On July 28th, lightning and heavy rain were pouring.

After months of rain, Guanzhong finally ushered in the first rain of this summer. Although this rain came a little late and was after the beginning of autumn, for Guanzhong, where summer potatoes have just been planted, it is undoubtedly an inappropriate timely rain.

After the rain fell all night, Liu Yu had to go to the palace to work after breakfast. He wanted to hold an umbrella, but the wind was a bit strong outside, so he had to wear a straw raincoat and a straw hat like the guards. When he came out, the female guards in Lu Chuer and the Imperial Guards in Lian Husheng were already waiting outside the door.

"Let's go." Liu Yu greeted, his voice almost buried by the sound of wind and rain.

Lu Chu'er asked: "Son-in-law, it's so rainy today. Will the selection of the Imperial Guards on the school ground continue?"

"I won't go any further." Liu Yu looked up at the sky slightly, "Go to the palace, and today I will treat you with vacation."

Liu Yu had no habit of sitting in a sedan chair, and such a day was really not suitable for riding a horse. The group braved the rain to Dongye Gate. Several female guards who were blown by the wind hurriedly ran in to shelter from the palace gate when they saw the palace gate. Liu Yu looked at the high door wall in front of Dongye Gate and stopped for a while, as if planning something.

"Xuanwu Gate." Liu Yu muttered and continued to look at the door wall.

Lu Chu'er ran over from the bottom of the gate and said, "Son-in-law, it's too windy outside, so let's go to the palace earlier."

Liu Yu knew that she was in a hurry to finish her errand and went home. When she was away on a rainy day, Lu Chu'er thought of being lazy. Liu Yu was not so eager to enter the palace. After all, when he went in, he was doing nothing.

Seeing that the King of Chu had already set off on his way back and things had reached a very urgent point, Liu Yu had to make plans for his future destiny. Seeing the palace gate, he instinctively remembered Xuanwu Gate and the killing in front of the palace gate. As the commander of the Imperial Guard, he did have the basis for thinking this way or doing this.

But now unlike the early Tang Dynasty, Su Yan did not have the courage of the King of Qin, nor did he have the appeal among all officials and the army.

In fact, he didn't.

"I won't go to the palace." Liu Yu suddenly changed his mind and "Go to the Imperial Sitai Yamen to take a look."

Lu Chu'er was helpless. It seemed that her son-in-law was going around again today. In the past few days, Liu Yu has rarely entered the palace and always wandered outside the palace gate, and she had to follow him without leaving.

Liu Yu has been studying muskets for several days. At present, there are already primitive muskets made of pig iron pipes, all of which are equipped with front-loading, separated ammunition, ignited with fuses, and fired lead balls. They are powerful but have low lethality. In the past few days, Liu Yu has seen people from the Ministry of Works test firing. The explosion occurred several times just by holding the barrel. He felt like he was holding a time bomb. This is not the musket that Liu Yu wanted.

In order to improve the muskets, Liu Yu also borrowed the warehouse and gunpowder of the Ministry of War, as well as several half-baked "army experts" and several skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of Works, forming a fixed musket research team of fifteen or sixteen people.

In fact, the focus of the research is to change the front to rear to the flint, and change the flint to flint firing. As for the issue of improving the rifle and developing bullets that integrate ammunition, Liu Yu didn't even bother to consider it. A small flint needle alone has caused a headache for more than a dozen craftsmen.

Liu Yu was brisk in his mouth, and the craftsmen were troublesome in his hands.

On this day, Liu Yu looked at the test firing of a musket several times, and it was often silenced or exploded. The pig iron itself has poor tolerance, and the fire-induced method is unscientific, so there are many areas that need improvement. The craftsmen's research on muskets is still stagnant, but the iron hooks for test firing are developed in a timely manner. Because in the past, protection measures such as iron plates and armor are easily injured, it is no longer enough to ensure safety. The craftsmen used wooden cabinets, together with iron wire and iron hooks to make a "test-firing device". They only need to pull the iron hook from a distance to pull the trigger, which triggers the flint to fire the musket. If the distance is long, there is no danger of blowing the chamber.

Only when craftsmen study their own wealth and life, they will have a complete mind to study it. As for muskets, they are not linked to their interests, so their interest in research is not so high.

"To keep the barrel tight and tight, it is best to put the gunpowder in a small bullet." Liu Yu also drew the drawings as well as the shape and distance of the bullet when he made an improvement. "The bullet part in front does not need to be installed first, and the closed bullet is first studied."

Because Liu Yu didn't know much about gunpowder, he remembered that black gunpowder's monosulfide, dinitrogen, and three charcoal were all unfamiliar with him. He only vaguely remembered that adding sulfuric acid and nitric acid to cotton can make an effective gunpowder, because it is difficult to purify these two compounds at this stage, and Liu Yu's idea is only in the germination stage.

Just as he was discussing with all the craftsmen, he walked in from outside and called out, "Brother Liu." Liu Yu turned around, it was Han Sheng.

"Don't ask anything, you'll know when you're here." Han Sheng smiled and pretended to be mysterious.

Liu Yu was afraid that he would hide his sword in his smile, but when he saw that the direction he was taking him to the palace, he thought that it was the emperor who was looking for him. Could it be that the King of Chu returned to Beijing in advance?

It was still raining outside. Liu Yu and Han Sheng entered the palace together. They did not go to Yaqian Palace or Fengcui Palace. Instead, they walked straight towards the inner court. When they were about to reach the inner court, they turned a corner and arrived at a palace. They did not walk through the main entrance, but entered through the side door.

Through the screen, you can hear the discussions of the ministers in front of you, and the quarrel seems to be very fierce.

"This is the inner hall," Han Sheng explained. "On weekdays, the North Korean discussion ends, and if there is still discussion, it will be carried out here. At least the second-rank or above officials can get here."

The screen is translucent, and there are many ministers who can see the tiles. The old emperor sat in the head and did not speak, but just asked his ministers to discuss it themselves. Without a prince or a princess, those who are discussing are important officials who often walk in the Six-Taiwan Yamen.

Liu Yu was not a stranger either. He was originally a military general, the commander of the Imperial Guard, who was responsible for the security of the palace, and should avoid the court affairs. But since the old emperor asked him to come, he just wanted him to listen, and maybe he would ask him for his opinion in the future. Liu Yu was a little careful. After listening carefully, he realized that the matter of discussing was not simple, but was discussing the appointment of the crown prince.

This is the most taboo topic at the moment. I don’t know which court official didn’t open his eyes and reported to the emperor about the establishment of the crown prince. However, the emperor did not get angry this time as before. He just called the ministers who were of high value in the court and some retired and unemployed old ministers to discuss together. To put it bluntly, it is to listen to the opinions of the ministers.

This starting point is good, but Liu Yu knew that the court officials nowadays basically formed cliques, and there were many people who were close to the princes and princesses. It was clear that what they said might not be fair. Most of them were saying good things for the princes and princesses who were loyal to him. Liu Yu listened and supported the most people of the fourth princess and the fourth prince, which was also the embodiment of the division of forces in the court. After the third prince and the fifth prince fell one after another, Su Bi and Su Ren also became the most powerful competitors of the crown prince. Of course, this is the view in the eyes of ordinary court officials.

He spoke almost for the seventh prince Su Zhe, that is, the King of Chu, and of course no one spoke for the ninth prince Su Yan. This also means that the two of them had no power in the court at all. Other famous princes and princesses, such as the sixth prince, the eighth prince, the eldest prince, and the second princess, also supported them. Even the second prince Su Dian, who had just returned to the court, raised the issue of "the state has the eldest prince". After all, Su Dian is the emperor's legitimate son.

From beginning to end, the old emperor did not speak.

"Brother Liu, what do you think?" Han Sheng suddenly looked at Liu Yu with a smile.

Liu Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly. This question was clearly not needed. The opinions of the court officials were obviously not in line with the wishes of the old emperor. In other words, the old emperor would definitely not raise the issue of establishing the King of Chu as the crown prince in public, which is not in line with the public's opinion.

"Brother Han, is the emperor asking me, or are you old?" Liu Yu asked back.

"It's the emperor's intention." Han Sheng suddenly looked at the screen heretic, "You didn't pay attention. There is an important person who has not spoken?"

Liu Yu looked at it and really remembered that the right prime minister Yuan Bolang never expressed his opinion. Logically speaking, he was the new right prime minister and an old minister of two dynasties, and his speech was extraordinary.

Han Sheng said: "The attitude of Yuan Xiang should be the same as you and me, and everything is in accordance with the emperor's wishes. This is also the original intention of the emperor to use him as prime minister at this critical moment. If the emperor asks about some words, you should also answer carefully."

Liu Yu still understood these things and nodded in agreement.
Chapter completed!