Chapter 1293: Lock

Huang was executed at the execution ground, and all the servants went to watch. Besides announcing Huang's crimes, Chunfeng led everyone to recite the Shi bu xu once more to reinforce their memory. Right beside Huang's corpse, he believed this experience of reciting the Shi bu xu would be firmly etched into the minds of all the servants.

However, ordinary people paid no attention to this execution, because it was just the death of a servant. Everyone felt that watching a servant being killed was too boring and meaningless, and crowding together with servants would also affect their own status.

Baifeng naturally would not go to watch either; it was much warmer staying in his own office.

Donglei came to report that Minister Ben of the Ministry of Works had arrived and had something to report.

Baifeng did not bother to guess what it was and let Ben in directly. Ben saluted Baifeng with a face full of smiles. After Baifeng told him to rise, Ben just kept grinning foolishly without saying a word.

Baifeng waited for a while, and seeing that Ben still did not speak, he said in mock anger: "You're putting on an act now, aren't you? Speak, what exactly is the matter that has you grinning so foolishly?"

Sure enough, Ben took a cloth bag out from his wide robe and placed it cautiously in front of Baifeng: "King, that thing you told us to build, we've managed to create it!"

Baifeng felt a bit confused because there were too many things he had wanted the Ministry of Works to build, and he couldn't recall for a moment what exactly it was that they had created. However, looking at the bag, the object inside could not be very large.

Ben knew that this was definitely a great achievement, so his posture was very arrogant now, just like a rooster that had won a battle.

Baifeng naturally allowed them to have such a posture, because they were all people who had conquered the world with him. Besides being his officials, they were also his friends. Having such behavior was more like a lubricant in life, making a dull life a bit more interesting.

Young officials would not dare to have such a posture in front of Baifeng, but those second-generation officials and Yulong could have such a posture. He hoped that when they all grew up, even if Yulong became the King, everyone could still be like friends; this way, Yulong would not feel too bored or lonely.

"You old thing, still acting mysterious. Let me see what exactly you've managed to build."

While Baifeng scolded him, his hands took the bag and opened it, while Ben rubbed his hands in anticipation on the side.

Baifeng himself was also a bit expectant. Since it was something he had asked the Ministry of Works to build, it must be something relatively important. However, the wooden blocks he took out left Baifeng a bit puzzled. He couldn't tell what these were; he didn't seem to have asked them to make these.

Moreover, there were three of them, all with very different shapes. It didn't seem right to call them parts of something. Baifeng held them and looked closely. Seeing the thin stick and the hole on it, Baifeng suddenly realized what these were.

Baifeng slapped the table, his smile so wide he couldn't suppress it, and then he reached out a hand: "Where is the key? Give me the key; I want to try it out."

Ben pretended not to know: "What is a key? I've never heard of that."

"If you don't know what a key is, then I'll take your 'bull' and stick it into the keyhole to see if it can fit."

Ben did not mind Baifeng's suddenly crude language and took out another small bag from his bosom with a grin, handing it cautiously to Baifeng.

Baifeng couldn't wait to open the bag, but he didn't dare to pour it out, because the lock was made of wood, and he reckoned the key was also made of wood; if it broke from a fall, that would be the end of it.

The key was just a long stick, and the shape of the teeth on it was relatively simple; this was because the technology had just emerged and was not yet mature.

Baifeng held the key, examined the keyhole for a moment, determined which one it belonged to, then inserted it and gave it a light turn. He felt something being pushed aside, but there were definitely no springs inside, so the force felt different.

After feeling that some structure had been pushed aside, Baifeng pulled the stick out, and it could be withdrawn. This meant the lock was opened. The head of the stick was not straight either; it had a groove, which was used for locking.

Baifeng pulled the key out and re-inserted the lock head, but this time he felt it didn't lock, which was a bit strange. Ben smiled, came up, and moved another stick in a very hidden position, then inserted the lock head again and pushed the stick in. A very faint sound of wood hitting wood could be heard. At this point, when he pulled it, it was locked.

Baifeng looked at this lock and liked it very much. This could be said to have brought a huge leap forward to the security industry of Huaxia.

Taking advantage of this joy, Baifeng tried the other two locks and found that these three locks had completely different structures and completely different operating principles.

Baifeng was very happy and let out a long sigh: "Good, now tell me, how was this made? Why make three at once? Why not bring me the one that was made first? It couldn't be that all three were made at the same time, right?"

Ben said quite bluntly: "King, I came all the way here in this cold weather, and I don't even have a cup of hot tea. My throat is about to smoke."

Baifeng was helpless and quickly pointed to the sofa: "Sit, sit, sit, warm yourself by the fire." Then he shouted toward the door: "Donglei, serve tea, serve good tea."

Only then did Ben say with a grin: "King, when you first issued this task, we didn't know how to handle it at all. We couldn't figure it out, but we couldn't let it delay our main tasks either. So, we simply hung this task up in the workshop so that everyone could see it. No matter if you were a high-level Artisan or an apprentice, you could see the requirements and basic principles, and it just depended on who had the ability to make it."

Baifeng nodded, thinking their approach was not wrong. A lock was not an essential item, but with locks, many Soldiers of Huaxia could be freed from the task of guarding warehouse doors. However, it was indeed true that one could not delay other work for the sake of a lock.

As for the task of the lock, Baifeng didn't even know how long it had been issued; it might have been several years, and he was about to forget it himself. Its sudden appearance now could be called a big surprise, because he himself didn't know what the inside of a lock looked like. He had only drawn the shape of the lock and the key, and explained how it could be used. Giving them only this much information to work with was indeed a bit difficult for the people in the Ministry of Works.