The 45th day of the Ming Dynasty, July 15th.
As evening approached, a group of knights were walking slowly along a stone path leading from the Xi'an Gate of the Forbidden City in Nanjing to the Bluestone Palace on the top of Zhongshan Mountain in Nanjing. The first rider was a man in his forties or fifties. He was very tall, fair-skinned, slender, and had a neatly trimmed beard. He was the second son of Zhu Heji, Prince Yeerqiang and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Zhu Yiyin. Following Zhu Yiyin were two men and women in their thirties.
The woman was a beautiful lady, dressed in riding attire, with an indescribable heroic figure. She was none other than the concubine Lu Siniang. She was spotted by the Grand Duke and the Emperor at a glance when she was still in her infancy, and she was betrothed to the Emperor's grandson Zhu Bohai. He was taken by Zhu Heji, raised by Natalie, and listened to Emperor Zhu's teachings since childhood.
And that man was indeed not Zhu Bohai, but a short, white, fat man with a feather fan and a turban and a goatee. He could tell at a glance that he was a member of the Zhuge family. He is the youngest son of Zhuge Sanhe and a posthumous son. His name is Zhuge Zhengqing. He is in his early thirties. He has dual degrees in Mechanics from Jinling University and Shipbuilding from Jiangnan University. He is now the owner of the Ming Dynasty Naval Shipyard.
A prince of the Ming Dynasty, a concubine, a shipyard man, and a few guards, took advantage of the cooler weather in the evening to ride up to Zhongshan... of course to the bluestone above Zhongshan. Gong paid a visit to Zhu Heji, the leader of the Ming Dynasty's revival, who was already in a semi-retired state and had long been out of business.
Zhu Heji began to train his son Zhu Yixin to succeed him as emperor twenty years ago. Ten years ago, he handed over most of the government affairs to his son. Five years ago, he simply became the hand-off emperor. He didn't care about anything and focused on everything. There are books written in the Bluestone Palace on Zhongshan Mountain. He also accepted three apprentices, saying that he would teach them what he had learned throughout his life. These three apprentices are Zhu Yiyin, Lu Siniang and Zhuge Zhengqing.
Therefore, these three people would ride up to Zhongshan together every few days to listen to Zhu Heji, who was already a bit old and confused, and teach him what he had learned throughout his life.
"Little Zhuge!"
When the group of people reached the middle of the mountain, Lu Siniang suddenly called Zhuge Zhengqing's nickname - this nickname originally belonged to Zhuge Zhengyang and was passed on to Zhuge Zhengqing after Zhuge Zhengyang's death.
Zhuge Zhengqing hurriedly shook his feather fan and asked, "Concubine, did you call me?"
"Let me ask you something," Lu Siniang said, "Did your shipyard's locomotive test succeed?"
Zhuge Zhengqing shook his feather fan and said: "Thanks to you, I finally made it... The steam engine used in this locomotive has been in development since I graduated from college and started working in the shipyard. It has been in development for almost ten years. , hundreds of units were trial-produced successively, each with a different plan. Until the day before yesterday, I was finally able to pull a cart of rice and run at a speed of twenty miles an hour!"
This is a big deal! The steam engine built by the Naval Shipyard is almost as efficient as the Watt steam engine. This means that the cost of burning coal and water to drive a machine to pull a cart has reached the point where it is lower than raising a horse-drawn cart. The first industrial revolution is about to begin!
Lu Siniang smiled: "I heard my grandpa talk about this for more than 20 years, but I didn't expect it to happen. This is great!"
Zhu Yiyin, who was riding at the front, heard what Lu Siniang said and laughed: "Yes, the first industrial revolution! Siniang, I heard my old joke saying that there are three things about steam engines, locomotives, and large ships. It’s been ten years… I never thought it would actually happen!”
Zhuge Zhengqing suddenly said: "Aren't these all written in the "Questions and Answers of King Zhuge Wu"? What about generators, internal combustion engines..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Yiyin and Lu Siniang both turned around and glared at him, scaring him so much that he quickly shut up.
This "Question and Answer of King Zhuge Wu" is not an ordinary book, but a "mantle" passed down by Zhu Heji. There are only three copies in the world. One was passed to Zhu Yiyin, one to Lu Siniang, and one to Zhuge Zhengqing.
According to Zhu Heji, the three of them will be the "protectors" of the Ming Dynasty from now on! That is to say, Dao'er is protecting Da Ming secretly and preventing Da Ming from going astray. The reason why three volumes of "Questions and Answers of King Zhuge Wu" were handed down is to prevent the inheritance of the guardians from being cut off - each guardian is responsible for cultivating his own successor, so as to protect the "Tao" of the Ming Dynasty from generation to generation.
And these three guardians must exist secretly, and "Questions and Answers of King Zhuge Wu" is a top-secret existence. It can only be passed down from generation to generation and cannot be spread out.
Among the three first-generation guardians, Zhu Yiyin was the first to join, followed by Lu Siniang, and Zhuge Zhengqing was a "junior brother" who only joined the class a year ago. Therefore, Zhuge Zhengqing is not very accustomed to the rules of the guardian, and he does not believe much in the content of "Questions and Answers of King Zhuge Wu".
Isn't King Zhuge Wu his father Zhuge Sanhe? His eldest brother Zhuge Zhengyang has said all about his father's abilities. He is just a fortune teller who wanders around the world. He has no "Zhuge Yi Pian" at all, and he has no ability to calculate. Even the sweet gunpowder was not handed down from his ancestors. ...God knows where Emperor Zhu found this secret recipe for sweet gunpowder?
But Zhu Yiyin and Lu Siniang believed in the contents of this "wonderful book". Because the two of them saw this "wonderful book" relatively early, some of the predictions in it have already come true - for example, Louis XIV will live longer than his son and grandson, and eventually pass the throne to his great-grandson. Another example is that Queen Anne of the United Kingdom will ascend the throne without any heirs, the British throne will be transferred to the Hanoverian family of Germany, and Peter I will kill his crown prince Alexei!
Zhu Yiyin and Lu Siniang knew all the above things from the "False Words" chapter of "Questions and Answers of King Zhuge Wu" before they happened! This is simply unbelievable, especially the early death of Louis XIV’s children and the murder of Peter I’s son. It was impossible to predict!
In addition, this book also predicts the emergence of steam engines, steam ships, and steam trains. However, the "False Words" chapter in the book says that these things will appear in Britain and not in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Britain will also embark on the road of industrialization because of these inventions, thereby dominating the world for a long time, and will also sell afurong cream to the grandsons of the Qing Dynasty.
Of course, not all the content in this "false statement" is accurate. Because it predicted the future of a world without Zhu Heji and the revival of the Ming Dynasty... In this world, the great China seemed to be in a miserable state, and was actually bullied by the little Japan next door. Over the past few decades, Japan has killed more than 30 million people! It looks like a fairy tale!
However, we must be wary of thieves, and we still have to be careful about these Japanese pirates in the future!
In addition, in the "False Words" chapter, the French-speaking America or the English-speaking America will rise to become the world's hegemon after the two so-called world wars, and will confront the Great Soviet Union that evolved from the Rakshasa Kingdom for decades, and will also The Soviet Union collapsed, and then it continued to dominate the world for many years... This is really unbelievable. How could those "white-skinned Indians" with no moral integrity be so promising?
The three guardians of the Ming Dynasty were full of doubts in their hearts, but they didn't say a word. They just rode their horses and quickly arrived at the Qingshi Palace where Zhu Heji took care of his old age.
The Bluestone Palace is located at the west foot of Zhongshan Mountain, very close to Zhu Yuanzhang's Xiaoling Tomb, Zhu Tianwang's Shouling Tomb, and the Zhongling Tomb prepared by Zhu Heji for himself. The main building of the Bluestone Palace is a three-story square enclosure with two-story podiums on both sides. If you look down from the air, you can see that the enclosure and podiums of the Bluestone Palace are combined into one. Unbiased Chinese characters.
Although the Bluestone Palace is located among the forest on Zhongshan Mountain, the surrounding greenery almost submerges the building. But the transportation is very convenient. There is a stone road that leads directly to the Forbidden City of Nanjing down the mountain.
Zhu Heji is now older and no longer as lively as he was in his early years. He is only accompanied by Natalie and a few concubines from the Western Regions. When the three guardians arrived at the Qingshi Palace, Emperor Zhu was preparing to have dinner. It was not a big deal, just a few side dishes and a little grain porridge... At his age, he wanted to live a few more years. , it depends on maintenance.
"First Evolution"
Seeing Zhu Yiyin, Lu Siniang, and Zhuge Zhengqing visiting, Zhu Heji smiled and greeted them to sit down, and also asked them to add three sets of bowls and chopsticks for them to eat together. The three of them were all close to Zhu Heji and had inherited his mantle. Naturally, they didn't see anyone outside. They drank a bowl of porridge and ate some side dishes with chopsticks along with Zhu Heji. It's just that the three of them are still young, and they have been riding horses all the way, so they are already hungry, and this is not enough without oil and water!
Zhu Heji looked at the three of them with relish, and just smiled: "Eat a little first to satisfy your hunger. I have asked Natalie to inform the kitchen to cook some of your favorite dishes. Wait until I finish explaining. It’s a big deal, so you can eat well.”
"Something big?" Zhu Yiyin put down the bowl and chopsticks and looked at her father, "Father, what big thing do you want to tell us?"
"I want to completely withdraw," Zhu Heji said. "I will no longer ask for political advice...but before I withdraw, I will leave all the matters of protecting the Ming Dynasty to the three of you."
As he spoke, Zhu Heji waved his hand, and the concubines and palace attendants who were waiting around him withdrew knowingly. In the entire dining hall, there were only Zhu Heji and Daming's three guardians.
"Father, haven't you already passed on the mantle of guardian to us?" Zhu Yiyin asked.
"If you have a mantle, can you protect the Tao?" Zhu Heji looked at his son and asked.
"This..." Zhu Yiyin couldn't answer.
Zhu Heji said: "To protect the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the mantle passed down by me, we must have corresponding industries and power. Otherwise, no one will listen to you if you talk in vain."
Zhu Heji, a wise king, has also come to his own. Not only did he devote himself to serving the country and the people while he was still alive. He has even thought about how to protect Ming's family, country and world after his death. Not only did I think about it well, but I also started planning it early.
His layout started with the "Questions and Answers of King Zhuge Wu" - this is the mantle, and it is also used to point out the direction for the guardians!
Secondly, there is the education support fund used to support world-class universities such as Jinling University, Lingnan University, and Beijing Magic University. The "venture capital" used by Zhu Heji to invest in steam engines and railways in the past two years came from this fund. of.
Then there are the Freemasons and the Green Gang. Most of the industries of the Freemasons and the Green Gang are in the West, and they hold a large number of industries in Black Petersburg and the Ruhr area of the Frankish Empire, the Lorraine Alsace region, and Luxembourg. It also controls several major banks with Suiye Mansion as their headquarters, including Daqing Bank, Confucian Bank, and Tianshan Bank.
Finally, of course, it is the foundation of the Ming royal family. The industries that Zhu Heji has created over the years are mainly placed in this industry fund... Of course, some are also being distributed one after another. Emperor Zhu had many children, and those sons wanted to join the vassal state and establish their own families. If a daughter wants to marry and become a woman, she must have a share of the inheritance if she has children. However, Emperor Zhu's ability to make money is too strong. Even if so much money is distributed, the wealth owned by the Royal Industrial Fund is still an astronomical figure.
Zhu Heji will now hand over these three assets to Zhu Yiyin, Zhuge Zhengqing and Lu Siniang respectively...so that they can operate in secret and guide Ming Dynasty on the right path.
Of course, these three people are not rich or powerful.
Zhu Yiyin was a prince and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. He controlled the Hanlin Academy, which was equivalent to the Academy of Sciences. His power was enough to guide the development of science and technology in the Ming Dynasty, but it was impossible to threaten the imperial power of Zhu Yixin and Zhu Bohai. It was just enough.
Let's not talk about Lu Siniang. She is not only the royal wife of the grandson and the biological mother of three great-grandsons of the emperor, but also a child raised by Zhu Heji himself - Zhu Heji didn't even keep his own grandson or granddaughter with him. Look at Lu Siniang! Therefore, before Lu Siniang married Zhu Bohai, many people thought that Lu Siniang was Zhu Heji's illegitimate daughter. In short, it is only a matter of longevity that Lu Siniang will become the Crown Princess, Empress Lu, or even Empress Dowager Lu in the future!
If you become Empress Lu, will you still have no power?
Although Zhuge Zhengqing's power is not as good as Zhu Yiyin and "Queen Lu", he is a descendant of the Zhuge family and the posthumous son of King Zhuge Wu! Under Zhu Heji's hype, King Zhuge Wu has become an internationally renowned brand. When people mention King Zhuge Wu, their first impression is that he is a genius strategist who can tell everything with just a few clicks. Therefore, if Zhuge Zhengqing needs power, it is a trivial matter to worship the prime minister, and there is also "Queen Lu" who is his senior sister. However, the battlefield Zhu Heji arranged for him was overseas - he had to slow down the growth of imperialism!
Thinking of this, Zhu Heji took out the three kits that had been prepared long ago, and then handed them to Zhu Yiyin, Lu Siniang, and Zhuge Zhengqing one by one according to the names on the kits, and said earnestly: "Get it." ...There are industries here that I have entrusted to the three of you to manage. You have my mantle. It is not difficult to manage and make good use of these industries. But you must carefully prepare for these industries and my mantle. Choosing successors... I entrust you with the important task of guarding the Ming Dynasty, and I hope you can hand over this important task to your successors and guard the Ming Dynasty for me from generation to generation!"
——————Text. End!
The postscript "The Guardian" begins immediately!
