Chapter 63: The Leaf Spring

"Ah? My..."

Yang Gao inhaled the fragrant aroma of the wine and swallowed hard. To be fair, his alcohol tolerance was actually quite impressive.

"Well then, I shall have just two cups, exactly two cups!"

If he could down an entire jar of the strongest liquor in the world, what harm could two cups possibly do?

Indeed, there was no harm whatsoever. Li Yu truly just kept him company, drinking, eating, and chatting about everything under the sun. At first, Yang Gao thoroughly enjoyed it.

Just imagine: a well-read scholar, deeply versed in the classics, bringing wine and food every day just to keep a rough-hewn man like himself company and waste time chatting.

When he complained about how hard his job was, the scholar agreed that a general's life was indeed full of hardship.

When he boasted about how formidable he was, the scholar declared that in all his days, he had never laid eyes on a man more extraordinary than the general.

In short, no matter what he said, there was a scholar right beside him echoing his praises in neat, four-character phrases, and delivering them with such apparent sincerity.

So what if it looked fake at first glance?

Did it stop him from enjoying it?

He ate with pleasure, drank with pleasure, and talked with pleasure.

No wonder emperors through the ages favored civil officials over military ones; a blunt fellow like him simply couldn't utter such tactful and flattering words.

Yet Yang Gao was not a fool. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch dropping from the sky.

A man who came to visit him day after day with fine wine and good meat must surely have an agenda of his own.

"Zixuan, if you have something to say, out with it."

Deliberately sending away their attendants, Yang Gao lowered his voice and said, "Since it's just the two of us, whatever it is, I won't breathe a word to anyone."

With that, he patted his own chest. "We military men are straightforward and value loyalty. If you don't mind my saying so, in this regard, you civil officials simply cannot compare to us."

If he didn't get things straightened out soon, he and Li Zixuan were going to become as close as blood brothers.

And what if it turned out later that they weren't on the same path, and his superiors ordered him to eliminate the man directly?

How could he ever bring himself to strike?

"Indeed so."

Li Yu also agreed that military men were straightforward and valued loyalty; otherwise, Yang Gao wouldn't have treated him like a brother so quickly, proving that he was absolute child's play to deceive.

"Then shall I speak?"

Yang Gao waved a hand, signaling him to speak boldly and without reservation. Only once everything was laid out on the table today would he know whether he should continue accepting the man's hospitality.

Li Yu lowered his voice. "I wish to seek an audience with the Prince of Lu. I have a magnificent creation I wish to present to him."

Because of the existence of other transmigrators, matchlock firearms already existed in this world, and there were even blueprints for flintlock firearms that remained functional in adverse weather conditions.

Unfortunately, perhaps blocked by the technical hurdles of the flintlock's mainspring—specifically, the local craftsmen being unable to produce spring steel—people had gradually given up on manufacturing them.

Li Yu, unexceptional as he was, happened to possess some knowledge in this area. Though working in ancient times was rather cumbersome and the resulting performance wouldn't be optimal, it was still entirely usable.

Yang Gao: "... What kind of magnificent creation? What sort of treasure does our Prince not possess?"

It wasn't that he looked down on his newly made sworn brother, but the crux of the matter was that while this kid looked like he had a little money, he didn't look particularly wealthy, let some bearer of peerless treasures.

Yang Gao flashed a cunning smile. "Does Zixuan have a maiden sister at home as fair as an immortal waiting to be wed?"

Aside from that, he truly couldn't imagine what else this kid possessed that the Prince could possibly desire.

Li Yu: "..."

Good grief, can you think of nothing else in this world besides women?

He smiled and said, word by word, "General, you may inform the Prince that I possess a method to make matchlocks retain their full firepower even in windy and rainy weather."

Yang Gao: "... Ah? What kind of tall tale are you spinning?"

He was met with Li Yu's deadpan, earnest smile. Yang Gao scrambled up from the ground, took a couple of steps away, and then hurried back.

"Are you speaking the truth?"

"Do not spout nonsense and tell tall tales about such matters—you'll lose your head, you know that?"

It was a problem that countless craftsmen had failed to solve over hundreds of years; what possible solution could this kid have?

Li Yu assured him he was not joking. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Yang Gao dared not delay. He immediately summoned his horse and prepared to gallop toward Jinan Prefecture.

After walking his horse a few paces, Yang Gao suddenly rushed back, demanding, "You're really not tricking me? I am actually going to find the Prince now!"

Tricking their Prince could genuinely get a person killed. No matter how easygoing the Prince seemed on the surface, when his temper flared, it was a terrifying sight.

Li Yu: "Such a straightforward fellow, why is he acting so timid and womanish?"

He finally understood: at the end of his day, his own leverage was simply too low.

Whether trying to show integrity or seeking defection, without offering something of genuine substance, it was impossible to even catch a glimpse of the Prince of Lu. After all, given the Prince's current circumstances, why would he waste time meeting you?

Leaving the Fushan Iron Mine, Li Yu headed straight for his laboratory.

A laboratory in name, it was actually just a large smithy. The most experienced blacksmiths in the county were gathered here, and the forge was surrounded three layers deep by Cao Fu and his men.

Seeing him return, Cao Fu immediately hurried forward. "County Magistrate, you've arrived. When I looked inside just a moment ago, the steam turned a bluish hue."

He understood nothing of these matters and could only report to the Magistrate that the strange vapor had turned blue.

Hearing this, Li Yu smiled and nodded. "You've worked hard, and your reward will not be meager."

Though Zhangqiu possessed iron mines, they consisted primarily of limonite and siderite.

These two types of ore had exceptionally high sulfur and phosphorus content, making them far inferior to the hematite sand of Yanping Prefecture in Fujian. But given the immense distance, they simply had to make do for now.

Therefore, to produce spring steel sheets in Shandong, one first had to process these ores to remove impurities and then add limestone from southern Jinan to serve as a slag-forming agent.

It also required a co-smelting technique combining pig iron and wrought iron, while quenching required nothing more than the reed ash from Xia Yuhe's home by Daming Lake mixed with sesame oil.

At that moment, veteran blacksmith Zhao Liuguan was stripped to the waist, wielding a sledgehammer as he led the other smiths in folding and forging the steel. He was far too busy to even offer a greeting when Li Yu entered.

As for why he was called Zhao Liuguan (Six Strings/Strings of Cash), it was said his father's lifelong dream had been to earn six strings of cash a month, and realizing he would never achieve it, he had pinned all his hopes on his son.

Fortunately, thanks to Li Yu's arrival, he had successfully fulfilled his father's grand ambition.

Li Yu paid no mind to these minor details, casually finding a place to sit down before looking toward Chief Secretary Chu Liang.

"Why haven't you gone home so late?"

Because Chu Liang was a student Li Yu had personally selected from the county academy and recommended to the provincial administration, Li Yu trusted him implicitly and kept few secrets from him.

Indeed, there was no need for secrecy anyway. What harm could come from him forging a few spring steel plates?

In Chu Liang's mind, the Magistrate was simply trying to render meritorious service to the imperial court.

"This subordinate came to deliver the Yellow Registers for the autumn taxation of Zhangqiu County for the fourth year of Xing'an. Not finding the Magistrate here, I thought to wait for your return."

Crucially, he was also burning with curiosity, wondering what earth-shattering treasure the Magistrate could possibly be forging by holing up day after day in such a sweltering, stifling place.

Hearing this, Li Yu felt a pang of melancholy. "Is the autumn tax collection for the fourth year of Xing'an already here?"

It was in the second year of Xing'an that he had set foot on the soil of Zhangqiu with grand ambitions.

Yet in two full years, he had not even caught a glimpse of the Prince of Lu in person, nor had he managed much administrative work in the county yamen beyond punctually attending court to hear lawsuits.

Fortunately, the men he had hand-picked were all quite capable; incorruptible as water and entirely dedicated to their duties, earning him top-tier performance evaluations from above year after year.

"Indeed, Magistrate..." Chu Liang was about to speak when his peripheral vision caught sight of the steel billet Zhao Liuguan had just folded for the ninth time. "Patterns are forming..."