The spring breeze is chilly, and February is coming in a blink of an eye...

This was a chaotic February, and the court ministers and the emperor were in a panic. The southern waterway was broken, the waterway was blocked, the people's sentiment was surging, and the whole country was full of complaints. The emperor had to gather a large army again in a hurry to prepare to go south.

The prince was still on his way back to Beijing. Many literati and talented people in Beijing were already indignant and punished him. Several times, Li Xingzhou took two girls out for a walk, from literati and poets to vegetable sellers, beggars on the roadside, barns and wine shops, teahouses and restaurants, and scolding the prince everywhere, which was miserable.

But Li Xingzhou knew that the emperor would definitely protect the prince.

In his generation, Li Yu was a playboy who was idle and incompetent. King Lin died of the plague. Another personal guard who was once valued was killed by the emperor for suspected rebellion. The most talented King Xiao died of war. Now the only one left is the crown prince. Li Yu and the naturally disabled prince Li Jue. Li Jue had long been sent out of Beijing, settled down on Jingnan Road and stayed away from the political center. Apart from the prince, Jingchao's foundation no longer has a suitable heir.

Protecting the prince is equivalent to protecting the foundation of the country. The emperor understands this truth, so he will spare no expense.

But at most, the things in the palace are fun. Li Xingzhou can't even interfere, let alone interfere.

There are many things waiting for him in the royal palace. The scale of the grenade production workshop in the back mountain is constantly expanding. Now he can produce about 500 pieces every month, but he handed over 300 pieces to the Ministry of War. He is so brave. After all, he and Yan Shen are the only ones who know the details and the details. No one knows whether they hide them privately...

After all, grenades are disposable things, and the killing is unstable, so fired fire is the king.

Unfortunately, so far, the royal family has only built sixteen guns. This is because the second hydraulic drive system was completed and the working department has been changed to a 200-pound water drop hammer.

Although it is incomparable to hydraulic forging hammers, it still saves work hours greatly, because water forging hammers are no more powerful than manpower and have greater strength, and can work continuously for twenty-four hours!

Li Xingzhou asked three craftsmen to take shifts and use water drop forging hammers to forge the barrel without interruption. This greatly accelerated the speed. After all, the barrel is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive and most demanding component for building the entire gun.

With the help of pulley sets and the accumulated experience before, the third hydraulic forging workshop is also under construction, and there is a fourth and a fifth.

Once all of them are completed, it will be greatly accelerated. Li Xingzhou’s biggest hope is to produce 1,000 shots a year. If there is a steam engine, he can produce 10,000 shots a year, but unfortunately it is not realistic.

In recent days, Li Xingzhou has asked Shiyu to host the host and has been talking to a large shipyard in the suburbs to buy the entire shipyard.

Due to the defeat of Anxiakou and the cut-off of the southern waterway, the shipyard business could not continue, but the offer was still high, and it cost 30,000 taels at the opening.

Shiyu and Qiu'er are in fierce negotiations with each other these two days. This is the largest business in the royal family, so everyone in the royal family attaches great importance to it, and Yan Kun also took the time to help. After all, he is an old man and knows a lot more. Yan Shen was dropped from the back mountain by Li Ye and is specifically responsible for the security of the negotiation team.

This shipyard has hundreds of workers, and is the largest in Kyoto, upstream of Yuanmen Ferry in the suburbs.

The Wei family runs the Wei family. The most promising clan leader of the Wei family became the commander of the Maritime Director, so he is familiar with many big merchants who walk on the water. Taking advantage of this opportunity, and the Wei family lineage has always had the skills to build ships, it gradually grows bigger.

After decades of business, I didn't expect to encounter such a crisis now. Now no one in the Wei family is an official, and it is entirely supported by the business of the shipyard. Now the business is not to be done, and it has reached the point where it has to be done.

.....

"Bang!" With a loud bang, the iron plate in the distance let out a crisp low moan. Li Xingzhou put down the gun in his hand, then blew the smoke proudly, but he was almost choked to death... Black gunpowder does not need smokeless gunpowder, there is too much left.

Today he was going to be on duty in Kaiyuan Mansion, but he skipped the job because He Zhao has been busy clearing the waterways of Kyoto these days. This is a big deal and he is too busy to care about him.

Shiyu, who was drinking tea elegantly, glanced at him: "No big or small."

"How was the talk today?" Li Xingzhou asked while reloading ammunition. The feeling of shooting a gun would be addictive.

Shiyu shook her head: "The Wei family still refused to give up, and insisted on 30,000 taels at one bite, not one tael less."

Qiu'er was also very worried. After all, she designed the boat, so she was of course worried.

Her new ship uses many new concepts such as isolated cabins and pedal-wheel drive. These things are advanced concepts that were only available in the 15th and 16th century, and their displacement is not comparable to any ship of this era. But without a shipyard, nothing can be realized, it is just a fantasy.

She is quiet and introverted, so she is not good at negotiating such things.

Yan Kun, who smiled, said, "Criminal, I think it's better to delay it. The Wei family is just struggling to the death. Without business, they are unable to maintain their support, and they will compromise sooner or later."

Shiyu disagreed. She stood up, looked at Yan Kun, and then looked at Li Xingzhou who was loading gunpowder. She seemed angry at his neglect and walked over to take away his gunpowder pot: "But they have been operating for so many years, so how long will it take for them to last? If it's okay for ten days and half a month, what if it's one year or two?"

On the other hand, Qiuer also nodded quickly to express her agreement: "Sister Shiyu is right." In this matter, she and Shiyu are on the united front.

Li Xingzhou snatched his gunpowder pot from the bully Shiyu, and then thought for a while: "What you said makes sense, but 30,000 taels are not a small amount. You must learn to be thrifty and manage the family."

"You..." Shi Yu was speechless, and quickly avoided his teasing gaze, then pinched the corner of her clothes, and snorted with her little face: "Hmph, I will talk about it again, but if they don't give up again, you can tell me!"

"Yes, yes, if they don't let go, I will come out and beat them to the Wei family to find teeth." Li Xingzhou swung the snatching pole in his hand.

"What are you talking nonsense?" Shiyu put her hands on her hips and frowned her beautiful brows.

"Who am I afraid of?" Li Xingzhou said indifferently, and raised his gun and aimed at the iron plate more than ten meters away.

As a result, the barrel of the gun was suddenly pressed down by her. Shiyu said anxiously in dissatisfaction: "How could you do this? Can't you cherish your reputation? Do you know how bad your reputation is outside!"

"Bad people are easy to do." Li Xingzhou explained.

"But...but you didn't do this. You are slandering yourself for no reason! Do you know how outsiders misunderstand you and how they would arrange you?" Shiyu said excitedly.

Li Xingzhou looked at the woman with anger in surprise and asked, "Will you misunderstand?"

"Of course I won't, but..."

"Aren't you an outsider?" Li Xingzhou teased her with a smile.

Shiyu was stunned for a moment, unable to help it anymore, and stepped on him viciously, then quickly turned his head and said, "Anyway, you can't do this!"

Li Xingzhou nodded: "Yes, yes, I'll listen to you. I'm not stupid. If I really can't do it, I will find a specialist to do it. After all, they are more professional."

Shiyu didn't listen to his explanation and hurriedly pulled Qiu'er away.

Li Xingzhou fired another shot, and the blue smoke rose up. The gun fell apart and hit the wall behind, splashing debris...

He thought for a while and said to Yan Kun: "Uncle Kun, how is the situation of the two newly opened restaurants?"

"Everything is fine. Although it is not as good as Tingyu Tower, its business is booming. It can earn 6700 taels a month. General brewing is still a big deal. Except for the restaurant in the royal palace, you can't buy such good things in other places in the capital." Yan Kun said proudly.

Then he covered his smile and whispered: "But Prince, many restaurants have recently started to imitate our dishes. I saw that many chefs come to our restaurant to eat every now and then. Obviously, they are not in a bad mood and want to steal..."

Li Xingchu was surprised: "Can you tell who else is the chef?"

"Oh, how can you see this? Order two or three dishes, and you can eat like a cat with your eyes closed. You can eat for three or two hours. What else can you do if you are not here to learn secretly." Yan Kun said as he looked like he was squinting his eyes and tasted it, and he was really proud.

"Hahahaha, don't worry about this, it's a matter of time sooner or later." Li Xingzhou was amused by him.

Yan Kun continued: "Also, recently, a few guys in the store told me that after closing, someone came to them secretly and said that as long as they could give the unique recipe for the general brew, they would give them fifty cents of money. They asked them who they didn't know. I was afraid that things would get big, so some people couldn't help but collect money, so they kept it secret and didn't dare to make a fuss..."

Li Xingzhou nodded after hearing this. These were actually expected. After all, there must be many jealous people who made huge profits by the general.

He thought about it and said to Yan Kun: "Uncle Kun, this matter does not need to be kept secret. It doesn't matter if you tell the guy, and you don't need to warn me or say it. Just just say it as a joke."

"This...how can this work? Prince! If they really charge money, it would be a disaster!" Yan Kun looked excited.

Li Xingzhou loaded the bullets and shook his head: "It's okay, this is not a taboo thing. Some things are better if you say something, and it can stabilize people's hearts." After that, he suddenly raised his hand and shot him.

Bang! Hit the bullseye.

Seeing him say this, Yan Kun didn't dare to disobey him, but just nodded and retreated.

Looking at the iron plate that was pierced in the distance, Li Xingzhou couldn't help but smile. It seemed that there was a reply to the marksmanship. Any skill can always reach the pinnacle. Shooting was once one of Li Xingzhou's strengths, and of course it was just more outstanding, and it was incomparable to those top snipers.

A Canadian sniper sniped the enemy commander at a distance of more than 3,500 meters. After the bullet was released, it started to slow down. It took 8 to 10 seconds to fly from the muzzle to the target. With the influence of wind and gravity, it was hard to imagine how he did it, but someone could do it.

As for the issues Yan Kun mentioned, he was somewhat mentally prepared, but Yan Kun was always too taboo and too feudal. Psychological research shows that a mysterious secret is difficult to keep, an open and enlightened environment can increase people's loyalty and let the guys know that it's no big deal.

Besides, this is something that will be discovered sooner or later. What the royal family needs to do is not to prevent others from making progress, but to constantly innovate and maintain a leading advantage.

Thinking of this, Li Xingzhou fired another shot.

Bang! Hit again.

The target is the best iron plate of this era. It was specially forged by the iron cow for himself, and it would still be easily penetrated in front of the gun...

Just at this moment, a servant walked around the flower bed and hurried to him: "Criminal, Zhu Rong is here!"

Li Xingzhou lowered his gun and was immediately overjoyed. He probably understood what Zhu Rong was doing: "Let him come in!"

After a while, Zhu Rong, who was blushing on his face, came in and shouted: "Criminal, tell me that those crucibles have been cast!"

Without saying a word, he put away his gun, changed his coat and a pair of shoes, and followed Zhu Rong to the back mountain.

In the south of the back mountain, the soil here is full of loess and clay. Five earth kilns stand here, with smoke and dust rolling, and the kiln is removed after it is opened.

These earthen kilns were made by the Zhu family. He and the Zhu family were in an employment relationship and had to pay commissions every month. The Zhu family worked for him, including firing the jade bottles made by the general, the exquisite porcelain bottles containing perfumes, and this - the graphite crucible!

Looking at the fifty dark cauldrons with neatly placed eyes, Li Xingzhou was so excited that he almost laughed off his chin.

"Are the prince so happy? Isn't it just a few black water tanks..." Zhu Rong scratched his head and said.

Li Xingzhou didn't explain and touched the surface of the warm and smooth crucible with his hand. These dark crucibles were only out of the kiln, and the residual temperature did not dissipate. But before humans entered the electrical age, if they wanted to produce real steel on a large scale, they could only rely on some ugly big guys!

...........

The candle was dim and the thick bones of the Zhong Daoyu's fingers were trembling. He held up the imperial edict with a red pen and looked at it blankly for a long time in the light.

Since receiving the imperial edict, he has read it more than a dozen times. Every time he read it, the realism has become stronger. Until now, he has completely confirmed that this matter has really happened!

He persisted for a long time, but there were many difficulties and obstacles, and there was no progress.

The imperial edict was written clearly, just as Li Xingzhou expected at first. Although the emperor agreed, he did not fully agree. He only ordered the Shenwu Army to be allowed to be tried in the fifth wing, and the fifth wing was 20,000 imperial guards, which was enough.

But how did he do it? Now he still feels a little chilling in his back, like a child's crown, and the ministers of the Privy Council who were free from faith before, I guess he doesn't know how he was plotted in the end.

This kind of person is too dangerous. Although he is a junior, he still makes Zhong Daoyu subconsciously wants to stay away from him, but he just makes a deal with him again.

He is starting to hesitate now...

The Shenwu Army is quite special. Because it has been stationed in Kyoto for a long time, the Shenwu Army has five wings and nearly 100,000 troops. The other Lingjie Army and the Wulie Army only have two wings and a force of about 50,000, and have been stationed outside for a long time.

This means that each Shenwu Army is almost fully equipped, with one army of more than 2,000 people. This is not a small number. More than 2,000 imperial guards will be handed over to a grandson. If something happens in the future, he will be a sinner for the ages!

If it were an ordinary person, he would have long since repented when things were accomplished. He was the Privy Councilor and the General. Even if he repented, what could a grandson do to him?

But... Li Xingzhou's methods made him feel scruples.
To be continued...