Chapter 100 Cannon
Ten cannons were neatly arranged on the hillside, with four wheels mounted on their massive bases and their iron-blue barrels shining brightly.
Zhao Mingyue walked over and looked at the cannon with interest.
This was the first time in her life that she had seen such a huge and hard weapon. When she touched the hard gun barrel, she could already imagine the power of the gun when it was fired, and her heart was very excited.
She turned to look at Liu Shen'ai and urged with a smile, "Great, Master Liu, let's fire a few shots and see how they go!"
Liu Shen'ai walked over, loaded the shells into the barrel, then looked at the target in the distance, calculated the shooting angle in his mind, and carefully adjusted the dial with his hands. With a clicking sound, the muzzle slowly rose and aimed at the target in the distance.
Liu Shen Ai's eyes focused as he spoke, "Princess, this cannon can fire up to three kilometers, and with accurate fire, up to one kilometer."
Calculating shooting angles was a piece of cake for her system. Even for the lowest-level cannon, she could instantly calculate dozens of arcs of the shells landing in her mind.
Zhao Mingyue followed her gaze and saw ten mounds of earth piled side by side about one kilometer away, with a huge stone placed on top of the mounds.
She nodded and moved back a little to make room. "Go ahead."
The craftsman from the weapons factory handed the torch to Liu Shen'ai, then ran away in a hurry, covering his ears.
Zhao Yuzhang and the other guards stood not far away, watching without blinking.
Zhao Mingyue watched Liu Shen'ai light the torch towards the powder line, and suddenly thought that the sound of the cannon must be louder than the sound of the musket, so she should cover her ears.
But with so many soldiers watching her, if she covered her ears out of fear, wouldn't she appear timid? How could she be dignified?
While she was struggling, the medicine thread had already been lit. She only heard a loud bang, followed by a cloud of thick black smoke spreading in front of her eyes. Her ears were buzzing and her eyes could not see clearly.
After a while, the smoke dissipated. She looked carefully and saw that the huge rock in the distance had been blown to pieces, and only a small piece of the tall pile of earth remained.
The soldiers immediately cheered in unison.
Such a powerful cannon can blast rocks into pieces from such a long distance. If it is pulled to the battlefield, wouldn’t it be able to blow the enemy into a pulp?
Even someone as calm and composed as Zhao Yuzhang was very excited. Although she had heard Liu Shen'ai talk about the power of the cannon, it was not as shocking as seeing it with her own eyes.
If there had been a few such cannons stationed on the city walls of Tangzhou City, her personal soldiers would not have died at the hands of the iron cavalry and scimitars of the Xiqi people.
As a general, what she wanted most was, of course, to arm her soldiers from head to toe, to equip her army with all kinds of powerful weapons, and to increase their chances of survival in the war.
In the past, she always felt that the Xiqi people's cavalry and scimitars were difficult to defeat, but now, the situation is reversed.
"Let's make more muskets and cannons, drive the Xiqi people back to their homeland, and make sure they don't dare invade again in the future!"
Xue Qi smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you a lot, Lord Shen'ai." As he spoke, he looked at Liu Shen'ai with reverence.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, she is a gentle and humble person, but in fact, she is a very proud person in her heart, conceited and smart, and rarely admires anyone.
Six Gods of Love is definitely one of them.
To do one's work well, one must first sharpen his tools. Her theory, combined with the weapon of the Six Gods of Love, ultimately contributed to Zhao Mingyue's practice; neither could be missing.
Liu Shen'ai suddenly felt a little guilty when facing everyone's expectant and admiring gazes.
After all, neither the musket nor the cannon was invented by her. She is just a system with an extensive database.
If these humans knew her identity, they might be disappointed.
That's why she won't reveal her identity!
Liu Shen'ai looked away and coughed lightly. "Well, these cannons are suitable for defending the city, but if we want to use them to attack Xiqi, they are too heavy and inconvenient to transport. I plan to build another batch of smaller cannons. They will be less powerful, but more convenient to carry on the battlefield."
Zhao Mingyue smiled and said, "Of course you can. If you need money, just take it from the treasury. If you're short of manpower, you can recruit a group of craftsmen."
She had already seen the power of these cannons, so of course she would give them her full support. With such powerful weapons, what else did the Golden Crow Guards have to fear?
If we build another hundred cannons, not to mention attacking Xiqi, we can even directly attack the capital!
But Zhao Mingyue was just thinking about it in her mind.
The affairs of Yuzhou City alone are enough to keep her busy. If, as Zhao Yuzhang said, she takes over Tangzhou and Ningzhou, it will be even more of a headache.
She doesn't want to act so high-profile for the time being.
Afterwards, the gunner fired the remaining nine cannons in turn, hitting seven stones. Two of the shots missed because of the gunner's lack of experience.
However, such a high hit rate is enough to make Zhao Mingyue happy.
She praised Liu Shen'ai highly, promoted her, and rewarded the craftsmen in the arsenal with a lot of gold and silver, allowing them to learn skills from Liu Shen'ai.
On that day, ten cannons were transported back to Yuzhou City and mounted on the city wall, with their black muzzles all pointing outside the city.
The appearance of several such cannons on the city wall naturally caused quite a stir. People coming in and out of the city could see it and couldn't help but talk about it.
But they didn't know the power of this cannon. Although Zhao Mingyue had opened a school that only accepted female students, not everyone could afford to study there.
Therefore, they did not have enough knowledge about gunpowder weapons and other things. They just watched the excitement and marveled at the huge size of the artillery.
Among the crowd of onlookers, there were several spies sent by King Xiqi. They were frightened when they saw the cannons on the city wall.
"We must return quickly and report this news to the king!"
————
Although the border had been occupied by the Xiqi people and the people were displaced, the streets of the capital were as prosperous and lively as before, with the cries of vendors and the hustle and bustle of people coming and going.
The powerful and royal families in the imperial city still live a life of drunkenness and dreams.
Although the ministers criticized everything, no one stood up and said that they should find a way to drive the Xiqi people away.
The princes who were assigned to live in Qingyun Palace didn't care about the foreign enemy Xiqi. They only cared about whether they could see the emperor tonight.
"Don't worry, brothers. I have bribed the head aunt of Empress Dowager Chi. Tonight, as long as we change into eunuch clothes, she will help us sneak into Mingde Hall and successfully meet the emperor."
Although Prince Zhao Yan of King Ling is the youngest among the group, he is the most calm and composed.
When the others heard his plan, they nodded in approval, took off their brocade clothes, changed into eunuch clothes, and waited for the arrival of late night.
Time passed by little by little, and the dripping sound was annoying.
Zhao Yan was getting a little restless and paced back and forth in the hall. They had already made an appointment, so why hadn't Dan Ying come yet?
Could it be that she lied to him?
You know, he has put all his assets into it. Since this person has taken his money, he can't go back on his word, right?
The other princes were also getting impatient and began to criticize Zhao Yan, "Is the person you found reliable? Don't let them fool you!"
Zhao Yan was a little unhappy. These people had done nothing, so how could they have the nerve to blame him? If they had the guts, they could find a way to see the emperor themselves!
But considering the brotherhood, he certainly couldn't say these complaints out loud.
Zhao Yan forced a smile and was about to speak when there was a light knock on the door. "Prince, have you changed your clothes? Come with me."
He quickly looked up and saw a person standing at the door with a lantern in her hand. The faint red light shone on her face, which was a bit scary.
Zhao Yan was startled, then realized it was Dan Ying, and hurriedly went to greet her with a smile, "Okay, let's go."
Danying whispered, "Then follow me. No matter what happens, don't say a word."
Zhao Yan nodded, and when he saw Dan Ying turn around and leave, he immediately hurried to follow.
The others also shut up and quietly followed the two of them towards the emperor's bedroom.
On the way, whenever Zhao Yan met a palace maid, his heart would pound, and he would try his best to lower his head to his chest, looking like a guilty thief.
When he arrived at the palace gate and was stopped by guards for questioning, Zhao Yan's heart was beating in his throat. He silently prayed in his heart, "Ancestors, please bless me and don't let me be discovered!"
Fortunately, the guard seemed to be familiar with Danying, so he asked them a few questions and let them in.
Zhao Yan couldn't believe it. He had actually gotten into this heavily guarded palace so easily. Aunt Danying was truly all-powerful!
With emotion in his heart, he had already arrived in front of the emperor's bedroom. Danying asked them to wait outside while he went into the palace to report.
After a while, Danying came out and said, "Prince, the emperor has ordered you to come in. If you have anything to say, please speak quickly. If the queen mother finds out, you will lose your head."
Zhao Yan nodded, "I know."
Everyone followed Danying in, only to see that there were many curtains hanging in the bedroom and a few candles lit around. The light was dim, and a cold wind blew from nowhere, making the shadows sway.
Danying lifted the curtain, and another floor-length pearl curtain blocked their way.
Zhao Yan looked up behind the bead curtain and saw only a blurry figure sitting on a chair.
Danying walked to the curtain and bowed slightly, "Your Majesty, the person is here."
It turns out that this person is the emperor. Why doesn’t he show up?
Zhao Yan was puzzled but didn't dare to ask. He just knelt down obediently. The others also knelt down and kowtowed.
A hoarse voice sounded from behind the curtain, "Get up. What do you want to see me for?"
When Zhao Yan heard the voice, he felt that the emperor must have suffered a lot and he felt like crying.
But remembering Danying's instructions to speak quickly, he held back his tears. "Your Majesty has not been to court for a long time, and the ministers are very worried about your safety. My father is in Xingzhou and heard them say..."
The emperor asked, "What did they say?"
Zhao Yan hesitated for a moment, and then another prince rushed in to say, "They say that it was Empress Dowager Chi who imprisoned Your Majesty!"
"Empress Dowager Chi's rule has led to misfortunes for the country and the slaughter of innocent people. As long as the emperor gives the order, our father will send troops to rescue the emperor!"
The emperor chuckled, "You are very loyal. The Zhao family is truly blessed to have descendants like you."
Zhao Yan was just regretting not having the chance to show off in front of the emperor. Upon hearing this praise, he quickly said, "We were too late to rescue His Majesty and failed to protect Him. It's a shame that Empress Dowager Chi, who has absolute power, treated His Majesty this way. She deserves death! If Your Majesty is willing to trust us, we can escort you out of the capital!"
He was secretly delighted in his heart. If he could bring the emperor back to Xingzhou, his father would be able to use the emperor to control the princes, and it would be only a matter of time before he could take control of the capital.
He looked at the emperor expectantly. There was no way he could refuse.
At this moment, the person sitting on the chair stood up and reached out to draw aside the bead curtain.
"How are you going to get the emperor out of the capital? Tell me."
"Ah——" Zhao Yan's pupils suddenly changed as he looked at the person who suddenly appeared.
There was dead silence in the hall.
Everyone opened their mouths in horror, but no sound came out.
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