Chapter 99: Two Thousand Warhorses

"Your Majesty, the arrival of this divine weapon in our Great Ming is a blessing for our Great Ming!"

"Only with Your Majesty's boundless fortune could such a divine weapon be obtained; with this divine weapon, what else does our Great Ming have to worry about?"

"......"

For a time, outside the Fengtian Hall, various sycophantic flatteries rose and fell one after another.

No one went on to mention anything about continuing the competition.

It was as if the competition that had just taken place did not exist at all.

It could be said that this competition came to an end after Zhu Gaoxu fired only three shots.

The whole process was just like a farce.

Hu Weiyong also knelt on the ground along with the crowd of officials at this moment, but he did not open his mouth to flatter Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, he felt as if he were in a dream.

How could it be, how could it be......

He kept asking himself in his heart, but the facts were already before his eyes, leaving no room for Hu Weiyong to question them further.

And Lao Zhu, being flattered by the crowd, was in even higher spirits; he raised his hand to let everyone rise.

"Hahahaha, my dear ministers, you must have guessed by now that this divine weapon is named the Daming Gun."

"Come to think of it, this matter is truly mysterious; calling it a divine weapon is not an exaggeration at all."

"This Daming Gun was entrusted to me by an immortal in a dream, telling me to make good use of this divine weapon to build a vast empire for our Great Ming!"

Zhu Yuanzhang claimed the immortal's deed for himself without the slightest blush.

Zhu Gaoxu expressed that he did not care; it was just an empty title, and with Lao Zhu saying it this way, surely no one would dare to ask for details, which actually saved him a lot of trouble.

And as Zhu Gaoxu had expected, none of the ministers dared to ask for details; instead, they continued to shower Zhu Yuanzhang with sycophantic flattery.

"Your Majesty's fortune is boundless; even the immortals in heaven care for the Great Ming. Our Great Ming will surely prosper for ten thousand generations."

"......"

Perhaps having heard enough flattery, Lao Zhu did not have much of a reaction this time; instead, he continued, "Therefore, this time I have decided to proceed with caution. I intend to establish a new office, temporarily under the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, but this office shall report directly to me. I call this office the Divine Weapon Battalion, specifically for manufacturing this Daming Gun."

"The head of this battalion shall be set at the fourth rank, named Director of Military Equipment, and the Vice Director of Military Equipment shall be of the fourth-lower rank."

"I intend to let my little monkey cub take the position of Director of Military Equipment, as he has been busy enough with this matter, and the position of Vice Director of Military Equipment shall be given to Yan Zhenzhi."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were clearly not for discussion with the ministers; it was evident that he had already decided.

And none of the ministers came out to voice opposition.

For one, this was already a tacit understanding between Lao Zhu and the ministers beforehand.

If he won, Zhu Yuanzhang would hold this Daming Gun firmly in his own hands.

If he lost, the Daming Gun would be distributed to the various ministries.

Secondly, Lao Zhu was clearly in high spirits at this moment, and no one wanted to be the one to touch this bad luck.

Coupled with the fact that Hu Weiyong did not speak, the ministers effectively acquiesced to this matter.

And the one most surprised was undoubtedly Zhu Gaoxu.

He knew that if Lao Zhu won, he would keep this Daming Gun in his own hands.

He was not even surprised that a new office was created for it.

But he truly did not expect Lao Zhu to send him to do this.

And the one happiest about this was likely Zhu Gaoxu's father, Zhu Di.

Zhu Di was, of course, present; he had also just finished the morning court session and had not left.

And now that his son had become the Director of Military Equipment of the Divine Weapon Battalion—which belonged to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War, but crucially was not under their control and reported directly to Zhu Yuanzhang—

If there were any good things he wanted to come up with, it would be much more convenient.

Though happy in his heart, Zhu Di stood behind Lao Zhu with his expression completely unchanged.

It was as if the one being rewarded was not his son.

And next, Zhu Yuanzhang said a few more simple words and then announced the end of the meeting.

Zhu Di did not approach Zhu Gaoxu at this time, but instead walked back alone.

Zhu Gaoxu naturally saw his father, but the father and son seemed to have a tacit understanding, and neither paid any attention to the other.

Zhu Gaoxu trotted over to the front of Hu Weiyong.

He had not forgotten that the two of them had a bet just a moment ago.

And Zhu Gaoxu was not afraid at all that Hu Weiyong would renege; he had just mentioned a word to Lao Zhu earlier.

If Hu Weiyong dared to cheat him, he guaranteed he could peel another layer of skin off Hu Weiyong.

At this moment, Hu Weiyong was surrounded by several ministers.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu walk over, the ministers all stepped forward on the surface to congratulate Zhu Gaoxu.

And Zhu Gaoxu also smiled and replied a few words.

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu and Hu Weiyong had something to say, the ministers exchanged glances and, being very tactful, took their leave.

In front of the vast Fengtian Hall, only Zhu Gaoxu and Hu Weiyong remained.

Zhu Gaoxu then put away his smile and said straight to the point to Hu Weiyong, "Prime Minister Hu, do you still have anything to say?"

Hu Weiyong knew what Zhu Gaoxu meant, and without dawdling, he said directly, "A bet is a bet; the Nanyang Commandery Prince may speak his mind."

Hearing Hu Weiyong say this, Zhu Gaoxu laughed and said, "The Prime Minister is indeed bold. I don't want anything else; just find a time in the next two days to send two thousand fine horses to my Military Camp."

"Cough, cough... cough, cough! What did you say!"

Upon hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Hu Weiyong was so frightened that he began to cough.

This brat really treated him like a wishing well, having whatever he wanted.

Two thousand fine horses, why don't you just go rob someone?