lady, please calm down

Chapter 409: The Battle of Orthodoxy and the Princess’s Visit

Throughout early June, Caizhou was extremely lively.

First, the zoo opened on Children’s Day, followed by the opening of the annual Caizhou Industrial Products Expo.

Every year at this meeting, Caizhou launches a blockbuster new product.

The theme of this year's expo is a building called the 'Crystal Palace'.

The building adopts a traditional style and is unremarkable, with nothing special about it. Its eye-catching feature is that all the window frames are made into squares one foot long and wide, and window paper is no longer used in the window frames. It became a whole piece of transparent glass!

The whole house shines under the sunlight, making it look like a fairyland. The name of the Crystal Palace is very appropriate.

Although colored glaze is rare, it is not the first time it has appeared.

As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, there are records of artificial glass beads, and a Northern Wei Dynasty glass bowl is also on display in the Caizhou Museum.

But what is commendable is that Caizhou made the colored glaze so transparent and smooth.

When a one-foot-square flat glass solidifies from liquid to solid, the outside cools first, and the tension formed inside is a problem that current craftsmen have been unable to solve, so it will crack or even explode.

But I don’t know what methods Huai used to solve this problem.

Although the Crystal Palace is gorgeous, it is currently not suitable for large-scale promotion due to its cost and difficulty in transportation.

But the 叆叇 made of transparent glass is a qualified product. The 叆叇 is glasses.

Although lenses made of colored glaze are expensive to make, they still have a price advantage over previous lenses polished with natural crystals.

Caizhou Industrial Products Expo has become a business card of Caizhou, attracting merchants from all over the world because there are always some unique products in the world.

During this period, "Caizhou Five Days Talk" published the archaeological results of Li Yian, Han Fang, Zhao Peiyuan and others who spent ten months in Xiangzhou of Qi State. Based on the discovered antiquities and old palace sites, it was inferred that Xiangzhou was the old capital of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. .

This news did not attract much attention among ordinary people, but it caused a sensation in the scholar circles of Qi and Zhou.

In Sima Gong's masterpiece "Historical Records", the records begin with ancient emperors, but the Xia and Shang dynasties in the book are extremely lacking in ruins and antiquities to support them.

Scholars all know that these two dynasties existed, but they cannot prove their existence.

China has a tradition of worshiping its ancestors since ancient times, and there are not a few scholars who want to find out where China came from.

The discovery by Li Jiaxiangzhou and his party undoubtedly filled a big gap in lineage inheritance and pushed the Chinese origin tracing work a big step forward.

At the same time, this matter also hides huge political significance. If China comes from the same lineage, then whoever is the first to confirm the existence of Xia and Shang will have the right to interpret and commemorate the inheritance.

The right to pay homage is not a trivial matter. Just like today's aristocratic families or even the royal family, the person who presides over the ancestral ancestral line must be the eldest son of a family or a country, and must also be the successor of a family or a country.

In the current situation where China is divided into two countries, Qi and Zhou, whoever worships the ancestors of Xia and Shang has the meaning of Han family orthodoxy.

This incident shocked Zhou Ting far more violently than the conflict that broke out on the border between the two countries last month.

Moreover, the subsequent impact of this incident is still spreading. The Li family brought a large number of 'Dragon Bone Heavenly Books' and ancient bronze artifacts from Xiangzhou, with a large number of bronze inscriptions on them.

It was very difficult to decipher it only by experts such as Li Jia and Han Fang, so Li Jia issued a heroic order to the world and invited sages from all over the world to come to Caizhou to participate in the translation of ancient Shang texts.

For every word you translate, you can get hundreds of dollars as a reward!

Not to mention the reward, the Yin Shang "Dragon Bone Heavenly Book" is already something that countless scholars dream of seeing.

For a time, scholars from the southeast, northwest and northwest who realized that they had some research on this path came one after another.

The same was true in Zhou Dynasty. Wise men from all over the country flocked northward to see the true face of the Book of Heaven.

It would be too difficult for Zhou Ting to intercept them all, but the most influential and conspicuous ones would naturally not be able to do so.

When Lu Yanzhong, a great scholar, a big troll, and the number one fan of Huaibei, secretly smuggled into the country, he was caught again by the State of Zhou. Naturally, Lu Yanzhong complained about some officials of the State of Zhou in the newspapers.

With the dual support of the expo and the museum, businessmen gathered in Caizhou during the noisy June, like a pilgrimage.

The grand scene of Caizhou looks like the commercial and cultural center of the world.

Such a scene suppressed the heat of the conflict between the two countries in Sizhou and Yangzhou at the end of May.

In this matter, Qi State accused Zhou State of provocation first, while Zhou State insisted that Qi State was at fault.

For both parties who do not want to escalate the conflict, after a lot of scolding, they will eventually return to the peaceful path of using diplomatic means to resolve disputes.

On June 16, a delegation led by Wang Shu, Minister of War of Zhou State, and Chen Bokang, Huainan Economic Strategist, arrived in Caizhou. Their purpose was to set up a joint investigation team to investigate the matter.

The sudden conflict at the end of May was full of doubts.

The state of Qi received Zhang Chunxiao, the minister of war, and Chen Jingyan, the governor of Huaibei, in equal measure.

But as soon as they met, Wang Shu of Zhou first made a request to go to the museum to visit the Dragon Bone Book of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. As Zhang Chunxiao and Chen Jingyan were landlords, this request was naturally satisfied.

On Chen Chu's side, he was free and led Zhe Keqiu and Tong Wei to inspect various places in Huaibei all day long.

Although Zhe and Tong were not able to see the Tianlei Cannon that they had longed for, after going around, they found that Huaibei had factories all over the place, extremely developed farming, and strict and efficient grassroots organizations, which made the two of them more and more silent.

The two of them understood some things. For example, the prosperity of Huaibei was not just due to the military, or it was not just due to the thunder cannon.

Today's thunder cannons are just the 'effect', but Huaibei's strong productivity and efficient organization are the 'cause'.

At this point, the last trace of wait-and-see mentality in my heart gradually dissipated.

June seventeenth.

Mrs. Niu, Mrs. Zhe, took several girls from the Zhe family to visit Mao'er.

The two families, Zhe and Tong, deliberately brought their families with them on this trip, which had some profound meaning. Since the leaders of the Western Army wanted to move closer to the King of Chu, they naturally hoped that the alliance between the two parties would be more stable.

Therefore, the 'marriage' that has been tried and tested for thousands of years has become the easiest method to implement.

The only embarrassing thing is that Prince Chu is too young and far from the age to discuss marriage.

Under such circumstances, the King of Chu himself was regarded as a target. The Zhe and Tong families were also big and prestigious families, so naturally they could not speak directly to the King of Chu rashly.

It became a polite way to let the wives test the princess's attitude. If the princess is easy to talk to, she will be able to recruit people for the King of Chu, and her face will look much better.

But Mrs. Tong was still a little impatient. On the first day of June, she tried to test her with words at the Zoo, but the cat refused to answer her question.

It was quite embarrassing at the time.

Niu was mature and prudent. Seeing this, he simply refused to mention the matter. Instead, he took advantage of this period to inquire about whether there were any men of the right age among the relatives of the King of Chu and the Princess.

The King of Chu returned overseas and was alone. However, the princess had a cousin who had not yet married.

Anyway, it is a marriage, and the King of Chu is not available. The relatives and friends around him are still good choices, and marrying the latter can also become the main wife.

After feeling confident, Mr. Niu came to the door today.

After some pleasantries, Mr. Niu called a girl about sixteen years old to his side and sighed at the right time, "Hey, I have something to ask the princess to take care of."

Mao'er smiled lightly and said calmly: "Mrs. Zhe, please speak."

Niu looked at the girl standing beside him and sighed again: "This is my young daughter Yan'er. Because I was already old when she was born, Yan'er has been weak since she was a child. It's bitterly cold in the northwest, and I want to give birth to Yan'er." Stay in Huaibei, where people are raised."

Mao'er took a serious look at Yan'er for the first time. Yan'er was in her prime, with a plateau red color unique to women in the northwest, thick eyebrows, big eyes, a tall nose and a big mouth.

Although the appearance is not related to the word "qingxiu", the three-dimensional facial features also have the atmosphere of a woman from the northwest.

"This matter is not difficult. Officials often say that the generals in the world belong to one family. If Yan'er is willing, I will treat her as my sister from now on, so that she will not suffer any injustice in Huaibei."

In Huaibei, if the princess wanted to protect someone, no one would dare to bully her. However, Mao'er thought that Niu and Qi had the same idea, so she chose not to let Yan'er live in the palace to take care of her.

Niu bowed slightly to express her gratitude, but then said: "If Yan'er has the princess to take care of her, it will be her blessing. But as the saying goes, when a girl gets married, the princess can take care of her for a while, but she cannot take care of her for the rest of her life. If the princess can help her find a suitable husband and entrust her with her for the rest of her life, I will die in peace."

Speaking of this, Niu's eyes suddenly filled with tears, and he quickly wiped the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief.

The little girl next to him also turned red.

Before coming, the two women, Zhe and Tong, naturally knew that this trip had a political purpose.

Men seek important matters for their family and country, but this daughter is the flesh and blood of the Niu family. Huaibei is more than a thousand miles away from Linfu. Therefore, it is impossible to say that mother and daughter will never see each other again in the future.

However, this is a responsibility that rich women are born with, or it is a fate that they cannot escape.

Seeing Niu's emotion, Mao'er raised her slender hand as if to invite tea, and took the opportunity to think for a while.

Now that she has children, she can naturally better understand Mr. Niu's mood, so she also sighed, "Mrs. Zhe, when it comes to choosing a son-in-law, do you want to find a son-in-law from our general family, or a suave scholar?"

In an instant, Mao'er's mind flashed like a revolving door of people Baoxi, Maodan, Erlang, Xiaoyi, and even Guanren's students Zhu Chun and Guo Lin.

But the first four people were all from low backgrounds, and their family backgrounds were somewhat inferior to those of the Zhejia family that was expected by the Western Army.

But Mr. Niu, who had already prepared a draft, wiped away his tears and said, "It doesn't matter whether you are a disciple or a scholar. As long as you have a good family tradition, that's fine."

Mao'er thought about it again, but Niu said more bluntly: "After I came to Huaibei, I learned about all the deeds of Mrs. Shangjun. We are both wives. I admire Mrs. Tai from this. From this, I can get a glimpse of Mrs. Tai." The character of the children of Madam’s lineage must not be bad.”

The cat couldn't help but be startled. "Mrs. Shangjun" refers to Maoer's late mother Qin Xiuniang.

In April, the officials returned home, and with them came an edict from Tokyo.

The content of the edict is related to the fact that Mao'er's father was named the Grand Duke of Shang County and his mother was named the Grand Lady of Shang County.

But if you are given a title, you must always explain why.

The reason why the Zhao family and his wife were granted posthumous titles was clearly written in the edict, precisely because they raised a virtuous daughter.

The king of Chu was fighting in the front, and the princess was in the rear taking care of his family affairs, so that he would not be distracted and could devote himself to the affairs of the state.

Daqi's version of "Military Medal is half as good as hers".

As for the ennobled Qin family, the past deeds naturally need to be reprocessed. The period of abandoning Qi and fleeing to Zhou Dynasty has been forgotten, and it is impossible to mention the fall into the world. It has become a widowed mother who worked hard to raise two daughters, and finally died of illness due to overwork.

This time, Qin's experience was confirmed by the royal family and became an irrefutable and undoubted fact.

In the early years, after the King of Chu came to power, the Tongshan County Government had already made a new register for the Qin family. Of course, the content was very positive.

But as the decree came, Tongshan County Government gathered people overnight to write a biography for the Qin family.

Some merchants even wanted to raise funds to build an archway for the Qin family in Shuanghe Village. When Mao'er found out, he stopped him.

After all, although Cai Hua helped her move the people of Shuanghe Village away, the past events were not completely unknown.

Erecting another archway would be too much. It would be too much and not enough.

Mao'er could even guess that some of Huaibei's senior officials also knew about this history.

It's just that no one dared to mention it because the officials were there.

This edict sealed the deal with her mother. From this perspective, Mao'er couldn't help but feel a certain affection for Jia Rou, who was far away in Tokyo.

Thinking of this, Mao'er missed her mother very much. How happy she would be to see Ji'er and Ran'er if her mother were here.

The flower hall became quiet due to the cat's sudden silence.

Niu had already spoken frankly enough, so naturally it was not easy to continue. However, Han Lu, who was always next to Mao'er, noticed that the princess was distracted and hurriedly walked over to add tea.

With the cold dew shining in front of his eyes, Mao'er came back to his senses, quickly calmed down his other mood, and said with a smile: "I have a cousin who is very loyal."

Mao'er was thinking about his cousin Qin Shengwen.

Can.

The next day, Mao'er packed lightly and took only Hanlu, Xiaoman and Tiedan to a rather secluded garden in the east of Caizhou City.

This garden is adjacent to the Ruhe River in the east, and there are thirty or forty independent two-story courtyards.

Yu Dameng, the former fugitive from Qipanling and now the supervisor of Caizhou blacksmith; Qiu Zhiliang, the former director of the Tokyo craftsman camp and the current supervisor of the building construction; Chang Gui, the former Tokyo craftsman and current supervisor of the armor and luggage of Luliuwei Farm Reclamation; Qin Yongtai, the former Tokyo craftsman who is now the director of the Machine Expansion Bureau of Huaibei Iron Smelting Institute; Huang Huihong, the director of the Powder and Fire Bureau, and others all live here.

Because these people are the chief managers of various workshops, this garden is also called the "expert community" by the nearby people.

In order to protect the experts who were regarded as treasures by Chen Chu, community management and defense were extremely strict.

Even when Mao'er and his party entered, they were interrogated. Fortunately, Tie Dan, who had prepared in advance, showed the Huaibei Army standard iron plate engraved with his identity and military rank, and was allowed in after registration.

At this time, it was evening.

Children after school gathered on the road in the community and played games such as throwing sandbags and hopscotch.

In each small courtyard with lights on, there was a loud clang of spatulas and iron pots, and the aroma of rice filled the air. From time to time, a woman wearing an apron would stand outside the courtyard door and scold the children who were playing crazy and would not come back to eat.

Full of interest in life.

The cat walked and watched all the way. After living in the mansion for a long time, the cat couldn't help but miss the soothing human fireworks.

It's been a long time since I've cooked for an official.

The Qin family's small courtyard was quite lively at this time.

Huang Huihong, Yu Dameng and their master Qin Yongtai were squatting in a corner of the courtyard.

Qin Yongtai, who was over 40 years old, waved away the mosquitoes hovering above his head. He used a branch to write a string of Ah Subo numerical parameters on the ground, and drew a hook-shaped part. He frowned and said: "The arc is sixty, and the thickness cannot exceed Five millimeters.”

They are obviously talking in Tokyo Mandarin, but if outsiders are present, they have no idea what they are saying. What is 'millimeter'?

These are the weights and measures in various secret workshops in Huaibei. They were promulgated by the King of Chu himself and a batch of unified measuring instruments were created.

Without the guidance of Huaibei insiders, even if the drawings in the workshop were circulated, others would not be able to understand what the '5mm' on the drawings meant.

Yu Dameng on the side couldn't help but shook his head after hearing this, "Old Qin, when designing the machine expansion system, you must consider the actual situation of our iron supervisor! The firing pin is so thin that it cannot withstand the impact when firing and is easy to break! "

Qin Yongtai, who has a little knowledge of iron smelting, said: "If the firing pin is thicker, the spring when firing will be prone to problems. You can add some copper, tin, etc. to the molten iron when forging."

"You think we haven't tried it? The iron smelting station has tested it more than a hundred times in various proportions, and even after scrapping several thousand kilograms of iron, it still can't meet the strength requirements you mentioned!"

"Then we have to keep trying. Now, tens of thousands of yuan have been spent on the research and development of this fire gun. Although my nephew and son-in-law don't say much, I feel sorry for my monthly salary."

Qin Yongtai, who was holding his breath to win glory for his niece, was not going well in developing fire guns. He has been quite anxious recently, often staying up all night, and losing a lot of hair.

"Master Huang, can you increase the sensitivity of the gunpowder?"

Seeing that the iron smelting and machine expansion could not solve the problem, Yu Dameng, who was also guilty of high salary but no results, turned to the Yaohuo Bureau again.

"That's it for now. The gunpowder is too sensitive and difficult to transport."

Huang Huihong said slowly.

Regarding the fire gun, Chen Chu just drew a brief sketch, briefly explained the principle, and then handed it over to the unit where the three of them belonged to jointly develop it.

Last year, I finally solved the problem of chamber pressure when the projectile came out of the chamber, but the shell got stuck on the firing mechanism.

Seeing that it was getting late, Qin Shengwen, the eldest son of Qin, brought an oil lamp to illuminate his father and uncles.

"Sheng Wen, don't leave yet."

Seeing his son putting down the oil lamp and going back to the house, Qin Yongtai shouted and said, "Do you have any ideas about the firing mechanism?"

No wonder Qin Yongtai asked this, because the original chamber pressure problem was solved by his son and a group of engineering students from Lanxiang Academy.

But this time, Qin Shengwen shook his head dully and said, "My fellow students and I didn't come up with a solution."

Qin Shengwen was not a student of Lan Xiang, but the Lan Xiang graduates in his group liked to address each other as juniors and seniors. Over time, he also used this title.

After hearing what his son said, Qin Yongtai scratched the top of his head where his hair was thinning, and then turned his attention back to the rough sketch on the ground.

Qin Shengwen, who originally wanted to go back to the house, hesitated for a moment, but then said: "Dad, if the firing needle is not strong enough, can you think of a solution from the firing stroke?"

"Ok?"

Qin Shengwen's words immediately attracted the attention of the three people. Qin Yongtai seemed to have grasped something, but not really, so he hurriedly said: "Keep talking."

"I am also just thinking randomly, if the firing stroke is increased or decreased."

In the middle of speaking, Qin Shengwen suddenly paused. Qin Yongtai couldn't help but get anxious when he heard the important point. He was about to ask more questions when he saw his son suddenly showed a loyal smile, "Hey, sister Mao'er! Why are you here at this time, mother? Mom, my cat sister is here! Cook some more dishes!"

The three of them turned around when they heard the sound.

But I saw that the person standing outside the courtyard gate with a dignified smile was none other than the princess.

Hearing that his son called his niece's nickname, Qin Yongtai glared at Qin Shengwen angrily, and hurriedly followed Yu and Huang to get up and bow.

Mao'er, who was already prepared, hurriedly stepped forward, bowed a little and said, "Uncle and uncle are going to break me. You are elders, how can you worship me."

Although Qin Yongtai was annoyed with his son for speaking carelessly, his niece's attitude still made him very happy.

But before he could say anything, Mao'er's aunt, Yan, rushed out of the house and stopped two feet in front of Mao'er. The smile on her face was very proud and a little reserved.

While wiping his hands on his apron, he said: "Why is the cat here suddenly? He hasn't eaten yet! Hurry, come in the house quickly."

The mother and son's loud voices immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding neighbors.

A half-grown boy next door climbed up the wall and saw that he jumped back to his yard like a flexible monkey. Then he shouted excitedly, "Dad, mother, the princess is here! Grandma, grandma, you provide for me every day." The princess who holds the throne of immortality is here, come out and take a look!"

The shrill shouts of children are more useful than a trumpet.

In the deep dusk, the expert community suddenly became lively, and people from every house came running to Qin Yongtai's home.

Especially some old men and women, although they usually have weak legs and feet, they can run faster than young people at this moment.

Most of them have been in trouble for half their lives.

Because of this, I know that a prosperous life is hard to come by now, so I want to express my gratitude to Mao'er and Mao'er's husband in person.

(End of this chapter)