Chapter 180 The height of the temple (seven, eight)

At the banquet at the Qingcheng Restaurant, the host and the guests each have their own gains.

When he went downstairs, Zhao Jie, a merchant from Shu, had been waiting on the second floor for a long time.

When Hou Dayong saw Zhao Jie, he introduced to Liu Hongye: "This gentleman is Zhao Jie, a merchant of Shu. He has strong strength and good reputation. If you want any goods Mr. Liu needs, please contact him."

The Ministry of Ryukyu urgently needed goods, and Hou Dayong knew very well that Zhao Jie was a good businessman and could become a good supplier of the Ministry of Ryukyu. Moreover, Zhao Jie was very familiar with Western Shu. If one day conquered Western Shu, Zhao Jie's caravan would be a great supporter. Therefore, Hou Dayong kept giving Zhao Jie benefits and let him serve him wholeheartedly.

Zhao Jie is a versatile businessman who travels around the world and is knowledgeable. He immediately stepped forward and said, "Zhao Jie has been in business for many years and knows a little about business. If Mr. Liu has any needs, come to me." Zhao Jie was talking while observing Liu Hongye, and a hint of surprise gradually appeared on his face.

Liu Hongye stared at Zhao Jie and said, "You are Zhao Sanlang."

Zhao Jie slapped his thigh, "Mr. Liu turns out to be Liu Er Ge."

Hou Dayong said strangely: "You are old acquaintances?"

Liu Hongye sighed and said, "Twenty years ago, I was the cargo envoy of the Richie Department, and I was responsible for going out to buy goods. Sanlang and I met in Lanzhou many times and did several big deals. One day, we arrived in Guazhou, and met a horse thief on the road. We fought against the enemy with Sanlang. Alas, these are all old things from twenty years ago."

Looking back on the difficulties of starting a business, Zhao Jie also felt a lot of emotion, "At that time, I was still a young man from Shangfu, and I mainly worked in Lanzhou and other places. I had done several big business with Brother Liu, and I was attracted by the shopkeeper's daughter. If Brother Liu had no brother Liu, there would be no today. Brother Liu suddenly lost his sight, which made my brother unable to find. It was really sad."

Liu Hongye explained: "After doing several big businesses in Lanzhou, Dangxiang Pochao's troops fought with us very badly. I led my troops to fight. After the war, I took off my position as a freight envoy and never went south."

Zhao Jie has been doing business for a long time and is extremely smart. When he saw Hou Dayong standing aside, he knew that they could not reminisce too much, so he said, "This restaurant is owned by me, and I welcome Brother Liu to visit at any time."

Hou Dayong did not show any boredom, but smiled and said, "Since he is an old acquaintance for twenty years, Manager Zhao must treat him well and let the chefs show their pride. Also, don't be stingy with the monkey wine brought by Manager Zhao from Qingcheng Mountain."

Because the Richie Department is located deep in the grassland, many materials cannot be produced by themselves and must be relied on caravans to sell them back from other places. Over the past century, the Richie Department has formed a tradition of valuing business, but the Central Plains merchants are rich but have low social status. The yamen officials often point fingers in front of big merchants. The governor Hou Dayong's attitude towards the merchants was quite friendly, which made Liu Hongye secretly call himself a surprise and look at Hou Dayong again.

Hou Dayong originally arranged a small courtyard for the Liu family and son and Wu Yuezhou. Liu Hongye politely declined Hou Dayong's kindness and insisted on living in the military camp. Hou Dayong heard that this was the tradition of the Richie Army, so he left Liu Hongye to stay with Liu Chengtong to accompany Liu Hongye and others. He brought Fengsha, Luo Qingsong and others back to the mansion.

Qian Xiangnan and a vulgar man were waiting in the Intermediate Court for a long time. When he saw the governor come back, Qian Xiangnan's eyes rolled around several times and said, "Things are done."

The military intelligence camp became an indispensable department for Hou Dayong. Hou Dayong explained a lot of things to let Qian Xiangnan handle. Qian Xiangnan suddenly said that the matter was done, and Hou Dayong didn't remember what happened.

Qian Xiangnan then said, "This is Zhang Cao from the Military Information Camp."

Hou Dayong had not heard of this man's name. He thought Qian Xiangnan had brought this man here specially. It must have a deep meaning. He looked at the man who looked ordinary and even a little ugly. He still didn't say anything.

Qian Xiangnan ordered: "Zhang Lang, open the things quickly."

Although Zhang Cao was a guy who was not afraid of the world, he was still at a loss when standing in front of the famous Shuofang Jiedushi. His slender beard was also trembling slightly. When he heard Qian Xiangnan's order, he squatted down with relief and opened a bamboo box under his feet.

In the box are two old crossbows, the iron part is already rusty, and there are more than a dozen iron arrows with the same rusty edge next to the crossbow.

Hou Dayong's eyes were immediately attracted by these two inconspicuous crossbows. He took a larger one, looked at the special crossbow over and over again, and asked, "Is this the Zhuge crossbow that was famous all over the world and caused the Wei army to suffer a lot?"

Qian Xiangnan explained on the side: "At the beginning of the year, the Jiedushi had talked with his subordinates about Zhuge's crossbows, so I asked him to visit Western Shu. By April this year, he still found nothing. At the end of April, he sent Zhang Cao to Western Shu to look for the crossbows."

Looking at the rusty Zhuge crossbow, Hou Dayong's heart moved and said, "Did these two crossbows be dug out of the cemetery?"

When Zhang Cao heard this, his eyes showed admiration. He rubbed his hands and showed a look of pride in his face. Qian Xiangnan's eyes dripped around several times, "Hey, hey" said with a smile, "The governor's magic tricks are so clueless that he can't hide anything from you. Zhang Cao is a famous gopher in the world. He explored dozens of ancient tombs outside Chengdu Prefecture, and finally found two unusual crossbows, one and one small, in the tomb of a general. From the shape, it is the Zhuge crossbow mentioned in the book."

Hou Dayong looked up at Zhang Cao and said, "I didn't expect you to have such skills. If you make such a great contribution, I will reward you very much. Zhang Lang, what do you want?" Then he smiled and said, "I dug dozens of ancient tombs, and I thought Zhang Lang had a lot of gains and was not short of money."

Zhang Cao did not expect that the Jiedushi was so easy to treat others. His face turned red, he stroked the back of his head, and he mustered up the courage: "The villain has not been very unbearable since childhood and is always bullied. His greatest wish is to make contributions in the Black Diao Army, earn a job and return to his hometown in Fengzhou to give his neighbors a long eye."

Hou Dayong liked Zhang Cao's straightforward character very much. He pondered for a moment and said, "According to the rules of the Black Eagle Army, there will be rewards after technological innovation. Zhang Cao made contributions to the robbery this time, so he calculated the contributions according to the first-class technological innovation. As for his position, Zhang Cao was a military camper, so Qian Xiangnan had the final say."

When the Jiedushi said this, Qian Xiangnan naturally climbed up the rod. He said: "If you can clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments, you can order the three armies. He promoted Zhang Cao to the commander of the military information battalion and specialized in going to heaven and earth." Speaking of this, Qian Xiangnan smiled and said: "Zhang Lang has two nicknames, one is a gopher and the other is a flying bat."

Hou Dayong couldn't help but become interested in Zhang Cao, and the imperial envoy had already set out from Daliang. It is estimated that he would arrive in Lingzhou in November. Hou Dayong has been engaged in various talents in preparation for the need to return to the court. Zhang Cao has such skills and is also a useful talent, so he praised: "Zhang Cao is the flea in the Black Eagle Army."

Qian Xiangnanji was smart and immediately understood the meaning of the flea on the drum and said to Zhang Cao: "The flea on the drum. This name is good. From now on, Zhang Lang will be the master of the Jiedushi."

Qian Xiangnan completed the mission and happily took Zhang Cao back to the camp. Hou Dayong returned to the inner courtyard and hugged Hou Xiaoqing for a while, walked to the intermediate courtyard, and said to his personal guard Luo Qingsong: "Prepare the horse. Go to the ordnance camp."

Dou Tian and Guo Baoyu were both skilled craftsmen. The iron lions they cast in Cangzhou were treasures of the fifth generation of iron art. After they were recruited by Hou Dayong, they made many powerful weapons for the Black Eagle Army. After arriving in Fengzhou, Hou Dayong presided over the Iron Artifact Battalion based on their characteristics, and Guo Baoyu presided over the Ordnance Battalion. The Ordnance Battalion mainly manufactures long-range weapons such as bows, crossbows, catapults, etc. Jian Bufan and Jian Yue were the first to form a battalion separately, specializing in the Western Shu crossbows. Later, for the sake of manufacturing costs, Jian Bufan was merged into Guo Baoyu's ordnance weapons.

Dou Tian’s Iron Artillery Camp, Guo Baoyu’s Ordnance Camp, Zhang Qinghai’s Kaijia Camp, Chen Lingxin’s War Tank Camp, the four major camps gathered together, occupying a whole street, entering this street named Hongfu, with the sound of iron tools knocking on the ground.

As a senior craftsman of the Black Diao Army, Guo Baoyu enjoyed the treatment of commanders of the Black Diao Army's battalions. He didn't have to work himself, but Guo Baoyu was born to work hard. Seeing the craftsmen sweating profusely, he felt uncomfortable as if he was idle, so he took off his shirt, exposed his dark and strong upper body, and worked with the craftsmen to make Wangshan on the yellow birch crossbow.

When he heard that the Jiedushi had arrived, Guo Baoyu threw off the hammer in his hand and ran out.

Hou Dayong attached great importance to the construction of the armed camps and often came to inspect the camps. He was in a little interest and tried to swing a sledgehammer. Before Guo Baoyu could salute, he said, "Call Jin Da's arm, Jian Bufan, Liu Yishou, Zhou Sanlang all over. I have something good for you to see."

These four people were the masters of the Ordnance Camp with the highest skills, and Guo Baoyu was called the Five Tiger Generals of the Ordnance Camp. When everyone arrived, Luo Qingsong opened the box.

Hou Dayong held his hands behind his back and said, "Masters, tell me, what is this?"

The five people looked at the old crossbow in the box for a while. At almost the same time, Guo Baoyu, Jin Da's arm, Jian Bufan shouted: "Zhuge Crossbow", Zhou Sanlang and Liu Yishou shouted: "Yuan Rong."

"Li Hei, worthy of being the Five Tiger General in the Ordnance Camp, actually recognized this thing at a glance." Hou Dayong was extremely impressed by the professional's eyes.

Guo Baoyu picked up the slightly larger ancient crossbow, as if holding a precious Han Dynasty porcelain. Zhou Sanlang was very fast and grabbed another ancient crossbow. The other three surrounded Guo Baoyu and Zhou Sanlang, and kept shouting: "Hurry up, it's my turn to see."

Hou Dayong looked at the foolish men with a smile. Hou Dayong had a standard for selecting technical talents. He didn't want any person with a good human relationship, as long as he was a fool who was not ordinary and was obsessed with technology.

Only infatuation can one focus, and only indecisive can one excel. The Five Tiger Generals of the Ordnance Camp are the fools who have been selected from all over the country.

Jin Da's arm had a big beard, covering most of his face. He was extremely burly and had a strong muscle on his arms, so he was nicknamed "Jin Da's Arm". As for his real name, few people know it.

Although Jin Da's arm looked extremely rude, he was a disciple of Jiangnan who was born in a serious scholarly family and became a scholar in his youth. After his family was convicted, he escaped and wandered to the Central Plains. Because he was good at making crossbows since he was a child, he planned an errand in Daming Mansion to make crossbows specifically for the Tianxiong Army. Hou Dayong took a fancy to him and tried every means to dig him into the Black Eagle Army.

Jin Da'er took the old crossbow bow from Guo Baoyu and murmured: "Zhuge crossbow is called Yuanrong. It uses iron as the arrow. The arrow is eight inches long, and one crossbow and ten arrows are all launched." Jin Da'er said it from "Wei Chunqiu". The book specifically mentioned Zhuge crossbow. After the establishment of the Ordnance Camp, the five tiger generals were in a similar mood and wanted to copy the Zhuge crossbow, but several technical problems have not been solved.

Guo Baoyu said: "Zhou Sanlang, have you seen it? I said Zhuge Lianbiu did not have Wangshan. You just said yes, and with Wangshan. How can you place these ten arrows?" Wangshan is the equipment used to aim on crossbow arrows. During the Western Han Dynasty, on the basis of increasing Wangshan in the Qin Dynasty, a scale was added to give the crossbow a stable ballistic reference. Therefore, the accuracy of crossbow arrows was very reliable. Sergeants could become a qualified crossbowman with a little training. And excellent archers required long-term training and certain talents.

Zhou Sanlang fell in love with Wangshan and believed that without Wangshan, it could not be called a crossbow. For this reason, Zhou Sanlang and Guo Baoyu had a dispute over the Wangshan issue several times. Neither of them could convince each other.

Zhou Sanlang was still a little dissatisfied, "If there is no Wangshan, how to aim, Yuanrong may be fake."

Feng Sha was a little amused when he heard this. The five tiger generals had never spoken seriously. Zhou Sanlang's meaning could also be understood as the Jiedushi brought a fake.

Hou Dayong ignored these things. He picked up an iron arrow that was extremely rusty and rotten, and said, "This iron arrow is only eight inches long, much shorter than usual crossbow arrows, so it must be placed in the arrow box. Sanlang said that this crossbow is not a Zhuge crossbow, so what is it?"

Jin Da's arm fell into deep thought and said, "What does one crossbow and ten arrows mean? Should ten arrows be fired at the same time, or should they be fired one after another?"

"I think this is the key point of Zhuge's crossbow. I remember that there is a passage in "Biography of Geng Chun of the Later Han Dynasty", "Select two thousand people who died, all with powerful crossbows, each with three arrows. The ranks of the sergeant are used to travel together," which means that the deathly soldiers fired three arrows at the same time. In Cao Pi's "Walking on the Great Wall Cave", there is a sentence that "the machine is like lightning, and one shot is continuous." It means that the ground is a strike and four or five arrows are fired. Judging from the appearance of this crossbow, it is impossible to fire ten arrows at the same time at the same time. It should be the last string, and you can fire ten arrows in a row."

Hou Dayong sighed: "Zhuge Liang is such a genius." He looked at Jin Da'er with praise and said: "Jin Da'er, you have a good memory. If you don't take the Ministry of Rites exam, you are really a genius."

Hou Dayong did not fully understand the Zhuge crossbow in his mansion, but mainly because he was caught in a habitual mind. When he thought of the crossbow, he thought of the Western Shu crossbow mounted on a chariot. Therefore, he did not understand the strangeness of the Zhuge crossbow. After Jin Da's arm said this, Hou Dayong immediately understood that the Zhuge crossbow could automatically load arrows during the shooting process, but in fact it was a semi-automatic weapon.

Hou Dayong was born in a special forces unit, and his automatic weapons were just like part of his body. He had already been familiar with them. Jin Da's arm said the key points, which made Hou Dayong suddenly enlightened. These two Zhuge crossbows specially set up an arrow box. The arrow box is located above the crossbow arm, covering the position of the ordinary crossbows. Therefore, the mountain was reduced and there was no mountain, which obviously affected the accuracy of shooting. However, the Zhuge crossbows could be fired quickly, which easily made up for this shortcoming.

Jian Bufan slapped his messy head with his hand and said, "Why didn't I think of using this kind of connecting rod? Guo Baoyu, look at this connecting rod, if the bow arm needs a pulling force of 150 kilograms, it only takes thirty or forty kilograms to be competent through the connecting rod. The connecting rod can also play a role in firing. While pressing the string, it uses the force of the downward pressure of the arrow box to press the firing pin, so that it naturally bounces the bow string, and achieves the purpose of firing, cleverly replacing the crossbow machine on the traditional crossbow."

The Western Shu crossbow made by Jian Bufan can launch nine continuous crossbows at the same time, which is very harmful. Although it is both continuous crossbows and Zhuge crossbows, it is very different. Jian Bufan is an expert in continuous crossbows and soon saw the launch principle of Zhuge crossbows.

Liu Yishou is an arrow-making expert among the Five Tiger Generals. He took a few rusty iron arrows, took the crossbow bow, and fiddled with the iron arrow for a while, and said, "These iron arrows are only eight inches, placed in the arrow cassette in turn. After firing one arrow, the other arrow will fall naturally. Have you noticed that there seems to be a magnet at the bottom of the arrow cassette. The arrows falling into the arrow trough will be absorbed on the arrow trough. When the crossbow is shooting upward or downward, it will not slide forward and backward." Liu Yishou sighed to the sky: "Mr. Zhuge is really a god. We are very proud of ourselves on our daily life, but we are actually a frog at the well."

The five generals of the tiger were silent and their expressions were quite lonely.

All five were skilled craftsmen of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They have been together for nearly a year. The yellow birch crossbow, the Western Shu crossbow, and the bed crossbow were quite exquisite, but they have never created the legendary Zhuge crossbow. Today, they got the real thing and were all impressed by Zhuge Liang's wonderful ideas.

Hou Dayong was really impressed by these five people. After a while, the mystery of Zhuge's crossbow was seen through. When he saw that the five people were frustrated, he excitedly said: "The Five Tigers are masters of crossbow making in the Great Zhou Dynasty. I got the real thing today. I don't know if I can imitate it."

Guo Baoyu is the leader of the Five Tiger Generals and has the most experienced experience. After hearing what the Jiedushi said, he knew that he was using the method of provoking generals, so he said the truth: "We used to try to make Zhuge crossbows, but we didn't know the reason, so we didn't succeed. Now that we have physical objects, the materials in the camp are very complete. Within two days, we can definitely make Zhuge crossbows. If we can't create them, the Five Tiger Generals will be famous."

Hou Dayong waved his hand and said, "I just imitation is not a skill. I have an idea. Zhuge Crossbow has an arrow box. Can you make it disassemble quickly? If it can be disassembled quickly, a sergeant can bring five or six arrow boxes, and after shooting one arrow box, quickly replace it with another arrow box. In this way, the power will increase several times."
Chapter completed!