She Even Dared to Set Her Sights on the Court of Judicial Review
"Tsk, you underestimate your senior brother." Wu Zong glanced at her sideways.
He's an official in the Court of Court of Judicial Review, and although he doesn't do bad things, he's quite adept at all the tricks and schemes of bad people. It won't be easy for Zhao Ruxi to stump him.
Zhao Ruxi made a "please" gesture. "Then, senior brother, show me your true skills and impress me."
Wu Zong squatted down to examine the lock. Zhao Ruxi thoughtfully had Dianjiang bring him a small piece of furniture.
After studying it for a while, Wu Zong asked, "Could you give me a thin bamboo stick?"
Zhao Ruxi then had Qingfeng bring a piece of wire to Wu Zong.
"If you poke this in, you'll probably break the lock." Wu Zong looked at the thin wire, then at the lock, and hesitated, not daring to make a move.
"Go ahead and do it, it's fine. If it breaks, I have plenty more, as many as you need." Zhao Ruxi waved her hand generously.
Without further hesitation, Wu Zong poked and prodded inside with a thin wire. After fiddling around for a long time, even though it was the dead of winter and he was sweating profusely, he still couldn't open the lock.
Finally, he gave up and gave Zhao Ruxi a thumbs up. "Junior sister, your lock is amazing. I admire you."
Zhao Ruxi proudly raised her chin. "That's right."
Drawer locks come in two types: visible and concealed. Visible locks are easier to open, but concealed locks are quite complicated to open without a key.
It requires sufficient knowledge of the lock, as well as specialized lock-picking tools, such as screwdrivers and hammers.
Insert a screwdriver into the hole and tap it with a hammer to remove the screw; or use a hook bent at almost 90 degrees to directly manipulate the transmission mechanism, mimicking a key turning inside, to open the lock.
It's important to know that screwdrivers weren't invented until the 1930s, and Empress Shengyao didn't bring them into the world. The first screwdrivers in the Great Jin were probably the different models in the tool set that Zhao Ruxi had craftsmen make for her. Therefore, if you wanted to use the first method to unlock things, you had to invent a screwdriver first.
The second method of unlocking is even more professional. It involves Zhao Ruxi, the one who drew the blueprints for the drawer lock. Without hundreds or thousands of practice sessions, even if you know the method, you might not be able to open the lock.
Not to mention Zhao Ruxi went to extremes, directly ordering molten iron to be poured on the point where the screws met the metal cabinet, welding it shut.
In short, this safe was quite sturdy given the existing technology in ancient times.
Wu Zong circled the cabinet twice, realizing it was truly like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog—nowhere to start. He patted the cabinet and asked Zhao Ruxi, "Are you planning to sell this kind of cabinet?"
"Yes." Zhao Ruxi nodded. "Eight hundred taels of silver each, do you think anyone would want them?"
Wu Zong stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and nodded, saying, "Of course, quite a lot. This price is reasonable."
Such a sturdy cabinet wouldn't be worth its price if sold cheaply.
Anyway, those aristocratic families aren't short of money; what they lack are sturdy cabinets to store their treasures. Ordinary gold and silver jewelry is fine, but house deeds, land deeds, and extremely precious jewels and antiques—if they were put in such a cabinet, they could sleep a few more nights in peace.
"Senior brother," Zhao Ruxi suddenly revealed a sly look, "If I want to move a few cabinets to your Court of Judicial Review and spread the word that anyone who opens one will be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver, what conditions do you think I should offer for Lord Zhang to let me do this?"
Wu Zong stared wide-eyed at Zhao Ruxi, speechless for a moment.
After a long pause, he finally said, "Junior Sister, you really have wild ideas."
That's what he said, but he genuinely admired his junior sister's quick wit.
What is the Court of Judicial Review? It is the government office in the Great Jin that handles serious and important cases.
If Zhao Ruxi can successfully move the cabinet there and have someone try to unlock it, it will clearly demonstrate to everyone that Zhao Ruxi's cabinet is extremely sturdy, virtually impossible to open without a key, and very secure. The Court of Judicial Review can guarantee its sturdiness.
People may not believe Zhao Ruxi, but they do believe the Court of Judicial Review and Zhang Changshen. Just putting the iron cabinet there can cause a sensation and arouse everyone's curiosity.
Once those who came out of curiosity or to get the five hundred taels of silver have tried her cabinet, its impregnable iron cabinet will become a topic of conversation and spread far and wide.
The capital city was a place where officials and merchants from all over the country traveled frequently. Such a strange event, once these people returned to their hometowns and told others, spread the fame of the iron cabinet far and wide.
As their reputation grew, those wealthy families developed a competitive mentality. If others bought iron cabinets, it would seem as if they were short of eight hundred taels of silver or had no good treasures to put in the iron cabinets if they didn't.
Once buying iron cabinets becomes fashionable, even if they cost 1,000 taels, they would still be in short supply, let alone 800 taels.
"Senior brother, if you can find a way to get this cabinet into the Court of Judicial Review, I'll give you ten percent of the profits."
"No. If I could do it for you, I would. What's the point of asking for your money? Don't even think about bribing me. Do you think your senior brother is short of money?" Wu Zong glared.
"Listen to me," Zhao Ruxi said. "Once this gets out, everyone in the capital will definitely be watching me. You know, even when I run a training course, some people dislike me and try to sow discord between me and the Emperor. Now that I've invented safes and made a fortune, who knows what those people will do to me? They might even try to get me to give the Emperor the method for making safes. Then trouble will come knocking, and my senior brothers will have to worry about me again."
"Even my own father and brothers wouldn't worry about me like this once or twice, and I feel bad about it. I'm thinking of giving Master 10% of the shares, and you 10%. My eldest and second eldest brothers will each get half a share. What do you think?"
Wu Zong swallowed back the words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue.
If it were just him, he naturally wouldn't want his junior sister's money. He figured his master wouldn't either, since they were very close. If Zhao Ruxi was in trouble, it was their duty to help her.
But the eldest and second eldest brothers are different.
The second senior brother was alright. Because of his studies in painting, he had some contact with the junior sister, and they gradually became familiar with each other and developed feelings for one another. If the junior sister encountered trouble, it would be only right for him to lend a helping hand.
It seems that the senior brother and junior sister only met once, when they became disciples, and then they never interacted again.
The junior sister is Master's disciple. If anything happens to her, and Wu Huaisi, as the senior brother, doesn't help her, others will say he's heartless, and Master will also be dissatisfied with him.
However, the two only had the title of senior and junior brother, but no feelings for each other. It was fine if Zhao Ruxi troubled Wu Huaisi once, but if she troubled him two or three more times, the senior brother would also harbor resentment towards his master and junior sister.