Chapter 41: Wailing at the Palace

Although before the transmigration the programmer Zhu Xiaosong was a weakling with a combat power of five, he did transmigrate into the body of the Chongzhen Emperor, didn't he?

The excited Chongzhen could not be bothered with the dignity of an emperor; he picked up the big hammer from the ground and swung it at that gray, grimy lump of cement.

There was only a dull "thud," and Chongzhen's arm had already gone numb.

The current Chongzhen was skilled in both letters and martial arts, and the strength of his arms far exceeded that of ordinary men, yet he was still shaken until his arm went numb, which showed just how solid this lump of cement was.

Throwing aside the big hammer that weighed more than twenty jin, and shaking his hands, whose thumb-webs ached faintly from the shock, Chongzhen said, "Excellent! We did not expect you to produce this thing so quickly. Is this substance troublesome to make? What is the output like?"

It was still the leader, Zhao Da, who answered first: "In reply to Your Majesty, this substance is quite easy to produce. It is only that the temperature required in the furnace is rather high.

If we take this place in the palace as an example, the daily yield is only a little over a hundred jin."

Over a hundred jin a day? If We expand the scale, can We produce a ton a day? If the daily output reached over a hundred tons, then would money not be everywhere? Once We have money, We could crush a small fry like Hong Taiji to death just by throwing money at him!

Thinking of this, Chongzhen asked, "If We gave you enough able-bodied laborers, could you produce two thousand jin a day?"

Zhao Da said, "In reply to Your Majesty, if there are enough hands, then even producing three thousand jin a day is possible. It is only that it would occupy an extremely large area, which would be unfavorable to the secrecy Your Majesty requires."

Chongzhen said, "This matter is easy. We shall allot a piece of land to you in the imperial estate south of the capital. You must research other mixing ratios and uses for this substance, and you must also study how to increase its output. This substance must be capable of mass production."

After a pause, he said to the assembled craftsmen, "This time you have rendered great merit to the state. We said before that We would not stint on bestowing noble titles to reward your merit.

Zhao Da, Liu Cheng, and Zhou Zheng are enfeoffed as County Viscounts; the rest are made County Barons. The edict of reward will be read at your homes by imperial envoys tomorrow."

Once the craftsmen had left the palace, Chongzhen said to Wei Zhongxian, "Send someone to notify Tian Ergeng and have him dispatch men to protect the craftsmen and their families.

Your Western Depot must also send men to stand guard, to prevent certain people from being driven to desperate measures and using their families as leverage to seize the formula for this cement."

Only then did Wei Zhongxian understand how important this thing called cement was in Chongzhen's heart. A chill ran through him, and he hurriedly bowed and said, "This slave obeys the decree.

Only, Imperial Lord, this thing was created under Your direction, so why not simply call it Chongzhen Cement? Once later generations mention it, would they not all recall the goodness of the Imperial Lord?"

Chongzhen knew perfectly well that Wei Zhongxian was flattering him, but being flattered felt comfortable, and his heart was secretly pleased. Why should the cement of later ages be called something like Portland cement? In the Great Ming, this is Chongzhen Cement!

Chongzhen laughed and said, "Enough. We shall do as you old thing says, and call it Chongzhen Cement."

After a pause, he added, "Send someone to the Grand Secretariat and summon Wen Tiren, Shi Fenglai, and also the Minister of Revenue Guo Yunhou to an audience."

But before Wei Zhongxian had even made the arrangements, a duty officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, one of the Han generals, came to report: "Your Majesty, outside the Eastern Prosperity Gate, there are censors wailing at the palace!"

Chongzhen, whose mood had just been thoroughly pleased, could no longer feel pleased.

Even thinking with his backside, he could tell what palace these dog-fart censors were wailing about!

They were relying on the Great Ming tradition, dating from the Renzong Emperor Zhu Gaochi onward, of treating scholars generously, and relying on the fact that the original Chongzhen, during his time in the Prince of Xin's residence, had also treated scholars with special generosity, to come and make trouble for him, the Chongzhen Emperor!

Seeing the reporting Han general kneeling on the ground without rising, with an expression of wanting to speak but hesitating, Chongzhen roared, "What else is there? Say it all at once!"

The Han general said, "In reply to Your Majesty, there are also many government students from the Imperial Academy and the Hongwen Institute among them!"

Chongzhen, who had already been getting angry at hearing of censors wailing at the palace, felt his fury flare up all at once when he heard that government students from the Imperial Academy and the Hongwen Institute were also involved.

Are the affairs of the court something that you government students can meddle in? Have you all treated the Hongwu Emperor's edict that "government students are not permitted" as nothing but air?

The angrier he became, the more furious the Chongzhen Emperor grew, and he immediately said to Wei Zhongxian, "Issue an edict ordering Xu Xianchun to lead the Embroidered Uniform Guard and surround the palace gates.

Order the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, to command the Capital Camps and seal off the imperial city and the inner city.

Not one of these censors and scholars is to escape today! We are going to give this pack of bastards a proper lesson in what it means to be a subject and a student!"

In his fury, Chongzhen did not wait for Wei Zhongxian to go deliver the edict, nor did he care that the Hall of Harmony was in the far north of the Forbidden City while the Eastern Prosperity Gate was far to the south; he simply set off on foot straight for the Eastern Prosperity Gate, so startling the Han general that he hurried to lead the way.

As for those at Chongzhen's side, the ever-icy Eastern Sect Leader never wasted words; in his view, wherever Chongzhen went, he went, and the meaning of his existence was to use his own life to block every danger for Chongzhen.

Wei Zhongxian and Wang Cheng'en also looked at each other in dismay.

Wei Zhongxian hastily ordered men to notify the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Duke of Ying, while Wang Cheng'en ordered men to quickly dispatch the many eunuchs of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses to escort and protect the emperor, and then the two of them broke into a jog to chase after the Chongzhen Emperor.

When he emerged from the Eastern Prosperity Gate and saw those censors and government students sitting on the ground, Chongzhen suddenly stopped being angry.

Or rather, the Chongzhen Emperor, who had already made up his mind to make rivers of blood flow today, simply no longer cared what these people would cry out.

Seeing Chongzhen come out, the censors and government students outside the palace all at once grew excited, and after shouting "Long live the Emperor," they began discussing among themselves.

"His Majesty heard our cries, and that is why he came out of the palace to see us!"

"Today we must urge His Majesty to execute the traitors of the state! Otherwise the Great Ming is in peril."

"Indeed, today we must remonstrate with His Majesty, that he must not lose his ambition in playthings! He absolutely must not, like the late emperor, sink into obsession with objects!"

"The present Son of Heaven is sage and wise, only it is hard to avoid being deceived by others. In my view, it must be those craftsmen who lured His Majesty, and only then did His Majesty set aside the realm and the altars of state to go tinker with that lime cement or whatever it is!"

"Do we scholars read the books of the sages for any purpose other than that one day we may uphold the realm and remonstrate with our sovereign?"

"Brother Wang speaks truly! Today we must remonstrate with His Majesty, execute the traitors of the state, and reflect upon ourselves! Even if blood is splashed three feet high, we will not begrudge it!"

Listening to these government students' discussions, Chongzhen suddenly felt a surge of sorrow in his heart.

Were the government students of the Great Ming all like this? Every one of them thinking only of becoming an official, their blood heating up the moment someone incited them, yet never thinking about how to actually uphold the realm.

And now, it had even developed to the point of wailing at the palace! The censors were one thing, but the government students?

Did everyone truly no longer take the Hongwu Emperor's Grand Pronouncements seriously?

Chongzhen was furious in his heart, but his face showed nothing. He merely asked, "For what matter have you all come?"

Turning his head, he said to the many government students, "Why are you not studying properly, and instead joining in this nonsense? Do you know that this is the gate of the imperial palace?"

The recommendation effect is still there. But it's in second place. Brothers, rise up and take down the little lady above!

Also, where are the recommendation tickets? Where are the bookmarks? Hand them all over to Us!

(End of Chapter)