Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 956 After the wedding
Zhu Shenzhui was very worried about Xie Suyun, both as an emperor and as a father. Now that Xie Suyun had finally arrived in the capital, the next step was to proceed with the matter step by step.

The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Clan Affairs are responsible for the specific arrangements of the wedding, and the date is set for one month later. Shortly after the Crown Prince's wedding, the military academy will officially open, and the Crown Prince will then go to study at the academy. All of this has been arranged long ago.

After talking to Kang Youfu and explaining the subsequent wedding arrangements, Zhu Shencui let him go. After Kang Youfu left, Zhu Shencui did not stay in the Qianqing Palace for long, but went straight to the harem to talk to Queen Xu Jingqiu about the matter.

Xu Jingqiu had been waiting for the news for a long time. After listening to Zhu Shenzhu's retelling, she was very happy. After thinking about it, she said that she planned to let Xie Suyun come to the palace to meet her before the marriage, but she didn't know whether it was in accordance with the rules. Hearing this, Zhu Shenzhu laughed and said that this was not a rule. It was normal for a mother-in-law to meet her future daughter-in-law. He didn't know what the rules were in the imperial palace before, but from now on, they had to follow the rules. Since Xu Jingqiu wanted to meet her, then let her meet.

In this way, Xie Jikai and his family temporarily stayed in Beijing. After a day's rest, Xie Suyun began to learn etiquette under the guidance of the female officials and eunuchs. The complicated etiquette learning was not so easy, and not only Xie Suyun, but also Xie Jikai and his son Xie Guangping had to learn it. However, the person who taught them was from the Ministry of Rites. The family worked hard every day and made rapid progress.

About ten days later, an imperial decree came from the palace that the queen wanted to see Xie Suyun.

Xie Suyun was a little uneasy when she heard the news. After all, there had never been such a situation in the royal family before, but now the queen wanted to see her and she couldn't refuse. Moreover, as a daughter-in-law who had not yet married, she had to meet her mother-in-law first, and the mother-in-law was the queen. Xie Suyun felt uneasy, but also a little bit of expectation.

The next day, Xie Suyun entered the palace under the guidance of the visitor and went straight to the harem to meet the queen. As for what they talked about with the queen and how they met, outsiders naturally didn't know, but on the way back from the harem, Xie Suyun had a smile on her face and a slight blush on her face. She looked very happy and no longer had the anxiety before entering the palace. As for the queen, she was also very satisfied with this future daughter-in-law and specially rewarded her with a lot of jewelry and other things.

Soon the wedding day arrived. On this day, the capital was decorated with lanterns and colors, and the royal family and the people celebrated together. The crown prince's wedding had not happened in the capital for many years. Since Emperor Zhengde, no emperor of the Ming Dynasty had ever held a crown prince's wedding.

Because Emperor Jiajing became emperor from the younger clan, and Emperor Longqing was only Prince Yu before he ascended the throne. After Emperor Jiajing's death, he ascended the throne as Prince Yu, and he already had a son at that time. As for Emperor Wanli, it goes without saying that he was still a child when he ascended the throne, and he got married after he became emperor. Emperor Taichang, who succeeded Wanli, was not well-received in his early years because Emperor Wanli refused to appoint a crown prince. He fought with his ministers for several years for this, and even though he had no choice but to appoint a crown prince, he refused to see the crown prince. At that time, Emperor Taichang also got married as a prince.

The subsequent Tianqi Emperor, like the Wanli Emperor, was only the eldest son when he ascended the throne, and got married after he became emperor. The Chongzhen Emperor was a successor to his elder brother, and got married when he was Prince Xin. From these, it can be seen that the Ming Dynasty had not seen the happy event of the crown prince's wedding for more than a hundred years. Now the crown prince's wedding is a great event not only for the Ming imperial family, but also for the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world, and naturally it should be celebrated by the whole world.

The lively and complicated wedding lasted for a whole day and was finally completed successfully. Xie Suyun was welcomed into the East Palace as the Crown Prince's wife and officially became the Crown Princess.

Although it was the first time for the young couple to meet after the prince got married, they had a good relationship, which could be seen from the fact that Zhu Shenzhui and the queen received the prince and the princess together on the second day and sat upright to let them greet them. Seeing the happy expressions of the two and the tacit understanding formed in just one night, Zhu Shenzhui and Xu Jingqiu looked at each other and saw relief and happiness in each other's eyes.

A few days after the wedding, on this afternoon, Crown Prince Zhu Minlan stood in front of the carved window of the East Palace study, his fingers unconsciously stroking the desk.

The afternoon sun shines through the mica window screens, casting tiny spots of light on the blue brick floor.

He heard the sound of rings and bracelets behind him, and when he turned around, he met the smiling eyes of Crown Princess Xie Suyun.

"Your Highness, I noticed that you didn't eat much at lunch. You must be hungry. Try this lotus seed paste." Xie Suyun gently placed the gold-pasted lacquer plate in her hand on the rosewood table. The freshly steamed lotus seed paste was still steaming.

"Where did this come from?" Zhu Minlan asked curiously.

"Of course I made it for Your Highness myself. A few days ago, my mother told me that Your Highness likes to eat desserts, and I kept it in mind." Xie Suyun said with a smile.

Zhu Minlan stretched out his hand, picked up a piece and put it into his mouth. After taking a sip, his eyes suddenly lit up and he nodded with satisfaction. Looking at the pearl hairpins trembling on his wife's temples, he smiled and stretched out his hand to pull her to his side. His brocade sleeves brushed across the military academy schedule spread out on the table: "It's only been a few days since my wedding, but I have to report to the military academy next month. The academy will start classes on the 15th of next month, including horse riding, archery, firearms, and military strategy... To be honest, I feel a little reluctant. You won't blame me, right?" As soon as he finished speaking, he felt his palm being gently held by a soft hand.

"Your Highness, the Zuo Zhuan says: The most important affairs of a country are sacrifice and war." Shen Lingyi pointed at the date circled by Zhu Minlan on the table with a red pen, and the dark lines on her cuffs flowed like waves in the morning light. "Now that Your Majesty wants to reorganize the military and rebuild the military system, if Your Highness, the crown prince, does not understand military affairs, how can you control those generals and nobles?"

"Since His Majesty has made such an arrangement, Your Highness should understand His Majesty's deep intentions. Now that I am the Crown Princess, I should assist Your Highness. Besides, Your Highness will come back to the palace on weekdays for rest, so what does a short separation mean to you?" Zhu Minlan was moved and held his wife's hand and said, "It's really unfair for you to live apart after just getting married."

"Since you and I are married, we are one body, so why should we feel wronged? Don't worry, Your Highness. I will be waiting for you in the palace. Besides, there are still some days until next month. Your Highness has plenty of time. Why worry about it?"

Xie Suyun smiled playfully, and Zhu Minlan couldn't help but laugh too. The two of them sat down, leaning against each other, eating snacks and chatting quietly. A breeze blew outside the window, and a spring scene filled the window.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye it was the first day of the military academy. On this day, Zhu Minlan reluctantly bid farewell to his newlywed wife, changed into special military academy uniforms, went to meet Zhu Shenzhui first, and then went to report to the military academy.

The location of the military academy is not far from the imperial palace, it is near the current General Senate Office, and it is part of the royal garden area. But this is only a place for the military academy to teach liberal arts. Next year, the first batch of students will go to the Fengtai campus to study, and there are more real military courses there. Not only do they have to learn personal martial arts and military qualities, but there are also many other studies, and the coursework is extremely heavy.

Moreover, for the sake of strict management of the military academy, the entire academy is closed. Students are not allowed to go out except on holidays after entering the academy. These rules were all formulated by Zhu Shenzhui himself. They are very strict and completely different from the ordinary martial arts examinations nowadays. There are even requirements for sleeping, sitting, standing, and walking. The implementation is even extremely strict. Although Zhu Minlan is the prince, he does not receive any special treatment in the military academy. Whatever is done is done, the rewards and punishments are the same as for others. If he does not do well, Zhu Shenzhui does not need to take action, the system in the military academy can directly punish him.

Not to mention the study career of Crown Prince Zhu Minlan after entering the military academy, Zhu Shenzhui had just received news from the Ministry of Industry that the ordnance department headed by Sun Yuanhua had delivered three newly developed firearms. These firearms were now placed on his desk, and Zhu Shenzhui picked them up and looked at them carefully.

These three firearms are all muskets, which were improved and designed by Sun Yuanhua based on the muskets originally used by the new army. Compared with the current muskets, these muskets have undergone some changes.

Zhu Shenzhui picked up one of the spears and looked at it carefully. He disassembled the loaded magazine and studied it for a while. He found that the structure was not much different from the previous plum blossom spear, but it was more sophisticated. He asked, "How is the trial of this spear?"

"Your Majesty, among these three muskets, the one you hold has a range that is 20% stronger than the original plum blossom spear, the magazine loading speed is faster, and the primer firing efficiency is also higher. And this one..." Sun Yuanhua pointed to the longest one on the left and said, "This one has the longest range and is the most accurate, but considering the stable firing and loading, it is not easy to load, so it can only load three rounds. And this one..." Pointing to the last one, he said, "It can load the most bullets, and can load nine bullets at a time, but it is too delicate, and the parts are not easy to manufacture, and the magazine is a bit heavy. Although it can maintain continuous firepower in small-scale wars, it is not satisfactory considering the actual situation in large-scale battles."

Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly and looked at the three muskets carefully. Except for the two with the most and the least bullets, he first noticed that the gun bodies were more finely made and the materials of the barrels were much better than before. Judging from the degree of use, they were definitely stronger than the existing plum blossom guns.

"How much does this gun cost?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

Sun Yuanhua looked a little embarrassed and said a number. When the number came out of his mouth, Zhu Shenzui frowned slightly.

"Why is it so expensive?"

"Your Majesty, the main reason is that fine iron is expensive. These three new muskets are all made of the best fine iron, which is not easy to forge. There is nothing we can do about it." Sun Yuanhua said helplessly.

He asked about the cost of the other two muskets, and shook his head slightly after listening. Zhu Shenzhui was a little disappointed. If he calculated according to the cost of Sun Yuanhua's muskets, the cost of replacing the current plum blossom lances was too high. Although the new muskets had significant improvements in manufacturing technology, power, range, etc., under the premise of excessive cost, it was too expensive to replace the current plum blossom lances with these muskets.

"Let the Ministry of Industry and the workshops figure out how to make better iron smelting technology and solve the raw material problem first. The cost is so high. A new gun is three times the cost of the current plum blossom gun. This is really not worth it." Zhu Shenzhui paused and said to Sun Yuanhua, "Continue to develop these new guns. What I want now is not the accuracy and power of a single firearm, but reliable firearms that can be equipped on a large scale. In addition, the primer firing problem should also be carefully considered. Although the firing rate of the current percussion cap has improved, it is still insufficient. Let the Yao brothers think about it again."

"Also, one person's shortcomings are better than another's. I know you are quite knowledgeable about firearms, but research and development is not something that can be accomplished by one person. There are many capable craftsmen in the civilian world, and even more intelligent people. The design of these three guns still does not deviate from the scope of the plum blossom gun. Although the plum blossom gun is easy to use, the design is limited. Even if the materials are good, the improvement can only be to this extent. Now that you are in charge of military equipment production, you should look far ahead instead of limiting yourself to the present, recruit more talents, and make use of them! If you can develop better firearms and solve the problem of material costs, why not reward me with a mere official position?"

(End of this chapter)