my brother-in-law is the prince

Chapter 192
Zhang Anshi tidied up his clothes.

At this moment, Qiu Song looked complacent.

He led Zhang Anshi to a corner in Qixia far away from the market.

This is near the arsenal of the barracks.

However, they still kept some distance from the arsenal. Compared with the bustling markets, docks and other places, this place seemed deserted.

However, at this time... from this simple work shed, thick smoke came out.

This is a workshop that Zhang Anshi specially asked some skilled craftsmen to build.

Daming had relatively strict regulations on the forging of ironware.

For example, you can't forge armor, especially you can't hide armor privately.

In addition, bows and crossbows cannot be hidden. As for ordinary swords, the management is not strict.

Of course, the Model Battalion needs some weapons, especially gunpowder, which needs to be made by itself, and the Ministry of War does not care about this.

At this time... I saw an open hearth furnace standing in the shed.

This open hearth furnace is somewhat different from the blast furnace used to forge relics, and has been improved in many places.

Not only that, there is also a blower made of leather bags, which has a structure similar to an organ inside, and blows air by pressing.

Zhang Anshi once visited the Zaozao Bureau in the capital. Their duty was to produce weapons for the Ming army, and they were usually managed by the eunuchs in the palace. However, in Zhang Anshi's opinion, there were actually rules.

After all, Zhu Di loves military affairs, and now the Dukes of Jingnan in Ming Dynasty are still in the army. No one dares to neglect their duties in this aspect of ordnance. Once they are found out, they will definitely die.

This is completely different from the abolition of military equipment in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

But even so, after all, the forging skills of this era are still limited.

For example, for forged steel, craftsmen rely entirely on their past experience to forge, the quality is still uneven, and the best technology is still the steel pouring method.

That is, a high-quality steel with high carbon content and uniform texture obtained by smelting pig iron and wrought iron together.

It's just that the steel produced by this thing is not bad, but the problem is that it needs repeated forging by craftsmen, not to mention a lot of manpower and material resources, and the output is surprisingly small.

Therefore, this kind of steel is only used by a small number of military officers, and the vast majority of officers and soldiers still use iron swords.

What Zhang Anshi thought was, what if a large amount of steel could be made?

On Annan's side, there is a large demand for steel, and the border towns in the north have even greater demand. There are also fleets sailing to the West, and even... the Imperial Army.

If the vassal kings are also kicked out of Daming in the future, then what a great need this is!

Steel is strength, and only with strength can we pay less blood and achieve greater results.

Once it can be manufactured cheaply on a large scale and sold at a relatively low price, it means... making a fortune.

No, it is to make a fortune.

Perhaps in later generations, steel has long been reduced to a sunset industry, but this era is different.

In this era, steel is a high-tech industry.

In this era, there is no way to manufacture steel on a large scale. It is nothing more than raising the temperature to turn iron into molten iron.

Of course, the reason why no one uses it is because some people have tried it a long time ago, and finally found that the steel produced in this way contains too much phosphorus, and the steel produced is too brittle and shatters when hit.

Therefore, the crux of the problem is how to refine dephosphorized steel.

In fact, Zhang Anshi didn't know much about it, but he still knew the general principle.

So I pondered many ways and asked the craftsmen to try again and again.

And this time...

But he saw that the refractory bricks in the huge open hearth had already been burned red.

A large amount of pig iron was already in the furnace, and then the temperature continued to rise, and several blast air bags continuously blown air from the bottom of the open hearth furnace, so that the temperature in the furnace continued to increase.

Finally... from the open hearth furnace, the molten steel glowing with gold slowly flowed out, passed through the flat trough built with refractory bricks, and finally fell down.

Immediately afterwards, some craftsmen were active, and the molten steel directly entered the water, and with a chirping sound, thick smoke came out. Someone took a pliers and clamped out a piece of steel, and the steel billet was formed.

Zhang Anshi said: "How many catties can this stove produce every day?"

"One furnace can smelt three hundred catties." The craftsman replied, he was very excited, this efficiency is already dozens of times more efficient than that of pouring steel.

Zhang Anshi frowned and said, "Why is it only three hundred catties? Is it a little little?"

Yes, for this amount, he was a little disappointed.

Craftsman: "..."

Zhang Anshi said again: "How about the refined steel? Show me some finished products."

Qiu Song at the side said: "Let's go, let's go outside... Let my elder brother have a good look."

As he said that, Qiu Song asked someone to fetch a steel spear.

This steel spear is shiny all over, and it looks extravagant at first glance.

You know, this thing, in this era, is a luxury.After all... the price of steel is frighteningly high, and the output is still low. Even if the spear uses steel, it only hits one spearhead, and the others use wooden sticks.

Ke Qiusong has no awareness of thrift at all.

At the moment, people arranged a few sets of armor.

He calmed down, the steel spear he was holding weighed more than ten to twenty catties, the main reason was that it was made of steel and was not afraid of breaking, so the spear body was relatively slender, roughly the same thickness as the steel bars of later generations.

Immediately, Qiu Song stabbed fiercely at those armors with his spear.

These pairs of armor were pierced by sharp spear points like paper.

Qiu Song put away the spear, then looked at Zhang Anshi, and said excitedly: "Well, the craftsmen said that it is not easy to rust, so it doesn't need to be maintained with tung oil every day, just once or twice a month. Father needs to know that we have this magical weapon, hehe..."

Zhang Anshi was also interested: "Not bad, not bad."

He patted Qiu Song on the head to encourage him, and said: "Then you can forge a dozen knives for me. If you want a good knife, it's best to cut iron like mud. Besides, this knife should be aggressive. Let the craftsmen take it from you." The best leather goods, go make a good scabbard."

"Brother, what do you want to do with this? Anyway, you have no strength to restrain a chicken. It's useless to keep such a good knife in your hands."

Zhang Anshi's eyes widened, and he cursed angrily: "You bastard, who said that elder brother can't use it? Well, elder brother is really not good at fighting and killing. This is used as a gift. Look... this is your limitation, you I only think about fighting and killing, but I don’t know that in life, most of them are people’s understanding of the world.”

"Also, here you tell the craftsmen to teach them to build more stoves and increase the output of the workshop. We are going to get rich."

Qiu Song felt that Zhang Anshi was unreasonable, he was clearly such a magical weapon, but his eldest brother was only thinking about giving gifts and getting rich.

If everyone lived like a big brother, life would be boring.

Zhang Anshi saw what he was thinking, and patted him on the head again, saying: "Hey... Big brother, why don't you want to live a simple life, but... everyone other than Qixia is bad, if big brother is like you, how can it be? Big brother I rack my brains every day to protect you!"

"Okay, get off to work... Also, use this steel to make a few firecrackers and a few cannons to see how it works."

…………

"His Majesty."

Holding a long box in his hand, Yi Shiha came to Zhu Di excitedly.

Zhu Di glanced at him, his eyes fell on the long box in his hand, and he couldn't help asking: "What is this?"

Yi Shiha hurriedly said with a smile: "This is presented by Marquis Annan, and he said that His Majesty must like it after reading it."

Zhu Di was suspicious, and said: "Put it on the royal case, I'll take a good look at it."

So Yishiha put the long box on the imperial case.

Zhu Di opened the box, and a scabbard made of crocodile skin and inlaid with gold and jade was exposed in front of Zhu Di.

Zhu Di was actually angry, and cursed: "It's useless to calm down, how much does it cost? This thing is on the battlefield, there is a bird."

Yishiha stood aside and couldn't help smiling awkwardly.

Zhu Di was angry, but he still pulled the knife out of its sheath.

There was a sound of woo woo woo, because Zhu Di's movements were too big, and it seemed to sound like a knife.

Zhu Di held the knife horizontally in his hand. The weight of this knife is not heavy because the blade is long and narrow.

Zhu Di frowned and said, "This knife is too slender."

He likes heavy ones.

Of course, it's not that I like it, but I have developed a habit.

After all... limited by the quality of the steel, if the blade is too thin, it is easy to break and warp.

At this time, the advantage of the weight of the blade comes out. If it is really not good, it can also be used as a fire stick to hit people.

Zhu Di was calm and relaxed. He has always been strong, but now holding such a light knife in his hand, he always felt that something was missing, so he gestured casually.

The steel knife seemed to be piercing through the air, which gave Zhu Di great confidence, so Zhu Di immediately took the knife and slashed at will.

This cut is just the corner of the case.

Who knew... in an instant, the corners of the desk were cut off in one piece.

The incision is extremely smooth.

Zhu Di was taken aback for a moment, obviously this was unexpected.

You know, this is an imperial case, not an ordinary table and chair. Most of the tables and chairs in ordinary people's homes are made of pine wood, and the wood used in the imperial case is often strong and compact.

Zhu Di hurriedly turned his head to look at the blade, but after looking... he found that there was no crack on the blade, and the blade was still sharp.

Zhu Di said: "This knife cuts iron like mud. I have seen many precious swords that cut iron like mud. But it is rare to see such a light and light knife. A good knife, a good knife..."

Yishi laughed and said: "This was made by Marquis Annan, so I quickly sent a pair. The steel used was also made by Marquis Annan using some secret recipe. He plans to call this billet Yongle steel." .”

Zhu Di snorted softly and said: "This idle guy knows that it's useless to deal with these things. This knife is good, but it's just a magic weapon. Now that I'm the emperor, I can't use it anymore. I really want to sweep The world relies on thousands of soldiers, and what it needs is countless food, grass and military equipment, and to put it bluntly, it is money!"

Zhu Di looked down at the case, and said, "Withdraw this case and replace it with a new one."

Although he looked unhappy, Zhu Di took the knife back into its sheath and said, "This knife is very good. Since I don't need it, I will give it to King Ning. King Ning has come to the capital. I am busy with government affairs these days. I didn't call him to see him, I ignored him, he is also a sword lover, and the sword is given to a hero."

"This..." Yi Shiha seemed hesitant.

Zhu Di said, "Why are you stuttering again?"

Yi Shiha said: "Your Majesty, I heard that the Marquis of Annan forged many such knives and gave them to others everywhere, Cheng Guogong, Qi Guogong... Oh, and Wei Guogong, Wu Dinghou... They all have them. His Royal Highness King Ning, I'm afraid he will be sent there too."

Zhu Di suddenly tensed up again, and said: "This guy Zhang Anshi has changed. He used to only think about earning money, but now that he has money, his mind is full of money. Such a good knife costs hundreds of taels at least. Silver, how can there be any reason to give it away? I will call him into the palace tomorrow, and I will tell him about Empress Cixiaogao."

Yishiha said, "obey the order."

Zhu Di shook his head, feeling a little twisted in his heart, young people nowadays...

…………

In Honglu Temple.

Zhang Anshi excitedly posted the greeting card.

Ning Wang Zhu Quan was very enthusiastic and came out to greet him in person.

His feelings towards Zhang Anshi were a bit complicated. On the one hand, he didn't like the close officials around Zhu Di.

But on the other hand, this kid is different from others.

If it wasn't for this kid, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to escape this catastrophe.

As the two walked inside, Zhang Anshi smiled and said to Zhu Quan who was beside him: "Is your Highness living in the capital all right?"

Zhu Quan said: "I'm thinking about Nanchang Mansion in my heart. It's not good to be in a foreign land."

These words have two meanings, one is to tell Zhu Di through Zhang Anshi that he is still being wronged.

On the other hand, it also shows that he has no nostalgia for Nanjing City, and only wants to return to Nanchang Mansion as soon as possible.

To some extent, it also means that he has no dissenting intentions!
The emperor, Zhu Di, do it yourself, I just want to go back to Nanchang Mansion to hang out.

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "I heard many people say that His Highness swept the desert and made great achievements. At that time, His Highness should have been only seventeen or eighteen years old. When he was in Daning, His Highness not only managed the army strictly, but also had the skills to bring the people together. , It is also very admirable, the army and the people, there is no one who does not praise His Highness."

Regardless of whether he admired Zhang Anshi or not, Zhu Quan was quite vigilant when he heard this, and said, "That's a thing of the past."

Zhang Anshi knew Zhu Quan's cautiousness, and said with a friendly face: "It's a pity that a person with such talents can't be put to good use."

After all, Zhu Quan couldn't hold back the suspicion in his heart, so he asked, "What do you mean by Marquis Annan's words...?"

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "I was forging the knife recently, so I expressed some emotion, and it happened that I brought a gift to His Highness."

After finishing speaking, he turned his head and gave Zhang San a wink who was following him.

Zhang San stepped forward carefully holding the box.

Seeing that Zhu Quan didn't respond.

Zhang Anshi opened the box himself, took out the knife from the inside, pulled the knife out of its sheath, and danced in the void, at this moment, he happened to see a small tree beside the road of Honglu Temple, and he chopped it off fiercely.

The tree as thick as the cup was broken in an instant.

The official of Honglu Temple, who was following far behind, stared straight at him.

But soon, the officials who came with them got up again.

Zhang Anshi killed him, what does it have to do with me?

To report a loss later, just plant a new tree. For such a tree, it is not too much to report a loss of 200 taels.

"How about this knife?" Zhang Anshi looked at Zhu Quan with a smile and asked.

Zhu Quan is a man of knowledge, so he had no choice but to say at this time: "A good knife, but the price of this knife is expensive, and a gentleman does not take what others like..."

Zhang Anshi hurriedly interrupted: "It's not worth much... I can make more than 50 boilers in one boiler. Your Highness can play with it. You're welcome. It's not specially given to His Highness. In fact... there are famous people in the capital. , I’ll give everyone a copy.”

Zhu Quan: "..."

But soon, Zhu Quan seemed to have thought of something, and couldn't help but said: "It's worthless? You fetch me and have a look."

So Zhu Quan took the knife, looked it over carefully, and said: "The price of such a knife should not be less than a hundred taels. As far as I know, even if it is a hundred-layer steel, even if it is a thousand-layer steel It’s not much less than that, but the manpower and material resources needed to make steel... is amazing..."

Zhang Anshidao: "I have the method of steelmaking, which can be forged on a large scale. One furnace, more than a dozen craftsmen a day! One furnace can make steel billets like hundreds of swords! What's more, I plan to build dozens of steel billets. There are hundreds of such stoves, as long as His Highness is willing, you can have as many as you want, and the price can be controlled at least within ten taels of silver. If it is to be mass-produced, even if it is three or five taels, it is not impossible."

Zhu Quan was dumbfounded.

Zhang Anshi was very satisfied with Zhu Quan's reaction, and said with a smile: "Your Highness, how are you doing, are you interested?"

Zhu Quan was still very rational, and immediately shook his head and said, "I'm just a wild crane, and I've lost interest in this for a long time."

"If I were His Royal Highness, I would never let go of my favorite things and read those bird books all day long! If a man is alive, he should make great achievements. Of course, the main reason is that I, Zhang Anshi, have no skills, and I am afraid when I see blood. If not... "

Conspiring so loudly really stunned Zhu Quan.

The officials of Honglu Temple are not far away.

Not to mention, the ghost knows if there is a Tiqi from Jinyiwei inside or outside.

However, Zhang Anshi still said unscrupulously: "Your Highness, don't be afraid. In fact... I think it's a pity that Your Highness has the ability to govern the army and the people. So... I have an idea. Does Your Highness know... Zhu Gaoxu?"

Zhu Quan nodded with a sullen face.

"He is in Annan now, as the governor of Annan, he is on horseback to rule the army and off the horse to rule the people. He is very majestic. Has your Highness ever thought about..."

Zhu Quan raised his eyebrows and said, "Let me go to Annan?"

Zhang Anshi shook his head and said, "What are you going to do in Annan? The world is so big, where can you not go? This Annan was brought down by Zhu Gaoxu, and he should be the governor. He is now sharpening his knife and planning to attack Siam!"

Zhang Anshi immediately said with a smile: "If I am Your Highness, I will ask Your Majesty to return part of Duoyanwei's guards and King Ningwei to me, and then... find a good place, such as Luzon, even if it is Japan. Arrived The place, settle down first, what will happen in the future, whether you will die and the country will be destroyed, or you will be like Zhu Gaoxu, expanding the territory and expanding the territory, all depends on yourself. It is better than relying on others in Nanchang Mansion."

Zhu Quan thought suddenly, and stared at Zhang Anshi with piercing eyes.

Zhang Anshi said: "If you enter a commercial firm and issue additional shares at that time, His Royal Highness Ning Wang will also have a share. Not only that, but you can also lead troops and horses and become a prince! If His Highness is not confident, His Highness should have heard that Qixia made it. The gunpowder, and this firearm...all of these can be supplied."

"Your Highness, you don't want to study for the rest of your life, do you?"

"If life is like this, how boring it would be!"

"Your Highness, this matter has to be done quickly. If it is too late and others take the lead, you will not be able to pick a good place."

"In the future, His Highness's descendants will ask about their ancestors, but they will know that His Highness's whole life is just studying, I'm afraid..."

"I have a friend named Gobulun. It's a weird name, but he's just a mere white man, but he went out to explore the sea and did a great job. Now... the achievements and feudal titles are only in front of us. "

"Didn't Emperor Taizu Gao start his career in common clothes? Your Highness is the proud descendant of Emperor Taizu Gao. Now you are a feudal lord, with guards and the support of the court. Now is the time to make achievements. Your Highness is still like this. young……"

Hearing Zhang Anshi's eloquent talk, Zhu Quan's face was cold and he was in shock. He suspected that Zhang Anshi was trying to persuade him to rebel, but it didn't sound like it.

After thinking about it carefully, he said, "You mean, let me follow Zhu Gaoxu's example?"

Zhang Anshi simply said: "Yes."

At this moment, Zhu Quan was really moved.

In fact, in fact, his heart has long been cold.

But now, Zhang Shi'an took the fire and lit a fire in his heart.

Once the fire is ignited, it is somewhat impossible to extinguish.

It makes sense for Zhang Anshi to choose King Ning to set an example!
King Ning is young, powerful, and ambitious.

Zhu Quan said hesitantly: "I'm afraid His Majesty will not agree."

Zhang Anshi said: "If you don't ask His Majesty, how will you know if he is willing?"

Having said that, he lowered his voice: "Maybe your majesty can't ask for it?"

But Zhu Quan raised his eyes and said: "From your point of view, if this king moves his domain, where should he go?"

Zhang Anshi thought for a while and said: "If I were me, I would choose Luzon. This place is fertile. I can take people to the shore first, rely on the treasure ship for supplies, settle down first, and then make other plans."

After a pause, Zhang Anshi lowered his voice and said, "I heard that King Zhao also intends to go to Luzon."

Zhu Quan immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "King Zhao...is also thinking about this?"

"Of course..." Zhang Anshi said: "His Royal Highness knows about him, he is very deep-minded...his heart is unpredictable!"

Zhu Quan sneered: "A doll dares to go out, but he has some guts."

The implication is that he deserves it too?A person like this king has this ability.

Zhang Anshi smiled sheepishly: "Haha, I will have an audience in the palace tomorrow, Your Highness, I won't bother you any more."

"Are you going to enter the palace tomorrow?" Zhu Quan thought for a while and said, "This king also wants to have an audience."

Zhang Anshi said: "What a coincidence? Well, I will go with His Highness then."

…………

The next morning.

Zhang Anshi first went to Honglu Temple, joined Zhu Quan, and then entered the palace.

Zhu Di was a little surprised when he heard that the two had an audience together, so he immediately called them in.

Seeing Zhu Quan, Zhu Di smiled and said, "My dear brother... Are you used to living in the capital?"

"I'm not used to it."

Zhu Di was still happy: "We brothers grew up together in this city of Nanjing, why can't we get used to it? It must be that the people in Honglu Temple didn't take good care of them, and I will punish them severely."

Zhu Quan didn't say anything.

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the reason why His Royal Highness King Ning is not used to living here is because... I heard that the King of Han... no, I heard that Zhu Gaoxu served His Majesty in Annan, expanding the territory...so..."

Zhu Quan looked at Zhu Di nervously.

Obviously, leading troops outside is enough to cause Zhu Di to have other thoughts.

After hearing this, Zhu Di frowned: "Your brother actually wants to lead the army?"

Zhu Quan: "..."

Zhang Anshi said: "King Ning is good at bowing horses and is proficient in strategy. Naturally, he hopes to do something great."

King Ning hurriedly said: "My brother will die."

Zhu Di said with emotion: "What's wrong with being well-off in Nanchang? You have to go outside! When this person goes outside, he wants to govern the people, the army, and open up borders. Just like me, he is beaten every day. Everything is entangled in everything, how hard it must be! Brother, you don’t know that since I succeeded the Great Ruler and became the Son of Heaven, it can be said that I have worked hard and never had a safe life. Why do you have to do this.”

Zhang Anshi also hurriedly said: "That's right, Your Majesty has suffered day and night for the sake of the common people and the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. These ministers are all seeing this."

Zhu Quan: "..."

Zhu Di turned around and said: "But since you have this heart and are willing to share my worries, this matter...is not impossible...Zhang Anshi, I will leave this matter to you and sign a contract with him. Although we are brothers , but the account must be settled.”

Zhu Quan was taken aback for a moment, he didn't expect Zhu Di to be so easy to talk to.

Soon, he took a meaningful look at Zhang Anshi, and he roughly understood that this might have been His Majesty's idea from the beginning.

Thinking of it this way, he felt a little backed down.

This fourth Zhu, should not be cheating.

Zhang Anshi readily agreed: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that the matter of the business firm will be settled clearly with His Royal Highness King Ning, and all the businesses will arrange it at that time."

Zhu Di nodded, and then said: "Yesterday you gave me a knife, and this knife is not bad."

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty." Zhang Anshi said, "It was trained by Qixia. Your Majesty's knife is the first knife practiced by Qixia. It is of great significance, so I sent it to Your Majesty."

Zhu Di said: "This knife is not easy to forge, so we don't have to spend so much money in the future."

Zhang Anshi said: "Who said wasteful? Your Majesty, this knife is cheap, and it is easy to deceive... With this kind of knife, I can make at least tens of thousands of mouths in a month, and this is under the condition that it does not crowd out other weapons. "

When Zhu Di heard this, he couldn't help frowning. He stared at Zhang Anshi and said, "The price is low?"

"Yes, the price is low, but... it needs to be manufactured on a large scale, and I'm afraid it needs the court's approval."

Zhu Di said: "How cheap?"

Zhang Anshidao: "I can control the cost of such a knife to about five taels of silver, maybe even lower."

At this moment, Zhu Di couldn't sit still.

For weapon lovers, if they can create magic weapons, of course they will be infinitely happy.For example, the Yue Wang Sword, Gan Jiang, Mo Xie, or Yuchang Sword, all of which are well-known.

But Zhu Di is the real commander in the army, he may not be very interested in individual swords and swords, but if such magical weapons can be manufactured on a large scale, then...it is completely different.

Think about it, what would it be like for the tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Ming troops, each carrying a light weapon, to pass by!
Zhu Di's face froze, and the hall fell into a deathly silence.

(End of this chapter)