Hearing Zhu Di’s words, Xia Yuanji glanced at Zhu Gaoxu suspiciously, somewhat doubting the emperor’s motives.
It is true that this briquette is indeed easy to use, and once it is mass-produced, it will certainly be able to seize a large number of markets.
However, the Prince of Han priced a piece of honeycomb coal at two cents, which was too low. Even if the quantity was large, the gain would not be worth the loss!
Moreover, people in the world have always been resistant to burning charcoal. Even after the briquettes are produced, how to sell them is still a big problem.
However, the emperor stepped in and forcibly took a share of the profits. Xia Yuanji was immediately puzzled.
This was obviously a loss-making deal, so why did the emperor rush to intervene？
Is the emperor stupid？
He is one of the smartest people in the world!
Thinking about it, Xia Yuanji asked tentatively, ‘Your Highness, King of Han, what other plans do you have？ You might as well speak up!’
Zhu Gaoxu was stunned and scratched his head in embarrassment.
This old guy Xia Yuanji is truly worthy of being Emperor Yongle’s money bag.
‘Although the briquettes are priced at two cents, the coal stove is made of steel. Isn’t it too much to set the price of two cents？’
‘When the coal stoves are sold together with briquettes, and some sales methods are used, there will still be a lot of profit margins.’
After Xia Yuanji heard this, he directly cupped his hands to Zhu Di and said, ‘Your Majesty, I think this matter is feasible. Firstly, it will benefit the people, and secondly, it can also replenish the national treasury.’
This old guy is so arrogant!
Zhu Di looked at the smiling Xia Yuanji, then glanced at the somewhat depressed Zhu Gaoxu, and immediately smiled and said, ‘In this case, let the Ministry of Revenue and the King of Han take charge of this matter, and produce a batch of briquettes as soon as possible to solve the people’s urgent needs. ‘
Zhu Gaoxu was a little depressed. He finally got rid of the briquettes, and Zhu Di picked up a handful of wool.
‘Dad, why don’t we mobilize half of the Ordnance Bureau’s manpower to specialize in the production of coal stoves!’
After hearing this, Zhu Di’s face darkened, and he decisively refused, ‘No, I will go on the northern expedition to Oara next year, and the Ordnance Bureau will do its best to produce weapons and equipment.’
He finally realized it now. This bastard suddenly ‘attacked’ the Ordnance Bureau, and it turned out that he had this little plan in mind.
If you ask the Ordnance Bureau not to produce weapons and equipment, but instead to help you produce coal stoves, will I be able to fight with no clothes on next year？
When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he immediately became anxious and said, ‘Dad, which is more important, your Northern Expedition to Wala, or letting the people survive the cold winter？ Why can’t you distinguish the priorities？’
As soon as these words came out, everyone was dumbfounded, and all the giants lowered their heads silently.
My Lord Han, why did you teach His Majesty a lesson again？
He can’t tell the difference between priorities. You can’t tell the difference between the king and the king!
Xia Yuanji also smiled bitterly and shook his head, reminding him, ‘His Royal Highness, the production of briquettes is important, but the Northern Expedition cannot be delayed!’
If it were someone else who went on the expedition, the situation would be better.
But next year’s Northern Expedition will be the emperor’s personal expedition. If you delay the Northern Expedition military aircraft, if something happens to the emperor, it will be a serious crime that will never be pardoned!
Zhu Di glanced at Zhu Gaoxu coldly, and his previous good mood was gone.
He didn’t understand why this traitor had to go against him？
Zhu Gaoxu suddenly smiled and said, ‘Who said that I will delay the Northern Expedition military aircraft？ Isn’t it just the production of weapons and supplies？ I assure you that not only will there be no delay, but it will also be overfulfilled!’
Zhu Di was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then asked with a solemn expression, ‘Is this true？ What if it can’t be completed？’
‘Dad, if my son can’t finish it, you can deal with it with military law. My son will never complain at all.’
After hearing this, Zhu Di was startled and looked at him deeply.
This second guy has issued a military order in order to produce briquettes!
Is he really trying to help the people survive this cold winter, or is he seeking personal gain？
‘Forget it, as long as you don’t delay the Northern Expedition military aircraft, let’s go with it. The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs will fully cooperate.’
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Di immediately stood up and left.
After receiving the edict, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Song Li, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, could only follow Zhu Gaoxu again to the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Industry.
As soon as the three of them entered the workshop, Old Liu Tou immediately greeted them.
‘Your Highness, please see, this is an arrow produced by your mold!’
Old Liu Tou said excitedly, his whole body still in great shock.
Song Li looked at the box full of arrowheads and couldn’t help but take a breath and asked, ‘Old Liu, how long did it take for you to produce this arrowhead？’
‘One day! It only took one day for the grassroots to wait!’
Old Liu Tou gestured excitedly, ‘After His Highness the King of Han sent the drawings, the mold was made that day, and then it took a day to bake, so these are the results of yesterday’s day!’
Numb!
Song Li is numb!
That much was produced in one day!
Just from a cursory glance, there are thousands of them!
Song Li’s eyes were as wide as bells at this moment, and his face was filled with ecstasy.
Xia Yuanji’s eyes also lit up, and he looked carefully at the arrows produced by the assembly line, and couldn’t help but be secretly frightened.
Only Zhu Gaoxu remained expressionless, picking up an arrow and observing it carefully.
Although the Ming Dynasty had already begun to use firearms and created the world’s first firearms special force – the Shenji Battalion.
However, this is still an era of cold weapons after all. Compared with low-quality and inferior firearms, the most effective long-range attack method on the battlefield is still the bow and arrow!
But bow and arrow production is not that easy.
At least before the Ordnance Bureau created the mold, their efficiency was so horribly low that Ming soldiers had to recycle their spent arrows after fighting on the battlefield.
‘Old Liutou, how does the production speed compare with before？’
Zhu Gaoxu asked a question that everyone was concerned about. As long as the processing speed is not slow, it can catch up with Zhu Di’s Northern Expedition to Oara next year.
Old Man Liu replied excitedly, ‘Your Highness, it’s really much faster than before, and it saves a lot of labor. If you don’t take the polishing process into account, the efficiency is more than dozens of times higher than before!’
‘And the grassroots think that this can also be used for the production of swords and guns. All you need to do is design the mold and polish it after it is finalized. This will simply increase the output dozens of times…’
Old man Liu deserves to be a blacksmith for generations, and he can see the benefits of this mold at a glance. It is a great weapon to increase production.
But just when everyone was excited, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly poured a basin of cold water on them.
‘Why are you happy？ This is just an arrow. What restricts the speed of arrow production is the arrow shaft!’
After hearing this, everyone was surprised and became dejected.
Because what the King of Han said was to the point.
It is simply too difficult to make a straight arrow shaft!
There are two types of arrow shafts used by the Ming Dynasty army bamboo and wood.
Needless to say about bamboo, choose straight and slender arrow bamboo, cut it down and trim it before use.
Although these arrow bamboos appear to be all straight, in fact it is impossible to pick out a perfectly straight arrow shaft from them.
Things that grow naturally can never be as straight as one would like.
The wooden arrow shafts are hand-processed by carpenters using tools such as planes.
However, due to the tools, raw materials and craftsmanship, it is extremely difficult to make these arrow shafts straight.
This leads to the production of arrow shafts, which seriously restricts the speed of arrow production.
‘Don’t worry, Old Liu, follow this drawing and tinker with this thing, and the problem of the arrow shaft will be solved.’
Zhu Gaoxu handed him a drawing and smiled lightly.
Old man Liu took it with trembling hands. As if he had found a treasure, he rushed forward to study it.
Looking at his back, Zhu Gaoxu smiled.
Ming Dynasty finally embarked on the road of industrial production.