Demonstrate to the emperor
Chapter 57: Demonstration to the Emperor
Everyone followed the emperor to the martial arts arena. After the emperor took his seat in the stands, the court officials behind him either sat down or stood according to their ranks.
Chu Huaibei asked the eunuch to put the things down, and first held the heavy crossbow and looked around. There was no way to fix the heavy crossbow in this place in the martial arts field. She was just strong, not four arms... Looking at the little eunuch with thin arms, it was obviously difficult to ask them for help.
Chu Huaibei turned around and asked the emperor to borrow two people for help.
"Your Majesty, since the heavy crossbow cannot be fixed in the training ground, I need two strong men to help me hold the heavy crossbow."
"Okay, Minister Wang, please pick two people from the Ministry of War to help." The emperor agreed without hesitation.
"I obey your order." Wang Jinzhong gave General Zhuang a look, and the two of them personally went into battle to help King Zhenbei hold the heavy crossbow.
Seeing that the Minister of War Wang Jinzhong personally brought people to help her, Chu Huaibei raised his eyebrows and thanked them first. He had to be polite.
"I'd like to trouble Minister Wang to personally assist me. Chu Huaibei would like to express his gratitude to both of you."
"Your Majesty, you are too polite. We are just following His Majesty's orders."
The two men returned a half-bow to Chu Huaibei and attributed their actions to His Majesty's instructions. They didn't want to have anything to do with the King of Zhenbei.
Chu Huaibei heard their reply and smiled brightly at them. Hey, they are indeed experienced people...
After instructing the two men to hold the crossbow arm firmly, Chu Huaibei picked up the crossbow arrow on the ground, put the arrow on the bow, put his right foot on the ground, and stepped on the load-bearing column of the heavy crossbow with his left foot at a right angle of 90 degrees. He pulled the tail end of the crossbow arrow with both hands and arched his upper body backward. When Chu Huaibei felt it was almost done, he instantly released his hands.
"Buzz..." Along with the sound of the bowstring vibrating, the crossbow arrow shot out and directly penetrated the target placed one hundred meters ahead, and the arrow body with the target was deeply nailed to the wall of the martial arts field.
The two generals, who had practiced martial arts for many years, originally thought that the support they gave would be the kind that would keep the crossbow from falling. As Chu Huaibei exerted his strength, the two men lifted their clothes and took a firm horse stance, using all their strength from their waists, abdomens and arms to stabilize the heavy crossbow.
Minister Wang and General Zhuang looked at each other, and saw shock and disbelief in each other's eyes. The tightly pursed corners of their mouths and the bulging veins on their necks showed that both of them were a little embarrassed.
Originally, the heavy crossbow was fixed on the city wall, and when it was used, two to three people had to pull the bowstring at the same time to shoot the crossbow arrow. However, Chu Huaibei was very strong and could do the job of two people.
When the crossbow arrow hit the wall with great force, the emperor excitedly gripped the armrests of the dragon throne, but even though he did not show it on his face, he still maintained a gentle expression.
"Thank you for your hard work, my lords. You may take a seat and rest now." Chu Huaibei stretched out his hand and pressed the heavy crossbow, signaling the two lords to let go.
Wang Zhuang and the other man stood up, straightened their official robes, and walked towards their seats. As they walked, they secretly shook their arms that had overexerted themselves.
Then Chu Huaibei took out a hundred short arrows from a box beside him and slowly put them into the quiver of Zhuge's magic crossbow. These short arrows were recovered on the battlefield. When he heard that the emperor wanted them, he hurriedly asked his personal soldiers to wipe them and took them with him. Some of the short arrows still had blood stains on them.
After loading the short arrows, Chu Huaibei ordered the eunuch to line up all the targets in a row one hundred meters in front. The eunuch received the order, quickly set up the targets and returned behind Chu Huaibei.
The people in the stands saw King Zhenbei shooting several short arrows from left to right at once, and each arrow landed on the target in front of him. The speed was incredibly fast, and he shot ten times in a few breaths. Hundreds of short arrows "whoosh" and all hit the target in the blink of an eye.
Although it is not as destructive as a heavy crossbow, it has the advantage of large quantity and high speed. Imagine if there are thousands of people standing on the city wall, each holding a short crossbow like this. As long as there are enough arrows, the enemy will not be able to reach the city gate at all.
Obviously, those who could attend court had very sharp minds, and their eyes lit up when they looked at the two weapons.
"Your Majesty, as for the kerosene delivery vehicle, I will demonstrate it to you once the Ministry of Works has completed the main frame."
"Very good, the weapons you developed can be called divine weapons. As for what Censor Su said after hearing the news, I hope you don't take it to heart. I know that there are only five of each type of divine weapon, so it can't be considered a privately cast weapon."
The emperor looked at the two magical weapons with a flicker in his eyes. He directly overturned what Censor Su had said in the Hongwu Hall and testified for the King of Zhenbei.
As for why Censor Su was not punished, this censor had served two dynasties and was an upright and incorruptible person. He was indeed a man who served the country and the people, but he was also the one who reported the country the most often. When he heard some rumors, he wanted to die for his advice and wanted to leave his name in history.
"Your Majesty's holy judgment." Chu Huaibei immediately took over the conversation to express his gratitude.
"Lord Zhou, I will be testing the kerosene delivery vehicle tomorrow. The Ministry of Works must expedite the construction of the main frame."
"I obey your command." Zhou Zhili didn't show it on his face, but he couldn't help complaining in his heart: He had been urging him to make the Zhuge Divine Crossbow, but he didn't listen at all when he suggested starting with a simple kerosene-throwing cart. Now he wants to use the main frame tomorrow, so the people in the Ministry of Works won't be able to sleep tonight.
"The court is adjourned. Prince Zhenbei, remember to attend the morning court on time tomorrow." The emperor suppressed his excitement and directly adjourned the court back to his Qinzheng Hall.
"Farewell, Your Majesty." Everyone bowed.
Chu Huaibei followed the large group out of the palace. She thought that today's matter would require some discussion, but she didn't expect the emperor to directly support her. This was indeed the only number, and it couldn't be faked anyway.
But the emperor did not ask her directly where the iron came from. She had made some preparations in advance that could barely evade the question, and she was certain that the iron used to make these weapons was obtained by melting the damaged farm tools in the Ministry of Agriculture.
She had checked the amount of iron that the court allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture every year. Not counting the various new agricultural tools made later, it was enough to make this batch of weapons.
Chu Huaibei noticed that many people were secretly looking at her on the way out of the palace. Tsk, how rude! If they keep looking at her like this after leaving the palace, she would charge money. Five taels of silver, just stand in front of her and look as much as you want. No cheating! In a day like this, she must make a few hundred taels. This is a no-cost business.
Thinking about some random things in his mind, he followed the crowd out of the east gate. The guards who had been waiting outside for the whole morning finally put their uneasy hearts at ease when they saw their prince leave the palace safely.
"Your Highness!" The guards saluted in unison.
"Yeah, it's okay, let's go."
Chu Huaibei took the reins, mounted the horse, and left for the east of the city with twenty personal soldiers.
The court officials gathered in twos and threes, looking at Chu Huaibei's back and talking about it.
"Sir, do you think the emperor will grant the King of Zhenbei a marriage this time?"
"It's hard to say. Rumor has it that the King of Zhenbei is very fond of his concubine..."
"This direction looks like it's heading to the Feng family. This King of Zhenbei is probably going to his maternal grandfather's house for the first time."
"Sir, I heard that your family has a young lady waiting to be married. I think the Prince of Zhenbei is a good match. He is as handsome as Pan An. You saw the expressions of the other two generals when they tested the heavy crossbow today. The Prince of Zhenbei's martial arts skills are definitely superior to theirs."
"Sir, do you think this King of Zhenbei will follow his father's example and take the opportunity of going to the capital to beg a lady from a noble family to marry him back to the Northern Territory?"
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If Chu Huaibei heard these whispers, he would definitely complain to their faces: A tall and strong man is gossiping like a gossipy woman in the village, how shameless.
However, at this time, Chu Huaibei was still recalling the address his mother gave him. More than 20 years had passed, and he didn't know if there had been any major changes. Fortunately, it was still difficult to recognize. Chu Huaibei compared it door to door along the main street in the east of the city.
Eleven followed behind the prince on the right side. Seeing his expression, she guessed that he was going to her maternal grandparents' home.
"Prince, are you looking for your maternal grandfather, the Feng family?"
"Hey, yes, do you know Eleven?"
Chu Huaibei just asked casually.
"Your Highness, I know you. Please come this way."
He had guessed it right. Eleven led Chu Huaibei towards Feng's house.
Chu Huaibei was shocked. "Wow, Hu Zhi's people even knew the residences of court officials. No wonder he asked me to bring more people. Hu Zhi was very considerate."
After turning two alleys, Eleven stopped in front of the Feng Mansion. Chu Huaibei looked at the slightly shabby gate, which was consistent with everyone's description of the Feng family.
Chu Huaibei dismounted and personally stepped forward to gently knock on the door. Less than five seconds after the knock, the door was half-open. A white-haired old servant looked at the group of people gathered outside the door. The first person to knock was a young man. He asked, "What brings you to the Feng Mansion?"
"Old man, please tell the master that Chu Huaibei has arrived."
"Okay, sir, please wait a moment." Seeing that the young man was polite and gave his name directly, the old servant turned around and went inside to pass on the message.
In just a cup of tea, Chu Huaibei's superior hearing had already heard two footsteps coming from inside. He wondered if it was his uncle.
Uncle Feng walked out of the screen wall holding up his clothes. He stopped to tidy up his clothes and made sure they were all in order before he quickly walked to the door to greet his only nephew.
I recognized him at first sight. This nephew looks exactly like his father, except for his younger sister's eyes, which look at people with a touch of tenderness.
"Your Highness, please come in. Uncle Wang, please invite all the soldiers into the mansion and settle them down." Uncle Feng did not call Chu Huaibei's name when he was at the door.
"Yes, sir. Please come in. The horses can be accommodated in the stables in the mansion..."
Chu Huaibei signaled everyone to follow Uncle Wang and not to worry about her.
After everyone entered, the servant immediately closed the door and worked with Uncle Wang to arrange food and accommodation for the soldiers.
Uncle Feng had already brought Chu Huaibei into the courtyard and was on his way to the main hall. "Huaibei, I'm your uncle. The Feng family has been under constant surveillance for years, and I'm used to being cautious. I hope Huaibei doesn't mind."
Chu Huaibei had some guesses. Since he was related to her family, this kind of thing was inevitable.
"That's not true, uncle. Huaibei knows the reason, so it's better to be cautious."
As they were talking, they had already arrived at the main hall. There were two old men with white hair sitting in the middle of the hall. On the second seat on the left sat a man in his fifties, who should be his second uncle Feng Chenghan. On the right sat three young men, who should be his cousins.
"Huaibei pays homage to my grandparents." Chu Huaibei knelt on his knees and kowtowed to the two elders.
"Hey, dear grandson, get up quickly, big brother, help him up." Old Mrs. Feng finally saw her grandson, and her tone was much more cheerful with joy, and her usual serious expression was different.
Uncle Feng helped Chu Huaibei up only after he had kowtowed. This was the filial piety of the younger generation, as he always waited until someone had kowtowed before helping them up.
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