Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 192 Wang Shouren's Study of Things

Managed internal factory?

Chen Ce stared at Zhu Houzhao in surprise. He really didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao would be so generous.

No wonder he had seen the Jinyiwei and Dongchang becoming active in Shuntian Prefecture recently; it turned out that Emperor Hongzhi was preparing to reopen the Neichang.

Emperor Hongzhi would naturally not risk the taboos of the civil officials to open this notorious internal investigation office unless his beloved son, the crown prince, asked him to do so.

Why did Zhu Houzhao open an internal factory?

For yourself.

In fact, Chen Ce didn't care about rewards or not. No matter how gorgeous the clothes, how much gold and silver, or how great the power, they were all just passing clouds to him.

Six years later he will have nothing. He came into this world alone and will leave alone.

But he could not let Zhu Houzhao down.

The group of secret spies in the northwest cannot get involved in official affairs, but the internal factories can.

However, according to Zhu Houzhao, the power of the Neichang was greatly restricted, but having such a group of official spies to mobilize was better than having nothing.

Chen Ce did not refuse and said to Zhu Houzhao: "Okay! Then I will take charge of the inner factory for you temporarily."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Okay, but there is no one in the inner factory right now. Tell me who you want to recruit. I will go to Jinyiwei and Dongchang to transfer people over, and we will set up the inner factory team."

Of course Chen Ce has the candidate, Li Zhen is the best candidate. If Li Zhen is allowed to transfer some people from Jinyiwei and Dongchang to Neichang, the entire Neichang team can be set up quickly.

With the internal factory team, he can better protect his own safety and avoid trouble, which is a complete benefit for Chen Ce.

Zhu Houzhao took Liu Jin to excitedly set up the internal factory team.

……

The Mid-Autumn Festival of the twelfth year of Hongzhi arrived.

A merchant family in Hangzhou was having a reunion dinner at this time. After the reunion dinner, the eldest son of the Chen family was going to Beijing to discuss a cooperation.

After Chen Boxin took over Chen Ce's family business, the business plummeted and he had to start considering business transformation.

The most profitable businesses in various places now are undoubtedly express delivery outlets. Chen Boxin saw the potential of express delivery and planned to take his eldest son to Peking after the Mid-Autumn Festival to discuss the franchise of express delivery stations in the entire Hangzhou area.

"Dad, do you think we can take over the entire Hangzhou Prefecture Express delivery network?"

Chen Zhengye, the eldest son of Chen Boxin, was a little worried. After all, they were not familiar with the other party. There were many businessmen who wanted to take over the express delivery outlets in Hangzhou, and he had no advantage. It was hard to say whether he could get this piece of fat meat.

Chen Boxin shook his head. He was not sure either, so he had to go to Beiping in person to take a look. It would be best if he could find the big boss behind Shuntian Express and talk to him in person.

We had seized such a huge industry from Chen Ce's father, but now it has declined to this state. If we don't change, we will have a hard time moving forward in the future.

However, Chen Boxin probably had some plans in mind. He looked at Chen Zhengye and said, "We need to find another person when we go to Shuntian Prefecture this time. With his help, we may be able to succeed."

Chen Zhengye asked puzzledly: "Who?"

Chen Boxin said: "Ning Cheng."

The second son of the Chen family had sponsored Ning Cheng to take the imperial examination in Shuntian. So many years have passed, and Ning Cheng should have been serving as an official in the capital.

Since ancient times, the people have not fought with officials, let alone lowly merchants. They naturally feel inferior to officials. As long as the other party is willing to help, no matter how many competing merchants there are, it will be of no avail. They can almost certainly get the express delivery rights in the Hangzhou area.

Chen Zhengye thought of Chen Ce, but he didn't care because his adopted cousin might have died by now.

"There is a marriage between the Ning family and the Chen family." Chen Boqin looked at his eldest son meaningfully and smiled, "If the daughter of the other family is not married yet, you might as well try to make friends with her. If you can marry the daughter of the Ning family, our future life will be much smoother."

Chen Zhengye was slightly stunned, and said with a wry smile: "Dad, it was Chen Ce who arranged the marriage, not me. The Ning family is not stupid, so why would they marry their daughter to me?"

Chen Boqin said, "Everything depends on human effort. Let's go to the capital to see the situation first. Nothing is certain. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, we should hurry to the capital. There is no time to waste."

So many merchants were eyeing the fat piece of meat in Hangzhou. When they heard the news that the express delivery station was looking for merchants to join, they did not dare to delay for a moment. If it was not close to the Mid-Autumn Festival, they would have left for the capital long ago. After all, time is money.

... Chengqingfang Street is very prosperous, with lights illuminating every home. It's a pity that it's drizzling today, so we can't enjoy the full moon.

But this regret does not hinder the prosperity of Shuntian as a whole.

The streets were still crowded with people and boats were competing in the rivers.

Wang Shouren sat on the bank of a tributary of the Tongji Canal in a daze for a long time.

Wang Shouren ranked second in this year's imperial examination and is now observing government affairs in the Ministry of Works. Wuzhang River is a stream of water leading into Beijing. Previously, there were many official and merchant ships on the river, and docks were everywhere. The canal transport brought considerable income to the court.

However, two years ago, a landslide caused a huge rock to fall into the Wuzhang River. Since then, ships entering Beijing have had to change their routes and take a longer detour to enter Beijing, which increased costs and reduced the income from water transport.

The Ministry of Works has been trying to find a solution, but the huge rocks standing in the river are too heavy to break. The underwater current is turbulent and the resistance is great, which increases the risk of breaking the rocks.

Wang Shouren has been staring at the huge rock these days, which is called "Gewu".

The prosperity of Mid-Autumn Festival is destined to have nothing to do with this strange boy.

Chen Ce was walking alone along the remote river bank holding an umbrella. He found that Wang Shouren had been here for a long time. The drizzle had wet his hair, but he did not move at all.

Chen Ce walked over and reminded Wang Shouren softly, "It's raining."

Wang Shouren finally reacted, turned around and looked up at Chen Ce, and asked in surprise: "It's you?"

Chen Ce nodded.

Wang Shouren sighed and said, "General Wang wanted to take you in as his apprentice, but you never agreed. Now there is no chance."

Chen Ce didn't want to dwell on the past and had no time for sentimentality, so he asked Wang Shouren, "What are you doing?"

Wang Shouren said, "I'm thinking about how to move it out."

He pointed to the large rock in the river.

Chen Ce asked, "Have you figured it out?"

Wang Shouren shook his head and said, "No, so I am studying things."

"Do you know what the study of things is?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Wang Shouren lost all interest and ignored Chen Ce.

Chen Ce said: "But the purpose of studying things should be to gain knowledge, right?"

Wang Shouren's eyes lit up and he said, "That's the truth!"

Chen Ce asked, "Have you figured out anything?"

Wang Shouren shook his head in disappointment: "No."

Chen Ce said: "Try the pulley system."

"What is a pulley block."

Chen Ce told Wang Shouren the principle of the pulley. It was obscure but not too difficult to understand. It was nothing more than two sets of pulleys saving more effort.

"Knowledge and action are one." Chen Ce said to Wang Shouren, "If you understand, then practice it."

Wang Shouren smacked his lips and muttered to himself. He always felt that what Chen Ce said made a lot of sense, but it seemed as if he had not grasped anything.

Not enlightened yet.

However, Wang Shouren was very interested in the principle of the movable pulley!
"Thank you!"

He clasped his fists, stood up, and ran away in a hurry, picking up his clothes.

(End of this chapter)