In the Imperial Study Room, Li Wenhou, the Minister of Revenue, drank tea with the four old princes.

They are all old foxes.

After knowing that all this had been planned by Li Chenan and that there was no room for maneuver at this moment, they quickly adjusted their mentality and made a choice, becoming very interested in the win-win strategy mentioned by Li Wenhou.

So they did not wait for Li Wenhou's subsequent visit, but started discussing over tea in the royal study.

This is exactly what Li Chenan hopes.

Li Wenhou has full authority to handle this kind of matter, which is what he is most happy to see.

He took Amu and ran to the Ministry of Industry.

Huang Xiumu, Minister of Industry, was shocked.

"Prince Regent, if there is such a heavy snow, if you have any instructions, just send someone to tell me no?"

Li Chenan walked into the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry. Under the shocked eyes of all the officials, he shook off the wind and snow and grinned:

"I'm not here to tell you anything, but to see the Ordnance Department."

Huang Xiumu was startled, "How about... you sit down for a while and warm yourself up by the fire?"

"No, go now."

"Then please follow me."

Huang Xiumu left the Ministry of Industry Yamen with Li Chenan, and the few officials in the Yamen immediately started whispering to each other:

"You are saying that the regent wants to see the Ordnance Department, are we not doing a good enough job?"

"It shouldn't be. Didn't you see the smile on the regent's face when he came in? I'm afraid it's related to the situation we are facing in Ningguo. The Ordnance Department will probably be busy next."

"fight?"

"Isn't it? I heard that the Ministry of War has inspected several armories in the past few days, and the results are not good. The inventory is seriously insufficient, and the weapons in the warehouse are also neglected. Sixty-seven percent of them can no longer be used!"

"Think about it, even the armory of the Sifang Acropolis in Kyoto is so bad, how can the armory of the four frontier armies be any better?"

"It will only make it more chaotic!"

"Once a war breaks out, the consequences will be endless!"

"But...making weapons and armor requires money! We, Mr. Huang, write to the Ministry of Revenue every year to request the Ministry of Finance to allocate silver, but it fails every year. I heard that this year the Ministry of Finance's income is still poor,"

The official shook his head and said, "Even if the regent is willing, I'm afraid he is powerless."

"Hey... after all, the nearly twenty years that Ji Tai has been Prime Minister are the twenty years that our Ningguo has completely fallen behind!"

"The Regent said at the last court meeting that if people are poor, they will be bullied, and if the country is poor, they will be beaten. Now that the neighboring countries see that our Ning country is poor, they are all ready to take action. The Regent... is not easy for him!"

"Lao Zhu, do you think the regent can find a way to get money?"

"This is not a matter of tens of thousands of taels of silver!"

"If we want to meet the needs of weapons and armor for frontline soldiers, we must activate the ordnance bureaus of each state!"

"In the past twenty years, the ordnance bureaus in each state have ceased to exist in name only, and only the Taoist government still exists."

"But how can the Daofu Ordnance Bureau's output meet the needs of the four major frontier armies?"

"If we want to reopen the Seventy-Two State Ordnance Bureau, the money... will cost at least millions!"

"Where did it come from?"

"What's more, once the war begins, the expenditure on food and fodder for war horses will become a bottomless pit!"

"...So according to you, there is no solution?"

The elderly official named Zhu pondered for a moment and shook his head: "It's difficult to understand! It's difficult to understand!"

…

…

Huang Xiumu took Li Chenan for half a cup of tea and arrived in front of a wide yard behind the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry.

The yard is surrounded by a wall.

At a glance, several chimneys can be seen vaguely erected in the white snow.

But there was no smoke coming from the chimney.

Even within the wall, there was only the sparse sound of clanging iron.

"Prince Regent,"

Huang Xiumu looked at Li Chenan cautiously and said in a low voice: "The price of charcoal has increased this year. Over at the Ministry of Revenue... The subordinates over there are still coordinating with Li Shangshu, and there is no result yet. Therefore, the Ordnance Department

There is not much work to do here, so there are not many craftsmen left.”

"Are there enough iron ores or iron ingots?"

"Back to the regent, these are not enough. The reasons are somewhat complicated."

"Oh, tell me."

Saying this, Li Chenan stepped towards the iron gate.

"Our Ministry of Industry does have some mines, and originally, there were craftsmen working on them."

Huang Xiumu followed Li Chenan step by step and came to the iron gate. He quickly walked over and pushed open the iron gate.

When Li Chenan stepped through the door, he followed and said:

"But the imperial court does not allow the sale of official iron. In other words, the iron ore mined by the government can only be used to make some special iron tools."

"For example, weapons and armor, saddles and hoof nails used by war horses, and free agricultural equipment allocated by the court to encourage farmers, etc."

"It's all custom made."

"Originally, it didn't matter if there was money in the national treasury, but then... After Ji Tai came to power, the country's tax revenue became less and less, and the Ministry of Household Affairs ran out of extra money, so the Ministry of Industry gradually stopped mining because there was no money.

The silver goes to pay the miners."

"It has been more than ten years since we stopped."

"Mining stopped, and the ore stored became less and less, so the ordnance bureaus in various states also stopped. I heard that the ordnance bureaus in many places have even been bought by local rich people, not to make iron tools.

, but turned into a cattle farm.”

Li Chenan was not surprised by this, because the files in the Imperial City Department had detailed records.

"This is the yamen of the Ordnance Department. Prince Regent, please come and sit inside."

Huang Xiumu stretched out his hand and led Li Chenan towards a second-floor building.

As soon as I reached the door of the second floor, a rough voice came from inside:

"No matter how difficult it is, I must get this flint cannon out!"

"I have seen with my own eyes the explosion of the Prince Regent's fireworks, and I have also smelled the smell of the fireworks. There must be saltpeter and sulfur in them!"

"The explosion of fireworks will produce fire and smoke. If we take this thing out and let it explode in a small space, such as this bamboo tube."

"The bamboo tube binds the light and fog of the fireworks explosion, which will generate a powerful driving force. It can project the stones filled in it, even further than the distance of an arrow!"

"Do you know what this means?"

"This means the birth of a brand new weapon!"

"This means our warriors can defeat the enemy at greater distances!"

"Now we can't make weapons and armor to provide to our soldiers. If we come up with this cheap and high-quality thing...our frontline soldiers can always kill a few more enemies and maybe save their lives."

"Don't be afraid of failure, keep verifying!"

Li Chenan stood at the door and listened carefully, with a smile on his face.

He was about to push the door open when he heard another voice coming from inside:

"Master Zhao, we have been verifying it for several months. Three people died and six were injured... I believe this thing is very powerful. Now that the regent is already the regent of our Ning country, why don't you ask for a meeting, Mr. Zhao?"

Prince Regent, ask him for the method of making fireworks... We can also avoid some detours and save a few deaths."

There was silence for a moment, and then Mr. Zhao spoke, his words a little low:

"After all, it was something invented by the Prince Regent. It can be called a magical weapon. How could he teach us like this?"

Li Chenan pushed open the door and walked in with Feng Xue in tow.

He looked at the sturdy man with a dark face, "Are you Sizheng Zhao Sanmu from the Ordnance Department?"

Zhao Sanmu was stunned and looked at his immediate superior, Huang Shangshu, who was standing respectfully behind Li Chenan. He immediately understood who this young man was.

He quickly bowed and said, "I have met the regent, Zhao Sanmu!"

There are six craftsmen in the house.

At this moment, they were shocked when they heard this. They immediately knelt down and said in fear: "The common people kowtow to the regent!"

"Get up, I don't care about these etiquettes."

Li Chenan looked at Zhao Sanmu: "I'm here to tell you how to make fireworks, and also to talk to you about some of my own opinions on making artillery."

"Maybe it can inspire you."

Zhao Sanmu was overjoyed, "Prince Regent, please sit down!"

Li Chenan sat down and found that there was really no charcoal fire in the room.
Chapter completed!