Therefore, Han Du was a little reluctant to part with it.
In the end, I made a hundred noodles.
Xue Xiang looked at Han Du with a strange look on his face and asked in a low voice: "What? Are you trying to steal the weapons bureau's job?"
Not only do I want to steal jobs from the weapons bureau, I also want to grab jobs from other bureaus.
Of course, Han Du could only say this in his heart.
Naturally with a warm smile on his face, he said to Xue Xiang: "Your Majesty, you are serious. How could I have such an idea? Doesn't it seem to me that the adults in the Ministry of Industry have important things to be busy with? Put these superficial tasks into
Leave it to the Banknote Bureau, and the adults can naturally do more important things, right?"
After hearing Han Du's explanation, Xue Xiang replied noncommittally, "Let's talk about it next time."
Seeing Xue Xiang's perfunctory tone, Han Du was not disappointed and responded neatly, "Okay, I'll do as you say. But as long as Master Shangshu leaves the matter to us, we will definitely not let you down."
Han Du grabbed the shield, held the handle, and twisted it a few times. It turned out that the handle was detachable.
"Master Shangshu, please see, this handle can be removed. In this way, the steel shield becomes a pot. Although it is not as big as the original pot, it is still no problem for a few people to cook something to eat. Sir, you should
We know how rare it is to be able to have a bite of hot food while fighting. It can be used as both a shield and a pot, it’s the best of both worlds.”
Xue Xiang saw it and couldn't help but admire: "You are really thoughtful, you even thought of this."
Immediately, he ordered people to load the hundred shields onto the cart.
Xue Xiang said goodbye to Han Du, "Now that the inventory is clear, I will leave. I will discuss the shield with the Ministry of War. As for whether they want it or not, that is none of my business."
Han Du was overjoyed when he heard this, as long as Xue Xiang could talk to the Ministry of War.
"Thank you very much, Sir. Sir, please go slowly."
"Come here often when you have time!" Han Du looked at the leaving convoy of the Ministry of Industry, reluctant to leave.
In the past few days, Lao Zhu was completely different from the gloomy days before. He always had a smile on his face and looked very happy.
Even while eating, I didn't know what he was chanting.
Even Empress Ma couldn't stand it and couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, you are in a very good mood these days. It is different from the previous days. Have you solved the war preparations?"
Lao Zhu laughed loudly and patted his thigh with his hand, "I know I can't hide it from you, sister. Yes, the matter will be solved soon. Once the military preparations are sufficient, I won't have to worry about the remaining Yuan going south, and I feel relieved.
ah."
As long as the war preparations are sufficient, Lao Zhu is not only not afraid of the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty going south, he is even eager for them to come. It is better to be destroyed by the Ming Dynasty at the door than the Ming Dynasty's labor force expedition.
Seeing that Lao Zhu was happy, Queen Ma asked a few more questions. "How to solve it? Some time ago, weren't they still saying that there was a huge shortage of steel and the Ministry of Industry could not complete ordnance manufacturing? This steel cannot fall from the sky.
,How can we make enough ordnance without steel?"
"Hahaha, because someone provided enough steel." Lao Zhu gave it a try.
When Empress Ma heard this, she didn't know that Lao Zhu was overjoyed, so she answered and asked: "Who is it? With such great ability, the Ministry of Industry can solve the problem as soon as it is said to be solved."
"Guess, sister." Lao Zhu did not directly say who it was.
Queen Ma looked at the joking emperor, slowly swallowed the food in her mouth, and said two words lightly: "Handu?"
After hearing this, Lao Zhu's smile suddenly froze, and he said angrily: "Yes, it's him."
At the same time, I was also very surprised as to why Queen Ma guessed it right away.
"Sister, how did you guess it?" Lao Zhu seemed to have discovered a new world. How could anyone guess so accurately like Queen Ma?
Empress Ma smiled sweetly and said softly: "What's so hard to guess? Seeing how proud you are, and you've mentioned Han Du several times when you came to my place, I'll just make a casual guess."
"Sister, you are really..." Lao Zhu thought for a while, extended his thumb and praised: "Zhuge among women!"
Queen Ma naturally deserves the title of Zhuge among girls.
When Lao Zhu was conquering the world, it was Lao Zhu who often fought on the front lines, while Empress Ma prepared military supplies and managed civil affairs for him at the rear. The husband and wife worked together to create this great world.
As for what Empress Ma did at the beginning, looking at it now, what is it? It is equivalent to being in prison.
Therefore, whenever Empress Ma asked about Lao Zhu's state affairs, he would never hide it from her.
It's just that Queen Ma knew the right measures and took the initiative to give in. She usually wouldn't ask Lao Zhu.
Empress Ma waved her hand and patted Lao Zhu on the back of his hand, "Stop trying to coax me with such nice words."
Seeing Lao Zhu's flattering smile, Empress Ma asked about Han Du, "There are so many people in the Ministry of Industry who have no solution. How on earth did he solve the problem of steel shortage? He can't forge steel by himself, right?"
Lao Zhu clapped his hands and said, "He really made it himself."
Was it really made by Han Du himself? How is this possible? How many manpower does he have? Compared with the Ministry of Industry, he is nothing. How can he solve such a huge steel gap?
Queen Ma really couldn't understand.
Fortunately, Lao Zhu didn't let Queen Ma wait. He explained to her: "That boy Han Du made a weird-looking furnace that can directly smelt iron stone into refined steel. Now his furnace can smelt tens of thousands of steel in a day.
The imperial court will never be short of a pound of fine steel again."
Tens of thousands of kilograms of refined steel can be smelted in one day?
"What kind of stove is it?" Queen Ma was also intrigued by Lao Zhu and asked curiously.
Lao Zhu said casually: "Some are tall, like a gourd."
Seeing that Lao Zhu couldn't explain clearly, Empress Ma was immediately a little disappointed with him, "The Emperor didn't read it carefully?"
"No." Lao Zhu shook his head. Seeing that Queen Ma was a little disappointed, he explained to her: "You don't know something. This kind of stove is different from ordinary stoves. You can feel the heat wave from a long distance away. The molten steel is produced.
When the time comes, people can’t get close at all..."
Seeing that Queen Ma was listening carefully, Lao Zhu simply told her the whole story of why Han Du wanted to build this stove.
After hearing this, Queen Ma also sighed: "Han Du is really a smart person. He can discover different aspects of the same thing from the subtleties of daily life. What's even more rare is that he can also do things successfully.
It’s not simple.”
After listening to Queen Ma's words, Lao Zhu thought about it carefully and found that it was really the case.
"Sister, what you said makes sense. Take this time he made steel as an example. Everyone knows that in order for iron to become steel, it needs to be tempered over and over again. But for thousands of years, no one has thought about why the iron turned into steel after being tempered over and over again.
Steel, why can't it just be iron or something else."
Empress Ma smiled and continued what Lao Zhu said, "But Han Du just thought that the impurities in the iron were removed during the process of tempering. He also did it, and then he had the ability to refine in one day.
A furnace that can produce tens of thousands of kilograms of fine steel. From now on, if you want fine steel, you no longer have to spend time and energy to refine it."
When Lao Zhu saw Queen Ma praising Han Du so much, he felt a little disgusted and said, "This kid only has so much cleverness."
Seeing that Lao Zhu was getting angry with a minor official, Empress Ma rolled her eyes at him and said, "If there were more clever little people like this, I would dress up like Empress Changsun to congratulate the emperor."
Queen Ma couldn't see Lao Zhu acting like a good boy even though he got an advantage.
Lao Zhu laughed after hearing this. Queen Ma was right, if there were more people like Han Du, he would only be happier.
However, Lao Zhu felt heartbroken when he thought of Han Du taking away one hundred thousand taels of silver from the Ministry of Industry.
Although Handu is good, it is too expensive.
Thinking of this, Lao Zhu sighed and said to Queen Ma: "Sister, don't think that Han Du is a good person. He is capable, I admit it, but he really can't get along with good people."
"What's wrong?" Queen Ma looked at Lao Zhu in confusion, and looking at it like this, Lao Zhu must have suffered a loss.
So, Lao Zhu told Han Du about his fussing and bargaining with him.
After hearing this, Empress Ma burst into laughter, covering her mouth and jokingly said: "The majestic king of a country, do you also have the intention of fooling around with him?"
"I'm not fooling around, it's really not easy for the court." Lao Zhu sighed when he said this. "The residual Yuan will not be destroyed, and this serious problem will always exist. Every Northern Expedition to the residual Yuan has been very costly. Over the years,
All the wealth captured before I settled the world has been consumed a long time ago. As a last resort, I had no choice but to issue treasure notes to continue supporting the Northern Expedition."
Empress Ma knew all these things and didn't understand why the emperor would talk about them, so she asked, "Is there any problem with this?"
Only then did Lao Zhu realize that Queen Ma didn't know the dangers of issuing treasure notes, so he smiled bitterly and told Queen Ma exactly what Han Du had told him.
"What? Issuing treasure money consumes the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty?" Queen Ma stood up from her stool in shock, and at the same time, a cold sweat instantly soaked her back.
Seeing this, Lao Zhu quickly stretched out his hand to comfort her back and sit down. "I also thought it wasn't true, but it just happened to be the case."
Empress Ma immediately grabbed the emperor's hand nervously and said eagerly: "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and stop the treasure money."
In Empress Ma's view, since the issuance of treasure banknotes consumes the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty, it is not too late to make amends. What kind of idiot emperor is using the national fortune in exchange for money to do such a stupid thing of losing a big thing for a small amount.
What is money? Compared with the national destiny, money is nothing. If you have no money, you can find a way. Without the national destiny, wouldn't the Ming Dynasty be dead?
Of course, Empress Ma did not think that Zhu Yuanzhang was a fool. After all, if Han Du hadn't pointed this out, no one would have thought that a piece of paper could be implicated in the fate of the country?