Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 86: Dad’s Routine
All those present were veterans of the battlefield, so the importance of the telescope was naturally needless to say, and they soon began to discuss with Li Zhi the issue of equipping the army.
"Your Majesty, I wonder how much this thing costs?" Liu Rengui asked, "If the cost is low, it will be a great weapon for our Tang army!"
Li Zhi shook his head slightly: "I heard from Chen'er that it is not expensive, but it is relatively troublesome to make."
Pei Xingjian took over the conversation: "In my opinion, there is no need to equip too many. One commanding general and one scout will be enough!"
"That makes sense," Li Zhi nodded. "This way, we can reduce the loss rate. At least we should try our best to prevent the enemy from taking it away..."
While the group was discussing, Qi Xin He Li asked casually: "Your Majesty, if we put two of these together, wouldn't we be able to observe with both eyes? It would be much more convenient!"
Li Zhi smiled and said, "If it were really that simple, I'm sure Chen'er wouldn't have made it like this."
He had actually thought about this problem at the beginning, but considering that his daughter has always been very smart, she would not be stupid enough to do something like this.
So you can imagine that binoculars are definitely not as simple as putting two binoculars side by side.
…
While a group of people were discussing over there, Li Yuechen also ran to the craftsmanship supervisor to see the effect of the leaf spring.
The frame is now lying on the ground without any wheels installed, and the carriage has been connected to the frame and leaf springs have been installed.
Li Yuechen turned around the edge of the carriage and jumped into it.
Then he pushed his legs down hard and shook left and right a few times. You see, there was indeed a slight shaking feeling.
All that remains is to install the wheels and see if it works.
Li Yuechen walked around the carriage and felt that the balance of the car body was very good, so he turned around and gave a thumbs up to the craftsmen next to him: "Not bad!"
The craftsmen all breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness."
With a satisfied smile on his face, Li Yuechen somersaulted out of the carriage and left with Fulai.
Judging from the current progress, it should be completed before Li Zhi’s birthday.
As soon as I walked out of the craftsman's supervisor, I saw a middle-aged man in linen clothes walking towards me quickly.
Seeing his serious expression and hurried steps, Fulai subconsciously stood in front of Li Yuechen.
The man came to the front and stopped, bowing respectfully: "Greetings to Her Royal Highness the Princess, Eunuch!"
"Who are you?" Li Yuechen asked, sticking his head out from behind Fulai.
"Your Highness, Anu works in a gold and silver workshop. We have made the item Your Highness wants." The visitor answered respectfully.
The "Anu" here does not mean slave. During the Tang Dynasty, the word "nu" had many meanings.
It can be used to insult people, but it is also a humble term, just like "I" or "you".
"Oh?" Li Yuechen's eyes lit up, "Let's go and take a look!"
Li Yuechen was in a very good mood when he heard the news. If bearings could be made in this period, Li Zhi's carriage would definitely be made better.
When I arrived at the gold and silver workshop, before I went in, I saw Wang Gangdan, whom I had met last time, standing at the door, walking back and forth with a nervous look on his face.
Seeing the princess coming, he subconsciously wiped his hands on his clothes and saluted respectfully: "I greet Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
"No need to be polite!" Li Yuechen raised his hand, "Have you made the tool I want?"
Wang Gangdan stretched out his hands cautiously: "Your Highness, please have a look!"
Fu Lai took two steps forward, took the thing in his hand and handed it to Li Yuechen.
The four small bearings lay quietly in Fulai's palm, glowing slightly in the sunlight.
Li Yuechen picked up one of them, looked at it, pinched it with two fingers, and then flicked it gently.
Seeing the bearing spinning rapidly in his hand, Li Yuechen smiled happily, with two dimples faintly visible on his face.
After stacking the four bearings, their sizes and specifications are exactly the same, just like the products produced on an industrial assembly line.
Li Yuechen was surprised: "How do you make them the same size?"
"This... I am just doing it according to my usual experience."
"Okay!" Li Yuechen nodded and waved to Fulai.
Fu Lai understood, and he took out a small silk bag from his arms, took out a golden bean and handed it to him.
"Give me more!" Li Yuechen waved his hand, "You deserve a big reward for making this!"
Hearing her say this, Fulai took out several more and handed them over.
Wang Gangdan bowed with gratitude: "Thank you for the reward, Your Highness! Thank you for the reward, Your Highness!"
Li Yuechen raised his hand to let him stand up, and carefully observed the bearing in his hand.
The only pity is that these bearings are too small, with a diameter of only one centimeter, making it impossible to install them on a carriage.
Li Yuechen asked: "I am a little curious, how was the iron ball polished to such a size?"
After the explanation, I realized that it was ground into this shape little by little by using tweezers.
After listening to this, Li Yuechen couldn't help but admire his patience. After thinking about it, he decided to send him a magnifying glass in two days.
"Since they have made a carriage this size, there should be no problem making a bigger one." Li Yuechen said, "Go to the Crafts Supervisor's Office and measure the size of the carriage wheels they are making there, and make four more!"
"Yes!" Wang Gangdan agreed.
Just as he was about to leave, Li Yuechen suddenly asked, "Do you have any children or disciples?"
"Your Highness, I have two sons and one daughter."
Li Yuechen nodded and said seriously: "Your craftsmanship is very important to me... no, to the Tang Dynasty. Please don't break the inheritance!"
"yes!"
…
After returning to Anfu Hall, Li Yuechen sat in Linbo Pavilion, staring at the small bearing in his hand in a daze, wondering what he could make with this thing.
Shangguan Wan'er looked at him with wide eyes: "Your Highness, what is this?"
Li Yuechen turned his head and smiled: "It depends on how you think about it. To me, this thing is the future of the Tang Dynasty!"
"The future of the Tang Dynasty?" Shangguan Wan'er's big eyes revealed a look of doubt, and she was confused.
Seeing her cute appearance, Li Yuechen couldn't help but touch her head: "You will understand in the future!"
Afterwards, I was too lazy to continue talking about this topic, so I changed the subject and talked about something else.
At this time, a little Taijia suddenly came to Anfu Hall and said something to Fu Lai at the door.
Then Fu Lai came over and said, "Your Highness, His Royal Highness Prince Pei is outside Xihua Gate."
"Oh." Li Yuechen agreed and waved to Shangguan Wan'er, "I'll go there. You go play with the two sisters."
As he walked out, he complained in his heart about the complicated rules of the royal family.
My second brother can’t even come in directly when he wants to see me. It’s so troublesome.
Then he thought with evil humor in his mind that when he watched TV dramas before, it seemed that his father and mother had an affair in Taizong’s harem.
Li Zhi made such strict rules, wasn't it to prevent similar incidents from happening to him?
As he came to Xihua Gate while complaining, he saw Li Xian seemed to be getting impatient and was walking around with an irritated look on his face.
Li Yuechen trotted over and said, "Second brother, has something happened?"
"Something big is happening! Go!"
Li Xian said as he pulled her towards his carriage.
Then he got on the carriage and sat down: "What's the matter?"
"We are short of one!" Li Xian said.
“…”
Li Yuechen almost fell down. Seeing you so anxious, I thought something was wrong. Did you just need people to play mahjong after all this time?
Speaking of which, it was Li Yuechen who taught him the term "three missing one".
"Wouldn't it be great if you four brothers came? Why did you have to call me?"
Li Xian raised his eyebrows: "How busy is the crown prince? How can Yuechen not know? Besides, with big brother's personality, can he play with it?"
Li Yuechen thought about it and realized that Li Hong was good in every way, except that he was a little too mature for his age.
In fact, it is understandable. After all, he started learning to be regent at the age of eight, and the youthful vigor had long been worn away.
Although he is very nice to his parents and brothers, he always looks serious and acts like an old man most of the time.
In this regard, Li Yuechen could only shake his head and express regret.
They arrived at Prince Pei's Mansion, where Li Xian and Li Lun were already waiting. They were sitting in the yard drinking yogurt, and there were a few singing girls dancing to the rhythm of the music next to them.
As soon as Li Xian entered the room, he grabbed a cup of yogurt and drank it, then smacked his lips and said, "Okay, Yuechen is here too, let's get started!"
As he said this, he waved his hand and asked the dancing singers to leave.
"Yuechen, please go easy on me today." Li Xian said as he walked in, "You made this thing. We are definitely not as good as you."
"Brother, if you still want me to give you a hand when playing gambling games, then is it still fun?" Li Yuechen asked back.
Li Lun nodded beside him: "Yes, we will try our best."
Li Xian opened the wooden box and dumped all the contents onto the table with a "clatter". "Yuechen, if you lose today, you can't deny your debt!"
"Don't worry, brother. I can't say much about anything else, but I am rich!" Li Yuechen said with a smile.
It was no secret that she opened a shop, almost everyone knew about it.
The four siblings sat down and started immediately. Fulai and others served on the side, responsible for serving tea and water.
While playing, several people started chatting.
Li Xian looked depressed: "I really don't understand why my parents would allow Chen'er to open a store but not allow us to open one."
"That's easy!" Li Yuechen played an East Wind, "As long as brother becomes a woman, he can be like me."
"Even if I become a woman, I still can't be as smart as Yuechen." Li Xian said.
Li Lun was more open-minded: "As princes, we naturally cannot do the business of merchants. Besides, Yuechen is seeking benefits for parents and the royal family, so parents will naturally agree."
There is nothing wrong with what he said. After all, although Li Yuechen's shop gives 30% to the royal family, this is actually the bulk of the profit.
She did not put the remaining 70% into her own pocket, but used it mostly to expand production.
Li Hong and his other brothers all knew about these things, as Li Zhi told them in person.
I just don't want this matter to cause any unpleasantness between the prince and the princess.
In addition, the relationship between the brother and sister is usually very good, so no misunderstandings were caused.
Li Xian said this just to complain and didn't mean anything else.
The four siblings chatted while playing, and the topic quickly went off track.
"The last time I went to Nanshi, I saw your daily chemical store, Yuechen. Why is it that a Silla person is the shopkeeper again?" Li Xian was puzzled.
"She was a purchased slave. I saw that she could speak the Tang language, so I let her take charge." Li Yuechen replied.
Li Xian thought for a moment and said, "I think it would be better to send a maid who is close to you. If the slave I bought cheats you, it will be troublesome."
Li Lun also nodded in agreement: "That makes sense. It's safer to use it with people close to you."
In Li Yuechen's opinion, such worry is totally unnecessary, but it is normal for them to think so.
The children of the royal family have been living a life of luxury since childhood, and their experience in employing people is often cultivated from an early age.
When it comes to outsiders or purchased slaves, I always feel that I don’t know them well and I don’t feel comfortable placing them in important positions.
"No problem." Li Yuechen smiled. "Anyway, Wang Xiang from the canned food store is one of us, so we can supervise each other. Besides, I do all the accounting myself."
Hearing her say this, Fu Lai next to her bowed slightly to thank her for the compliment.
"If we can be as smart as Yuechen, we won't have to worry about being deceived." Li Xian shook his head. "It's a pity that I won't be able to settle accounts when I go to the fiefdom. If I'm deceived, I might not even know it."
"Yes, I'm worried about using outsiders, but I'm afraid it will become too big if I use my own people..." Li Xian played a card, "It gives me a headache just thinking about it."
Li Yuechen smiled and said, "The vast road cannot be controlled by one party, so it should be managed together with others; the important task cannot be shouldered alone, so it should be shared with others. As long as we can use both the close and distant parties, it will be fine!"
Li Xian, who was standing next to him, murmured and repeated, his eyes lit up: "Well said! Where did Yuechen hear this from?"
"this is not……"
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the smile on Li Yuechen's face suddenly froze, and the movements of his hands completely stopped, as if he was cast under a spell and stood there in a daze.
"Huh?" The three brothers saw that she was suddenly stunned, and they all looked up at her with confusion.
But at this moment, Li Yuechen felt goose bumps all over his body!
Isn't this what Emperor Taizong said in "Emperor's Code"? How come you don't know this?
Didn't Daddy tell all the princes to read it last time? How come you didn't know?
How the fuck could you not know that?
Li Yuechen suddenly froze in place, his hands unable to help but tremble slightly.
If they don't know, it means that Li Zhi's order is fake! Those two books are probably just for me!
Then wouldn't my two sisters...
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen suddenly shook his head and calmed down. No, Li Zhi should be very clear about this matter.
Li Yuechen knew that it was impossible to hide her every move in Anfu Palace from the couple, so they must be aware of the fact that she had shown the two books to her two sisters.
But there has been no action so far, which means he probably doesn't care.
But if that’s the case, what’s the point of reading these two books to yourself?
Why did I lie to myself and say that all the princes had to see it instead of just myself?
What are they both doubting about...
It was not until this moment that Li Yuechen realized that she had been foolishly thinking that she was pretending to be very good for so many years, but in fact she had always been falling into her father's trap.
