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Chapter 124 A Small Negligence

"Is there something urgent?" Halfway through the class, a figure suddenly appeared in the corner of the eye. Wang An was dangling outside the window.

After Tian Yi's death, Chen Ju took over the position of palm print, and Wang An naturally took the position of first pen. He was quite busy with work on weekdays and would not come here in person unless there was something urgent.

"Long live the Lord, Zhao Shizhen, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, is asking to see you with this sign. I dare not delay." Wang An was stunned by the news and hurried to the door to report in a low voice. A small silver-white metal sign appeared in the palm of his hand.

This brand was specially made by Hong Tao at the foundry of Yongding Hehuangzhuang. It is made of copper-silver alloy. It is not expensive but very rare. It is scrap material from the manufacture of mid-to-high-end clocks, telescopes, and sextants.

The method is even more unique. There is no casting mold or hand carving. Instead, you take a fine steel mold, put the heated alloy block in it, and press it directly under the giant hammer driven by the water wheel.It was pressed in an instant, and then manually deburred and polished. The texture was clear and consistent in size, making it very beautiful.

This unique alloy material and complex pattern are extremely difficult to imitate, and are exactly used for the manufacture of waist badges within the palace.Only those departments that the emperor personally dealt with, such as the Royal Horse Supervisor, the Ceremony Supervisor, the Cuju team, and some foreign ministers with special relationships, wore them.

Internal officials and palace maids could enter the corresponding areas if they had this kind of waist card; foreign ministers could use this card to secretly seek an audience with the emperor through the channels of the Supervisor of Ceremonies.If there is an emergency, even if all the doors of the palace are locked, the five officials must immediately report to the Royal Horse Supervisor or the Ceremony Supervisor, and then they will decide whether to disturb the Holy Driver.

"Well, well done... take him to Tai Su Palace." Hong Tao first confirmed the correctness of Wang An's move, and after a little thought, he chose a relatively remote and less noticeable meeting place.

Taisu Hall is located at the north end of Taiye Pool, where the Wulong Pavilion will be located in later generations.It is not a main hall but a complex of buildings. It was built by Emperor Wanli and was specially used for fishing, flower viewing and fireworks.I find it too boring to play alone, so I often invite the ministers of the DPRK and China to join in the fun.
Calling Zhao Shizhen here will definitely not be hidden from the palace guards. If it is leaked, it can be interpreted as fishing with the emperor.I'm not afraid of anyone, but Zhao Shizhen still has to work in the Ministry of Industry for many years, so it's best if he doesn't expose his special relationship too early.

"Houhu, why didn't you go to the gunpowder factory and keep an eye on it? Why did you come here all the time?" When Hong Tao finished changing his clothes and came to Taisu Hall, Zhao Shizhen was already waiting in the yard. It looked like he came on horseback, with a look on his face. Dust.

"Your Majesty, it's not that I have something wrong, it's Matteo Ricci. This morning, for some unknown reason, a group of monks gathered outside the Europa Temple. They said they were a group of monks who wanted to eat boys and girls. They wanted to break in to save people, but were blocked by internal officials. , and then still refused to leave, attracting Shuntian Mansion and the Wucheng Army Division.

Fortunately, I was going to Huangzhuang in the northern suburbs. I passed by this place and explained that it was a temple given by the emperor. This temporarily stabilized the situation.Ran Chen heard that those monks were going to more temples to find manpower, and they went to Shuntian Mansion to complain, hoping to demolish the Europa Temple to remove the evil spirits, so he hurriedly came to ask for help from His Majesty.

In the past year, Matteo Ricci and others have taken in more than [-] children. It is absolutely impossible to hide this from others.Although the Europa Temple is a royal gift, it may be difficult to deal with if things get serious. Your Majesty, please make plans in advance. "

When talking to technical staff, he should go straight to the point. Even if Zhao Shizhen is a third-level official, he still doesn't know how to go around in circles. He will never say more than three and a half sentences on things that can be explained in three sentences.

"That's a problem..." Since Matteo Ricci and others are relatively capable at work, and the Royal Manor is guarded by a royal horse supervisor, Hong Tao has not had much involvement in the affairs of the Europa Temple except for formulating teaching materials.

Unexpectedly, the safest place is the most likely to cause problems. The concerns raised by Zhao Shizhen are very practical.If the Shuntian Mansion were to report this matter layer by layer, the lack of complete coverage would attract the attention of a certain official, who would make a fuss, and then he would no longer be able to hide it even if he wanted to.

"Wang An, is there a place near the capital that is relatively spacious and not disturbed by ordinary people?" It is not difficult to solve this problem. You only need to choose another place that belongs to the royal family to move.But Hong Tao is already in his 20s. It can't be said that he has never even been out of the imperial city. His eyes are completely black!
"It's not difficult to accommodate 400 people. There is a village in Tongzhou that is big enough, but there are not enough houses." Wang An was different. Since the prince became emperor, he has legitimately taken over most of the royal family's accounts, including the royal villages in various places. After a little thought, I found a suitable place to go.

"Three, 400 people are not enough. It is best to accommodate 3000 or [-] people. If one place is not enough, you can choose several adjacent places!" But Hong Tao was not satisfied with this recommendation. The children Matteo Ricci took in were to prepare for the new army and government in the future. A few hundred grassroots officers and cadres are far from enough. "Please think about it...Long live my lord, it is unknown if you want to accommodate thousands of people near the capital. Apart from the military camp, there are only two places. It's just that these two places are not suitable for building temples for monks..."

This number immediately made Wang An feel bitter. There were no less than a dozen large and small imperial mansions around the capital, but none of them met the requirements.It can meet the requirements of the number of people, but it is not suitable for blind use.

"Stop being verbose and tell me where it is. I'll decide whether it's suitable or not!"

Why is it not suitable to build a temple for a Buddhist monk? Hong Tao thinks that except for imperial mausoleums, palaces and places used for royal sacrifices, any place belonging to the royal family can be used.If the feudal princes were not too far apart, it would not be impossible to directly commandeer the palace.

"Gonghua City and Shanglinyuan!" Wang An glared at Zhao Shizhen fiercely, scolding this guy for eight generations in his heart.

"...Continue!" Hong Tao also started to stare. He really didn't know that there were two places near the capital. They sounded like they were quite large, which seriously insulted the self-esteem of an alley guy.

According to Wang An's description, Gonghua City is located in Shahedian Town, 40 miles north of the capital, between the north and south Shah Rivers. It is square in shape, with a side of two miles long. The city wall is ten meters high. It is built with rammed earth inside and blue bricks outside. There are moats and gates in the southeast, northwest and northwest. Four city gates.

It was built by Emperor Yongle. At that time, Zhu Di continued to send troops to the north, and even led military campaigns in person. Every time he left the capital or returned from a victory, he would stay here to rest. He simply set up a palace and later built a city to protect it.It covers an area of ​​nearly 40 acres, with houses, palaces, water and wells, enough for thousands of people to live in, and outsiders cannot spy on it.

It doesn't matter if it's not enough. There are more than 500 ready-made barracks in the city outside the palace. They are only used by a small number of local garrisons. Most of them are empty or have become temporary warehouses for accumulation of debris.Sometimes the equipment in the palace that is no longer used or is ready for elimination will be sent to the city for temporary storage.

Since it is a palace, it naturally falls under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Ceremonies, who can arrange for people to come and go for any reason, such as repairing the palace.As long as they don't reach out to the Ministry of Household Affairs for money, no one will stare at a palace all day long that is only used once or twice a year except to rest in the middle of paying homage to the emperor's tomb.

Shanglinyuan is located exactly opposite Gonghua City. It is in the south of the capital and is also called Nanhaizi. It is a giant wetland park and resort specially designed for the emperor to hunt, go on outings and escape the summer heat.

It's huge, but how big is it?Wang An has been there but can't explain clearly. He only knows that the wall is 160 miles long, with gates in the east, west, and south, namely the North Dahongmen, the South Dahongmen, the Donghongmen, and the Xihongmen.

The concept of a 160-mile wall was very abstract just listening to Wang An's description, but as soon as he heard the names of the four gates, Hong Tao immediately had a rough idea of ​​the scope in his mind.

In later generations, the place names of Dahongmen and Xihongmen still remain in Fengtai District. Although Nandahongmen is no longer there, there is Nandahongmen Village on the side of the South Sixth Ring Road, which is obviously related to Nanhaizi.Based on this calculation, Donghongmen should be located in the Yizhuang Development Zone.

It stretches from the South [-]th Ring Road in the north to the South [-]th Ring Road; from Yizhuang in the east to Xihongmen Bridge in the west. It was basically a resort owned by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the area was larger than the urban area at that time.No wonder many local place names have obvious historical flavor, such as Jiugong, Xingong, Nangong, Haihutun, Dongmachang, etc.

In ancient times, this area had low-lying terrain, dense rivers, and forests. It was home to groups of wild animals and waterbirds. It had been the hunting ground of the emperor since the Jin Dynasty. When Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, he simply surrounded it with a wall and officially announced his return. It's owned by the royal family, and you won't be allowed in if you buy a ticket!
(End of this chapter)