Forbidden City, inside the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty was bedridden, which filled the entire Qianqing Palace with an ominous atmosphere. Sitting beside Wanli's bed, Concubine Zheng was sobbing and sobbing, and next to her was the prince who was offering decoctions.

These days, the prince comes back every morning and stays there all day long. Even sometimes when the situation in Wanli is not very good, he simply doesn't visit Ciqing Palace and sleeps here directly. Originally, this was against the rules. , but at this moment, no one dared to say anything.

The great eunuch Lu Shou is also standing by at the moment. He is in charge of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Admiral of the East Factory. He can be said to be the number one eunuch in the palace at this time. Opposite him, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Luo Sigong, is also waiting here. He is a slave of the Emperor's family. , the eagles and dogs of the Tian family are all gathered now, the only thing missing is the cabinet minister.

But this is an important place in the palace, and it doesn't matter if the cabinet ministers are there or not, as long as they are there.

Suddenly, a middle-aged eunuch hurried over and whispered something next to Lu Shou. At the same time, a military captain in golden clothes just followed him in and whispered to Luo Yangxing.

Taisun Taisun engaged in military warfare at the Tianjin Saltworks, gathering people to perform martial arts, but he did not know his intentions.

Almost at the same time, the two spy chiefs received the information together. They waved their hands and asked their subordinates to get down. They looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

"Duke, please come first!"

"Commander Luo, please!"

The two of them were stunned. They didn't expect such a coincidence. Almost at the same time, they cursed secretly in their hearts, "Old fox, you are so shrewd."

"The Governor is a superior official, and he is your Majesty's personal attendant, so you should be invited first." Luo Sigong bowed and gave way, saying that he was willing to take the lower position.

"Commander Luo is in charge of the Jinyi Guards. He is responsible for patrolling and apprehending the guards. This matter is of great importance. Naturally, Commander Luo invited him first." Lu Shou had a humble face and looked like he did not dare to take the responsibility.

"No, no, no, the Governor please come first."

"No, no, Commander Luo please come first."

The two of them were pushing back and forth, but they didn't dare to come forward to report the matter. Let's not talk about Wanli's bad situation at the moment. Who knows whether after hearing the news, they would be so anxious that they would die suddenly. If Wanli is really because of If this one fails, the one who reported the news is definitely the culprit and will definitely be put in jail and put to death. Neither of them can bear this responsibility.

In one, Taisun can be said to be the future heir. He also got Wanli's permission to go to Tianjin to practice martial arts. Although the number of people this time was a bit larger, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. If it were left on normal days, it would probably be just one of Wanli's. A quick reprimand, or at most a one-month grounding.

It's just that this is a special period and Wanli is bedridden, which makes the news appear to be full of weight. However, the more it is, the less they dare to be scornful and come forward to report. The grandson is strong and the prince is weak. If Wanli really dies, The crown prince Zhu Changluo ascended the throne. Based on Taisun's performance at this time and holding 800 Yulin troops, his reputation will definitely increase. He can even intervene in the government affairs and become the most arrogant and high-profile prince in history.

Both of them are old foxes who have been in the court for many years. It can be seen that, although the possibility is relatively small, it is not impossible. In the face of this unknown danger, both of them have the same plan. Can't you afford to hide?

Therefore, they unanimously planned to back down and let the other person report, while they followed suit. In this way, if Taisun really held a grudge, the responsibility of the person behind him would be lighter, and with a little perfunctory, the blame could be passed on to the person in front. that person.

However, they didn't expect that both of them had the same plan, and they were in a stalemate for a while. Although the commotion here was small, it also attracted the attention of some people.

Seeing this, Luo Sigong was the first to speak and said, "Master Governor, if this is not the case, Your Majesty is currently weak and it is not appropriate to be frightened. This news will be slowed down for the time being and will be reported later when Your Majesty's health improves."

"You still made a choice." Lu Shou sighed secretly in his heart and stared deeply at Luo Sigong. The latter did not avoid it at all and looked at him openly.

"What does the Governor think?" Luo Sigong asked again.

"Yeah." Lu Shou didn't say anything, just hummed a nasal sound, then looked at his nose, nose and mouth, and his mouth became quiet with concern, saying nothing. Although he didn't speak, he acquiesced.

Seeing this, Luo Sigong didn't say anything. He followed the other person's example and stood aside, waiting quietly. However, there was a slight doubt in his heart. From his perspective, Taisun had a young and mature temperament, and he couldn't be more calm. Why?

It won't be so anxious or urgent.

Even if Wanli was born, it would not be his turn. Is there any hidden secret in this? With his peripheral vision, Luo Sigong kept scanning Wanli who was lying on the bed, and the prince Zhu Changluo who was offering the decoction next to him.

As for the grandson's intention to rebel, Luo Sigong had never had this idea. In the past two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, except for Yongle and Han Wang during the founding of the country, and King Ning during the Zhengde period, no one in the royal family had ever rebelled. Let alone

The great-grandson who has already established the right of inheritance will definitely ascend the throne as long as he waits. And this period of time is only about ten or twenty years, which is not a long time for the great-grandson who is only sixteen years old.

Time passed slowly. It was already mid-June when Zhu Youxue held a grand parade at the school grounds, and five days later, when the news was sent to the palace, it was already the end of June. During this period, Wanli's status kept fluctuating, sometimes from time to time.

It gets better, sometimes gets worse, and sometimes you have a fever and talk nonsense.

After the two spy chiefs suppressed the news, a few days passed, and the time turned and entered July. Wanli's situation has been volatile, with vomiting and diarrhea that did not improve. The two spy chiefs did not dare to go to the hospital when they saw this.

I reported bad news before, but invariably fell silent again.

By mid-July, although Wanli's condition had improved, the imperial physician who treated Wanli remained silent and did not even leave half a step away from the Qianqing Palace. Lu Shou and Luo Yangxing were both veterans, and with their years of

Intuition brought by experience, they smelled something unusual.

Under such circumstances, they all gave up the idea of ​​reporting to Wanli, and just focused on doing their jobs well, strictly abiding by Wanli's orders, sealing the palace gates, isolating the inside and outside, and not letting any information leak out.

In later generations, the physical health of national leaders will be kept secret. What's more, in this feudal era of our country, the emperor's physical condition is even more of a secret. In this case, no one knows what happened to Wanli.

, whether he is sick or dead, and whether he can recover.

Throughout the capital, as the palace gate was closed, an undercurrent surged, but it was just an undercurrent. Facing the tall palace gate, the courtiers who were locked outside had no way to do anything.

Even at this moment, Zhu Youxiao, who is far away in Tianjin, has been forgotten. No one criticized him for not abiding by the rules and going out wantonly. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the vermilion palace wall, wanting to peek inside.

of reality.

In the western suburbs of the capital, Tiangong Workshop.

The tall blue-gray stone wall surrounds the entire workshop, blocking out all prying eyes. In the courtyard inside, there are guards patrolling back and forth to protect the secrets here from being leaked. These people are Luo Yangxing's temporary

The forces mobilized will protect this place when Zhu Youxiao does not attack the Yulin army.

These people were all chosen on the spur of the moment, without any prior information, and for a short period of time. This basically eliminated the possibility of colluding with outsiders and stealing secrets.

The entire Tiangong workshop is built on the edge of a river. A hole is opened in the wall near the river, and a huge transmission shaft stretches out to connect several groups of huge wooden water turbines in the river. The water turbines drive the transmission shafts,

Power is continuously delivered to the Tiangong workshop.

The interior of the workshop is divided into four parts. Close to the transmission opening is the carriage factory. After the transmission shaft extends here, it converts power through the gear belt and drives some wood processing machinery for simple processing. Although it is only a preliminary application,

It also greatly reduces the burden on craftsmen, greatly increasing the speed of wood processing here, and can supply the huge transportation needs of the upper salt field.

On the far right, opposite to the carriage factory, is the brewery. In addition to selecting high-quality grain for brewing, there are also huge distillation equipment. The entire brewery is filled with smoke, water vapor and alcohol odor all year round. At first glance,

It's like a paradise in heaven.

In addition to the two sides, there are two areas at the front and back. The area at the back is a glass manufacturing factory. In addition to the production of various exquisite glassware, the most important thing here is the production of mirrors. Since the production of mirrors requires silver plating, the cost has always been high.

It's so high that it has become a luxury product.

The rest of the front area of ​​the workshop is all used to make perfume. Except for a small area of ​​the workshop used to make perfume, the rest is a flower garden. These are all kinds of precious flowers carefully planted by craftsmen.

Used for making new perfumes.

The entire Tiangong workshop is completely closed, and the craftsmen inside cannot go out at all. Their living areas are mixed in between these four areas. Their daily life is to work, and then rest at night. It is extremely regular. Of course, their

The money was also very generous, and Wei Zhongxian also promised that as long as they worked here for ten years, they would be released and gain a certain degree of freedom.

Of course, even if they were released, they would still have to work in the Tiangong workshop. Zhu Youxiao could not let such a group of skilled craftsmen go free. Not only would he suffer his own losses, he would also create a group of enemies.

At this time, the entire Tiangong workshop was under the control of Wei Zhongxian alone, and he was assisted by five of the original twenty eunuchs in green clothes. Needless to say, these were both assistants and supervisors.

However, Wei Zhongxian didn't care. He drove the five people around and set up the Tiangong Workshop properly. Not only did he earn Zhu Youxiao a huge amount of wealth, but he also kept the secret technology tightly.

No, during this turbulent time, Eunuch Wei, who had always been cautious, captured another group of stupid thieves who came in to steal technology.

"Follow the usual practice, kill them and bury them under the flower beds for fertilizer." Wei Zhongxian waved his hand and asked Luo Yangxing to take the stupid thieves down.

Ignoring the thieves who were crying and cursing, Wei Zhongxian sighed thoughtfully and looked in the direction of the capital, "I don't know what's going on in the palace now? At this critical moment, how come I can't stay in Tianjin?"

Are you back?"

Wei Zhongxian knew that his worries were unnecessary. He was a little low-grade eunuch, and it would be useless to worry, but he couldn't help but worry, not only for the sake of his master, but also for himself.
Chapter completed!