The last time Qin Mubai wrote to the emperor, requesting the implementation of the New Deal and the allocation of seeds, Li Shimin had a tacit understanding and handed over the management and use rights of Lanzhou's iron mines to Qin Mubai. An important reason is that the monarch and his ministers have long secretly discussed a major military plan - to officially use the red cannon for military use.
The most important resource for cannons like Fan Zhu is "iron". With the iron ore in hand, Qin Mubai was at ease. Tu Youhai, the master craftsman in charge of the project, and Qin Shi, the gunpowder master, also worked very hard. After a few months, the results came.
Qin Mubai came to the iron ore area dozens of miles outside Lanzhou City in casual clothes, and walked more than ten miles into the mountains and forests, and came to this secret "military scientific research base". What he saw were twenty majestic red statues. Clothes cannon!
"General Qin, God bless the Tang Dynasty! The iron quality in Lanzhou is just for the red cannon!" Tu Youhai said excitedly, "The barrel made of iron has the possibility of exploding the barrel. It has been reduced to a minimum, with strong temperature resistance, and the possibility of continuous firing has been greatly improved. Coupled with the continuous improvement of our craftsmanship, the accuracy of the cannon is also out of the ordinary - General, why don't you try it?"
"Okay!" Qin Mubai was also a little excited, so he designated a target two to three hundred steps away, equivalent to twice the range of a bow and arrow, for them to shoot.
After a little debugging, Tu Youhai ignited the fuse, making a loud noise and thick smoke billowing. The small forest in front was almost razed to the ground!
Tried two other cannons, no difference!
"Awesome!" Qin Mubai praised in a great mood, "This is the red cannon I want! - Tu Youhai, you have made great contributions to the country, I will definitely report it to Your Majesty and reward him heavily!"
"Thank you, General Qin!" Tu Youhai and others thanked him happily, and then said, "May I ask General, when will these twenty cannons be taken away?"
Qin Mubai thought for a while and said, "Don't worry, just put it here first. When I want to use it, I will naturally send someone to pick it up. Moreover, if you want to be proficient in using such a cannon, you can't do it without training in advance. After I go back, We will select some close sergeants to come here for special training, and you will be responsible for instructing them."
"If the general has an order, I will obey it!"
Back in Lanzhou, Qin Mubai immediately started to deal with the matter. The Yifu of the Chinese Army is full of elite sergeants, but they are all rare horse archers who are good at riding and shooting. It may not be a pity to choose them to be transferred to artillery. So Qin Mubai discussed with his father and asked him to select 200 strong, strong, loyal and reliable Mo Dao players or Tuan Pai foot soldiers from other military mansions. After secretly gathering them, Qin Mubai He personally brought them to the "scientific research base" and handed them over to Tu Youhai to start training their gunnery skills. At the same time, basic scientific research and production continued, and the confidentiality and safety measures here were increased, and the food, clothing and benefits provided were also improved a lot.
Now, everyone here is equivalent to Datang's "national wealth" and "senior scientific researchers". One of the most ordinary craftsmen received seventh-grade treatment equivalent to the county magistrate level. Qin Mubai also tried his best to satisfy any other requests, allowing them to concentrate on scientific research here with peace of mind. Later, Qin Mubai nicknamed this place "Iron Valley" for convenience, because he had already hatched a grand plan to build it into a "Silicon Valley" with the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty.
It has always been Qin Mubai's habit to implement plans as soon as he has them. After returning to Lanzhou, he immediately started handling the matter. When engaging in scientific research, the most important thing is naturally “talent”. It is impossible for Tu Youhai and others to work here all their lives. Tiegu needs to constantly replenish fresh blood and key talents. In order to ensure that there are "successors", Qin Mubai specially selected a group of orphans with excellent qualifications who lost their relatives in the war, ranging in age from ten to fourteen years old. On the premise of voluntariness, they were allowed to go to the Iron Valley first. Became an apprentice.
Before coming, Li Shimin had given a large amount of funds specifically for the "Red Cannon". Qin Mubai did these things without using any of the finance of the Governor's Office, and the confidentiality measures were always very good. The top person in charge of Tiegu is Tu Youhai, and he only takes orders from Qin Mubai.
Qin Mubai himself naturally assumed the role of "top engineer", responsible for providing theoretical basis and various design drawings, and then handed them over to Tu Youhai and others for them to toss around. No matter whether the "torturing" was successful or not, Qin Mubai would not suffer any big losses anyway, and he did not work too hard. If there is any gain, it will be an unexpected surprise - his mentality has always been correct. The regular army of the Tang Dynasty is still the foundation for survival. These tools are only for support.
As spring passes and summer comes, the vast hectares of fertile fields and thousands of miles of pastures are lush and green, and the situation is gratifying.
The imperial court's "thousands of people entering Lanzhou" plan finally took the most powerful step. The first batch of military families arrived in Lanzhou carrying a large amount of daily necessities.
The first batch of military dependents to arrive in Lanzhou were mostly the wives, concubines, and domestic servants of Lanzhou officers. Their hometowns generally left children, grandchildren, or brothers behind to take care of the family business and honor their parents. Of the 10,000 people who came, 90% were women. When we entered the city, we were greeted by colorful flowers and greenery, and our ears were filled with chirping sounds. It was spectacular and quite funny at the same time.
Nearly 10,000 women are like lubrication and maintenance for this large, high-speed operating unit in Lanzhou. The military morale that had been quite impetuous before suddenly sank. The crazy accumulation of male hormones in the bodies of the soldiers was finally greatly relieved, and the physical and psychological pressure was relieved.
All the soldiers tasted the sweetness and expressed their sincere gratitude to Qin and his son. But when they saw that none of their family members came to Lan, they felt guilty and admired them. They came to persuade the Qin family and his son, why not invite their wives as well
Qin's father and son naturally refused, and there was no need to publicly explain the reasons. As a result, some soldiers took the initiative to give the maids brought by their wives as gifts to the Qin family and his son. Its intention is not to bribe and curry favor, everyone knows it.
Qin Shubao has always been arrogant and upright, and he will not accept this at all. In fact, Qin Mubai hoped that his father could "have sex" for a while and take in two little maids to fill the house. It would be okay to have some fun occasionally, but the old man wouldn't accept it, so he had to complain in his heart. Say it clearly. -Yes, the old man has to be like this, there is nothing we can do, let’s learn from him! In Lanzhou, our father and son are from the same brand, so I can't go against him.
Therefore, Qin Mubai had no choice but to be "upright and upright". Unfortunately, I am young and energetic, and all I have is endless male hormones and extremely strong energy. In order not to cheat and commit crimes, he had no choice but to turn it into sweat for the time being and squander it on the training ground.
On this day, the Lanzhou Dudu Mansion received a "strange" "letter from home." At that time, Qin Mubai was inspecting farmland in other prefectures and counties. Qin Shubao sent someone to summon him back deliberately, saying that he had important matters to discuss.
Qin Mubai ran back anxiously and asked his father: "Father, what big thing happened?"
"Well, it is indeed a big deal." Qin Shubao actually smiled strangely and handed Qin Mubai a letter, "Read it for yourself!"
The person who wrote the letter calls this letter a "letter from home", but absolutely no one in the world dares to treat it as a "letter from home". Because the person who wrote it was Emperor Li Shimin.
In the letter, he called Qin Shubao his "in-law" and he had to listen to his "in-laws" on an important matter.
Qin Mubai smiled when he saw this. Li Shimin also liked to engage in such "cold humor" sometimes. As the lord of the world, what ideas could he not come up with and why he had to let his ministers decide
It turned out that it was none other than that the half-year period he had agreed with Princess Gaoyang had already arrived. Now, Princess Gaoyang is noisy to Li Shimin all day long, saying that Jun Wu is joking and asking the emperor to allow her to come to Lanzhou to visit Qin Mubai. Li Shimin was so upset by her that he couldn't laugh or cry, so he had no choice but to write a letter to Lanzhou to bring in reinforcements.
After reading the letter, Qin Mubai couldn't help but burst into laughter and said, "Dad, can't you just make up your mind on this matter? My child is doing business outside!"
"That won't work." Qin Shubao also laughed and said, "My father is very relieved to see that you are busy with military and political affairs all day long and ignore personal matters. But after all, you are still young, full of vigor and energy, and you are alone in the cold quilt when you return home. Pillow, it’s really hard.”
Qin Mubai couldn't help laughing. When did this father become so old and disrespectful? He smiled and said: "Father, handsome! The child is loyal to the country and has long forgotten his own selfishness!"
"Shut up! Don't be so grandiose in front of me!" Qin Shubao laughed and scolded, "I know my son better than my father. How can I know what you are thinking? You have been teasing me to accept the two maids sent by Xue Wanjun, and so on. To open the door for yourself, you brat, you can’t hold it back anymore and you’re dragging me into this!”
Qin Mubai chuckled: "Father and son will never leave the army alone when going into battle!"
"That's unreasonable!" Qin Shubao was exasperated, "Who wants to go into battle with you? Come on, let's not talk about that! What I mean is that since Princess Gaoyang has been married to you, she is yours. As the saying goes, a married daughter If she is a princess, she will have to marry a chicken and a chicken. It doesn't matter if she comes to Lanzhou, even though she is the most difficult little devil in the world. But haven’t you always been able to control her? You are already a grown-up, and my father would like to see you and your wife having fun in front of me, which is also a wonderful thing in life!”
Qin Mubai laughed loudly and said: "Dad, His Majesty the Emperor is asking guests to kill chickens. Are you really rude?"
Qin Shubao stroked his long beard and said with a smile: "As a father, don't you know that your Majesty wants me to be the villain and deny Her Highness Princess Gaoyang's wish to go to Lan. But this time I have to pretend to be crazy and behave like a fool. Because I am clever. I know that Your Majesty has always been very generous in matters between men and women. Moreover, the world knows that you are engaged to Princess Gaoyang. At this time, if Princess Gaoyang goes to Lanzhou in person, it will be of great benefit to improve and stabilize your status in Lanzhou. For both public and private purposes, Princess Gaoyang's visit to Lanzhou is a great thing. Why not do it for my father? The worst case scenario is that if I return to Chang'an in the future, I will be scolded and ridiculed by His Majesty in private, but I won't behead my father. !”
"Haha!" Qin Mubai shook his head and laughed, then sighed and said, "Dad, just do whatever you say!"
"Well -" Qin Shubao protracted his voice and snorted in a nasal tone, looking quite proud and happy, and said with a smile, "Then I will reply to the letter!"
Qin Mubai laughed repeatedly, never expecting that his father, who was always serious and rigid, could do such ridiculous and cute things. He is right. Li Shimin has always been extremely generous towards men and women. This is probably an incentive for the openness of folk customs in the Tang Dynasty today.
Because originally, he himself was a romantic type.
If Gao Yang comes to Lanzhou, all fools will know that this is tantamount to asking me to "live together without being married."
Since Princess Gaoyang dared to say that she still insisted on her coming, if Li Shimin was really disgusted and unhappy, he would not have written such a letter to Qin Shubao. He knew Qin Shubao's character. If Gao Yang went to Lanzhou and Qin Shubao was not happy, Li Shimin, the emperor, would definitely not look good on his face. Now, as long as Qin Shubao nods his head, - my dear daughter, go and be happy, dad can't control you anymore!
Qin Mubai also felt a little excited. After all, he is a man. Especially when he saw his subordinate officers coming to work smiling and leaving work happily every day, he felt embarrassed for a while, and at the same time he felt more "manly" - jealous!
Well now, Princess Gaoyang is coming. It's time to change, those guys are jealous of me!
At this moment, Qin Mubai really wanted to yell at Qin Shubao: Father is wise! Your child's happiness and sexual well-being all depend on you!