My Brother-in-law is the Prince

  Chapter 299 Invincible

  East Palace side, Crown Princess Zhang called Zhang Anshi away.

  When she learned 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 knows that he is wrong. Although he is busy with serious business these days, he really cares less about his wife and children after all.

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

   "Sister, from now on, I will definitely stay at home honestly for a few days, but... our Zhang family's new house is about to be built, and 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 Anshidao: "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 all the time, watching Zhu Zhanji, who was scolding his uncle with relish, finally said: "Mother, concubine, and me, and me..."

  Mr. 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."

  My sister's words were 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 his tears.

   Who knew that the tears were not squeezed out.

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

  Zhang Anshi: "..."

  Ms. Zhang pursed her lips and smiled: "It is said that nephews are like uncles. I see that this makes sense. You are busy these days, and Zhanji always talks about you."

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

  Ms. 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. 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 Shi 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 busy with work. , Now, in order to govern the government, I really forget to sleep and eat, 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."

   Came out from Mrs. Zhang resentfully, and soon Mrs. Zhang 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. When they raise their eyes and look at each other, it is as natural 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?"

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

  Xu Jingyi said: "Your Majesty is skilled at 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. It's strange that they are always reckless and don't get reprimanded."

  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 see 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: "Shangshu Jin Zhong 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, and it is inevitable. When facing the enemy in battle, he is timid and weak, falls from his horse and abandons his gun, and his soul is frightened. This is all due to arrogance and unteaching. You need to practice riding and shooting day and night, if you still can't use it, order your brothers to attack the nobles and make them guard the border."

  Zhang Anshi couldn't help but feel ashamed when he saw it.

  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 for 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 severe 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 win in the review The one with the first name 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 genius, 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 too?"

  Suddenly, he felt guilty, thinking that Zhu Di would not punish him for this, after all...he took another path, which was different from the **** Zhu Di said.

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

  Zhang Anshi thought for a while and said, "Whoever shoots the most prey will be rewarded heavily. What 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. Qunfang, no, the skills beat the crowd!"

  Xu Jingyi said: "I originally reminded my husband, even if you are holding your feet temporarily these few days, you should practice bow and horse first. I am pregnant now. Although I can't teach you hand in hand, I can still give advice."

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. You don't have to. Don't worry, I'll let you know later how my husband is invincible."

  He uttered bold words, and immediately, the couple took a break, without saying anything 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.

  Want to have a prosperous business in Taiping Prefecture. Although the establishment of trade routes in various provinces is the top priority, but now exporting goods will make more profits. Therefore, 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, Taiping Mansion is now full of chicken blood, and the matter is explained, and everyone is desperately rushing to do it.

  In fact, it is not just the officials who have such an atmosphere, even the 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 have become scarce, and many people have joined forces to do some small businesses. For ordinary people, this is a rare opportunity to turn around.

Of course... For the poor and down-to-earth scholars, 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. The workshops urgently need people who can write and calculate, to do bookkeeping and management, 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 no more than a few hundred, and the number of candidates is no more than 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 almost 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 the 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 has become more intense, overcrowded, and people with ordinary hopes and opportunities are everywhere.

   What people are really eager to do 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, but from the stagnant pool before, they suddenly saw a goal within their reach, and their inner ambitions began to grow slowly, that's all.

   Zhang Anshi immediately 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 is a military restricted area. 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 the craftsman rushed 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: "There are already plans, and seven or eight finished products have been produced...still improving."

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

  Si Jiang nodded, he didn't dare to neglect, and hurriedly led Zhang Anshi into the carpenter'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 looks like honeycomb coal, with seven or eight holes as big as eyeballs.

  Zhang An Shidao: "Why...it's like this..."

   This is different from what Zhang Anshi imagined.

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

   "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 20,000 pieces." Si Jiang said with a wry smile: "These bullets need to fit perfectly with the muzzle, and they are made one by one by craftsmen. If they are slightly unqualified, they cannot be used, and the cost is also high. A few days ago, we used diatomaceous earth to absorb the refined 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 listened, his face was solemn, and he said immediately: "Have you made any compensation?"

   "According to the rules, each person is five hundred taels, and the children are recommended to study in official schools."

  Zhang Anshi nodded, couldn't help but reminded 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."

  This master craftsman obviously already knows the concept of mass production. Almost any idea Zhang Anshi has, he will write it down and send it to this workshop for people to learn.

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

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

  Si Jiang 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 very 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 is..."

   "It's good if there is 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. In addition, the manufacturing process, especially the yellow gunpowder manufacturing process, is not small..."

Hearing this, Zhang Anshi's smile faded, and he said, "Let's improve it slowly. One day, we will come up with a way that is safer and can reduce the cost. You should improve this thing these days, and 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!"

  Shi Jiang: "..."

  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 Anshidao: "No accident, maybe I went to hunt rabbits..."

  Shi Jiang: "..."

   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 the cost is extremely high, 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.

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

But at this time... the work of hunting is already under preparation, and Habayashi Wei first went to the area of ​​Zijin Mountain in the Forbidden Garden. Because His Majesty has issued several orders, he has expressed the importance he attaches to his disciples' riding and shooting, so many honorable disciples regard this Made top priority.

  Some are worried, it can be said that the days are like years, knowing that it is too late to hold Buddha's feet temporarily, and there are also some who are willing to work **** weekdays, but now they are hopeless, and they can only hope to shine in this hunting ground.

  Zhu Di personally asked Jin Zhong about hunting work.

   And 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)