Forbidden City, Hall of Nourishing Heart.
Jiajing sat cross-legged on the futon, with small incense burners placed around the room. The whole room was filled with smoke, like a fairyland.
Lilac mana enveloped Jiajing's entire body, and the spirit gathering array in the Yangxin Hall automatically operated, gathering all the spiritual energy within a hundred miles radius into the hall.
After Jiajing circulated his skills and absorbed all the spiritual energy, he slowly exited the cultivation state.
After this period of persistent practice, Jiajing suddenly discovered that the shackles that prevented him from entering the next realm had been unknowingly loosened!
Next, you only need to maintain the current situation, and then cooperate with the power of the elixir to advance to the next level. It is just a matter of course.
Jiajing stood up from the futon, and with just a wave of his hand, he stopped the spirit gathering array and at the same time removed the soul-gathering array in the palace.
"Lu Fang?"
Jiajing's voice was not loud, but Lu Fang, who had been waiting outside the palace, heard it clearly.
Then he was seen walking quickly into the Yangxin Hall, with a look of respect on his face.
"My slave, I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Jiajing glanced at Lu Fang and asked unhurriedly.
"Let me ask you, how are Yan Song and others implementing the recent measures to abolish the craftsmanship system?"
After hearing the emperor's inquiry about this matter, Lu Fang responded after thinking for a moment.
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, the current treatment of those craftsmen has fallen into place!"
"Among them, the one with the biggest salary increase is the Arms Department. Their salary has increased by about three times compared to before!"
"Right now, the amount of money a skilled craftsman in the Arms Department can get per month has increased from eighty to more than two hundred now."
After hearing Lu Fang's answer, Jiajing was quite satisfied, nodded and said in a deep voice.
"They know what's going on!"
"By the way, speaking of the Arms Department, I plan to go there and see the situation in person later!"
"Lu Fang, go down and make arrangements."
After Jiajing finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Lu Fang and immediately gave instructions.
"Does Your Majesty want to see if the money that was allocated previously has been put into practice?"
Lu Fang was also quite surprised that the emperor suddenly wanted to go to the Arms Department to check the situation, and immediately responded.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will go down and prepare now!"
After Lu Fang finished speaking, she quickly left the Yangxin Hall.
"Go to the cabinet and inform them that His Majesty is going to the Arms Department!"
On the way to the weapons department, Lu Fang called the eunuch he trusted and gave instructions in a low voice.
"Yes, Eunuch Lu!"
After the visitor responded, he headed towards the cabinet.
…
In the cabinet, several people were reviewing the memorial sent from below.
"By the way, have you found out the matter about Tan Lun's previous request to the imperial court for payment of wages?"
Yan Song took off his reading glasses, turned his gaze to Xu Jie, and asked.
"Everything was found out. After His Majesty learned about the matter, he sent Jin Yiwei to investigate! The truth soon came to light, and everyone involved was beheaded."
When Xu Jie heard this, he immediately stopped reviewing the memorial and answered Yan Song's inquiry.
"These worms, they are drinking the blood of soldiers!"
"If you ask me, just beheading them would be an advantage for them."
Yan Shifan on the side seemed quite angry about this, and then interjected.
"Yes, decapitation is an advantage for them. They should sit together. Their behavior is digging up the roots of my Ming Dynasty!"
"If this continues, I'm afraid it will trigger a mutiny!"
Gao Gong on the side rarely expressed his agreement after listening to Yan Shifan's words.
While everyone was chatting, a small official came in and respectfully reported.
"Sir, there is an eunuch waiting outside. He said he was sent here by Eunuch Lu!"
"Oh, Eunuch Lu? Let him in quickly!"
Xu Jie on the side heard this, raised his eyebrows, and ordered.
"Yes, sir! I will inform him now."
After the clerk finished speaking, he respectfully left.
After a while, a eunuch came in and saluted everyone respectfully.
"I have met you sirs!"
"Tell me, Eunuch Lu asked you to come over. Is there something you want to inform us about?"
Yan Song turned his gaze to the visitor and asked.
"That's right, Eunuch Lu said, Your Majesty wants to go to the Arms Department today to have a look!"
"Therefore, I am specifically asked to come here to inform you."
As soon as the eunuch finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Juzheng.
"Over there at the Arms Department..."
Gao Gong looked hesitant and said.
"Don't worry, it'll be no problem!"
"The Weapons Department has been producing according to the set goals. All the money allocated by His Majesty previously has been invested in the research and development of new cannons."
"Everything is going smoothly so far and some results have been achieved."
Zhang Juzheng met everyone's gaze and explained immediately.
"Huh~ That's good."
After listening to Zhang Juzheng's words, everyone quickly felt relieved.
…
"Your Majesty, look, the Arms Department is ahead!"
Lu Fang walked in front of Jiajing, leading the way and introducing him to the general situation here.
The Arms Department occupies a huge area, and the entrance is closely guarded by guards!
Within a few kilometers, no one is allowed to enter or exit without permission! Anyone who breaks into the Arms Department without authorization will be severely punished by the court.
At this moment, the chief of the Weapons Department had been waiting for a long time. Seeing the emperor and his entourage approaching the Weapons Department, he hurriedly greeted them.
"Your Excellency Yi Bin, I have met Your Majesty!"
After Yi Bin finished speaking, he knelt on the ground respectfully. Due to being too nervous, his body began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.
When he learned from Lu Fang that His Majesty was coming here to check on the situation, he couldn't help but feel flattered.
You should know that ordinary officials may never be able to see the emperor up close in their lifetime!
But now, the emperor took the initiative to come to the Arms Department and wanted to know something about the situation. This was an excellent opportunity for Yi Bin, an opportunity to express himself to His Majesty!
No matter how bad it is, you can still have more capital in bragging with your colleagues in the future. I am an official who has seen the emperor up close! what about you?
"Get up."
Jiajing turned his gaze away from the stranger and said slowly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After Yi Bin got up from the ground, he quickly took over Lu Fang's previous errand and introduced the situation of the Arms Department to the emperor.
After Yi Bin's narration, Jiajing had a more detailed understanding of the Arms Department.
There are more than 2,500 craftsmen in the Arms Department, and the entire Arms Department is divided into three parts according to different powers and responsibilities.
One part is responsible for debugging and improving new cannons, the other part is responsible for improving gunpowder, and the last part is responsible for improving the gunpowder formula, increasing its power, and manufacturing cannonballs.
Under the guidance of Yi Bin, Jiajing entered the weapons department.
When many craftsmen in the Arms Department saw the emperor coming, they stopped what they were doing and knelt on the ground respectfully.
"You just keep going, I'm here today just to check on the situation!"
Jiajing saw this and ordered like this.
After hearing the emperor's words, the craftsmen also started their work again.
"Your Majesty, the new cannon you ordered to develop earlier has already made some progress!"
Upon seeing this, Yi Bin gritted his teeth and reported to Jiajing.
"Oh, take me to see it."
After hearing Yi Bin's words, Jiajing also became interested and immediately gave instructions.
"Yes, Your Majesty, please come here with me!"
After Yi Bin finished speaking, he went to the side to lead the way with great respect.
"Your Majesty, here is the new cannon developed by the Ordnance Department. Its power and range have been significantly improved compared to before."
"Exactly how much has it improved?"
After listening to Yi Bin's introduction, Jiajing turned his attention to the cannon in front of him, which was being debugged and improved by countless craftsmen, and then asked.
Facing Jiajing's questioning, Yi Bin did not dare to hide anything. He only saw Jiajing kneeling on the ground and said hesitantly.
"Your Majesty, the range of this cannon has been increased by less than one mile compared to before. In terms of power, it has also been slightly improved because it is loaded with more gunpowder."
After listening to Yi Bin's report, Jiajing shook his head imperceptibly, a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes, and then spoke.
"Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After Yi Bin stood up from the ground with gratitude, he suddenly realized that the emperor's mood had dropped a lot after listening to his report.
"Do you know what the problem is?"
Jiajing took his eyes away from the cannon in front of him and turned to ask Yi Bin.
"Your Majesty, I understand the problem. The root cause is that the gunpowder is not powerful enough!"
After listening to Yi Bin's explanation, Jiajing nodded and said, "It's not easy for you to realize the problem."
"Your Majesty, since I noticed this problem, I organized craftsmen overnight to start experimenting with the best ratio of gunpowder."
"But so far, I have failed many times and still got nothing!"
After Yi Bin finished speaking, his face was full of unwillingness.
"In this case, you might as well conduct the experiment according to my ratio."
Jiajing took in the expression on Yi Bin's face and said calmly.
(End of chapter)
