Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 138

Chapter 138 Airship Renewal (1)
If someone asked who was the most unlucky person in the capital and who was the most sad person, most of the people in the official circles would probably give the same answer-the county magistrate of Daxing!

It was because on the afternoon of the first day of the seventh month, there was a large-scale war in the west of Daxing County. I heard that there were people who used crossbows and crossbows, and several local gang members died.

Although it was later discovered that it was related to the factory guards, it was still enough for the local county magistrate to drink a jug of wine after messing up the situation in the capital. Moreover, before this, several people had been killed in the other side of the house. This was also going to land in Daxing County.

That night, another sensational fire broke out outside the city. The people who left the city early in the morning saw dozens of corpses lying across the official road. And this area happened to be under the rule of Daxing County.

This was good. Three cases of human lives fell on Daxing County at the same time. This was the capital again. The pressure on the county magistrate of Beijing, who was only at the sixth grade, could be imagined. What worried him even more was that these few cases were not something that a small county magistrate like him could investigate deeply. He did not even have the chance to make a clean sweep of his crimes and investigate the case clearly.

It was said that capital officials were difficult to handle. Not only were the prices and expenses far higher than in other places, there were also too many officials and nobles that could not be offended, as well as a complicated network of connections. Once he wasn’t paying attention, there were countless hidden arrows waiting for him. Even if he lost his position, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

The current Daxing County Magistrate encountered such a situation. Under the circumstances that he was powerless against several cases, some of the officials in the court began to attack him.

Yan Guan would not come to his county magistrate to make things difficult. Once he found out that something like this had happened under his rule, he could not give a satisfactory explanation, so he immediately went to impeachment. Moreover, there were more than one or two people. Dozens of bomb badges flew into the palace the next day. On the fourth day of the first year, even the Imperial Conclave had an Imperial Historian publicly impeach the county magistrate of Daxing.

After learning that there were so many bloodshed cases under his nose, the Son of Heaven was also enraged. He immediately ordered people to directly declare the Great Xing County Magistrate to the palace and scold him in person.

Faced with such a situation, this young county magistrate, who was still in his prime and was born in the second rank, was unable to say a word even though he had a great future ahead of him. It was because he knew very well that he would at most lose an official if he ate a corpse vegetarian meal for negligence. However, if he really dared to say that a few cases were related to the factory guards, even his life might not be saved.

In the end, he was directly stripped of his clothes by the furious Emperor and given two days to leave Beijing. Thus, the official circles were no longer fated for him.

Seeing this, many officials showed sympathy. They knew the inside story, but none of them spoke out to help. This is how things are in the officialdom. If you are not part of the same party, who will spare any effort and effort to save you and protect you?

Of course, it was impossible for Yang Pu to protect a county magistrate of Daxing County as the head of the dignified cabinet, but he looked at the people behind him strangely, because he noticed that there was a strange light flashing in his eyes, as if he was planning something.

“Could it be that the matter he mentioned before is going to end here?” Yang Pu lowered his eyes thoughtfully and made his own decision.

Sure enough, after the emperor’s anger caused the officials to become solemn, Hu finally stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, I have something to say.”

Seeing that this old official had come out to speak, Emperor’s expression softened again. He nodded and said, “Mr. Hu, it’s fine to say it.” Zhu Qizhen had always been modest and low-key, especially when facing those old ministers of several dynasties. Even in front of the officials, he was addressed as a gentleman.

Hu Ying answered yes, and then he said, “Actually, this matter is not something that this old minister should say. Instead, it should be said by the people from the Ministry of Military Affairs or the Ministry of Industry. But since this matter has been put aside for the sake of the Imperial Court’s grand plan, this minister has no choice but to take over this matter once.”

“Oh? What exactly is it?” From what he said, the Emperor was interested.

“Earlier this year, there was a man-made object in the north that could detect the enemy’s real situation. It was called an airship that had been discovered in the morning for more than half a day. “At that time, Great Harmony Commander Hu Sui had sent people to the capital. This old official had seen it once, but it was a miraculous item. If I could use it in the border towns of Great Ming, I would be able to win at least half a day’s preparation time for my soldiers guarding the border.”

“There’s actually such a thing?” When the Emperor heard this, his eyes lit up. The youth was naturally interested in new things, not to mention things that were helpful to the use of soldiers, which made him want to see more: “You said this thing is called an airship, it really can fly?”

“It’s impossible to fly, but this thing can ascend into the air and look down. Everyone says that they want to see a thousand miles and ascend another level. This airship makes sense.” Hu Ying hurriedly explained.

“Oh?” The Son of Heaven twisted his body excitedly and looked at the important officials in front of him, “Xu Qing, Wang Qing, is Mr. Hu’s words true?”

He had named Xu Xi, Minister of War, and Wang Jin, Minister of Works. After exchanging a glance, the two of them walked out of the official class and bowed respectfully before saying, “Your Majesty, there is indeed this item.”

“Is it really capable of flying into the sky?” Zhu Qizhen asked excitedly.

“Exactly.” After looking at Hu, Xu Xi nodded and said, “I have personally seen it fly into the sky. Although it did not fly high, I can tell that it was not randomly spouting nonsense.”

Wang Jin echoed, but he began to mutter in his heart. He didn’t understand why Hu Butang would suddenly mention this matter. Originally, according to their intentions, the Imperial Court would not pay too much attention to this matter.

This was the problem of the current world’s atmosphere. The Chinese nation, or Confucianism, has always valued the Dao and ignored the technique. This was especially true for those of high status in the Imperial Examination. Whether it was craftsmen or the things they created, they were all existences that could not stand on the stage. No matter how ingenious an invention fell into their mouths, it could be summed up in four words, and that was a miraculous skill!

It was hard to say when this custom had been passed down. Perhaps it had been formed since the Han Martial Emperor’s exclusive Confucianism had discarded the Hundred Schools of Thought. Hundreds of years later, when facing the strong ships and cannons of the western powers, the braided dynasty still disdained this, and the result was great suffering.

It is precisely because of the existence of this kind of atmosphere that few Chinese people have been able to put forward scientific theories or come up with a great inventor in the thousands of years of civilization of the Chinese nation. People like Shen Kuo and Guo Shoujing had already been regarded as heretics. As for the books, they only left behind a copy of Tian Gong Kai Wu. Other techniques, geometry, and so on were all treated as miscellaneous studies, and those who studied them were easily despised by others.

Right now, the high-ranking officials of the four dynasties were actually mentioning this matter to the Son of Heaven at the court meeting, which naturally caused everyone to look in the eye. If it weren’t for the nonsense, many people would have already come up to denounce him.

However, compared to the astonishment of the officials, Yang Pu was quite calm. He smiled and glanced at Hu Ying, a trace of respect flashing in his eyes. This old friend is really a warm-hearted person who doesn’t care about gains or losses. In order to help Lu Zhen, his reputation will be criticized by others because of this.

Another person who had thoughts was Zhu Qizhen. “Since there really is this item, I would like to take a look. Mr. Hu, where is it now?” He said anxiously.

Hu looked at Wang Kin and said, “Right now, the Ministry of Works has it in the yamen. If His Majesty wants to have a look, he needs to go to the capital camp.”

Such a big fellow naturally wouldn’t be able to be freely transported into the imperial palace. Moreover, the imperial palace was not another place, how could such a strange thing fly onto his head? In addition, because the capital camp was located at the edge of the imperial city, even if something weird happened, it would not cause the entire city to stir up unrest. Therefore, choosing it there was the best proposal.

“Alright, then I will go over and take a look this afternoon.” The Emperor immediately issued a decree.

“This official obeys the decree.” Hu Ying hurriedly agreed.

When the court meeting dissipated, the officials walking in twos and threes couldn’t help but whisper about this matter, guessing what kind of medicine Hu Butang was selling in his gourd. However, no matter how they thought about it, they couldn’t think of anything to do with it.

Of course, it wasn’t that no one could see through his thoughts. For example, Wang Zhen, who didn’t accompany Emperor to the dynasty today, narrowed his eyes when he heard what had happened earlier. “What a Hu Ying! To protect Lu Zhen, he actually came up with such a method!” Others might not have thought of the truth, but he knew that the airship was closely related to Lu Zhen.

What else could Lu Zhen do if he didn’t bring this out to recommend Lu Zhen in front of the Son of Heaven?

Thinking of this, his entire face immediately darkened. Once Hu Ying succeeded, Lu Zhen would definitely be valued by Emperor. At that time, it would be difficult for him to deal with him again.

If he was given some time, he might still be able to tamper with the airship, but in the afternoon, His Majesty was going to watch the airship, and he didn’t even have the chance to tamper with it, so what should he do?

At this moment, Wang Zhen, who was furious in his heart, was completely helpless.

At this moment, Yang Pu looked at his old friend with some doubts. “I wasn’t surprised that you had such thoughts before, but why are you so anxious to bring it up today? If it were someone below you, it would be safer.”

“It’s also because I’ve found a suitable position for him. If I miss it, I need to think of another way.” Hu Ying smiled.

“You mean?”

“Daxing County Magistrate! Now that there is a vacancy, it is not too much of a promotion for him to be promoted as a county magistrate of Jing County, and it will not make anyone jealous.”