Thinking of this, Zhao Xian spoke:

"Princess, please take this bow and arrow back with me. I will study it when I get back and try to develop a bow and arrow within three days so that the barbarian soldiers' bows and arrows will be useless."

"That's wonderful. I hope Young Master Zhao can manufacture powerful bows and arrows as soon as possible. On behalf of the soldiers at the front, I thank Young Master Zhao."

Three days later, I will send someone to Narcissus Village to test the effectiveness of the new bows and arrows. If they can suppress the enemy's arrows on the battlefield, you will help me mass-produce them. I will buy all of them, and you can set the price.

"That won't be necessary. I'll manufacture these bows and arrows first, and you can arrange for people to come and learn how to make them. If our soldiers can make these bows and arrows themselves, we won't need to buy them."

"Then thank you, Young Master Zhao. Please make a batch of bows and arrows, and I will take them back with me."

"No problem. Sharing the nation's burdens is the duty of us citizens of the Great Northern Dynasty."

Having finished explaining things here, Zhao Xianshi left the government office and returned to his residence.

Upon seeing Zhao Xian return, Magistrate Cao spoke:

"Young Master Zhao, what brings the Prefect here to see you?"

"The prefect asked me to go to the prefectural office because the county magistrate wants to see me."

"Princess, which princess? Is it Li Xue, the youngest daughter of the Fourth Prince?"

“What Magistrate Cao said is absolutely right, it is indeed Princess Li Xue.”

"This Princess Li Xue was influenced by the Fourth Prince from a young age and loved to practice martial arts. She is quite skilled. It's a pity she is a woman, otherwise she would definitely be a fierce general on the battlefield."

"I see. She came to me this time to ask me to make her a powerful bow with a long range to suppress the enemy soldiers' bows and arrows."

"Pretty much. I heard that Li Xue has traveled between the capital and the front lines many times this year, and she brought back a lot of information from the front. It's really rare for a girl to care so much about national affairs," Magistrate Cao exclaimed.

Magistrate Cao's words filled Zhao Xian with awe for Li Xue. He resolved to return home and quickly develop the powerful crossbow for the soldiers at the front.

"I hope that Young Master Zhao will develop a powerful bow and arrow as soon as possible to completely eliminate the barbarian soldiers and ensure the prosperity of our Great Northern Dynasty."

The next day, the group returned to Zhengyang County. Magistrate Cao invited Zhao Xian to sit in the county office, but Zhao Xian declined.

He wanted to see if there were any materials he needed on the market so he could take them back to make a powerful crossbow.

After bidding farewell to Magistrate Cao, Zhao Cheng turned his carriage around and prepared to go to the market to buy materials for making crossbows.

The crossbow that Zhao Xian was preparing to make was a launching device that used mechanical force to shoot arrows, and this crossbow was different from ordinary bows and arrows.

Ordinary bows and arrows are launched by human power. The strength of the person determines the extent to which the bow can be drawn, which in turn determines the range of the arrow. Of course, the quality of the bow also plays a role.

Crossbow bolts are fired using mechanical force, and the user only needs to aim, so the force is relatively fixed.

In this way, the range of crossbow bolts would be at least twice that of ordinary bows and arrows. Once such crossbow bolts appeared on the battlefield, they would likely crush the enemy in one fell swoop.

The raw materials purchased were mainly used to make crossbow ropes and triggers, while the crossbow poles and handles were made from mulberry wood, which is abundant and easy to obtain in rural areas.

After purchasing the materials, it was already noon. The two planned to eat something before returning to Shuixian Village, but unexpectedly ran into Qin Shiyu and Jiabing, who were on their way to the county town to deliver goods.

Since neither of them had eaten, the group found a restaurant nearby.

During the meal, Qin Shiyu told Zhao Xian that the firewood pile in front of the workshop caught fire the night before last. Fortunately, it was discovered in time by the family soldiers and was quickly extinguished because the fire was not large; otherwise, the losses would have been much greater.

Zhao Xian frowned. The firewood pile in the house consisted of large pieces of wood, and it would take a kindling to light it. The fact that the firewood pile suddenly caught fire in the middle of the night meant that someone had set it on fire.

Afterwards, the soldiers inspected the pile of firewood and found the ignition source, but they were too busy putting out the fire to chase after it.

By the time the fire was extinguished, the arsonist had already fled.

The next day, the village head investigated and basically ruled out the possibility that the fire was started by villagers from outside the village.

It seemed that someone was retaliating against him. Zhao Xian recalled that he had indeed offended some people during this period, such as Mo Yasi in the county town, the remnants of the bandits in Qianniu Mountain, as well as Master He and Xiao Kui.

Among these people, the most likely to come and set the fire were Master He and Xiao Kui.

However, I have no evidence; it's just a guess.

They must have come to burn down the house. There were soldiers patrolling the house at night, so the arsonists didn't have a chance to make a move and had to set fire to the woodpile.

They failed this time, but they will definitely come again. I must strengthen my defenses.

It's still a bit scary to think about now. If they had burned their house down, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

It seems that not only should the defense of the house be strengthened, but the defense measures in the village should also be increased. A patrol team should be set up in the village to protect the whole village. He plans to discuss this with the village head.

After lunch, the group quickly arrived at Shuixian Village. The first thing Zhao Xian did after returning home was to increase the security at home, especially the night shifts. He increased the number of people on each night shift from two to four.

After finishing this task, Zhao Xian set about making crossbows, initially preparing to make ten to equip his personal guards.

He first went to the carpenter's shop and asked the carpenter to make a crossbow pole and a crossbow handle for him, requiring that both parts be made of mulberry wood.

The carpenters took the task assigned by Zhao Xian very seriously. They began to make the parts carefully according to the drawings provided by Zhao Xian, and polished the parts they made as much as possible.

The arrowheads for making crossbow bolts must be made of iron, so he found a blacksmith and asked him to make one hundred arrowheads for him.

After arranging these things, he began to make the crossbow rope and trigger.

After a day of preparation, all the parts were made, and Zhao Xian asked Zhao Cheng to come and help assemble the crossbow.

Seeing Zhao Xian making weapons, several of his guards were very curious and rushed over to watch.

It's not a bad thing to let the soldiers see how crossbows are made; it will be beneficial for them when they use crossbows in the future.

The parts were already made, and it wasn't difficult to assemble them. Before long, the first crossbow bolt was finally assembled.

Zhao Xian handed the crossbow to Zhao Cheng, asking him to test its effectiveness and power.

This was the first time Zhao Cheng had ever encountered such a weapon. It was smaller than a bow and arrow and had a more complex structure. He wondered how powerful it was.

He took the crossbow in his hand and knew how to use it. He stood about fifty paces away from a large tree, ready to use the tree trunk as a target and begin to test fire.