On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the holidays are gone and I have to go to work, but the year is not over yet.

Under normal circumstances, the New Year will not be over after the Zhengyuan Festival, that is, after the Lantern Festival.

Despite this, Xu Qilin rubbed his painful head and went to work listlessly.

Yesterday, the drink was full of teenagers who drank from daytime to midnight. I changed several places, such as family banquets, restaurants, brothels, and still did not fall.

This carnival in the world is more restrained like Xu Qilin, and he is so drunk that he doesn't leave.

I originally thought of being lazy and absent from work, but I thought that after receiving the reward from His Majesty, it would be better to pretend to be diligent. So Xu Qilin endured the headache and arrived at Dayingku on time.

The affirmation of Dayingku's achievements made His Majesty Li Er appoint all the officials recommended by Xu Qilin without even a single change.

This made Xu Qilin more at ease. After all, he was selected by him. Not to mention how talented he has, at least the work delivered can be completed with quality and quantity.

Knowing people and making good use of their talents is the only way for Xu Qilin to avoid doing everything personally. If you straighten out the work procedures and processes, Xu Qilin can concentrate on expanding other businesses.

What kind of leader is to focus on the big and let go of the small, trust the subordinates, and don’t ask about all trivial matters and care about them.

Now, Dayingku's wool spinning, sugar making, salt making, printing, mining, iron smelting, shipping and other businesses have their own supervisors. After Xu Qilin laid the foundation, he only listened to the supervisor's report and only looked at the performance.

In addition to these business managers, branches established in various places have also been gradually established, becoming the footsteps of Dayingku reaching the whole country. On the one hand, it is to increase marketing outlets, and on the other hand, it is to feedback information, making economic activities more purposeful.

Xu Qilin strongly held a meeting with the supervisors of various departments, listened to the report, and felt that everything was normal in production, so he announced the meeting to leave and each went to work.

It wasn't easy to get through until almost noon, but Xu Qilin took the excuse to go home for dinner, but he slept at home for an afternoon and finally recovered.

"It's snowing again." After dinner, Xu Qilin wore thick clothes and took a walk in his own hall to digest food.

Scarlett mischievously reached out to pick up a few snowflakes, but they turned into water in an instant. He couldn't help but laugh twice and said, "All of them are called snowflakes, I wonder if they look like flowers?"

Xu Qilin smiled and said, "Snowflakes are hexagonal, and each snowflake is an exquisite pattern, so it is not an exaggeration to call it a flower."

Scarlett looked at Xu Qilin with some surprise and asked, "Hexagonal snowflakes? How did Alang know?"

"Of course I can see it with my eyes." Xu Qilin said: "You can observe it with a magnifying glass. I will teach you another day."

Scarlett nodded and smiled, "I'm not in a hurry. Anyway, Alang said it was hexagonal and hexagonal, and hexagonal would look good."

I just like a well-behaved girl like you. Xu Qilin smiled and touched Scarlett's face in a doting way, which was cool and a little red.

Scarlett giggled twice, and was used to such actions. He did not think it was frivolous, but was happy because of Alang's love.

Click, click, click... the rhythmic sound seemed to affect nothing. Behind him, Ajiani was hitting the melon seeds, and her movements were mechanical and precise.

This foodie! Xu Qilin couldn't help but look back at the girl, but he grinned and didn't care. He just stuffed the melon seeds into the small bag he was carrying.

I even made this outfit for food, which is really dedicated.

Xu Qilin turned his head and couldn't help but roll his eyes. There was no trick anymore. Anyway, he could afford it, so he didn't want to scold her for eating.

Scarlett smiled pursed his lips and continued to walk with Alang, and said slowly: "Yiyi came to the mansion to pay New Year's greetings yesterday, but Alang was not here. She told me something and wanted to ask Alang for help!"

Xu Qilin asked, "What's the matter? Is it difficult to do?"

Scarlett said: "Sister Yiyi wants to redeem herself from Yichunyuan and become a good person and make a living in the opera troupe. When it comes to performances, Sister Yiyi plays and sings, it is still very good."

Xu Qilin nodded and said, "It is a good thing to be able to get rid of the brothel and become a good person. I want to go to the opera troupe and ask her to talk to Mrs. Zheng."

"But the fake mother doesn't want Sister Yiyi to leave." Scarlett said: "The ransom must be extremely high, just a lion speaks loudly to prevent Sister Yiyi from leaving her family."

Xu Qilin hesitated for a moment and said, "Didn't Miss Tang ask someone to redeem her?"

Scarlett nodded helplessly and said, "Sister Yiyi is exactly this. She said that with Alang's reputation, the fake mother would not dare to make things difficult for her. As for the normal redemption money, she had already saved it secretly."

Xu Qilin frowned slightly and did not make a decision immediately.

If the fake mother is willing to sell her face, she doesn't have to really redeem Tang Yiyi. Tang Yiyi and the fake mother will negotiate and resolve the problem.

If the fake mother is too greedy, Xu Qilin feels very embarrassed. And using tough measures is obviously not what he hopes. The big stir may have an adverse impact on him.

Seeing Alang frowning, Scarlett continued, and said, "I did not agree to Sister Yiyi, just said to help her pass on something."

Xu Qilin smiled and said, "Since you have achieved success or not, you must try it. If you can get rid of your hometown and become a good person, it would be considered a good thing."

Seeing that Ah Lang was not surprised, Scarlett couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said, "Ah Lang is always kind, but don't make things too difficult. It's good to do it, but it's all the best you can."

Xu Qilin nodded and said, "I'll take some time to meet that fake mother. You don't have to tell Mrs. Tang."

"I understand." Scarlett agreed obediently.

"I don't know if my elder brother went to the Chen family to propose marriage?" Xu Qilin remembered another incident and said, "I don't know if I have any questions about going to King Ji's mansion?"

Scarlett shook his head and said, "I don't know about Dalang's affairs."

Xu Qilin pursed his lips and felt that he should ask clearly. The elder brother seemed a little slow in doing things, especially for this lifelong event. A big man seemed a little embarrassed.

There was also the matter of going to King Ji's Mansion to join the army, so Xu Qilin didn't have time to ask. If he was sure, he would have to make some preparations for his elder brother's long journey.

……………………

The auction on the sixth day of the first lunar month, the gunpowder demonstration on the tenth day of the first lunar month, and the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, these three major events are enough for Xu Qilin to work hard.

After so long, the desire for the mirror has made many wealthy, powerful and merchants widen their eyes and raise funds.

New treasures are good choices whether they are bought and installed on the storefront or reselled as goods. According to what Xu Qilin said, the value will not be lowered for a long time.

But for Xu Qilin, even Changan's demand for the number of twenty sides is difficult to meet, let alone the whole country and there is a broader overseas market.

Therefore, the so-called Twenty-sided side is just a rare saying. In Yangzhou, Guangzhou’s maritime merchants, and Hu merchants in the Western Regions, it is common for them to sell 180 sides a year.

Xu Qilin had already made arrangements for the auction and was very confident. After just a little inquiries, he focused his energy on the latter two tasks.

As gunpowder explodes, you can't show your power by making a landmine or something, but if you want to blow up the city walls of Chang'an, His Majesty Li Er is crazy.

Fortunately, someone found a place. It was a section of the city wall of Chang'an City in Han Dynasty. It was more accurate to say that it was a ruin, just in the northwest suburbs of Chang'an City now.

In later generations, the Han Chang'an City ruins benefited from the efforts of the people in the past dynasties and the ruins area. After more than two thousand years, they have become the capital ruins of the ancient unified empire with a large scale, rich ruins, clear structure, and relatively complete preservation in China.

In the Tang Dynasty, the ruins were more complete. After Xu Qilin went to observe, he was deeply ashamed of the destruction he was about to carry out.

After choosing from the east and the west, Xu Qilin finally found an isolated city wall far away from the center of the site. Looking at the surrounding weeds, he felt that the impact of the blow-off was the least.

The walls of Chang'an City in Han Dynasty were built with slab-built earth walls, with a height of eight meters and a foundation of sixteen meters. Although they were broken, the residual height of the foundation of the wall was still ten meters.

Well, such blasting can best reflect the actual power of gunpowder. After Xu Qilin and his men carefully measured and surveyed, they decided to conduct two experiments. One was to break the city through tunnels and the other was to bomb the field.

The tunnel blasting is simple. You can empty the underside of the city wall and then close the fire. As for field bombing, it is a little troublesome, but there are tricks.

Xu Qilin arranged the work one by one, first built a temporary command center, built a shed, burned a stove, and then found His Majesty Li Er the best viewing location.

He felt that he had thought it very carefully, but human calculations were not as good as God's calculations. On the day of the demonstration, there was still a mistake, but he was unexpected.

After the arrangements were made here, Xu Qilin returned to the workshop and began to prepare gunpowder and make bombs. At the same time, he sent people to the weapons supervisor and temporarily borrowed three catapults.

Xu Qilin was busy at the workshop and sent someone to the Weapon Prison to report soon. The Weapon Prison was kind, but he would not borrow a catapult unless his Majesty's decree was issued.

Huh? Is the catapult car still a controlled weapon? Are you afraid that I will pull the car to smash the palace?

Xu Qilin was a little puzzled, but he was not sure if there were such rules and regulations. After explaining the work, he rushed to the palace to ask for an order.

The palace was very smooth, and Xu Qilin came directly to Qianqiu Palace under the guidance of the palace servant. After the palace servant went in to report, he came out to invite Xu Qilin in.

After entering the palace, Xu Qilin discovered that there was a pretty girl next to His Majesty Li Er, who looked about eleven or twelve years old. Seeing that she was dressed, she must be who she was dressed.

"I have seen Your Majesty." Xu Qilin showed his rituals, and no one introduced him, and he did not salute the girl.

His Majesty Li Er raised his hand and said, "No gift." He paused for a moment, pointed to the girl beside him and said, "This is my seventeenth daughter, Princess Hepu."

Xu Qilin couldn't be lazy this time, so he hurriedly saluted and said, "Your Highness has seen Your Highness the Princess."

Princess Hepu stared at Xu Qilin and smiled, "You are Xu Qilin. You are here just in time. I am looking for you!"

Xu Qilin felt a sudden heart. He didn't know what the princess did to him. Could it be that Xiao Yizi said that he wanted to marry him?

His Majesty Li Er smiled bitterly helplessly and said, "No, Qi Lin, the mirror of Dayingku has been sent twice, and I agree to reward it to Hepu."

Xu Qilin hurriedly agreed, "When I go back, I send someone to the palace."

Princess Hepu pestered her father for a while, and finally got what she wanted. She smiled happily and said, "One big and one small, don't use the small to make excuses me."

"How dare you?" Xu Qilin laughed with her. As long as she didn't marry him, she would be easy to say anything. She was just a mirror. What His Majesty wants, just keep a account and finish it.

His Majesty Li Er was probably too entangled. Seeing that Xu Qilin agreed happily, he could have gotten rid of Hepu's coquettish entanglement, he smiled and said to Hepu: "Let's do what you want now. I have something important to discuss with Qi Lin, so you can get out!"

Hepu also returned to his well-behaved appearance, saluting his father with a straight face, and before leaving, he chuckled at Xu Qilin and drifted away with brisk steps.

His Majesty Li Er let out a long sigh and said to Xu Qilin: "The mirror auction is ready tomorrow?"

"Yes, everything is ready." Xu Qilin said: "There are five large mirrors and fifteen small mirrors."

His Majesty Li Er nodded and said, "Why do you come to see me?"

Xu Qilin told the story of borrowing a catapult from the weapons surveillance, and specifically emphasized that it was for the demonstration of gunpowder on the tenth day of the lunar month, and told His Majesty Li Er the specific location.

His Majesty Li Er stroked his beard and jaw, feeling that Xu Qilin was very efficient in doing things. He had just finished his annual leave and had already started all preparations. He was still looking forward to the power of gunpowder.

"I'm afraid there may not be any weapon stewards." His Majesty Li Er thought and said, "You don't know much about catapults, right? That's not something that can be built first and then transported to the battlefield."

Xu Qilin blinked his eyes, but he was not very clear. In his opinion, the catapult cart was a weapon, and it should be manufactured by weapons and distributed to various armies.

When His Majesty Li Er saw that Xu Qilin really didn't understand, he explained: "The catapults used for siege in cities and plundering land are basically made on site by military craftsmen. The main reason is that transportation is inconvenient, and it is transported thousands of miles to the front line. I don't know how much time it takes and how much manpower it will be wasted."

Xu Qilin opened his mouth slightly, and now he understood. In ancient times, the food and supplies to be transported were already very troublesome, so how could he transport the catapult to the scattering machine?

It’s okay to say that the distance is short, but you basically don’t think about it long distances. And where are there fewer craftsmen who are marching with the army? Repairing weapons, vehicles, and manufacturing siege equipment, including catapults.

His Majesty Li Er wrote a pen and ordered the palace servant to pass it to Xu Qilin, saying, "Take my order to go to the weapon supervision department. If they don't have any ready-made ones, there will always be drawings, so it will be too late for the craftsmen to rush to make it."

Xu Qilin bowed to answer the order, and then he realized that the weapon surveillance wanted to be perfunctory and delay time. Maybe he had already started to rush to manufacture it now.

Okay, let’s not force them too much, let them borrow the decree tomorrow.
Chapter completed!