serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 51
It was already dark, and the Ning'an Hall was deserted.

Under the lamp, Youshi sat on a chair and waited for Jia Hu.

A group of daughters-in-law and maids surrounded Qin and came in from the door.

As she walked, Qin said: "The garden has been tidied up, and the banquet will be held in Tianxiang Tower. Now the scenery of the garden is just right, and there is no need to hire a troupe. Let's enjoy the scenery while having wine. It's elegant and comfortable."

The mother-in-law came over with tea.

Qin Keqing offered the tea to Youshi with her own hands.

Youshi came back to his senses: "Yeah." Then he glanced at Qin Keqing who had just sat down, "You've lost a lot of weight."

Qin Keqing: "The daughter-in-law is in good health. However, the mother is much more haggard."

Youshi: "Did Rong'er send you a letter?"

"No." Qin Keqing lowered her eyes.

You Shi sighed softly, suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps, and the servant girl came in and said, "Second Master has returned to the residence!"

Qin Keqing: "Dinner is prepared in the small kitchen."

Youshi: "Then bring it here."

"Yes." Qin Keqing agreed, and led her daughter-in-law and maid out of You's courtyard.

After a while, Jia Hu walked in wearily, and You Shi went up to meet him, "Second Uncle is back."

Jia Hu sighed: "Sister-in-law doesn't have to be like this."

You Shi smiled: "I have something to discuss with Second Uncle."

Jia Hu: "Oh?"

The eldest maid Yindie came over with tea.

You Shi held the tea to Jia Hu himself.

Jia Hu took the tea with both hands, "Sister-in-law, please sit down."

You Shi laughed and said: "Today, the old lady invited the host, and heard that there is no maidservant around Second Uncle, so she said that she would transfer Amber to Second Uncle."

Jia Hu was surprised: "Hey! I can enjoy the same treatment as Phoenix?!"

Everyone was startled for a moment, and then they started laughing when they came to their senses!
You Shi: "What are you doing, making a lot of noise, and there are no rules or rules." As he spoke, he covered his mouth and laughed again.

Yindie and the others all laughed out loud.

At this time, Qin Keqing walked to the door, was stunned for a moment, and walked in lightly: "Second Uncle."

Jia Hu put down the tea bowl, and just responded habitually: "Yes."

Seeing it, You Shi said to Qin Shi: "Bring in the dinner."

Qin: "Yes. Bring the dinner in."

Several women came in with food boxes in their hands, put a bowl of rice, four dishes and a bowl of soup on the round table in front of Jia Hu, and then backed out.

Qin Keqing gave Jia Hu a pair of bamboo chopsticks that had just been scalded with boiling water.

Jia Hu waved his hand, "I've already had dinner at the Ministry of War." After a pause, he said to Qin Keqing, "It's getting late, go and rest. I have something to talk to your mother about."

Qin Keqing forced a smile: "Yes." She gave Youshi a little blessing, bowed and retreated.

Youshi: "Second Uncle."

Jia Hu raised his hand, "I just discussed the military training at the Ministry of War, and I'm going to get busy soon, and my sister-in-law is worrying about family affairs."

You Shi nodded, recalled Daiyu's matter again, and asked: "Miss Ming'er will be hosting guests at Tianxianglou, Second Uncle won't go out."

Jia Hu: "Oh?"

You Shi laughed and said: "The Lin family brought some Suzhou soil rituals to the elder girl, the third girl and the elder girl made a fuss, clamoring for a treat for the elder girl, the old lady was also happy, and the eldest girl agreed.

The elder master and the elder lady from the second elder master went to invite them in person, but they all said that everyone was stiff and uncomfortable, and they only drank the tea served by the eldest daughter and refused to come.

It just so happened that several places in the garden were blooming, so I'll take a stroll around tomorrow and then serve wine in the afternoon. "

Hearing this, Jia Hu said, "I'm bothering my sister-in-law again. Tomorrow, I'm going to the Military Weapons Bureau, and I'll come back when I'm done."

After a pause, "Don't wait for me!"

Youshi: "Yes." After hesitating for a while, he said again: "The eldest girl gave the second uncle a Su fan, and the second uncle should prepare a gift in return."

Jia Hu was taken aback.

Seeing that Jia Hu was in a daze, You Shi hurriedly smiled and said, "It would be great if Second Uncle could come to the banquet."

Only then did Jia Hu come back to his senses, smiled and nodded, suddenly remembered something, and said: "If my sister-in-law is bored, she can bring her mother and sister to live for a while, and talk and laugh to relieve fatigue."

As soon as this remark came out, You Shi was overjoyed.

Jia Hu stood up, cupped his hands slightly, and said: "It's getting late, I'll go back to rest first." Then, he strode towards the backyard.

Yindie: "Grandma?"

You Shi: "Yeah." Looking at the food on the table, "Send it to Mr. Jiao, and say that the second master rewarded him."

Yindie: "Yes." Hastily beckoned the mother-in-law to come in and tidy up.

Jia Hu lives in the main hall of Ningguo Mansion. Jia Zhen used to live in You's Courtyard on the east side of Ning'an Hall. A woman led the way with a lantern. Behind the hall is Jia Hu's yard, with five upper rooms on the front and three wing rooms on both sides.

Silent all night.

In the early morning of the next day, a group of cavalry escorted Jia Hu's carriage out of Ningrong Street and headed for the Weapons Bureau.

The Weapons Bureau is located in the southwest corner of the inner city, which was the former Gunpowder Bureau, supervised by internal officials.

Arms Bureau, in the duty room.

The head eunuch looked down at the account book with his head down.

The eunuch in charge led several officials in.

The eunuch in charge walked up to the chief eunuch and said softly, "Godfather, Mr. Jia from Ningguo Mansion has arrived at Xuanwumen Street, would you like to pick him up?"

The eunuch didn't raise his head: "You can just take them to pick them up, and just say that I'm not feeling well, so I didn't come today." He continued to flip through the account books as usual.

"Yes." The eunuch in charge led the officials back out.

The Weapons Bureau is very important, and it is strictly guarded by the imperial army. There are several gates. After passing the second gate, Jia Hu can only ride forward under the guard of four personal soldiers.

Along the way, I encountered several convoys delivering materials to the Armaments Bureau. However, no one came forward to check these tightly covered carriages, even those that were going out. The driver nodded and was let go.

Outside the gate, the eunuch in charge led the officials to greet him, "Master Jia, the Military Weapons Department has strict rules, if you are far away from us, you will be offended!"

Gazing at the middle-aged eunuch in blue eunuch's attire, Jia Hu seemed to understand something, but he didn't care. He nodded immediately and got off his horse.

The eunuch in charge had a chrysanthemum-like smile on his face, "Please come inside, uncle!" He said and gave up his hand.

Jia Hu walked in with two soldiers and walked towards the teaching ground.

On the teaching field, the eunuch in charge waved his hand, and the craftsmen immediately carried up the modified self-igniting firecrackers.

Jia Hu picked up a self-igniting blunderbuss, which weighed about seven or eight catties and was more than six feet long.

The eunuch in charge waved his hand again, and a group of guardsmen in full armor came over, picked up the firecrackers to reload the ammunition, and then shot at the target 150 steps away, followed by 180 steps, 220 steps, 230 steps, and [-] steps.

Through clairvoyance, Jia Hu discovered that at a distance of 220 to [-] steps, these self-generating firecrackers are more powerful, thanks to the length of the barrel.

Thinking of this, he asked the eunuch in charge, "How much did it cost?"

The eunuch in charge: "11 taels."

"Why is it so expensive?"

Jia Hu was startled, he had already inquired about it when he was in Yangzhou, and the cost of the Lumi blunderbuss was no more than five taels.

The eunuch in charge was expressionless, and said: "Uncle, I don't know, the barrel of the Lumi blunderbuss is wrapped with iron sheets on several key parts outside the single-layer iron pipe, but this self-generating blunderbuss is wrapped with a whole piece of iron. board, the difficulty is more than doubled."

Jia Hu nodded, and accompanied by the eunuch in charge, he visited various workshops. The craftsmen of the Weapons Bureau still forged the barrel by hand. First, they took a piece of wrought iron and heated it until it was red, and then beat it on a U-shaped metal mold. , It takes a lot of time and physical strength. After continuous beating, the iron pipe is finally formed.

In order to prevent the barrel from bursting, a second layer of iron plate is used to wrap the barrel, that is, the double-layer barrel. Finally, after a long period of beating, all the gaps in the iron pipe disappear, and the size and thickness meet the requirements. Iron pipes need to be shaped to fit on the butt.

After the reshaped iron pipe is cooled, it needs to be machined with a lathe to drill the unevenness in the iron pipe to be very transparent and straight. After a series of tedious operations, a qualified gun barrel is completed.

The most time-consuming and labor-intensive thing is to drill the bore. After asking around, I found that the most skilled craftsmen can only produce three or four qualified barrels every month.

The Military Weapons Bureau is a place where firearms and ammunition are manufactured. For safety, a place of running water was specially brought in. A small river flows through the Military Weapons Bureau, and the water flow is considered urgent. At this time, Jia Hu saw an abandoned The waterwheel suddenly thought of something and strode over.

The eunuch in charge flashed his eyes, turned his head and whispered a few words in the ear of the young eunuch beside him, and the little eunuch walked quickly to the duty room.

Jia Hu was stunned by the sight in front of him. The abandoned water wheel, the broken hammer handle, and the U-shaped metal mold platform that fell to the ground all showed that this place was once a hydraulic forging platform, but why was it abandoned again? ?

Looking at everything in front of him, Jia Hu found that with a little modification, the gun barrel can be drilled with water power instead of manpower. Not only is the efficiency high, but the drilled barrel is straighter.

The eunuch in charge walked up to Jia Hu, cupped his hands, and said, "This was built under the supervision of the former ambassador, and it was discarded later for some reason."

"Oh?" Jia Hu's eyes flashed, he turned around slowly, and asked, "Where's the person?"

"died."

"What about the drawings?"

The eunuch in charge didn't raise his eyes, and just replied flatly: "The warehouse is flooded and burned."

Jia Hu: "What?"

The eunuch in charge still didn't raise his eyes: "It's burned."

The corner of Jia Hu's eye twitched, what a fucking bastard!

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps, and a red-robed eunuch hurried over with several blue-robed eunuchs.

(End of this chapter)