Kong Yanjin, the Duke of Yansheng, was captured by the Jin Yiwei and imprisoned, but there has been no news to this day.
For scholars, this is a big deal!
After the Holy Master, he is the number one scholar in the world. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the face of scholars throughout the ages and has an indispensable position in the scholarly community. It is like the world cannot be without the emperor, otherwise, the sky will fall.<
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In the past few days, people have been reporting incessantly, asking about Yan Shenggong.
Zhu Qiyu also took these memorials to see Zhu Qizhen, but the reply he received was, don't worry, wait and see.
For this reason, he was very troubled.
You are not in a hurry, but a group of people are chasing me every day asking, what should I do?
Since someone else is not in a hurry when he is the emperor, it is useless for him to be in a hurry to supervise the country, so he has to leave the memorial unpublished.
Everyone took a look and realized that you didn't reply, which meant that you had something up your sleeve. So, more memorials flew into the cabinet like snowflakes.
Under this kind of pressure, the cabinet couldn't stand it anymore, so it simply collected all the memorials, wrote a copy of it, and submitted them all.
As a result, Zhu Qiyu saw a memorial signed by 158 people, headed by Cao Nai, the first assistant of the cabinet, Zhang Yi, the second assistant, Yang Shan, the imperial censor of Zuodu, Liu Ji of the Hanlin Academy, and others.
"His Royal Highness, King Yan, Duke Yan Sheng and even the Master Sheng, now no one is seen alive, and no body is seen dead. We really don't understand, what is the reason?"
"I second my opinion, if Yan Shenggong really made any mistakes, the court should deal with it as leniently as possible. To say the least, even if it is dealt with, it should be open and fair, and submitted to the Tribunal for review!"
"I second the proposal!"
"I second the proposal!"
……
In fact, there is a reason why these people are so emotional.
In less than two years, the power of the civil service group has been suppressed repeatedly and has declined like a cliff.
Wang Zhenyu was a party member, Cao Jixiang conspired to rebel, Shanxi merchants collaborated with the enemy...
If these eucalyptus cases are just a small fight, then the White Lotus Sect colluded with the Japanese pirates to rebel last year, which implicated the Jiangnan gentry in going out to sea to smuggle eucalyptus. The number of people implicated has reached tens of thousands, and it has even affected the whole country, including cabinet ministers.
The bosses have all been dealt with, and the power of the civil servant group has been suppressed again and again. Now they want to break the bottom line and take Yan Sheng's public sword. This is unacceptable to everyone.
In the main hall, almost all civil officials stood up to second the proposal, and only a few people did not express their opinions.
Among the military attachés and nobles, due to the various complicated relationships in the family, they are more or less connected with the civil service group. In addition, they also want their children to study, so some people have come forward to second the proposal.
.
Of the 158 people who jointly submitted the memorial, half were officials from the capital.
The other half are from various states and counties.
This is only from the past few days. If there is enough time and someone calls for it, I am afraid that all the civil servants and gentry in the world will come to sign their names.
This time, it is the last counterattack of the civil servant group.
Because the news of the New Deal has already spread, if it fails this time, it will not even be able to secure the imperial examination for a stable life.
Abolition of the imperial examinations is equivalent to cutting off the retreat of the civil service group. The new forces will no longer be controlled by them, but will directly obey the emperor's orders.
In other words, all the power and money that should belong to them will be lost.
It's like there was a big cake, and one piece after another was cut away. Now instead of stopping, the other party asked to take the plate away directly...
Therefore, they must fight back, otherwise not even the scum will be left.
Seeing that the situation was out of control, Zhu Qiyu was helpless and had no choice but to say: "What you all said makes sense. After today's court meeting, I will go to see the emperor immediately to help everyone get an explanation."
Everyone's attention was focused on this matter now, so they were not in the mood to discuss matters. In less than a quarter of an hour, the morning meeting was over in a hurry.
Zhu Qiyu took the petition signed by 158 people and came to Qianqing Palace.
Wynn struggled to carry a large bucket of water and hurriedly greeted:
"I've met His Royal Highness, King Yin!"
Zhu Qiyu asked in confusion: "How can Eunuch Huai carry the water himself?"
After all, Huai En now serves the emperor directly, so other eunuchs will naturally do chores like carrying water.
"Your Highness, don't make fun of us. We are just slaves. Why don't you do it in person? Your Highness is going to see the emperor?"
Zhu Qiyu nodded and said: "Yes, there is something important and we need to meet the saint immediately!"
Wynn said: "The emperor is tinkering with the steam engine in the Imperial Garden. Your Highness, please come here!"
"What to steam...chicken?"
Zhu Qiyu didn't understand, and thought to himself, you didn't go to court and went to study the recipes?
In fact, after returning to Beijing from Yu County, Zhu Qizhen had already sent people to start research.
The structure of this thing is actually very simple. Basically, it is just a huge kettle.
The principle is nothing more than burning a stove and adding a structure similar to a waterwheel.
Of course, if you want to turn this kettle into a thing that can transmit power, you must ensure that the thing can be sealed, and you need corresponding conduction equipment to convert thermal energy into mechanical energy.
Although it is easy to say, it requires a lot of manpower and material resources to actually create it.
We found more than 300 craftsmen alone, all of whom were skilled craftsmen from the capital or surrounding prefectures and counties.
Because Zhu Qizhen can only provide a general direction, how to operate specifically, especially the control of details, can only rely on repeated experiments by these people.
Such as sealing material issues, transmission rod craftsmanship, boiler construction...
Fortunately, Zhu Qizhen's requirements are not very high, so let everyone start with the model.
In other words, there is no limit on volume or material. As long as it can run, it will be considered a success.
Moreover, there is no need to consider the economics of this thing at all. If the silver is enough, even if the craftsmen ask for gold as raw materials, Zhu Qizhen can satisfy it.
In two months, many craftsmen finally came up with a finished product after repeated experiments.
It’s just that this thing is very bulky. As the first steam engine in the Ming Dynasty, although it has epoch-making significance, it is still too crude.
Zhu Qizhen's plans for steam engines include: one is an armored ship, the other is a train, and the other is for commercial purposes, such as looms, etc.
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Now that the age of navigation is about to begin, ships need to be put on the agenda and strive to make a breakthrough within three to five years.
Therefore, as soon as the prototype was produced here, Zhu Qizhen sent some craftsmen to the Quanzhou Shipyard to start research on shipboard steam engines.
On the capital side, the research direction is trains. Of course, the craftsmen do not understand what a train is, so the explanation given by Zhu Qizhen is to install wheels on the steam engine so that it can run on land.
Trains and ships are two different directions. Although they have the same principle, running on land cannot be too bulky. The volume needs to be greatly reduced and the power must be increased at the same time.
In order to reduce friction, steel rails are necessary. Therefore, people were ordered to open up a new site near the Xishan Quarry and lay dozens of meters of circular rails to prepare for future steam locomotive experiments.
Naturally, Zhu Qizhen is very busy on the surface every day, but he is still very concerned about the situation outside.
Inside and outside the court, an invisible war has quietly begun.
The world needs improvement, progress, and ultimately a storm to cleanse it thoroughly.
The storm is about to come, and the storm is coming, but what is supposed to come will eventually come.
"Brother Royal!"
After Zhu Qizhen heard this, he said without looking back: "Wait a moment, I don't have much room here!"
Then, he asked: "Who is the water?"
Wynn hurried forward: "Your Majesty, the water is here."
"Pour it in!"
"Yes!"
With the help of two craftsmen, Wynn poured a large bucket of water into the boiler and began to add coal.
Zhu Qiyu walked forward curiously and looked at this thing that didn't know what it was.
Very confused.
This is not a chicken, it is obviously a pot... Oh, yes, this is a pot for stewing chicken.
Add water and light the fire again. It’s ready to stew.
However, it’s just a chicken stew, so there’s no need to use so many craftsmen...
"Brother Huang, do you like chicken?"
Zhu Qizhen said in astonishment: "What kind of chicken should we eat?"
"Well..."
Zhu Qiyu seemed to sense that something was wrong, so he asked: "I heard that the emperor is going to steam a chicken?"
"What do you mean?"
Zhu Qizhen was checking the tightness of the materials with the craftsmen, and he casually said: "This machine is not that chicken, this is called a steam engine!"
"Steam engine?"
"Look here!"
Zhu Qizhen took a few steps back and said, "Start testing!"
Immediately, several craftsmen came forward, holding small notebooks in their hands.
"The two hundred and thirty-fourth sealing test, preparation..."
When Zhu Qiyu saw the nervous expressions of these people, and then heard the number two hundred and thirty-four, he felt incredible.
I saw someone under the boiler constantly adding coal, and the burning became more and more intense, and then, poof...
There was a loud noise from the boiler, accompanied by thick white steam spurting out, which startled him.
Plop, plop...
On the top of the boiler, a specially treated wooden pile keeps moving up and down, and the other end is tied with a rope, hanging two large stones.
The steam pushes the wooden pile up, and then falls down again under the weight of the stone, repeating the cycle.
The craftsmen suddenly became excited and said, "Your Majesty, it's done!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and finally solved the airtightness problem. Next, it was time to enter the conduction system.
"You continue to experiment!"
"Yes!"
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand at Zhu Qiyu and walked aside.
"Tell me, what's going on now?"
Zhu Qiyu smiled bitterly and said: "One hundred and fifty-eight officials jointly submitted a petition asking the emperor to issue an edict and order the Jin Yiwei to release Duke Yan Sheng immediately."
Zhu Qi smiled calmly and asked, "What if I don't let you go?"
"I'm afraid...it will be difficult to convince the public..."
Zhu Qiyu suddenly felt that his prison state seemed to be specially designed to receive anger.
No matter what happens, he will always be caught in the middle, and neither end will be in harmony.
Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Could it be that Duke Yan Sheng had the privilege to be exempted from the constraints of Ming law?"
Zhu Qiyu suddenly fell to the ground and said: "Brother Huang Mingjian, I have heard some rumors."
"What rumor?"
"It is rumored that Jinyiwei will not interrogate people carefully at all. They will arrest people in prison and directly torture them. If they can't stand it, they will end up being beaten and beaten in the end."
"You also said that these are just rumors and cannot be true. If Duke Yan is really beaten by Jin Yiwei, I will definitely make the decision for him."
"Brother Imperial..." Zhu Qiyu continued, "My brother is not shielding Duke Yansheng. In fact, my brother and Yansheng have very little contact in the past. Today I just spoke frankly. Since I am guilty, why not let him be interrogated?"< /p>
Zhu Qizhen asked: "Is there a secretary?"
The so-called Yousi refers to the relevant departments, to be precise, the three departments of Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Major cases of the imperial court need to be jointly reviewed by the three departments.
The joint trial system of the three judicial departments was created in the Hongwu period of the early Ming Dynasty. At that time, in order to strengthen the autocratic imperial power and reduce the number of unjust imprisonments, Zhu Yuanzhang decreed that the three judicial departments should jointly handle major cases.
"Exactly!"
Zhu Qiyu said solemnly: "Dong Yansheng has a special status. Even if he has made any mistakes, if he cannot be interrogated by the three divisions, how can he convince the public?"
Zhu Qizhen thought thoughtfully and said, "In this case, the officials think Jin Yiwei's treatment was unfair?"
"Factory guards are good at detective work, but not good at making judgments. How can such a big man do it?
How can you be so careless? As the saying goes, only when the name is right can the word be smooth. I dare to say something, is it that our Ming Dynasty uses factory guards to rule the world? I have heard many rumors recently, and there are many people. The fundamental reason for making irresponsible remarks about the imperial court is that people's hearts are wandering. The soldiers and civilians are terrified because no one knows whether they will be next. Harsh punishments and laws can certainly improve the world's atmosphere, but even if they are harsh punishments, the court will not There needs to be a fair trial of relevant cases by a competent authority. Otherwise, the world will be in chaos. The country has its own laws. If we cannot even abide by these, wouldn’t everyone be in danger..."
The more Zhu Qiyu talked, the more excited he became, as if he wanted to pour out all the fuss he felt in one breath: "Historical punishments have always been clear and canonical punishments. I sincerely ask the emperor to bring the three divisions of Yansheng Public Transport to the trial."
Zhu Qizhen turned his head and glanced at Wynn. Wynn's face was very tangled and he said to himself, "What are you looking at? I don't believe in Jinyiwei and I'm not Dongchang. What does it have to do with me?"
However, in order to ease the awkward atmosphere, it is better to bite the bullet and say a few words.
"According to what I have seen, the emperor might as well summon the ministers of the cabinet and the six ministers to hear your views on this matter."
This sentence basically means nothing. Anyway, if you have something to do, go to the cabinet, go to the six ministers, don’t go to me.
I don’t want to be the next Wang Zhen...
Zhu Qizhen thought for a moment and then said: "I have passed on my oral instructions to Yan Shenggong Kong Yanjin and hand it over to the Three Laws Division for review!"
At this time, Zhu Qiyu was a little surprised. He thought it would take a lot of trouble, but he didn't expect that he agreed so readily.
The joint trial of the three divisions is, to a certain extent, not only a struggle for the right to speak, but also a battle for the right to judge between the three divisions and the Jin Yiwei.
Needless to say, this scandal will affect the success or failure of the New Deal.
Perhaps the emperor was forced to do this as a last resort due to pressure from officials!