Compared with the north, the amount of dishes at the state banquet is relatively small.

There are three main categories of people who can be invited to participate in the festival banquet: first, officials in Beijing who are of the fourth grade and above; second, those who have recently made outstanding contributions; The third is diplomats of foreign legations.

There is no doubt that the first group of people is the most numerous, and their average age is close to the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, and their appetite is naturally smaller than that of the young people who are alive and well.

As a result, for the first time in ten years, someone asked for additional dishes at the Daming State Banquet, and the last time such a thing happened was more than ten years ago.

Given that it was not excessive, the request was quickly accommodated.

"Except for the honey rice, which is not very good, everything else is very good, and this meal is not a loss. However, I probably won't go back in the future. After returning to the station, Zhou commented sharply.

Two days later.

The weather seems to be a bit odd, but the temperature after the winter solstice this year warmed up a bit, but it soon dropped again.

There were a few puffy clouds floating in the clear blue sky, and because the altitude angle of the sun was too low, even though the sun was in the right space, there was not much energy radiating to the world.

After more than a month, after six rounds of debate among the legislators of the various factions, the main statutes of the budget for the following year, that is, the 38th year of Zhichang, were revised after consultations.

The voting session of the budget meeting was also passed smoothly, because the previous rounds of debates and repeated fine-tuning and revisions had generally satisfied the parties, so there were only a dozen or so votes against it.

In fact, at this point, according to the "Ming Constitutional Law", the budget is already in a state of pending effect, and then it only needs to be signed and sealed by the prime minister on behalf of the imperial court to take effect.

On the other hand, if the Imperial Court (the government) is not satisfied or does not approve of it, there is still a chance to ask the Advisory Council to make another adjustment, but regardless of whether there is a change in the outcome, the Budget will take effect immediately.

But interestingly, if there is a need to raise taxes in the budget, it will be split separately and presented to the emperor, and the emperor can only seal and agree.

As this year's regular session was coming to an end, a member of the Constitutional Council suddenly submitted a motion and applied to the Advisory Council to convene an extraordinary session.

"Cut a part of the distribution of education and medical care, and then issue a separate treasury bond, and raise 100,000 yuan to be used for the public redemption of acres? That's a bit much. ”

Zhu Lingjing, who was enjoying the comfort of a winter home in the mansion, learned the news as soon as possible.

"This happened too suddenly, why be in such a hurry?" Fang Shujun paused and said, "In previous years, it was two or three, and it never exceeded 50,000. ”

"What does the Constitutional Council think?" Zhu Lingjing knew intuitively that it was abnormal, so she asked the key directly, "What is the details of this person?" ”

"This councillor was unknown in the past, and I have asked people to look it up."

"Okay."

The thoughtful Fang Shujun arched his hand and muttered: "But then again, the prince and the Constitutional Council have long had this plan, but also... Not an accident. ”

Zhu Lingjing said lightly: "It's okay to issue bonds, but it's really not wise to cut the existing budget on the day of preparation." ”

This is a wave of unsettled problems, and the unrest caused by the actions of the radicals and their suppression has already had a clear impact, and the budget cuts are bound to cause dissatisfaction.

If we can propose a temporary bill to cut the education and health budgets today, will we propose another reduction in the defense budget tomorrow?

It is difficult not to think about it, and the public redemption of acres has always been quite hated by conservatives of all factions, and the majority of landlords among the people are also dissatisfied.

Although it is theoretically normal for the government to pay for the compulsory ransom of land from landlords – albeit in a coercive nature, the money is paid anyway, and the price is higher than the market value.

However, it is well known that at least any policy of the Ming Dynasty will deviate from the original idea in practice, and the local officials will not let go of any opportunity to accumulate wealth.

The fields can be divided into upper, middle and lower grades according to factors such as fertility and location, and the price of redemption at different grades is also different.

Against such a background, Zhu Lingjing believed that it was better to have more than one thing for the time being, but the Constitutional Council abruptly put forward this bill.

Even if the original intention is good, this will only exacerbate the contradictions that have not yet been alleviated.

So she casually said: "This party does not support it, or rather, I do not approve of it." ”

Although Zhu Lingjing is a special adviser to the executive committee, she cannot fully represent the entire Chinese party.

However, in view of the identity and influence here, the right to speak is still not small.

On the matter of land reform, the main factions of the Ming Dynasty did not oppose it in principle, but the differences in the specific implementation were very different.

Fang Shujun nodded, "I think so, this matter... At least it is difficult for the party to agree, but it is difficult to say what the final result will be, and the constitutional council is still relatively powerful, and it depends on how the rest of the factions decide. ”

"Let's keep an eye on it for now."

"Yes."

There are many examples of Ming nobles participating in politics, and the vast majority of people choose between the Constitutional Council and the Chinese Party.

Although the total number of imperial families participating in politics is quite large, if you don't count those distant branches that have gone out of three, four, and five suits, there are very few royal families close relatives of the emperor of the dynasty, and Zhu Lingjing, who participated in the Chinese Party, can be said to be the only one.

On the whole, it is not much different from the position of the Ming Constitutional Council, except that it supports chauvinism and trade protectionism, so it has become more and more popular in the past decade.

Advocating the superiority of the Han people, not opposing foreign expansion, and supporting high tariffs and import quotas to protect the Ming industry, it is obvious that it is particularly in line with the appetite of young soldiers and small and medium-sized business owners.

In addition to a little maverick temperament, Zhu Lingjing's joining the Chinese Party is not lacking in thoughtfulness, and it can be said that she accurately guessed the emperor's mind.

Zhu Likun, who was so sought after by the Constitutional Council, was too stubborn in his conduct and lacked the tactfulness necessary for a good politician, and there may indeed be a need for someone in the royal family to play a conciliatory role – not too much, just a little.

On the first day of December, in the morning, it was dawning.

In the chief officer's room, Zhou Changfeng was listening to the radio while eating steaming hot porridge with preserved eggs and lean pork, and the male and female voices were broadcasting the morning news.

At first, he was not used to the existence of "Daming Mandarin", and he felt a little strange whether he heard or spoke, but fortunately he quickly adapted to it.

「…… The construction of the Yellow River Bridge in Jinan Province will be completed soon, and it is planned to open to traffic on a trial basis by the end of this month."

At this time, Xiao Li knocked on the door and presented a letter.

"It's ......"

"The one sent by the Shanghai Government Criminal Department seems to be a commendation."

"The Torture Hall? I guess that's not what happened. ”

With his intuition, he guessed that it was probably the previous incident at the café next to Chaoxi Avenue, and when he opened the envelope, he saw that it was really true.

The words on the letter continue the usual style of the Ming government, and are somewhat lengthy, "...... It is brave and righteous to protect the people around them from the scourge of plunder."

The actual content was to praise Zhou for drawing a gun and firing back at that time, and gave him a reward of 600 yuan check.

He picked up the check and looked at it, and sighed, "What a windfall, it gave me three months' salary at once." ”

The Judge Advocate General's Department not only sentenced him to prison terms, but also imposed fines, so he did not receive a penny of salary for these months.

At that time, it was completely inevitable to fight back, and to put it mildly, even if he would be charged with excessive charges, it was impossible to obediently send money to the bandits.

The only possible disagreement is that he even chased out and continued to shoot at the robbers who were already on the run.

But the government seems to have ignored this, either because he really felt harmless, or because of his status, he didn't want to do much.

In ancient times, there were both rewards and punishments for righteousness and bravery, and there were rewards for courage and punishments for turning a blind eye.

This has been the case since the Qin and Han dynasties, for example, in the "Da Ming Law", there is a rich reward of "ordinary people who capture one robber and two thieves, each with a reward of 20 taels of silver, more than 5 robbers, and more than 10 thieves".

At the same time, there is also the statute that "if a robber robs, and his neighbor knows but does not cooperate, he shall have eighty rods."

What is very interesting today is that in this situation, robbers and thieves are dealt with according to the number, and there is a long way to go to defeat a robber and a gang of robbers.

"If you catch a robber or robber, you will be rewarded with four hundred dollars; Casualties are halved."

Three of the four robbers were knocked down by him, and all of them died of their wounds, so they were rewarded at half the rate of 1,200 yuan.

This made him wonder if there would be bounty hunters—organized hunts, capture bandits, and then go to the government to collect the reward.

Regarding his question, Xie Wancheng replied without thinking: "Yes, there really was in the past, our ancestors were rampant in the world at that time, and the imperial court vigorously suppressed bandits, and there were special people among the people to do this, but it was too dangerous, and ordinary people didn't have the courage." ”

"Yes."

Zhou Changfeng, who was full of interest, immediately wrote a letter to Xia Xiaoshi, boasting to her about his small achievements.

is different from the huge amount of money given by Zhu Lingjing, this windfall is reasonable and reassuring.

The day was undoubtedly pleasant for him, and the same joy was on the faces of everyone at the air base in the distant suburbs of Guangzhou.

Today is the day when the trial production of the Type 37 shore-based torpedo bomber is being evaluated for the first time, and the design and development team of the Guangzhou Itaneng Aircraft Company and some officers of the Navy have observed the whole process.

Aircraft capable of carrying torpedoes or aerial bombs to launch attacks on sea targets have always been highly valued by the Ming Navy, and they have always been recognized as a sharp weapon that can influence the tide of war.

The shore-based torpedo bomber that the Ming army is equipped with today is the Type 35 finalized two years ago, and it is the first single-wing twin-engine torpedo aircraft to be mass-produced, but because it is the first time, its design is particularly conservative.

Although the transition from a two-wing to a single-wing was an epoch-making progress, its congenital conservative design made its performance extremely unsatisfactory to the navy, and it was destined to lack the potential for improvement.

Therefore, after placing an order for 160 aircraft that year, an order was issued from the Navy to immediately develop a next-generation model.

There were not many companies interested in participating in the bidding, three companies refused to participate, and two companies voluntarily gave up at the initial stage, so only Hangzhou Zhongsheng Aircraft Company and Guangzhou Iteng Aircraft Company competed in the end.

The Type 35 torpedo machine is the work of Zhongsheng Company, and they undoubtedly occupy an innate advantage.

For the defeated Itanium company, they are naturally a little contemptuous in their subconscious - we not only have experience, but also make a lot of money because we have taken orders for more than 100 aircraft, and we have rich research and development funds, what do you compare to?

With regard to the development of a new type of shore-based torpedo bomber, the responsible person of the navy has repeatedly instructed: "It is not advisable to abandon the superior maneuverability of the Type 35 mine-strike aircraft. In the future, it is extremely important to rapidly expand the military in wartime and let the new pilots quickly adapt to the fighters. And this can also save a lot of things in daily practice, and it is easy to be criticized when there are accidents from time to time. ”

All in all, the requirements on the Navy side were tricky – to retain good maneuverability and ease of piloting, but to be more powerful and improve the potential for improvement.

Ease of handling and performance are sometimes at odds with each other in design, and it can be said that the level of the designer is very tested.

Itanium, which failed in the last bid, learned from the pain and was determined to win the crown this time.

In terms of design, the trial-produced Type 37 torpedo machine boldly abandoned the golden mean, and instead used the main wing and flap design with high wing load, which had excellent performance in previous wind tunnel experiments, and carefully adjusted the shape, area, cross-section, and area.

The design of the fuselage is also drastic, drawing lessons from the failure of the last bidding to streamline and reduce the weight of the fuselage structure, and reduce wind resistance as much as possible while ensuring that the width is sufficient to accommodate weapons and equipment.

Viewed from the front, it has a larger cross-sectional projection area and a more robust appearance, allowing it to accommodate more onboard equipment and weapons.

The main wing of the trial-produced Type 37 torpedo machine is completely made of new aluminum alloy skin, and there is no need for a little "backward" corrugated plate, which is very smooth.

The crew consists of four people, including: pilot, co-pilot, navigator and mechanic, radio operator. The twin 12.8mm self-defense machine guns on the back of the aircraft are operated by radio operators.

The weapons it could carry were extremely powerful in its time, from a standard 448mm light aerial torpedo to a 1000kg aerial bomb on the belly pylon.

The rest of the on-board equipment is also very rich and complete, two radio stations and a radio compass, as well as a new type of autopilot, all the equipment is the most advanced in the Ming Dynasty, and the ventilation, heating, toilet and other details are carefully designed.

Driven by two 900 hp air-cooled radial engines, the test machine achieved an excellent result of 372 km/h at low altitude under standard loading, which directly broke the record.

Even though the design of the higher wing load made the take-off and landing of the trial 37 torpedo bomber not very pleasant, and the experienced test pilots complained again and again, because the performance was so good, the navy selectively ignored the requirement that they emphasized at the beginning - easy maneuverability should be excellent.

The so-called arrogant soldiers will be defeated, and the confrontation after these two years really made the sword go off the edge of the Itanium company to return victorious, and this type of aircraft is destined to leave a strong mark in the history of aviation and war in the Ming Dynasty.

(End of chapter)