Although the Emperor’s decree had been issued, it would still take several months to prepare and train troops, so Wei Zhan was temporarily unable to go as he wished.
He led a group of loyal guards and rushed to Linxi. When he saw Qin Ke, he said, “Where is the little golden hair?”
“We are training troops by the river,” Qin Ke said, “Your Highness, why don’t you come with me?”
Wei Zhan naturally had no objection.
The two walked to the riverside and saw a head of blond hair shining dazzlingly in the sun. Wei Zhan walked forward quickly and shouted: “Little Golden Retriever!”
Jin Jili had long been accustomed to this nickname.
He turned to look at the smiling Wei Zhan and wanted to punch his face. So when Wei Zhan came closer, he took advantage of Wei Zhan’s unpreparedness and pushed him into the river!
With a “gudong” sound, Wei Zhan sank to the bottom of the river.
In the late autumn, the river was quite cold. When the other soldiers in the river saw someone falling into the water, they knew that Head Jin was testing the new recruits, so they all gathered around to watch the joke.
It was just that after a long time, Wei Zhan still hadn’t surfaced.
Jin Jili estimated the time, his heart skipped a beat, and he jumped into the river to look for the person.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the water, he was dragged down by someone. He was relieved and angry at the same time. Who else could do such an evil thing except Wei Zhan?
The two fisted and kicked in the water, water splashed everywhere, and all the soldiers applauded and cheered.
In terms of fighting on the water, Jin Jili was superior in the end. Wei Zhan gradually lost his strength and floated to the surface, waving his hands and saying: “No more fighting.”
Jin Jili dragged him out of the river like a dead dog.
“The deep sea is deeper than the river. You still need more practice.” He said this and turned around to train the soldiers.
Wei Zhan grabbed his belt, but due to too much strength, the belt suddenly fell to the ground. Jin Jili quickly stretched out his hand to hold it, and said angrily: “What’s the matter?”
“Teach me.” Wei Zhan, who never knew what shame was, said with a smile, “As a general, my water quality cannot be too bad.”
Jin Jili put on his belt again and said expressionlessly: “Follow me.”
If someone comes to your door to be abused, why not do it?
According to Jin Jili, the territory of Baisha Kingdom was less than one-third of the Wei Dynasty, and its military strength cannot be compared with that of the Wei Dynasty. Therefore, with the strength of the Wei Dynasty and firearms, combined with the use of military strategies, two thousand people were enough.
However, after passing the wind and waves on the sea, he didn’t know how many of the two thousand soldiers would be left. Moreover, two thousand soldiers would require many ships to carry them.
The boats of the Wei Dynasty were mostly used on rivers, and even fishermen on the seaside rarely went to deep seas to fish, so there were very few people in the Wei Dynasty who were good at sea navigation.
It was urgent to build ships, and it was urgent to train boatmen.
Because Wei Zhan was the leader, Jin Jili was very strict when training him. After daily training, Wei Zhan no longer had the energy to find anyone to compete with. It saved Qin Ke a lot of trouble.
A new type of fire gun was produced, and Rong Xi and Qin Ke returned to their work. After trying it, they found that it was indeed more powerful than the previous fire gun.
“How many firearms does King Shun need?” Rong Xi asked Qin Ke.
There were two thousand people, and it was impossible for each person to have a firecracker.
Qin Ke replied: “A hundred fire guns will do.”
With King Shun’s fighting power, he could sweep across the Baisha Kingdom even without the use of firecrackers. In terms of tactical literacy, Wei Zhan was not inferior to Qin Ke.
Although he was rough, there was always a subtlety in his roughness.
Jin Jili was also very familiar with his land. He knew the enemy’s military strength and temperament well. Once these two people cooperated, the King of Baisha Kingdom would definitely be difficult to resist.
Winter had arrived, and the training of soldiers had paid off.
General Wei Zhan fell in love with winter swimming and often dragged Jin Jili to swim with him as an excuse to ask for advice.
The two not only fought on land, but also often fought on water, and someone would definitely be beaten every day.
Wei Zhan was never tired of it.
The sea and the river were different after all. Jin Jili saw that everyone was familiar with the nature of water, so he asked Qin Ke and Wei Zhan for their opinions.
“Qingzhou is not far from the sea. I want to go offshore to test the results. If we encounter pirates, we can fight back.”
Wei Zhan nodded in agreement without thinking.
Qin Ke thought for a while, nodded and said, “Yes, the sea is dangerous, so take care.”
The two then led their elite troops to leave Qingzhou and go straight to Cangzhou.
Off the coast of Cangzhou, there was a boat and shipping department. All the ships needed for this trip to the sea were built under the supervision of this department, which was convenient for the operation.
After the two left, the climate became colder and colder.
Rong Xi tightened his clothes and went to the office with Qin Ke. Seeing Cheng Hao’s sad face, he couldn’t help but asked with concern: “Uncle Cheng, what happened?”
“Just now, soldiers from the Shenji Camp came to report that the barrel of the gun was cracked and the fire gun was turned into scrap metal.”
He sighed softly, his eyes showing concern.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
If the fire gun had such defects, it would not be able to be used on a large scale.
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However, the top priority at that time was to create the fire blunderbuss, so Rong Xi did not raise the issue of damage. Now that there was a problem, he could focus on solving it.
“Do you have any ideas?” Cheng Hao’s eyes lit up.
Rong Xixiao asked: “Does the craftsman have any other ideas?”
Cheng Hao shook his head, “No.”
The three of them sat at the table together, and Rong Xi asked calmly: “Uncle Cheng and the Prince, do you remember the ditch bicycle?”
“The one was used to guide the water?” Qin Ke asked.
Cheng Hao also nodded and said, “I remember, but what is the connection between the bicycle and the gun?”
“The bicycle utilizes gears to generate force, driving the river water into the ditch,” Rong Xi explained with a smile. “The craftsman can harness the power of the gears to cut through the solid iron pestle, transforming it into a gun barrel.”
Seeing that the two of them were a little confused, he took out a pen and paper and patiently explained his idea.
In later generation, machine tools not only improved efficiency, but also became more precise. He wanted to imitate and tried to build a machine tool that had both water power and manpower. Using gears and crank transmissions, he turned water power or manpower into reciprocating power, so that it could operate day and night more efficiently.
After all, manually penetrating and compacting the iron rods was indeed time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Cheng Hao thought about it for a long time, first confirming its feasibility, and then doubting its practicality.
“There is no good strategy now, so we might as well try and test whether it is feasible.” Qin Ke made the final decision.
That was all.
Afterward, Rong Xi led a group of craftsmen to jointly create a simple, small-scale hydraulic and manual machine tool.
The machine tool can generate force by either water flow or human trampling.
The craftsmen are all eager to try.
Someone boldly stepped forward to try. The crank initiated the rotation of the gear, which then transmitted force to the rotating shaft, causing it to slowly cut through the solid iron pestle at a constant speed.
It was really doable!
Although the speed was slow, the efficiency was several times higher than that of human power.
Everyone was happy and stepped forward to try it.
Cheng Hao felt very relieved and said with a smile on his face: “Rong Xi, this method should be able to apply to other places.”
Rong Xi nodded, “Mechanical principles are widely used.”
He would not teach the craftsmen to make other machine tools one by one. He believed that, with the wisdom of the them, more ingenious ideas would soon come to light.
After the machine tool was completed, it was already November.
The cold wind was chilling. After Rong Xi returned home, he immediately retreated to his room.
Liu He knew that Rong Xi was always afraid of the cold, so he always heated up his room before he returned home.
Qin Ke poured him a cup of hot tea.
“You don’t seem to be afraid of the cold.” Rong Xi drank the hot tea and seemed to be reborn. Seeing Qin Ke acted like nothing happened, he couldn’t help but mutter.
Qin Ke was still wearing a cotton vest. If he were like Qin Ke, he would have been frozen to death.
“I’ve been living in Northern Border for a long time, so I’m used to it.” Qin Ke smiled, “Besides, you suffered a lot of physical damage when you were a child, so it’s normal to be afraid of the cold.”
Rong Xi heard that, and felt distressed, “I wonder if the Beirong will go south to invade the border this year.”
If Beirong’s attack plan was the same as the previous years, Qin Ke would have to go to the border again.
Qin Ke smiled and said: “Don’t worry, there are good generals guarding the northern border to ensure the peace of the Wei Dynasty.”
“Yeah.” Rong Xi was not worried about Wei’s combat power.
Some firearms had been secretly transported to Northern Border. Even if the Beirong invaded fiercely, firecrackers and fire bombs could push them back to their home.
“News came that pirates appeared in the offshore waters of Cangzhou and were captured by King Shun and Jin Jili’s troops at sea.” Qin Ke said.
Rong Xi’s eyes lit up, “Very good.”
The pirates, who could come and go without a trace, had been harassing the Wei’s people along the coast for many years. It was hard to depend on them when they were very familiar with the offshore waters of Cangzhou. Finally, they had been arrested, it was really satisfying!
This was enough to prove that Jin Jili and King Shun were indeed capable of leading an army.
And the two of them had not yet used firearms.
This exciting news spread to Shengjing. The Emperor was delighted and became more and more interested in establishing a navy.
Unfortunately, it was not yet time to build a navy when the military’s expenditures and troop’s strength were still immature.
“When will they return?” Rong Xi asked curiously.
He nestled into the quilt, leaving only his head exposed, which was rather adorable.
When Qin Ke saw it, he couldn’t help laughing. He reached out and brushed his loose hair behind his ears, and replied, “They will be back in a few days.”
Previously, Jin Jili and Wei Zhan both focused on water training, and later went to Cangzhou offshore to conduct sea combat, and the results had been good. Next step was learning to use firearms.
“Report to the young master, Concubine He is looking for you.” Liu He reported outside the house.
Rong Xi was confused for a moment, then got up went outside, “I’ll go right away.”
Walking to the front yard, Aunt He saw him and said with a gentle smile: “Young master, this is the balm I made by myself, for moisturizing and nourishing the skin. It helps to taking care of dry skin in winter. It is not very useful to you, so please don’t be dissatisfied.”
“How can I dislike it?” Rong Xi said gratefully, “I am in need of this ointment. I shamelessly ask for it from you in person.”
Aunt He had been running a cosmetics shop for several months. Because the cosmetics, powders and ointments were very effective, the business was very prosperous. Although she was exhausted every day, her energy was better than before.
At the beginning, she could not handle everything on her own. Thankfully, a young lady in the school was very interested in this skill. Aunt He also wanted to recruit a disciple to pass on this skill. Seeing that although she was young, she was very talented, so she accepted her as a disciple and taught her carefully about makeup and skin care.
She became much more relaxed when she had a little disciple to help her with some chores.
Her smile became gentler, and she said, “As long as you like it.”
Rong Xi accepted several boxes of ointments. After returning to the bedroom, he saw Qin Ke playing chess with himself, so he took out a small piece of ointment, walked to him with his hands behind his back, and said, “Reach out your hand.”
Qin Ke didn’t know what he meant, but he obediently stretched out his left hand.
Although a certain person’s appearance was extremely handsome and his fingers were slender and beautiful, the skin on the back of his hands was slightly rough, and his palms were also covered with thick calluses.
It was now in winter, the skin on the back of his hands was really a bit chapped.
Both of them were men. They usually didn’t pay attention to taking care of their skin. They even haven’t noticed the cracks on the back of their hands.
Rong Xi grabbed his hand and applied the ointment evenly on his fingertips. The light and elegant fragrance entered his nose. Rong Xi deliberately came closer and sniffed, and joked: “There’s a beauty whose sleeves are filled with a secret fragrance..”
He pretended to be frivolous, which made Qin Ke laugh.
When both hands were evenly applied, Rong Xi nodded with satisfaction and praised: “Aunt He’s skills are extraordinary. I can see that these hands are indeed much softer and smoother.”
“You come too.”
After Qin Ke finished speaking, he stood up, took the ointment, and applied it on Rong Xi’s hands, then placed his hands in his palms and rubbed them slowly, not even sparing the gaps between his fingers.
It was just an ointment applying action, but it made people feel charming for no reason.
Rong Xi’s heartbeat was pounding, his face was hot, and he wanted to struggle out, but Qin Ke held him tightly. He couldn’t help but look up, but he saw that Qin Ke still looked calm, and he vaguely felt that he was overthinking.
After a long while, Qin Ke released his hand and said calmly: “The effect is indeed good.”
Rong Xi: “…”
Someone seemed to be teasing him, but his expression was so cold, and calm, that he didn’t dare to make any random guesses.
“Report to the young master, the meal is ready.” Liu He announced.
Hearing this, Rong Xi threw away the chaotic thoughts in his heart, turned around and walked out of the house.
Qin Ke was left sitting alone behind, signed helplessly.
A few days later, Jin Jili and Wei Zhan returned on horseback.
“Young master.” Jin Jili jumped off the horse, his blond hair shone brightly, and his blue eyes were full of smiles.
When Wei Zhan saw this, he felt unhappy, and shouted from behind: “You have never smiled at me, why do you only do this to Rong Xi?”
“He is kind to me,” Jin Jili turned to look at him with cold eyes, “Of course I am grateful to him.”
Wei Zhan felt dissatisfied, “I will help you seize the throne in the future, why don’t you thank me?”
Jin Jili didn’t want to talk to him. As a prince, he didn’t like a rude and unreasonable person, like Wei Zhan.
“Young master, can you teach me how to use firearms?” Jin Jili’s blue eyes were full of enthusiasm, “I will go to sea in the next spring. I’m afraid I won’t be able to learn it.”
Hearing about the firearms, Wei Zhan suddenly became energetic and stopped talking about the matter just now.
“Jili, you and His Highness will rest for a day. When you have enough energy, the Prince will teach you how to use firearms.” Rong Xi replied with a smile.
After getting his promise, Jin Jili felt reassured and left happily.
When Wei Zhan saw him leaving, he hurriedly chased after him and said, “You and I haven’t sparred today, so don’t leave!”
After watching the two people disappear, Rong Xi and Qin Ke looked at each other and couldn’t help laughing.
The end of the year was approaching, and all the ministries and departments of the imperial court were very busy.
At the end of every year, ministers from all ministries were required to report their work to the Emperor, and this year is no exception.
The six ministries secretly compete with each other every year. According to previous years, the Ministry of Industry was last and least valued, but this year was different.
The Minister of Industry, Yang Qianmu, changed his silent style in previous years and became passionate when reporting his work in court, which greatly pleased the Emperor.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, who in previous years often feared the Emperor’s wrath due to insufficient taxes, land, etc., was overjoyed this year. Taking Mengshan County as an example, he described the harvest scene in such a way that people would like to praise it.
At the end, he said respectfully and sincerely: “Your Majesty, I think that since Mengshan has set a precedent and is blessed with a bumper harvest, we might as well implement the method of diversion of canals and phosphate fertilizer in the coming year. In this way, the Wei Dynasty will have a bumper harvest everywhere.”
After hearing this, the Emperor sincerely praised: “This is the merit of Sheji and the blessing of all people.”
The Minister of War also had something to say.
“Your Majesty, pirates were rampant in Cangzhou half a month ago. The prince of Baisha King was good at navigation and led troops to pursue the pirates at sea. He finally subdued and arrested them and restored peace and tranquility to the people of Cangzhou. I think that the pirates will not stop here, and they may become more and more aggressive in the future. But our coastal defenses are weak and it may be difficult to resist.”
The Emperor’s previous agreement to lend troops to Jin Jili was not a result of his own enthusiasm or a stroke of his pen.
The matter of borrowing troops was made through consultation between him and the Minister of War and other important ministers, so everyone in the court knew about it.
The Emperor pondered for a moment and said, “We will discuss this matter later.”
After finishing their work report, the Minister of Household Affairs and the Minister of Industry held their heads high and walked out of the palace together with the other four people.
The Minister of Rites and the Minister of Punishment then quarreled with each other: “If it weren’t for the young master Rong, the two of them… tut, tut.”
The Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment glanced at him sternly and said to the point: “Previously, everyone had different opinions on the affairs of the ‘s Mansion. You said that the Rong family’s eldest son was unfilial and disloyal, and you slandered him like mud. Why can you say something like that today…”
Seeing the slight change in the expression of the Minister of Rites, he immediately changed his words and said, “I wonder if Rong Xi is good at using torture instruments.”
A chill ran down the spine of the Minister of Rites, and he was about to escape when he heard the Minister of War coolly respond: “Young master Rong is indeed talented in using the torture devices.”
He had some contacts with Qin Ke’s subordinates and learned some interesting things.
“Have you ever heard of hundreds of needles entering the body?”
The Minister of Punishment suddenly became interested and said, “Let me hear it in detail.”
The two of them came close to talking in detail, and what they said was extremely bloody and brutal. The Minister of Rites looked pale and hurriedly retreated.
As the new year approached, the official road in Mengshan County had been completed.
Due to the large number of donations, Shen Yi was extremely generous. He allowed workers to mix cement with sand and gravel, and use it to pave the road.
The road surface was extremely smooth. If it rained, it would no longer be muddy. Carriages and horses could travel smoothly, which was quite convenient.
After the official road was built, there were more and more carriages and horses on the road, and Mengshan County became more and more prosperous.
That day, Rong Xi and Qin Ke took Jin Jili and Wei Zhan to the wilderness to teach them how to use fire guns.
Wei Zhan and Jin Jili were already good at archery, and their accuracy exceeded Rong Xi’s.
Seeing this, Rong Xi could only secretly sigh that he was indeed a weakest of all.
When the two of them came into contact with the fire gun for the first time, they were both very excited and wanted to compete, so they insisted on competing.
Fortunately, Qin Ke stopped them forcefully, otherwise, with the momentum between the two of them, they would have competed for days and nights.
On the way back, Rong Xi asked casually: “Jili, can you tell me how you and your highness captured the pirates?”
Before Jin Jili could answer, Wei Zhan said: “Those pirates are quite cunning. If it weren’t for the little golden retriever, it would be really hard to catch them.”
“After I arrived in Cangzhou, I observed the current and wind direction for several days and knew where the pirates would best escape, so I was able to catch up with them.”
Rong Xi asked: “The sea is so vast, how can you tell the direction?”
“This is a secret technique,” Jin Jili apologized, “If you want to know, I am willing to help you understand.”
Rong Xi shook his head and smiled: “If I really ask you, do you want to trade firearms?”
“I can’t hide it from you.” Jin Jili felt guilty.
Although he was grateful to Rong Xi, navigation skills were now his trump card, and he was afraid that the Wei Dynasty would no longer lend troops after learning about it.
It’s not that he doesn’t trust Rong Xi, but that he doesn’t trust others.
“You don’t have to worry,” Rong Xi said, seeing through what he was thinking, “I don’t want to know what your secret navigation skills are, I’m just worried about whether this method can save the lives of the Wei’s generals.”
Jin Jili was silent, he couldn’t guarantee it.
Rong Xi commented: “In fact, our country has a tool called a compass, invented since ancient times, that could point the direction. Later, some skilled craftsmen made the compasses, but they were never used for navigation.”
Rong Xi paused, and seeing Jin Jili’s surprised expression, he continued: “I wonder if your secret technique is the same as the compass’s?”
The method of using magnets to identify directions has been around since ancient times.
It was just that the Wei Dynasty’s people’s lives were mostly on land. Except for fishermen, they rarely went to sea. There was no need for navigation skills, so the navigation power was weak.
He and Qin Ke agreed to Jin Jili not because of the secrets of navigation, but because they hoped that the Wei Dynasty could take this step and take advantage of Jin Jili’s return to expand their horizons.
Jin Jili knew what he meant, and suddenly smiled with emotion: “What young master said makes me feel ashamed. I wonder if I can see the compass?”
Rong Xi nodded and smiled back: “Of course.”
The author has something to say:
A little fairy asked if King Shun and Jin Jili would form a CP. Actually, I don’t know. It just depends on whether the two of them can get together, hahaha.
It’s natural CP
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙 💙
Thanks for the chapter! Is there a type of dog similar to that maniac general?
Thank you!
I am happy with Jin Jili’s and King Shun’s bromance, no need to take it further! ☺️ Geez, never thought I would write this sentence for a BL novel 🤣