"Then it's my turn. The cannon you built fires by spraying gunpowder when it burns, generating high temperature and velocity during the explosion, similar to launching projectiles or tube shells, isn't it?"
Zheng Quchi stared at him, mouth agape, until he slowly turned to look at him. Then he quickly lifted his dazed jaw and said, "...more or less."
She now finally believed that there really was a Creator's favoritism in this world. What a genius mind he had! He didn't even need to disassemble it himself. He just listened to other people's descriptions and observed from a distance. Through the knowledge of the Mo family's fire and thunder, he deduced the knowledge and laws of similar things and directly figured out the principle of her cannon's manufacture and firing.
However, knowing the principle does not necessarily guarantee successful replication. This is similar to knowing what ingredients a dish is made of, but simply putting all the ingredients together and stir-frying them does not guarantee that the dish can be reproduced.
To be honest, although Zheng Quchi was not stupid, she was definitely not a genius who could apply knowledge to other situations, but Gongshu Jiruo certainly was.
After judging her ambiguous answer, Gongshu Jiruo asked again, "Then how did you come up with that idea?"
He was certain that the secret formula for making fire cannons had not been leaked, and that the craftsmanship and finished products of fire cannons had always been kept in the hands of trusted people. Therefore, the design, raw materials, iron smelting process, and forging methods of the cannons she manufactured must have all been her own ideas.
...He is truly a genius.
“You may continue asking questions now,” Gongshu Jiruo said.
Seeing that he was still planning to continue, Zheng Quchi realized that he hadn't finished asking his questions, but she was left with questions that were difficult to ask or that she hadn't answered. So she said, "No rush, let me think about it first..."
While she said she was just thinking about it, her thoughts were already on the battle at Shuangfei Pass. She saw that the artillery fire had temporarily ceased, and in that short time, the Beiyuan Army, as nimble as leopards, climbed and seized a path along another, more treacherous stone slope. They used shields to block arrows and falling rocks from above, and finally reached Shuangfei Pass.
Meanwhile, the Beiyuan Army, coming from the main gate, pushed out siege engines, also known as battering rams, and began to breach the gate. The soldiers in the siege engines worked together to grab the battering rams and move them backward before violently ramming them against the city gate, relying on inertia and kinetic energy to destroy the bolt structure behind the gate.
The two-pronged attack made Shuangfei Pass's defenses extremely precarious.
"Shuangfei Pass was a position built by the Beiyuan Army and has been garrisoned there for many years. They know every stone and tree on it by heart. It was attacked and lost, but that doesn’t mean that others can defend it if they want to."
Gongshu Jiruo's words proved true. The Beiyuan Army, relying on their agile and nimble hands trained in this kind of terrain for many years, as well as their familiarity with and accurate judgment of the terrain, were able to break through the defense line as soon as the Ye Army showed the slightest slackening or weakness.
At first, the Beiyuan army was indeed shocked by the Ye army's artillery fire. Because it was unexpected and the first time they had encountered such a powerful explosive attack, they were suppressed and defeated by the enemy's firepower.
But now they have come up with a countermeasure and a battle plan. In addition, the enemy is in a fixed defensive position, which makes it easier for them to move and evade. Therefore, the enemy's original strategy and advantages have been completely destroyed.
"Who do you think is guarding the pass?" she suddenly asked arrogantly.
Gongshu Jiruo's knuckles tightened beneath his sleeves, his face freezing as if ice had solidified: "Yuwen Sheng... is he really still alive?"
Nonsense. If Yuwen Sheng were really dead, and killed by him and Mo Ye working together, she would have the upper hand now, and being in the middle of nowhere, she definitely wouldn't say a word to him and would just have Gan Xin throw them both off the cliff.
But considering that everything happened and Yuwen Sheng deliberately interfered, none of the three were innocent. Since that was the case, she didn't bother with their grudges and hatreds and only cared about her own share.
"Don't you all already know? Don't tell me you haven't heard about the Kezhu tribe and Yuwen Sheng?"
Gongshu Jiru observed her reaction and remained silent for a long while before saying, "His treacherous scheme to sow discord has brought us to this point..."
He didn't finish his story, but Zheng Quchi could guess what happened next.
"While he did it intentionally back then, if you had no intention of harming anyone, you wouldn't have fallen for his trick. It can only be said that you were both scheming and he was intentional. You two are equally wicked."
Gongshu Jiruo was speechless for a moment. After a long while, he said, "At that time, you were also kept in the dark by him, and were even used by him to support the General's Mansion and pave the way for him to ascend the throne. Don't you have any resentment or anger?"
Anyone can sow discord. Gongshu Jiruo usually disdained such tricks of women in the inner quarters, but now that he saw that if he didn't fight for it now, he would really have no chance at all, he also abandoned his high and mighty pride and was willing to do such a despicable thing.
"It sounds like I should be angry, but mainly it's because he gave me too much. I'm very satisfied with myself right now. Because my heart is full, I don't have any extra space to resent or dwell on the past. I'd rather use that time to tackle some engineering challenges and take on more construction projects," she said calmly.
Although she spoke of being magnanimous, Zheng Quchi was not actually that "forgiving." If she had truly let go of the past long ago, she wouldn't have waited until now to come here.
If the public loses: "..."
She truly lacked any of the delicate and sentimental thoughts of a woman; she was as thick-skinned as a rough, unyielding man, completely impervious to reason.
"Are you really that confident in Yuwen Sheng? Frostfly City, which he is defending, is about to be breached. Each time your cannons fire, they need to be adjusted or rested for almost the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Moreover, the number of cannons is small, and they cannot cause dense damage at all. Once they encounter such rugged and sheltered terrain, their power will be greatly reduced."
He was right about everything. It seemed he had been observing the area for quite some time. But Zheng Quchi was not intimidated by the fire and replied, "Of course I'm confident. Alright, now I remember what I wanted to ask: Did the Kezhu tribe's fire mines come from the Mo family?"
“It comes from the Mohist school, but it wasn’t given to me by the Mohist school.”
That's interesting. She glanced at him sideways and asked, "So that's what you gave me?"
"I just gave some to acquaintances for self-defense."
"And your friend..."
"You've asked so many questions just to find out from me who exactly designed Yuwen Sheng, right?"
"I don't think it's you."
This affirmative statement made Gongshu Jiru somewhat happy, but her next sentence made him unhappy again.
"Is he one of your accomplices, that Hou Feiqing?"
Her intuition was quite sharp; she guessed it right away.
"So what if it is, and so what if it isn't? Do you intend to find this person yourself and avenge Yuwen Sheng?"
That's not what she meant by asking that question. Yuwen Sheng's enemies are his own to deal with; she just wanted to find out the whole story.
“I despise such despicable people. I admire their tactics and strategies on the battlefield, but to collude with barbarians behind the scenes and use vicious and insidious means is utterly shameful!”
Hearing her say that, Gongshu felt a surge of turmoil in his heart. He couldn't help but retort sharply, "What about Yuwen Sheng? How upright and honorable is he? If you despise vicious and despicable people, then you should be the first to part ways with him."
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