novelAbuy Chapter 78 Reinforced Artillery
Chapter 78 Reinforced Artillery
As the two chatted and laughed, Feng Jisheng brought out the finished pottery jar.
The earthenware jar was about the size of a child's head, and it was filled with nearly three pounds of gunpowder, with a thick fuse coiled around it.
"Let's give it a try."
Zhao Dezhao's eyes were full of anticipation, and his tone revealed his eagerness to try.
Feng Jisheng glanced at his simple courtyard, hesitated, but still cautiously advised, "Your Highness, the space here is cramped, and the power of the gunpowder in the clay pots is unknown. Why don't we try firing it outside the city?"
His earthenware jar is stuffed full of gunpowder. If it blows up his house, where will he go to cry?
Actually, he was overthinking it; the purity of gunpowder at present simply cannot reach that level.
Zhao Dezhao waved his hand, both amused and exasperated, "Fine, let's go out of the city then."
The three rode their horses out of the city and arrived outside Kaifeng, where they found a deserted open space in the countryside.
Feng Jisheng carefully placed the pottery jar on the ground, lit the fuse, and then ran back like a startled rabbit, standing ten feet away with Zhao Dezhao and Li Chuyun.
"Sizzle—"
Sparks flew from the fuse, rapidly spreading across the canister. Zhao Dezhao and Li Chuyun held their breath, their eyes fixed on the burning fuse, even their breathing becoming slightly softer.
In the blink of an eye, the fuel thread burned out. The next moment, a deafening roar suddenly exploded!
"boom--!!!"
The loud noise was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, making the three people's eardrums buzz and their blood surge.
A clearly visible ripple of air surged out from the center of the explosion, whipping up clouds of smoke and dust that obscured visibility.
As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, a shallow pit was clearly visible on the spot. The fragments of the pottery jar, along with pebbles, flew more than three zhang away and became deeply embedded in the surrounding tree trunks and soil!
This precisely proportioned gunpowder was more than three times more powerful than the thunderbolt fireball recorded in the original history!
Within one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters), either death or injury is imminent; within three zhang (approximately 1.3 meters), men and horses will be thrown into chaos!
"This...this is too much..."
Li Chuyun, who witnessed the whole thing, suddenly had his pupils shrink, and then his heart began to pound uncontrollably, and even his hands and feet felt numb!
He stared blankly at the crater and the fragments embedded in the tree trunk, only one thought in his mind:
If this thing could be mass-produced on a large scale... then the whole world would probably be turned upside down!
"This time... I've really succeeded, haven't I?"
Feng Jisheng stood frozen in place, his mouth agape, his face filled with astonishment and confusion.
Such a powerful artifact was actually made by himself?
He walked forward blankly, forcefully pulled out a piece of pottery embedded in the tree trunk, his fingertips trembling as he turned back, his gaze fixed intently on Zhao Dezhao, his eyes filled with disbelief.
This is just a ceramic jar!
If what Your Highness says is true, how terrifying would the destructive power be if it were made of iron?
For a moment, Feng Jisheng felt a burning passion ignite within him, and he couldn't wait to try it out immediately.
Unlike Feng Jisheng's fervent passion for craftsmanship, Li Chuyun, a seasoned veteran of the battlefield, saw many things that Feng Jisheng could not.
He saw the future in the gunpowder in that earthenware pot!
He saw the future of the eldest prince, the future of his Li family, and even more so, the future of the Song Dynasty!
In this era, the Liao cavalry possessed unparalleled fighting prowess, and the Central Plains dynasties had always found themselves constantly troubled by their open-field battles.
The appearance of this thing could very well close the gap between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty in open field battles!
What made the Liao Dynasty invincible in open field battles?
It's a warhorse!
Throughout history, only two places in the Central Plains dynasties were able to produce high-quality warhorses: the Hexi Corridor and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.
But now, one of these two places has been occupied by the Tanguts, and the other has been ceded to the Liao Dynasty by the Han traitor Shi Jingtang.
This led to an extreme shortage of warhorses in the Central Plains dynasties.
Even today, the Imperial Guards of the Great Song Dynasty only have seven thousand cavalry.
But the appearance of this clay pot gunpowder was able to completely bridge this gap and even reverse the situation between the enemy and ourselves!
The Liao cavalry mostly wore light armor and relied on group charges to win, but their horses were most afraid of loud noises and flashes of fire...
Faced with the clay pot gunpowder, the Liao Dynasty's cavalry formation, which was famous for its strength, was full of flaws!
In a short moment, several tactics for using this item to suppress the Liao cavalry flashed through Li Chuyun's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
"This...this is way too much!"
Li Chuyun felt as if his blood had stopped flowing, and he murmured in a hoarse voice.
He could even foresee that the eldest prince would now possess this thing...
The world will eventually fall into their hands!
Even more outrageous is…
It seems that creating this thing doesn't require much cost or manpower?
Li Chuyun's breathing became increasingly rapid, with only the pounding of his heart in his ears, and his admiration for Zhao Dezhao surged like a never-ending river.
Although he knew from the beginning that His Highness was no ordinary person, he did not expect that he would still underestimate him!
It's hard to imagine what the scene would be like if this item were popularized throughout the entire army!
Just imagine the expressions on the faces of Shi Shouxin and the other generals, His Majesty, Zhao Guangyi, and that group of civil officials at that moment…
Li Chuyun felt refreshed from head to toe!
"The eldest prince is truly a divine being!"
Feng Jisheng strode forward, his tone filled with heartfelt amazement, his gaze fixed intently on Zhao Dezhao, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Zhao Dezhao saw through his thoughts at a glance and said with a smile, "This thing is quite powerful. Why don't we name it 'Jisheng Cannon' to commemorate Lord Feng's achievement? What do you think?"
Jisheng gun?
Upon hearing these three words, Li Chuyun's lips twitched. He simply couldn't reconcile such a powerful weapon with the words "Jisheng Cannon".
But when he caught a glimpse of Feng Jisheng's face turning red and his eyes bursting with ecstasy, he silently swallowed back the words of complaint that were about to come out of his mouth.
Oh well, as long as someone's happy.
Feng Jisheng's face was flushed, a mixture of excitement at being showered with honor and a sense of shame at not deserving it.
He was 100% certain that this item would go down in history!
If this object is named after him, then he, like the object, will surely be passed down for generations!
This is an immense honor for anyone!
Even he cannot turn a blind eye.
"Your Highness's kindness is beyond my ability to repay!" Feng Jisheng knelt down with a thud.
He hesitated for a moment, as if making an extremely difficult decision, and then raised his head and said, "The Jisheng Cannon was developed by Your Highness, and I am truly ashamed to claim credit for it all. Perhaps it would be better to name it Jishengde..."
"Cough, cough, no need, no need." Zhao Dezhao almost choked on his own saliva and quickly raised his hand to interrupt him: "This thing is called 'Jisheng Cannon,' and it must not be changed!"
He abruptly changed the subject, getting to the point: "Tell me, how many of each type of artillery and rocket can one person produce in a day?"
When the conversation turned to business, Feng Jisheng composed himself, frowned, pondered for a moment, and replied in a deep voice:
"Your Highness, the craftsmanship of the rockets is not complicated; one person can make about thirty a day. However, the craftsmanship of the cannon is slightly more complicated; one person can only make five a day."
"Uncle Li, I'd like to trouble you again this afternoon to buy me a piece of land in a village outside Kaifeng for building a workshop." After saying this to Li Chuyun, Zhao Dezhao looked at Feng Jisheng:
"I have enough money, and I'll allocate the manpower. I need five thousand rockets and one thousand spur guns. I'll give you ten days. Is that enough?"
Ten days?
Feng Jisheng hesitated for only a moment before his face hardened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Enough! In ten days, I will present Your Highness with everything you require. If even one item is missing, I am willing to die for it!"
"There's no need for that. In my eyes, you are much more important than them."
Zhao Dezhao gently patted Feng Jisheng on the shoulder, smiled, and said, "Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Feng."
Half a month later, it will be time for his army to set off.
With this batch of rockets and amphibious assault guns, he could take Yangzhou in a single day!