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

Chapter 365: Warship Construction

Hong Zhong's words indeed shocked the entire hall.

All previous government affairs centers of the six ministries of the cabinet were either placed on commerce in various parts of the country, such as Jiangnan and the southeast, or on military defense in the nine borders and the northwest.

The imperial court had never paid much attention to the naval military construction in the southeast, and even the Ministry of War knew very little about the southeastern coastal defense forces.

It's not that the Ministry of War is not doing anything. It's just that the southeast has been peaceful in recent years, so there is no need for the Ministry of War to focus on the southeast.

But the current situation in the southeast is no longer what it was more than a decade ago. Hong Zhong has made on-site inspections and has a better understanding of the current situation of southeastern coastal defense.

The ships in the southeast have been idle for a long time, and no one knows how many have run aground. The warships are still left over from the Xuande and Chenghua periods. Although they are repaired every year and the Ministry of Revenue has allocated military funds to the southeast, those warships are simply in disrepair.

Hong Zhong did not say much about the issue of corruption involved here for the time being. Just to say that the broken ships and warships in the southeast are now difficult to get them to go to sea, let alone fight at sea.

Upon hearing about the situation in the southeast, both Emperor Hongzhi and the ministers of the six ministries of the cabinet were stunned.

Ma Wensheng broke out in a cold sweat. As the Minister of War, he should bear the main responsibility for this matter.

However, now was not the time to dwell on the division of responsibilities. Emperor Hongzhi asked with a dark face, "My Lords, what shall we do?"

Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, stepped out and said, "Master Hong, in your opinion, if the warships in the southeast are being repaired, can they go to sea?"

Hong Zhong said: "The cost of repairing it is far less cost-effective than building a new warship."

Liu Jian asked the Ministry of Industry again: "How long will it take to build a new warship?"

Minister Xu gave a time limit of three months and ten warships. As for the money needed, the Ministry of Works would have to make a separate budget.

Li Dongyang suggested that the Ministry of Works build warships first, and let the southeastern officialdom and the Japanese anti-Japanese command post focus on the southeastern Japanese pirates within the next three months to prevent the Japanese pirates from causing chaos in the southeast. After the construction of ships and warships is completed, they will go out to sea to the vicinity of the Japanese island to deter Japan.

……

After the court meeting, the Minister of Rites followed the Minister of Revenue Qin Hong and left. He couldn't help but ask Qin Hong curiously, "Sir Qin, yesterday I saw the Emperor dining with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. There seemed to be another person beside them. This person was wearing a Zangqing official robe and his official position didn't seem to be high. Do you know who it was?"

Yuan Shouzhi was so curious that he didn't know who was qualified to sit and dine with the emperor.

If you said that the other party was a noble, Yuan Shouzhi could still understand it, but the other party was just a small official, how could he not be shocked?

Qin Hong smiled and said, "Oh, it should be Chen Ce."

Yuan Shouzhi thought for a long time before he suddenly realized what was going on and said, "The one who invented the antidote for malaria in the southwest? Chen Ce, who was promoted to the position of proofreader in the Jingju Bureau and was conferred the title of baron?"

Qin Hong nodded: "Yes."

hiss!
Seeing the emperor's attitude towards this man, Yuan Shouzhi felt that Chen Ce held a high position in the emperor's heart. Just the merit of inventing a malaria antidote should not be enough for the emperor to attach so much importance to him, right? He looked like he was almost treating him as a family member.

However, Qin Hong didn't say much else, but Yuan Shouzhi still felt that the emperor was a little too nice to Chen Ce.

……

After Xu Guan returned to the Ministry of Works, he urgently convened an internal meeting, and the task of building ships was naturally given to Ma Xun, a doctor in the Ministry of Works' Du Shui Si.

Doctor Ma quickly gave a budget of three hundred thousand taels of silver for ten warships. When Xu Guan handed the budget to the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Revenue felt that there was no problem with the budget.

Xu Guan immediately asked Doctor Ma to start preparing to build warships.

It was mid-November, the weather was getting colder and colder, and the roads were frozen. Chen Ce hadn't been on duty at the Economic Bureau for several days, so he came today to report for duty.

Zhao Xima and Han Shuling of the Sijing Bureau have become accustomed to officials like Chen Ce who work for three days and rest for two days.

After all, with Chen Ce's status and strength, no one would dare to say anything even if he never came to the yamen.

The two of them were now extremely respectful to Chen Ce, as if the chief of the Finance Bureau was not Zhao Zhongping, but Chen Ce.

After Chen Ce arrived at the duty station in the yamen, Han Douyin personally lit the stove for Chen Ce, and Zhao Zhongping made hot tea for Chen Ce. The two of them made Chen Ce feel a little at a loss for a moment.

Zhao Zhongping and Han Douyin chatted and boasted as usual.

"The price of ebony in Peking has been rising recently." "Yes, the Ministry of Industry wants to build warships, so it's normal for the price to rise."

The two chatted nonstop, and Chen Ce did not interrupt them until they talked about this topic. Then Chen Ce raised his eyes suspiciously and asked, "What?"

"The price of ebony has gone up."

"Next sentence."

"The Ministry of Industry is building warships."

Chen Ce stood up, lifted his robe and left in a hurry. Zhao Zhongping and Han Douyin looked at each other and asked, "What are you going to do, Lord Chen?"

"I don't know. He looks like he takes it very seriously."

……

Ministry of Industry.

When the people in the Ministry of Works heard that an official in a green robe was looking for Minister Xu, they found it incredible.

They had never seen such a low-ranking official in the Ministry of Industry go directly to their immediate superior without any appointment.

The officials of the Ministry of Works were especially shocked when they heard Chen Ce introduce himself as a proofreader in the Sijing Bureau.

You are a small official in the Eastern Palace, and you are here to see our Minister of Works, but you haven't even made an appointment. Do you think our Minister will meet you?

However, what shocked them even more was that Minister Xu not only met with Chen Ce, but also came personally to take him to Minister Xu's duty station.

"Pure simplicity."

Xu Guan poured a pot of tea, motioned for Chen Ce to drink, and asked, "Why do you have time to come to my Ministry of Industry?"

Chen Ce got straight to the point and asked Xu Guan bluntly, "Are the warships made by your Ministry of Industry going to go to sea?"

Xu Guan nodded: "Yes, we will sail southeast to the sea and go to the Japanese islands to intimidate the Japanese."

Chen Ce asked again: "Is ebony used as construction material?"

Xu Guan asked in confusion: "Is there any problem?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "Absolutely not!"

……

Ma Xun, a doctor of the Du Shui Si Department, had already purchased a large amount of ebony and was about to start construction. He needed to take the document to get Xu Guan, the Minister of Works, to sign.

But as soon as he arrived outside Minister Xu's duty station, he heard Chen Ce's shameless words.

"Absolutely not!"

"Ebony cannot be used as the main material for warships. It must be replaced with teak."

Xu Guan asked in confusion: "Why? Ebony was used before. Ebony is relatively cheap and can save costs."

Chen Ce said: "But it is not corrosion-resistant. Seawater has a high corrosion rate. If a warship made of ebony drifts in the ocean for a long time, the wood will be extremely easy to corrode."

"Don't the people in the Waterworks Department understand this? All the wood must be replaced. Ebony cannot be used."

Hearing Chen Ce's words, Doctor Ma walked in displeased, and bowed to Xu Guan, saying, "Your humble servant greets you, sir."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Chen Ce indifferently and said unhappily: "Your Excellency was so arrogant just now. Why can't ebony adapt to the ocean?"

"Why did you switch to teak? What are your intentions?!"

(End of this chapter)