Chapter 132 Make up for it
"I did," Zhu Biao answered truthfully. "My second brother asked me to borrow money to build a road from the coal mine to the capital, and I gave him five thousand strings of cash."
"It has nothing to do with road construction." Old Zhu waved his hand. "Did that kid tell you anything else?"
"Other things?" Zhu Biao was a little confused. Zhu Chong had told him many other things. What was Zhu Biao referring to?
"It seems so." Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he waved to Mao Xiang, "Take everyone away, and you will guard outside in person. No one is allowed to come in without my order."
Old Zhu was a pragmatic man, and he didn't want anyone to hear what he said to Zhu Biao next.
Mao Xiang was originally quite curious, but when he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang had issued the decree, he quickly told the eunuchs to leave, and then arranged enough people around the imperial study. He then stood at the gate with his horse and golden sword, like a door god.
In the imperial study, Zhu Biao saw that Old Zhu was so serious, so he naturally did not hold back and told Old Zhu everything he could remember about what Zhu Chong had said to him.
"Father, this is what my second brother told me. I didn't understand it immediately, and I was even unsure about some things, so..." Zhu Biao wanted to explain why he didn't tell his father right away.
"Let's not talk about this. Take a look at this first." Old Zhu took Zhu Chong's memorial from the dragon table and handed it to Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao respectfully took the memorial and read it in front of Zhuge Liang. He knew that Zhuge Liang summoned him to the palace for questioning so solemnly, it must be because of Zhu Chong. But after reading the memorial, he couldn't help but feel dizzy. It seemed that he had said too much!
"How about it? Do you have any new ideas after reading it?" Old Zhu smiled playfully, which surprised Zhu Biao.
He originally thought that Old Zhu would be shocked. After all, he himself was in shock for a long time after listening to Zhu Chong's suggestions. However, he did not expect that his father acted as if nothing had happened after listening to them, as if they were commonplace.
This made Zhu Biao wonder, could this be the difference between him and Old Zhu? Was he really, as Zhu Chong said, too soft-hearted and therefore overthinking things?
But Zhu Biao had to answer Old Zhu's question. After a moment's thought, he smiled wryly and said, "Father, I believe every word my second brother said is true. If you can adopt his words, our Great Ming will be worry-free for at least the next fifty years."
"Oh? That's what you think?" Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly surprised. "Do you think what that kid said is a good idea?"
Zhu Biao found it difficult to give a convincing answer to Lao Zhu's question, and in the end he could only sigh.
"Father, I cannot express it. In fact, I disagree with many of my second brother's suggestions, but there is a voice in my heart telling me that what my second brother says is right and I should do as he says."
Hearing Zhu Biao say this, Old Zhu's eyes were filled with satisfaction. He nodded and smiled, "You can think this way. It's worth it that we have trained you for so many years, and it's worth it that you have learned so many years as the crown prince."
"That kid's ideas are too wild, but as you said, there is indeed something to what he said. If we really follow his instructions, there is hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty. But we can't do it exactly as he does, otherwise it will cause disaster!"
Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang say this, Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief. He was almost doubting himself, but Zhu Yuanzhang's words made him feel relieved. It turned out that he was not the only one who thought that they could not do everything according to Zhu Chong's words.
"Forget it, it's enough for you to know this memorial. I won't show it to anyone else." Old Zhu took Zhu Chong's memorial from Zhu Biao and immediately warned his prince.
"Your son obeys your order." Zhu Biao agreed immediately and felt relieved for Zhu Chong. It seemed that this memorial did not make Zhu Chong angry.
"You and the second brother should hang out more often. He's quite energetic these days, but you shouldn't always be helping him. You're not his money man. If he needs help, let him find it himself. It's no use keeping us in the back of your mind!"
After talking about the memorial, Zhu Yuanzhang started complaining to Zhu Biao about Zhu Chong again. After hearing this, Zhu Biao quickly agreed.
"Also, we promised him this time that we would pay for his wages for the road construction. Since you've already paid him, you should figure out how to pay him. We should keep a close eye on him and don't let him spend money lavishly. This is a bad habit!"
Old Zhu gave the prince one instruction after another, and even when Zhu Biao Khan came down, it seemed that his father was not without resentment towards Zhu Chong, but he just wanted to make amends in other ways!
The next morning, Zhu Chong yawned and checked in when Old Liu came to his door with a red glow on his face. It was obvious that Zhang Quan had told him that the money for road construction had arrived.
"Oh, Old Liu, you look so happy. Is it because a girl is getting married in your family?" Zhu Chong teased Old Liu pretending to be ignorant, which made Old Liu feel a little embarrassed.
"Okay, I'll stop teasing you." Seeing that the old man didn't even know how to continue the conversation, Zhu Chong could only change the subject: "I'm sure you already know about the road construction, but it won't be completed in a day or two."
"I will keep an eye on the road construction, but you need to keep an eye on two things."
"Please give me your orders, sir." Old Liu immediately became serious when he heard Zhu Chong talking about serious matters.
"We need to expand the lime kiln at the Baochao Tizhusi and build more. We will produce all the cement for road construction ourselves, so we won't run out of supply when the time comes."
Zhu Chong instructed Old Liu one thing at a time, "Then you will personally teach our craftsmen from the Ministry of Cement how to make cement. Use the already prepared mix to practice. I will be able to use them in a big way when the time comes!"
When Old Liu heard the two things Zhu Chong mentioned, he didn't mind at first, but when he heard the second one, his expression suddenly became a little unpleasant.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Zhu Chong asked in confusion.
"Sir," Old Liu said with a wry smile, "the cement powder we made earlier, for some reason, turned into hard lumps after being left overnight. I just saw it, and they're having the people down there hammer it into fine powder again. So, I'm afraid it won't be long before..."
"Uh..." Zhu Chong couldn't help but rub his forehead when he heard Old Liu's description. This was his problem, so it was not Old Liu's fault.
Old Liu certainly doesn't know that cement with a good mix must be sealed, otherwise it will easily deteriorate when exposed to the air. Even if it is crushed by a hammer, it can only be used for practice, and the effect will definitely not be good.
However, Zhu Chong would definitely not explain these words to Old Liu, so he said directly to Old Liu: "Then discard the agglomerated cement. Arrange people immediately to build a lime kiln and collect cement raw materials."
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