Difficult-to-weld alloy

  When they arrived at the yamen, Fei Long had already been sentenced to exile and was being escorted on his way to work on the construction of the Yongji Canal.

  After paying the ransom, taking the pardon documents, hiring a horse-drawn carriage, they rushed out of the city, without even having time for lunch, and finally caught up with the escort team in the afternoon.

  When he saw Fei Long, he was a disheveled and dirty figure with chapped lips, his once stout body now much thinner. He walked with difficulty, his head heavy and his feet light, looking even more pitiful than when he was begging. His body still bore the scars of beatings, and he limped along, inching forward under the whip lashes of the officials and yamen runners.

  With his physical condition, let alone repairing the Grand Canal, it's already a miracle that he can even make it to the place where the repair work is being done.

  When Fei Long saw Zhen Ming bitterly holding the release documents and negotiating with the escorting officials, and stuffing silver into their hands, making those officials smile with joy, his eyes turned red, biting his lips tightly, and the corners of his mouth formed an "eight" shape.

  "You! You can leave now!"

  A bailiff came over, unlocked the chains on his body and pulled him out of the prisoner lineup.

  Fei Long walked up to Zhen Ming Su and suddenly knelt down with a thud, knocking his head against the ground.

  She hastily helped him up, looked at him wiping his nose and tears with one hand, couldn't help but laugh, patted his still chubby belly and said: "What's wrong? Are you missing the carefree days when you were a beggar? Why are you crying, go back to being your beggar self."

  Fei Long cried and laughed as he followed him onto the horse carriage.

  "Zhen Ge, where did you get so much money from?"

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and said, "I've taken on a big task. If it fails, you'll have to take a few dozen lashes for me. I've signed a military order, if it fails, I'll get sixty lashes. If I'm beaten like that, even if I don't die, I'll be disabled."

  "Zhen Ge, don't worry, I'm thick-skinned, I'll take all the blame for you!"

  "It's not necessary to be so dramatic, as long as you help me get this done, maybe I can even give you another 100 taels of silver. Then you can open a shop and do some small business. Who knows, you and your fellow villagers might not have to beg for a living again."

  Fei Long's spirit lifted at the words, and he patted his chest, saying: "Zhen Ge, as long as I can be of help to you, just give me orders, even if it costs me my life, I'll get it done perfectly for you!"

  Zhen Ming sneered: "Why bother to ransom you out at such great cost, only to have you pay with your life? You might as well go dig the Grand Canal and make some contribution to the Chinese nation."

  Then, Zhen Ming briefly told him about taking down the wanted list and making a military order.

  "As for smelting alloys, I don't have much experience, but theoretically, I still know a bit. You're more familiar with this place in Luoyang than I am. Once you've recovered from your injuries, take your fellow villagers and help me find some ore, okay? As for what kind of ore it is, I'll give you a detailed description later."

  "Zhen Ge, don't worry, I've got this! I'll definitely find the ore you're looking for!"

  "This matter is not urgent, if you have time, go to Sun Langzhong's place first and say hello, and let Sun Langzhong prescribe a few doses of medicine for you. Moon Girl sold all her family property to bail you out of prison, after all."

  Fei Long's face fell: "I don't have the face to see her again."

  "What's there to be ashamed of? I think that Moon girl doesn't seem like the kind of woman who looks down on poverty and loves wealth, whoever is sincere with her can more or less tell."

  "Really?" A look of irrepressible joy appeared on Fei Long's face.

  "It's fake, just comforting you, women are always unrealistic, let alone a beauty like Yuer, don't think nonsense if nothing's wrong."

  Fei Long's face suddenly turned into liver color.

  ……

  Wei Chi Blacksmith Shop

  Wei Chi Jing De stood in front of the window, silently watching a group of drunk men stumbling and staggering as they came from the back door of the blacksmith's shop, their mouths full of praise for Zhen Ming's generosity.

  Zhu Zi stood behind him, his face full of discontent: "Wei Chi, you can't really believe that Zhen Mingshu can refine an alloy better than fine iron, look at what he did with the silver, he just knows how to invite brothers to drink and win people's hearts!"

  Wei Chi Jing De said: "It's still better than when you used to take 100 taels of silver every day to Hong Xing's courtyard, isn't it?"

  Zhu Zi's old face turned red: "I'm not young and vigorous with abundant energy, am I?"

  Wei Chi Jing De was silent for a moment, then said: "Zhu Zi, remember one thing, never provoke someone you can't see through. If he dares to spend my money, there are only two reasons: either he's not afraid of death or he has a plan in mind."

  He paused for a moment and said slowly: "He is the only person I have not been able to see through so far, even when I first met Liu Dage, I didn't feel this way."

  Zhuzi indignantly said: "No matter what riddle it is, as long as I'm here, he won't be able to refine anything!"

  Wei Chi Jing De shook his head: "This time, you don't do anything, I also want to see what he can do. Once he really succeeds in refining it, you should know what this means for us. This is something that even 5,000 taels may not be able to buy."

  Zhu Zi was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said: "I understand, has there been any news from Liu Dage's side recently? When are we going to take action? I can hardly wait!"

  Wei Chi Jing De looked out of the window, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes, and muttered: "It should be soon."

  After treating the blacksmiths to a big meal, they didn't exactly have good feelings towards Zhen Mingsu, but they also didn't intentionally make things difficult for him. Except for Zhu Zi, who would mock and tease him every time he saw him, Zhen Mingsu encountered much fewer obstacles in his dealings at the blacksmith shop.

  He humbly asked the masters for advice, inquiring about the producing areas of various metal ores. Perhaps Wei Zhi De had secretly instructed them to cooperate with him, so they patiently helped answer his questions.

  Moreover, the way Zhen Mingshu asked for advice was also very enjoyable for them. He would first take them to a high-end wine house, open up and drink, wait until they were full and drunk, their tongues loosened, then slowly ask for advice, after drinking, speak the truth, occasionally some explosive information about their mistresses outside would come out, but these were not what he wanted to know.

  Gradually, the masters of the ironworkshop came to a consensus that those who were invited by Zhēn Mìng Kǔ to drink on the wine floor were people whose skills he acknowledged. Later on, those who hadn't been individually invited by Zhēn Mìng Kǔ to drink on the wine floor instead looked forward to him coming to ask for their advice every day.

  Soon, Zhen Ming had thoroughly examined the detailed operating procedures of each process in the Weichi Ironworks and spent nearly 100 taels of silver.

  But as for personally smelting alloys, he didn't even see a single stroke of the eight characters.