"… Reporting to the Provincial Governor and Your Highness King of Wei, this subordinate followed Kang Qu all the way to Jining Square in the west of the city and didn't find anything strange about him. I also didn't see him come into contact with anyone on the way. This subordinate had people hide near his residence and secretly observe. If there is any news, report it immediately!"
Taiyuan City, back hall of the Provincial Governor's Mansion.
Constable Feng strode in from outside and cupped his fists to Wang Liaoyuan and Li Tai.
At this time, only Wang Liaoyuan and Li Tai were left in the room. As for Dugu Feiying, he took the weapons scattered by the assassins in the morning and worked with the soldiers of the Bing Province Barracks to search for the assassins in the city. Wang Yu naturally had to return to the Wang family to make some arrangements. After all, in terms of searching for people, especially in Taiyuan City, the Wang family's ability and strength were not inferior to the government.
The reason why Li Tai hadn't left yet was mainly to wait for news from the people who followed Kang Qu.
Wang Liaoyuan frowned and asked, "You're saying that Kang Qu has a residence in Jining Square?"
"Yes!"
Constable Feng replied.
Wang Liaoyuan continued to ask, "Did you find out when he started doing business in Taiyuan City?"
Constable Feng cupped his fists and said, "This subordinate found out that Kang Qu came to Taiyuan City three years ago. He opened a treasure shop in the city that specializes in selling gems and pearls. In recent years, business has been good, and he's an honest person. Last year, he married a local wife. The woman is the daughter of a country squire from outside Taiyuan City. Her name is Xu Xiuhe. After the two of them got married, they were very loving. Nothing out of the ordinary happened! "
Wang Liaoyuan frowned and didn't say anything. Li Tai asked, "Did you ask Kang Qu's neighbors if any strangers came looking for him or sent him a letter today?"
Constable Feng nodded and said, "Your Highness, this subordinate asked an auntie who sells pancakes in front of the Kang residence. She said that in the Kang residence today, other than Kang Qu, there was only an old farmer who carried vegetables in. No one else came in or out of the Kang residence!"
"An old farmer who delivered vegetables?"
Li Tai's heart skipped a beat and he quickly asked, "What is this old farmer's background? Have you checked? "
Constable Feng had obviously done his' work 'well this time. He cupped his fists and replied, "I've asked around. This old farmer is a farmer from Nanhe Village outside the city. He has a son who lives in the city. He just moved into the city this year and stayed with his son. Basically, he would send vegetables to Kang Qu's house every few days. There's nothing unusual about him!"
Hearing this, Li Tai couldn't help but frown in silence.
Seeing this, Wang Liaoyuan waved his hand at Constable Feng and said, "You did a good job. You can leave now! I have something important to discuss with His Highness! "
"Here ~!"
Constable Feng cupped his fists, bowed, and left.
Li Tai raised his head and looked at Wang Liaoyuan, "Provincial Governor Wang, I still think there's something wrong with Kang Qu. Have someone keep an eye on Kang Qu. Report to me as soon as you find anything strange!"
Although Kang Qu looked normal on the surface, Li Tai's intuition told him that Kang Qu was definitely hiding something!
Wang Liaoyuan had been an official for so many years, so he was still alert. He also felt that there was something wrong with Kang Qu. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "Okay! I'll make the arrangements! "
Li Tai nodded and stood up. "If that's the case, I'll leave this to Provincial Governor Wang. I still have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first!"
Although Dugu Xin had been assassinated and the hidden assassin in the city hadn't been caught, the academy's task of building a relay station still had to continue. It might even have to be sped up. This was because Li Tai didn't know how many more obstacles he would face. He wanted to be as quick as possible. Otherwise, he might not be able to complete the task in two months!
Wang Liaoyuan's heart skipped a beat as he cupped his fists. "The hidden danger in the city hasn't been dealt with yet. It's best if Your Highness doesn't go out for the next few days. If Your Highness insists on heading to Dragon Mountain, you can bring the Imperial Guards and the Bing Province Barracks' soldiers along!"
Clearly, Wang Liaoyuan could tell that Li Tai wouldn't 'stop' because of the assassin, so he reminded him.
Li Tai nodded and said, "Okay! I understand! I'll be careful! "
With that, Li Tai put his hands behind his back and walked out the door.
…
Taiyuan City was destined to not be peaceful today.
In fact, Taiyuan City hadn't been peaceful for the past two days. Yesterday, the Wang family's forces on the surface and in the dark had been searching for Zhu Xie Cheng and Kang Changan in the city. Yesterday, Taiyuan City was buzzing with activity. Today, the ten thousand soldiers of the Bing Province Barracks were scattered in every corner of Taiyuan City, searching for something from house to house.
After these soldiers entered the houses of the commoners, they didn't ask anything and directly searched the houses! The houses of the butchers and hunters were the main targets of the search. The sabers, arrows, and other weapons hidden in their houses were all found by the soldiers of the Bing Province Barracks.
Then, one of the soldiers took out a blueprint from his bosom. On the blueprint, there were drawings of various weapons. The weapons were also engraved with a special pattern. The soldier looked at the weapons found in the houses of the commoners while looking at the blueprint in his hand, as if he was comparing them.
After the comparison was completed, if there were no abnormalities, the soldiers would withdraw without a word. If the weapon found was similar to the weapon pattern on the blueprint, the owner of the house would be arrested and sent directly to the Provincial Governor's Manor!
Taiyuan City had a total of fifty-six houses, with a population of more than four hundred thousand people. For ten thousand soldiers to search from house to house, this' project 'was no small matter.
This was the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, and the military discipline of the Tang Army was very strict. The Bing Province Barracks was the most powerful barracks in the north of the Great Tang, so its military discipline was naturally very strict. Although the soldiers were searching from house to house, they were very disciplined. Generally, the owners of the houses would gather the women in one place before they entered to search. Thus, although the search of the soldiers caused some inconvenience to the lives of the commoners, on the whole, the commoners of Taiyuan City mostly supported the soldiers' 'work'.
Of course, there were always exceptions to everything. Not everyone was willing to cooperate with the search. Some of the rich and powerful families in the city were often unwilling to let the soldiers go in and search. After all, they were all big families and businesses. If the soldiers went in and damaged something during the search, the losses would be great!
Moreover, the great clans had many secrets. If the soldiers discovered something shameful about the owners of the houses during the search, wouldn't they suffer a great loss?
Thus, when the owners of the great clans heard that the soldiers were coming to search, they couldn't help but order their servants to stop them. However, the search warrant today was jointly issued by the Bing Province Provincial Governor Wang Liaoyuan and the Bing Province Barracks Commandant Fang Gongteng, the two highest-ranking military and political officials in Bing Province. The soldiers would carry out this search warrant unconditionally!
The servants and guards of the great clans who wanted to stop the search were all knocked to the ground. If the owners of the houses still didn't know what was good for them, they would be arrested and sent to the Provincial Governor's Manor along with those who had hidden suspicious weapons in their houses.
Thus, for a moment, Taiyuan City could be said to be in chaos.
At the same time, Longshan seemed to be completely unaffected by Taiyuan City.
According to the division of tasks that Li Tai had assigned in the morning, the members of the fifth and sixth teams took out measuring tools and began to survey the buildings of the Longshan Boy Temple.
The measuring tools they took were all from Yanhuang College. At the beginning of this year, the Academy officially established the second and third "Trump Card Project". The second "Trump Card Project" was to improve the telegraph and increase the transmission distance of telegrams. The third "Trump Card Project" was mainly to establish measurement standards and make standard measuring tools!
After nearly half a year of hard work, the Academy had not only established its own Measurement Standards Committee to establish unit standards for some new physical quantities, but also worked together with the workshop of the Interesting Pavilion to produce a batch of precision measuring instruments. These instruments would provide a standard reference for all similar instruments in the future, and they would be calibrated as soon as they changed!
The measuring instruments held by the students on Longshan included a ruler, a large triangular ruler, and even a tape measure. The units of these measuring instruments were not the "inch", "chi", or "zhang" commonly used in the Tang Empire, but the new units proposed by the Measurement Standards Committee of the Academy according to Li Zexuan's idea — "millimeter", "centimeter", "decimeter", and "meter"!
Although one centimeter of these measuring instruments was not strictly equal to one centimeter of modern measuring instruments, it was not important. In ancient times, if one wanted to make precision production, the ancient measurement units had to be subdivided. At this time, the smallest unit of length was one inch (about 3.333 centimeters), which obviously could not meet the requirements of precision production. Thus, Li Zexuan not only proposed millimeters, but also smaller units such as microns. The Academy was currently making more precise measuring instruments such as vernier calipers!
"Mr. Mo, we have finished measuring the inside and outside of the Boy's Temple. We think that the height here can meet the requirements of the construction of the telegraph relay station. We can even directly build the telegraph relay station in the meditation room on the second floor of the Boy's Temple. In this way, we don't need to build an additional high platform for the telegraph relay station, and we can save a lot of time!"
Near noon, the eight students of the fifth and sixth groups found Mo Chui. One of the students handed the drawing in his hand to Mo Chui and reported seriously.
Mo Chui took the drawing and looked at it carefully.
The students had drawn the structure of the Boy's Temple according to a certain scale when they were surveying the area. They had marked the dimensions of the key areas. Those who knew the new engineering drawing method invented by Li Zexuan would be able to understand it at a glance!
"Yes! Very good! Your judgment is right. Based on the height of the Boy's Temple and Dragon Mountain, it is completely feasible to build the telegraph relay station in the meditation room on the second floor! But where should we put the generator? Have you thought about Pang Sheng? "
After glancing through the drawing, Mo Chui nodded with a look of approval. Then, he asked another question.
The telegraph machine needed electricity, and the telegraph relay station naturally needed electricity as well. And they definitely couldn't use batteries. After all, batteries could only provide limited "endurance", so they could only place their hopes on a small power station.
The construction of a hydroelectric power station required a lot of time and effort, so they had brought a small thermal power station from the academy. This was the first thermal power station in the history of the Tang Empire!
"Replying to Mr. Mo, regarding the thermal power station, it definitely can't be placed in a room, or else it will easily catch fire. We think that it should be placed in the backyard north of the Boy's Temple. The space there is spacious, and it is convenient for the Imperial Army to guard it. It is safer than placing it outside the Boy's Temple! "
The student named Pang Sheng replied.
"Yes! You have considered it very thoroughly! "
Hearing this, Mo Chui nodded and praised, "Since that's the case, immediately inform the members of the second, third, and fourth groups to start preparing to build the thermal power station! When the time comes, remember to measure and adjust the voltage. Otherwise, if the voltage is too high, it will easily burn our machines! "
"Yes!"
Pang Sheng and the others nodded and turned to leave.
"Mr. Mo Chui, how is the situation here?"
At this moment, Li Tai had also arrived at Dragon Mountain and walked up to Mo Chui's side to ask this question.
After leaving the Provincial Governor's Residence, he did not even return to the courier station. Instead, he rushed straight to Dragon Mountain with a dozen Imperial Army guards. At present, Taiyuan City was filled with soldiers from the Bing Province Barracks. Li Tai was not worried that they would jump out to assassinate him at this time. If that really happened, he would be relieved. This was because although the Imperial Army around him was few in number, they were all highly skilled in martial arts. Even if they could not immediately defeat him, they could temporarily delay him. As long as they could delay him for a while, the soldiers in the city would definitely rush over to arrest him!
Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Mo Chui was startled and quickly turned around. When he saw that it was Li Tai, he sighed in relief and said, "Pang Sheng and the others have completed the survey. We all think that we can directly build the telegraph relay station in the meditation room on the second floor of the Boy Temple. At this moment, I have Jia Jiayin and Li Yan lead people to build a thermal power station in the backyard of the Boy Temple!"
Hearing this, Li Tai's expression was faintly excited. "Good! It would be best if we can directly build the telegraph relay station in the meditation room on the second floor of the Boy Temple. This way, we can save a lot of work and a lot of time! However, this thermal power station was only a preliminary success in the workshop. Now that we want to put it into practical use, I'm afraid there will be some problems in the process! For the next two days, let's focus on making the thermal power station run smoothly! "
"Mm! Qingque, your worries are not without reason! We'll do as you say! After we switch the thermal power generator this time, it will save us a lot of trouble next time! "
Mo Chui nodded. Then he frowned and asked with a worried expression, "By the way, Qingque, how is General Dugu's situation now?"
In the morning, when he, Li Tai, Dugu Feiying, and the others went to Dragon Mountain, they were 'chased' back by the Imperial Army. Therefore, Mo Chui knew about the assassination of Dugu Xin. However, to avoid causing panic, he did not tell the rest of the students.
…
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