However, it was said that when the office was about to be dismissed that evening, Jiao Shun suddenly received a notice from the inner court, saying that he would be needed to attend the court tomorrow morning for consultation.

Although the eunuch who delivered the order was very tight-lipped, Jiao Shun roughly guessed that the reason for coming to him was about the Beijing-Western Railway - this matter had been quarreling since last year and was originally at a stalemate, but recently the emperor had taken over.

Having gained the upper hand, this time I asked myself to participate in the morning court, probably because I wanted to finalize the decision.

As for the reason why the emperor has the upper hand...

After leaving the Yamen, Jiao Shun's carriage headed east along the Qianbu Corridor and passed the square outside the Meridian Gate. Jiao Shun lifted the curtain and looked outside. He saw that the five-foot-high bamboo lighthouse in the middle of the square was already lit up layer by layer.

Got the electric light.

However, the searchlights at the top show no signs of being turned on yet.

On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the lighthouse aroused huge repercussions as soon as it was unveiled. In particular, the scene of the envoys from various countries who were invited to visit the tower lost their temper under the special focus of the searchlight, which was covered in newspapers.

After the report, the popularity of this lighthouse was pushed to a new level.

After the government and opposition parties set the tone of "promoting our country's prestige", the emperor lashed out at the remarks of "spectacles detracting from the country", intending to use this to promote the Beijing-West Railway, which had been blocked for a long time, and ambitiously proposed the Beijing-Tianjin Railway plan.

.

Of course, if the latter wants to start construction, it will also depend on whether the former can be effective.

In other words, although this lighthouse has been on display for more than half a month, it still attracts a lot of people every night, including officials and citizens from the capital, as well as businessmen from other places, including those who come to Beijing to take exams.

Thanks to the success of the imperial examination, there are now enough poems with this lighthouse as the background to publish two or three poetry collections - of course, most of them are at the level of limericks.

Moreover, reciting poetry is reciting poetry, and praising is praising. If you ask candidates who are rushing to take exams whether they support the continued vigorous development of engineering, nine out of ten of them will not support it.

Probably because the carriage Jiao Shun sat in was conspicuous enough, and the thirty-six clearing guards at the front and rear were also impressive enough, before he could pass through the square, he was blocked by several dragon guards who said they were inviting Lord Jiao.

After a while, Eunuch Zhou, the general manager of the inner palace, will arrive soon.

Jiao Shun knew that Zhou Wuyou was looking for him probably because of the lighthouse.

Immediately, he ordered the coachman to rush to the roadside, got out of the car, called several picket adjutants, first thanked him for his hard work, and said that he would participate in the morning meeting tomorrow, so he would not bother to be escorted by the picket team.

Then he ordered Shuan Zhu to take fifty taels of silver and asked his lieutenants to treat everyone to a drink on his behalf.

As they were being pushed around, the chubby Zhou Wuyou quickly came closer and shouted from a distance: "Brother Jiao, you have screwed me up!"

As a result, he lost his breath because of this shout. When he ran to Jiao Shun, he was speechless. He took out his handkerchief and wiped it on his forehead again and again.

"Brother, don't worry."

Jiao Shun smiled and pointed to the lighthouse on the square opposite and asked: "The emperor is not ready to demolish it?"

"Isn't it?"

Zhou Wuyou finally regained his composure and stamped his feet and said, "It's good for you, brother. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, you started to work as the boss. But we are still worried every day, just afraid that something will go wrong with this troublemaker!"

As he said that, he stretched out his fat hand like a cattail leaf fan and gestured: "It was okay in the first few days, but now our government has to do inspections five times a day! Not to mention the big light bulbs that are rushed out.

If there are three out of ten that are usable, the incense will burn high, and it will be extinguished at some point when it lights up. This makes me worried!"

Don't blame Zhou Wuyou for complaining.

This lighthouse was originally built by Jiao Shun in a flash of inspiration, and because of the deadline, naturally the carrot was too fast to wash away the mud.

It would have been fine if it lasted for three to five days, but when the emperor saw that the group of foreign devils were frightened by the searchlights and screamed, Long Yan was so happy that he extended the display time of the lighthouse indefinitely.

This naturally greatly exceeded the original working hours.

The generator can barely hold up under daily maintenance, but the light bulbs are not good enough. I don’t know how many of them will break in a day. The original spare parts have been used up long ago, and now they are all new ones that have been worked overtime to come out.

But in this rush to work, the yield rate was even lower, especially for those searchlights.

"We also mentioned it to Lord Long Live in a roundabout way a few times, but Lord Long Live..."

As Zhou Wuyou spoke, he grabbed Jiao Shun's arm and whispered softly to Qiu: "To untie the bell, the person who tied it needs to be tied. Your brother can't just leave this matter alone!"

"I'd rather take care of it."

Jiao Shun spread his hands and said helplessly: "But the emperor values ​​the dignity of the Tian family most. You cannot forcefully persuade me to do this. You must allow me to find a suitable opportunity to talk about it."

"How can this be difficult for you, brother?"

When Zhou Wuyou heard this, he immediately clenched his hands: "Anyway, I will blame you for this matter!"

Just as he was talking, suddenly the lights in the square were bright, but the searchlights on the top of the tower suddenly turned on. The onlookers were waiting for this, and the cheers and praises immediately sounded like a tide.

There was no hint of joy on Zhou Wuyou's face. He counted the numbers from a distance and said with a grimace, "It's less than 70% bright..."

As he said that, he looked at Jiao Shun eagerly.

Jiao Shun repeatedly promised that he would help him dismantle this 'wonder' when he found the opportunity, and finally escaped.

Who would have thought that as soon as he got rid of Fatty Zhou, he would be blocked by a group of people again.

The leader was none other than Sun Shaozu, the wolf from Zhongshan.

At first, Sun Shaozu was secretly angry because Jiao Shun rejected him, but when we saw him again today, his face was full of enthusiasm and smile, without any grudge.

This is also normal.

After all, in the past year, Mr. Jiao has risen to great heights. Not only has his official title and power increased, he has also won the support of nobles and royal merchants, and even made friends with Prince Zhongshun and Prince Nan'an.

As a foreign martial artist, how could he have the qualifications and the courage to compete with Jiao Shun again?

Therefore, instead of showing the slightest grudge, he tried his best to be humble in front of Jiao Shun, and tried his best to invite Jiao Shun to have a drink in the name of getting married on the same day.

It's a pity that Jiao Shun didn't have a very good impression of this guy, not to mention that over at Yingchun, although he chose to stand by and watch in the end, it was definitely impossible to say that he had no sympathy at all.

So he rejected Sun Shaozu very coldly.

Sun Shaozu did not dare to show any dissatisfaction, and watched Jiao Shun's carriage go away with obsequious shoulders. Then he stopped smiling and gradually straightened his back.

"General."

Seeing the ferocious light in his eyes, everyone came up to express their loyalty and said: "Who is this guy? How dare he disgrace you, General? Do you want me to lead my brothers..."

Halfway through the sentence, Sun Shaozu turned to him with a pair of bull's-eyes. Without saying a word, he just made a big-eared comment and cursed: "Idiot! You can mess with him too?!"

As he said that, he pointed to the center of the square: "Have you seen that glowing bamboo archway? That's the auspiciousness he made with his own hands! The emperor has treated him like a treasure now. How dare you dare to mess with him?

?”

The general had actually guessed Jiao Shun's identity, but he still covered his face in amusement and said in shock: "So he is Jiao Shun, an engineering student?!"

After saying that, he gave a thumbs up and praised: "General, you really have a wide range of contacts. You can even recognize such a person with great hands and eyes!"

At this time, he had forgotten about Jiao Shun's lack of face.

"Hmph~"

Sun Shaozu snorted lightly and said disdainfully: "Not only do we know each other, I will become his brother-in-law in a few days."

Shi Xiangyun and Yingchun are cousins, and it is not an exaggeration to say they are brothers-in-law.

When the general heard this, he hurriedly flattered him and said, "With such a brother-in-law serving in the court, the position of admiral of Jinmen will be yours sooner or later!"

"Hmph~"

Sun Shaozu snorted again, his two bull's eyes squirming in his eye sockets.

Naturally, he thought so too. Otherwise, why would he rush to put his hot face on his cold butt?

Just looking at Jiao Shun's attitude, it's obvious that he doesn't really approve of this brother-in-law relationship.

but……

What if it were another kind of brother-in-law?

Sun Shaozu had been angry and jealous before when he heard that Jiao Shun had an affair with the second girl from Rongguo Mansion, but now he wished that this was true.

At that time, I might be able to rely on the second girl to become a comrade with him again...

…………

Little did Jiao Shun know that there was someone else who wanted to be in the same camp as him.

After getting rid of Sun Shaozu, he went home for a walk, dismissed all the guards, and explained a few words to Xing Xiuyan, then drove Jian Jian out of the back door and drove all the way to You's house.

Because they were about to get married, his confidante [mistresses] were more or less in mood swings, so Mr. Jiao had to rush around in the past few days to avoid a fire in the backyard.

But he couldn't get a sound sleep either.

Around five o'clock [three o'clock], I had to get up from the bed, change clothes and wash up. I had a simple breakfast at You's house and then drove straight to Donghua Gate.

After passing the sign and entering the palace, Jiao Shun originally thought that he would be taken to the place where the ministers were on duty, waiting for the emperor's summons. The little eunuch who did not want to lead the way took him directly to the imperial study room in the Wenhua Palace.

Needless to say, the emperor must have wanted to meet with him first to discuss how to deal with the Confucian scholars in the early court.

However, when he was taken to the imperial study room, it was still empty. After waiting for about another quarter of an hour, he saw the yawning Emperor Longyuan leading Dai Quan in from the outside.

"See you, humble minister..."

Just as Jiao Shun swept the sleeves of his court uniform and asked for his luggage, Emperor Longyuan waved his hand and said, "Okay, my dear, please get down without any ceremony."

As he said that, he walked around behind the imperial eucalyptus and said straight to the point: "I asked you to attend the morning meeting today because of the construction of the Beijing-West Railway. Those corrupt scholars are really stubborn, and now even the common people in the streets and alleys,

We all know that today’s world is an era of industrial power, but they still follow the example of their ancestors.”

He sat down heavily on the throne and said disdainfully: "Huh! How much did Taizu attach great importance to industry when he was alive? It's a shame that they have the nerve to talk about the laws of our ancestors!"
To be continued...