The gate to enter the arsenal is embedded in a boulder overgrown with vines. From a distance, it is all one, and there is no trace at all.

When the Zhan guard bent down and vigorously moved a stone under the vine. There was a loud noise all over the hillside, and then I saw the boulder roar, and countless pieces of rubble and dust fell. After a moment of shaking, a long bar of stone stood out from the boulder, and then after a while, the bar was recessed through the middle.

After the boulder was completely sunken in, on both sides of the two-meter-deep depression, the entrances of two black holes appeared in front of you. The entire depression is regular and flat, as if it were cut by a knife. The vines hanging down at the doorway covered the winding stone door.

In that door, there were soldiers in full uniform, with bows drawn and facing outward, as if they were facing a great enemy. The cold arrows were aimed at the crowd outside. In this dim tunnel, it is particularly cold. It's creepy.

It's just that after seeing Wu Ningyuan and Zhan's guards outside, these soldiers hurriedly put away their arrows, saluted respectfully, and retreated to the sides.

"Your Majesty, please!" Wu Ningyuan lifted the thick vines that stood in front of him, like a curtain, pointed to the steps leading to the ground, and said to the emperor.

The Emperor raised his head and glanced at the natural stone door, smiled and nodded, and walked in first. The rest of the people waited for the fish to enter.

When the door at the back closed, the tunnel suddenly became pitch black. However, it didn't take long for soldiers to light the torches on both sides of the passage. In the faint light of the fire, the tunnel looked strange and cold.

"How much money did you spend to build this underground fortress?" Along the way, the emperor looked at the neat brick cracks in this passage and couldn't help but be surprised: "Also, when did you start building it?" ”

Wu Ningyuan smiled, shook his head and said: "Actually, it only cost more than a hundred silver, and after cleaning it, this underground palace is already there!" ”

"Oh?" The emperor turned his head, looked at Wu Ningyuan, and asked puzzledly, "Why is this?" ”

Wu Ningyuan pointed to the passage as he walked, and said, "Here, it was originally the tomb of the Yuwen family of the Sui Dynasty. Later, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the Yuwen family was also scattered by the war and scattered all over the place. Later, this ancient tomb was gradually forgotten! We also stumbled upon it! ”

"So, you're going to use it?" When the emperor heard this, he looked at Wu Ningyuan with tears and laughter. This emperor deserves it, and in the end he even did the thing of robbing the tomb, I really don't know what it will be laughed at by future generations.

However, fortunately, it was Wu Ningyuan who did this, and he also gave the order. It has nothing to do with me.

However, before the emperor could be happy for a moment, he heard Wu Ningyuan nod and say, "Yes, originally, there was an old man guarding the tomb here, who refused to let us in." In desperation, we had to say that we had been ordered to build the emperor's palace here, and then gave the old man some silver taels, which could be regarded as being able to enter the ancient tomb! ”

Wu Ningyuan shook his head and smiled bitterly as he spoke. Obviously, thinking of the painful memory at that time, his expression seemed helpless.

It's just that he walked there and talked, but he didn't notice the emperor's expression, it was not just black, his face was as black as carbon.

"You say, 'You have been given a holy decree?' The Emperor asked through gritted teeth, his teeth creaking. "And, you told the old man?"

"yes, otherwise how would we get in, would it be true that we are going to be the grave robbers?" Wu Ningyuan looked curiously at the emperor with an unclear face in the dark passage, and said with a puzzled expression. After thinking about it, Wu Ningyuan couldn't help but shudder, then shook his head and said with a smile: "That's so embarrassing!" ”

"Besides, we have always said that we did it by order to close the mountain here, and now it is normal to pull the tiger skin and pull the banner again!" Wu Ningyuan said seriously, thinking that it should be like this. Obviously, the old man didn't realize the seriousness of the matter, at least in the emperor's heart, he was very unhappy and serious.

"Then why do you say that I want to build a palace here?" The emperor held back his anger and asked through gritted teeth, "Am I so much like a profligate and mediocre emperor?" ”

"Definitely!" At the critical moment, Wu Ningyuan played the means of dragging the text. Rubbing his beard and shaking his head. Then he said with a mysterious face: "This is a plan to attack the east and west, and hide from the sky and cross the sea!" ”

Emperor: "......"

A moment later, a roar of grief erupted in the dim and deep passage.

"Wu Ningyuan, Lao Tzu fought with you!"

As soon as these words came out, the momentum shook the sky, and the sky was dark, and the earth shook.

…… finally appeased the angry emperor, but along the way, the emperor's babbling words made everyone's ears feel like there were 10,000 flies flying.

"A lifetime of fame, ruined!"

Saying this all the way, and the echo in the passage was very loud, and the noise was as loud as a fight.

This state lasted until after exiting the passage and entering the center of the arsenal, and came to an abrupt end.

What greeted me was a huge open area, from the ground to the top of the cave, as high as a hundred feet. When I looked up, although there was a fire, I could only see that it was pitch black, and only the sound of tinkling water fell, like a hollow valley and a deep spring.

The entire hall is a kilometer radius. into an irregular circle. All around, there are rocks inside the mountain. In the light of the fire, there was a dim light. The hall is divided into several floors. The bottom floor seems to be a blacksmith or something. In the center of the hall, there is the shape of a tower made of wood dozens of meters high. If you look closely, you can see that this wooden tower is actually a vertical lifting passage. Under the tower, dozens or hundreds of laborers, ** their bodies, sent the strange components to the large frame in the wooden tower. And as one of them gestured, he saw the wooden frame creak upwards.

When they reached the second layer, which was filled with all kinds of refined steel, someone took the iron products of various shapes. Then the second processing begins.

And so on and so forth, with a total of five floors. Each layer is responsible for a part of it. Until the top floor, after the weapons were integrated, they were sent out directly through the passage above, and the weapons were transported to the secret place by a special person guarding the outside.

Looking at this smooth operation, the emperor, who had been depressed, suddenly lit up his eyes. Pointing to the dozens of up and down lifting passages, he turned his head and looked at Wu Ningyuan and said, "This kind of operation method is novel." It saves time, speeds up efficiency, and ......"

The emperor groped his chin and smiled, looking at the handles of officers and soldiers at the sealing layer, his eyes flashed and he smiled: "Moreover, each layer is responsible for a part, and it will not leak secrets!" What a trick! ”

"This is what Yongzheng came up with, and the old man just copied it." Wu Ningyuan laughed loudly, pointed to Lu Heng, who had already walked down, and saw that he was holding a piece of refined steel in his hand, and asked the blacksmith. Pulling the emperor down, he said with a smile: "He said, this is called an assembly line!" ”

"Well, the whole process is smooth, and the assembly line is one, which is reasonable!" The Emperor nodded, carefully stepped on the steps, and walked down.

At first, when the courtiers saw the drawing, they were also very puzzled. However, when these workers have been running in for a while, the efficiency of manufacturing, heh, ......" Wu Ningyuan was speechless, and his face was amazed.

"How?" The emperor was quite interested, and hurriedly asked.

"It's improved more than thirty times!" Wu Ningyuan stretched out three fingers and said excitedly.

"Thirty times?" When the emperor heard this, he was shocked.

"Well, that's the efficiency after the extremely rigorous review process!" When Wu Ningyuan heard the report, he was even more surprised than the emperor at this time. Therefore, seeing that the imperial brother looked like this, he nodded and smiled, and did not take the opportunity to ridicule the emperor for being rare and strange.

"Audits are rigorous?" When the emperor heard Wu Ningyuan talk about the audit again, he had a wry smile on his face. He asked.

"Yes, the previous review process was already very strict!" Wu Ningyuan shook his head and said with a smile, then pointed down, frowned, looked at Lu Heng who was holding the iron in his hand, and pouted: "Well, since he came last time, the audit has been more stringent." Many weapons that have been formed have been rejected by him with a shake of their heads, and they have returned to the furnace! ”

"Haha!" Seeing Wu Ningyuan's helpless and bitter smile, the emperor couldn't help laughing. Looking down there, not far away, the scholar who seemed to be very dissatisfied with the steel in his hand, thought about it and said with a smile: "It's a good thing to be stricter." However, as the saying goes, too much. When the water is clear, there are no fish! ”

"If you are cheap, you are invincible!" Wu Ningyuan, who was nodding and listening to the emperor's lecture, heard what the emperor said that if the water is clear, there will be no fish, his head was a little way, and he answered by the way.

"Huh?" The emperor was pondering in his heart, but he was unexpectedly squeezed by the eighth brother. Suddenly, his face sank, he turned his head, and looked at Wu Ningyuan with unkind eyes. "Oh no! Wu Ningyuan was deeply speechless, smiled and waved his hand to explain. Seeing that the imperial brother's face was a little pale, he said with a smile: "At that time, the younger brother also told Lu Heng about it. But, he said! ”

"If you have something to say, let it go!" Seeing Wu Ningyuan's cautious appearance, the emperor waved his hand impatiently and scolded: "What did he say?" ”

After recalling the conversation between him and Lu Heng, the smile on Wu Ningyuan's face was also put away, replaced by a serious face, looking at the scholar below, he sighed, and said with respect in his eyes: "He said that when these weapons are on the battlefield, they are the second life of the soldiers." At this time, it is harsh, so that more soldiers can survive! If, because of the carelessness when manufacturing weapons. And if you kill the soldiers on the battlefield, then ......"

Wu Ningyuan looked at the emperor with a solemn face, and said in a deep voice: "Then we are all sinners of the country!" ”

Hearing this, the smile on the emperor's face was also put away. Turning his head, he looked downstairs, and the scholar who was discussing things with the blacksmith was silent in his heart.

…… At this time, Lu Heng held a piece of steel that had just been built in his hand, looked at it carefully, and then weighed it again, which seemed to be far from what he thought.

"This is the best steel?" After Lu Heng threw away the piece of iron, he clapped his hands and asked the groveling blacksmith in front of him.

"Yes, my lord, this is already a thousand tempers!" The blacksmith was an old man, and his tendons and flesh did not look thin at all. On the hand of the tiger's mouth, there is a thick callus. Apparently a master.

"And a new stove!" The old man turned his head, pointed to the strange blast furnace, and said with a smile: "Compared with the previous steel, it is much harder to refine now!" ”

Hearing this, Lu Heng nodded and let him go.

Looking at the black piece of iron on the ground with potholes on it, Lu Heng frowned and said to himself: "If it's a firearm, the toughness is still not enough!" ”

Because the temperature is not enough? Is it because there are no other metals added?

For steelmaking, Lu Heng also knows very little. So, at the beginning, I only made one or two suggestions. About the blast furnace, about the mixed metals. In others, because they are not professional, if they mention it, it will make people confused. So, nothing more was said.

However, at this time, when I saw the finished steel, I felt that there was too much difference. Therefore, I was a little disappointed.

"What's wrong, this steel is not good?" After Wu Ningyuan walked down, he bent down and picked up the palm-sized piece of iron from the ground, took a look, and asked with a smile.

"It's not bad, it's just ......" Looking at the sweaty appearance of the craftsmen, Lu Heng couldn't bear to say anything ugly.

Just as he was thinking about words, he glanced at it, but saw two big men carrying a frame and walking in front of him. And in that frame, the long strips of steel shimmered with silver-gray light.

Yes, that's it!

Lu Heng's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly spoke up, making the two strong men stop.

After walking over, he picked up a steel bar from the frame and weighed it in his hand, which was heavy and full of weight. Hold both ends with both hands and bend firmly. With a snap, the steel that had been bent into an arc straightened in an instant.

What a tough surname!

Lu Heng praised in his heart, put the steel bar into the wooden frame, clapped his hands, and asked the strong man who was a little at a loss with a smile: "Who made these things?" ”

"Back to the adult, this is, it was beaten by a dog!" A strong man timidly lowered his head and whispered.

"Where is he?" Lu Heng smiled and asked.

"If you go back to adulthood, that's a dog!" The strong man turned around, pointed to a strong man wielding a sledgehammer in the corner, and whispered.

"Hmm!" Lu Heng's eyes lit up when he saw the big man called the dog, sprinkling a handful of powder on the red iron bar from time to time. With a wave of his hand, let the two strong men go down.

"Let's go, let's take a look!" Lu Heng seemed to understand something in his heart, turned his head, and said to the emperor and Wu Ning Yuanxing.

The strong man who struck iron was suddenly frightened when he saw a group of high-ranking officials coming towards him. He threw the sledgehammer aside, pulled his apprentice, and straightened his clothes. It's just that, because of the upper body, there are no clothes to tidy up. The two of them smiled apprehensively and casually touched two handfuls on their bellies.

Zhan Xiong saw the strong man smirking with a blank look. He chuckled in his heart, turned his head, smiled awkwardly at the emperor and the others, and then walked over, hammered the strong man, lowered his voice and reprimanded: "You still don't salute when you see Your Majesty?" ”

Your Majesty?

The strong man nodded blankly, and when he saw the old man standing in the center of the crowd with eyes like electricity, the strong man was shocked.

Your Majesty, then, isn't that the emperor?

After thinking about it, the strong man was so frightened that his legs were weak. Pulling the apprentice who was still dazed, he knelt on the ground with a thud, and said tremblingly: "Minister, oh no, it's not a ......."

I didn't know how to call myself, and for a while the strong man was so anxious that he was about to cry.

You must know that if you claim to yourself indiscriminately, you will not be able to cure yourself for the crime of disrespect. The strong man was frightened in his heart, and hurriedly turned his attention for help to Zhanxiong, who had a good relationship with everyone in Pingyueli.

"Grass people!" The corners of Zhanxiong's mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, oh!

After hearing Zhanxiong's code, the strong man suddenly suddenly kowtowed, and hurriedly kowtowed: "Grass people dogs, I've seen Your Majesty!" ”

"Alright, alright, get up!" The emperor is in a good mood today, well, except that he has just been yin by Wu Ning. At this time, seeing the strong man's Shanxi accent and terrified appearance, the emperor laughed out loud and waved his hand to let him get up.

When the emperor Lao'er finished enjoying the worship of others and was proud of self-pity, Lu Heng smiled, reached out to pick up the beaten steel bar, stretched out his hand to play it, and asked in surprise: "You, how did you build it?" ”

"This ......" listened to this showman, and asked directly about the secret recipe, and the dog looked embarrassed. This is a guy who eats by himself, once he says it, how will he live in the future.

"Dog, why are you so ignorant of lifting?" On the side, Zhanxiong scolded angrily. After following the military advisor for so long, he has never seen a military advisor who can make his own people suffer. At this time, when I saw this old buckle in Shanxi, I was suddenly angry.

Lu Heng smiled and waved his hand to stop Zhanxiong's madness. He took the steel bar and flicked it, listening to the cheerful soft sound of the steel bar. Lu Heng smiled with satisfaction, put down the steel bar, looked at the dog and said, "Well, don't worry, I don't know how to ask you in vain." As long as you say it, from now on, you will be the supervisor of this level, and besides, the emperor will give you an official position! ”

As for the officials, Lu Heng can't be the master. So, he pushed this problem aside, and he was still with the narcissistic emperor.

"Oh, ah, yes!" The emperor was a little overwhelmed for a while, and after hearing Wu Ningyuan's relay, the emperor quickly recovered his expression, and after coughing, he made a god-like generosity. Nodding his head, he said: "Yes, as long as you teach the people here to strike iron, cough cough, I will give you a six, uh, seven, no, it is an eight-grade official!" ”

After saying this, the emperor glared at Lu Heng angrily, obviously blaming him for not consulting with himself, so he made his own opinion!

"Eight pins?" Listening to the emperor's words, the blacksmith was stunned.

Mother, Bapin, isn't that bigger than the county master?

On the side, Lu Heng and Wu Ningyuan couldn't help but pout when they heard the emperor's words and the three changes in their official positions.

Really slam the door, despise it!

(To be continued)