The dishes were local home-cooked dishes. A large plate of white fish and green shrimps from the manor's reservoir were cooked, a plate of braised native rooster raised by Zhao Laoji's wife, and the rest were home-cooked vegetables.
However, in this kind of reunion, the food is secondary. We are all our own people, there is no pretense of an official banquet, and there is no sense of propriety in the house of a marquis in the capital. You can eat what you want and drink what you want.
The words are local slang, and they are talking about trivial matters. The Zhang family gave birth to a son and the Li family got married. There was laughter and joy, and it was very enjoyable.
After eating at the banquet for a long time, all the excitement was gone.
Axiu followed her parents, father and brother to her parents' house for a reunion. Before leaving, she pulled Xu Youtang and whispered a few words. Xu Youtang suddenly blushed.
Zhang Yanling didn't know what Axiu said, but he could guess that Axiu was making fun of Xu Youtang.
After the banquet dispersed, Xu Gao drank a cup of tea with Zhang Yanling and said, "I'm too drunk, so I might have to rest for a while. The Marquis will also rest for a while. When the alcohol has passed, we can talk about business again."
Zhang Yanling nodded in agreement, and Xu Gao stood up and said to Xu Youtang, who was leaning against the door of the room: "Youtang, you talk to the Marquis. If the Marquis is sleepy, arrange for the Marquis to rest."
Xu Youtang agreed in a low voice, and Xu Gao stood up and went to his residence in the back house. Before leaving, he called Mrs. Xu away, saying that he wanted to find some clothes to change into, and there was some oil stains on his body.
Zhang Yanling knew in her heart that Xu Gao was giving herself and Xu Youtang a chance to be alone together. Thinking about how Xu Gao had strongly opposed her relationship with Xu Youtang at the beginning, but now he actually knows how to take the initiative to avoid it.
The sound of people died away, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet.
Zhang Yanling was a little drunk, and she looked sideways at Xu Youtang, who was leaning against the hall door with drunken eyes. Xu Youtang held a small round fan in her hand and fanned her face. Wearing a light yellow dress, she looked as pretty as a blooming flower.
His eyes flickered towards Zhang Yanling.
The white sun was shining outside, and the flowers in the courtyard of Youtang Villa were in full bloom, with dazzling red colors. Several large transplanted trees in the courtyard had lush crowns, and the breeze blew by, making the leaves rustle.
The sound of cicadas is a bit noisy, and the air is slightly dry and hot.
"Come here." Zhang Yanling smiled.
"I don't!" Xu Youtang covered the lower half of her face with a fan, revealing only her smiling eyes. She already felt threatened, and the threat came from a ball of flame in Zhang Yanling's eyes.
"Little one, do you dare to disobey me? Are you so brave after not seeing me for two months? Come here!" Zhang Yanling threatened.
Xu Youtang chuckled. His body twisted like a wicker in the wind.
Zhang Yanling snorted, stood up and walked over. Xu Youtang shrank her body and lowered her head, not daring to look at him. Zhang Yanling hugged her, stretched out her mouth and kissed her.
Xu Youtang chuckled and squirmed to dodge, but finally lost to his opponent and was gagged. He immediately couldn't laugh out loud.
The two of them locked lips and teeth, and everything around them seemed to have stopped. The noisy cicadas could no longer be heard, and the fan fell to the ground swaying. In the end, Xiao Nizi's arms were tightly entwined.
It was wrapped around Zhang Yanling's neck, as if it was stuck to Zhang Yanling's body and couldn't be shaken off.
"We can't do it here, go...go upstairs!" Xu Youtang suddenly whispered, because she felt Zhang Yanling's desire.
Zhang Yanling chuckled and said, "What are you doing upstairs? What are you thinking about at such a young age? It's broad daylight, and I don't have any other thoughts."
Xu Youtang was stunned for a moment. When he saw Zhang Yanling's teasing eyes, he understood that this was Zhang Yanling's teasing. He immediately squirmed in Zhang Yanling's arms and started to squeal.
"You...you are a bad person. You bully me. People think about you every day. You have been gone for so long. People look forward to your coming back every day. You lose weight in thinking about it. You bully me when we meet. I don't obey."
Zhang Yanling chuckled and said: "Why don't I miss you? Isn't there nothing we can do about it? I have to go to war."
Xu Youtang hung on Zhang Yanling's neck, pouted and said: "Do you really miss me? I don't believe you."
Zhang Yanling chuckled, picked up Xu Youtang, and walked up the stairs with a bang.
"What are you doing? It's broad daylight... I don't have any idea." Xu Youtang twisted on Zhang Yanling's arm, but his arms were tightly wrapped around Zhang Yanling.
Zhang Yanling whispered in her ear and said angrily: "Little girl, you dare to talk nonsense with me. I will make you kneel down and beg for mercy."
Xu Youtang's face turned red. She leaned into Zhang Yanling's ear and blew softly: "Youtang begs for mercy first. Lord Marquis, please spare your life..."
…
In the small hall at the back of Youtang Villa, Zhang Yanling and Xu Gao were sitting opposite each other drinking tea.
"The Marquis said he has something important to discuss with me, but I don't know what it is." Xu Gao put down the teacup and looked at Zhang Yanling and asked.
Zhang Yanling's bun was a little messy, and there were some red marks behind her ears. Xu Gao saw it. He knew exactly what happened. When Xu Youtang came to make tea just now, water was dripping from his eyes, and his face His face was also red. As someone who had been there, Xu Gao knew it well.
But Xu Gao pretended not to see anything and looked as usual.
"Master Xu, there are indeed some things about the arsenal that I want to discuss with you. But before that, I want to talk about another thing. That is the marriage between Youtang and I. The wedding was delayed because of the counter-insurgency, but we can't do it this time. It's been delayed. I want to choose a good day to marry Youtang, what do you think?" Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Xu Gao felt very comforted in his heart. He nodded and said: "It's time to do it, otherwise it will be unpleasant for others to gossip. Later, I will tell my wife that I will choose a good day with the Marquis and get married."
Zhang Yanling stood up, knelt down and kowtowed to Xu Gao and said: "My son-in-law has met my father-in-law. Thank you very much for your support." Yanling knows that his father-in-law hopes that Youtang can have a good home and does not want her to be a concubine. Yanling asked You promise that you will treat her well and make her happy. When you marry her, you will be married to a matchmaker, and it will be glorious. Later, I will ask the Queen Mother to show mercy and reward Youtang as the married woman, so that you will not feel disgraced."
Xu Gao hurriedly stood up, helped Zhang Yanling up and said with a smile: "Where are you talking about? Youtang is lucky to marry you. Status is important, but the most important thing is that you treat her well. Tang'er herself I am happy and willing, but her mother and I are contented. Yanling is a dragon and a phoenix among people, we are just an ordinary family, and our tutoring is naturally not as good as others. I, Youtang, am young and ignorant, and I hope you will bear with me in the future. .If there is anything inappropriate, please forgive me.”
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Don't worry, father-in-law, we don't talk about the two families. I, Zhang Yanling, can go and visit how I treat my family. If it's far away, just ask Axiu's parents."
Xu Gao laughed and said: "No need to ask, no need to ask. You take such good care of the tenants of Xishan Manor, how can you still treat my daughter badly?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and nodded, and the two sat down again and began to talk about the Wild Dog Ridge Arsenal.
"Father-in-law, the arsenal has developed to this day and now has more than ten workshops, and the scale is not small. You should understand that my son-in-law does not just want to make firearms like blunderbuss. My son-in-law spends a lot of money here.
More than 200,000
Two silver coins, of course, we need to vigorously research on the development of firearms, and we cannot stay in the current situation. At present, there are only two mature firearms, bird guns and pumpkins, which are too single. We need to develop other firearms." Zhang Yanling said.
"I think so. After investing so much material, financial and energy, it is naturally more than just making bird guns. With the current scale of the workshop, it is really overkill to only make bird guns and pumpkins. However, the current manufacturing of bird guns and pumpkins is overkill.
We have just decided on the shape, and we will spend a lot of effort to build it in batches. I remember you said you wanted to build a thousand blunderbuss, which will probably take a year or two," Xu Gao said.
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "That's true. But this problem is not big. It's just that there are not many skilled craftsmen. By recruiting personnel for training, this problem will be solved. What I mean is that we have to start developing other firearms now. We can't stop here.
As an individual firearm, it is difficult to improve the bird gun according to the current system. I think it can be fixed and mass-produced according to this standard process. The speed is only a matter of time, but there is no need to work hard on research and development.
"
Xu Gao nodded and said: "That's right. Although there is still the possibility of improvement, the range of power will not be greatly improved. Spending energy to continue to improve is not worth the gain."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "That's what I meant."
Xu Gao said: "But what kind of firearm do you want to make next? I have many types of Daming firearms. Which one do you want to modify?"
Zhang Yanling said in a deep voice: "Build artillery."
Xu Gao was stunned and said in amazement: "Artillery? Yanling, there is no need for this. If you make blunderbuss and grenades, these may be purchased by the imperial court. If you make artillery, that is not a wise move. It will cost a lot of money."
Not to mention it is very big, and it is not very useful. The imperial court will not spend a lot of money to buy such heavy firearms. They may not even be willing to purchase blunderbuss."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "I understand. But we still have to build it. Not only must we build it, but we must also build the most powerful and practical one. Just like this blunderbuss, it is a powerful cannon that no one can defeat."
Xu Gao frowned and looked at his future son-in-law. He really didn't understand what he was thinking.