Chapter 117: Drawing New Blueprints Again

Zhu Gaoxu had, after all, experienced life at the bottom in his previous life; he understood the thoughts of those below him, so he gave a faint smile and said nothing.

And just as the other yamen runner was suffering, his savior finally arrived.

Yan Zhenzhi was seen running out from inside in a flurry, his hands holding onto his official hat to prevent it from falling off due to his speed.

And following behind him was precisely the yamen runner who had just blocked Zhu Gaoxu from entering the door.

Upon reaching the entrance, Yan Zhenzhi took the initiative to salute, saying, "Your subordinate Yan Zhenzhi pays respects to the Prince."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, patted Yan Zhenzhi on the shoulder, and said, "We are old acquaintances, why so many formalities? The Military Camp has been too busy lately, you have worked hard."

Yan Zhenzhi shook his head and said repeatedly, "I dare not."

Immediately after, Yan Zhenzhi looked at the yamen runner behind him and said to Zhu Gaoxi, "The people below are ignorant; I will punish him in a moment."

Zhu Gaoxi knew that Yan Zhenzhi wanted to absolve the person below; he had not intended to truly punish this yamen runner anyway, so he was happy to give Yan Zhenzhi some face.

"This is not his fault; let this matter be turned over."

"Why don't you hurry and thank the Prince."

Hearing these words from Zhu Gaoxi, Yan Zhenzhi felt a joy in his heart and hurriedly put on a stern face to make the yamen runner express his thanks.

The yamen runner also let out a long sigh of relief at this moment; hearing Yan Zhenzhi's words, he hurriedly bowed and thanked Zhu Gaoxi.

"Thank you, Prince! Thank you, Prince!"

Zhu Gaoxi nodded, then ignored the yamen runner and took Yan Zhenzhi into the office of the Divine Weapon Battalion.

Under Yan Zhenzhi's guidance, Zhu Gaoxi found his own office location.

It was a small, independent courtyard, adjacent to Yan Zhenzhi's office.

Nodding, Zhu Gaoxi asked about the situation of the Divine Weapon Battalion as usual.

Yan Zhenzhi was clearly well-prepared; even if Zhu Gaoxi had not asked, he would have taken the initiative to report to Zhu Gaoxi.

"Your Highness, currently our Divine Weapon Battalion really has nothing going on. As usual, we are manufacturing Daming Guns. At present, our Divine Weapon Battalion has built a total of over two thousand four hundred Daming Guns. Excluding the one thousand two hundred guns sent to your Military Camp outside the city according to your instructions, the remaining one thousand two hundred and forty-seven have already been put into storage."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxi nodded and then continued to ask, "Now that our Divine Weapon Battalion office has opened, what is the reaction of the various ministries toward us?"

Yan Zhenzhi smiled after hearing this and said, "We now belong to an independent department and do not need to listen to anyone's words. I had some connections in the Ministry of Works before, and since we only listen to the Holy Will, no one dares to obstruct us."

"The various ministries keep us at a respectful distance, though some generals are always pestering us."

"Oh? What do they mean?"

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxi became interested and immediately began to inquire.

Facing Zhu Gaoxi's question, Yan Zhenzhi replied directly, "It is because our Daming Guns are too powerful. Many generals are green with envy, and privately they even compete with each other; whoever has more Daming Guns under their command has more face."

"Therefore, they are thinking of getting a batch of Daming Guns for themselves through your subordinate."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this and understood.

It was very normal for this situation to arise. When the decision was made to manufacture the Daming Guns, Zhu Gaoxu had even guessed that crazier things would happen.

After all, the Daming Gun had already exceeded the scope of these people's imagination; no matter how much of a sensation it caused, it would not be an exaggeration.

It is still early, after all; slowly, people will start to show their true colors.

Although Lao Zhu is currently in control of the Daming Guns, as time passes, how could those ministers watch such a big piece of meat and resist the urge to take a bite?

However, these problems had nothing to do with Zhu Gaoxu; in any case, Lao Zhu was there to bear the brunt of it.

Thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu asked, "Then have you leaked any Daming Guns?"

"No, no. Even if I had more courage, I wouldn't dare. Besides the troops designated by His Majesty, it is a grave crime for other troops to possess these Daming Guns. If it were discovered, even having several heads would not be enough to be beheaded."

Seeing Yan Zhenzhi say this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction and said, "You must keep a close watch on these Daming Guns. These Daming Guns are now the lifeblood of our Great Ming; they must never fall into the hands of villains, at least for now, they must be strictly guarded!"

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's serious expression, Yan Zhenzhi nodded immediately to indicate he understood.

After asking about some miscellaneous matters, seeing that there was indeed nothing going on in the Divine Weapon Battalion at the moment, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly thought of something and immediately asked, "How many craftsmen does our Divine Weapon Battalion have now?"

Although Yan Zhenzhi did not know why Zhu Gaoxu suddenly asked about the craftsmen, he still answered immediately, "Currently, there are one hundred and seven craftsmen and three hundred apprentices."

Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly after hearing this.

"Too few. From now on, both apprentices and craftsmen must be increased. At the very least, increase the craftsmen to five hundred and the apprentices to two thousand."

"For this matter, draft a memorial and sign my name on it as well, then submit it to the Imperial Grandfather later. After all, our Divine Weapon Battalion cannot just build this one Daming Gun in the future; we must participate in other constructions as well."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Yan Zhenzhi nodded and said, "Your subordinate will go handle it immediately after returning."

"Mm, I will draw another blueprint now; you can show it to the craftsmen later."