"Someone, bring out the wine," Ren Baqian shouted at the guards behind him.
The result of the cloth dyeing competition could be seen by the naked eye. Naturally, it was the second round.
The empress's spirits were lifted after hearing Ren Baqian's words. Ever since that day, she had been thinking about this wine. Unfortunately, there was only a little wine left, so she had to control herself from thinking about it. Otherwise, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to let go and would drink it all. At that time, Ren Baqian would definitely lose.
Soon after, a guard brought out three glass bottles that contained 500 grams of wine. Through the bottles, one could see the amber wine swaying.
The empress glanced at Ren Baqian. There didn't seem to be any wine left from that day.
In fact, there was only five kilograms of wine in that jar. After the empress drank it, there was only slightly more than 500 grams left. Fortunately, there was still some wine left in the distiller, which produced another two kilograms.
"Sir Ren, can I have a taste?" Zhang Junzheng looked at the wine bottles that Ren Baqian had brought over. He had already given up on this round. Now, he just wanted to know how Ren Baqian's wine tasted like and how much stronger it was compared to the Zhang family's wine.
Ren Baqian asked someone to pour a bowl of wine for Zhang Junzheng. The amber wine emitted an extremely strong aroma when it was poured out of the bottle. Even the people behind the empress could smell it, and the sound of saliva being swallowed could be heard.
Tong Zhengye and Qin Chuan were stunned.
After Zhang Junzheng took it, he first closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he took a small sip. The mellow and pleasant fragrance entered his mouth, and the sweet fragrance ignited his taste buds along the tip of his tongue. Then, he felt as if his throat and stomach were on fire. After a long time, the flames subsided, and traces of cool air soothed the burned part of his throat, immediately making him feel comfortable.
"I concede defeat. We have lost the second round! " Zhang Junzheng closed his eyes to savor the aftertaste for a long time before opening them again. There was no need to compete with just this wine alone.
Although he was very surprised that they had lost two rounds in a row, he was most concerned about the third round.
He was confident that they would definitely win the third round.
The torsion springs used in the Yun Nation's ballistae were made by the Zhang family. He believed that even if someone obtained the Zhang family's springs, they wouldn't be able to make them.
There were several unknown materials added to the steel used to make the spring. Even if others knew what these materials were, it would take a long time to figure out the ratio. Not to mention, the method of quenching was also a secret.
"He Qi, He Ju, take it out."
Following Zhang Junzheng's words, Zhang Heqi brought out a tray from the courtyard with two torsion springs of the same size, each the size of a fist.
In addition, there was a shelf made of wood and metal.
"Your Majesty the Empress of Dayao, Sir Ren, and everyone else, this is the most important product of the Zhang family, the spring. The repeating crossbows made from springs were a hundred times better than the crossbow battalion of Great Xia. This spring is the core. If the spring doesn't meet the requirements, the power of this repeating crossbow will be greatly reduced. "Zhang Junzheng wasn't affected by the previous two failures and introduced confidently.
He believed that this item would definitely move the empress.
"Sir Ren, have you made these springs?" Zhang Junzheng cupped his fists and smiled.
"I have made them …" Ren Baqian replied. However, the size was somewhat different from Zhang Junzheng's. The shelf that Zhang Junzheng took out was obviously a simple crossbow that was used to test the tension and elasticity of the torsion spring. However, the size of Ren Baqian's spring didn't match. This was something that he had overlooked previously.
"It doesn't matter. The size of this crossbow can be adjusted. No matter what the size of your spring is, the Zhang family has a way." Zhang Junzheng immediately laughed after hearing Ren Baqian's explanation.
"That's good." Ren Baqian clapped his hands, and a guard immediately came out with a bag. He poured the contents of the bag onto the ground, and with a clanking sound, a pile of springs appeared on the ground … There were at least a hundred of them, ranging from the size of a pinky finger to the size of an ordinary person's fist to the size of an aboriginal's fist.
Not only were there single-strand torsion springs, but there were also double-strand torsion springs and various other types of torsion springs …
When this pile of springs was poured onto the ground like a pile of garbage, everyone in the Zhang family was immediately dumbfounded.
"Impossible …" Zhang Junzheng stared at the pile of springs on the ground and almost cried out. He suddenly had the illusion that springs, which were a secret of the Zhang family, were actually everywhere, and only the Zhang family was kept in the dark.
Not only him, but even the craftsmen in the east courtyard who were looking over also cried out in surprise. Soon after, a few dark-skinned craftsmen in their 40s or 50s quickly rushed over to the pile of springs and began to examine them. As they examined them, they exclaimed, "This is impossible. How can there be so many of them? How can they be so small and have such elasticity? "
"Look, this is double-strand. It turns out that they can be made this way. Originally, if they were made too thin, the tension and elasticity wouldn't be enough. However, this problem can be solved with double or more strands!"
"The combination of these strands can actually reduce the volume of the spring."
After exclaiming in surprise, the craftsmen quickly sat on the ground and began to discuss.
Looking at the performance of these craftsmen, Zhang Junzheng was in a trance.
Ren Baqian looked at Zhang Junzheng with a smile. In fact, in his opinion, this thing was already common and could be seen almost everywhere. Clocks, cars, doors, locks … Only the Zhang family still treated it like a treasure.
"Do you still want to compete?" Ren Baqian looked amiably at him.
"Compete …" Zhang Junzheng squeezed out a word from between his teeth.
After that, a craftsman first installed the Zhang family's springs on the crossbow and then loaded a short arrow. After that, a guard smashed down the wall, and there was an empty space between the two courtyards. After that, the crossbow was placed on one side and three layers of wooden targets were placed on the other side 100 steps away.
Next was the test. There was a rocker arm next to the crossbow, and the spring could be twisted by shaking the rocker arm.
An arrow was shot on each of the six and nine rounds. The arrow pierced through one wooden target on the sixth round and two wooden targets on the ninth round. The arrow pierced deeply into the third wooden target.
Shaking the crossbow nine times was the limit that the Zhang family could achieve. The arrows shot from the crossbow could penetrate leather armor from a distance of 200 steps on the ground. The range was double that of Great Xia's crossbow battalion. At present, it could definitely be considered a sharp weapon.
Even the high-ranking officials in the imperial court were surprised to see this performance.
Hong Wu, Xi Wanya, and the others had grave expressions on their faces. Previously, they had heard Zi Donglai, the Protector General of the Northeast, mention that the Yun Nation now had a ballista that could shoot a hundred bolts at a range of two hundred steps.
They didn't expect this crossbow to be made by the Zhang family.
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