On New Year's Eve, the palace held a banquet in Huagai Hall to entertain the ministers, but Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang only exposed the place, gave the ministers a drink, chatted with a few old acquaintances, and then left, leaving only the crown prince Zhu Biao to entertain the ministers for him.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhu Biao left with excuses of being unable to drink, but he did not go to rest. Instead, he came to the East Warehouse. He saw Zhu Yuanzhang still sitting behind the desk to process the memorials as usual, and he would not rest even during the New Year.

"Father, for the New Year, let's put these official duties temporarily!" Zhu Biao couldn't help but persuaded with some distress when he saw the white hair on his father's head and his slightly hunched body.

"Your mother is gone, it's no more New Year!" Zhu Yuanzhang said without raising his head.

Zhu Biao's eyes turned red when he heard this. Since his mother, Empress Ma, passed away, his father seemed to have become a different person. It would be fine if he was moody. The more he was during the holidays, the more irritable his father became.

In fact, Zhu Biao also knew that his father was thinking of his mother. When his mother was still there, his mother would cook in person every New Year. The whole family gathered together and happily. His father rarely got angry with them, but everything changed since his mother left.

"Was that bastard Lan Yu gone?" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly asked.

"I left, I just left yesterday. I originally wanted to persuade him to leave after the New Year, but my uncle said that the military situation was urgent and could not be delayed." Zhu Biao replied immediately.

"Hmph, this bastard is so bold that he even carried the Yuanzhu's concubine into the bed, causing the other party to die of humiliation. Now a group of people are waiting to impeach him. Instead of letting him stay in the capital, it is better to get away to avoid getting bored!" Zhu Yuanzhang snorted again.

"Well, my uncle is indeed a bit nonsense when he is away, but he is still very loyal to the court and his father!" Zhu Biao also pleaded for Lan Yu awkwardly. After all, the other party was his uncle, and the relationship between the two was deep, so Zhu Biao naturally did not want Lan Yu to be punished.

"I knew you would say that!" Zhu Yuanzhang finally finished processing the last memorial, threw down the imperial pen in his hand and looked up, "Lan Yu followed Yuchun first, and then followed the general, but he learned the ability to lead troops. Unfortunately, he was too bad and would cause a big disaster sooner or later!"

Among the founding heroes, there were several who were named Generals, but Zhu Yuanzhang only had one general, that is, Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, who was also Zhu Yuanzhang's playmate when he was a child. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang played with his partner when he was a child and pretended to be the emperor himself. Xu Da was his general. As a result, he became the emperor later, and Xu Da also became his general. Even if Xu Da had passed away, as long as Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned the general, he would refer to Xu Da specifically.

"What my father said is very good, but my uncle has restrained a lot over the years. My son has advised him, believing that he will pay attention to his words and deeds in the future!" Zhu Biao also defended Lan Yu again.

"This is, when he was young, he was even more slutty. If it weren't for Yuchun's sake, I would have cut him down ten times!" Zhu Yuanzhang said in the end, saying that Lan Yu slept with Yuanzhu's concubine. Such a thing can be big or small. To put it bluntly, Yuanzhu is the emperor like him. It is already a traitor for Lan Yu to dare to sleep with the emperor's concubine.

"By the way, Lan Yu wrote a note before leaving, saying that the court wanted the court to supervise the construction of the flintlock rifle so that the army could be equipped as soon as possible. This flintlock rifle is the one you told me last time?" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly thought of something again, so he asked again.

"That's right, my son is also preparing to give the flintlock rifle to his father as a gift!" Zhu Biao said as he asked someone to send the box containing the flintlock rifle in and personally deliver it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was originally from a corps and was not unfamiliar with muskets. He picked it up and looked it up and soon discovered the difference between this flintlock rifle. He even pulled the hammer and pulled it down and tried it. It turned out that when the hammer hit the anvil, it also fired a lot of Mars. Obviously, these Mars could ignite gunpowder.

"Have you tried it? How's the performance?" Zhu Yuanzhang played for a few times and immediately asked Zhu Biao again.

"I have tried it, and the performance is excellent. Not only is it not afraid of wind and rain, but it also has a longer range than the previous mezzanine and is more powerful. It is also equipped with a special paper-pack bullet to make the gunpowder not afraid of moisture, and it can be used even in the south." Zhu Biao reported again.

"Very good! It seems that you really have vision. Li Jie is a talented person. He has made such a great contribution. It seems that he should be rewarded well!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction when he heard this.

"The son minister has promoted him to Jilang Zuo, responsible for supervising the construction of flintlock rifles and future improvements!" Zhu Biao said happily when he heard his father's praise.

"That's your reward, and the court cannot fail to express this. I think he will serve as the chief officer in the Ministry of Works. This will make it more legitimate to supervise the construction of flintlock rifles. In addition, some property and land will be rewarded, so that the world can know that the court is eager to seek talent!" Zhu Yuanzhang was rare to be generous, mainly because he knew the military and was very optimistic about flintlock rifles, so he was not stingy with the rewards at all.

It would be fine to give other rewards, but when Zhu Biao heard that his father wanted Li Jie to serve as the head of the Ministry of Works, he showed a hesitant look. Since Hu Weiyong's death, the power of the prime minister was divided into six ministries, and the power of the Ministry of Works was also strengthened. Even if a ninth rank chief still had real power, and Li Jie made great contributions, it would be very easy to be promoted in the future.

If it were before, Zhu Biao would definitely be very happy, because his father's recognition means that he has a good vision, but thinking of Li Jie's unauthorized discussion on the government that day and saying that the two guards would rebel, he was a little hesitant for a moment.

"Why don't you talk anymore? Do you think there is less reward?" Zhu Yuanzhang also noticed his son's abnormality, so he frowned and asked.

"This..." Zhu Biao hesitated for a moment, and finally told the truth, "When Li Jie presented the flintlock spear, he asserted to Erchen that it was Yingchangwei and Quanningwei established by the imperial court on the grassland, and that it would be a rebellion within one month. Erchen felt that he was too young and needed some experience!"

After all, Zhu Biao was a generous person. He concealed that Li Jie eavesdropped on his conversation with Lan Yu and then discussed the affairs of the government. In this way, even if Zhu Yuanzhang was angry, he would not punish Li Jie for this.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang also sneered when he heard this: "I'm not a little young man. The two guards have just been established, so he asserted that the two guards will rebel within a month. Does he think he is smarter than the civil and military officials in the court?"
Chapter completed!