By using the issuance of salt well licenses and mining rights in Shanxi and Yunnan, Chongzhen finally eliminated the resistance of most businessmen to him.

After seeing that the mood at the venue became warmer, Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Chengen to take a few books and put them in front of him.

"There are three pamphlets in front of me, the thinnest of which records cases of various guilds in Beijing mediating disputes between merchants in the same trade.

The second is the commercial regulations enacted by the Macau City Council, which record the principles according to which the court should adjudicate when disputes arise among businessmen in Macau.

The thickest book, translated by the Jesuit priests in the past few months, is a commercial law enacted in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and other countries, with some real precedents.

In the next few days, I hope that you will be able to use these three volumes as a basis to compile a commercial law applicable to the Ming Dynasty. This commercial law will be used to adjudicate all commercial disputes. ”

The emperor's words suddenly made these merchants stunned, and after a long time, someone asked weakly, "Make a law?" Let's decide? ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while before replying: "What you said is right, that is, let you make a law, a law for business." In the past few days, I have checked a lot of cases related to commercial disputes, and I have found that many of them are completely inexplicable.

I have also heard that businessmen in the southeast are most fond of going to court, and most of the content is related to the economy. Because many magistrates are tired of such trivial lawsuits, they often do not distinguish and ask both parties to settle.

I thought that although the dispute between the people was small, it could not be taken lightly. And the magistrate is in charge of the development of a county, and he can't be entangled in these trivial matters all day long.

Therefore, I intend to set up a commercial tribunal in various places, and then formulate a simple and easy-to-use business law on the basis of which to quickly adjudicate commercial disputes.

I believe that the businessman himself must know the best about the businessman and the rules of business. So I asked you to make a law that governs you, and I'm responsible for having people enforce it. ”

For Chongzhen's explanation, the merchant representatives of the provinces were stunned and speechless at first, but soon became happy again. It's obviously a good thing to be able to make a law for yourself.

After all, they went to the yamen to fight a lawsuit before, and they were just fighting each other with money. And now, they can finally have a law that can really defend their rights and interests.

For these merchants, the emperor's current advice is more exciting than the salt well license and mining rights that he proposed before.

Zhu Youzhen selected Hui Shang Fan Wuxi, asked him to read through the three booklets for everyone, and then discussed how to formulate the Ming Commercial Law, while Zhu Youzhen himself left with his entourage.

Zhu Youzhen and his entourage, who left the hall, got into the carriage and went directly to the Wensi Academy.

What was once a workshop for the royal family has been transformed into a large blacksmith shop. As soon as Zhu Youzhen entered the door, he heard the sound of clanging tapping, although the sound of these hammering iron blocks was monotonous and harsh, but he felt that it was much more beautiful than the music played by the musicians in the palace.

Zhang Xingsheng, whose clothes were spotted and his face was a little blue, was hurrying towards the door with several subordinate officials and craftsmen, obviously receiving the news and coming to greet the emperor.

After Zhu Youzhen looked at his face, he suddenly frowned and said, "You have become like this, you haven't rested for a few days?" ”

Zhang Xingsheng blinked, and did not react to the emperor's inquiry for a while, but opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has lived up to His Majesty's entrustment, and has already trial-produced the coinage." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Zhang Xingsheng, who was already confused, shook his head and instructed Wang Chengen behind him: "Find two people, take him to take a bath, and let him sleep well." ”

Zhang Xingsheng reacted at this time, he subconsciously slapped himself, and after sobering up a little, he blushed and said: "The minister is fine, please rest assured, wait for the minister to explain to Your Majesty..."

Zhu Youzhen suddenly stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and the emperor's intimate action suddenly quieted down Zhang Xingsheng. Only then did Zhu Youzhen say gently: "Okay, things can't be done." If you break your body, who will help me do something?

I'm just here to take a few looks today, and the detailed R&D content will be ready for you to rest, and then you might as well tell me about it. Why are you two still stunned, don't help Grandpa Zhang to rest. ”

Receiving Chongzhen's care made Zhang Xingsheng's eyes suddenly feel a little moist. Although he didn't have much rest for a few days, he threw himself into the work of developing a coinage machine, indeed trying to win the emperor's favor.

But he never thought that the emperor actually regarded his body as more important than the task, and this kind of care from the heart made Zhang Shisheng suddenly ashamed of the utilitarian thoughts that existed in his heart.

After Zhang Xingsheng choked up and saluted Chongzhen, Fang staggered towards his resting place with the support of two chamberlains.

Only then did Zhu Youzhen turn his head to Zhao Dechuan, the ambassador of the Wensi Academy, who was designated by Zhang Xingsheng to lead the way, and said: "Then you take me around, and by the way, what good things have been developed by the Wensi Institute recently?" ”

Zhao Dechuan obediently led the emperor to the courtyard next door, he pointed to a multi-wheeled carriage parked on two railroad tracks and said, "Your Majesty, this is a newly developed multi-wheeled carriage by the craftsmen of the Wensi Academy. However, the carriage can only run along the tracks, and it is difficult to run without the tracks. ”

Zhu Youzhen circled around the multi-wheeled carriage for a few times, looked at it carefully for a long time, and then bent down to look at the wheels and asked, "Why do you use wooden wheels in the middle and cast iron wheels at both ends?" ”

Zhao Dechuan immediately leaned up and said, "Back to Your Majesty, this is to reduce the weight of the car." The cast iron wheels at both ends are stable so that they do not fall out of the track, and the middle wheels are made of wooden tires and iron sheets, which have no effect, and can be quickly replaced even if they are worn. ”

Zhu Youzhen straightened his body, nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Has this carriage been used by the arsenal, is it good or not?" What are the specifications of this carriage and track? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, this car in front of you is an experimental product, and two finished cars have been sent to the arsenal, and they have been using it for five days, and there is no bad news.

According to the gauge and metric length units just issued by the Academy of Sciences, the wheel is 70 centimeters high. The entire carriage is made of 2-inch thick pine planks, with a length of 4 meters, a width of 2 meters, and a height of 2 meters, with a total height of 27 meters.

The track below is poured into an I-shaped shape according to His Majesty's words, with a height of about 7 centimeters and a bottom width of about 6 centimeters, and the cast iron used for each meter of track is about 20 catties, and the width between the two rails is 07 meters.

If a carriage is used to carry goods, a 160-kilogram bag of rice can hold 50 bags. If the seats are full, it will be 50 people. The trial was conducted on four horses. Zhao Dechuan is very familiar with these data, and obviously has put a lot of effort into it.

It's a pity that his hard work was wasted, because Zhu Youzhen began to wander, thinking about how an experimental railway should be built there.

After seeing the real thing of the horse-drawn railroad track, Zhu Youzhen wondered if he should build a railroad carriage in the capital first.

The city of Beijing is about 10 kilometers long from north to south, the inner city is about 5 kilometers wide, and the outer city is about 7 kilometers wide. It takes at least two hours to walk from the south to the north of the city, and the rich ride horses, the middle households use mules and donkeys, and the common people often have to rely on their legs.

The buildings of a series of new factories, such as the cotton mill, were selected in the open area in the southeast of the outer city. Before these new factories were built, the old buildings near the Liuli Factory were temporarily borrowed.

However, most of the female textile workers who were recruited lived near the Liuli Factory or near the Taiji Factory. If you move to a new factory in the future, commuting to work will become a hassle.

In addition, if the horse-drawn light rail from Zuo'anmen in the outer city to the West Lake in the inner city can be completed, then the problem of material transportation can be solved. Cotton from canals, or cloth made from cotton mills, is always inseparable from the 12 km or so of land transport.

After thinking about it properly, Zhu Youzhen came back to his senses and said to Zhao Dechuan: "The craftsmen of the Wensi Academy have done a good job, you and Gonggong Zhang will draw up a list of meritorious service and report it to me, and I will reward these personnel." Alright, let's take me to the mint. ”

Zhao Dechuan immediately agreed, and then happily led the emperor across the courtyard and into the hall.

On the west side of the hall, several workers were busy working around a large, strange-looking iron block.

The minting machine used a screw press, which had already appeared in Europe, with a large screw half a man high, under which an engraved steel mold was fixed. Then the two workers turned the handle above the screw, and the screw drilled down to press out the pattern on the coin.

Compared to silver coins made by pouring methods, this mechanically pressed silver coin has a clearer image and is less likely to be counterfeited.

After seeing the emperor enter, several craftsmen who were trying to make silver coins suddenly stopped. At Chongzhen's signal, they took out a pressed silver dollar and handed it to the emperor.

Zhu Youzhen took a closer look at it, and the beautifully made silver coin in his hand. The obverse of the silver coin is the four words "Chongzhen Yuanbao", the lower side is surrounded by the words "Kuping Silver Seven Coins and Two Cents", and the upper side is surrounded by the words "Daming Mint", and the back of the silver coin is surrounded by the word "One Yuan" surrounded by the dragon pattern.

After Zhu Youjian weighed the weight of the silver coin, he casually asked, "Does this silver coin really weigh seven coins and two cents?" What is the silver content? ”

The official in charge of the experimental coinage suddenly stepped forward and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the silver coin does weigh seven coins and two cents, and the silver content is ninety percent. ”

Zhu Youzhen calculated a little, compared with the ninety-two percent of Kuping silver, the silver content of the silver coin is slightly lower. So that it may not be melted into silver by the profiteers.

"Is there only one of these dollars?" Zhu Youzhen asked, playing with the silver coin.

"There are also three coins and six cents, and the allocation is reduced by eighty or six into full silver; Again, there are three kinds of one penny, four cents, seven cents and two cents, and three cents and six cents, all of which are reduced by eighty percent of pure silver. i.e., five corners, two corners, one corner, five points and four types..."