Rebirth: I'm a Daddy's Darling in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 243 I am only responsible for proposing ideas, not for the process of implementation.

Since he had said he would urge Dai Zi, Yin Zuo naturally wouldn't forget about it. Although the weather outside was so hot that Yin Zuo didn't want to go out, was that a big deal? If he didn't go to the mountain, then the mountain would come to him by itself. So, with just one order from Yin Zuo, Dai Zi was quickly brought to him by Akshang.

"Your subject Dai Zi greets Your Highness."

Upon hearing this, Yinzhu raised his hand to signal Dai Zi to stand up, then pointed to the seat next to him and asked him to come and sit down. After he was seated, he asked him to bring out the things he had prepared beforehand.

"Lord Dai, take a look at the picture first. Do you think you can build a musket that can fire continuously like that? Also, I think our existing cannons are somewhat lacking in both range and power. Do you think you can improve them? For example, make the cannon and the shells lighter, increase the firing range, and improve the accuracy of hitting the target..."

When it comes to weapons, Yinzhuo is only half-knowledgeable. The drawings on paper are just random sketches of what he remembers about mechanical guns. He has no idea what the underlying principles are. But there's a saying: "I'm only responsible for proposing ideas, not for the implementation process." That perfectly describes Yinzhuo right now.

Dai Zi was clearly very interested in the musket that Yin Zuo had drawn on the paper, which could fire continuously. Even though he knew that this might just be another of the prince's wild ideas, he still wanted to give it a try. As for the improved cannon that Yin Zuo mentioned, he thought it was not a difficult task.

During the ensuing casual conversation, Yinzhuo mentioned to Dai Zi the weapons he thought might be able to manufacture at the moment, with particular emphasis on mortars and grenades. Of course, this wasn't because Yinzhuo thought it was definitely possible to manufacture these two items at this time, but because Yinzhuo had happened to come across videos about the manufacturing and firing principles of these two items in his previous life. Since he remembered them, mentioning them was just a casual thing to do. There's a saying that you should still have dreams, because what if they come true?

"Lord Dai, please go ahead and do it. If you need anything, just go to Lao Shi. If he can't solve it, send someone to talk to me. As long as you can make something that satisfies me, whether it's money, manpower, or materials, I will definitely give you my full support."

As the saying goes, inventions always cost money. Yinzhuo has always understood this. Since it's not his money being spent, using his father's money to give his father something to do—isn't that reasonable? What? The emperor is short of money? That's good! Didn't we already tell you there's plenty of gold and silver beyond the mountains and the sea? If you need money, go get it yourself! You say someone's stopping you? Good! That way, our expensively improved guns and cannons will finally have a purpose. Anyone who objects, let them stand up…

For the next few days, Yinzhuo was practically entangled with the old man Dai Zi. Of course, it was no wonder that Dai Zi was like this, because what Yinzhuo had told him before was just too amazing. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it opened a new world for Dai Zi. However, as mentioned before, Yinzhuo knew absolutely nothing about firearms manufacturing. At most, he was only responsible for telling Dai Zi what he knew in his head. As for how Dai Zi implemented it, that was none of his business. So, after being pestered by Dai Zi for several days in a row with questions, Yinzhuo finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Tenth Brother, I don't care what method you use, you absolutely have to keep Dai Zi trapped in the Ministry of Works by tomorrow. Do you know what kind of hell I've been living these past few days? Dealing with that old man's endless questions has killed so many of my brain cells. If this continues, I'll age prematurely..."

To be fair, while the "money-tail" hairstyle of the Qing Dynasty was undeniably ugly, it wasn't entirely without its advantages. If this were his previous life, Yinzhuo would probably be starting to worry about hair loss by now. But in his current life, he has no such worries. Yinzhuo raised his hand to touch the pitiful amount of hair on the back of his head, then sighed helplessly. With his current hair volume, what difference did it make whether he lost hair or not…

I don't know what Yinzhi told Daizi when he got back, but from that day on, Yinzhi's life finally returned to its usual peace. As the weather got hotter, Yinzhi became even lazier to go out. Every day he either stayed in Shufeng Pavilion, stayed in the lakeside pavilion, or went to his father's Qingxi Study. This lazy state continued until the weather started to cool down in September, when it finally eased up a bit.

"Sixth Brother, you've really gotten lazier and lazier lately. Putting everything else aside, just look at how many times I've had people come to invite you, and every time you always have some excuse to turn me away. This time, I'm coming to invite you myself, you can't just not give me the courtesy I deserve..."

"Of course I'll give you one. With your silver tongue, I have to teach you a lesson... I mean, a lesson." Yinzhu glanced at Yintang, who was still rambling on and on, got up and walked over to him. When he got to Yintang, he flicked his finger and tapped Yintang's shiny forehead.

"Ninth Brother, I don't know if you've ever heard this saying, 'Illness enters through the mouth, and disaster comes from the mouth.' Today, Sixth Brother will focus on teaching you the last four words: 'I'm getting lazier and lazier.' You've been dragged to bed several times, but look at you, have you done anything of substance? Today you go to the garden, tomorrow you go to the opera, or you go horseback riding or mountain climbing in this sweltering heat. I must be out of my mind to think about going out with you in this heat. Dexi, go and bring over our mercury mirror and put it in front of your Ninth Master so he can see how dark he looks. It's only because it's still light now. If it were night, I'd have to turn off the lights to see him. Yintang, you know what coal is, right? If I put you in a coal pile, Sixth Brother would probably have to poke you with a stick to find you."

Yinzhen knew about coal and understood that his sixth brother was implying that he was dark-skinned. However, what he didn't understand was why, after putting him and coal together, his sixth brother had to poke him with a stick to find him. Yinzhen was never one to keep quiet, so if he didn't understand, he might as well ask. After all, the person who could answer his questions was right in front of him, wasn't he?

Upon hearing Yin Tang's question, Yin Zuo burst into laughter, only managing to recover after a while. He looked up and saw Yin Tang staring at him with a puzzled expression. He casually grabbed a feather duster from a nearby porcelain vase and poked Yin Tang a few times.

"That's easy. Of course, you'd be hard to find in the coal pile like this. Sixth Brother will take a stick and poke them one by one. The ones that make a sound are you, and the ones that don't are just coal..."