Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Emperor Chongzhen had not seen Kunyi for three or four days. He learned from Wang Chengen that his daughter was depressed and had not eaten properly for several days, so he came to visit her in person.

"Are you worried about Wuji's marriage?" Queen Zhou walked over and hugged her daughter in her arms.

No one knows a daughter better than her mother, and both Emperor Chongzhen and his wife tacitly approved of their daughter getting close to Zhang Shikang.

Now that something unexpected has happened, the couple discovered that their daughter had actually developed feelings for Zhang Shikang.

"Father, Mother, I..." Princess Kunyi's eyes immediately turned red upon seeing this, but she was too embarrassed to talk about it.

"It's okay, everything will be fine." Queen Zhou patted Princess Kunyi on the back and comforted her.

She felt that since Zhang Shikang was about to get married, she could just find a better son-in-law for her daughter later. Her daughter was still young, and there was no shortage of talented young men in the Ming Dynasty.

Time is the best medicine.

But Emperor Chongzhen disagreed and said:

"Why should we go there? So what if Wuji gets married?

As long as you like, I will find a way!"

"Your Majesty, how can this matter be forced?" Queen Zhou complained.

"Hmph! Marrying that boy is a blessing for him. Just wait for two more years." Emperor Chongzhen said with certainty.

"Could it be... that we really let Kunyi be a concubine? Your Majesty, you might be laughed at by the whole world." Queen Zhou advised.

"What a joke! My daughter is a royal family, how could she become someone's concubine?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

"But Wuji is already going to get married, Your Majesty." Queen Zhou was puzzled.

"So what? I am the Son of Heaven, and my edicts are issued by Heaven!

When Kunyi turns fourteen, I will issue an edict allowing him to marry again, and he and the granddaughter of the Marquis of Loyalty will be his equal wives.

Emperor Chongzhen stated his solution.

In fact, he also felt a little depressed. If it was a minister in the court, no matter who he was, he could issue an imperial edict to ask the minister to cancel the engagement.

But the only person he didn't dare to do was Zhang Shikang.

If he really did this, Emperor Chongzhen could almost be certain that this kid would definitely disobey his orders, as he had a criminal record.

Even if he used his status as the emperor to pressure him, it would not take long before this guy disappeared.

That would be a huge loss for the Ming Dynasty, and it was contrary to his idea.

In terms of being a co-wife, if Kunyi really waits for that day, her status will be the same as that of the granddaughter of Marquis Zhongzhen, both of them will be the wives of Zhang Shikang.

After hearing this, Queen Zhou was still somewhat worried. She thought for a moment and said:

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid some people in the court will make irresponsible remarks."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately said angrily:

"Who dares? I will kill all three of his clans!"

……

Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was the tenth day of the second month of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen.

During this month, Zhang Shikang continued to run around various government offices. Of course, as a qualified hands-off boss, Zhang Shikang would set up shop at home whenever he had free time.

Apart from that, he would occasionally take Zhu Cilang and his sister out for a walk. Kunyi had returned to her original state, and Zhang Shikang didn't take it too seriously.

On this day, Zhang Shikang brought his brother and sister to the Manufacturing General Administration not far from the Xishan Camp.

After fourteen months of intensive construction, the General Manufacturing Bureau is now basically completed.

Today is a good day for all the craftsmen in Xishan Camp to relocate, and it is also a good day for Zhang Shikang to announce the official establishment of the Manufacturing General Administration.

After two years of development, the General Administration of Manufacturing now has more than 2,000 craftsmen of various types, and is still continuously recruiting.

These more than 2,000 craftsmen had previously been crowded into a dozen or so workshops of various types in the Xishan Camp. Although it was not crowded, the overall conditions were very shabby.

The overall relocation now also means that the craftsmen will now have the best working and research conditions.

The entire Manufacturing General Administration covers an area of 1,200 acres. In order to occupy as little fertile land as possible, one-third of the buildings of the Manufacturing General Administration were built on the hillside of West Mountain.

Of course, almost all of the buildings located halfway up the mountain are research institutes used for scientific research. In addition to occupying less fertile land, this is also for the sake of technical confidentiality and the safety of senior science and engineering talents.

The entire General Administration of Manufacturing is surrounded by high walls and is divided into three major areas. Entering through the gate is the office area of the General Administration of Manufacturing, which is divided into four parts: the Industrial and Agricultural Bureau, the Ordnance Bureau, the Firearms Bureau and the Shipbuilding Bureau.

On the left is the living area. The General Manufacturing Bureau provides different residences for most craftsmen according to their levels. Rows of wooden buildings are in good order.

The space on the right is the largest, which is where several workshops directly under the General Manufacturing Administration are located, including the glass workshop, musket workshop, artillery workshop, cold weapon workshop, etc.

At the innermost part, there are many research institutes built on the hillside. There are more than a dozen exquisite attics built around the research institutes. That is a treatment only available to senior talents in the research institutes.

People like Song Yingxing, Bi Maokang, Wang Zheng, etc. all lived around the research institute halfway up the mountain.

There is a separate wall outside the institute, and there are soldiers on duty at the gate, and both walls are patrolled by soldiers at all times.

As this place is very close to the Xishan Camp, 100,000 guards take turns to guard the Manufacturing General Administration inside and out.

The gate of the General Administration of Manufacturing is even more imposing, especially the huge plaque on it.

The plaque was inscribed with eight large gold-plated characters "Great Ming Imperial Manufacturing General Bureau" in vigorous and powerful strokes. It was Zhang Shikang who asked his brother Chongzhen to write it personally.

In order to highlight the majesty of the royal family, Zhang Shikang also asked his brother Chongzhen to press the seal of the imperial jade seal on the lower right side of the character.

There were also soldiers guarding outside the gate of the General Administration of Manufacturing. Only those who showed their badge of the General Administration of Manufacturing were allowed to pass.

However, the guards responsible for security were very respectful to the Ming craftsmen coming in and out, all thanks to Zhang Shikang's good propaganda work.

Zhang Shikang often told the soldiers of the Guards that only if the Manufacturing General Administration developed more powerful weapons could they minimize losses on the battlefield and win the battle.

Before this, both the craftsmen and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were almost at the bottom of the contempt chain.

Nowadays, the status of both the soldiers and craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty has made a qualitative leap.

The soldiers also knew that Zhang Shikang was telling the truth. It was because the craftsmen of the Manufacturing General Bureau had invented the instantaneous muskets and large-caliber copper cannons that they were able to achieve an overwhelming victory over the bandits.

The craftsmen of the General Manufacturing Bureau also knew that they and the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were interdependent. When the things they developed and improved provided support for the revival of the Ming Dynasty, they would receive the rewards they deserved.

For example, Mao Yuanyi and Bi Maokang were awarded the title of baron for developing and improving firearms, and many other craftsmen were rewarded for improving other weapons.

In short, all the craftsmen who entered the General Manufacturing Bureau had expectations for the future on their faces and were full of energy.

Half an hour later, most of the craftsmen had put their belongings into the assigned houses and came to the open space in the middle of the Manufacturing General Bureau.

This is a place similar to a military training ground. It was designed to facilitate the Manufacturing General Administration to convene all craftsmen for lectures, meetings, and other celebrations in the future.

Zhang Shikang stood on the high platform in a python robe. He looked around at the craftsmen around him and said to them with a smile on his face:

"I've been waiting for more than a year, and finally this day has come!"

……