The white porridge and pickled mustard is enough, why am I wearing a royal robe?

Chapter 145 Angry Chongzhen

At the end of the first year of Chongzhen, there were scattered snowflakes in the sky, but they were very small. The small ones almost had to raise their heads and look carefully to see that what was falling in the sky was snow.

However, this is a good thing for the people and officials of the capital. The auspicious snow heralds a good year, and everything can be started with this.

Just like the court council at this time.

The officials are all well-connected and know about the major events that have not been resolved recently, either the Liao incident or the disaster in Qinzhong.

They don't have much to do with the former, but the latter is related. Almost all officials have thought about what to say if the emperor asks, such as: Your Majesty, the auspicious snow heralds a good year, and the disaster situation in Shaanxi will definitely improve in the coming year.

"Bring it up."

Emperor Chongzhen glanced outside the hall, and immediately a eunuch walked into the hall holding a cloth bag and carefully bowing his body to meet the eyes of many ministers and emperors.

"Open."

In response, the eunuch opened the cloth bag in his arms, and a touch of green emerged, a green vine-like plant.

"This is?"

"Hong Chengchou, who participated in the political affairs of Shaanxi Province, sent someone to deliver something. He said it was the banker transformed from the Stove King of the rogue pirates in Shaanxi Province. At present, there is a severe drought in the land of Qin, and this plant is growing lush and lush. I am asking you, what is this?"

Emperor Chongzhen did not believe that this was something transformed by the Kitchen King. He thought it was a crop that was dug out from nowhere and was suitable for growing in drought conditions.

That's why he asked.

"This"

The ministers looked at each other. They were all in the capital and were officials of the imperial court. How could they recognize such a rare item from the banker's house?

"Your Majesty, I know."

An old minister stood up from the back.

"Just tell me."

"This thing is called sweet potato. It is a thing spread by foreign countries. It is mostly cultivated in the coastal areas of Guangdong. It is drought-resistant," the old minister said with a cup of his hands. He had been to Guangdong before and had seen this kind of thing.

"No wonder it looks so familiar," Emperor Chongzhen said in his heart. He also knew that sweet potatoes are extremely drought-tolerant, but the people didn't like to plant them. He didn't care at the time, but now he was brought to northern Shaanxi by the Kitchen King.

"As expected, there is something fishy about the Kitchen King. The things he transforms are all rare things brought from various places to deceive the ignorant people."

"Perhaps the transformed food was also a more clever method to deceive Ma Maocai and his followers."

Emperor Chongzhen said in his heart.

"Yes," he nodded, already having some understanding in his heart. From this look, the thing presented by the Shanxi governor should also be a mortal thing.

"Send over the things that Shanxi Governor Geng Ruqi brought urgently from eight hundred miles away."

The ministers all looked surprised. What happened to Shanxi and Shaanxi? Shaanxi presented sweet potatoes, and Shanxi presented something.

There were two more eunuchs, one holding a tray covered with red cloth, and the other holding a five-foot-long object wrapped in red cloth in both hands.

"Open."

The two eunuchs carefully lifted off the red cloth, revealing what was underneath.

On the tray was a bottle-like object with what appeared to be some kind of liquid inside, and another that appeared to be a short spear.

The ministers in the court stared at these two things. The first one was not sure, but the second one was obviously a weapon. Is there anything special about it?

"Governor of Shanxi Province Geng Ruqi said in his memorial that both of them were transformed by Stove King. The former, called mineral water, is a wonderful bottle. It looks like glass, but it is not glass. It is even more light and transparent. There are contents in the bottle. Water has a sweet and refreshing taste, just like a mountain spring. The other thing is the weapon of the Stove King's soldiers. It is a magical weapon, indestructible and invincible. Even if it is placed across two rocks, a strong man will hammer it hard with a huge force. Even if you hammer it, you won't be able to bend it even a hair."

Emperor Chongzhen said slowly.

The ministers could hear clearly. Most of the civil servants focused on the mineral water, while the generals looked at the so-called magic weapons.

The strong man smashed it down with a huge force, but it was still placed horizontally in the air, and it didn't bend. How is this possible?

"I have tried both, and what Shanxi Governor Geng Zhangguang said is true."

What Emperor Chongzhen said next made the ministers even more surprised.

"Does any of you know what materials these two things are made of? Or do you think these things should only exist in the sky?"

Emperor Chongzhen asked, with a tone that could not be heard as happy or angry, but everyone knew that it could never be said that "this thing should only exist in the sky." Wouldn't that mean that it was the transformation of the Stove King?

That Kitchen King is a god.

After the sweet potato incident above, the smart ones have already guessed what Emperor Chongzhen meant.

Emperor Chongzhen stared at the ministers. He had tested these two things. The mineral water bottle was magical, and so was the magic weapon. He was certain that there was no weapon in the Ming Dynasty that could compare with the magic weapon. Of course, this magic weapon Forging is somewhat difficult, but this also further proves its preciousness. The most important thing is that Chongzhen tried it with firearms, but it was still useless. This means that if these magical weapons are used to forge armor, it will be the best in the world. Strong armor.

This made Emperor Chongzhen very angry. These magical weapons were very important to the Ming Dynasty, but they were in the hands of rogue bandits.

"What? You've never seen it before? Could it be that my great Ming couldn't find this thing?"

Emperor Chongzhen frowned slightly, his heart already filled with rage.

"Your Majesty," Cheng Jiming saw something was wrong and hurriedly said: "I think that since there are specialties in the art, we might as well call in craftsmen to see who can know about this thing, whether it is the mineral water or the magic weapon, or whether it is the magic weapon. Build this thing.”

Emperor Chongzhen didn't have many ideas to begin with. If the ministers in the court didn't know what to do, he would probably have to change a group of people. Now that someone was giving suggestions, he thought about it a little and found that it was indeed the case.

There are specialties in the arts. When discussing these things with a group of civil servants and military generals, it is normal for them not to know. After all, civil servants are responsible for politics and people's livelihood. Although military generals are accompanied by weapons and armor every day, you asked him to talk about the smelting or forging of weapons. , all of which are asking one question and not knowing the other.

"Okay, come, call all the blacksmiths in the palace and around."

Emperor Chongzhen gave the order.

In the palace and the imperial city, although the emperor's orders cannot be said to be casual, basically after the order is given, his subordinates can complete it quickly.

Twenty craftsmen were brought to the court within an hour.

A group of people were trembling and had no idea what was going on. They were also ordered to take food with them. Generally, when a group of craftsmen are called over, it often means that something big has happened. These big things are basically of that kind. It's a job that will cost you your head if you don't do it well.

"Show them," Emperor Chongzhen pointed to the short spear held in the eunuch's hand.

The eunuch responded, then hunched over and held the short spear and handed it to the leading craftsman.

The craftsmen knew that their heads were hooked to this five-foot-long short spear. Although they didn't know what they were looking at, they had to look at it carefully, over and over, and remember it in their minds.

They gathered around and looked carefully at the five-foot-long short spear, which had threads on it and traces of sudden fire and forging on the tip.

They looked at each other and could only tell that it seemed to be fine iron, but it didn't look like it. They couldn't knock it out and test it. After all, such a solemn court was surrounded by huge rocks. Officials, the emperor of the dynasty sat in the middle.

"Does any of you know where this thing is made, and can anyone forge it?" "Whoever calls out his name, I will reward you with a thousand acres of fertile land. If he can forge it, I will reward you with a hundred taels of gold and a thousand taels of silver."

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and announced the reward.

Most of the craftsmen below have a glint in their eyes. They have thousands of acres of land just by their names, and they can even get a hundred taels of gold and two taels of silver when they are forged. This wealth will directly bless three generations!

However, some old craftsmen sighed in their hearts. The higher the reward, the more serious the punishment would be if they couldn't do it.

"If a group of you can't name it, or if you can't forge it within the stipulated time in the future, then what's the point of keeping you? Ask and kill them all."

Emperor Chongzhen was very angry, so he showed no mercy to these craftsmen.

If it can't be created, it will die.

"Hurry up and show your skills in front of me."

Seeing these craftsmen trembling so hard that they almost peed their pants with fear, Chongzhen felt a flash of fire in his heart and shouted fiercely.

A group of craftsmen immediately reacted and gathered around.

Wang Shang is the oldest and most skilled among the group. He is a lean old man. He knows how to forge an ordinary iron tool, how much fire to use, and how to forge it with just one strike. Refining.

Everyone looked at him, and Wang Shang also understood. He took the short spear, then took out the small hammer hanging from his waist and struck the spear body.

"when."

There was a crisp sound, Wang Shang tilted his ears, and his brows condensed into a knot. He had already seen some clues from the color of the spear tip. This was probably not something they could forge.

After knocking like this, he had no clue. He had been blacksmithing for most of his life. He was about to be buried in the grave and was still doing this, but he had never seen such iron tools.

He sighed and shook his head slightly. He couldn't make this thing. He never thought that his life would be tied to an iron tool that he had never seen before. Sure enough, the reward was rich and the iron tool was hard to find.

Seeing Wang Shang shaking his head, everyone's expressions suddenly changed.

"I'll give it a try." Someone was unwilling to accept it, and took the short spear and struck it with his own weapon, but failed to leave any trace on the spear.

The spear was extremely strong, the strongest they had ever seen.

They don't recognize this thing, and I'm afraid they can't build it, but the emperor will definitely give them time. At the moment, they may only be able to find ways to delay time, and then think of a solution.

A group of people murmured for a while.

"Do any of you recognize it?"

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this group of people discussing for a long time, he knew that the result might not be good.

After everyone hesitated, Wang Shang stood up. He knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, we have never seen such hard iron."

"I'll give you a month to make one."

Emperor Chongzhen said patiently, but the ministers in the court already knew that Chongzhen was on the verge of going berserk.

"This"

"If we return to the emperor, we will do our best and fight to the death."

Someone was smart and climbed up on his knees. He hurriedly said, "If you can't make it, you will die now. If you can, if you can't make it, you will die a month later. If you are lucky, you can make it." of glory and wealth.

"Take this spear off. If you can't make it in a month, I will kill all of you!"

"Take it out!"

Emperor Chongzhen ordered special supervisors to watch these people to prevent anyone from escaping, or to replace the short spear, or even take them away together to abscond.

Not long after, another group of people came. They were glass craftsmen in the city.

Emperor Chongzhen asked these people to take a look at the mineral water bottle.

These craftsmen were also extremely surprised. They had never seen such a magical thing.

"Your Majesty, this object is not glass, it is more like a pulled out candy man or something like that."

The craftsman didn't know how to describe it. This thing was very thin, transparent, soft when pinched, and could deform and change back again.

It looks like it's made with sugar, but it's not.

They had never seen such a magical thing in their entire lives.

"If you can't make it in a month, you will die."

The veins on Emperor Chongzhen's forehead throbbed, and he was extremely angry. Not even one of his craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty knew what the materials for these things were, let alone the ones who made them.

"Could it be said that my Ming Dynasty is not as good as a Kitchen King?"

Emperor Chongzhen shouted sharply.

The ministers in the court were all in fear.

"emperor."

When Hubu Shangshu Lai Zongdao saw that Chongzhen might vent his anger indiscriminately to the court, he hurriedly stood up and said, "I think it is better to summon the craftsmen from all over the world. This thing is magical. Maybe it is like the sweet potato and belongs to the outside world." ."

"Some of the strange and obscene techniques in the extravaganza are indeed unique."

"Calling the craftsmen of the world together? Ha!"

Emperor Chongzhen sneered and stared at these ministers, "The Stove King is in the land of Qin. He is a rogue. I don't know what method he used to transform things, but I have to summon the craftsmen from the entire Ming Dynasty to find out, understand or forge them." Someone who came out?"

"Waifan's strange and obscene skills? Then why does the Stove King possess it, huh? The communication between Waifan and our Ming Dynasty is not on the south coast of the coast, but in the hinterland of Qinzhong?"

Emperor Chongzhen asked rhetorical questions. Such rhetorical questions were so powerful that cold sweat flowed from the backs of a group of ministers.

"Then what does Yang He do for food? He hasn't taken down the bandit yet, and even allowed him to escape to Shanxi!"

Emperor Chongzhen thought of this incident. The last time Yang He went to court, he was still saying good things. Now he received news from Qinzhong, and it turned out to be like this

"Somebody come!"

"According to my decree, I sent a patrol censor to see what Yang He was doing. Tell him that if he can't take down the Kitchen King within a month, he will tie his hands and return to the capital to be imprisoned! If he can't do it, I will replace him with someone else. Come!"

(End of this chapter)