Fang Er...
Li Shimin...
Seeing their displeased expressions, Wang Xuance quickly explained, "Your Majesty, it was you who ordered us to go all out at Mount Ni!"
Li Shimin: ???
Did I say that?
After a moment of stunned silence, he finally recalled that he had indeed given the order.
Alright, then after watching the fishing, we'll go to Shenyang for resupply and try again.
As soon as he said this, Fang Er was petrified.
This was ridiculous. Machine gun rounds were one thing, essentially just larger bullets.
But rocket-propelled grenades...
Fang Er quickly found an excuse, apologized to Li Shimin, and retreated back into the ship's cabin to work on the blueprints.
Rockets, hmm, just smaller versions of rockets, add a warhead?
After pondering for a long time, he slapped his head and immediately chuckled.
He had previously asked Yuan Tiangang to research propellant charges, and now it was perfectly applicable!
Explosive!
With this thought, he no longer worried about not being able to resupply ammunition. It was just a matter of keeping Li Shimin away for a few days, child's play.
There were two sea routes from Laizhou to Panjin.
The first route was to go west first, then north, traveling along the coastline the entire way.
The second route was to head directly north from Laizhou, passing by several islands, and then arriving at Besha City before heading west along the coast to Panjin.
The former was safer, as the structure of hovercraft meant they were not suitable for long-distance offshore travel, but the distance was much greater, twice as long as the latter.
Therefore, a few men who were seasoned warriors did not hesitate to choose the northern sea route when they set sail.
Fortunately, the wind at sea was not strong along this route, and they did not encounter any serious dangers. Two hours later, the fleet had reached Besha.
Then, they turned west and sailed along the coast for nearly three more hours, arriving at Panjin that afternoon.
From afar, Li Shimin saw the towering flames at the Panjin dock and anxiously had Fang Er called out from the ship's cabin.
"Kid, quick, look! Is that a fire over there?"
His words startled Fang Er, who quickly took the binoculars and looked over.
After just a couple of glances, he smiled and returned the binoculars.
"You misunderstood, Your Majesty. That's not a fire; we're roasting fish. We'll be docking soon. I invite Your Majesty to a seafood feast!"
By the time the ships docked, a large crowd was already waiting on the pier.
Li Shun looked resentfully, "His Grace's secret shipyard has churned out three new ships again!"
"It's confirmed! I must have done something wrong that His Grace is displeased with me!"
"Now they don't even involve me in shipbuilding."
Chai Lingwu, who had been holding his breath, saw Li Shimin standing on the ship and quickly strode forward, bowing at the ship's side.
"Your subject pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
As soon as he spoke, everyone on the pier was stunned.
"Your Majesty is actually here?"
They quickly crowded forward, mimicking Chai Lingwu's actions and bowing to Li Shimin.
"This humble subject pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
"Rise!"
Li Shimin waved his hand with a smile and then looked curiously at Chai Lingwu.
"Second son, what are you doing here?"
Chai Lingwu extended his hand, solicitously helped Li Shimin down from the ship, and explained with a grin.
"Heh heh, Your Majesty, I was idle, and my brother-in-law said that this is a time of natural disasters, and it's time for the court to support the common people. I receive my salary but hold a leisurely post, so I wanted to do something for the people. In my brother-in-law's words, if I roast one fish, I might save one more life for a commoner."
"My brother-in-law said something that made my blood boil. You see that fire over there? It's not that I'm bragging, Your Majesty, but my heart is hotter than that fire right now, and I'm working with great enthusiasm!"
Li Shimin was taken aback. Was this the same nephew who was always indulging in drinking, feasting, and visiting brothels?
So, he asked doubtfully, "What did that Fang kid say?"
Chai Lingwu released his arm, put his hands behind his back, walked to the edge of the pier, and tilted his head up at a 45-degree angle, looking at the birds in the sky.
"Our magnificent China, our enduring Hua Xia, among the Hundred Family Surnames, are there any families who are not loyal to the death? Therefore, they should not die from natural disasters, nor should they die from man-made calamities. Each of them should have lived a full life and passed away with a smile!"
Fang Er was stunned. When did this guy add that?
"After doing this for so many days, has he gained some insight?"
"Good! Well said!"
Li Shimin shouted, followed by a burst of applause.
"These two lads have vision! I am ashamed of my own inadequacy!"
"Duke Mao, Duke Xiao, listen to this. What they said makes my heart feel so warm!"
But instantly, before Li Jing and Li Xiaogong could reply, he suddenly turned his head and stared at Fang Er, "Kid, what are the Hundred Family Surnames?"
Fang Er...
Damn it, is this the right time to be fixated on this?
This had completely ruined the great atmosphere.
"Why don't you learn from Old Man Fang, who didn't ask this at all!"
"My goodness, that's right, what are the Hundred Family Surnames?" Chai Lingwu seemed to realize something, immediately discarded his mournful pose, ran up to Fang Er, and asked.
Alright, if I don't explain it, it seems I won't be able to convince them!
Fang Er had no choice but to say, "The Hundred Family Surnames is a compilation of all surnames, making it easy to remember and useful for educating children."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's interest was immediately piqued. "Come, tell me, how did you arrange these Hundred Family Surnames?"
Fang Er carefully recalled what he had learned in his youth in his previous life, then recited aloud.
Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang.
Feng, Chen, Chu, Wei, Jiang, Shen, Han, Yang.
Zhu, Qin, You, Xu, He, Lu, Shi, Zhang.
Kong, Cao, Yan, Hua, Jin, Wei, Tao, Jiang.
Qi, Xie, Zou, Yu, Bai, Shui...
Wait a moment!
"I am the emperor, why are the surnames Zhao, Qian, and Sun ranked first?"
Li Shimin frowned after hearing just a few lines, interrupted the subsequent content, and looked at Fang Er unhappily.
Fang Er: ???
"I don't know!"
He thought for a moment. The Hundred Family Surnames were compiled in the Northern Song Dynasty. Could that be why Zhao was ranked first?
Well, that was the only explanation, but he definitely couldn't reveal that reason, so he could only smile apologetically and say,
"Uh, my apologies, Your Majesty. This is a draft. I'll let you hear the final version once it's decided."
Li, Chai, Zhangsun, Yuchi, Ouyang.
Fang, Du, Wei, Cheng, Yu, Liu, Qin, Tang.
Yin, Qu, Duan, Xiao, Gao, Yang, Wei, Fang.
Wait a moment... let me sort this out!
Li Shimin called for another pause and pondered the meaning of these lines in his heart.
Li, needless to say, our Li family ranks first, as it should!
Chai, considering Princess Pingyang, the Chai family ranks second, which is also fine.
The following few seem to be the meritorious officials who helped me pacify the empire. This ranking is correct!
"When one person achieves success, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." This is an article for educating children and is something that will be passed down through the ages!
"Your ranking is still not quite right. Change the second line!"
Li, Chai, Zhangsun, Yuchi, Cheng, Fang!
Ouyang Xun was a literary official. If he was placed further down, that old man wouldn't have any objections.
"Hmm, as for the rest, just adjust them as you said before."
With this modified version of the Hundred Family Surnames, Fang Er had no objections.
ps: If I add an update, will I get a gift? If so, I'll update three times tomorrow? I've lost motivation for writing lately (=bull;omega;bull;=)m