Chapter 181: Your Majesty, Please Suspend the Palace Construction for Now

Hearing Xu Guangqi's words, Zhu Youxiao showed no displeasure on his face; instead, he looked at him with a smile.

Zhu Youxiao naturally knew exactly what Xu Guangqi meant by the palace construction.

This matter really wasn't his fault either — if one truly traced it back, it could be pinned right on his grandfather, the Wanli Emperor.

In the 25th year of Wanli, the three great halls — Huangji Hall, Jianji Hall, and Zhongji Hall — along with the three gates — Huangji, Huiji, and Guiji — were destroyed by fire.

Ever since then, palace construction had been intermittently repairing these places.

During that period, there was no shortage of bickering between emperors and ministers, the most famous of which was that the timber needed for these great halls had to be felled and transported from deep in the mountains of Yunnan and Guizhou, then shipped through Huguang and other regions to the capital. The entire journey cost a fortune and claimed heavy casualties.

After his father, the Taichang Emperor, ascended the throne, the Huangji Hall project finally resumed construction. His father had contributed 1,000,000 taels of silver from the imperial treasury to push the project forward, but it was only half-built.

In other words, the places Zhu Youxiao now used for daily residence, court deliberations, and morning audiences amounted to only half of the original three great halls.

As for his father, the Taichang Emperor, digging into the imperial treasury to repair the palaces — the Donglin Faction supported this with both hands and both feet.

Ever since his father took the throne, the Donglin Faction had been coaxing him to spend the imperial treasury's silver, routinely in amounts of a million taels.

Several million taels had flowed out of his father's imperial treasury in total. Zhu Youxiao felt quite pained just thinking about it now.

Even in the original history, Wang Huazhen was out in Liaodong scheming, asking for 1,000,000 taels of silver to bribe the Mongols into fighting for him — the purpose of such a military policy was also to get his father to cough up another million taels.

Now Xu Guangqi saying such things was clearly aimed at the matter of repairing the three great halls.

In fact, according to the normal course of history, this construction would also stop by next year.

But from the fifth year of Tianqi to the seventh year of Tianqi, it would be restarted once more. The Great Ming would pour 6,000,000 taels of silver into those two years to complete the construction of these three great halls.

Many people in later generations said that repairing the three great halls was a sign of the Tianqi Emperor's fatuous incompetence. The state was already in such dire straits, and yet you, an emperor, would spend so much silver to build the three great halls for your own comfort?

But if viewed from the perspective of a nation, being able to produce so much silver to repair these three great halls — and within a short span of just two years — proved that the state did indeed have this money.

Moreover, during the same period, the Great Ming was cutting taxes everywhere, Shaanxi was receiving disaster relief, many river works were underway, and military pay in Liaodong was relatively sufficient.

But after the Tianqi Emperor died and the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, everything took a sharp turn for the worse — the court couldn't produce a single tael of silver.

The situation in Liaodong deteriorated sharply, Shaanxi erupted in popular unrest, and peasant uprisings and disturbances broke out in no small number across the land — matters spiraled completely out of control.

Clearly, it wasn't that the Tianqi Emperor's expenditure on the three great halls shouldn't have been spent, nor that this money was so crucial to the Great Ming at that time — rather, by that point the Great Ming had the money but it was useless anyway, because the problem was never about money at all.

After his father ascended the throne, four to five million taels had gone out in total — all of it silver from his father's own imperial treasury.

Now Xu Guangqi bringing this up with Zhu Youxiao was plainly getting ahead of things, because if he continued the construction, it wouldn't necessarily draw on the imperial treasury again.

Since the last time he had confiscated assets, Zhu Youxiao had put all the silver into the national treasury, so continuing the construction would require drawing on the national treasury's funds.

Xu Guangqi was getting ahead of Zhu Youxiao on this matter, and at the same time hoping that Zhu Youxiao would not invest too much money and energy into these lingering historical issues of the three halls.

"My dear minister, have you not heard that without magnificence, there can be no weight of authority?" Zhu Youxiao smiled at Xu Guangqi, asking with a hint of playfulness in his tone. There was also a trace of teasing in his eyes as he looked at Xu Guangqi, wanting to hear what he would say.

"Your Majesty, your minister believes that without the foundation of the state, even the most magnificent palace is nothing but a castle in the air." Xu Guangqi bowed and said respectfully, his voice not loud, yet clear enough for everyone to hear.

Once Xu Guangqi's words came out, those around fell into dead silence, not daring to utter a word.

You, Xu Guangqi, dare to speak to the Emperor like that? You simply have no regard for your life!

Everyone's gaze toward Xu Guangqi changed — this little old man truly dared to speak.

Because speaking that way carried the implication of satirizing the Great Ming as a castle in the air. Do you not want to live?

Zhu Youxiao, however, took no offense, because he too agreed with Xu Guangqi's words.

What use was a palace no matter how well or beautifully built?

In modern terms, this was a classic vanity project. In later generations, the nicer and more beautiful a local government office building was, the more the people would curse it.

But after hearing Xu Guangqi's words, Zhu Youxiao thought of something — he might be able to use this opportunity to stir up some business.

"But my dear minister, all under heaven holds that the common people should have roofs over their heads. Though I am the Emperor, I too must have a place to live; when conducting affairs with my ministers on ordinary days, I too must have a place to speak. If the palaces are not repaired, where am I to go?" After finishing, Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi again.

Raising his head to glance at Zhu Youxiao, Xu Guangqi spoke: "Your minister does not mean to say Your Majesty should not repair the palaces. Your minister merely feels that now is not the right time. State finances are strained, the court is in difficulty, and the people live in hardship. At a time like this, funds should be concentrated to accomplish great things."

"Once the military is strong and state finances are sufficient, your minister requests to build a new palace for Your Majesty."

Having said this, Xu Guangqi knelt directly on the ground and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, everything your minister has said comes from the depths of his heart. For Your Majesty, for the Great Ming, I beg Your Majesty to look into the matter carefully."

Zhu Youxiao quietly watched Xu Guangqi kneeling on the ground.

Xu Guangqi's final words — begging Your Majesty to look into the matter carefully — meant: everything I have said is true, Your Majesty may verify it, but the outcome of that verification is left to Your Majesty's discretion.

This was not a statement that pressured the Emperor, but one that made a request.

Wiping the smile from his face, Zhu Youxiao reached out and helped Xu Guangqi to his feet, saying: "My dear minister, I have taken your words to heart. After I return, I will give them careful consideration. Please rise, my dear minister."

Xu Guangqi, helped up by Zhu Youxiao, said respectfully: "Your minister has spoken frankly in remonstrance. If there was anything that offended Your Majesty, I beg Your Majesty to forgive this transgression."

"My dear minister, you exaggerate." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and continued: "I naturally know that you speak for my good and for the good of the Great Ming. I am deeply grateful — how could I hold it against you? As long as your words have substance, I will certainly not vent my anger."

Seeing this scene, those around looked at Xu Guangqi with different eyes.

They had heard before that this Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat enjoyed great favor with His Majesty, but they had never felt it personally. At this very moment, however, witnessing this scene, everyone gained a brand-new understanding of how favored Xu Guangqi truly was.

After saying something like that, His Majesty didn't even get angry — on the contrary, he said he would seriously consider it. This Xu Guangqi was simply favored beyond measure!

"As for this matter, I will think it over after I return. For now, my dear minister, take a good look around here. Isn't that place up ahead where the hydraulic stamping press works?" Zhu Youxiao pulled Xu Guangqi along as they continued forward.

"In response to Your Majesty, indeed it is. They are currently stamping some components there." Xu Guangqi said hurriedly, then led Zhu Youxiao into that workshop.

The entire workshop rang with clanging sounds. Xu Guangqi reached out, took a finished stamped piece from the bamboo basket, and said: "Your Majesty, this is the finished product."

Zhu Youxiao picked up the finished piece, turned it over and examined it a few times, but couldn't tell what it was, so he set it aside.

Zhu Youxiao wasn't particularly interested in this thing either — he didn't understand it. He merely took a look, expressed his support and condolences to the officials working there, and then turned and walked out.

You see, when you go to a place to inspect, you naturally can't just go there to look around — you have to bring your care and condolences with you.

This is also why, when higher-ranking officials come to visit, they usually bring some policies or some benefits with them. You can't come empty-handed.

In the end, the group finally arrived at the place Zhu Youxiao was interested in — the firearms research and development department.

There, new types of cannons and new types of firearms were being developed.

The Great Ming had quite a few cannons, but their types were also rather numerous and miscellaneous, which was not conducive to the soldiers' use. Thus, it was necessary to cast entirely new models of cannons — ideally ones that could cover every branch of the military and every usage environment, forming a series of cannons.

This was also the order Zhu Youxiao had given to Xu Guangqi, Bi Maokang, and the others.

They had now progressed from the blueprint stage to the trial-manufacturing stage, with the prototype modeled on Napoleon's cannons. As for exactly when they could be produced — that was anyone's guess.

But now that the craftsmanship has improved, the cost should come down somewhat.

Apart from that, Zhu Youxiao was issuing orders for Xu Guangqi and his team to find ways to cast cannons using steel, to figure out how to make steel reach the standard required for casting — this point was absolutely critical.

Because the cost of bronze cannons was simply too high; with costs unable to come down, there was no capacity for large-scale mass production at all.

Weapons are always consumables; what they need is to be cheap, sturdy, and practical.

Among these, cheapness is a very, very important point — production costs absolutely must be lowered.

Just like the AK series of later generations, of which the famous AK-47 is known for its simple construction, rugged durability, and low manufacturing cost.

Aside from cannons, what Zhu Youxiao was most concerned about was the flintlock musket, because this was a type of firearm he desperately needed.

There was no way he could mass-produce matchlock muskets — that thing was already an outdated product. Weapons development necessarily had to be new and epoch-making.

Zhu Youxiao even proposed a muzzle-loading rifled flintlock, though for now the flintlock was still just on paper — though it seemed preparations to begin manufacturing were underway.

The craftsmen of the Great Ming were the experiential type; they were better at discovering errors and correcting errors in practice. So making some samples was more conducive to their research and development, even if they were only failures.

When Zhu Youxiao arrived at the firearms research and development department, he also saw some steel cannons the craftsmen had trial-produced — all of them failures, unfortunately.

Apart from that, there were some matchlock muskets the craftsmen had built, all forged with the newest techniques — they could be called the pinnacle of Great Ming military technology in this era.

Reaching out to pick up a matchlock musket, feeling the cold metal of the barrel, Zhu Youxiao's heart churned with waves of emotion.