Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 74: Attack
When I came out of Renshou Hall, the sun had already set completely, the sky gradually turned dark blue, and the stars were becoming more and more prominent.
After saying hello to his brothers, Li Yuechen returned to Anfu Hall with his two sisters.
The two sisters, who had felt a little sleepy on their way back from outside the city, now became full of energy again.
Not to mention Shangguan Wan'er, children of this age are often full of energy.
Having just finished dinner with Li Zhi in Renshou Hall, Li Yuechen wanted to do something to digest the meal before going to bed.
Finally, I played hopscotch with them in the yard. After a while, we sat in the Linbo Pavilion to look at the stars and tell stories.
In fact, Li Yuechen originally planned to sit on the bed in the inner hall, light a candle and tell ghost stories.
But considering that most people of this era are superstitious and talking about this might scare them into having a heart attack, I thought about it and decided not to do it.
After a while, Xiao He came out to remind them, "Your Highnesses, it's already the hour of Xu, it's time to go to bed."
"Yeah." Li Yuechen agreed, said good night to her two sisters, and turned back to the inner hall.
Shangguan Wan'er followed behind with a puzzled expression on her face: "Why does Your Highness know so many stories?"
"I dreamed about it." Li Yuechen smiled, then touched her head: "Go to bed early, maybe you can dream about some stories too."
"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er seemed to really believe her. She nodded expectantly, bowed, and turned to leave.
Watching her leaving, Li Yuechen shook his head and thought to himself, children are really easy to fool, so cute!
…
After lunch the next day, Li Yuechen ran directly into the Renshou Hall.
After refilling the tea for Wu Zetian, who was reviewing memorials at the table, he came to sit next to Li Zhi and asked, "How about I give you a gift?"
"Giving gifts?" Li Zhi looked puzzled. "Wasn't the Shangsi Festival yesterday?"
"It has nothing to do with the Shangsi Festival. Grandpa's birthday is in three months, and I want to make a birthday present for him." Li Yuechen replied with a smile.
These words seemed to arouse Li Zhi's interest, and Wu Zetian next to him also turned her head to listen to what she wanted to say.
"Chen'er, have you come up with any new ideas?" Li Zhi asked while playing with the health ball.
Li Yuechen nodded: "I plan to make a four-wheeled vehicle for Grandpa, which is more stable and comfortable!"
As for four-wheeled carriages, it’s not that no one has thought about it, but the steering problem has never been solved.
Li Zhi had seen four-wheeled carriages used in many businesses. The steering was very hard and there was a risk of overturning if not handled properly.
"Chen'er, can you solve the steering problem?" Li Zhi asked.
"Yeah!" Li Yuechen nodded confidently.
If you look at the emperor's carriage during this period individually, it is actually not as luxurious as it is in the movies.
There are roughly several types of means of transportation for the emperor.
The first type is called a Bu Yu or Bu Yan, which is not a carriage frame, but a large sedan chair with openings on all four sides.
It is usually carried by a varying number of strong men and looks a little frail, but when using this means of transportation there are often hundreds of people surrounding it, which looks very imposing.
There is also a type called a che niang, which is a bit like the human-powered rickshaws of the Republic of China period, but is pulled by people.
The highest standard is called "jia", which is a carriage exclusively used for grand events. Because it has a royal bell hanging on it, it is also called "luanjia".
It sounds and looks luxurious, with bright colors, dragons and phoenixes...
But this thing is not too big either. It can only seat four people at most. If there are more, it will be too crowded.
This kind of imperial carriage is pulled by six horses. When you look from the front, you can only see the horses side by side, but not the carriage behind...
After hearing Li Yuechen say that she could solve the problem of turning, Li Zhi thought for a moment and asked, "How can I support you?"
“Because a lot of materials are needed, all we have to do is give the order to the foreman to fully cooperate.” Li Yuechen replied.
"Okay!" Li Zhi nodded, raised his hand and touched her head with a smile, "OK!"
Li Yuechen stood up and gave him a hug: "Grandpa is so awesome!"
After that, I didn’t forget my mother and ran over to give her a hug.
Although she had an expression of disgust on her face, she did not refuse at all.
…
After receiving Li Zhi's order, Li Yuechen returned to Anfu Hall in the afternoon and started drawing directly.
The first thing to do is to solve the steering problem, which can be viewed in two parts.
One part is the frame below and the other part is the body above.
First, Li Yuechen drew the spliced frame, which simply means putting two frames together and hanging the rear frame on the front frame.
In this way, when turning, the two front wheels will turn first, and then the two rear wheels will follow, just like the structure of pulling a train.
Then there is the issue of the car body. Because if the lower frame turns, the upper body will inevitably bend as well.
In order to prevent the car body from being broken, it has to be divided into two parts and made into a separate type.
As for the connection point in the middle, Li Yuechen did not choose the European structure, but decided to adopt a hinged structure.
Anyway, craftsmen of this era could make hinges as big as the nail of a little finger, so there would be no problem in making a bigger one.
In fact, many of our country’s previous extended buses also adopted this structure, namely the famous “organ” bus.
Including the accordion-style connecting leather, you can also directly use leather instead, and the result will be absolutely beautiful.
Li Yuechen originally felt that he was familiar with the entire structure and it should be easy to draw, but he did not expect that five days would pass by the time he finished drawing the picture.
After finishing drawing the picture, Li Yuechen rested his elbows on the table, supported his chin and looked up at the ceiling.
I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to Dad's birthday?
Li Zhi’s birthday is June 15th, and today is already March 7th... Is it possible to make this thing in three months?
But now that the words have been spoken, we can't give up now, right?
Anyway, Li Zhi said that the Chief Craftsmen should cooperate fully, and if that doesn’t work, just transfer people!
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen picked up the pile of drawings he had drawn in the past five days and went straight to the craftsman supervisor.
…
The Artisan Supervisor had been on high alert since receiving the emperor's order two days ago.
After all, in the past, whenever this princess did something, she would just come and talk about it.
Since the emperor has ordered full cooperation this time, it must be either a big one or extremely troublesome.
Sure enough, when Wang Jiancheng saw Li Yuechen coming over with a large stack of drawings in his hand, he knew that this would definitely be an extremely troublesome job.
But even though it was expected, he still did not dare to delay. After instructing people to prepare the yogurt, he called all the craftsmen.
Li Yuechen went straight to the wall and ordered people to stick the drawings in their hands on the wall one by one in order.
Then he explained to the craftsmen: "What we are going to make this time is a four-wheeled carriage..."
The design drawings were posted on the wall in order, and Li Yuechen explained them to them in detail bit by bit.
In order to save time, the body of the carriage was designed to be hollow.
It stands to reason that the emperor must carry a yellow silk umbrella when he travels with him. This umbrella is not only for protection from the sun and rain, but is also a symbol of status.
However, Li Yuechen directly removed it and instead made it into something similar to the rain shelter of rickshaws during the Republic of China period.
Directly connect the fabric and the frame, and when you need to provide sun protection, just pull it up.
It is not easy for the organ maker to supervise the connection between the fabric and the car body, and he has to cooperate with the Clothing Bureau at the same time.
At the same time, in order to reduce weight, many places have been hollowed out.
In fact, the most troublesome thing these days is the tires, which are made of wood and have a terrifying weight.
Li Yuechen asked if the wheels could be replaced with iron ones. After thinking about it, the blacksmith replied that it was possible, but there was not enough time.
Blacksmithing is a very time-consuming job. Tires are easy to make, but spokes have to be hammered out one by one, which is extremely troublesome.
After listening to the craftsmen's explanation, Li Yuechen scratched his head and asked, "Can you all think about whether there is anything that can be used as a substitute?"
At the same time, he took the yogurt handed to him by Fulai and took two sips to moisten his throat. After talking so much just now, his throat felt a little dry.
At this time, a carpenter nearby seemed to have thought of something and saluted, "Your Highness, there is a batch of bamboo that was tributed by the barbarian tribes in the south a few years ago. It was originally intended to be used to make utensils, but it is extremely hard..."
Listening to the carpenter's explanation, Li Yuechen suddenly thought of something. Thanks to her travels around the world, she knew many things that were unique to many provinces and cities.
I’ve tried wing suit flying in Zhaotong before , and at that time I heard that there was a special kind of bamboo in Yunnan. I wonder if it’s this... Thinking of this, Li Yuechen’s face showed a little surprise.
"Bring it here and let us see it!" Li Yuechen waved his hand expectantly.
"Here! Your Highness, please wait a moment!"
The other party agreed and turned away. After a while, he came back with a long and thin bamboo.
He handed it to Li Yuechen with both hands respectfully: "Your Highness, please take a look."
Li Yuechen took it and looked at it, his eyes lit up and he revealed a cute smile, it was indeed the Yunnan iron bamboo!
This thing is much harder than ordinary bamboo, so it can definitely be used to make spokes, and it can also reduce weight!
"Use this thing to do it!" Li Yuechen nodded and gave the order.
Then he started to discuss with them how to do it specifically. In order to save time, Li Yuechen asked them to start working at the same time.
Carpenters make the body, blacksmiths make the frame. At the same time, the size should be determined before starting work, and it is best to coordinate with the tailors in the clothing bureau.
Although the car body looks big, it is not too difficult to make, after all, a lot of materials are saved.
After people sit down, except for the backrest, the height of the car body fence is just to the waist.
Anyway, the emperor's carriage was never used for racing, it always moved slowly, and there was no need to worry about being thrown off.
The rest of the things were left to them to coordinate. Li Yuechen said that he would come here often in the future and ask them if they didn't understand anything, and try to finish it before his father's birthday.
Carvings and other things can be added slowly later, but at least it has to be able to move on the birthday.
Although this car looks only slightly bigger than the original imperial carriage, it is actually large enough to seat ten people!
Li Yuechen also ordered eight horses to pull the carriage, four in the front and four in the back.
After explaining everything, Li Yuechen looked at the sun that was about to set and the appearance of fiery clouds in the sky, so he turned and left.
…
Returning to Anfu Temple and looking at the lush green seedlings, Li Yuechen smiled.
Everything is going smoothly so far, and I hope there will be some good results this year.
Droughts have occurred frequently in the Guanzhong region in recent years, and Li Yuechen really doesn't want people to starve to death.
After clasping his hands together and bowing to the rice seedlings on the ground, Li Yuechen returned to Anfu Hall in small skips.
Inside the palace, Princess Yi Yang was playing Go with Shangguan Wan'er, while Princess Xuan Cheng was boredly doing the Sudoku game taught to her by Li Yuechen.
Seeing her come back, Shangguan Wan'er stood up and saluted.
Li Yuechen waved her hand and asked her to continue, and sat down beside them to watch them play chess.
In fact, she knew nothing about this thing. She had never learned it and couldn't understand it. She was just killing time before dinner.
…
After lunch the next day, Fu said that the new people bought into the workshop had already started learning, and it wouldn't take long before the output could be doubled.
Li Yuechen thought about it and decided to go and take a look.
Shangguan Wan'er and the others seemed to have no interest after going there once, so Li Yuechen took Fu Lai on the carriage and set off.
Twenty plainclothes guards in charge of protection surrounded the carriage and set off for the workshop.
When we arrived at the workshop, the workers came over to pay their respects.
Li Yuechen took a look and found that most of the people in this group were men, with only three women.
After asking some random questions, I found that the three women were very honest, even a little slow in reaction, and one of them had scars on her face.
It seemed that they had been abused before being sold, but Li Yuechen did not ask much. After all, after staying here for a long time, they would understand that it must be much more comfortable here than before.
After watching for a while, I found that these people had learned well and there were no obvious mistakes. I nodded with satisfaction and prepared to go back.
The carriage left Jixianfang, passed through Jiashanfang, and slowly headed towards Luoshui.
Li Yuechen lifted the car window curtain and looked out, wondering whether he should stop by South City to see how his canned food shop was doing.
In fact, as a princess, it was not appropriate for her to appear there. Every time she passed by, she basically did not go in, but just looked around in the carriage.
There are people coming and going on the street, and most of the pedestrians will make way when they see a carriage accompanied by a bodyguard with a knife.
However, after turning the corner, the gate guard who was walking in front and clearing the way saw two men in ordinary clothes walking straight towards them.
The most important thing is that these two men actually each held a sword in their hands!
The two guards walking in front looked at each other, and as they stood still, they put their right hands on the scabbards and shouted coldly, "Stop! Who are you?"
However, the two people opposite suddenly took two steps forward the moment he finished speaking, raised their right hands, and with a "swish", the swords were unsheathed!
At the same time, the two of them came to the two gate guards respectively.
Seeing the situation was not good, the gate guards reacted quickly and immediately stepped back and drew their swords.
However, they were still a step too late. With a flash of the knife, a cut was made on the necks of both men at the same time.
As the two men fell down with blood gushing from their necks, the gatekeeper in charge of driving the car also shouted, "Enemy attack! Protect His Highness!"
