The training of the Fenwu Battalion no longer needs Zhu Youzhen's personal command, he just goes to see it often, and he can't let the first flower he watered wither.

In addition to compiling teaching materials and supervising the training of the Fenwu Battalion, Zhu Youzhen focused his main efforts on the Firearms Bureau.

There is a certain progress in the manufacture of rockets, that is, a base is added to the tail of the rocket, which is fixed on the ground for launch, so that it can not be interfered with by the terrain; the principle and completion of mines and grenades, the creation of test mines began; The manufacture of hot air balloons has not yet entered the finalization stage, and the hot air balloons that have been made are relatively small, and the charcoal brazier under the balloon occupies too large volume, so the load capacity of the balloon is too small to send people into the sky.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty still have a certain level, after hundreds of years of technical precipitation, especially the restrictions of the craftsman registration system, objectively promote the development of technology, the craftsmen do not have a skill, there is no fixed income, and the Ming Dynasty does not allow the craftsmen to leave the nationality, these craftsmen want to survive with their families, they must master the new, unique technology.

It is the pursuit of technology that has led to the emergence of weirdos like Ding Lan. However, after all, the craftsman registration system is not omnipotent, after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, its unfavorable factors gradually emerged, especially the mutual confidentiality system of craftsmen.

As the saying goes, the apprentice of the church starves the master. The skills mastered by the craftsmen will not be used for exchange, they will only be handed over to their children and grandchildren. In the Ming Dynasty, when craftsmen did not have a high income, this was probably the only property they left to their descendants.

If technology is not exchanged, it will not be developed, which is also the reason why Daming firearms are still in the era of Chengzu. When Chengzu went on five northern expeditions, the Mongols could not find the north, and the firearms were indeed indispensable, and the huge sound of guns and cannons alone made the backward Mongols and war horses scatter.

However, due to the secrecy of the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, or the craftsman registration system of the Ming Dynasty, the firearms of the Ming Dynasty did not reach further development, and the Mongols gradually adapted to the sound of guns, coupled with the political zhì on the **, the military advantage returned to the side of the Mongols, the northwest of the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian tribes, often plundered by the Mongols, the Han people in the northwest frontier, living under the threat of the Mongols, even did not guarantee their lives. Zhu Youzhen secretly made up his mind: As soon as he has the opportunity, he must reform the Firearms Bureau.

Zhu Youjian has another very important thing to do: cement. The establishment of a cement plant can not only bring stable economic income and uninterrupted blood transfusion for the Fenwu battalion, but more importantly, it can provide a guarantee for the travel and supply of the army. In the foreign wars of the Ming Dynasty, except for Chengzu's Northern Expedition to surrender to Tatar and Warat, there were few victories, mainly because the logistics could not keep up.

The logistics of relying on mule and horse transportation are not only slow, but also have high requirements for roads, and if it rains, the roads are muddy, and the cars and horses cannot walk. Only by building concrete roads can transport not be affected by the weather, and flat concrete roads can also increase the speed of vehicles and horses.

In the history of his previous life, Zhu Youzhen was a graduate of chemical technology, although he mainly studied cutting-edge technology, but he was also familiar with traditional crafts and methods, and when he came to the Ming Dynasty, he was ready to gradually recall the basic skills he mastered.

The firing of cement is to use one percent of coal, one or two of clay, a little more than seventy percent of limestone, plus a small amount of iron ore, calcined in a closed environment, if it reaches enough high temperature, clinker can be produced, and then the clinker and gypsum are ground together and mixed in a certain proportion to obtain mature cement products. In terms of technology, it is not complicated, as long as the raw materials are found and a blast furnace with good sealing can be built, the production of cement can be carried out.

Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Peng to take a team of soldiers to find the craftsmen, and he took Wang Mujiu and others to choose a site for the cement factory. He originally hoped to pull some shareholders and invest together, but considering that cement is a new thing, others may not believe that he is a young prince, so he has to invest independently, however, independent investment is not bad, exclusive operation, and the profit will definitely be higher.

Wang Peng soon found some firing craftsmen in the military households, and Zhu Youzhen personally trained them to master the basic methods of firing cement. In order to prevent technical leakage, Zhu Youzhen not only offered the craftsmen a high salary of two taels of silver per month, but also signed a lifetime contract and a confidentiality contract with them.

Doing things according to law is the social goal pursued by Zhu Youzhen, and he must set an example, starting with me, and gradually popularize the legal system in Daming.

The first cement road in the Ming Dynasty and the first cement road in the world is from the military academy to Dongzhimen, which was personally lobbied by Zhu Youzhen and funded by the Ministry of Households. In order to thank the household department for actually advertising its own cement, Zhu Youzhen decided to reduce the price by 30% and send technicians to guide the pouring of cement. The current cement road is much simpler than in later generations, there will be no heavy vehicles on the road, only horses, carriages, wheelbarrows and pedestrians, etc., the road surface does not need to be too thick, 5 cm can be, and there is no need for steel bars in the concrete.

On the days when the cement road was opened, Zhu Youzhen ordered the road repair workers to lift the straw covering the road, and tens of thousands of onlookers along the way. In order to increase the advertising effect and let more people experience the benefits of the cement road, Zhu Youzhen selected some soldiers from the Fenwu battalion, or rode horses, or drove cars, to show the majesty of the cement road in the spotlight.

A wide concrete road with four horse-drawn carriages running side by side, or eight horses. Galloping horses, galloping carriages, and cheering crowds made free and far-reaching advertisements for the cement road.

At the invitation of the soldiers, the onlookers also joined the walkers and experienced the unprecedented wide avenue.

The cement road that caused a sensation in Beijing even shocked Zhu Youxiao, and he summoned Zhu Youzhen in the Qianqing Palace. In Zhu Youzhen's impression, this seems to be the second time he has been officially summoned by the imperial brother, and the last time was when he was named the king of letters.

"Fifth brother, what kind of cement road did you build?" In fact, Zhu Youxiao didn't know much about the cement road, and he only knew about the existence of the cement road in the discussion of the ministers and eunuchs.

"Brother Hui, the younger brother accidentally discovered the manufacturing method of cement from ironmaking and calcined lime." Of course, Zhu Youzhen can't tell the truth, sometimes, white lies can avoid an obstacle, anyway, Zhu Youxiao doesn't know what iron-making and calcined lime are all about.

"The officials of the six ministries praised the cement road, but they rarely agreed! Ha ha! Zhu Youzhen's excellence made the emperor, who rarely cared about the palace, very happy, "Fifth brother, tell me, what are the benefits of the cement road?" "Zhu Youxiao doesn't care about the manufacture of cement at all, and if he has time to care about cement, he might as well make a few more sets of tables and chairs.

"Brother Huang, the road surface made of cement is extremely smooth, and the carriage will not bump when driving on it, and in addition, the road traffic is not affected by rain." Zhu Youzhen took a sip of tea and found that Zhu Youxiao listened very carefully today, so he sold the cement road to the imperial brother: "If the official roads of the Ming Dynasty are paved with cement roads, the transportation of military materials will be greatly accelerated, for example, the military materials transported on the front line of the Great Wall will be shortened by half, and they will not be affected by rain and weather." ”

"The line of the Great Wall?" Zhu Youxiao seemed to understand what Zhu Youzhen meant, "But I'm afraid I can't afford to build a road to Shanhaiguan, right?" I heard that the construction of cement roads costs a lot of money. ”

"The imperial brother can amend the laws of the Ming Dynasty and levy industrial and commercial taxes. In order to set an example, the cement factory of the younger brother took the lead in paying taxes to the imperial court according to the standard of 15 taxes and 1 tax of agricultural tax, and asked the imperial brother to send someone to supervise the cement factory. Zhu Youzhen incidentally promoted the idea of a rich industrial country to Zhu Youxiao, so as not to choke the Confucian officials of the Manchu Dynasty when he levies industrial and commercial taxes in the future.

With Zhu Youxiao's character, Zhu Youzhen does not expect him to be the master of Zhongxing, even if the industrial and commercial tax is not implemented thoroughly, it doesn't matter, as long as there is a start, he can justifiably follow this road in the future.

"Hmm." Zhu Youxiao nodded, and thought for a while, "The collection of industrial and commercial taxes will be exempted, I will discuss the road construction with the Sixth Department tomorrow, fifth brother, you can also participate!" ”

"Join the discussion?" Zhu Youzhen thought to himself, I am just a general of martial arts, and the king of faith is just a false title, it seems that the imperial brother is tempted by the matter of building roads, and he has to prepare early.

After the court meeting the next day, Zhu Youxiao left more than a dozen scholars from six departments, plus Zhu Youzhen, who had just entered the palace, and began to discuss the matter of building roads.

Zhu Youxiao's enlightened inscription: "King Xin made cement, and the cement road not only facilitated pedestrians and merchants, but also facilitated the allocation of military materials for the imperial court." If a cement road is built from Beijing to Shanhaiguan, it can make the materials transported to Liaodong faster. Let's see, should this road be built? ”

"Build roads?" The scholars whispered, they didn't know that Zhu Youxiao planned to build the road, such a big thing suddenly came out, they needed time to digest it, but these experienced scholars in the court soon had their own ideas.

Li Chunye, the secretary of the Ministry of War, praised Zhu Youzhen's military talent, although he did not see that the construction of cement roads was of great help to the military, but he loved Wu and Wu, and did not raise objections; Huang Kezhang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, has no friendship with Zhu Youzhen, but he has seen the cement road outside Dongzhimen, which can indeed provide great convenience for businessmen and pedestrians, and naturally he will not object, and there are several Shangshu who have similar ideas to him; Wang Shaohui, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Xue Sanxing, the second assistant of the cabinet, Huang Liji, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Cui Chengxiu, etc., saw from the general direction of the political situation that this matter was related to Zhu Youzhen, and the young prince was not the other party's person, so he felt that there was no need to object, and it can be seen from the opening remarks that the emperor was in favor of building roads, and the emperor had always rarely made decisions on major national affairs. The war of the imperial court in Liaodong has not been smooth, no one has any good way, if the objection is raised now, the emperor will investigate the cause of Liaodong's defeat in the future, and someone will turn over the old accounts now, then they will not be able to eat and walk around.