Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 394 Busy Gao Ming

When Yuan Tiangang was busy broadening his path of magic stick, Gao Ming was not idle either. After waking up from his afternoon nap, he left Furong Garden and came to the Military Weapons Supervision.

He came to inspect and supervise the construction of a new type of cannon.

The "Super Shenwei Invincible Fortress Cannon Enhanced Version I" designed by Gao Ming at the beginning, that is, the cannon later named "Thor's Wrath", although it is powerful, it has many shortcomings.

Due to the long barrel of Thor's Wrath, it is very troublesome to load ammunition and clean up after firing. This is a very big disadvantage.

More importantly, this kind of cannon consumes too much iron, and the speed of casting iron can't keep up with the progress of casting cannons. Craftsmen often make half of the cannon, and then go to iron smelting, and then continue to smelt iron. Casting cannons, this greatly delayed the construction period.

It is precisely because of these reasons that Thunder God's Wrath stopped production after only making two guns. This second gun, Gao Ming also gave it a very appropriate name-the out-of-print second gun.

What the Weapons Supervisor is currently supervising is Gao Ming's newly designed improved version of "Thunder God's Wrath" - "Thunder's Wrath".

Compared with the Thunder God's Fury, which is more than five meters long, the barrel of the Thunder Fury is only about three meters, the diameter of the muzzle is about 120 mm, and the effective range is about [-] paces.

The barrel is shortened, which means that it is much easier to clean and reload ammunition.

The muzzle is smaller, although the power has been reduced, but the accuracy of the smaller shells has been improved to a certain extent. Although the effective range is a little worse than the former, it is still enough to meet the siege requirements.

Moreover, Gao Ming specially designed a pair of wooden baffles on both sides of the cannon, which can effectively prevent the soldiers operating the cannon from being shot by the bed crossbow of a blind cat hitting a dead mouse.

In addition, the biggest advantage of Thunderfury is that it is lighter in weight, only about two tons, and can be pulled away with only a nasty horse, which is convenient for long-distance combat.

Li Shimin was also very satisfied with Thunder's Wrath, and ordered the Military Weapon Supervisor to cast this improved cannon with all his strength, and asked the two major cities of Jingzhao Mansion and Luoyang to send the smelted pig iron to Chang'an to cooperate with the Military Weapon Supervisor to manufacture the cannon.

And what Gao Ming has to do is to come to the Military Surveillance for inspection every once in a while, and check the quality of the newly cast cannon by the way.

For example, at this moment, he is holding a wooden vernier caliper to lecture Liu Tao.

"Liu Tao, the thickness of the barrel of this cannon is obviously not enough, do you see it? The difference is nearly one centimeter!"

Having said that, he immediately patted the barrel of the cannon beside him, then shook his head.

"This kind of cannon has the risk of exploding the chamber, even if you add a few more iron hoops, it won't work, let's go back to the furnace and rebuild!"

"Yes!"

Gao Ming knew that it was not easy for the craftsmen to make cannons, so he was not too strict in the inspection of the cannons. If the length and caliber of the barrel were only a little different, as long as it was not too outrageous, he would not say anything.

Only the thickness of the gun barrel is a factor related to the safety of soldiers, so he will be very serious.

Liu Tao knew Gao Ming's temper, so he didn't make excuses after hearing his words, but immediately asked someone to mark the cannon, indicating that it needed to be rebuilt.

This time, the Military Weapons Supervision casted a total of seven new cannons. Except for one that needed to be returned to the furnace, there was another that was ordered by Gao Ming to add a few more iron hoops. The other five fully met the requirements, which made Gao Ming very pleased.

"Liu Tao, you have done a good job and have lived up to my expectations of you. Keep working hard. After you finish building the cannon, I will guarantee you a good future!"

Liu Tao belonged to the kind of very "practical" officials. He didn't have any lofty ideals. His only hope was to get promoted and get rich. So after hearing Gao Ming's words, he immediately saluted Gao Ming thankfully.

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness, for your cultivation!"

"Hahahaha... easy to say, easy to say!"

After encouraging Liu Tao again, Gao Ming left the Military Weapons Supervision, and then came to the headquarters of the Royal Chamber of Commerce on Zhuque Street.

Now the Datang Royal Club is managed by Li Zhi, and it is no longer Gao Ming's property, so the headquarters of the Royal Chamber of Commerce has become Wu Meixin's work place.

As soon as he entered the door, she greeted him.

"Meiniang has met His Highness the Crown Prince, what's the matter with His Highness?"

Hearing Wu Mei's words, Gao Ming immediately smiled and nodded.

"I can't talk about important things. By the way, didn't I ask you to play with Wan'er and the others in the garden? You are usually alone here, won't it be boring?"

"will not!"

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Wu Mei smiled and shook her head.

"Nowadays the rugby league is in full swing, and I have to read the ledger every day, how can I be bored?"

Hearing what she said, Gao Ming could only nod his head.

"Well, as long as you like it, but there are still more than three months, and the rugby league between left and right riders will end, and I'm afraid you will have to be busy again!"

"what?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Wu Mei's eyes widened in surprise, but she was not afraid, but happy!

"Great, I am worried that I will have nothing to do after the rugby league is over, but I don't know what your Highness is going to do?"

"Beauty Pageant!"

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Wu Mei's eyes widened again.

"Beauty pageants? Pick beautiful women?"

"Correct!"

Having said that, Gao Ming nodded immediately, and then grinned.

"The average age of women in my Tang Dynasty is only 14 years old when they get married, which is too young, so I decided to postpone it to 16 years old. In order to let the people accept it, I decided to create a beauty pageant to reward people. implement this policy."

Then, Gao Ming told Wu Mei what he had said to Li Shimin before, when Wu Mei heard that the No.

And after Gao Ming finished talking about all the rewards, Wu Mei's face was already full of admiration.

"His Royal Highness's reward is really attractive, especially the title of 'Chang'an No. [-] Beauty', I am afraid that many people will flock to it. In this way, it is logical to delay the girl's marriage age, but Your Highness, can you Have a specific plan?"

"Of course there is!"

Hearing Wu Mei ask this, Gao Ming smiled again.

"I have sent the left and right riders to post notices in various states and counties. On the one hand, it is to tell the people that girls need to be at least 16 years old to marry. On the other hand, it is to promote the beauty pageant. By the way, let the officials of the states and counties cooperate to complete this event. .”

Having said that, Gao Ming immediately extended his slap towards Wu Mei.

"The beauty pageant is divided into five parts, namely audition, semi-finals, knockout, promotion and finals!"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Wu Mei blinked her eyes immediately.

"Although I don't understand, but it feels so powerful..."

(End of this chapter)