Bright Spring

"Who improved the institution?" Zhu Gaoxu asked again.

Qian Xun replied, "Return to your lord, this man is Ma Xingguang, and he is a common man."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "I already know that as long as there are many people and given time, there will always be talents. Is Ma Xingguang a craftsman?"

Qian Xun's expression was slightly awkward, and he cupped his hands and said, "Return to the Holy Master, Ma Xingguang used to be a barefoot doctor, and he was a splint doctor. It is said that he is good at treating bone injuries."

The identity of this person is indeed a bit strange, Zhu Gaoxu was also taken aback.

Qian Xun's voice said again, "This man is not good-looking and has a eccentric temperament. Officials and craftsmen don't like it. At that time, the iron factory tried to produce new flint-fired guns, but there was no progress for a long time. It happened that Ma Xingguang had a distant relative who was working in the Nanshu Iron Factory. A small official recommended him to make new guns. Mao Kaishan, who was in charge of the iron factory, saw the face of his colleagues and promised to let Ma Xingguang go to Beijing to receive a salary. Unexpectedly, this man lived in a small house in the iron factory, living in secluded places. Zai Yu actually improved the mechanism."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu said, "I want to meet him."

Qian Xun said, "Ma Xingguang is a vulgar man with a lack of etiquette. The Holy Majesty can wait for his ministers to teach him for a few days before leading him into the palace to meet the Holy Spirit."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said, "We value him because of his talent, which has nothing to do with his appearance and etiquette." He thought for a while and said, "I went to the iron factory to meet him, and I happened to see the process of making new guns for myself. Wang Gui , you go and get ready to drive."

The eunuch Wang Gui who stood beside him bowed and said, "Your servant obeys the order."

Not long after, Zhu Gaoxu got into the car, accompanied by the civil servant Qian Xun, the captain of the Jinyiwei, the general of the Han Dynasty, the eunuch in the palace and other people, all the way out of the palace and walked through the Zhengyang Gate

.The South Department Iron Works is in the outer city of the capital, and it took a while to walk there.

For the time being, Zhu Gaoxu did not go to the smoky and noisy workshop.The iron factory has a yard for entertaining guests by the river, so everyone went there first and asked the officials of the iron factory to bring Ma Xingguang to meet him.

Sure enough, as Qian Xun said, Ma Xingguang was indeed in poor appearance.The man kneeling in front of Zhu Gaoxu's hair was like withered grass, his face was pale and black, his eyes were small but not focused, his eyes were dull, and his face was expressionless, as if people would feel that life was boring when they saw his complexion.He must have been a little nervous, he didn't say anything when he knelt down, he just lay there silent.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at him, similar to the villagers he saw in the village on his northern tour.

Accompanying Ma Xingguang were ironworks officials, Mao Kaishan and others.Everyone couldn't help looking sideways at Ma Xingguang, hoping that he could say something to compliment the emperor, but he didn't say a word from the beginning to the end.

Ironworks officials had no choice but to present a new gun, and took the initiative to speak to resolve the trouble at this time.The official explained that the mechanism at the tail of the firecracker basically uses the reed to let the flint on the hammer hit the anvil below. The principle is the same as before, but the structure and shape of the mechanism are different.

"The Holy Master Mingjian, Ma Xingguang also improved the filling of lead pellets." The officials helped Ma Xingguang with good words.There are no officials here who pay attention to etiquette, so naturally no one impeaches Ma Xingguang; everyone knows that he is going to make a fortune, so they try to show some sympathy.The emperor came to see him in person, can he not make a fortune?

The official continued, "It used to be very laborious to press the lead shot into the gun barrel with a cleaning rod. In order to save trouble, the sergeants often made the iron tongs for making the lead shot smaller, which would affect the power. Under Ma Xingguang's suggestion, the ministers and others used smaller pliers. A piece of silk is soaked in oil, and the lead shot is wrapped and loaded, so that the projectile enters the gun more smoothly, and the shooting range of the fire gun is improved after a small change."

Zhu Gaoxu thought about the musket in his hand for a while, but he didn't quite understand its ingenuity.He put down his things, glanced at Ma Xingguang below, and simply said, "Find some craftsmen and soldiers, and go to the river to try."

Mao Kaishan, a scholar of the "Fake Museum", replied, "The minister is waiting for the order."

Everyone was busy for a while, hugged Zhu Gaoxu and went out.On the riverside outside the yard, someone brought chairs to set up seats.But Zhu Gaoxu didn't sit down, he wanted a firecracker, and tried to reload it under Mao Kaishan's guidance.In addition, a dozen or so sergeants also began to load gun|powder lead pellets.

Zhu Gaoxu tried it out, and felt that the flintlock was indeed more time-saving than the arquebus.There is no need to ignite the match with kindling, and there is no need to worry that the gunpowder in the priming pot will be blown away by the wind or ignited by mistake.After loading the ammunition, Zhu Gaoxu handed it to a sergeant next to him.

Without any open flames, a row of sergeants had raised their guns and aimed at a distant target.Someone yelled, and suddenly there was a "cracking" sound, a row of white smoke rose, and only one firecracker was silent.

After the sound of the gunshots, Zhu Gaoxu immediately showed a satisfied smile on his face.He turned around and found Ma Xingguang, and his attitude was completely different from when he first met.

He took the initiative to say, "Ma Xingguang, you are now an official of hundreds of households, and you have entered the fake museum as a bachelor. You can consult all the classics and files in the fake museum. Ma Xingguang pays for the settling expenses. The more new guns you make in the future, the more rewards the South Administration will give you." He paused, and then said, "The new guns are called 'Xingguang Guns'."

The surrounding immediately became lively, everyone congratulated Ma Xingguang one after another, and even the civil servants cast envious eyes. The emperor personally named a weapon, and this man will be famous in history.When Ma Xingguang knelt down and bowed, he finally choked out a sentence, "Grassman, thank you for your great kindness."

"You deserve it." Zhu Gaoxu said.When he looked at Ma Xingguang again, he still felt that this man had a bad appearance.If Qian Xunmao Kaishan and others hadn't witnessed it, Zhu Gaoxu would have been a little skeptical, how could a person who made a breakthrough in technology look like this?

However, Zhu Gaoxu reminded himself that people should not be judged by their appearance, only their talents should be judged, so there is no need to care about other aspects.He also said, "When I inspect the army in the future, as long as it is appropriate, you and Mao Kaishan will come to accompany you. As my military adviser... it is a suggestion from the side."

Ma Xingguang said, "Yes."

Everyone returned to the iron factory, and Zhu Gaoxu went to inspect various workshops along the way.He was curious for a while, and wanted to see the place where Ma Xingguang did his experiments.

Of course the emperor can do whatever he wants.So a group of people surrounded him and came to a room inside a workshop.

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned by the trivial and complicated scene in front of him.He had never seen so many complicated things in a big room. The smell here was very bad, and there were so many things that made people feel lifeless.

Zhu Gaoxu casually looked at it for a while, and found that there were everything on display, but most of them had nothing to do with ironware.There are many skeleton models made of small pieces of wood, toy-like things made of bamboo and wood, things like carriages and wooden boats, drills made of wood and rope, and instruments that Zhu Gaoxu can't see.Not far away was a bellows, a dead stove, chopping boards, and iron blocks of various shapes.

These things seem to have one thing in common, there is no whole carved model at all, they are all made up of various small pieces.In addition, the house is quite large, but there is no living thing inside or outside, not even a weed.

Zhu Gaoxu waited and watched for a while, and asked casually, "At the turn of early summer, the grass and trees are luxuriant, has the grass in the yard just been hoeed?"

Ma Xingguang bent down and said, "The Holy One's eyes are as bright as a torch. The grassroots pulled it out every day, and there were two plum trees that were dug away. The grassroots saw that those things were not comfortable, so they loved the immovable things." Maybe because Zhu Gaoxu was very generous and kind to him just now, and he talked a little more now, "These small pieces made of wood and iron, as long as they are in the right shape, they can be riveted together without any change."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded pretending to agree.He couldn't feel what Ma Xingguang said, but he vaguely understood that everyone had different preferences.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's reaction, Ma Xingguang seemed to be encouraged.His voice said again, "Caomin don't like to be an official, don't like to deal with people, and the plywood business was not good. Now I can play with these things in peace, and I am satisfied..." He said, gesticulating, as if he wanted to express Something more subtle, but he finally hung his head in frustration, unable to speak of it.

There are many people around, Zhu Gaoxu is inconvenient to comment on the good and the bad, he just said, "It doesn't matter what you need and how long you want to stay."

Ma Xingguang bowed down again to thank him.

After talking for a while, Zhu Gaoxu left here.He walked out of the workshop and saw the scene of singing birds and flowers and the vitality of all things outside, and suddenly felt the inexplicable stuffiness in his chest relax.

Chapter 956 The Beautiful and Childish

Spring in March|The light is good, and the scenery of Chunhe Palace is particularly beautiful.On both sides of the brick-paved path, pear blossoms are blooming, just like brocade.The peach blossoms are withering, but they are flying in the air, embellishing the ground brilliantly.There is also the magnolia brought back from Java, which is proudly blooming on the branches.

The colors of bright green, snow white and pink are all bright.Elegant red walls and yellow tiles, carved windows and Huadong loom among them, creating a gorgeous and colorful atmosphere.In the secluded garden, the air is filled with the fragrance of all kinds of flowers.

With the entourage of the palace, Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Wei walked along this paved road together, and the pool surrounded by weeping willows came into view.

In the sunny and beautiful scenery, beside this pool is the place where Emperor Taizong was murdered. Zhu Gaoxu remembered that incident as soon as he came.However, no one in the royal family can care about such an ominous past; because as the life of the dynasty grows, the corners of the entire palace may be covered with blood-stained shadows, and the palace cannot be replaced casually.

So the Chunhe Palace is still the Chunhe Palace, and it is still the living place of the prince.

If you don't care about the tragedies that happened, this pool is actually very delicately built.On the poolside, there are strange stone rockery brought in from the south to build a higher pond.As long as it is three or two days after the rain, the accumulated water above will flow along the rockery into the pool, and the sound of "ding dong" is like beautiful music.

There is also a dam not far away, from which the accumulated water in the pool will flow out, along a cobbled stream, and into the underground canal system under the imperial city.The petals falling on the water move in the direction of the green water, everything seems to come alive.

The soft and white catkins on the water add a bit of dreamlike color to the scenery.

"The Spring Palace should be the most scenic place in the imperial city." Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help sighing.

Guo Wei smiled and echoed, "It's really beautiful."

Unexpectedly, the voice of a court lady behind him said: "The Empress Mingjian, the spring of the Nine Five Flying Dragon Palace is also very beautiful."

Zhu Gaoxu followed the sound and took a look. It turned out to be Xiao He, a court lady in her 30s, the Chaozhou woman whom Cao Fu had hired to serve tea.During the northern tour, Zhu Gaoxu also took her by his side. After getting along for a long time, her words and deeds were more generous than other court ladies.

Only then did Zhu Gaoxu remember that Xiao He had stayed in the Nine Five Flying Dragon Palace for several years before being selected by Cao Fu.

However, the Nine Five Flying Dragon Hall is also a neglected place at this time, because the coffins of Taizu and Taizong have been parked there for a long time.Zhu Gaoxu and the previous Gao Chi, apart from visiting the coffin, probably never went there.

Thinking about it, Zhu Gaoxu shouldn't care about what happened there, he really can't care about it.

Guo Wei said in a voice: "The scenery of the old mansion of the King of Han is not worse than here. There are many peonies planted in the back garden, and they probably bloom in this season."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Choose a day with good weather, let's go to the old mansion to appreciate peonies."