After Wang Zhongsi returned to the capital, he immediately went to the palace to see Emperor Li Longji. He reported the situation in the northern grassland to Li Longji. Although Li Longji had already learned most of the situation in the north through the war report, the weight of the information obtained through the war report was certainly different from what Wang Zhongsi had said.
The Turkic Empire had fallen apart, and the new Huihe Empire had taken the initiative to show goodwill to the Tang dynasty. The grassland had regained its stability, which made Li Longji very happy. Although Huihe's rapid growth was, in a sense, a potential threat to the Tang dynasty, Li Longji was not willing to think so far. It seemed that as long as Huihe and the Tang dynasty were friendly, it was enough.
In order to deter Huihe and prevent them from following the old path of the Turkic Empire, Wang Zhongsi proposed to send an artillery brigade to the northern side. Li Longji pondered for a long time, but he did not agree. Of course, he did not oppose it. He had to consider it carefully. It was not impossible to send artillery to the border army, but if he only equipped the army with artillery, the other Jiedushi would definitely have opinions. Therefore, he must allocate more artillery brigades, which would weaken the imperial court's power. In addition, now that Huihe had taken the initiative to show goodwill, he did not want to provoke them by sending artillery.
Wang Zhongsi, who originally thought that it would be smooth sailing, left the Daming Palace in a nervous mood. After meeting Guo Ziyi, they went to the R&D Center outside the city. The Emperor had just ordered him to go to the R&D Center to broaden his knowledge.
In a large workshop of the R&D Center, Ang Lee was directing the craftsmen to carry out the final installation and debugging of the newly developed armored command vehicle. Today, they would take this new guy out for testing.
The so-called armored command vehicle was a transport vehicle wrapped in iron armor. It was similar to the minibus of later generations, but the area of the medicinal jade glass was smaller, and the armor was slightly thicker. It had eight big iron wheels, and the shape was wider and bigger. It looked more majestic than the minibus of later generations.
The interior space of the armored command vehicle was very large, enough to accommodate more than 15 people. However, as a command vehicle, of course, it did not need so many people. Five or six people were enough.
At the top of the vehicle, there were many open exits, and at the back, there was a small metal door on the side, which made it convenient for many people to enter the vehicle at the same time. It was also more convenient for food and fuel supplies.
In order to make it more comfortable for the commander to sit inside, the body and seats of the armored command vehicle were all installed with spring dampening systems. The seats were also covered with thick cotton cloth. Even if they were driving on bumpy roads, the commander inside would not feel tired.
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem There were two rotating bulges on the top of the vehicle. Each of them was equipped with two large-caliber telescopes, one with a magnification of 10 times and the other with a magnification of 50 times. When the vehicle was moving forward, it could observe the enemy through the magnification of 10 times. If it wanted to use the magnification of 50 times, it had to stop the vehicle. With these 4 telescopes, the iron-armored command vehicle's battlefield sensing ability was greatly enhanced. It could discover the enemy in a timely manner and make the most timely decision.
With this battlefield sensing ability, the iron-armored command vehicle not only had the ability of a command vehicle, but also had the attributes of a scout vehicle. It was completely feasible to use the iron-armored command vehicle as a scout vehicle.
Of course, Ang Lee had long planned to develop a scout vehicle. The iron-armored scout vehicle was similar to the iron-armored command vehicle. The biggest difference was that the scout vehicle was slightly smaller, the internal facilities were simpler, and it was less comfortable. In addition, it was only equipped with a telescope system, and there were fewer people inside, so it could move faster.
Ang Lee's purpose of developing the iron-armored command vehicle was naturally to tailor it to the commander of the iron-armored artillery vehicle. According to Ang Lee's design, the iron-armored artillery vehicle would be the same as the artillery troop. It would be five people per vehicle. A team would have 10 iron-armored artillery vehicles, and a brigade would have 50 iron-armored artillery vehicles. Therefore, what about the commanders? Brigade and squad commanders had to have special vehicles. The main task of the commander was to command and be able to know all the developments on the battlefield in time. Therefore, after much consideration, Ang Lee decided to develop the iron-armored command vehicle for the iron-armored artillery vehicle brigade. Each team would have one command vehicle, and the brigade headquarters would have one. There would be a total of six iron-armored command vehicles.
During an actual battle, the brigade commander of the iron-armored artillery vehicle brigade could order the team leaders of the iron-armored command vehicle to scout the surroundings and obtain the situation on the battlefield. When the rest of the squad was equipped with the scouting vehicles, they could set up a special scouting team to be responsible for scouting the enemy.
There were two advantages to using the iron-armored vehicle to scout the enemy. First, they could use the fixed telescope on the vehicle to see the situation further away. Second, the iron-armored vehicle's defense was strong. If they encountered an ambush of enemy cavalry while scouting, they could use the vehicle's large body to crush the ambushing enemy cavalry and retreat from the danger zone.
"Assistant Minister Li, it should be enough. Let's start the experiment now!"
A craftsman knocked on the sturdy armor and said confidently.
Ang Lee nodded and ordered, "Okay, let's get on the vehicle and prepare for the experiment."
Then, he entered the iron-armored artillery vehicle through the small door at the back and started the experiment with the five craftsmen.
One craftsman was responsible for driving the iron-armored command vehicle. Ang Lee sat in the seat inside the vehicle and felt the feeling of sitting in the vehicle.
"Vroom, vroom, vroom..."
The armored command vehicle started smoothly and slowly drove out of the workshop towards the nearby test area. In the test area, they would first test the vehicle's anti-bumpy performance to see if the newly developed large spring damping system was reliable. Secondly, they would also test the fixed large aperture telescope to see if there was any difference between using the telescope when the vehicle was moving and when it was stopped. Of course, there were also many test items such as turning, climbing, speed, reliability, and so on. Each test item was crucial to improve the performance of the armored command vehicle.
The road in the test field was bumpy, and there were many potholes of various sizes, which were caused by the explosions of the cannons. There were also many small mounds of earth, which were the remains of the destroyed earth walls. These were all good obstacles, which could be used to test the comfort of the armored command vehicle.
The iron-armored command vehicle ran back and forth in the experiment area, turning and crossing small mounds from time to time. It even crossed over three feet wide trenches, which could be used to test the vehicle's reliability. At the same time, Ang Lee and the other craftsmen who were sitting inside the vehicle could feel the violent undulations of the vehicle.
"Not bad, not bad at all. It's much more comfortable than sitting in the iron-armored artillery vehicle. The spring damping system was not made in vain."
Although the vehicle was still bumpy, it was much less bumpy. At least, it was much more comfortable than the last time he sat in the iron-armored artillery vehicle. This made Li An determined that the next batch of iron-armored artillery vehicles should also be equipped with this reliable spring damping system. In this way, the soldiers would not feel too tired in the vehicle, and the consumption of their physical strength would be greatly reduced, which was very important for improving their combat effectiveness.
After the bumpy test, Ang Lee began to use the fixed binoculars on the vehicle to observe the various facilities in the R&D Center. He first stopped the vehicle for observation. Then, he started the vehicle and observed again to see the effect.
The test results showed that the two types of binoculars worked well when the vehicle was still. However, when the vehicle was moving, the 50-magnification binoculars could not be used at all. The 10-magnification binoculars could be used, but when the vehicle was bumpy, the 10-magnification binoculars could not be used at all. The overall performance was not bad. It was within the range that Ang Lee had expected. This made Ang Lee quite satisfied.
In order to test the various performance of the iron-armored command vehicle, Ang Lee and the five craftsmen sat in the vehicle for almost an hour. During this time, Ang Lee put down the foldable table beside him and placed the map on the table. The effect was much more convenient and comfortable than sitting on the back of a horse.
Just as Ang Lee entered the iron-armored command vehicle to test the performance of the vehicle, Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi entered the R&D Center. However, they did not see Ang Lee inside the iron-armored command vehicle. Ang Lee was focused on the test and did not notice Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi.
Although Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi did not see Ang Lee, they saw a majestic iron-armored vehicle running at high speed and shaking the ground as soon as they entered the R&D Center. This made the two of them very interested. They stood outside and observed for an hour, but their legs did not feel sore.
"Marshal, it's Assistant Minister Li. So he has been inside this iron lump all this time."
Guo Ziyi saw Ang Lee as soon as he got out of the vehicle. He and Wang Zhongsi went to greet him.
"Uncle, General Guo, why are you here?"
Li An was taken aback for a moment before he stepped forward to respond.
"Assistant Minister Li, is this the iron-armored cannon vehicle that was displayed during the artillery exercise?"
Guo Ziyi asked in surprise when he saw the four telescopes on the roof of the vehicle. He thought that they were four cannons.
"No, this is the iron-armored command vehicle. The things on top are telescopes. General Guo, haven't you seen them before? There is a cannon on top of the iron-armored cannon vehicle. It is much more powerful than this. "
Ang Lee felt that Guo Ziyi's brain must be jammed. How could he think of telescopes as cannons?
"Iron-Armored command vehicle? Wuyang, what is this iron-armored command vehicle for? "
Wang Zhongsi curiously walked towards the iron-armored command vehicle and entered.
Ang Lee had no choice but to enter the iron-armored command vehicle with Guo Ziyi. He asked a craftsman to drive the vehicle.
"Uncle, you came at the right time. This iron-armored command vehicle has just been developed. I tested it just now, and its performance is not bad. Since Uncle and General Guo are so interested, we will test it again and let you experience the powerful performance of this iron-armored command vehicle."
Once again, Li An tested the armored command vehicle. As he did so, he explained all the functions of the armored command vehicle to everyone.
After the vehicle stopped, Ang Lee was the first to get out of the vehicle. Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi stayed in the vehicle, unwilling to leave.
"Uncle, General Guo, are you planning to stay here and not leave?"
Ang Lee was of course not afraid of them. He joked with them.
"Yes! We are staying here and not leaving. Who asked you to invent such a good iron-armored command vehicle? I like it. Give me one! "
Wang Zhongsi said with a serious expression.
"Uncle, this iron-armored command vehicle is not a small toy. Without His Majesty's decree, I can't give you one even if I wanted to! Moreover, this is the only one we have now. When we build more in the future, Uncle can ask His Majesty for more. As long as His Majesty decrees, you can give as many as you want. "
Ang Lee replied with a smile.
"Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. I really don't want to leave such a good iron-armored command vehicle."
Wang Zhongsi reluctantly got out of the armored command vehicle and requested, "Everything is fine. Bring your R&D Center and all those good things over here for me to see. It's rare for me to come back to the capital, so I must feast my eyes and see all the good stuff."
"That's not a problem. Uncle, you can see whatever you want. I will accompany you all the way, please …"
Ang Lee straightforwardly agreed and brought Wang Zhongsi to the various departments of the research center.
In the entire R&D Center, there were a lot of projects under development. Li An took Wang Zhongsi and Guo Ziyi around the R&D Center for more than four hours, but they only looked at some of the projects. If they wanted to look at all the projects in the R&D Center, it would take at least three to five days. In addition, there were many projects that were not in the R&D Center, such as the steam ship shipyard in Luoyang City.
After four hours of inspection and explanation, Ang Lee was so tired that his mouth was dry. Wang Zhongsi, on the other hand, seemed unaffected and still enthusiastically requested to continue the inspection.
"Uncle, we've seen a lot today. Let's take a rest first! Nephew's villa has good wine and good food. Let's go back and have a good meal first. We'll come again tomorrow. "
Ang Lee really did not want to continue carrying Wang Zhongsi around the research center. Even in the next few days, Ang Lee planned to let a craftsman with good eloquence do it for him. Otherwise, he really felt that his voice was not enough.
"Alright, we'll go back first. It just so happens that I have something to discuss with you."
Wang Zhongsi did not make things difficult for Ang Lee and readily agreed. He left the research center with Ang Lee and went to Ang Lee's villa.
On the way back, Ang Lee ordered his subordinates to go to the vegetable greenhouse area and pick more fruits and vegetables, especially cucumbers. Cucumbers were the best dish to go with wine!
"How are you? I heard that cucumbers can grow in your greenhouse all year round?"
Wang Zhongsi asked curiously.
"That's right! The vegetable greenhouse can be artificially heated. Even in the winter, cucumbers can grow. Not only cucumbers, but other vegetables can also be supplied all year round. "
Ang Lee said proudly.
"How interesting. Cucumbers can be supplied all year round. Let's go take a look!"
Wang Zhongsi suddenly became interested and wanted to go to Ang Lee's greenhouse to take a look.
"Uncle, General Guo, this way please. It's just over there."
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