The days of the thirty-eighth year of Zhichang seem to be slower than every previous year, and it is full of abnormal situations, so it can be said that every day has unexpected things.

The impact of the War Readiness Act on civilian life is already beginning to be felt, such as the rapid rise in the price curve of luxury goods, which has then stabilized at twice the price of the previous one.

Of course, those things are inconsequential to ordinary people, and the main thing that makes them unhappy is that the prices of various aluminum products have risen a lot, and aluminum steamers, aluminum kettles, aluminum lunch boxes and other objects have been levied an additional 35% of the "aluminum salary".

For the Ming people, the word "salary" was all too familiar - the imperial court would do it every time it raised military expenses. For example, during the Chongzhen period, there were Liao, Lian, and Suppression, and the Later Ming Dynasty also temporarily increased the "Western Salary" many times in the decades for the Dzungar Khanate, which refers to the west of Jiayuguan.

At the same time, the government has also continued to put up posters on the streets to promote the importance of aluminum, suggesting that iron or steel products be used instead.

Even if it is only a very low-level and backward industrial country, there will be absolutely no shortage of ordinary civil steel - steel production is often millions of tons, tens of millions of tons, and only tens of thousands of tons of aluminum production is not the same level at all.

"! Finally...... Nailed it! ”

After returning home, Zhou Changfeng, who was satisfied, sighed loudly: From the beginning of the month to 22 September, he had been going back and forth and communicating with the Ordnance Bureau, the Army Department, and the Navy Department of the Military Department, and finally negotiated the matter.

When the representatives of the Ordnance Bureau and the Army Department saw the crude submachine gun, they looked disgusted on the spot, and some even thought that it would fall apart after firing a few shots.

As we all know, if a person has a preconceived judgment about something, it is very difficult to change his judgment.

And for most of the past half a month, Zhou Changfeng has been doing this troublesome and head-making thing.

Fortunately, the hard work paid off, and the busy work has finally been completed.

After the actual evaluation, the Ordnance Bureau approved this seemingly simple and unreliable design, and initially decided to modify it in accordance with the standard specifications, and then finalize and replace the existing Type 34, and the national government-run arsenal immediately suspended the production line of the Type 34 submachine gun.

The performance is similar and there is no obvious disadvantage, but the production cost and purchase price are three-quarters lower......

There's no way around it, I can only choose it, the old men of the Ordnance Bureau are very shrewd.

The army side has been arguing from the beginning, and some people think that it is indeed possible, and it is cost-effective; There are those who insist on opposing it, distrusting such crudely crafted weapons.

However, in this regard, it is still the Ordnance Bureau that has the final say, unless the army is willing to jointly oppose it and make a big deal out of it.

So after a series of twists and turns, the expensive milling process submachine gun finally had to temporarily fade out of the stage of history.

Only when the war is over and they need to keep improving, will they have room to play again.

Then, the army considered reducing the procurement of the Type 36 semi-automatic rifle, because it was too cost-effective.

The Navy agreed to Zhou Changfeng's request, and like the Air Force's paratrooper units, the Marine Corps would purchase automatic rifles that fired intermediate-power rounds.

In addition to the existing semi-automatic short rifles, the tenders for automatic rifles and light machine guns have also been preliminarily clarified - this will be the future squad light weapons combination of the Ming army paratroopers and marines.

The riflemen are all armed with automatic rifles, plus a light machine gun, which uses 7.36×40mm short rounds to ensure universal ammunition.

Zhou Changfeng tossed for more than half a month in a row, reasoning and saying good things, both soft and hard, and invited guests to eat five or six meals, which successfully pushed the result to a better situation.

However, as soon as he returned home today, he learned that he had been given the official title of "military aircraft waiting for edict" by a piece of paper, and he was originally satisfied, but when he heard the news, he was immediately uneasy.

"Sir...... Are you okay? Xia Xiaoshi looked at Zhou Changfeng with a look of regret in front of her with some concern.

"Outrageous, it's a lot of work......" Zhou Changfeng smiled bitterly, "Well, it's not in vain." ”

Since the establishment of the cabinet system in the Yongle period, the cabinet has been the highest advisory body of the Ming Dynasty, and theoretically it does not have any decision-making power, and the cabinet vote is invalid without the emperor's seal.

Unless there is a cabinet chief assistant who can collude with the palm seal eunuchs, and the emperor or the empress dowager does not interfere, this was the case when Zhang Juzheng was in power.

But today's cabinet is no longer the cabinet of the past, it has become the highest administrative organ of the Ming Dynasty after the constitutionalism, and is the head of the imperial court.

The emperor, as the head of state, still needs to have advisers at all times to consult on professional issues, just as the president of the United States has a personal team of economic advisers, security advisers, and so on.

As a result, the post of edict was re-taken out and used as an adviser to the current Ming Emperor.

As the name suggests, waiting for the edict was actually an advisor in the earliest days - "In the early Tang Dynasty, in the Hanlin Academy, all scholars of literature and scriptures and doctors and other experts had to wait for the edict to be on duty in the Hanlin Academy, and they were given grain and rice to wait for the edict."

However, by the time of the Ming Dynasty, the edict had evolved into a low-level official position in the Hanlin Academy, from the ninth grade, responsible for proofreading documents.

Now, to return it to its original purpose a thousand years ago, it can be regarded as a return to the basics.

After all, he is the person around the emperor, and his influence is not small, so Zhou Changfeng is very depressed.

It's true that it's within my power, but it's really tiring to do things like this.

At this time, Xia Xiaoshi suddenly thought of something, "By the way, sir, when the book was delivered before, the pedestrian division asked us to prepare to move, and we have to go to live on the edge of the imperial city in the future." The accommodation is in Leeren Street...... said that it was already being cleaned up, and it would be possible to move in directly in two days. ”

"Moving?" Zhou Changfeng, who was gurgling and drinking water, put down the cup when he heard this, "Okay, then hurry up and clean up, just bring some clothes and shoes or something, and I guess there are other things over there." ”

"Also, they said that Lin Xi is a foreigner, and it is recommended to terminate the contract and dismiss him, and if he retains it, he must transfer it to Jinyiwei for another review."

"Normal. That... Did she agree to be tried? ”

"Of course."

The Forbidden City, the "home" of the Emperor of China, a mysterious and unpredictable place in the eyes of ordinary people.

From ancient times to the present, there has never been a lack of ordinary people's imagination of it, the more classic is that the emperor gets up in the morning and drinks porridge with a golden bowl, and then carries a gold hoe to farm, the East Palace Niangniang bakes flatbread, and the West Palace Niangniang peels the green onions.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the government was chaotic and the palace ban was relaxed, and many strange things happened in such a mysterious and solemn place, such as some people broke in and killed themselves with knives, some people sneaked into the palace with their heads, and some people slipped into the palace to set off firecrackers...... There is also the attack case, one of the three major cases in the late Ming Dynasty.

The Forbidden City in the north is like this, and the Forbidden City in the south is not far behind, when Emperor Suzong was in power, there were a few people who sneaked in to dig up floor tiles and planned to sell them, and they were caught by the Jinyi guard; Later, two people sneaked in together with the intention of raping the palace maid, and were captured alive by the Jingjun (eunuch army).

There is no wonder that this so-called world is big.

On the 24th, this day, because the imperial council was to be held, the edicts naturally had to attend with the emperor. After straightening his coat and hat in front of the mirror, Zhou Changfeng went out of the house.

Previously, because of Zhu Shiyan's physical condition, he was unable to manage politics for nearly half a month, and after a little recovery, he could only barely work intermittently for a few hours, and Zhu Likai's death also made a considerable part of the official documents undisposed of.

In this way, in order to maintain the normal functioning of the country, many things that have accumulated in the backlog will naturally be decided directly by the cabinet.

After Zhu Lingjing ascended the throne, she hurriedly snatched these things back, and had to work overtime to manage the government, working an average of 15 hours a day, and the hair that fell out could be tied into a small bundle.

At this moment, she was writing hard in the Zhaoren Palace, Su Yiyi knocked on the door and entered, and said, "Your Majesty, Zhou Kexing has arrived." ”

Zhu Lingjing, who was expressionless, raised her hand and glanced at her watch, and said lightly: "Well, announce him in." ”

In the past, he had only entered the Imperial City twice, but today it was the first time that Zhou Chang had entered the Imperial City.

After entering the Xihua Gate, the next journey was not short, and it would take more than ten minutes to walk, so he took the shuttle bus directly.

In fact, the current Forbidden City is the product of two reconstructions.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Forbidden City of Nanjing was already dilapidated because it had not been repaired for a long time, and Emperor Shizu had to rebuild it. After that, it has been repaired and repaired until more than ten years ago, and then because it is so old that it really does not look good, it is simply dismantled and rebuilt.

After getting off the ferry, enter the inner dynasty through the Qianqing Gate, the Qianqing Palace is just in front, and the side halls on its left and right sides are the Hongde Hall and the Zhaoren Hall respectively.

What impressed Zhou Changfeng the most along the way was actually the Jinyi Guard, the Jinyi Guard sergeants who were on guard and patrol here completely ignored anyone's existence, and they were very cold.

Not to mention the whole chest salute, not even the double whistle gun salute.

I don't know if that's the case. [Deleted]

Zhu Lingjing did not continue to work in Hongde Palace, but started a new stove. Originally, the hall was used as a book collection, but because of the abundant space, it has now been simply converted into a place for her daily administration.

After stepping through the threshold and entering, Zhou Changfeng came to the second room on the right, raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Enter." The familiar voice drifted in from within.

I don't know why, this time Zhou Changfeng has some unusual little expectations.

He took a light breath, then pushed the door open, only to see the case in front of him leaning diagonally to the wide window, so that the sunlight could shine at the right angle.

Zhu Lingjing, who was dressed in black and red, was sitting upright reviewing the dossier, with a black collared gown on her upper body, a red hundred-tiered skirt on her lower body, and her hair at the back of her head was tied high.

The black and red color scheme, coupled with the tall and large bun, gives people the impression that it is unique and noble, but it fits the identity very well.

"Your Highness...... Uh, no, see Your Majesty. "When he first came to the unfamiliar environment, Zhou Changfeng couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Now I can somewhat understand Qin Wuyang's feelings, the lower ones see the superior ones, even if they are usually confident, they will be a little restrained and nervous after all.

"You've read all the outlines, haven't you? Are you ready? As she spoke, Zhu Lingjing glanced up at him.

"It's all set."

"Hmm." Zhu Lingjing put down her pen, picked up the teacup and took a sip, then looked at him and smiled: "Behind is the door, what are you standing so far for?" ”

So Zhou Changfeng, who was slightly embarrassed, had to take a few steps forward.

"Your Majesty, the meeting is about to begin."

"There are still two quarters of an hour, don't worry, let's read the summary of the deployment of the British army in the Malay Peninsula first."

So, while recalling, Zhou Changfeng gave a brief account of the deployment of the British army in the Malay Peninsula - these are the latest summaries of the intelligence department of the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

And Zhu Lingjing was concentrating on two things, listening and looking at the file on the table.

“…… There is also a brigade of tank units, which are in good condition......"

"Livestock."

Aha?

When Zhou Changfeng was about to finish speaking, Zhu Lingjing suddenly whispered "livestock", which immediately confused him.

The latter put a tick on his pen, and gave a few words very sharply, and then asked strangely: "Say, why don't you say it?" ”

Rao is Zhou Changfeng is usually quite alert, but he is at a loss at the moment, "Your Majesty, you... ...... you just said"

Zhu Lingjing, who was expressionless, let out an "oh" and replied nonchalantly: "It has nothing to do with you, I'm colluding." ”

According to the usual practice, usually the government will execute the death row prisoners of the year in the beginning of the autumn season, which is the "Autumn Queen", and now it is the same, the entire Ming Dynasty needs to execute the death row prisoners after the Dali Temple review is correct, submitted to the emperor for execution, and finally executed.

This is the same in form as in ancient times, but now it is actually just a formality, basically a full tick with your eyes closed, unless the emperor wants to use the power of amnesty, then he will circle the name.

Zhu Lingjing is now purely too boring, so busy that she is bald, and simply looks through the list of death row inmates and cases this year as a pastime.

She explained casually: "This crime is extremely evil, Jining Prefecture was executed in the first instance, and Dali Temple was correct, it is not appropriate, it is better to be hanged." ”

It is also a death penalty, and in ancient times, hanging was lighter than beheading, after all, it was good to leave a whole corpse.

But now the beheading was replaced by shooting, and the hanging became heavier than the execution, because the hanging was more painful, and the bullet hit the heart during the execution, and it would kill him in a few seconds.

Zhou Changfeng was shocked by her operation, and he looked "you are teasing me", "Can you still do this?" ”

"Why not? Why don't you see what he did? Zhu Lingjing glanced at him and said coldly: "It's a pity, if only there were beheadings now, there are still guillotines in France." ”

After a few seconds, she added, "Some people don't lose their heads and it's simply conniving." ”

Circumference: "......"

Speechless, he tilted his head slightly to look at the clock on the wall, and when he saw that it was already 9:41, he opened his mouth to remind: "Your Majesty, it's less than twenty minutes, shouldn't we go?" ”

"After half a month, it's time to finalize the final strategy."

Zhu Lingjing, who looked as usual, lifted the fine brush, ticked off the remaining two pages of the list of death row prisoners, and then put the pen into the pen to wash it.

At this time, the team of attendants led by Su Yiyi and Fang Shujun was already waiting outside the Zhaoren Palace, and the imperial meeting that had not been seen for a long time was about to begin.

"On the 27th day of April in the seventh year of Wanli, Ren Yin, first there were those who killed themselves at Duanmen, and they have been strictly instructed. Before long, there was another offender, Zhang Du, who entered the forbidden place with a knife, and wiped himself."

"On the twenty-eighth day of the first month of the twenty-fourth year of Wanli, the imperial horse supervisor Liu Can's adulterous men Li Ming and Shi Wen secretly sneaked into the forbidden place with their heads in order to plot against them."

(End of chapter)