Making you a son-in-law is not about making you conquer the world.

"Miss Jiang, are you really leaving?" Lin Ping leaned weakly against the wall, a pang of pain shooting through his heart.

The other party not only left but also took his virginity with them. Is this sword manual and this pistol a tip?

"I'm quite valuable," Lin Ping said with a knowing smile.

The pistol is of extraordinary significance, even worth more than a thousand troops. It is absolutely priceless, and it would be more than enough to buy Lin Ping's virginity.

Of course, if it were a pretty streamer, Lin Ping would rather not have a gun than die.

"She did this to get an antidote, right..." Lin Ping comforted himself. If that was the case, then his guilt would be lessened.

Although he wouldn't view Jiang Hongling's identity with prejudice, he also implicitly acknowledged that this wasn't the first time she had done it.

That skillful experience is the best proof.

Thinking this way, Lin Ping gradually calmed down.

He focused his main attention on the pistol.

He used to be the son-in-law of the city lord's mansion, and had access to the most elite troops in the Wu Kingdom.

He was certain that the city lord's mansion did not possess such advanced weaponry; otherwise, they would not have been held back by the mountain city lord for so long.

"Could it be that Europe has begun large-scale voyages and has even developed handguns?"

Lin Ping was taken aback. In terms of time, the Daye Dynasty was equivalent to the Ming Dynasty, which was a period of vigorous industrial development in Europe.

"You little foreign devils, I'm going to get ahead of you in industry!"

Lin Ping thought to himself.

Lin Ping is always filled with righteous indignation whenever he reads about the humiliating history of the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China.

I wish I had been born a few hundred years earlier so I could have a go at those little foreign devils.

He also knew that the reason why the great nation of China was bullied was because it neglected industrial development.

Now that he has traveled through time and has the opportunity to change everything, he cannot sit idly by.

"Let Master Ping see just how advanced your industry really is."

Lin Ping focused all his attention on the pistol, studying every single component.

"A matchlock gun? Hahaha, just a matchlock gun." Lin Ping suddenly burst out laughing.

This pistol has neither a magazine nor a ignition mechanism; the fuse must be lit with an open flame to fire the bullets.

It's also quite complicated to operate, requiring one person to aim and another to light the fuse.

Not only was the firing efficiency low, but the accuracy was also low. Compared to the hand crossbow, it was only slightly more powerful, which could not be considered a qualitative leap.

Even so, he was still amazed by the craftsmanship of the pistol. At the very least, the steel material of the barrel was far superior to that of Wu Guo, and the casting technology was already developing rapidly.

"It's a pity that I have to rescue my wife first, so I don't have time to do anything creative, let alone teach those scholars."

Lin Ping shook his head helplessly.

As a modern person, he has too many ideas to put into practice, but one's energy is ultimately limited.

Therefore, Lin Ping recently gathered a large group of scholars in order to instill these advanced ideas into them.

Let them help you put these ideas into practice.

This is the common saying that it is better to teach someone how to fish than to give them a fish.

With the help of these talented individuals, Lin Ping is confident in building a major industrial power and a strong military.

If those little foreign devils obediently cower in their shells, that's fine. But if they dare to invade our territory, they'll be eating peanuts!

I will not offend others unless they offend me; if they offend me, I will repay them a hundredfold!

He wouldn't mind learning from the one who could shoot down eagles with a bow and lead tens of thousands of cavalry to conquer the entire European continent.

These two weaknesses of the matchlock gun are almost fatal, making it very difficult to use against skilled opponents.

The moment you light the fuse, the expert has already slit your throat.

Even so, the matchlock gun remained an extremely valuable weapon in this era of cold weapons.

He became curious about Jiang Hongling's identity again. Chiyang Pavilion sounded like a major sect, so it was normal for them to have high-level martial arts skills.

But the arrival of this matchlock gun was rather suspicious. After all, to experts, it was just a concealed weapon, and they wouldn't bother using it.

Thinking about this, Lin Ping felt a bit overwhelmed and decided to put Jiang Hongling's matter out of his mind for the time being.

"Why not modify this pistol?" Lin Ping suddenly had a brilliant idea.

These two drawbacks of the matchlock gun were not drawbacks at all for Lin Ping.

Since ignition is complicated, the ignition process was eliminated and replaced with flint and steel, which is called a flintlock pistol.

As for the problem of complicated loading, magazines can perfectly solve it.

Although it cannot be made into a repeating pistol, it can be made into a loaded pistol.

With his pistol tucked into his pocket, Lin Ping dashed out of the inn and, after asking around, finally found a decent blacksmith shop.

He drew a simplified structural diagram of the flintlock pistol and handed it over to the blacksmith.

The blacksmith stared at the structural diagram in astonishment, examining it for a long time without figuring out what it was.

If it weren't for the ten taels of silver, they would have even dared to send Lin Ping away.

Forging is a time-consuming task, especially forging the small parts that Lin Ping needs.

Out of boredom, Lin Ping opened the sword manual that Jiang Hongling had left him and quietly and interestingly read quite a bit of it.

Without a sword, Lin Ping could only move his fingers.

"I really envy these rich and foolish young masters," the blacksmith muttered to himself, rolling his eyes at Lin Ping.

Lin Ping didn't care; on the contrary, he practiced even more enthusiastically, and he even felt that he had a talent for martial arts.

At the same time, an uninvited guest arrived at the imperial court.

"Your Majesty, Wu Xin, the Governor of the Southeast, requests an audience."

In the court, a palace attendant whispered in the king's ear.

"Oh? Minister Qi has returned to court? Summon him immediately!" A hint of joy appeared in the king's usually calm eyes.

Wu Xin was a high-ranking official in charge of a region and a key minister in the court. More importantly, he consistently implemented the new policies of the emperor.

The king trusted him greatly and even wanted to use his power to suppress those disobedient ministers.

However, Wu Xin has disappeared in recent months, as if he had deliberately hidden himself away.

The king also heard about the turmoil in Shancheng Prefecture and wanted to send troops to provide support, but he was too busy to deal with it himself and could only leave Wu Xin to deal with it on his own.

Now that Wu Xin has openly returned to the court, he must be able to bring him good news.

"Summon Wu Xin to an audience," the eunuch Gao Sheng announced.

Upon hearing this name, everyone's eyes turned to the outside of the hall, though their expressions varied.

Not long after, Wu Xin, dressed in official robes, hurriedly entered the main hall with small, quick steps and respectfully kowtowed to the king.

"Minister Wu, no need for formalities. Tell me quickly what has happened these past few days," the king asked calmly.

Not only the king was curious, but all the civil and military officials in the court were also curious.

They had only heard that the Shancheng City Lord's Mansion had undergone a major reshuffle, followed by Wu Xin's unexplained disappearance. Even his beloved son, Qi Delong, had become much more low-key, diligently studying at the Hanlin Academy and not attending court for many days.

Wu Xin dusted off his sleeves and began to speak solemnly:

"Not long ago, I received a secret letter from the Lord of Jiangcheng who had rebelled, so I went to Jiangcheng with the Lord of Shancheng."

"Unexpectedly, the Lord of Jiangcheng noticed my movements first and took the initiative to break through the guards and the private army of the Lord of Shancheng in one fell swoop."

"Not only that, but even the city lord of the mountain city died, and his eldest son, Lianping, succeeded him, but actually sided with the other side."

Upon hearing this, the entire audience fell silent. No one could have imagined that the Lord of Jiangcheng would be able to defeat the combined forces of the guards and the Lord of Shancheng.

After all, the city lord of Jiangcheng only had 10,000 private troops, while Wu Xin's allied forces should have at least 20,000 to 30,000.

"Hmph, the mere city lord of Jiangcheng should be allowed to act arrogantly."

"They are truly ignorant of their own limitations. Your Majesty should send troops to punish them."

"This humble general is willing to lead 10,000 troops to flatten the gates of the Jiangcheng City Lord and force Jiang Xiuwen to confess his crimes."

Wu Xin's confidants in the court were all filled with righteous indignation and wanted to wipe out the city lord of Jiangcheng.

"I have heard that the Jiangcheng City Lord's Mansion is weak and cannot even pay its soldiers. How can it possibly defeat the combined forces of Lord Wu and the Mountain City Lord?"

Finally, someone who understood the situation spoke up and asked a question.

"Is that even a question? It must have been Lord Wu's oversight."

"Perhaps it was Jiang Xiuwen who used some underhanded tricks, otherwise how could Lord Wu have lost?"

"Jiang Xiuwen always claims to be upright and honest, but I never expected him to be such a treacherous villain."

The crowd chattered incessantly, turning the imperial court into a noisy hall.

"Enough, let Minister Wu speak," the king said impatiently.

“Indeed, a treacherous person has appeared, but it is not Jiang Xiuwen himself, but his son-in-law Lin Ping,” Wu Xin said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

He disregarded his reputation in order to bring Lin Ping down.

"This fellow is not only treacherous and cunning, but also extremely vindictive. I have also heard that..."

Wu Xin stammered, deliberately leaving his words unfinished.

"What else have you heard?" the king asked.

"Your humble servant dares not say," Wu Xin said, feigning a sigh.

"Speak freely, I will forgive you."

Could the king not guess Wu Xin's intentions? He's trying to trick Wu Xin into giving him a get-out-of-jail-free card first.

"I have heard that this fellow is plotting against the princess. Not long ago, the princess stayed in Jiangcheng Prefecture for a long time because he kept harassing her."

"Outrageous!" The king slammed his hand on the dragon throne, making a "crack" sound.

Wu Xin's words were astonishing, and coupled with the king's fury, none of the officials dared to breathe loudly.

The king was not the only one furious; General Lu Zhan was also enraged.

The princess was originally going to marry Lu Jie, but she was harassed by this brat Lin Ping. He really has a death wish.

Let alone the fact that he is just the son-in-law of the Jiangcheng City Lord, even the Jiangcheng City Lord himself would not be able to bear such a serious crime.

Wu Xin secretly watched the two of them, a cold smile appearing on his lips.

With just one sentence, Lin Ping offended both the king and Lu Zhan, which is enough to show Wu Xin's cunning and treacherous nature. As a result, no one in the world can protect him.

"This humble general will lead 30,000 troops to raze the Marquis of Jiangcheng's mansion to the ground and bring Lin Ping's head to apologize to the princess," Lu Zhan volunteered.

Although Lu Jie's engagement with the princess has been dissolved, Lu Zhan's anger towards Lin Ping remains unabated.

Moreover, this is also an opportunity to attack Jiangcheng Prefecture, and he can completely treat it as his own territory.

"Only 30,000 people?" Wu Xin sighed.

He had witnessed the power of Jiangcheng Prefecture's private army, and with the four-zhang-high city walls, it was definitely not something that 30,000 men could defeat.

I thought that Lu Zhan could send 50,000 troops, so there was still some hope.

Judging from the situation in the court, 30,000 should be his limit; the rest of the army would likely be hampered by the Ministry of War.

"General, don't be anxious. Lin Ping is in Yingtian Prefecture. Why send troops to attack Jiangcheng?" Wu Xin replied, bowing slightly.