Chapter 1481
The Decisive Battle, Agreement to a Marriage Alliance [2]
Chapter 1481 The Decisive Battle, Agreement to a Marriage Alliance [2]
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the old craftsman Cui said, "Therefore, we must never agree to a marriage alliance. Agreeing to a marriage alliance means giving away our meritorious officials and our technology to the enemy. This is betraying our ancestors and forgetting our roots. It is something that will be despised even after death!"
"The craftsman official is absolutely right. We, the craftsmen, swear that no matter how much we are forced, we will never agree to the marriage alliance, and we will never leak the manufacturing of the new weapon in the slightest!" The craftsmen swore one after another.
At this moment, their past grievances disappeared, and they acknowledged that the artisan registration system must be regulated.
"Good, you are all good." Old Master Cui was very pleased and made a promise to them: "No matter what the outcome of this battle is, I will leave a will asking the court to treat artisans well. Regardless of whether the artisan's family is a criminal family, the artisan should be given some preferential treatment. They should be able to have one or two more sets of cotton quilts and cotton clothes a year, eat more meat, and their children should be able to take the imperial examinations normally."
He then said to his successor, Deputy Craftsman Min, "Young Min, if I am no longer here, you will be responsible for handing over my will."
“Yes,” replied Deputy Craftsman Min.
Upon hearing this, all the craftsmen and artisans present bowed to Cui and Min, saying, "Thank you, Senior Craftsman and Deputy Craftsman."
After expressing their gratitude and anger, they started gossiping: "How did Commander Jiang's discussion with the Qin family go? He must be furious."
Jiang Dalang has been overseeing the production of long-range cannons in Mushan lately, but he's not in the workshop right now. He must be out discussing with the Qin family the enemy's demand that the two of them be sent for a marriage alliance.
"I hope that the Prince of Ye..." will act like a decent human being and not sell out his juniors to save his own life.
The craftsmen dared not speak it aloud, but kept it to themselves.
Many Wei people who disagreed with the marriage alliance were cursing the King of Ye, hoping he would be more assertive and not follow Emperor Ningkang's example by engaging in such a marriage alliance.
It's true that emperors and officials throughout history have always favored marriage alliances, believing that sending someone to the enemy would bring peace to the nation—a top-tier strategy.
Bah! Just admit what you're selling for personal gain, why brag about it? Shameless!
The King of Ye was a scholar, so everyone feared that he might also favor the underhanded tactic of marriage alliances.
The King of Ye did nothing, yet he became the biggest victim of the enemy's proposal of a marriage alliance.
Fortunately, the Prince of Ye did not send any letters; he and Deputy General Lang both sent messengers to deliver them…
"Report! The Prince of Ye and Deputy General Lang have sent new letters to Commander Jiang and the Qin family!" The shout startled the guards, soldiers, and artisans at the first sentry post at the entrance of Mushan—the gun and cannon manufacturing plant.
"Ding-a-ling!" Deputy Craftsman Min shook the bell and said in a deep voice, "Focus on making the tools, don't get distracted!"
No hurries?
You can only pass through the checkpoint after the inspection is completed; it won't do you any good even if you stretch your neck out.
The craftsmen suppressed their distractions and focused on making the tools... until the handwritten document was copied and sent to the first sentry post, where Commander Chu personally went to check the copy.
That's right, you have to make a new, clean copy at each checkpoint before you can send it to the next checkpoint.
There is a risk of leaking secrets, but with the current epidemic, this is the only option.
"Send it to the next sentry post." Commander Chu instructed his personal guards to deliver the letter, and dutifully did not tell the artisans.
Good news and new orders can be shouted out loud, but these two handwritten letters are private letters and should not be shouted out.
The artisans cursed the King of Ye again: "He probably wrote this letter specifically to persuade Commander Jiang and Qin Dongjia to go through with the greater good of marriage alliance."
Pah! Shameless!
It's really not.
When Jiang Dalang, Qin Xiaomi, the Qin family, and Madam Guan saw the contents of the handwritten note, they laughed: "We Wei people are not stupid, so Da Bao'er's maternal grandparents can rest assured."
Both letters stated that the Qin and Jiang families should not concern themselves with the marriage alliance.
As long as the Prince of Ye, the Qi envoy, and the imperial army don't come to their door to discuss the marriage alliance in person, then all the rumors are just a ploy to lure the enemy. Grandpa and Grandma Qin breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly: "Oh, don't worry, we've just not experienced enough major events and have been overthinking things."
To be honest, the two elders were also cursing the Prince of Ye in their hearts, fearing that this son-in-law would not be able to withstand the pressure from all sides, or that he would be greedy for his own life and betray his two younger relatives.
Fortunately, Sister Shu and the others were right; their son-in-law was as normal as ever.
The two elders became worried about their son-in-law again: "If the Prince of Ye doesn't agree, could his life be in danger?"
In order to survive, the various factions might assassinate Guan's son-in-law, bind the Qin and Jiang families, and send them to the enemy.
The two elders had read history books, seen picture books, and listened to old people tell stories, so this kind of thing was nothing new to them.
Madam Guan waved her hand: "He is the Prince of Ye, with imperial guards, assassins, and a bunch of Wei soldiers protecting him. Besides, he is old. If he can't even protect himself, he should just kill himself sooner rather than later."
This?
The King of Ye was quite resilient; he worked tirelessly day and night, was scolded every day, and cursed by his own grandmother, yet he remained alive and kicking.
"Grandpa and Grandma, you can rest assured now. I'll go back to work." Qin Xiaomi said, then went to check on the two elders again. Seeing that they had no symptoms of infection, she felt relieved.
"Alright, go ahead. Let your second uncle and aunt go with you. We're worried about you not having any family with you." The two elders instructed, then looked at Qin's second uncle.
Uncle Qin immediately stood up straight and assured them, "Don't worry, Mom and Dad, my husband and I will definitely protect our niece while she plays in the mud!"
That's right, Qin Xiaomi has recently been digging up soil, filling it into large vats, and taking them into the room with the stove and bed that are heated, to keep her alive.
The soil needs to be allowed to mold.
Strangely, she wouldn't keep the dog after it got moldy, so she threw it away and dug up new soil to raise it again... Her behavior was quite eccentric. Uncle Qin and his wife were frightened when they saw her, thinking she had gone mad, and were considering adding some medicine to her food to treat her madness.
Jiang Dalang was very dissatisfied. He didn't want outsiders to think Su Su was crazy, so he corrected Uncle Qin: "Uncle, Xiao Mi isn't playing in the mud. She's cultivating fungi to make medicine... Mushrooms can grow in the soil, and fungi like Poria cocos can be used as medicine because there are fungi in the soil where they grow. And there are many fungi in the soil, not just one kind. Xiao Mi is cultivating beneficial fungi in the soil to kill the plague."
Actinomycetes and Streptomyces can kill rat plague, and many soils contain strains of Streptomyces, but they need to be cultured.
However, there are too many bacteria in the soil, and there is no culture room available now, so Su Su has been unable to cultivate the gray streptococcus.
How could an ancient person like the dog emperor know so much?
Reason 1: Because of the Kundao Yunfu, the Dasheng Dynasty was not very ancient, and it had firearms.
Reason 2: Yunfu was under close surveillance. When Jiang Dalang was the emperor of the Dasheng Dynasty, he read many of Yunfu's notes, which contained records of Yunfu cultivating fungi and making medicine.
He just didn't know whether Yunfu had finally succeeded.
He couldn't understand some of the text in Yunfu's notes, but Su Su could.
Uncle Qin, a man of exceptional intelligence, was like a child wearing a bib upon hearing this: "..."
Fearing that he might doubt it, Jiang Dalang added, "I don't quite understand either, but that's what Master Xun said."
Old Xun, the scapegoat.
"Don't make things difficult for yourself, hurry up and go dig in the dirt with your niece." Aunt Qin shoved the overcoat into Uncle Qin's arms: "Put it on."
After taking precautions against the plague and isolating themselves, the couple, Qin Xiaomi, and Jiang Dalang bid farewell to their grandparents and Madam Guan and went out.
As Madam Guan watched them leave, she sighed with emotion: "What a perfect match... Dalang understands Xiaomi and can help her throughout her life, so that our Xiaomi won't be so lonely."
These words struck a chord with the two elders: "Absolutely, absolutely. No one in this world understands and protects our Xiao Mi better than Da Lang. Da Lang is Xiao Mi's best husband."
LOL, they're entangled for a lifetime, how could they not understand each other?
As for a good man? Tsk tsk.