The emperor just returned to Beijing yesterday, and today he gave a banquet in the Fengtian Palace to celebrate the meritorious soldiers of the Northern Expedition, and the palace was even busier than usual. But at this time, the queen actually went to the courtyard south of the imperial garden to visit Guo Yan.

The queen exchanged a few words in the living room, and then handed a letter to Guo Yan.

At this time, Guo Yan had just finished reading the contents of the letter. The letter was written by their father, Guo Ming, Marquis of Wuding: Guo Ming asked for a decree and sent Guo Yan to live in Fengyang!

Once the people in the royal family are sent to the central capital, what does it mean, Guo Yan knows it clearly. will probably be completely abandoned and forgotten by the world, and live a secluded life. Of course, most of the time there will be a very grandiose rhetoric, which is called etiquette and morality.

In an instant, Guo Yan seemed to hear a "buzz", and her mind went blank.

After a long time, Guo Yan slowly regained consciousness. She first faintly heard the sound of bells and drums in the distance to the south, which should not be her delusion; As we have known before, there is a celebration banquet in the palace today.

The bell and drum music, which sounds like it at this time, makes people feel like they are in a trance. or because of the hustle and bustle, it had nothing to do with Guo Yan in the first place.

"Sister?" My sister's voice came.

Guo Yan took her eyes off the letter and raised her head to look at the queen. I saw that the queen's expression was a little complicated, and it seemed that it was difficult to face Guo Yan.

The two sisters looked at each other for a moment, and the queen looked away first, turned her head and waved her hand lightly. The two palace maids standing beside them immediately curts, turned around and walked out of the living room.

At this time, Guo Yan asked in a daze: "Isn't there a banquet in the palace today, why is the queen here?" ”

The queen said: "The Holy Lord only invited ministers and meritorious soldiers to the celebration banquet, and did not let the wife go to the banquet, so I don't have to come forward." The banquet is run by people from the Honglu Temple, the Shangshan Superintendent, the Teaching Workshop Division, the Etiquette Department and other government offices. ”

Guo Yan didn't say anything. The queen seemed to be in order to avoid embarrassment, and casually talked about irrelevant matters: "An Yuan Bo Liusheng has a great credit, and today the saint decreed that he was made a marquis." ”

Liu Sheng? Guo Yan had heard this name before, and she was originally a general loyal to Emperor Hongxi Zhu Gaochi; But she wasn't familiar with it and didn't care too much. So she didn't react in the slightest.

The living room fell silent. Guo Yan's fingers pinched her father's handwritten letter, racking her brains to figure out the complicated inside story.

Why did their father Guo Ming bring up this matter?

Guo Yan guessed: Maybe it has something to do with the Mu family, it's all because of power!

It was rumored that Zhu Gaoxu raised troops in Yunnan, and Mu Sheng's support played a great role. Therefore, after the new emperor ascended the throne, the grace of the Mu family was incomparable, and Mu Sheng was named the Duke of Qianguo. In order to marry Mu Sheng, the emperor also added the title of imperial concubine to Mu Sheng's daughter. And now that the imperial concubine is pregnant with Liujia, it is possible to give birth to a prince.

The Mu family's family situation has obviously far overshadowed the queen Guo family.

However, the queen is Zhu Gaoxu's wife and eldest son, and her subsequent position is difficult to shake, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will not agree...... Unless something happens, let the Mu family find a handle with good reason.

The Guo family must take precautions and not let any mistakes make by the Guo family. And Guo Yan seems to be that hidden danger?!

After the abolished prince's family was burned to death, the palace was afraid that Guo Yan would have resentment, so they sent two palace maids to monitor her in this courtyard. My father and sister became more and more restless because of this.

So they want to send Guo Yan away as soon as possible to avoid the slightest danger of complications?

These are Guo Yan's own thoughts, and she can't be completely sure. But after so many years in the palace, she has gradually understood a lot of things.

"Sister......" As soon as Guo Yan opened her mouth, tears suddenly popped out of her eyes, and her emotions were a little out of control, "Do you really hate me so much?" ”

The queen's eyes suddenly turned red, and she shook her head vigorously, and the beaded ornament in her hair shook violently. The queen choked up and said, "When I brought my sister to the palace, I begged for love in front of the saint. If it weren't a last resort, I wouldn't want to see my sister sad. ”

Guo Yan wanted to speak and stopped. Her father and sister chose to give up on her, and her mother, Xu, was not her own mother. She felt a chill slowly rising from the soles of her feet.

The queen's voice became very soft: "No one can change anything now. My sister wants to think widely, and if she leaves Jingshi, she may be able to settle down. ”

"This is fate?" Guo Yan asked.

The queen did not answer, and the two fell silent again.

Guo Yan pondered for a while, and finally did not beg her sister or accuse her again. After a long time, Guo Yan seemed to calm down a little and said, "I want to ask my sister one last thing, can you let me see the saint?" ”

The queen's expression was strange, and she asked rhetorically, "Why does my sister want to see the saint?" ”

Guo Yan said: "What happened in the middle of last year. ”

The queen frowned and said, "Sister doesn't believe in the Holy One? ”

Guo Yan shook her head and said, "I can't ignore it like this, I just want to ask the saint in person." This is the last time I will beg my sister. ”

It can be seen that the queen has a hesitant look on her face, but she has always felt a certain guilt towards Guo Yan. Guo Yan found out very early, but she never said it.

Sister Guo Wei's guilt is because she always competed for her sister's favorite playthings when she was a child? Or when the Han princess was chosen, the first choice was her sister?

Sure enough, the queen hesitated for a while, and finally nodded and said, "I will try my best to arrange this matter." ”

Guo Yan listened, and a very reluctant smile appeared on her face.

…… In the afternoon, Zhu Gaoxu left the banquet in the Fengtian Palace, and he drank a total of five or six cups of wine at the banquet, so he did not get drunk.

This kind of formal court banquet was not free, and there were rules for when to drink, what to say, and what etiquette to be. It's not as interesting as eating together casually between ordinary monarchs and ministers. However, the state of etiquette seems to pay attention to this.

There are not many dishes, four dishes and one soup per table, plus a plate of spring cakes and a few kinds of fruit and cold dishes with wine. Rao was like this, and in the end, the ministers packed the unfinished dishes and took them away.

It is said that since the Tang Dynasty, ministers have had the habit of packing at court banquets. Zhu Gaoxu speculated that the moral was probably to highlight a concept of attaching importance to clan affection, and the ministers who went to the banquet did not forget their parents and children at home. But he privately thought that the world was happy about it, probably in order to share a kind of glory with his family; After all, there are only a few people who can participate in the emperor's banquet, and what they represent behind them is a kind of political status and power interests.

When Zhu Gaoxu came to the Rouyi Palace, the smell of wine on his body had not yet dissipated, so he immediately summoned Qian Xun.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, Qian Xun and two slaves, under the guidance of the eunuch Hou Xian, came to the main hall of the Rouyi Palace. After a few men had bowed, the servants brought up two long sticks wrapped in silk cloth and placed them carefully on the large bookcase in the center of the temple.

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and reached out to untie the silk cloth. In front of him, a long firearm shaped like a rifle appeared.

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes suddenly lit up!

Although he knew it, it was still a smoothbore gun with black powder and buckshot as ammunition and arquebus; But in an instant, he was also attracted by its exquisite craftsmanship.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but reach out and caress it on the smooth iron pipe with a metallic luster, as if he was full of emotion, caressing a woman's skin. Even on the wooden support, there are fine auspicious cloud patterns, which look precious and stylish. This fire bolt immediately made him feel joy.

He glanced up at Qian Xun and said in his heart: I will give you 200 million yuan every year, and it seems that it is not in vain.

"Minister, please come closer." Qian Xun bowed.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded.

Qian Xun walked to the side of the table, pointed to the fire gun and said: "Holy Mingjian, there are threads at the end of this iron pipe, and when you need to clean the residue of the pipe, you only need to unscrew the threads and clean it with a through strip. The iron pipe is riveted in the middle, fixed with a copper hoop, and after a period of use, the copper hoop must be pried open by a craftsman so that it can be thoroughly cleaned and then riveted again. It is also a little inconvenient for the sergeant to use the firecracker, because the firearm is too long, and it is necessary to have two kinds of brackets......"

Qian Xun spoke very carefully about his achievements. Zhu Gaoxu also listened patiently, nodding from time to time.

Even the technology of the Ming Dynasty, including shipbuilding, star-pulling positioning, and firearms manufacturing, was beyond Zhu Gaoxu's knowledge; He did see the more advanced things of later generations, but he had only seen them, and he did not fully understand how to make something from the smallest parts.

Zhu Gaoxu kept asking some questions. He doesn't have to make these things himself, but he has to understand specific information such as its power, strengths, weaknesses, cost, and how to use it; In order to consider the feasibility when formulating the strategy of the imperial court.

After Qian Xun played, Zhu Gaoxu spoke again: "The trouble of repairing and cleaning up the fire gun is not necessarily a shortcoming. Those who don't have towns, such as the Tartar Tile, will be limited to using them. ”

Qian Xun was stunned for a moment when he heard this, clenched his fists and bowed: "The Holy Lord is wise!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "Who made this firebolt?" ”

Qian Xun said: "Back to the saint, the officials of the Southern Department and the Iron Works selected many craftsmen to try repeatedly; The body, tail, and riveting are all done by different people. ”

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment after listening to it, looked up at the spring light outside the palace gate, and suddenly remembered the little song that the soldiers sang in Mobei. He said, "How about I give this gun a name, 'Spring Cold'?" ”

Qian Xun clasped his fists without thinking and said, "The name given by the Holy God is very appropriate. ”

Zhu Gaoxu also asked Qian Xun to arrange manpower to go to the pro-military academy outside the Xuanwu Gate a few days later to test the guns. He also ordered the iron factory to repeatedly test the reliability of the new firecracker, and then sent people to the various bureaus and institutes in Zhili to produce a large number of them, so as to take the lead in equipping the Beijing camp.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu was still planning to prepare an academy, so that those officials who were proficient in craftsman technology would serve in the academy and collect and sort out the technical books on navigation, farming, firearms, and iron smelting in the world.

The things he values are obviously different from those of ancient emperors.