There was a slight movement in the forest. With a swoosh, the crossbow in Yuan Huo's hand rang out. A pheasant hiding behind the trees on the hillside beside the road jumped out and landed on the ground.
A few pairs of eyes glanced over, but they didn't stop.
Yuan Gang led the way while the four of them stayed vigilant. The sound of horse hooves was intense as they went deep into the forest.
The crossbows the four of them were using were designed by Yuan Gang. They could be assembled or taken apart. The parts were made by Gongsun Tieniu.
At first, Gongsun Tieniu did not think much of it and asked his disciple to do it. However, his disciple could not do it. To be more precise, he could not meet Yuan Gang's requirements. The reason was that Yuan Gang's requirements were too high.
Yuan Gang knew what kind of people he was training. Sometimes, it was necessary to have weapons that were easy to carry and hide. Sometimes, when entering and exiting a certain place, people could not even tell that it was a weapon. Otherwise, they might not even be able to enter some cities if they were to run around with weapons in the open.
Therefore, he needed the crossbows to be able to be taken apart at any time to carry and hide. He also wanted the crossbows to be able to be replaced with other crossbows if they were damaged. This meant that all the crossbows had to be of the same size.
For a handmade blacksmith, this requirement was too high. The parts he made were repeatedly rejected by Yuan Gang. In the end, Gongsun Tieniu made them himself. With his superb craftsmanship, he finally met Yuan Gang's requirements.
Gongsun Tieniu thought that Yuan Gang was purposely looking for trouble. His temper flared and he told Yuan Gang to get lost. Yuan Gang had to find Meng Shanming to persuade Gongsun Tieniu to do it.
However, the forging speed was not fast. Gongsun Tieniu could not do it alone. The situation was obvious.
After more than a year, Gongsun Tieniu had only made dozens of crossbow parts for Yuan Gang. Until now, it was not enough to equip two or three hundred people.
Originally, Yuan Gang wanted to make some guns, not the ones he had now, but the ones he was familiar with in his previous life.
However, even making crossbows with the same specifications was a problem. He did not have any hope of making the guns he wanted.
With his familiarity with the structure of guns and Gongsun Tieniu's forging skills, it should not be a problem to make a gun. However, bullets were a big problem. The specifications and precision of the warhead had to be even higher. If the size of the warhead was not consistent, it would cause an explosion when it was fired. If that happened, the warhead might not be able to kill anyone and instead kill itself. Furthermore, the structure of the primer was getting more and more sophisticated, so he didn't have much hope. If one out of two shots didn't make a sound, it would be a matter of life and death at a critical moment, so he might as well use a kitchen knife to save himself the trouble.
Of course, he knew where the problem was, but he wasn't good at industrial manufacturing, and Daoye wasn't good at it either. Although he knew where to start, it would take him a long time to solve it.
Therefore, he could only temporarily give up some unrealistic ideas.
As for the training of the warhorses, Yuan Gang asked Meng Shanming to teach him.
He knew how to ride a horse in his previous life, but his skills were far from being able to fight on horseback. In terms of skills, he was far from being able to compare with the cavalry of this era. He knew the importance of riding a warhorse in this era. It didn't matter if one didn't know how to drive a car, a plane, or a tank, but one had to be skilled in riding a warhorse. Therefore, he asked Meng Shanming to teach him.
A man who was able to train the mighty Valiant Warriors must have a way to train cavalries. And it was proven that Meng Shan Ming was a great help to him. Meng Shan Ming had helped him a lot, opened his eyes, and made up for his shortcomings.
In the past year, he had lived a fulfilling life every day, which was what he meant by doing meaningful things. It was hard for him to get used to sitting cross-legged and meditating in his room like Niu Youdao!
Soon, the five riders rushed out of the forest, relieved their vigilance, and continued to move forward under the setting sun …
Under the twilight, Niu Youdao and his companions entered the relay station. They jumped off their mounts, and the horses were taken care of by someone else.
They settled down and washed up. After that, the two sworn brothers sat down to eat and drink together.
"Sigh, brother, I've been eating and drinking at your place for a few days, and now I'm eating these things. Are they even fit for human consumption?" Linghu Qiu put down his wine glass and frowned.
Niu Youdao replied, "It's alright. You're too particular about food."
Linghu Qiu rolled his eyes, "I'm particular? Who's the one who's particular about food? I don't think there's anyone else in the world who's as particular as you are! Why don't you teach Hong Xiu and Hong Fu your culinary skills? "
Niu Youdao replied, "It's not that I don't want to teach them. You've seen it at my place. The sign in the kitchen is called 'Nanshan Temple'. That's the secret art of Nanshan Temple. They don't teach it to outsiders easily, and they don't even allow people to go in and learn. I don't want to break their rules. If you want them to work, you have to respect them, right?"
After the meal of braised pork and Shao Pingbo's adventure, he no longer went out to show off. Moreover, he promised Yuan Fang not to teach it to others. As for Yuan Gang's disciples, he couldn't control them. Yuan Fang couldn't control Yuan Gang either. It would be strange if Yuan Gang listened to Yuan Fang. Facing Yuan Gang, Yuan Fang could only lament at the side.
Linghu Qiu rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue. "A bunch of monks from a temple actually have such skills. Brother, you're really lucky!"
Niu Youdao chuckled. "Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought a bunch of monks with me!"
Linghu Qiu thought about it and agreed. He could only shake his head in envy. "This is a great way to make money!"
Niu Youdao smiled but did not say anything. He did not think that it was a way to make money because he knew the situation inside. It was not something that required much skill. The food made could not be stored for long periods of time, and it was difficult to transport it over long distances. If he wanted to make it a way to make money, he would have to set up venues everywhere. Once he set up a stall, it would be impossible to keep it a secret. Sooner or later, it would spread.
For example, wine brewing could be stored for a long time. As long as the source was controlled, it could be used as a way to make money. However, it was not realistic to use cooking as a way to make money. If Shang Chaozong could unify the world and control the whole world, he might be able to use it as a way to make money. But now, it was impossible.
In today's world, many people had problems with food and clothing. All they wanted was to fill their stomachs. He did not think that there was any meaning in spreading these skills. It could only let the rich and powerful enjoy one more thing. Every additional thing that satisfied the rich and powerful would bring disaster to the ordinary people.
Take wine brewing for example. Ordinary people could not even afford to drink a mouthful of it. It satisfied the rich and powerful, but it wasted a lot of food. It was not a good thing for the ordinary people who had difficulty with food and clothing. It was a sin to create such a way to make wine in this era!
Therefore, it was better to keep some things in hand for the time being. The rarer something was, the greater its value. It was also good to have something that could be used to entertain the guests.
"I heard that Brother's master is Dongguo Haoran from the Shangqing Sect?" Linghu Qiu suddenly asked while holding his chopsticks.
Niu Youdao smiled. "Sort of."
Linghu Qiu asked, "What do you mean by sort of? I've met your master once, and we know each other. He's a good person. Why do you look down on him so much? "
Niu Youdao said, "Brother, you misunderstood. Although he accepted me as his disciple, he did not teach me any skills. After I came to the Shangqing Sect, I was put under house arrest for several years because of the internal power struggle within the Shangqing Sect. I was not even allowed to go out for several years. The so-called cultivation was just a book that I had to learn by myself. They even tried to kill me several times. Therefore, I don't have a good impression of the Shangqing Sect. "
He did not want others to think that he had a deep relationship with the Shangqing Sect. He did not want anyone to think that he had a deep relationship with the Shangqing Sect.
Linghu Qiu was surprised. "Since Dongguo Haoran accepted you as his disciple, why didn't he teach you? Did something happen?"
Niu Youdao shook his head. "Let's not talk about unpleasant things."
Seeing that Meng Qi was unwilling to talk about it, Linghu Qiu, who had been testing him, did not probe further. He knew that their friendship was not deep, and it was not appropriate for him to delve into the details. The future was long and he was not in a hurry. He promptly changed the topic and said, "After resting at this relay station, we'll be out of Jinzhou. Brother, if you want to get warhorses back, I'm afraid you'll have to pass through Jinzhou. Although Jinzhou is allied with Shang Chaozong, if a large number of warhorses pass through, there's no guarantee that they won't stop coveting them and detain them. Why don't you take the opportunity to clear the way? "
Niu You said, "If that's the case, then there will be a lot of places to clear up along the way. I'll leave it to the Heavenly Jade School to handle. It's already good enough that I'm able to work hard in the Qi Kingdom. There are other places that I shouldn't worry about.
In fact, as long as he could get his hands on warhorses, he had no intention of traveling by land. The two counties were near the sea. With such favorable conditions, he would be crazy not to travel by sea. According to Fei Changliu and the others, the Heavenly Jade School had the same intention. As long as they could get their hands on warhorses, they would transport them by sea. Unfortunately, there was no way to get the warhorses out of the State of Qi …
The bright moon hung high in the sky. A Golden Wing swooped down and escaped into a window of the relay station.
Hong Fu reached out and caught the Golden Wing. She took out a secret letter from the tube at the Golden Wing's feet and passed it to Hong Xiu. Then, she went to settle the Golden Wing down.
Hong Xiu opened the secret letter and translated its contents. She walked to the lamp and burned the letter to ashes. Then, she walked to the side of the bed and whispered to Linghu Qiu, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, "Teacher, we've been targeted by the people of the 'Waning Moon Pavilion'."
Linghu Qiu slowly stopped cultivating and opened his eyes to look at her. He seemed puzzled. "The people of the Waning Moon Pavilion are targeting me?"
Hong Xiu said, "To be exact, they're targeting Niu Youdao. Someone wants to make a move on Niu Youdao!"
Linghu Qiu frowned. "Whose idea is it?"
Hong Xiu said, "No one's idea. Someone made the decision on their own. That person has dealt with you before. She's that woman called Su Zhao. She's the Proprietress of the brothel who took the initiative to befriend you last time."
Linghu Qiu asked suspiciously, "Why would she make things difficult for Niu Youdao? Is that woman also from the Waning Moon Pavilion? "
Hong Xiu said, "I'm afraid so. Otherwise, why would they mobilize the people of the Waning Moon Pavilion? She might have some status in the Waning Moon Pavilion. As for what her status is, it wasn't revealed in the secret letter."
Linghu Qiu laughed coldly. "What the hell is she doing? Send a message immediately and have someone stop her! "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
