Gongshu Yi was stunned by Liu Tan's question on the spot. After he came to his senses, he felt extremely embarrassed and ashamed, and wished he had disappeared on the spot and had never been there.
Liu Tan said earnestly, "You have to solve the problem independently. Otherwise, if something happens to me, will you just do nothing?"
Gongshu Yi covered his face and ran away, almost forgetting even the basic etiquette. Liu Tan couldn't help sighing as he looked at his back.
He felt that the Gongshu family might not really be unaware of the things he proposed, but they just didn't organize them directly into easy-to-understand knowledge. He even felt that Gongshu Yi and the others were too young to use these things, so they hadn't taught them yet.
He doesn't mind telling these people what he knows, but the problem is that he hopes these people can draw inferences from what he has learned. What's the use of these people if he has to do it all?
However, when it comes to the crossbow, Liu Tan has basically solved all the problems. All that remains is to install a micro sight on it.
After he gave the order, he decided that if Gongshu Yi came to ask him about this, he would beat him!
Fortunately, Gongshu Yi was smart enough not to come to him this time, but made a miniature sight by himself.
This kind of thing was nothing to them. After all, although the sight was not made by them, in order to make an adjustable sight, Gongshu Yi and his team almost disassembled the sight and studied it over and over again.
So it is much easier to add a sight.
Liu Tan took his newly-made crossbow to the shooting range to try it out, and was pleased to find that his accuracy in shooting at moving targets had improved a lot.
Then we tested the lethality. I have to say that the crossbow is really a powerful weapon at close range. Basically, one arrow can kill a kid.
Liu Tan held the crossbow and thought for a while. His accuracy had improved so much, so if someone else took over, wouldn't they be able to hit the target every time?
He originally wanted to call Wei Deng over to try, but he happened to run into Huo Guang who came to deliver documents to him.
So he simply gave the crossbow to Huo Guang, and then he squatted aside to read the documents.
Most of these documents were about mutual trade. Liu Tan read them one by one, and the more he read, the more his mouth curled up. In the end, the mutual trade adopted the method Liu Tan had mentioned before. The Huns used their territory, and the Han people used their territory.
However, Liu Tan's focus was not on this. He was looking at various supplies, such as salt and food.
He had previously said that he would negotiate for one-third of what the Huns demanded, but looking at the data, he would probably only give the other party one-quarter of the amount.
Huo Guang, who had just finished playing with his crossbow, came over and asked, "What do you think, Your Highness?"
Liu Tan looked up at Huo Guang and found that he was still calm. It seemed like he had just walked a few steps after struggling for a long time. He didn't even sweat a drop. He couldn't help but feel very jealous.
He smiled and asked, "Aren't the Huns mad?"
Huo Guang laughed heartily: "That is why I say that we should leave the matter to Chief Justice Jiang."
Jiang Chong not only spoke in a sarcastic tone, but most importantly, he also understood the Xiongnu language. He had made up his mind to study the history of the Xiongnu before meeting them, so he could mock them no matter what they said.
Not only did he make the Left Commander on the opposite side very angry, but even the translator who looked a little strange couldn't stand it. The strange smile on his face had never been maintained since he met Jiang Chong.
Liu Tan said with great satisfaction, "Okay, that's great. Tell them we should choose an auspicious day, maybe after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and have a Lantern Festival."
At this time, although the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was already important, the concept of Lantern Festival or Shangyuan Festival had not yet been formed. Shangyuan Festival was originally derived from the Taoist "Three Yuan" theory. Now Taoism is still unknown, so where did the Shangyuan Festival come from?
So Liu Tan didn't use this name. As for Yuanxiao... although glutinous rice is available these days, in fact, the thing called Yuanxiao seems to have not yet appeared.
Why not just call it the Lantern Festival? He really wanted to create a symbolic festival.
Huo Guang was a little surprised: "Lantern Festival? What is that?"
"Well, it's lanterns." After saying that, Liu Tan remembered that paper was not popular in that era, so where did the lanterns come from?
He waved his hand and said, "Don't ask now. I'll show you what I've made later. Anyway, the market needed for trade hasn't been established yet, so it's useless to say anything now. Let's talk about this crossbow first. How is it?"
Huo Guang's eyes lit up and he said, "A sharp weapon at close range!"
Liu Tan was very proud: "And it's very convenient, right? My accuracy has improved a lot when I use my crossbow to move the target."
Huo Guang suppressed his laughter and nodded, saying, "Yes, but for now, this thing can only be used as a toy. I'm afraid it won't work on the battlefield."
Liu Tan explained, "Didn't I say before that I wanted to open an escort agency? This is for the guards. We have guards for long distances, but this is for close range."
Huo Guang shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about. I've observed that it's not easy to load a crossbow. So unless you can knock down the enemy completely in one encounter, it's useless after one round. The enemy realizes the danger of the crossbow and won't give you a chance to load it."
Liu Tan pondered for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense. Then... we can only try to get a repeating crossbow."
Huo Guang was smart enough not to ask what the repeating crossbow was. After all, his prince would have to show them the finished product after he made it.
He simply said, "If Your Highness has no questions, I will inform Chief Justice Jiang and have them sign the document."
Liu Tan nodded and waved his hand, saying, "You guys can do whatever you want."
Anyway, neither Huo Guang nor Jiang Chong will suffer any loss. On the contrary, if he makes the decision, his side will lose something, so let's just leave it to them.
Liu Tan’s mind is now full of how to make a repeating crossbow.
The simplest way is to make a quiver underneath, arrange the crossbow arrows one by one, and then place an automatic pushing device at the bottom of the quiver. Once the arrow is shot out, the crossbow arrow will be pushed up and automatically embedded into the arrow slot when the crossbowman strings it.
However, it is easier said than done. First of all, there must be an additional linkage device between the string and the crossbow, and the arrow slot must also be movable so that the arrow can be placed on it.
When the string is pulled back, the arrow groove retreats and the sword box pushes the crossbow arrow in.
Then the question arises again, how can the arrow slot return to its original position after the crossbow is strung? If it is not returned to its original position, the bottom of the crossbow arrow will be empty.
Liu Tan returned to the study with a crossbow. After picking up the pen, he suddenly realized - why should he think for himself? Couldn't he just leave it to Gongshu Yi?
He remembered that this kind of linkage device was used in some mechanical devices of the Gongshu family, so he just let them study it.
Liu Tan put down his pen and called Gongshu Yi over. Although he asked Gongshu Yi to do it, he still told him about his previous thoughts.
Gongshu Yi asked thoughtfully, "How many arrows would you like to store in the quiver, Your Highness?"
Liu Tan picked up the crossbow and examined it. "Of course, the more the better," he said. "But too many would increase the weight and bulk of the crossbow. So, it's best not to exceed the trigger. We should try to design a quiver that can hold as many arrows as possible within this range."
Gongshu Yi smiled and said, "This isn't difficult. With the spring Your Highness gave me earlier, it will be much easier to push it in automatically. Your Highness, please wait a few days. We will make it as soon as possible."
Liu Tan leaned on the desk and said, "If you can really make something useful, I'll give you a big reward!"
Although the Gongshu family is strictly speaking still supported by Liu Tan, if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it more grass. A bounty is necessary, otherwise why would people do things for you?
The most important thing is that Liu Tan must keep these people closely by his side. He may have to do a lot of things in the future, and those things should be beyond the current level of technological thinking. Liu Tan cannot finish it alone, so he naturally has to find someone, and the loyalty of the person he finds is very important.
It would be a good idea to choose from slaves, but slaves are basically illiterate and naturally have not received systematic education. How long would it take for Liu Tan to train a slave from a young age? Does he have to do this personally in the whole process?
This is obviously impossible. The Gongshu family is quite useful and knows how to adapt to the times. Liu Tan decided to observe them for a while.
After handing the matter over to Gongshu Yi, Liu Tan mainly focused on the issue of mutual trade.
The first thing is to stock up on goods. He will definitely get a small piece of the trade pie. He will not touch salt and grain. Those require people sent by the court to negotiate prices and sell them.
He was selling ordinary things, such as cloth.
The Han Dynasty's cloth was very popular among the Xiongnu, especially silk, which was what the Xiongnu lacked the most.
However, when he started to prepare, Liu Tan was very disappointed to find that not only was there a shortage of cloth in the Xiongnu, but even the northern border countries were short of it.
There are too few places in the North that grow mulberry trees because they are subject to tax.
Yes, planting trees also requires taxes, and silk fabrics are considered luxury goods, so the tax rate is very high.
In addition, when people lack firewood in winter, it is useless even if you know that mulberry trees can be used to raise silkworms and weave cloth. You have to survive the winter before you can think about anything else.
After thinking about it, Liu Tan felt that the Northern Border Country had such a good geographical location that it would be a must-pass place after the Silk Road was formed. Therefore, it was necessary to vigorously develop ceramics and silk fabrics.
These two things are the most favorite things in the Western Regions. As for ceramics, Liu Tan has an exclusive formula here, which gives him an advantage. Then he discovered... his industrial zone has not had time to build a porcelain kiln!
After quickly writing down this schedule, he called Huo Guang. He could make ceramics all by himself, but he had to let his subordinates make silk fabrics.
It is not appropriate for him to compete with the people for something that he did not "invent".
Huo Guang looked at Liu Tan's proposal and said helplessly, "Your Highness, isn't the most important thing now how to build and plan the market?"
Huo Guang was also very puzzled. Liu Tan had always been very active in building the city before. He even personally took charge of the design of the city and would not easily hand it over to others. Why was there no movement at all this time?
Liu Tan held his chin with one hand and said, "This time, we won't care this time."
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