Time flies very fast, and in a blink of an eye, a month has passed.
Li Ke has been gone for so long and has never returned, and there is no news from the capital. Calculating the distance, if Li Ke traveled lightly and quickly to go back and forth to the capital, half a month should be enough.
Qin Mubai was somewhat worried. Firstly, there was no news about Li Ke, and secondly, it was too quiet in the capital. It stands to reason that the reappearance of the imperial seal and the discovery of Yang Guang's real tomb are earth-shattering events. But now, everything was unusually quiet, and Qin Mubai couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
For a month, Qin Mubai spent most of his time in the Governor's Mansion, taking care of the people's livelihood and government affairs left by Li Ke. Sometimes he would go back to the military camp and treat it as an inspection. There was Pang Fei and hundreds of horsemen on duty over there, so everything was normal. Occasionally, I would go to Xihe Caozhong to see the mausoleum guarded by Yuwen Hongtai.
Between three o'clock and one line, life is busy and busy.
On this day, Qin Mubai was handling official business in the study room. A government servant came to report that three "strange old beggars" had arrived in front of the governor's mansion and wanted to see General Qin by name.
Qin Mubai couldn't help but smile: "Of course those who can come to the governor's house to find General Qin are my acquaintances. Let them in!"
The yamen servant then brought the three "strange old beggars" in. As expected, they were the three apprentices of Niu Wuzhi, Big Lei Er Lei and San Lei.
"Three masters, why did you come to me in person today? Didn't I send you servants and handymen? Can't you just let them run some errands?" Qin Mubai asked.
In fact, Qin Mubai knew without asking. If there was something important, how could the three of them go to the Governor's Mansion to find Qin Mubai together? This is the first time.
"General, the matter you told me last time has been almost completed. Because the matter is so important, I only dare to invite the general in person to check it out," Dalei said.
Qin Mubai couldn't help being surprised: "What, so fast? Impossible!"
"Not only the general doesn't believe it, but also the villains don't believe it." The three old men said nonchalantly, "After the general's confession, the old man and the others, together with the brothers on the iron ore field, worked day and night to work hard, and they worked hard day and night. After working at night for half a month, I was crippled many times and injured several brothers. Today, I finally made a rough prototype, which is barely enough to give it a try, but I don't know if that thing is the general. It’s what I want, so I specially came to ask the general to come and check it out.”
"Okay, I'll go right away." Qin Mubai nodded happily and said to them, "Three masters, thank you for your hard work. From now on, you don't have to work too hard. You can rest when you can. Don't rush. Take care. Your health is important!”
"Thank you, General Qin, for your concern. I and the others have been busy with the master for most of their lives and are used to it. General, let's leave quickly!"
"Okay, let's go!"
Qin Mubai ordered his carriage and horses to be prepared, rode on his own, and took the three old men with him to the iron mining area in the countryside. Not long after, the mining area arrived. Several craftsmen are already waiting here.
"General Qin, please!" Without saying much, the craftsmen led Qin Mubai and the three old men to an extremely remote corner of the mine.
"Good guys, you guys really did it!" Qin Mubai couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise.
gun!
A cannon!
The cannon in front of me still looks a bit rough. As the three old men said, it is still just a "rough embryo". But in essence, it is the same as the Hongyi cannon that was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty. (The Qing people thought "Red Barbarian" was indecent, and because the cannon was often covered with red cloth, they called it "Red Cannon")!
The real red cannon is an ancient cannon with a front-mounted smoothbore firegate ignition. The barrel is long and the wall is very thick. It gradually thickens from the muzzle to the breech, which is in line with the pressure of the chamber from high to low when gunpowder is burning. The principle of the gun; there are cylindrical lugs on both sides of the center of gravity of the gun body. The gun can adjust the firing angle based on this axis, and change the range according to the amount of gunpowder. It is equipped with a front sight and a rear sight, and calculates the ballistic trajectory according to the parabola, with high accuracy. .
At this moment, the cannon barrel, which can be called the "ancestor of the red-coated cannon" and weighs more than a thousand kilograms, is mounted on a sturdy vehicle, tied up. The dark muzzle faced a barren mountain wall in the distance. Just because it hasn't been decorated or polished yet, it looks quite rough. But its huge size and natural thickness give it a domineering and powerful look.
"General, according to the drawings and repeated instructions you left, we used the mold casting method to cast six gun barrels one after another. We also tried bombing several times before, and twice the barrel was blown up and one of our own was injured. . After repeated modifications and tests by these masters, it should not be so easy to explode now," Dalei said to Qin Mubai.
"Where are the cannonballs? Let me take a look." Qin Mubai said.
"Yes." Da Lei waved his hand, and two strong men carried a small box and carefully opened it, revealing a huge, dark, spherical cannonball.
"Cannonballs are mostly made of iron stone and lead stone. They come in different sizes, shapes, and weights, and they can all be successfully launched." Big Lei said, "General, do you want to try it out on site?"
"Okay, I really want to know if this cannon is really successful." Qin Mubai took a deep breath and said, "If it is... then you people are really going to change history."
"Change...history?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion for a few times, as if they didn't quite understand, and they all went back to their respective positions to prepare and debug.
"General, just in case, we should retreat further and leave a long lead. If the barrel explodes, life will be at stake!" everyone said together.
Qin Mubai also felt a chill in his heart. Although he had full confidence in his theoretical knowledge and design, he really couldn't believe too much in what these "civilian inventors" were tinkering with.
"Then retreat further. Everyone must be careful and make sure not to hurt the people in front." Qin Mubai said.
"General, don't worry. There is a barren mountain ahead. It has been used for experiments for several days. It has been sealed off and no one can go up there."
"That's good." Qin Mubai said, "Let's get started!"
Everyone retreated far away, and a brave man held a torch and carefully dragged a very long fuse to light it. Then, he ran away screaming and fell into a pit in the grass.
Everyone covered their ears and stared at the burning fuse with bated breath. Seeing that it was about to burn the cannon, everyone squatted down nervously, and even Qin Mubai felt his heartbeat speed up.
"boom!"
Suddenly there was a loud noise, and the sky in the area in front seemed to collapse!
In an instant, Qin Mubai fell to the ground almost out of instinct, and the others also screamed in panic and fell to the ground without getting up.
It's obvious that it's exploded!
Fortunately, everyone stayed far away and no one was injured this time.
"What a pity!" Qin Mubai let go of his ears and sighed. The three old men and the craftsmen also sighed together and kept asking Qin Mubai for forgiveness.
"It's okay, I don't blame you. If it succeeds so easily, it won't be our turn to figure it out." Qin Mubai said this with some regret in his heart. After all, it is something that transcends the times. Without the corresponding tools, I have no practical ability to do it. It seems that apart from designing and providing theoretical support, there is nothing else that can be done.
It seems that invention and creation are not that easy. Compared to high-end technology and advanced weapons, things like the red cannon are so old-fashioned as to be useless. However, it is really difficult to actually build it without the corresponding equipment and technology. Metaphorically speaking, the skills of casting, the purity and high temperature resistance of steel, the amount and purity of gunpowder, etc., all these small details cannot be missed.
"General, I have a suggestion. I don't know whether to give it to you or not." A craftsman said.
"Oh, I remember you. You are the oldest caster in Xiangzhou Iron Mine, Master Zhou, right? Tell me, I would like to hear your advice." Qin Mubai said.
Master Zhou gave a guilty smile and shook his head: "I'm not afraid of the general's jokes. In fact, the villain is just a low-level caster. He is not very good at pouring copper and iron, and he knows nothing about casting gold and silver. Otherwise, what would happen? Will it stay in this small iron mine for decades? - The villain's suggestion is that if you want to make such an extraordinary artifact, you must hire a real master caster!"
Qin Mubai frowned slightly: "You mean, you want me to go to the court to recruit someone as a prisoner?"
"Exactly. Most of the skilled craftsmen and masters in the world are concentrated in the imperial generals. No matter how hard we try, we may not be able to make the magic cannon that the general wants." Master Zhou He said, "If you don't believe me, general, you can go back and take a look at your own family weapon. It will be the tiger-head chiselled gold gun made by the Ordnance Supervision Department. If you have Fan's skills in casting, smelting, and forging, why worry about not being able to make it?" The magic cannon that the general wants?"
After being reminded like this, Qin Mubai's eyes really lit up: "That makes sense! So, is it really worth a try?"
"General, please forgive me. I, the villain, are really helpless. Perhaps, the masters who will be in charge of the prison can help the general achieve his wish!"
"Well, no matter what, I still thank you very much." Qin Mubai nodded and smiled, "Everyone has worked hard. I will send someone to distribute the rewards to you right away. If there are difficulties in the future, I may come back to you. It’s helpful. Please keep this matter secret and don’t let it out.”
"Thank you, General! Don't worry, General, we are all people who know what is good and what is good." All the craftsmen thanked him happily together.
Qin Mubai left the mining area, somewhat disappointed, but with a glimmer of hope. When I return to Chang'an one day, I can ask the prisoner to help me make cannons! By then, even if we can't build a devastating cannon, we should still build two fire cannons, right? Everything is difficult at the beginning. When Edison lit the first light bulb, he certainly did not expect that the brilliance of the spacecraft would shine in the vast galaxy of space.
As long as I research and invent the first firecracker and the first cannon, and use the radical, inclusive and creative national temperament of the Tang Dynasty, there will definitely be more talented people and skilled craftsmen who can carry forward the past and optimize this invention. And continue to create more outstanding advanced products. What I am doing now is like Edison lighting the first light bulb.
In other dynasties, especially those in the Qing Dynasty, if I had made these so-called inventions, I might have been labeled as someone who "confused the public with evil words and used strange techniques to bring chaos to the country"...
After walking and thinking along the way, Qin Mubai returned to the governor's house. Calculating the time, I actually went there for most of the day and wasted a lot of time. There are still many official matters to be handled today.
When we arrived at the yamen gate, there were only a few unsightly soldiers standing there, and there were also unfamiliar carriages and horses in the courtyard.
"Oh, Royal Forest Army? Could it be that Li Ke is back?" Qin Mubai recognized the robes and armor of these sergeants, so he couldn't help but feel happy and stepped in.
"Meet General Qin!" A man who looked like a junior high school student obviously recognized Qin Mubai and hurriedly came up to him and bowed his hands. "We have been ordered to come here to hand over something to General Qin."
"What are you talking about?" Qin Mubai glanced up and down at his small school, "Aren't you a member of the Qianniu Guards in the palace? Did His Majesty the Emperor send you here?"
"That's right, General Qin," the colonel replied, "Actually, this is a reward from His Majesty the Emperor to the general. It's just that His Majesty had something to say beforehand, and he didn't follow the imperial edict and didn't award the reward. It was just a personal gift. General Qin It’s fine to store it, and there’s no need to kneel down to thank you.”
"Oh, so complicated?" Qin Mubai couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, then I will obey the holy edict and neither kneel down to greet you nor thank you - what is it, bring it!"
As soon as the principal waved, a Qianniu Guards soldier walked over seriously, holding a vermillion lacquer box in his hand, and handed it to Qin Mubai's hand.
"General, now that the treasure has been collected, we will return to Beijing immediately to deliver the order and say goodbye!" After the small colonel finished speaking, he led the group of Qianniu Guards into the carriage, mounted their horses, and left again in the blink of an eye.
"What are you doing, so mysterious?" Qin Mubai was confused. He returned to the study and opened the box, and couldn't help laughing.
It turned out to be an "Analu"!
Analu is one of the Buddhist utensils introduced from Tianzhu. The end of the handle is in the shape of a "heart" and is often made of bamboo, bone, copper, and jade. When the master lectures on sutras, he often holds an Analu handle and writes down sutras on it in case he forgets them. Later, this Buddhist utensil began to spread with the popularity of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty, and its shape gradually changed. Until now, the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty often used beautiful jade to make this kind of "analu", and the front end was made into a hand shape - specially used for scratching the back.
Therefore, Analu has another nickname, "Don't ask for help", also known as - Yu Ruyi!
"This thing looks so familiar to me. Isn't this Li Shimin's Yu Ruyi? When he is alone and has nothing to do, he often uses this thing to tickle the back of his neck." Qin Mubai couldn't help but chuckle to himself, "Now He gave me his "not asking for help" and "yu Ruyi". Does this mean that I handled the Xiangzhou matter just as he wanted? "
It seems to be a good sign!