Fang Er picked up a small piece of wood from the pile nearby and said.
"Follow me."
With that, he drove Yan Shuangying back to his studio.
Using the equipment, he made a small propeller model and placed it at the stern of the five-toothed great ship.
With this, there was no need for paddle wheels anymore.
Yan Shuangying was still a bit confused.
Fang Er had to explain the principle of screw propulsion to him in detail.
Yan Shuangying finally understood and said excitedly.
"Your Highness, with this, the shipbuilding time can be advanced by at least five days!"
"I'll go back and figure out how to revise the blueprints right away!"
With that, he left with the five-toothed great ship and the model of the external propeller.
Before Fang Er could even sit down properly, he heard Huang Sheng's voice from the walkie-talkie.
"Mayday, mayday, this is Mayday, do you copy! Over!"
After picking up the walkie-talkie and exchanging some words, he found out.
It turned out that Li Shimin had sent someone to the manor to deliver an imperial decree.
Counting the time, it seemed that as soon as he left, they started writing the imperial decree on the other side?
Why couldn't they just say it in person? Did they have to go through the process again?
He tidied up the tools, sweeping the wood shavings and sawdust onto the floor, knowing that Zhao Gang would come to clean them up.
He locked the studio door and the pickup truck roared back to the manor.
Huang Sheng was waiting at the entrance, with a young eunuch holding a scroll of imperial decree standing next to him.
There was also a carriage parked nearby, loaded with bolts of silk and a small chest. Several imperial guards stood by the carriage.
Seeing Fang Er get out of the car, the young eunuch stepped forward to greet him.
"This junior, Lai Yifa, pays his respects to His Highness."
"His Majesty has an imperial decree, and requests His Highness to receive it."
Fang Er did not stand on ceremony and snatched the imperial decree from the eunuch's hand.
He opened it and began to read.
Lai Yifa was bewildered.
"Sir, what about the procedure?"
"Even though it's something for you, couldn't you at least let us make a show of our presence?"
However, the elders had instructed him to be polite, and if he displeased the Marquis of Liaodong, he would be struck down again.
Thinking of this, Lai Yifa shivered.
The content of the imperial decree was somewhat unexpected for Fang Er.
Even when he was in the palace, he had been wary of him.
Now, he was actually being asked to expand his army to five thousand men!
What was this?
Were they afraid that if he rebelled, three thousand men wouldn't be enough to kill him quickly?
And what was with the hundred bolts of silk and thousand taels of silver?
How did that old man Fang Xuanling agree to such a significant expenditure?
He closed the imperial decree and casually tossed it onto the pickup truck.
He walked over to the carriage and opened the chest, confirming that it was filled with neatly stacked silver ingots.
He casually picked one up and threw it to Lai Yifa, who had come to deliver the decree, and then threw two more to the imperial guards by the carriage.
"Take this for drinks."
Then he said to Huang Sheng.
"Get someone to carry all these things inside."
Lai Yifa's face lit up as he looked at the silver ingots thrown to him.
"Heh heh, they all say the Marquis of Liaodong is generous. It's good that I was smart enough to snatch this job. It's truly a lucrative one!"
The imperial guards also had smiles on their faces and thanked Fang Er along with Lai Yifa.
"Thank you for Your Highness's reward!"
Fang Er waved his hand and said to Lai Yifa.
"Please convey to His Majesty that Fang has accepted this reward without any reservations."
Lai Yifa nodded repeatedly.
"Your Highness is too kind. This is all I should do."
"By the way, Your Highness, there's one more thing. His Majesty said that the Taoist priest you requested is about to arrive and asked you to come to the palace again tomorrow morning."
Fang Er was stunned. How many days had it been?
Only arriving now?
Li Shimin's chosen person had quite an attitude!
After Lai Yifa left, Fang Er thought for a moment. Since the person was not ordinary, he shouldn't let his own status falter.
He returned to the workshop.
He went into the Glazed Workshop and told Ma Qi to stop all work.
He instructed them to make a set of things according to his requirements.
The next morning, Fang Er met Lai Yifa again outside Chengtian Gate.
"Your Highness, this junior has been waiting for you for a long time. The two venerables are already in the Liangji Hall with His Majesty waiting for you."
This young eunuch was very clever. Fang Er found him pleasing to the eye and tossed another silver coin at him.
Lai Yifa took the silver and then took the lead to guide Fang Er.
Entering the Liangji Hall, Fang Er saw Li Shimin sitting behind the imperial desk.
Two Taoist priests sat opposite him.
Seeing Fang Er enter carrying a box, Li Shimin did not mention yesterday's awkwardness at all and said with a smile.
"Anzhi, come quickly. I have invited the Taoist masters you requested."
"This is Yuan Tiangang, the magistrate of Huojing County in Shu Commandery, Venerable Yuan!"
"This is Jiang Shilang Li Chunfeng."
"The two of them have profound knowledge of Taoist alchemy and possess deep Taoist cultivation. What do you think, are you satisfied?"
Fang Er was dumbfounded.
These two were indeed enlightened masters, as evidenced by the "Pushing the Back Chart."
But, these two were also officials?
Especially Yuan Tiangang, what was the deal with an old Taoist priest becoming a county magistrate?
Yuan Tiangang, upon hearing Li Shimin introduce him, turned his head to look.
With just one glance, he was struck by her beauty!
He immediately got up from his chair, rushed to Fang Er, and carefully examined Fang Er's physiognomy.
Fang Er was startled!
"You look seventy or eighty years old, how did you get here so fast?"
"Are you a rabbit?"
But looking at his eyes, which seemed to see through everything, he felt a little nervous.
"This guy, won't he see something?"
Then he heard Yuan Tiangang muttering something.
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a strange physiognomy!"
"The fate palace is in utter chaos! This is impossible!"
"In this world, how can there be such an unfathomable destiny!"
"Young friend, your face seems to be covered by mist, making it impossible to see through, but the fate line has long been broken. According to all logic, you should have died long ago! How strange!"
His voice was not loud, and only Fang Er could hear it clearly.
Even Li Chunfeng, who was behind Yuan Tiangang, did not hear it.
Fang Er quickly changed the subject. If he let this "Taoist master" continue to look, and he actually saw something, it would be troublesome.
"This junior greets Venerable Yuan and Venerable Li."
Hearing Fang Er's voice, Yuan Tiangang stopped pondering his physiognomy.
Instead, he looked at Fang Er and said.
"I heard from His Majesty that it was at the request of His Highness that our master and disciple were summoned this time?"
Fang Er smiled, as long as you don't look at the eye boogers on my face.
He placed the box on the ground.
"I have heard that Taoism has the art of alchemy, which can grant longevity, eternal youth, and ward off disaster and calamity."
"I wonder if this junior has the honor to witness those legendary elixirs?"
Li Shimin, sitting behind the imperial desk, his eyes shone brightly, but the next moment, Yuan Tiangang extinguished his hopes.
Yuan Tiangang shook his head.
"Young friend, what you say is a bit of flattery!"
"It is indeed possible to ward off disaster and calamity, but eternal youth is a rumor!"
"Coincidentally, this old Taoist has just refined an elixir a few days ago, which is for lightening the body and refreshing the mind."
With that, he took out a porcelain bottle from his robes, opened it, and poured out a pill, displaying it to Fang Er.