Forbidden City, inside the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty was bedridden, which filled the entire Qianqing Palace with an ominous atmosphere▲ At Wanli's bedside, Concubine Zheng Guifei was sobbing and choking, next to the prince who was serving the decoction.

These days, the prince comes back every morning, and he stays all day, and even sometimes when Wanli is not in a good situation, he simply does not go to Ciqing Palace and sleeps here. Originally, this matter was not in accordance with the regulations, but at this moment, no one dared to say more.

The great eunuch Lu Shou is also guarding at the moment, he is in charge of the ceremonial supervisor, the commander of the East Factory, it can be said that he is the first person in the palace eunuch at this time, and Luo Sigong, the commander of the Jinyi Guard opposite him, is also waiting here, the slaves of the Son of Heaven, and the eagle dogs of the Heavenly Family are all gathered at this moment, and the only thing missing is the minister.

But this is an important place in the palace, and it doesn't matter if the ministers are not there, just have them.

Suddenly, a middle-aged eunuch hurried over, whispering something beside Lu Shou, and at the same time, a Jinyi guard lieutenant only followed in front and back, whispering to Luo Yangxing.

The grandson of the Taisun fought in the Tianjin salt field, gathered the crowd to perform martial arts, and did not know the intention.

Almost at the same time, the two spy chiefs received a tip-off together. Waving his hand to let his subordinates down, the two of them glanced at each other and smiled at the same time.

"Duke, please first!"

"Commander Luo, please!"

The two were stunned, they didn't expect such a coincidence, and almost at the same time, the two of them scolded secretly in their hearts, old fox, really shrewd.

"The governor is a superior, and he is a personal entourage of His Majesty, so he should be invited first." Luo Si bowed down and gave in, indicating that he was willing to be in the lower position.

"Where is it, Commander Luo is in charge of the Jinyi Guard, in charge of the guards, patrolling and arresting, this matter is very important, naturally Commander Luo invited it first." Lu Shou's face was modest, and he didn't dare to take it.

"No, no, no, the Governor pleases first."

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

The two of them pushed back and forth here, but they didn't dare to come forward to report the matter. Let's not say that the situation in Wanli is not good at the moment, who knows if after hearing this news, he will be in a hurry and hang up all of a sudden. If Wanli really hangs up because of this, then the person who reported the news is definitely the culprit, and he will definitely go to prison to die, this responsibility, neither of them can afford it.

In one, the grandson can be said to be the future heir, he went to Tianjin to perform martial arts was also agreed by Wanli, although the number of people this time is a little more, but it doesn't seem to be anything wrong, if it is left on weekdays, it is estimated that it is a reprimand of Wanli, at most it is a month of grounding or something.

It's just that this is a special period and Wanli is bedridden, so it seems that this news is full of weight. But the more this is the case, the more the two dare not be contemptuous, and come forward to report. The grandson is strong, the prince is weak, if Wanli is really hanging, the prince Zhu Changluo ascends the throne, with the performance of the grandson at this time, holding 800 people of the Yulin army, he will definitely rise in prestige, and even be able to meddle in the government and politics, becoming the most arrogant and high-profile prince in the past dynasties.

Both of them are old foxes who have been in the court for many years, and this can be seen, although this possibility is relatively small, but it is not impossible. In the face of this unknown danger, both of them have the same plan, can't they hide if they can't be provoked?

Therefore, they invariably planned to back down, let the other one report on top, and follow behind to comply, so that if Taisun really holds a grudge, the responsibility of the one behind can be lighter, and with a little perfunctory, they can push the black pot to the person in front.

It's just that the two of them have the same plan, and they were at a stalemate for a while, although the commotion here was small, it also attracted the attention of some people.

Seeing this, Luo Sigong took the lead in speaking, "Duke, if this is not the case, Your Majesty is weak at this time, and it is not appropriate to be frightened, this news will be slow for the time being, and it will not be too late to report when Your Majesty's health improves." ”

"You made your choice anyway." Lu Shou sighed in his heart and stared at Luo Sigong deeply, who did not dodge in the slightest, and looked at him generously.

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

"Hmm." Lu Shou didn't speak, just hummed a nasal sound, and then looked at the nose, nose and mouth, and the mouth quieted down with concern, without saying a word. He didn't speak, but he acquiesced.

Seeing this, Luo Sigong didn't speak, learning from the other party's appearance, standing solemnly beside him, quietly waiting, but he had a slight doubt in his heart, in his opinion, Taisun is a young and old man, the most calm, how can he not be so anxious and urgent.

Even if Wanli is born, it won't be his turn. Is there something hidden in this? With the help of the afterglow, Luo Sigong kept scanning Wanli lying on the bed, and the prince Zhu Changluo who was serving the decoction next to him.

As for saying that Taisun wants to rebel, Luo Sigong has never had this idea, in the past two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, except for the founding of the country, Yongle and King Han, and King Ning during the Zhengde period, there has never been a rebellion in the royal family. Not to mention the grandson who has already established the right of inheritance, as long as he waits, he will definitely ascend the throne. And this age is only more than ten or twenty years, which is not very long for the grandson who is only sixteen years old.

Time passed slowly, and when Zhu You's school was paraded, it was already mid-June, and when the news was sent to the palace five days later, it was already the end of June.

Since the two spy leaders pressed the news and did not list, a few days later, the time reversed, and it was July, Wanli's situation has been volatile, vomiting and diarrhea, and it has not improved. Seeing this, the two spy leaders did not dare to come forward to report bad news, and they were silent again.

By the middle of July, although Wanli's situation had improved, the imperial doctor who treated Wanli didn't say a word, and the whole person was not even half a step away from the Qianqing Palace.

In this case, they invariably extinguished the idea of reporting to Wanli, and just did their own work wholeheartedly, strictly abided by Wanli's orders, closed the palace gate, isolated the inside and outside, and did not let a trace of information leak out.

In later generations, the physical health of the country's leaders is a secret, not to mention the current feudal era of the country, the emperor's physical condition, that is a great secret. In this case, no one knows what happened to Wanli, whether he was sick or dead, and whether he could recover.

The entire Jingshi, with the closure of the palace gate, the undercurrent surged, but it was only an undercurrent, and in the face of the tall palace gate, the courtiers who were locked outside had no way.

Even at this moment, Zhu Youxiao, who was far away in Tianjin, was forgotten, and no one criticized him for not abiding by the rules, and everyone was staring at the vermilion palace wall, wanting to spy on the reality inside.

The western suburbs of the capital, Tiangong workshop.

The tall blue-gray stone wall encloses the entire workshop, isolating all prying eyes, and in the courtyard inside, there are brocade guards patrolling back and forth, protecting the secrets from being leaked. These people are all forces temporarily transferred by Luo Yangxing, and when Zhu Youxiao does not shoot the Yulin Army coming, they will guard here.

These people were also selected by him temporarily, and there was no news in advance, and it was not for a long time, which basically eliminated the possibility of colluding with outsiders and stealing secrets.

The entire Tiangong workshop is built on the edge of a river, and an opening is made in the wall near the river, and a huge transmission shaft is stretched out to connect several groups of huge wooden water turbines in the river, and the water turbines drive the transmission shaft to continuously transport power to the inside of the Tiangong workshop.

The interior of the workshop is divided into four parts, close to this transmission port is the carriage factory, the transmission shaft extends here, through the gear belt, the power is converted, and some woodworking machinery is driven for simple processing. Although it was only a preliminary application, it also greatly reduced the burden on craftsmen, so that the processing of wood here was greatly increased, and it could supply the huge transportation needs of the upper salt works.

On the far right, opposite the carriage factory, is the distillery, in addition to the selection of high-quality grain brewing, there is also a huge distillation equipment, the whole distillery is smoky all year round, filled with water vapor and liquor, how to look, like a heavenly fairyland.

In addition to the two sides, there are two areas, the front and back, and the rear area is the glass factory, in addition to the various exquisite glassware making, the main thing here is the manufacture of mirrors, because the manufacture of mirrors requires silver plating, so the cost has been high, making it a luxury.

The rest of the front area of the workshop is used for the manufacture of perfumes, except for a small piece of the workshop for the preparation of perfumes, the rest is the flower garden, which is a variety of precious flowers carefully planted by the craftsmen for the preparation of new perfumes.

The entire Tiangong workshop is completely enclosed, the craftsmen inside can't go out at all, their living area is sandwiched between these four areas, every day their life is to work, and then rest at night, extremely regular, of course, their money is also very rich, and Wei Zhongxian also promised that as long as they work here for ten years, they can be released and get a certain freedom.

Of course, even if they are released, they must work in the Tiangong workshop, and it is impossible for Zhu Youxiao to let such a group of skilled craftsmen be free, not to mention his own losses, but also to create a group of enemies.

At this time, the entire Heavenly Palace workshop was under the care of Wei Zhongxian alone, and five of the twenty Tsing Yi eunuchs who assisted him were needless to say, both assistants and monitors.

However, Wei Zhongxian didn't care, he turned the group driven by the five people, and took care of the Tiangong workshop properly, not only for Zhu Youshoe, but also for the secret technology to keep it firmly.

No, at this turbulent time, Gonggong Wei, who has always been cautious, has captured a group of stupid thieves who came in to steal technology.

"Handled as usual, and buried it under the flower bed to make fertilizer." Wei Zhongxian waved his hand and asked Luo Yangxing to take a few stupid thieves down.

Ignoring the thieves who cried and shouted at his mother and cursed, Wei Zhongxian sighed heavily, and looked in the direction of Jingshi, "I don't know what is going on in the palace now?" At such a critical moment, why didn't the master stay in Tianjin and not come back? ”

Wei Zhongxian knew that his worries were superfluous, he was a small low-grade eunuch, even if he was worried, it would be useless, but he just couldn't help worrying, not only for the master, but also for himself.

"Forget it, don't think about it so much, keep this place for the master!" With a sigh, Wei Zhongxian entered the room.