Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 225 Chronicles of Zheng He's Voyages to the West

"Okay, let's not talk about this, let's find someone first, otherwise how can we enter the place where the Ministry of Industry keeps files?"

Zhao Wen stood in the courtyard of the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, looked at Cao Huachun, and said slowly.

Cao Huachun smiled and said, "It's very easy to find them, just go to the Qinhuai River."

"How did you know they would go to the Qinhuai River?" Zhao Wen looked at Cao Huachun and said speechlessly.

"This is just the biggest hobby of this group of literati. This group of people has not changed since ancient times." Cao Huachun said jokingly.

Zhao Wen clapped his hands and urged, "Then let's go quickly."

"Let's go!"

A few quarters of an hour later, Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun arrived at the bank of the Qinhuai River.

Zhao Wen looked at the bustling Qinhuai River, full of brothels, and said with some emotion: "On a moonlit night at the 24th bridge, where can jade people teach you how to play the flute? What a Qinhuai River!"

I saw countless brothels and inns lined up on both sides of the Qinhuai River, and there were many porters carrying poles passing by on the road.

Cao Huachun turned sideways, looked at Zhao Wen, and said with a slight smile, "I didn't expect General Zhao to be able to recite poems? It's not ordinary."

"I read it in books before, but I didn't understand it very well at the time. Now that I saw the Qinhuai River, I read it out."

Zhao Wen walked slowly on the bluestone road, looking at the luxuriously decorated painting boats parked beside the Qinhuai River.

Cao Huachun walked beside Zhao Wen. He pointed to the painting boats on the river and said to Zhao Wen: "These painting boats will be open in the evening, and now the parked painting boats on the river will hang up red lanterns to attract guests after nightfall. Qinhuai The real face of the river is not the day, but the night."

Beside the Qingshiban Road on both sides of the Qinhuai River, there are countless brothels, large and small.

From time to time, there are young people who look like scholars and walk towards the inside with folding fans in their hands.

Even the air is filled with a smell of powder, and the smell of powder is so strong that it feels greasy.

Some women sat by the windows of the attic, waving gently to the pedestrians below.

Looking at the pedestrians coming and going, Zhao Wen couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as he watched the Qinhuai River, which smelled extremely strong of rouge.

"It's no wonder that under the attack of Jiannu, the small imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty directly opened the city gate and surrendered. No wonder Emperor Chengzu wanted to move his capital to the north. Jinling's powder is too heavy. If you stay for a long time, you will be softened by this drunken gold fan bone."

Looking at these, Zhao Wen sighed in his heart.

"Is this the first time General Zhao has come to the Qinhuai River?" Cao Huachun asked slowly, seeing Zhao Wen looking around.

"Yes, it's my first time here." Zhao Wen replied casually.

At this moment, the sky suddenly darkened.

Zhao Wen looked up at the sky, and said to Cao Huachun, "Eunuch Cao, it's going to rain now, let's find a place to take shelter first, what do you think?"

"The miscellaneous family has this intention." Cao Huachun nodded.

As soon as the two spoke, raindrops fell from the sky.

After being washed by the rain, the fat powder in the air has lightened a lot.

Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun hurried into a brothel called Jiqiu Pavilion.

As soon as he entered, the old bustard in the brothel surrounded him with several aunts.

"Hey, you guys seem to be very nervous, is this your first time here?"

A well-dressed old bustard in her thirties walked up to her with three steps and three shakes.

Zhao Wen looked at the heavy makeup and the disgusting smell of makeup on his body, and hurriedly avoided it.

"Stay away from me!" Zhao Wen frowned as he looked at the old bustard.

"Hey, are you still shy?" The old bustard led a few girls and looked at Zhao Wen with a teasing smile on his face.

Cao Huachun saw Zhao Wen's dissatisfied face, turned around, and said slowly to a follower who was following him, "Go, show our badges, and make them all shut up!"

The attendant cupped his hands at Cao Huachun, then took out his badge from his waist, and walked towards the old bustard.

"I'm doing business in the East Factory, please give me peace of mind. Now you go back to me, and you are not allowed to come out without my order." The attendant waved his waist card in front of their eyes, and said fiercely.

When the old bustard saw this scene, his face paled in fright.Although both Jinyiwei and Dongchang have been banned now, but this reputation is outside, some officials will have their calves spinning after hearing the names of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, let alone these ordinary people?
"Yes, yes, gentlemen, we must listen to you, we must listen to you." The old bustard hurriedly said a few words to the attendant, and then led the girl behind him as if avoiding a wolf, tiger and leopard, and headed inside. go.

At this moment, a middle-pitched voice rang out, "Why are you so panicked?"

An old man in his fifties with white hair but full of energy came down from the second floor.

He looked at the scene just happened, and stopped the old bustard with some doubts.

"Is someone looking for trouble? Don't be afraid, with me here, no one in the entire Jinling City will try to bully you." The old man's cloudy eyes flashed with light, and he went outside.

But when he saw Cao Huachun, he froze in place for an instant.

"Eunuch Cao? Why are you here?"

It turned out that this person was Wan Yu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry that Zhao Wen was looking for.

Cao Huachun looked at Wan Yu and sneered, "My Minister of Industry, you are really easy for me to find.

how?Do you want to stand up for these fireworks girls? "

"Don't dare, I'm just curious, come and have a look, since it's nothing for me, then I'll go first."

Wan Yu sneered, and hurried out.

Cao Huachun is in the palm of the supervisor of ceremonies, the admiral of Dongchang, and also the eunuch of His Majesty's confidant.

Now that Cao Huachun suddenly appeared here, it proved that something big was about to happen.

If it doesn't work out, whoever committed something, His Majesty asked Cao Huachun to arrest him.Otherwise, how could Cao Huachun come to Jinling wearing a uniform?

And the officials in Jinling like myself didn't hear the news at all.

The last time Cao Huachun raided the officials of the Shanxi merchant faction, he frightened the entire government and opposition officials.

Now when Wan Yu saw Cao Huachun, he was a little frightened, afraid that he was here to deal with him.

"Wan Shangshu, what are you in a hurry for? The miscellaneous family is not here to arrest you, what are you afraid of? The miscellaneous family came to see you today because they have something to do with you." Cao Huachun stopped Wan Yu and said with a smile.

But Cao Huachun's smile was scarier than a ghost in Wan Yu's eyes.

"What do you want me to do?" Wan Yu involuntarily took two steps back, looking at Cao Huachun warily.

At this time, Zhao Wen said: "It is true that I have something to do with you, and I am not here to arrest you. Now follow us back to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry."

Zhao Wen looked at the frightened Wan Yu with helplessness.

"This is an official from the Ming Dynasty? He is full of energy when he walks around the brothel, but when he sees Cao Huachun, he is like an eggplant beaten by Shuang. Just by looking at him, he can tell that he is a corrupt official." Zhao Wen looked at Wan Yu, Can't help shaking his head.

Zhao Wen looked at Wan Yu, and without waiting for Wan Yu's consent, he asked Zhao Daniu and a few guards to set Wan Yu up and headed towards the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry.

When we came to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, the rain had stopped.Cao Huachun dragged Wan Yu into the backyard of the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry.

There is a large independent house in the backyard. This big house has only two windows and is very tall.The door is made of thick locust wood, and the big lock on it is covered with dust, it seems that it has not been visited for many years.

Next to this big house, there are almost four houses that are exactly the same as this house.

These houses are places where files and documents are stored.

Cao Huachun pointed to the rooms where the archives were stored, and said to Wan Yu, "I came to Jinling on the orders of the emperor to check the archives of the Ministry of Industry. Please open the door for me."

Wan Yu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, "Are you here to check the files of the Ministry of Industry? Tell me earlier, I thought you were here to do other things?"

Zhao Wendao: "Do you still think that we are here to deal with you? Alright, stop talking, and quickly open all the rooms where the files are stored."

Wan Yu wiped off the cold sweat from his head, and said, "I don't have the key to the room where the archives are stored, you wait, I'll find it for you."

As soon as the words fell, Wan Yu walked towards the place where he was sitting.

Zhao Wen stood at the door of a room where files were stored, looking at the dusty door.

"General Zhao, don't look at it. It is estimated that no one has entered this door for decades, and you can't see anything." Cao Huachun pointed at the door and said to Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen turned his head, looked at Cao Huachun, frowned and said, "Is there really a blueprint for the treasure ship?"

"Treasure ship? What treasure ship?" At this moment, Wan Yu appeared in front of Zhao Wen with a bunch of keys.

"It's nothing, you open the door quickly, and then tell the miscellaneous family to stay away, otherwise the miscellaneous family will be unhappy, so just go around this Jinling City. If you encounter something illegal and disciplined, don't blame the miscellaneous family for being cruel." Cao Huachun looked at Wan Yu and threatened coldly.

Upon hearing this, Wan Yu hurriedly threw the key to Zhao Wen, and then ran out quickly.

After getting the key, Zhao Wen couldn't wait to open the door of this room.

"Crench!"

Zhao Wen slowly pushed open the door, and there was a teeth-piercing sound from the hinge.

Immediately afterwards, a thick cloud of dust rushed over.

Zhao Wen coughed twice, covered his nose and walked in slowly.

The room was opened very high, and it was raining again today. Although the rain has stopped now, it is still very dark.

The whole house was extremely dark, Zhao Wen pointed to the two tightly closed windows, and said to Zhao Daniu: "Open those two windows."

Zhao Daniu cupped his hands at Zhao Wengong, and then walked towards the window.

When the window was opened, light came in from the window, although the light was not very bright.But it also brightened up the dark room a lot.

There are many shelves in the room filled with various books, paperwork and account books. The shelves are full of these things.Some are packed in boxes, while others are placed directly on the shelf.There are still a lot of paperwork and account books scattered on the ground, which are full of dust.

These shelves and the books and documents on the shelves are covered with a thick layer of dust, and the air is also filled with a dusty smell.

Zhao Wen stopped by a bookshelf, picked up a book, and blew the dust on it.

"In the 12th year of Wanli's reign, various matters related to repairing the city wall of Jinling." Zhao Wen looked at the handwriting on the document and read it out slowly.

"This is from the 12th year of Wanli, and it has been kept until now." Zhao Wen muttered, flipped through a few pages casually, and then put it back on the shelf.

Zhao Wen turned his head and said to the people behind him: "Look for it quickly, remember what I told you, as long as there are pictures, show them to me."

As soon as Zhao Wen finished speaking, everyone behind him, including Cao Huachun, started to move.

The room for storing archives is very large, and there are five rooms in total. I dare not say that there are millions or hundreds of thousands of documents in each room, but there are still 10,000+ documents.

This is an account book that has been accumulated for more than 200 years.

If you just look for it aimlessly like this, don't even think about finding it if you don't have it for ten days and half a month.

Zhao Wen looked at the bookshelves in the room slowly, and sighed, "There are a lot of them. If we just look for them like this, don't even try to read all these documents within ten days and half a month."

Zhao Wen and others have searched inside for several hours, but there are still more than half of them that have not been searched.

Looking at the documents in the room, Zhao Wen felt a little embarrassed for a while.

Finding so many documents with the help of Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it is impossible to find them without enough time.

Zhao Wen looked at the bookshelves in the room that hadn't started to search, and suddenly became depressed.

There are so many bookshelves, and the bookshelves are full of various documents and account books.

At this moment, Zhao Daniu suddenly ran over excitedly with a booklet that had turned yellow and was much larger than ordinary books.

"My lord, what is this?" Zhao Daniu handed the booklet directly to Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen took the booklet with an excited smile on his face.

I saw in the booklet that there were several large characters on Zheng He's Voyages to the West.

"Is this the record of Zheng He's voyages to the West?" Zhao Wen blew the dust on it, and opened the booklet excitedly.

The first page of the brochure first explained the reasons for Zheng He's voyages, as well as the things and scales that Zheng He brought with him.

On the second page, there is also a rough picture of Zheng He's voyage to the West and the scene when he set off.

Zhao Wen looked at the picture above and flipped through it quickly.

Unfortunately, there is no manufacturing map of the treasure ship.

There are only descriptions of the size of the treasure ships, and the countries Zheng He visited during his voyages, what happened to him, what happened to him, and a few portraits of overseas animals and plants.

Since this book is all there, it proves that Zheng He's nautical charts and design drawings of his treasure ships are likely to still exist.

If Liu Daxia wanted to burn it, it would be impossible to just burn the charts and treasure ship designs and leave this record.

Cao Huachun leaned over, looked at the booklet in Zhao Wen's hand, and murmured, "This book is still there, I thought it was lost."

Zhao Wen looked at Cao Huachun with excitement in his eyes, "It seems that we may be able to find the blueprints for the treasure ships, maybe even the charts drawn by Zheng He during his voyages."

"Where did you find this booklet?" Zhao Wen closed the booklet and looked at Zhao Daniu.

Zhao Daniu pointed to the depth of the room and said, "My lord, I found it in a corner at the deepest part of the room."

"Let's go and have a look!"

Zhao Daniu stuffed the booklet into his arms, followed Zhao Daniu with an excited face, and walked towards the corner.

(End of this chapter)