Chapter 17 - His Majesty supervises the palace examination (1/2)

Gu Yuanbai fiddled with the homemade crossbow, which was barely holding together. He couldn’t help but sigh at his own good luck when looking at this delicate, lightweight craft.

The moment he stepped outside, he ran into a research and development talent. Moreover, even though this talent was still in a process of self-discovery, he had already reached some theoretical and practical findings.

Xu Ning sat awkwardly and nervously. Next to him there were an Imperial doctor and a young attendant applying medicine on him to heal his injuries. This luxurious treatment made Xu Ning feel uneasy.

The carriage already looked big from the outside, but, when he stepped inside, it turned out to be even bigger than it seemed. Even though he had two people sitting next to him, they weren’t crowded together. The floor was covered with a soft, flowing rug in beautiful colors. Xu Ning had never even touched something so fine, and now such a luxurious item was being trampled by the soles of his feet.

Xu Ning lowered his head, not daring to look at Gu Yuanbai. He felt fidgety and eager. He couldn’t help worrying when seeing an adult man play with his homemade crossbow, and he wondered whether the man looked down on such things.

After fiddling with it, Gu Yuanbai set aside the crossbow that the attackers had destroyed, wiped his hands with the handkerchief that Tian Fusheng handed him, and asked the Imperial doctor: “How is he?”

“The young childe is healthy,” the Imperial doctor enunciated carefully. “He only received superficial wounds this time, there is no damage to his internal organs. The only problem is that his diet is somewhat irregular, so he might have some stomach and heart pains.”

Xu Ning’s eyes widened in surprise, staring at his own hand gripping his clothes. The doctor was so skilled, being able to discover so much after simply taking his pulse for a moment.

Gu Yuanbai nodded slightly, then looked at Xu Ning with a smile, and asked warmly: “How did you make this crossbow?”

‘There are thirty six military weapons, and the bow is the first; there are eighteen martial arts skills, and the bow is the first.’ This is what Hua Yue said during the Southern Song Dynasty in the ‘Cui Wei Bei Zhan Lu’. 1 The Great Heng did not have many horses, and the nomadic groups from the borders were skilled equestrians. In order to resist them, bows and arrows became the favored choice for the infantry.

The founding emperor of the Great Heng Dynasty paid special attention to military affairs, and firmly controlled crossbows, especially the designs of improved crossbows, on a military and political level. The common people were strictly prohibited from having military weapons. Someone ordinary wouldn’t be able to even see such a light and powerful crossbow, much less create one.

However, although the crossbow made by Xu Ning had been broken, it could still be seen that it had more than a single shooting hole. In other words, the scholar’s homemade crossbow had caught up with the weapons used by the military.

It was powerful, very powerful.

Gu Yuanbai’s eyes showed his interest, and Xu Ning babbled about where he got his inspiration from and how he made it. When he finished explaining, he clenched his fists in excitement, looked up at Gu Yuanbai and said: “Young master! These products are useful, artisanal work has tremendous value! Either for farming land or military affairs, craftsmen are essential! It’s not a shameful job, nor is it improper!”

As soon as Xu Ning looked up, he saw the admiration in Gu Yuanbai’s eyes. Xu Ning finished his sentence by inertia, but his expression grew anxious.

Carriage, bodyguard, doctor, attendant.

This young master was outstanding, looking as ethereal as a deity, every one of his movements displaying his privileged upbringing. Could such a great man actually admire him? Appreciate his poor talents at woodworking?

“You are correct.” Gu Yuanbai nodded in agreement, and said:”In the past, Guan Zhong, who proposed the concept of ‘scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants’ was born a merchant himself, and used business methods to make the State of Qi prosper. In his own words, ‘scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants’ are not superior or inferior. Instead, they’re parallel classes, and all of them are the pillars of the country and make it flourish by fulfilling their duties. It is not possible to separate the prosperity of the Shang dynasty from their industry and commerce. However, after the Shang dynasty’s demise, the Zhou dynasty looked down on industry and commerce, thinking it would waste agricultural resources, and lead to the downfall of the State. Therefore, that was the reason artisans and merchants are named last.”

Xu Ning opened his mouth, staring straight at Gu Yuanbai. His lips opened and closed a few times, but he didn’t know what to say.

Gu Yuanbai asked Tian Fusheng to return the damaged crossbow to Xu Ning. Xu Ning took the crossbow helplessly, glanced at the window, and asked cautiously: “My lord, where are you taking me to?”

Tian Fusheng rolled up the carriage curtains. Xu Ning glanced outside without thinking and, the next instant, his eyes opened wide.

The towering, lofty and grandiose gates of the imperial palace were right before him. The beautiful tiles gleamed magnificently under the sun.

Gu Yuanbai didn’t mind his expression, and asked him with a smile: “In addition to the crossbow, what else can you make?”

“I… this scholar… this youngster…” Xu Ning was in a daze, not knowing how to address himself. “This scholar isn’t interested in just these things, I’ve also tried to improve some farming tools.”

He looked panicked, but, after all, could the palace be entered just by anyone?

The sound of each of the horses’ steps kicked Xu Ning’s soul out of his body. By the time the carriage stopped, the pale scholar’s face, already covered in wounds, was so distressed that anyone would have noticed.

The imperial physician and the palace attendant led Xu Ning out of the carriage, and the guards outside stood straight. The guard captain stretched out his hand to lift the curtain of the carriage, stretched out his hand and said: “Your Majesty, careful.”

Xu Ning: “!”

He took a breath, his brain buzzing. His entire being felt dizzy, as if he was about to faint in the next moment.

Gu Yuanbai extended his arm out of the carriage and placed his hand gently in the guard captain’s. The guard lowered his head and carefully helped Gu Yuanbai out of the carriage. Since the Emperor’s health wasn’t great, his servants would be overly concerned, worried that he’d have an accident if anyone did as much as bump against him.

The guard captain had to be extremely careful even when simply holding the Emperor’s hand. The Emperor’s skin was delicate and tender, and the guard’s palm was extremely coarse, with hard calluses and rough to the touch. Whenever he held the Emperor’s hand, he felt like a stone.

Setting his feet on the ground, Xu Ning subconsciously glanced down, only to discover that the stones he was stepping on were covered with exquisite carvings. He finally recovered some of his wits at this point, and dropped heavily to his knees.

The dragon boots appeared in front of him, and the Emperor said: “Follow Us.”

The auxiliary palace of Xuanzheng Hall was usually the place where the Emperor summoned his ministers to discuss political affairs. Gu Yuanbai offered Xu Ning a seat. Xu Ning tremblingly sat precariously on the edge of his chair, with his feet on the floor but feeling as if they were stepping on clouds.

Gu Yuanbai spoke with Xu Ning very gently. Xu Ning’s panicked mind gradually recovered, no longer blank. When he talked about his favorite carpenter, his eyes lit up.