Song Yingxing officially took charge of the Ministry of Works. According to Liu Ziguang's arrangement, he did not do anything to Qi Dian. The unpleasant incident of everyone sitting together to drink a cup of tea was over. Qi Dian used the money and craftsmen from the Ministry of Works to make lanterns for the palace. Song Yingxing did not interfere in the matter. Instead, he opened the door for convenience, asking for money, approving people, and releasing people, and provided strong support. For this reason, Qi Zhenming specially visited Liu Ziguang to express his gratitude, and strongly praised Zhenwu Bo and Song Shangshu for their broad-mindedness regardless of previous grudges. How could he know that Liu Ziguang asked Song Yingxing to connive with Qi Dian to create lanterns, and he was using a borrowed knife to kill people...
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is pleasant. The palace is decorated with lights and colorful decorations. The maids and eunuchs in bright clothes are walking back and forth, arranging a dinner party for the moon viewing party. Many courtiers have been invited and brought their wives. Wear a formal dress and go to the Qianqing Palace for a banquet.
The temperature during the Mid-Autumn Festival is moderate, which is perfect for enjoying the moon outdoors. The banquet is placed in the open space in front of the Qianqing Palace. The nanmu tables are filled with delicacies carefully cooked by the imperial kitchen, yellow and orange crabs, and various flowers. The mooncakes in the style and trapping style, the thick and sweet osmanthus wine, the refreshing daughter's red wine, and various other delicacies are all the best tribute products from all over the world.
This is another large-scale gathering after the emperor's wedding. As the minister in charge of the bodyguard, Liu Ziguang shoulders the important responsibility of security and does not dare to slack off. Now that the overall situation in the capital has been decided, a mutiny of a decent scale is no longer possible. The military symbols are mastered separately. In the hands of Yuan Chonghuan and Xu Zengshou, without them issuing orders at the same time, any mobilization of more than a hundred troops would be considered a rebellion. As these two men were newly promoted dignitaries, there was absolutely no possibility of rebellion.
A large-scale military coup is unlikely to happen, so beware of assassins. Although the eunuchs have been wiped out, there are still many fish that have slipped through the net. Who can guarantee that a crazy martial arts master will not sneak into the palace to cause trouble on the Mid-Autumn Festival night? With Liu Ziguang personally escorting him, the success rate of assassinating the emperor was very low, but stabbing anyone present was not a good thing. It was all due to his dereliction of duty as the minister in charge of the bodyguard.
In the past, the people responsible for the security of the harem were the internal guards. Now these people have been assigned to Shandong. The new internal guards are composed of red shirt regiments, Han generals, and Yulin guards. Everyone lacks experience in this area. Fortunately, There are detailed regulations left by internal officials for reference, so just follow the same pattern. The guard in charge of the ceremony wears a cardboard armor and stands solemnly on both sides of the royal road holding an ax. The other guards are in the flying fish uniform of Yi Shui'er, with a spring knife embroidered on the left , the fish suit bag on the right contains a small hand crossbow, and guards wearing armor and rocket launchers are hiding in the room on standby, ready to put out possible emergencies at any time.
It's not that Liu Ziguang is making a fuss, it's that he vaguely feels that something is wrong, but he can't tell the reason, so he might as well take precautions. There is no harm in being careful.
A few sweeping eunuchs who were doing rough work were walking slowly down the long corridor in the distance carrying hoes. "Ask them what they are doing?" Liu Ziguang asked the guards around him.
"Stop!" the guard yelled to stop the eunuchs, then ran over to ask a few words, and then came back to report to Liu Ziguang: "Sir, it was the imperial dining room who sent these people to dig and bury the eunuchs under the laurel tree in the imperial garden for many years. As for the sweet-scented osmanthus wine, it is an old rule in the palace that every Mid-Autumn Festival, ten jars of sweet-scented osmanthus wine must be taken out for drinking, and ten jars of osmanthus wine must be buried."
"That's right, let them go." Liu Ziguang felt that he was really suspicious. Any slightest sign would attract his attention. But having said that, those eunuchs just now had really good physiques. They were as big and round as the soldiers of the Red Shirt Regiment. spell.
"Go and check for me the details of those eunuchs. When did they enter the imperial kitchen and what did they do before." Liu Ziguang stared at the retreating backs of the eunuchs and said, looking like a suspicious spy leader.
As soon as this order was passed down, a young eunuch ran over and said, The emperor invites Mr. Liu to go to Qianqing Palace to watch the lanterns.
The show was about to begin. Liu Ziguang smiled reservedly and followed the little eunuch.
The dinner party has not officially started yet. In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youzheng is admiring the various gifts presented by the ministers. Now placed in the main hall is the ninety-nine exhibition eight-treasure purple and gold lotus glazed lantern presented by Qi Dian, a member of the Ministry of Industry. These lamps are made of rosewood as brackets. The candlesticks below are made of copper and made into lotus shapes. The tops are engraved with purple gold. The lampshades are made of transparent glass. On them are painted scenes such as Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang cutting down trees, etc. The characters are painted with fine brushwork and are lifelike. , and the outside of the glass lampshade is covered with gauze of different colors. The gauze is carefully embroidered with silk threads such as the moon palace, landscapes, and other scenes. The glass shade is round, and the sand shade is square with silver wire. Each sand shade is Each dome has four scenes, and the figures on the dome form different moods, which are truly exquisite.
The ministers present were all amazed. After all, the Ministry of Industry has a large number of talents. Only the royal family is qualified to own such exquisite things. Listening to everyone's praise, Qi Dian couldn't help but look at his eldest brother Qi Zhenming with pride, and the latter cast a With satisfied eyes, even the corner of Qian Qianyi's mouth turned into a smile. With these ninety-nine lotus lanterns, Qi Dian's position as Minister Qi Dian was secure.
Zhu Youxiao stared at the ninety-nine lotus lanterns and said nothing for a long time, as if he was looking for something. Liu Ziguang knew that the emperor was trying to figure out where the power and switch of the lotus lanterns were.
After looking at it all day, Zhu Youxiao still gave up this effort. There was no place for batteries on the upper and lower parts of the Baolian lamp, and there was no sign of any advanced light-emitting device.
"Qi Qing, please tell me how to light it up."
"Zunzhi" Qi Dian happily opened a paper bag, took out two big red candles with dragons and placed them on the candlesticks, then took out a match and lit it. As the candles were lit, a scent filled the hall. , a well-informed minister shrugged his nose and said: "It's ambergris."
It was indeed ambergris. Qi Dian was even more proud. Ambergris was added to this kind of candle during the pouring process, so it gave off the fragrance. He was very proud of his whimsical idea. He had many years of working experience in the manufacturing company. It was not for nothing. Qi Dian looked around and raised his hands in greeting: "Thank you, sir, thank you." But he didn't notice Zhu Youxiao's increasingly cold face at all.
"What an eight-treasure purple-gold lotus glazed lamp. Who came up with this idea? Does the Ministry of Industry have a share?" Zhu Youxiao asked.
"Your Majesty, although Song Shangshu was in charge of the Ministry of Industry for a short period of time...well, he also gave a lot of guidance to ministers, which is half of Song Shangshu's credit." Qi Dian said, and everyone present could hear his words. Meaning: This is all my fault and no one else’s fault.
"I have no experience in the techniques of sculpture and painting, so I can't give you any advice. This is all the credit of Mr. Qi." Song Yingxing hurriedly distanced himself from him. Qi Dian thought that Song Yingxing's style was noble and he would not take credit from him.
He gave me a grateful look.
"How much money will it cost to have so many precious lanterns?" Zhu Youxiao asked.
"Dedicated to His Majesty, the ministers naturally dare not neglect it. The raw materials for each lamp are five hundred and fifty taels of silver, the craftsmanship is eighty taels of silver, each candle is one tael and four cents of silver, and the ninety-nine lotus lamps plus
A thousand ambergris candles cost a total of sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six taels of silver. Compared with last year's Lantern Festival." Qi Dian explained incessantly, and it was obvious that he was well prepared.
, even the total price was made into a number with six numbers all in it, a lot of thought was put into this matter.
The ministers nodded and praised as they listened: "Master Qi really spends a small amount of money to do big things. Such a precious lantern only costs a few hundred taels of silver. Cost control is really good." But no one noticed that the emperor's face had changed.
It's livid.
With a "pop" sound, Zhu Youxiao's palm slapped heavily on the armrest of the dragon chair, "I spent 60,000 taels of silver just to let you light up the lamp for fun?!"
The important minister was startled, and the Qianqing Palace immediately calmed down. Zhu Youxiao's immature young voice was still heard roaring: "I don't have money to fight against Manchu, Xixia, or Taiwan. It turns out that all the money has been used by you to light lamps."
!A lamp costs more than 600 taels. Do you know how much the lanterns on the top of my Qianqing Palace cost? Three hundred taels of silver!! Come on, give me all these lanterns.
Burned!"
"Your Majesty, calm down..." All the important ministers knelt down. No one knew why the little emperor suddenly became angry. Although the Ming Dynasty was not as wealthy as before, the tens of thousands of taels of silver each for the royal palace lanterns and flowers was not a luxury.
Liu Ziguang knew why Zhu Youxiao was angry. He didn't like this at all. If Qi Dian had donated a lamp made with advanced technology, let alone 60,000 taels, he wouldn't have been angry even if it was 160,000 taels. But Qi Dian spent a lot of money
With all the money he had, he came up with such a boring thing. He lit candles in a glass dome. Each candle cost more than 600 taels. He really made the emperor a victim. The electric lamps Liu Ziguang presented only cost 300 taels in total. Even the unit price of the lotus lamp was
It's less than that, and the light bulbs are all vacuumed, and the wires are made of silver wire using the latest wire drawing technology. Zhu Youxiao is an expert in the manufacturing industry, so it's hard to hide the price of raw materials and craftsmanship from him.
"Your Majesty, please calm down the fury of Thunder." Liu Ziguang also advised him, "My Emperor cares about the country and the country, and is not obsessed with sensuality. I am very lucky to have such a wise king. These lotus lanterns are also the heart of Mr. Qi.
It was also made with the people's taxes. It would be a pity to burn it like this. I think it is better to give it to you at a discount. Didn't the adults just praise the lotus lantern for its cheapness?"
"What Liu Aiqing said is very much in my opinion. Just as Aiqing said, let's each take two lamps back and the price will be deducted from everyone's salary." Zhu Youxiao thought about it and thought this was a good idea, so he happily agreed.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." The ministers breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't finish the royal banquet. They spent thousands of taels of silver to buy two lamps to go home. What kind of thing is this? The lamps are only worth 200 taels of silver at most. It seems that
This Qi Dian made a lot of money out of it. Fortunately, the money was not too much and the flowers were spent. It was better than the emperor wasting all his natural resources and burning these lamps in public.
The incident with the lotus lantern was over, and the ministers who had not given gifts continued to give gifts, but when the emperor who was concerned about prices always said one less digit when he asked about the price, only Qi Dian with a pale face was left huddled behind the crowd.
The emperor did not punish him, but the position of minister was ruined. After such a big mistake, who dared to recommend him? He couldn't even hide. Even his cousin Qi Zhenming pretended not to know him.
After the treasure presentation was over, the emperor moved to the front of the palace to enjoy the moon and drink with everyone. The queen also held a moon-viewing and chrysanthemum tasting party in front of Kunning Palace with all the concubines. The entire palace was enveloped in a joyful and peaceful atmosphere. The modified light bulb
Twinkling and blinking on the eaves of the palace, like the morning star in the sky.
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"It's leaking~~" A sharp scream broke the harmonious atmosphere. Everyone looked up and saw billowing smoke rising from the direction of the West Sixth Palace, followed by a chaotic sound of gongs, and a large number of eunuchs holding swords and guns.
Appearing from all directions.
"Protect the Emperor!" Liu Ziguang was the first to react. He fired his musket and saber at the same time. Aren't all the internal officers sent to Shandong? Why are there so many armed eunuchs?