After Arei nodded, Emperor Yongle immediately switched from an amiable elder to the ugly face of Party A's father. His demands were very harsh, almost to the point of being colorful black.
"The boat can't be any smaller, it has to be this big." Emperor Yongle pointed at the desk, "It has to be carved with dragons and phoenixes, with a royal look, but not too tacky..."
Arei wrote very quickly, recording the requirements of Emperor Yongle. Gradually, he could not finish writing anymore. It only took him a cup of tea from nodding to giving up.
"Your Majesty, is it too late to withdraw now? I can't do it."
Emperor Yongle saw that he had frightened the little girl into giving up, and realized that he had gone too far. "Move your small workshop at home to the palace. The Western missionaries who can repair clocks and watches, the carpenters and blacksmiths in the Imperial Household Department, etc. in the palace will all be your helpers. You are not alone."
Arei breathed a sigh of relief. She also wanted to take this opportunity to challenge herself, so she continued to write down, "Your Majesty, you said that two little people would pop out from the bow. What do you want them to look like? Do you have a portrait template?"
Emperor Yongle was startled, "This..."
Emperor Yongle looked at Are, who was graceful, confident and composed, and seemed to see the shadow of a person: she was also from a famous family, the eldest daughter of a duke, and she was also fearless. Even her age was about the same.
Emperor Yongle sighed, "I got married at the age of sixteen, and Empress Renxiao was only fourteen. When Empress Renxiao was eighteen, she and I had four children. I remember very clearly that she gave birth to the fourth child, the King of Han, on New Year's Eve. She was weak after giving birth, and my father wanted me to go to Yandi to be a vassal. It was a long journey from the capital to Beijing in Yandi."
"It was fine to take the water route, but the Grand Canal that runs through the north and south has been in disrepair for a long time, so we had to go ashore frequently to take the land route. The carriage was bumpy, and the weather was cold. The mother and the baby had to keep warm, and we were also worried about being suffocated by the smoke from the charcoal basin. Alas, the queen suffered a lot along the way. She was originally a strong woman who dared to ride a horse even when pregnant. After that, she arrived in the capital and rested for more than a year before she felt better."
"While on the boat, I felt sorry for the Queen, so I made a promise to write a memorial to my father, suggesting that the Grand Canal be reopened. If the canal is opened, the people on both sides will benefit greatly, and it will also be convenient to transport food and goods to Yan, thus stabilizing the high grain prices in the north."
When talking about the past, the father's affection was different, his eyes were frighteningly gentle, "The Queen and I have agreed that when the Grand Canal is dredged in the future, we will take a boat south and travel comfortably without having to bump around on land. We will grow old together and enjoy the infinite scenery on both sides of the Grand Canal."
"We even swore an oath by high-five." Emperor Yongle clapped his hands, "Just like this, swearing with palm to palm. Now the canal has been dredged, and grain and timber are transported to the capital day and night to build a new capital. The banks of the canal have regained vitality, and the people are prosperous because they live by the water, but..."
Emperor Yongle's eyes dimmed, "My queen has always kept her word, but she broke her promise in this matter and violated her oath to me."
Unexpectedly, the emperor would also be vulnerable and upset. A Lei said, "It's not that Empress Renxiao wanted to break the appointment. It's not... there's nothing we can do about it."
"Your Majesty means that the two wooden figures that appear on the bow on time represent the Emperor and Empress Renxiao, and use this clock to express grief. The promise that has not been fulfilled in reality can be fulfilled on this ship clock." A Lei quickly changed the subject, "I made the wooden figures to look about three-quarters like the young Emperor and Empress, how do you think?"
Arei hit upon Emperor Yongle's little thoughts.
Emperor Yongle took Are to a small study room, where hung a portrait of Empress Renxiao when she was young. She had a girl's hairstyle, probably before she got married.
"I have known the Empress since we were young. She rode on a bamboo horse to meet me, and played with my green plums around my bed. At fourteen she became my wife, but her face was still shy. At fifteen she began to frown, and we were willing to be together in the dust. That year we became parents. We thought we would grow old together, but I didn't get to see her gray hair, and I grew old alone."
Emperor Yongle ordered his men to set up the desk and write, "Trace this portrait."
Arei agreed and copied the picture carefully, completing it at dusk.
Emperor Yongle looked at it and nodded with satisfaction, "I don't have the appearance of my youth, but the Prince of Han is very similar to me when I was young. You can draw according to his model."
Zhu Zhanhe was busy helping Zhu Zhanji train young soldiers. These young soldiers were not military personnel and had no martial arts foundation. They didn't even know how to hold a knife and actually pointed the blade at themselves.
Some of them were even so stupid that they couldn't tell left from right when they were in formation, and walked with their hands and feet synced. To call them a mob is an insult to the crows.
After a month, we couldn't even successfully demonstrate the simplest flying goose formation. We were scattered and didn't look like wild geese, but more like chickens. When we changed the formation, you kicked my butt and I stepped on your shoes. The scene was as chaotic as porridge.
"Don't get close to me!"
"Kid! You're the kid who's fallen down!"
"You were the one who kicked my ass just now? Come over here and fight!"
"You are just a goose head that can't be twisted!"
The young soldiers were proletarians from all over the country who joined the army just to have enough food to eat. The Chinese people have a deep-rooted attachment to their hometown, and few people would be willing to make a living in a foreign land unless they had no chance of survival there.
There were all kinds of accents and dialects, making communication difficult. They had to rely on body language to express themselves, which often led to misunderstandings and group fights. For this reason, Zhu Zhanji took out his own money to give each of them a copy of "Hongwu Zhengyun" to correct pronunciation in order to eliminate the difficult-to-understand dialect accents. However, Zhu Zhanji soon found that these books were of no use. They were basically used to pad table corners, bed legs, and even to roll cigarettes.
Zhu Zhanji then realized that almost no one in this group of people was literate, and many of them could not even write their own names. The "Hongwu Zhengyun" he published was like a wink to a blind man.
The formation was a complete failure. Zhu Zhanhe rode a horse to separate several pairs of fighters, then went to the stage to report to his eldest cousin.
Zhu Zhanhe looked ashamed, "Your Highness, I have tried my best. It is my incompetence that I failed to train them well and brought shame to Your Highness."
Zhu Zhanhe has become thinner due to exhaustion in this month. In the past, he had not been so tired when he had trained the Tian Ce Guards and had to coordinate artillery, muskets and other combat weapons in battle. The Tian Ce Guards were all the best selected from the military. They were professional soldiers for generations and had practiced martial arts since childhood. They had a family tradition and were able to coordinate quickly.
But Zhu Zhanhe really couldn't lead these young soldiers from all over the world. Some of them were stupid and foolish like mentally retarded, some were scoundrels and slippery and would not listen to any persuasion or trickery. It was simply a concentration camp of mentally retarded, stupid and immature people.
Zhu Zhanhe felt that he was about to collapse, and asked the Crown Prince to face the reality as soon as possible and seek help from others.
But Zhu Zhanji was unwilling to ask his cousin to step down, because except for this silly brother, everyone was laughing at the joke of the Crown Prince and Young Army. Young Army's endless incidents every day had become a must-talk topic for the imperial guards in the capital.
The 28,000 young soldiers on the playground below the stage were like 28,000 ferocious, stupid and belligerent geese. At this level, 1,000 regular troops could wipe them out.
The team was not presentable and embarrassed. Zhu Zhanji comforted his cousin, "It's okay, take your time, I'm not in a hurry."
I was so anxious! Zhu Zhanhe had already turned from a puddle of anger into a pufferfish. Given time, he would probably turn into a dolphin.
Zhu Zhanhe said, "I suggest that we postpone their training on how to use firearms and other weapons to avoid hurting our own people. Let them practice sword, saber and staff techniques first."
Thinking of the miserable end of the 28,000 copies of "Hongwu Zhengyun" and the waste of natural resources by the young army, Zhu Zhanji nodded heavily, "I understand."
"So now—" Zhu Zhanhe pointed at the lively scene of 28,000 geese pecking at each other in the playground and asked, "What should we do next?"
Zhu Zhanji looked at the sky and realized it was still early for lunch. "Let them line up and run until lunch time."
Zhu Zhanhe asked: "What about the afternoon?"
Zhu Zhanji had a headache. He was the crown prince who had been tested in the power field for a long time. He thought that training soldiers was easy and he just needed to practice. He was also familiar with various military strategies. But the actual operation was completely different. As long as he worked hard, he could grind an iron rod into a needle. But what should he do if there was rotten wood in front of him
You can only change people.
But Emperor Yongle specified that only young soldiers were needed and that they could not be selected from military households. It was not until now that Zhu Zhanji understood the good intentions of his grandfather and that he really wanted to train and temper him.
When Zhu Zhanji was at a loss, A Lei came wearing men's clothes.
Did she come to see me laugh too? Zhu Zhanji's self-esteem was hurt, but A Lei had no interest in these geese pecking at each other. He just said hello to Zhu Zhanji and took Zhu Zhanhe away.
Zhu Zhanji was hit again and followed him shamelessly. Zhu Zhanhe asked, "Are you not going to supervise them running?"
"You just run around like an idiot. War is not about who can run faster. I don't want to watch it anymore." Zhu Zhanji asked A Lei, "What are you doing here?"
A Lei pointed at Zhu Zhanhe and said, "Find him."
Zhu Zhanji regretted asking this question, as he was really asking for trouble.
A Lei asked Zhu Zhanhe to sit down and took out a pen and paper to draw his portrait. Zhu Zhanhe was flattered and said, "Wait, I'll go wash my face."
Zhu Zhanhe hurried to wash and dress himself. Zhu Zhanji was so jealous that his teeth were sore. "Why don't you draw me? I... am not as pretty as him?"
A Lei said: "You don't look like the emperor as much as he does..."
Even though A Lei explained the specific reason, Zhu Zhanji was still not satisfied and continued to ask: "Who is better looking, me or him?" This is what he cared about most.
No matter what era, there is always the question "Who is more handsome, me or Mr. Xu in the north of the city?"
A Lei: "We are from the same roots, you are all okay, there are not many ugly people in your Zhu family."
Zhu Zhanji stretched out his palm and said, "Fingers are all different in length. Who is better looking, me or my second cousin?"
Are hesitated for a moment, "Truthfully?"
Zhu Zhanji had a bad feeling, but still nodded, "Tell the truth." It was like a hangnail on your finger. Even though you know it will hurt, you still can't help but pull it out.
Are said: "You."
Zhu Zhanji has been thin since he was a child, and Mu Chun, who had just recovered from a serious illness, was also thin. The two were of the same type. A Lei was used to his father Mu Chun's appearance at home, and felt that Zhu Zhanji's thin face with clear contours was more pleasing to the eye.
Zhu Zhanhe washed his face and tied his hair up again. There was no hair oil in the army, and birds of a feather flock together. He imitated the rough men in the young army and spat twice into his palms. He rubbed his palms together, gathered the loose hair on his head, and his bun was shiny with oil.
There were no mirrors in the army. He faced the reflection of the dagger, opened his mouth wide, showing his full set of teeth, and checked whether there were any remnants of the fennel and meat buns he had eaten in the morning.
After Zhu Zhanhe finished tidying up, he went back to ask A Lei to paint well, but he saw that his eldest cousin was behaving out of character and was grinning foolishly at A Lei.
It’s over, it’s over. The Crown Prince was so angry at the young army that he became stupid.
Just as A Lei was about to start painting, Zhu Zhanji reached out and said, "Let me do it. My painting skills are a little better than yours."
Although Are directly said that he was handsome, Zhu Zhanji was still jealous and didn't want Are to stare at his cousin.
A Lei spent a long time drawing yesterday and was a little tired today, so he handed the brush to him and said, "You don't have to draw it too well, just make it 30% like it."
Model Zhu Zhanhe said it was no problem, "It doesn't matter whether it looks like the real me or not, just don't make me look ugly."
It seems that beauty effects are extremely popular regardless of the era and whether men or women.
In this way, Are started the design and development work in the temporary studio in the palace, just to satisfy the regret that Emperor Yongle could never realize.
In July, after more than two years of sailing, eunuch Zheng He's fleet returned. The large ship stopped at Taicang Port in Suzhou. Are put down his work, went to the Taicang Port Pier, and boarded the large ship.
"You have grown into a big girl." Eunuch Zheng He welcomed her warmly and pointed to the packed cabin. "Take whatever you want."
Arei rubbed his hands and said, "I have to take my time to choose. Don't feel bad, Eunuch Zheng He."
As the two were talking and laughing, a Kunlun slave with his upper body naked, a golden collar on his neck and head, barefoot and wearing a skirt, slowly walked out of the cabin leading a huge creature. This creature was noble and proud, just like the ancient mythical beasts recorded in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". Arei was stunned.
Eunuch Zheng He said: "This is a Qilin, which was presented to the emperor by the Malin and other countries as tribute."
In the 13th year of the Yongle reign, Emperor Yongle led hundreds of civil and military officials to watch the Qilin (giraffe) in Chengtian Hall (now Exit 3 of Nanjing Metro Line 2).
According to historical records, the Qilin has a front leg height of nine feet, a hind leg height of six feet, a neck of six feet, two short fleshy horns on its head, a cow's tail and a deer's body, and eats millet and bean flour cakes. No one can ride it.
The author has something to say: As usual, when handing out lunch boxes, sprinkle some candy first.
From now until the end, I will give out 100 red envelopes for every new chapter I update. Thank you for your companionship. From October 23 last year to now, it has been very hard for you to follow the article and wait for updates every day. I have no way to repay you. Thank you for the red envelopes. Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
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