Gao Qingyun groped his way to his feet and pushed away the eunuch who came to help him.
He went into a nearby room, but soon came out somewhat awkwardly.
It turned out that after he bought the cannon from the mall, he couldn't move it at all.
"How come this thing is so heavy?"
Gao Qingyun shook his head, then said to Zhu Youjian in the distance, "Little Zhu, the thing is inside. Go in and see for yourself."
After he finished speaking, he tried to make amends.
"Um... don't ask where it came from, I can't tell you anyway."
"Just assume I have connections."
Gao Qingyun's original intention was to deceive Zhu Youjian.
However, Zhu Youjian misunderstood.
He looked up at the sky and then nodded seriously.
“Master Gao, you do have connections above you.”
After he finished speaking, he went into the house and saw the brand-new cannons inside, but he didn't care at all.
"I told you long ago that Master Gao must have an extraordinary background."
He looked at Wang Chengen behind him and sighed.
Wang Chengen carefully examined the cannon while nodding cautiously.
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. Master Gao is certainly no ordinary person."
The last time Gao Qingyun produced antibiotics, it could perhaps be attributed to their carelessness, which is why they didn't discover it during the initial examination.
But there's no way to explain this cannon in front of us.
"It must be because Master Gao saw that Your Majesty has been working hard for the country recently, so he specially brought down such a treasure from the sky to give to you as a gift."
Wang Chengen quickly began to speak kindly.
Zhu Youjian burst into laughter.
You're right!
"Men, take this cannon to Li Ruolian's army... Wait, let's not make a fuss yet."
He rolled his eyes and withdrew his original order.
"Let's wait until that Johann Adam Schall von Bell finishes building his cannons before I use Master Gao's cannons to compete with his."
"So that the foreigners won't learn anything else from Master Gao's cannons."
Wang Chengen had a big smile on his face.
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. This servant will immediately send someone to put the cannon away."
A month later, spring had arrived and flowers were in bloom.
A burly woman on horseback asked the guard beside her:
Where are we?
The guard quickly replied:
"Reporting to the general, we are not far from the capital."
The burly woman nodded slightly.
That's good.
"The imperial court ordered me to lead troops into the capital several months ago. If I hadn't encountered some trouble on the way, I probably would have entered the capital long ago."
She sounded somewhat disappointed as she said this.
"If I had gone to the capital sooner, we could have shared in the credit for eliminating the eunuch faction."
"The brothers will have an easier time too."
The guards shook their heads.
"General, please don't say that."
"I've heard that His Majesty seems to trust you greatly, and that his recall of you to the capital is to entrust you with an important task."
"You don't need to worry about these things."
The woman nodded.
"That's true."
She was none other than Qin Liangyu.
In fact, several months ago, Zhu Youjian had given her an order to bring the White Spear Army into the capital.
However, just as the army set off, a rebellion broke out among displaced people in the Shaanxi and Gansu region.
Qin Liangyu had no choice but to lead her troops to suppress the rebellion, which caused a delay of several months.
It wasn't until this point that the rioters were finally quelled, and then they rushed to the capital.
Qin Liangyu recalled what she had seen and heard in Shaanxi and Gansu, and couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.
"The Ming Dynasty is now a wasteland, and a single spark could set off a great war."
"I only hope that after Your Majesty kills Wei Zhongxian, you will be able to govern the country with diligence and determination."
As they were talking, they heard a commotion coming from afar.
At the same time, there were faint rumbles of thunder.
Qin Liangyu frowned and looked up at the sky.
"The sky is cloudless, so where did the thunder come from?"
"Could someone have set off firecrackers somewhere? But we're already near the capital, right under the emperor's nose. Who would be so bold as to do that?"
Just as she was wondering, a scout came running over quickly.
"General Qin, someone from the front has reported that the Beijing garrison is currently training ahead."
Hearing this, Qin Liangyu's doubts dissipated considerably.
"So it was the Beijing Garrison."
"I heard that not long ago, they went out of the pass and dealt a heavy blow to the Jurchens, and were therefore rewarded handsomely."
“If they are training troops and firing cannons here, then that makes sense.”
During the Tianqi era, Qin Liangyu also led troops out of the pass and fought against the Jurchens several times.
Therefore, she was well aware of the Jurchens' power.
"Men, set up camp here. I'll take a few guards and go see what's going on."
After giving a few instructions to her subordinates, she rode forward on horseback.
As she got closer to the training ground, the sound of artillery fire became clearer and clearer.
Qin Liangyu thought to herself, "The sound of this cannon seems a bit off. Could it be that the Ministry of Works has come up with some new cannon? That would be interesting."
So she whipped the horse hard, making it run even faster.
Meanwhile, on the training field.
Johann Adam Schall von Bell looked smug.
He asked Li Ruolian beside him:
"General Li, how are my cannons?"
Li Ruolian nodded slightly, a hint of excitement flashing in her eyes.
"This cannon is really good!"
Contrary to what some people in later generations thought, the Ming army actually had quite a few firearms.
As early as the Yongle era, a special Shenji Battalion was established.
After many years of development, the Ming army was already very familiar with firearms and cannons, and had little aversion to them.
Decades ago, the Ming army entered Korea to fight against invading Japanese pirates, and there were even troops mainly equipped with firearms.
Li Ruolian walked closer and, ignoring the scorching hot cannon barrel, gently patted it.
"What a great cannon!"
"Johann Adam Schall von Bell, I didn't expect you to actually have some talent."
Johann Adam Schall von Bell was even more pleased with himself.
"Of course! If I didn't have the ability, how would I dare to ask your emperor for a recommendation?"
Li Ruolian found it amusing and shook her head, saying:
"That was Mao Sui recommending himself!"
However, it was already quite remarkable that Johann Adam Schall von Bell, a foreigner, could use idioms, so he did not mock him further.
Instead, he turned around seriously and said to the young eunuch waiting behind him:
"Quickly report to His Majesty that the cannons manufactured by Johann Adam Schall von Bell are indeed outstanding, far surpassing those of our own cannons."
The Ming Dynasty always liked to refer to cannons as "Grand Generals".
The young eunuch dared not delay and hurriedly ran back to the palace to report the matter to Zhu Youjian.
However, Zhu Youjian did not show any excitement after hearing this.
He waved to Wang Chengen and said:
"Hehe, this Johann Adam Schall von Bell is quite quick."
"Go and take the cannons that Master Gao sent to me to the training ground."
"Oh, and remember to bring Li Zicheng along too."
It turned out that during this month, Zhu Youjian also discovered that the cannons Gao Qingyun gave him were different from the cannons available at the time.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not know how to operate the cannon.
So he subtly inquired about how the cannon should be used.
With nothing else to do, Gao Qingyun simply bought a manual from the system's store and gave it to Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youjian himself didn't have time to study these things, but he didn't trust others to learn them either.
So they simply let Li Zicheng come and learn.
At this point, it's the perfect time to let him go and do it.
After receiving the order, Wang Chengen immediately set off with Li Zicheng and the cannons.
However, Wang Chengen was still somewhat uneasy before leaving the city.
He grabbed Li Zicheng and asked him earnestly:
"Little Li, do you really know how to operate this general?"
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