"Alright, it's time to tell me what the hell you're here for!" Fan Xiwen patted Cao Ang's head and said.

Cao Ang was silent suddenly, he was thinking about whether he should tell this matter to An Pingxiang, who had just met, although his father Cao Cao called him a brother and brother, but after all, the time they got along was still short, and they didn't know their hearts. When Cao Cao came, he didn't tell Cao Ang what to do, this was not a test of Cao Ang, but because Fan Xiwen was indeed trustworthy, but Cao Ang didn't know.

"After Brother Cao became Chen Liutaishou, your Cao family did not turn the situation back. You don't have to say anything, I made the original proposal to trade with the Cao family, so don't worry that I will deceive you. "Fan Xiwen is worthy of being a peaceful character, at least he won't be so easy to get angry about some things, and he is a lot calmer.

"Uncle, this." Fan Xiwen's calm tone made Cao Ang ashamed.

"As long as you talk to Wang Jiaxiong, the director of the Bureau of Commerce, about the matter of trade, at present, Le'an Chuyun Commercial Bank is actively seeking an opportunity to expand outward, and carry out the caravan trade to Chenliu, as long as you have the ability to ensure the safety of the caravan." Fan Xiwen ignored Cao Ang's overwhelm and continued. At the beginning, Fan Xiwen proposed to cooperate with the Cao family, in addition to the fact that Cao Cao was really good to him, and Le'an's strength really needed to be expanded to the outside, and it was not a way to retreat in one county and one county. Taking the initiative to seek outward expansion is the king, Cao Cao, as a hero in history, his potential is huge, and Fan Xiwen and An Ping need such an ally.

"Uncle, the Cao family has been at a disadvantage at the moment. The Liu family didn't give the Cao family a chance to breathe at all, and kept thinking about destroying the Cao family in one go. Although the Cao family had an advantage in the army and other aspects, they lacked money and food because they did not have the support of many merchants. If this goes on for a long time, the Cao family will definitely not be able to escape the end of destruction. Although my father served as Chen Liutai's guard, he was helpless about these. Cao Ang sighed and explained the current situation of the Cao family.

"These questions are all small things, and the real big things are probably from the Shi clan!" Fan Xiwen thought about it carefully, and then asked.

"Yes, the Liu family was originally a descendant of Gaozu and had the upper hand in righteousness, and the foundation of the Liu family in Yanzhou did not need to be shallow in the Cao family, so some of the local Dashi clan all fell to the Liu family. The combination of these warriors is a terrifying force, and the Cao family's economic source was almost blocked by them, and the angry father almost wanted to raise troops to kill all these people. Cao Ang said helplessly.

"The scholar clan is actually a grass on the wall, as long as you are strong, for the sake of their own so-called family interests, the Cao family will get the support of a group of scholars. Although the Liu family is a descendant of Gaozu, the contemporary head of the family, Liu Dai, is simply incompetent, why can't Brother Meng De even deal with such an incompetent person? Fan Xiwen asked a little strangely.

"Liu Dai has a strategist named Xi Zhicai, this person has a lot of wisdom, and his father has made many shots, all of which have been cracked by this person, and he has also caused heavy losses to the Cao family." Cao Ang was really angry when it came to the drama talent, if it weren't for him, the current Yanzhou would have been surnamed Cao a long time ago.

"Xi Zhicai actually defected to Liu Dai's account?" Fan Xiwen asked with some surprise, the news was absolutely shocking. Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia are the same type of characters, and they also took refuge under Cao Cao earlier than Guo Jia, Guo Jiadu only joined the Cao Wei Group after Xi Zhicai's death, and the most important thing is that Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia are good friends.

That night, Fan Xiwen temporarily kept Cao Ang and his guards at the inn. Fan Xiwen found Jia Xu and Guo Jia overnight to discuss the matter of Xi Zhicai's defection to Liu Dai's account, and the location was still in the study.

The three of them each occupied a corner of the study, and because it was late, they all looked a little out of spirit. Guo Jia and Jia Xu were both playing haha, and after hearing the reason why Fan Xiwen came to them, they were a little sober.

"Lord, don't worry, you only need a letter from Fengxiao, and the one named Xi Zhicai will definitely come." Jia Xu was in a hurry to go back to sleep, so he usually liked to sell Guan the most, and he actually grabbed Guo Jia in front of him and spoke, and Guo Jia just made a posture to prepare to speak, and after listening to Jia Xu's words, he closed his mouth a little disappointed and continued to doze off.

"Well, how could Wen He be so sure that Xi Zhi will definitely come back?" Fan Xiwen asked a little strangely.

"In that case, then please don't blame the lord." Jia Xu used to say it quickly because he wanted to go home to sleep, but now Fan Xiwen chased after him and asked, so he had no choice but to continue.

"Say, I won't blame you." Fan Xiwen is very strange, Jia Xu rarely has such a serious time.

"There are several reasons why Xu is so sure, one is that Liu Dai understands that if he doesn't listen to it, he is incompetent, and Xi Zhicai should have suffered a lot of anger when he listened to it. Second, Xi Zhicai was born in a poor family like the lord, and in this era of strong family concepts, Xi Zhicai will definitely not be reused. Third, according to the deeds of Xi Zhicai that Feng Xiao once talked about to Xu, Xi Zhicai was only temporarily on an errand under Liu Dai's account, and he was not really committed to work. Jia Xu squinted his eyes and said.

"Fengxiao, what Wenhe said is right?" Fan Xiwen listened to Jia Xu's words and turned around to ask Guo Jia, but found that Guo Jia had fallen asleep, and couldn't help but shake his head speechlessly. When he looked at Jia Xu, he suddenly found that Jia Xu was also drowsy, and he couldn't help laughing dumbly, and then he remembered that it was already midnight.

"Come on, send the two military advisors back to rest." After listening to Jia Xu's analysis just now, Fan Xiwen thought that it was not in a hurry to subdue Xi Zhicai, so he decided to let these two rude guys go for the time being.

============= divider ===========

The Chuzhai Arsenal, when people are asleep, is still brightly lit here, because they are about to witness a great moment.

"Ignition." Ding Jun and Ouyang Zhenhua said excitedly, after working hard for three months, they finally overcame all kinds of difficulties, and now it is time to see the results.

"Yes." A craftsman held a torch and lit the base of a huge lantern placed in front of Ding Jun and Ouyang Zhenhua, the base of which was already filled with oil, and once the torch was ignited, a raging fire was immediately ignited.

"Whew, whew." The huge lantern suddenly began to swell, and it kept growing, and it kept growing. At the back, the lantern reaches its highest point of heat, and then leaves the ground, slowly rising into the air and rising.

Isn't this the Kong Ming lantern?

Seeing this, all the craftsmen, including Ding Jun and Ouyang Zhenhua, jumped up with joy, and after three months of continuous experimentation, they finally found the heat and temperature that this lantern, which was called "Kong Ming Lantern" by Lord An Pingxiang, could withstand, and ensured that it could stay in the air for a long enough time. Since receiving the order of Fan Xiwen, the prime minister of Anping, Ding Jun and Ouyang Zhenhua have taken all the researchers in the arsenal to tackle key problems day and night, thinking about these things all the time, and they have hardly slept a peaceful sleep for three consecutive months.

When Fan Xiwen asked Ding Jun to invent the Kong Ming lantern, he only mentioned the structure of the Kong Ming lantern, and he only knew a little about the principle of the Kong Ming lantern, which was not enough for the study of the Kong Ming lantern. What should the chassis of Kong Ming Lantern be made of? How much heat can it withstand? What is the highest altitude it can reach? All of this was handed over to these craftsmen, and Fan Xiwen was equivalent to being a shopkeeper.

The reason why these things were studied was because Fan Xiwen wanted to build an air force. The Air Force here is not an airplane or a spaceship, but some of the most primitive flying machines, gliding delta wings. Moreover, Fan Xiwen has ordered the arsenal to secretly manufacture ten gliding delta wings and store them in the warehouse, preparing to put forward the idea of building an air force at an appropriate time, and start to build an air force unit.

Looking at modern warfare, the air force has become one of the indispensable arms of the armed forces, and the input of the air force can most effectively destroy the enemy's command system and make the enemy's actions chaotic. The Air Force is actually an upgraded version of many long-range strike arms such as archers and crossbowmen, and the strength of the long-range strike force on the battlefield is a factor that can effectively reduce the damage of the troops, which is one of the reasons why Fan Xiwen wants to form an air force.

As for another reason, the air force can be used as the most stealthy sneak attack elite in this era, because in ancient times, people had not seen anyone flying in the sky, so no one would pay attention to the movement of the sky at all, which made the most favorable cover for the air force's attack. In addition to this, the flight altitude of the Air Force determines how powerful it is. Because even if the flying high is discovered by the enemy, the enemy has no way to take them, and the archers are completely out of reach, so they can only watch the air force show off their power on their heads.

Of course, it is also very difficult to form an air force, and the first is the question of how to make the gliding delta wing fly. If you want to wait until the windy weather to fly, then the Air Force still needs to rely on God and act according to God's face, such an Air Force is just a chicken rib. In addition, there are also manpower to get the gliding delta wing into the sky, either find a large steep slope, or rely on horses to drive it, but these are both troublesome and not very effective.