Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 526 The Kings' Demands 2
"Oh?! Hao'er, come and tell your father what you all discussed?!" Seeing his son jump out, Emperor Longwu was already laughing inside, but on the surface he still kept a somewhat stern face as he spoke to his second son.

"Father, this...that..." Faced with his father, Emperor Longwu's, question, the Second Prince, Zhu Qihao, the Prince of Joseon, was momentarily speechless. He couldn't very well tell his father, Emperor Longwu, "Let's discuss it, and ask Father to send everyone a batch for free!" He hesitated to speak.

"Hao'er, you're not planning to try and trick your father out of his knowledge, are you?" Emperor Longwu asked his son, who was speechless, with a look of surprise.

"Brother, although my Jeju Island is small, it has abundant grain production and countless pearls! I'm willing to exchange these for new firearms!" Princess Yushu, who was enfeoffed on Jeju Island and became the Queen of Jeju, was a shrewd woman!

Queen Yu Shu realized that her elder brother, Emperor Longwu, was only going to act after seeing the benefits, so she immediately followed her nephew, King Zhu Qili of Ryukyu, and jumped out, saying with a smile.

"Auntie~!" Seeing yet another person betray their carefully laid plans, the Third Prince and Prince Ning, Zhu Qihui, were also filled with surprise!

"Big brother, my Xisha Island, like my sister's Jeju Island, produces grains and seafood. I'm willing to exchange these for firearms!" Princess Yu Xuan, the Queen of Jeju, chimed in, following closely behind her elder sister.

Seeing yet another traitorous aunt, the second prince, the King of Korea, and the third prince, the Prince of Ning, felt a pang of heartache, but remained silent. After all, that was all real money! Who knew if their father, the Emperor Longwu, would ruthlessly fleece them!

Seeing their father, Emperor Longwu's, slightly wicked smile, the Second Prince, the King of Joseon, and the Third Prince, the Prince of Ning, felt that their father was most likely going to rip them off!
"Big brother, third brother here has plenty of food, especially sweet potatoes, there are just as many as you want!"

There are also plenty of gold, iron, and copper mines, and the younger brothers are willing to trade with their elder brother! At this moment, the Third Prince, King Luzon, also betrayed his original statement!

"Father, your son and second brother have a considerable amount of minerals and grains here, which we are willing to offer to you in exchange for some firearms!" Seeing the collective rebellion, the third prince and Prince Ning immediately stepped forward to represent the second prince, the King of Korea, and express their stance together.

“Third brother is right!” The second brother, the King of Joseon, immediately realized what was happening and quickly spoke up.

"Is this the wish of just a few of you? Or the wish of all of you?" Emperor Longwu asked his third brother with a smile as he looked at the group of princes who were starting to get along with the idea.

"As long as our elder brother is willing to speak, we younger brothers and sisters, as well as the younger generation, will naturally be overjoyed!" Hearing that his elder brother seemed to be softening his stance, the Third Prince, Luzon King, quickly seized the opportunity and said to Emperor Longwu with bright eyes.

"Father, Third Uncle is right. As long as you give the word, your children will do their utmost!" At this moment, the Second Prince, King of Joseon, also realized what was happening and quickly echoed his Third Uncle, King of Luzon, adding that he would do his best to fulfill his duty.

"You all have such nice words to say!"

"Eldest son, why don't you tell your uncles, aunts, and brothers?" After making a light-hearted remark, Emperor Longwu shifted the blame to Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu.

"Yes!" Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu accepted it without hesitation.

"My uncles, aunts, and brothers, I will give you a brief introduction to the new firearms that you all desire."

"Listen to this first, then you can continue to say whether you want to buy it or not." After responding to his father, Emperor Longwu, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu turned his gaze to the group of uncles, aunts, and younger brothers in front of him.

"Please speak, Your Highness!" Seeing that the Crown Prince was about to explain to everyone, the wealthy King of Ryukyu immediately inquired with great enthusiasm. At the same time, his princes also looked eagerly at Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu, clearly very interested in the matter!

"Let me take the musket as an example."

Currently, the firearms deployed in the imperial army are fifth-generation firearms!

Each of these fifth-generation muskets weighs about four pounds, and with the rapier added, the weight is probably less than five pounds!

Each of these fifth-generation muskets requires about two and a half pounds of refined iron and about two and a half pounds of high-quality wood!

Even without considering the cost of the craftsmen, the cost of each fifth-generation musket was about eight taels of silver. If we include the costs of the process and the craftsmen's fees, the cost of each musket would be about ten taels of silver. And that doesn't even include the special bullets and gunpowder used in the fifth-generation musket!

A musketeer's standard equipment includes fifty bullets, plus gunpowder, which immediately raises the cost to thirteen or fourteen taels of silver!

This is just one type of musket, which is considered the cheapest among the new firearms! Other types of artillery are ridiculously expensive!

"Your Highnesses, if you wish to purchase the fifth-generation firearms, you should think it over carefully!" Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu, as if he had been prepared, rattled off the basic cost of a musket and the cost of distributing all the gunpowder and bullets to the soldiers.

"Hiss~! That's so expensive~!" Upon hearing Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu's offer, all the princes present felt a sharp pain in their teeth!

Although a dozen or so taels of silver is nothing to them! It's not even worth as much as a cup of good tea!
The problem is, they're not just buying one or two muskets!

To put it simply, one musket and its bullets cost fourteen taels of silver, ten muskets would cost one hundred and forty taels, one hundred muskets would cost one thousand four hundred taels, one thousand muskets would cost fourteen thousand taels, and ten thousand muskets would cost one hundred and fourteen thousand taels!

One hundred thousand taels of silver may not seem like much, but it depends on the person you're dealing with!

For example, queens like Queen Yu Shu only need to guard a small island, so they only need ten thousand or even a few thousand new-style muskets!

The problem is, ammunition is a consumable! You have to buy more when you run out!

Furthermore, none of these princes of the Dragon Kingdom are easy to deal with. Ever since they were released by Emperor Longwu, they've been running wild. They've completely unleashed the Zhu family's obsession with land!

They were all eyeing the rich territories beyond the borders! They even had plans for their sons. So, all things considered, the cost of firearms alone amounted to tens or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver annually!

This is just muskets; it doesn't even include the other heavy weapons they've set their sights on, such as cannons, missiles, and oil!

If all of this were included, wouldn't they go bankrupt?!

Are you suggesting they become penniless princes?!
Or perhaps they should follow in the footsteps of their ancestors and beg on the streets because they're so poor?!

In an instant, the princes who had come to this realization were all devastated, their spirits shattered!

"Alright, alright, but why do you all look so mournful?"

"They're all regional lords, yet they have no shame!" Looking at his younger siblings and nephews staring at him with resentment in their eyes, Emperor Longwu felt a chill run down his spine.

After hearing their elder brother's words, the princes, who had previously been dejected, suddenly looked at Emperor Longwu with bright eyes. Seeing this, Emperor Longwu once again pushed his eldest son forward.

"Boss, just say it!" Emperor Longwu immediately gestured for the Crown Prince to continue speaking.

"My uncles, my aunts, and my brothers."

"Father Emperor had already considered that these new firearms would be too expensive, and he had taken this matter into consideration!" Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu first bowed to his father, Emperor Longwu, and then turned to his uncles, aunts, and brothers with a smile.

(End of this chapter)