Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

The arrival of this guy means that a lot of money will come in again!

Comfortable!

I just don’t know who will be overthrown by them this time?

Chapter 197 Fire Bull

An hour later, in the main hall of East Factory.

Li Guo knelt on the ground and kowtowed respectfully.

"I, Li Guo, pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youxiao smiled and helped him up.

"You have suffered these days, get up quickly."

"Tell me, what pleasing things you and your uncle have done."

Li Guo was a little flattered. Every time he came here, he felt that his life had become more valuable than before.

It feels good to be affirmed by others.

What’s more, it is the affirmation from the current emperor!

He recounted the entire story of the Fan family in Shanxi in detail.

A total of 3.5 million taels of silver, as well as a large amount of goods and confiscated land.

When Zhu Youxiao heard this number, he felt both hatred and joy.

Rich businessmen like Fan Yongdou only care about profits and never care about the lives of ordinary people.

There was a severe drought in Shaanxi, but the Fan family had food but sat back and watched. If you say that as a commoner, he had no obligation to do this, it is understandable.

But the Fan family took advantage of the fact that the people had no food to eat and were about to starve to death and wantonly swallowed up the farmland!

This is blatant profiteering!

It’s hard to make money for the country!

In addition, they also smuggled salt and iron to the Jiannu and even sold horses!

This is aiding the enemy!

No wonder Li Ka-shing of later generations would say something like “rich businessmen have no country”!

"Good kill!"

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but speak out, so he slapped the table and shouted loudly.

"Tell your uncle!"

"His achievements with me have earned him the rank of Earl to Marquis!"

"Of course, I won't treat you unfairly."

"He is a marquis, and you are a count!"

"Work hard. After we deal with Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu and the other seven Shanxi merchants, I will arrange for someone to go over and recruit them."

Li Guo was immediately excited when he heard this, and he quickly knelt down and kowtowed three times.

"Thank you for your appreciation, Your Majesty. I will live up to my mission and return a clean world to the people of Shanshan!"

After rebelling under the emperor's order for such a long time, he and his nephew Li Zicheng have completely understood what Zhu Youxiao wants.

At the same time, I am also looking forward to the day when I can come out clean and enjoy the glory I have earned openly!

Bringing honor to your family is just around the corner!

Afterwards, Zhu Youxiao had Li Guo taken away, served him good food and drink, and allowed him to rest for a few days before leaving Beijing and returning to Shanxi.

As for the property in the Daluo Palace, it was given to Wei Zhongxian to send people to take.

After returning to the palace, thinking about the doubts he had during this trip south, he involuntarily came to the West Garden.

He asked casually as they stood by the lake.

"Wei Daban, is this where I fell into the water?"

Wei Zhongxian didn't know why he suddenly asked this, and just nodded yes.

Zhu Youxiao walked along the West Garden for a long time but did not see any trace of the sunken ship.

The lake here is only four or five meters deep, so even if a ship sank, it would be impossible for it to be completely submerged under the water.

There is only one possibility, the shipwreck has been salvaged.

So he asked Wei Zhongxian about it.

"Where is the boat I was on?"

Wei Zhongxian was stunned at first, and then he quickly explained: "In reply to your Majesty, after the boat was salvaged, I ordered people to take it out of the palace and burn it."

"After something like that happened, it's unlucky to keep it."

Burned?

Originally, he wanted to see whether the ship was a real ironclad steamship, so after hearing this result, Zhu Youxiao was very disappointed.

But it was not easy to hold Wei Zhongxian accountable.

Why keep something that has betrayed its master if you don't destroy it?

After thinking about it, he simply stopped turning.

"Let Xu Guangqi, Wang Zheng, and Wu Chunfu come to the palace to see me!"

Since you can't see the real thing, just ask someone.

When the three of them arrived at the palace, it was already the beginning of the You hour.

Zhu Youxiao simply had someone prepare a hot pot, and they ate and chatted in the Qianqing Palace.

The color of the bottom of the pot is redder than burning charcoal, and it keeps emitting steam.

There was a table full of mutton being cut by hand.

In addition, there are seasonal vegetables such as cabbage and garlic sprouts.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings and took their seats, Zhu Youxiao picked up a piece of mutton, dipped it in the pot a few times, and put it into his mouth deliciously.

Some people in later generations actually said that this delicacy was brought to the Central Plains by the Jiannu. This is simply bullshit!

Not to mention anything else, are there chili peppers outside the pass?

Also, how could those barbarians have such a sophisticated way of eating?

It would be more in line with their nature to just eat the half-roasted lamb leg, right?

After swallowing the mutton and taking a sip of the slightly hot rice wine, all the coldness in my body was driven out.

Zhu Youxiao leaned back in his chair and stated the theme of why they came over.

"My three dear ministers, how much do you know about the iron-clad fire bull ship?"

When Wang Zheng heard this, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he put the mutton he had just picked up back into the plate.

"Fire bull? Your Majesty, are you talking about something that can drive machinery by boiling water?"

Zhu Youxiao was shocked.

really!

At this time, the Ming Dynasty already had the technology for steam engines!

"That's right!"

"I'm very curious, why hasn't such a useful thing been promoted?"

Xu Guangqi shook his head and put down his chopsticks.

"Your Majesty, it is not difficult to create a fire bull."

"But compared to conscripting corvée labor, the cost of making fire bulls is too high."

"One fire bull, according to current prices, would cost at least six thousand to ten thousand taels of silver."

"But this doesn't mean that 10,000 taels of silver can solve everything."

"If the fire bull wants to move, it needs a lot of coal and a constant supply of water."

"On the road, wherever the bullock carts pass, the roads will be completely crushed and people will need to be sent to repair them."

"If used on a ship, the fire bull is too heavy. If not handled properly, it will cause the ship to sink."

“It’s like…”

Having said this, he paused, looking a little unnatural.

Zhu Youxiao knew what he was worried about, so he waved his hand and said, "Just speak frankly. I am fine now, there is nothing I can't say."

Xu Guangqi then continued to speak.

"In short, the fire bull is something that is completely unnecessary in the eyes of the officials in the court."

"After all, the only thing we need to do when recruiting corvée labor is to fill their stomachs."

"When these corvées go to work, the officials in charge of supervising them can also gain some benefits."

Wu Chunfu's face turned extremely ugly. Everyone could understand the implication of his words!

"Minister Xu, are you saying that this minister embezzled money?"

Zhu Youxiao immediately turned his head and glared at him fiercely.

"Xu Aiqing didn't call your name, why are you so anxious?"

Wu Chunfu: ........

Is this different from calling a name?

Chapter 198 Moo.............

Xu Guangqi then realized that he had said the wrong thing and bowed to Wu Chunfu awkwardly.

"Minister Wu has misunderstood. I will drink three cups as punishment."

Having said that, he really picked up the wine glass.

Zhu Youxiao stretched out his hand to stop him.

"My dear Xu, you are already this old, you must take good care of your health."

After saying that, he looked at Wu Chunfu again.

"I heard a story."

"It is said that there was a foreman who was contracted to work, and he negotiated with his employer to pay his wages on a daily basis."

“In order to get more work done, they would dig up the paved road, saying it was to repair the drainage.”

"Moreover, they dug it up during the rainy season."

"This provides sufficient reason to dig the road and pump water at the same time, thus extending the construction period."

“Once the drainage is repaired, the previously paved road surface will have to be repaved.”

"At the same time, they would also skimp on materials, causing the repaired road surface to gradually become damaged within three years."

Wu Chunfu felt that he had been greatly wronged and quickly spoke with his neck stiffened.

"Your Majesty, how is this possible! Are all the supervisors blind?"

Wang Zheng laughed at the side: "Minister Wu is wrong. The supervisor is not blind. It's just that the contractor gave him enough benefits!"

Wu Chunfu really wanted to continue explaining, but how could he explain such a thing clearly?

He immediately left his seat and knelt down with a plop.

"His Majesty!"

"I am willing to accept any questioning from the Royal Guards!"