

The two were originally the same factory, but were later separated.

Although the production process of bullets is very different from that of gun manufacturing, in the early "experimental" stage of exploration and trial, there is no need to subdivide it to such an extent.

Later, as the technological level continued to improve and the production scale continued to expand, the two companies set up separate factories.

According to Zhu Yunhuan’s latest decree, considering that bullet production involves dangerous items such as gunpowder, it must be moved to a more remote and hidden place for safety reasons.

It's just that everything is so complicated right now that we haven't had time to put it into practice yet.

Zhu Gaoxu rushed into the bullet factory and, just like he had done before at the gun factory, he solemnly presented the document from the Ministry of Justice and demanded in a domineering manner that the factory immediately provide him with one million rounds of bullets.

When the Bullet Factory's director Lu Youlin and factory supervisor Li Boyao first saw him coming, they behaved extremely respectfully and did not dare to slack off or neglect him in the slightest.

However, when Zhu Gaoxu unceremoniously asked for a huge number of one million bullets, the expressions of the two men changed suddenly.

"The young prince has come in person. Logically, we should fully cooperate and provide him with the bullets he needs."

Lu Youlin's face was filled with a seemingly sincere smile, but his words were full of evasion and rejection.

"But perhaps you don't know, little prince, we have just received a strict order from the Administrative Affairs Office. From now on, anyone who comes to collect arms must hold the official approval of the Administrative Affairs Office and the permission of the military."

"My young prince, I'm afraid that this document from the Ministry of Justice alone will not work according to the rules!"

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, his face suddenly became extremely gloomy.

The most worrying situation finally happened.

He really had not expected that just because of a slight delay in picking up the guns at the gun factory, the official document from the Government Affairs Office would be delivered to the bullet factory so quickly.

In the past, such official documents would usually only be transmitted to various government offices within Jinling City on the same day at most.

These government offices outside the city are far apart, so unless it is urgent military information, the delivery of ordinary official documents is often delayed and will never be delivered so quickly.

I never thought that the efficiency of the Government Affairs Office has reached such an astonishing level.

"How could such a thing happen? How could I not know about it?"

Zhu Gaoxu quickly calmed down and pretended to be unaware of the situation. He asked, "The Ministry of Justice is also an important government office that needs to be equipped with guns and ammunition. For such a major matter involving guns, the government affairs department should also issue a corresponding document to the Ministry of Justice, right?"

Factory Supervisor Li Boyue bowed slightly, with an elusive smile on his face, and said, "The official document was just issued today. Perhaps the young prince had already set out on the road to here by then, so he didn't see it."

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he thought that the other party would firmly reject his request, and was about to use the same old trick to exert pressure again.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Li Boyue took the initiative to say: "Rules are dead, but people are alive."

"The young prince left the capital early today and was delayed on the road. He was not aware of this matter, so he was unable to go to the Government Affairs Office to receive the approval document in time. This is also human nature."

"In my humble opinion, the approval document from the Government Affairs Office can be obtained later. It is not a big deal."

"As for the military's permission... the Ministry of Justice's internal guards are equipped with guns, which has nothing to do with the military directly."

"Since there is an official document from the Ministry of Justice, how can the military not allow it?"

"The young prince is a minister that His Majesty highly values, and he is also the chief of the Ministry of Justice. Your brother is our immediate superior, the chief of the Imperial Assets Department."

"How dare I let the young prince go on this trip in vain and return empty-handed?"

Zhu Gaoxu was secretly delighted. Li Boyao from the bullet factory was much smarter than Wu Zicheng from the gun factory. He didn't need to put any pressure on himself and he climbed up the pole on his own initiative. He was truly a sensible man.

He glanced at Li Boyue calmly, but inadvertently saw that the factory director Lu Youlin was looking at Li Boyue in a daze, as if he was quite dissatisfied with his words.

Li Boyue also noticed Lu Youlin's gaze, smiled and nodded slightly at him, then quickly turned around and faced Zhu Gaoxu respectfully, but suddenly changed the subject.

"But you don't know, my Lord, one million rounds of ammunition is really too large a number."

"To be honest, just a few days ago, His Majesty issued an edict to establish the Dragon, Tiger and Eagle Guards."

"These three guards have almost used up all the bullets in the factory's original stock."

"The stock of bullets in our factory is now almost gone. They were all newly produced in the past few days, and there are only less than tens of thousands of them."

"As for the one million rounds of bullets that the young prince requested, I am truly unable to provide them!"

"I can only ask you to give me some time and come back a few days later to claim it."

After saying this, he bowed and kowtowed, his apology evident on his face.

"No more bullets?"

Zhu Gaoxu felt as if a basin of cold water was poured over him from head to toe in an instant. He felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave, and his heart was filled with despair and unwillingness.

He never expected that such a sudden change would happen at this critical juncture.

Wait a few days?
He doesn't have time to wait!
Besides, the number of bullets he actually needed was far more than just one million.

These one million rounds were just a cover-up of his careful planning.

As long as he had enough bullets, the military operations he planned could be carried out smoothly.

But now, if this bullet factory really doesn't have so many bullets in stock...

Suddenly, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes flashed inadvertently, and he happened to see Lu Youlin beside him open his mouth slightly and look at Li Boyue in shock.

In an instant, he suddenly realized and understood that he had been tricked!

The bullet factory was not really out of bullets. It was obvious that Li Boyao was deliberately playing "Tai Chi" here, using the excuse of having no bullets to politely reject his request.

A raging rage rushed into his heart, Zhu Gaoxu felt his blood boiling and his rationality almost out of control.

"boom!"

Zhu Gaoxu slammed the table in front of him with such force that the teacups on the table began to jump violently.

He stood up from his chair like an enraged tiger, pointed his finger at Li Boyue, and shouted angrily, "Li Boyue, you think I, Zhu Gaoxu, am an ignorant three-year-old child?"

"The bullet factory of the Ming Dynasty actually said that there are only tens of thousands of bullets left. Do you think I would believe such a ridiculous lie?"

"How dare you be so bold as to treat me like this?"

"Believe it or not, I will ask my brother to remove you from your position tomorrow!"

……

(End of this chapter)