Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 45 Imperial Decree to Open a Factory

Operation Autumn Arrow went smoothly. Most of the suspects were arrested at their homes. A few who attempted to escape surrendered after seeing the notice at the city gates: "If you are convicted without trial, your entire family will suffer." Only one person, Yan Guo, a centurion, remained unaccounted for.

Yan Guo had no legitimate sons, and after his wife died young, he never remarried. He only had a concubine who bore him twin daughters. Therefore, the two execution teams sent to arrest him had no choice but to follow the rules and take away his entire family, including nearly a hundred servants.

Unless Yan Guo voluntarily surrendered before the case was concluded, it was almost certain that his two daughters would be sent to the Jiaofangsi to serve as official prostitutes.

~~! ~~!

At four o'clock in the morning, the whistle signaling a general assembly echoed across the drill grounds, accompanied by the beat of drums.

According to the Imperial Order of the Western Factory, upon the conclusion of the operation, all authorization documents, including the imperial edict and official seals, will become invalid. All personnel will return to their bases and resume their normal work and rest schedules.

The Western Factory implemented three meals a day and three training sessions a day.

Starting at 1:00 AM, wash up at 1:00 AM, eat at 2:00 AM, and then march from 3:00 AM to 1:00 AM. After the march, those on duty went on duty, those not on duty attended classes, and those on holiday changed into their regular uniforms and went out for some fresh air.

If the assembly whistle is blown, except for those who have already left the base, everyone else must cancel all activities and immediately rush to the training ground to assemble.

Lu Zhongqiu was the unlucky guy who was disturbed by the assembly scout. He had originally planned to use his rest period to ask a matchmaker to find a girl for his son.

This incident also had a lot to do with his ability to escape the Kaiyuan disaster.

Last year, in the 47th year of the Wanli reign, Lu Zhongqiu's son, Lu Shuangyang, turned fourteen. Although the imperial court stipulated that men must be sixteen and women fourteen before they could marry, this rule was difficult to enforce among the people. The government simply didn't have the energy to enforce it, and families simply wanted to marry off their children early to continue their family line.

There was no other way. In an era before modern medicine, death was commonplace. A cold or a mosquito bite could kill someone. With a low survival rate and a young average age, the only way to continue the bloodline was to have more children early and often, increasing the number of children.

Lu Zhongqiu had taken his son to Tieling to find the renowned matchmaker and arrange a satisfactory marriage for his son. As the saying goes, a good woman brings prosperity to three generations, and Lu Zhongqiu was no exception.

Lu Zhongqiu thought: My son is fifteen, and he will be sixteen in a few days after the change of the reign. If I don't find him a wife now, it will be too late! Now that I am an official in the Western Factory, and my son has a stable military salary, it is not impossible for him to find a well-educated and well-mannered young lady from an official family.

"Oh, forget it. I'll go find the general later to explain the situation and make up for the vacation." Lu Zhongqiu still put on the chain mail and official uniform according to the regulations, and then put on the sword.

Because it was an assembly post, he didn't need to personally gather his soldiers, nor did he need to yell at them to form up. Everything was trained, and everyone just had to do their job.

When he arrived at the martial arts training ground, Lu Zhongqiu found that the factory director and the only captain Ye Ye had also arrived, but they were not standing on the platform, but standing below the stage with the soldiers of the executive bureau.

Since the reorganization of the Xu family's Tongzhou troops, such a situation has never occurred. Although the factory supervisor must attend the morning training, rain or shine, he always stands on the reviewing platform to watch them practice.

Lu Zhongqiu didn't think the factory supervisor would spontaneously train with them, and it wasn't the right time for that. So there was only one possibility: someone higher in rank than the factory supervisor had arrived.

Within the Imperial City, only two people could be welcomed by Wei Zhongxian, the governor of the Western Depot. Therefore, either Wang An, the eunuch holding the seal of the Imperial Household Department, had come, or Wang An had come with the emperor.

If it's the latter, it would be a great honor.

The answer was soon revealed. After the Executive Bureau assembled, a trumpet blew, and the middle-aged man in a black, dragon-draped robe slowly walked towards the command platform, accompanied by the Imperial Guard and several high-ranking officials wearing flying fish robes or dragon robes.

"The Emperor has arrived!" a eunuch shouted in a resounding, powerful voice. "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long, long live the Emperor!" All the officers and men of the Western Depot's Executive Bureau, led by Wei Zhongxian, the factory supervisor and director of the Executive Bureau, knelt and saluted the Emperor.

Officers and soldiers at all levels were wearing armor and could not perform the full ceremony, so they knelt on one knee, holding their swords and bowing. However, Wei Zhongxian was not wearing armor and was still wearing a bright red dragon robe, so he still performed the ceremony of five bows and three kowtows.

"Flat body."

"Stand up!" The emperor would not shout, so if he wanted everyone present to hear him, he needed a big Han general with excellent lung capacity to shout on his behalf.

"Announce." Zhu Changluo ordered Wang An who was holding the imperial edict.

Since the emperor himself was present and had granted him the right to stand upright, the eunuchs did not have to kneel when reading the imperial edict.

"The Emperor, by the Will of Heaven, decrees this!"

Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang personally decreed that in the imperial edict, the word "Feng" should be listed alone, the three words "Tian Chengyun" should occupy the second column, and the word "Huang" should be aligned with the word "Tian", located in the third column, and two words higher than the main text.

Since this imperial edict was not to be promulgated throughout the country and announced to all people, it was not “imperial edict” but “decree”.

"Our dynasty established the Jinyiwei Command Headquarters and the Dongjishi Factory, originally for the purpose of patrolling, arresting, suppressing counter-rebellion and clearing rebellion. However, officials and military academies at all levels do not think of being loyal to the emperor and serving the country. Instead, they often abuse the power of heaven for personal gain, which often leads to the wealth of the dynasty falling into the hands of villains, and the emperor's virtue and face suffer undeserved harm." The imperial edict slightly changed Xu Guangqi's memorial and added some new things.

"Therefore, I accept the agreement of Fang Congzhe, Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, Cui Wensheng, the eunuch holding the seal of the Eastern Depot, Zuo Guangdou, the Imperial Censor, and Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Rites. I order Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, to open a new Western Investigation Office and appoint him as the Imperial Commissioner-General to oversee the Western Depot's official training, specifically to crack down on corruption, investigate loopholes, and correct petty crimes."

"You must strictly adhere to the imperially-imposed guidelines for the Western Depot. With your strong bodies and reverent hearts, you will spread the glory of His Majesty and His virtue, and forever display His majesty!"

Since the emperor himself was present, the imperial edict only had a seal at the end but no "Qinci".

"I respectfully accept your order and thank you!" Wei Zhongxian knelt down, raised his hands, and replied as loudly as possible.

"I will obey the imperial edict!" Most people are far from being able to address the emperor as "minister" or "distinguished general", and at the same time they are not royal servants like eunuchs, so they do not call themselves that.

At this point, the West Factory was officially established.

That afternoon, a young girl brought several eunuchs to the main hall of the Western Factory Yamen.

"Your servant kowtows to Master Mi!" Wei Zhongxian, who had been waiting for a long time, lifted his robe and kowtowed.

"Director, please rise quickly. Actually, you're my superior." Mi Mengshang wore a scarlet flying fish gown, gold-threaded black boots, and a golden lychee belt around her waist, symbolizing a fourth-rank official. Any official from the outer court who dared dress like this would be reported to the ceremonial officials and censors, and eventually resigned.

"I dare not." Wei Zhongxian stood up and said with a bow, "The Empress is the favored wife of His Majesty. How dare this humble servant overstep her bounds?"

"Okay." Mi Mengshang smiled and said, "Take us to the Inspection Bureau."

(End of this chapter)