Chapter 173: Repeated use of the same trick

At the same time when Li Wei was visiting the Fei family, on another street about two miles away from the Fei family, the carriage Yao Guangxiao also came to a mansion. This mansion was the private residence of the King of Qin Shao Wenda. He usually lives in the King of Qin's mansion and never lived here. But today, Shao Wenda came to his own mansion. The special thing was that he received a note in the morning, and the King of Yan ordered him to go back to the mansion tonight.

Yao Guangxiao sat in the carriage and waited quietly. After a moment, the door of Shao Wenda's house opened. The carriage that Yao Guangxiao was riding suddenly started and rushed into the mansion directly. The door closed, and several figures swayed in the corner of the wall and hid again.

Yao Guangxiao got off the horse, and Shao Wenda immediately came up, bowed and smiled, "I am deeply honored that the master comes to my house."

Yao Guangxiao saw him smiling flatteringly, and couldn't help but feel contempt in his heart. This was something he had not figured out for a long time. Shao Wenda was valued by the King of Qin. If he had all his heart to assist, he could become the number one person around the King of Qin. The King of Qin's status was even higher than that of King of Yan. He didn't understand that Shao Wenda was the best King of Qin and insisted on shaking his head and waving his tail to beg for mercy from King of Yan like a dog. What's the reason? After thinking about it, Yao Guangxiao only summarized one word, "Scared".

Although he was despised in his heart, Yao Guangxiao's face was very humble. He clasped his hands and said, "Mr. Shao is really a believer, and I am very grateful."

Shao Wenda laughed dryly and said quickly: "I can't be away for too long. Time is urgent. Please follow me."

He took Yao Guangxiao to the small room and ordered everyone to retreat. Then he asked: "What instructions does Your Highness Yan King have to tell me? Please tell me."

Yao Guangxiao pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Your Highness of the King of Yan wants to know what plans does the King of Qin have recently?"

"Plan?" Shao Wenda sneered: "He has become like a madman for this position in the East Palace. In order to gain a reputation, he has almost all his savings for more than ten years have been put in. Last time, the emperor said in the court that the lord of the East Palace should be taken with virtue, not necessarily depends on the elders. He was almost forced into a dead end by this sentence. Now, as long as he is given the opportunity to enter the East Palace, he can do anything."

Yao Guangxiao nodded, and was exactly what King Yan expected. The King of Yan said that the King of Qin had the heart to be the master of human beings, but he had no ability to be the master of human beings. He would often lose his mind at the last moment. Now it seems that this is true.

He smiled and said, "The King of Yan said that although the incident in Dingyuan County failed the previous year, your contribution is still there. You are loyal to the King of Yan. Now, as long as you do another thing, he can formally include you and appoint you as his second aide."

Shao Wenda was overjoyed. Of course, he knew that the first aide was the monk in front of him. Replacing Yao Guangxiao was something he could not even think about. If he could be the second aide, it would mean that the King of Yan gave him the greatest position. He quickly stood up and bowed deeply: "Please tell His Highness the King of Yan that I, Shao Wenda, will remember his kindness in my heart."

Yao Guangxiao waved his hand and said, "Sir, don't be polite. Your Highness, King Yan, always rewards me on merit. This is the status you earned yourself. Of course, you must complete the last task."

Shao Wenda nodded and said solemnly: "Please give me instructions!"

Yao Guangxiao took out a letter from his arms and placed it on the table and slowly pushed it to Shao Wenda, "What the King of Yan wants you to do is in this letter. You must wait for the best opportunity before taking action."

Seeing that Shao Wenda solemnly put away the letter, Yao Guangxiao stood up and smiled and said, "Okay, I'm going back now. The King of Yan will contact you in a special way in the future, so you don't have to take the risk to see me again."

"I'm here to pay my respects to the master."

Shao Wenda sent Yao Guangxiao onto the carriage. The carriage started and went out from the gate. He soon walked away. Seeing that it was getting late, Shao Wenda also got onto a carriage and drove from the opposite direction of Yao Guangxiao. The two carriages left one by one, and came out of the darkness. Several people exchanged glances and chased the two carriages separately.

Li Weizheng came back from the Fei family. He was in a good mood. Today he resolved a grudge and had a friend. In fact, many things are like this, especially some grudges between people. It is very simple to transform them. It depends on whether you are willing to do it. If you press each other step by step, the hatred will become deeper and deeper. On the contrary, if Li Weizheng doesn’t even have this little mind, what big things he has to do. In contrast, he has always admired the heart of the King of Yan. His final success in history is also a necessary connection with his broad mind.

But being broad-minded is not a bad person. Some principled issues cannot be compromised, such as his hatred with the King of Qin, and his grudges with Zhan Hui. If he does not kill them, Li Wei will never give up.

In fact, he didn't want to spend much effort when Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne. After all, history is here. In the end, as long as nothing unexpected happens, history will still follow the old trajectory. On the contrary, if he participates too much, it may change the trajectory of history. Zhu Yunwen was just a springboard for him. How to use this springboard to achieve his goal is something he thought about.

Li Wei had just returned home. Before he entered the door, he saw several horses galloping towards his mansion. The horses were running closer, but it was Luo Guangcai. He left in the afternoon. Why did he come again now? Luo Guang turned over and dismounted, walked up and smiled, "Sir, have you gone to the Fei Mansion!"

"How do you know that you sent someone to follow me?"

Luo Guangcai shook his head and said, "My people saw you by chance. They were just around Fei's Mansion."

Li Weizheng thought for a moment and smiled, "Could it be that Shao Wenda has returned to his house?"

He knew that Shao Wenda's private residence was near Fei's house. It is very likely that Luo Guangcai had arranged someone to follow Shao Wenda. Luo Guangcai smiled and gave a thumbs up and praised: "You guessed it, but you never dreamed that who he had met just now?"

Li Weizheng immediately said: "Let's go into the mansion and talk."

"No, I want to take the adults to a place. I will get on your carriage, and let's talk as we go."

The Jinyiwei's work efficiency is extremely high, which is fully reflected in Luo Guangcai. He got on the carriage and smiled and said, "Didn't you ask me to find a craftsman in the afternoon?"

Li Weizheng was stunned and he said happily: "You found it so soon?"

"This is a breeze for me. There is a record in the Jinyiwei. I found someone who meets your conditions best. I will take you there now."

Luo Guangcai smiled and returned to the topic just now, "Don't you want to ask who is looking for Shao Wenda?"

Li Weizheng smiled faintly and said, "Is it the monk Daoyan beside King Yan who is looking for him?"

Luo Guangcai was stunned. He looked at Li Weizheng a little incredible. After a while, he asked in surprise: "How do you know?"

Li Weizheng smiled but did not answer. Of course he could guess that the King of Yan was a low-key person who did not fight for the Eastern Palace was just an appearance. How could he remain unmoved? With King of Yan's scheming, he would definitely make full use of the fool of Qin and use the King of Qin to achieve his goals. Li Weizheng had already learned from Leng Qianqiu that there was an undercover agent of the King of Yan beside the King of Qin, Zhao Wuji and Tan Yanling died. Ji Gang was with them at that time but did not save them. Then the undercover agent was the greatest possibility that Shao Wenda was Shao.

Seeing Luo Guangcai's surprised look, Li Weizheng knew that he had guessed. Luo Guangcai saw that Li Weizheng refused to say it, so he could only smile and said, "The person who came here was very careful when he saw Shao Wenda. He entered and left, and after he left, he circled around the city. My people could not follow him. However, after Shao Wenda left, we interrogated someone from Shao Wenda's mansion. He said that after the carriage entered the mansion, a middle-aged monk came down. Who else could this be Daoyan?"

Li Wei was smiling coldly. If he was the King of Yan, he would be dormant, not fighting or competing. He could just take action at the last moment. If he was not wrong, the King of Yan wanted to use the same trick again.

The group returned to Jiangning County. When Zhu Yuanzhang was in the early days of his founding, he concentrated all the skilled craftsmen in the country in the capital. There were hundreds of thousands of people, and together with their family, nearly one million people, they were placed in Jiangning County and lived in branches according to industry, forming craftsmen workshops such as copper workshops, bow craftsmen, arrow craftsmen, paint craftsmen, sugar craftsmen and other craftsmen workshops. These craftsmen have independent household registration as craftsmen, and their sons and fathers' business live here for generations and are not allowed to leave. In particular, firearm makers have strict control, no personal freedom, and are strictly prohibited from making privately by the people.

But today, the musket craftsman Luo Guangcai was looking for for Li Weizheng very special. He was once one of the best craftsmen in the Baoyuan Bureau. Two years ago, when he was testing muskets, he was unfortunately blinded by a blow and could no longer engage in musket smithing. So he retired from the Baoyuan Bureau. His eldest son took over his craftsmanship position. He was unemployed at home. Because he had brewed wine when he was young, he changed to a winemaker and made a living by taking on some sporadic brewing from the government. Luo Guang found him because he was no longer controlled by the Baoyuan Bureau and was not a winemaker in the government. He had certain personal freedom. As long as he was not found by the inspection departments in various places, he could go anywhere in the world.

The craftsman's surname is Yang. His family is in a white wine shop close to Huashi Street. There are thousands of winemakers living in the white wine shop. Most of them brew wine for the government. However, since Zhu Yuanzhang's two years ago, due to tight grain restrictions, the craftsmen in the white wine shop have obviously lived much less. Less than their living means a decrease in income. Most of the lives have become more difficult. Li Weizheng's carriage stopped in front of a dilapidated house. There are four rooms in front and back, and there is a circle of small courtyards made of earth behind it. It is a typical ordinary craftsman.

There was a well not far away, and more than a dozen women were gathering together to do laundry. Washing laundry at night was obviously a kind of livelihood to support their families. One of the old women saw a carriage and a dozen riders parked at her door, and ran over nervously and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Is this Yang Jianghu's home? Musketsmith Yang Ertian."

"Yes!" the old woman said with some fear: "My old man no longer makes muskets."

Li Wei was getting out of the carriage, and he comforted her with a smile: "You don't have to be afraid. We are here to visit sincerely and have no malice. Is Dad Yang at home?"

At this time, an old man walked out of the house, about fifty years old, his face covered with wrinkles. His left eye was blind, his back was a little hunched, and he looked very old. When he saw many people coming, he asked in a hoarse voice: "I am Yang Ertian, are you okay with me?"

Li Wei was approaching and bowing, "I have something to ask the old man, can I get into the house and talk?"

Seeing that although Li Wei was wearing an ordinary green robe, the few people behind him were dressed in Jinyiwei, especially one of them was wearing a golden Qilin suit. This was a high-ranking official of Jinyiwei. He was also a little scared and did not dare to refuse, so he nodded and said, "Please come in!"

Several Jinyiwei lieutenants were standing at the door, and Luo Guangcai accompanied Li Wei into the house. There was no furniture in the house. Although it was worn out, it was cleaned up. The lights were dim. A light as big as a bean seedling was about to go out. Under the oil lamp, two young ladies were concentrating on sewing clothes. Dozens of old clothes were piled up in front of them. It seemed that this was their job. The two girls suddenly saw a strange man coming in and were so scared that they picked up their clothes and ran to the inner room.

"These are my two daughters. I'm sorry, there is no lamp oil at home, so I can only feel sorry for you." Yang Ertian sighed, took out two large thick porcelain bowls from the cabinet, and poured them two bowls of water.

Li Wei was bowing and smiled, "Dad Yang doesn't need to worry about it. We will only ask a few questions and leave."

"You ask!" Yang Ertian nodded and sat down.

Li Wei was pondering for a moment and asked, "I would like to ask, has Dad Yang considered improving the musket?"

When Yang Ertian heard him ask about the musket, he immediately waved his hand and said, "I can't answer this question. I promised the head of Baoyuan Bureau. If you leave the craftsman's position, you will never talk about muskets. You two are sorry."

Luo Guangcai took out two ingots of silver from his arms, each of which was at least ten taels. He pushed the silver to Yang Ertian and smiled and said, "You are a little man, and it is not worth our conspiracy. We did ask privately. You and us know about this matter. After asking, we will leave. What if this ingot belongs to you, how about it?"

Yang Ertian glanced at the two white ingots of silver. He sighed, pushed the silver back, shook his head and said, "This is not a problem of money. If I talk about muskets outside and violate the rules, I will implicate my son. I am really sorry."

Li Weizheng smiled slightly and said, "I know that the muskets are very clumsy nowadays. When shooting, they need to cooperate with each other. It takes a long time to fill a gun. The amount of gunpowder is not accurate. Either the recoil force is too large or dud. If we improve the ignition device, such as designing a mechanism, a trigger similar to a crossbow, let it clamp the ignition fuse at one end, and use fingers to pull the trigger directly, and the fuse falls directly down to the ignition gunpowder pool, so that a person can operate it. At the same time, the barrel is longer, and there is a bracket behind it to support the shoulder hole, and then design a standard charge spoon or a standard small medicine bottle..."

Li Weizheng said slowly. Yang Ertian had a helpless face at first, but gradually his eyes lit up, his waist straightened, his body leaned forward, and he listened to Li Weizheng's statement with all his attention. Even Luo Guangcai was attracted.

"In fact, it is still a bit inconvenient to ignite with flint. If we change it to flint, when we pull the hook machine, flint strikes the iron sheet to produce Mars, and Mars ignites the gunpowder in the medicine pool, which is even more convenient."

What Li Weizheng is talking about is the coercine and flintlock gun. He has seen the coercine gun pictures and has a little impression, but he has never seen the flintlock gun. But he can also think of one or two. The principle of the flintlock gun should be the same as that of the old lighter. He ticks the gears and rub the flint to ignite the fire, but the ticks are changed to hits.

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Ertian stood up. He grabbed Li Weizheng's wrist tightly and asked excitedly: "Is there really a musket like you said in the world?"

He has been making muskets for nearly thirty years and knows the structure and production of muskets. Li Weizheng's words seemed to open a window in front of him, allowing him to see an unprecedented world, but it was completely feasible.

Li Weizheng smiled faintly and said, "There is no such musket in the world now. I just want to get it, but I won't do it. I hope you can make such muskets, no! Such muskets."

The carriage left Yang Ertian's house. Yang Ertian had already agreed to develop this kind of musket for Li Weizheng. When Li Wei bought a manor in the suburbs, he would take his whole family to the manor. Li Wei closed his eyes in the carriage. Luo Guang next to him sighed: "My thoughts are really eye-opening. Muskets can still be fired like that."

He suddenly asked Li Weizheng again: "Sir, what are you going to make a musket? Could it be that you want to go to the Ministry of Works?"

Li Weizheng shook his head and smiled, "It's just a personal preference."
Chapter completed!