Admiring Tian Yan

  The sound of horseshoes came from the entrance of Xici Hutong again. "East Factory is handling a case, everyone please evacuate..." A sharp, androgynous voice floated over from afar.

  The people from the Eastern Depot have also arrived, and today's matter has indeed become a big deal. The power of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is already very great, they can ignore the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Censorate, handle cases independently, have their own prisons, monitor officials at all times, and can arrest anyone without evidence at will.

  The power of the Eastern Depot was greater than that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. After the Chengzu Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, he established a detective agency led by eunuchs. Because it was located north of the Dong'an Gate (now the northern part of Wangfujing Street, Dongchang Hutong), it was named the Eastern Depot. The function of the Eastern Depot was "to investigate and interrogate treasonous speech, great evil, etc., with equal power to the Embroidered Uniform Guard". Initially, the Eastern Depot was only responsible for investigation and arrest, but did not have the right to interrogate prisoners. Suspects caught by the Eastern Depot had to be handed over to the Northern Pacification Commission of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for trial. Later, the emperor felt that the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which was set up outside the palace, was not very convenient to use, while the eunuchs...

  They are the emperor's household slaves, living in the inner palace, and it is more convenient to communicate with the emperor, and also more able to grasp the emperor's mind. Secondly, eunuchs themselves are castrated men, without social status, they can only rely on the emperor, and without children, there is no motive for rebellion, so when they do things for the emperor, they are often more loyal, more considerate of the emperor, unlike the scholar-official class, who often take it upon themselves to save the world, sometimes not buying the emperor's account. Gradually, the power and surveillance scope of the Eastern Depot exceeded that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When the court tried major cases, the Embroidered Uniform Guard interrogated serious offenders, the Eastern Depot would send people to listen; all departments of the court had personnel from the Eastern Depot on duty, monitoring the movements of officials; even the Embroidered Uniform Guard was within the scope of surveillance by the Eastern Depot.

  The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had to kneel down when he saw the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, because the supervisor of the Eastern Depot was concurrently held by the eunuch who held the imperial seal, the 9,000-year-old Huang Jinrong, also known as Huang Gonggong. And the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was just the adopted son of the 9,000-year-old.

  Now, Huang Gonggong is in power, with his sons and nephews spread throughout the country, controlling the entire civil service system of the Ming Dynasty and most of the military. In today's court, the Empress Dowager sits behind the curtain to listen to politics, while Huang Gonggong sits in front and directly interferes with state affairs. The young emperor is busy playing all day and doesn't attend court, which suits the Empress Dowager and Huang Gonggong just fine. If there were a diligent young emperor who attended to state affairs, they would have to be on their guard.

  The alliance between the Empress Dowager's system and the eunuch system, formed to temporarily seize power, has now also shown signs of cracking. The outer relatives and eunuchs' sons are fighting openly and secretly for power and profit, with the eunuch system gaining the upper hand each time.

  Huang Gonggong's ten adopted sons, known as the "Ten Tigers", occupy key positions in the Ministry of War, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Personnel, the Censorate, the Supreme Court, the Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Five Armies Command. They also hold high-ranking positions such as Provincial Governors and Grand Coordinators, making it difficult to shake them.

  The Empress Dowager's nephews occupy key positions in the Capital Garrison, the Imperial Bodyguard, the Office of Scrutiny, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works, and part of the provincial garrison. As for the young emperor, he probably only has a few eunuchs, palace maids, and guards at his disposal.

  Now appearing at the entrance of the alley is a eunuch in yellow fish-scale attire, wearing a gauze hat on his head and a sword hanging from his waist. He looks like he's seventeen or eighteen years old, with a face as smooth as if it had been powdered, red lips and white teeth, and an extremely arrogant expression. The many officers and soldiers of the Five Cities Military Defense Circuit didn't dare to block him, letting him ride his horse all the way to the entrance of Lianfeng Inn. The little eunuch dismounted his horse and came straight to Liu Ziguang's face, bowing his head and saying: "I am Wei Zhongxian, I have been ordered by my young master to invite Master Liu to our mansion for a chat."

  Liu Ziguang was slightly puzzled: "Your family's young master? I don't know your family's young master, could it be...?" The little eunuch Wei Zhongxian smiled slightly: "That's right, my family's young master is precisely the Zhu Gongzi who has been traveling with you for the past two days."

  "Oh, I see. So these officials and soldiers..." Liu Ziguang's heart was filled with joy, he had found a powerful backer. He could use the eunuch from the Eastern Depot as a servant boy, and this young master surnamed Zhu was definitely a member of the royal family, maybe even the emperor himself. But he didn't know about the current situation in the imperial court.

  Zheng Baihu and Wang Zhihui were still quite discerning, seeing the small eunuch wearing an ivory waist card for entering and exiting the imperial city, they knew that although he was young, his rank was not low, as for Zhu Gongzi, it was not something they could randomly guess, after all, it was a matter of the imperial palace, the Dongchang's affairs, meddling too much would cost them their heads.

  Wang thought to himself, "This person is definitely not going anywhere today. The Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot are all up ahead. I'd better hurry back and have some breakfast. Oh right, I should collect that 100 taels of silver from earlier."

  Zheng Baihu was still a bit unwilling to give up, and said to the little eunuch: "This official, Liu Ziguang robbed the imperial court's official mansion yesterday, and now he is holding me hostage. His crime is extremely serious. If you want to take away the criminal, how can I explain it?"

  Wei Zhongxian rolled his eyes: "The guest invited by the East Factory, how did he become your prisoner? Mr. Bai Hu, you must take responsibility for what you say. What's your name? Which Wei Wei? Let's finish our official business first and then invite you to the factory for tea. I advise you one thing, don't get involved in anything related to the East Factory, it's better not to make trouble for yourself!"

  Zheng Baihu was so frightened that he didn't dare to say another word. Liu Ziguo put away the White Rainbow Sword and pushed Zheng Baihu aside, scaring him by saying: "Don't make things difficult for Lian Feng Hao, otherwise I'll invite you to have tea too, not at the East Factory, but with King Yan."

  What kind of world is this, where a dignified Jin Yiwei is threatened by a commoner with a knife in broad daylight, and he even says "Let's go drink tea with the King of Hell"? Is there no justice? No heavenly principle? Zheng Baihu was on the verge of tears, but then he thought it over. This Liu Ziguo must be someone who has nothing to fear, probably an undercover agent from the Eastern Depot. That's right, definitely a secret agent from the Eastern Depot. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so reckless. It seems that yesterday's looting was also planned by the Eastern Depot... I'd better get out of here quickly. This might involve some high-level struggle that is beyond my understanding as a small official.

  He found an excuse for himself, and Zheng Baihu finally felt a little better. Looking at the dozen or so guards still staring at him with wide eyes, he shouted: "What are you looking at? It's best if we don't interfere with the East Factory's business!" After finishing speaking, he spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm to vent his frustration. He sullenly led the guards away.

  The men and horses of the Nanjing Garrison had already begun to prepare for their return to camp for breakfast, while Wang Zhiyuan watched with schadenfreude as the Imperial Guards were being defeated. Although they were all part of the 9,000-strong imperial forces, the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Guards had always been at odds with each other, constantly trying to one-up and undermine each other. As a member of the Empress Dowager's faction, the Garrison Commander naturally took pleasure in seeing this state of affairs.

  The Jin Yiwei and the Nanjing Garrison will not bother Lian Feng for a while, Liu Ziguang let his men lead out a horse, mounted it, and followed Wei Zhongxian. Leaving behind Han Dazhu, who was stunned and wiping away cold sweat, "My god, Deputy General Liu is really a troublemaker, early in the morning he brought the Garrison, Jin Yiwei, and Dongchang to our doorstep, impressive, I'm convinced."

  The name Wei Zhongxian is like thunder in one's ears, that was a famous eunuch of the late Ming dynasty. How come he now appears as a positive character? Liu Ziguang felt strange and asked while walking: "Sir, who exactly is your Zhu Gongzi? Wei Zhongxian was a good comrade who kept his mouth shut like a bottle, only saying: 'You will know when you arrive.'"

  The mansion of Zhu Tianxia was located on a large continent in the middle of Xuanwu Lake. The two of them took a medium-sized bright-wheel boat to the continent, and saw a huge residence built along the water's edge with buildings, pavilions, and kiosks. The white walls and green tiles, the flying eaves and open corridors, the Jiangnan water scenery and several sea buckthorns, several clusters of bamboo intertwined and shaded, the distant dark green mountains, the sparkling lake water, it was truly a beautiful landscape, a paradise on earth.

  However, the coal and coal ash piled up on the empty land were as high as a mountain, and there were also large quantities of pig iron, steel ingots, copper ingots, wood, and the sound of hammering, and black smoke billowing from the chimneys completely destroyed this quiet natural scenery, it was simply a large-scale ironwork shop.

  In the manor, there were many young eunuchs with white faces and beardless chins, wearing silk clothes. Although Liu Ziguang couldn't understand the grade of their attire, he could confirm that these people were all eunuchs like Wei Zhongxian. In addition, there were some burly guards, wearing soft armor, carrying swords and scabbards, patrolling back and forth.

  As I walked into the yard, two semi-finished powered triplanes suddenly appeared before my eyes. One was foot-pedaled, with a chain driving a propeller at the back. The other was spring-driven, with the spring installed in the engine compartment. The steel spring must have been very heavy, and this triplane probably couldn't fly. I didn't expect that Zhu Tianxia could manufacture them so quickly after I casually mentioned it on the boat that day. His hands-on ability is truly first-rate.

  The ironwork furnace, the carpenter's workbench, various molds, tools and raw materials were neatly arranged. In the air, there was also a small overhead crane. The workers in their coarse linen overalls worked in an orderly manner. It was almost like a semi-modern workshop located in the middle of Xuanwu Lake. Although transportation was not very convenient, it had the advantage of being quiet and having good confidentiality.

  The other little eunuchs had already run in to report, and when Liu Ziguang arrived at the front of the main hall, Zhu Tiandao was already standing in the hall to greet him. He wore a blue satin robe with wide sleeves, looking elegant and refined, but his sleeves were rolled up high, with pencils tucked behind his ears, and a steel tape measure clipped to his waist, making him look somewhat incongruous.

  "Liu brother has arrived, welcome! Have you seen the Flying Heaven Wings I modified according to your instructions? When we have time, let's go to Swallow Cliff together for a test flight." Zhu Tianxia also didn't bother with formalities and directly extended an invitation.

  Liu Ziguang said, "This test pilot is a life-threatening job, you'd better find someone else to do it." He changed the subject and said, "The matter of the Divine Wings can be discussed again later. Yesterday's incident has already occurred, Brother Zhu, do you have a good strategy to respond? The people from the East Factory are serving by your side, it seems that your identity is mysterious and unfathomable, so why hide it?"

  Zhu Tianxia burst out laughing with a loud "ha ha", his voice cracking like a pubescent boy's: "I knew I couldn't keep it hidden for long, now that things have come to this, I have no choice but to tell Brother Liu. Xiao Xianzi..."

  Wei Zhongxian immediately shouted: "You still don't kneel down and pay your respects when you see the current emperor!"

  Zhu Tianxia is actually the Emperor.