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

"Awoo~ Awoooooo~"

The annoying howling caused Li Tai, who was frowning as he reviewed documents, to have a few veins throbbing on his forehead.

He slowly raised his head, looking at Gao Yang, who was still humming a tune, sitting in a chair with his legs dangling and swinging. His lips twitched involuntarily.

"Gao Yang, I have made myself very clear. Firearms are not something that just anyone can use; there is a very strict regulatory system in place!"

"Even the musketeers under my command and the firearms research institute need to report to Taiyuan Prefecture every six months, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will send special personnel to inspect them."

"If you ask your brother for anything else, he won't say a word; he can even give you the power to oversee the country directly, but..."

"Fourth Brother, stop it!" Gao Yang snorted and rolled her eyes coquettishly.

"Who wants your power of regent? Have you gone mad from reviewing all those memorials? All you think about is this nonsense..."

“You…” Li Tai’s face turned red with anger.

Gao Yang had no interest in wasting his breath on this matter, so he jumped off the chair and went to Li Tai's side.

"Fourth Brother~ I just want to learn how to use firearms~ I'll use them here, I won't take them away, can't you even agree to this for your little sister?"

Li Tai's lips twitched: "Don't even think about it! Firearms are too dangerous..."

"If Third Brother and Sixth Brother find out that you've hidden five sets of tea sets made by the Emperor himself..."

Li Taiyi glared at him: "You're threatening me?!"

Gao Yang ignored him, casually toying with the ivory-handled flintlock pistol on Li Tai's desk that wasn't loaded with bullets, but her words were sharp and cutting.

"If Third Brother and Sixth Brother knew that the Emperor originally wanted Fourth Brother to share the spoils with them to strengthen brotherly bonds, but you ended up swallowing them all by yourself..."

Enraged, Li Tai slammed the calligraphy brush in his hand onto the table.

"That was originally given to me by my elder brother! It's mine!!!"

Gao Yang blinked and stretched out a small hand.

"Fourth Brother, are you saying that those five sets were all for you? Why don't you say it again?"

Li Tai gritted his teeth: "..."

Gao Yang chuckled smugly and continued to wag Li Tai's arm in a coquettish manner.

"Fourth Brother~ Fourth Geigei~"

"Okay, okay, let go, let go!"

Li Tai was nearly killed on the spot by that "dead geigei" and shook off Gao Yang's hand, his face covered in sweat.

He gave a cold snort, clearly annoyed.

"Let me make this clear from the start: I can only arrange for you to have the identity of a researcher at the Firearms Research Institute. In name, you'll be there to study firearms, but in reality, you'll just be playing around at a firing range... Don't even think about touching the high-powered ones! I'll have people keeping a close eye on you!"

Gao Yang was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Fourth Brother is the best!"

Watching Gao Yang run off towards the palace gates, Li Tai gave him another word of advice, still worried.

"Firearms are dangerous. Don't cause any trouble when you get there!"

"Okay, I know~ My nagging fourth brother is just like the emperor's housekeeper~"

Li Tai: "!!!"

His face turned bright red, and almost instinctively, he reached for the flintlock pistol on the table, only to find that he had touched nothing.

"Gao Yang!!!"

Prince Lu, Li Yuanchang, who had just entered, looked at the brother and sister who were up to something again. Despite being their elder, he didn't dare to say a word.

Li Tai gritted his teeth and glared at him.

"Seventh Imperial Uncle, is something the matter?"

Li Yuanchang coughed twice and presented a memorial to the emperor.

"Your Highness, the salt fields under Prince Han of Dengzhou have completed another expansion, and the output will be at least twice that of last year. He sent a document asking us if we can handle the supply?"

His eyes were slightly rimmed with dark circles.

If we're talking about who spent the most time on the Zhenguan throne during this period, there's no doubt it was Prince Lu, Li Yuanchang.

He still needed to oversee many projects at Luwang Real Estate in Taiyuan Prefecture to prevent his subordinates from engaging in shoddy work and creating what His Highness the Crown Prince called "shoddy projects" that would damage the royal family's reputation.

On the other hand, they still had to complete the task assigned by Li Tai, the fourth prince's nephew, to revitalize commerce in Chang'an.

He is now similar to Xiao Rui, the head of the Commerce Department under the current Crown Prince.

Upon hearing this, Li Tai nodded slightly.

"Well, just double. There are many workers these days, and the most manual labor involves producing food and salt. We can send a message over, and they can just focus on producing as much as possible..."

As he was speaking, he saw Li Yuanchang bow and prepare to leave, and suddenly called out to him.

He beckoned to the other person with a hint of wariness, signaling him to come closer.

"Besides these, has my third brother asked you about anything else?"

Li Yuanchang looked bewildered, pondered for a moment, and then gently shook his head.

"Your Highness, I don't quite understand what you mean by 'other things'..."

Li Tai took a breath, lowering his voice even further.

"Exactly, has he inquired about my brother, the Crown Prince? For example... has he inquired about how the Crown Prince treats me?"

Li Yuanchang was puzzled and thought about it for a moment.

"Well, His Highness the Prince of Han is far from Chang'an after all. It seems reasonable for him to inquire about His Highness and His Highness the Crown Prince in his daily correspondence, doesn't it?"

"Hiss! You mean he really found out?!" Li Tai gasped, looking guilty.

Now, Li Yuanchang was even more puzzled.

Is this something very important?

However, Li Tai was unaware of his thoughts; otherwise, he would have been furious and cursed him.

This is more than just important!

It's fucking deadly!

He waved for the other person to leave, but instantly lost all interest in reviewing the memorials. He paced back and forth in the Ganlu Hall with a nervous expression.

"No way! Li Ke was a former member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; he must know something. Quite a few people knew about it when my brother gave me the gift..."

He gritted his teeth and hurried toward his bed.

He laboriously reached under the bed and pulled out several things that looked like safes.

"Somebody come!"

Immediately, several of the King of Wei's personal guards, carrying muskets and short blades at their waists, entered the hall.

Li Tai gritted his teeth: "Prepare a carriage to escort me to the firearms research institute!"

at the same time.

Princess Gaoyang, amidst the astonished gazes of the people of Chang'an, and with an absolute head-turning rate, sat in a small carriage pulled by a dozen huskies, and drove out of Chang'an City.

Then, escorted by his personal guards, they arrived at the firearms research institute.

Even the guards who were on strict duty at the entrance were completely bewildered.

"Go and prepare the best dog food for my mount. I will cover all the expenses myself!"

Gao Yang casually took out the warrant that Li Tai had given him and stuffed a stack of silver notes into the hand of the guard officer who came to inquire.

Yuchi Baolin stared blankly at Princess Gaoyang who had appeared there.

I feel like my head is about to explode.

"Princess, what brings you here? This is a firearms research institute..."

"If I didn't come for the firearms research institute, would I have come for you, you big black charcoal?"

Gao Yang rolled his eyes and pointed at the warrant in his hand, urging him to hurry.

"Check if there are any problems. If there are no problems, then take me to your shooting range!"

Big black charcoal.....

Princess Gaoyang's words were so hurtful... I didn't mean to be so mean (っ′;w;`c).

However, after checking that the warrant was indeed in order, Yuchi Baolin had no choice but to obediently lead this old lady toward the research institute's firing range.

Of course, Princess Gaoyang's personal guards were not allowed to enter.

"Hiss... Yuchi Baolin, why do these cannons here look a little different?"

Gao Yang stopped as he passed a small courtyard.

Yuchi Baolin gave an honest introduction.

"These are new types of artillery, unlike the muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons currently in the western expeditionary army. These are breech-loading cannons that His Highness the Prince of Wei ordered to be improved by His Highness the Crown Prince."

“Those shells can be loaded from the back in the future... but right now it’s just an empty shell, and many technologies are not yet up to standard.”

The sound of gunfire, accompanied by the gradually intensifying smell of gunpowder in the air, rang out.

Gao Yang soon arrived at the firing range of the Chang'an Firearms Research Institute.

As soon as you walk in, you see a dozen men in new military uniforms operating a strangely shaped large box.

The box had eight rows and ten columns.

Behind it was a complex wheel and axle system, and some ropes that looked like bowstrings, while in front were rows of dark gun muzzles.

“This is…” Gao Yang said in surprise.

Yuchi Baolin sighed helplessly.

"His Highness the Prince of Wei disliked that the current fire rate of the muskets in Bingzhou was still too slow, and that it was difficult to deter a large-scale enemy without the assistance of artillery. Therefore, he ordered people to research this multi-barreled musket."

Multi-barreled musket...

Gao Yang stared blankly at the ugly things that were now almost like wooden boxes.

A trigger, combined with a wheel axle and a pulling rope, connected to dozens of loaded barrels, makes a multi-barreled musket.

Gao Yang couldn't help but complain, "So ugly..."

She weighed the short-handled flintlock pistol she had swiped from her fourth brother in her hand, lost in thought.

Yuchi Baolin assumed the other party was worried about the slow pace of researching firearms, and quietly offered a word of comfort.

"Your Highness, rest assured, only our Great Tang possesses the advantage of firearms. And even without firearms, our Great Tang has countless elite soldiers and generals, and no petty person can dare to offend us..."

"Attack the city!!!"

"Whoosh—!"

Sassanid Persia, Ecbatana!

At this moment, only a month had passed since the Tang Dynasty envoy returned to Xizhou Prefecture. This magnificent city, which Sassanid Persia had used to defend against enemies from the East, was now welcoming the army of the evil dragon from the East.

The dense array of armor and weapons, reflecting a cold, gleaming light under the sun, caused the Sassanid Persian generals responsible for defending the city to wear solemn expressions.

however.

Before the Tang Dynasty could issue an order for its army to attack the city, what they saw was a dozen or so cylindrical objects, seemingly cast from precious steel, being pushed out from the Tang army's ranks.

Qu Tutong grinned maliciously and waved his hand, causing the cavalry behind him to wave their command flags in response.

"fire!!!"