Because they were on a mountain, even solid bullets would only hit the target and not bounce. If the Eastern Tartars wanted to attack the mountain, they couldn't push shield carts up the mountain, so they didn't need artillery to destroy them.

Xiong Tingbi also understood. Although he still hoped there would be more artillery on the mountain, he did not immediately undermine Zhang Dingwei's full confidence. He just smiled and nodded.

There were some things he could not tell the generals below. This eastward advance was both a military and a political action, which would give the emperor more confidence in his reforms and help him push forward in depth.

Retaking Jinzhou and Dalinghe was like recovering lost territory. Even though it was essentially a takeover, with no fighting and no gains, it would be great news, once written about beautifully, to boost public morale.

The newspapers have already reported on the huge amount of funds and materials to be invested in Liaodong this year.

This was also one of the emperor's goals, which was to show the people the financial difficulties of the court and to find a reasonable excuse for cracking down on officials and businessmen and raising commercial taxes.

At the same time, advancing eastward to recover lost territory showed the people that the money was not wasted and that the situation continued to develop in a good direction.

The continuous military victories have indeed silenced many people.

Xiong Tingbi knew very well that if it were not for the emperor's full support and if the situation had not improved, the impeachment petitions against him would have piled up like a mountain and he might have been expelled from Liaodong long ago.

Last year, a purge was carried out in the court. The emperor used every possible means and finally silenced the censors.

But suppression does not mean elimination. Many civil servants only temporarily avoided the emperor's edge, but did not change their thinking or change their ways.

The emperor also knew this, but he remained silent on the surface, and the screening and purge of civil servants never stopped. Cracking down on officials and businessmen, punishing corruption, and evaluating officials were all means of continuously clearing out civil servants.

I'm afraid the emperor won't be satisfied with this, and many civil officials may not realize the emperor's determination. The emperor not only wants to eliminate dissidents and regain authority, but also wants to change this era!