Chapter 92: The Mechanical Beast Sets Off
Chang Yuchun had three sons and three daughters.
The eldest daughter married Crown Prince Zhu Biao and became the Crown Prince's first wife. She died of complications during childbirth of Zhu Yunhuan in the eleventh year of Hongwu.
The second daughter married Deng Zhen, the son of Deng Yu, Duke of Weiguo, in the tenth year of Hongwu.
The third daughter is unmarried. She is seventeen years old this year and her maiden name is Meizhen.
As soon as Zhao Wumian saw her attire, he guessed that among all the noble ladies in the capital, the only one who dared to wear armor, hold a spear, and ride a dragon horse and gallop wildly in the street was Chang Yuchun's youngest daughter, Chang Meizhen.
She has been spoiled since she was a child, and with her self-depraved elder brother as a role model, she has always been willful and capricious.
"Why did you hit my Po!"
Chang Meizhen pointed her spear and angrily said, "It's injured, you pay for it!"
Zhao Wumian was too lazy to pay attention to him. It was a waste of time to reason with such a person, so he helped the frightened stall owner up.
The stall owner kept thanking her, but with a noble on one side and a Jinyiwei on the other, he felt really embarrassed. He didn't even dare to thank her enough, for fear that the girl would come after him. After struggling for a long time, he even ignored the snack stand and ran away.
Seeing that Zhao Wumian ignored her, Chang Meizhen became even angrier. Her true energy burst out from her body, burning like fire. She used the second set of unique skills created by Chang Yuchun, "Yuyang Divine Art". The energy of heaven and earth gathered together, and the pressure on the spear surged.
Chang Meizhen's face was grim: "How dare you ignore me? You are so brave——"
"stop!"
Chang Mao walked between the two of them.
"elder brother!"
Chang Meizhen lost all her arrogance, stamped her feet and said, "Just watch him bully me!"
"..."
Chang Mao took a deep breath. He still acted like an elder brother at this time. He knew that his third sister had gone too far this time. He said, "Zhen'er, you were wrong to ride the horse wildly. Why did you come out on a snow horse? Didn't I tell you that you can't subdue it now?"
"Then they are anxious to find you."
Chang Meizhen's anger came and went quickly. She immediately threw Zhao Wumian aside, hugged her eldest brother's arm and acted like a spoiled child: "I heard from mother that you will come to see father's new apprentice today. Where is he? Ask him to transform into a dragon for me to see. You and uncle can't do it. I heard that he got father's dragon blood and can turn into a dragon directly. I want to see it!"
Chang Mao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and glanced at Zhao Wumian: "This is Zhao Wumian, the Jingyuan Earl, the captain of the Zhenfu Division, and also my father's new successor."
"……what?"
Chang Meizhen was dumbfounded, looking at Zhao Wumian with wide eyes, not knowing how to react for a moment.
Zhao Wumian said calmly, "Duke Zheng, I'll take my leave now."
Chang Mao nodded: "Goodbye."
Zhao Wumian turned and left.
Chang Meizhen was about to chase him, but Chang Mao stopped her and said, "Stop messing around! Fix Abao's bones first, and then I'll go back and tell mom to punish you!"
Chang Meizhen snorted and raised her slender neck: "Mom loves me so much, I'm not afraid!"
Then he glanced at Zhao Wumian and asked, "Why doesn't he call you Senior Brother?"
"Just leave it alone!"
Chang Mao had a headache: "You don't look like a girl at all. It seems that I really need to find a husband for you and discipline you properly."
Chang Meizhen sneered: "Haha, sister-in-law has married into our family, but you still can't control her, right?"
Chang Mao had an even bigger headache: "...Her father is Duke of Song."
Chang Meizhen said: "My father is also a duke! My brother is also a duke!"
"you--"
Chang Mao was speechless for a long time, and his face turned red and his neck became thick because of his sister's choking.
After Chang Meizhen was angry with her elder brother, she immediately put on a smiling face and said coquettishly, "Alright, alright, elder brother is really tactless. Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. I don't believe he won't use the skills after he gets them. A-bao didn't hurt others on purpose, but he hurt A-bao on purpose. If it weren't for my good kung fu, I would have been injured just now. I'm wrong, and he's also wrong! I haven't settled the score with him yet, but he's angry. He's really like a crow standing on a pile of coal, only seeing the blackness of others but not his own blackness!"
"..."
Chang Mao had no idea what to do with his sister. He said with a headache, "You have a lot of twisted theories. Enough! Since you have been causing trouble, I think he will stay away from our Duke's Mansion. The Crown Prince even asked me to get closer to him, but you scared him away this time."
Chang Meizhen said disdainfully: "If anyone is going to scare them away, they should be scared away by my brother. Your reputation is so bad!"
Chang Mao sneered: "Hello, hello fart hello!"
Chang Meizhen also got angry: "Okay, if you scold me, I'll go complain to my mother! Abao, let's go and ignore him!"
Chang Meizhen fixed Xueji's bones and ran away angrily, leading it away.
Chang Mao looked at his sister's back and sighed deeply.
What should I do with this girl?
……
Zhao Wumian returned to Jinghu Villa.
"elder brother!"
Bai Liuli happily swam to the shore and tilted his head to ask, "Is everything alright in the government office?"
Zhao Wumian felt comforted and patted her head. This was his sister. If she were to switch places with Chang Mao, it would be a headache just thinking about it. He said softly, "It's okay. We will transport grain to Beiping in five days, and we may have to go to Liaodong. You and Dad can stay in the villa. Xiao Yu and the others are here, and your sister Shen is next door. It will also be convenient for the shadow guards to take care of us. The family will rely on you then."
Bai Liuli said confidently: "Don't worry, I feel like I'm about to break through to the second realm. Maybe by the time my brother comes back, I'll already be a great master of the second realm!"
Zhao Wumian smiled and said, "That's great. I'll have to trouble the great master to protect our home."
Bai Liuli was very proud and asked, "Brother, is your mechanical beast ready?"
"There's still one last step left."
Zhao Wumian walked into Jingxin Pavilion and took all the materials he had processed during the past few days to the lakeside for assembly.
Zhao Qi, Zhang Hua, Xiao Yu and others also became interested, as well as Shen Weiyang and Liu Piaopiao, all waiting to see his results.
It has been a while since the "Weapons Catalog" of the Divine Axe Sect was submitted, but those master craftsmen have not made any decent progress. They can't even restore the Tianlei Zi and Wulei Shenji. But this guy who changed his career halfway through, started by studying the most difficult mechanical beasts, and has achieved some results first.
There is a lot of material.
Zhao Wumian quickly built a small hill next to Mirror Lake and began to assemble them one by one in order.
He was very fast and skillful. He knew which material should go where without even looking at the blueprint. In less than a cup of tea, he had assembled thousands of materials of different sizes into a whole - a giant wooden and stone beast, two meters long and five feet high, taking shape by the lake, looking lifelike.
It was a giant beast with a snake-like body and a fish-tail, shaped like a dragon, with scales carved on its surface and four fin-like claws under its belly.
——Diving mechanical beast [Tiger Dragon]!
Everyone showed surprise.
Shen Weiyang and Bai Liuli looked excited and proud.
"What a wonderful skill..."
Liu Piaopiao thought to herself, "...it's only been a few days, and this Jingyuan Earl's intelligence is truly incredible!"
The most taboo for mechanical beasts is to be all show and no substance, but no one present doubted that this mechanical beast could really go into the water.
Because it was done by Zhao Wumian.
"It's a pity that the material is a bit poor."
Zhao Wumian looked at the tiger dragon and said with regret: "A tiger dragon that is really used on the battlefield must use the top-grade sea willow [Blood Willow] that is not corroded by water and is not damaged by fire. Only in this way can it sink the enemy ship and cut off the fire! It's a pity that this thing is worth a thousand gold per foot, so we have to use the cheapest black willow, which should be able to barely withstand a few moves from the third realm. The Qingxin Stone is not enough either. It can reduce the high heat generated by the friction of the gears, but it is expensive. It costs three hundred taels per penny. I barely got two taels and filled it in the center. Then there is the [Moonlight Stone] that can make people feel blood connected with the mechanism, and the Jiaosha Oil that lubricates the various parts and conducts the true energy. They are all rare and expensive, so we can only use the cheapest substitute. Overall, it looks good but is not practical."
After hearing his evaluation, Shen Weiyang asked, "Can't it be used?"
"useless."
Zhao Wumian corrected him, "The sodium acid rock that gets angry when in contact with water is enough, so there is no restriction on breathing underwater. However, this mechanism cannot withstand long-term, high-intensity wear and tear, and it needs to cool down and rest after three hours at most."
"That's pretty awesome."
Shen Weiyang circled around the tiger dragon, eager to try: "How does it move?"
"A relic. I asked for it from His Highness. It's from the collection of the last Master Jin Guang. It's a disposable battery. It can probably be used about twenty times. There are a few left. You can use them sparingly."
Relics are considered to be relatively special among the mysterious bones. As long as the Buddhist has a firm faith, they may be burned out in any state.
Of course, the quantity and quality are not certain, so the good and the bad are mixed. This tiger dragon is embedded with a relic of the late third realm.
Zhao Wumian answered casually, walked to the head of the tiger dragon, pressed the switch under the fin, and with a series of clicking sounds, the entire head flipped upwards, revealing the internal cockpit. It was very small and could barely accommodate three people, but it was very well sealed.
Zhao Wumian turned over and went in, waving to Bai Liuli and Shen Weiyang: "Come."
"Wow!"
The two were overjoyed and rushed in excitedly. They sat on Zhao Wumian's left and right, looking at the rows of mechanism handles curiously.
“This is the switch.”
Zhao Wumian pulled, and the tiger dragon's head closed again and got stuck.
Because it is made from a whole piece of [Tianyun Stone], it looks like a large piece of glass, forming a two-foot-wide line between the left and right eyes of the tiger dragon, which can serve as a field of vision to see the surroundings and underwater environment clearly.
"Three-quarters of the two-meter-long body is used for power. This steering wheel is made of the bones of a North Sea dragon shark. It is used to infuse true energy and activate the central nervous system. It is also a device for controlling direction."
Zhao Wumian demonstrated skillfully as he spoke: "Infuse true qi with both hands, and the true qi will be transmitted through the shark bones to activate the relics. The accumulated Qi of the Kundalini in the relics can generate high heat, which is transmitted through the gears and transformed into power. The thirteen animal bones and fats spread throughout the tail, and the tail begins to swing. The four pull rods below, the first two control the swing strength and frequency, and change the speed of the mechanical beast, and the last two control the four claws on the abdomen, moving forward and backward. In theory, it can be considered amphibious, but it is useless on land. Pay attention to the strengths and avoid the weaknesses..."
Zhao Wumian infused his true energy and pulled the lever. The mechanical beast's eyes lit up, its four claws swung, and it jumped into the lake.
Zhao Wumian pushed the lever again, and the tiger dragon began to absorb water and sink. Then it flicked its tail, and amid the excited exclamations of Shen Weiyang and Bai Liuli, it rushed out of Mirror Lake at an extremely fast speed and rushed into the Qinhuai River.
The whole process is extremely agile, just like a real exotic beast, a tiger dragon!
"..."
Zhao Qi and Zhang Hua stared with wide eyes, not bringing the wine glasses in their hands to their lips for a long time.
Zhang Hua was completely confused, thinking that this kid was becoming more and more difficult to reason with based on common sense.
Zhao Qi had been numb for a long time, but he was still shocked when he saw him driving the mechanical beast to shuttle underwater. No matter how strong his personal strength was, he was only himself after all. What he saw before him was already a skill that benefited the people!
Inside the pavilion, even though Liu Piaopiao had expected it, she was still shocked by this scene.
This is the first time making it!
"In less than 20 days, he restored the mechanical beast. This guy is even more powerful than I expected. Incredible!"
A voice came from behind.
Liu Piaopiao stood up and saluted, saying, "Master."
The person who came without anyone noticing was none other than the richest man in the Ming Dynasty, Shen Wansan.
Liu Piaopiao knew that Shen Wansan valued his life the most. The spirit he cultivated was a strange beast [Meng Ji] that could escape into the five elements. In terms of combat power, Shen Wansan was not well-known in the world, but in terms of escape techniques and lightness skills, he could be compared with the world's top masters and should not be underestimated.
"I've been observing for so many days."
Shen Wansan stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance, and said, "What do you think of him?"
Liu Piaopiao only said four words: "A happy son-in-law."
Shen Wansan smiled and said nothing: "Why do you think so?"
Liu Piaopiao did not answer directly, but thought for a moment and said, "This tiger dragon... should be made for that mermaid, but it will most likely be given to the young lady."
Shen Wansan raised his eyebrows slightly and gestured to continue.
Liu Piaopiao said: "He wanted to give Bai Liuli freedom, but was worried about her safety, so the first choice of mechanical beast was the tiger dragon, so that she would have a shield when she was playing. But I am afraid he would still be worried, so he gave it to the young lady, which would be the best of both worlds. He could take Bai Liuli to travel around along the Qinhuai tributary, and use the power of the Shen family to protect her. It can be said that he had good intentions... Bai Liuli is just his adopted sister, and she is a mermaid, but he still loves her so much. If he can really get along with the young lady, I think he will not let her down!"
"Yes."
Shen Wansan sighed softly: "Weiyang is lucky, but we can't be stingy. I heard that this girl ordered the shops under her name to collect mechanical beast materials?"
Liu Piaopiao smiled and said, "I can't hide it from you, Master."
Shen Wansan handed over a piece of paper with dense handwriting on it: "This is the order material needed by the Gongshu family in the past, mostly for mechanical beasts and even Yanjia. Please pass it on and let shops across the country pay attention to collect it."
Liu Piaopiao took it and looked at it, slightly surprised: "These materials are very valuable."
"worth."
Shen Wansan said calmly, "This is not all for Weiyang. Lu Gong said that the Japanese pirates were rampant and repeatedly invaded the coast. The emperor once intended to ban the sea, but Zhao Wumian sent the weapon list, and now the naval weapons have been restored. With the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, with this magical skill, the Japanese pirates will no longer be a concern, and there will naturally be no need to ban the sea. By then, all nations will come to pay tribute or go south to the oceans, and the Shen family's business will be able to reach a higher level. This little bit of material is nothing, just treat it as Weiyang's dowry."
Liu Piaopiao smiled and said, "Master, you have a far-sighted vision. Liu Piaopiao admires you."
Shen Wansan sighed, "Weiyang's talent and beauty are not inferior to any other woman, but her family background... Scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans, the lowest of the three categories. Sigh, she can't compare to those noble ladies. Zhao Wumian is already the Earl of Jingyuan. If he marries her in a formal way, I, Shen Wansan, will naturally not let him suffer any loss!"
Liu Piaopiao said: "Master, you worry too much. He is not that kind of person."
Shen Wansan shook his head: "Brothers should settle accounts clearly. No matter what he thinks, the accounts must be settled. It also leaves a way out for Weiyang. If she loses her favor in the future, she can still have the confidence to be the mistress of the house."
Liu Piaopiao opened her mouth and wanted to say a few words to help Zhao Wumian.
Shen Wansan smiled and said, "Just in case, there's no need to do this. I didn't expect you to trust him so much."
Liu Piaopiao said, "He is really rare. An eighteen-year-old earl never lingers on the prostitute village. He practices martial arts and studies techniques every day. This alone is better than 99% of the so-called young talents. It is really rare."
"That's true."
Shen Wansan nodded: "He is indeed very steady, unlike a young man... Eh? Do you think he will..."
Shen Wansan was halfway through his speech when he remembered that Liu Piaopiao was a woman, so he quickly coughed and stopped talking.
"..."
Liu Piaopiao was speechless for a while. This old frivolous man was a clean person who never went to brothels, but he suspected that there was something wrong with him. No wonder his five sons all had wives and concubines. The top beam is not upright, and the rest of the family will be crooked too!
About half an hour later, the tiger dragon circled the Qinhuai River, returned to Jinghu Lake and went ashore.
The head flipped upwards again, revealing three people in the cab.
Shen Weiyang and Bai Liuli's faces were flushed, they were both happy and curious, this was so much fun.
Especially for Bai Liuli, the scenery she saw during this tour was enough for her to savor for a long time.
Zhao Wumian also got his fill of driving a mecha, and thought it was great, so he climbed out of the mechanical beast and took over the two men.
Zhao Wumian asked, "Have you remembered everything?"
"remember."
Shen Weiyang nodded and said shyly: "Really give it to me, this is a priceless treasure."
"This is just the first one, and it will also make it easier for you and Liuli to play."
Zhao Wumian added: "However, the imperial court has not yet made this thing. You can play with it, but be careful not to let the technology leak out. At least make sure that people in the Ministry of Industry can make it. After that, it's up to you. This is a first-generation machine with simple functions and no weapons. You can make it for sale or for trade in Southeast Asia. It's up to you."
Shen Weiyang was surprised: "Will this cause trouble?"
"fine."
Zhao Wumian said, "I have already asked the Crown Prince for permission. This is also a reward for me. After all, I am the one who brought back the Divine Artifacts. It is just a tiger dragon that can only dive. There is no need to make a big deal about it. It is not a land-based mechanical beast with great lethality. Just keep it and nothing will happen to you."
"Uh-huh!"
Shen Weiyang knew that he did it mainly for Bai Liuli, but she didn't expect that he would even give her the skills. This was a huge fortune. Even if she could only dive, the experience of playing underwater would attract countless people. Thinking of this, her heart felt hot and her face flushed. She took the opportunity to hold his hand and didn't want to let go.
Zhao Wumian smiled and held her hand with his backhand.
Shen Weiyang's face turned even redder and she held on tighter.
……
Soon, five days passed.
At the Longjiang Port in the capital, four hundred grain ships were fully loaded and ready to set sail, and three thousand elite soldiers had been dispersed among the ships.
Zhao Wumian, Chang Mao and Fang Rui took orders to bid farewell to Crown Prince Zhu Biao and others and boarded the giant Fu ship in the lead.
The ship was as tall as a city wall, with a draft of more than ten feet. It was loaded with arrows, stones and cannons underneath, and looked extremely imposing.
Zhu Biao waved his hand on the table: "Have a safe journey."
The three of them clasped their fists in return.
With Chang Mao's loud "Ask", four hundred grain ships sailed down the river into the sea and headed straight for Peking!
……
(End of this chapter)
