Chapter 156: A 500-jin stick
Old Zhu's question made Zhu Chong stunned. His mind raced, but he couldn't figure out how he had offended Old Zhu.
He has been very well behaved recently, and all aspects of the Baochao Tizhusi affairs are proceeding in full swing.
Even if it was about the steelmaking, if Old Zhu knew about it, he would probably just be happy instead of coming to blame.
After all, Zhu's policy on iron smelting did not even prohibit it among the people, so nothing should happen to him.
Zhu Chong didn't understand what was going on and hesitated, worried that he would say something wrong and bring disaster upon himself.
Seeing Zhu Chong remain silent, Old Zhu sneered, "Not saying anything, huh? Then let me ask you, what are you doing smelting iron at the Baochao Tizhusi? Does the Baochao Tizhusi need the little iron you smelt?"
It was really my own iron smelting that caused the trouble! Seeing that Old Zhu was getting angrier and angrier, Zhu Chong hurried to explain.
"Father, you misunderstood me. I saw that the labor cost of transporting coal from the coal mining area was too high, so I thought of building a railway that could quickly transport the coal."
"Because I need a lot of raw materials, and I'm afraid the Ministry of Industry won't be able to allocate enough to me recently, there happens to be a small iron ore mine near the coal mine, so I thought I'd just refine it myself."
After hearing what Zhu Chong said, Old Zhu's frown gradually relaxed. After Zhu Chong finished speaking, Old Zhu looked Zhu Chong up and down with a playful smile on his face.
"I really can't tell. You've built a cement road, and you're planning to build a railway? Is it really just to facilitate the transportation of coal?"
"Every word my son said is true!"
Old Zhu looked unconvinced. "Then let me ask you, how much pig iron is needed to build such a road?"
"Well, the amount used is probably not large, which one..."
"Let me answer for you." Old Zhu laughed in anger. "I heard that your Baochao Tizhusi has refined tens of thousands of kilograms of steel in one go. Are you planning to use all this steel for road construction?"
"Do you know that the imperial court is in dire need of steel for making military equipment? Yet you are using it to build roads. Zhu Chong, I want to ask you, what are your intentions?"
Old Zhu's face suddenly turned ashen. He pointed at Zhu Chong and cursed him, leaving Zhu Chong confused.
How could he know that the Ministry of Works was short of steel, and how could he know that the court was so anxious to get steel to make military equipment? After all, no one told him this.
After all, the Ministry of Works and Zhu Chong are now completely at odds. Even if there is still some cooperation between them, it is mostly routine matters. If there is something wrong with the Ministry of Works, it will definitely not let the Baochao Tizhusi know.
"Father, you have wronged me." Zhu Chong quickly figured out the key point and quickly protested, "I have been keeping an eye on the internal affairs of the Baochao Tizhusi recently. No one has told me about this!"
When he heard Zhu Chong’s cry of injustice, Old Zhu’s expression froze. He suddenly thought of something and his expression became a little embarrassed.
The news that the Northern Yuan Dynasty was mobilizing troops and the imperial court was preparing to fight was now blocked in a small area, and few people knew about it.
Although Zhu Chong was a prince, he was not involved in military affairs after all, and his official position did not allow him to have any influence over anyone. If Zhu Chong really knew about it, Zhu Yuanzhang would become even more suspicious.
But now, Old Zhu was furious and suddenly realized that he was wrong. But as a father, how could he admit his fault to his son and his ministers? So...
"Hasn't anyone told you that you don't worry about the country and the people?" Old Zhu waved his hand. "I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. Right now, transport all the steel from the Baochao Tizhusi to the Ministry of Industry, and I'll forgive you this time."
"Father, please don't!" Zhu Chong panicked when he saw his father's ulterior motives. "The steel I have at the Imperial Banknote Administration Office isn't enough for me, so how can I possibly give it to the Ministry of Works?"
Hearing that Zhu Chong dared to refuse, Old Zhu became even more furious, but then he felt something was wrong.
"What are you talking about? You don't even have tens of thousands of pounds of steel. What do you want to do? How much steel are you going to spend on building a road? Tell me clearly!"
"Your Majesty, it's really just used to build roads. I have no other intentions!" Zhu Chong was really angry.
"Hehe, then let's take a good look at what you are going to do!" Old Zhu turned around and rushed in.
So the group headed towards the steelmaking workshop in the Baochao Tizhusi.
"Where is the steel you made? Where is it?" Old Zhu looked at the craftsmen kneeling on the ground around him and asked sternly.
"Father..." Zhu Chong stepped forward and was about to explain to Old Zhu, but was rudely interrupted by Old Zhu.
"Get out of here! You are not allowed to say a word without our permission!" Old Zhu signaled Mao Xiang to pull Zhu Chong aside, then looked at Zhang Quan standing beside him.
Zhang Quan saw that something was wrong and faced with Lao Zhu's stare, he dared not hide anything and quickly took Lao Zhu to the warehouse where the steel was stored.
At this time, the warehouse was filled with rails that had been shaped, all of which were made according to Zhu Chong's requirements.
Lao Zhu and others had never seen this kind of thing before. They were dumbfounded for a moment and didn't know what it was used for.
Mao Xiang received a signal from Lao Zhu and went forward to check the quality of the rails. He just flicked his finger on the rails, and suddenly the whole warehouse was filled with the crisp sound of metal clashing.
"Huh?" Mao Xiang let out a surprised cry, then took out a dagger from his body and stabbed it hard at the steel rail. After several consecutive slashes, when he looked carefully at the steel rail, there were only a few very shallow marks left.
On the other hand, the blade of the dagger in Mao Xiang's hand had actually been bent. Seeing this scene, Mao Xiang was completely shocked.
He handed the dagger to Lao Zhu with both hands and said, "Your Majesty, the steel here is all of the best quality, better than the precious blade in my hand!"
Old Zhu was a military man, so of course he knew that the dagger in Mao Xiang's hand was a treasure. Normally, he could cut iron like mud, but here, he chopped a piece of steel for a long time without any reaction. This showed that the steel piled up here was indeed good steel.
Looking at the pile of steel rails in front of him, Lao Zhu frowned and looked at Zhang Quan, "Tell me, how many steel bars are there here, and how much does each one weigh?"
"Your Majesty, each of these rails is made according to the requirements of the Supervisor. Each one weighs approximately 500 kilograms, no more, no less!"
Hearing the figures reported by Zhang Quan, Old Zhu's eyes almost popped out. One rail weighed 500 kilograms. With so many rails piled here, wouldn't that mean they weighed tens of thousands of kilograms? But the information Mao Xiang gave him...
Noticing the questioning look in Old Zhu's eyes, Mao Xiang was sweating and fell to his knees: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I deserve to die..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
