Chapter 612 [Three Updates]
Li Xi's mind went around in circles for several times before he finally figured out what was going on. For a moment, he couldn't help but say angrily, "We and the Guangyang Li family separated two hundred years ago!"
Although the two families are still relatives after the split, they are actually two families. Moreover, as time goes by and after so many generations, there is basically no blood relationship between the two sides. As for really discussing seniority, I'm afraid we have to take out the family tree.
Liu Tan laughed so hard: "Don't tell me, go tell Li Kangcheng, that's what he told me."
Li Xi sneered and said, "I want to see how capable he is to be my grandfather."
This is not the way to make friends with relatives.
Liu Tan was interested in watching the fun and planned to take Li Xi to see the military equipment and then take a walk around Guangyang County the next day.
Judging from Li Xi's expression, he seemed to want to cause trouble for Li Kangcheng.
As a result, the next day when Liu Tan took him to the armory, he couldn't walk.
Li Xi was stunned when he entered the warehouse. This armory was different from the chaotic scene he had imagined. In the past, the image of armories in his mind was basically dirty and messy, and the weapons were not well maintained.
After all, they are used less, and soldiers have to pay the court for using the court's weapons. Yes, it is so unreasonable that the people fight for the country, and the country still has to collect money for various weapons and equipment.
The main reason why so many people sign up for conscription every year in the Northern Border Kingdom is that they don’t have to spend any money themselves, and the court also gives them a lot of money!
In other places, these weapons are very expensive, and ordinary people choose to buy them themselves.
This is reflected in "The Ballad of Mulan".
Therefore, those weapons are kept in the armory all year round and are basically not moved. Naturally, no one takes care of them. They are just waiting to rot and then apply for a replacement. As for where these replaced weapons will go, it goes without saying. Most of them are pocketed by the officials who manage this part.
However, Liu Tan's armory is different. The armory is directly classified, and each weapon even has a separate warehouse.
The bows and crossbows are divided into two warehouses. This crossbow is a hand crossbow. As for the foot-operated crossbow, because of its huge size, it has its own special area.
As soon as Li Xi entered the first room, he picked up one of the bows and couldn't let it go.
Liu Tan looked at him in surprise: "The bow you have is much better than this one, is it really that serious?"
Liu Tan is indeed willing to spend money on armaments, but the problem is that no matter how rich he is, he cannot spend money like that. The quality of the armaments just needs to be good enough, there is no need to pursue the best. And a general like Li Xi, who has status and money, must have a bow that is much better than those produced on the assembly line. Is he so excited?
Li Xi sighed, "I just feel that I have never seen such a good bow and arrow in the hands of a soldier."
As he spoke, he bent the bow and tried the arrow. It was indeed not as good as his bow, but the average level of this bow was much better than the ones prepared by the soldiers themselves, especially the arrow, which looked even more cold and sharp.
Liu Tan urged him several times before he finally got Li Xi out of the bow and arrow warehouse. After arriving at the crossbow warehouse, Li Xi simply couldn't walk anymore.
Liu Tan said expressionlessly, "I have something better than this. I'll give it to you later."
Well, although Li Buyan already has a crossbow in his hand, Liu Tan cannot give it to Li Xi. Crossbows and bows and arrows are considered contraband and cannot be privately possessed anywhere. However, because Li Buyan and his men are his subordinates, Liu Tan has reason to equip them with them.
Li Xi was not his subordinate before.
Now I have an excuse.
Li Xi was very happy after hearing this, but he still seemed reluctant to part with these crossbows.
Seeing him like this, Liu Tan thought for a moment and said, "How about I set up a bed for you and you can live here."
Who would have thought that Li Xi would actually say happily, "Is that okay? That's great. Anyway, the County Magistrate's Mansion doesn't look as good as this place."
Liu Tan: ...
How come he didn't know Li Xi was so blunt before? The Liaoxi County Governor next to him was about to turn green with anger.
In fact, Li Xi used to be more measured in his words. Now, on the one hand, he was happy, and on the other hand, he didn't need to be too nervous when facing Liu Tan.
Another invisible reason is that although Li Xi has been stationed at the border for many years, he still has the opportunity to go back during the holidays.
In the past, he would be very cautious when returning to Chang'an, trying not to offend anyone and being careful in what he said and did.
But who can blame the King of the Northern Territory for being so powerful now? Because of Liu Tan's attitude towards Li Xi and his son, people in Chang'an have become much more tolerant of him.
What's more, even if Li Xi spoke unpleasantly, he didn't have any bad intentions, so it wasn't tiring to interact with him.
The result is that Li Xi becomes more and more outspoken, and now he says whatever he thinks.
However, Li Xi was still quite good at reading people's expressions. He probably saw that Liu Tan was unhappy, so he scratched his head and said, "Don't blame me, Your Highness. This is what we do when we see good military equipment."
I wish I could live with the weapons. To be honest, the armory is newly built, so the environment is really good. The only drawback is probably that it is underground, so it is not well ventilated and there is no sunlight.
But it doesn’t matter. Li Xi has lived in all kinds of places over the years. When he attacked the Huns, the conditions were worse than they are now, but he still managed to get through it.
Liu Tan said helplessly: "No one will compete with you for these things, you can decide how to distribute them later, it won't be that serious."
Li Xi finally calmed down and turned to look at Liu Tan and asked, "What did Your Highness ask me to look at earlier?"
Liu Tan said unhappily, "It's too late. Let's go in the afternoon."
Originally, he wanted to finish all these things in the morning, but who knew that Li Xi was so excited when he saw these armaments that he almost stayed here. Until now, he hasn't finished looking at the entire armory, and it will be afternoon soon.
Li Xi was obviously much more shameless than his son, but he didn't feel embarrassed at all. He coughed lightly and said, "Then... let's wait and see."
Liu Tan waved his hand: "You can see for yourself, I'm going back first."
He had followed Li Xi here to show off a little bit - to see the armaments of our Northern Border Kingdom.
However, Li Xi's reaction was even greater than he expected, and Liu Tan felt it was boring. He had so many things to do, why should he stay here and waste time accompanying Li Xi to look at the military equipment?
He even didn't plan to go in person to show him the power of black powder in the afternoon.
These things caused Li Xi to react so strongly, black gunpowder... He could probably imagine Li Xi's stunned look.
Liu Tan simply asked Wei Deng and Li Ling to accompany Li Xi. These military families were old friends of each other, and because they had a good relationship with Li Buyan, Li Xi usually treated these two people as his sons and nephews. It was just right to let the younger generation accompany Li Xi to see it.
So by the time dinner came, Liu Tan found a general in a trance.
Liu Tan had already thought that Li Xi might react quite strongly, but he never expected that he would be in such a trance-like state, with an expression of disbelief on his face.
Li Ling and Wei Deng were obviously caught off guard, and both looked at Liu Tan for help.
Liu Tan walked over and waved his hand in front of Li Xi, but found that Li Xi did not react at all. He was still looking at a certain point and muttering something.
He leaned over to listen, and vaguely heard Li Xi muttering, "This is not the power of an ordinary person, it is the power stolen from heaven."
Liu Tan: ...
He was wondering, Li Xi's ability to withstand pressure shouldn't be so fragile, right?
How come those people who followed him to Jiaozhi before are okay?
Later he thought about it and realized that it was probably because when he went to Jiaozhi, most of the people he brought were his own people, and even the soldiers were from elite regiments.
These people were already accustomed to the King of the North coming up with something new from time to time, so they were not surprised that it was so powerful...
Many people even think that Liu Tan was just finding an excuse to get the wooden barrel, but in fact he was the one who cast the spell.
However, Liu Tan did not go with him this time. Li Xi felt the power of black gunpowder firsthand. He could not understand these things, so he could only attribute it to the power that only God or gods had, and he was completely confused.
After realizing this, Liu Tan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He thought to himself, if I had known this would happen, I might as well have followed him. Why not just cripple one of his generals before doing anything else?
Although Liu Tan was unsure, he remained calm on the surface and said, "Get him a bowl of calming soup."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "Add an extra qian of coptis root."
When Wei Deng and Li Ling heard the words "Anshen Soup", their expressions became a little strange. It was obvious that they could not stand the taste. After hearing that Liu Tan even asked someone to add Coptis chinensis, they felt a little unwell. They immediately put on an attitude of "we are fine, we are in high spirits", for fear that they would be implicated as well.
It’s true, this bowl of calming soup really worked, but Liu Tan didn’t know whether it was because of the medicinal effect or the taste.
Li Xi's first reaction after coming to his senses was to grab Liu Tan's arm and ask, "Your Highness... this thing, this thing will bring great disaster to the world."
Liu Tan asked in return: "Does anyone else have it besides us?"
Li Xi was stunned for a moment: "No...no."
Liu Tan spread his hands and said, "That's right. How to use it is up to us, and whether it will turn into a disaster is also up to us. What are you worried about?"
Li Xi slowly released his hand: "But... now that this thing has appeared, it will be known to others sooner or later."
Liu Tan sat down and said, "That's the inevitability of historical development. We can't stop using it out of fear. Think about how humans first used stone tools and only later began smelting metals. If our ancestors had given up out of fear, I'm afraid we would still be eating raw meat and drinking blood today."
Li Xi came back to his senses, sat down for a long while, and then whispered, "Then...will the gods in heaven blame Your Highness?"
Liu Tan almost broke the pen in his hand, with a murderous smile on his face: "It's okay, if they dare to cause trouble, I will strangle them all to death!"
Li Xi’s face was filled with horror: !!!
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