Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 724: Make the best use of everyone
"Do you have any objection to this arrangement?" After summoning Xu Xiancheng and Sun Yuanhua, Zhu Shenzui exchanged a few pleasantries and then talked about the work arrangements for Sun Yuanhua. When he said that he was going to appoint Sun Yuanhua as the Assistant Minister of the Imperial Household Department and put him in charge of the Construction Department, allocating Zhaowuling's workshops and many technical personnel to the Construction Department, and also dividing several institutions from the Ministry of Works to be under its management, Zhu Shenzui asked a specific question.

"Your Highness, you just said that I will be in charge of all firearms workshops, including all research and development personnel? Including the master craftsmen who make firearms in your new army? Are you serious?" Originally thought that Sun Yuanhua would have some objections to the official position, but unexpectedly, the first thing he asked was this.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said, "Why? Didn't I explain it clearly just now? If you didn't understand, I'll say it again. If you understand it well, from now on, in addition to ordinary construction, the Construction Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will focus on the development of firearms. All firearms workshops, craftsmen, and affiliated smelting workshops will be under the jurisdiction of the Construction Department, which means you will be in charge..."

"I am willing!" Without waiting for Zhu Shenzhui to finish his words, Sun Yuanhua's brows instantly lit up with joy and he agreed immediately.

During the Battle of the Great Wall, Sun Yuanhua noticed the elite firearms that Wang Jinwu's new army, including the cavalry, had. The new army was equipped with Portuguese arquebus and tiger squat cannons, which were much better than those made by the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Industry. However, this was only a matter of craftsmanship. In Sun Yuanhua's opinion, if he was allowed to preside over the manufacturing, he could make them as long as he put in some effort and controlled the quality.

But the problem is that the plum blossom spears of the new army surprised Sun Yuanhua. He never thought that there would be such a fire gun in the world... No! According to the new army, there is a fire gun.

As the leading firearms expert in the Ming Dynasty, what kind of firearms has Sun Yuanhua not seen in his life? He has also studied the famous Five Thunder God Machine. For a period of time, Sun Yuanhua even tried to modify it according to the principle of the Five Thunder God Machine, so as to develop a new type of firearm that is more suitable for the battlefield.

However, Sun Yuanhua did not succeed in the end. It was not because of his lack of ability, but because of the limitations of various factors at the time. But this time at the Great Wall, he saw a brand new firearm (musket). This new type of musket, called the Plum Blossom Gun, had the advantages of the Five Thunders Divine Machine's continuous firing, and it was small in size and sophisticated in structure. More importantly, it did not require a matchlock or even a flintlock. It used a firing ignition device called yellow powder. After placing the bullet and yellow powder in advance, the user only needed to pull the trigger and twist the cylinder to shoot.

Moreover, the shooting accuracy of this plum blossom spear is not low. Although it is not as good as the bird gun, it is not much different. In addition, the plum blossom spear has two structures. One is a long spear similar to the bird gun, with a longer range and higher accuracy for battle. The other is a short gun used for self-defense and cavalry. It is easy to use and has great lethality. Sun Yuanhua was shocked when he saw it.

Taking advantage of the war, Sun Yuanhua specially asked Wang Jinwu for two plum blossom spears (one long and one short) for research. He also dismantled the two spears and reassembled them by himself. After figuring out the design concept and structure of the spear, Sun Yuanhua was truly impressed by the ingenious thinking of the person who could invent this kind of firearm. In particular, the emergence of yellow medicine broke the way of using matchlock or flintlock for firearms for hundreds of years, which gave Sun Yuanhua a new idea and thinking in his mind.

After the war, although Sun Yuanhua returned to Shandong, he continued to research and improve the original plum blossom spear in Shandong, and he also gained some insights. This time when he came to the capital, he wanted to meet Wang Jinwu. It would be even better if he could find out who invented this firearm through Wang Jinwu. Sun Yuanhua couldn't wait to meet this craftsman and discuss the concept of firearms, so as to jointly improve firearms, not only plum blossom spears, but also other firearms on the same line of thought.

But before he could meet Wang Jinwu, he followed Xu Xiancheng into the palace to meet Zhu Shencui. When Zhu Shencui met him for the first time, he proposed to adjust his position and let him serve as the assistant minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was being established, and also in charge of the Construction Department.

That would have been fine, but the most important thing was that Zhu Shenzui told him that in the future, the Construction Department of the Imperial Household Department would be responsible for the research of firearms and other aspects, and would directly assign all the previous New Army firearms manufacturing workshops, including those craftsmen, to Sun Yuanhua.

When Sun Yuanhua, who has always loved research, heard the news, he didn't care about anything else. He couldn't wait to ask the question just now. He wanted to verify with Zhu Shenzhu whether what he just said was true.

When Zhu Shenzui clearly told Sun Yuanhua that he had not heard of it and that he had indeed made such an arrangement, Sun Yuanhua instantly became delighted and agreed to the arrangement without hesitation.

Seeing that Sun Yuanhua was so excited that he didn't care about the official position and agreed immediately, Zhu Shenzhu couldn't help but laugh. On the side, Xu Xiancheng also smiled. He and Sun Yuanhua were old friends, so he naturally knew his old friend's temper and personality. Moreover, his ideas were the same as Zhu Shenzhu's. They both felt that Sun Yuanhua, as a technical talent, should be used where he should be used, instead of being a governor or a commander. Sun Yuanhua was only suitable for research, and letting him do those things would harm him. Now Zhu Shenzhu's arrangement was the most appropriate for Sun Yuanhua.

"Given your official position and previous achievements, the title of Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a bit low. I remember that you also served as the Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief. How about being promoted directly to the position of Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief?"

"I have no objection. You can even not give me this promotion, as long as I am responsible for the construction of anything." Sun Yuanhua answered without thinking. As soon as he said this, Zhu Shenzhui and Xu Xiancheng couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Since Sun Yuanhua was willing to go to the Imperial Household Department, the matter was settled. Zhu Shenzhui explained the situation of Sun Yuanhua's Imperial Household Department in detail, and emphasized the arrangements for the Construction Department.

Because of the importance of the Construction Bureau, Zhu Shenzhui did not plan to move the Zhaowuling workshop directly to the capital. Moreover, the Zhaowuling workshop and its institutions have become well-established over the years. If they are relocated, it will be inconvenient. Secondly, Shanxi is rich in coal and minerals. It is not worth moving to the capital from the perspective of raw material supply. Secondly, the military industry department must not only keep it confidential, but also be absolutely safe. The Zhaowuling base was carefully built by Zhu Shenzhui. There may be some problems in this regard if it is moved to other places. It is better to keep it where it is.

Therefore, the base at Zhaowuling only needs to be expanded on the original basis. As for the scale of the expansion, Sun Yuanhua needs to go there to see it himself, after all, he is a professional. In addition, Sun Yuanhua can decide how to relocate the several institutions of the Ministry of Industry after they are transferred here. Of course, the workshops will not be relocated, and the layout of other facilities will also depend on the actual situation. Zhu Shenzhui wants the result rather than the process.

After discussing the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zhu Shenzhui encouraged Sun Yuanhua a few more words before letting him leave.

After Sun Yuanhua said goodbye joyfully, he left Wenhua Hall first. After Sun Yuanhua left, Zhu Shenzui stood up and looked at Xu Xiancheng, who had been sitting below him, with admiration in his eyes.

"You and I haven't seen each other for many years. When we meet again that day, you are no longer the young man you were back then..." Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but sigh. When he and Xu Jingqiu had just gotten married, Xu Xiancheng was just a boy in his teens. Now, in the blink of an eye, Xu Xiancheng is nearly thirty years old. The young boy back then is now an important official of the Ming Dynasty. He looks somewhat like his sister Xu Jingqiu, has a long beard of a scholar, is tall, has a resolute expression, and has a good-looking face.

"Sister... Your Highness..."

"There are no outsiders here. There is no need to call me Your Highness. Just call me brother-in-law. Come to think of it, I haven't heard you call me like that in many years." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile, waving his hand to interrupt.

Xu Xiancheng also smiled and called Zhu Shenzui "brother-in-law". Zhu Shenzui felt comfortable all over after hearing this and patted his shoulder happily.

"Have all the family members returned to Beijing?"

"It will take some time, because I am in a hurry to come back, and my wife and children will arrive in Beijing the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, it's better to walk slowly. After all, the child is still young. By the way, wait until your wife and children arrive in Beijing and go to the palace together. I, as their brother-in-law and uncle, have not seen them yet."

"That's natural. Even if I enter the palace, I'm afraid..."

"It's okay. It's human nature for family members to see each other. Why bother so much? You don't have to care about what some people say. Besides, even if you care, do you think these people will say good things?"

Xu Xiancheng smiled bitterly and nodded. Yes! Even if he wanted to avoid suspicion, it was impossible. Who in the world didn't know that he, Xu Xiancheng, was Zhu Shenzhui's brother-in-law? And his sister Xu Jingqiu was Zhu Shenzhui's legal wife?
This is a fact that cannot be changed no matter what, even if Xu Xiancheng is unwilling. Because of this relationship, Xu Xiancheng's current position is somewhat awkward. As the former governor of Shandong, he can be said to be a local power in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, both the Tianqi Emperor and the later Chongzhen Emperor were more or less indebted to Xu Xiancheng.

But now Zhu Shencui took control of the government in the name of clearing the evil officials and pacifying the national crisis. Emperor Chongzhen was "recuperating" in the deep palace and no longer took care of affairs. All government affairs fell into Zhu Shencui's hands, and he was promoted to Prince of Jiaocheng and became the regent of the Ming Dynasty.

What this means, anyone with a little bit of intelligence knows it. If nothing unexpected happens, it is inevitable that Zhu Shenzhui will replace him when the time is right. From this point of view, the stain of "usurping the throne" on Zhu Shenzhui cannot be washed away, and Xu Xiancheng, as a relative, naturally becomes a relative by marriage, even if he does not want it to be so.

But even if that was the case, what did it matter? As an official appointed by the imperial court and a powerful local figure, Xu Xiancheng knew too much about the situation in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, his original political philosophy was close to Zhu Shenzhui's, and he understood Zhu Shenzhui's ability better than anyone else.

From a national perspective, it might not be a bad thing for Zhu Shenzhu to replace Emperor Chongzhen. After all, Emperor Chongzhen was not a wise ruler at all. If the Ming Dynasty was in the hands of Emperor Chongzhen, the chaos in the world would become more and more serious, and it would eventually collapse one day. By that time, it would be impossible to save the Ming Dynasty.

Now that Zhu Shenzhu has become the regent and is in charge of the government, the situation in the Ming Dynasty has obviously improved a lot in the past six months, which is what Xu Xiancheng is pleased about. As for other things, as Zhu Shenzhu just said, let others comment on it. As long as the Ming Dynasty can be revived and the people of the world can live and work in peace, everything will be concluded in future history books.

(End of this chapter)