Chapter 40: Misappropriation of Invention

  That night, Yang Ziting hurried back to the south of the city. As soon as he entered the house, he pulled Yang Furen and poured out his grievances: "Alas, madam, you say that the national strength of Chu is so powerful, how can it be said that it has perished? Alas, now that Chu has fallen, Shu will surely conquer the southern country. It's only a matter of time before we are destroyed! What should we do now?"

  Mrs. Yang sat to one side, watching her husband pace back and forth in the hall like an ant on a hot skillet, herself a woman of the house, unable to lend a hand, could only sigh and lament, with a worried and troubled expression.

  It was Yun Qi, who had just been scolded by Yang Wenjin, who became nonchalant and unaffected, sitting in the courtyard with a cigarette in his mouth, playing with a lighter, and occasionally glancing at Yang Wenguang with a smug look.

  "Yunqi, this thing called a lighter is truly amazing. It can actually produce fire on its own, that's incredible." Yang Wenguan couldn't help but exclaim.

  "Ding, pa." Yun Qi ceaselessly showed off his fancy lighter tricks, saying with a smug expression: "This thing is very common in our hometown, almost every household has one. Let me secretly tell you... I have something even more awesome."

  Looking at Yun Qi's mysterious appearance, Yang Wenguan widened his eyes and couldn't help but ask: "Is there anything even more powerful? Tell me about it."

  "I ask you, how far can a bow and arrow shoot in this era?"

  Yang Wenguan thought for a moment before slowly responding: "The bows and arrows used by ordinary soldiers are all one-stone hard work, with a range of about 100 steps. Some strong men can pull two or three stones' worth of bow, and the range can reach around 150 steps. But in our southern country, there is General Chen Jifeng, who was born with boundless strength and can open a five-stone rhinoceros tendon jade bow, with a range of over 300 steps." When speaking of Chen Jifeng, Yang Wenguan's face also showed a look of reverence. In this era, one step is roughly equivalent to one meter in later times, so 300 steps would be equivalent to over 250 meters.

  "Is three hundred steps the limit?" Yun Qi asked.

  "Anyway, at least what I know is that General Chen Da is the most powerful. Even if there are other capable people, they won't be far from here." Yang Wen Guan said affirmatively.

  Yun Qi thought to himself, if he were to take out the M-200 sniper rifle and tell him that its maximum range could reach 2230 meters, or about 3000 steps, he wondered if this little guy would be shocked. Thinking about it now, with smoke and fire rising everywhere on the mainland, people are struggling to survive. Although the southern country appears prosperous for now, it will eventually lead to self-destruction. When that time comes, having a sniper rifle that can be considered a divine instrument in this era, he should be able to protect himself without any problems.

  Ji Yun Qi didn't respond, and Yang Wen Guan urged again: "What exactly do you want to say? Why bring up bows and arrows?"

  Huh? Yun Qi revealed a sly expression, rubbed his hands together and said: "I have a long-range attack weapon, guess how far its range is?"

  "How much?"

  Yun Qi first stared at Yang Wenguan with a look of disdain, but the latter couldn't bear it and swallowed hard, clenched his fists, before saying: "The range can reach a thousand steps!"

  Yang Wenguan's first reaction was to shake his head non-stop, and he kept saying: "Impossible, impossible, Qianbu, do you think I'm stupid?"

  "Huh? Don't you believe me?"

  "I don't believe it."

  Yun Qi was talking about sniper rifles when he suddenly had a flash of inspiration, but for the moment, he couldn't think of what it was. When Yang Wenguan said he didn't believe him, Yun Qi didn't argue, instead, he racked his brains, thinking about what that inspiration was earlier. He didn't dare say anything else, but it must have had something to do with sniper rifles.

  "Hey, what's wrong with you?" Yang Wenguan was surprised that Yun Qi, who always had to argue about everything, didn't retort back, but instead furrowed his brow, seemingly deep in thought.

  "Wait."

  Yún Qī racked his brains, thinking non-stop in his mind: bows and arrows require human power to pull and borrow force to shoot, human power, sniper rifles rely on the combustion of gunpowder to produce pressure to propel the shot... Hmm, what was I just thinking about? Alas, poor me, Yún Mò Yu's brilliant brain has regressed since coming to this era. It seems that none of you have succeeded yet, comrades still need to work hard, work hard... wait a minute, crossbow, bow and crossbow, yes, it's the bow and crossbow!

  Yang Wenguan saw Yun Qi was deep in thought and didn't disturb him, instead sitting down beside him to fiddle with Yun Qi's lighter. No matter what method he used, he couldn't get a flame out of it, which only served to thoroughly stir up his curiosity and desire for knowledge.

  Yun Qi grabbed it and said discontentedly: "Hey, this is a World War II memorial edition, don't mess it up!"

  "Huh? What's this WWII Memorial Edition thing? What's with the WWII stuff."

  He couldn't tell Yang Wenguang that World War II was launched by the fascist Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan on September 1, 1939, resulting in over 900 million casualties among military personnel and civilians, with more than $400 billion worth of losses, causing the global economy to retreat by twenty years.

  "Uh... cough... anyway... it doesn't matter what WWII is, I'm asking you, do you know about the crossbow?"

  He changed the subject again, pulled out a cigarette, lit it and then put the lighter back in his pocket.

  "What is a crossbow? I've never heard of it."

  Yang Wenguan heard many things he had never heard or seen before today, and his curiosity was completely aroused. He listened intently as Yun Qi explained.

  "The crossbow is a long-range shooting weapon, an evolution of the bow and arrow. Are you sure you've never seen one? Or are you just ignorant, maybe there's such a weapon in the army?"

  Yang Wenguan slammed his hand on the table and shouted loudly: "Impossible! My elder brother is the commander of the Imperial Guard in the palace, and I often went to the military camp with him at that time. Not only did I not see it, but I didn't even hear about it. You underestimate me too much, saying that I'm shallow."

  "Ah, young master, tut, tut, mistake, mistake, hehe..." Yun Qi saw Yang Wenguang's displeased tone and hastily smiled apologetically. At the same time, he thought to himself: It seems that this era really doesn't have crossbows. Meanwhile, a bold idea that would have a crucial impact on his future began to sprout in his mind.

  Before he had even finished his second cigarette, Zheng Shu Mu arrived. For Yang Wen Guan, the most painful moment of the day was about to arrive. He felt a great sense of sorrow in his heart, but still maintained a respectful demeanor on the surface, inviting Mr. Zheng into the study room.

  Logically speaking, Yun Qiuzi was a book boy and should have been paired with the young master to read books. However, his current status in this small courtyard has risen with the tide, and as soon as he hears Zheng Shu's nodding and shaking his head, he gets a headache. Moreover, no one reports him, so he simply goes along with it. At the same time, he starts to sympathize with Yang Wenguang, who is suffering greatly.

  It's just right to be alone now, the yard is very quiet, and I can think about the crossbow. He first recalled the method of making a crossbow in later generations: First, find some dry and solid wood to make the bow body, then find some hemp rope, cow tendon is better, first polish and grind, then make a small version of the horizontal bar similar to a hoe, then process and make the shape of the bow body, drill holes on the hoe, make handles and triggers, open an arrow slot from the middle, carefully dig out the string groove, then tighten the cow tendon, start testing, and finally calibrate the accuracy.

  Yun Qi realized that making a crossbow required many specialized woodworking tools, which the Yang estate obviously didn't have. The only thing that made him happy was that there were plenty of high-quality wood materials in the estate, and no one would notice if he took a few pieces at random. It seemed he still had to go to the market to find professional carpenters.

  He glanced at the study with the tightly closed door, knowing that Yang Wenguang and the others were still early for class, so he brought a few pieces of wood left over from making wooden dummies last time and went out to find a carpentry shop.

  …………