What Yan Song didn't expect was that his reputation among scholars, which had already hit rock bottom, was actually on the rise.
"These guys are really a bunch of trash. They just want to fight with His Majesty!"
"Can you fight against His Majesty?"
Yan Song thought so, picked up the chopsticks, put a piece of pickle into his mouth, and chewed it carefully.
While Yan Song was still savoring the taste, Yan Shifan yawned and entered the hall.
In order to inquire about the news last night, Yan Shifan stayed up all night. At this moment, he was a little depressed.
Yan Shifan took the bowl of porridge from the maid on the side. Without saying a word, he began to concentrate on the meal in front of him. For the next period of time, neither father nor son spoke.
When Yan Shifan put down his bowl and chopsticks, he suddenly realized that Yan Song's eyes had been on him.
Seeing this, Yan Shifan took the handkerchief from the maid's hand, wiped his mouth and said respectfully.
"Father, what's the matter?"
Hearing this, Yan Song withdrew his gaze from Yan Shifan, a look of concern appeared on his face, and turned to speak.
"You didn't sleep all night last night, so you'd better go get some rest first!"
Hearing this, Yan Shifan's face suddenly showed a flattered expression, and he quickly responded: "Thank you, father!"
…
In a blink of an eye, it was time to go on duty, and I saw several sedan chairs of different colors parked outside the cabinet.
Yan Song got down from the sedan with the support of the bearer. Seeing this, Xu Jie, who was not far away, hurriedly came up to greet Yan Song and said hello to Yan Song: "I have met Mr. Yan Ge!"
Yan Song nodded imperceptibly, and immediately he saw Yan Song and Xu Jie walking together.
After a few words of greeting, Xu Jie went straight to the topic and asked cautiously: "Mr. Yan Ge, have you heard about what happened last night?"
Hearing this, Yan Song nodded, and immediately responded: "I heard that Li Ding, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, is really ungrateful. For his own selfish gain, he vigorously encouraged his colleagues to use students from the Imperial College in an attempt to force His Majesty to take back the palace. Success!"
When Yan Song said this, he paused and continued: "As expected, even God couldn't bear to see his rebellious behavior, so he rained down thunder on him!"
Xu Jie also agreed with Yan Song's words, and then said with emotion: "Thunder struck by five thunders, this death is really miserable!"
Yan Song glanced at Xu Jie, as if he suddenly remembered, and then added: "It is said that Li Chunfang, the Minister of Rites, was also present last night, and he witnessed everything."
In this way, Yan Song and Xu Jie walked towards the cabinet while chatting.
Behind them, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Yan Shifan were silent.
At the Ministry of Rites, Li Chunfang has never felt so uncomfortable since she became the Minister of Rites.
Early in the morning, in addition to his subordinates, there were also incompetent officials from other departments who came to ask him what happened last night.
Although Li Chunfang was quite impatient about this, due to the excessive curiosity of these people, Li Chunfang still had to tell them everything she saw over and over again.
Of course, some things that should not be said were omitted by Li Chunfang.
Just as Li Chunfang was deep in thought, a knock on the door came from outside, interrupting his thoughts.
When Li Chunfang saw this situation, her face was full of impatience, and she said coldly.
"what happened again?"
After the words fell, a subordinate official looked pale and said tremblingly.
"Sir, here is the official document sent by the Department of Ceremony and Cleaning."
Seeing this situation, Li Chunfang felt relieved, pointed to the bookcase aside and gave instructions.
"Just put it there, I'll look at it later!"
"Yes, sir!"
After putting down the official documents, the subordinate quickly left the room, not daring to stay for another second.
…
Forbidden City, Hall of Nourishing Heart.
At this moment, Jiajing was sitting on the dragon chair, listening to Lu Fang's report.
"Your Majesty, Jin Yiwei has found out the cause of the matter. Here is the specific confession!"
After Lu Fang finished speaking, he took the completed confession from his sleeve and handed it to Jiajing respectfully.
When Jiajing heard the words, he responded in a subtle way, then took the confession from Lu Fang's hand, frowned, and began to examine it carefully.
After Jiajing finished browsing all the contents recorded in the confession, he slammed the table and said in a deep voice.
"This Li Ding really doesn't care about life and death. Let him be struck to death by lightning. It's really an advantage for him!"
Lu Fang seemed to have been prepared for this, and immediately took a step forward with a respectful look on his face.
"Your Majesty, before this, I have asked the local officials to arrest and bring all Li Ding's family to justice. To be on the safe side, I have also dispatched royal guards!"
After hearing what Lu Fang said, Jiajing nodded and encouraged him: "Well, you did a good job!"
Immediately, Jiajing put aside the confession in his hand, rubbed his temples, and said slowly.
"What I didn't expect was that in addition to those officials, students from the Imperial College would also be involved."
"The whole thing, from beginning to end, had nothing to do with them, but they were still instigated by some people with ulterior motives and eventually fell victim to it!"
"I feel very sad when I think of this!"
Seeing this situation, Lu Fang thought about it for a moment and then gave her own suggestions to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, would you like to find time to go to the Imperial College again?"
"Ever since you taught at the Imperial College last time, the students there have never forgotten this, and are always wondering when you can go there again. You can also take this opportunity to explain to them the dangers involved and let them understand, What should be done and what should not be done!”
"It also allows them to avoid being deceived by those with ulterior motives and eventually become pitiful victims!"
"Your Majesty, what do you think?"
After Lu Fang finished speaking, she immediately stepped aside and waited quietly for the emperor's decision.
After hearing what Lu Fang said, Jiajing supported his chin with one hand and fell into thinking.
After a moment, Jiajing looked away from Lu Fang's face and immediately gave instructions.
"Forget it, I'll just go there again!"
Seeing that her suggestion was adopted by the emperor, Lu Fang's face was full of excitement and she immediately said respectfully.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Immediately afterwards, Jiajing changed the topic and turned to give instructions to Lu Fang.
"Lu Fang, go get me a pen and paper now, I will be of great use!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After a while, Lu Fang was seen leaving and coming back, spreading the rice paper on the desk, grinding the ink, and said respectfully.
"Your Majesty, everything is ready!"
Seeing this, Jiajing nodded slightly, then came to the desk and picked up the brush.
Lu Fang on the side saw this and waited respectfully, his face full of expectation.
"Cylinder, piston, crank and connecting rod, well, what else?"
Jiajing thought so, and then relied on the memory in his mind to draw a rough model of a steam engine. Except for the necessary parts, the rest were omitted, so it looked very simple.
After the ink on the paper was dry, Jiajing called Lu Fang and immediately gave instructions.
"Just send this drawing to the Ministry of Industry and let them build a similar model for me."
"I don't ask for anything else, as long as I can restore this!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he pointed at the boiler part on the drawing and quickly added.
Lu Fang looked where Jiajing pointed and immediately said respectfully.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
…
After Lu Fang sent the steam engine drawings drawn by Jiajing to the Ministry of Works, many officials from the Ministry of Works had difficulties with it. They had never been exposed to such complex machinery before.
For this reason, as a last resort, officials from the Ministry of Industry invited Yan Shifan over.
When Yan Shifan received the news and rushed from the cabinet to the Ministry of Works, the officials from the Ministry of Works, as if they had seen a savior, hurried forward to greet him.
"I've been waiting for Mr. Xiao Ge!"
Yan Shifan did not exchange too many pleasantries, but chose to get straight to the point and asked immediately.
"Where are the drawings? Show them to me!"
"Mr. Xiao Ge, please come this way!"
Immediately, under the leadership of a subordinate, Yan Shifan saw the steam engine drawings drawn by Jiajing.
From the first moment he saw the drawings, Yan Shifan noticed the difficulty, because he had never seen such a complex machine!
As for the mechanisms drawn on the drawing, such as pistons, crank connecting rods, etc., Yan Shifan couldn't figure out what their functions were. Then, an official came forward, pointed to the boiler part on the drawing, and quickly added.
"Mr. Xiaoge, just now Eunuch Lu said that our Ministry of Industry only needs to restore this part."
Yan Shifan looked along the location pointed by the official, only to find that the location he pointed at was the location of the boiler.
"Well, what's so difficult about this? Isn't this just the shape of a pot?"
"It's just a cover added on top. Look, this is the water inlet and that is the water outlet!"
"In this case, you can go to a workshop run by the government and find a few experienced craftsmen and ask them to restore this part!"
Yan Shifan looked away from the drawings and then gave instructions.
Seeing that Yan Shifan had given specific instructions, the remaining officials could only nod in agreement.
Just when the officials of the Ministry of Industry were about to follow Yan Shifan's instructions and send their subordinates to the government-run workshops to find suitable craftsmen, Yan Shifan seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and quickly called Luo Longwen, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and then commanded.
"Luo Longwen, you have to handle this matter personally. You must find the best craftsman in the city. Do you understand?"
"This is an errand assigned by His Majesty to the Ministry of Industry, and there is no room for any mistakes!"
When Luo Longwen heard this, he immediately stopped and responded respectfully.
"Yes, Mr. Xiaoge, I will definitely handle this matter properly!"
Yan Shifan nodded, immediately summoned his subordinates, and gave instructions in a deep voice.
"In addition, if you copy this drawing again, I will be of use!"
Seeing this situation, the subordinate official responded without thinking.
"Yes, Mr. Xiaoge!"
(End of chapter)
