Chapter 151
"Is this what you want to give me?" Wei Huan took a musket from Lin Shuge and looked at it carefully. Different from the musket he saw yesterday, the one in his hand was made of copper. It was tubular in shape. The front part was the barrel, and the raised part in the middle was the powder chamber, which was used to store gunpowder.
"Yes, this thing is made of copper. Because it is difficult to make, Xiangli Gu and several craftsmen manually polished it, so only a few were made. I will present it to you, young master. When you go back, you can summon the craftsmen and let them continue to develop according to this idea. Maybe they can make a musket that fires bullets continuously." Lin Shuge said slowly.
Wei Huan looked at him for a long time before he said, "Mr. Lin is thoughtful. I'll try it first." Then he walked out with the musket. Lin Shuge hurriedly followed him and explained to him how to use the musket. If the county magistrate's son suddenly used it indiscriminately and got injured, Wei Huan would be in trouble.
"You're so worried that I might get hurt? Relax, I know my limits." Seeing the worry on his face, Wei Huan teased.
I was worried that something might happen to you if you moved around too much, Lin Shuge complained silently, but said, "This thing can be very dangerous if it is not used correctly. Some time ago, a soldier injured his hand due to a musket explosion. Young master, you must not take it lightly."
"Okay, okay, I got it." Wei Huan smiled and waved to the guards to help him prepare the target. He observed the musket for a few more times and then ignited the gunpowder. The bullet in the gun was instantly shot out and the stone target was smashed to the ground.
Wei Huan's arms began to tremble instantly. The recoil of the musket was extremely strong, and the entire copper chamber was burning hot. He thought that this thing was powerful, but as Lin Shuge said, its shortcomings were also obvious. However, he could make more of the thunder bombs thrown yesterday to defend the city.
Lin Shuge put down his ears, and seeing Wei Huan's ugly expression, he ran over and asked, "Sir, are you okay?"
"It's okay, it's okay, but Magistrate Lin, I just heard you say that you made a few. You gave this one to me. If I go back to the county magistrate's mansion and my father sees the musket, he might ask you for it." Wei Huan took the hot cloth handed over by the guard, wiped his hands, and said slowly.
Lin Shuge was speechless. His boss was so great that he wanted to take all the good things away from him.
"I will send someone to deliver the sword that belongs to Envoy Wei when you return after finishing your business." Lin Shuge swallowed his resentment and said with a smile.
"I thanked Magistrate Lin on behalf of my father. However, when I came here, my father asked me to remind Magistrate Lin that he had already received the potato seeds, but what about the cotton seeds..."
Lin Shuge interrupted him, "Sir, the cotton seeds harvested this year are really not much. I have promised the county people to sell them at a low price. When the harvest comes next year, I will send someone to deliver it to the county governor's mansion."
In order to use potatoes as food crops to fight against the Huns, Lin Shuge gritted his teeth and gave a batch of potatoes to Wei Shijun, but there were not many cotton seeds. If he gave more to Wei Shijun, he would be worried about the spring plowing next year.
Lin Shuge's face was full of confusion. Wei Huan laughed out loud, "I see. I'll go back and talk to your father about it. Don't worry, your father just mentioned it casually. If you can't produce it, he can't do anything to you."
"Thank you, sir." Lin Shuge thanked him and thought to himself that he would give a batch of cotton bedding and clothes to Wei Huan after returning to the county government. Without cotton seeds, cotton fabrics would have to be used as favors.
"Sir, I haven't asked you yet about the situation with the Huns." Lin Shuge said as he sat below Wei Huan.
"My father's spies reported that Mu Xie swept through several tribes with the force of thunder and was about to unify the tribes. If he is allowed to continue to develop, perhaps the events of the previous dynasty will happen again. My father sent an urgent report to Yandu, and the court was in an uproar. Until now, there has been no result. The only order was given to my father and Captain Zhao to be ready for the powerful enemy." Wei Huan sighed after sitting down. His expression was solemn, and he no longer had the teasing look he had just shown.
As expected, Zhongxuan was right, Lin Shuge thought to himself.
"Ding Yanhe used to be quite brave, but now he has exhausted all his courage in the court struggles. He only cares about the glory of the Ding family and doesn't care about the difficulties we are facing here."
Wei Huan also seemed dissatisfied with the Ding family. Lin Shuge asked, "Does the Ding family not want to fight?"
"If we defeat the Xiongnu, I don't believe he won't want the credit, but if someone else gets the credit, the Ding family will definitely not be happy about it."
Wei Huan's words were vague, but Lin Shuge knew what he meant. Envoy Wei was an upright person, loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and never took sides. He had tried to win him over many times but to no avail. If Dingyuan County was the sphere of influence of his Ding family, he would definitely support it with all his strength.
Alas, I wonder when there will be less fighting in the court. With a powerful enemy in front of us, can't we just focus on dealing with the enemy?
The two were silent for a moment, and Wei Huan continued, "But I estimate it will be soon. Before I came here, I heard that Captain Zhao had already written a letter to attack Mu Xie before he could gain a firm foothold and catch him off guard. Captain Zhao has made great military achievements, and it's not like the Huns are approaching, so there won't be any problems."
Isn't it said that Captain Zhao and Envoy Wei have a grudge against each other?
"I can tell what you are thinking from your expression. My father does not like Captain Zhao's holding on to military merit, but in the face of major issues, this little thing is not worth mentioning." Wei Huan stood up and poured him a cup of tea.
Lin Shuge stood up in a hurry, but Wei Huan said, "Why are you panicking? I just added some water for you. Can't we even do this between friends? Or have you become estranged from me after not seeing each other for a few years?"
He got closer and closer, and Lin Shuge could only step back, "Master...what are you doing?"
"Have you heard about my situation?" Wei Huan looked at the embarrassment on his face, sighed softly, and returned to his seat.
Lin Shuge didn't know what he was up to. If he joked with him like before, he could still rebuke him righteously. Lin Shuge looked up at him, wondering why he was acting like a lonely widower again.
Lin Shuge coughed lightly and considered his words, "What are you talking about, young master?"
"My marriage is known to everyone, how could you not know about it?" Wei Huan had an expression that said, "Just keep pretending."
"So this is what you are talking about, sir. I have heard of it." Lin Shuge imitated Xie Chen's innocent face perfectly without any trace of acting on his face.
Wei Huan was so angry that he felt chest tightness. Seeing his expression, he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Young master, you are of noble birth and handsome, you will definitely find a good match." Lin Shuge couldn't fool him any more and gave his sincere blessing.
"A good match? Where do you think it will be?" Wei Huan said with a playful smile, "Did Magistrate Lin find one? You haven't gotten married at your age yet, are you the same as me?"
"This matter cannot be forced. I believe that Envoy Wei will help you find another noble lady. As for the rest, you don't have to worry too much."
"You never tell the truth." Wei Huan was dissatisfied with his perfunctory response.
Just as Lin Shuge was about to speak, the guard beside Wei Huan came in and said, "Master Lin, the county officials are here to look for you. They said that there is something at the county government office that they want you to see."
"Thank you for letting me know, sir. I have something to do in the county, so I'll take my leave now." Lin Shuge stood up and saluted.
Wei Huan nodded, and seeing him walk out with ease, he felt depressed and followed him out.
He wanted to see if there was anything that needed to be handled personally by Lin Shuge, the county chief. What was Lu Yuechuan doing? Can't the descendants of Weijun Lu family even handle a small matter?
Lin Shuge walked out of the posthouse and saw that Xie Chen was standing next to the officer. He walked over quickly and asked, "Zhongxuan, why are you here?"
"My brother hasn't been home for a long time, so I went all the way to look for him. I met him on the road and we came together."
Lin Shuge looked at the officer, who hurriedly reported, "Someone from Ganzhou County has come. County Magistrate Lu asked me to ask you to go back."
"Ganzhou?" Lin Shuge looked at Xie Chen, "Could it be Zhou Du and Xu Yu?"
Xie Chen nodded, "That's right, my old friend is here to visit me, why don't you go back with me, brother?"
"Let's go, let's go, don't let them wait anxiously." Lin Shuge couldn't hide his excitement and pulled Xie Chen towards the county government office.
In Qingquan County Government Office, Zhou Du and Xu Yu were sitting in the lobby, and Lu Yuechuan was talking to them.
"You said that Brother Huai Ting also sent us cotton and potatoes?" Zhou Du said in a loud voice, "I knew that I was his best friend. He could forget anyone but me. It was a pity that we were on the road at that time and missed each other."
"But the manuscript that Lord Lin promised has been delayed again and again." Xu Yu had an angry expression on his face and looked at Lu Yuechuan from time to time.
Lu Yuechuan was used to procrastinating on his manuscripts, so he didn't care about his threatening look. "You don't know, when my Lord and I first arrived in Qingquan County, we encountered bandits. My Lord even went deep into the tiger's nest to kill these bandits who preyed on the people. After that, there was the battle of Pingxiang. After we finally settled down, my Lord was busy with farming. In addition to the various matters in the county, how could he have the time to write manuscripts? The manuscripts in your hands were written by my Lord and I with great difficulty."
Xu Yu's face was filled with "I don't believe you" and "I believe what others say, but I don't believe what you say, Lord Lu."
"What do you believe in?" Lin Shuge heard them talking about belief and disbelief as soon as he entered the room.
"Brother Huai Ting." Zhou Du jumped up and shouted with shining eyes, "You are finally back. Did you miss me after not seeing me for such a long time? Hey, your Zhongxuan is getting more and more heroic." He just rushed up to hug Lin Shuge, and in the blink of an eye he saw Xie Chen following behind him.
Xie Chen nodded at him.
"Erlang, it's been a while since we last met. Of course I miss you." He looked at Xu Yu again, "What a coincidence, how come you and Young Master Wei came to Qingquan at the same time?"
"Isn't he here because of the cotton?" Xu Yu asked anxiously.
"No, Mr. Wei has official business to attend to. Let's not talk about this anymore. Tell me how you are doing? How is Ganzhou County?" Lin Shuge asked.
"We're okay. It's pretty good that Ganzhou has a member of the Ding family as the county magistrate. Although Ding Wenhong is arrogant because of the power of the Ding family and doesn't do his job properly on weekdays, the county affairs are still the responsibility of me and the county officials. But you just have to go along with this kind of person. Xu Yu is more miserable. The businesses under him have to pay a large sum of money to the Ding family every month." Zhou Du spoke of Ding Wenhong with disdain, but he was helpless because he was a member of the Ding family.
"There's nothing I can do. I'm just a businessman and can't fight against them. I can only spend money to save my life. My lord, if I can't make it in Ganzhou in the future, I will come to you with my family. I hope you will take me in." Xu Yu looked at Lin Shuge with a miserable expression.
"That's right. If my parents and brothers weren't in Ganzhou, I would have come to you too. Seeing how carefree Lord Lu is, I think I'm happy working under you." Zhou Du also echoed.
"No one can take my position. You don't know how many capable people are under my command. They are all eyeing me covetously. How dare I be at ease? Who knows, one day my master might dislike me and talk to Envoy Wei to replace me." Lu Yuechuan said deliberately after listening to what the two said.
Lin Shuge listened to the quarrel with a smile. Xie Chen sat down without saying a word, as if he was used to it.
"Erlang, I haven't asked you why you came to Qingquan?"
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