Traveling through time and space and becoming a deposed prince, he just wants to survive!

Chapter 143 Yan Ruxiang

The manufacture of explosives and weapons is indeed a problem that Zhao Sheng is very worried about.

In this way, at least a division of troops was deployed around this group of old guys.

There is a group that monitors and supervises every day.

After Gongmen Jiarang and Gongmen Yijue passed through these defenses and secretly contacted the surveillance troops, they officially settled down with this group of craftsmen in the name of following Master Lu.

"Jia Rang? Yi Jue? You will be my disciple from now on?"

Master Lu was a little surprised. It was obvious that the names of the two children were related.

"We can be Master Lu's disciples, but..."

"Don't say anymore. I understand. Hey, the Prince Consort is very particular about these skills. You are nominally my apprentices, but in fact, you are also here for these skills."

Master Lu had a clear mind. Before he came, he knew that the children in front of him were orphans and were adopted by Zhao Sheng.

There are many children like this, and Mr. Zhao did not send them out. It is probably because these children are still young.

The two young men in front of him looked no more than sixteen years old, and they would be of no use to him in terms of studying or protecting himself.

"Disciple greets Master..."

Although Master Lu did not want to acknowledge these two disciples, they still saluted him.

"Alright, I will not only teach you gunpowder technology, but also metallurgy technology."

Ancient craftsmanship emphasizes inheritance, and they are generally not passed on to others unless they are one’s own disciples.

Looking at these two young men reminded Master Lu of the experience Zhao Sheng shared with him. He never kept it secret but passed on the skills for a better inheritance. This is the greatness of being a craftsman.

Jia Rang and Yi Jue took the tea and handed it to the master, and this marked the completion of the apprenticeship ceremony.

As for the rest, Mr. Zhao had already given them to me, and in quite a few quantities.

Just thinking about spending all this might be difficult.

The rifle that Zhao Sheng made in the previous battle was the Schrader-Enfield rifle, which was loaded with bullets.

Zhao Sheng found it strange that many time travelers only knew about flintlock rifles, but did not know about the Schrader-Enfield rifle, which was as famous as the flintlock rifle. It was really sad.

The same goes for artillery. China has had rear-loading artillery for a long time, and it appeared during the Song Dynasty.

At that time, these cannons were mainly used for sieges, which required huge impact force and long firing distance.

The rear-loading artillery had a range of only 300 steps at the time and was not as far as the catapult, so it was considered useless.

Another point is that the cost of manufacturing and reloading weapons is also high.

Zhao Sheng didn't care about these. Loading bullets with the Schrader Enfield rifle saved a lot of time, and as long as the accuracy was controlled well, a distance of three hundred steps was enough.

Artillery has never been included in the standards for the new army to be equipped, also because of the power of explosives. Isn’t it even more useless?

Chang'an City.

Sima Ling was playing chess with Kong Sijin when he suddenly heard that Zhao Qin had arrived.

"The King of Qin hasn't left the palace for a long time. What are you doing here today?"

Sima Ling looked at the hesitant Kong Sijin and asked in a low voice.

"He is the King of Qin. We don't need to interfere in his affairs. The Chief Secretary has the authority to handle matters related to military affairs."

Kong Sijin's analysis was correct. The King of Qin would not make the decision on large-scale military matters.

His personal guards numbered no more than a few thousand men, and even his royal guards had a basic strength of no more than 20,000 men.

It's not that he doesn't want to expand his troops, but he really can't afford it, especially the cavalry.

The equipment and supplies of a cavalryman are three times that of an ordinary soldier.

"The King of Qin has arrived!..."

The guard in front of the prefectural gate shouted loudly.

Sima Ling and Kong Sijin hurriedly got up and ran to the door, waiting for Zhao Qin's arrival.

After entering the room, Zhao Qin glanced at the two of them. He knew that they were neglecting him, but it was not easy for him to get angry. After all, the two of them had been nice to him in the past two years.

It can't be said that he has made any great achievements, but it has not caused him any trouble.

"You two adults don't need to come out to greet us. It's freezing cold outside."

As he spoke, he put his hands into his sleeves, as if it was really cold outside.

"This is what we should do in front of the prince."

Kong Sijin knew that Zhao Qin was trying to pick a fight, so he quickly said a few words to ease the atmosphere.

Zhao Qin didn't dare to really pick a fight with these two foxes. The entire Qin area still depended on them, and he would only really care about them if he was seeking death.

When I came to the inner room, I saw the chess pieces still on the table, and I knew that the two of them must have been playing chess.

"Who plays black?"

"Your humble servant." Kong Sijin stepped forward and answered when he saw Zhao Qin asking about the chess pieces.

"Oh? So it seems that the Tongzhi has definitely won this round."

"Lord Sima pities me and is being modest."

Kong Sijin said this and turned to look at Sima Ling.

"If you have nothing to do in your spare time, let's have a sparring match. The prince must have something to ask for!"

Sima Ling clearly sensed the gazes from the person next to him. This was a sign for him to come out and calm the situation.

"It's nothing serious. I just need to know how much tax money was withheld from the palace last year so I can estimate this year's expenses."

"This matter was personally handled by Lord Kong Sijin, so let him introduce the details."

"You don't have to go into detail, just get a general idea."

Zhao Qin didn't come here really for the tax issue this time. The main reason was that he felt a little uneasy, always feeling that he might be attacked by the enemy at any time at the border.

"In that case, the Tongzhi will give you a bill later. If Your Highness feels that the expenses are not enough, the prefectural government will give you some extra money. It will definitely meet the expenses of the palace."

Speaking of expenses, Zhao Qin remembered something.

"How did you solve the military budget problem last year? Didn't the allocation from the Ministry of War arrive?"

"The Ministry of War's funding comes from the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue needs to verify our prefect's accounts before making any allocations."

When Kong Sijin saw that it involved the allocation of silver, she began to explain.

"Actually, I just want to ask about the border troops' pay and whether there are any shortcomings in the army this winter."

Zhao Qin said it very easily, but in Sima Ling's eyes it was a different situation.

At the end of last year, the Grand Commander Yan Ruxiang visited the prefect once to discuss the end-of-year food and clothing issues for the soldiers. The Ministry of War failed to resolve the issue and passed it on to local officials.

Sima Ling submitted the matter to Zhao Qin, but there was no response!

Now you're pretending to be a good guy, just to find out how much tax money was withheld last year. Aren't you tired of going through so much trouble?

"The border troops are still dealing with the same issues, but the palace soldiers also need to change their uniforms. However, the government office doesn't have the money. Do you think the palace can..."

"Isn't it just money? No problem. I'll keep the money and put it into the account. I'll immediately send the order to send the money to the army."

Kong Sijin knew that Zhao Qin was just playing tricks. How could the money come out after it entered the palace, let alone take out an uncertain amount? He was just fooling people. Did he really think that people in the prefecture were easy to fool?

Forget it, he is a prince, it is not their turn to lecture him.

"Your Highness, I recently traveled from Qin to Liangzhou. There's a kind of food that's also ready to eat once opened. I've left some in the palace. Would you like to try it?"

Kong Sijin changed the subject and turned her attention to food.

"Hey! How can we have food without wine? Li Gengbao, a merchant who went to Dingzhou, gave me ten jars of fine wine. This wine can't be bought in Chang'an."

Sima Ling suddenly had an idea and realized that Kong Sijin was going to trick Zhao Qin again, so he hurriedly tried to mediate.

Just as the two were about to clink glasses, a thunderous roar was heard outside the courtyard.

"Sima, if we don't deliver some meat to the soldiers today, they probably won't be able to carry their swords."

The person who spoke was none other than Commander-in-Chief Yan Ruxiang.

He was tall and strong, with sharp eyes, thick eyebrows like swords, a straight nose, tightly pursed lips, broad shoulders and a solid chest.

He walked with steady and powerful steps, swinging his arms naturally and evenly, with his posture upright and his eyes not looking to the side.