Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 173 I just wish I didn’t know Versailles

After leaving the palace, Li Wei returned to the Ordnance Bureau to make preparations. The emperor came to inspect this. This was a major event and should not be taken carelessly.

This time was different from the last time I saw the steel sword. At that time, it came suddenly and no one in the Arms Bureau was prepared. Now that Zhu Yuanzhang had said it in advance, some rituals had to be prepared.

The next day, Li Wei, Lu Ti, and many new managers from the Arms Bureau were waiting at the door early.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang only came after the morning court. After all, other government affairs could not be delayed.They were kept waiting for a long time, and it was almost noon before they saw the emperor's carriage.

In this honor guard, in addition to Zhu Yuanzhang, there were also Prince Zhu Biao, Duke Feng Sheng who was in charge of the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army, Minister of War Zhao Ben, and many marquises.

A bustling group of people marched towards the Arms Bureau. The father and son Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao led a large group of princes and ministers to Li Wei.

Li Wei, Lu Ti and others quickly saluted and greeted him.

"See Your Majesty."

"Excuse me."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said that he was looking forward to the power of these newly built artillery pieces by Li Wei.

Since the birth of artillery in the Yuan Dynasty, its power has been very limited. Even though many techniques have been improved after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it is still rough and its power on the battlefield is very limited.

The flying thunder cannon that Li Wei took out last time brought him a great surprise, and he hoped it would be the same this time.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Wei stood up and then saluted Zhu Biao. Zhu Biao smiled and raised his hand to support him. Then he respectfully led Zhu Yuanzhang and others into the Ordnance Bureau.

After a month of adjustments, the Ordnance Bureau finally returned to its previous appearance. The enthusiasm of the craftsmen was greatly improved. There was a lively atmosphere everywhere. Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but nodded slightly when he saw this.

The craftsmen who saw the emperor's chariot along the way knelt down on the roadside one after another. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted the people to see the emperor without having to kneel down, but unfortunately, the imperial edict was passed, and the slavish rule of the Meng Yuan Dynasty for nearly a hundred years was not so easy to eradicate.

When they arrived at the gun foundry of the Ordnance Bureau, Li Wei led everyone to the high platform next to the test site. The younger ones among the many marquis were already a little impatient. These warriors, except for the money woman, , and are most interested in these killing weapons on the battlefield.

According to the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, these generals and nobles will change their locations every year. Most of the nobles who came to test the sword last time have now been sent to the local areas to guard. The nobles who are now recalled to Beijing failed to catch up with the excitement of the last sword test. , but it allowed them to catch up with more powerful artillery, and they were all excited.

Compared with the excitement of these military generals, Zhao Ben and other military officials were different. They had nothing to deal with Li Wei. Moreover, the Ordnance Bureau spent a lot of money. They felt that it was completely unnecessary. Unfortunately, they could not persuade His Majesty.

"Take out your new cannon."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood still in the center of the stage and said softly.

Li Wei bowed and agreed, turned around and gave a few instructions to Luti, who turned around and left in a hurry.

After a while, two craftsmen were seen walking into the venue pulling a wheeled divine machine cannon. There was a person commanding beside them, and the two behind them were carrying gunpowder shells.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the relaxed expressions of these two people and suddenly showed a hint of surprise.

The Divine Cannon is a type of artillery similar to the Fran cannon designed by Li Wei. This cannon is less than two meters long and is made of fine steel. The gun mount is also mainly made of steel. The overall appearance looks very delicate and light.

"What can such a small cannon do?" Zhao Ben couldn't help but sneered when he saw this magical machine cannon.

"Yeah, it's so small, how far can it hit?"

Zhang Long, Cao Zhen and other newly promoted marquises couldn't help but ask questions.

Feng Sheng, a veteran, couldn't help but frown.

In their concept, the bigger the artillery is, the more powerful it is. The larger the cannon, the greater the charge it can withstand, and the shells it fires are naturally more powerful. And the magic machine gun Li Wei took out has a barrel that is larger than the previous one. The cannon is much slender. Although it looks exquisite, what's the use?

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was also confused, Li Wei smiled softly and explained: "Your Majesty, actually heavier and bigger firearms are not better. My divine machine gun is made of fine steel. Although it is small in size, it is The amount of charges it can withstand is no less than those of bulky cannons, and its range is even more powerful."

"Oh, really? Then we have to open our eyes!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes narrowed slightly. If it is true as Li Wei said, this kind of artillery is so light but its power is not reduced at all, then it will be much more convenient to carry this kind of artillery on marches in the future.

In the field, the craftsmen pulled the divine machine gun into position and fixed the legs of the gun mount. The craftsmen following behind also put down the cannonballs, gunpowder packets and other items, and the preparations were completed.

The artillery was pointed at the barren hill behind the Ordnance Bureau, and it didn't matter even if it missed the target and hit the mountain.

Li Wei asked people to use lime to lay out ground ring targets with a radius of ten meters and a 1.1-meter ring one mile and two miles away in advance.

With the accuracy of today's artillery, as long as it can not miss the target, it is considered a success.

Gunpowder is a fixed charge package. With a fixed amount of powder and different shooting angles, the distance of the fired shells is basically the same. Li Wei recorded the shooting distances at several angles into a table through testing. The gunner only needs to determine the target distance. Finally, just adjust the shooting according to the angle on the table.

As for how to measure distance, you can only use the classic eye-jumping method.It’s the method on TV of raising your thumb to measure distance.

Since the distance to the ground ring target is now known, the craftsmen don't need to go to such trouble. They can just adjust the muzzle angle according to the records on the form.

Zhu Yuanzhang was condescending and watched these craftsmen turn here and there for a while, one of them shook his hand and looked at it with a pamphlet before finally fixing the cannon.

The craftsman in charge had a small whistle. When everything was ready, as soon as the whistle was blown, the gunner in charge immediately lit the fuse.Boom!

After a loud noise, the cannonball flew out, crossed a distance of one mile, and landed on the edge of the ground ring target.

Zhu Yuanzhang squinted his eyes slightly, and followed the flight trajectory of the cannonballs to the location of the ground ring target. Only then did he notice the existence of the ground ring target. Seeing the cannonballs faintly falling into those white circles, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but wonder. For surprise!
The artillery used in the army today does not have such a thing as aiming. It basically aims at the direction and fires randomly. Whether it hits or not depends entirely on luck.

Being able to hit a fixed position like this, even a large circle with a radius of ten meters, is extremely rare.

Many generals also noticed the big white circle, but because it was too far away, they couldn't see it clearly. They didn't know if they had hit it, so they could only wait for someone to run over and take a look.

"Can you still aim this cannon?" Zhu Biao asked curiously.

"Of course, what's the use of it if you can't aim at it?"

Li Wei looked matter-of-fact.

The corner of Zhu Biao's mouth twitched slightly. The artillery used in the army now cannot be aimed, but it is still very useful. Li Wei said this to avoid going too far.

But when he turned around and looked at the artillery in the field, he suddenly felt that those big, stupid iron lumps that couldn't be aimed were indeed of little use.

After firing the cannon, Zhu Yuanzhang also showed a satisfied smile and nodded slightly.

Although the power of the cannon that Li Wei took out was not greatly improved, it was not only light, but also capable of aiming and shooting. It was still much stronger than the artillery in the army today.

"Feng Sheng, what do you think of this cannon?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked Feng Sheng beside him softly.

"Your Majesty, I think this cannon is quite good. It is so light and powerful and can be aimed at it. It is really commendable..."

Boom!

Before Feng Sheng finished speaking, there was another loud noise and a cannonball flew out again.

"Where did the noise come from?"

"What's going on? Isn't it just an artillery piece?"

Everyone was startled by the sudden explosion and looked around. They searched the whole place but could not find the second artillery piece.

"This...this artillery can actually fire continuously!"

Some people who had been staring at the cannon noticed that it was fired by the cannon in the field, and couldn't help but scream in shock.

Zhu Biao did not change his gaze. He had just noticed that after the craftsman below fired a cannon, he did not end it there. Instead, he removed a small section from the back of the cannon. After cleaning the barrel, he took an identical one from the side. Put it on, and then fired another shot!
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was talking to Feng Sheng, also turned his gaze back and looked at the light artillery in the field in great shock.

Then he looked at Li Wei again, waiting for his explanation.

Everyone also looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, this kind of gun is equipped with three sub-cannons. It can fire three shots in a row, and then it needs to be recharged."

Li Wei explained lightly.

Since this kind of cannon is equipped with three sub-cannons, the first three cannons can be fired very quickly, and one can be fired in less than ten breaths. After the three cannons are fired, it only takes more than twenty breaths. If you are skilled, you can fire within twenty breaths. Finish.

"Of course, this cannon also has shortcomings, that is, its range is relatively short, only two or three miles at its furthest." Li Wei added with some regret.

After hearing this, everyone fell silent, and their expressions became a little complicated.

Two or three miles is short?
You must know that the heavy artillery in the army has a range of less than two miles, and Li Wei's gun is not only light, but also has a range that is even better, and the most important thing is that it can fire continuously!

By the way, it can also aim, this is simply an artifact!

Seeing Li Wei still looking unsatisfied, the generals and Zhao Ben and others present suddenly had the urge to curse, but they couldn't find the right adjective for the moment, and they just wished they were in Versailles!
"Okay, okay! Hahaha..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed and applauded repeatedly. Seeing this kind of artillery, and thinking about Li Wei's request for millions of dollars in funding yesterday, he felt that it was not so unacceptable.

"Congratulations to your majesty for obtaining this artifact, God bless you, God bless your majesty!"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang so happy, Feng Sheng, Zhao Ben and others also congratulated him.

As for the inventor Li Wei, he was left alone and no one paid any attention to him.

Although they ignored Li Wei, Zhu Yuanzhang would not forget it and took the time to give Li Wei an approving look.

Li Wei reluctantly smiled back and looked away.

What's the use of mere praise? You have to come up with something practical!

(End of this chapter)