Forbidden City, East Palace.

The palace people put down the palace veil curtains, bowed slightly to Chen Mu, who was standing in front of the hall, and gently retreated with his steps.

In accordance with the edict of the Queen Mother, Chen Mu changed his python clothes after entering the palace, put on the military uniform and armor of the Beiyang Military Palace, and met the Queen Mother in Ciqing Palace under the care of four Han generals with golden gourd and carved bows.

Chen Mu had a hunch that Empress Dowager Li came to him this time to scold him, he was fined for two years last time, and he couldn't keep Jing Haibo's food this time.

The four gold-armored Han generals in front of the hall stood still, and could only hear the faint chirping of cicadas in the distance, and from time to time a cool breeze passed through the eaves corridor in front of the hall, bringing some comfort to people in the hot and dry summer.

This is the residence of Wanli before he ascended the throne, sometimes it is the Empress Dowager's Palace, sometimes it is the Empress Dowager's Palace, and now it is used as a place for monthly banquets and lectures.

Chen Mu stood quietly until he heard the footsteps in the hall, although he did not see the phoenix, but the palace eunuch had stepped forward from the back of the palace, and the figure faintly appeared behind the curtain and sat down, he heard the eunuch standing in front of the palace shouting and beckoning him into the palace.

"Foreign Minister Jing Haibo Chen Mu, meet the Empress Dowager Cisheng!"

"No courtesy."

Then came a little scary silence.

The queen mother behind the curtain didn't speak for a long time, so she let Chen Mu stand upright in the hall, and he couldn't raise his eyes to look directly at the curtain rudely, and his head kept thinking about whether to ask him to come over and do something.

At the same time, I still thought about it with bad taste, how would the Queen Mother call herself?

Mourning home? Hongu? Old body?

He didn't know that the Empress Dowager Li behind the curtain had been looking at the armor on his body and the gold armor on the Han general with a scrutinizing gaze, as if she was weighing which of the two armors was more suitable for the ceremony.

The four Han generals, the armor is slightly different, although each posture is mighty, the waist and belly are all red silk, and the top of the head is wearing phoenix wings and red tasseled helmets, but the armor is divided into two kinds, one is the kind of silver scale and gold-edged armor often worn by the chief military officer in the north, and the other is the mountain pattern gold leaf armor, strictly speaking, these two kinds of armor are actually close to the dress, pay attention to decoration, and the appearance of the field standard armor is different.

Chen Mu once inquired with Xu Jue that these Han generals who belonged to Jinyi were also working hard, and they had to return their armor after work every day, wipe and maintain it before they could leave the palace, otherwise they would be punished for it.

After a long time, the queen mother behind the curtain spoke, claiming to be a kind of self-esteem that Chen Mu had never thought of, and also asked a very surprising question, "I never thought that even the armor of the Beiyang New Army was new...... Can this armor block guns? ”

I?

This is as surprising as Zhang Juzheng writing a letter claiming to be a servant.

"Hui Ci Holy Empress Dowager, to this day, as long as the distance is close enough, there is no armor in the world that can completely block the gun, if you want to block the gun, you have to be thick enough, the extremely thick armor is not able to walk, the cuirass worn by the minister can block the gun in thirty steps, such as the inner chain mail, you can not die in twenty steps, ten steps away, there is also a slight possibility of survival."

"This is the most suitable result of the Nanyang Guard Weapons Bureau craftsman and Guangzhou Jiangwutang research after calculation and experimentation to choose the most suitable result between the burden of soldiers and protection."

The 'possibility of survival' in Chen Mu's mouth has nothing to do with the quality of the armor, only luck. At such a close distance, the guns must break the armor and enter the body, and the most common materials are lead and lead, that is, lead and tin, and the trouble caused by not dying on the spot makes many people die.

Empress Dowager Li's tone was a little curious, although she regained her cold voice before she finished speaking, she could still be known: "Calculation, experiment? ”

"Queen Mother Shengming, don't look at the gorgeous decoration, the defense of the armor is related to the thickness of the steel, the thickness of the steel is related to the weight, the same armor shape, sixteen catties and thirty-two catties of defense should be completely different, in order to ensure that the soldiers can wear the armor to fight, march on the premise of trying to make the armor thick, a large number of measurements and make the armor carefully tested."

"I understand, don't say anything about the armor, I have something to ask you." Behind the curtain, Empress Dowager Li seemed to be extremely curious about what she wanted to inquire, and said: "I heard that the first emperor had something to do with Jing Haibo when he was in Beijing, and now the emperor is going to say it again, and when the Oriental Army set sail in Tianjin Dagu, why is Jing Haibo obsessed with the emperor's military parade, which is a matter of labor and money. ”

"Jing Haibo has always done his best for the imperial court, and even though the woman knows that there must be a reason for this, why is this?"

Speaking of Empress Dowager Li's 'dedication' to Chen Mu, it really has nothing to do with Chen Mu solving the problem of money and food for the imperial court in Nanyang.

No matter how good things are done in Nanyang, it has nothing to do with the queen mother in the palace, she lives in the harem and does not do government affairs only in charge of family affairs, even if the emperor is young, he will entrust all things to Zhang Juzheng, a palace wall inside and outside the palace separates the two worlds, even if the storm outside, what does it have to do with the palace?

This is because in the early years of Emperor Longqing's ascension to the throne had no money, Chen Mu sold briquettes from Beijing, and he was infamous for a bad meal, and at the end all the money was handed over to the emperor's inner treasury, although this caused the prices in the palace to soar again, and Emperor Longqing did not feel much more comfortable because of these silver taels, but the Empress Dowager Li remembered.

"The minister is a veteran, fortunately appreciated by the first emperor and promoted to the army, and later became a general. The original intention of the minister Nanyang was to make some money for the first emperor and subsidize the use of the palace, and after going to sea, he knew that the world was so big, and the minister wanted to take some territory for the first emperor, but he unexpectedly heard the news of the death of the first emperor on the way. ”

"When the first emperor read the time, the minister led five hundred soldiers under the city to practice, and many banner soldiers knew that the first emperor was watching in the city, so they were excited and wept and couldn't control themselves, and then the minister knew that the emperor could bring extraordinary morale and invincible courage to the army. Later, many of those men served as commanders, commanders, and even commanders-in-chief, commanding thousands of troops for the emperor, and they were more loyal to the court than any other soldier. ”

"They knew they were fighting for the Emperor, and they had seen the Emperor."

"Although Your Majesty is young, Your Majesty is the emperor, and the minister thinks that the emperor rules the world and holds all power, including military power, but this time His Majesty wants to read it, and the minister did not know it after the emperor's decision, but the minister agrees very much, and there is no longer the worry of the Ming Emperor's court."

Empress Dowager Li listened quietly, only smiling when Chen Mu said that he was a veteran.

Ma Fang is a real veteran, and you can say that you are a petty officer at most.

"Today is different from the past, the ministers go abroad to find new sources of wealth and food for the imperial court, solve the old problems and bring new problems, the Ming Dynasty needs many garrisons overseas, as pioneers, they will encounter unimaginable difficulties and temptations, they need to know more than anyone else, what the price they pay for."

"The minister thinks that it is more important for them to know that they are fighting for the emperor and the Ming Dynasty than anything else."

After saying that, Chen Mu bowed his hand, and Empress Dowager Li said with a smile: "Jing Haibo knows people's worries very well. ”

From beginning to end, Empress Dowager Li did not mention that the emperor was going to wear new clothes, but Chen Mu had already answered this question.

The crux of the matter is not at all the question of making a set of emperor's military uniforms or armor, Emperor Sejong made a set of martial arts uniforms during his reign, and Emperor Wanli has nothing to do with another set.

"Your Majesty wants to parade the army when Jing Haibo sets off, and it is very suitable to make this military uniform armor for Jing Haibo, you can go to see the emperor later, but there is one more thing."

The figure behind the curtain stood up and left a word.

"The emperor can go to the court or be in power, but all major national affairs have to be asked to the elders, so please ask Jing Haibo to convey it to Your Majesty."