"What is it? Your Majesty!"
Zhangsun Wuji originally wanted to berate Shi Fan for being so flustered and not behaving properly.
But now, he stood up directly.
It even scared the playful Little Changle. Little Changle hurriedly ran into Zhangsun Wugou's arms.
Shi Fan stood respectfully in the hall, not even daring to raise his head as he said,"Patriarch, His Majesty is in the blacksmith shop with a guard by his side.”
Zhangsun Wuji frowned when he heard his words.
Then, he looked at Shi Fan and said,"You seem to have never seen His Majesty before. How can you recognize him?"”
Shi Fan was also stunned by Zhangsun Wuji's question. Then, he scratched his head and said,"Patriarch, that esteemed guest ordered Zhangsun Wuji to come.”
"I thought that the person who dared to order you around at such a young age should be His Majesty.”
"And when I left, that guard also said not to disturb His Majesty.”
Zhangsun Wugou sat at the side and said,"" Big Brother, whether it's true or not, it's not a small matter if it concerns His Majesty. Besides, no one in Chang 'an has the guts to impersonate His Majesty.”
"You should hurry over first."
"I came today with the personal guards of Prince Qin's residence. You can bring them along.”
"If it's father, I can protect him. If not, I'll take him down on the spot.”
Zhangsun Wuji let out a breath and said,""That's right, that's right. Wugou, I'll go over first.”
Zhangsun Wugou stood up to send him off.
Zhangsun Wuji immediately brought the personal guards of Prince Qin's residence and headed straight for the blacksmith shop.
He did not hide anything along the way.
When he arrived at the blacksmith shop, his pupils constricted when he saw the carriage outside. Although he had never seen this carriage before, the decorations on it were very strange.
It was extremely luxurious, and it was obviously made with the same craftsmanship as Li Shiming's carriage.
Ordinary officials and businessmen could not see this.
However, Zhangsun Wuji was as resourceful as a fox, and he was close to Li Shiming, so he could still see these details clearly. He glanced at the Qin King's personal guard and said,"It should be His Majesty."
"You guys guard the periphery. I'll go in now.”
The personal guards of Prince Qin's Mansion guarded the entire blacksmith shop tightly. Zhangsun Wuji hurried in and looked at Li Yuan who was sitting there.
He quickened his pace and was about to speak.
Guan Yu stepped forward to signal him to keep quiet.
Zhangsun Wuji took a look and realized that the person in front of him was none other than the fierce general who didn't give Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji any face yesterday and swept the two of them off their horses with his spear.
He nodded slightly and placed his hands in front of him as he stood respectfully.
His gaze fell on a blacksmith in disheveled clothes in front of him. He had some understanding of these things. After all, the Zhangsun family had relied on iron ore to make a name for themselves.
It was just that there were so many talents in the royal family.
Why did Li Yuan set his eyes on the blacksmith of the Zhangsun Clan?
Could it be that he wanted the Zhangsun Clan's iron mine?
Or was there some other purpose?
From where he stood, he couldn't see the blueprint in Lu Cheng's hand, so his mind was in a mess. He couldn't guess what Li Yuan was thinking.
Finally, time passed bit by bit.
Lu Cheng let out a long breath and stood up. He reluctantly returned the blueprint to Li Yuan and said,"Honored guest, the things on this blueprint are really exquisite.”
"I can't forge it."
"Moreover, forging crossbows is against the law of the Tang Dynasty.
No matter how many lives he had, he did not dare to forge it.”
Li Yuan smiled but did not take it. He looked at him and said,"I said you can forge it, so you can forge it.”
"Currently, no one dares to take it."
"Don't you think so, Zhangsun Sikong?”
Lu Cheng was still in a daze.
However, Zhangsun Wuji's body trembled when he was called out by Li Yuan. He stood up and said,"Yes, yes, Your Majesty is right."
Seeing Zhangsun Wuji come out, Lu Cheng hurriedly bowed and said,"Greetings, Patriarch."
After he finished speaking.
It was as if he had just woken up from a dream, looking at her in disbelief.
Li Yuan quickly knelt on the ground and said,""I was blind and did not know that Your Majesty had arrived.”
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Li Yuan looked at Lu Cheng's terrified expression and said indifferently,""The Great Tang doesn't kneel.”
"Zhen has never said that I will punish you. Moreover, Zhen needs you to do something.”
"What you said just now shouldn't be the truth. Now you can tell me if you can forge this Zhuge Repeating Crossbow.”
Li Yuan's words made Lu Cheng stand up, trembling.
Zhangsun Wuji's eyes lit up as he listened.
Zhuge Repeating Crossbow.
Wasn't this the legendary treasure that had disappeared?
It could fire over a hundred ballista bolts in an instant. It could be considered a weapon of war, and it was extremely lethal.
Against the Turks, he would have a better chance of winning.
"Lu Cheng, with His Majesty here, you can speak the truth. There's no need to worry about anything."”
Zhangsun Wuji said.
She was still trying to figure out what Li Yuan meant.
The Imperial Armament Bureau, the Armory Department, and the Crossbow Department all had carefully selected blacksmiths.
It should be left to them to forge.
Why was Li Yuan here now?
Zhangsun Wuji could not understand.
Lu Cheng stood there. Although he was a little afraid, he looked at Li Yuan's encouraging gaze and said,"Your Majesty, although the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow is exquisite, it is still a very powerful weapon.”
"But the drawing you gave me is very detailed.”
"This lowly one is confident that I can forge it, but I will need the help of the other masters in the blacksmith shop.”
"I don't know if I can."
Lu Cheng spoke very carefully because he was very clear about the importance of this blueprint.
If it could not be spread.
It was extremely difficult to forge it.
Li Yuan smiled and looked at him." It's fine. You can forge the core component of the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow. As for the other things, I want to spread them."”
Lu Cheng stood there and listened to Li Yuan.
Then, he carefully looked at the blueprint in front of him.
This blueprint was divided into many small parts, and there was a complete forging method on it.
He was just thinking about the difficulty of forging the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow.
However, they did not pay attention to the forging process, including quenching techniques. To them, this was something more precious than the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow.
Only now did Lu Cheng understand how precious the wealth he held in his hands was.
There was this one time.
The status of the blacksmiths in the world would rise by more than one level, and they would no longer be lowly peasants.
What Li Yuan gave him was not a blueprint, but a gift of rebirth!
Lu Cheng looked at Li Yuan. This time, he kneeled down solemnly and kowtowed with both hands on the ground. He said gratefully,"Craftsman Lu Cheng, on behalf of all the blacksmiths in the world, thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!”
Li Yuan smiled and looked at Lu Cheng.""This weapon forging technique was obtained from the descendants of Duke Tao An.”
"I don't need your thanks for bringing benefits to future generations.”
"I only hope that you won't let me down.”
After Li Yuan finished speaking, he turned around and left slowly. Guan Yu and Zhangsun Wuji followed behind him.
The art of smelting iron and forging weapons.
Now that the art of forging weapons had begun to spread, it would take some time. However, Li Yuan believed that with just a little push, the entire situation would change.
However, in terms of smelting iron.
A clever housewife can't cook without rice. To smelt iron, one must first have iron.
As Li Yuan thought of this, his gaze fell on Zhangsun Wuji. Then, he said lightly,"Zhangsun Sikong, I heard that your family has an iron mine?”
Zhangsun Wuji listened to Li Yuan's words.
His heart skipped a beat.
Indeed, Li Yuan was here for the iron mine, and the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow was just a cover.
Although Zhangsun Wuji was nervous, he did not dare to show it. He immediately said,"Yes, Your Majesty. This lowly subject does indeed have an iron mine.”
After he finished speaking, he carefully sized up Li Yuan.
He realized that Li Yuan was expressionless.
There was no problem at all.
Li Yuan blinked his eyes and turned to look at him."I wonder how much iron is produced from this iron mine every month and how much iron is smelted?”
"How many weapons and armors can we supply?”
"The war is about to begin, so this item must not be lacking.”
Zhangsun Wuji's expression turned serious when he heard Li Yuan's words.
Then, he answered all these questions in detail.
After all, he was the head of the Zhangsun Clan.
But he was also a subject of the Great Tang. In the end, he mustered up all his courage and said,"Your Majesty, this humble subject feels that the Turks will attack at any moment.”
"This is the might of the Great Tang. As a citizen of the Great Tang, this lowly subject is willing to hand over this iron mine to the national treasury to supply the Great Tang's war needs.”
After Zhangsun Wuji finished speaking, it was as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Li Yuan patted his shoulder and said,""Zhangsun Sikong, do you think that I will let you out today?”
"Is it because of your iron mine?"
Zhangsun Wuji pursed his slightly thirsty lips and immediately said,""Your Majesty, what are you saying? Why would this lowly official think so?”
"This lowly subject is truly willing to do so."
Li Yuan stood there and looked at the people coming and going on the long street. He said indifferently,"Your family's small iron mine is but a drop in the bucket for the Great Tang.”
"I didn't ask you to come today because I was greedy for these things.”
"I want to give you an opportunity!"
When Zhangsun Wuji heard this, his eyes lit up slightly.
He thought that Li Yuan was here to take advantage of him.
He didn't expect to get something out of it?
After yesterday's incident, he was very respectful of Li Yuan. The opportunity that Li Yuan mentioned was definitely not wrong. However, what was it?
Li Yuan glanced at Guan Yu. Guan Yu walked to the horse carriage at the side and took out a wooden box before handing it to Zhangsun Wuji.
Zhangsun Wuji took it nervously.
Li Yuan said," Inside the wooden box is the map I gave you. There are three iron mines on it, but there are no one there."”
"Zhen needs the old miners in your family to guide the new. For this half a year, there will be no salary or population.”
"They mine ores day and night and smelt iron to supply military supplies.”
"I ask you, can you do it?"
As Li Yuan spoke, he also got into the carriage.
When Zhangsun Wuji heard this, Li Yuan didn't want his iron ore either. He just wanted to do some work, and he didn't need to do it himself. Anyway, as long as he had money, he didn't lack manual labor.
"Your Majesty, I can do it," he said with absolute certainty.”
"This lowly subject is loyal to the Great Tang and His Majesty. Heaven and earth can testify to this. Let alone such a trivial matter, even if all these miners were to be raised by the Zhangsun Clan, there would be no doubt about it.
Hearing this, Li Yuan lowered the curtain and sat in the carriage. Guan Yu drove the carriage.
It was just the beginning.
Li Yuan looked at Zhangsun Wuji from the window and said with a smile,"Zhangsun Sikong, since that's the case, you'll pay for the workers 'salaries.”
Zhangsun Wuji had just been in a blissful paradise.
Hearing Li Yuan's words.
He almost spat out a mouthful of blood as if he had fallen from the sky.
Just as he was about to say something, he realized that Li Yuan's carriage had already left. Zhangsun Wuji stood on the spot, wanting to cry but no tears. He only wanted to give himself a slap. He hugged the wooden box and muttered,"What a huge loss, what a huge loss…"
" The emperor owes money. Who dares to ask him to pay it back…"
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。