The amount of food everyone ordered was quite substantial, and it included a perverse requirement for the individual weight of each type of seafood. Thus, it wasn't until it was dark that Wei Zheng returned to Shenyang from Panjin.
When all the items were carried out of the aircraft cabin, Li Shimin beckoned the eunuchs.
"Match the items against the manifest and weigh them. I want to see if there are any errors."
"Yes!"
A group of eunuchs brought over the prepared scales and began weighing each item category by category.
After a full hour, all the items had been inspected.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, not a single gram is off."
Wei Zheng looked at Li Shimin with a wronged expression: "Your Majesty, you are too picky, actually requiring accuracy down to the Liang."
"This old subject spent several hours rummaging through that fish mountain!"
However, upon hearing this, Li Shimin's face instantly turned stern: "If this were a battlefield, conveying intelligence about how many men, how many horses, how much grain, it would be far more complicated than this!"
"If I don't inspect it, how can you expect me to confidently send this item to various prefectures and military governorates for use?"
Wei Zheng was immediately rendered speechless.
That evening, a lavish seafood feast was spread out in the banquet hall.
Watching everyone eat with their mouths slick with oil, sauce dripping from the corners of their mouths onto their clothes without them even noticing, Wei Zheng began to deeply doubt Li Shimin's words.
After they had eaten their fill, Li Shimin said to Fang Er, "Arrange for that radio station from today to be sent back to Chang'an tomorrow. Give it to Yaoshi."
The next morning, everyone gathered by the workshop again as if by unspoken agreement. Zhang Tian, early in the morning, had already flown off with the telegraph operator and the telegraph.
The waiting process was rather dull, so Li Shimin suggested playing cards to pass the time.
After a deck of cards was shuffled, Li Shimin sat facing south, legs spread wide and casually seated, a cigar clamped in his mouth as he looked at everyone.
"Who's playing?"
When riding his bicycle, he always felt a chill beneath his backside, so he requested Hua Niang to tailor him a new pair of trousers according to the Tian Huo Army's uniform. Don't ask why, just know they were comfortable.
"Look, I can spread my legs like this, and like this."
"I spread, I spread, I spread, spread, spread~"
Beneath the table, Old Li's legs opened and closed, having a grand time.
*Chira~~*
Hearing the sound of a thread snapping, Li Shimin's old face flushed. He quickly clamped his legs together, exhaled a puff of smoke, and feigned a clear cough to cover his embarrassment.
The others, however, hadn't noticed his change, and were instead discussing who would sit down to play with him.
Fang Er's suggestion was to bring out two more decks of cards, form teams of three, and simply add another table. However, others opposed this.
They said that playing cards wasn't as satisfying as watching them.
As a result, in the end, Li Xiaogong and Chai Shao ended up sitting down to play with Li Shimin.
The three of them were all relatives, so they wouldn't get angry no matter how they played. If it were others, they wouldn't be able to be so relaxed.
After dealing the cards, three cards remained at the bottom of the deck. The three of them looked at each other.
Chai Shao: "I pass."
Li Jiuye: "I pass too."
Li Shimin looked at the two of them with confusion: "You both pass? Then I'll take them!"
"Three cigars, this is the limit. The landlord is me~"
With that, he gleefully grabbed the bottom cards, tidied them up, held one card high above his head, and then slammed it onto the table.
"A three."
Chai Shao: "Cannot play."
Li Jiuye: "Look carefully, that's a three, a three!"
Chai Shao rolled his eyes: "I know it's a three, I can't play it. What's wrong with that?"
Li Jiuye rolled his eyes at him speechlessly: "Fine, no problem. What kind of hand did you draw, you can't even play a three!"
After speaking, he glanced at the cards in his hand and directly took out four of them: "I'll bomb!"
Chai Shao was stunned when he saw the four Aces thrown out: "Look carefully, that's a three! A three!"
Li Jiuye looked at him with disdain: "I know it's a three, I'm bombing. What's wrong with that?"
"Playing cards is like fighting a war, it's about momentum, understand!"
Chai Shao: "......"
"Fine, you have momentum."
Li Shimin chuckled, shaking his head and signaling Li Xiaogong to continue playing.
Li Jiuye: "Eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king, consecutive pairs!"
Li Shimin casually placed two cards down: "Royal flush!"
Chai Shao: "Pass."
Li Jiuye: "What kind of hand did you draw, you can't play anything?"
Chai Shao: "Royal flush, show me if you can play it?"
Li Jiuye: "Fine, Your Majesty, continue."
Li Shimin: "A four."
Chai Shao scratched his head, his gaze fixed on Li Xiaogong's face for a while, then he fiercely threw out four cards:
"I'll bomb!"
Everyone looked at him speechlessly, then at Li Xiaogong. Damn it, one bombed a three, the other bombed a four, what talent!
Li Jiuye was equally speechless: "Bombing a small four!"
Chai Shao righteously pointed at the four sixes he had just thrown out: "Momentum, you need momentum when playing cards, understand!"
Li Shimin suppressed his laughter but still let out a snort. These two were practically fighting amongst themselves.
Li Jiuye: "Fine, you have momentum, you continue!"
Chai Shao: "A four."
Li Jiuye was about to collapse: "Damn it! When the Emperor played a three, why didn't you play a four?"
Chai Shao: "I wanted to!"
Li Jiuye was too speechless to complain: "Alright, you're amazing, I pass."
Li Shimin: "A two."
Li Jiuye: "Cannot play."
Chai Shao: "I'll bomb!"
Li Jiuye looked at him in surprise: "Oh, not bad, you have quite a few bombs?"
Chai Shao looked smug: "I have plenty more!" With that, he placed two cards on the table, a pair of fours.
Li Jiuye was stunned again: "You broke up your three fours to play what the hell?"
Chai Shao rolled his eyes: "I wanted to!"
Li Jiuye put the cigar he was holding into his mouth and complained, "Partnering with you, my luck has hit rock bottom!"
Saying that, he threw out two cards: "A pair of twos!"
Li Shimin no longer cared about winning or losing this round. The way the two opposite him were bickering almost made him die laughing.
Chai Shao glanced at the remaining cards in Li Xiaogong's hand and asked, "How many do you have? Report your cards."
Li Jiuye made his cards crackle as he pulled them: "Look carefully, just one left."
Then he looked at Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, do you want it?"
Li Shimin smiled and shook his head: "Cannot play."
Seeing this, Chai Shao threw out four more cards: "I'll bomb!"
Li Jiuye's head buzzed. He looked at the last card in his hand and shouted at Chai Shao: "We're partners, the Emperor is the landlord! You're bombing me?"
Chai Shao calmly pointed at the four sevens he had thrown out: "I know, bombing doubles it. You need momentum when playing cards, don't you understand!"
Li Jiuye leaned back in his chair powerlessly: "Then please continue."
Chai Shao happily threw out a card: "A three, Old Jiu, you go first."
Li Jiuye became furious, banging his head on the table: "Damn it, I don't want it!"
Chai Shao was stunned, pointing at the three: "It's a three!"
Li Jiuye: "Damn it, I know it's a three, I can't play it!"
Chai Shao: "Damn it, if you can't even play a three, what do you have left?"
Li Jiuye grabbed the last card in his hand and displayed it on the table: "What do I have left? I only have a three, what do you have left?"
He had already seen that Chai Shao only had one card left in his hand, which was why he asked this.
Chai Shao, filled with grief and indignation, revealed the card in his hand: "I also have a three left."
Li Shimin casually threw out a two, followed by a straight, directly ending the game. He then turned to look at Li Tai.
"Qing Que, calculate for me, how much did we win this round."
Li Tai casually replied: "A total of five bombs. If we win, it's six roots. One bomb is twelve, two bombs are twenty-four, three bombs are forty-eight, four bombs are ninety-six, five bombs are one hundred and ninety-two."
"Uncle Jiu and Uncle-in-law each lost ninety-six cigars to you."
"I'll kill you!"
Li Xiaogong finally erupted, jumping up and throwing a punch at Chai Shao's face.
Seeing this, Li Shimin quickly pulled the table aside and then smiled at the others: "Come, come, let two more people join. Let them play first."