After autumn, the weather became colder and colder. In winter, it snowed heavily. The sudden drop in temperature seemed to have affected the old emperor. His already weak body became even worse, and his body temperature was even higher than that of a dead person.
Even lower.
Anyone who looked at his pale face would feel that he would not be able to survive the next moment. However, the old emperor's vitality was extremely tenacious, and his breathing was weak and never stopped.
"The artifacts Xiao Wu presented this time are quite interesting."
Covered with three layers of quilts inside and three outside, the old emperor, who was almost wrapped into a rice dumpling, glanced at the coal stove not far from the dragon's collapse. A weaker but still powerful voice sounded, and a rare smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
smile.
Different from the simple style drawn on Di Xin's drawings, although this coal stove was built in a hurry, it is extremely luxurious and gorgeous. If it weren't for the long extending chimney, no one would be able to associate it with the coal stove.
Together.
Even the chimney is not a simple slender iron tube, but is carved into a five-clawed golden dragon that snakes out. Eight golden dragons of different shapes are also carved on the furnace body.
If you look around with the old emperor's Dragon Tower as the center of the circle, you will find that including the one the old emperor is looking at, there are a total of nine coal stoves in the palace.
The chimney plus the furnace body, each coal stove has nine golden dragons, nine coal stoves are ninety-nine and eighty-one golden dragons.
However, no matter how carefully the skilled craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry carve out the details, the old emperor on the bed seemed not to notice it. He just thought it was an ordinary coal stove and looked away after taking one look at it.
Next to Longtai, the old eunuch standing with a slight bow also glanced at the surrounding coal stoves, then lowered his head and said: "His Royal Highness King Yu is indeed serious this time. With this thing, Your Majesty can feel better."
That's right, Emperor Xin, as Prince Yu, naturally knew something about the old emperor's situation. Therefore, in line with the idea of not exaggerating his favor, he specifically added in the memorial sent along with the drawings that this thing would be beneficial to the emperor.
, so we expedited the journey for 800 miles.
In fact, in the entire Dali, if there is anyone who has benefited the most from the emergence of coal stoves, it is the old emperor in front of him.
Because of his physical condition, there are charcoal basins and heaters in the palace all year round, even in the hottest winter, and in winter, the number will increase again.
Although all the anthracite was burned in the old emperor's palace, anthracite was not truly smokeless, and as the number of charcoal pots and heaters increased, the amount of smoke produced would also increase.
Too much white smoke may naturally cause suffocation.
Therefore, even if the old emperor could no longer bear the cold, he still needed to open the doors and windows every day for ventilation. This was fine in summer, but in winter, every time the windows and doors were opened, the temperature in the palace would drop a bit as cold wind poured in.
It can be said that the reason why the old emperor's condition has become worse and worse is that, in addition to the injuries left by the assassins in his body, the cold wind entering the house every winter may also have an impact.
But it was different with the coal stove. The smoke left with the chimney. This winter, the old emperor no longer had to worry about his health getting worse due to the cold wind.
And also because of the smoke, although the previous heaters and charcoal basins were not far from Longtan, they still maintained a sufficient distance. However, even the furthest coal stoves among these coal stoves were farther away than the previous ones.
It is close to the charcoal basin.
As the distance was closer, the temperature around Longtan would naturally be higher, which would be of greater benefit to the old emperor.
Although the temperature on his body was still very low, the frost that had gradually become apparent on his face in the past few days had disappeared overnight.
However, the old emperor only praised the coal stove, and then stopped paying attention to it, but the topic was still about Di Xin.
"Originally, it was to prevent Xiao Wu, who was no longer dormant, from being plotted by his brothers, but I didn't expect that he would be so capable and achieve such a feat in just a few months."
The old eunuch bowed and flattered: "This is all due to your majesty's good teachings, and your highness, Prince Yu, is so outstanding."
In response to the old eunuch's flattery, the old emperor smiled helplessly: "You..."
He, the chief eunuch, is good at everything, but he likes to flatter him too much. Even after saying it several times, it still doesn't work, so he simply doesn't bother to talk anymore and just lets him go.
He seemed to have thought of something else, and asked casually: "I heard that Xiao Wu used the 20,000 troops expansion rights I gave him to form a cavalry?"
Di Xin's recruitment of troops was not considered covert, so it was naturally impossible to hide it.
"Your Majesty, it seems they are called the Flying Tiger Army and the Flying Wolf Army."
The old eunuch recalled the information sent back a few days ago and said: "It is said that a new training method is used, but the Flying Wolf Army has just started recruiting, and the Flying Tiger Army is currently less than half..."
Finally, he asked with some curiosity: "Your Majesty, cavalry is not good at defending the city. Why did His Highness King Yu recruit so many cavalry?"
"Oh……"
The old emperor chuckled, and his eyes seemed to fall on Emperor Xin of Yanque Pass through the walls of the palace and the distant space.
"The expansion of cavalry is naturally for attack. Xiaowu's ambitions are not small!"
The old eunuch's eyes changed drastically, and he blurted out: "Could it be that His Royal Highness Prince Yu..."
The subsequent guess was too bold, so he stopped talking in time and did not dare to say any more.
The old emperor smiled and said: "That's right, the Ashina tribe was destroyed, and the Turkic tribes were fighting among themselves because of the position of the Great Khan. Now that the Turks' vitality is seriously damaged, Xiao Wu should want to take this opportunity to directly solve the Turks and let the Turks
There is no need to worry about being harassed when you are far away from the northern border."
And what he didn't say was the guess that the old eunuch kept silent.
With the addition of 20,000 more mobile cavalry, plus the original Flying Leopard Army, a total of 30,000 cavalry was at hand. If King Yu was really interested in the throne, he might not be able to lead his troops back to Beijing to force the palace.
Of course, it was not the old emperor who forced him.
A skinny camel is bigger than a horse, not to mention that the old emperor is not dead yet. As long as he survives for a day, even if he is lying in the palace unable to move, then all the princes' competition for the throne can only be within a reasonable range.
As for after his death, if Xiao Wu really has the ability to fight for the throne, it might not be a bad thing with the ability he has shown now.
Not only the military expansion, but also the old emperor's policies promulgated by Emperor Xin through his think tank were also fully aware of them.
As the emperor of Dali, he naturally did not have a good impression of the Turks who were constantly intruding on the Dali border and coveting the territory of Dali.
Therefore, since he understood King Yu's intentions, he didn't mind giving him a helping hand.
"The order goes down. King Yu has made a contribution to the treasures and will reward you with two thousand good horses and thirty thousand gold and silver."
The old eunuch was shocked.
Two thousand good horses, that is, two thousand cavalry. Your Majesty wants to support His Royal Highness King Yu in his northern expedition to the Turks.
Nowadays, there are constant harassments in Dali, and after the civil servants took over the power of the court, they are opposed to external war. At this time, your Majesty's decision will undoubtedly arouse fierce reactions from all officials.