Brother Wen gave Zhu Houzhao a big cake and smashed him until he was dizzy.

Zhu Houzhao was only twelve years old, and he still couldn't figure out many things, but he already had his own ideas on many things. He thought about it excitedly for a while, and then came to his senses: "Did you tell me earlier?" Are you preparing for these things? You have been thinking of ways to promote the usefulness of Guanxue, just to build this school, right?"

Brother Wen denied: "I'm not Zhuge Liang, how can one step be counted as a hundred steps? I'm busy with official duties on weekdays, and most of the research is done by Li Yao and the others. I just help them praise them after they come up with results. , what’s the difference between a teacher and others who have written an article and I praise them a few words?”

Zhu Houzhao didn't believe it. He felt that Brother Wen had already planned it.

It's just that the prospects mentioned by Brother Wen made his heart so excited that he couldn't help but want to realize such a lofty idea.

Even though he knew it was the bait thrown by Brother Wen, he still wanted to bite the hook!

Anyway, Zhu Houzhao always felt that this matter was as exciting to him as fighting.

After a day, the person in charge of the smelting plant honestly compiled the accident data over the years.

Zhu Houzhao looked through the records above and found that most of the names above were quite similar, and many of them were the names of the fathers who became sons after something happened.

This seems to be the fate of craftsmen.

As for the pension, it is a little bit, but not much.

And I don’t know if it can fall into the hands of the corresponding person.

Just like many of the preferential treatment given by the imperial court to military households were ignored by others, many people even took away other people's living money.

No wonder Brother Wen always gives them economics questions. Even if they have enough money and food, how to ensure that they can be used in practical applications is still a huge problem. The allocation of resources has made people worry since ancient times!

Zhu Houzhao's eyes moved slightly, and he called Yang Yu to come over and give some instructions, asking him to lead people to visit these houses separately.

It's best not to alarm anyone.

Yang Yu took the order seriously and left.

Brother Wen didn't care how Zhu Houzhao struggled. As the prince, Zhu Houzhao could worry about these problems early, which was a very good progress for him.

Let’s talk about what happens next.

Seeing that the five-day period set earlier was approaching, Brother Wen seldom played outside again and closed the door to start drawing firearms drawings.

With the prince Zhu Houzhao around, he was able to understand the level of firearms in this era, and even disassembled different firearms several times. He pulled out an improvement idea suitable for the current level, pondered for a while, and then started drawing on paper.

When Brother Wen finished drawing the firearms drawings attentively, he saw Yang Shen coming over and told him about the changes outside: the prince personally arrested several people from the smelting plant, and ordered Ying Tianfu Yin to ransack their homes and put a batch of The pensions to craftsmen should be repaid, as the imperial court will not treat anyone who works hard.

After hearing this, Brother Wen smiled and said, "This is a good thing."

Yang Shen also nodded: "It is indeed a good thing."

Brother Wen then asked him: "His Royal Highness is so wise and virtuous, when will you leave to take the exam and assist us in the East Palace?"

Yang Shen's eyes began to wander.

He is only sixteen years old, so he doesn’t want to be like Brother Wen, who wakes up earlier than a chicken and goes to bed later than a dog every day!

"Why do you keep thinking about urging people to take the exam every day!" Yang Shen muttered in a low voice.

Brother Wen said: "Hey, isn't this what I have been advised by others before?"

He has already suffered losses, how could others not be fooled!

This is really unreasonable!

Yang Shen strongly condemned Brother Wen's behavior: "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you!"

Brother Wen refused to listen.

He will give, day by day, night by night!

The news that the prince's first attack after arriving in Nanjing was actually against the humble smelting plant made many people confused. When they found out that the prince was actually collecting pensions for several craftsmen's families, everyone was shocked.

There was some silence: Do the Ming Dynasty really want to have a prince who loves the people like a son?

At first, Zhu Houzhao was inspired by "The Picture of Beggar" and raised a lamb. Li Dongyang and other Hanlin scholars also wrote many poems and essays praising virtues. Those poems and essays were later spread to Jiangnan, but many people felt that they were not well written.

It's not particularly good, and it's not widely popular.

The fanatic named Sang Yue from Suzhou even directly stated that the articles written by these guys in the Hanlin Academy were all rubbish!

Although this guy likes to spread hatred no matter what, it is not an authoritative comment, but it also represents the thoughts of many people in Jiangnan. The most important thing in Jiangnan is literati and elegant guests, and Hanlin officials are not as highly respected as in other places.

After those poems were passed on, everyone only discussed a few words, but it didn't cause much response.

Many people couldn't help but criticize Li Dongyang and others for blatantly flattering him.

How old does a child know to love the people like a child? It all depends on their nonsense!

Zhu Houzhao's style now reminds people of those poems.

Did the old Zhu family really give birth to a saint after being called "Long Live"?

If the prince really cares about the people, it wouldn't be a bad thing for them.

What they are most worried about is actually not being sure of the preference of their superiors. After all, no matter what the preference of their superiors is, they can find ways to satisfy it. Having no preference is the hardest thing! The princes will not be stationed in Jiangnan permanently.

It couldn't be easier to be happy and rich. It was because the people in the smelting house didn't do things well that they bumped into the prince's gun.

Everyone told the people below to be more careful and not to end up like the people in the smelting plant.

Zhu Houzhao did not travel again. He went to Shenji Camp with Brother Wen.

The five-day period has arrived!

Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu also brought a few old craftsmen who could read blueprints to serve as referees as promised. Regardless of whether he believed in his heart that Brother Wen and the prince could draw the firearms blueprints, he had to show great expectation on his face.

He had privately told these old craftsmen that no matter what the prince's master and apprentice's drawings looked like, they had to find an angle to praise them.

You are professionals, you can always pick two things to praise, right?

Originally, the old craftsmen were very resistant to this kind of thing. You have to know that they have worked honestly all their lives. How could they know this? When they knew they had to speak in front of the prince, their legs trembled!

But after last night, their mentality has changed. They are not the families that Zhu Houzhao helped to get back the pension, but they are all craftsmen. How can they not feel anything when they learn about this matter? They have already discussed it, if firearms

If the practicality is not good, they will praise the overall creativity; if the overall creativity is not good, they will praise the partial design!

If the difference between the drawings of the two sides is not particularly large, then they must let the prince win this time!

Wang Xiaozhuangyuan and the prince are both amateurs, so they probably can't draw any decent drawings. This way they won't feel guilty when they praise the prince!

Several old craftsmen eagerly followed Zhu Fu, the Duke of Cheng, to serve as referees.

Zhu Houzhao had a very fulfilling life these days, thinking about how to draw firearms patterns and dealing with matters at the smelting plant.

Today he is about to compete with Brother Wen, and he is very excited. He is full of confidence in his drawings, and is also looking forward to Brother Wen's drawings, because Brother Wen rarely talks big.

Brother Wen was also very curious about what Zhu Houzhao would look like. When everyone arrived, he handed over his drawings without saying a word, and then went over to see what Zhu Houzhao had drawn.

It has to be said that Zhu Houzhao is still very talented in the military field. Regardless of whether the new firearms he designed can be made, they look quite bluffing at first glance, at least they look very cool. But there is no innovation in terms of function, and they are generally just useless.

There is no convention of having firearms.

This is normal. No invention can be made out of thin air in five days of thinking. It is already very rare for Zhu Houzhao to be able to draw this at his age.

The craftsmen feel the same way, they can make the style the prince wants!

The craftsmen were all wondering where to start praising the prince, when Zhu Houzhao said eagerly: "Don't look at me for now. Come and take a look at the little gentleman's drawings!"

It turned out that the craftsmen were looking closely at the prince's copy of the drawing first, and Wen's copy was still in the hand of Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Fu. Zhu Houzhao couldn't wait any longer, so he also ran over and asked Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Fu to look at it together.

At first glance, Zhu Houzhao was immediately fascinated by this new firearm. Compared with existing firearms, this new firearm has several more special structures. Not only does it look much better in appearance, it is also more convenient to use. If everything goes well, it can be made.

When it comes out, it can even be used on horseback!

How could Zhu Houzhao, who was naturally martial, not be excited?

No matter how stupid these craftsmen are, they can still make it after five years of research. By then, he will be at least sixteen or seventeen years old, and he will definitely be able to try it himself!

Zhu Houzhao excitedly called on the craftsmen to come over and study whether there were any technical difficulties that needed to be overcome. If not, how long would it take to create them?

Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu could also see the importance of this drawing. Before circulating the drawing to the craftsmen, Su Rong said: "You remember, the contents of this drawing must not be spread to outsiders, otherwise you will harm your family!

"

These craftsmen who belong to the Shenji Camp are all reliable, and their families live under the control of the Shenji Camp on weekdays, so naturally they will not leak secrets casually.

Hearing that Duke Cheng Zhu Fu was so cautious, the craftsmen responded with fear and fear, and carefully passed around Brother Wen's drawings.

They were all professionals specializing in firearms manufacturing. As soon as they received the drawings, they could see how extraordinary this new firearm was. After everyone mentally calculated the possibility of manufacturing it, their hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

Not scared, but excited.

Can make it, they can make this!

If it was built, it would be considered a great achievement, right?

At this time, they had completely forgotten the original instructions of Duke Cheng Guo Zhu Fu. They gathered together and discussed the difficulty of casting each component. Finally, they told Zhu Houzhao that if they started trial manufacturing immediately, it would take half a month.

It can be built by trial and error! But if the trial production fails, it may take a little longer.

But from a theoretical analysis, this new type of firearm can be made!

This is much faster than the five years Zhu Houzhao expected. Maybe he can bring a batch of finished products back to Beijing!

Zhu Houzhao turned around and discussed with Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Fu. Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Fu immediately ordered the craftsmen to start trial construction on behalf of the prince. If they could build it, the East Palace would give him a lot of rewards.

The craftsmen readily responded.
To be continued...