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

Chapter 79 The most important thing
After talking about the new Jing Opera, Zhang Yong actually took out a wooden box and handed it to Zhu Houxuan.

"What does Eunuch Zhang mean?" Zhu Houxuan said in surprise.

"We want Your Highness to have no worries before going to Beijing. These are the materials reporting on the Prince of Jing's Mansion and the information about the informant that we received during the three days of our investigation. We hope these can be useful to Your Highness." Zhang Yong looked at Zhu Houxun with sharp eyes. After spending the past few days with him, he had a very good impression of Zhu Houxun and decided to invest in Zhu Houxun in advance.

"Thank you, Eunuch Zhang! This is very useful." Zhu Houxuan quickly took the wooden box and said in surprise, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you about the Jingfan matter, Eunuch Zhang."

"It's just a small favor. Your Highness doesn't have to worry about it." Zhang Yong said with a smile.

"I will definitely remember the kindness that Eunuch Zhang has shown me today." Zhu Houxuan said meaningfully. He wanted to maintain his youthful and spirited persona, but that didn't mean he had to act impulsive and brainless, as no one would want to make friends with him that way.

The two laughed tacitly.

Zhu Houxun also wanted to have a good relationship with Zhang Yong because he happened to have Zhang Yong's information in his memories of his previous life.

It can only be said that among the countless eunuchs in the Zhengde Dynasty, only Zhang Yong was the most powerful. He gained power, money, and merit, and was recognized by civil officials and trusted by the emperor for a long time, and even left a good name in history books.

He is now being suppressed by Liu Jin. Only after Liu Jin's downfall will he soar to success, so maintaining good relations in advance is a good choice.

In fact, there was nothing serious in the materials Zhang Yong gave, but Zhu Houxuan was able to see the people's opinions inside and outside the palace from them and eliminate these hidden dangers in advance.

The Hall of Cunxin.

"Your servant greets His Highness!"

"Hou Banban, you are here. You have been doing a good job recently." Zhu Houxuan looked at his most capable and trusted person with approval.

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness." Hou Sen smiled happily. The nearly one year of training gave him a mature temperament that did not match his age.

"I heard that the prince will leave for the capital in the next few days?" Hou Sen asked after hesitating.

"Yes, we will set off in three days." Zhu Houxuan saw through Hou Sen's thoughts at a glance, "But I can't bring you with me to Beijing this time. You have to help me protect the industry we have worked so hard to create in Qizhou. Your burden is still very heavy."

Although Hou Sen had expected this result, he still felt a little disappointed. "Hou Sen will definitely live up to the trust of the prince."

Zhu Houxuan nodded with satisfaction. He was still very confident in this eunuch who had grown up with him and was his study companion.

He picked up a stack of papers on the table and handed them to Hou Sen. "After I leave, deal with these people. Don't show any mercy. Get rid of those who should be kicked out."

Hou Sen took the paper and read it quickly. "These people have never treated them badly. How could they do such a rebellious thing!" Hou Sen said hatefully.

"You don't have to be too angry. They are just the people who fell behind in our team. This time is just the beginning. There will always be people like this in the future. They just need to be removed in time like abscesses. I have already told the concubine about this. If you have any difficult problems, you can ask the concubine to come forward." Zhu Houxuan said lightly.

"Yes, sir. Hou Sen will live up to your trust!" Hou Sen carefully put away the list and said firmly.

"I don't know how long I will be gone, but the industry of the palace must continue to develop." Zhu Houxuan took out a thick industrial development plan. While so many things were happening in the capital, Zhu Houxuan was not idle in Qizhou. He continued to promote the research of open-hearth steelmaking. Although there was no major progress and the success rate of steelmaking was not high, it depended on luck to a large extent, but it was much more efficient than steelmaking in this era. So he planned to let Luo Dajiang build several open-hearth furnaces that could process hundreds of tons of pig iron at a time in Daye Iron Mine, and continuously accumulate experience in production to improve open-hearth steelmaking technology.

The second is that Zhu Houxun also created some chemical dyes based on the chemical knowledge in his memory. At that time, most of the dyeing workshops in the Ming Dynasty still used natural dyes, which were generally expensive, and their properties were not very stable and they faded easily. Chemical dyes could solve this problem to a large extent. Although the chemical dyes that can be mass-produced now are relatively monotonous in color, related industries can already be established. Since he wants to develop the textile industry, he must develop the entire industrial chain of the textile industry, so that he can maximize profits.

The third is to take advantage of the winter dry season to choose a suitable place to start building water-powered equipment. He has not yet started trying to manufacture a steam engine. Even if it is manufactured, it will probably take some time to improve it before it can be put into large-scale production. Therefore, various water-powered devices are still needed for the transition. The most important thing is to accumulate experience in the design and use of various transmission devices to prepare for the advent of the steam age.

After explaining these three points to Hou Sen, Zhu Houxuan's expression became serious: "The last thing I am going to say next is the most important. You may not be able to do the other three things well, but you must do this one well!"

Hou Sen's expression also became serious. It was the first time he saw Zhu Houxuan speaking to him so seriously. "Your Highness, please give me your instructions!"

"The industries in the palace employ the most people. First, the farmers who rent the palace's land, second, the workers in the textile factory, third, the various craftsmen summoned by the palace, and fourth, the miners and ironworkers at the Daye Iron Mine. After I leave, I want you to organize all the children of the workers in these places who are over seven years old and under fourteen to attend classes, using the same textbooks that the orphans in the palace are learning."

Hou Sen was stunned and said hesitantly: "The palace has just been investigated, and adopting orphans is one of the items. Now we have to organize so many children to attend classes. I'm afraid it's not a good idea!"

"What's wrong with that? So many people have seen what happened to Shi Lu. I'm going to the capital again. The news that His Majesty trusts me has spread throughout Huguang. Who would dare to report the Prince of Jing's Mansion at this time? Even if someone reports it, I'm still in the capital! Just do it boldly!"

Isn't it for this reason that Zhu Houxuan worked so hard to establish a good relationship with Emperor Zhengde? Only by having a good relationship with the emperor can he use the emperor's influence to provide him with a protective umbrella and gain more room for activities.

"Then how do we solve the problem of teachers who teach the classes?" Hou Sen still felt that Zhu Houxuan's proposal was too outrageous.

"Send out all the eunuchs who have been trained well in the palace, increase their monthly salary and subsidies. The farther away from the palace they are, the higher the subsidy. Don't be afraid to spend money." The literacy rate of the eunuchs in the Prince of Jing's palace was still very high. During this year, Zhu Houxuan still took the time to organize more than a hundred of them for training. They were literate and naturally learned elementary school knowledge very quickly, so it was enough for them to be sent out as teachers.

"Also, the night school for workers in the mansion should be promoted, so that the eunuchs sent out can teach the children during the day and the workers at night." Zhu Houxuan added excitedly that he was using the eunuchs as animals.

Hou Sen's brows were still furrowed. "These families are not willing to let their children come to class. Children of this age can already do a lot of work. And the workers are tired enough after a day's work. Who would be willing to come to class?"

"Then we will lure them with benefits. As long as the children complete the relevant courses and pass the exams, they will be given bonuses. Children who come to class will be provided with free textbooks and no tuition fees, and they will also be provided with lunch. The workers' chances of getting a pay raise will also be linked to their performance in night school. The better they learn, the higher their pay will be!"

Hou Sen frowned even more tightly. "This involves several thousand people. How much money will it cost to provide so many textbooks and feed so many people, as well as various bonuses and salary increases?"

"Spend it! Don't feel bad about spending the money. As long as you can spend it where I said, I won't feel bad even if you spend all the 300,000 or 400,000 taels of silver that the mansion just received! As long as you can get things done!" Zhu Houxuan looked straight at Hou Sen.

"Your Highness, there is one thing I don't understand. Why do you want to invest so much money in this matter?"

"Housen, you have to remember that the industries we invest in now may bring us several times or even dozens of times the returns, but there is only one thing in this world that can bring us hundreds or even thousands of times the returns, and that is education!"

After Hou Sen left, Zhu Houxuan took out a piece of paper and looked at it for a long time, then threw it into the charcoal basin and burned it to ashes.
This summons came too suddenly, which directly disrupted his plans. Some things had to be moved forward.
This book has made it to the third round of recommendations! This book didn't even make it to the first round of recommendations. It was revived by the smart push for more than a week before it was recommended in the second round. Among the 22 books recommended in the second round, the collection increase was also at the bottom. I didn't expect to receive the notification of the third round of recommendations yesterday. Thinking carefully, the only explanation is that everyone has been reading too much recently, and I was sent to the third round with such poor collection data. Thank you all for this. I will also squeeze out the water in the story and write a more exciting story. Thank you all book friends.

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(End of this chapter)