The sable-fur boats of the Qilian Mountains in Liangzhou Prefecture were pressed down by sleet and snow. Shen Xitang’s black boots crushed the charred pages of the "Miscellaneous Notes on Western Liang." Xiao Heng’s Xiuchun Saber split open the elm crates of a fur merchant caravan, and bundles of purple sable skins, suddenly struck by the north wind, burst asunder—inside the gaps between the furs were not reed fibers, but seven scrolls of Saxon-standard siege artillery blueprints. Beside the German text for "16th Year of Chongzhen" on the parchment, there were annotations in Qiang language: "Forging parameters for the Dresden Arsenal cannon tracks!"
"Lord Thousand-Householder, look at this tanning scraper." Her fingertips brushed the spiral grooves on the hardened steel blade. "This 'Nine-Turn Leather-Tanning' technique was improved by Feng Sheng during the Hongwu reign when he conquered the Hexi Corridor. How could it be etched with the lion crest of the Wettin family?"
A hunting whistle suddenly echoed through the mountain pass. Twenty furriers wearing snow-leopard caps descended from the ice cliffs. The fish-scale forging patterns on the fat-scraping knives in their hands were an exact match for the powder-chamber molds used by Ma Fang during the Jiajing reign to cast his lightning-bolt muskets. Shen Xitang’s Silver Silk shredded a black fox pelt, and a scrap of the "Elbe Secret Ledger" fell out. Beside the official document claiming "falsely reported 50,000 tribute furs…
Chapter 216