Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"Do you know what? This thing actually cost me 150 taels of silver."

Lu Chen pointed to the Venetian glass in Gao Ruopu's hand.

"If you take it to Yanshen Town and find skilled craftsmen to imitate it, you don't have to insist that the glass used must be crystal clear. You can use semi-transparent local glass, and the shape only needs to be 80% or 90% similar."

How much money do you think it will cost, and how long will the construction take?

"My lord, if we find the most skilled master craftsmen in Yanshen Town to make a replica, we can achieve not only 90% similarity, but even 99% similarity."

Gao Ruopu picked up the Venetian glass and examined it carefully again.

"However, the meticulous craftsmanship takes a lot of time and the production period will be a bit long, possibly more than a month."

As for the cost, I estimate it will be at least ten taels and at most thirty or forty taels.

If the requirements aren't too high, and only 80-90% similarity is needed, then it's easy.

It can be made within ten days, and the labor cost will be about three to five taels of silver.

"Very well, I'm giving you a task."

Lu Chen nodded and gave the instructions.

"Take this Western-style glass cup with you tomorrow and make a trip to Yanshen Town."

Remember to wear casual clothes and don't be too flashy.

Once you arrive, find someone to replicate this item. A high-precision replica is not necessary; as long as it's about 80-90% similar, that will suffice.

Of course, this is not the main task of your trip.

Once you've confirmed that you can make it, recruit a group of craftsmen in Yanshen Town. You'll need craftsmen skilled in every step, from building the kiln to firing the finished product.

After recruiting them, I will bring them back to Linqing. I have decided to build a glass workshop in Linqing to replicate these Western glass artifacts!

"Yes, Commander!"

Gao Ruopu agreed excitedly.

"I will certainly live up to my mission and bring back a group of excellent craftsmen for you, sir."

"You won't be back for at least ten or twenty days. Go and make some preparations."

Lu Chen waved for Gao Ruopu to leave, then turned to look at Shen Zhui.

"Among my men, who is the most skilled in martial arts?"

Lu Chen felt that, no matter what, he was now a seventh-rank military officer with fifty-five subordinates.

It's no longer appropriate for me to continue being an ordinary person who knows absolutely no martial arts skills.

There will come a day in the future when you will need to fight with someone.

It's true that my mental power can instantly kill any ordinary person without internal energy within a three-meter range, but I can't use it in front of my subordinates, can I?

You can kill your enemies to silence them, but you can't do that to your own subordinates.

If I don't use telekinesis, am I supposed to hide in the back and rely on my subordinates for protection every time?

If it were a general commanding thousands of troops, doing so would be perfectly acceptable.

But he was just a low-ranking military officer commanding dozens of men. If he didn't lead the charge when facing the enemy, how could he command respect?

Don't be fooled by the fact that his men are the sons and nephews of military officers like Commander Gao of the Linqing Imperial Guard. They must have been instructed by their fathers to flatter and fawn over him.

But in the military, skill and responsibility are what truly matter.

If they hide from danger, these young military officers' sons will still look down on their superior from the bottom of their hearts.

How can this team be led in this way?

Lu Chen wanted to get all these people on his side and work together to make the crystal glass business bigger and stronger!

As long as the commander of the Imperial Guard in Linqing fully participates, it is entirely possible to sell the products to the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

It's even possible to establish maritime trade routes to sell crystal glassware to Japan, Southeast Asia, India, the Arab world, and even resell it to Europe.

In that case, how can I allow myself to lose prestige in front of my subordinates?

It's time to really start learning martial arts!

As for what to learn first, if given a choice, Lu Chen would of course choose the martial arts that could cultivate internal energy without hesitation.

The impression left on Lu Chen by the man surnamed Xie, who possessed internal strength, in the desolate mountain temple that day was truly profound.

Lu Chen had fought against him before and personally experienced his strength.

Although Lu Chen had never personally witnessed this person face off against an ordinary expert who didn't possess internal energy when he was uninjured, he could clearly see that if the Chang Le Society's ambush had failed, the five experts disguised as constables and beggars would have been no match for him.

The offensive and defensive strategies of both sides will immediately shift.

Let alone five people, even fifty skilled martial artists who only carry sharp blades and have no armor might not be able to capture him.

If there were only ten or so people, they might even be killed by the man surnamed Xie.

To kill this person head-on would probably require dozens of fully armed, armored regular army soldiers.

Unfortunately, although he already knew that the three leaders of the Chang Le Society were also masters with internal strength, just like the man surnamed Xie, the Chang Le Society's sphere of influence was only in a few prefectures at the border of Huguang and Henan provinces, which was too far from Linqing.

Moreover, the sudden suicide of the man surnamed Xie that day deprived Lu Chen of the opportunity to test the limits of his internal energy's defense against mental energy.

Whether one's mental power can break through the internal force barrier and directly attack the opponent's vulnerable organs when the distance is reduced to within one meter remains an unknown.

Rashly seeking out and contacting a master with internal energy would be far too dangerous for me.

One must eat one bite at a time; being overly ambitious is not advisable. The same applies to martial arts training.

His subordinates were all sons of military officers who had practiced martial arts since childhood. Although they didn't practice any particularly advanced martial arts, they were still much stronger than him, an outsider.

Let's learn some martial arts from them first.

"Return to the banner-sama."

Shen Zhui clasped his hands in a fist salute to Lu Chen and said,

"We are all sons of hereditary military officers, and we have all practiced martial arts since childhood."

Those whose martial arts skills were too poor and useless were not chosen by the commander this time.

As far as I know, among our five squad leaders, Miao Feng and Qin Fang are the most skilled in martial arts.

However, among the captains below, there were several whose martial arts skills were no less than theirs.

If I were to insist on saying who has the highest martial arts skills, I'm afraid some people would disagree.

"In that case..."

Lu Chen pondered for a moment,

"Three days from now, I will hold a martial arts competition within our banner so that all the men under my command can prepare."

"I wonder which events the commander plans to have the young men compete in?"

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Shen Zhui's eyes lit up, seemingly showing great interest.

"So that I can let them prepare."

"What do you usually practice?"

Lu Chen wasn't actually a son of a Jinyiwei officer, so of course he didn't know what these people were capable of.

"Return to the banner-sama."

A hint of doubt flashed in Shen Zhui's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

"The sons of military officers like myself have all practiced martial arts since childhood. The kung fu taught by each family elders is slightly different. The most common styles are Shaolin Kung Fu, Hung Kuen, as well as wrestling and grappling techniques."

As for weapons, everyone should practice the Embroidered Spring Blade, but most people only practice the Single Blade.

Among our group, only Qin Fang learned double-sword techniques from his father, Commander Qin, since childhood.

We've been practicing archery since we were little, but most of us are only good at foot archery, and very few are good at mounted archery.

Besides, we've also practiced with weapons like spears, iron rulers, hidden arrows, and throwing darts, but we're nowhere near as proficient as with hand-to-hand combat, embroidered spring knives, and bows and crossbows.

"In that case, let's have a contest of archery, concealed weapons, swordsmanship, and hand-to-hand combat."

Lu Chen thought for a moment,

"I will prepare some prizes, and those who perform well in each competition will be rewarded."