It was too difficult to get anything done; he only wanted the rocket blueprints and not the stars in the sky, yet it felt as arduous as undergoing a heavenly tribulation.
If it takes forever for the Eastern Palace Attendants to be fully assembled, he would have no choice but to give up on the blueprints and find a way to have someone bring him the actual object to take apart and examine.
Calculating his favorability and trust level with Zhu Yousong, if he didn't use the maps but instead had them disassembled to take a look without touching them throughout the process.. perhaps it might work.
If he wanted to be more secure, he would have to continue increasing the favorability and trust levels, which meant the gambling game would have to be even more perfected.
The result of these improvements was that Zhu Ci constantly painted grand visions for Zhu Yousong; through his descriptions, Zhu Yousong could almost see himself charging into battle with heroic bearing.
Although he wouldn't absurdly grant himself a title like "Great General," he had absolutely no resistance to the idea of leading troops into battle, even if it was entirely without danger.
It was just that every time he was asked, the answer was always that work had not yet begun.
There was no way to start work. To begin, blueprints were required, but the problem was that the blueprints in Zhu Ci's hands changed every single day, not to mention that the Construction Bureau had no way to communicate with the Crown Prince in a timely manner.
They did not have the right to enter and leave the Imperial Palace freely. Never mind them; even the Minister of Works had to wait for a summons to enter the palace; otherwise, he could only move about in the area where the officials conducted their business.
Zhu Yousong was extremely dissatisfied with the efficiency of Grand Secretary Ma and the Grand Chancellor. Why hadn't the arrangements been made yet? It was delaying the progress!
Under the Emperor's urging, the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel were actually unusually swift for once.
Zhu Ci sat in the Eastern Palace study looking at the list of trusted subordinates. When he saw that the Grand Heir's Office official was Gao Lin, the grandson of Gao Hongtu, the Junior Grand Heir was Ma Tai, the grandson of Ma Shiying, he knew the Donglin Party had won this round by a small margin.
As for the remaining people.. He did not know much about the imperial court, nor could he easily distinguish which were members of the Grand Secretary's Party and which were members of the Donglin Party.
But in his eyes, they were all the same—nothing more than tools.
Author's Note:
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Zhu Ci: I don't care about your party or that party, when you come to me, I'm the one in charge! Evil kitty looking down from on high. jpg
Next update tomorrow at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 13
The Eastern Palace Attendants had finally gathered, so the necessary procedures naturally had to be completed—for instance, after the Crown Prince was established, he would host a banquet for the Eastern Palace Attendants.
Even though it was over a month late, the formal procedures had finally been completed.
During this time, he also observed Gao Lin and Ma Tai closely.
What surprised him was that the two of them seemed quite close; it was only through the constant clinking of wine cups that he learned they often went together to visit courtesans, play cricket, watch horse racing.
Zhu Ci understood; the relationship between Gao Lin and Ma Tai was perhaps the reason why Ma Shiying had taken a step back.
After all, Gao Lin did not look like someone with much ability.
Zhu Ci picked up his wine cup and said, "From now on, the Eastern Palace will be relying on Ziyong and Zhongqing."
Gao Lin's courtesy name was Ziyong, Ma Tai's was Zhongqing. Neither of them was the eldest legitimate grandson of the Gao or Ma families, so their futures were somewhat uncertain; sending them to the Eastern Palace was likely intended to bolster their reputations.
After all, a Grand Heir's Office official is rank three, while a Junior Grand Heir is rank four; once their ranks are elevated, they can be given positions within the imperial court.
However, this is only because the imperial court is currently in chaos; otherwise, they would never have been assigned such core positions within the Eastern Palace.
After all, these two were only about ten years older than Zhu Ci.
After the banquet, Gao Lin and Ma Tai both breathed a sigh of relief; they sensed the scent of their own kind in Zhu Ci—a profligate who excelled at drinking, eating, playing games, but possessed no real skills.
This was quite good; after all, they were experts in this regard, so pleasing the Crown Prince would be no difficult task.
Zhu Ci also breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, these two were playboy sons; if they were truly aloof scholars, he would likely have been forced to become a taciturn Crown Prince.
It wasn't that his acting was poor, but rather that his level of education wouldn't allow him to put on such an act.
When others recited poetry and composed couplets, he could at most recite a few Tang poems or Song lyrics; how was he supposed to strike up a conversation with them?
However.. Zhu Ci looked at the empty shuttlecock and spinning top on the desk and couldn't help but laugh. Was he being coaxed like a child by Gao Lin and Ma Tai?
He nudged the spinning top, thinking that being a child was actually quite good. After all, who would believe that a child spends every day thinking of nothing but regicide, rebellion, or running away? Even if he were running away, it would only be to better facilitate a rebellion.
Especially when he dragged Gao Lin and Ma Tai along to play in the Eastern Palace, it caused the Left and Right Junior Scholars of the Spring Workshops to shake their heads and sigh. Oh, this Junior Scholar was an official of the Eastern Palace, a fifth-rank position, subordinate only to the Grand Heir's Office and the Junior Grand Heir.
The Left Junior Scholar particularly could not stand the Grand Heir and the Junior Grand Heir. The Left Spring Workshop was originally responsible for the Crown Prince's education in classics and history, but as a result, the Crown Prince had no interest in studying. Instead, he was led around to play every day by the Grand Heir and the Junior Grand Heir, would even go out of the palace to play. How could he perform his duties? If the Crown Prince's education in classics and history was deemed inadequate, wouldn't it be because the Left Junior Scholar's own level was insufficient? When that time came, wouldn't he lose his official position?
The Left Junior Scholar truly could not bear it anymore and had once offered direct remonstrance, but what could he do when Gao Lin and Ma Tai held higher official ranks than him?
The Left Junior Scholar was turned away before he could even see the Crown Prince.
Zhu Ci was not entirely ignorant of this, he was quite happy to avoid studying.
At this time, one had to admit that being a useless Crown Prince was actually quite nice. If he were to become an ambitious Crown Prince, he would have to study those classics. Just thinking about the Ming Dynasty's famous eight-legged essays.. forget it, poetry and prose won't save the Great Ming!
However, because the Eastern Palace also held concurrent positions as court officials, this Left Junior Scholar had a fairly good relationship with a certain Censor. After complaining to this Censor, the Censor's eyes gleamed, he immediately filed an impeachment against the Crown Prince.
"I'll tell Grandfather to replace him as soon as I get back!" Gao Lin was furious. His subordinates had conspired with a Censor to impeach the Crown Prince; how could he show his face to the Crown Prince again?
Zhu Ci was delighted to his heart's content.
What a brilliant and masterful impeachment.
No matter how well he spoke or how cautiously he acted, it might not be as effective as a Censor's impeachment.
He hurriedly said, "There is no need for that. As for Censors, they are most skilled at reporting rumors and grasping at shadows. It is not necessarily because the Left Junior Scholar said something; besides, even if he did, what of it? Can we stop him from speaking? I do not care; as long as Imperial Father does not reprimand me, let him impeach me. Rest assured, if Imperial Father asks, I will say I asked you to play with me, it will not affect your futures."
Gao Lin and Ma Tai exchanged a glance, feeling deeply moved.
While they were still worrying that the Crown Prince might be scolded or even cause the Emperor to take a dislike to him, the Crown Prince was actually worrying about their future.
Just as Gao Lin was about to say something, Ge Xudong rushed in and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty has summoned you."
Gao Lin and Ma Tai looked at Zhu Ci with immediate concern, but Zhu Ci stood up and comforted them, saying, "There is no need to worry, there is nothing to be done. At most, Imperial Father will just scold me for a bit."
Zhu Ci went all the way to Wuying Hall, where political affairs were currently being discussed.
Just as he said, he had been summoned here only to be scolded.
While discussing state affairs, someone brought up the matter of the Crown Prince being impeached.
The Emperor had suppressed the matter for a long time, because it had been suppressed for so long, more and more people were filing complaints.
Ma Shiying and Gao Hongtu finally lost their patience after the two of them spent a long time trying to persuade him.
They wanted a puppet emperor, but they didn't want another emperor this muddled.
In other words, the Emperor must be obedient and quiet.
The Crown Prince is still young and hasn't gone too far astray; he can still be saved!
Of course, the main reason was also because his own grandson had appeared in the memorial, he was even the ringleader of the troublemakers who led the Crown Prince astray.
This was extremely unfavorable. His grandson's future looked incredibly bright; their generation had the merit of having supported the ascension of the throne, with the grandson growing up alongside the Crown Prince, the family's foundation could be secured for a hundred years. They could not allow it to be ruined by such a trivial matter.
Zhu Yousong had originally intended to downplay the matter and let it pass.
In his eyes, it was perfectly fine for the Crown Prince to just eat, drink, play without any ambition; he was such a perfect Crown Prince.
As a result, there are always some people urging his son to be more ambitious.
What is the use of the Crown Prince being so ambitious? Does he want to usurp the throne?
At this moment, Zhu Yousong had already become wary; he had always been close to Ma Shiying, but his relationship with Gao Hongtu was relatively ordinary.
It was Ma Shiying who had supported him initially, bringing him directly to Nanjing. At that time, the officials in Nanjing were still debating whom to enthrone as Emperor, but because Ma Shiying had seized the initiative, they had no choice but to enthrone him as Emperor.
Gao Hongtu is likely very dissatisfied with him as Emperor. Could it be.. that he wants to cultivate a Crown Prince of his own choosing?
Considering Gao Lin is the Junior Grand Heir's Office, was Gao Lin's recent performance not intended to pacify the Crown Prince?
Zhu Yousong thought a lot about it, but he could not completely ignore the opinions of the court officials on this matter. In the end, he could only call the Crown Prince over to reprimand him in a half-hearted manner.
Zhu Ci stood there obediently and took the scolding. Once the small imperial court session ended, he followed the Emperor all the way to Wenhua Hall, murmuring as they walked, "Imperial Father, I truly cannot bear to read those books. Besides, what is the use of reading them? I won't be taking the imperial examinations."
Zhu Yousong found this very agreeable. Since there were only father and son on the road at this moment, he did not bother to hide his thoughts and said directly, "If you can't do it, then just pretend to do it. Stop running outside the palace every day. What exactly is so much fun out there?"
Zhu Ci said somewhat sheepishly, "As the year-end approaches, many merchants have started selling fireworks, so I went to take a look out of curiosity."
Zhu Yousong said with an air of indifference, "How can commoners' fireworks compare to those in the palace?"
Zhu Ci nodded and said, "Yes, I will be more restrained lately so as not to cause any trouble for my Imperial Father."
Zhu Yousong turned around, patted Zhu Ci's shoulder, said, "There is no need to be too constrained; they are just looking for trouble."
Li Fuguo, following closely behind Zhu Yousong, gave a surprised glance; the scene of this father earnestly educating and then comforting his son seemed strange no matter how one looked at it.
It might not have been much if it happened to anyone else, but seeing it happen to this father and son—specifically to Zhu Yousong—was truly unexpected.
The Crown Prince is.. truly getting a handle on the Emperor's pulse.
Perhaps this Crown Prince can last longer than his two brothers; if he can keep persevering like this, it might not be impossible for him to endure until his ascension to the throne.
After Zhu Ci finished making excuses to Zhu Yousong, he returned to the Eastern Palace and said to Gao Lin and Ma Tai, "I won't be going out for the next couple of days; Imperial Father wants me to behave himself for a while."
Gao Lin felt a bit embarrassed: "Rest assured, Your Highness, I will investigate how the news got out as soon as I return."
Sigh, his grandfather's subordinates had impeached his superior, which made things a bit difficult for him.
Ma Tai also sighed, "My grandfather and my father also gave me a scolding."
Zhu Ci comforted Gao Lin, saying, "There is no need to investigate. The officials of the Eastern Palace are all concurrent officials from the imperial court; there are no secrets in the Eastern Palace, we cannot stop them anyway. Let them impeach if they wish. It is actually a good opportunity for us to take a closer look at the project. I had originally thought about using some fireworks and firecrackers to mimic cannons to make the gambling game feel more like a battlefield, but now it seems that won't work."
As soon as he finished speaking, the rewards from the Emperor arrived, this time, in addition to the familiar gold, silver, jewels, there were also all kinds of fireworks.
The young eunuch delivering the items had a beaming smile on his face and said very respectfully, "Your Highness, His Majesty said you may play as you please, just be careful not to get wet."
Zhu Ci said with a look of pleasant surprise, "Thank you for your grace, Imperial Father."
Half of his surprise was an act, but half was genuine; he hadn't expected the Emperor to actually reward him with fireworks.
It was a pity they were fireworks; if they had been Divine Machine Rockets.. never mind, never mind. If he had dared to say he liked the rockets, he would probably be in prison by now.
"Eh? Why did His Majesty bestow fireworks as a reward?" Ma Tai said, somewhat surprised.
Zhu Ci said casually, "My Imperial Father asked me what fun things there were outside the palace. I couldn't exactly say we went to drink and listen to music, so I just said there were more firework sellers lately and I wanted to go see them. That's how this reward came about."
Gao Lin breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems His Majesty does not blame Your Highness."
Zhu Ci smiled. "It's not like we've committed any crimes; at most, we just haven't been studying. How can that be considered a major offense?"
Ma Tai glanced at the list and said, "Sigh, the fireworks are still the same; there hasn't been much change in recent years."
Zhu Ci thought to himself, with the country in such a state, how could you still be concerned about whether the fireworks have evolved.