If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

That's right. Zhou Wu's current net worth, including ocean trade, ocean fishing, and the sale of ships, is still several hundred thousand strings of cash.

"Giving too much might arouse suspicion from above. Since the court only has a shortfall of less than 100,000, let's donate 100,000. The extra money can help the court in an emergency, and His Majesty will remember you more."

“That’s right, Yuanliang. I think it’s a waste of your talents to be in charge of trade. You should take this time to rest and find a successor.”

"Yes, my lord."

"Niu Er, you will personally escort 100,000 strings of cash to the capital and deliver it to the Crown Prince."

"promise."

One string of coins in the Great Dragon Empire weighs about 6.4 jin, so 100,000 strings would be 640,000 jin. It was simply not practical to transport the coins directly, so Zhou Wu converted them all into silver. However, even if all the coins were converted into silver, it still took 30 carriages.

Niu Er personally led 500 men to escort the caravan straight to the capital.

. . . . .

"Your Majesty, the rewards from the harem, plus the funds raised by the princes and the Crown Prince, now total 4.45 million strings of cash, and we are still short 50,000 strings of cash."

Song Boshe has been calculating the amount of money for the past few days. As of today, he has tried every possible method and contacted everyone who could raise the money, but he is still short 50,000 yuan.

"Damn it, my mighty Great Dragon Empire is actually stumped by 50,000 strings of cash."

Emperor Li Tiancheng, Crown Prince Li Junren, and Empress Yang Nan, who were not present, had all tried every possible method, but it was still not enough.

"What is it? Get in here and talk, don't hide your face."

Just when everyone was at a loss, a eunuch outside the palace was quietly calling for Crown Prince Li Junren, but unexpectedly, Li Tiancheng, who was in a state of agitation, saw it.

"Your Majesty, a servant from the Crown Prince's residence has urgent business with the Crown Prince."

The eunuch knew the emperor was discussing important matters and didn't want to risk offending him, but the eunuchs from the Crown Prince's residence paid too much, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go. Unexpectedly, he was still discovered by the emperor and almost lost his life.

"Let him in."

"Greetings, Your Majesty, Crown Prince, and Your Excellencies."

The eunuch from the Crown Prince's residence risked execution to come to the Crown Prince, actually hoping to help his son gain merit.

"If you can't give a clear answer about what's so urgent that you'll be executed immediately."

As expected, Li Tiancheng was already burning with anger, and even when he looked at the Crown Prince, there was a hint of anger in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, this servant has come to report good news. Zhou Wu, the commander of the Qingyang Army, has ordered Niu Er, the deputy commander of the Qingyang Army, to deliver 100,000 strings of cash."

"What~"

Everyone present was shocked by the news. They never expected that the problem that had been troubling the entire court would be solved.

"Haha, very good, very good, Zhou Wu is truly a wise minister of our Great Dragon."

The Great Dragon Empire delivered 4.5 million strings of cash to the Dazi army camp as quickly as possible. The Dazi, true to their word, withdrew their troops immediately after receiving the money.

This matter seemed to be resolved peacefully, but Li Tiancheng had already written it down in his notebook, and he would get it back sooner or later.

On Friday, he donated 100,000 strings of cash, but in the end he received nothing. However, this was something he had expected. Although Zhou Wu had made a contribution, paying reparations was not a glorious thing. Therefore, Li Tiancheng kept all the meritorious people in mind and was waiting for a suitable opportunity to reward them all in the future.

. . . . . .

Niujia Village.

"My lord, we have tested many bowstrings. A single bowstring simply cannot unleash the power of a heavy crossbow bolt. Therefore, we have adopted a two-in-one and three-in-one method. The most ideal method at present is the three-in-one, which is to wrap three sinews of the same animal together to make a single bowstring."

During this period, blacksmith Lao Jiang and shipyard worker Gong Sheng have been researching the bowstring problem of this heavy crossbow, and so far, they have made some breakthroughs.

"Yuanliang has also acquired a large amount of tendons through various channels. Currently, the quantity should be sufficient. We have built a prototype, and we have invited you here today to demonstrate it to everyone. We hope you can give us some feedback."

After saying that, he lifted the object covering the side. Wasn't that the heavy crossbow designed by Zhou Wu? Although it was just sitting there quietly, its jet-black appearance and huge iron arrowheads gleamed coldly, making people's hearts tremble.

"Based on our current experiments, heavy crossbows require at least three people to ensure normal operation."

After he finished speaking, one person took out a large arrow, and another person began to nock it. It must be said that Zhou Wu's original design was for manual nocking, but since the bowstring became a three-in-one, manual nocking became impossible unless one was born with superhuman strength. So Lao Jiang made a small mechanism similar to a sliding wheel, which allowed one person to easily nock the arrow.

The target was set about 300 paces away. Loading, pulling the string, and firing were all done in one smooth motion. It was clear that these three people had undergone repeated training to achieve such skillful operation.

The enormous arrow flew toward the target with the naked eye and struck it directly, shattering the wooden plank that served as the target into pieces.

"it is good."

Although he had seen countless advanced weapons in his previous life, Zhou Wu couldn't help but applaud when he saw the power of the heavy crossbow he designed.

"Sir, the design distance below is 350 steps."

Three hundred and fifty paces away, set up an identical target, provide the same procedure, and the target still hits the bullseye and is shattered.

"The next step is four hundred steps."

The target at 400 paces was slightly off-center, but even though it was close enough to the bullseye, the target was still severely damaged.

"The next step is four hundred and fifty steps."

It can still hit the target, but it is clear that its power is not as great as before.

"The next step is five hundred steps."

It's possible to hit it at a distance of 500 paces, but the accuracy will be greatly off.

After several trials, everyone gained a certain understanding of the heavy crossbow, basically reaching a limit of 500 paces.

"Excellent, the heavy crossbows are performing very well. Continue production at this rate and arm our ships as soon as possible. We can't delay any longer."

It has been a long time since the last time they went out to sea, and the spring planting season is over. Now the people of Niujia Village are idle, which is not a good sign. Idleness can lead to trouble.

"Yes, sir. We have already produced a large number of heavy crossbows. Now we only need to focus on making the bowstrings."

Old Jiang is no longer an ordinary blacksmith. Ever since Zhou Wu learned that Old Jiang was a master craftsman from the palace, he no longer allowed him to run the blacksmith shop. Instead, he paid him a generous monthly wage and made him responsible for some of his special requests.

"I'm leaving everything to you."

The heavy crossbow issue has been resolved; now we just need to wait.

After watching the heavy crossbow experiment, Zhou Wu asked Gong Sheng from the shipyard to take him to see the progress of the new type of warship.

"Sir, it's just ahead. I happen to have some questions I'd like to ask you."