Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Fuck!"

Seeing what Li Tai suddenly pulled out from behind his waist, Li Chengqian only had time to exclaim in surprise.

He hurriedly reached out and grabbed the other person's hand, raising the gun that was about to be pointed at him upwards.

Seeing that this thing didn't go off the rails as he had imagined.

Enraged, he kicked the reckless fellow to the ground.

"Damn it, if you want to sit in the position of Crown Prince, just say so. What, are you going to shoot me dead?"

He cursed at the top of his lungs.

Even someone as powerful as him was so startled just now that a fine layer of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

"Um, Your Highness, this is..."

Watching Li Tai, the Prince of Wei, clutching his stomach and grimacing as he got up from the ground, seemingly finally realizing what mistake he had made, Changsun Wuji looked on with suspicion at the object that Li Chengqian was holding solemnly in his hand.

A strangely shaped iron pipe, about the length of a forearm.

It doesn't seem to have any deterrent effect.

But for some reason, even his nephew, the crown prince, showed such surprise.

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, glared fiercely at Li Tai, and finally focused his attention on the musket in his hand.

"Flintlock musket?" he murmured, then his eyes narrowed again as he saw the silver-white metal percussion cap on the musket.

"A percussion cap flintlock musket...and a short-handled one at that."

He looked at Li Tai, his face full of surprise.

"Is the Firearms Division now capable of manufacturing such things?"

Li Tai clutched his stomach, where his elder brother had kicked him. Although he realized his rashness, he still felt a little aggrieved after being kicked by his brother.

Hearing his elder brother's question, he muttered a soft hum.

"I thought my imperial brother trusted me so much, leaving such a huge operation like the Firearms Division to me. Turns out he's still afraid of being shot."

He saw his elder brother's eyes instantly turn dangerous.

He clenched an iron fist called "Brotherly Love" in his hand, and Li Tai shuddered in surprise.

Let's explain honestly.

"Isn't this all done according to your wishes, Your Majesty?"

"After the Firearms Department had a pretty good grasp of the gunpowder ratio, they developed the matchlock gun according to the method and principle you mentioned, Your Majesty."

"However, Your Majesty, you said that thing is not only prone to dampness, but it is also not as good as the Turks' bows and arrows, nor as good as our hand crossbows. So after making a few samples and recording the results."

"Your Majesty, I immediately arranged for people to begin researching the flintlock musket you mentioned... Then, following your instructions step by step, we added a percussion cap above the powder chamber, modified the hammer, and even developed paper-packaged gunpowder..."

Li Tai mumbled something that Changsun Wuji couldn't understand at all.

The way Li Chengqian looked at his younger brother at this moment was as if he were looking at some kind of treasure.

The Firearms Department has many skilled craftsmen, not only from the Tang Dynasty itself, but also those he summoned from the simulated world. Their skills in manufacturing various parts and processing gunpowder are not a concern.

In addition, steel mills and forging plants have already sprung up around Taiyuan Prefecture.

The research and production of firearms were achieved thanks to his younger brother's daily supervision and personal involvement in the research.

"Good! Hahahaha! Qingque, just for this weapon in your hand, you are destined to go down in history!"

"Hahahaha!"

Li Chengqian laughed heartily, his joyful laughter attracting the attention of the female officials from the secretariat in the side halls, who curiously peeked out to observe him.

"Let's go, Qingque, Uncle, oh, and Third Brother too, let's go together and try out our Bingzhou New Army, the weapons of the future!"

Li Chengqian put his arm around his younger brother Qingque's shoulder, ignoring everyone's reactions, and quickly headed out of Xiande Hall.

There was no need for any complicated procedures like taking a sedan chair; they went directly to their younger brother's Wenxin Palace.

Li Ke and Changsun Wuji followed behind.

Wenxin Hall.

This was Changsun Wuji's first time here. When he saw the backyard, he realized it didn't look like a palace, but rather like a workshop under the Ministry of Works.

They couldn't help but widen their eyes.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, the musket you have here is a short-handled flintlock pistol that I had made. If we're talking about equipping the army, then this is the one we should use..."

Li Tai led Li Chengqian to several wooden boxes.

Then, everyone saw that inside the wooden box were several "weapons" placed on the hay, which looked similar to the so-called short-handled muskets, but with longer iron pipes.

Changsun Wuji frowned.

Seeing that his two nephews seemed quite familiar with the game, taking out two and starting to play with them on the spot, he couldn't help but reach out and pick one up.

Take a closer look.

Yes, it's not heavy; its weight is almost the same as the short crossbows produced in Bingzhou today.

There was also a hanging rope on the side, which seemed to be for carrying it on one's back.

The iron pipe was smooth and black, but it didn't appear to have any lethality; it had neither a bowstring nor any sharp points...

However, there was a thin, long iron rod that could be pulled out from under the iron pipe, and it was unclear what it was used for.

While Changsun Wuji was still puzzled...

Li Tai, on the other hand, had already opened a wooden box on the side and then took out a small box from it.

"Look, Your Majesty, this is the paper-wrapped gunpowder..."

Li Chengqian looked at the long strip of oil paper in his hand.

It was about the thickness of a finger, with one end tied with a thin rope, and you could feel a bullet hidden at one end, while the other end had a distinct gunpowder texture.

Under the watchful eyes of the others, Li Chengqian and Li Tai skillfully removed the flint and powder caps, bit open the side of the oil paper wrapping containing the gunpowder, and then poured the gunpowder into the gunpowder trough.

Then, insert the bullet at the end of the gun through the muzzle.

Looking at Li Chengqian and the other man, he pulled out the thin iron rod that he didn't understand the purpose of, then inserted it into the gun barrel and pressed it in twice.

Changsun Wuji seemed to realize something.

Li Ke, standing to the side, looked at the dark muzzle of the gun and had already figured out how to use it.

"Guards, bring me a sheep!"

At Li Tai's command, a bleating sheep was led by the eunuch to the four metal walls where Li Tai usually experimented with explosives.

Li Chengqian raised the musket in his hand.

Standing thirty meters away from the sheep, I then followed the shooting guidelines from my previous life.

aim.

"boom!"

With a crisp sound of the hammer and the percussion cap colliding, sparks fell into the gunpowder trough.

Instantly, a loud bang was heard, accompanied by a cloud of white smoke rising.

A mournful cry suddenly came from the direction of the goat.

"Baa baa baa~"

The goat, convulsing and lying on the ground, cried out in a pitiful voice. A bloody hole was clearly visible in its belly, from which blood gushed out continuously.

In the blink of an eye, the ground was already covered in crimson.

"Wow! Your Majesty, is this your first time using it?"

Li Tai, who was about to pull the trigger to set an example for his elder brother, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Li Chengqian smiled faintly, seemingly somewhat satisfied.

However, Li Ke and Changsun Wuji behind them were already gaping in shock.

"What kind of divine weapon is this?!" Changsun Wuji exclaimed, his mouth agape in shock.

Ignoring any danger, he rushed towards the "target," only to find that the goat's body had been shot right through it.

His face was filled with extreme shock.

"Such penetrating power is something even ordinary crossbows might not be able to achieve at thirty paces. If it were a longbow, it would require a full draw. This..."

Changsun Wuji stared in horror at Li Chengqian as he approached.

"Your Highness, is this thing called a musket? Why is it so powerful?"

"Hahaha! Power? Uncle, you've never seen anything more powerful!" Li Tai said smugly, which made Li Chengqian roll his eyes.

"These are firearms, the same type of weapons as the gunpowder canisters used to defeat the Turkic Jieli on the banks of the Wei River, and the Thunder God Crossbows now equipped by the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace. They are just different in how the gunpowder is used."

Li Chengqian explained with a faint smile.

"The weapon you see now, Uncle, is called a flintlock musket. It uses gunpowder to fire these projectiles to kill enemies..."

Li Chengqian opened a gunpowder pack, revealing the gunpowder inside and a sharp, cone-shaped bullet.

If there were a time traveler, they would definitely be able to recognize the bullet in Li Chengqian's hand at a glance.

It was a Minié bullet!

The smoothbore musket equipped with Minié bullets can almost be considered the pinnacle of smoothbore muskets.

Further development would require rifled guns.

However, the current industrial level of the Tang Dynasty is still insufficient to produce standard rifling.

It's not impossible to have a skilled veteran craftsman produce them, but it would probably take that person half a year, or even longer, to work on just one rifled gun...

"Hiss! These are arrows, the equivalent of bows and arrows? They're so small! If that's the case, wouldn't this musket be able to sustain a battle for a long time?"

"More suitable for long-range pursuit of enemy troops?"

Changsun Wuji received the small bullet with awe. Having witnessed the productivity of the Taiyuan Forging Factory, he was already certain after just one glance.

With the forging hammers and assembly line system of that forging plant, producing hundreds of thousands of such tiny bullets a day would be a piece of cake.

But could that factory produce 100,000 arrows a day?

It's obviously unlikely.

"Is Your Highness planning to form a new army equipped with this kind of weapon?"

Li Chengqian nodded and smiled.

"That's right!"

"Firearms will definitely be the major direction of the future development of the military of our Great Tang Dynasty. And the power of firearms is definitely not limited to muskets and crossbows. There are also more terrifying cannons that can flatten city walls from several miles away, or even tens of miles away."

"Moreover, the training of firearms troops, taking musketeers as an example, requires not only high physical fitness, but also, and most importantly, arm strength and stamina."

"Training a qualified crossbowman takes at least a year."

"But a qualified musketeer only takes a maximum of six months to train. A large number of musketeers line up in a row, divided into several columns, and take turns firing."

"That is a wall of death that can never be crossed!"

As Li Chengqian spoke, he couldn't help but imagine the Tang Dynasty's musketeers lining up to shoot down the enemy army, routing and defeating them.

He ignored Changsun Wuji, who was standing to the side, his mind still reeling from the shock.

Li Chengqian looked at Li Tai, who was standing to the side.

"Qingque, how many of these muskets can the Firearms Division produce in a month?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tai, who had been waiting for his elder brother to ask, was immediately intrigued.

He chuckled and immediately produced a document with detailed written records.

"Currently, the Firearms Department only has one such production line, and the number of skilled workers is not large. According to what Your Majesty said, the assembly line will produce different parts of the musket, assuming there are sufficient raw materials."

"We can produce a thousand units per month!"

“Not enough!” Li Chengqian shook his head.

She glanced at Li Tai again.

This kid has finally figured out the musket he's been longing for, and he should be setting off for Luoyang soon.

Li Chengqian suddenly looked at Qian Yingying beside him.

"Yingying, I'm allocating you with 1,000 elite troops from the Six Armies of the Eastern Palace. You'll be in charge of establishing a military factory outside Taiyuan City. All the people from the former Firearms Bureau will be under your command."

"Expand manpower and production line scale as soon as possible, at least..."

Li Chengqian pondered for a moment: "We must at least guarantee a production volume of 5,000 units per month. If you need anything, just ask Xiao Rui directly. If that doesn't work, come to me!"

Qian Yingying was stunned.

Changsun Wuji, standing to the side, opened his mouth, thinking to himself, "Isn't it a bit inappropriate to entrust such an important institution to a woman?"

However, he noticed that Li Chengqian seemed to have anticipated his attitude, as evidenced by the glare he gave him.

She immediately pursed her lips and chose to remain silent.

"Your Highness, rest assured, this servant will fulfill your request!"

Li Chengqian nodded in satisfaction, then smiled faintly when he noticed that Li Tai beside him clearly wanted to say something.

"As the King of Wei, you have a quota of eight hundred soldiers. I, Gu Zhun, will also form a musketeer corps. However, let me make this clear from the start... Firearms technology is a state secret of our Great Tang!"

"We can lose our heads, but the secrets of firearms must not be revealed!"

"Hahaha! Brother, you can rest assured!"

The next day.

With the improvement of literacy rates and living standards and income in Taiyuan Prefecture, buying a copy of the "Datang Xinbao" newspaper every day has almost become a daily routine for the people of Taiyuan.

Various workshops, shops, and hotels have a certain number of subscribers every day.

however.

On this day, while everyone was either enjoying homemade scallion pancakes or having a bowl of tofu at a breakfast stall on the street, a striking headline in the newspaper instantly stunned everyone.

The *Da Tang Xin Bao* reports: "To ensure the implementation of the new policies in Bingzhou, stabilize trade routes, and prevent neighboring enemy states and bandits from plundering the borders, with His Majesty the Emperor's permission, His Highness the Crown Prince has decided to expand and recruit a new army of 50,000 men..."

"Holy crap! Quick, brat, stop eating! Quick, go to the cement factory and tell your brother, the Crown Prince is recruiting! Tell him to give it a try! Hurry!"

"Recruiting soldiers! His Highness the Crown Prince is finally recruiting soldiers again!"

"Quick, quick, find out where to register..."

On a wooden building next to the Ganlu Hall in Chang'an, during the Tang Dynasty.

"Ah!"

A sneeze suddenly burst from Li Er's mouth.

As Li Shimin was reading the letter in Murong Fuyun's handwriting delivered by the Tuyuhun messenger, he couldn't help but sniff and instinctively looked towards Bingzhou.

"That kid, he probably, maybe... won't cause me any trouble, right?"