After months of busy work, Qin Mubai finally had a few days of rest. Qin Mubai enjoyed and cherished it. In the next few days, no one bothered me anymore. He spent time at home with his family. I discussed the art of war and martial arts with my father, chatted with my mother and little sister, and tasted the snacks made by Shuang'er together.
After not seeing each other for several months, Shuang'er's cooking skills have shown great improvement. She can even make sweet-scented osmanthus cake as fragrant as durian cake, which is enough to show that her cooking skills have been perfected.
After dinner, Qin Mubai went out for a walk in the West Market and sat in the best wine in the world. Every evening, Wu Meiniang would come to the store to take stock. Chatting with her and occasionally helping her settle accounts, the two finally became a bit like a couple.
Wu Meiniang said that now there are many stores in the West Market that are operating like hers, and the competition is very strong. The best wine in the world must be innovative - so he asked Qin Mubai to help him write more pipa and martial arts songs. Just those two songs "Ambush from Flying Daggers" and "The Overlord Disarms", no matter how good they sound, people will still get tired of them!
This was not difficult. Qin Mubai immediately wrote down a few songs for Yao'er and others to learn. But at this time, I thought that just renovating the music like this was not the answer. This kind of thing is always learned quickly. You have to find a way to be unique and make it impossible for others to imitate.
With a bright light in his heart, Qin Mubai had a solution.
Entering the imperial city, he went straight to the general prison and found the Tusuo order from the left school office. Tu Shu Ling thought it was Qin Mubai who came to ask for weapons. He was very panicked for a while and said that weapons such as tiger head chisel gold spears would be difficult to complete even if they work quickly for less than ten and a half days.
"I'm not busy. Slow work will bring out fine work. Now is not a war time, and we are not in a hurry to use it." Qin Mubai said, "I came to the department today because I have something else to ask for."
Tu Shuling breathed a sigh of relief and said happily: "General, if you need anything, just ask."
Qin Mubai took out a stack of pictures that he had spent a lot of effort on and said, "I want Tu Shuling to help me create this thing."
"What, what is this?" Tu Shuling looked at the drawings on the paper and asked blankly, "It looks like a table, but it is taller than the table; it looks like a bed, but it has a strange shape, and it has to be used like this. What a strange steel bar... Phew, I don't know what the use of this thing is, can you please tell me, General?"
Qin Mubai smiled and said: "This thing is called a 'piano'. It is an extremely high-end and complex musical instrument. Presumably, no one in the Tang Dynasty could have made it except for a skilled craftsman like Tu Shuling."
"Musical instruments?!" Tu Shuling was dumbfounded, "I have served in the Zuo Campus for more than 20 years, and all the musical instruments in the palace come from here. Such complex musical instruments are really unheard of!"
"You've never seen it, that's right." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "How about it, are you sure you can build it? It's very difficult! However, if you really build it, it will benefit the contemporary generation. In Qianqiu, your glorious name will definitely remain in the history of Chinese music, which is of great epoch-making significance!"
"Okay!" Tu Shuling gritted his teeth, "I will do my best and devote all my efforts to build this piano!"
"Every component must not be careless, otherwise the sound quality of the entire piano will be inferior." Qin Mubai said, "I have marked the materials and sizes of the parts that need to be used. If there is anything I don't understand, Please feel free to ask me. In addition, even if it is caused, it will require multiple debugging and modifications.”
"Okay. If there is anything you don't understand, please come and ask the general for advice. When it is finished, please ask the general to try it yourself. It will not be completed until you are satisfied." Tu Shuling was also somewhat excited. Because he had heard for a long time that Qin Mubai was the great master of pipa. Now he has to tinker with this new musical instrument. If he becomes famous in the future and the piano becomes popular in the Tang Dynasty, then wouldn’t he, the piano maker, also become famous for a while, and even, as he said, his name will go down in history!
"This is the wages." Qin Mubai put down a piece of gold.
Tu Shuling hurriedly picked up the gold and stuffed it back into Qin Mubai's hand: "General, please don't do this. We, the Zuo School Office, are the imperial yamen, dedicated to serving the palace. But if you are on duty, you will obey orders. You have received your salary and do not need to pay." . If this is passed on to the general, I will be taking bribes."
"That's fine. Then it's time to work." Qin Mubai put away the gold ingots with a smile and left the left campus. In fact, everyone knows this little 'hidden rule'. Places like the General Prison have always only served the royal family and the imperial court, but some court officials often ask the skilled craftsmen here to do something for them. The emperor naturally knew about this, but as long as the laws, regulations and etiquette rules were not broken, he wouldn't mind anything. Especially the people who will serve as supervisors of the left school office are, to put it nicely, officials of the court, and to put it worse, they are workers, craftsmen, and servants. After the emperor has finished his orders, it doesn't matter if he changes his orders to his ministers a few times.
When I got home and was about to go back to my room to rest, I heard scattered ding-dong sounds coming from the next room, as if someone was playing the pipa. Qin Mubai couldn't help laughing, and walked up and knocked on the door: "Shuang'er, what are you fussing about?"
"Ah, third brother, did you hear that?" Shuang'er came up to open the door and said with a rather embarrassed smile, "I also want to learn pipa! But I have been led bad by you three brothers since I was a child. I only know how to play pipa." When will you learn to play the bowstring? Third brother, you promised to teach me, but you never fulfilled it, hum!"
"Haha, don't be angry, little sister. Isn't the third brother busy all the time?" Qin Mubai patted her head, "Tell me, why do you suddenly want to learn pipa?"
"Hehe... He likes music!" Shuang'er stuck out her tongue and snickered.
"It's for him again..." Qin Mubai shook his head and sighed, "Well, I really can't do anything to you, so I'll teach you! However, I have learned too much about the pipa and I am no longer popular. After a while, I’ll teach you a new musical instrument. I’m sure only your third brother in the world can play it.”
"Really? What kind of musical instrument is it?" Shuang'er said in surprise.
"You will know later, keep it secret for now." Qin Mubai laughed loudly and left.
"Bad guy, you're showing off to me, huh!"
The four days of vacation passed quickly. When he left home and prepared to return to the army, Qin Mubai almost forgot about Pang Fei, who was living in the world's most drunken place. This kid has been drunk all day long, and he seems to be a little happy and unhappy. When Qin Mubai took him out of the room, he was still drunk and shouting in his sleep.
"Wow!" A bucket of cold well water poured down from Pang Fei's head, and he jumped up in surprise. When he saw Qin Mubai with an angry face, he was already sober from drinking, and he hurriedly worshiped: "My mentor! General, general!"
"Promising!" Qin Mubai snorted coldly and picked him up by his hair. "Are you serious that you have never seen a woman in your life, or that you have never drank?"
"Yes, yes... I have indeed never seen so many beautiful women, nor drank such good wine." Pang Fei, who was always honest in front of Qin Mubai, replied with a grimace.
"Have you seen enough and drank enough now?" Qin Mubai sneered, "Okay, now look at your bill - in the past four days and four nights, you have spent as much as fifteen hundred on the best wine in the world. Guan. Tell me, how do you plan to pay back the money?"
"Ah -" Pang Fei was dumbfounded and murmured with a white face, "Teacher, didn't you ask me to stay here... and enjoy it to my heart's content?"
"I asked you to stay and enjoy it, but I didn't say I would help you pay the bill." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "The best wine in the world is the most high-end consumption place in Chang'an. The wine, women, and music here are not for ordinary people to consume. You can afford it. You are a small team leader, but you have stayed here for four days and four nights. Tell me, should I sell you to pay off the debt, or should I just expel you from the military and kick you out of the division? "
"Ugh... Master, don't do it! I know I'm wrong! I don't have any ambitions and indulge in wine and sex, which is what I shouldn't do!" Pang Fei knelt down and kowtowed, begging bitterly.
"You are smart and know how to admit your mistakes." Qin Mubai threw the bill at him, "You have to pay for the mistakes you make. Don't think that anyone will cover you. This bill is a profound reminder to you. Lesson learned, just figure it out yourself!”
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... I have no choice but to sell the property and my hometown house! Wu wu, this disciple will never dare to indulge in wine and sex again!" Pang Fei was about to cry without tears, and his eyes went straight as he looked at the bill.
"There's no need to sell the property and the house. That's the property of your whole family!" Qin Mubai said with a smile, "The owner here is my daughter-in-law who has never married. I'll beg you for mercy first. She owes it. From now on, if If I find out that you are obsessed with wine and sex, you will lose all your money and your whole family will go begging!"
"Yes!!! Disciple, thank you! Disciple, I promise that from now on I will never slack off and play around. I will serve my master wholeheartedly and learn from him!" Pang Fei kept kowtowing, as if he had been granted amnesty.
"That's pretty much it." Qin Mubai clapped his hands, "Change your clothes and follow me back to the military camp."
The two returned to the military camp and resumed their normal work. Working in three shifts every day and participating in various trainings in the military camp, I was nervous and a little busy.
Soon, a month passed. During this period, Tu Shuling from the Zuo Campus came to Qin Mubai many times to ask for advice on making pianos. In recent days, he finally finished making the piano and asked Qin Mubai to inspect it several times. After all, this was the first time to make such a precise and complicated musical instrument. Even though Tu Shuling was one of the most skilled craftsmen in the world, he could not satisfy Qin Mubai immediately. Therefore, the finished piano was reworked and modified several times.
Qin Mubai happened to be free that day, so he went to the Zuo Campus by himself. I tried playing the newly modified piano once, and I was finally satisfied!
"Very good. Tu Shu Ling is indeed well-deserved for his reputation and his uncanny skills!" Qin Mubai praised him greatly and said, "Now, first go to the No. 1 Wine in the World and find a woman named Yao'er. Let her put away the piano first. Just tell her that this is a new instrument I want to teach her, but let her keep quiet. "
"Okay, I'll do as you please."
Qin Mubai smiled secretly: Very good. It won't be long before Datang will have a pianist. Yao'er, Shuang'er, you two will definitely create a miracle and become the Beidou in the history of Chinese music!