(ps: I heard that there are very few recommended votes, and Lao Kun also asks for a ** recommendation vote, Nan Mingwen is not easy to write, I hope I can feel everyone's support.) Thanks to the book friend Emperor Hu and the book friend's family for the 100 yuan reward. ）

Nanjing Ministry of Industry Yamen.

Gao Hongtu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, was handling official business in the internal government office, and suddenly a scribe came to report the arrival of the Son of Heaven.

Gao Hongtu was shocked and hurriedly got up to meet him.

As soon as he walked out of the official office, he had not had time to step around the shadow wall when he saw the Son of Heaven walking towards him surrounded by a group of pro-army guards.

Gao Hongtu hurriedly knelt on the ground and bowed.

"Gao Hongtu, the secretary of the Ministry of Ministers, greets Your Majesty, long live my emperor. The minister didn't know that His Majesty had missed the distance when he arrived, and asked His Majesty to forgive him. ”

When the officials in the government office heard this, they all rushed out to bow and salute.

Zhu Cihong's mood was still good, and when he saw that he was kneeling in the courtyard, he raised his right hand and said, "Zhuqing is flat." ”

Gao Hongtu then slowly got up. Seeing that Lord Shangshu stood up, all the officials of the Ministry of Industry also stood up one after another.

It's just that they don't dare to look up one by one.

Zhu Cihong didn't care about this, he strode into the official office, and said to Gao Hongtu, who was following closely behind: "Da Sikong will follow me to the inner office." (Note 1)

Gao Hongtu saw that the Son of Heaven was going to summon him into the inner office, and knew that there was a very important matter to discuss, so he didn't dare to slack off in the slightest, so he immediately stepped forward and followed.

After entering the inner office, a group of brocade guards lined up on both sides to guard with swords. In this way, I am afraid that not even a fly can fly in.

Zhu Cihong entered the official office and sat down at the top, and said to Gao Hongtu, who was standing respectfully: "Da Sikong doesn't need to be so restrained, I came to discuss an important matter with Qing this time." Have a seat. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Gao Hongtu sat down tremblingly, wondering in his heart what kind of medicine His Majesty the Emperor was selling in the gourd.

If it had been placed two months ago when His Majesty had just ascended the throne, Gao Hongtu would naturally not have racked his brains so hard to figure out his intentions. But now he had to do it.

Because Your Majesty's actions in the past two months have been amazing.

In just two months, the Son of Heaven restored the factory guards, trained the new army, built a military academy, investigated corrupt officials, cracked the case of rebellion, and even sent the army to recover Shandong......

Where does this seem to be done by a young son of heaven, Gao Hongtu thinks that Taizu and Chengzu will not do better than they do in the world.

Of course, this is a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, and the reign of the male lord is just around the corner.

But it's not entirely a good thing for a heavy minister like Gao Hongtu.

The male lord will never allow the important ministers of the court to be mediocre and incompetent, although Gao Hongtu asks himself to be worthy of the society, but people are not saints and sages. In case there are some small mistakes that happen to be seen by the Son of Heaven, where can he put the face of this old minister by scolding him?

The more powerful the person, the more he cherishes his feathers.

Gao Hongtu is no exception.

Although the Ministry of Industry is in charge of complicated affairs, in the final analysis, there are only a few items.

Many palaces in the Forbidden City have been renovated not long ago, and the Son of Heaven is certainly not here for this.

As for the construction of the mausoleum, it is even more impossible. Although the successive emperors would send people to build mausoleums after ascending the throne, it was mostly a year later.

It has only been two months since the practice of Zuo today, and it is impossible to build the mausoleum in such a hurry.

Then there is only one possibility left, the Son of Heaven came for the work of craftsmen.

Being able to bother the Son of Heaven to personally set up the Ministry of Industry, this matter will never be an ordinary craftsman, it must be related to military affairs, and Gao Hongtu guessed that it must involve ordnance manufacturing.

Although Gao Hongtu had already estimated the intention of the Son of Heaven, he did not show anything, but respectfully waited for the Son of Heaven to ask.

Zhu Cihong didn't know that Gao Hongtu had analyzed a lot in his heart, and his lips opened and said, "What does Da Sikong think about Da Ming's firearms?" ”

Firearm?

Gao Hongtu was stunned for a moment, coughed and said, "Your Majesty, Daming's firearms are naturally invincible in the world. ”

Zhu Cihong shook his head.

"If this is the case, why are the soldiers afraid of guns and would rather use bows and crossbows than firearms?"

Zhu Cihong stopped Gao Hongtu in one sentence.

Yes, if Da Ming's firearms are really as invincible as he said, why are the soldiers so resistant to the use of firearms?

Not to mention anything else, the bird gun made by the Ministry of Industry has five out of ten strokes that can't be hit, and three of the remaining five strokes will explode. The soldiers of the battalion often jokingly called the bird gun a burning stick, that is, it could be smashed in hand-to-hand combat.

Seeing that Gao Hongtu was silent, Zhu Cihong continued: "I don't mean to blame Da Sikong. I also know that freezing three feet is not a day's cold. Yongle Shi Chengzu built the Shenji Battalion, and the firearms at that time were so sharp. Why is it that after 200 years, the firearms are becoming more and more inferior? ”

Zhu Cihong paused deliberately, saw Gao Hongtu's face flushed, and sighed: "After thinking about it, it is nothing more than two reasons. First, the amount of money allocated by the imperial court to the Ministry of Industry was limited, but the amount of firearms required to be manufactured was fixed, and the Ministry of Industry had to use inferior materials to deliver the full amount of firearms on time, so the firearms made could not be used. Second, since Emperor Taizu established the artisan household system, the fate of craftsmen has been determined from birth. It is said that these craftsmen who belong to the Ministry of Industry, who only receive a meager monthly salary, but have to undertake extremely heavy work, will inevitably feel resentful, which is reflected in the fact that they are not able to work hard in the manufacture of firearms. ”

"The old minister is ...... to die"

Zhu Cihong pressed his hand down and continued: "Although I am not very proficient in firearms, I also know that in order to create a qualified firearm, the most important thing is the making of the gun. If it were me, I wouldn't dare to use such a gun. I believe that it is difficult to manufacture firearms that meet the requirements under the current model of the Ministry of Industry, so I plan to set up a firearms department under the Ministry of Industry to be responsible for the manufacture of firearms. ”

Zhu Cihong finished speaking, and Gao Hongtu understood what the Son of Heaven meant.

To say that there is no difficulty in setting up a firearms department under the Ministry of Industry alone, it is nothing more than adding a few more langzhong, non-staff, and directors. But can this really change the status quo of how shoddy and inferior the Daming firearms are today?

Zhu Cihong seemed to see what Gao Hongtu was thinking, and said lightly: "It is obviously not enough to just set up a firearms department. If the silver taels are not sufficient, everything is empty. From now on, we will directly transfer two taels of silver from the internal funds to the Firearms Division for the manufacture of firearms. ”

This is not Zhu Cihong's empty painting of a big pie. All the silver taels he copied from the corrupt and rebelling civil officials and lords went into the treasury, and now there are tens of millions of taels. With so much silver, it can't be spent for ten or eight years just to support the Shence Army, and it is indeed a good choice to allocate some money to the firearms department to make high-quality firearms.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Gao Hongtu let out a long sigh of relief. As long as he has enough silver, he can say anything, otherwise it will be difficult for him to cook without rice, and His Majesty will not be able to carry this burden on his shoulders.

......

......

Note 1: Da Sikong is the nickname of the Ministry of Industry.