Volume 1: Concealing One's Light and Biding One's Time Chapter 3: The Situation

  History continued to advance slowly in its course. In July of this year, the chief assistant Ye Xiangao resigned from his position as chief assistant under the threat of Wei Zhongxian after his granddaughter Ye Liangwei was selected as the concubine of Prince Xin, but stayed temporarily in the capital to attend his granddaughter's wedding.

  The Tianqi Emperor was very concerned about the marriage of King Xian, and even specially made a dragon and phoenix bed for him to use on his big wedding day. Wei Zhongxian was also exceptionally enthusiastic, but what kind of enthusiasm this was is unknown.

  After determining the candidate, the Ministry of Rites reported to the emperor and held a wedding ceremony for the king. The Imperial Observatory selected an auspicious day, and the wedding was conducted in an orderly manner, adhering to etiquette.

  Zhu Yinglong also knew that this was the best opportunity for him to become normal, because people in this era were not yet so open-minded, and atheism had not yet penetrated deep into their hearts. Now, even he himself had some doubts about atheism, otherwise, how could he have suddenly appeared in this time and space, and even became the King Zhu Youjian as if he had borrowed a corpse to return to life? This "auspicious coincidence" was the best opportunity, so he began to learn to slowly become more normal, no longer standing stupidly for several hours. Since he wanted to integrate into this identity, he couldn't continue to muddle along, so during the preparations for the grand wedding, he had to pick up his abominable traditional Chinese books, relying on past memories, and managed to recognize the traditional characters of this era with some accuracy. Zhu Yinglong was a standard science student in another time and space, but he was unlearned and unsophisticated. As for becoming a writer who didn't fit into the mainstream, it was also a coincidence, and could be summarized in one sentence: this was fate. Who made him choose the wrong path back then? It ended up that he was neither good at literature nor skilled in engineering in that time, and now that he had come to this world, he was again neither good at literature nor skilled in martial arts. However, he believed that he would one day succeed, because he had several hundred years more knowledge than the people of this time and space.

  Tianqi Emperor was naturally overjoyed at Zhu Yinglong's transformation, and unexpectedly "Rushing Joy" really worked. Before the formal grand wedding, there was already an effect. Tianqi Emperor couldn't help but feel infinite joy for his original choice that went against public opinion. Even the opposing and powerful Grand Secretary shut his mouth, did they want Prince Xian to become a fool?

  Originally, Emperor Tianqi wanted to restore Zhu Youjian's palace studies, but thinking that Zhu Youjian had not fully recovered and the wedding rituals were too complicated, just learning one set of rituals would be enough. So he only let him study the grand wedding ritual and exempted him from palace studies. However, Emperor Tianqi was also very fond of Zhu Yinglong. Originally, after the marriage of King Xian, he was already considered an adult, meaning he no longer had the qualifications to enter the palace school. Therefore, a special arrangement was made for him by finding a Hanlin Academy official, Li Youlin, to serve as an attendant officer in the king's mansion, where he would be taught separately later on. Zhu Yinglong guessed with his toes that this Hanlin Academy official, Li Youlin, was a person of Wei Zhongxian, but he already had a plan to deal with it. Once he got out of this cage, he would soar like a fish jumping over the sea and fly high in the sky like a bird. Although there was only a difference of several hundred years, the understanding gained in the last hundred years was more profound than the accumulation of thousands of years before. Who would ultimately die in whose hands had yet to be determined!

  In the imperial palace, Zhu Yinglong had a taste of Wei Zhongxian's power. As the acting director of the Eastern Depot, he actually held an internal drill in the palace, training eunuchs. Although Zhu Yinglong didn't know if there was martial arts in this historical space-time, he had secretly watched the eunuchs' drills several times and was greatly shocked. The Ming dynasty's eunuchs were notorious for their interference in politics, with over 70,000 eunuchs in the palace at its peak. Zhu Yinglong had scoffed at this data when writing about Chongzhen, thinking that the entire Forbidden City couldn't have held so many people. But now he saw it with his own eyes and realized it wasn't an exaggeration. His personal eunuch, Xu Yingyuan, secretly told him that there were tens of thousands of well-trained eunuchs in the palace, all belonging to the Eastern Depot. Adding the eunuchs sent out to supervise the military, transport grain, and guard Nanjing, Zhu Yinglong calculated that there really were over 70,000 eunuchs. He thought about how these eunuchs had castrated themselves and also castrated the Han people's masculinity. Although it was biased to blame the eunuchs for the downfall of the Ming dynasty, it was a great irony that ordinary people had no choice but to castrate themselves to become eunuchs in the late Ming period. These numbers were only recorded in history books and unofficial histories, but there might be more in reality. Zhu Yinglong felt a sense of despair wash over him, and a feeling of powerlessness suddenly rose up in his heart.

  Another thing that surprised Zhu Yinglong was that these eunuchs not only practiced martial arts, but also practiced firearms. In Zhu Yinglong's opinion, their combat effectiveness seemed to be quite strong, although he had no way of knowing their actual combat effectiveness. However, he did take an interest in the firearms they were holding.

  Zhu Yinglong, who was not a military enthusiast in his previous life, had specifically studied knowledge about firearms because he wanted to write about the Chongzhen Emperor. He knew that during the Ming dynasty, firearms were mainly matchlock guns, which were easily affected by weather conditions and could not be used in heavy rain. They also required filling with gunpowder, making them technically demanding to use.

  Due to the poor steel production level of this era, these matchlock guns would often overheat and explode after prolonged use. The Ming dynasty boasted a large army of one million soldiers, but less than one-fifth of them were equipped with matchlock guns, indicating that the production cost was not low.

  Although Zhu Yinglong had seen diagrams of the manufacture of firearms, he had only fired a few shots during his university military training and did not have the opportunity to study their structure. Therefore, when he saw these matchlock guns, he became fascinated and hoped to get one to study.

  However, the palace was full of dangers, and even Zhu Yinglong's brother, who was favored by the emperor, could be killed at any moment if Wei Zhongxian said so. Especially that "Feng Sheng Fu Ren" (a title for a high-ranking imperial concubine), who was over 30 years old and extremely beautiful. According to Zhu Yinglong's understanding, this wet nurse not only took care of the Tianqi Emperor but also taught him about sex.

  The Tianqi Emperor seemed to like her very much, and every time Zhu Yinglong saw her, he would automatically avoid her or pretend to be stupid. The imperial concubine would also ignore him whenever she saw him.

  As Zhu Yinglong's gradual recovery policy took effect, Tianqi Emperor's restrictions on him were no longer so strict. Zhu Yinglong didn't know that in the past, Zhu Youjian would secretly sneak out of the palace market, and Tianqi Emperor would always turn a blind eye. But since he got into trouble, he never closed his eyes again. Gradually, Zhu Yinglong blended into the life of the imperial palace. Although it was dull, the few eunuchs and palace maids around him were not bad, taking care of this master meticulously. Palace maid Yan Hong was also a beautiful woman, and according to reason, Zhu Youjian should have broken his precepts long ago living in the imperial palace, which was a big dye vat. However, after Zhu Yinglong's observation, it seemed that all the palace maids in the Huikun Palace, except for Yan Hong being particularly close to him, were extremely well-behaved. Later, he learned that this was the credit of his imperial sister-in-law, and the palace maids in the Huikun Palace were personally appointed by her. Zhu Yinglong couldn't help but feel a little sentimental thinking that he was still an intact bachelor before his grand wedding. Of course, this might not be entirely due to Empress Zhang's credit, as Zhu Youjian's self-discipline in the past was most important. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Zhu Youjian, who was now nowhere to be found, and hoped that he would live a better life in another world.

  Actually, Zhu Yinglong was also counting the days until he could escape. He clearly remembered that in October of this year, the Minister of Personnel Zhao Nanxing and the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Gao Panlong were to be severely punished for impeaching the Censor Cui Chengxiu, who was a loyal follower of Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian had falsely issued an imperial edict, accusing Zhao and Gao of being "partisans", which made them fear that they would be threatened by officials forming cliques to undermine their rule. As a result, Zhao and Gao were forced to resign. At the time, Vice Censor-in-Chief Yang Lian submitted a memorial impeaching Wei Zhongxian for twenty-four major crimes, but was found guilty instead. Over seventy officials of the Donglin Party, including Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, and Zhou Chaorui, jointly submitted a memorial impeaching Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian hated the Donglin Party even more, so he deliberately fabricated charges against them, stripping Vice Censor-in-Chief Yang Lian and Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Zuo Guangdou of their posts and demoting them to commoners. Later, under pressure from Wei Zhongxian, Grand Secretary Han Bang also resigned.

  On the fourteenth day of November, which was also the birthday of Emperor Tianqi and the so-called Wan Shou Festival, Sun Chengzong, the Grand Scholar of the Imperial Academy in Shanhai Pass, planned to return to Beijing for congratulations. However, he was blocked by Wei Zhongxian. Emperor Tianqi did not distinguish between loyalty and treachery, issuing an edict stating "Unauthorized departure from the border is against the laws of our ancestors." The edict ordered him to return to the pass. Zhu Yinglong sighed that he was powerless to help these loyal ministers and generals for the time being, but things would be different once they went out. Since they were going to fight against heaven, it seemed that history could not be changed after all, and none of these talents could be spared.

  The Ministry of Works brought news that the residence of Prince Xian had been renovated, and the Ministry of Works petitioned Emperor Tianqi to let Prince Xian go and inspect whether he was satisfied. After all, the mansion would be where Prince Xian lived in the future, and the person's opinion should still be respected. Wei Zhongxian also didn't need to make a fuss about this small matter, so naturally, he stamped his approval on the Ministry of Works' request, allowing Zhu Yinglong to finally have an opportunity to breathe the air outside the Forbidden City. He was extremely excited in his heart, but on the surface, he still had to pretend to be foolish.

  The old Huaiwang Mansion is not big or small, located in the west of the city, and its location is a bit secluded. However, it has the advantage of being quiet and peaceful, which Zhu Yinglong likes very much. The old Huaiwang was once favored by Emperor Tianqi, so his mansion was naturally better than others, but now it's been reduced to the level of those belonging to merchants. This shows that Wei Zhongxian is just using this King Xinyuan as a scapegoat. Well, if history follows its course, you, Wei Zhongxian, will be doomed to a dead end. If not, then... haha, you'll die an even more miserable death!

  In Beijing, there was a saying: "East noble and rich, West wealthy and grand, South humble and North poor", which described the city's residents very accurately. The east side was home to high-ranking officials and nobles, while the west side was where wealthy merchants from all over lived. The north side was where ordinary people resided, and the south side was where the famous Eight Great Alleys of Beijing were located. Although they may not have been well-known during the Ming dynasty, it was indeed a place filled with brothels and pleasure houses. By nightfall, half of the city's population would be there. Zhu Yinglong had long wanted to experience it for himself, but Wei Zhongxian, acting on behalf of his brother, had given orders that he must return to the palace before dark, so he could only sigh in regret. However, he looked forward to having another chance in the future.

  "Your Highness, we should head back to the palace!" Xu Yingyuan, who was following Zhu Yinglong, urged anxiously. It wouldn't have been a big deal if they had returned a little earlier last night, but now it's different. What if something happens to this foolish Prince Xing? His own head won't be able to stay on his shoulders!

  Zhu Yinglong knew that he himself would be fine even if he stayed out for a night, but the eunuchs behind him would be unlucky and might even be skinned alive. This was the rule, and it could only be changed after he ascended to the throne as emperor. So, he followed them back to his temporary cage with great obedience.