After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The moon gradually climbed from the willow tips to its zenith.

Tiny specks of silver light shone on the windows of the flower hall.

As the autumn wind blows, the moonlight, like water, flies into the window and lands on an antique sandalwood chessboard, making the exquisite black and white chess pieces even more crystal clear.

Black and white stones are interspersed crisscrossing, with five white stones, as white as egg white, arranged diagonally in a row, resembling an army.

According to the rules of Gomoku, the owner of the white pieces has already won.

But then a slender, delicate hand reached out, picked up the last piece of the five-in-a-row, and threw it back into the white chess box with a "clang".

Then he moved the black piece he was holding in his palm to his fingertips and placed it at the end of the four pieces to block the momentum of the chain.

He casually remarked, "The problem with flint?"

She frowned slightly, her tone and movements extremely natural.

Ning Nan watched helplessly as his wife blatantly cheated, and could only pick up another white piece to block the opponent's three black pieces in a row.

He nodded and said, "Hmm... flintlock guns are simple in structure and not difficult to imitate; the difficulty lies in the flint itself..."

Seeing that his wife was interested, Ning Nan made a move on the game while giving a brief explanation. He said that flintlock guns do not use a match to ignite the powder box; instead, they use flint to strike an iron felt to create sparks that ignite the powder box.

It looks simple and isn't difficult to do, but because the quality of the natural flint in Daliang varies, and the flint is not hard enough, many flints also have dark patterns and impurities. When striking it, it depends on luck. If no spark is produced or the spark is too weak, it will misfire.

Moreover, even if it works this time, it's hard to say it won't fail next time, since the flint is consumed every time it's struck.

Even if you were to stumble upon a high-quality natural flint by sheer luck, after firing twenty or thirty shots, the flint would be used up. If you had to replace it, the quality of the flint would be compromised, and it would start to misfire again.

"Of course," Ning Nan glanced at his wife, whose brows were furrowed, and added, "If the gunpowder in the medicine box is impure or has gotten wet, it will also misfire..."

Zhu Cuiwei was taught martial arts by Master Lu from a young age. Although Master Lu deeply hated firearms, he believed that even if a martial artist had studied for twenty years, he could still find a way to escape when faced with a crossbow. But when faced with firearms, it was like a skilled cook without rice. No matter how high one's martial arts skills were, the best course of action was to run away, and one should never confront them head-on.

In this way, the martial arts skills would be considered a waste of time and effort, and Master Lu sighed, saying that he had no choice but to deeply resent it.

Despite her resentment, Master Lu was actually a master of firearms. When she was a child, she had seen that Master Lu had a collection of no less than a dozen firearms, each with a different pattern and exquisite craftsmanship. Master Lu proudly pointed to each firearm and said that the different craftsmen's skills resulted in different firearms with different characteristics. After firing a few shots at these firearms, he was reluctant to fire them again, fearing that they would explode.

Having been exposed to firearms since childhood, he was quite familiar with them. When he heard the young doctor's explanation, he immediately understood.

She frowned and said, "So, if the Ministry of Works finds high-quality flint to equip the muskets, the chance of misfires will be greatly reduced?"

Ning Nan nodded his chin, looking relaxed.

"Did the Northern Dynasties and the Portuguese do the same?" Zhu Cuiwei's eyes relaxed, and she breathed a sigh of relief after learning how others did it.

"Of course not," Ning Nan said nonchalantly.

Zhu Cuiwei paused as she reached for the chess box.

On her porcelain-like face, a look as fierce as a sudden storm appeared as she stared intently at the young doctor opposite her.

Seeing his wife's murderous look, Ning Nan's eyes narrowed, and he swallowed hard. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, he had broken the Rakshasa man's gun with one shot, but the Northern Dynasty man's gun was intact. He opened it and looked inside; the flint inside had clearly been carefully polished.

He shrugged and said, "How could there be so much high-quality flint?"

Zhu Cuiwei's eyes widened in surprise. The young doctor's words were simple, but upon closer reflection, they were indeed true. She had been oversimplifying things.

The Portuguese wanted to sell their flintlock muskets to the Liang Dynasty. Although they were asking for an exorbitant price, they said they could sell at least 10,000 muskets.

If they were to rely entirely on the so-called high-quality flint the young doctor mentioned, even if they had it, it would be impossible to supply it in large quantities in a short period of time. There must be other methods. Zhu Cuiwei pursed her lips, somewhat worried about this.

Before she could ask, Ning Nan said casually, "Their flint must have been carefully polished and sharpened; it's not purely natural. That process is quite complex. I wonder how far they've gone... Hmm, that's what ensures a certain low misfire rate..."

As Zhu Cuiwei listened, she glanced at the eloquent young doctor, her lips slightly pursed and her gaze somewhat dazed.

After the young doctor recited five consecutive words in a row once more, she had heard enough.

He clapped his hands decisively, then tossed the warm black pieces back into the chess box with a clanging sound.

The woman, who could easily change her mind more than ten times in a game of chess, said in a clear voice, "Yes, I lost." She nodded, stood up, and made as if to go back to her room.

At that moment, she glanced at it.

Seeing the young doctor's overjoyed expression after his victory, he was putting away the chess pieces with a smirk on his face.

Zhu Cuiwei frowned slightly, her eyebrows as faint as distant mountains, and said calmly, "We'll collect the money tomorrow." She grabbed the other person's wrist with her slender hand.

……

……

The next morning.

As always, Cui Cui's wife got up early and went out.

When Ning Nan woke up, the sky was already turning a pale white.

I had some back pain last night, so after getting up and washing up, I did some light exercise in the yard and even went for a run.

The stewards, servants, old women, and maids in the mansion were all confused and busy with their own things. Ning Nan was running around the mansion, and when they saw the master running over, they could only put down what they were doing and call out, "Greetings, Master." Ning Nan waved to them.

Qinghuan also got up very early today, and like her mother-in-law Cui Cui, she also wore a green dress.

Every now and then, she would cheerfully greet her brother-in-law who was running, saying, "Brother-in-law, don't fall!" Ning Nan saw her with two maids moving from one courtyard to another, so he stopped to take a look while panting. He discovered that his sister-in-law was picking flower petals and collecting pollen. He nodded, glad that she was interested and was even walking around as a form of exercise.

Just as Uncle Ping had harnessed the carriage, a golden ray of light appeared on the horizon. Ning Nan, having finished his bath, stepped out into the thin mist.

Just as I stepped outside, I happened to see about ten horses slowly approaching.

"Big Brother!" A familiar voice rang out loudly on the street.

"Young Master!"

"Greetings, young master!"

Then, a jumble of noises erupted from the cavalry.

Ning Nan looked closely and saw a young man with pockmarks on his face quickly dismount and run towards him. Ning Nan smiled... Er Lai has arrived in Nanjing with ten servants.

Erlaizi was the same age as him, only a few months younger. The ten servants were also about the same age as him, and each of them had signed a death contract.

As per his requirements, Erlai did not choose people randomly. They had to be clever, able to understand human speech, able to work in the fields, and honest and kind.

After a month or two of eating meat and rice every day, the ten servants started to look quite respectable.

However, being a group of farmers who were new to the capital and had not seen Ning Nan many times, they were all unusually reserved.

After running over, they all stood obediently with their heads down, looking somewhat bewildered.

Erlai's eyes widened, and he shouted, "Greet the young master!"