Chapter 11 Firearms Talents

  Is there still a killer move? Zheng Shichang was thoroughly speechless, he had been working on it for two years and hadn't made any progress, while others were able to come up with a whole set of moves, and even a killer move. It seems that his chances of winning this bet are very high.

  Yuan Zhen smiled and asked: "Do you think my method is effective?"

  Zheng Shichang was already deeply impressed, repeatedly saying: "It's useful, it's too useful! With such a meeting ticket, others would be like reading a heavenly book. Even if it were lost or stolen, no one could forge it."

  "Embezzlement? Absolutely not." An Jia, the deputy officer of the Ministry of Works' Clean Government Office, shook his head like a rattle drum and whispered: "Fourteenth Master, it's not that I'm cowardly, but if this embezzled handgun is discovered, my rice bowl will be gone."

  "Grandfather doesn't care, today when Grandfather goes to the Ministry of Works, he wants you to bring two with you, figure it out yourself." Xian Zheng stared at the beautifully crafted flintlock pistols in the display cabinet, his mouth watering. Although this thing can't be compared to the handguns of later generations, it's still a firearm. At close range, with current medical standards, it's guaranteed to be fatal.

  Deke Zhi heard this and almost fainted on the spot, today is really self-inflicted, unbearable. Originally, seeing the 14th master and his own superior's eldest son Hai Feng coming over, he thought it was a rare opportunity to curry favor, and even drove away several other officials far away. Who would have thought that this 14th master actually had the idea of drawing his gun, this is really going to cost him his life.

  No way, not only would it offend the 14th master, but also Hai Feng, and in the future, how can he still mix in the Ministry of Works? In a hurry, he didn't care whether he would cut off his colleagues' financial path or not, and begged in a low voice, "Master 14, taking credit is absolutely impossible, I'd rather take the risk to exchange two for you."

  "What's going on?" Hai Feng was somewhat perplexed.

  Yuan Zhen smiled and said, "Replace the old with the new, there are many doors in here, learn well."

  Deke Zijie only broke a cold sweat, how did the 14th master know so clearly? The messy things inside are not even clear to me, how did he know? He wiped away the fine sweat on his forehead and said: "The 14th master is indeed knowledgeable and has a good memory. However, the imperial court's management of short-barreled guns is really too strict. Even if it's just replacing old with new, there's still a great risk involved. Master, you're being considerate by not spreading the word."

  "Don't worry." Yongzheng patted Dekesi and smiled: "Today, I'm in a good mood. How about this? I'll take these two guns first, and in a few days, the artillery camp will send you some old ones."

  De Kezhi was already beaming with joy, and he immediately knelt down on the spot, saying: "Thank you for your concern, but this display cabinet is not easy to move. I'll accompany Young Master Fourteen to the warehouse to pick one out."

  "Wait, Fourteenth Master." Seeing Yongzheng was about to leave, Haifeng hastily said: "There's still the spiral shell gun and the Weiyuan General Cannon that haven't been shown yet."

  When Dekejike heard Hai Feng's words, he almost died of a heart attack. Isn't this just like the saying "which pot doesn't open, which pot does"? General Weiyuan will probably not dare to make decisions about the fourteen muskets, but the Panzhang bird gun is loved by everyone who sees it. In recent years, whenever the Emperor and the Crown Prince went hunting, they would send someone to fetch them. Originally, only a hundred Panzhang bird guns were made, and now there's only this one left in the display cabinet. What if fourteen comes up with another idea? Who will he go crying to then? That is a gun personally crafted by Master Dai, and now no one in the Ministry of Works can make it anymore.

  Dekezhi was inwardly greeting all the women of the Haifeng family while crying and following behind the two, but in his heart he was thinking about how to deal with the 14th Master's favor.

  Hai Feng didn't see De Ke Zhi Ke's expression, and with a light sigh, he introduced Yin Zhen in a very regretful tone: "The Pangtong bird gun can accurately shoot sixty steps, and the Weiyuan General Cannon can fire explosive shells. These two were developed by Dai Zhuyi, but unfortunately, his most famous Liangzhu Huoqiang has no physical object left, otherwise it would definitely be a new experience for the 14th Master."

  The string of fire, Dai Di? Yin Zhen vaguely recalled the controversy of later generations. This string of fire was equivalent to a semi-automatic rifle's flintlock gun. Dai Di was a tragic firearms master, but he didn't know if this person was still alive or not. Thinking about this, he vaguely felt that Hai Feng was acting strange today.

  He glanced at Hai Feng, and then turned to Deke Ziji: "I'm a bit tired, you go to the warehouse to pick two delicate hand guns for me, it's okay here with Hai Feng, tell your people to go down."

  Dekeji was worried, but after hearing this, he suddenly became overjoyed and hastily bowed his head saying: "I will definitely choose the two best ones for Young Master Fourteen." After finishing speaking, he ran off like a puff of smoke.

  Dachun, who had been following closely behind, didn't miss a beat either. With a wave of his hand, he led several guards out as well.

  "Is Dai Zi still alive?" Yun Zhen asked absent-mindedly.

  Hai Feng replied somewhat unnaturally: "Yes, he is already sixty years old and has been exiled to Shengjing for over twenty years."

  At sixty years old, Yin Zhen let out a quiet sigh. However, this kind of talent still needs to be brought back somehow; the precious experience he accumulated over his lifetime can't go to waste.

  Hai Feng saw that the 14th was silent and added: "Dai Zi is the emperor's personally decreed family exile, amnesty or not."

  Will Emperor Kangxi pardon or not? Yin Zhen was taken aback for a moment, it seemed that Emperor Kangxi was afraid of firearms to the bone. It's unlikely that he would go and ask Emperor Kangxi for pardon. After hesitating for a while, he asked curiously: "Hai Feng, I've always wondered, what's going on between you and Dai Zhi?"

  Hai Feng suddenly knelt down and whispered: "I dare not deceive the fourteenth master, my concubine is a great-granddaughter of Dai Zhi."

  It turned out to be the case, no wonder this kid was so eager to come and see the fireworks today. After hesitating for a moment, Yin Zhen said in a low voice: "Find a reliable person, take two thousand taels of silver and bring my name card to Shengjing, and have his family brought to Jiangning, quietly settled down."

  "Fourteenth brother." Hai Feng's face turned white in an instant, "This is...". He had originally wanted Fourteenth to plead for mercy on behalf of Dai Zhi's family in front of Kangxi, but he never expected Fourteenth to be so reckless. This was a matter of deceiving the emperor, and if it got out, Kangxi would think that Dai Zhi was involved in treason!

  "Fourteenth Master's kindness is as deep as a mountain, I have no way to repay it." Hai Feng nodded before hastily saying: "Please reconsider, Fourteenth Master. Dai Zhi's entire family was exiled, with at least over a hundred people involved... this matter will be difficult to keep under wraps..."

  Hai Feng hadn't finished speaking, and Yin Zhen already knew he had taken it for granted. If this matter were to be known by **, he would probably find it difficult to turn things around. He waved his hand and said: "In that case, send someone with silver and a letter to Shengjing to make arrangements, and have them properly settle down. I'll find an opportunity to plead for mercy from the Emperor."

  "Yes." Hai Feng let out a breath of relief, "I'll send someone right away and also pass on the words of Young Master Fourteen."

  Three days passed in a flash, and it was already the fourteenth day of the month at Beizi's study.

  He carefully examined the sample ballot in his hand, which was 32 opens in size and should be made of mulberry bark paper. The four-color suite printing with black, red, blue and brown colors around the edge was very exquisite. There was a line of words written inside the edge of the flower pattern, and there were three lines of vertical eighteen characters in the middle. He habitually held it up to the light, but did not see any familiar watermark.

  "How come there's no watermark?" Yizhen blurted out.

  What's a watermark? Zheng Shichang was taken aback, could it be that his own four-color suite prints weren't even as good as woodblock prints with watermarks? He asked cautiously, still in a daze: "Fourteenth Master, are you referring to woodblock prints with watermarks?"

  What is watermark woodcut? Yinzhen didn't understand either, so he had to explain: "It's a pattern that can be seen clearly when light is shone on it, and it's embedded in the paper rather than being printed on its surface."

  "Watermark?" Zheng Shichang suddenly understood, and couldn't help but curse under his breath. "Those who don't run a household don't know the value of oil and salt." He licked his lips before saying, "Tell Young Master Fourteenth, it's a watermark. Ordinary printers can't even make one."

  Yuan Zhen's face was filled with a look of "iron not becoming steel" as he said, "Manager Zheng, now that this ticket is out, do you think the silver notes in the capital will follow suit? If all the silver notes are imitated and followed, how can we monopolize the market? Without monopolizing the market, how can our newly launched silver notes circulate throughout the country?"

  Monopolize the ticket market, circulating silver tickets nationwide! Zheng Shichang felt his heart beating wildly with excitement, Good heavens, you really dare to think.