Chapter 330 Development Science

Because they had to queue and have their carriages inspected, everyone who was originally sitting inside got off, including Wang Xiaozhi and her four children.

It was at this time that Jiang Yuan took his daughter An'an to visit Wang Xiaozhi and her son.

Wang Xiaozhi had never seen Jiang Yuan in such full armor and imposing manner before. Now that she suddenly saw him, she felt that although he still looked the same, his aura was completely different from before.

It was only at this moment that she truly felt the reality that her younger brother was already a high-ranking official.

The two stood on the road and first greeted each other with pleasantries. Then, Wang Xiaozhi asked her children to come over and bow to Jiang Yuan, saying, "This is your uncle. Quickly call him uncle."

The four children stood in a row, obediently bowing to Jiang Yuan while calling out "Uncle" in their cute and loud voices.

Jiang Yuan's expression was gentle as he beckoned to the four people, "No need for formalities, come closer and speak."

Chen Yuan, the eldest of the four children, was the only one who had a deep impression of Jiang Yuan. She looked up and took two steps closer, saying, "Uncle, you look so impressive now."

When Jiang Yuan left Mingfu Village, the little girl was already old enough to remember things. So, unlike her younger siblings, in Chen Yuan's memory, her uncle was not a stranger she might not see even once a year, but rather the best uncle in the world who would often help her family, send them money and goods, and treat her very well.

The little girl is now a young woman, and she can understand many things. She knows that her family has become increasingly wealthy over the years because her uncle and aunt have been helping her.

Not to mention, her parents weren't the kind of shameless people who would eat their food and then curse their mothers; their gratitude towards Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang was often expressed in their words.

The more the little girl heard it, the more grateful she became to her uncle.

The family chatted as they waited for the guards to conduct their routine inspection.

They carried a lot of things, but fortunately, with Jiang Yuan, the commander of the guard, there, the soldiers didn't really search everything carefully. They just made a show of it, and once they confirmed that there were no suspicious people hiding in the carriage, the soldiers waved them through.

Having obtained permission to travel, everyone boarded the carriage again. The horses clattered along, quickly bringing them to the residence of the Commander of the Guards in Jiang Yuan.

The mansion not only has three courtyards, but also east and west wings. Its only drawback is that it is not large enough and the decoration style is unusually simple and plain.

After getting off the carriage, Wang Xiaozhi walked a short distance with Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, and then couldn't help but exclaim, "No wonder Auntie said the houses here look so dusty, they really are dusty."

Xie Wanniang couldn't help but curl her lips slightly. There were no carved beams and painted rafters, pavilions and towers, artificial mountains and lakes. Even the flowers, plants and trees were few in number and of common varieties. Looking around, all that could be seen were dark-colored houses, dark-colored corridors and floor tiles. It was just a gray and drab place.

She told Wang Xiaozhi, "This is already a good thing. Last time we came, the flowers, plants and trees in the yard had either lost their leaves or withered and died. That was when everything was really dusty and gloomy."

Now at least there are some other colors, although there are really only a few, not many.

Wang Xiaozhi clicked her tongue twice, "It's clear that being a high-ranking official isn't all good things."

Xie Wanniang laughed, "Civil officials naturally want to hold higher positions, but military generals, especially those like A Yuan who are responsible for guarding a region, never have a day without hard work."

That's why she's always hoped that Jiang Yuan could leave the border, or even just move to the southeast coast.

She felt sorry for the hardships and dangers Jiang Yuan had endured, but on the other hand, she also hoped that her two children could have a better environment to grow up in.

Of course, that's all in the future.

At this moment, Xie Wanniang had no idea that the opportunity she hoped for would soon arrive suddenly because of the most powerful father and son in the Great Wei.

Last winter, Xie Wanniang, who nominally stayed at home all winter, actually did something she didn't take seriously, but the emperor favored her even more because of it—she drew out one or even several blueprints for all the early firearms that she knew could be made in this era.

Thanks to her, the artisans, whose thinking had been limited, quickly broke free from the misconception of focusing solely on making homemade bombs (spherical firearms) and bulk gunpowder.

Following the blueprints provided by Xie Wanniang, they began experimenting with making bamboo fire guns, muskets, hand cannons, matchlock guns, and other similar items. Then, their creativity expanded, leading them to create arrows with gunpowder and bombs laced with poison...

Although this idea was somewhat off track, it could still be considered an improvement and innovation of firearms. After hearing about it, Xie Wanniang didn't say much and let the craftsmen do their own thing and try it out.

Those things that have little practical value will soon be phased out in the development of firearms. There is no need for her to interfere or arbitrarily intervene just because she is standing on the shoulders of giants.

However, she did offer them a fresh idea: to try building aircraft. They didn't need to create the sophisticated and diverse aircraft of modern times; they only hoped to build a primitive version capable of short-duration flight to aid in the targeted airdrop of bombs or surprise troops.

Of course, if they can develop an aircraft that can fly for a long time after a long period of research, then perhaps after the scientific foundation is solid, people will actually be able to build airplanes and other things hundreds or even thousands of years later through the unremitting efforts of several generations.

In order to plant a seed of scientific development in the hearts of people in this era, Xie Wanniang even planned to compile teaching materials herself and try to popularize mathematical knowledge and the most basic natural science knowledge in her girls' school.

If the results are good, she will submit the teaching materials to the emperor and suggest that he widely promote them within the Great Wei territory.

After settling Wang Xiaozhi and her children in the third courtyard and assigning several reliable maids and servants to help her take care of the children, Xie Wanniang took her children and moved with Jiang Yuan to the second courtyard, which belonged to their family.

Jiang Yuan had received advance notice and had the entire house thoroughly cleaned. All the daily necessities had been washed and arranged. Xie Wanniang and the others went to...