Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 117 Mo Qiaosi
After Zhu Gaoxu said goodbye to Zhu Di, he first returned to Chunhe Hall for breakfast, and then called Zhao Junchen, Wei Xian and a group of guards before leaving the palace.

Half an hour later, he rode in a four-wheel carriage with an improved shock-absorbing device, escorted by Zhao Junchen, Wei Xian and others, and arrived at the main entrance of the Mo Qiaosi compound.

Twenty miles southeast of Jinling Imperial City, in a vast forest on the east bank of the Qinhuai River, there is a huge royal forbidden area.

This forbidden area is the destination of Zhu Gaoxu's inspection this time - Mo Qiaosi.

Although the Mo Qiaosi compound is less than seventeen miles away from the Zhongshan Xiaoling Guard Station, nearly a thousand warriors patrol the compound every day, and all idlers are strictly prohibited from approaching the compound walls.

The walls of the forbidden compound are two feet high, but the patrol team never dares to slack off.

Since the construction of this forbidden area began at the end of last year and was officially launched in April this year, the number of guards taking turns guarding the compound has never been less than [-], no matter it is windy or rainy, or it is hot or cold.

For the villagers living in the surrounding area, staying away from the forbidden compound has only advantages and no disadvantages, otherwise the outcome will be extremely miserable.

There were unknowing villagers who approached the forbidden courtyard, but were directly captured by the patrolling soldiers and sent to the Jinyiwei Prison. They were released after being tortured and interrogated for dozens of days.

After the villager who escaped from prison returned home, his neighbors found that he had become confused and slurred in speech, as if his soul had been extracted and he had become a walking corpse.

Such a terrifying forbidden area is where Zhu Gaoxu invited Zhu Di to set up Mo Qiaosi to specialize in "black technology" at the end of the 31st year of Hongwu.

Mo Qiaosi's name has two meanings: "Mojia Ji Qiaosi" and "Black Ji Qiaosi".

The department was originally an institution responsible for researching gunpowder granulation. It was a subordinate agency of the Bureau of War and Warfare and was at the same level as the Gunpowder Department.

However, after careful consideration, Zhu Gaoxu believed that with Zhu Di's succession to the throne of the Ming Dynasty, the history of the Ming Dynasty had taken an unknown path.

The changes and development of society in the future will inevitably exceed his expectations and lead to an unprecedented road.

Therefore, he felt that gunpowder granulation, a core technology that would lead to differences in combat effectiveness between countries, should be elevated to the Ming Dynasty's top state secrets and strictly prohibited from leaking.

In Zhu Gaoxu's eyes, science definitely has national boundaries!

Those people in China who clamored for "science without borders" in later generations were idiots who were overfed and stupefied, forgetting the painful lesson of being beaten if they fall behind.

Therefore, after the Mo Qiaosi compound was officially completed in March this year, Zhu Gaoxu petitioned Zhu Di, hoping that Mo Qiaosi could be set up as a separate department and placed under Zhu Di's direct management.

Of course Zhu Di agreed to Zhu Gaoxu's request and formally ordered Mo Qiaosi to be removed from the military affairs department and placed under direct control by himself and Prince Zhu Gaoxu.

Soon, Zhu Di issued another injunction: "Any craftsman in the company who dares to reveal his craftsmanship will be guilty of treason, and his entire family will be executed, and the three clans will be implicated!"

No one from Mo Qiaosi is allowed to leave the compound unless summoned by Yongle Emperor Zhu Di or Prince Zhu Gaoxu.

Moreover, except for Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, anyone who wants to enter Mo Qiaosi needs to hold Zhu Di or Zhu Gaoxu's warrant of the day and their own identity token, register the reason for the visit at the entrance guard room and record it in the book. Can enter.

If someone is ordered by Zhu Di or Zhu Gaoxu to enter the forbidden courtyard to do business, the person must go through a strict inspection before leaving, such as stripping off his clothes, checking the seven orifices and the skin, nails and other parts of the body to make sure that nothing is hidden or written. before leaving.

In this way, Mo Qiaosi, which was later recorded in history books as the most mysterious organization in the Ming Dynasty, began to enter the eyes of ordinary people.

The Moqiaosi compound consists of three large areas: the front yard, the backyard, and the forbidden yard.

The front yard is the residence of middle- and high-level craftsmen and their families. It is divided into several areas according to the grade of craftsmen, and the area is not much different from the backyard.

The parents, wives and children of middle- and high-level craftsmen would be sent by Prince Zhu Gaoxu to the front yard of Moqiaosi. There were eunuchs in the palace who regularly delivered grain, oil, rice, noodles, vegetables and fruits to meet the daily needs of the craftsmen's families.

In addition, Zhu Gaoxu will send a group of medical officers every three days to consult craftsmen and their families in need.

After all, the craftsmen who "work" in Mo Qiaosi Forbidden City have very special work content, and it is inevitable that they will be injured for one reason or another.These mid- to high-level craftsmen can often see their families, but they must abide by the prohibition and must not reveal anything about the research room to their families.

Although there were no secret agents monitoring the craftsmen and their families for twelve hours, their personal freedom was restricted within the Mo Qiaosi compound, and it was extremely difficult to convey news to outsiders.

What's more, if they do their jobs conscientiously, their families can have enough food and clothing, and there is no need to leak the news to the outside world.

The backyard was the residence of low-level craftsmen. Its area was similar to the front yard, about the size of three football fields in later generations. There were several five-story dormitories built in the yard, which could accommodate thousands of people.

Since low-level craftsmen are not eligible to bring their own families, in order to move to the front yard, they must work hard to improve their skills and complete the classification experiment plan arranged by Mo Qiaosi in order to promote their job levels.

Zhu Gaoxu arranged this to stimulate the craftsmen to work hard and strive for success.

As for Mo Qiaosi's forbidden courtyard, as its name suggests, it is an absolutely forbidden area, and all the top-secret ingenious techniques are developed in it.

According to different research and development directions, the Forbidden Institute has divided twenty independent small areas from front to back as research rooms. The area of ​​the research rooms is also getting larger and larger from front to back.

Each research room has its own number, from the first to the last, from No. 20 to No. [-].

The larger the area and number of the research room, the more dangerous the things it develops. For example, the research room that develops smokeless gunpowder mercury fulminate has a number of twenty.

The NO.20 research room is as big as a football field in later generations. The interior consists of a long corridor and many independent laboratories, large and small, on both sides of the corridor.

Each laboratory has a director who is responsible for the experimental plan of the laboratory in accordance with the general research plan of the laboratory.

All craftsmen who are recruited to work in Mo Qiaosi will complete their trivial matters such as eating, drinking, and defecating in Mo Qiaosi's forbidden courtyard during their work.

Only after leaving the class can you leave the forbidden courtyard and return to the front yard or backyard to rest.

Of course, more than half of these craftsmen are working hard for titles and money, while the rest are truly obsessed with studying top-secret craftsmanship and working tirelessly.

"Sizheng, the prince's car has arrived outside the main gate of the compound."

In the forbidden courtyard, a handyman walked quickly to the door of the NO.20 research room and shouted towards the indoor corridor.

"The Crown Prince is here, come and help Pindao get this outfit."

A middle-aged Taoist priest wearing multiple layers of soft silk armor and a steel helmet was inspecting the small reagent laboratories in the research room. After hearing the report from the handyman outside the door, he hurriedly gave instructions to the two followers behind him.

The two followers, one on the left and one on the right, hurriedly helped the middle-aged Taoist priest take off his soft armor and take off the steel helmet on his head.

The middle-aged Taoist priest quickly turned around and trotted along the corridor of the No. 20 research room, intending to rush to the main entrance to meet the prince Zhu Gaoxu.

But Zhu Gaoxu came in a hurry. When the two met, Zhu Gaoxu had already put on silk armor and a steel helmet. Under the escort of Zhao Junchen and Wei Xian who were also dressed in the same clothes, he walked to Mo Qiaosi's backyard.

"The poor Taoist Ren Ziyuan (the same pronunciation) is the Sizheng of Mo Qiao, but he failed to greet His Highness the Crown Prince in time. Please punish him."

Ren Ziyuan quickly knelt down and kowtowed in apology.

"I came in a hurry, I don't blame the Taoist priest."

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said: "I forgive you for not being guilty, and be free."

He had a good impression of the middle-aged Taoist priest in front of him, and even admired him a little.

(End of this chapter)