Chapter 112: Five princes in one family, a unique honor in Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately...
"Dad, you don't really want to exchange alcohol for a pile of worthless silver, do you?"

Zhu Gang glanced over and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

In modern times, silver is very valuable.

After all, silver, as a precious metal, has a wide range of uses in the industrial field due to its unique physical and chemical properties.

It can be said that it involves all major industries, and the use that Zhu Gang knows is the antibacterial properties of silver.

This has led to its use in medical devices, antimicrobial textiles, water purification systems and wound care products.

Because silver ions can effectively inhibit bacterial growth and reduce the risk of infection.

But now it is the Ming Dynasty, and its industrial level and technology cannot be compared with later generations.

Therefore, in ancient times, the use of silver was not very extensive.

1: Currency, which is the financial foundation of a country and can also be regarded as the lifeblood of a country.

2. Accessories and utensils, making exquisite decorations and daily necessities to symbolize noble status.

3. Sterilization, or simply preservation. In ancient times, people would put silver sheets into containers for storing food and drinks to slow down the spoilage process and keep the water pure.

4: Medical use. As I said before, don’t underestimate the ancients. Although they were restricted by the limitations of the times, they also understood the role of silver.

Five: Power. There is an old saying that goes, "Money makes the world go round." This is enough to show the charm of this.

For the king, gold, silver and copper are all means to maintain stability and consolidate imperial power.

Therefore, gold and silver can be used as circulating currencies, but they can never be the only ones.

The mutual benefit of trade means that both parties benefit.

But there is a prerequisite, that is, when goods are traded, each party wants to make more.

Take alcohol for example. It can reduce unnecessary casualties and protect the lives of soldiers. For countries that do not have it, it is definitely an extremely important strategic material.

So, as mentioned in the premise, as an extremely important strategic material, the Ming Dynasty can completely raise the price. After all, even if you don’t want it, there are plenty of people in this world who do.

Then gold and silver became accessories of transactions, and the most important thing was to obtain resources.

Of course, we can also accumulate gold and silver bit by bit, so as to gradually control the trade market and gain pricing power.

After all, in ancient times, after hundreds and thousands of years, gold, silver and copper have become the mainstream currencies for transactions and have been deeply rooted in people's minds.

By gaining pricing power, profits can be maximized.

But this is also a double-edged sword. After all, if you are not careful, it will cause market distortion and lead to trade conflicts.

But is there really need to worry?

In this era, and even in future generations, whoever has the bigger fist will have the right words.

As long as the Ming Dynasty's fist is strong enough, strong enough to make the world tremble, and it is far ahead, then they will only be in awe.

This is the principle of having a sword in hand and being able to do whatever you want.

"You mean barter."

Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded thoughtfully.

If it is really a barter, then due to the effect of alcohol, all the efforts will bring huge benefits, even multiplied by hundreds or thousands of times.

After all, this is completely under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

"But if the nations unite and force the Ming Dynasty to submit, what should we do?"

Li Wenzhong, who had been sitting aside and had not spoken a word, spoke at this moment.

What he said makes sense. After all, asking for too high a price will definitely cause dissatisfaction.

What if all the countries united to put pressure on the Ming Dynasty?

Even if the Ming Dynasty put all its strength into it, it would not be able to withstand the pressure from other countries.

"If you are timid, you can't accomplish anything."

"The current situation is to strengthen the country, and even if they understand, what can they do?"

"As long as the Ming Dynasty has absolute strength, it is not a bad idea to overturn this table."

Zhu Gang shook his head nonchalantly.

"Moreover, in this world, no country is stronger than the Ming Dynasty."

After a pause, Zhu Gang raised his head again and said with a smile: "When it comes to large-scale battles, who can compare to the elite soldiers and generals in Dad's hands?"

"Besides, the firearms of our Ming Dynasty are ahead of the world, and as long as we continue to improve them, one day, all nations will submit to the iron hoof of our Ming Dynasty."

After saying this, Zhu Gang picked up the wine cup again and took a sip.

This is an extremely confident edge.

Gunpowder was invented as early as the Song Dynasty and was widely used in the Central Plains.

Not to mention the firearms of previous dynasties, they were already being used on a large scale at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty and the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

These firearms are divided into two categories, hand cannons and bowl-mouth cannons.

Hand gun: It has a slender shape and is light in weight, making it suitable for a single soldier to carry and use.

Bowl-mouth gun: It has a larger caliber and a larger size. It is often used to launch large stone bullets or other heavy objects during siege or defense, and is especially useful in water combat.

In terms of military equipment, Zhu Yuanzhang also made great efforts to reform and develop, and clearly stipulated the proportion of firearms in the army, such as "for every hundred households in the army, there are ten guns."

What does it mean? It means that every hundred households must be equipped with ten firearms.

This means that the proportion of firearms in the army has reached 10%, which is enough to show the importance of firearms in the army.

Moreover, firearms played a huge role in Zhu Yuanzhang's process of unifying the world.

Whether it was the battle against Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, the Yuan Dynasty, or other separatist forces, firearms played a key role.

By the way, the bowl-mouth gun is the predecessor of the cannon, although most of these cannons are short-barreled types and are made of materials such as cast iron or copper.

They cannot be compared with later Western artillery such as the Red Cannon, and are technically primitive, but they mark the beginning and development of artillery technology in the Ming Dynasty.

So on this basis, as long as we continue to develop and improve firearms, it is only a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty ranks at the top of the world.

"It's easy for you to say, but it's not that easy to improve."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.

Although firearms manufacturing technology has improved, such as the manufacture of copper muskets reached its peak and the structure became more reasonable.

However, due to the limitations of metallurgical technology and gunpowder formula, the shooting accuracy and reliability of firearms were not high.

Factors such as incomplete combustion of gunpowder and unstable chamber pressure will affect the accuracy of shooting.

Another problem is that it is not very durable and is extremely easy to explode.

But think about it, firearms need maintenance, but with the current level of the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to achieve effective maintenance.

“Have you improved yet?”

Compared to Zhu Yuanzhang's sigh, Zhu Biao turned around and looked at Zhu Gang and asked.

Because Zhu Biao knew Zhu Gang too well, and Zhu Gang would never say anything if he was not sure about it.

So is there a possibility? Zhu Gang had already put a lot of effort into improving firearms in Taiyuan and achieved great success.

"We are indeed brothers."

Zhu Gang put his arm around Zhu Biao's shoulders, nodded and said with a smile: "Not only have I improved the firearms, but I have also equipped them on a large scale. I have also established the Shenji Battalion with them."

"It is an army fully equipped with firearms."

"Among them, there are 7,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, equipped with improved firearms. I divide them into infantry guns and hand guns."

"One thousand artillerymen, equipped with improved bowl-mouthed guns, which I call Hongwu Cannons."

"Although the improved cannons and muskets still have the risk of exploding, this risk is almost negligible compared to previous firearms."

"And this is the trump card in my hand, and also the trump card that makes me undefeated in the grassland." "After all, in a large-scale battle, the number of people does not have any advantage in front of firearms. We can even use firepower to overwhelm the enemy without using military tactics."

As Zhu Gang finished speaking, the expressions on everyone's faces froze again.

Looking at Zhu Gang in front of him, his eyes were filled with shock.

They already knew that Zhu Gang was a monster, but they didn't expect him to be this evil.

He can definitely be called an all-rounder of the time.

It seems that nothing can stop Zhu Gang.

This made the other brothers of the Zhu family feel a little inferior.

It's because their brothers are too dazzling. Compared with them, they are nothing but mud.

"Since there are trees, why do we need trees?"

After a long time, Zhu Chong said with emotion.

When this voice came out, countless people rolled their eyes, and everyone thought Zhu Chong was quite shameless.

Looking at the people's rolling eyes, Zhu Chong's old face turned red, which really seemed like Wang Po bragging about herself.

After all, even if Zhu Gang is compared to Zhuge Liang, you, Zhu Gang, cannot be Zhou Yu.

By the way, this sentence comes from a book, and the book is divided into twelve volumes.

It is called Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which tells the story of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when heroes fought for supremacy in the Central Plains and the three kingdoms returned to the Jin Dynasty.

As soon as this book was published, it became popular in the capital.

As for the author of this book, everyone in later generations knows that he is the famous Luo Guanzhong.

He was born in the late Yuan Dynasty and died in the second year of Jianwen.

As for why it became popular in the capital, it was because of Zhu Gang, who gave Luo Guanzhong a push behind the scenes, which enabled The Romance of the Three Kingdoms to shine during the Hongwu period.

It is so well-known that even Qin Wang Zhu Chong, who did not like reading, knew its story and read it deeply and could not put it down.

Only then can we say this sentence: If there is twig, why do we need sticks?

"So when can we meet you, the God Machine Camp?"

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gang with anticipation.

"After my wedding, let's go to Taiyuan."

"After all, no matter how detailed the letter is, it can never compare to seeing it with your own eyes."

“And there are some details that they don’t understand, so they can’t write them at all.”

"As for improving the firearm, Taiyuan is still investing in development and improvement to this day."

"But I can transfer it to the capital and set up a special firearms institute to develop and improve firearms."

"After all, I have planted the seeds, and the next step is to wait for them to blossom and bear fruit. All we need to do is believe that they can succeed."

Zhu Gang thought for a moment, then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said with a smile: "Of course, I will ask them to bring improved muskets and cannons when they come. This way, you will have a more intuitive understanding of the power of muskets and cannons."

"it is good."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded heavily without hesitation.

The so-called dignity of the dynasty lies on the edge of the sword. Having a sword in your hand and not using it are two different things.

As the saying goes, if a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to pay a huge price for the improvement and development of firearms as long as it could be used to strengthen the country.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang was born in the lower class, started with nothing but a bowl, and had to rely on fighting for his equipment, so he understood too well the importance of firearms to the Ming Dynasty.

"Then as long as we have powerful firearms and absolute firepower suppression, even if we become enemies with all nations and stir up a huge wave, what can they do to me?"

A gleam of light flashed in Zhu Biao's eyes, and then he said.

“Not entirely.”

Zhu Gang shook his head slightly.

"Why?" Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Gang with some confusion.

"Powerful firearms give us the confidence to overturn the table."

"But what the Ming Dynasty has to do is to crush all other countries in the world so that they will never be able to catch up with the Ming Dynasty."

"Until the sword is sharpened, the blade will sweep across the world, and with this tripod, we will be able to dominate the world."

Zhu Gang put his arm around Zhu Biao's shoulders again and then smiled.

"I understand."

In response to this, Zhu Biao nodded thoughtfully.

The current Ming Dynasty is indeed carrying out all-round development in order to lay a solid foundation.

After all, conquering the world is not just four words that can be blurted out, but a plan that lasts for several years, and only then will there be a very small chance of success.

"Five dragons coming together, it's really terrifying."

At the banquet, Li Wenzhong, who had never spoken again, looked at the scene in front of him, and this thought flashed silently in his mind.

It is a fact that Zhu Yuanzhang is the true dragon of the world.

It is also a fact that the crown prince of Zhu Biao State is Youlong.

Prince of Jin Zhu Gang has ambitions to rule the world and will definitely achieve something in the future. He is probably not inferior to Zhu Yuanzhang, so he is naturally also a dragon.

As for Prince of Qin Zhu Chong and Prince of Yan Zhu Di, Li Wenzhou looked at them deeply again.

He would definitely not make a mistake in choosing people. These two would definitely be extraordinary people in the future. In addition, the relationship between these brothers is so deep that it is not an exaggeration to call them dragons.

As long as they don't kill each other, they will definitely be able to stabilize the Ming Dynasty for a thousand years.

Afterwards, Li Wenzhong looked at Li Jinglong, who had admiration in his eyes, and made up his mind.

No matter what, he had to educate his son to become a talented person so that the Li family's descendants would continue to prosper forever.

Only after three rounds of wine and five dishes were served did Zhu Yuanzhang feel reluctant to leave. He said goodbye to Li Zhen and boarded the carriage back to the palace.

But even on the way, Zhu Yuanzhang still looked at Zhu Gang and his brothers and said, "If you have time, go visit your uncle more often."

As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed again and said, “After all, if you take a look at this, there will be less.”

"My son understands."

They understood what Zhu Yuanzhang meant and nodded in unison.

It is very rare for a person to live to be seventy years old. Especially in ancient times, it was considered a long life.

In addition, Li Zhen’s health has always been poor, so how many more years can she last?
Even if Zhu Biao and others didn't know, how could Zhu Gang, who was well-versed in Ming history, not know?
In the 11th year of Hongwu, Li Zhen, Duke of Cao, died at the age of 76. Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously conferred him the title of Prince of Longxi, the posthumous title of Gongxian, and posthumously conferred on him the title of "Three generations of kings."

Even Li Zhen's three generations ago were posthumously conferred the title of king by Zhu Yuanzhang.

His great-grandfather Li Wuer was a Zhongfeng official and the King of Longxi.

His grandfather Li Liuer was a senior official of Zishan and the King of Qiyang.

His father, Li Fu (Li Qisan), was a senior official of Ronglu and the King of Longxi.

His wife was Zhu Funu, Princess Xiaoqin, and the Grand Princess of Cao State.

In addition, his son Li Wenzhong was posthumously named King of Qiyang and given the posthumous title of Wujing.

It can be said that there are five princes in one family. What a great honor is this?

But unfortunately, Li Jinglong was not ambitious enough, otherwise it would not be impossible for his family to have six princes.

(End of this chapter)