Zhang Shan stared at the blueprint, his face full of surprise!

"Your Highness, could this be the legendary...cannon?"

Although cannons were not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty, this particular cannon seemed to be different in some ways.

"Yes, the cannon barrel and cannon body should be made of the thinnest cast iron; too heavy will make it difficult to move!"

"Your Highness, you mustn't! That would cause the cannons to explode!"

Zhu Yunwen shook his head.

"No, no, just do as I say. If anything goes wrong, as long as any craftsmen are injured, our Great Ming will definitely take full responsibility!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was also puzzled, but he did not voice his doubts in front of Zhang Shan.

After giving a few more instructions, Zhang Shan accepted the order and left the hall.

"Your Highness, what if it really explodes?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, whether the cannon explodes or not depends entirely on the airtightness of the ammunition. I will arrange for the people in the town to make the ammunition!"

Zhu Yuanzhang watched Zhang Shan's disappearing figure.

"This is a top secret. If it gets leaked, it will be extremely detrimental to our Great Ming!"

Zhu Yunwen smiled slightly; this was why he had the Ministry of Works of the court only manufacture parts.

Without blueprints, those parts are just a pile of scrap metal in other people's hands.

But I can't assemble five hundred crossbows myself, so I'll have to use the workers in town!

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will arrange for someone to assemble it properly, so that our good stuff won't be leaked!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, though he wanted to say something more but ultimately swallowed it back.

"Young Master Yue will be coming to court tomorrow to offer his advice. Would you be interested in meeting him? You two used to be quite friendly!"

"Grandfather, there are some things I shouldn't be present for. Otherwise... after court, why don't you two come to my small town for a visit and check on how well I've governed it?"

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had the same idea, but he didn't say it outright.

"That would be even better, and it would also let him see what my grandson has made!"

Zhu Yunwen nodded, and the two then exchanged some other words.

That's why it's said that serving a ruler in ancient times was like serving a tiger, especially for a figure like Zhu Yuanzhang.

In fact, he had long wanted to see Zhu Yunwen's town. Although he had heard from his spies that the town was well-governed, he had never seen it himself.

Moreover, having heard that many interesting things were flowing out of the small town, he had long been unable to contain his curiosity.

However, fearing that Zhu Yunwen might overthink things, he didn't bring it up. Now is the perfect time.

After leaving the inner palace, Zhu Yunwen went straight to the town. He was still a little worried because of the assassins who had appeared a few days ago.

Although the town was located near the imperial city, it was still quite a distance from the Eastern Palace to the town. Zhu Yunwen sat in the carriage, pondering how to enhance the town's security.

After all, he needed to take those five hundred crossbows to town to assemble!

As soon as the carriage arrived in the town, several people stopped Zhu Yunwen's carriage.

Who goes there?

The eunuch driving the carriage snorted coldly.

These lackeys are truly blind to the great man's worth; they don't even recognize the Crown Prince's carriage.

"The Crown Prince is sitting in the carriage, get out of the way at once!"

Zhu Yuntong never expected that there would be someone on duty at the entrance of the town!

He lifted the curtain and looked out; there were his own soldiers!

The soldiers naturally saw Zhu Yunwen and knelt down with a thud.

"I was blind and didn't recognize Your Highness's carriage!"

"It's alright, you did a great job. Go to the accounting office to collect your reward later!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers let them pass while thanking His Highness the Crown Prince.

Walking through the town, you can see soldiers patrolling everywhere. It's really not easy to do that in just one day!

All of this should be attributed to Zhao Qingzhu. It turns out that behind every successful man, there really needs to be a great woman!

Zhu Yunwen went straight to the training ground, where he saw soldiers training intensively, and even people competing in martial arts on the arena.

The people below also blushed one by one. Although the people on the stage had sharp eyes like eagles, they could chat and laugh with their opponents once they came down from the stage.

Winning or losing isn't important to them, as long as they don't crash and burn on the battlefield.

Zhao Qingzhu spotted Zhu Yuntong in the crowd at a glance and quickly walked forward.

"Why has Your Highness come at this hour?"

"You've been training all day, why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Your Highness, the battlefield knows no distinction between light and dark. I want the soldiers to get used to the darkness!"

Zhu Yuntong didn't know how to express his feelings, so he grabbed Zhao Qingzhu's small hand.

Seeing this scene, everyone started to cheer. After spending so much time together, they already knew Zhao Qingzhu's identity and the relationship between the two.

"Get back to training! If you keep making noise, I'll punish you!"

With just one sentence, everyone fell silent, but their eyes still held amusement. Zhao Qingzhu blushed and turned to leave.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she handed a piece of paper to Zhu Yunwen.

"This is my duty roster. Do you see if there's anything else to disclose?"

Zhu Yuntong couldn't help but admire the meticulous details on the document; this young woman was truly extraordinary.

"You did a great job, thank you for your hard work these past few days!"

Zhao Qingzhu chuckled when she heard him say that.

The military camp duty consists of three parts: the entrance to the town, the security within the town, and the training ground.

Although the back mountain is a place where dangers can easily hide, it is not my territory after all, and I can't interfere.

These three locations alone required dozens of people, working in shifts of two hours each. After their shift, the soldiers could rest for half an hour before training.

But none of the soldiers wanted to rest; as soon as they finished their shift, they would go to the training ground to continue training.

To ensure a good night's sleep, the night shifts are basically rotated every hour to ensure that no one can sneak in at night!

This arrangement is simply flawless; it seems Zhao Qingzhu has really put a lot of thought into the town.

Zhu Yunwen felt another wave of emotion.

The next day, Zhu Yunwen left the East Palace early in the morning and came to the town. Since his grandfather was coming again today, he would definitely get some good things for his grandfather to try.

He arrived at his small vegetable garden, where the fruits and vegetables had grown quite large. Although it would be a pity to pick them now, it would be worthwhile to entertain his grandfather.

"Your Highness, let me do this!"

A woman quickly put down what she was doing and came to Zhu Yunwen's side.

"Big sister, you go about your business, don't worry about me!"

The woman looked at Zhu Yunwen in fear. Who would have thought that the grandson of the Ming Dynasty would one day be picking vegetables in the field himself?

Zhu Yunwen was completely oblivious to the other person's surprise, and was simply selecting vegetables while observing his experimental field.

The crops in the field are growing really well. We'll build a plastic greenhouse in winter, and then we can eat fresh vegetables all year round.

Zhu Yunwen casually picked some things that could be cooked and eaten directly, and also picked a large handful of chili peppers.

He then went to the kitchen and started working, chopping and washing vegetables, busy as a bee.

"Your Highness, two strangers have arrived in the town. What do you think..."

"Please come in quickly!"