The eunuch Dongfang Zhu has been restless these days, always suspicious and frightened.
It was not because the eunuch had killed too many people with Zhang Dong and the others, which was detrimental to his morality, and he was worried about retribution, but because the changes that had happened in Qi's harem made him feel scared.
Unexpectedly, after Emperor Wu Ding returned to Liaodong and defeated the anti-Qi alliance, he gradually became alienated from the Empress Dowager Cisheng. In the Emperor Taishang, there was no joy and excitement of "a little farewell is better than a wedding". Instead, he showed a kind of alienation everywhere. feeling and loneliness.
It might be because the Emperor was dissatisfied with the arbitrary actions of Kang Yingqian and others, or it might be due to Chen Yuanyuan and Daphne's blowing pillow wind. In short, after Emperor Wu Ding defeated all enemies and eliminated the threat from Shenyang, his feelings for the Queen clearly weakened. He even began to distance himself from the little emperor.
Not long ago, when the little emperor was bedridden with typhoid fever, the Supreme Emperor did not go to visit him, but continued to be busy with his military affairs.
The Qi army regiment was preparing to march to various battlefields in the southeast, northwest, and the emperor had just finished reviewing the memorial at the end of his life. When he returned to the palace, he did not bother to read the names of the two queen mothers, and just had fun with the three women, Amber Cuckoo and Daphne.
One of the few men in the palace of Duke Dongfang not only assisted the Supreme Emperor in reviewing memorials, but also recorded Taizu's daily life. He followed the Queen like a tail, recording every word and deed of the Supreme Emperor in detail.
Which concubine did the Emperor sleep with at night? What does the Emperor eat every day? The emperor's oral instructions to ministers and workers... everything must be recorded for easy reference later.
Generally speaking, which concubine the Emperor sleeps with is the focus of Eunuch Dongfang's work. It is related to the royal bloodline, so he has to be extra careful.
Dongfang Zhu had heard about the cruelty of court struggles, so he naturally did not dare to ignore it.
After Emperor Wu Ding ascended the throne, there were rumors in the palace that the Supreme Emperor was extremely dissatisfied with Kang Yingqian's party and intended to depose the young emperor and establish another king.
Suddenly, the palace was in a turmoil, and all the trees and grass were surrounded by soldiers.
Dongfang Zhu travels back and forth between Yongfu Palace and Linzhi Palace every day, and between the Supreme Emperor and the Queen Mother. If anything happens in the palace, as the middleman, he will definitely bear the brunt.
Realizing that he might be in trouble and die miserably, Dongfang Zhu decided to take the risk.
~~~~~
Like Eunuch Dongfang, there are other high-ranking officials in the empire who are in constant panic.
Since the Great Purge, senior officials in Shenyang City have been walking on thin ice with fear.
After Kang Yingqian and Qiao Yiqi were imprisoned, Wang Huazhen, Xu Guangqi and others did not dare to go to court early on the excuse of old illness. Liu Zhaosun was furious and arrested these people as examples of lazy and chaotic government. Sixty-one-year-old Xu Guangqi was so frightened that he suffered a stroke.
In this cruel purge campaign, from the Six Ministries to the prefectures and counties in Liaodong and Shandong, from the army to the civil affairs, one-third of the officials at all levels in Qi were removed by Liu Zhaosun. Those who were implicated completely lost their political lives and had no chance of making a comeback. possible.
A large number of outstanding talents around the first year of Wu Ding were promoted exceptionally and began to occupy important positions in the empire.
Policies such as "converting the barbarians with Xia" and "taking the great road" had less impact on the new forces. They were more effective in implementing the new policies of the Supreme Emperor, and these people were more favored by the emperor.
On the third day of August, when the Great Purge was coming to an end, Liu Zhaosun summoned Song Yingxing in Yongfu Palace.
Song Yingxing was implicated in the rebellion of his brother Song Yingsheng. During the Taichang period, he was squeezed out of the core power level of Kaiyuan. His power plummeted. Various factions were afraid of avoiding the Song family. Yang Hao was determined to promote Song Yingxing during his lifetime. Kang Yingqian and Yang Hao were sworn enemies. He wanted to kill the other party, so Song Yingxing didn't deal with Kang Yingqian very much.
Later, Song Yingxing was sent to Qinghe and lived in poverty for two years in a small town on the verge of establishing slavery.
As luck would have it, maybe because the Supreme Emperor had forgotten about this person, the purge did not affect Song Zhizhou so much, so Song Yingxing was really lucky.
Liu Zhaosun looked at Song Yingxing up and down for a long time. He hadn't seen him for several years. Song Yingxing was old again, with gray hair on his temples, and he didn't look like a man in his forties at all.
"I heard that you once picked up this fragment near Wang Gongchang?"
Song Yingxing originally thought that the emperor summoned him to discuss some major military affairs, but he did not expect that the emperor would ask about this matter, so he quickly said: "Hui Sheng, I am not a minister, but a soldier brought to Qinghe from Beizhili."
The Supreme Emperor frowned slightly, "I heard that you gave the book to Kang Ying, and then there was no further content?"
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Kang was busy with state affairs. At that time, the Qing army was besieging Shenyang. Internal and external affairs were all maintained by Prime Minister Kang alone, so he had no time to take care of..."
Song Yingxing's last-ditch attack was also clever, and he wanted to kill Kang Yingqian.
Liu Zhaosun didn't know the grudges between Song Yingxing and Kang Yingqian. He waved his big hand, stepped forward to help Song Yingxing up, and said with cold eyes:
"Did you know that the book you presented was burned by him as a magic trick? I wish I could burn Kang Yingqian. If you dare to speak for him again, I will throw you into prison!"
Song Yingxing remained as silent as a cicada and stopped talking.
The palace maid Amber brought tea, and the Supreme Emperor gave it to Song Yingxing to drink. He glanced at the swaying beauty, and Liu Zhaosun's mood improved slightly.
Song Yingxing's expression remained unchanged, but the Supreme Emperor continued to ask:
"What is the book about?"
Song Yingxing blurted out: "Steam and oil extraction and refining..."
The time traveler was slightly stunned. When Zhang Dong reported this to him, the Supreme Emperor didn't pay much attention. He only thought it was some treasure collected by Song Yingxing, such as the authentic work of Huai Su, a famous artist in the Tang Dynasty.
"Steam engine?"
When Liu Zhaosun said these words tremblingly, he felt that everything in front of him became a bit fantasy and no longer so real.
"Your Majesty, it is indeed a steam engine,"
Liu Zhaosun murmured to himself, "I don't know which reckless traveler left this space, or maybe it was the person or group who caused the explosion in Wang Gong Factory who left Ali behind.
It was a pity that Kang Yingqian burned a thick stack of encyclopedias.
"The book is a good book, but it's a pity that Kang Supervisor burned it. That's all, God will not bless me."
The Supreme Emperor sighed, his heart filled with infinite reluctance.
"Your Majesty, if I can remember the contents of the book, I will have a photographic memory from the age of five."
He is worthy of being the man who wrote "Tiangong Kaiwu".
"Okay!" Liu Zhaosun was overjoyed, patted Song Yingxing on the shoulder, and issued an important order to the out-of-power technocrat:
"Then let's start manufacturing. The rubber used by the red-haired barbarians to redeem people has been delivered. I will give you money, food and manpower. The craftsmen in the workshop are at your disposal. Within two months, you can build a steam engine. Once it is built, let's If you join the cabinet and fail to create anything, I will send you to prison."
Song Yingxing kowtowed and thanked him, feeling secretly shocked that the Supreme Emperor had a far-reaching plan and had started planning this matter half a year ago. The East India Company sailors released by the emperor to Jakarta not only asked for money and food from the company, but also a large amount of rubber.
In fact, many time-travelers claimed to use rubber when they invented the steam engine, but steam engines never use rubber seals.
Rubber is simply not suitable for sealing under high temperatures and pressures.
Liu Zhaosun speculated that the best sealing method for steam engines now is to use copper movable rings to seal. The technology is feasible, and the cylinder head and cylinder tail are sealed with copper pads.
"I obey the decree. May I ask my emperor, what is the purpose of making this machine?"
The Supreme Emperor showed a rare smile on his face and said to the technocrat:
"Used to behead, it should be able to kill more people."
~~~~~
The creation of a steam engine in the early seventeenth century was not an unimaginable thing.
The principle of steam engine is not complicated. The steam structure is not a fancy thing. The ancient Egyptians already used steam engines to open and close the temple doors.
Miniaturization is the problem.
Smelting level, fine processing, sealing technology, these conditions are indispensable, and of course, Qi Guo's workshops are not lacking.
Watt's improved steam engine added a condensing system (this requires physics knowledge, and since Song Yingxing has read the mechanical textbook, it should not be a big problem).
Qi Guo Workshop already has medium-scale steelmaking technology, and the metallurgical technology is basically OK.
The principle of a steam engine is indeed easy to understand, but it is still very difficult to make a practical machine. The Newcomen steam engine has been in use for more than 70 years, and Watt improved it for nearly 20 years before it was completed.
Song Yingxing was under great pressure.
He only had two months, and if he couldn't make a sample, he had no choice but to go to Zhang Dong for re-education.
No way, this is life.
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