Chapter 59: The Cargo Has Arrived

Hearing Liu Bei’s question, Song Yingxing, who was standing nearby, also cast a curious gaze toward Zhang Bo.

The Ming Dynasty in which he lived was more than a thousand years removed from the Eastern Han era. Merely in terms of melee weapons, both in quality and forging speed, the two were simply in completely different leagues.

As for firearms, it went without saying. The Ming Dynasty possessed a whole series of weapons such as matchlock muskets, three-barrel hand cannons, and Hongyipao cannons.

However, thinking of firearms, Song Yingxing felt somewhat helpless.

Back in the day, the founding Emperor Taizu relied on firearms to achieve the unprecedented feat of fighting from the south to the north to establish the Great Ming.

Emperor Taizong established the Shenji Division, one of the three major battalions of the capital, which accompanied Emperor Taizong on several expeditions and overawed the surrounding regions.

Yet today, the firearms of the Ming Dynasty showed a slight decline and no longer possessed their former glory.

They had even been surpassed by the Franks.

Now, Song Yingxing wanted to see to what extent future firearms would develop; perhaps he could draw some inspiration from them.

Zhang Bo did not directly answer Liu Bei’s question. Instead, he unlocked his phone, searched for a video, and pushed the phone to the middle of the table.

Immediately, the Eastern Han quartet and Song Yingxing stood up one after another, leaning their heads close to the phone on the table.

Much like Huo Qubing when he first watched a video, the expressions on the faces of the five men at this moment were extremely dramatic, as if they had seen a ghost.

Even so, their gazes remained fixed tightly on the phone screen without the slightest slackness.

Even after the video finished playing, the five of them still stood rigidly in place, seemingly not yet recovered from the shock.

It was not until Zhang Bo retrieved his phone that everyone was finally snapped out of their trances as if waking from a dream.

As they sat back down, the expressions on everyone's faces were astonishingly consistent.

Although they could not understand it, they were profoundly awestruck.

The Eastern Han quartet went without saying; they had not even come into contact with gunpowder yet, let alone firearms or intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Song Yingxing was in a slightly better state, but he likewise could not comprehend why a handgun could achieve such convenient and rapid ignition, nor what that terrifying missile could possibly be.

"Proprietor, I wonder if this item can be purchased, and at what price?"

Liu Bei looked at Zhang Bo with an eager expression.

***

"No."

Although Liu Bei had mentally prepared himself beforehand, hearing Zhang Bo’s flat refusal still brought a look of deep regret to his face.

What a pity.

If he possessed such powerful weapons, subduing the Cao thief and restoring the Han Dynasty would become practically feasible.

"Proprietor, I wonder if this item can be manufactured in the Ming Dynasty?"

Goodness gracious, each one of them was more whimsical than the last.

Liu Bei wanted to buy them, while Song Yingxing wanted to forge them from scratch.

"No, because the requirements for producing such weapons are far too rigorous. Neither the late Eastern Han nor the Ming Dynasty is capable of making them. The purpose of showing them to you was to answer Lord Xuande’s previous question about the extent to which weapons have developed in my era.

"However, although I cannot sell such weapons, blades and swords can still be sold. Furthermore, I can guarantee you that the quality of our blades and swords is a whole tier higher than those of either the Great Han or the Ming.

"Correspondingly, however, the price is likely to be..."

Hearing this clearly from the side, Zhang Fei heroically patted his chest.

"Proprietor, you need not worry about money. We have ample wealth."

Very good, very good. The more Zhang Bo looked at Zhang Fei, the more pleasing to the eye he found him.

At this moment, everyone returned to their initial composure and resumed eating, drinking, and chatting happily.

Just then, a text message notification sound came from Zhang Bo's phone.

Zhang Bo opened his phone and saw a text notification stating that his delivery had arrived in the village.

Looking at the items listed in the order, Zhang Bo could not help but smile knowingly.

Very well, next up was letting everyone present experience a minor dose of technological shock.

"Everyone, I have something to attend to and must leave for a moment. Please continue dining here."

Instantly, everyone stood up and cupped their hands in farewell to Zhang Bo.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Bo drove his elderly-mobility scooter back into the courtyard.

Unloading all the large and small packages from the scooter, Zhang Bo laboriously walked toward the dining room.

Before he even reached the door, Zhang Bo heard a slurred, thick-tongued voice speaking unclearshed words from afar.

"Big Brother... *hic*... Second Brother, this wine is truly wonderful. Not only is it crystal clear, but the taste is also rich and mellow. Things like Dukang or fruit wine are completely worthless compared to it. But why are there suddenly so many Big Brothers and Second Brothers appearing before my eyes?"

Looking at the swaying Zhang Fei, Guan Yu silently let out a sigh.

He had initially been drinking like his third brother, but after the first sip, he realized something was amiss with the wine, and thus changed his style from frantic gulping to gentle sipping.

"Third Brother, you are drunk."

"Second Brother, I... I am not drunk."

Before Zhang Fei's voice faded, Zhang Bo, having reached the doorway, heard a loud "thud," which sounded like a head colliding with the dining table.

"Third Brother!"

Liu Bei and Guan Yu quickly stepped forward to check if Zhang Fei was injured.

Pushing open the door, Zhang Bo saw that Zhang Fei had already buried his entire face onto the table.

Seeing Zhang Bo carrying numerous large and small packages, Zhuge Liang and Song Yingxing also stepped forward to give him a hand.

"Proprietor, I wonder what is inside this box?"

"Hehe, this is a good thing. Once I unpack it, I'll let you all open your eyes."

With that, Zhang Bo stripped away all the outer packaging, revealing its true appearance.

Looking at an object resembling a black brick, Zhuge Liang asked curiously,

"Proprietor, could this item be a mobile phone?"

"Not at all. This item is called a walkie-talkie."

Walkie... talkie? What kind of chicken was that?

"Uhm, Proprietor, I wonder what the marvelous use of this item is?"

"Mr. Kongming, please wait for me for just a moment."

Having said that, Zhang Bo pulled out the instruction manual for the walkie-talkie and began to study it carefully.

After a long while, he finally understood how to operate it.

Having adjusted the frequency and all other settings, Zhang Bo handed the walkie-talkie in his hand to Zhuge Liang, and then strode out of the house, running toward the dark depths of the courtyard.

"Strategist, I wonder what the object in your hand is, and what the proprietor meant by this?"

Liu Bei checked on Zhang Fei and, finding him unharmed, returned to his seat.

"My Lord, this item is called a walkie-talkie. As for what the proprietor is doing, I do not know either."

Song Yingxing stood beside Zhuge Liang, staring in a daze at the device in Zhuge Liang's hand. His intuition told him that this object was definitely extraordinary.

"Hello, hello, hello, can you hear me?"

Zhang Bo's loud voice almost startled Zhuge Liang into dropping the walkie-talkie.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang was no ordinary man and quickly maintained his composure.

"Is that the Proprietor?" Zhuge Liang spoke into the walkie-talkie with a hint of uncertainty.

He found it difficult to understand why the proprietor's voice was coming from a palm-sized artifact.

"It's me, Mr. Kongming."

"Proprietor, what is the meaning of this?"

"Wait for me a moment. I'll explain it clearly to you all when I get back inside."

Soon, Zhang Bo returned to the house, took out his own walkie-talkie, and began to explain the device to the astonished group.

"This item is called a walkie-talkie. It can achieve real-time dialogue between people over long distances, up to ten... twenty miles away."

Originally, the walkie-talkie Zhang Bo bought had an effective communication range of only five kilometers. However, considering that the late Eastern Han period was nothing like modern society with its high-rise buildings and other electromagnetic interference, it was truly flat plains in every sense. Coupled with the lack of electromagnetic interference, Zhang Bo figured that doubling the communication range would be completely unproblematic.

"How... how many? Twenty miles!"