Li Zicheng gave him a disapproving look.
"Eunuch Wang, please don't call me that, it makes me sound like a little eunuch!"
When he first entered the palace, he would never have dared to speak to Wang Chengen like that.
However, after spending more time with Gao Qingyun, he gradually became bolder.
"I am Master Gao's disciple, so I can be considered His Majesty's classmate."
Wang Chengen was somewhat displeased upon hearing this.
But he dared not be negligent.
"Okay, okay, I won't call you that anymore, alright?"
"But let's get down to business first. Do you really know how to serve this general?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng nodded smugly.
"Of course! I've been studying the instruction manual for over a month now, and I already know how to operate this cannon."
As he spoke, he waved his arms to show Wang Chengen the thick instruction manual.
In fact, operating artillery requires a very high level of knowledge.
Li Zicheng had only studied under Gao Qingyun for a little over a month, so he shouldn't have had this ability.
However, the things produced by the system naturally have their own unique uses.
The instruction manual was rather strange; as Li Zicheng read it, he inexplicably became proficient in operating the artillery.
Although Wang Chengen didn't know the story behind it, seeing Li Zicheng's confident expression, he didn't ask any more questions.
That's good.
He ordered his men to bring cannons and led Li Zicheng outside the city.
Li Ruolian saw their group and rushed over first.
"Eunuch Wang, why have you come in person?"
Wang Chengen smiled and waved his hand.
"You've caused such a commotion that even His Majesty is very concerned, so of course I had to come and see."
At this moment, Johann Adam Schall von Bell also approached.
"Eunuch Wang, why doesn't your Emperor come in person?"
"Does he not know the importance of artillery?"
"Then his knowledge is rather limited."
Somewhat disappointed, Johann Adam Schall von Bell deliberately used a provocation tactic.
Wang Chengen was indeed furious.
"You barbarian, how dare you say such a thing?"
He was about to give the order to have Johann Adam Schall von Bell arrested.
However, Li Zicheng spoke with a smile at this moment.
“Mr. Tang, you’re not right about that.”
"Our Emperor is knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, how could he not know the power of cannons?"
"He knows that back then, there was an emperor in Europe who neglected artillery craftsmen, which resulted in one of the craftsmen defecting to the enemy."
"In the end, his capital was breached by artillery fire."
"So you can rest assured, our emperor values craftsmen the most. His refusal to come is not because he looks down on cannons."
Upon hearing this, Johann Adam Schall von Bell was greatly alarmed.
The story told by Li Zicheng is almost universally known in the West.
It was the Ottoman conquest of the Eastern Roman capital.
"But how did the Ming Dynasty find out?"
"That's right, it must have been Matteo Ricci who told them back then."
Composing himself, Johann Adam Schall von Bell forced a smile and asked Li Zicheng:
"Since your emperor knows the power of cannons, why doesn't he come here in person?"
Li Zicheng smiled proudly.
"His Majesty wasn't asking for permission to use artillery; he was just underestimating you."
When Johann Adam Schall von Bell heard this, he was so angry he almost had a stroke.
But before he could say anything, Li Zicheng continued:
"I brought with me the divine cannon that Master Gao gifted to His Majesty."
"Once you've witnessed his power, you'll naturally understand why His Majesty looks down on you."
After hearing this, Johann Adam Schall von Bell suppressed his anger and sneered:
"It seems that your emperor has been fooled."
Although he had heard of Master Gao's reputation before and knew that Zhu Youjian trusted Master Gao very much.
But at this point, he couldn't care less about anything else.
"There is no better cannon in the world than mine!"
Li Zicheng glanced at him and also gave a cold laugh.
"Don't be in such a hurry, let's see this cannon fire first!"
As he spoke, he instructed the accompanying eunuchs to bring out the cannon and prepare to fire.
In the distance, outside the training ground.
Qin Liangyu was puzzled when she saw this scene.
After witnessing Johann Adam Schall von Bell's cannons, she also thought that Zhu Youjian would personally come to the scene.
She had originally planned to observe secretly to see what kind of person this young emperor really was.
After waiting for a long time, the emperor never came.
Instead, they saw an old eunuch leading a boy of about half a year old, who was also pulling a strange cannon.
"What's going on here?"
Qin Liangyu was curious, but also somewhat disappointed.
"Although the late emperor was obsessed with carpentry and relied heavily on eunuchs such as Wei Zhongxian, he was aware of the power of cannons."
Is our new emperor perhaps inferior to the late emperor?
Just as she was feeling dejected, a thunderclap sounded from the side.
Then a cloud of smoke rose from the vicinity.
Qin Liangyu was stunned and looked up blankly.
However, she quickly realized what was happening.
"Could this be the cannon that the boy was operating earlier?!"
"No wonder His Majesty didn't take those foreigners' cannons seriously!"
Qin Liangyu wasn't the only one who thought this way.
Johann Adam Schall von Bell gaped open. He glanced at the large crater created by the cannon fire in the distance, then looked back at Li Zicheng.
He hurriedly asked:
"Young man, where did this cannon come from? And what's it called?"
Li Zicheng smiled and then said:
“Our Master Gao told me that it’s called an Italian cannon.”
"An Italian cannon?" Johann Adam Schall von Bell frowned.
"I've never heard of Venice and Genoa being experts in casting cannons!"
"Could they be craftsmen from Milan?"
Just as he was wondering, he heard Li Zicheng staring at him and asking:
"So, do you still think that His Majesty's refusal to come is a sign of underestimating the artillery?"
Johann Adam Schall von Bell shook his head with a wry smile.
"With such divine cannons in your Great Ming Dynasty, you certainly don't need my things."
As he spoke, he became somewhat disheartened and prepared to leave with the cannon.
"Alas, it seems my idea of using cannons to improve relations with the emperor is not going to work."
However, Wang Chengen stopped him again.
He knew very well that the Ming Dynasty only had one cannon like that.
Although this so-called Italian cannon was extremely powerful, there were too few of them.
Therefore, Johann Adam Schall von Bell still has value.
It's one thing to use Italian cannons to humiliate him, but we can't let him leave.
Wang Chengen said:
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Although your cannons are a bit lacking, His Majesty the Emperor is eager to find talented people."
"If you stay in the capital for a few more days, His Majesty might summon you at any time."
Upon hearing this, Johann Adam Schall von Bell became excited again.
"Will His Majesty truly summon me again?"
"No wonder I always heard people say that the Ming emperor's belly was so huge that it could even hold a giant ship."
Wang Chengen secretly rolled his eyes.
"This barbarian only learned half of the Chinese. The original saying was 'A prime minister's belly can hold a boat,' but when he said it, it always sounded so strange!"
However, he did not correct him, but simply nodded and said:
"Alright, alright, save your nice words for when you see His Majesty."
While the group was talking, Qin Liangyu had already quietly left.
She excitedly returned to the White-Spear Army camp and said to her soldiers:
"Our Great Ming Dynasty is finally going to get better!"
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