Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 196 Balancing the Accounts [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Inside the duty room of the Armory Bureau.

"Yan Maoqing, the Crown Prince's Chamberlain?"

The chief eunuch, Feng Jinzhong, put down his teacup, a look of doubt on his face.
"The Bureau of Armory and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices have never had any dealings. What is he doing here at the Bureau of Armory, especially since he has received an imperial edict?"

Feng Jinzhong naturally already knew that the Court of Imperial Sacrifices had acquired special privileges from the Western Depot, and had also heard about the beating of three hundred court officials in front of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He certainly did not want to easily provoke Yan Maoqing, lest he bring unnecessary trouble upon himself.

However, like other palace officials.

They did not want the privileges of the Western Depot, which even the eunuchs could control, to be in the hands of an outsider, and they harbored some resentment in their hearts.

Most importantly, he had a very close relationship with Cao Zhen, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration.

After all, the Imperial Horse Administration was in charge of the Imperial Guards, and the Armory manufactured weapons.

With one party supplying and the other demanding, there's plenty of room for maneuver and opportunities to extract profits in the supply and demand process; it's hard for the relationship not to be close...

Just last night.

After Cao Zhen finished his shift, he drank with him privately. After a few rounds of drinks...

She also said things like, "The power of the Western Depot should have always belonged to the Imperial Horse Administration, how could it be the turn of an outsider like Yan Maoqing?" and "The Emperor doesn't trust us loyal servants."

Feng Jinzhong wasn't drunk at the time, so he naturally didn't dare to respond.

After all, Cao Zhen's words carried a hint of resentment and could easily give others cause for criticism.

Of course, his resentment was not as great as Cao Zhen's, because no matter who had the power of the Western Depot, it certainly wouldn't fall to him, the head of the Armory.

To his surprise, Yan Maoqing came knocking on his door first, even though he hadn't intended to cause trouble for him...

Did he mention the purpose of his trip?

Feng Jinzhong felt inexplicably nervous. Being approached by the Western Depot was not a good thing; it could easily be a matter of life and death.

"In response to my godfather, he didn't say anything, only told my godfather to go and receive the imperial decree immediately."

The young eunuch answered respectfully.

Feng Jinzhong then asked:

"Should we invite him into the main hall and serve him well?"

"Yes, my son even had someone serve him some fine tea and asked him to wait in the lobby for the time being."

"Good son, you do have some sense."

Feng Jinzhong nodded, picked up the tobacco pipe from the table, put it on his head, straightened it, took a deep breath, and strode towards the main hall.

We have just arrived at the lobby entrance.

Feng Jinzhong called out enthusiastically from afar; his voice could be heard before he was seen.
"Your Excellency Minister Yan's presence is truly an honor to our humble abode!"

Yan Maoqing put down his teacup, and only then did he see Feng Jinzhong step across the threshold, greeted with a broad smile and a deep bow:

"I have long admired Minister Yan's name, but seeing him in person is far better than hearing about him. Minister Yan is indeed a promising young man with a handsome appearance. Please accept my bow."

"I am over-flattered."

Yan Maoqing stood up and returned the greeting, smiling broadly as he spoke.
"My admiration for my father-in-law is like a surging river, never-ending, and like the Yellow River overflowing its banks, unstoppable. It is truly an honor for me to see him here today. When I get home, I will definitely burn incense and pay respects to my ancestors to thank them for the good deeds they have done."

"Uh?"

Caught off guard, Feng Jinzhong was stunned by Yan Maoqing's exquisitely beautiful poem.

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty did indeed advocate humility. Everyone spoke to each other politely, and in some ways, they would flatter each other.

But this was truly the first time he had ever encountered a high-ranking official of the third rank in the imperial court as skilled at flattery as Yan Maoqing, who had mastered a whole set of techniques and whose flattery skills were unparalleled.

No, no!
To be precise, even among eunuchs who were well-versed in this art, Yan Maoqing's skill was outstanding, making everyone else pale in comparison.

Feng Jinzhong couldn't help but recall Yan Maoqing's imperial examination answer sheet, which had been plastered all over the streets and alleys overnight...

That's it!

What right does Cao Zhen have to complain?
The skill revealed in just these two sentences was enough to invigorate the emperor. If the emperor didn't entrust the power of the Western Depot to him, who else could he entrust it to?

"..."

The young eunuch who had entered with Feng Jinzhong also stared wide-eyed, glancing furtively at Yan Maoqing in awe. If it weren't for the inconvenience of the moment, he would have loved to immediately take out his calligraphy and write down Yan Maoqing's words, treating them as a classic to be studied day and night.

If he could also master Yan Maoqing's skills, he would surely have a bright future.

"His Majesty's decree."

Seeing that the eunuch in front of him seemed a bit speechless, Yan Maoqing simply withdrew his supernatural powers and cleared his throat like an imperial messenger.

"This humble servant respectfully welcomes the imperial edict!"

Feng Jinzhong dared not be negligent and immediately led his godson to kneel down to receive the imperial decree.

"The Bureau of Armory shall transfer 2,500 foreign arquebuses to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and supervise the craftsmen to cooperate with Yan Maoqing in the modification work, without any mistakes."

Yan Maoqing said without batting an eye.

Although Zhu Houcong had not issued such an edict, since he had ordered Yan Maoqing to recruit and train soldiers, he had given him full authority to do so. Yan Maoqing felt that this could not be considered an abuse of power, but rather a way to put some pressure on the Ministry of War.

In any case, the Armory would certainly not confront Zhu Houcong, and Zhu Houcong would certainly not say anything once he learned that he had received weapons from the Armory.

"This slave takes the order."

Feng Jinzhong kowtowed in agreement, then stood up with the help of his godson, and said with a forced smile,

"Minister Yan, please rest assured, since it is the Emperor's decree, I will immediately order the foreman and craftsmen of the Armory to rush to make it."

Yan Maoqing frowned upon hearing this:

"Start work? The Ordnance Bureau's armory has no stock?"

According to historical records, the production capacity of foreign arquebuses during the Jiajing reign was not high. In the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing's reign, there were official statistics showing that the total number of arquebuses produced in a year was only around 10,000.

This production capacity was forced out of the country by the threat of Japanese pirates in Southeast Asia.

I'm afraid we simply can't reach that production capacity now. It might take half a year, or even a year, to complete 2,500 muskets.

This is definitely too late...

"Originally, the armory had three thousand foreign muskets in reserve for emergencies, but a few days ago the Imperial Horse Administration took most of them to equip the Four Guards. Although there are still some left, we have not yet had time to replenish the stock."

Feng Jinzhong said with a slight hesitation.

"How much is left?"

"Approximately 1,200."

"not enough."

Yan Maoqing frowned even more deeply and immediately asked again,

"Approximately how long will it take to replenish the 2,500 muskets I need?"

"If Grand Master Yan needs it urgently and the Bureau of Armory needs to work day and night, it will probably take at least half a year..."

Feng Jinzhong bowed and said.

He naturally wouldn't tell Yan Maoqing that most of the foreign muskets taken away by the Imperial Horse Administration were just a figurehead; in reality, he and Cao Zhen had split the money among themselves.

Moreover, he wasn't afraid that Yan Maoqing would go to Cao Zhen to demand it.

To put it simply...

Cao Zhen was already dissatisfied with Yan Maoqing, and his dissatisfaction only intensified when he heard that Yan Maoqing was now even training troops.

Furthermore, since this batch of foreign muskets was already a balanced account, Cao Zhen would definitely try every means to shirk responsibility, so how could he hand over the insufficient quantity?
Talk about it more seriously.

The Four Guards were imperial guards responsible for protecting the emperor's safety.

Is Yan Maoqing's training of troops more important, or the Emperor's safety?
Yan Maoqing should know the answer.

Is there anyone in the world who would dare to risk the Emperor's safety and go to petition him to take these foreign muskets from the Four Guards? Wouldn't that be going against the Heavenly Order?

Even the emperor should know this.

Based on his understanding of the Emperor, he would probably only allow Yan Maoqing to take the remaining 1,200 foreign muskets from the armory for temporary use, rather than taking equipment from the Four Guards Battalion.

(End of this chapter)