My father is Jiajing

Chapter 503 Who is this Taoist priest?
Zhu Zaigui looked at the briefing on memorials from the Yunnan-Guizhou region that the clerks had spent half a day compiling. He thought silently for a moment, and finally put the briefing aside for the time being.

Because there are more important things to do than Yunnan and Guizhou now.

Moreover, according to the historical trends that Zhu Zaigui knew, even if the Ming-Myanmar War broke out one day in the future, it would not shake the Ming Dynasty's rule in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi regions.

So after some thought, Zhu Zaigui also believed that the current Yunnan-Guizhou problem was nothing more than a minor problem. As long as things in other areas were done well, more power and means could be freed up. Not to mention the small chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangdong and Guangxi, even the old land of Annan could be recovered again.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui’s focus for the moment should still be on the capital and on important key issues.

Just as Zhu Zaigui was thinking about the next key issue, Emperor Jiajing finally found the time and quietly asked Huang Jin to lead a group of smart and capable Jinyiwei guards to the Western Hills.

This time, Emperor Jiajing went to the Western Hills not to do any serious business, but to have fun.

From the memorials reported in the past few years and the summaries of memorials written by Zhu Zaigui, it was shown that Emperor Jiajing also developed a strong interest in the Xishan area, which he had never paid much attention to.

So after the New Year, when everything was almost settled, Emperor Jiajing set out with Huang Jin and other trusted eunuchs and guards in a happy mood.

Emperor Jiajing was sitting in a pavilion in the mountains, while Huang Jin was making hot tea and serving him.

"Emperor, the tea is ready. Take a sip to warm yourself up. It's cold in the mountains."

Huang Jin carefully handed a cup of freshly poured tea to Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing took a look at the tea handed over by Huang Jin, put the hand-warming scented cup aside, took the tea handed over by Huang Jin and took a sip.

Emperor Jiajing let out a sigh of relief, "Is this the Laiqing Pavilion that San'er had built?"

Huang Jin replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. The words 'Laiqing' on the name of this pavilion were written by Prince Yu himself. Every year when Prince Yu takes the young prince and his female relatives to the West Hill for an autumn outing, they always come here to enjoy the scenery and drink tea."

Emperor Jiajing chuckled and also sat in Laiqingxuan, looking at the green scenery outside the West Hill. He couldn't help but smile and said, "This San'er is really good at enjoying life. He can find such a good place. He is really amazing!"

Huang Jin also laughed and said, "The Emperor is right. Prince Yu is really amazing. In the past, apart from this mountain, there were only some ordinary brick and stone factories, lime yards, coal yards and other small workshops in Xishan. But now with the Divine Medicine Palace and the needs of the construction of the Beijing Special District, Xishan has changed a lot."

"Not only has it become more lively, but it can also often produce some amazing and shocking good things. Especially the Divine Medicine Palace named by the Emperor, it is now almost becoming a holy place in the minds of the alchemy masters of the Danding School."

Upon hearing that the Divine Medicine Palace was so popular, Emperor Jiajing also smiled happily.

"Although the Divine Medicine Palace is good, it is still not much better than my alchemy room in the West Garden. They refine ordinary mortal pills to cure some minor ailments, but what I refine in the alchemy room in the West Garden is the immortal pill, which is a treasure that can make people become immortals!"

When Huang Jin heard Emperor Jiajing's comments on the Divine Medicine Palace and his boasting about his own alchemy room, he also laughed and said, "The Emperor is the reincarnation of a god, so he must be much better than those alchemy masters who lack understanding."

Emperor Jiajing laughed and said modestly, "But these Taoist priests of the Danding School are not without merit. For example, the high explosives they made are amazing! It's a pity that the firearms of our Ming Dynasty are not strong enough to withstand it. Otherwise, if these high explosives were used in firearms, the power would definitely be earth-shattering."

Huang Jin said: "The Emperor is right. Prince Yu has also specially organized craftsmen to secretly create and develop new firearms and stress-bearing steel in Xishan. I believe that it won't be long before they can make firearms that can withstand the explosives of the Divine Medicine Palace."

After hearing what Huang Jin said, Emperor Jiajing nodded in agreement.

He had seen the power of nitroglycerin explosives with his own eyes when he went to Xishan. It was precisely because of the terrible power of this gunpowder that Emperor Jiajing ordered Zhu Zaigui to build the Shen Yao Palace in Xishan and to control Lei Dezi and Nordzi, who developed nitroglycerin explosives, as well as other research and development members here.

It can be said that in a sense, the current status of Xishan Shen Yao Palace is inseparable from the support of Emperor Jiajing.

After staying in Laiqingxuan for half a day, Emperor Jiajing finally came down the mountain.

However, after coming down the mountain, he did not go directly to the Xishan Divine Medicine Palace, but first stayed in the royal garden below Xishan.

"Get ready tomorrow. I'm going to pay homage to Emperor Jing."

Emperor Jiajing suddenly thought of Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu, who was also buried at the foot of Yuquan Mountain in the Western Hills.

This emperor, who was also an heir to the throne as a vassal prince, had an extremely embarrassing identity.

Although he and Yu Qian saved the Ming Dynasty together, he encountered a restoration coup by his brother at the end of his reign. Not only did he die in an unclear manner, but he was also stripped of his title of emperor. If it were not for his eldest nephew who suddenly remembered his achievements and merits more than ten years after he ascended the throne, he would have restored his title of emperor without holding a grudge.

It is estimated that his tomb has not received proper royal sacrifices until now.

However, these things happened nearly a hundred years ago, so Emperor Jiajing naturally would not think too much about them. He was more concerned about the political impact.

After all, in terms of his origin, Emperor Jiajing was also born into a vassal state, so for emperors who were born into a vassal state, whether it was Emperor Taizong Yongle or Emperor Jingtai.

Emperor Jiajing elevated their status and treatment to a certain level.

For example, Emperor Yongle's title of Taizong was upgraded to Chengzu. As for whether Emperor Yongle himself liked it or not, it was not important. What was important was that people all over the world recognized this new title afterwards.

So in a sense, the temple name Chengzu combined with Zhu Di is well deserved.

After all, in the long history of thousands of years, not all titles that were honored or conferred by later generations were recognized by history. Even if some people were honored as emperors, their actual historical status and the names they were called by later generations would still retain their original titles.

The most prominent example is Emperor Jiajing's biological father, Prince Xingxian Zhu Youlang. Although he was honored as Ruizong by Emperor Jiajing and was carried into the Taimiao, in later historical recognition he was just Prince Xingxian and had nothing to do with the emperor.

Therefore, the most important thing for a person to be famous in history is whether his name is worthy of the reputation. If so, even if he is Prime Minister Cao who has never been an emperor, some people will still respectfully call him Emperor Wu of Wei.

If not, for example, Jiajing's biological father Zhu Youlang, no matter how high his title was given by Emperor Jiajing, he was also a king.

Therefore, it was not considered a heinous act for Emperor Jiajing to give Emperor Yongle the title of Chengzu.

Huang Jin was not surprised at all when he heard that Emperor Jiajing was going to offer sacrifices to Emperor Jingtai tomorrow.

After all, in the 15th year of the Jiajing reign, Emperor Jiajing had visited the Jingtai Mausoleum and thought that it did not conform to the imperial mausoleum system at all, so he ordered that the roof tiles be changed to yellow. A mausoleum stele pavilion was built in the middle of the main gate and outside the mausoleum gate, and the mausoleum stele was moved into the pavilion, making it slightly resemble the imperial mausoleum system. But that was all, and there was no further reconstruction, nor was the Jingtai Emperor's mausoleum officially named, nor was there an official temple name for the Jingtai Emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing had limited sympathy for his great uncle's plight.

However, now that he is in the Western Hills again, the only royal tomb that Emperor Jiajing can bow down to pay homage to is the Jingtai Mausoleum of Emperor Jingtai. It would be unreasonable for him not to pay homage here.

Therefore, even if Emperor Jiajing went to Jingtai Mausoleum this time, it was just a normal daily operation and it did not constitute any political signal.

So when Emperor Jiajing arrived at the Jingtai Mausoleum the next day, he merely offered some incense and instructed the guards to protect the mausoleum well, and that was all. There was nothing else.

After doing all this, Emperor Jiajing slowly walked towards the Xishan Divine Medicine Palace.

When he arrived at the Shen Yao Palace, Emperor Jiajing did not go there first, but went directly to the steam engine factory.

As the eunuch guarding Xishan, Teng Xiang immediately rushed to the steam engine factory to welcome the emperor when he learned that the emperor was coming to Xishan.

Emperor Jiajing came in a hurry to see Teng Xiang. Although he did not have a deep impression of Teng Xiang, he knew that Teng Xiang was also one of the eunuch admirals who had followed Zhu Zaigui to shine in the defense of the capital.

Moreover, during these years of work, Teng Xiang's ability was recognized by Zhu Zaigui, who gave him a lot of credit.

Now he not only holds the title of the eunuch guarding Xishan, but also the position of the eunuch commander of the Xishan Divine Artifact Camp. It can be said that he is the real first person in charge in Xishan.

"Your servant Teng Xiang is late in welcoming you. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

When Teng Xiang met Emperor Jiajing in person, he knelt down immediately.

Emperor Jiajing looked at Teng Xiang who came in a hurry, but he did not mean to blame him. After all, he came to Xishan with light luggage and only brought Huang Jin and a team of Jinyiwei guards.

Therefore, it was understandable that Teng Xiang did not arrange to welcome the emperor immediately. After all, he really did not know that Emperor Jiajing would come at this time.

Emperor Jiajing looked at Teng Xiang and said, "Get up. Now that you are here, tell me about the situation in Xishan."

Teng Xiang thanked Emperor Jiajing again, then stood up from the ground and bowed carefully beside Emperor Jiajing.

"Emperor, Xishan has undergone a great transformation in recent years. Although it is still inferior to the Beijing Special Economic Zone and Shunyi Industrial Park, its importance is not inferior to that of the Special Economic Zone and Shunyi Industrial Park."

"Especially taking the Divine Medicine Palace as an example, the divine medicine developed by the Divine Medicine Palace includes not only divine medicines that can cure diseases and save lives, but also divine medicines that can split mountains and crack rocks. Moreover, this type of divine medicine has more stable properties than when it was first developed."

"Not only can we make powerful ground bombs, but we can also make special artillery bombs. The Xishan Artifact Camp now has some new gunpowder equipment. Even a strong and tall city wall cannot withstand a few consecutive attacks from a single shot."

The first thing Teng Xiang introduced was the results of the gunpowder research and development of the Shen Yao Palace. When Emperor Jiajing heard this information, he just nodded slightly, because these things had been reported secretly before and were nothing new.

Moreover, Emperor Jiajing still remembered how powerful the new gunpowder was, and he had no doubts about it.

However, Emperor Jiajing was still concerned about one thing.

Emperor Jiajing asked, "How are you guys doing with the special steel and the so-called rifling that San'er mentioned?"

Teng Xiang immediately replied, "I have ordered people to speed up the research and manufacture, and according to the prince's instructions, I have also begun to order craftsmen to use the power of steam engines to manufacture lathes specifically for forging and cutting steel materials."

"It's just that the manufacturing of lathes is still quite difficult. So far, there are only one or two crude lathes. Moreover, the hardness of the steel used for the cutting head is not enough to complete the cutting of special steel. Therefore, the rifling design mentioned by the prince has not been successfully cut out so far. We can only use a crude method to forge it inside the tube."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jiajing also nodded, "That's right, continue to order people to manufacture and develop according to San'er's requirements. These are all powerful weapons of the country. Once they are made, my Ming Dynasty will be able to surpass the four seas and eight wildernesses in an instant. By then, if there are any villains who dare to offend the majesty of heaven, my heavenly soldiers will arrive and destroy them in an instant!"

Teng Xiang responded excitedly: "Yes, I will live up to your expectations!"

Emperor Jiajing smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I'll remember that. You must work hard. If you succeed, I'll promote you to the position of eunuch of the Imperial Household Department."

Teng Xiang became even more excited when he heard this. Being able to become a eunuch in the Imperial Household Department was a common honor for all eunuchs, and no eunuch could refuse it.

"I will not refuse death, and will never let down the Emperor's grace!"

Teng Xiang knelt on the ground excitedly again and bowed deeply to Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing was in a good mood when he saw how excited Teng Xiang was.

He said to Teng Xiang, "I came here today to see the steam rail car that I talked about three years ago. Go and have someone arrange it. I want to see if this thing can really move on its own."

Teng Xiang immediately said, "I obey your order!"

Then Teng Xiang immediately sent someone to call Zhan Watt and others over. When Zhan Watt and others heard Teng Xiang's call, they thought that Zhu Zaigui had come again. They were all very excited and prepared actively, thinking that this time they must save face in front of Zhu Zaigui.

As a result, when they got everything ready, the person they saw was actually a Taoist priest wearing a Taoist robe and walking with a breeze. This Taoist priest also had that kind of immortal-like air. Even the eunuch Teng Xiang, whom they were familiar with, bowed and nodded in front of this Taoist priest.

So when they saw this scene, Janwatt and the others couldn't help but become confused.

Who is this Taoist priest?

Such a big spectrum?
He could actually make the eunuchs guarding Xishan bow and nod to serve him. You should know that the only one who could receive such treatment before was Prince Yu, and even when in front of Prince Yu, Eunuch Teng Xiang was not so fawning.

Therefore, Zhan Watt and others could not help but feel unprecedented curiosity about the Taoist priest who was carefully served by Eunuch Teng Xiang. Could he be the immortal in the Divine Medicine Palace?
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Asking for a monthly ticket~~
(End of this chapter)