My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 55

Hearing Zhu Zhanhe say that he used tin movable type, the smile on Wu's shopkeeper's face froze, but soon returned to normal.

"My lord is very knowledgeable. I have a special tinsmith in my workshop who is responsible for the restoration and reproduction of these movable type."

Shopkeeper Wu introduced with a smile again.

"Oh, then I wonder if we can meet these tinsmiths?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked with a smile again.

The change of expression on Shopkeeper Wu's face just now did not escape his eyes, which made Zhu Zhanhe even more convinced that there must be something tricky about this workshop.

"Uh... this... no problem, wait a minute, I'll go and call someone here!"

Shopkeeper Wu smiled unnaturally, but finally agreed, turned around and called for someone in person.

"Zhan He, didn't we come to buy a workshop, what do you see a tinsmith do?"

Zhu Yong didn't know why and asked.

"Do you know what tin is?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked lightly.

"Of course I know, isn't tin used to make copper coins?"

Zhu Yong said as a matter of course.

Copper coins are not pure copper, but need to be added with a certain amount of tin. Although the circulation of copper coins was banned in the Ming Dynasty, a lot of copper coins were still minted, mainly for foreign trade and rewards to dependent countries.

"Then do you know that tin becomes very brittle in cold weather and may break when touched?"

Zhu Zhanhe gave Zhu Yong a sideways glance, fortunately he came today, otherwise Zhu Yong would have been cheated and he didn't know how to cheat him.

"I understand, it's winter, and the tin type in this workshop will soon be unusable!"

Zhang Zhong suddenly slapped his hands and said.

"It's not that serious. It can still be used. After all, the winter here in Jinling is not too cold, but the tin type will become very brittle and easily damaged. It needs a skilled tinsmith to repair and remake it in time."

Zhu Zhanhe explained again.

At minus thirteen or fourteen degrees, tin will become very loose, like coal ash, which is called tin disease.

Of course, the winter here in Jinling generally does not reach minus [-] or [-] degrees, but tin will still be affected, resulting in a significant increase in the damage rate of tin wares.

"That's why, so the most important thing in this workshop is not the tin type, but the tinsmith behind it!"

Zhang Zhong finally understood why Zhu Zhanhe wanted to see the tinsmith.

Zhu Yong was confused when he heard it, but he knew that what Zhu Zhanhe said must be right.

After a while, shopkeeper Wu came over with a thin young man.

"My lord, this Xu Chun is our tinsmith!"

"So young?"

Zhu Zhanhe sized up Xu Chun, obviously showing suspicion.

"Don't look at him as young, Mr. Wang, but his skills are exquisite. All the movable type in my workshop is made by him!"

Shopkeeper Wu patted his chest and assured.

"No, just now you clearly said that this workshop has been open for decades, and this craftsman Xu shouldn't have been born decades ago, right?"

Zhu Zhanhe sneered and asked back, this shopkeeper Wu is too shrewd, he doesn't even know how to write a good draft when he tells a lie.

"This one……"

The shopkeeper Wu was exposed by Zhu Zhanhe's lies, and he became a gangster for a while.

"My surname is Wu, do you think I'm easy to bully, if you dare to tell half a lie today, believe it or not, I won't let you out of Jinling City?"

Zhu Yong roared angrily at this time, he is also the Duke of the state after all, but he was almost cheated by a profiteer.

Following Zhu Yong's furious roar, the guards brought by Zhu Zhanhe also rushed in, this frightened shopkeeper Wu's whole body, and he knew that these young masters in front of him were definitely not something he could provoke.

So shopkeeper Wu poured the beans out of the bamboo bucket, and told the truth about the workshop.

It turned out that there was an old tinsmith in the workshop, that is, Xu Chun's father, who made all the movable types in the workshop.

But the old Xu Tou passed away in the early spring of this year, and Xu Chun's craftsmanship was far inferior to his father's. Now that winter is coming, tin movable type is easily damaged, and it is impossible for Xu Chun alone to guarantee the use of tin movable type.

In addition, the lease period of the workshop is coming soon, so it can be said that the most valuable thing in the whole workshop is only the dozen or so skilled workers.

"It's all because the little old man is greedy. There are a lot of three young masters and adults, so let's spare the villain. My workshop will not be sold. Even if it falls into my hands, I will never dare to deceive people again!"

Shopkeeper Wu finally begged for mercy repeatedly.

Shopkeeper Wu originally had a good plan. He wanted to borrow a sum of money from someone who didn’t understand the situation and run away. Even if the person who was cheated reported to the police, he would not be able to find him, but he didn’t expect to run into Zhu Zhanhe A kind of knowledgeable person.

"Make a price!"

Zhu Zhanhe ignored shopkeeper Wu's pleading, but spoke again very calmly.

"Offer?"

Shopkeeper Wu was taken aback for a moment, and then asked in surprise.

"Prince, do you still want to buy it?"

"That's right, but don't play tricks on me, just give me a real price!"

Zhu Zhanhe said coldly, people are old enough to be treacherous, especially old profiteers like shopkeeper Wu, who are even more treacherous.

"Okay! Young Master Wang is really happy!"

Shopkeeper Wu was overjoyed, and after a little thought, he stretched out a finger and said, "One thousand..."

"Ok?"

Zhu Zhanhe stared at the words, and shopkeeper Wu immediately changed it to five: "Five hundred guan!"

"Three hundred guan, love or not, your workshop has long been an empty shell."

Zhu Zhanhe was not one to suffer, he directly cut the reserve price.

"This... ok!"

Shopkeeper Wu gritted his teeth and agreed despite his heartache.

Winter is coming soon, if you don't do anything, the workshop will really fall into his hands, and it will be really worthless by then.

Once the price is negotiated, the next step is to establish a document, and both parties sign and draw a deposit. As long as Zhu Zhanhe and the others pay the money, the printing workshop will be theirs.

Zhu Zhanhe, Zhang Zhong, and Zhu Yong went home to collect money respectively.

Zhu Zhanhe turned over the bed board and searched for a long time to scrape together 57 pennies.

Zhu Yong and Zhang Zhong are better than him, one is in his early [-]s, the other is less than [-], and the last three just make up [-].

"What should I do, it's still fifty?"

Zhang Zhong felt very sad.

One of them was the prince's son, the other was the Duke, and the eldest son of the Duke's family, and in the end they made up two hundred and five.

"Ma An, bring out fifty guan!"

Zhu Zhanhe suddenly gave instructions to Ma An.

"How can a villain have money?"

Ma An immediately cried poor.

"Don't talk nonsense, I rewarded you hundreds of pennies for your hard work last time, and now you take out fifty pennies. This business is considered half of your shares, and this business will also be in your name in the future."

Zhu Zhanhe immediately ordered that none of the three of them could do business, so it was safest to let Ma An, his confidant, come forward.

"Oh, I just remembered, I happened to pick up fifty sticks when I went out today!"

Ma An said and ran away, and soon brought back a stack of thick treasure notes.

After collecting all the money, Zhu Zhanhe asked Ma An to go to the shopkeeper Wu to complete the remaining procedures, and take over the workshop by the way.

After Ma An finished these things, Zhu Zhanhe said to Zhang Zhong and Zhu Yong: "The printing workshop has been bought, and our brothers will settle the accounts. I account for [-]% of the workshop, and you two each have [-]%. Give half of the money to Ma An."

"Wait, I have no problem with Ma An's half of the share. He needs to come forward later, but Zhan He paid the least, why did you take the most share?"

Zhu Yong asked puzzledly.

"Do you have a way to bring a print shop back to life?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked back with a smile.

Zhu Yong immediately shook his head.

"That's fine, I have a way, so I'm investing in technology, and I should have taken the majority!"

Zhu Zhanhe made his words clear so as not to create a gap between the brothers.

"I agree. Anyway, I don't know how to print, so I'm just waiting to make a fortune with Zhanhe."

Zhang Zhong expressed his opinion, and Zhu Yong also expressed no objection.

After the share was settled, Zhu Yong couldn't help but asked again: "Zhan He, what can you do to bring the printing workshop back to life?"

"The tin movable type used in the workshop has too many shortcomings, so I am going to have someone cast a set of copper movable type."

Zhu Zhanhe raised his eyebrows and said proudly, although copper movable type is more expensive, it is wear-resistant and durable, not easy to damage, much better than tin movable type.

"Using copper to make movable type?"

Zhang Zhong frowned when he heard this, and said, "Zhan He, the three of us don't have any money, how can we have money to buy copper materials and find craftsmen?"

"Brass is easy to handle. Let's go to the storerooms of each family to look for it now. Even if there is no copper material, we can find some utensils made of brass. It shouldn't be a big problem for three people to gather together to make a pair of movable type."

Zhu Zhanhe reminded in a low voice.

"Good way, there is a pure bronze statue of Guan Gong standing in my study, I will move it back and melt it when I go back!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yong slapped his thigh and said.

"I should have it at home too. The copper problem has been solved. What about the craftsman?"

Zhang Zhong nodded first, then asked again.

"Craftsman is indeed a problem. Where can I find the best coppersmith?"

Touching his chin, Zhu Zhanhe pondered, copper movable type is very demanding, and it needs to be engraved, and ordinary craftsmen may not be able to do it.

"I know!"

Zhu Yong suddenly patted the table and said excitedly, "The best coppersmith must be in Baoquan Bureau!"

"nonsense!"

Zhang Zhong scolded, Baoquansi is the imperial court's institution for casting copper coins, and must have gathered the best coppersmiths in the world.

"I have a solution, it seems that I have to give up my face again and go whoring a few coppersmiths for nothing!"

Zhu Zhanhe slapped his hands and said to himself.

…………

That night, a strong wind suddenly blew in Jinling City, and black clouds overwhelmed the city, and the sky looked like rain.

"Boom~"

Thunder accompanied by lightning illuminated the entire Qianqing palace.

Zhu Di, who had just fallen asleep, was also awakened by the roar of the sky and the earth. Elderly people do not sleep well, and when they wake up, they no longer feel sleepy.

Zhu Di sat up from the dragon bed, and wanted someone to make a decoction to calm the nerves, so as to help him fall asleep again.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the eunuch Huang Yan, the supervisor of ceremonies, ran in with a look of panic and reported: "Your Majesty, something is wrong. The sky thunder hit a corner of the palace, causing a fire in the palace!"

"Where is the fire?"

Zhu Di frowned when he heard the words. It was rainy here in Jinling, and the palaces in the imperial city were too high. He was used to being struck by lightning almost every year, causing fires.

"Wen...Wen Yuan Pavilion!"

Huang Yan took a peek at Zhu Di's face before hesitatingly answered.

"what?"

Zhu Di jumped up when he heard the words. There was nothing special about Wenyuan Pavilion, but he spent several years and thousands of people compiling the "Yongle Canon", which was hidden in Wenyuan Pavilion.

　It's Monday again, please recommend for collection, today is the third update.

　　


(End of this chapter)