allonlinenovel Chapter 1160 Borrowing the Prince Consort's Brain? If you rise to power, I'll chop you int
Chapter 1160 Borrowing the Prince Consort's Brain? If you rise to power, I'll chop you int
It must be admitted that Zhu Yuanzhang, as the Grand General of the Northern Expedition under Emperor Renzong of Ming, did have some talent in warfare and was indeed willing to put in a lot of hard work to learn.
In just a few days, Zhu Laosi traveled all over the fleet, from treasure ships to warships, military ships, horse ships, vegetable ships, water ships, coal ships, and ammunition supply ships. Zhu Laosi asked questions and made notes wherever he went.
Liao Yongzhong was initially able to patiently teach Zhu Laosi, who was so eager to learn, but later he found himself unable to continue teaching him.
To be precise, Liao Yongzhong didn't know how to answer Zhu Laosi's question either.
"The error in the true road map is too great; it must be combined with star-gazing techniques to determine the latitude and longitude."
"Then why not develop a new method of celestial navigation that can directly determine the latitude and longitude of a location?"
“The lookouts used five-colored flags to transmit information, and each time they had to carry five flags up the mast.”
"Then why not redesign a set of flag signals, using flags of one or two colors, along with different gestures, to represent different meanings?"
"The sea is unpredictable, and the firing of artillery is inevitably affected by the wind and waves."
"Is it possible to make the artillery adjust itself so that it always stays aimed at the target?"
"..."
In just a few days, Zhu Laosi, who had been repeatedly criticized by Liao Yongzhong for being "careless" and "completely clueless about leading troops," directly stumped Liao Yongzhong.
"Tell me, isn't the Fourth Prince making things difficult for people?"
Liao Yongzhong looked at Yu Tongyuan with a worried expression and said, "From the Qin and Han dynasties to the Tang and Song dynasties, whose navigation didn't rely on star astronomy and real road maps?"
"He's got the idea to come up with an even better new Star-Tracing Technique."
"And what about the cannons? Are they designed to always be aimed at the target?"
"Leaving aside how to maintain balance at sea, even if it were possible, wouldn't the target just run away?"
"..."
After venting his frustrations, Liao Yongzhong looked at Yu Tongyuan and asked, "So, can those staff officers in your Dengzhou fleet, and those officials in the Ministry of Works, solve the problem of the Fourth Prince?"
Yu Tongyuan frowned, pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, "The staff officers of the Dengzhou fleet are all studying how to swindle people, and the officials of the Ministry of Works are all studying how to find mineral veins. Neither of them can solve the problem of the Fourth Prince."
"The only way to solve this problem is to go to Dengzhou University, to the Maritime College's Navigation major or the Military Academy's Ordnance major. Perhaps that can solve the Fourth Prince's problem."
At this point, Yu Tongyuan couldn't help but click his tongue and say, "You know, we're all human, but how does that prince consort's brain work?"
"Back then, Dengzhou University was a wasteland. The Ocean College and the Military College only had a few students, and there weren't even many decent students."
"Now look at them, the ordnance specialists have teamed up with those monsters at the Dengzhou Arsenal to create a whole mess."
"And that steam engine, it can be used to repair railways and also installed on ships to replace oars."
"The money that was poured into Dengzhou University a few years ago could have been recouped with just one steam engine; everyone who rushed in made a pure profit."
Yu Tongyuan clicked his tongue and sighed, "If only I could borrow the Prince Consort's brain for a while."
Liao Yongzhong glanced at Yu Tongyuan and sneered, "Borrowing the brains of the imperial son-in-law? If you rise to power, I'll chop you into mincemeat!"
……
Just as the Dengzhou fleet was sailing towards Pegu, news of the misfortune suffered by two Ming Dynasty merchants in Pegu also spread throughout the capital.
For the people of the capital, whether the two merchants suffered or not was of little concern.
Many people even wanted to see the two merchants make a fool of themselves—who told them to go to Bago? If they were going to Bago to make money, they should have been prepared to take the risks that came with it.
However, for the officials in the capital, the issues behind this matter were far more serious.
If they dare to kidnap Ming merchants in Bago today, will they dare to kidnap officials like us in the capital of the Ming Dynasty tomorrow?
Furthermore, this matter clearly occurred before the new year, and the Crown Prince of Pegu had already knelt outside the Meridian Gate to plead guilty. Why did the court not make it public before the new year, but instead had to wait until after the new year?
Impeach!
Impeachment is a must!
They impeached the cabinet led by Li Shanchang for failing to uphold justice for the people.
The impeachment was made against Xu Da, whose Grand Commandery failed to deter the barbarians.
The censorate, led by Liu Bowen, was impeached for failing to fulfill its duty to advise the emperor.
The impeachment accused the king of Pegu of having disloyal intentions.
They also wanted to impeach Yang Dianfeng for failing to properly manage the merchants of the vassal states.
As for the truth?
The truth doesn't matter. Anyway, if the Ming Dynasty merchants suffer in Pegu, it's the fault of the Ming Dynasty court and you officials!
From the censors and officials who spoke out against the emperor, to the other officials who did not participate in the grand court assembly, they were like cats that had smelled blood, and immediately launched a frenzy of impeachments.
Emperor Zhu casually tossed the memorial onto the table, sighed, and said, "Look, yet another impeachment memorial."
Li Shanchang returned the memorials impeaching him to Emperor Zhu's desk, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Wasn't this just what was expected?"
Emperor Zhu snorted and said, "It was expected, but it was too damn expected."
Pointing to the memorials on the desk, Emperor Zhu continued, "We don't believe they didn't hear a thing beforehand."
"I don't believe they are completely unaware of our decision, the Cabinet's decision, and the Grand General's Office's decision."
"But look at them, look at what they're doing?"
"Damn it, they just had to come at this crucial moment of restructuring to cause us trouble!"
Emperor Zhu huffed and cursed a few times, but Li Shanchang remained silent with a dark face.
Whose fault is this?
You will not punish people for their words, and in particular, you allow officials in the censorate to report on matters based on hearsay—this was a promise made by Your Majesty, the Emperor Zhu.
Now that the censors are starting to report on rumors, you, Emperor Zhu, are unhappy again.
Li Shanchang silently complained about Feng Ju, then cupped his hands to Emperor Zhu once again and said, "After you ascend the throne, it's not surprising at all that these people would jump out and cause trouble."
"That is precisely why the court should proceed with the reform step by step, and not give them any opportunity to take advantage of the situation."
"Especially those who impeached the prince consort..."
Li Shanchang glanced cautiously at Emperor Zhu.
They impeached me, how could you, Emperor Zhu, tolerate that?
But if they impeach your good son-in-law, can you, Emperor Zhu, tolerate it?
As long as you kill them, whether it's because of your good son-in-law or whatever, my enemies will be all dead.
Just as Li Shanchang was pondering how to further inflame the situation, Xia Yu once again rushed to the Qianqing Palace, bowed to the Zhu Emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, the latest news has come from Pegu!"