nucmednet Chapter 359 A group of trash
Chapter 359 A group of trash
The officials ran back to the yamen in a sorry state.
When Magistrate Hu saw them return one by one with bruises and swelling on their faces, he thought he had seen wrong.
They thought sending a few officers would be enough to capture the man, but instead they didn't bring him back and even got a beating from him.
"Snapped-"
Enraged, Magistrate Hu slammed his hand on the table.
"This is outrageous! These people even dare to beat up government officials. They are truly lawless."
He's always been the one who has to watch his face, and this is the first time someone has dared to openly cause trouble on his turf.
Openly assaulting government officials is nothing short of a blatant provocation, clearly showing a lack of respect for the county magistrate.
It seems he has no choice but to go there himself. How dare they cause trouble on his turf? He wants to see just who they are and how they behave so arrogantly.
Upon learning that Magistrate Hu had sent Constable Liu to the inn to arrest someone early in the morning, Hu Guangyan also got up early and arrived at the yamen to wait.
Thinking that once Officer Liu brought them back, he could give them a good beating as soon as possible to vent his anger over being beaten last night.
To everyone's surprise, instead of catching the person, they all ended up in a sorry state.
Some people's faces were even more swollen than when they were beaten up the night before.
These officials usually flaunt their fathers' names and act all high and mighty, but when it really matters, they're utterly useless.
What a bunch of rubbish.
"Dad, I'll go with you."
Magistrate Hu summoned another group of officials from the county office to go to the inn to arrest people.
This time, the number of people he brought was twice that of Liu's group; he brought almost all the officials and constables from the county government.
Considering that the other party had highly skilled guards, Magistrate Hu wanted to use his numerical advantage to intimidate them.
But when he arrived at the inn with a large group of soldiers, he found it empty.
He was immediately dumbfounded.
The innkeeper said that the guests checked out and left shortly after the officials left.
"Good! These people must have known they'd be punished for assaulting the officials, so they packed up and left right afterward." Magistrate Hu glared at Constable Liu. "Why didn't you leave someone behind to keep an eye on them? Now you don't even know they've left. You're utterly useless."
Liu, the head constable, touched his bruised and swollen eye, looking aggrieved. He had been so flustered after being severely beaten that he hadn't thought to leave someone to keep watch! He was only concerned with escaping as quickly as possible.
Officer Liu squinted and said cautiously, "My lord, please calm down. It was...it was my fault for not doing my job properly."
These people must have been scared to leave in such a hurry.
Hu Guangyan asked, "Father, should we send someone to chase after them? There are two women with them, traveling in a carriage. They must not have gone far."
Magistrate Hu stroked his chin, deep in thought: He was in charge of everything in Shixi County, but once he left Shixi County, the outside world was no longer his territory...
Xiao Han and his group had already left Shixi County and were on their way back to the capital.
Just after the officials were thrown out of the inn, people from the capital arrived.
Since it was important business, they dared not delay, and after packing their bags, the group set off back to the capital.
Previously, after receiving the crossbow blueprints and forging steps provided by Xiao Han, Minister Han of the Ministry of Works dared not be negligent and immediately arranged for his subordinates to begin production.
Even during the Spring Festival, work did not stop. They raced against time to catch up and make up for the time lost.
After adopting the new forging process, the department under the Ministry of Works responsible for forging weapons had successfully produced a batch of highly durable swords before the end of the year.
Ultimately, after rigorous testing and extensive real-world combat trials, it was determined that these weapons met the standards, and their hardness and durability against impacts far exceeded everyone's expectations.
The success of the first batch of weapons boosted everyone's confidence; once they passed inspection, it proved that mass production was possible.
When Minister of Works Han learned that the weapons had passed inspection, he was overjoyed and almost wept. Thus, the problem that had been troubling the Ministry of Works for so long was solved, and his official position was saved.
He didn't get carried away with his triumph, nor did he have time to cheer and celebrate. He kept his joy to himself and immediately began working on mass production.
We wasted a lot of time on trial and error before, so we must hurry up and produce more sophisticated weapons now.
With limited manpower, the Ministry of Works could not rely solely on the Ordnance Bureau to forge weapons.
Lord Han and his colleagues in the Ministry of Works immediately formulated a weapons plan based on military needs and then submitted it to the emperor for approval.
The forging of large quantities of weapons could not be accomplished by a single department; it required the joint assistance of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the garrisons of various prefectures and cities.
The Ministry of War was responsible for registering the quantity of weapons and the subsequent acceptance work. Expenditures needed to be reported to the Ministry of Revenue, and plans for purchasing raw materials such as iron and copper were to be formulated in strict accordance with the material standards stipulated by the imperial court.
Having funding allows for better and faster follow-up work, and prevents us from being hesitant or timid when taking action.
Fortunately, the imperial court's economy has been in good shape in recent years, and the national treasury has always been full, so there is no shortage of funds to forge weapons.
Although the Minister of Revenue was reluctant to part with the money, he knew that forging weapons was a matter of national importance and naturally dared not delay. With Emperor Sukang's approval, the request for funds was issued very readily.
However, when Lord Han went to the Ministry of Revenue to withdraw the silver, Minister He of the Ministry of Revenue still gave him a little trouble.
For no other reason than not wanting Lord Han to have it too easy to take the money.
He needs to understand that the national treasury's silver doesn't come easily; it can't be spent indiscriminately, so it must be used sparingly and only where it's truly needed.
Lord Han retorted, "Isn't he spending his money wisely?"
Well, I have to put it this way! Lord He just doesn't feel right if he doesn't bicker with Old Han.
The two bickered for a while as usual before Lord He leisurely handed the note he had already approved to Lord Han.
With Emperor Sukang's permission, once the silver was received, the Ministry of Works would distribute the latest forging steps and blueprints for weapons to other prefectures that assisted in forging the weapons, based on military needs, for mass production.
Other local prefectures were responsible for providing assistance, and the weapons workshops of each garrison were jointly supervised and provided with technical guidance by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War.
Most of the crossbow blueprints provided by Long Chuqing cannot be manufactured at present.
The manufacturing process of most crossbows is somewhat complicated, though not extremely complicated. After all, once the blueprints are available, everything is not difficult for the craftsmen; the only challenge lies in the time required.
For example, in some composite crossbows, the process of gluing multiple layers of the crossbow body is not to be taken lightly. The gluing process requires a lot of time to air dry, at least three to six months, and the drying process cannot be skipped.
If this step is not done properly, the crossbow will easily crack and break, greatly reducing its lifespan.
Therefore, it takes a long time to make a good crossbow.