After speaking, Wang Kunjun opened the red silk wrapped outside the glass mirror, took out the mirror, handed it to the eunuch next to him, and handed it to Chai Rong's hand.

Chai Rong took the mirror, subconsciously glanced at the mirror, and then was attracted by the clear portrait reflected above. It was an angular face full of determination and determination. At the same time, it was a face that had experienced vicissitudes and was slightly inadequate. The hard work of his youth, the running and conquest of adulthood, and the state affairs after ascending to the pole not only exercised Chai Rong's character and character, but also damaged his physical health.

In a sense, this is the first time he has seen his facial features so clearly. However, although his face looked a little bad, Chai Rong was a person who refused to admit defeat. In his opinion, although he had a difficult life and poor physical condition when he was young, since his adoptive father Guo Wei became emperor, although he could not eat and dress every day, he was much stronger than when he was young. He firmly believes that he is in his prime now, even if he is slightly ill, as long as he pays attention to recuperation, he will soon recover.

Therefore, after looking at himself in the mirror for a while, Chai Rong no longer thought about his body. He put down the mirror and said, "Wang Kunjun, just now you said that this is called a glass mirror, could it be that it is also made of glass?" ”

"Exactly," replied Wang Kunjun, "the main material of this object is glass, which can be treated with a special process to achieve the effect of light and human recognition, which is far clearer than the bronze mirrors used in Middle-earth." ”

"No wonder this thing is wrapped so carefully, it turns out to be a piece of processed glass," Chai Rong gently tapped the mirror in his hand and said, "It must have taken a lot of effort to transport such an easily broken thing to the capital intact." ”

"Yes," replied Wang Kunjun, "these glass mirrors are the most delicate of all the gifts, and in order to bring them to the capital in their entirety, the grass people and others have indeed thought of a lot of ways. ”

"Is there any military use for this?" Zhao Kuangyin interjected and asked.

"This is no," Wang Kunjun replied truthfully, "There is no difference in function between this object and an ordinary bronze mirror." ”

I heard that these glass mirrors have no other use except for personal shadows, whether it is Chai Rong or Zhao Kuangyin, they can't help but be a little disappointed, and their good impression of Wang Kunjun and others just now has been reduced by a few points. The minister surnamed Zhang next to him was even more full of disdain and disdain, so he almost ordered Wang Kunjun to bring a few things for women with so much effort, just to please the emperor with rare treasures. What's more, for Wang Kunjun and others, glass is not a precious thing at all, and the cost of this mirror is afraid that it will not be high. If I hadn't been asked about the details just now, I am afraid that these mirrors would also be said by them to be priceless things to deceive the officials.

Wang Kunjun could naturally see the subtle changes in the expressions on Chai Rong and the others' faces, and knew that this gift was a little unsuitable for the other party's appetite. After all, Chai Rong was a very frugal emperor and was disgusted by similar extravagant and useless things. However, since the things have been sent out, they can't be collected if they want to recycle them.

So, after a short period of thought, Wang Kunjun decided to try to remedy it, and he Xiangshang said: "Bixia, the grass people know that this glass mirror is just a thing in a woman's boudoir, and it is not of any use in the imperial court. Moreover, the grass people also know that Bixia is a thrifty and does not like luxury. Therefore, the grass people originally did not plan to bring this thing to the capital. But just before leaving, the grass people's insiders found the grass people, saying that she had discussed with the other sisters, and felt that they should not go to Beijing with the grass people this time, but should also give a gift to show their admiration for Bixia and the queen mother. Therefore, they chose these glass mirrors and asked the grass people to bring them to the capital as gifts to Bixia and the queen mother. The grass people couldn't help her, so they had to bring it. ”

Hearing Wang Kunjun say that these mirrors were given to the queen by his wife and other female dependents, and seeing the somewhat helpless expression on his face, Chai Rong knew that this Wang Kunjun was a master who was afraid of his wife. So, Chai Rong said with "sympathy": "Since this is the case, then I will accept this gift on behalf of the queen." ”

Saying that, Chai Rong asked the eunuch to wrap the three mirrors in red silk again, and ordered a little eunuch to hold them on a plate and send them to ** to the queen to see. The little eunuch received the order, carefully carried the plate and left the side hall, and headed towards the dormitory. ,

After sending the little eunuch, the gift display in the side hall reached the third step, Wang Kunjun reached out and took out a horizontal knife from the box, held it with both hands and said: "Bixia, this is the imitation Tang horizontal knife made of stainless steel by the brother of the grass people." ”

These five horizontal knives are the only gifts that Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin and others can name and see. After receiving the horizontal knife from the eunuch's hand, Chai Rong pulled out the knife and took a look at it, and found that although the knife was very particular about materials and workmanship, it could be called a treasure knife, but it was not much different from the things of Middle Earth. Not to mention the armament workshop of the imperial court, even some folk forging masters can make similar swords, far from being like telescopes, which can give people a strong impact and shock. Therefore, after a hurried glance, Chai Rong asked the eunuch to hand the knife to the two ministers, Zhang and Zhao.

The two ministers felt similar to Chai Rong, and felt that this knife had no other special features except for fine workmanship and high-quality materials. Although Zhao Kuangyin thinks that Wang Kunjun and others lack novelty in this gift more and more, and the order of the gift arrangement is also very problematic, it seems that the haode is put in front and the poor is put behind, and he is even a little worried that the next gift of these people will be more difficult to attract attention, but out of politeness, he still praised a few words of "good knife". The minister surnamed Zhang was much more direct than him, not only did not praise him, but insinuated that Wang Kunjun and others "draw a tiger and not become an anti-dog", so that they could make Tang Hengdao out of shape - to say, this is also inevitable. After all, the reference in the hands of the traversers of the material department is only a modern imitation Tang horizontal knife, and the manufacturing process and shape of the horizontal knife in this era have been lost, and the local craftsmen are not able to provide relevant information for the material department, so it is normal for the self-produced horizontal knife to have some gaps with the real product.

Wang Kunjun did not take the ridicule of the minister surnamed Zhang to heart. First, he paid more attention to Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin's perception of his people. Second, he was sure enough that the other party would be shocked again by the gift behind him. Therefore, as if he had not heard the words of the minister surnamed Zhang, he walked to the other box, took out a flintlock pistol from it, held it in both hands, and said: "Bixia, this special weapon and the black powder and lead pellets next to it together are the fourth gift of the grass people-flintlock muskets. ”

The name "flintlock musket" can be said to be unheard of and unseen for Chai Rongjunchen. They really didn't understand how an iron pipe embedded in a wooden stick could be called a gun. I don't understand, how this gun fires, could it be that these former Taoist priests have failed to fire the method.

With these kinds of questions, Chai Rong took the flintlock pistol handed over by the eunuch, and looked up and down for a long time without seeing the reason. Moreover, this time is different from the last time, Wang Kunjun did not show him the method in disguise. Therefore, Chai Rong had to take the initiative to ask: "Wang Kunjun, what kind of instrument is this 'flintlock musket', what is its function, and how to use it?" ”

Wang Kunjun replied: "Qiyu bixia, this 'flintlock musket' is referred to as 'flintlock musket', which was once a commonly used weapon in overseas island countries. It's just that this thing will produce some smoke when used, and if you want to demonstrate its usage and combat effectiveness, you need to go to an open place outside the temple. ”

Hearing that this "new weapon" would produce smoke and could not be demonstrated in the hall, Chai Rongjunchen subconsciously began to think about Taoism. However, before Wang Kunjun unravels the mystery, they can only wait patiently. Therefore, Chai Rong immediately ordered to move outside the hall, and Wang Kunjun and others demonstrated the power of this gun.

And they went out of the main hall and came to an open space in front of the temple. At Wang Kunjun's request, Chai Rong ordered the eunuchs to carry out flintlock pistols, black powder, and lead pellets, and found a few wooden planks that were about one inch high and about an inch thick. Then the brothers of the "delegation" worked together and erected the planks about a hundred meters from the firing position, referring to the effective range of the flintlock pistol.

After setting the target, the eyes of Chai Rongjunchen and the eunuchs and guards all fell on Wang Kunjun, waiting for him to show everyone the power of this so-called "flintlock pistol". It turned out that it was not Wang Kunjun who was in charge of the demonstration, but another person.

This person stepped forward and saluted Chai Rong first: "Bixia, the grass people Zeng Zhilin is ugly." ”

After speaking, Zeng Zhilin took the flintlock pistol from the eunuch's hand, and was very skilled in a series of actions such as clearing, loading and detonating gunpowder, loading and firing gunpowder, loading lead bullets, pulling the hammer to be in a state of readiness, and raising the gun to aim against the shoulder. However, Zeng Zhilin did not shoot immediately, but maintained an aiming posture and waited for Wang Kunjun's Zuihou command. ,

While Zeng Zhilin was preparing for the flintlock shooting step by step, Wang Kunjun explained to Chai Rongjunchen the intention of each of his movements. When Zeng Zhilin finished loading, Wang Kunjun reminded: "Bixia, two adults, there will be a loud noise below, please pay more attention." ”

After Chai Rongjunchen said that he was mentally prepared, Wang Kunjun said to Zeng Zhilin: "Old twenty-six, you can show Bixia." ”

As soon as Wang Kunjun's words fell, Zeng Zhilin's index finger had already pulled the trigger, and with "Bang! There was a loud bang, and a puff of white smoke came out of the muzzle of the flintlock pistol.

Although Wang Kunjun had reminded Chai Rong and the others before, because everyone was standing very close to Zeng Zhilin, the gunshots would sound louder, so whether it was Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin and others, or other eunuchs and guards, they were all taken aback. Chai Rongjun and the guards were all battle-hardened people, although they were taken aback, but their faces only changed slightly, and there was no abnormal reaction. The eunuchs serving next to him were far less calm than these warriors, and their faces changed drastically, and some of them even trembled, obviously shocked.

Chai Rong didn't pay attention to the gaffes of the eunuchs, he was now concerned about the power of this flintlock pistol. When he had just crossed the crowd and placed the planks in the distance, he had already guessed that this so-called "flintlock pistol" might be a long-range weapon similar to a bow and crossbow. It's just that you can't see things like strings and springs from the outside, and I'm not completely sure for a while. At this time, seeing Zeng Zhilin put down the flintlock pistol from the position against his shoulder, judging that the other party should have finished the demonstration, he immediately ordered someone to go over to check the wooden boards.

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