If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

The artillery had a tremendous impact on Li Tiancheng, and the ambition that had long been extinguished in the middle-aged man was rekindled.

He could almost see the dragon's army, armed with cannons, conquering east and west, winning every battle.

Li Tiancheng did meet with Zhou Wu in person.

"Zhou Wu, you're something else. You managed to create cannons without making a sound, weapons that shouldn't exist in this world."

Although he said that, Li Tiancheng's words and facial expressions made it hard for anyone not to see that he was praising Zhou Wu.

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty."

"I want to know if this thing is troublesome."

"Has His Majesty achieved large-scale equipment deployment for our army?"

"That's right, with the support of artillery, my Great Dragon's military strength has increased several times over. Haha, by then, no matter what kind of 'dazi,' 'gazi,' or 'gouzi,' they will all have to grovel before my Great Dragon."

Li Tiancheng even began to fantasize about Dalong crushing and trampling Dazi, that wicked neighbor, under his feet.

"Your Majesty, these cannons might not be easy to mass-produce."

"If you encounter any difficulties, just tell me. Whatever you lack, I will provide. With me as your backer, you have nothing to worry about."

Li Tiancheng didn't believe that the mighty Dragon Kingdom couldn't handle building some cannons.

"Your Majesty, this cannon is made of bronze."

"copper?"

"Yes, a cannon weighs about 300 jin, and with wear and tear, it takes at least 400 jin of copper to make one cannon."

Upon hearing Zhou Wu's request, Li Tiancheng regretted speaking too confidently earlier.

Four hundred catties of copper for a single cannon? The Great Dragon Empire is vast and rich in resources, but it is most lacking in two things: grain and copper. Zhou Wu has solved the grain problem, but copper is a difficult problem to solve.

The current level of mineral exploration is very limited. Even though there are many copper mines underground in Dalong, there is still a lack of means to discover them. Moreover, copper is a raw material for making coins in this era and is also under the control of the government.

If all of it is used to make cannons, there will be even less money to spare, and the situation will become even more dire.

"Does this thing really have to be made of copper?"

Li Tiancheng did not directly answer Zhou Wu's question, because as the emperor, he could not provide Zhou Wu with enough copper. He had to accept his words as a slap in the face.

"Actually, iron can also be used, but the technical requirements for iron are much higher, and we haven't reached that level yet."

In the beginning, Zhou Wu had considered whether to use copper or iron to cast the cannons. Since the copper production in Dalong was not high, he directly cast a few cannons with iron for experimentation. As expected, without sufficient technical support, the chance of the iron cannons exploding was too high. In the end, he had no choice but to cast the current thirty-odd cannons with copper for the time being.

These thirty-odd bronze cannons alone emptied all the bronze reserves in Zhou Wu's fiefdom.

"So you mean iron is also an option, but not right now."

Li Tiancheng seemed to have grasped the key point of Zhou Wu's words.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it's not possible now, but with enough support, I believe it's only a matter of time before we can solve this problem."

"That's great, Zhou Wu, I fully support you. Get the cannons out here as soon as possible."

Zhou Wu was confident enough to guarantee it, so Li Tiancheng would naturally support him; Da Long desperately needed artillery.

Since Li Tiancheng witnessed the power of the cannons with his own eyes a couple of days ago, he has been in a daze for several days. The cannons are simply too important for Dalong. In addition to being used for offense, they are also powerful weapons for defense when placed on the city walls.

Moreover, the reason why the Dalong were no match for the Dazi was because the Dazi lived on the grasslands. They had no shortage of warhorses, and everyone was a skilled rider. In the era of cold weapons, cavalry had absolute dominance. However, with the advent of artillery, the Dalong no longer feared the Dazi cavalry.

"Your Majesty, I have an idea."

"Well, you said."

"Your Majesty has witnessed the power of artillery, but in fact, artillery is only one type of firearm. The development of firearms goes far beyond artillery. I suggest that a Firearms Bureau be established to be specifically responsible for the research and development of firearms."

"Good, this is a good idea. I agree. However, firearms are no small matter. We must keep it a secret. There are many people coming from the capital, which is not suitable for the research and development of firearms."

"Your Majesty is right. Firearms are indeed a vital national asset, and we cannot be careless in keeping them secret."

"In this way, the Firearms Bureau will be located on your South China Sea Island, which is your fiefdom. It is sparsely populated and will not easily attract the attention of outsiders."

Zhou Wu was just giving a suggestion; he hadn't even thought that far ahead himself. He didn't expect Li Tiancheng to have already thought of the location for the Firearms Bureau. However, placing it in the South China Sea would indeed be a good choice.

"Zhou Wu received the appointment."

"The minister is here."

"I hereby appoint you as the head of the Great Dragon Firearms Bureau... um..."

"Director?"

This was the first time the Firearms Bureau had appeared. Li Tiancheng was halfway through his sentence when he realized he didn't know how to address the head of the Firearms Bureau. Just as he was struggling with this, he heard Zhou Wu whisper something.

Bureau chief? It's strange, but it's also quite suitable.

"Very well, you will be appointed Director of the Firearms Bureau, in charge of firearms research and development. I will also bestow upon you a gold medal. Seeing this gold medal is as if I am personally present. If you need any resources, just take the gold medal to the various government treasuries to collect them."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The gold medal is a real treasure. Zhou Wu is already planning to fill the fleet he brought back with it when he returns to the South China Sea.

. . . . . .

early morning.

"Your Majesty, Gao Liguo has sent a letter of surrender, expressing its willingness to submit to the Great Dragon, pay tribute, and establish a lasting friendship."

In this matter, the civil officials, having no reason to shirk their responsibilities, stood up and, having changed their previous grievances of being overpowered by the military generals, became assertive.

The military generals had defeated Gao Li, but the post-war formalities were beyond their comprehension. The civil officials proudly held the surrender document above their heads and gave the military generals a disdainful look.

Zhou Wu had not yet left the capital, so according to the court's requirements, he also had to attend the morning court session in case His Majesty had any questions.

Zhou Wu had been participating for several days without any problems. He even found a good spot against a pillar so he could take a nap if he got too sleepy. But he was unexpectedly woken up by the boastful voice of a civil official.

"Hey bro, what's that skinny monkey saying?"

Zhou Wu, still half-asleep and not fully awake, patted a military officer next to him and asked.

The other person glanced back at Zhou Wu, and found it quite amusing that this man actually called the civil official a skinny monkey.

"That skinny monkey is showing off the merits of our generals."

The military officers were all holding their breath. When they were fighting Gao Li, these civil officials had nothing to do with it. Some of them even kept shouting about ruling the world with benevolence and demanding that the emperor withdraw his troops from Gao Li. Now that Gao Li had been defeated, they shamelessly came out to claim credit.

"How shameless!"

Although the military officer's language skills were limited, Zhou Wu still understood the general idea.

"Your assessment is spot on. He's utterly shameless. A scholar, my foot!"

The more military generals looked at Zhou Wu, the more pleasing he became.