Chapter 400: Good News
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Of course, Heng Yi was more and more certain about what kind of army Emperor Zhao Qian wanted to cultivate.
Invincible in battle. A force to be reckoned with.
However, such an army wasn’t easy to build.
“Marquis! Marquis,” Zhang Zhao entered with a face full of joy, “The catapult is finished!”
He smiled so widely that Heng Yi could see his big white teeth.
“It’s done?” Heng Yi asked eagerly, “Let’s have a look.”
The catapult was Han Qiao’s suggestion to be used during a siege or war.
If a large rock was thrown into the enemy camp, it could injure people even if it did not kill them. It could also disrupt the opponent’s formation, especially the horses.
Once the enemy’s formation was in chaos, it would be easier to emerge victoriously in battle especially if their whole army worked together properly. Han Qiao’s suggestion was based on the “see-saw” principle, but it could also be disassembled and carried even when crossing mountains.
Stones could be obtained locally.
When Heng Yi arrived, all the carpenters were delighted.
“Greetings, Marquis,”
Yes,” Heng Yi nodded, “How far can we throw a boulder?”
“About 300 feet©, Sir,”
Heng Yi asked them to demonstrate it twice.
Someone immediately ran to measure the distance.
He thought for a moment before saying, “It would be better if it could be further away.”
In a real battle, 300 feet was still a short distance, especially when the warhorses were the first to enter the battlegrounds.
Warhorses ran extremely fast, which doesn’t give them that much time to throw a few large rocks.
So the farther they could throw, the better.
“Don’t worry, Marquis. We’ll think of a way to solve that problem,”
Some things have already disappeared in the long river of history, but new things will always arise.
As long as their brains were still working, they could beat someone like Zhuge Liang©. °
There were seven of them in a group and were all Lu Ban’s© descendants. Carpenters didn’t dare to compare with their ancestors in their handicrafts, but they were also capable.
What they had to do now was to figure out a way to throw the boulder further.
For now, they have to disassemble it for further improvements.
“I will write a letter to the Emperor regarding your contributions.”
“Thank you, Marquis!”
Heng Yi wouldn’t covet these people’s credit.
As long as the things they made were useful on the battlefield, their contributions would be recorded and their work would be reported one by one. “Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”
After Heng Yi finished speaking, he remembered someone informed him that
Han Chi and the others had arrived, so he planned to go home early.
When he rode out of the barracks, the soldiers all bowed respectfully.
“Have a safe trip, Marquis.”
There were more and more people setting up stalls outside the city gate, and many of them sold snacks.
Heng Yi saw someone roasting sweet potatoes.
He slowly led his horse over, “How many roasted sweet potatoes do you have?” “W-w-we have more than 30.” The man selling sweet potatoes stuttered.
He knew who the ruler of Sanzhou Town was.
Although it was a small town, it was peaceful to do business here.
There were special arrangements for them to set their stalls and store their goods, and it only cost one copper a day. The final use of the money would be clearly written.
People came and went, and there would always be somebody to clean the dirt and leaves.
“Pack them all.”
“A-all?”
Heng Yi saw a basket beside the owner and asked, “Can you put it in that basket? I’ll have someone return it to you later.”
“A-alright, yes!”
He hurriedly packed the sweet potatoes in the basket.
Heng Yi handed over the copper coins.
One hundred copper coins.
The man who sold the sweet potatoes gave Heng Yi the change.
A roasted sweet potato only costs two copper coins. So, the price would be sixty coppers altogether.
Heng Yi waited for the change, but he didn’t say anything about giving it to the stall owner. He put the change in his purse.
The people watching them from the side were very surprised.
After Heng Yi left, some people started discussing, “Why did the Marquis keep all the change?”
The sweet potato seller shouted coldly, “Do you think the Marquis’ silver falls from the sky? Do you think it’s that easy to build this prosperous town from nothing? Do other places charge you with only one copper to open your stall and get good business? I don’t think so!”
When the sweet potato seller said this, the other stall owners quickly echoed the sentiments.
Some of them traveled far away to get here. Although it was a long journey, their products were sold out every day. The business here was always good and stable.
Who would want to try to sell somewhere else?
Anywhere else, they had to pay various taxes… And don’t forget the protection fees.
Some of them were commoners who had been assigned to the fields and had grown vegetables to sell. Some also earn some money by raising chickens and so on.
They could also work in the workshop managed by the Marchioness, where the wages were good and the treatment was even better. They won’t have to work all day and all night until you can’t breathe anymore.
Which of these did not require silver? It had only been a few months, and Sanzhou Town had already been built so well. How much money has the Marquis spent to make it this way?
There were still houses under construction there, and the money that could be collected from these houses was also very limited.
People could say whatever they wanted, but even the complaining stingy stall owner dared not to say another word of complaint.
Meanwhile, Heng Yi didn’t know that he just caused a controversy just because he bought some sweet potatoes.
“Father!”
Ah-Yao crawled over.
“Father! Smells delicious!”
Heng Yi smiled and patted Ah-Yao’s head, “I bought roasted sweet potatoes.
Call your brothers and sisters to eat.”
“Yay!”
There were also roasted sweet potatoes at home.
However, the ones bought outside were definitely different from those made at home.
Children liked to eat things bought outside.
Ah-Yao was very strong and kind. After carrying the sweet potatoes and distributing them to his siblings, he kept one for himself.
He waited for Heng Yi to wash up and peel it for him before he happily ate it.
‘This little kid. He’s so full of ideas.’
Han Qiao chuckled.
The sweet potato was quite big, so he probably wouldn’t be able to eat dinner after he finished one. Han Qiao asked Cui Guo to take Ah-Yao’s food down and share it with the others.
When Heng Yi arrived from his bath, Ah-Yao immediately went up to him, “Father, eat!”
Heng Yi picked up his son in one arm, then peeled the sweet potato and blew it to feed it to Ah-Yao.
Ah-Yao took a bite and frowned.
It wasn’t as delicious as the food at home.
When Heng Yi fed him the second bite, the little boy kept his mouth tightly shut and shook his head.
Han Qiao couldn’t help but laugh.
The sweet potatoes at home were all carefully selected. They were soft and sweet when roasted, and they smelled mouthwatering.
Heng Yi bought this sweet potato, although it was also the same type of sweet potato, it just didn’t taste as good.
This child was very picky.
Heng Yi didn’t think too much about it. If the child didn’t eat it, he would eat it himself.
Ah-Yao wanted to eat some more, but he only ate a little.
After eating sweet potatoes, Han Qiao first told Heng Yi that the Emperor had rewarded them with some gifts.
“How many people came?”
More than thirty of them, all of them are young people.”
Han Qiao and Heng Yi both understood why these people were here.
‘TH go see them,” Heng Yi said.
“By the way, the catapult is done, but the distance it can throw is still not enough. We still need to study it a little more.”
Han Qiao pondered for a moment, “Is it because the stone is too heavy? What if you change it to something else? For example…”
“Firecrackers. If you’re not careful, you can hurt someone with it. Is there a way to make this into a ball, light it up, and throw it out? You think a firecracker can burn people, so how about throwing a big ball of it?”
As soon as Han Qiao finished speaking, Heng Yi paused for a moment and said
“I’ll go out again.”
“Go early and come back early. You must be back for dinner.” Han Qiao tidied HengYi’s clothes.
Then she asked him to put his gloves on.
Heng Yi nodded.
He even brought Li Zhao and Bai Cha with him.
Although Han Qiao mentioned the firecrackers, Heng Yi was still the one who had to make it work.