my brother-in-law is the prince

Chapter 299 Invincible in the world
On the side of the East Palace, the Crown Princess Zhang called Zhang Anshi away.

Knowing that she was pregnant with her second child, Mrs. Zhang was overjoyed, and naturally she couldn't help complaining to Zhang Anshi.

Zhang Anshi also knew that he was wrong. Although he was busy with serious business these days, he really cared less about his wife and children after all.

Facing Mrs. Zhang, she just kept nodding her head.

"Sister, from now on, I will stay at home honestly for a few days, but... our Zhang family's new house is about to be built, but Qixia has to go around more."

"I heard that you have done a lot of things in Taiping Mansion." Mrs. Zhang saw that her younger brother had a good attitude of admitting his mistakes, so she continued to chase and scold her, but she became concerned about her younger brother.

Zhang Anshi said: "It also offended many people."

Mrs. Zhang said lightly: "If you are offended, you should be offended! In the past, you were confused all day long, so my sister was afraid that you would cause trouble outside, but since you are promising and really want to do something, how can you stop me?" You? The sky is falling, and your brother-in-law is holding it up."

Kneeling and sitting in the corner, Zhu Zhanji, who watched his mother scolding his uncle with relish, finally said at this moment: "Mother, concubine, and me, and me..."

Mrs. Zhang didn't look at him.

But he said: "Our Zhang family didn't come from a wealthy family back then, and our father was just an ordinary military officer in Beiping Prefecture. In life, you were young at the time, so you may not have any impressions, but sister has experienced it. You have become a parent official, and other nonsense is fine, but you must not harm the people. Before acting, you must look forward and backward, think carefully, and you will What are the consequences? Sometimes, when we think about things in our brains and order them to go on, we don’t know how many soldiers and civilians may be killed! So, don’t always take things for granted. look more."

What my sister said was well-intentioned, how could Zhang Anshi not understand?Then he said again and again: "Yes, yes."

Mrs. Zhang continued: "I complain that you don't stay at home on weekdays because you are always confused, but now that you are in charge of one party and become a big official in the frontier, you have a heavy burden on you. Sister will naturally help you more with family matters. Cooking, Jingyi is also a well-educated person, so I won't blame you, as long as you don't make trouble."

"Sister...really...I..." Zhang Anshi was going to wipe away his tears.

Who knew the tears were not squeezed out.

But Zhu Zhanji burst into tears, sobbing: "Mother concubine... is good to my uncle, and is also good to me, mother concubine... great kindness..."

Zhang Anshi: "..."

Mrs. Zhang pursed her lips and smiled: "It is said that a nephew is like an uncle. I see that this makes sense. You are busy these days, and Zhanji always talks about you."

Zhang Anshi couldn't help becoming curious, and said, "What are you talking about about me?"

Mrs. Zhang pursed her lips, paused, but said: "At the end of the year, Your Majesty will go hunting, and Zhan Ji is learning how to ride and shoot, and then... I'm afraid I will have to show off in front of his grandfather. "

Seeing that Mrs. Zhang left the topic, Zhang Anshi knew that Zhu Zhanji must not have a high opinion of his uncle, and his back teeth could not help but bite into pieces: "He is so young, he learns to ride and shoot, and he is not afraid of accidents." .”

"It can't be helped, his grandpa likes it..." Zhang said: "But it's good to let him practice. I am a big son, and I will learn more about riding and shooting. I hope His Royal Highness will also learn it, but he is on official business. I'm busy, and now I'm really forgetting to sleep and eat because of politics, which makes people worry. He also explained that if I see you, I must remind you, and I will not let the people down."

Zhang Anshi said: "Yes."

Coming out of Mrs. Zhang resentfully, Mrs. Zhang immediately prepared some nourishing food, and taught him to accompany Zhang Anshi home.

Xu Jingyi is now very familiar with childbirth, but she is not as cautious as when she first gave birth to Zhang's eldest son. When she saw Zhang Anshi and came back, she poured tea and water.

Although the husband and wife have not seen each other for many days, they are not unfamiliar at all. They look at each other as naturally as an old married couple.

Xu Jingyi's face was full of tenderness, and she said with a smile: "Do you know about the hunt that His Majesty is going to hunt?"

When Zhang Anshi returned home, he unconsciously felt relaxed, smiled and said, "I just heard about it from Sister."

Xu Jingyi said: "Your Majesty is very skilled in bowing horses, but this time, he severely reprimanded the disciples of Xun Chen."

Zhang Anshi took a sip of tea and sighed comfortably. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that the tea at home was more fragrant.

After taking a sip of warm tea, he said again: "Those brothers of mine usually don't have any brains. They are always reckless, and they don't get reprimanded. It's strange."

Xu Jingyi smiled and looked at him for a while without saying a word, and then said: "That's not the case, it seems that you didn't read the will!"

Zhang Anshi said in surprise: "There is still a will? It seems that the matter is quite serious. Are my brothers involved?"

Xu Jingyi said: "I taught someone to copy a copy. This decree was originally for the Minister of War Jin Zhong and Ding Guogong, that is, my cousin Xu Jingchang. After Jingchang got the decree, he copied a few copies and gave one copy to my father. , a copy was sent here to remind us."

Zhang Anshi hurriedly said, "Let me take a look."

Xu Jingyi ordered to go on, and after a while, a maidservant sent a note.

Zhang Anshi opened it and saw that it read: "Inform Jin Zhong, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and Xu Jingchang, Duke of Dingguo: All the ministers with meritorious deeds in the past rose up in the army. , Serve the imperial court carefully, so as to keep wealth forever. And their descendants, indulge in comfort, indulge in extravagance and prostitution, forget the hardships of their grandfather, play with greedy years, and are not good at riding and shooting. Once they meet the test, they are at a loss, and instead use private bribes to get away with it ;In the event of recruitment, hundreds of plans are made to avoid it. It is unavoidable. When facing the enemy in front of the battle, he is timid and cowardly. You need to practice riding and shooting day and night, if you still can't use it, order your brother to attack the prince and make him guard the border."

Zhang Anshi looked at it and couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Obviously, although it is only the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, some children of heroes have already begun to slack off.

This kind of thing is actually inevitable in any dynasty.The first generation of military officials who founded the country were all outstanding people, but in the second generation, they were fine, and if they continued after that, they were mostly dudes.

Zhu Di obviously couldn't stand it anymore, and that's why he issued such a stern order.

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "Your Majesty is scaring people!"

Xu Jingyi smiled and said: "Although it is to scare people, your majesty is also very anxious. I am afraid that this time I will hunt, and I will find a reason to deal with some people severely."

"Oh." Xu Jingyi remembered something again, and continued: "Your Majesty also said that this hunt...all the disciples of the honorable officials must participate, and those who fail to shoot will be punished. But if they can be reviewed Those who win the first place will be rewarded heavily."

"Husband, you are usually the worst at riding and shooting. I am afraid that you will also appear on the stage. Although your husband is a talent for planning, I am afraid that your husband will not look very good when you appear on stage."

Zhang Anshi frowned, and murmured: "No way, I want to appear on stage too?"

For a moment, he felt guilty, thinking that Zhu Di would not punish him because of this, after all...he took another path, which was different from the playboy Zhu Di said.

But then again, not being punished is not the same as showing embarrassment in front of everyone. If there are countless people laughing at that time, then it will be really embarrassing.

Zhang Anshi thought for a while and said, "Whoever shoots the most prey will be rewarded heavily. What is the reward?"

Xu Jingyi said: "It's hard to say, but His Majesty attaches so much importance to this hunt and issued such a strict order, this reward will definitely not be light. Only with heavy rewards, other children will be willing to practice riding and archery diligently in the future."

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "Haha... I have an idea! Just wait and see, when the time comes, you will hear your brother Xu Jingchang and Xu Qin brag about how powerful my brother-in-law is in front of you. Overwhelm the crowd, no, overwhelm the crowd with skill!"

Xu Jingyi said: "I was originally reminding my husband, even if you are holding Buddha's feet temporarily in the past few days, you should practice bow and horse first. I am pregnant now. Although I can't teach you hand in hand, I can also teach you from the sidelines."

But Zhang Anshi said with a high air: "I'm not bragging, I'm sure I can't learn how to bow a horse. But...in this world...hunting this kind of thing doesn't just rely on the bow and horse, it also depends on the brain. This matter, Don't worry, I'll let you know later how invincible my husband is."

He uttered bold words, and immediately, the couple took a break and had nothing to say for a night.

Early the next morning, Zhang Anshi went to the magistrate's yamen as usual, and held a small meeting with Gao Xiang.

This meeting is about the export of goods.

In order to have prosperous business in Taiping Mansion, although the establishment of commercial roads in various provinces is the top priority, but now exporting goods can make more profits, so this involves dredging the river.Then set up several wharves along the Yangtze River, and then from the Yangtze River Wharf, go down the river to the Songjiang Estuary and Yang Fan goes to sea.

"The construction of the wharf must be accelerated, and don't be reluctant to give people money. In addition, sea ships and cargo ships on the river should be encouraged to build. The good thing about Jiangnan is that there are waterways everywhere, and shipping transportation is the most important thing. It is cheap, and more labor needs to be organized, and it will be completed before the end of the year.”

After Zhang Anshi roughly explained, he ignored everything.

After all, everyone in the Taiping Mansion has been beaten to death, and everyone is desperately rushing to do the job.

In fact, it's not just the officials who have such an atmosphere, even ordinary people under the Taiping Mansion have probably become active.

In the past, there were too few outlets for ordinary people. The vast majority of people could only be tenants, with almost no savings, and it was difficult for the whole family to support them.

But now, with the recruitment of workers in Qixia and some mines in the three counties, and some gentry began to sell bad fields and forests, especially the forests. There are many mines in the mountains, but the Taiping government directly Heavily taxed countermeasures were adopted for barren forests.

In this way, the gentry can't spend a lot of cash to mine minerals, but they can continue to hold them. Not only the annual tax is heavy, but also there is no profit, so they have to buy them at a price.

Generally speaking, the government government buys it at a price, and then leases it to merchants through long-term leases, allowing them to set up forest farms and mines. The government government receives a large amount of rent every year, and merchants are profitable. And to.

This is almost equivalent to everyone swarming and biting the flesh and blood of the gentry, but the gentry can only stare blankly. All they can hold in their hands now is some fertile land, and they still rely on these good fields to hire some tenants. , to seek some benefits.

For ordinary people, the biggest advantage is that people are being hired everywhere in the market, as long as they are willing to sell their physical strength, they can often get a relatively generous salary!

Coupled with the prosperity of the market, many civilian goods began to become scarce, and many people joined forces to do some small businesses. For ordinary people, this was a rare opportunity to turn around.

Of course... For the impoverished scholars at the bottom, their outlets have obviously begun to increase. On the one hand, the government is recruiting people everywhere to teach people in the countryside, and there is a great demand for scholars. There are workshops that are in urgent need of people who can write and calculate, to be accountants and managers, and the value of scholars has begun to rise. Even in several nearby prefectures, there are many scholars who have no hope of imperial examinations and their families have come.

Every three years in the Ming Dynasty, the number of Jinshi in the Institute is only a few hundred, and the number of candidates is only a thousand. Such a low admission rate means that the vast majority of scholars are actually doing useless work.

The sad thing is that if it is not for the family's assets, ordinary people will have no way out if they can't get a gold medal in their studies. This is why many people dare not send their children to study.

No matter how high the cost is, the people in this land are willing to support their children to study even if they don’t eat or drink, but there is no way out after reading, but everyone is not stupid, and of course they dare not harm their children.

But now, in this Taiping Mansion, it seems that scholars and gentry are least respected, but they are very hungry for knowledge!
This kind of hunger and thirst is priced in money, because many positions require scholars, someone who can read and write, and someone who can write and count. Everyone is willing to pay high prices to hire scholars to maintain their own businesses, workshops, and mines. operation of the field.

With the hinterland of Taiping Mansion, Qixia's commercial atmosphere became more intense, overcrowded, people with ordinary hopes and opportunities everywhere.

What people are really eager for in this world is not necessarily a full meal or a whip, but hope.

When there is hope and someone realizes that they can become another kind of person, even a peddler on the street will start working tirelessly from morning to night.

Of course, all this is just the beginning, and the people in it will not realize that they are creating history and entering a new era in Xubu.

More people... just focused on their current livelihood, and suddenly saw a goal that they could reach within their grasp from the previous pool of stagnant water, and their inner ambitions began to grow slowly, that's all.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Anshi went to the workshop of the model camp.

This workshop area is different from other workshop areas because it is mainly close to the arsenal and the model camp.

On weekdays, this area is under military control.All craftsmen are specially hired, and almost all are skilled craftsmen.Many of Zhang Anshi's ideas were first realized here, and then... could be spread to the military, and even... some of them entered the civilian field.

And from inside the workshop, there are some places surrounded by high walls and heavily guarded.

Zhang Anshi appeared, and Carpenter hurriedly came out to greet them, Zhang Anshi didn't bother them, and said directly: "How is the project of Jiading going?"

Here, there are many plans that will be grouped continuously, and the number that starts with A usually indicates that the research of this item is the top priority, more manpower will be arranged, and enough money will be given to support them. Research.

Si Jiang smiled and said, "It's already in the works, and seven or eight finished products have been produced...it's still being improved."

Zhang Anshi's eyes lit up obviously, and he said, "Really? Take me to have a look."

The craftsman nodded, he didn't dare to neglect, and hurriedly led Zhang Anshi into the craftsman's room.

Here, dozens of hundreds of craftsmen are divided into different groups and are nervously working on the work at hand.

Under the leadership of Si Jiang, something like a small cannon was carefully pushed out on a wheel.

This thing looks like a cannon, but it is not as heavy as a cannon, and...an ordinary cannon has only a hollow muzzle.

But this thing, like honeycomb coal, has seven or eight holes as big as eyeballs.

Zhang Anshi said: "Why... is it like this..."

This is different from what Zhang Anshi imagined.

"Didn't I draw the blueprint for you?"

"We tried it with your father-in-law's blueprint, but found that...there were too many problems and it was not practical at all, so...we adopted this method."

Zhang Anshi looked around this "small cannon", and then said: "How many bullets have been produced?"

"More than 2 pieces." Si Jiang said with a wry smile: "These bullets need to fit perfectly with the muzzle. They are all made by craftsmen one by one. If they are slightly unqualified, they cannot be used, and the cost is also high. And A few days ago, we used diatomaceous earth to absorb the extracted oil according to the method of the father-in-law, and as a result... an explosion occurred, killing or injuring seven or eight craftsmen..."

After Zhang Anshi heard this, his face became solemn, and he said immediately, "Have you paid for it?"

"According to the rules, 500 taels per person, and the children are recommended to study in official schools."

Zhang Anshi nodded, couldn't help telling him to be more careful in the future, and then said with emotion: "I didn't expect that the manufacturing was so slow. It would be great if it could be mass-produced."

The master craftsman obviously already knew the concept of mass production, Zhang Anshi would write down almost any ideas he had, and send them to this workshop for others to learn.

Si Jiang shook his head and said: "The manufacturing process of bullets is too difficult. Mass production is probably impossible. In many cases, a bullet needs at least seven or eight bullet wastes, as well as the yellow gunpowder... It is not easy to refine. , is very dangerous, but don’t worry, my lord, the students are trying to find a way to organize craftsmen to find ways to improve it.”

Zhang Anshi pointed at the "small cannon" with his finger, and said, "Come on, shoot me."

The craftsman nodded, and then asked someone to pull the small cannon to a school yard inside the high wall.

In this school yard, some people began to load the ammunition. The ammunition was strung together with canvas and put into a large box of the small artillery company. After the bullets were loaded one by one, there was a deafening blast Voice.

Da da da……

The sound is crisp.

This small cannon has eight or nine muzzles, shooting out fireworks one after another.

Zhang Anshi watched with great enthusiasm, and in an instant, hundreds of bullets poured out in an instant.

Zhang An Shi was delighted, and asked, "Is shooting dangerous?"

"Shooting is not..." Si Jiang said hesitantly, "It's just..."

"It's fine if there's no danger." Zhang Anshi said with a smile, "It's just that the cost is too high, and it takes too much manpower and material resources, right?"

"Yes. Besides, the manufacturing process, especially the yellow gunpowder manufacturing process, is quite dangerous..."

Hearing this, Zhang Anshi smiled a little less, and said: "Slowly improve it, one day, you will find a way that is safer and can reduce the cost. This thing, you can improve it these days, let it It’s more convenient and easy to use, and it’s better to have more bullets, so I will use it when the time comes, and if I use it well, I will reward you a lot, and all craftsmen involved in this project will benefit.”

The craftsman said in surprise, "Grandfather... what do you plan to do with this? Do you want the students to ask some experienced people to help?"

Zhang Anshi said directly: "Hunting!"

Carpenter: "..."

Zhang Anshi said: "I don't need to help, I can do it by myself, so it must be simple and easy to use. If it is bulky, it should be bulky. Anyway, it is equipped with wheels, and I can drag it."

The craftsman couldn't help but asked again: "Is the one being rounded up a ferocious beast? Of course, the student is just asking about the purpose, maybe...you can think about whether there is a better improvement plan for the father-in-law."

Zhang Anshi said: "No accident, maybe I went to hunt rabbits..."

Carpenter: "..."

I finished explaining to Secretary Carpenter.

Zhang Anshi tried it himself again. To be honest, the ease of use of this thing is very poor, especially when operated by one person, and the accuracy is very poor. Apart from the strong firepower, it is almost useless.

If it is added that it can only be rubbed out by artificial hands for the time being, and there is an extremely high cost, in this world, I am afraid that only Zhang Anshi dares to manufacture it regardless of cost.

But... the firepower is really fierce and exciting.

This time... there was hope, Zhang Anshi's eyes lit up, he whistled immediately, and after explaining to him, he would find a way to improve it, and left excitedly.

But at this time... the work of hunting is already under preparation, Habayashi Wei first went to the area of ​​Zijin Mountain in the Forbidden Garden, because His Majesty has issued several decrees, expressing the importance he attaches to his disciples' riding and shooting, so many honorable disciples put this Seems like a top priority.

Some are worried, it can be said that the days are like years, and they know that it is too late to hold Buddha's feet temporarily, and there are also some who are willing to work hard on weekdays, but now they are waiting for their eyes to see through, only wishing to shine in this hunting ground.

Zhu Di personally asked Jin Zhong about hunting.

But Jin Zhong didn't dare to be negligent, and reported almost every big and small matter in the hunting ground with all his heart.

(End of this chapter)