Chapter 117 The Calamity of the Xiaoliuqiu Battleship
Zhu Di's eyes rarely softened and he looked at Zhu Gaochi, "If you can manage Nanjing well, you have already helped me."
When Zhu Gaochi heard this, he smiled and was very pleased.
In full view of the public, the Ming Dynasty army led by Zhu Di marched in the streets.
The common people lined the streets to welcome him, shouting long live until they entered the palace.
Zhu Di, the prince Zhu Gaochi, and the emperor's grandson Zhu Zhanji tried their best to keep Zhu Muchen in the palace to eat.
"King Chu, I have prepared delicious food a long time ago. It will not be too late for you to return home after eating."
Zhu Gaochi stood beside him, touched his arm, and echoed Zhu Di's words.
"My wife and children at home are very impatient to wait. I will have more time to spend with the emperor and the prince in the future."
To describe the mood of Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji at this time is to use the words of drinking and talking happily, but Zhu Muchen knew in his heart that such words should not be said casually.
"Prince, Zhanji, you two should not embarrass the King of Chu. When I grant him a reward next time, you can go to his house to reminisce with him."
As soon as Zhu Di said this, the two princes gave up.
"I thank the Emperor for your understanding. For the time being, I can only accept the kindness of the Crown Prince and the Crown Prince." Zhu Muchen said respectfully to Zhu Di who was sitting on the dragon chair.
Zhu Di waved his hand and said, "Seeing that you are eager to return home, go quickly."
"I excuse myself." After Zhu Muchen said that, he withdrew from the palace.
Zhu Di, who was sitting on the dragon throne, looked at Zhu Zhanji with gentle eyes, briefly talked about his contribution to the Northern Expedition, and asked him to go back to see his concubines.
As a result, only four people, Zhu Di and his son, were left in the entire huge hall.
Zhu Di affirmed Zhu Muchen's contribution to the Northern Expedition, and his words meant that he wanted to reward him properly. When the King of Han heard these words from the grassland all the way to Nanjing, his ears almost became calluses.
When Zhu Gaochi kept saying that he would obey Zhu Di's wishes, the King of Han finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"Dad." There was no one else around at this time, so he simply called him that.
"The surrendered troops of Oara and Tatar have been given to the King of Chu. If they are strictly trained, they will be a strong army comparable to three thousand battalions in the future. This reward is enough."
After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he kept muttering in his heart that if he awarded Zhu Muchen another reward, he would have more power than the three brothers.
Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui, under the look of Han Wang, also started to help, "Early the shipyard was watched by the King of Chu, and the improvement and manufacturing of firecrackers and mortars were also in charge of the King of Chu. Now with the addition of those soldiers, Dad
Ah, you have to think about it carefully."
Xu Shi, the father and son on the grassland, spoke freely, which drew them into their relationship with Zhu Di, which made King Zhao of Han feel that Zhu Di, who was sitting on the dragon throne at this time, played a more important role as a father than the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
, and a little more unscrupulously.
Why couldn't Zhu Di understand the meaning of this? He had also been deeply affected by the cuts. Too much power was concentrated in the hands of one person, and it was difficult to prevent this person from turning against him.
But looking at the entire court, among the civil and military officials, who can have Zhu Muchen's courage and intelligence?
If nothing else, Zhu Di would not be at ease if the shipyard was handed over to others. Those who are capable work hard. The King of Han never seemed to understand this truth.
However, it's not that Zhu Gaoxu doesn't understand this truth, it's that he doesn't want to succumb to others.
"The matter of conferring a reward to the King of Chu does not count as long as I have discussed it with you. It requires the consent of all civil and military officials in the court. We will not discuss this matter today. We will discuss it in court."
"King of Han and Zhao, you two have contributed a lot to this Northern Expedition. Let's go back to our respective mansions to rest."
Zhu Di gave the order that they should not stay any longer, and the three brothers came out of the hall one after another.
King Zhao of Han took Zhu Gaochi to ask about the progress of the shipyard. During their Northern Expedition, Zhu Gaochi knew the situation in Xiaoliuqiu very well.
Facing the inquiries from the two younger brothers, Zhu Gaochi walked between them and just laughed, "How do I know that? I just went to take a look on behalf of the emperor. The specific situation must be reported to the emperor personally by the King of Chu.
When there is progress, the emperor will tell us the good news, so we can just wait and feel at ease."
This answer that no one could offend made Han King Zhu Gaoxu roll his eyes at him several times. He pretended not to see it at all. He didn't want to continue to be questioned by King Zhao of Han, so he quickened his pace.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" King Han caught up and grabbed Zhu Gaochi's sleeve, "I haven't finished speaking yet. Can I still eat you?"
"I'm busy with other things. Let's talk about it another day. Let's talk another day." Zhu Gaochi pulled the sleeve out of Zhu Gaoxu's hand with a smile and left without looking back.
Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui looked at his back and both shook their heads.
"Second brother, you have to think of a way. We can't sit back and wait for death like this." King Zhao said worriedly as he walked side by side.
Zhu Gaoxu also quickened his pace. The fact that the Wala and Tatar soldiers gave Zhu Muchen was really a thorn in his heart. He couldn't sleep well until he pulled it out.
He had to go back and plan carefully to see how to make the emperor worry about handing those people over to Zhu Muchen.
…
At the entrance of Prince Chu's Mansion.
Zhu Muchen turned over and got off the rocket's back. Xu Xin and others had already been waiting at the door to greet him. When the three of them saw Zhu Muchen come back in one piece, their hanging hearts finally settled in their stomachs.
Xu Xin's eyes filled with tears, and she stepped forward to wipe away her tears.
"Why are you crying? Didn't I come back well?" Zhu Muchen took her arm, raised his hand to wipe away the tears that rolled down her cheeks, and spoke softly.
"It's a great thing that the prince came back unscathed. We should be happy." Bai Xiaoman was also moved in her heart, but she couldn't control her tears like Xu Xin, and she even helped Zhu Muchen comfort Xu Xin.
Hearing this, Xu Xin came out of Zhu Muchen's arms, quickly wiped away her tears and put on a smiling face, "We are all very worried about you. It would be better if you came back safely. Dinner is already prepared, and the children are also
I miss you so much, let’s talk about it as a family over dinner.”
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Zhu Muchen felt very warm.
He didn't take sides, he hugged Xu Xin first, then took Bai Xiaoman with his left hand and Shang Ziyou with his right hand, and walked towards the house together, with Aji following behind them.
At the dinner table, the whole family was enjoying themselves happily.
After dinner, we had made an appointment, and on the way back to the court, everyone, including Zhu Di, was eager to return home. Although they rested on the way, they were not as comfortable sleeping at home after all.
Xu Xin had made the bed early, but it was already midnight. After asking, she found out that Zhu Muchen was still in the study.
Xu Xin took a cloak and came to the study. As soon as she entered the door, she saw Zhu Muchen sitting in front of the desk, frowning.
Xu Xin stepped forward slowly and called his name softly. Her gentle voice seemed to drive away Zhu Muchen's fatigue. The moment he raised his head, he looked energetic, with a relaxed and gentle look in his eyes.
"It's so late, why don't you come to the study if you don't have a good rest?" Zhu Muchen stretched out his hand towards Xu Xin.
She put her hand into his palm, looked at him with watery eyes, patted his leg with her other hand, and motioned for her to sit on it.
Xu Xin put a cloak on him and told him that it was cold at night. Although official duties were important, he should also take care of his body. The whole family was worried about him.
Xu Xin was concerned that he was tired from traveling and traveling all the way, so she sent the children back to their respective rooms early and did not bother Zhu Muchen. But who would have thought that he still bowed his head in front of the case and has been busy until now.
"There is no end to official duties." Xu Xin said distressedly.
He always kept himself very busy. Sometimes when she looked at him, she felt that he was busier than the prince of the prison country.
Spread out on the desk are shipbuilding blueprints.
News came from Xiaoliuqiu that the built warships had been launched into the water and tested. Both in terms of load capacity and speed, they were far from the original expectations.
After dinner, Zhu Muchen kept drawing in his study, thinking about how to continue optimizing the battleship.
Building a battleship requires a lot of manpower and material resources. After it has been built, he naturally does not want to waste it.
There is another reason. If the first ship fails to satisfy everyone, it is no different from a bad start. It will only dampen everyone's enthusiasm. The king of Han and Zhao will definitely hinder it.
Compared to the Northern Expedition, Zhu Muchen was actually more inclined to expand maritime power.
Taking advantage of the victory of the Northern Expedition and the time when the army needed to recuperate and recuperate, it was time to focus on maritime navigation.
Thinking of this, Zhu Muchen's brows furrowed again.
Seeing this, Xu Xin raised her hand and gently rubbed his temples.
"Nothing can be rushed." Xu Xin soothed.
Zhu Muchen nodded and folded up the battleship drawings on the desk, "You are right, take a rest."
The chaos caused by desperation gave people with ulterior motives the opportunity to cause chaos. I am afraid that the situation in Xiaoliuqiu has also reached the ears of King Zhao of Han Dynasty.
Sure enough, early the next morning, the King of Han rode to the gate of the Prince of Chu's Mansion.
He told the gatekeeper of the Prince of Chu's Mansion: "In this Northern Expedition, your King of Chu and I fought from inside and outside, and defeated the Tatars. Now we are brothers, and our relationship is very good. I came today to have a drink with your King of Chu.
I’m used to drinking from him on the grassland.”
As he spoke, he strode into Prince Chu's Mansion.
"King Chu." Zhu Gaoxu saw Zhu Muchen and called him.
"How come the King of Han is free today and comes to my house?" Zhu Muchen asked politely.
To be polite is to be distant.
"Didn't I hear that there was a problem with your battleship? I'm also very concerned about the maritime plan you mentioned before. Now let me ask, King Chu, do you have any solution?"
"Hey, the maritime plan is very important to the emperor. Now that something like this has happened, King Chu may have to go to Xiaoliuqiu himself."
As soon as Zhu Muchen left, he could ask the emperor to give those surrendered troops to him for training.
Zhu Gaoxu was originally thinking about how to cause some trouble for Zhu Muchen, but now, the trouble came to Zhu Muchen himself.
