Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 641: Compound Bow
"Erlang, after this incident in the court is over, the world should be at peace, right?" Han Anniang asked softly.

"Almost. Now that the domestic turmoil has almost been quelled, the next step is to rectify the country, clean up the bureaucracy, and develop the economy."

Before Chen Mo could finish his words, Han Anniang asked in surprise, "Then Erlang can stay at home for a longer time this time?"

Han Anniang sat next to Chen Mo. Chen Mo held her soft hand and placed it on his lap. Then he gently stroked the back of her hand and said softly, "This time when I come back, after I preside over the palace examination of the imperial examination, I will take you to the capital. You may stay in the capital for a few days, and then I will go to the Western Regions with Miss Nalan. After returning from the Western Regions, I guess you will not leave the capital for a short time."

As for revenge against Jin Xia, the national strength of the Song Dynasty does not allow it now, and it will take at least a few years of recuperation.

Jin Xia suffered such a big setback last time that he probably won’t be able to start a war in the short term.

"Are we moving to the capital again?" Yi Shiyan continued.

They have moved several times in the past few years.

First, we moved from Pingting County to Longmen County in Yuzhou, and then from Longmen County to Xiangyang, and now we are going to the capital, which is not a far journey.

Chen Mo nodded: "The court can't do without me. Now Ruyan is helping me to take charge. If I stay away from the court, the world may be in chaos again. If I don't move there, I can't live apart from you guys."

The capital is the political center of a country, so it is impossible for Chen Mo to live away from home.

"Then I'd better move over there." Yi Shiyan stuck out her pink little tongue.

Linzhou and Tianchuan are more than a thousand miles apart, and there are no flying vehicles or anything like that in this world, so one can only travel by horse-drawn carriage, which takes at least half a month. The carriage has no shock absorbers, and the official road is full of potholes, so it is bound to be bumpy. So traveling for a long time is a torture.

Unless it is absolutely necessary, no one wants to walk so far, let alone go through the hassle of moving.

"Erlang, when you come back this time, you must take Min'er into her room. Min'er has been waiting for you for a long time." Han Anniang said, she stood up and pulled Song Min in front of Chen Mo and said.

At this moment, the girl's cheeks, which were whiter than snow, blushed as red as clouds. She raised her eyes to glance at the young man in front of her, then lowered her head shyly and called out, "Brother Mo."

Whether it was outsiders or Han Anniang and the others, they all thought Song Min was Chen Mo's woman, and Song Min had been married a long time ago, but she was still young at that time, so Chen Mo did not touch her. In the blink of an eye, Song Min is now 18 years old, and will soon be 19 years old.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Chen Mo pinched her chin and asked her to raise her head. Looking at the little face as white as snow, he recalled the withered and thin face in his mind.

The girl had a good foundation, and after several years of being "raised in wealth", she is now a completely different person from before, and has grown into a graceful and elegant lady.

He stroked the girl's lips with his thumb and said with a smile, "Then let's do it tonight."

As soon as these words were spoken, the girl's crystal clear face seemed to be dripping with water. Her legs slightly came together, and the next moment she felt a little weak, but she did not resist at all. Instead, she felt very sweet. She had been waiting for this moment for several years.

"Listen to Brother Mo." The girl's voice was as soft as a mosquito.

"Husband, we still have Xiaoya." Xiao Yunxi also pulled Xiao Ya, so that Chen Mo would not forget his niece.

"Aunt." Like Song Min, Xiao Ya's pretty little face was also blushing.

Chen Mo glanced at Xiao Ya. He had tasted too many ripe fruits, so it was time to taste some unripe ones so he wouldn't get tired of them. He smiled and said, "Then let's do it tonight."

With his current fighting power, Song Min alone cannot serve him.

"Ah" Song Min and Xiao Ya were startled, then they looked at each other, then hurriedly lowered their heads, their faces turning even redder.

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to come all at once. I'll go to your rooms one by one."

After all, it was the "coming of age ceremony" for the two girls, and Chen Mo did not intend to let them serve him together. He had to give them a good memory.

"By the way, remember to wear clothes from Meiyisi." Chen Mo thought of something and added.

At this moment, all the beauties in the hall blushed slightly, not to mention the two inexperienced girls. They just felt their faces were hot. They didn't say anything, but nodded in tacit understanding.

"Tsk tsk." Xia Zhining, who was taking Chen Nuo and Chen You with her, smacked her lips twice, and then said coldly: "Sister gave birth to twins for you, so the position of the princess must belong to sister."

"Zhi Ning, what are you talking about?" Xia Zhiqing's pretty face changed slightly, and she quickly stood up and wanted to pull Xia Zhining away. She wondered why she said this at this time. There were only two concubines, and there were so many girls in the backyard. Wouldn't this offend people?

As expected, the smiles on the girls' faces faded and they all looked at Chen Mo.

The position of princess is undisputed, but who among them doesn't want to be concubine?

"I didn't say anything nonsense. You gave birth to two children for him, and raised them with great difficulty. He was away from home all day, and it was so hard. As a concubine, you must be my sister."

There is one more thing Xia Zhining didn't say. We two sisters have given our love to him. Can't we get the position of concubine in return?

"Zhi Ning." Xia Zhiqing's snow-white face turned red with anger.

Chen Mo's face froze for a moment. To be honest, he hadn't thought about this yet. After all, what he wanted was the throne. The King of Wei was just a transition for now. It was meaningless to consider who would be the concubine.

"What's there to argue about? You all are." Chen Mo said.

Although this is a bit against the rules, the rules are only made for ordinary people. For Chen Mo, it is nothing more than adding a few positions for concubines. They are all concubines anyway, and it just sounds better when said so.

"Is this a big deal?" Xia Zhining muttered. Originally there were only two of them, but now there are all of them. She suddenly lost the sense of superiority in her status, but she also knew that talking about this at this time would put her sister in the spotlight, and it would not be good to continue to care about it.

The other girls didn't have any objections. After all, this was something you had and I didn't have. Now that you have it, there's no need to worry about it anymore.

Chen Mo did not dwell on this topic any longer. He took out a letter from his arms and asked Han Anniang next to him to pass it to Chu Juan, saying, "Juan'er, this is a letter your mother wrote to you."

Chu Juan took the unopened letter, her heart skipped a beat for some reason, her eyes reddened: "Husband, my mother?"

Chu Juan thought her mother was no longer alive.

"She's fine." Chen Mo said.

"Then why doesn't she come to see me?"

"She is afraid of causing us unnecessary misunderstandings and troubles. She is now in the Li family's ancestral home. If you miss her, you can go see her on the way to the capital." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Misunderstanding?" Chu Juan was stunned at first, then she understood, and her eyes couldn't help but look at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo smiled and said, "Don't worry, she and I are innocent."

Hearing this, Chu Juan breathed a sigh of relief and immediately opened the envelope to read.

The child was still there, so Chen Mo didn't act rashly. He asked, "When I was talking about Yang Qingqing just now, I saw that your faces were not right. What happened?"

Chen Mo had not asked about Nalan Yi's presence before, but now he had to find out more. "She is so rude, she has no manners at all, and she even kept the big insect she brought from Shufu in the yard, and used it to scare us." Yi Shiyan snorted in anger.

"Sister Xiaolu is right. She was disrespectful to Sister Mi and talked back to her many times." Nangong Ru said.

"Recently, she has been playing the pipa every night, making it so noisy that we can't even sleep well."

Although the girls felt that it was not nice to speak ill of others behind their backs, they were really unhappy with Yang Qingqing's behavior.

Among them, except Han Anniang and Song Min, who doesn't have a good family background? It's okay once or twice, but over a long period of time, who will spoil you.

Chen Mo frowned. If only one or two people said it, then it could only be said that it was a personal conflict. But since all the girls had opinions about Yang Qingqing, then it could only be said that there was something wrong with Yang Qingqing. After all, the girls were not bad-hearted, so there was no need to unite to frame one person.

Chen Mo looked at Wu Mi again, wanting to know her opinion.

"Sister Qingqing is indeed a little spoiled." Wu Mi did not say it too directly.

Chen Mo frowned even more tightly. Even Wu Mi said so. It seemed that Yang Qingqing had angered everyone.

"Don't worry, leave this matter to me." Chen Mo's backyard has always been harmonious, and he doesn't want Yang Qingqing to destroy this harmony.

If it really doesn't work out, he doesn't mind divorcing the other party.

"Husband, be gentler." Wu Mi said.

As soon as Chen Mo nodded, a maid walked in quickly and said, "Your Majesty, there is a man named Bai Quanmin outside the palace who wants to see you. He said that you asked him to come."

"That's right." Chen Mo stood up and said, "Take him to the study. I'll be there soon."

"Yes." said the maid.

Chen Mo looked at Nangong Ru again: "Ruru, your father-in-law is also in Xiangyang, you and your daughter can have a good chat later."

His eyes then turned to Wu Mi: "Mi'er, my brother-in-law is here too. He wants to see you and Jia'er."

Nangong Ru and Wu Mi both showed delighted expressions, especially Wu Mi. Since she married into the Chen family, she had not returned home once. It was not that she was unfilial, but that the world was not peaceful and safe.

……

study.

"Your humble servant greets the prince." Bai Quanmin saluted Chen Mo.

"No gift."

Chen Mo raised his hand, looked at the crossbow in his hand, and said, "This is the compound bow that the king asked you to make."

"Exactly."

Bai Quanmin handed the composite bow to Chen Mo with both hands, and then he described the production steps and materials of the bow. Finally, he said with a smile: "Your Highness is truly a god. This bow is extremely powerful. Even an ordinary person can shoot through armor within ten steps. It is more powerful than the divine arm crossbow, and the production cost is only half of that of the divine arm crossbow. If the quantity is large, the cost can even be reduced."

Chen Mo looked at it carefully, then picked it up and pulled it to test the quality and weight, then took out an arrow from the quiver in the study and walked out of the study.

Bai Quanmin hurried to follow.

Chen Mo came to the yard outside the study and looked at the locust tree less than ten steps away from him. Chen Mo took a few steps back and then started shooting arrows and pulling the string.

The pulley mechanical principle of the compound bow allows Chen Mo to pull the bowstring very easily, but can generate greater force.

After seeing that there was no problem with the pulley, Chen Mo aimed at the trunk of a locust tree not far away. He did not use his innate spiritual energy, nor did he activate the Sun-Shooting Arrow for assistance. He even only mobilized one level of his physical strength.

After a few breaths, as Chen Mo loosened his fingers, the arrow shot out steadily. In the blink of an eye, a dull "bang" sound was heard, and the arrow hit the locust tree. Half of the arrow was embedded in the trunk, and the locust tree shook off a few green leaves.

"Good, Your Majesty, you have a great archery skill!" Bai Quanmin was the first to cheer.

Chen Mo was also very satisfied, but after all, his strength was there. Even if he was suppressed, he had his own strength added and could not fully demonstrate the power of the compound bow. So Chen Mo asked Bai Quanmin to give it a try.

He also had someone bring a set of iron armor and tied it to the trunk of the locust tree, saying, "Aim at the armor's heart guard and shoot."

Bai Quanmin was just an ordinary person, and his archery skills were not very advanced. He shot three arrows in a row but missed the target. With the fourth arrow, he barely hit the target. The arrow went straight through the armor, and the tip of the arrow sank into the tree trunk behind the armor.

"Good." Chen Mo applauded.

The compound bow is only strong when used by ordinary people, and that is the real strength of it.

Chen Mo patted Bai Quanmin on the shoulder and said, "Chief Engineer Bai, you really gave me a big surprise."

You know, the compound bow that Chen Mo is holding now is the initial version. It has not undergone any optimization, but it can show such impressive power. It can be seen that Bai Quanmin's craftsmanship is top-notch.

"It's all thanks to His Majesty. Without His Majesty's drawings, I wouldn't be able to make such a strong bow." Bai Quanmin did not dare to take credit for it.

"Hey." Chen Mo waved his hand and said, "This king is clear about rewards and punishments. Those who have made contributions must be rewarded. Chief Engineer Bai, there is no need to refuse. This king has decided to appoint you as the deputy prime minister of the Suzaku Guard, and you will enjoy the salary of a seventh-rank official."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Bai Quanmin said excitedly.

The deputy chancellor is the third in command of the Suzaku Guard. Above him are the chancellor, Tian Sheng, who is in charge of firearms manufacturing, and Xia Zhining, who is in charge of all the guards.

"You don't need to thank me, your Majesty. This is what you deserve."

Chen Mo returned to the study and told Bai Quanmin that there were still several areas that needed improvement in the compound bow. Once these areas were improved, they could be produced in large quantities.

According to Bai Quanmin, the production cycle of a Fugong bow is much shorter than that of the Shenbi crossbow.

……

Just as Bai Quanmin left, Sun Meng came over and reported, "Your Majesty, there are two people who claim to be your disciples and want to see you."

"My disciple?" Chen Mo was stunned, his brain didn't react for a moment.

When Sun Meng said that one of them was Guo Ning, the top scorer in this imperial examination, Chen Mo suddenly realized.

This imperial examination has nothing to do with the imperial court. The provincial examination, the metropolitan examination and even the subsequent palace examination are all held in his territory. So the candidates who are on the list must be his disciples, right?

(End of this chapter)