Southeast corner of Wanggongchang, Chengen Temple.
Although this temple is not big, it has planted some famous species of chrysanthemums.
A few years ago, a foreign minister from the Ministry of Industry came to Wanggong Factory to look at the armor and gunpowder. When passing by Chengen Temple, he walked around and recognized the gold and gold of the chrysanthemums.
After the foreigner returned home, he didn't remember how much of the armor was made of scrap metal. Instead, he remembered that the chrysanthemums in Cheng'en Temple were in full bloom.
En Temple became very popular, and its doors were closed down during the Double Ninth Festival for several consecutive years.
At this time, before he was born, the little novice monk rubbed his sleepy eyes and opened the temple door in a daze. A hand suddenly stretched out to meet him, directly locked his throat, and pushed him into the courtyard.
Behind him, several monks who were sweeping the house had covered their mouths and restrained themselves from the men who were pouring in like a mass of evil spirit in the darkness before they could react.
The temple door creaked again and was closed.
Hearing something strange, the host and two apprentices hurried out and stared at the uninvited guests in astonishment.
Ma Xianglin had already taken off his armor in his mansion on Qipan Street. He was now wearing plain clothes and leggings. Like his subordinates, he could not look like a soldier.
The abbot stared and said with tongue-tied eyes: "Donor, the donor is a servant of the cousin of Uncle Li's beloved son-in-law? Come and remove the 'Purple Dragon Wo Snow' branch from the small temple this year? You can't do it, you can't do it, Fangge
The old nephew has taken a fancy to it, if..."
Zheng Haizhu stepped forward to interrupt the monk's overly imaginative thinking: "Master, don't be afraid. Beizhen Fusi is on an errand and we borrowed the precious land for use. You can sweep the house and do morning classes as usual. The temple door can be opened and guests who come in for morning fragrance can
You can come in, but you and your disciples are not allowed to leave the temple."
The abbot looked at Zheng Haizhu, horrified and suspicious. Is there a woman serving in the Jinyi Guards?
But I didn't dare to ask any more questions.
Ma Xianglin made a few gestures, and his subordinates immediately divided into several teams skillfully and quickly explored the main hall, Zen room and backyard.
"Come two and guard under the tower, and the rest of the brothers will keep an eye on the people inside and outside."
After Ma Xianglin finished his instructions, he and Zheng Haizhu ran up to the wooden pagoda in the west of the temple.
The temple is a small temple, and the pagoda is not majestic. It is only three stories high, but it is located in the northwest corner of Chengen Temple, directly opposite the southeast corner of Wang Gongchang, and there is not even an alley in the middle.
Ma and Zheng reached the top of the tower and knelt down behind the wooden railing.
Zheng Haizhu himself could not have imagined that the first time he would meet the famous Wang Gongchang in the history books would be from a bird's eye view.
Six years later in history, Wang Gongchang, which was shaken by a bizarre explosion that shook the capital, was actually no more than the prestigious Chief of Ceremonies, only the size of a few courtyard houses.
"Give me the telescope." Zheng Haizhu said.
When she was at the horse house, she saw that hanging side by side with the short telescope on Xianglin's waist was the same telescope she had exchanged from the Dutchman Gurlitt when they were in Yuegang.
Ma Xianglin took off the mirror and handed it to the people around him. His eagle-like eyes were still scanning the studio courtyard.
When he heard Ma Biao's words less than half an hour ago, Ma Xianglin's first thought was to lead people directly into Wang Gong Factory. Even if he could not arrest the people, he could just bring water to put out the gunpowder pile.
Now looking down from a high position, he understood why the experienced Zheng Haizhu, who had his own firearms factory, blocked his idea of a fierce general who could only use cavalry to defeat the enemy on the battlefield.
Gunpowder is not piled up conspicuously like rice in the sun at all.
And they couldn't tell for a moment whether the people from Nanzhu were night guards at Wang Gongchang.
With the small layout of Wang Gong Factory, if there is any intrusion at the door, and if there is a hidden stake inside, it will be heard immediately, and the fire will be started immediately...
"Xianglin, you use a mirror to see." Not long after, Zheng Haizhu handed the telescope to Ma Xianglin and began to explain softly, "The layout of Wang Gong Factory is similar to that of our Songjiang Firearms Factory. The process of making gun tubes must be the same as grinding.
The gunpowder is far apart, and craftsmen on both sides are not allowed to cross the factory. Our Songjiang area is large, and there is a tributary of a small river running through the center of the factory. The place down here is small, so there is a small pond in the center."
Ma Xianglin murmured and asked: "Is it because medicine and stone cannot explain fire, but even the sparks from the grinding gun are afraid of it?"
Zheng Haizhu said: "Yes, the craftsman who grinds the barrel of the gun will carry an iron file with him. If there is any spark when entering the gunpowder magazine, there is a risk. You see, the northwest corner of Wang Gong Factory is the smelting place. Come over here
The yard should be used for sharpening guns, sharpening guns and making armor. In the yard near the pond, the piles of felt tent-like things should be cowhide, used by craftsmen who sew armor. Therefore, the yards northwest and southwest of the pond,
It's definitely not a powder magazine. The powder magazine is southeast of the pond, and thankfully right under our noses."
Ma Xianglin couldn't help but be moved when he heard the heartfelt "Thank God" from the people around him.
To this day, this woman is considered famous and profitable, and has been favored by the emperor. However, she is still like their warriors. She will not cower and run for her life when facing dangers that are close at hand. Instead, she has a surge of vitality and blood.
Go ahead.
Today, thank God, it is not only the location where the two of them are, but also the time they are in.
The east is now white, the red sun has jumped above the horizon, and the courtyard to the east of Wang Gong Factory has also begun to get rid of the shadow of the courtyard wall, revealing various details.
"Azhu, someone is out." Ma Xianglin suddenly said, and as if subconsciously, handed the binoculars back to Zheng Haizhu.
From a row of low buildings at the northern end of Wang Gong Factory, seven or eight servant-like people came out one after another, like birds released from their cages, and dispersed to various courtyards, sweeping, opening doors, arranging wheelbarrows, rummaging through cowhide,
Make preparations for the coming craftsmen.
Then, half of them crossed the small bridge over the pond, came to the southeast corner, and transported the sacks from a wooden corridor with ventilation on all sides to the door of a large house.
Due to the close distance, these movements can be clearly seen without a telescope. Ma Xianglin muttered: "What is the transport? It looks difficult, why not use a wheelbarrow?"
Zheng Haizhu said: "It should be sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal. These are the three main types of gunpowder. The wheelbarrow is made of iron sheets, which are easy to cause sparks when rubbed. So this is a grinding workshop and a warehouse, that's right. The big room where sacks are piled,
It should be a place where craftsmen work together and grind."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Hearing this, Ma Xianglin moved his eyes to the large tiled house closest to the wooden tower, and thought to himself, this should be the gunpowder warehouse.
Sure enough, he heard Zheng Haizhu say: "The servants have taken out the gunpowder barrels. They are empty barrels. They should be filled with new gunpowder ground out in the past few days after the weather. Therefore, there is indeed gunpowder in the tile-roofed house under our feet."
Storehouses and gunpowder stores pay the most attention to ventilation, and the barrels are placed at intervals. In each storehouse, no other objects other than barrels should be stacked. They should be clearly visible at a glance, and even mice cannot be hidden."
Ma Xianglin stared at the laborers who were moving in and out freely: "So, at least for now, there is nothing weird in Wang Gongchang's warehouse?"
Zheng Haizhu held up the telescope and said nothing.
In her lens, one of the servants seemed to be particularly serious. He looked up at the sky several times and moved the empty bucket.
After a while, the servants lined up the empty buckets and walked to the north bank of the pond.
Ma Xianglin raised his upper body slightly, looked around, and muttered: "Even if a rocket is fired from our tower, it will either hit the roof or a foot away outside the warehouse. So if they want to control the warehouse, there should still be an insider."
?If it’s not the servants, then it’s the craftsmen?”
Zheng Haizhu looked toward the houses to the west: "It seems that the craftsmen are about to start work."
Ma Xianglin ducked around to the other side of the tower, quickly turned back, and said decisively: "No one can enter at this time. Ma Biao and the others have returned to the elephant room. My brothers and I climbed in directly from here to guard the gunpowder magazine and watch.
Those servants, wait for Commander Luo to come. You take most of the remaining troops and go to Wang Gong Factory to block the door. The officials from the Ministry of Works and the eunuchs who supervise the factory will not come so early. At most, they will be the bookkeeper and the chief craftsman. You have revealed your identity.
They shouldn’t take it for granted. If they really don’t listen, my people will seal the door.”
"Okay!" Zheng Haizhu agreed.
Ma Xianglin quickly descended from the tower and ordered ten of his subordinates to come up.
The shadows on the clothes flickered, like bats gliding silently. In just a moment, Zheng Haizhu's view of Ma Xianglin and others changed from a close view to a distant view.
Ma Biao had been called to the temple by a brother and ran to the tower: "Madam, the young master has entered the factory?"
"Well, you follow me and block the door."
Zheng Haizhu raised the telescope again, trying to take advantage of the bright daylight to quickly view the situation around Wang Gongchang from a high position.
But her moving hand suddenly stopped.
Ma Biao said: "What's wrong?"
Zheng Haizhu didn't answer, as if he was in trance.
Ma Biao looked at her carefully and saw that the woman's brows were frowning more and more.
Suddenly, she put down the telescope and said to Ma Biao: "Quick, take the brothers and follow me out of the temple!"
…
Jin Laoliu walked under the morning sun.
This place in the north is really not a geomantic treasure. It is so cold around the Double Ninth Festival, and there is sand in the wind. It is completely different from the warm and clean south.
That damn usurper two hundred years ago actually moved his capital here!
However, today, Jin Laoliu was still lucky that what the Holy Lord suddenly decreed was to be carried out after the chilly mid-autumn day. Otherwise, the ice water in the cloth bag in his toolbox would not have lasted more than an hour.
On both sides of the street, breakfast stalls have been set up one after another.
Jin Laoliu walked to the stall he frequented every day and ordered a bowl of noodle tea and two charcoal rings.
The stall owner added a few more pieces of pancakes and said with a smile: "My boy is selling pancakes at the gate of the factory. If he doesn't come back, the pancakes won't be ordered at the gate of the factory. Brother, I'll keep an eye on you, and you can eat slowly."
Jin Laoliu lowered his eyes and gnawed on the coke ring, and said in a homely tone: "The hares over there in the pasture are just about to gain weight. The weather is nice today. I want your boy to hunt two hares. Just use me."
I'll give him a small crossbow and a boy doll. If I put some effort into my hands, I might be able to serve as a forbidden soldier for the Long Live Lord."
The stall owner said "Hi!": "Why don't you accept him as your apprentice? He is also on errands for the Long Live Lord, right? OK, I'll let him hunt rabbits, and I'll give you a drink in the evening, so you can become your apprentice."
Jin Laoliu drank the noodle tea in a sip, stood up and said: "You and your wife should go too. The wild fruits in the pasture are ripe. Pick some and bring them back to make wine. Don't stay in the house all day, there is no gold in the sky.
I’ll destroy your house.”
"Cheng, Cheng, Master Jin said to go, so we all will go."
Jin Laoliu threw down the copper plate, carried the toolbox, took a look at the familiar breakfast stalls and the neighbors eating and chatting, and walked east.
Seeing that Wang Gongchang was still about a hundred steps away, someone suddenly called him in a deep voice from the alley beside him: "Lao Liu!"
"General Liu?" Jin Laoliu was startled and ducked into the alley, "Why are you here?"
Liu Shimin said urgently and simply: "If the matter is leaked, come with me and don't enter the factory."
Saying that, I came to pull him.
Jin Laoliu followed him for a few steps in a daze, but suddenly stopped walking: "Why did the matter leak out? Where will General Liu take me now?"
"Go to Fucheng Gate and meet the Holy Lord. We will take the small road to Tianjin. We will be fine once we go to sea."
Suspicion flashed in Jin Laoliu's eyes, and he turned to look at the street. There was a steady flow of pedestrians, but not a single soldier was seen.
As soon as he turned around again, Liu Shimin's fist came over to greet him.
At the same time as there was a muffled groan, Liu Shimin held Jin Lao Liu on his shoulders and led him to the other end of the alley.
However, just as he was about to enter the ruins covered with wormwood, the road at the entrance of the alley was suddenly blocked.
People of the Holy Lord!
Liu Shimin hurriedly looked behind him, and he saw that he was also Zhu Qianyu's bodyguard.
Before he could put down Jin Laoliu, the guards jumped over and one of them kicked him accurately in the abdomen.
When Liu Shimin bent over in pain, his arms had been cut behind his back.
He was dragged to the shadow of the ruins and pushed to his knees.
A familiar voice sounded above the head: "General Liu, why did you rebel against me?"
Liu Shimin looked at the pair of shoes: "Holy Lord, I didn't betray you. If I had other intentions, how could I come to the police yesterday? Please leave the city as soon as possible, Holy Lord."
Zhu Qianhuan said: "Selling out to the master is treason. Disobeying the master's orders and even killing his colleagues is also treason."
"Holy Lord," Liu Shimin managed to raise his head, "the people are innocent. On the day when the Holy Lord finally takes over, they will also be the Holy Lord's people!"
Zhu Qianyu sneered and said: "Old Liu, as soon as you said these words of persuasion to me yesterday, I knew you were going to do what you did today."
He put his sleeves on his back and leaned down, staring at this general who had worked hard for many years.
The guards behind him could already see veins sprouting from the master's hand holding the sharp blade.
Suddenly, there were rapid footsteps in the direction of the alley and at both ends of the ruins, and a dozen men in black or green clothes were outflanking him at the speed of an arrow.
Zhu Qianyu's men suddenly engaged the enemy, and even though they were highly skilled in martial arts, two of them were stabbed in an instant.
In desperation, the captain of the guard fired his cannon and summoned reinforcements, but he was soon stunned by the sound of fighting and shouting coming from not far away.
Apparently, our own people nearby were also entangled by the enemy.
Liu Shimin jumped up from the ground, picked up the knife of a seriously injured guard, and immediately pushed back the man nearby, and recognized that the man was Ma Biao.
"Holy Lord, I will protect you!" Liu Shimin shouted.
Zhu Qianyu had already used his short blade to protect himself, and now he was in panic and anger. He hid behind the sword drawn by Liu Shimin and tried to retreat in the direction of his horse.
"Puff..." With a sound, Zhu Qianyu felt a sharp pain in his thigh after the violent impact.
He turned around and saw that the crossbowman behind the broken wall was holding the crossbow machine and staring at him.
Next to the crossbowman stood Zheng Haizhu.
Zhu Qianyu heard the bitch say: "There are the best crossbowmen among the Shili natives, let alone when they are avenging their old master."