Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 96: Divine Cannon, Princes’ Gathering [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Zhu Yuanzhang, holding the hilt of the sword at his waist in one hand, came to the front of the generals' platform.

He looked around at the civil and military officials on both sides of the reviewing platform as well as the soldiers a little further away, and uttered a loud and full voice.

"Ever since Heaven sent down the cross-river bridge to our Ming Dynasty, we have done some things. Some people are pedantic and ignorant and cannot understand, so they continue to criticize us."

"For example, if the Liuhe Iron Works was converted into a steel mill, conscripted craftsmen were replaced by hired labor, and government-run factories were replaced by government-run ones, some would claim that this would undermine the conscription system and undermine the foundation of the nation."

"This is ridiculous!" Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze fell on the civil officials, as sharp as a knife. "Our Ming Dynasty is not made of paper. Can the foundation of the country be shaken so easily?!"

After a pause, Zhu Yuanzhang hummed, "We know that even though the memorials have been suppressed one after another, some people are still dissatisfied."

"Then let us show you today the results of the Liuhe Iron and Steel Plant's reforms, and convince you!"

After that, he sat back in his chair and waved his hand, saying, "Test the gun!"

"The Emperor has ordered a test of the artillery!"

As the eunuchs and messengers conveyed the oral instructions, the soldiers standing beside the carriage in front of the reviewing platform immediately took action according to the drill.

The uninformed civil and military officials looked over and saw the soldiers tearing off the oilcloths on dozens of carriages in the front row, revealing the steel structures on them.

"Is this... a cannon?"

The officials widened their eyes, some murmured, and were somewhat hesitant.

These people have all seen cannons. After all, there are cannons on the city walls of the capital. Because the muzzle is the size of a bowl and its usage is similar to that of a fire gun, it is commonly called a bowl-mouth gun or a bowl-mouth cannon.

The bowl-mouthed cannon has a thick muzzle and a thin body, no more than one or two feet long. It is made of copper, so it weighs no more than sixty or seventy pounds.

The cannon on the carriage in front of him looked completely different.

I saw that the cannon was about ten feet long!

Although the muzzle is slightly smaller than the mouth of a bowl, it is thin at the front and thick at the back - by the belly of the gun it is thicker than a human head.

The whole body shines with a cold color like a steel knife, and it seems to be made of fine steel!

In addition, these cannons are like cars, with frames and wheels - both of which are also made of fine steel!
It was precisely because of the wheels that each of these cannons could occupy the entire carriage.

After the soldiers operating the cannon pushed the cannon off the carriage, they placed it on the carriage without having to find another gun mount, and the tail of the cannon was supported on the ground with a strange structure.

This form made a new word emerge in everyone's mind - artillery cart!
After the soldiers fixed the artillery carriage and checked it, they began to load gunpowder and shells, and finally inserted a fuse more than a foot long from the tail of the gun.

"Fire!"

As the commanding officer shouted and the flags waved, the gunners lit the fuses and quickly retreated ten steps away.

The fuse burned very quickly, and it burned into the cannon body in just two or three breaths. Suddenly, a series of deafening sounds rang out outside the Shen Ce Gate, like thunder from the sky!
Boom boom boom...

One after another, iron bullets erupted and flew towards the lime mountain.

One mile.

Two miles!

Three miles!

Finally, it landed at the foot of a lime mountain nearly four miles away!

Although it was too far away to see clearly, I could vaguely see a large amount of smoke and dust rising over there!
It was also at this time that the civil officials noticed that Xu Da and Tang He each took out a copper cylinder, put it to their eyes and looked at something.

Then, Tang He, who was already in his fifties and had white hair and beard, jumped up in excitement and exclaimed happily, "We actually reached the foot of the lime mountain and even collapsed the stone wall there. It's amazing! It's really amazing!"

Xu Da was relatively calm, but his face was also full of smiles.

He handed the telescope to Xu Huizu beside him, then bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! With such powerful artillery, no city in the world can stop our Ming soldiers!"

On the other side, although Li Shanchang did not have a telescope, he also bowed and congratulated.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! With the might of this cannon, the Northern Yuan Dynasty will be destroyed in a few years. Our Ming Dynasty will also be invincible throughout the world, and our rule will be forever secure!"

The other civil and military officials finally reacted and bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang to congratulate him.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! With this mighty cannon, the Ming Dynasty will be invincible and its rule will be forever secure!"

"Hahaha," Zhu Yuanzhang was delighted by the congratulations from his ministers. He laughed heartily, his gray beard rising to its feet. "Great! With such congratulations from the ministers, I will name this cannon the Divine Power Cannon!"

Then he changed the subject, "However, Liuhe Iron and Steel Works not only produced the Shenwei Cannon this time, but also another type of artillery - pass on the order, test-fire the Tiger Crouching Cannon!"

The Shenwei Cannon was modeled after the later Hongyi Cannon, but it was slightly thinner and lighter, and it also had a gun carriage, a front sight, etc., so it was originally going to have its name changed.

As for the "Tiger Crouching Cannon," Zhu Yuanzhang retained its original name, remembering Qi Jiguang's contributions to the Ming Dynasty. The ministers looked over and saw the soldiers tearing off the oilcloth from the last row of carriages.

There are some "small" cannons on it - these small ones are only compared to the Shenwei cannon. In fact, the barrel of the cannon is more than two feet long, and the muzzle is as big as a bowl.

This cannon also looks like it is made of fine steel. It no longer has a gun carriage, but has a two-legged support.

I saw a soldier holding the Tiger Crouching Cannon and jogging to the front of the Shenwei Cannon and placing it on the ground, looking quite relaxed.

The gun legs have claws, and when they land on the ground, they stand firmly on the ground together with the gun tail, like a crouching tiger.

Then the gunners began to load gunpowder and shells, while soldiers placed wooden men in armor two hundred steps away.

When both sides were ready, the commanding general gave an order, and suddenly a series of crisp artillery sounds rang out!

Bang bang bang...

This time, the civil and military officials on both sides of the reviewing platform could see clearly that these tiger squat cannon muzzles sprayed out countless bullets. Except for one larger iron bullet, the others were very small, and for a moment they formed a bullet net!
Dozens of tiger squat cannons were fired at the same time, forming a barrage of bullets!
It sprayed onto the armored wooden men like a net, instantly smashing the rows of wooden men into pieces.

People with good eyesight could even see that the armor on the wooden men was broken by iron bullets, and the exposed parts were inlaid with lead bullets and iron sheets.

Seeing this scene, many people changed color.

Because they couldn't help but imagine the scene of the artillery hitting people.

Most of the generals had no joy on their faces, but fear - most of them relied on their bravery to achieve success, and seeing this scene, they couldn't help but wonder, if they encountered this artillery on the battlefield, what use would their bravery be?

Even if you are riding a horse, if you are not close enough, you will probably be killed before you can rush over.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to see this, he stood up and laughed, "Good!"

In his opinion, the Shenwei Cannon was indeed powerful, but it could fire too far away. Most of the ministers in this military exercise could not see the other side of Lime Mountain clearly, so it lacked some deterrent effect.

This tiger squat cannon was different. It could smash the wooden man two hundred steps away into pieces and shatter his armor.

Such terrifying power will surely frighten those with ulterior motives!

Behind Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di and other princes were also excited and smiling.

Just as the ministers had congratulated before, with these Shenwei Cannons and Huzun Cannons, their Ming Dynasty will be invincible and the Zhu family's empire will be as solid as a rock!

Outside the Shen Ce Gate, when everyone was either excited and happy or shocked and frightened, only Liu Kuan looked calm.

There was even a hint of an inexplicable smile on the corner of his mouth.

"It's just a muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon, what's so exciting about it?"

"With them, the Ming army is temporarily invincible, but for the era of firearms, it is only the beginning."

"As for the stability of the Ming Dynasty...it doesn't depend on guns and cannons, but on the people's hearts."

···
The day after the martial arts performance.

Zhu Di and Zhu Su and several other princes who were still in the capital but lived outside the palace made an appointment to meet in the main hall.

Although the Great Hall is located in the Forbidden City, it is not in the harem, so older princes such as Zhu Di had no taboos about visiting here.

Inside a pavilion.

Zhu Su and Zhu Zhen sat casually on the stone benches, while Zhu Gui sat astride the railing in a very unrestrained manner.

Seeing Zhu Di coming, Zhu Gui, who had been waiting impatiently for a long time, said, "What is the important matter that Fourth Brother has to meet in the main hall? Even if it is not possible to invite us to a restaurant, we can also have a feast at your house."

Zhu Di was somewhat displeased with Zhu Gui's temperament. Upon hearing this, he snorted, "If you don't want to come, just go. I don't need you to help me with this important matter."

Zhu Yu was annoyed when he heard this. "What a bullshit, who cares? Just leave."

He jumped off the railing and prepared to leave.

But Zhu Zhen stopped him and said, "Seventh brother, there are only four of us brothers living separately in the capital. How can you leave alone?"

Zhu Su then advised Zhu Di, "Fourth brother, you know Seventh Brother's personality, why bother with him? Besides, since you've already notified him to come, how can you let him go?"

Zhu Di frowned and said to Zhu Gui, "Don't stand there. Come sit down and talk."

Zhu Yu really didn't want to leave, so he stopped making a fuss when he found the stairs. He sat down and said nothing.

Zhu Di didn't bother to look at him and said to the other three: "Today I mainly want to talk to you about the overseas vassal states."

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　　Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! I wish all my readers a happy Mid-Autumn Festival! May everything go smoothly!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)