Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Some time ago, Wang Kang came to the East Palace to report to him that the development of artillery had made great progress and could even eject gunpowder.

I just don't know the range of the artillery and its specific power.

Wang Kang bowed and replied, "My Lord, the artillery can be used at the moment, but it can only throw about 400 steps, and it is difficult to hit the target accurately."

"As for the destructive power, it's not great. It can only destroy fences and thatched houses, but it can't break through the stone walls."

There was a pause.

Wang Kang continued, "Of the bombs launched so far, a small number explode before they hit the ground, and some even don't explode after landing."

"I'm afraid it will take several months of research before there will be any improvement."

The Taoist priests can control the explosion of the thunder bomb themselves, and the accuracy can basically be within five breaths.

However, the bomb thrown out by the cold steel pipe could neither be controlled to land on the ground nor be guaranteed to explode after landing.

After listening.

Du He said softly, "Pull two cannons over here. I want to see the effect."

"promise."

Wang Kang responded and then ran down to make arrangements.

Not long

Wang Kang, sweating profusely, ran back to report, "Duke Hanguo, I have made all the arrangements. Please move to the test site."

Du He nodded and then walked towards the testing site.

The testing ground in the manor is a huge grassland for setting off fireworks. It is far away from the houses and is surrounded by walls.

After a cup of tea.

Du He sat on the observation deck and saw the two Taoist priests, Zhen Fengzi and Li Qingcheng, skillfully lighting the gunpowder fuse.

"Bang~"

"Bang~"

Two loud noises were heard, one after the other, and two balls of sparks exploded hundreds of steps away.

One of them exploded as it hit the ground, and the other one exploded loudly while it was still several feet from the ground.

As for the low thatched house dozens of steps away, it was unharmed.

Wang Kang saw the poor results of the experiment and his face was filled with anxiety: "Usually it's only about twenty steps off, why is it so much off today?"

"I don't know if the Korean Guild will be angry, ah..."

When he had just given instructions to the two Taoist priests, he had also asked them to relax and follow the usual test methods.

Now it seems that it would be better not to remind the two Taoist priests.

On the high platform.

Du He continued to give orders, "Wang Kang, have the two Taoist priests each fire three more thunder bombs."

"As ordered!"

After receiving the order, Wang Kang ran over quickly.

Not long after, the two Taoist priests each fired three bombs. Although none of them hit the thatched hut, they exploded hundreds of steps away.

Seeing that no bomb could destroy the thatched hut, Wang Kang's face was full of helplessness.

"Hey!"

"Why am I so unlucky today!"

He wanted to show it off in front of the Korean public, but he didn't expect the results to be worse than his usual experiments.

It seems the reward is gone!

Just as Wang Kang was sighing in his heart, Du He had already quickly walked down the platform and went to the explosion site to check.

Wang Kang did not dare to delay and quickly followed.

Looking at the small pits and the exploded thick iron balls, Du He nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad!"

"It's just a little less powerful!"

"If the iron sheet is made thinner, the artillery can be used in actual combat!"

The main killing force of artillery is that when the gunpowder explodes, the shell casing breaks into many small pieces of iron and flies around to injure the enemy.

He didn't need the artillery to be very accurate. When the time came, bombarding the densely packed army formation on the opposite side would not only kill the enemy but also have a deterrent effect.

I believe that the people from Tubo and India would be terrified when they saw the power of the artillery.

Thought to himself.

Du He said softly, "Wang Kang, pick up the two iron balls."

As he said this, he strode towards the two Taoist priests.

Du He walked up to them and said with a smile, "Master Zhen, Master Li, the cannons you made are pretty good and can basically be used."

"But the iron sheet of the shell is too thick. It needs to be made thinner."

Then Du He explained to them the killing principle of artillery explosions, and used the iron ball handed to him by Wang Kang to explain it.

Half an hour later.

Zhen Fengzi suddenly realized, "I was saying that hitting someone with an iron ball wouldn't cause any harm at all. It turns out it's the fragments of the iron sheet that do the damage!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Han Guo, this matter is easy to solve. You can see the results when you come tomorrow!"

Their previous research direction was to use artillery to blast open the city walls, but unexpectedly, the Korean public changed their thinking on how to use it.

Du He smiled and asked, "How long do you estimate it will take to forge 100 cannons?"

Wang Kang replied in a deep voice, "Duke Han, each blacksmith can only forge one cannon per month, and the cannons they forge may not all be of good quality."

"We only have 10 craftsmen now, so it will probably take two years."

What?

It takes two years?

Du He shook his head and said, "Wang Kang, I will dispatch 200 blacksmiths tomorrow. You must forge 100 functional cannons within a month."

"Send people to build 200 temporary houses overnight, and then go to Taifu Temple to apply for more iron and materials for making artillery."

"Once this matter is completed, I will reward you."

At present, the people in the Arsenal are mainly forging arrows. Transferring 200 people here will not cause any major delays.

If there are not enough people to make weapons and arrows, we can go to the surrounding states and counties to mobilize blacksmiths.

Wang Kang replied solemnly, "As you command!"

I felt full of pressure when I received this task.

This was the first time he had felt this way since he had been in charge of the development of gunpowder.

Du He said to Zhen Fengzi, "Master Zhen, please make a few more shells. I will come over tomorrow afternoon to see the results."

Zhen Fengzi bowed and said, "Don't worry, Lord Han Guo, I will definitely not let you down!"

Not bad!

This confidence feels really good.

Then Du He gave the three of them a few more instructions and left the manor under the escort of his servants.

...

When Du He rode his horse at full speed to the East Palace, it was not yet time to get off duty.

Inside Mingde Hall.

After Du He mentioned the matter of dispatching 200 blacksmiths to forge cannons, Li Chengqian nodded in agreement without any hesitation.

"no problem!"

"I will now send someone to inform the Military Equipment Supervisor, Zhang Jian, and have him select 200 skilled blacksmiths in advance."

"When you go to the manor tomorrow afternoon, bring these blacksmiths with you."

As he spoke, Li Chengqian called Qin Huaidao in and asked him to go to the Military Equipment Inspectorate to handle the matter personally.

He usually agreed with Du Heti's suggestions, not to mention the artillery he manufactured, which helped the soldiers kill the enemy.

After making arrangements.

Li Chengqian asked curiously, "Du He, can this Yunlong cannon you mentioned really kill enemies on a large scale?"

"I'll go with you to take a look tomorrow."

Since the thunder bomb was made, he has never seen its specific power.

The Yunlong cannon that Du He mentioned attracted him deeply, and he couldn't wait to go and find out what it was.

It just so happened that the memorials were reviewed by Pei Xingjian, Shangguan Yi and Wang Fuzhi during these two days, so he could take a break from his busy schedule.

Unfortunately, these three people were too inefficient in handling memorials, and they had to work until dark every day to finish reviewing them. He also had to spend a lot of time checking them randomly.

Only when Du He completely takes over the Privy Council can he become a hands-off boss.

"it is good."

Du He nodded, then whispered, "Your Highness, these days are dangerous. You must ask Xue Rengui and Xi Junjia to accompany you."