Episode 15 recap: The first batch of ammunition was successfully produced.
Zeng Zhaoji created a rifle out of thin air that was more than ten taels cheaper than the foreign one. To prove its power, Zeng Zhaoji fired a shot outside, and Ding Bao Zhen burst into laughter. Chen Yun Fei analyzed the situation of provocations from the Schneider warship based on the map of Shandong. Ding Bao Zhen proposed deploying defenses in these three locations. Qi Songru hurried back with a bag full of things on horseback. Zhang Yinhuan's whereabouts were unknown, and Xu Jian Yin suspected that he had run away with the money. Ding Bao Zhen suggested waiting a few more days, while Xu Jian Yin suggested either requesting the Empress Dowager or going to Shanghai to find Zhang Yinhuan. At this time, Ding Bao Zhen sent Chen Yun Fei to Shanghai, and Xu Jian Yin volunteered to accompany him to find Zhang Yinhuan.
Qi Songru was on a business trip and had gathered three teams of naval forces. He received a letter from his son, who said that his granddaughter had grown taller and learned the Three-Character Classic. Qi Songru was delighted. Zhang Yinhuan returned, but he came back from Guangzhou, not Shanghai, and did not see Xu Jian Yin. This time, he went to Shanghai and met with "Wuye" (Fifth Uncle). Due to the unfavorable price, he used the foreigners to suppress Zhang Yinhuan. In the end, he pretended to raise money and escaped to Guangzhou.
Ding Bao Zhen, Li Pei Rong, and others arrived at the dock and handed over all the naval forces to Fantou. They were mainly focused on training when they received an urgent piece of intelligence. It turned out that Xu Jian Yin went missing in Shanghai, and Ding Bao Zhen suspected that "Wuye" had detained him. He wrote to an old acquaintance in Shanghai for help, but the acquaintance gave the letter to En Cheng. En Cheng then instigated Ding Bao Zhen's suspicions in front of the Empress Dowager, suspecting that Ding Bao Zhen had killed Xu Jian Yin secretly in Shanghai because Xu Jian Yin was not his person.
The Empress Dowager believed that finding the person was important, while En Cheng believed that the fewer people who knew about this matter, the better. So the Empress Dowager assigned this task to En Cheng. Zhong Furen suggested that Li Pei Rong go to Shanghai to find the person, while Jin Xiaomei suggested asking for help from William in Shanghai. En Cheng ordered his men to find Xu Jian Yin and made it clear that no one should be left alive. William found out about Xu Jian Yin's whereabouts, but later lost track of him.
Wang Wuye heard that people were searching for Xu Jian Yin everywhere and secretly escaped from the tavern. Later, Chen Yun Fei followed Wang Wuye to a certain place, where Xu Jian Yin was drugged and unconscious on a bed. Chen Yun Fei found Xu Jian Yin but couldn't wake him up, so he had to use water to rouse him. Meanwhile, Wang Wuye used a knife to hold William hostage, falsely claiming that Zhang Yinhuan owed him money for machinery and demanded one thousand taels for meals. However, William saw through his scheme and said he knew people from various machinery bureaus and could speak with evidence. In the end, Wang Wuye settled for a hundred taels for meals and left obediently.
Ding Bao Zhen personally cooked and entertained William, expressing his gratitude. The purchased machinery and premises were fully prepared, and the Shandong Machinery Bureau was officially established. Old Chunsheng saw that his land was being used in a more valuable way, so this time he didn't ask for land anymore, and Ding Bao Zhen hired him to guard the entrance of the Machinery Bureau.
That evening, Ding Bao Zhen was happy and raised a toast with Madam Zhong. The last time he was this happy was when he saw his granddaughter Daisheng. It happened to be the fifteenth day of the month, and Madam Zhong and Ding Bao Zhen walked hand in hand in the courtyard, gazing at the moon. Madam Zhong felt embarrassed but couldn't help leaning against Ding Bao Zhen.
The first batch of explosive ammunition was produced by the Machinery Bureau. Zhang Yinhuan listened to Ding Bao Zhen's deployment of coastal defense and proposed building artillery positions in the East China Sea. He promised to report the detailed plan after conducting a thorough investigation. Zeng Zhaoji wanted to test the ammunition, but Ding Bao Zhen insisted on testing it himself. The shot hit the bullseye directly, but the power was weak. Xu Jian Yin saw the ammunition and immediately wrote a memorial to the Empress Dowager, criticizing Ding Bao Zhen for his short-sightedness and lack of progress. He accused him of recruiting talent based on personal preferences, which hindered the development of the Qing dynasty.
The next day, Ding Bao Zhen held a meeting with the workers and reported all the expenses incurred in setting up the factory. Although they saved a lot of money by not including unnecessary expenses, the ammunition was far inferior to the foreign ones. Ding Bao Zhen was unsure whether to destroy the production or continue. Zhang Yinhuan believed that the country needed to strengthen itself, and the workers unanimously agreed that they should continue production. They wanted to find out the reasons for the performance gap and ensure that the money was not wasted. This discussion made Xu Jian Yin feel inferior, and he voluntarily handed over the memorial and the ammunition to Ding Bao Zhen. He tore the memorial in front of him, acknowledging his own incompetence. Now he truly admired Ding Bao Zhen as a good official.
Xu Jian Yin became friends with Ding Bao Zhen through this experience. That night, Xu Jian Yin studied the ammunition and searched for the reasons behind its shortcomings. On the other hand, Zeng Zhaoji felt that the outer copper layer was a bit thin but dismissed his own thought. Meanwhile, Xu Jian Yin found the reason for the low power and hurriedly informed Zeng Zhaoji that it was due to insufficient purity of saltpeter. Coincidentally, Old Chunsheng knew where to find the needed purity.
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