Tiger Owl

Chapter 221 Inspiration

During this period, Gan Ning's army has been actively training and preparing for war.

Pengli Lake became a battlefield for training the navy. In the darkness of night, the sound of drums thundered across the lake as 60,000 soldiers and more than 1,300 warships fought fiercely in the night.

The huge lanterns on the masts swayed violently as the ships rocked. In night battles, the huge lanterns served as both a way to distinguish friend from foe and as a way for the commander to give orders.

Naval night battles are much more difficult than land battles. Ships usually anchor at night and wait until dawn to leave, because visibility is poor at night and collisions are very easy.

As for night battles, it wasn't just about ramming ships; soldiers could easily fall into the water if they weren't careful. So each soldier was equipped with a folded sheepskin bag and a bottle of strong liquor for self-rescue and to prevent hypothermia.

Gan Ning stood at the bow of the massive ship with a capacity of 20,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), watching the night battle between the four armies: Zhao Yun's army and Xu Sheng's army, Huang Zhong's army and Taishi Ci's army, fighting one after another.

With Gan Ning's sharp eyesight, he could probably understand about 80% of it, while the three strategists next to him had poor eyesight and couldn't see anything at all.

Lu Su sighed, "Night battles are tiring, but watching them is even more tiring. If only there were some kind of long-range observation tool that could bring them all right in front of us."

Gan Ning, though speaking without intention, was struck by the words. He suddenly remembered that among the personal belongings of Yuan Shu that had been seized, there was a box of crystal pieces containing many convex lenses. These were toys of the Eastern Han emperor, but were stolen by palace maids and eunuchs as jewels and ended up in Yuan Shu's hands, eventually becoming his private collection.

What can a telescope with a convex lens do?
...........
Gan Ning was away for two days. When he returned to his residence, he went straight to the warehouse. The warehouse in Gan Ning's residence in Nanchang County was an underground warehouse. Although Chaisang also had an underground warehouse, Gan Ning converted it into an icehouse, so that ice would be available to cool it down in the summer.

Gan Ning's warehouse was a sturdy stone building constructed of large stones. It had no windows, and the roof had a row of small holes that only allowed rodents to squeeze through for ventilation.

The 500-square-meter warehouse was filled with rows of iron shelves, which were filled with his spoils of war, his various possessions, including those of Zhang Ying, Zuo Rong, Liu Xun, Yuan Shu, Huang Zu, and others.

Huang Zu's wealth was the largest, occupying half of the iron frame, but Yuan Shu's wealth was the rarest and most valuable.

Upon entering the warehouse, Gan Ning immediately spotted a wooden crate in the corner. It contained the thousand-year-old Solomon's Seal that Xiao Qiao and Xu Wei had bought. Gan Ning picked up the crate and placed it on a slightly empty iron rack.

At this moment, Gan Ning seemed to sense something, turned around, and saw Xu Wei.

"Yun Qing, what are you doing here?"

"No. I'd like to cut a piece of Solomon's Seal for you to make soup."

As she said this, her head slowly lowered.

'Want to cut some Solomon's seal?' But she didn't have a knife or scissors in her hand.

Gan Ning suddenly understood: Xu Wei had followed him in.

During this time, he had been infatuated with Xiao Qiao's body and had indeed neglected Xu Wei. Looking at her pitiful appearance, Gan Ning felt a pang of guilt.

He stepped forward and tenderly embraced Xu Wei. Xu Wei didn't say anything, but hugged her husband tightly around the waist, silently feeling his body temperature. All the grievances in her heart melted away in her husband's long and tender embrace.

Gan Ning kissed her forehead. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Ok!"

Gan Ning took her hand and smiled, "Help me find something first!"

"What did my husband ask me to find?"

"crystal!"

"I know where it is?"

Xu Wei pulled her husband's hand and walked quickly toward the southwest corner. Gan Ning, of course, knew where it was.
The two quickly arrived at the iron shelf where the crystals were displayed. Gan Ning picked up a bronze box inlaid with gemstones. This box must have belonged to an emperor of the Han Dynasty; its craftsmanship was exquisite.

Upon opening the box, there were indeed more than twenty small convex lenses made of crystal.

"This is it, let's go to the study!"

Gan Ning led Xu Wei to the study, put his arm around her, let her sit on his lap, and said with a smile, "I'll show you something interesting!"

"My husband has grown stubble!"

Xu Wei was somewhat distracted; her eyes and thoughts were all on her husband. She gently stroked his chin, not even glancing at the table.

Helpless, Gan Ning could only whisper to her, "We'll study bedroom arts properly tonight..." Xu Wei bit her lip, blushing as she glanced at the small house next door, her gaze tempting Gan Ning.

Gan Ning understood the unspoken meaning and gave a wink to the door. Xu Wei understood and ran to lock the door. Soon, the two figures could no longer be seen in the study.

After an unknown amount of time, the two reappeared at the table.

"What does my husband want me to do?"

Xu Wei then curiously examined the copper box on the table and discovered that it contained many beautiful crystal pieces.

"Look at this!"

Gan Ning took a convex lens from the copper box and placed it on the book. "What did you find?"

"Huh!" Xu Wei suddenly noticed that the text had become larger.

She felt like she had discovered a new world and immediately sat down to study it. Gan Ning got up and quietly opened the locked door. He saw Xiao Qiao walking towards him from afar.

"Husband, let's go eat! Oh! Yunqing's here too!"

"Ayu, come quick, I've got something interesting to show you!"

Gan Ning beckoned Xiao Qiao forward. Xiao Qiao was also stunned. Under the convex lens, her hand was magnified and became exceptionally clear.

Xu Wei felt a little guilty and quickly urged, "Ayu, let's go eat first, and we can discuss it together tonight."

It's also because Xiao Qiao's personality is a bit careless; if the meticulous Da Qiao were here, she would definitely have discovered what had just happened between her and her husband.

Once something is done, it will definitely leave traces, even the smell in the air will be different.

…………

After dinner, the family of four went to Gan Ning's study. Da Qiao had heard about the magnifying glass during dinner and became interested. Since the child was sleeping, she came along.

Three women were playing with convex lenses with great interest on the table, while Gan Ning sat on the other side drawing a sketch of how to make a monocular telescope and explaining the construction method in detail.

He didn't intend to have the craftsmen make it; he had to keep the telescope a secret and it couldn't be leaked again, so he planned to have Xu Wei make it for him.

Xu Wei is very skillful; she can make her own clothes and even jewelry. She can have her woman make her a telescope so she doesn't have to worry about leaks.

Gan Ning spent a long time selecting from a pile of convex lenses before finally finding suitable eyepieces and objectives.

At this moment, Da Qiao, worried about the child, left first.

Xiao Qiao knew perfectly well that she couldn't let her husband stay with her tonight, otherwise Xu Wei would get angry.

Seeing that it was getting late, she had no choice but to leave reluctantly, leaving only Gan Ning and Xu Wei in the study.

"Husband, what do you want me to do for you?" Xu Wei asked with a smile.

"Wait for me, I'll be right back!"

Gan Ning drew his sword and went out, then cut a bamboo stalk from the bamboo grove behind the study and returned.

He cut the bamboo into more than a dozen sections, found a bamboo tube about a foot long, which was just big enough to put the objective lens in, but the eyepiece was obviously too small, so he had to use paper to stuff the gaps around it.

Gan Ning squinted and looked at it; it was a bit blurry. He adjusted the length of the bamboo tube, and the gate several feet away suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"Yun Qing, come here!"

Gan Ning called over the bewildered Xu Wei, but she was looking at the binoculars with only one eye, so he helped her up.

Xu Wei was taken aback, and stammered, "Husband, what...what's going on?"

Gan Ning made her sit down and spent a long time explaining the drawing he had made, giving her a lesson in eighth-grade physics. Xu Wei slowly understood that this kind of crystal was called a convex lens, and her husband had made it into a telescope.

(End of this chapter)