How much is five million taels of silver? Intuitively speaking, five million taels of silver weighed about 185 tons, and if they were put together, it would be about five meters long, two meters wide, and a two-meter-high box.

Of course, it was impossible for Xu Jin to make a piece of more than five million taels of silver transported back from the Wa Kingdom, after all, no one could afford to move, and no ship could carry it, but in order to facilitate transportation, Xu Jin still melted and cast these silver bricks into fifty catties of silver bricks, a total of eight thousand and eighty-eight pieces, and now these silver bricks are neatly stacked in the treasury of the household department in Nanjing

At this moment, Emperor Jiajing and Xu Jin were standing in front of the giant square made of silver bricks, Zhu Houxi's kid was so excited that his saliva almost didn't come out, and he tried to pick up a silver brick with his strength, but he was embarrassed, and the silver brick didn't move at all.

Xu Jin said with a smile: "Your Majesty, don't look at this silver brick, which is about the same size as an ordinary brick, but the density of silver is large, and such a piece weighs fifty catties." ”

"So heavy?" Zhu Houxi was taken aback, but this kid was reckless, stretched out his hands and roared lowly, and was stunned to pick up the silver brick and check it, and then put it back again, I have to say that this kid has been exercising all year round, but he has a few strengths.

"Ouch, the emperor has so much strength, it's amazing!" Huang Jin immediately patted his ass.

It is said that Huang Jin and Xu Jin are about the same age, and they are Zhu Houxi's companion eunuch (the current eunuch of the imperial eunuch), like Lu Bing, they have been with Zhu Houyu since they were children, so they are also very favored by Zhu Houxi, of course, when it comes to being reused, Huang Jin is far inferior to Lu Bing, after all, Zhu Houyu learned the lessons of the previous emperor, and the positioning of internal officials is that of slaves, and eunuchs are strictly forbidden to interfere in politics. In fact, in the end of the Jiajing Dynasty, the eunuchs did not "come out", and you didn't see the famous eunuchs in the Zhengde period grabbed a handful, and the Jiajing Dynasty didn't even have one, there really wasn't even one!

Zhu Houxi couldn't put it down and stroked the smooth silver brick, and sighed sincerely: "Sun Jiao is right, Xu Qing is my god of wealth in the Ming Dynasty, and he went to the Wa Kingdom, not only to expand the territory for my Ming Dynasty, but also to help me get back so much silver, how should I reward you." Xu Qing, how do you say I should reward you? ”

Indeed, with the merits of Xu Jin's envoy to the country this time, it is not an exaggeration to be crowned a national duke, but with the body of a civil servant to be promoted to the national duke, throughout the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there is no such precedent, oh, it should be said that there is one, that is, the Korean prince Li Shanchang, but this person is one of the founding fathers who first followed Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang to raise troops, although he has not led troops to fight, but he cannot be completely regarded as a civil minister.

Under Jiajing's scorching gaze, Xu Jin couldn't help but sweat, and hurriedly said: "Then the emperor will reward the ministers with a year's vacation, or half a year!" ”

Zhu Houxi was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "Is Xu Qing too greedy?" You don't have to think about it for a year, and it won't be possible for half a year, but when I return to Beijing, I can let you go...... Three months of annual leave. ”

Xu Jin immediately lifted the hem of his official robe and saluted solemnly: "Thank you, Your Majesty!" ”

"Uh, let's get flat!" Zhu Houxi scratched his head and said, "Xu Qing, why do I feel like you...... It's a routine, I don't have a month of vacation in a year! ”

"Ahem, Your Majesty, you have no jokes, you have no jokes!" Xu Jin stood up and brushed the hem of his official uniform in a dashing manner.

Zhu Houxi rolled his eyes and said: "No, I have to think about it, whether officials should be deducted for vacation in the future, one day off will be deducted, one month off will be deducted, and three months off will be deducted for one year." ”

Xu Jin said with a smile: "Then the emperor is really worthy of the name, the sky is three feet high." ”

Zhu Houxi asked puzzledly: "What is the solution?" ”

Xu Jin said with a smile: "It is said that once upon a time, there was an insatiable county official, always trying to find ways to loot the people's fat and ointment, once he suspected that a farmer had hidden his money underground, so he ordered someone to dig three feet into the ground to find it, but found nothing, so he gave the nickname Tiangao three feet." ”

Zhu Houxi laughed: "Okay, you Xu Jin, dare to slander me for being insatiable, I will punish you for your crimes, deprive you of three months of vacation, change it to three days, no, change it to three hours!" ”

"Can a minister replace his sin with silver? Pour the emperor your one-year salary in exchange for three months' vacation? ”

"I'm not sure, haha!"

The two of them walked out of the treasury with a smile, Huang Jin's goods slumped behind the two, and he secretly said in his heart, the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty estimated that the Marquis of Jinghai could joke with the emperor so unscrupulously, incomparable, incomparable!

Xu Jin and Jiajing walked out of the silver vault, and the latter suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "By the way, Xu Qing, I remember that you had that silver ...... in the Qing Dynasty before."

Xu Jin immediately smiled in understanding: "Silver number! ”

"Yes, yes, yes, it's the silver number, the amount of silver and copper coins is really too heavy, and it's inconvenient to carry, I should also set up my own silver number, and the whole country can withdraw silver at any time with silver tickets, so it's much more convenient, hehe, it can also increase the income of my treasury."

Xu Jin nodded thoughtfully: "Now that I have lifted the ban on the sea and opened up maritime trade, there will be more and more large transactions at that time, and it is indeed necessary to set up a bank, and set up a silver number, use money to make money, and increase the income for the treasury every year is not less than the salt class, the emperor's move is extremely wise, admire and admire!" ”

Zhu Houxi said a little proudly: "Come on, don't pat me on the back, I don't believe you guy didn't expect this, well, the establishment of the bank is the counterpart of the household department, and this errand will be handed over to Xu Qing." ”

Xu Jin said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, the minister's three-month vacation is gone like this?" That's too bad, isn't it? ”

Zhu Houxi said with a smile: "You said it yourself, those who can work harder, I gave you these three months of vacation, and you can usually go to the household department, but you also have to do things for me, as for what to do, I don't care, I only look at the results, hehe!" ”

Xu Jin couldn't help crying and laughing, this kid is getting more and more potential as a capitalist, phew, shameless!

Nanjing in the middle of winter was already very cold, and the sky was gloomy after coming out of the household, and the cold north wind was cold through the muscles and bones, but Zhu Houxi, this kid was obviously interested, and he didn't plan to return to the palace so quickly, and said to Xu Jin: "Xu Qing, has Sister Zhi'er asked me about me during this time?" ”

Xu Jin shrugged his shoulders and said cruelly: "No, not once!" ”

Zhu Houxi suddenly lowered his head like a frosted eggplant, frowned and muttered: "How is it possible, it's only been a month, and you forgot about me so quickly?" ”

It is said that after Xu Jin sent an envoy to the Wa Kingdom, Zhu Houxi, this kid, in the name of Xie Sipao, ran to He Zhi'er to play in three days, so the two are already very familiar with each other, but since Zhu Houxi went to Hubei in late September to worship his biological father, he hasn't seen He Zhi'er for a month.

"Cough, Xu Qing, it's still early, why don't you come to your house and sit down!" Zhu Houxi raised his head and coughed lightly.

"The emperor is dressed like this now, I'm afraid it's not appropriate!" Xu Jin reminded.

Zhu Houxi slapped his forehead: "I'll go back to the palace to change clothes, it won't take long, wait for me!" ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but sweat, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, if it weren't for another day, it seems that it is going to snow this day, and the minister has already told Zhi'er that the four cannons have already gone to the capital first." ”

Zhu Houxi glanced at the gloomy sky, and said with a wistful expression: "Then don't I have to go back to the capital to see Sister Zhi'er, how can it be reasonable, Xu Qing is deliberately taking revenge on me!" ”

"The minister doesn't dare, the minister is just paving the way for the emperor to appear in the capital in the future!" Xu Jin is secretly sweating, and now Zhu Houxi is full of love like a teenager in love, but unfortunately it is a hot burning stick, Zhi'er's girl is still a ten-year-old mind, she eats and sleeps well every day, and occasionally thinks of her brother Si Pao because of food, because Brother Si Pao will bring a lot of delicious food every time he comes to see her.

"Xu Qing, then let's go to the Ordnance Bureau to have a look, I don't know what those craftsmen have made of my competitive chicken." Zhu Houxi said.

It is said that before Xu Jin went to the Wa Kingdom, he had handed over the schematic diagram of the steam engine drawn by He Zhier to the Nanjing Ordnance Bureau and asked the craftsmen to carry out trial manufacturing, and now it has been nearly three months, and Xu Jin also wants to know what the result is.

So, the two of them went to the Ordnance Bureau, but after coming out of the Ordnance Bureau, Emperor Jiajing was even more depressed, and sighed and said: "Xu Qing, you are right, this competitive chicken is really not easy to do." ”

It turned out that after the craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau got the drawings of the steam engine, although they studied it day and night, they couldn't even make a transmission gear until now, let alone the steam boiler with extremely high requirements for tightness and robustness.

First of all, due to the poor smelting technology, the strength of the cast gear is too poor, and the tooth will be broken in a few clicks, or even the whole one. In addition, due to the backwardness of the measuring tools, the tolerance of the parts is too large, and the shape of the gears is irregular and non-standard. I can't even make such a basic one, let alone build an entire steam engine and apply it to transportation.

"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, and if you want to hurry, you can't reach it, take your time, and don't be in a hurry anyway. Things in this world, as long as you don't forget, there will always be repercussions, since we have begun to try to build a steam engine, it has won at the starting line, and it will succeed one day. Xu Jin comforted calmly.

In fact, it took nearly 100 years for the steam engine to be invented and perfected, and then widely used in transportation, until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, in Xu Jin's view, with the current industrial level of the Ming Dynasty, to build a steam engine and apply it to transportation, its difficulty is estimated to be similar to the moon landing project, look at China's moon landing project, the project was established in 2004, the whole country has been engaged in more than ten years, and there is still a long distance from the manned moon landing, which has not counted the time of rocket research and development, if you count the research and development of the Shenzhou series of rockets, it has been carried out for decades.

In the same way, if the Ming Dynasty wants to make a steam engine, it must first complete the underlying foundation, such as smelting level, casting level, measurement standardization, etc., each of which involves a discipline, and its difficulty can be imagined.

After listening to Xu Jin's words, Zhu Houxi nodded and said with a smile: "Xu Qing is right, I am too anxious, by the way, not long after Xu Qing set off for the Wa Kingdom, Nanyang Protector Yu Dayou sent someone to transport 10,000 catties of potatoes back, I have tasted it, and the taste is okay." Where does Xu Qing think it is good to try planting in spring next year? ”

"Potatoes and corn are very adaptable, where to try to plant, but it is troublesome to transport it, just in Nanzhili to draw a few counties to try us, and then promote it to the whole country like sweet potatoes."

Talking about potatoes and corn, Emperor Jiajing's mood immediately improved again, and he waved his hand vigorously: "Okay, then try planting in Nanzhili, with three high-yield crops of sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes, Daming's grain can be doubled several times, and the national strength will also be doubled. ”

It is said that in the first half of this year, news has been transmitted from Gansu that Chen Jiuchou, the imperial official of Gansu, who was ordered to patrol Gansu, has defeated the invading Turpan army and recaptured the occupied Hami City, and even the enemy chieftain Man Suer was injured and died.

So today's Ming can be said to be peaceful in all directions, the country and the people, this year even opened the territory, and now the sea ban has been opened, the introduction of high-yield new crops, it is foreseeable that after a few years of recuperation, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty will be thriving, not to mention, martial arts has surpassed all the Ming emperors except Taizu Taizong, how can Zhu Houxi not be complacent?

At this time, Xu Jin is naturally not good at pouring cold water, and besides, which young man has not been frivolous, this is a vigorous performance, which should be praised, not a blow, so Xu Jin sent a fragrant fart very dogged: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

"Haha, Xu Qing, I feel more and more that you have the potential to slap ass."

"The minister is shooting a dragon's fart, which is much more advanced than a horse's fart!"

"I remember that when I was in Shangrao County, Jiangxi, Xu Qing seemed to have kicked the dragon's buttocks."

"Ahem, is that the case? The minister doesn't remember, hey, it's snowing, the emperor hurry back to the palace, the dragon body is important! ”

Sure enough, it was snowing, but when I saw scattered snow chips falling under the howling north wind, they soon became fluttering. The first snow in Jiajing's three years came a little later than last year!

On the second day, the Chang Dynasty, after the discussion of the ministers, the ministers rejected the will of the Jiajing Emperor Jin to confer Xu Jin as the Duke of Jingguo, and kept the title unchanged, increased the amount of Yulu to 3,000 stones, and specially entered the Guanglu doctor, and added the title of Prince Shaobao, Prince Shaobao from the second grade, but it was only a fictitious title representing honor.

On the twentieth day of the winter month, the royal driving party set off from Nanjing, and returned to Beijing by boat from the canal to the north, Xu Jin also accompanied the car, if it went well, he should be able to return to Beijing in time for the New Year.