Tiger Owl

Chapter 65 Meeting an Old Friend Again
As soon as it was light, Gan Ning was woken up by Da Qiao as usual. Gan Ning sneezed heavily, rubbed his nose, and felt dizzy and weak in the legs.

"Is the general unwell?" Da Qiao asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I probably didn't sleep well last night, and I feel a little dizzy."

"I'll help the general to relieve himself."

"No need, I can walk by myself."

Da Qiao stubbornly supported Gan Ning, and after he relieved himself behind the screen in the corner, she helped him sit on the bed and touched his forehead.

"It's a bit hot! I'll have the housekeeper fetch a doctor."

"It's really not necessary!"

Gan Ning pulled her aside and laughed, "Don't make a fuss, I know what I'm doing. Just drink some hot water and I'll be fine."

Da Qiao was still worried, so she had the steward brew a common headache and fever medicine and forced Gan Ning to drink a bowl of it before letting him leave.

Today, Gan Ning has an extremely important matter to attend to: testing the wheels and paddles of vehicles and ships. This is the first major project that Li Zhuan has undertaken since arriving in Yuzhang. The design drawings were given to him by Gan Ning, and he is responsible for implementing them.

The cart and boat first appeared in the south during the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. Its emergence was based on the waterwheel invented at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The waterwheel was an irrigation tool, but inspired by it, similar paddle wheels were put on boats.

The most important function of the vehicle and boat was not to increase speed, but to improve efficiency. A warship required twelve oarsmen, but after being converted into a vehicle and boat, only four people needed to pedal. The eight oarsmen saved could be converted into combat soldiers, thus doubling the combat effectiveness of the warship.

However, propellers are mostly used in military applications and are rarely used on civilian ships. One important reason is that civilian ships are generally small, and rowing is sufficient. There is no need to install a pair of propellers. Moreover, propellers are easily tangled in weeds, which is also a troublesome issue.

The importance of propellers to maritime transport far exceeds that of inland waterways. While inland waterways can be powered by oars, large maritime ships, before the advent of propellers, could only rely on sails, which was too restrictive.

Li Zhuan created a prototype in ten days. Of course, it wasn't mounted on the ship yet; it was just a bare frame. He tested it in the East Lake within the city.

The area was surrounded by a bamboo fence, preventing ordinary people from watching to prevent leaks. A large shed was built in the water, with walls on three sides and the open side facing the shore. Gan Ning and several officials stood on the shore, watching the experiment inside the shed.

Two soldiers pedaled like they were riding bicycles, turning the horizontal axis and causing the paddle wheels on both sides to spin, making the water rumble and splashing everywhere.

The chief secretary, Jiang Wan, laughed and said, "The principle is the same as putting wheels on a boat."

Gan Ning nodded, "That's right!"

Although the principle is very simple, the most difficult thing is the breakthrough from zero. No one had this concept until two hundred years later, a shipbuilder passed by the overturned vehicle and watched it spin on the water. Suddenly, a bold idea flashed through his mind, and from then on, vehicles and boats came into existence.

Therefore, the appearance of zero is the most valuable thing. Gan Ning used a little bit of historical knowledge to bring this idea forward by two hundred years.

He established zero, and then Li Zhuan was responsible for realizing the process from zero to one. The first step was to draw up the actual shipbuilding blueprints. The second step was for Li Zhuan to supervise the construction, and the shipbuilders would build the actual ships based on the blueprints. The third step was to install the actual ships onto the ships. The fourth step was to mass-produce the ships.

Gan Ning was in charge of inspiration, while Li Zhuan was in charge of design and supervision. There were many extremely important details involved, such as how to solve the problem of how the propeller would affect the balance of the boat.

For example, the relationship between the power of the propeller and the size of the boat. How many people need to pedal a large boat, how big of a propeller to design, the shape, width and thickness of the blades, etc. Li Zhuan had to consider hundreds of details and solve dozens of problems before he could finally build the boat.

This is why Gan Ning had many ideas but couldn't realize them before Li Zhuan arrived; construction requires not only craftsmen but also engineers.

The propeller is running successfully. The next step is to put it on the ship, which will take one or two months to gradually adjust.

Gan Ning rode away from the testing ground and returned to the government office. He drank a bowl of medicine in the morning and felt much better, not as uncomfortable as he had been in the morning.

At this moment, Gan Ning saw a young woman in a green dress standing in front of the Hall of Recruiting Talents, who seemed somewhat familiar.

Gan Ning's heart skipped a beat, and he spurred his horse forward. He immediately recognized her; she was indeed the young lady Xu he had met in Xuchang.

"Miss Xu, it really is you! What brings you to Yuzhang County?"

Xu Wei said somewhat embarrassedly, "One of my cousins ​​came to Yuzhang to apply for a job, so I came along to visit for a few days."

At this moment, a tall and strong woman with dark skin came out from inside the door. She gripped the hilt of a sword and stared at Gan Ning with sharp eyes that were extremely wary.

Xu Wei quickly said, "Sister Yan, this General Gan is my friend, please don't be rude!"

Qin Yan's gaze quickly turned cold. She stood behind Xu Wei like a statue, ignoring Gan Ning completely.

Gan Ning smiled and asked, "Did your cousin also come from Jiangdong?"

"No! He's from the Xu family of Yingchuan, living a carefree life in Xiangyang. Didn't the general write him a letter?"

Gan Ning's eyes lit up. "Your cousin is Xu Shu?"

"Who's talking about me?"

Two people walked out of the Hall of Recruitment. One was Yin Mo, and the other was a tall young scholar with a straight nose, square mouth, thick eyebrows, big eyes, a long face, and exceptionally bright eyes.

Yin Mo quickly stepped forward and introduced, "My lord, this is Xu Shu, Xu Yuanzhi, my close friend from Xiangyang."

Xu Shu quickly bowed, "I am Xu Shu, paying my respects to General Gan!" Gan Ning smiled and said, "I know that your original name was Xu Fu, and you once used the alias Dan Fu to save people in Yingchuan. Later you changed your name to Xu Shu, is that right?"

Xu Shu said somewhat embarrassedly, "When I was young, I liked to do chivalrous deeds, but later I realized the importance of studying, so I studied the classics diligently. I thank the general for giving me an opportunity to display my talents."

Gan Ning nodded. "Our experiences are quite similar. I hope Mr. Xu can settle down as soon as possible. I will send someone to pick up Mr. Xu's family as soon as possible."

"Thank you, General!"

Yin Mo smiled and said, "My lord, I will accompany Yuanzhi to the military camp for a visit and to see Military Advisor Lu again."

"Go!"

Gan Ning also wanted to go, but there was a young lady here!
He asked with a smile, "Does Miss Xu have any relatives or friends in Nanchang County?"

Xu Wei shook his head, "I'll just travel for a few days and then go back to Lujiang. General, please go ahead and do your thing, don't worry about me!"

How could Gan Ning ignore this? Two members of the Xu family were working for him, and Xu Xiaoniangzi had no relatives or friends in Nanchang. What if something happened to her? How could he explain this to the Xu family?
Gan Ning thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "I have a younger sister who is about your age. Let her be your guide, and you can spend a few days together in Nanchang. Then I'll send someone to take you home."

The person Gan Ning thought of was Xiao Qiao, who was twelve years old this year, about the same age as Xu Xiao Niangzi.

Xu Wei was bored by herself, so she tilted her head, thought for a moment, and smiled, "Okay!"

"follow me!"

Gan Ning handed the horse to his personal guards and walked with Xu Wei towards the back of the county government office.

"Didn't Miss Sun, who was with you last time, come with you?"

"No! Her brother has unfortunately passed away, and she is keeping vigil for him. She is Sun Ce's sister, Brother Gan knows that, right?"

Gan Ning nodded. "I heard that General Sun Ce was assassinated. It's such a pity. Some people even said that I did it. It's ridiculous."

"Not a general!"

Xu Wei gently shook his head and said, "I cast a divination, and the result indicated internal strife. Wu Hou was assassinated by his own people, and it had nothing to do with outsiders."

"Can divination predict good or bad fortune and even solve cases?"

"I may not be good at solving cases, but I can point the way. Before I left, I cast a divination for General Gan. He said that General Gan would have military affairs in the next two days, in the north. I don't know if that's right?"

There were two extraordinary women in the Three Kingdoms period who were skilled in divination: one was Lady Huang, the wife of Zhuge Liang, and the other was this Lady Xu, now known as Lady Xu.

"Who do you think assassinated the Marquis of Wu?" Xu Wei asked in a low voice.

"I can only guess!"

"Then let's guess!"

Gan Ning smiled faintly: "A certain power group closely related to Xu Gong wanted to change its leader, while someone else wanted to replace Marquis Wu. With these two needs colluding together, the assassination was bound to happen."

Xu Wei sighed softly, "The general sees things very clearly!"

Arriving at the side gate of the inner courtyard, they ran into Xiao Qiao, who was skipping and hopping out of the house, followed by a maid.

"Oh! My brother-in-law is home now," Xiao Qiao asked with a smile, tilting her head.

"Miss Xu, let me introduce you. This is my younger sister, Xiao Qiao. Xiao Qiao, this is my friend, Xu Wei. She's here in Nanchang alone. Could you keep her company for me?"

"Okay! Sister Xu, I want to go to the cosmetics shop, let's go together!"

Seeing that Xiao Qiao was extremely beautiful, Xu Wei immediately took a liking to her and nodded with a smile, saying, "I'm thirteen years old this year, so maybe I should call you 'older sister'."

"You're a year older than me, so it's fine for me to call you 'older sister.' Let's go!"

Xu Wei waved to Gan Ning, "Brother Gan, I'm going now."

Gan Ning remembered something, "Miss Xu, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"I'm staying at the Zhaoxian Hall!"

"The Recruiting Hall is not very convenient, so why don't you stay at my residence? I have guest rooms."

"Thank you, brother. I'll go now."

The two young women, who were about the same size, walked away hand in hand, chatting and laughing. Gan Ning was a little worried, so he quickly ordered his two personal guards to follow them at a distance.

(End of this chapter)