Lord of the Desert

Chapter 420 Similar
October 25th, there is less than a month left until Zhu Zhanran’s 120th birthday in mid-November.

Hongyi City, Tongyun Pavilion.

The temperature rose today, melting most of the remaining snow.

Zhu Leshan sat high on the third-floor terrace, his hand on the carved railing, facing the thick smoky gray rain clouds in the sky outside the city, listening to the distant and silent winter thunder and watching the thunderbolts as thin as silver threads.

"I heard that the situation in Xijing is getting worse?"

He spoke.

"Second Master, we kept the original price in Xijing as you said. We sold 8,000 kilograms of second-grade steel in early October and 2,000 kilograms in mid-October. Not to mention the halving of first-grade and special-grade steel, we can't even sell the wrought iron we sell in bulk..."

Wang Wenhan whispered.

"According to our estimates, from the 20th of last month to the 20th of this month, Tiannan Bank produced more than 400,000 kilograms of second-grade steel in these 30 days, and almost all the large, medium and small blacksmith shops in Xijing were taken away."

"Old Wang, be careful with your words. Is this a question of whether to lower the price or not?"

Zhu Leshan suddenly turned around and glared at his subordinate.

"Second-grade steel costs 40 wen per pound. We have to double this amount to make enough money to make wrought iron. Can the boss lower the price if he takes over?"

He paced twice on the terrace, letting the cold wind cool his anger.

"I've kept this matter under wraps for a month, giving you so much time to investigate. There should be some explanation, right?"

"Yes, yes!"

Wang Wenhan spoke anxiously.

"We found the territory of Tiannanxing, in Xujiadai, west of Xijing City. There are teams patrolling day and night, led by well-versed warriors. Zhang Batou climbed over the wall to take a look at it at night. Their way of making steel is different from the old way. There are no hammers and anvils in the shed, but two huge iron urns hanging instead."

After hearing this, Zhu Leshan felt very disappointed.

If Tiannanxing still uses the old method that has been "refined a thousand times", then the cost will not be much different from Tongyun Villa, and it can only be a loss-making business; but since they are using the new method, it cannot be said that they are really doing business.

This is a bit tricky.

"Have you found out who is behind Tiannanxing?"

Zhu Leshan unbuttoned his collar.

"I roughly understand. This company is now in charge of Wen Zhongguan, the supervisor of the weapon manufacturing department, and Hong Fu of the Jinhaihong family is the owner."

Wang Wenhan replied.

"Oh, so after all this, this company is actually owned by Hong Fan?"

Zhu Leshan sneered a few times, thinking it was ridiculous. He never expected that Hong Fan had such power.

"The supervisor came here to serve as the chief manager, which means that the Equipment Supervisor has shares. You mentioned before that the Shen family's mine was also transferred to their name, so the Shen family may also be involved."

"Okay, very good!"

He tightened his sleeves.

"Hong Fan has always had a good reputation. He must know that the Liangzhou steel business is under the protection of our Tongyun Villa, but he still wants to squeeze in. He probably thinks that relying on the reputation of the Weaponry Supervisor and the Shen family can make us afraid to act rashly?"

"This is an underestimation of my Zhu family!"

Zhu Leshan paced back and forth, becoming angrier as he spoke.

"Hong Fan, ah Hong Fan, you should be thankful that I didn't provoke you, but you come to provoke me? I really should have taught you a lesson!"

"Second Young Master, if the Shen family is still standing behind Tiannanxing, then isn't it..."

Wang Wenhan advised.

"The name of Wanzhang Ningbing is certainly useful in Liangzhou."

Zhu Leshan said coldly.

"But Liangzhou Steel has been our Zhu family's territory for three generations. This is Tiannanxing overstepping the boundaries. Even if they bring trouble to the ancestors of the two families, they are still not in the right."

He said this as a matter of course.

Some time ago, Zhu Leshan had just emptied out all the money he could get and collected 50,000 taels to buy the blue dragon specimen from the Liu family.

I thought everything was ready and just needed time to pass faster, but I didn't expect to suddenly lose all of Xijing's share - which was equivalent to one-seventh of Tongyun Villa's total turnover.

As things piled up, he lost all his patience.

"I will talk to Master Liu about this matter and ask him to help."

Zhu Leshan made the decision.

"This, Second Young Master, isn't it too ostentatious? With Sixth Master's style, a quick comparison will tell that it was our Tongyun Villa who did it..."

Wang Wenhan hesitated.

"Huh, that's what I want."

Zhu Leshan put his hands behind his back.

"It has come to this, why are you still hiding? I am going to teach them a lesson and force Hong Fan to come and pay my respects to me!"

······
Ten days later, it was November 5th.

It snowed in Xijing for several days.

The back garden of the Qizuojian government office was covered in silver, and an inch-thick ice had formed on the pond.

Hong Fan and Zhuang Liren sat opposite each other in the hexagonal pavilion, brewing tea around the stove, using the slowly released blazing fire essence to block out the winter cold.

Beside the two of them, more than a dozen sparrows, thrushes and white-crowned buntings stood quietly on the wooden railings to keep warm, listening to the sound of the melting snow flowing on the eaves and stone steps.

Outside the pavilion, the ice was covered with a thin layer of snow, and the red of koi fish flashed from time to time under the ice.

The north wind blew up the snow seeds like white sand and swirled around the wall.

“I have two thoughts here.”

Hong Fan pointed to the booklet spread out beside the tea stove. "The first one uses the steam generated by burning coal as vehicle power, and uses steel rails, sleepers, and ballast to lay special tracks, building train transportation lines between cities with amazing carrying capacity."

As Zhuang Liren listened, he flipped through the booklet and saw drawings of disassembled tracks and trains, simplified diagrams of the steam engine's structure, and the original principles of latch couplers and switches.

"The second is to improve the spinning machine and then apply steam power; I don't have many solid ideas in this regard, but I guarantee that the direction is right."

Hong Fan continued.

"In short, I hope to form two teams within the prison to do preliminary research in this area. If the project funds are insufficient, I can provide personal subsidies."

“Preliminary research is fine, but subsidies are not necessary.”

Zhuang Liren closed the booklet and asked.

“How long will it take to get results?”

"We have to wait for Tiannanxing to increase its steel production. I estimate that it will be possible to implement it in five years, and large-scale application will take more than ten years."

Hong Fan answered truthfully.

"Then let's do it. Five years is not a long time, and the state department is not short of money. Besides, you have your name as an endorsement."

Zhuang Liren said with a smile.

Hong Fan also laughed.

The Device Supervision Department has been established for a long time and has always had a strict process for establishing research directions. A project will only receive funding if it is approved at the research and investment meeting.

It is also because of this that officials within the department often have conflicts over resources.

But Hong Fan doesn't have to worry about this problem.

Over the past three years, he has had two art saint pen pals and several big supervisor fans, and his name is well-known in the Jiuzhou Instrument Supervision system. If we only talk about Liangzhou, Hong Fan is a recognized beacon of scientific research and a true immortal who has descended to the earth. As a result, no matter what project it is, as long as his name is signed and submitted to the meeting, it is bound to be approved.

"I have good news for you."

Zhuang Liren carefully put away the booklet and said.

"Mei Chengxue wrote to tell me that the development of mercuric fulminate has made progress and has initially shown the performance you described; but due to the immature preparation process, the purity of the finished product is not high enough. He will try to further optimize it."

Hong Fan was extremely excited when he heard this, and he was eager to get more.

"Mr. Zhuang, did Mr. Mei mention the progress of smokeless propellant?"

he asked.

“There is progress, but not much.”

Zhuang Liren replied.

"As you described earlier, the step of 'using nitric acid to react with cotton fibers to obtain nitrocellulose' was easily accomplished, but this stuff is extremely unstable. It exploded three times in the warehouse in the second half of this year alone. It can't be used as propellant for muskets or cannons at all."

When he said this, he looked at Hong Fan with a rather strange look.

During their more than two years of getting along, Zhuang Liren had witnessed many times the young man's unusually accurate premonition - he clearly didn't know the reaction conditions or the reaction process of a chemical reaction, but he "instinctively" determined that the reaction product could be used for a designated purpose - and after such things happened many times, Hong Fan no longer concealed it, but openly "speculated".

Until now, Zhuang Liren still doesn't understand the source of Hong Fan's knowledge. Considering his identity as a star god, Zhuang Liren doesn't even dare to ask. This is also the reason why many people in the Xijing Instrument Workshop regard Hong Fan as a god.

"Mr. Zhuang, tell Mr. Mei for me that the method of using nitrocellulose must be correct. We should do some processing on it, such as dissolving or gelling it, and then mix it with some kind of stabilizer to get smokeless propellant."

Hong Fan speculated that he was pretending to be normal and seemed unaware of the unusual situation in the pavilion.

Zhuang Liren did not respond immediately.

He sat upright, recalling the man sitting opposite him's brilliant ideas and foresight, and felt that the person who had been chatting and laughing with him was not an ordinary person, but a dragon that descended from the sky, or something similar.

"Hong Fan..."

Zhuang Liren called out unconsciously.

"what happened?"

Hong Fan asked back.

The two of them happened to look at each other, causing Zhuang Liren's heart to tremble invisibly and goose bumps appeared on the back of his neck.

The north wind blew for a while.

Steam continued to billow from the tea stove.

Zhuang Liren picked up the hot tea, held it in his hands for a moment, and drank it all in one gulp.

His pale cheeks flushed.

"Hong Fan, I wanted to say earlier that the long sword you commissioned is almost finished."

Zhuang Liren said, his tone returning to normal.

"That long sword has a hilt in the shape of a lion's head and mouth, so the craftsman named it 'Red-faced Suanni'. Its efficiency in communicating with the innate fire spirit is 40%. Although it is far less efficient than your Mingshen sword, which is 90%, it is definitely a lower-grade earth-level weapon and is worthy of the title of divine weapon."

"I asked the weapons department to use the best materials for this long sword. Including the labor cost, the total cost is six thousand taels. In my opinion, you don't have to pay this money."

Hong Fan was shocked when he heard this: "Duke Zhuang, this is not allowed!"

"Yes, yes! Since I'm exempting you from the six thousand taels, I'll have to earn it back from somewhere else."

Zhuang Liren laughed.

"I treasured the two articles you wrote last year, "Tolerance System" and "Assembly Line". This year, I vigorously promoted them in the state's cement plants. So far, the production capacity has increased by 30%, completely surpassing Hezhou."

"But after all, I am only roughly imitating your theory. Many parts are mechanically copied and pasted, and it is far from perfect."

"Therefore, I and several supervisors hope that you can spare a few days to inspect and guide us, and tailor the work to our needs."

Zhuang Liren said this, and Hong Fan had no choice but to agree.

At this moment, the flock of birds in the pavilion were suddenly startled.

But it was A Nian who led Shen Hong over.

(End of this chapter)