"Meow!" Xiaobai called out, as if to alert the palace servants serving the meal, and tapped the edge of the plate lightly with his little paws.

Zhu Youxiao sneered and nodded, and the palace servant immediately picked up two pieces of marinated chicken and placed them on an empty plate.

Xiaobai turned his head left and right, then walked to the five-thread belly silk plate and nodded with his paw.

You are a cat, why do you eat chicken and tripe?

Zhu Youxiao took a look at the dish of fish that he had only touched with his chopsticks. It was specially made for Xiaobai. He thought that cats only liked to eat fish. It seemed that he was ignorant.

After ordering the dishes, Xiaobai came to the plate and started eating. The food looked very fragrant and delicious.

Could this be a cat in a cat's coat? Zhu Youxiao put down his chopsticks and looked at this beautiful and smart cat thoughtfully.

………………

The sun shines on our bodies, and even though it is winter, even if it does not make us feel warm, it makes us feel happy.

But when the Prime Minister Ye Xianggao came to the Palace of Heavenly Purity with several memorials in his hands, he felt a heavy heart along the way.

The reason was very simple. The young emperor issued an imperial decree to the cabinet, summoning Sun Degong, the guerrilla commander of the Liaodong governor Wang Huazhen, to come to the capital for an audience.

In addition to summoning Sun Degong, there was also Hong Fujiao, the military commander and official under Xiong Tingbi.

In the view of the cabinet ministers, the young emperor failed to replace Wang Huazhen, and his attempt to send the military officials and the chief official to Liaodong was also rejected. He could only settle for the next best thing and summon the governor's confidants to Beijing for inquiries.

As for Sun Degong, the guerrilla commander of the central army, and Hong Fujiao, the head of the military affairs department, they were both low-ranking officials and it was no big deal for them to be summoned to the capital, as they could not affect the major events in Liaodong.

In this case, the ministers thought it would be best to give the young emperor some face. The young emperor's displeasure was obvious during yesterday's court session, so why bother making him unhappy over such a trivial matter?

Prime Minister Ye Xianggao also agreed, but he thought more deeply about it.

Because this was a rare imperial edict since the young emperor ascended the throne. Previous imperial edicts were rewards and were just a formality.

Although the summons this time were for minor officials, the matter of Liaodong was involved. If the young emperor had proposed such a suggestion, the court would most likely have approved it, but the young emperor did not follow this procedure.

Ye Xianggao was not sure whether the young emperor was impatient, or was deliberately testing him, or was venting his resentment.

Therefore, Ye Xianggao wanted to get to the bottom of things and feel at ease.

At the same time, he also wanted to take the opportunity to make some suggestions. One was that if the emperor was not diligent in his morning court, it would be recorded in history books; the other was that this imperial edict was not impossible, but it would be better to change the way it was done.

When they were still some distance away from the Qianqing Palace, they suddenly heard a loud "bang", which scared Ye Xianggao.

After determining the direction, Ye Xianggao's expression changed. He lifted up his robe, quickened his pace, and headed straight for the Qianqing Palace.

At this time, outside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao was accompanied by a group of palace maids, watching several officers and soldiers from the Shenjin Camp who were summoned to perform a firearms demonstration.

Because the performance was to be held within the palace, the officers and soldiers of the Shenjiying Battalion only brought muskets and three-barreled cannons. Their commander was Zhang Weixian, the seventh Duke of Yingguo, the highest duke of the Ming Dynasty.

Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian was in charge of the Central Military Governor's Office and the Beijing Camp. He made great efforts in the case of moving the palace and personally carried the sedan chair to carry Emperor Tianqi from the Qianqing Palace to the Wenhua Palace to inherit the throne.

Historically, even when Wei Zhongxian was at the peak of his power, he did not dare to do anything to Zhang Weixian.

After the musket shooting was completed, Zhu Youxiao did not comment, but shook his head secretly.

Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian stood beside the young emperor and introduced to him the characteristics and power of the three-barreled gun.

This three-barreled gun sounds pretty good. The three barrels can be fired in turn, and can also be swung like a hammer to hit people.

But in reality, the barrel is too short, and the range can be imagined; it is true that it can fire three bullets continuously, but loading it is time-consuming and laborious.

Compared with the lethality and accuracy of matchlock guns such as bird guns, matchlock guns such as three-barreled guns are far inferior.

Twenty or thirty meters? Zhu Youxiao thought it was just that. If you believed the fifty or eighty steps mentioned in the book, you would be crazy.

Well, the ancients often confused effective killing range with maximum range. If a rocket launcher can go 20 or 30 meters, is it any use?

Zhu Youxiao stood up and walked over, saying, "Let me try it out a few times." He then decided to personally try out this well-reputed standard weapon of the Ming army.

It's normal for men to be interested in guns, even if they're just old-fashioned muskets. Even just firing a cannon and hearing the noise is quite exciting, isn't it?

Besides, Zhu Youxiao didn't dare to shoot the bird gun because he thought it was very dangerous. There were many reports on the Internet about the quality problems of the Ming army's firearms.

This three-barreled gun is very heavy, so there shouldn't be any problem.

"Your Majesty, you must not do this!" Zhu Youxiao's words were interrupted by a unanimous exclamation.

The one who was closer was Zhang Weixian, and the one who was a little further away was Ye Shoufu who was running over in a hurry. Both of them looked panicked and anxious, and rushed forward to block the way.

Are you kidding?

The emperor is worth a fortune. If you let him try firing a musket, what if something goes wrong? Even if it is certain that nothing will go wrong, you still have to dissuade him. It is the duty of a minister!

Zhu Youxiao was stopped and felt a little unhappy. His face darkened and he said, "It's just firing a musket, what's wrong with that?"

"Your Majesty is responsible for the Ming Dynasty. How can you take risks so easily?" Ye Xianggao tried to dissuade him while panting.

Zhu Youxiao turned to look at Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian, pursed his lips, and asked, "Duke Yingguo, is this musket of inferior quality so low that firing it would be life-threatening?"

This - Zhang Weixian was speechless.

Saying that the quality of the muskets was poor was not only derogatory to the Shenjiying, but also constituted dereliction of duty. But if he patted his chest and said that there was no problem, how could he stop the emperor from firing them?

"Your Majesty, this musket was brought into the palace by the Duke of Ying. It was carefully selected and there should be no problem." Ye Xianggao bowed hurriedly and said, "The soldiers in charge of the demonstration are also proficient in it. Let them demonstrate. Your Majesty can also watch from the sidelines."

Zhu Youxiao snorted, lost interest, and turned back to the palace.

Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, did not dare to leave without the emperor's permission, nor could he hear Ye Xianggao's report. He bowed and said, "The Lord must have something important to report. I will wait in the side hall for Your Majesty to summon me."

Ye Xianggao returned the greeting and said, "Please do as you please, Duke."

"Call the chief minister of the cabinet, Ye Xianggao, into the palace." A eunuch walked out of the palace gate and screamed.

Zhang Weixian bowed again and went to the side hall with his men.

Ye Xianggao was summoned into the hall, knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Long live the emperor!"

"Stand up!" Zhu Youxiao raised his hand and said calmly, "Lord Ye, what do you have to report?"

Ye Xianggao thanked him and stood up. He handed the two memorials to the palace attendant and said, "Your Majesty, these are the etiquette and regulations for your majesty's wedding as drafted by the Ministry of Rites, as well as the accounting documents from the Ministry of Revenue. Please review and approve them."

Even for ordinary families, marriage is a big event and should always be as grand and magnificent as possible.