The First Corrupt Official of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 203 The eighty-pound black ball can be smashed and exploded. Zhu Yuanzhang is willing to let it go but not Master Ye!

"Have the crossbow bed and interception giant arrows been hung on the city wall?"

"Remember, all the crossbow beds and intercepting giant arrows must be hung on the city wall before modification."

"That's the life-saving artifact developed by Master Ye for us!"

"."

Under the bright moon in the sky,

The guard of the Yanmen Guanzhong Gate stood on the corridor facing the city from the gate tower and shouted at the soldiers in charge of the modification.

Although the soldiers were a little impatient after being warned, they still took the trouble to give a positive answer.

In addition to the fact that the general is their direct commander, they also feel that everyone should pay attention to this matter.

There is no other reason,

Just because they all know the power of this crossbow bed and intercepting giant arrows. It is really an artifact that can kill from a distance and save lives from close range, combining contradictions!

But this kind of artifact also has a disadvantage, that is, it is too heavy. Although it is equipped with base wheels, it can only be moved manually. If you want to transport it from a low place to a high place, you really can only use a crane. OK.

Seeing that the soldiers in charge of the modification were so sure, the guard left the city gate tower with confidence.

The next thing he has to do is to go to the city wall to inspect the installation of the crossbow bed and intercepting giant arrows!
Just after the guard left,

The Baihu general who was responsible for directing the modification loudly ordered: "Lower the machine arm, remove the lifting chain, remove the lifting hook, and install the 'weight net bag'!"

In the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang, Queen Ma and Mao Xiang,

Inside this 660-six-step (1000-meter) long Yanmen Guanzhongmen city wall that connects two natural mountains, there are ten so-called 'tower cranes' fixedly installed!
For Zhu Yuanzhang and others, these cranes installed hundreds of meters apart were something they had never seen before, but they could still understand them.

They knew that the giant square columns formed by many triangular cable-stayed beams between these four wooden columns were extremely stable in themselves.

The principle of triangle stability and the principle of lever pulley are no strangers to Zhu Yuanzhang and others. It can also be said that our ancestors have already incorporated these principles into various buildings and industries.

Therefore, although they have never seen this tower crane, they still know the basic lifting principles.

If someone else had come up with such a thing, Zhu Yuanzhang would still be slightly shocked and praise him.

But since Ye Qing had improved something better based on his predecessors, he really wouldn't have such a shocked reaction anymore.

Compared to the progress of crane machinery, he is more concerned about how the crane can become a trebuchet!
The lifting force is very strong and is used to lift heavy objects!
The trebuchet is also very powerful, but it is used to throw heavy objects!
How can the same machine have two different functions and powers?
With such questions, Zhu Yuanzhang and the other three walked into a modification site.

General Baihu, who was responsible for commanding the refitting, was about to stop them subconsciously, but after seeing the standard armor on their bodies, he directly performed a fist-cup military salute instead.

After a brief exchange, the generals from hundreds of households began to explain to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Just change the direction of this huge machine arm that looks like an elephant's trunk, and then replace the connecting mechanism between the square column and the machine arm with an elastic mechanism.

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately asked curiously: "What kind of mechanism is this elastic mechanism?"

General Baihu was asked and didn't know how to answer. After all, he was only a proficient user, not a proficient maker.

But facing the general invited by their Lord Ye, he still tried his best to explain: "It's like a huge animal trap, but after the animal trap is stepped on, it will snap in instantly, and the powerful force will Enough to crush an ankle."

"And after the elastic mechanism is triggered, the arm will be thrown out instantly like a trebuchet!"

"A giant trebuchet that has a pillar height of four feet and an arm that is over five feet long. It is a giant trebuchet converted from a crane. Do you think it can be regarded as a 'super long-range trebuchet' with a range exceeding that of a cannon?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang and the other two heard this, they immediately had a similar picture in their minds, and they even felt that this matter was reliable.

But you still have to witness it with your own eyes to see what exactly happened.

But they also knew that it was impossible to witness it with their own eyes right now. After all, they had to work at night to keep it secret.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang and the other three could only put away their curiosity and turn their attention to the large wooden box next to them.

In the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang and the others, the soldiers were carrying large wooden boxes. However, these boxes were not fully enclosed, but only held in place by wooden strips.

Just because these big wooden boxes contain a huge black ball!

Zhu Yuanzhang continued to ask: "What are these big black balls packed in wooden boxes?"

General Baihu explained: "This is not a big black ball. This thing is the weapon that the super long-range trebuchet will throw when the time comes."

"The reason why they are fixed with wooden boxes is because one of these ten thousand enemies weighs eighty kilograms. It is round and round. Without a wooden box, it is really difficult to transport and stack it."

"The power of this thing is much more powerful than a cannon."

"Not to mention the old cannons issued by the imperial court that can only scare war horses, even the new Hongwu cannons produced by our Yanmen Arsenal, the shells fired are not as good as these!"

"The power of ten cannons fired in unison may not be as powerful as this thing!"

After hearing these words, Mao Xiang's eyes widened.

He and Zhu Yuanzhang had personally witnessed the power of the new Hongwu cannon. If he didn't witness it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe anything he said.

In his opinion, this general from Baihu was not only exaggerating, but exaggerating greatly.

Mao Xiang looked at the Baihu general with a look of scrutiny in his eyes: "You said ten artillery shells are not as heavy as this eighty-pound big black ball, and you said it is more powerful than ten artillery salvos. Da, how is this possible?"

"Besides, the things thrown can not only be smashed, but also cannot be exploded!"

When the generals of hundreds of households heard this, they immediately became unhappy.

He said impatiently: "Why can't it explode?"

"The 'Ten Thousand Enemies' developed for us by Mr. Ye can really smash and explode. When it is smashed, it will explode immediately!"

Hearing such a definite answer, Zhu Yuanzhang and the other two people immediately became interested. Is there any firearm that can smash and explode without going through the barrel?
But just when Zhu Yuanzhang was about to ask in detail, the generals from Baihu immediately spoke back and asked: "General Guo, aren't you the general invited by Mr. Ye?"

"Go and ask him!"

“I’m a small-time householder, so I really don’t know much!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Baihu made a fist-cup salute and then went about his errands.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Baihu leaving and felt a little tight in his chest from being beaten.

He was sure that if he asked Ye Qing, what Ye Qing said would not be as great as those hundreds of households!

Zhu Yuanzhang felt heavy-headed and angry when he thought of Ye Qing's lazy, willful and lawless character.

It is not impossible to pry some useful words out of Ye Qing's mouth, but everything depends on Master Ye's mood.

If you're in a good mood, you'll know everything. If you're in a bad mood, your farts won't even reach the sky!
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang wished he could go to Ye Qing's room right now, slap him awake, and then drag him over by his hair.Don't let him share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, just follow him and patiently answer questions at any time.

But he also knew that all these thoughts that made him feel happy in this three-acre land in Yanmen County were just a dream.

If you want these ideas to come true, you must take Ye Qing alive to the capital, or in other words, take him to the place where Zhu Yuanzhang turned his hands to make clouds and rain.

When he thought of this, Zhu Yuanzhang bit his back molar again with hatred.

The feeling that he wanted to kill Ye Qing right now but was reluctant to kill him now made his heart feel like a cat's paw scratching his head.

"Remember the locations of one hundred 'counterweight trebuchets'!"

"It must be twenty horizontal and five vertical, and there must be twenty steps between horizontal and vertical!"

"The stacking position of the kerosene bombs must be in a position that does not affect the adjustment of the trebuchet and is easy to access!"

"."

At this very moment,
The general in charge of arranging the counterweight trebuchet, while shouting with a conical iron loudspeaker, passed by Zhu Yuanzhang and the other three.

After hearing this, Queen Ma, who was dressed as a soldier, immediately looked towards where the soldiers were busy.

In Queen Ma's eyes, a hundred teams of ten people were busy around a hundred fires for lighting.

And these one hundred fires are really arranged in the middle against the 660-six-step city wall in a layout of "twenty horizontally and five vertically".

The whole thing looks like a huge fire chessboard, arranged within the city wall.

"Chongpachi,"

"They placed a hundred small trebuchets in the city. What are they doing?"

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard such a question, he did not answer immediately. He just led the three people towards the nearest lighting fire.

In the eyes of the three of them, a trebuchet that was much smaller than the trebuchet of the Song Dynasty was being installed.

At the same time, there were people carrying wooden boxes and stacking them not far from the trebuchet.

This wooden box was closed, and Zhu Yuanzhang and the others could not see what was inside, but they knew that it must be the 'kerosene bombs' used by the trebuchet!
Although they have never seen kerosene bombs, they can guess a thing or two from the name. It should be a throwing firearm used for fire attacks!
He just doesn't have confidence in this small trebuchet!
Can such a small trebuchet really throw this so-called kerosene bomb over the city wall?

Even if it is thrown beyond the city wall, how far can it be thrown?
If you throw it too close, you will burn your own people!

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the reason why Queen Ma asked this question was because she had no confidence in this small trebuchet.

You must know that the trebuchets of the Song Dynasty were very large. Even the pinnacle of trebuchets, the "Returning Cannon", was much larger than this.

With this question in mind, Zhu Yuanzhang was ready to ask the installation soldiers for details, but the soldiers who were busy with their matters asked him to ask Ye Qing directly.

They all thought that General Guo, who was wearing purple-flowered armor, was the general invited back by their Lord Ye, Corporal Li Xian. As long as they asked their Lord Ye, they would definitely answer all questions.

For such a flattering excuse, Zhu Yuanzhang could only reply with a smile, "You are busy."

In this way, after looking at Zhu Yuanzhang who knew little about it, he took the three of them and prepared to go straight to the city wall.

Because the crossbow bed and intercepting giant arrows being installed on the city wall were what interested him most.

If he could still figure out something about these weapons as their names suggested, then he couldn't figure out what was going on with the 'Interception of Giant Arrows' even if he tried to break his head.

You can snipe and kill from a distance, but you can save your life from close by. A combination of contradictions?

Just these twelve words, how did he think, why did he think it was impossible!
But just as he stepped onto the steps full of expectation and curiosity, he saw General Li, the commander-in-chief of the defense at the central gate, walking down.

"General Guo, haven't you rested yet?"

Zhu Yuanzhang also clasped his fists and returned the greeting: "Master Ye has issued an order to prepare for war. We are not at ease. Come and see how the preparations are going."

General Li replied confidently: "The orders issued by Mr. Ye must be implemented to the letter from top to bottom. You can rest assured about this."

"The city walls are busy and chaotic now, so there's no need to go and see them."

"By the way, this is an important military town. Why did you bring your wife here?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately troubled by this question. If he couldn't answer it well, it would be the crime of "bringing a woman into the camp"!
He doesn't want to get punished for the crime he has set!

Just when Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking about his words, Empress Ma said directly and generously: "The civilian girl helped with the logistics and thought it would be better to come and see it on the spot, so I asked my master to help get a set of armor."

"Just for the sake of convenience, please ask General Li to be noble!"

General Li didn't care when he heard that this was the case, as long as he didn't swagger into this group of men as a woman.

After General Li decided not to care about this matter, he immediately thought of another important matter.

"General Guo, since you are all here, why not accompany me to the Jingbian Temple?"

"Master Ye should have passed by now."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Ye Qing wanted to go there, he immediately agreed.

After a quarter of an hour,

They came to a simple temple-style building complex covering an area of ​​about [-] square meters and a construction area of ​​about [-] square meters located on the east side of Guancheng Tianxian Gate.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew this place. This is the official name Jingbian Temple, and it is also the "Wu'an Jun Temple" among the people.

No matter which dynasty or generation, all the past Han generals would come here to pay their respects.

Not only generals, it can be said that anyone with a passionate heart will come here to pay homage whenever they pass by.

The most trustworthy gods for Chinese people are not the illusory gods in temples, but the ancestral gods like this!

After Zhu Yuanzhang and the other three followed General Li into the door, they suddenly became solemn.

General Li knelt on the futon in front of the statue of Li Mu, his eyes filled with respect for his ancestors.

Behind General Li, Mao Xiang had already knelt down and bowed, but Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma only bowed.

Although they only bowed due to their status, the respect in their eyes was extremely real.

Just after the group of four people had finished worshiping, Ye Qing came over carrying a basket of sacrifices.

Not only that,

Wu Yong followed behind him, carrying a bucket of cleaning tools!
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(End of this chapter)