Chapter 56: Overlooking the Imperial Guards

After laughing inwardly for a while, Liu Can composed himself—there was serious business to attend to! He took the Dragon Gallbladder Spear from Wang Li and said, "Uncle Zilong, shall we begin?"

Zhao Yun nodded, received the spear from the emperor, strode into the courtyard, and said, "Your Majesty, please watch closely!"

With that, he lowered his stance, suddenly shifting into a horse stance, turned his body sideways, and thrust the spear forward. Liu Can watched closely; the power behind that thrust came from the perfect coordination of his entire body. When the spearhead reached its limit, Zhao Yun abruptly drew it back!

Thrust again! And again, retract!

After several such thrusts and withdrawals, Zhao Yun retracted the spear and handed it back to Liu Can, saying, "Your Majesty, you should start with this thrusting technique. In seven days, I will teach you the next method."

Liu Can took the spear and mimicked Zhao Yun's movements. He seemed to have grasped the basics and asked, puzzled, "Uncle Zilong, it's just this one thrust—I estimate I can master the essentials in a day and become proficient in two. Why would it take seven days?"

Zhao Yun shook his head, led Liu Can to a large tree at the edge of the courtyard, and said, "Your Majesty, use this tree to see for yourself!"

"What's so difficult about that?" Liu Can declared, and thrust his spear at the trunk.

The tree was as thick as a water barrel, so it was easy for him to hit the trunk squarely. With a powerful jab, a few withered leaves fluttered down.

Then Zhao Yun said, "Your Majesty, try again. See if you can hit the exact same spot."

"Alright!"

"Eh!"

Upon thrusting again, Liu Can was dumbfounded. He had missed the mark; the second thrust landed away from the first.

"Again!" Refusing to believe it, he tried once more, focusing intently and exerting all his strength to control the spear, hoping to make the spearhead land where it had before. But contrary to his wishes, it missed again.

He tried several more times; once, the tip nearly landed in the same spot, but he knew it was purely accidental—a lucky guess.

At this, Zhao Yun took back the spear, switched places with Liu Can, and thrust at the tree trunk himself.

Though Zhao Yun did not use much force, every one of his thrusts landed precisely on the spot where Liu Can's first strike had hit.

This made Liu Can realize Zhao Yun’s intent and the terrifying degree of control Zhao Yun had over the spear.

"I understand now, Uncle Zilong! I will practice diligently," Liu Can said solemnly.

"Then I shall take my leave," Zhao Yun replied, then said to his daughter, "Come, let's not disturb His Majesty any further."

Zhao Xiaoyun—or rather, Zhao Teddy—glanced at the emperor. Seeing he did not object, she quickly followed her father, wishing she could fly away immediately. Every encounter with the emperor ended badly for her. She swore never to wager with him again—not for anything!

As they reached the gate, the emperor's voice called out, "Teddy, practice well. In seven days, I will see how much you've improved!"

Zhao Teddy skipped ahead of her father and darted out the gate as if escaping.

Liu Can smiled and continued thrusting the spear, engaged in a silent contest with the air before him.

After a while, the empress and her two companions entered the courtyard. During a break, Liu Can asked Lady Wang, "How are your plans for paper-making progressing?"

Lady Wang raised her brows and replied, "Your Majesty, the three of us have been thinking about it these past days and have written quite a bit. According to your requirements, the plan is nearly complete. We hope Your Majesty will review it soon."

Sitting at the table, Liu Can took the stack of papers handed to him and read them carefully.

These sheets were the very ones they had recently produced, all used at his instruction for drafting the plan.

As he had requested, the proposal covered a wide range of topics: the benefits of paper, methods to improve papermaking, the idea of establishing a research and development department, the initial investment for a paper mill, the required capital, recommendations for choosing a factory site, and more.

All of these were things Liu Can had often mentioned before them, faithfully recorded and written into the proposal.

He read through the proposal with great attention, correcting any inadequacies and making detailed improvements.

"This is basically ready!" Liu Can said, pulling a remaining sheet from the dwindling stack to write a letter approving the patent application, then stamped it with the patent seal.

Since the Eastern Depot had not yet been formally established, all matters of patent application, review, and approval were handled personally by him.

If, in the future, the Eastern Depot was established, these tasks could be delegated to them, with a department set up outside the palace and gradually expanded nationwide.

Placing the patent approval letter on top of the proposal, Liu Can instructed, "Bind this with thread as I said, and soak it in oil! This is the very first proposal of its kind in the world. If it survives a thousand years, it will surely become a national treasure!"

"What?" The three women exchanged glances, wondering if the emperor was once again making some profound statement. Yes, they must remember this well.

Liu Can paid them no mind. Now, it was up to the Wang family’s response. As long as they agreed, he would have made a huge stride toward wealth—yes, toward wealth!

But he was confident the Wang family had no reason to refuse, especially with the contract to establish a company.

Perhaps ordinary people would not recognize the significance of this contract, but he was certain that with Wang Wanzi’s business acumen, he would see the benefits it would bring to his family.

With that, Liu Can paused his experiments and awaited the Wang family’s reply. Once the company and research department were set up, he could let them work on his manufacturing ideas.

It was time to devote some thought to the imperial guards!

In these troubled times, his guards needed to protect the palace and fight on the battlefield.

Since he could not seize military command in the short term, he would have to train his own army!

To truly control a force, every soldier must feel that following him would secure their future.

This was crucial—whether for the grand sense of duty to the emperor, the glory of conquest and merit, or, more practically, the hope of promotion and better pay to support their families.

But for now, anyone with sense would know that to achieve great feats, one must follow the Prime Minister, Zhuge Liang. Following the emperor seemed to lead nowhere.

Therefore, Liu Can could only start by offering his men the hope of promotion and prosperity.