Ning Ze's secret research institute is set up in an extremely remote and inaccessible valley in the north of Huajun City.

It is very far away from the city, completely off the official road, and there are no people around for hundreds of miles.

The valley is guarded by elite soldiers, and no one can easily enter and exit except for the necessary people, and it is completely a military base.

The secret research institute looks very rudimentary, just a makeshift row of mud huts.

The "technicians" inside are just a group of Taoist priests who can do alchemy, and if someone breaks in by mistake, they probably think this is a Taoist temple.

Of course, in addition to these Taoist priests, there are also skilled craftsmen.

At the moment, everyone is busy in the simple workshop, and they are communicating seriously while working.

"Master Hou is here!" I don't know who shouted, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

Everyone put down their work, quickly left the workshop, and went out to greet them.

Sure enough, Ning Ze was followed by his henchman Wang Wei and came slowly on horseback.

"See Hou Ye!!" Here the defenders, as well as all the craftsmen and Taoist priests, knelt down in unison.

"Get up!" Ning Ze turned over and dismounted, striding forward.

Wang Wei, wearing a ghost mask, followed.

"What is the progress of the research of various departments?" Ning Ze got straight to the point and asked a goatee veteran directly.

This old man is the person in charge of the research institute, and he was originally a god who cheated everywhere, often refining pills to cheat money. Later, when he was arrested, Ning Ze saw that he had excellent skills and strong understanding ability, so he was convinced by some means and sent here for management.

Other Taoist priests were recruited on their own initiative, and some were arrested for committing crimes like this old Taoist, so they were sent here.

The old Taoist's name is Xuan Ling, and his real name is Zhang Daring, and he is indeed quite bold.

Seeing Ning Ze's inquiry, Xuan Ling replied respectfully: "Lord Hou, all departments are working overtime, experimenting hard according to your requirements, and never slacking off! But it is very difficult, and another person was accidentally killed by the explosion some time ago......

"Too careless?"

"Yes, too careless!"

"Lone said that everything here is extremely dangerous, and there is no room for negligence. Ning Ze frowned, "Has the family dealt with it well?"

"Hou Ye rest assured that the bereavement pension has been delivered to the family. ”

"Listen, it's still the same sentence - carefully, carefully, carefully!" Ning Ze said solemnly, "Lone said, if you are not careful, you are joking with your own life!"

"Please rest assured, Master Hou, the old man will definitely manage it strictly to ensure that such a thing does not happen again!" Xuan Ling replied respectfully.

"Hmm!" Ning Ze looked around, all the craftsmen and Taoist priests on the scene were precious assets, and he felt distressed if he lost any of them.

Although some people died, they were used to it, and no one wanted to quit.

First, those who died in accidents were too sloppy; second, the treatment here is very good, with a monthly salary of five taels of silver, and those who perform well can get official positions. Not to mention that Ning Ze once personally promised that even if people who retire from here don't do anything, the government will also pay them every month, and they will not have to worry about food and drink for the rest of their lives.

The construction period is ten years, and you can retire at the end of the period, you can become an official, or you can go home to be an ordinary person. Of course, the treatment of choosing to stay and continue to work is better, and high-ranking officials are not a problem.

Ning Ze invested a lot of money for this research institute.

In addition to the funds allocated from the treasury, they also subsidize part of it, requiring excellence, so labor costs and manufacturing costs are very expensive.

The previous explosive crossbow came out of this research institute, and it was completely smashed with money.

No way, it's too difficult for the ancient craft to be so exquisite!

Advanced lathes or something, there is no way to manufacture them at present, and there is no condition to support them.

"The musket is still in the research and development stage?" Ning Ze asked the "researchers" and all the craftsmen on the scene to return to their posts, and turned to Xuan Ling and asked.

Xuan Ling suddenly showed an embarrassed expression: "Master Hou, we have been developing according to your requirements, but it is difficult to meet the standards. ”

"Take Lone to see!"

"Whoa!"

Xuan Ling took him to one of the workshops, which was busy, surrounded by various wooden models and metal parts.

Ning Ze picked up a few parts at random and looked at them carefully, and then shook his head: "No! Not at all! None of them meet the requirements." ”

"Master Hou, we are still in the exploration stage, after all, the part you depicted is not specific enough. But please rest assured, we will definitely do our best to make things that meet the requirements of the Hou Ye as soon as possible!" Xuan Ling said respectfully.

"Hmm! Give Lone a snack. Lone has invested a huge amount of money here, in order to get results as soon as possible!" Ning Ze threw the parts back, "Although Lone is just describing a rough idea, and you need to explore the rest by yourself, Lone believes in you, because everyone is the best!"

"Thank you Lord Hou!" Xuan Ling replied excitedly, "We must do our best to complete what Master Hou entrusted." ”

"Well, in fact, you don't need to think too complicated," Ning Ze took out the bamboo crossbow as he spoke, "Some principles of muskets and crossbows are the same, as long as you study them on the basis of the present, I believe that there will be results soon." ”

"Don't worry, Master Hou, we will do our best!"

"Take Gu to see how many other things are progressing. ”

"Whoa!"

Xuan Ling took Ning Ze around, carefully checking the current progress of each research point.

To be honest, it's not satisfactory, it's not much different from the last time I came over, and it's all stuck in key technologies.

This made Ning Ze quite disappointed.

After all, they are all ancients, and if they want to study things that are beyond the times, unless Ning Ze himself understands it very well and can completely teach each other.

Like himself, he is half-understood, and can only give a general model, and it is not so simple for these ancients to study on their own.

Turning around, he sighed slightly: "The progress is still too slow, you need to work harder!"

"Don't worry, Master Hou, we will go all out. ”

"Hmm~ By the way, the cost of making explosive crossbow arrows, do you think of a way to suppress it for me?" Ning Ze asked.

Xuan Ling hurriedly replied: "Hou Ye, wait a minute!"

Turning around and running to a certain workshop, he came back with a special crossbow arrow and presented it respectfully: "This kind of arrow costs very little. ”

After taking the crossbow arrow and taking a casual look, Ning Ze shook his head in disappointment: "The lead? Reducing the cost of collision firebolts is not a way to make you more backward!"

"Master Hou forgives his sins!" Xuan Ling hurriedly said, "It's just that the craftsmen with the best skills at the moment can't make the crossbow and arrow craft easier." To save money, these bolts are the easiest. ”

"What you want is high-quality products, and what you want is progress. You are all excellent talents, you can definitely think of a way, there is no need to rush. This lead explosion bolt is too affected by the weather, and there is a good chance that it will cause damage to your own team if it misses. Lone's crossbowmen are all elites, and they should be used best to ensure that the battle damage is minimized. Of course, if you can make the Leadblast Crossbow more secure, and make it more stable, you can't consider small-scale applications. ”

"Old man understands!" Xuan Ling replied respectfully.

"You still need to pay close attention to research and development, Lone has invested a huge amount of money, and the cost is not small!" Ning Ze said solemnly.

"Yes, we will never slack off, and we will do our best to meet the requirements of the Hou Ye. ”

"Hmm~" The progress is not good, Ning Ze was quite disappointed, and was about to turn around and beckon Wang Wei to return to the city, when he saw a person on the side running in a hurry.

"Master Hou!" this man is a craftsman, holding a small ceramic jar in his hand.

"What's the matter?" Ning Ze turned to the man.

"Grass farmer Sun Liu'er, I want to ask Master Hou to see this thing!" replied, the craftsman carefully held the clay pot and raised his head.

"What is this?" asked Xuan Ling on the side.

"This is the explosive mine that the villain has made for a long time according to the instructions of the Hou Ye!" replied respectfully.

"Explosive thunder?" Ning Ze frowned and looked at the jar he was holding in his hand, seeing that it looked like an ordinary clay pot, there was nothing special about it.

So he turned his head to look at Xuan Ling, after all, he was the person in charge here.

Xuan Ling was also puzzled, and hurriedly said to Sun Liu'er: "Little Liu, are you staying alone in the workshop and staying awake late at night to make this clay pot?

In fact, Ning Ze asked them to develop bombs and grenades, but they turned into explosive mines in their mouths.

Studying this is actually extremely dangerous, because a bad combination of gunpowder, or other reasons, will cause a violent explosion. As a result, many people died, and research and development was stopped for a while, temporarily focusing on muskets and explosive crossbow arrows.

I didn't expect Sun Liu'er to be secretly researching, but the clay pot in his hand was too far from grenades and bombs, right?

Facing Ning Ze's puzzled gaze, Sun Liu'er said respectfully: "Master Hou, the grass people tried their best to create an explosive mine, but after thinking about it, combined with the ignition method of the explosive crossbow arrow, this kind of special explosive mine was developed. This mine cannot be thrown, and can be used as a trap to bury in the enemy's place where it must pass. As soon as an enemy steps on it, it triggers the flint and explodes like an exploding bolt!"

"Landmines?" Ning Ze showed a surprised expression when he heard this.

"Landmines?" Sun Liu'er immediately said when he heard this word, "Hou Ye is really wise!" This name just echoes the thunder made by the grass people. ”

"Did you build a mine?" Ning Ze looked at Sun Liu'er carefully, and said in his heart that he had never said anything about landmines, this person could actually think of this from the principle of the bomb, could he be a genius? Could it be that he is also a traverser?

If he was really a traverser, he would have recognized what he had done in this world. is also a traverser, and if he mixes to the point of this, he will definitely come out and recognize each other.

Moreover, Sun Liu'er's attribute panel can't see any information related to the crossing, so it's impossible!

Sun Liu'er didn't know what Ning Ze was thinking, and said respectfully: "The grass people want to ask Master Hou to see the power of this thing!"

"Have you tried?" asked Ning Ze.

"The grass people just created this thing on a whim according to what Hou Ye said, and it has not yet been verified!"

"Dare to bring it if it hasn't been verified yet?" Xuan Ling was anxious, "What a bold!"

"It's okay!" Ning Ze said, "It's better to be in time than to be in time, Gu is very interested, hurry up and test it!"

"Master Hou, please come here!" Sun Liu'er hurriedly led the way.