I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 19 Make plans again
"Then why didn't the concubine stop Brother Xuan, but instead gave him 5000 taels of silver?" Finally, Liu Yourong broke the silence.

"Yourong, when you have your own children in the future you will understand my decision today." Concubine Liu said with a sigh.

"The Prince of Jing's Mansion has a bad reputation, and he has a heavy burden as the Prince of Jing. Although the method he thought of today is a little ill-considered, his intention is still good. He always remembers the teachings of the late king. I am very pleased to see his sincerity. I cannot bear to hit him, and at the same time I hope he can figure out the key points." Concubine Liu sighed.

"The love that the concubine dowager has for her child is truly touching!" Yu Chunlai said seriously.

"Okay, stop flattering me! You are aware of the pros and cons, so you have to continue doing what I told you to do before. It is not easy for me to stop the prince directly now, so I have to rely on you to think of some ways to divert the prince's interest and indirectly achieve the effect of dissuading him." Concubine Liu made the final decision.

"He's taking too big a step now. I just want him to live his life properly, not do evil, not make mistakes, and then do some good deeds like helping disaster victims and building bridges and roads. If they keep doing this for several generations, the reputation of the Jing Palace will naturally improve, and I will not let the late king down." Concubine Liu said with tears in her eyes.

"I understand. I will definitely live up to the trust of the Concubine Dowager." Yu Chunlai said with a bow.

Then he seemed to have thought of something, "What do you think of the strategy I proposed today?"

What Yu Chunlai was talking about was the suggestion of giving a male companion.

"Forget about this! Let's think of other ways." Concubine Liu gave a hidden look.

Yu Chunlai immediately understood what Concubine Liu meant, glanced quickly at Liu Yourong, and quickly changed the subject.

"I heard from people in the palace some time ago that the prince has found a lot of storybooks and is very interested in the opera troupe in the palace. I wonder if we can start from there." Yu Chunlai quickly made another suggestion.

"I heard about this, too, but Xuan'er seemed to lose interest in it very quickly."

"The opera troupe in the palace hasn't staged a new play for three or four years, and there are only so many scripts in the palace. It's normal for the prince to lose interest so quickly. But this incident also shows that the prince is still interested in this."

"What you said does make some sense." Concubine Liu said after a moment of hesitation.

"I think Qizhou is a small place after all. Why not send someone to Wuchang or Nanjing to invite a few opera troupes back? I think it will arouse the prince's interest."

"This idea is feasible. There are many people in the royal family who are obsessed with folk arts. But do you have any other good ideas?" Concubine Liu was a little dissatisfied.

"My Lady Concubine, I am truly an old servant of little talent and knowledge, and I can't think of any other ideas," Yu Chunlai said with a bitter face.

"Then just send someone to do it. It's better than doing nothing." Concubine Liu waved her hand and said.

"As you command."

"Why is there only five thousand taels?" Zhu Houxuan said dissatisfiedly as he looked at the silver box in front of him.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I am only following your orders," Yu Chunlai said softly.

Thinking back to Concubine Liu's strange attitude yesterday and the five thousand taels of silver today, he couldn't make sense of it for a moment and felt a little unhappy.

Looking at Yu Chunlai's gray hair and ingratiating smile, he didn't feel comfortable getting angry at Yu Chunlai for the moment.

"Five thousand taels is enough for now," Zhu Houxuan muttered softly, and decided to put the matter behind him for the time being.

At this time, silver from Japan and America had just begun to flow into the Ming Dynasty, and the purchasing power of silver was still very strong.

"Have the iron smelters at Daye Iron Mine arrived?" Zhu Houxuan looked at Hou Sen. "Your Highness, the iron smelters arrived last night and have been arranged to stay at Gongzheng's office." Hou Sen said hurriedly.

"Okay, let's go to Gongzheng Office!"

After arriving at the Gongzheng Institute, Zhu Houxuan found that there were seven or eight new people.

When Jin Tong saw Zhu Houxuan coming, he hurriedly led the craftsmen to pay their respects.

Zhu Houxuan waved his hand and told them not to be so polite.

"Your Highness, this is Master Craftsman Luo and his apprentices in the mine. All the iron smelting furnaces in the mine were built by Master Craftsman Luo," Jin Tong pointed at a little old man and introduced enthusiastically.

Zhu Houxuan's eyes fell on the old man. He saw that the old man was skinny and small, and it seemed that a gust of wind could blow him down. The only thing that caught his attention was his sharp and bright eyes.

There was some confusion in Zhu Houxuan's eyes. He didn't expect that this Master Luo was so thin.

Jin Tong saw Zhu Houxuan's doubts and quickly explained: "Master Luo is not like me who relies on his own strength to make a living. He relies on decades of experience."

"Greetings, Your Majesty. I wonder why you summoned us here." Master Luo also stepped forward and spoke in a somewhat stiff manner, but his apprentice seemed very excited.

"I have heard of Master Luo's reputation a long time ago. I invited you here today to discuss some iron smelting knowledge and to improve the iron smelting method of Daye Iron Mine," Zhu Houxuan said with a smile, not caring about Master Luo's attitude.

"Improve the iron smelting method?" Master Luo looked at Zhu Houxuan's childish face with a little more impatience in his eyes. "The iron smelting method used in Daye Mine does not need to be improved. I can guarantee that this iron smelting method is the best in the entire Daming."

When it comes to his profession, Luo Dajiang has absolute confidence.

"If the prince asked me to come here just for this matter, then you can send me back now."

Luo Dajiang's words frightened Jin Tong, and he quickly explained, "Your Majesty."

Zhu Houxuan waved his hand to stop Jin Tong, "This king likes people with real abilities, and people with real abilities have the right to be proud."

"What I want to discuss with Master Luo today is whether the fuel for iron smelting can be changed from charcoal to coal." Zhu Houxuan decided to be more direct.

"That's absolutely not feasible!" Master Luo said hurriedly.

"Oh? Please tell me in detail!"

"At the beginning of the country, both the north and south of the Ming Dynasty produced good steel, especially the largest ironworks in the north, Zunhua Iron and Steel, which produced countless good steels. But within a hundred years, the north no longer produced good steel, and instead, Su Steel in the south became famous all over the world. Your Majesty, do you know why?"

"Is it because the fuel for iron smelting has been changed from charcoal to coal?" Zhu Houxuan asked deliberately.

"Your Highness is indeed gifted. That's right. The iron smelting methods in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty are almost the same, with no difference in quality. It's because the trees in the north have been cut down and charcoal is expensive, so they are forced to use coal to smelt iron. As a result, they only get a pile of inferior iron, not good steel! Therefore, it is absolutely not feasible to replace charcoal with coal!" said Master Craftsman Luo angrily.

Luo Dajiang's words made Zhu Houxuan think highly of him. Although the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty did not understand why using coal as fuel would cause the quality of iron to deteriorate, they all observed this phenomenon.

Zhu Houxuan read an article on Zhihu in his previous life, which made him understand the reason.

(End of this chapter)