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, just do as you say. But as long as the Lord 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 turns out the handle is removable.
"Master Shangshu, please see, this handle can be removed. In this way, this 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 looked at 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 talk to the Ministry of War about the shield. 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 was chanting in my mouth.
Even Queen Ma couldn't stand it anymore 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 Can Yuan going south, he is even eager for them to come. It is better to be sent to the door and destroyed by the Ming Dynasty than to go on an expedition with troops from the Ming Dynasty.
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 the shortage of steel materials was too great and the Ministry of Industry could not complete ordnance manufacturing? This steel material cannot fall from the sky. How can we make enough ordnance without steel materials?"
"Hahaha, because someone provided enough steel." Lao Zhu gave up.
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, even the Ministry of Works can solve the problem."
"Guess, sister." Lao Zhu didn't directly say who it was.
Queen Ma looked at the joking emperor, slowly swallowed the food in her mouth, and said two words lightly: "Han Du?"
After hearing this, Lao Zhu's smile suddenly froze, and he said angrily: "That's right, 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 here, 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, Lao Zhu often fought on the front lines, while Queen Ma prepared military supplies and managed civil affairs for him in the rear. Husband and wife work together to create this great world.
As for what Queen Ma did back then, looking at it now, what is it? That 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 knows what's appropriate and takes the initiative to give in. She usually doesn't ask Lao Zhu.
Empress Ma waved her hand and patted the back of Lao Zhu's hand, "Stop trying to coax me with such nice words."
Seeing Lao Zhu's flattering smile, Queen Ma asked about Han Du, "There are so many people in the Ministry of Industry who have no solution. How 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 people 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 did not 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 a day." The imperial court will never be short of pounds of fine steel again."
Smelting tens of thousands of kilograms of refined steel 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, "Didn't the Emperor look carefully?"
"No." Lao Zhu shook his head. Seeing that Queen Ma was a little disappointed, she 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. When the molten steel is being tapped, 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 accomplish 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, you are right. 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 this iron becomes steel after being tempered over and over again. Steel, why can't it 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."
When Queen Ma saw Lao Zhu getting angry with a petty official, she 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 that Han Du had taken 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 has abilities, 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 to fool 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 is not destroyed, and this serious problem always exists. Every Northern Expedition to the residual Yuan costs a lot of money. Over the years, all the wealth captured before I established the world of Ding has been consumed. As a last resort, I have no choice but to distribute treasures. Chao Lai continues to support 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 soaked her back instantly.
Seeing this, Lao Zhu quickly stretched out his hand to comfort her back and sit down. "I also thought it wasn't, but it just happened to be the case."
Queen Ma immediately grabbed the emperor's hand nervously and said eagerly: "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and stop the money."
In Queen Ma's view, since issuing treasure banknotes consumes the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty, it is not too late to make up for the situation. What kind of idiot emperor could do such a stupid thing of exchanging national luck for money?
What is money? Money is nothing compared to national destiny. If you have no money, you can think of another way. If there is no national destiny, wouldn't the Ming Dynasty be destroyed?
Queen Ma certainly didn't think Zhu Yuanzhang was a fool. After all, if Han Du hadn't revealed this matter, no one would have thought that a piece of paper could be implicated in the fate of the country?
