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

Chapter 204 General Equipment Department
Although he wanted to obtain the right to manufacture weapons, he could not be too aggressive. Although he had a good relationship with Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Houzhao trusted him very much, he also reminded himself to be careful at all times and not touch some of Zhu Houzhao's sensitive nerves.

Emperors are creatures that are sensitive to power, so Zhu Houxuan must prepare for a rainy day and be careful about his methods and not to touch the emperor's sensitive nerves.
In fact, Zhu Houxuan had long wanted to obtain the right to manufacture military equipment. The industrial capabilities and technological advantages of the Ming Royal Group could play a huge role in military manufacturing.

The General Armament Department was a department that Zhu Houxuan had planned to establish a long time ago, and there is also a similar department called the General Logistics Department.

As long as the Ming Royal Group develops for a few more years under the control of Zhu Houxuan, the Ming Royal Group will control a large amount of materials and the most efficient material transportation system of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, the right to the logistics of the Ming Dynasty army will naturally fall into the hands of the Ming Royal Group.

In fact, Zhu Houxuan also learned from the PLA in the future when it came to military organization building. Before the military reform, the PLA had four headquarters, namely the General Staff, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department, and the General Armament Department. From this division of departments, it is clear what the most important power required to control an army is.

The Ming Royal Group, which has the rights to manufacture military equipment and logistical transportation, will be able to help Zhu Houzhao bypass the constraints of civil officials and possess complete military power.

The capabilities of the Ming Royal Group are there for all to see. As long as Zhu Houzhao is not blind, he will take the initiative to give these two powers to the Ming Royal Group. It is because of this realization that Zhu Houxuan behaves in a non-competitive, calm and peaceful manner.

"Great! The General Armament Department is a good name. I feel very reassured to have my younger brother helping me!" Zhu Houzhao exclaimed.

"Come on, brother, let's drink this cup together!" Zhu Houzhao said, raising his glass.

Zhu Houxuan also raised his glass, and both the host and the guests were in great joy.

Bursts of laughter from the soldiers could be heard outside the tent. Although there were some twists and turns in today's drill, no one was injured. The reward of salted fish was also substantial. Even as the more elite border troops, their usual meals were mainly rice and wheat. It was quite difficult to obtain so much meat in this era.

Therefore, the soldiers were very happy to receive so many rewards at one time.

Zhu Houzhao was also in high spirits, so he ordered the soldiers to come into the tent to sing, which he often did when he was in the Leopard Room.
The soldiers sang several songs; their voices were bold and rough, which had a unique flavor to them.

What surprised Zhu Houxuan the most was that the soldiers sang the song he had copied four years ago - "The Avenue to Heaven is Wide and Broad."

To be honest, it was the first time he knew that this song was sung in the army, which made him feel very novel.

Zhu Houzhao was already a little tipsy. He and Zhu Houxun were hugging each other's shoulders and backs. "Brother, this song is well written. The soldiers in the army like it very much."

"Yes, it's just that this song is a little short. The emperor's uncle is a master of lyricism and composer. When will he write a few more songs for the soldiers in the army?" Jiang Bin on the side also smiled and said.

Zhu Houzhao immediately became excited when he heard it, "Yes, I almost forgot that you are a master of lyric and composer. I haven't heard your new work for a long time. When you have time, please write a few songs for the army."

Zhu Houxuan did not expect that this would happen again today. In fact, he really wanted to refuse. He did remember quite a few military songs, but he believed that the current feudal army was not worthy of those military songs.

However, this was also an opportunity to spread his influence in the military, which made it difficult for him to refuse.
"Okay! When I'm not busy, I'll write a few songs for the army, but that's not enough. The army has strict discipline and boring life. The group has a cultural propaganda department, and there are several art propaganda teams under the cultural propaganda department. It is estimated that they will arrive in the capital in a while. Let them perform for the soldiers in the army." Zhu Houxuan said simply. If you do it, do it to the best of your ability. "Nephew, on behalf of the soldiers in the army, thank you, uncle." Jiang Bin said with a bow.

Zhu Houzhao was also very happy to see this.
The matter of inferior weapons took a new turn the next day.

First, a fire broke out in the arsenal of the Ministry of War in the middle of the night. Several warehouses were burned down, including the accounting office, and the account books inside were burned to ashes.

Then the military official in charge of the arsenal was found hanged in a house in the city, and the ambassador of the Ministry of Works and the Arsenal also hanged himself.
Qianqing Palace.

"What are you doing? Why don't you arrest all the people involved in this case first?" Zhu Houzhao yelled at Zhang Yong with a frosty face.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. I went to arrest these two people after receiving the order yesterday, but I could not find them in the government office or in their homes. By the time I found them, they had been dead for a long time!" Zhang Yong replied while kneeling on the ground.

Zhu Houzhao snorted coldly and asked, "Is it suicide?"

"The coroner from the Ministry of Justice is currently performing an autopsy. It looks like it's 80% suicide," replied the Minister of Justice Zhang Zilin.

Zhu Houzhao was so angry that his face turned red. He looked at the ministers present with murderous intent and said, "Tell me, what do you think of this matter?"

All the ministers present were watching, and no one spoke.

Finally, it was the Minister of War Lu Wan who stepped out and said carefully: "From what I can see, these two colluded to resell military supplies, and when they saw that their plan was exposed, they committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

"Committing suicide out of fear of punishment? Are you bullying a dead person who can't speak? What happened to the fire in the armory of the Ministry of War? Why did it happen at this critical moment?" There was a dangerous light flashing in Zhu Houzhao's eyes.

Lu Wan sighed, knelt on the ground, slowly took off the black gauze hat on his head and placed it on the ground in front of him, then bowed deeply, "I failed to lead my subordinates well and was negligent in management, which led to this big mistake. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Li Ye, the Minister of Works, knelt beside Lu Wan, took off his black hat, revealing his gray hair, and said, "I failed to lead my subordinates well and made this big mistake. Your Majesty, please punish me."

"It's like this again! It's like this again! Every time something happens you do this! What I want is the result, the truth! Do you really think I dare not punish you?" Zhu Houzhao felt even more annoyed as he looked at the two important ministers kneeling on the ground. He slammed the imperial table and said.

"Your Majesty, calm down!" Grand Secretary Liang Chu stepped out. "Now that things have come to this, we should proceed in two steps. First, we should continue to investigate this matter. Although a lot of evidence has been lost, this matter can still be investigated. Second, we should reorganize the Military Equipment Bureau and the Arsenal to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future."

I have been stuck on this story for several hours today. This section is about giving the protagonist a reason to get involved in the manufacture of weapons, but I couldn't find a corresponding historical event to support it, so I had to make up an event myself. As a result, the more I wrote, the more difficult it became. My thoughts reached a dead end and I couldn't figure it out for a long time.
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(End of this chapter)