How did this quietly become such a big news?
Looking at the half-collapsed academy wall and the slightly damaged arrow tower, everyone present, whether it was the emperor and dignitaries or the surrounding common people, went crazy!
Zi Yan looked at the courtyard wall emitting black smoke with a pale face and asked in disbelief, "What is this? When did Da Qi master such a terrifying thing?"
No one could answer her question because everyone was also confused.
Minister of War Cui Shanzhan was trembling all over. He looked at everything in front of him in disbelief and asked, "Is this gunpowder? Why is it so powerful?"
In this time and space, gunpowder has been discovered by Taoist alchemists.
Due to the problem of the mixing ratio, the power of gunpowder is still quite small at present, and it can only be used as an ordinary firework for fun.
Cui Shanzhan had seen relatively large firecrackers, but those only made a loud noise. Compared with the explosion in front of him, they were nothing.
He no longer cared about etiquette and rushed forward frantically, grabbing Lu Chen's clothes and shaking them, saying, "Master Lu, what kind of magical object is this?"
No wonder he could become the Minister of War, this old fellow has quite strong hands.
Seeing that Lu Chen was about to be shaken to pieces, a group of ministers were fed up and rushed forward to pull Cui Shanzhan away.
Cui Shanzhan, however, struggled relentlessly, saying, "Get out of the way, everyone! Let go! Do you know the value of this thing? Do you know how many of our soldiers would have been spared if we had this magical item?"
"Master Cui, we may not know the value of that thing, but we know the value of Master Lu. Master Lu is not your own, so why are you still taking action? What if you do something bad to Master Lu? Will we still need him?"
"Your Majesty, I feel that Lord Cui and the entire Ministry of War are not currently in a position suitable for contact with Immortal Master Lu. I implore Your Majesty to issue an order temporarily prohibiting all interaction between them and Immortal Master Lu. Furthermore, as the Minister of Works, I still have many questions I would like to ask Immortal Master Lu. I implore Your Majesty to assign me a position in the Ministry of Works. We will mass-produce cement and the divine thunder as quickly as possible!"
"Lord Lu, you're wrong. Cement is fine, but something like divine thunder is clearly used in the military field. How can you let your Ministry of Works be responsible for it? Of course, considering Lord Cui's mental state, I think it would be better to let Master Lu register with our Ministry of Revenue. We have money and people, and there are some things we can do."
"Bah! You shameless old thief, now you say your Ministry of Revenue is rich? Who was crying poor to me before?"
"Master Cui, please pay attention to your official etiquette. The emperor is still here. Why are you throwing a tantrum?"
"Lu, how dare you criticize me? Who questioned Master Lu's cement yesterday? Master Lu, you know me well. I have always trusted you. Even if you said you could fly, I would believe you!"
"When did I ever question Master Lu? Don't be so smearing, Cui! I was only verifying the effectiveness of cement for the court. I wanted to see where its limits were. This is also part of the pursuit of knowledge through the study of things. You, a Minister of War who knows nothing, should stay out of the Ministry of Works' affairs. Go back and play with those peasants!"
"You old bastard, you've pissed me off! Take my fist!"
Lu Chen didn't know if it was because Li Zhuo was too lenient, but he found that there seemed to be a trend in the court of Da Qi where people would fight over trivial matters. Isn't that a bad thing?
If two ministers started fighting in the court, Li Zhuo would be happy to watch the show.
But there are so many people here. If you start making a scene and fighting now, will the court still have any dignity left?
Li Zhuo angrily asked the guards to separate the two men. Then he looked at Lu Chen eagerly and asked, "Master Lu, what was that divine thunder that just exploded?"
"It's dynamite!" Lu Chen didn't keep anyone in suspense and answered directly.
"What is dynamite? How difficult is it to make? Can it be mass-produced?"
"Your Majesty, you've seen the power of this thing. It can split mountains and split rocks without a problem. Such a magical item is still very difficult and expensive to manufacture. If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to show you how useful cement is, I wouldn't be willing to give it to you."
"Of course, if Your Majesty is willing to invest in research, we can reduce costs and achieve mass production."
"Research! We must research! Your Majesty, this divine object must be in our hands. With this thing, our Great Qi will no longer have border troubles!" Cui Shanzhan, who was held down by a group of people, said hysterically.
Not only was Cui Shanzhan emotionally excited, but the expressions of all the generals were also extremely excited.
The thought of this thing exploding among the enemy is simply too explosive.
But at this moment, Lu Chen poured cold water on everyone and said, "Everyone, calm down and don't be fooled by the appearance in front of you. I admit that this thing is extremely powerful, but it can only be used in siege warfare at this stage. It seems that we are not yet prepared to engage in siege warfare with the enemy, right?"
"Furthermore, the research and development of this thing is quite expensive, requiring at least one million taels of research funding. Considering the current state of our national treasury, I personally do not recommend investing a large amount of money in research and development right now."
Whether it is firing gunpowder or seamless steel pipes, it is difficult to achieve with the current level of technology.
Lu Chen estimated that even if the imperial court fully supported him, it would take at least ten years to weaponize gunpowder.
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