"Boom!" An earth-shattering sound came from a corner of the Yangzhou Industrial Park.
"This, this, this!" All the important officials of Yangzhou were present. There was Internal Minister Xu Shu, Minister of Personnel Lu Su, Minister of War Zhuge Liang, and even Minister of Revenue Mi Zhu.
Now, everyone was led by Liu Ye, the Minister of Works, to see Yangzhou's secret weapon.
After the loud explosion ended, everyone was dumbfounded. That was because the small hill in front of them had been directly blasted into a crater. Those wooden scarecrows had long been swept away.
"What do you think?" Liu Mang asked with a smile.
"Three li?" Lu Su looked at the wooden scarecrow. The scarecrow was 1,500 meters away from them. In other words, it was 1,500 steps away. What kind of weapon was this to be able to fire at such a distance?
Lu Su originally thought that the ballistae were all that Yangzhou had. One had to know that when he worked in Jiangdong, he was captured by the ballistae. But even though Yangzhou had reached the third generation of ballistae, Lu Su knew that no matter which generation it was, it was nothing compared to this copper scarecrow. The ballistae's range was only 700 steps, but this cannon could fire 1,500 steps away.
"Haha, three li. This is my Thousand Venerables Cannon." Liu Mang laughed.
"Two hundred gold!" Minister of Revenue Mi Zhu also spoke. Money was the only thing that came out of his mouth. The bronze cannon in front of them was made with money. The barrel of the cannon was a thousand jin of copper. Copper represented money. One thousand jin of copper could be made into coins. One thousand jin of copper was equivalent to two hundred gold.
This was only the price of the 1,000 Cannons. There were also the 3,000 Cannons, which cost 600 gold each. In addition to the ammunition, gunpowder, and warhorses, the cost of a 1,000 Cannons was around 350 gold to 400 gold. The 3,000 Cannons were even more expensive, costing at least 1,000 gold. Mi Zhu, who had always been stingy, couldn't help but feel his heart ache at the thought of spending so much money on the Cannons.
So when he heard that Liu Mang wanted to build a cannon, Mi Zhu immediately rejected the idea. Why build a cannon? It would be better to recruit more troops. A warhorse was only ten gold. Even if they were transported from Liaodong, it would only cost thirty gold each. A Thousand Venerables Cannon could buy ten warhorses. Three thousand Venerables Cannon could buy dozens of warhorses. How many cannons would one need to build a Heavy Cavalry Battalion? However, when Mi Zhu saw the scene before him, he couldn't help but gulp. Even though the targets were scarecrows, the scarecrows were wearing Yangzhou's heavy armor. To put it bluntly, these heavy armor were priceless in the black market.
This was because Yangzhou's heavy armor wasn't only beautiful, it was also very practical. Its defense was very strong, much better than the other Vassals'.
However, such a set of heavy armor couldn't even withstand a single blow from this thing called a cannon.
The wooden targets had all been scattered, and the armor had been split into pieces. If this was a real person, then their death would have been too miserable.
"Zi Fang, are these cannons still worth a few hundred gold?" Liu Mang smiled and asked Sherlock.
"Yes!" Mi Zhu's face was gloomy. Indeed, he was shocked by the cannon. Who would be able to withstand such an attack? However, Mi Zhu knew Liu Mang's plan. Five hundred thousand Venerables Cannons would cost three hundred gold each. Five hundred Venerables Cannons would cost 150,000 gold each. Furthermore, one hundred thousand Venerables Cannons would cost 250,000 gold each. Where could Liu Mang find so much money?
Though Yangzhou was wealthy, it couldn't afford such extravagant spending. Mi Zhu was distressed.
"Don't worry, Zi Fang. With these cannons, there's no need to worry about money!" Liu Mang patted Mi Zhu's shoulder to comfort Sherlock. As the saying goes, one shot from a cannon costs ten thousand taels of gold. Liu Mang wanted to use these cannons to sweep away all the nobles in front of him. No one would be able to stop Liu Mang from unifying the world. If Yangzhou did not have money, then he would rob from rich places.
After hearing Liu Mang's words, Mi Zhu's complexion improved.
However, he almost vomited blood again. "I've decided. I'll use a thousand Venerables Cannons and three hundred Venerables Cannons!" Liu Mang waved his hand. What were cannons? They were firearms. With these cannons, Liu Mang would be able to conquer the world. He was the pioneer of firearms.
"Pfff!" Mi Zhu's face turned pale.
"Zi Fang, Zi Fang, what's wrong with you?" Mi Zhu's face turned ugly. "Doctor, doctor!" Mi Zhu was quickly brought away. The doctor said that he was just frightened.
"This thing is called cannons!" Zhuge Liang was much better than the others. He was still as calm as ever. However, that was only on the surface. Zhuge Liang's feather fan was turned upside down.
He had never seen such a thing before. Zhuge Liang had seen ballistas, catapults, and even ballistas. But this thing called cannon was something he had never seen before. This completely subverted Zhuge Liang's tradition.
If cannons were used to bombard city walls and gates, no city walls would be able to withstand it. There was no need to give Zhuge Liang twenty cannons and five thousand elite soldiers. All he had to do was to set up a camp outside the enemy's city and bombard it day and night. There was no need for him to send out troops and the enemy would surrender.
With this thing, they wouldn't even need to resort to crafty plots and machinations anymore. Zhuge Liang thought about it again. What if the enemy used cannons to attack him? Zhuge Liang thought about it and could only shake his head. Under the same conditions, other than going out of the city to fight to the death with the enemy, the existence of this cannon made the city lose its function.
"Milord, those, those three thousand cannons, don't, don't look at them!" Ma Jun, who was standing at the side, was very pleased with himself when he saw that the group of Yangzhou's big shots were shocked by his masterpiece.
"Of course, I want them!" Liu Mang said to Ma Jun. One thousand cannons, three thousand cannons. All of these were what Liu Mang wanted. The reason why he made cannons first was because cannons were easier to make. As for guns, it was not that Liu Mang did not want them. However, he knew that a person could not eat a fat person all at once. Cannons could be made crudely because of their weight. As long as they were stacked with copper, it would be fine. However, guns were not the same. Guns were delicate work.
"Three thousand cannons!" Liu Mang shouted to his subordinates. Very quickly, a cannon that was many times bigger than the previous one was pushed forward.
The cannon in front of them was about three meters long. Its caliber was 110-130mm and its weight was about three thousand to four thousand jin. On the outside of the cannon, there was a small engraving. On the engraving was a ferocious lion that looked like it was going to tear the enemy apart.
"Clean the cannon, put in the gunpowder, put in the bullets!" These actions were taught in the books that Liu Mang brought back.
Cleaning the cannon was to let out the air in the cannon and also to make the inside of the cannon cleaner. The unburned gunpowder had to be removed to prevent the cannon from exploding.
Put in the gunpowder. This was the gunpowder. The bullets were the lumps of metal. After putting in the gunpowder, a long stick was used to put in the gunpowder and the bullets.
"Light the fire!" Very quickly, a large fire torch was brought over. Liu Mang and the others naturally had to stay away from the Three Thousand Cannons. With the previous example, no one could completely guarantee the safety of the cannon. Therefore, for the sake of safety, everyone stayed a few hundred meters away from the cannon.
Fortunately, binoculars were widely used in the Yangzhou army. Therefore, everyone took out one and looked at the scene.
"Boom!" The three thousand cannons didn't disappoint Liu Mang. This time, the target of the three thousand cannons was a small wall paved with bricks and stones. In order to reinforce the wall, they even used cement. However, the result was that the cannons directly destroyed the wall. With such a degree of combat, there is no wall in the world that can be a match for the cannons.
"Twenty-five hundred steps?" This was another astonishing number. Just now, the Thousand Cannons shot out 1,500 steps, which was already frightening. But now, there was another 2,500 steps. This was simply … simply … Zhuge Liang and the others didn't know what words to use to describe it. This was simply seizing the good fortune of heaven and earth. This was simply turning the Thunder Palm written in the books into a reality.
For the first time, Zhuge Liang was glad that he chose the right Lord. If this was an enemy, Zhuge Liang would not know how to deal with it.
"Haha! Haha!" Liu Mang laughed. "It's him! It's him! Create a thousand Cannons for me! " “
Milord! You can't! " Mi Zhu struggled to come over. When he heard Liu Mang's words, he immediately jumped up. If he created a thousand Cannons, how could he live?
"Milord, although my Yangzhou is rich, we cannot take out a thousand Cannons!" Mi Zhu always thought that he was a prodigal. Originally, the Mi Family was called Xu Banzhou. It meant that the Mi Family's wealth was enough to buy half of Xu Province. However, that was only around 100,000 gold.
Now, his Lord, Liu Mang, was much more prodigal than Mi Zhu. If his Lord was a prodigal, then Mi Zhu would be the representative of frugality.
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