Chapter 54: Mass-Producing the Daming Gun!

Walking into the Ministry of Works, Zhu Gaoxu arrived at the small courtyard from yesterday with practiced ease.

From within the small courtyard, Zhu Gaoxu saw Yan Zhenzhi sitting inside the room.

Yan Zhenzhi clearly saw Zhu Gaoxu as well and hurriedly stood up to walk out and welcome him.

"I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness the Prince, for failing to come out to greet you from afar."

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand to indicate it was of no concern.

"This Prince also just came from seeing Grandfather Emperor, and I wanted to come see how the Daming Gun is coming along."

Hearing these words from Zhu Gaoxu, Yan Zhenzhi appeared somewhat moved.

It was clear he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had been keeping a close eye on this matter, which made him feel the importance the Emperor placed on it.

Not daring to delay, Yan Zhenzhi spoke directly to Zhu Gaoxu: "Those craftsmen are currently at the Military Equipment Bureau; please follow me."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, then followed Yan Zhenzhi out of the Ministry of Works office; two small sedan chairs had long been prepared at the entrance, and after Yan Zhenzhi and Zhu Gaoxu sat in them, the chairs were lifted and they set off.

This was Zhu Gaoxu's first time riding in a sedan chair; the people carrying it were quite steady, and as it swayed along the way, Zhu Gaoxu fell asleep without realizing it.

By the time Zhu Gaoxu woke up again, they had arrived at the destination, and Yan Zhenzhi was waiting for him outside the sedan chair.

"I have troubled you, Your Highness the Prince. The manufacture of these firearms is a secret, and what we are building now is a secret among secrets, which is why I moved the location."

As he spoke, Yan Zhenzhi pointed to the large courtyard before them.

Only then did Zhu Gaoxu notice that there were many yamen runners outside the courtyard keeping guard, preventing others from approaching the area.

Grinning, Zhu Gaoxu finally understood why Lao Zhu had sought him out.

The commotion Yan Zhenzhi had stirred up was not small, and the key was that Lao Zhu didn't know why—if he didn't look for him, who would he look for?

Being able to refrain from arresting Yan Zhenzhi right away to interrogate him showed that Lao Zhu had enough patience and had given him enough face.

Forcing a smile, Zhu Gaoxu offered some reluctant encouragement: "Ah... not bad, not bad."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's encouragement, Yan Zhenzhi clearly took it to heart; he puffed out his chest and led Zhu Gaoxu inside.

Just after entering, one could see that many of the rooms inside had large chimneys, and many of those chimneys were emitting thick smoke.

There were many people walking back and forth in the courtyard, some moving things, some grabbing tools; it appeared very lively.

When these people saw Yan Zhenzhi, they did not bow, at most just nodding to acknowledge him.

Yan Zhenzhi did not mind this at all, instead leading Zhu Gaoxu with practiced ease to the front of a large warehouse.

Yan Zhenzhi did not hesitate and pushed the door open to walk in.

As Yan Zhenzhi opened the door, Zhu Gaoxu felt a wave of heat rush toward him.

Subsequently, he also saw the scene inside.

Dozens of craftsmen were walking around bare-chested, some holding iron, some holding tools, each with their own tasks to do.

Scanning back and forth, Zhu Gaoxu saw Yang Yan and the others standing in one corner, their faces red and necks thick as they argued about something.

Zhu Gaoxu walked up and listened, only to find they were arguing about the manufacturing method of the Daming Gun.

With Zhu Gaoxu's arrival, the argument temporarily ceased.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Prince. Have you come this time to check on the manufacturing progress of the Daming Gun?"

Zhu Gaoxu was, of course, not here to check on the progress; they had only just received it yesterday, so what progress could there be today? He had simply thought of some methods yesterday and wanted to see if they could solve the issue of mass production, intending to bring it up and let these experienced old craftsmen offer their opinions.

Thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu said directly: "After I returned yesterday, I suddenly thought of a method that might solve the problem of mass-producing this Daming Gun. I am young and do not know if this method is feasible, so I came to ask you master craftsmen first."

Hearing these words from Zhu Gaoxu, none of them showed much interest.

There was no other reason; they had been building firearms for decades, and if they had no way, what could a child like Zhu Gaoxu possibly do?

However, out of respect for Zhu Gaoxu's status, they mumbled and grunted, telling Zhu Gaoxu to speak so they could listen.

Zhu Gaoxu was not angry at their slight; he knew their thoughts perfectly well, and whether there was something to it would be clear once it was brought out to be seen.

Thus, Zhu Gaoxu did not mince words and said directly: "We can first build one standard Daming Gun."

"For the parts, the gun body should be polished thoroughly. Then we build a mold for it—to put it plainly, a box—and then we just build according to the shape of the mold, wouldn't that work?"

Hearing these words from Zhu Gaoxu, the eyes of Yang Yan and the others lit up.

They pondered Zhu Gaoxu's words in their hearts, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt it could be realized.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Zhu Gaoxu roughly knew that this was feasible; he had only thought of the general idea, and these craftsmen were certainly more knowledgeable than him regarding the specific operations.

The thoughts of the ancients were mostly rigid; they learned exactly what their masters taught them, and no matter how good their skills were, it was only what the master had taught, with no innovation.

Seeing that they had all stopped talking, Zhu Gaoxu gave a light cough to interrupt their train of thought.

They could think about this slowly after he left; he had come here with great difficulty, and it was so hot here, so he wanted to finish asking and leave quickly.

Although they were somewhat annoyed that Zhu Gaoxu had interrupted their thoughts, they did not dare to get angry and all turned to look at Zhu Gaoxu.