"Divine artifact! It really is a divine artifact!"
"Sixth Brother, you're right. This musket is worth a million soldiers.”
Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes became firm.
No matter how much it cost, even if the entire country used up all the iron they had to produce in a year, they had to mass-produce a divine weapon like the matchlock.
Xu Da looked at the blueprint and then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang fervently.
"Your Majesty, since it's a divine artifact, it's worth it to create it no matter how much it costs.”
Zhu Yuanzhang had a look of longing on his face as he began to calculate the manufacturing cost of the musket.
"One musket spear costs over a hundred catties of crude iron, and ten thousand of them costs a million catties of crude iron.”
"Our Big Ming doesn't even have ten million catties of iron in a year, but if we grit our teeth, we can still take out one million catties of crude iron. At most, we can save it in other places.”
"I'll first think of a way to gather a million jin of crude iron and make ten thousand muskets.”
Xu Da's eyes were shining as he said with great joy,"Your Majesty, if the Divine Arms Battalion is equipped with 10,000 muskets, they can defeat 100,000 Northern Yuan cavalry!”
Excitement shone in their eyes.
Zhu Zhen really didn't want to dampen their enthusiasm.
However, the reality was that muskets were not that easy to make.
Otherwise, he would have taken out this blueprint long ago and would not have waited until now.
"Father, Uncle Xu, muskets not only require refined iron, but there is also the most important process, which is to grind the barrel. It must be done according to strict craftsmanship, which is time-consuming and laborious.”
"If we want to mass produce it, we still need to spend a lot of manpower and time.”
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said,""Sixth Brother, since the musket is such a divine weapon, no matter how expensive it is, we have to mass-produce it.”
"Our Big Ming has plenty of people."
At this moment, Emperor Hongwu was full of ambition. He was already imagining the scene of the Ming soldiers equipped with muskets sweeping the world.
"With the current technology, a skilled craftsman would need about a month to successfully grind the gun barrel," Zhu Zhen said weakly.”
"This is not counting the other parts of the musket.”
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da, who were originally full of confidence, froze.
"You're saying that, besides consuming a huge amount of iron, it would take more than a month to make a musket?"”
Zhu Zhen nodded and said,"
"I estimate that it would take three skilled craftsmen more than a month to make a musket.”
This time, Zhu Yuanzhang's enthusiasm finally subsided.
A divine weapon like the musket spear consumed a huge amount of energy, greatly exceeding his expectations.
With Da Ming's current financial resources, it was obviously unrealistic to want to manufacture ten thousand muskets in a short period of time.
Xu Da was also a little disappointed. He solemnly bowed to Zhu Zhen and said,"Your Highness, is there any way to speed up the production?”
Zhu Zhen spread his hands." Uncle Xu, since it's a divine weapon, it naturally requires extremely fine workmanship. Only then will the musket gun have great power and longevity.”
"There are no shortcuts."
Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da looked at each other and saw the unwillingness in each other's eyes.
They also saw the desire in each other's eyes.
Silent communication was better than a thousand words.
" We have to make muskets."
Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind. He turned to Zhu Biao and said solemnly," Crown Prince, immediately gather the officials from the Ministry of Works, Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, Bureau of Weaponry, and Bureau of Battles. We need to discuss the manufacture of the matchlock.”
"Your son obeys!"
Crown Prince Zhu Biao didn't dare to be negligent and left.
Only Zhu Zhen, his father Zhu Yuanzhang, and his father-in-law Xu Da were left in the main camp.
The two old men stared straight at Zhu Zhen.
Zhu Zhen felt a little uncomfortable.
Is there a flower on my face?
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly walked over and patted Zhu Zhen's shoulder. He said dotingly,"Sixth Brother, your little brain is really smart. You can actually draw such a powerful blueprint!”
"Tell us, how did you think of it?”
Zhu Zhen was already prepared and casually said,"Imperial Father, I was bored. I suddenly remembered when I was tired of reading.”
Xu Da was secretly speechless when he heard this. He was really a genius to be able to have an outburst of inspiration even when he was tired of reading!
This was the first time that the number one general of Great Ming looked at Zhu Zhen with admiration.
"Your Highness Chu is truly intelligent.”
"With King Chu's intelligence, he is a good match for my girl.”
The more these two old men looked at Zhu Zhen, the more they liked him.
However, Zhu Zhen did not buy their praise.
Are you two trying to fool me with this kind of sugar-coated bullet?
How could it be that easy?
"Father," Zhu Zhen coughed lightly and said seriously,"I'm offering the musket blueprint now. Isn't this a great contribution?"”
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled." The musket is a divine weapon. Of course, you've made a great contribution."”
"We had an agreement before," Zhu Zhen asked,"If I make a great contribution, I will be granted the title of Great General.”
"Since Father agrees that this is a great contribution, shouldn't we fulfill our previous promise?”
"Imperial Father, you are the ruler of a country.”
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was instantly embarrassed. The position of Great General naturally couldn't be given to Zhu Zhen.
"Well, Sixth Brother, I know that you're our Saint Child, Qianli Ju.”
"As the emperor of Ming Dynasty, I have to seek the welfare of the people of Ming Dynasty and be responsible for the millions of soldiers of Ming Dynasty.”
"As a prince, shouldn't you share our burdens?”
"The position of Great General cannot be given to you so easily. How about this? I'll give you a reward. We all agree."
Old Zhu was brazenly acting shamelessly, but he didn't feel embarrassed.
Zhu Zhen naturally knew that he couldn't become a general, but he asked for a sky-high price and paid back the money on the spot.
Since Father knows that he is in the wrong, it will be easy for us to bargain.
"Imperial Father, you also said that I'm the Saint Child's thousand-li steed. I'm not a big soldier. Since I can't be a general, I won't go on this northern expedition.”
"As for the reward, I don't want it either.”
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't expect Zhu Zhen's request to be so simple. He was suddenly stunned.
On second thought, Sixth Brother had made such a great contribution. If he didn't reward him with anything, he would feel a little guilty.
Just as he was pondering, Xu Da, who was at the side, spoke up,"Your Majesty, King Chu is such a talent, he should go to the battlefield to gain experience.”
"Only by experiencing a real battlefield can one become a good man who can stand up to the heavens!”
Xu Da had already developed a heart for talent, and he would definitely bring Zhu Zhen to the military camp to train him well.
Zhu Zhen rolled his eyes at his father-in-law.
The logic was not bad, but you couldn't always think of letting others be soldiers!
Zhu Zhen said," Uncle Xu, if you want me to go to the battlefield, I can do it. Since you don't want to give me the position of general, then give me the position of deputy general. I'll command the army alone. That should be fine, right?"”
"This!" Xu Da was instantly furious, and the good impression he had of Zhu Zhen earlier disappeared without a trace.
You're just a little kid. You're simply fooling around by calling yourself a general or a deputy general!
If you weren't a prince and had just made a great contribution, I would have given you a beating!
Xu Da was resentful in his heart, but with Zhu Yuanzhang here, he naturally did not dare to flare up.
Frowning, he thought for a while and suddenly had a plan. He wanted to find a reason to make Zhu Zhen retreat and obediently become a soldier to gain experience.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]