The Young and Vigorous Eighth Prince

Upon hearing this, Fan Xian frowned and said, "Your Majesty is very strict about the gunpowder formula. It's not easy to get it. However, I have already figured it out. I estimate that after a while, I will not only be able to get the gunpowder formula, but also the weapons technology. Please report back to Your Majesty. I know how to do it..."

"That's good... Whether His Highness can succeed depends on you... You are tied to His Highness now, so don't do anything that will make His Highness unhappy!" The man in black warned, glanced at Fan Xian coldly, and turned and left.

Fan Xian looked at the man in black who was leaving and sighed, with confusion and helplessness in his eyes.

If I had known that the Eighth Prince was so outstanding, I should not have chosen him.

Now, it is too late for him to regret. Not only does the other party have leverage over him, but the lives of his entire family are also in the hands of the other party. He... has no way out!

In addition to Fan Xian's work on gunpowder formula and weapons technology, Ye Ren and others have also set their sights on these two things.

They will not let go of the matter of getting rid of Jiang Fan, but strengthening themselves and making adequate preparations are also things they cannot let go of.

The appearance of gunpowder made them greedy, especially when they knew that Jiang Fan had recaptured Jinzhou with gunpowder, which made them even more determined to obtain gunpowder.

As for Jiang Fan, Huaining County has been built more and more like a modern city, except for the manufacture of gunpowder.

Several chemical talents he trained also extracted a lot of smokeless gunpowder.

Unfortunately, due to the shortage of saltpeter, the progress is still very slow, and even mass production cannot be achieved.

Of course, during this period, Jiang Fan also sent people to find and purchase saltpeter, as manure alone could not meet the demand for gunpowder.

In addition to purchasing saltpeter, he also asked people to inquire about saltpeter mines, hoping to find a saltpeter vein.

Then he would not only have sufficient gunpowder in his hands, but the refining of smokeless gunpowder could also be taken to a higher level, making mass production not impossible.

Chu Yan'er is in charge of all these matters. The acquisition of saltpeter is progressing well, and there is also some information about the saltpeter mines. We are just waiting for Jiang Fan to return and go and see it in person!

Jiang Fan had been in Jinzhou City for nearly two months, and the iron ore vein was completely under his control. He built a steelmaking base in one of the valleys outside Jinzhou City.

The craftsmen transferred from Huaining County also joined the production, but unfortunately, because it was just the beginning, everything progressed slowly.

But as long as he is given some more time, not only the equipment for the light cavalry, but even rifles and cannons can be manufactured.

Jiang Fan stayed in Jinzhou for too long, and Emperor Yan and Chu Yan'er became a little anxious. Emperor Yan was waiting for Jiang Fan to go back to discuss things, and Chu Yan'er not only missed Jiang Fan, but also had problems on her side!

After Jiang Fan received the letters from Emperor Yan and Chu Yan'er, he had no choice but to put aside the matters of Jinzhou and prepare to return to Beijing.

On the Jinzhou side, generals such as Li Yunzhuo and 50,000 provincial government troops were left behind to guard the safety of Jinzhou.

Jiang Fan also selected 20,000 men from the Zhoufu Army and trained them as cavalry.

In this Jinzhou battle, Jiang Fan captured more than 30,000 northern Mongolian war horses, nearly 40,000. With so many war horses, it would be no problem to train a cavalry of 40,000 people.

But Jiang Fan’s value lies in quality, not quantity!

After fighting side by side with Jiang Fan for several battles, Li Yunzhuo was completely impressed by Jiang Fan and was completely conquered by him.

The now reorganized Jinzhou Army can be said to be Jiang Fan’s private army. I am afraid that no one can command this army.

In addition, Jiang Fan also kept Niu Wu, Zhou Zheng and more than a dozen other generals selected from the White Robe Army to assist Li Yunzhuo.

Of course, they stayed so that Jiang Fan could control the army more closely. Jiang Fan also wanted Niu Wu and others to help him look after the mineral resources here!

After arranging everything in Jinzhou, Jiang Fan led 400 white-robed soldiers and 2,000 trained cavalry and food supply soldiers and began to rush towards the capital.

The grain and fodder army is almost becoming Jiang Fan's private army. Now all it needs is an opportunity to be completely incorporated into Jiang Fan's army.

After two months, the four hundred white robe soldiers became even more powerful, and even their equipment was upgraded. Everyone changed into new swords and new armor, making them look more powerful and domineering.

The two thousand grain and forage soldiers were very envious of the equipment of the White Robe Army. However, Jiang Fan assured them that when new equipment came out, they would also be equipped with it.

The equipment that the White Robe Army had previously discarded was used to arm the 400-man grain and fodder army.

Now, the truly terrifying combat power in Jiang Fan's hands, apart from the four hundred white-robed soldiers, is the four hundred food and fodder cavalry.

Of course, the remaining 1,600 food and fodder cavalry are also quite powerful!

The reason why Jiang Fan rushed back so early was because something big happened in the capital.

Su Yuanguang, who was the first to support him, was in trouble. If he could not save Su Yuanguang, those court officials who wanted to support him might back off.

They might even lose confidence in Su Yuanguang and stop supporting him because of what happened to him.

So all the court officials actually knew that it was the princes who were plotting against Su Yuanguang behind the scenes, but even though they knew it, no one could help, and no one dared to help.

They are now waiting to see whether Jiang Fan has the ability to protect the court officials who want to rely on him.

After all, who would dare to rely on a master who can't even protect his dependent subjects if they follow him and risk death before they succeed?

Jiang Fan was well aware of this matter and knew that the culprits behind this were definitely his three royal brothers, as well as Ye Ren and others.

But he couldn't just ignore this matter. If he really let it go, I'm afraid no one in the entire court would support him anymore.

The Emperor of Yan hoped that Jiang Fan would come back in person to resolve the issue of Su Yuanguang, dispel the concerns of the court officials, and accumulate strength for himself.

Emperor Yan has made up his mind to hand over the throne to Jiang Fan, but the problem is that Jiang Fan also needs to have his own foundation.

Otherwise, even if he sat on the throne, if there were no court officials supporting him, his throne would be taken away by other princes sooner or later! It might even cause Dayan to fall into civil strife.

Jiang Fan, who knew history well, knew that if he wanted to sit in that position, he still needed support from others when his foundation was not deep enough.

He had to take over this matter, not to mention that this was exactly what happened to his wife Chu Yan'er. Su Yuanguang was his wife's uncle and Mrs. Chu's younger brother.

If something happened to him, Chu Yan'er couldn't just ignore it. Moreover, Chu Yan'er's letter also mentioned that there was news of saltpeter mines in Hejianzhou.

If he could find it, then the saltpeter problem he needed would be solved. He had to go to Hejianzhou.

A large army of 2,400 people rode at full speed towards the capital, with almost no rest along the way.

Following Jiang Fan were the Chu brothers and Zhong Ling. The three of them were protecting Jiang Fan closely. Sandwiched in the middle was Dora Yue'er.

During the more than two months that she was held captive, she was always kept by Jiang Fan's side. Even when she was resting at night, she was arranged to stay in a room divided into an inner room and an outer room. Dora Yue'er and Zhong Ling lived in the outer room.

The Chu brothers lived in the next room, surrounded by nearly a hundred white-robed guards.

Jiang Fan was certainly worried about Dora Yue'er because the Northern Mongolian Imperial Master had not been caught. If he didn't keep this woman by his side, she could be rescued by the Grandmaster at any time!

She is involved in the cession of territory and compensation, the bet of marriage for Northern Mongolia, and 10,000 war horses!

With her in hand, the Northern Mongolian side would never dare to act rashly.

What surprised Jiang Fan was that the letter Dora Yue'er wrote back should have reached Beimeng long ago, but he didn't receive any reply at all.