My wife is number one in the world

At this moment, Lü Sanlin and Qin Shaoguang, the two brothers, were standing on either side of a door in the dining hall, quietly waiting for Liu Mingzhi and his group to arrive.

When Lü Sanlin and Qin Shaoguang saw Liu Mingzhi and his group approaching together, they quickly set off to greet Liu, who was leading the way.

Qin Shaoguang strode up to Liu Mingzhi and bowed slightly with a smile on his face.

"His Majesty."

As soon as Qin Shaoguang finished speaking, Lü Sanlin quickly raised his hands and bowed slightly to Young Master Liu.

"His Majesty."

However, compared to Qin Shaoguang's smiling face, Lü Sanlin looked embarrassed and nervous.

Liu Mingzhi nodded slightly to Qin Shaoguang, then turned his head with a smile and looked at Lü Sanlin. He looked at the awkward and nervous expression on Lü Sanlin's face and raised his eyebrows mischievously.

"Oh ho ho, isn't this General Lü?"
Why does your complexion look so strange after only a short while?

What's wrong? In such a short time, General Lü has suddenly fallen ill? Or what?

Hearing Liu Dashao's teasing words and seeing his mischievous eyes, Lü Sanlin quickly raised his hands and bowed slightly to Liu Dashao again.

"Your Majesty, you are joking."

Your Majesty, the whole thing about arranging a banquet just for you and Her Highness the Princess is entirely my fault.

This matter was decided by me on my own initiative, and has nothing to do with the old general and my brothers.

If Your Majesty is not satisfied with this matter, then punish only this old minister.

"This old minister will take full responsibility for my actions and accept punishment willingly."

As soon as Lü Sanlin uttered his words of apology, Zheng Jizhong's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously glanced at the expression on Young Master Liu's face.

Liu Mingzhi chuckled and smacked his lips twice, then raised his right hand and slapped Lü Sanlin's shoulder twice.

After two muffled thuds, he chuckled and withdrew his right hand, then continued walking towards the canteen ahead.

"Hehehe, I can tell that your shoulders are even stronger than General Zheng's."

As soon as Liu Mingzhi finished speaking with a chuckle, he didn't wait for Lü Sanlin's response and silently quickened his pace toward the canteen.

When Lü Sanlin heard what Young Master Liu said, his expression faltered slightly. For a moment, he didn't quite understand what his admitting his mistake had to do with whether his shoulders were strong or not.
Lu Sanlin had already arrived at the canteen, so he was unaware of the conversation between Young Master Liu and Zheng Jizhong. Therefore, he naturally did not understand the meaning of Young Master Liu's words.

Standing next to him, Qin Shaoguang also showed a faint look of doubt.

Because Qin Shaoguang had come to the canteen ahead of Liu Dashao to inform Lü Sanlin on Liu Dashao's orders, he was unaware of the conversation between Liu Dashao and Zheng Jizhong.

Therefore, he naturally couldn't understand what Young Master Liu meant by what he had just said.

However, just because Lü Sanlin and Qin Shaoguang couldn't understand it doesn't mean that Xiao Ke'ai, Zheng Jizhong, and the rest of the group couldn't understand it either!

So, the moment Liu Dashao finished speaking those teasing words, the expressions on Xiao Ke'ai's, Zheng Jizhong's, and the others' faces immediately turned strange.

In particular, General Zheng Jizhong's expression turned strange, but he also silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Since His Majesty used such words to tease Lü Sanlin, it means that he did not take this matter to heart.

In this way, he would no longer need to worry about Lü Sanlin.

After regaining his senses, Lü Sanlin quickly turned his head to look at his left shoulder, which had been patted hard twice by Young Master Liu. Then, with a look of confusion on his face, he turned to look at Zheng Jizhong.

"General, what does His Majesty mean by this? Is he punishing me, or not?"

Zheng Jizhong looked at Lü Sanlin's puzzled expression and shook his head with a light laugh.

"Brother, His Majesty didn't mean anything by it; he was just praising your ability to handle things."

As for whether you will be punished, His Majesty said nothing, which means the matter is over.

As Zheng Jizhong spoke with a light laugh, he passed by Lü Sanlin and raised his hand to pat him hard on the shoulder a few times.

He immediately nodded with a faint smile, deeply agreeing.

"Yes! His Majesty is right, my brother. Your shoulders are indeed much stronger than mine."

After exchanging a puzzled look, Lü Sanlin and Qin Shaoguang could only set off with a puzzled expression to follow Xiao Ke'ai and Zheng Jizhong's group.

As soon as Liu Mingzhi stepped into the bustling mess hall, the soldiers eating lunch at several tables near the door spotted him.

In an instant, the dozens of soldiers stopped laughing and talking among themselves, and then they hurriedly stood up from the benches they were on.

"His Majesty."

The sudden act of dozens of soldiers getting up immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding soldiers.

Then, this triggered a chain reaction, and more and more soldiers in the canteen spotted Young Master Liu and his group.

In just a few breaths, the soldiers in the mess hall stood up from the benches one after another, wave after wave.

"His Majesty!"

"His Majesty!"

"His Majesty!"

Seeing this, Liu Mingzhi smiled and raised his arms, gently pressing his hands down a few times towards all the soldiers in the mess hall.

"Brothers, there's no need for this, no need for this."

"Sit down, everyone, please sit down and continue eating lunch."

"We thank Your Majesty."

However, once the soldiers were seated again, they all unconsciously slowed down their eating pace.

This was because, while they were eating, they would frequently turn their heads to glance at Young Master Liu and his group.

Liu Mingzhi gently adjusted the sleeves of his hands and glanced sideways at the group of people standing behind him.

"Sanlin".

Upon hearing Young Master Liu's soft call, Lü Sanlin quickly got up and walked over to Young Master Liu's side, stopping there.

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?"

Liu Mingzhi looked at Lü Sanlin, who strode up to his side, and said with a light laugh, "Sanlin, where is the food and drink you arranged for me and my daughter Yue'er to be served separately?"

Upon hearing this, Lü Sanlin quickly bowed slightly to Young Master Liu.

"Your Majesty, the food and wine for you and the Princess have not yet been served. Moreover... moreover, this old minister has arranged for Your Majesty and the Princess to dine elsewhere."

Liu Mingzhi let out a long sigh with his lips slightly parted, and replied softly, "Phew! Sanlin, immediately send someone to inform the brothers in the kitchen that my daughter Yue'er and I will be having lunch here in the dining hall today. Just have them bring the prepared food and wine directly to the dining hall."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey."

Lu Sanlin respectfully raised his hands and clasped them in a fist salute to Young Master Liu before immediately walking toward a soldier eating lunch at a table to the left of the door.

Soon, the soldier put down his chopsticks, chewing the food he hadn't swallowed yet, and ran straight out of the mess hall.

Lu Sanlin took a deep breath and strode back to Young Master Liu's side.

"Your Majesty, the wine and dishes will be served soon."

Liu Mingzhi nodded slightly and asked with a faint smile, "Sanlin, where is the place to wash your hands?"

"Your Majesty, the place to wash hands is outside the dining hall, where there are several pools where the soldiers wash themselves regularly."

"Your Majesty, would you like me to fetch a basin of clean water for you and Her Highness the Princess to wash your hands?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mingzhi waved his hand lightly at Lü Sanlin without even thinking.

"No need. It's not just me and Yue'er who need to wash our hands. The old general, the brothers, and you also need to wash your hands. Let's go to the sink where we wash our hands together."

"Yes, Your Majesty, please. Your Highness, please."

"Hahaha, together, together."

Before long, a group of people led by Young Master Liu arrived together at a sink outside the dining hall used for washing up.

Liu Mingzhi glanced down at the hand pump next to the pool, then turned around with a slight frown to look at Zheng Jizhong standing behind him.

"General, in recent years, has there been any significant progress in the process of refining rubber grass from rubber grass?"

When Zheng Jizhong heard Young Master Liu ask him this question, he shook his head with a sigh.

"Your Majesty, there has been almost no substantial progress."

In recent years, the soldiers stationed in various parts of the Abbasid Caliphate and India have maintained a constant correspondence with each other.

Brothers who lived further apart would exchange letters about once every six months or once a year, while brothers from different battalions who lived closer together would exchange letters once every one or two months or three or four months.

Unfortunately, to date, none of the brothers in any camp have made any significant progress in the rubber refining process.

As far as I know, the rubber refining techniques used by our brothers in various camps and regions are mainly based on the techniques they learned from our Great Dragon Academy of Sciences many years ago.

Your Majesty, the artisans in the army have come up with almost every possible solution to this matter.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard they worked, neglecting sleep and meals, they still made no real progress.

As Zheng Jizhong spoke with a sigh, he immediately raised his hands and clasped them together in a fist salute to Young Master Liu.

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to say something that may not be pleasant to hear, it is indeed a bit too much to ask the artisans in the army to study the process of refining rubber."

The various techniques they had previously learned had absolutely nothing to do with rubber refining.

If you ask them to make various military equipment, siege weapons, or cast cannons, the soldiers are incredibly capable.

However, regarding the matter of rubber refining...

The artisans in the army are truly... truly..."

After hesitatingly humming twice, Zheng Jizhong finally let out a long sigh with a complicated expression.

"Ugh!"

Upon hearing Zheng Jizhong's last sigh, Liu Mingzhi fell silent, a look of melancholy on his face.

A moment later, he casually rolled up his sleeves a couple of times and glanced at Li Zhihai from the side.

"Zhihai, get two basins of clean water."

"Yes."

After responding loudly to Young Master Liu's words, Li Zhihai adjusted the wrist guards on his arms and strode towards the hand pump next to the pool.

"Old General."

"Your Majesty, please speak, this old minister is listening!"

"General, to be frank, I am a rather pragmatic person."

To be honest, that's what it is.

I know perfectly well that it's a bit difficult for the military craftsmen to figure out how to improve the rubber refining process.

Just as you said, General, the various crafts that the artisans in the army learned before are completely different from the rubber refining process.

General, to be honest, I know the situation better than you do.

However, whether or not rubber can be refined in large quantities is far too important for the future livelihood and governance of our Great Dragon Dynasty.

This is even more important than my immediate order to the brothers, the Duke of Huguo and the Duke of Yong'an, to dispatch 100,000 elite troops to conquer a new territory.

As the saying goes, one person's plan is short-sighted, but two people's plans are long-sighted.

There's also a saying that goes, "Three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang."

To put it bluntly, the main reason I gave such an order to the Duke of Huguo and the Duke of Yong'an was because I wanted to see a miracle from the slimst of possibilities, a miracle that might happen.

As the old general once said, it's better to be safe than sorry.

How can you know for sure that something won't happen if you don't try it?
What if, just what if, one day in the future, a miracle happens?
There's a saying that goes, "The world is so big, there's nothing that can't be found."

The world is never short of smart people.

Just because the scholars of our Great Dragon Academy of Sciences can't do something doesn't mean that others can't.

Therefore, regarding this matter, things should remain the same as before.

"Old General, a slim chance is better than no hope at all, isn't it?"

After a moment's hesitation, Zheng Jizhong raised his hands solemnly and gave Young Master Liu a firm fist salute.

"Your Majesty is wise; this old minister has learned much." (End of Chapter)