xymnovel Chapter 035 Willing but Powerless
Chapter 035 Willing but Powerless
Chapter 035
Early the next morning, light snow began to fall.
When Chen Ying got up in the morning, he quickly washed up and found that the entire mansion was covered in white.
Chen Daniu came over and reported, "Commander, Commander Xu Xianchun of the Embroidered Uniform Guard has sent ten sheep and some wine..."
"Where are the men Lord Xu sent?"
"They've already gone back!"
Chen Ying laughed and said, "Da Niu, would you like to eat some mutton?"
"think!"
Chen Daniu's living standards have improved considerably during this time with Chen Ying, but the problem is that it is still very difficult to eat meat. The Ming Dynasty is currently in an era of small-scale agricultural economy, and ordinary people hardly raise livestock such as sheep or pigs because they do not have enough grain to feed them.
Landlords and gentry had enough grain to feed their families, but the problem was that they didn't need to sell sheep or pigs for money. As a result, there was very little beef and mutton available on the market, and the price was extremely high. It averaged between twenty-five and forty copper coins per pound, which was simply unaffordable for ordinary people.
"Let's slaughter three sheep, we'll have hot pot today!"
"yes!"
Not long after, a sheep’s pitiful cry came from inside the yard. Chen Daniu picked up a knife and stabbed the sheep in the neck. Because the position was wrong, the sheep let out a shrill scream.
"What an idiot!"
Feeling humiliated, Chen Daniu grabbed the sheep, wrapped his arms around its neck, and twisted it hard, causing the sheep to fall to the ground and convulse.
The sheep was quickly slaughtered and skinned, but due to the cold weather, the mutton quickly froze solid. The soldiers didn't join Chen Ying in eating hot pot with mutton; they preferred to eat large chunks of meat.
They chopped the mutton into fist-sized pieces, threw them into a large pot, added ginger and scallions, and started cooking. Chen Ying personally cut the mutton into mutton rolls.
There was no hot pot in Chen Ying's new mansion, but fortunately, there was a complete hot pot set in his carriage. He lit a small stove in the carriage. The mutton hot pot in the capital was different from the Chongqing hot pot of later generations. This was a plain water broth, with sesame sauce added.
Just as Chen Ying was about to start eating, the gatekeeper announced, "Lord Commander, Eunuch Lu has arrived!"
"Please come quickly!"
Good morning, Lord Chen!
Lu Jiucheng was dressed like a penguin.
"Has Father-in-law eaten?"
"Oh dear, Lord Chen, what time is it? You're still eating!"
"Come up here and warm up!"
Chen Ying invited Lu Jiugong to get into the carriage, and he, Chen Daniu, and Lu Jiucheng sat around in the carriage's booth.
"Something terrible has happened!"
"What is it? Let's talk while we eat..."
Lu Jiucheng said with exasperation, "Lord Chen, look at this..."
This is a transcribed memorial.
The memorial impeaches Chen Yingmei, the garrison commander of Shahe, for his eunuch-like behavior, misleading the emperor, and corrupting the state.
Your humble servant, Xie Xuelong, Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, respectfully submits this memorial, humbly believing that the most important aspect of upholding the law and order lies in maintaining proper court decorum and eliminating wickedness; the dangers to the state often arise from the machinations of petty villains that mislead Your Majesty. Now, there is Chen Ying, the garrison commander of Shahe, originally a low-ranking military officer who, through his meager craftsmanship, received the Emperor's favor and was promoted. Yet he dares to rely on this favor and act arrogantly, secretly colluding with eunuchs to spy on the palace. His crimes are threefold, and I beg Your Majesty to plead his case with utmost sincerity…
Xie Xuelong's impeachment memorial was strongly worded, accusing Chen Ying of three major crimes: fawning on eunuchs, violating court laws, making unwarranted comments on state affairs, abusing his power and overstepping his authority, and offering outlandish and frivolous skills to bewitch the emperor.
He further petitioned the Tianqi Emperor to swiftly order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest Ying and imprison him, clearly demonstrating his crimes of deceiving the emperor, colluding with eunuchs, and disrupting the court. He argued that Ying should be executed in the Western Market, his head displayed publicly, as a warning to others. He further requested a thorough investigation of the eunuchs who had colluded with him, eradicating them completely and ensuring a clean and upright court. This would illuminate the laws of our ancestors and restore peace to the nation from peril.
Chen Ying glanced at it and said with a faint smile, "That's it?"
"Oh dear, Lord Chen, you don't know this, but after Xie Xuelong submitted his memorial, the censors and supervising secretaries of the Donglin faction followed suit, and the memorials impeaching Lord Chen piled up on the desk of the Office of Transmission."
Chen Ying dipped the mutton in sesame sauce and took a big, satisfying bite: "What did Eunuch Wei say?"
"Eunuch Wei suppressed it all, but..."
"Eunuch Lu, have some meat!"
Chen Ying smiled faintly. In fact, he had already anticipated this outcome when he was meeting with Emperor Tianqi yesterday. The Forbidden City had long been infiltrated and turned into a sieve.
The fact that none of the six children of the Tianqi Emperor—his three sons and three daughters—did grow up speaks volumes. More importantly, even though Chen Ying didn't understand medicine, he could tell that the Tianqi Emperor was very healthy. Moreover, he was a restless person who often did carpentry work, so his physique was not bad.
Unfortunately, just like the Zhengde Emperor, the Tianqi Emperor died mysteriously after falling into the water, which inevitably leads to much speculation.
Seeing that Chen Ying was not in a hurry, Lu Jiucheng continued to persuade him, "Lord Chen, we can't keep these memorials from Eunuch Wei for long. They will reach the Emperor's ears sooner or later!"
"Chen was merely telling the truth. Does that mean we in the Ming Dynasty cannot speak the truth?"
"It's not that we can't speak out, but according to the 'Minglun Dadian,' military officers who speak out about politics are considered to be spying."
Chen Ying smiled faintly: "Eat first. You'll have the energy to deal with this matter when you're full!"
Chen Ying stayed at his residence in Jinggongfang for two days. On the afternoon of the third day, a minor official brought Chen Ying to the Forbidden City.
Chen Ying followed the young eunuch through the many palace gates and arrived at the West Warm Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
"Bo Ying is here? Come in quickly!"
"Your subject Chen Ying pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
"No need, no need, come and see!"
The Tianqi Emperor was as excited as a child. He walked to the wooden box, squatted down, and held the bottom of the box with both hands.
Chen Ying was wondering what the Tianqi Emperor was going to do when he saw Tianqi take a deep breath, straighten his back, and steadily lift the box up.
The Tianqi Emperor carried the enormous box back and forth in the warm pavilion. After a long while, without blushing or panting, he gently placed it on the ground.
"You give it a try!"
"Your subject obeys!"
Chen Ying stepped forward and lifted the box as well. He was quite strong and could feel the weight of the box, which was at least 200 pounds. Even for a strong man like Chen Ying who had worked hard all year round, it was difficult to lift it.
The Tianqi Emperor clearly knew Chen Ying would struggle, and smiled faintly, "Boying, how are you feeling?"
Chen Ying noticed that the fabric of the Emperor Tianqi's cotton robe was stretched taut at the back and shoulder blades, and the outline of a hard object could be vaguely seen underneath. There also seemed to be something in the sleeves, making a very slight clicking sound with each movement.
"Your Majesty... is this some kind of superhuman strength you were born with?"
"Haha... Boying, you guessed wrong!"
The Tianqi Emperor ripped open the front of his cotton robe, revealing, just as Chen Ying had guessed, an exquisite wooden frame.
Made of elm and hard birch, connected by copper axles, it fits tightly to the emperor's torso and limbs.
The shoulders have curved support plates, the waist has a wide and thick waistband, and the thighs and calves also have wooden support structures. The most ingenious part is the joints, where the elbows, knees, and ankles are equipped with a unique spring device.
Holy crap!
Chen Ying could easily tell that this was actually a Ming Dynasty version of a non-powered individual exoskeleton system.
"See that?"
The Tianqi Emperor was as proud as a child, showing off his toys. He pointed to the device on his shoulder: "This is what I figured out after seeing the rotating mechanism of your seed drill and the shock absorption device of your four-wheeled carriage. Your spring is only used for shock absorption, what a waste! My energy-saving armor uses the shoulder, waist and legs to exert force. When a person moves, the spring stores energy, and when they move again, the stored energy is released to help them exert force."
As the Tianqi Emperor spoke, he demonstrated, even doing a squatting motion.
Chen Ying saw it very clearly: when Tianqi squatted down, the springs in his legs were compressed; when he stood up, the springs rebounded, pushing his legs upward. Throughout the entire process, Emperor Tianqi hardly exerted any force on his face.
"When an ordinary person lifts two or three hundred pounds, they need to exert seven-tenths of their strength in their waist and legs. Wearing this, only four-tenths of their strength is needed."
Tianqi removed the buckles from his shoulders, and the entire set of labor-saving armor clattered to the ground: "I've tried it. Wearing it, I can work continuously for two hours without any back or leg pain. If used on craftsmen, one person could do the work of two..."
Chen Ying felt it was utterly absurd that the unpowered individual exoskeleton system developed by countless countries in later generations had actually been created by a carpenter emperor of the Ming Dynasty using wood and steel sheets.
Although firearms and muskets have become the mainstream in the army and are in line with future development trends, the problem is that the Jurchens' firearms are very weak. Before Kong Youde surrendered to Huang Taiji, the Jurchens did not even have a complete artillery unit.
This means that the Ming army could equip itself with heavy armor to counter the Jurchen's heavy armor troops. However, the problem was that the Ming Dynasty was too poor at the time, and most of the soldiers were starving. A full set of iron armor weighed more than 60 kilograms, and they would be exhausted after fighting for half an hour. If they were on a long march, a strong man would be exhausted after walking only ten miles.
But what if... a heavily armored infantry unit were formed, equipped with this kind of individual exoskeleton? Saving one-third of the effort would mean that the time spent in armored combat could be extended by nearly double.
This means that heavy infantry can carry more weapons and more supplies. It means that the ironclad army that once swept across the northern deserts during the Ming Dynasty may reappear.
"Your Majesty, how much effort will this... save?"
"30% to 40%, depending on how you adjust it!"
The Tianqi Emperor picked up a blueprint from the table and explained, "I've measured it. Wearing this armor, lifting 200 jin (approximately 100 kg) requires the same effort as lifting 120 jin (approximately 60 kg). Walking is even more efficient, because with each step, the springs store and rebound energy. This is the key. A person's force enters here, is amplified by three sets of levers, and then transmitted to the springs. Once the springs are fully charged, they push back through these pulleys..."
The Tianqi Emperor spoke with great enthusiasm, his eyebrows dancing with excitement.
Chen Ying's mind was in turmoil. How many people in later generations thought that the Tianqi Emperor was just a muddle-headed carpenter? But the man before him was clearly a mechanical genius whose talents were wasted on the throne. The device he designed had touched upon the essence of ancient mechanical engineering: energy conversion and storage.
"Your Majesty, may I be granted this item?"
Chen Ying said earnestly, "I can also pay for it!"
"What do you need this for?"
"I think..."
The Tianqi Emperor said, "I understand. You want to use it for the craftsmen. I saw those eunuchs in the palace carrying stones and transporting wood. After a day's work, their backs were so sore they couldn't straighten up. They are human too, and they get tired. I was thinking, could we make something to save them some effort? Later I discovered that it saves not only effort, but also... time. If one person saves 30% of their effort, three people can do the work of ten more people."
"I often think that the Ming Dynasty is like a large machine, and each citizen is a cog in it. When a cog gets tired or breaks down, the machine stops turning. Shouldn't I, as the emperor, be thinking about how to make the cogs more durable and less strenuous?"
Chen Ying was stunned.
These words don't sound like something a tyrannical ruler would say.
"So... I'm giving you these blueprints."
Tianqi pulled a thick manuscript from his desk and handed it to Chen Ying: "This is not a reward, but an entrustment. You built the Tianqi plow to save farmers' labor, you built the seed drill to save farmers' labor, and you built the four-wheeled carriage. I know you also wanted to make it easier for craftsmen, so that one carriage could do the work of two or three, also to save labor. Those officials are all thinking about vying for power and profit, but you, Boying, you and I are both thinking about saving the common people of this world some effort."
"Take the blueprints to Changping, study them carefully, and build it. Once it's built, give it to the craftsmen first, so that the workers will suffer less. This is what I want."
Chen Ying then realized that the Tianqi Emperor was actually a very simple person, and his heart was always good, so that his people could live a less difficult life.
"Your Majesty, I will certainly not fail in your trust."
The Tianqi Emperor waved his hand: "Alright, go ahead. I know you have a lot to do. I've seen those memorials impeaching you outside. Ignore them; they're just a bunch of smooth talkers who don't know anything about practical work. But..."
The Tianqi Emperor lowered his voice: "You also need to deal with Wei Zhongxian. That old dog is greedy, but he's efficient. Make good use of him... I'm only telling you this."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Chen Ying bowed deeply and left the warm pavilion carrying the thick blueprints and the labor-saving armor.
When I left the Qianqing Palace, it was still snowing.
Outside the palace gates, Lu Jiucheng was stamping his feet to warm himself under the eaves. Seeing him come out, he hurriedly went to greet him: "Lord Chen, what did His Majesty say?"
His Majesty said, "Ignore it!"
Chen Ying once thought that Emperor Tianqi was a simple-minded emperor who loved to tinker with carpentry and neglected his duties. But now he realized that Emperor Tianqi understood things better than all the officials in the court.
He was, after all, an emperor raised as the crown prince, unlike Chongzhen.
This Ming Dynasty seems quite different from the Ming Dynasty he read about in history books.
At least at this moment, he genuinely felt that perhaps the Ming Dynasty still had hope.
"Eunuch Lu, I'll head back now."
"Take care, Lord Chen!"
Chen Ying bowed in thanks and boarded the carriage.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, and the Forbidden City gradually became blurred in the snow curtain.
He knew that there was no turning back now.
The carriage left two deep ruts on the official road, which were quickly covered by fresh snow.
At this moment, the wheels of history began to turn slowly in a direction that no one could have predicted.
The carriage turned into the alleyway of Jinggongfang, where a mother and daughter appeared. Beside them was a straw mat, and it seemed that a person was covered under the mat.
"Sir, please have mercy and buy this child!"
The alleyway was not wide to begin with; it was already a struggle for a horse-drawn carriage to pass. This mother and daughter were blocking the way. The child's head was covered in a layer of snow, and if it weren't for the fact that the child's eyes were still moving, one would have mistaken her for a snowman.
The woman seemed numb; she continued to kowtow to the man at the door.
"Get out of here!"
The woman was kicked to the ground by a servant-like man. She seemed oblivious to the pain, mechanically kowtowing and muttering, "Kind person, buy this child..."
"Great guy!"
Chen Ying didn't want to cause trouble. He knew that Jinggongfang, also known as Nanluoguxiang, was the core area of the capital, and the people living there were all wealthy and powerful. Even his house was the former residence of a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Justice during the Ming Dynasty. In later generations, that would be equivalent to a high-ranking official.
His next-door neighbor was Li Shuchu, a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue and the supervisor of the Xuanhua-Datong military supplies. He was also a high-ranking official at the level of a department head. Li Shuchu was not well-known, but he had a very impressive grandfather, Li Shizhen, the great medical sage of the Ming Dynasty.
The problem is that Chen Yingzhen can't bear to see the mother and daughter in such a miserable state. Judging from their clothes, they should be from a moderately wealthy family, and they are also on the verge of being killed.
For ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, illness was a matter of life and death. The wealthy could withstand the risk of disaster, but for ordinary people or those in a moderately well-off family, this illness would plunge them into despair.
"Lord Chiju, let's go!"
Chen Ying jumped off the carriage and blocked the servant who was chasing away the women: "What's going on?"
"this……"
Seeing Chen Ying riding in a four-wheeled carriage, dressed in the crimson robes of a fifth-rank official, the man, though a military officer, dared not offend him easily, and said with a smile, "Sir, this woman is carrying a corpse, it's too unlucky..."
"You all know it's bad luck, so couldn't you help her collect her body for burial?"
"I still need to eat... These days, where are there so many kind people? The rich just pretend they don't see it, and the poor are willing but unable to help..."
The servant then closed the door, ignoring the mother and daughter standing there.