Chapter 237 The New Emperor's Ambition to Create a Prosperous Era

Establishing the Shenji Camp and vigorously developing firearms to promote the development and progress of science has always been Chen Huaian's long-cherished wish. It has been something he has wanted to do since the moment he traveled to the Great Xin Dynasty.

However, when he was the prince of Jin, there were many restrictions on achieving this grand goal.

Not only because the financial, human and material resources of the Jin Palace could not keep up, but also because the private development of firearms was a taboo of the court, suspected of treason and usurpation of the throne, and it was easy to be impeached.

In addition, the Great Xin Dynasty at that time had just ended the chaos and division, and the serious shortage of productivity and talents also affected Chen Huaian's attempt to promote the ideal of the "Industrial Revolution".

This delay has lasted until now.

However, for Chen Huaian, a time traveler, he knew the importance of promoting the Industrial Revolution, and he understood the huge advantages brought by the generation gap of weapons on the battlefield, as well as the terrifying ruling power.

Therefore, after he became emperor, he had the ability to unify the manpower, financial and material resources of the entire dynasty, and the ideal that was once deeply buried in his heart sprouted again.

This time, Chen Huaian wants to mobilize the whole country to promote the world's first industrial revolution and lay a solid foundation for the Chinese nation to stand tall in the east of the world.

Let's get back to the story.

When several important officials of the new dynasty heard that the emperor was going to form a Shenjiying, the expressions on their faces were extremely complicated.

But one thing is the same, that is, they are all fortunate to have such a wise monarch with courage and vision.

Chen Huaian continued: "My dear ministers, I have decided to let the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works take the lead in forming the Shenji Battalion, with the Ministry of Revenue and the Navy fully assisting;"

"My idea is that the first batch of artillery equipment for the Shenji Battalion will be to remove 120 artillery pieces from the warships of the Navy fleet, and select 2,000 navy officers and soldiers who are familiar with artillery to form the Shenji Cannon Battalion;"

"Among them, 100 artillery pieces will be carried by the Shenji Cannon Battalion and escorted to the front line of Yongzhou in Nanyue as soon as possible to assist the Southern Expedition Army in recovering Nanyue; the other 20 cannons will be immediately handed over to the Ministry of Works for imitation."

As he spoke, Chen Huaian's eyes fell on Hu Zhijun, the Minister of Works, with a serious expression. He said solemnly: "Lord Hu, I ask the Ministry of Works to upgrade the existing artillery;"

"Specifically, after the Ministry of Works gets the artillery samples and dismantles them to find out, you can draft a memorial and I will personally review it;"

After a pause, Chen Huaian said: "The Ministry of Works can take this opportunity to imitate the cannon to recruit skilled craftsmen from all over the country, and the salary standard is initially set at the same level as the seventh-rank officials of the court;"

"If the craftsman's skills are outstanding, the salary standard can be raised to the level of the third-rank officials of the court;"

"Your Majesty, this--"

After hearing what Chen Huaian said, Hu Zhijun, the Minister of Works, was embarrassed.

It's not that there is any difficulty in recruiting craftsmen from all over the world, but because the conditions offered by the emperor are too generous, so that Hu Zhijun is a little unbelievable;

In addition, this craftsman was a "lowly person" in the previous dynasty where "martial arts were respected", and his social status was only slightly higher than that of a businessman.

Suddenly, the social status and treatment of craftsmen were raised to the level of seventh-rank officials and third-rank officials. This was somewhat inconsistent with etiquette.

After some hesitation, the Minister of Works Hu Zhijun risked his life to advise and expressed his concerns: "Your Majesty, there is one thing I don't understand. These craftsmen were lowly in the previous dynasty. Why did Your Majesty give them such a great gift?"

"Furthermore, if the salaries of craftsmen are raised to the same level as those of court officials, it will increase the burden of the court several times!"

"Looking across the country, there are at least 80,000 skilled craftsmen, which is much more than the seventh-rank officials of the court. I'm afraid, I'm afraid..."

Hahaha!

Before the Minister of Works Hu Zhijun finished speaking, Chen Huaian laughed heartily.

Then he continued, "Lord Hu, are you afraid that I can't afford the salaries of the craftsmen across the country?"

Hu Zhijun wiped his sweat and said, "Your Majesty, I was thinking that there are too many places where money is needed in the new dynasty, and there is really no need to spend money on unnecessary places;"

"Your Majesty, I assure you that there is no need to offer such generous salaries to the craftsmen. I can also share your worries and recruit skilled craftsmen from all over the country to imitate the artillery of the Shenjiying for you!"

Hmm!

Chen Huaian nodded, gave Hu Zhijun an approving look, and then said: "I am very pleased that Lord Hu can consider me and the new dynasty in every way;"

"But--"

As he said that, he changed the subject and said: "I recruited skilled craftsmen from all over the world, not just to imitate the artillery of the Shenjiying!"

Chen Huaian's eyes were firm, and he said word by word: "What I want is to rise a new trend of invention and creation in the new dynasty, take the imitation of cannons as an opportunity to promote the renewal and iteration of weapons and equipment, and create..."

The few people present didn't hear a word of Chen Huaian's words, and their minds were full of new words such as "invention and creation" and "renewal and iteration".

They all knew these words and understood them.

But no one present understood what they meant when combined together.

Even Qi Jiguang from the Ming Dynasty only understood half of what he heard.

The only clear point was that the emperor was going to vigorously promote reforms in the new dynasty.

If the previous dynasty was "respecting martial arts", then the new dynasty will be "respecting skills", allowing more skilled craftsmen who master technology to become the mainstay of the new dynasty.

Everyone was still confused for a while, but Chen Huaian spoke again.

He said: "My dear friends, I want to promote the industrial revolution in the new dynasty. Maybe you will not be able to understand it in a short period of time, but after ten or twenty years, you will definitely understand my good intentions." bitter;"

With that said, Chen Huaian shouted outside the imperial study: "Xiao Po!"

"The general is here!"

Soon, Xiao Po, the commander of the Jinwu Guard, hurried into the imperial study and stood in front of Chen Huaian, waiting for orders.

Chen Huaian said: "The last time I was on the Yangtze River waterway, how much money and anointing the traitor Qin Ruhui had confiscated over the years, please report the number in front of several adults!"

Xiao Po replied without thinking: "Your Majesty, a total of twelve million taels of gold, ninety-seven million taels of silver, and jade, calligraphy, painting, and jewelry were confiscated at a discount of eight million taels of gold!"

Um!

Chen Huaian nodded, then his eyes fell on Jiang Xiao, the Minister of Household Affairs, and said: "Master Jiang!"

"Chen, Weichen is here!"

Jiang Xiao, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up subconsciously.

Chen Huaian said: "Lord Jiang, starting today, I will officially transfer these 20 million taels of gold and 97 million taels of silver to the Ministry of Household Affairs for overall management."

"Among them, these 30 million taels of gold are used as special funds for me to promote the industrial revolution and recruit skilled craftsmen from all over the world. No one is allowed to misappropriate it without authorization. Do you understand?"

"Wei Chen obeys the order!"

Jiang Xiao, the Minister of Household Affairs, immediately handed over to Chen Huaian to receive the order.

Then, Chen Huaian turned his attention back to Hu Zhijun, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and said with a smile: "Master Hu, I have solved your worries for the Ministry of Industry, and the next thing depends on your Ministry of Works!"

"Wei Chen obeys the order!"

Hu Zhijun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, also hurriedly stood up to receive the order.

Chen Huaian spoke again: "My dear friends, I hope you can sincerely unite and work together to create a prosperous new dynasty!"

"My lord, I obey the order!"