"Shen Judgment Superintendent, according to the previous regulations, the Crossbow Bureau has to hand over a hundred bed crossbows every month, but now it has only completed eighty, and a total of twenty are missing. How can such a big gap be handed over to the arsenal?" A voice that made Zhao Yan feel familiar asked loudly.

The official positions of the Song Dynasty were very complicated, and they were generally divided into officials and officials of duty. Officials only stipulated the rank and salary of officials. Officials of duty were really required to do the work. In addition, officials generally had to add "Sentences", "ZhiXiXi", "QuanXiXiXi" and so on in front of the official. For example, the position of military weapon supervision is generally a military weapon supervision, referred to as the Sentences, and Shen Kuo was naturally the Shen Sentences.

"Su Juecheng, haven't I explained it before? Because of the heavy rains for several days, the cloudy crossbow arms were damp and unusable, which made the production volume of the bed crossbow not meet the requirements, and it will even be reduced next month. This is a natural disaster, not within the capacity of manpower!" Only the deep voice of a middle-aged man inside argued for himself, it seems that this person should be the legendary Shen Kuo.

"These are excuses. I am responsible for counting weapons every month to enter the warehouse. Now there are twenty fewer crossbows. The crossbow bureau must fill the gap. Otherwise, when the superiors want to allocate weapons, where will I find twenty crossbows?" At this time, the familiar voice said loudly again. He also has his own responsibilities, so naturally he can't be careless.

"Su Shi? Why is he here?" Zhao Yan finally heard who the voice inside was. It turned out to be Su Shi, who had met at the Xiyuan Elementary Festival before. But he remembered that Su Shi seemed to be a free position in Dengwen Drum Courtyard, but why did he actually come to the Military Arts Supervisor? Could it be that he is the newly appointed Military Arts Chief?

Seeing that Zhao Yan had guessed the identity of the Military Art Chief, Huang Wude next to him immediately smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the new Military Art Chief is Su Shi, who is famous for his poetry. The Military Art Chief is in charge of the military's weapons and equipment manufacturing, which is very important. Therefore, the reorganization of the Military Art Chief also attracted the attention of many people. Some time ago, Ouyang Xianggong recommended Su Shi to His Majesty. His Majesty also felt that he should give this talent a chance to show his talents, so he gave him the position of Military Art Chief."

When Zhao Yan heard this, he felt that his influence on history after his time travel had already begun to show results. Not only did he reorganize the military weapon surveillance in advance, but he also affected the fate of Shen Kuo and Su Shi. In the original history, they had not served in the military weapon surveillance. However, what made Zhao Yan feel interesting was that Shen Kuo had a relationship with Su Shi but was not very harmonious in the original history. He could even be called a mortal enemy. The Wutai poem case that made Su Shi die was first reported by Shen Kuo, which also reduced the evaluation of Shen Kuo's character by later generations a lot.

The quarrel in the hall continued, and Zhao Yan felt more and more interesting as he listened. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel the wonder of fate. Unexpectedly, because of his own reasons, Shen Kuo and Su Shi, the mortal enemy, actually worked together in advance. And when they quarreled just now, it seemed that the relationship between the two was as bad as in history. I just hope that their personal relationship would not affect the normal operation of the military weapon supervisor.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yan stepped into the hall and saw that two young officials in the hall were red in their faces and red in their faces. The young and long-faced young man was Su Shi, and opposite him was an official with a short beard. He saw that the other party was about thirties, with a medium figure and dark face, and a few wrinkles appeared on his forehead. He seemed to be older than his actual age, but he also looked more mature and steady. However, now he was very angry with Su Shi, and his chest was violently fluctuating. It seemed that the two had been arguing for quite a while.

"Haha, I have been listening outside for a long time. Haven't the two of you finished arguing yet?" Zhao Yan, as soon as he came in, he immediately laughed and joked. In fact, he also heard that there was nothing wrong with the two quarrels. One encountered a natural disaster and the other was his responsibility. No one was willing to give in, so he became like this.

"Your Highness, you... why are you here?" Su Shi was also stunned when he saw Zhao Yan coming in. Shen Kuo next to him did not know Zhao Yan. He was also very surprised when he heard that the young man who came in was actually a prince. Although they knew that there was an unseen consultant in the Military Equipment Supervisor, they did not know that the consultant was actually Zhao Yan.

"Your Majesty has an order. Prince Guangyang will serve as the advisor of the military weapon supervisor from today. I hope that the two of you will cooperate with Your Highness and do not disappoint Your Majesty!" At this time, Huang Wude spoke out Zhao Shu's appointment to Zhao Yan before, and then bowed to Zhao Yan and left. After all, he, the big spy leader, also has many things to deal with.

"It turns out that the legendary consultant is His Highness the Prince. That's great. Come and ask us to judge it and see which of us is right or wrong in this matter?" Su Shi did not expect that the consultant was Zhao Yan, and he was also very happy at the moment. Although the two of them had only met once, Su Shi highly praised Zhao Yan's painting skills. Although Zhao Yan beat Wang Shi a little recklessly that day, he was also a person of temperament. Unfortunately, he was not as thick-skinned as Li Gonglin, and he had never dared to visit him during this period.

"Sir Shen Kuo pays homage to the Prince!" Shen Kuo also understood at this time. He immediately bowed to Zhao Yan, then looked at Su Shi who was angry next to him and said, "The heavy rain in the past few days caused the dry crossbow arms to be damp and unusable. This is a natural disaster, not **. The craftsmen in the crossbow office have tried their best, but this month can only bring out eighty crossbows, and there may be even fewer next month, so please understand!"

"Haha, you two don't have to argue anymore. I have been outside for a long time just now. You all have their own reasons, so even if you make trouble with the official family, you can't tell the difference between right and wrong." Zhao Yan smiled and asked the two to stop quarrel.

"The prince, it was not that I deliberately quarreled with Shen Juejian, but that the various weapons in the arsenal were quotas for the monthly storage. If there were fewer, if the weapons were allocated, they would definitely blame the lower officials. So I asked the prince to make the decision for the lower officials!" Su Shi was also very helpless. He had only held a idle position in the Dengwen Drum Courtyard before, which was not his original wish. Now he finally got a position with real power, which could also allow him to realize his ideal of loyalty to the emperor and serving the country. However, after only a few days after taking office, he encountered such a thing, so he naturally refused to agree easily.

Zhao Yan also knew Su Shi's difficulties, so he thought about it for a moment and then asked Shen Kuo next to him: "Shen Judicial Manager, you just said that the crossbow arm is moist and cannot be used, so can't it be dried and used?"

Zhao Yan asked a little amateurs, but Shen Kuo replied patiently: "The prince doesn't know that the most complicated thing about the crossbow is the crossbow arm. The production of crossbow arms is actually not much different from the bow arm. They all need to analyze the bow stem in winter and treat the horns in spring; treat the tendons in summer and close the materials in autumn, and then shape the crossbow arms in the bow box, etc. It can be said that a crossbow arm will take at least two to three years. Whatever you do during each season must be strictly implemented, otherwise the elasticity of the crossbow arm will be damaged. However, this summer, it was abnormally rained for several days, and most of the entire Kaifeng City flooded, and the bow and crossbow courtyard was also affected. After those crossbow arms were damp, all the preparations made before were wasted. Everything needs to be done from the beginning. Without crossbow arms, no matter how hard the craftsman's position works, it cannot be used to create a crossbow."

When Zhao Yan visited his father-in-law Cao Yu's weapon collection, he also heard the other party say that it is very difficult to manufacture a crossbow arm, but now he knows that a crossbow arm actually has to go through so many processes and must cooperate with the weather, otherwise a bow or crossbow will not be able to exert its maximum power.

However, Zhao Yan was not anxious about the crossbow, because the weapon he was designing was also related to the crossbow. Unfortunately, the craftsmen he found were not professional, so there was no progress. If a group of experienced craftsmen could be drawn from the crossbow bureau, he should be able to quickly get the new weapon out.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yan smiled at Shen Kuo and Su Shi, who both disliked each other and said, "The two don't have to argue anymore. The reason why I serve as an advisor to the military weapon supervisor is mainly because I have a lot of expertise in both military weapons. For example, during this period, I have been designing a new weapon. If it can be successful, it should be able to make up for the shortcomings of some bed crossbows, and thus equip the army with a large amount of equipment. At that time, the army's demand for bed crossbows will also drop a lot, so your current quarrel is meaningless."

Hearing Zhao Yan's words, Shen Kuo and Su Shi were both stunned, and then turned their heads to stare at him with an incredible expression. After a while, Shen Kuo spoke with some suspicion: "Prince, although the bed crossbow is a little bulky, its power is extremely amazing. Whether it is field battles or defending the city, it can be called a supreme weapon. What are the defects of such a weapon?"

"That's right, the Song Dynasty has been using a defensive force to the outside world, and it is just in the time when we need a powerful weapon like a bed crossbow. All the troops have reached out to the court for a bed crossbow, and the more, the better. There is no bed crossbow in the arsenal. How could it be replaced by other weapons?" Su Shi also spoke in disbelief at this time. This was the first time he agreed with Shen Kuo's words.
Chapter completed!