The scenery of Jingshi blown by the autumn breeze is still gorgeous and colorful. Outside the South Bureau Iron Works in the outer city, there are many ginkgo trees, golden leaves, and classical houses, shining in the sun, as if shrouded in a layer of streamers. The weeping willows on the riverside, and the ripples on the water surface, wave a soft posture.

However, Ma Xingguang's yard was still lifeless, and there was not a single grass or tree in sight.

Today it is lively here, because Emperor Zhu Gaoxu is here again, accompanied by many ministers and nobles, as well as brocade guards and palace attendants. This is the second time this year that Zhu Gaoxu has personally inspected the Yugoslav Bureau, and he attaches great importance to the improved armaments of the Beijing camp and places high hopes on it.

Ma Xingguang was talking there with something in full view, "When the tube is forged, the outer layer is forged into a hexagonal shape. At first glance, it looks like a round tube, but if you pay a little attention, you can see that it is hexagonal. ”

Zhu Gaoxu sat next to him and didn't speak, just nodded.

So Ma Xingguang picked up two castings and put a set of them on the pipe, and those two things were also cleverly cast, just on the pipe. The butt is thinner, but when put together, it is complete, like the shape of a nut; There is also a convex mechanism in the lower part, which is presumably riveted by percussion. Where the two are spliced, there are holes in the holes.

Then Ma Xingguang picked up the pliers, picked up a red-hot copper bar from the stove, and said to himself, "It's just right." So he put the brass bar into the hole in the butt, and then put an iron rod into the barrel, and took a small hammer, and began to strike the red-hot brass bar carefully.

The copper bar quickly became like a rivet, stabilizing the joint. Ma Xingguang repeated his old trick and fixed the other place with copper nails. He was so absorbed in his work that he didn't talk much later, but he wasn't very good at talking.

Ma Xingguang picked up a sharp knife with a double blade and a blood groove. The sharp knife must have been forged from a whole iron rod, with a slender blade and an iron rod at the back half; The iron rod was fitted with a wooden handle. He placed the hilt of his sword on the mechanism underneath the barrel, erected the firebolt, and then picked up the mallet and struck it for a while. The sharp knife slowly snapped into the mechanism under the hoop and the wooden hole in the back. It looks very solid.

Zhu Gaoxu took the fire gun with great interest, stretched out his hand and shook it gently, and felt that it was very strong when he tried it. However, the top is a pig iron part, and the strength and thickness of the material limit the strength, so Zhu Gaoxu said: "It's still easy to break, but it can be called twice." ”

There was a noble next to him who said: "Ordinary soldiers go into battle to meet the enemy, and killing one or two people is considered brave." ”

The military officer said: "The foot soldiers in the front row can be equipped with a waist knife." ”

At this time, Mao Kaishan, a scholar of the Fake Academy, said: "It is better to have a gun, the wooden pole is always lighter than the iron knife." ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded suddenly: "It makes sense, practicality is more important." ”

Someone spoke later: "Xingguang guns are not easy to make, as spears, wrought iron pipes are also easy to damage, it's a pity." ”

Zhu Gaoxu turned around and said: "To fight a war is to fight for national strength, no money and no manufacturing capacity, what kind of war to fight?" ”

After watching and talking for a while, they left the workshop. After Zhu Gaoxu came out, he found that his robe was stained with a lot of soot, which made him look gray inside.

So everyone came to the courtyard of the South Department on the bank of the Qinhuai River, most of them were sitting in the living room to rest, and Zhu Gaoxu went to a wing room to tidy up his clothes. After a while, Xue Yan, the secretary of the Criminal Department, asked to come in.

The eunuch Cao Fuzheng was holding Zhu Gaoxu's black gauze hat and gently brushing the soot off his body with a silk silk. Xue Yan hurriedly walked up and helped Cao Fu hold the black gauze hat.

"The saint has made it clear that the minister has arrived at the capital of Liaodong, how should I check?" Xue Yan asked softly. A while ago, the imperial court had already determined the candidate, and Xue Yan would go north to run errands, including investigating the crimes of the generals of the Liaodong Metropolitan Division, and presiding over the situation in Beijing.

Zhu Gaoxu reached out and took the hat, put it back on, and straightened it up, "Let's say in the living room." ”

When the three of them walked into the living room from the eaves, all the civil and military officers stood up one after another and bowed down to Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu waved his sleeves and said, "Find a place to sit." ”

"Thank you." Bow down, everyone.

Zhu Gaoxu sat down on the upper Taishi chair, took a sip of the teacup next to him, and said directly: "Liaodong is very cold, I only stayed last year. It's too late for winter this year, and the war should wait until after the spring of next year. However, Xue Butang and the soldiers of the Beijing camp can leave after a while to go to Liaodong for the winter, and then deploy the campaign after the firearms and baggage are shipped to Liaodong early next year. ”

Wang Bin and others bowed: "The saint is wise." ”

Zhu Gaoxu was silent for a while, looked at Xue Yan, and said with some feeling: "Some opportunities are missed, and they are missed. The opportunity of the general trend, the opportunity of the country. ”

Xue Yan and the others pondered.

Zhu Gaoxu took a breath, and then said: "I rule the border army, all of which are rich and strong. The general trend is mighty, and those who are stubborn and harm the country, harm the public with their own interests, and ignore the overall situation, are the mantis arms as cars, and they all have to die! ”

The living room suddenly became very quiet, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little tense.

Only then did Zhu Gaoxu ease his tone and said kindly: "However, Xue Shangshu must not let the criminals be involved indiscriminately and harm the innocent. The culprit must have real evidence to determine that it is the one who is causing the scourge to the whole situation. Some people who have been coerced and conspired with others, as long as they are still loyal and willing to serve the country, should be given the opportunity to go into battle to kill the enemy, or die on the battlefield, and grace posterity to preserve their honor, or make amends for their merits. Those who have a heart of repentance should also try their best to give a way out, and there has always been a shortage of people in places such as Nuer Gandusi. Our Ming court should make full use of talents and clean up the stalls at home, so that Wang Bayu can be famous all over the world. ”

Only then did everyone come back to their senses and successively called the emperor Shenwu.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Those who are bent on opposing the court for their own selfishness, we don't need to be merciful. However, for other things that have nothing to do with the overall situation of the country, we have to properly tolerate forgetting, otherwise it will make people feel precarious at every turn, and everyone's life will be over? ”

Wang Bin, who didn't have the problem of "other things", suddenly laughed out loud and let out two "hehe" sounds. Many of the officials present couldn't laugh, some of them were people who surrendered from the Jianwen Dynasty and the Hongxi Dynasty, and they have been officials so far, but they are inevitably a little afraid.

Xue Yan arched his hand and said: "The saint is like the sea, generous and generous, and the ministers are very fortunate. All the civil and military forces echoed him, and many people were sincerely complimenting Zhu Gaoxu.

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he stood up, "You can drink tea and rest for a while, and then you will return to the city later." ”

He walked to the door of the living room and heard the voices of the crowd say, "Your Excellency respects the Holy One." ”

Zhu Gaoxu walked through a corridor and came to a foyer, and raised his hand to signal. Cao Fu asked the people accompanying him to stop and wait in place. Then Zhu Gaoxu and Cao Fu walked into the foyer.

Cao Fu caught up and whispered: "Zhang Sheng and a few others have prepared the car, and after the saint changes his clothes, he can go out." The slave and maid have arranged everything here. ”

"Very good." Zhu Gaoxu said.

From time to time, Zhu Gaoxu wandered outside without permission, and sometimes the ministers would know. But Zhu Gaoxu didn't eat oil and salt, and he didn't listen to the advice of the ministers, and everyone couldn't do anything about him.

Several men in cloth escorted the carriage and left the Southern Iron Works. Walking out of the workshop area and leaving the non-stop noise inside, soon the gunfire on the school field in the distance reached Zhu Gaoxu's ears one after another.

Recently, the drills in the Beijing camp have been very frequent, and the officials and people of the Beijing division can guess that the imperial court is going to use troops again. However, large-scale military operations are too big to be kept secret, and Zhu Gaoxu did not want to deliberately conceal them.

The place where the group went was the Yanque Lake Mansion and where Enhui lived. As long as Zhu Gaoxu has the opportunity, he will personally accompany her for a while.

When the car arrived at the mansion and the inner house, the entourage around the carriage no longer followed, and there were fewer and fewer people. After Zhu Gaoxu got out of the carriage, Cao Fu also left, and the huge courtyard became more and more clean.

Grace in a light-colored placket and a long white dress was waiting on the edge of the corridor, and she squatted lightly to make a blessing, and her polite posture was still gentle and elegant.

Zhu Gaoxu stepped forward to grab her hand and helped her up. Enhui gently withdrew his hand, bowed his head and said, "Holy Lord, please." Even though the two were familiar with each other and there were no servants in sight, she was very reserved, and seemed unaccustomed to intimacy in broad daylight.

"It's a bit noisy these days." Zhu Gaoxu looked up in the direction of Hongwumen, "Didn't those guns disturb the purity of grace?" ”

Enhui said: "Listen to the excitement. As soon as I hear that voice, I think of the Holy One, and I wonder what you are doing again......" She quickly stopped, looking up at him a little embarrassed.

After a while, she suddenly sighed softly. Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Enhui said: "Does Gao Xu know what I admire most about you? ”

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head.

Enhui said softly: "There may be many people who have wronged and suspected you and harmed your own brothers and nephews, but I don't think you care at all, as if you don't care about your reputation at all?" ”

"You know I'm not that kind of person." Zhu Gaoxu said, "What do others like to think, what do they think, the country was fought down by the emperor and the emperor with real swords and guns, and my country was also fought all the way from Yunnan, so what if I am morally corrupt?" I have the ability to lead the troops to snatch them from my hands. ”

When Zhu Gaoxu said this, he remembered that Jianwen had ordered his uncle Zhu Di to die, but he said it vaguely and secretly, so he said quietly: "I think only people with a reputation will care about their image, and there is no way." ”

After he finished speaking, he realized that this sentence might have provoked Enhui's unhappiness and sadness.

Unexpectedly, she was silent for a while, but said, "You, I'm a little worried about you sometimes." ”

Zhu Gaoxu was inexplicably a little happy, and said kindly: "I was just joking just now, but it's not like that, Enhui doesn't have to worry." ”

The two of them talked and walked as they walked, and the scene around them was very familiar. Zhu Gaoxu came back to his senses, thinking that a courtyard he picked at random would become so kind in time.