I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 111 I dare to ask Your Highness to agree!

"What did Your Highness think of?"

Seeing Liu Ju's performance, the generals in the tent stretched their necks to look over, their eyes filled with strong curiosity.

"Kong Ming...Sky Lantern!"

Liu Ju blurted out the answer, but halfway through his words he realized that Zhuge Kongming would not be born for another three hundred years.

So at the end it was changed to a more descriptive and popular name, "Sky Lantern".

There are two theories about the origin of this thing:

One theory is that it was invented by Zhuge Kongming, but this comes from a novel and is difficult to verify.

Another theory is that it was invented during the Five Dynasties period, and the reason it was called Kongming Lantern was because its shape resembled the hat in the portrait of Zhuge Kongming.

But this is not important. What is important is that when this thing was first invented, it was used for military communication and was used until the late Qing Dynasty.

And its preparation method is also very simple.

It is even so simple that children in later generations used it as a handicraft game.

The only problem now is that there is no thin paper in this era, so we can only use cloth instead of lampshades.

In this case, if the lifting force provided by the hot air is to overcome gravity, it is necessary to increase the size of the "sky lantern" and at the same time increase the fire source that provides the hot air.

But on second thought, this doesn't seem to be a problem at all.

Since it is used for military purposes, there is no need to worry about the amount of materials. Compared with the military expenditure, it is not even a drop in the bucket. What's more, a larger one will be easier for the entire army to see.

"What sky lantern?"

All the generals were stunned when they heard this, and their faces became more confused.

“There’s no hole, it’s just a sky lantern.”

Liu Ju smiled and said to everyone carefully,
"You should all know the purpose of beacon fire. When something happens, just order someone to light it, and black smoke will rise into the sky. It can be seen from far away. Then, if nearby beacon towers respond one by one, military intelligence can be transmitted faster than by mail."

"But the shortcomings of the beacon are also obvious, that is, it cannot convey clear military orders. We still need someone to deliver the letter to know what happened, whether to advance or retreat, and what the superiors mean."

"And the sky lanterns I'm talking about can not only rise into the sky like beacons to transmit military information more quickly, but also overcome the shortcoming of not being able to transmit clear military orders."

"In this way, the troops going to block the three vital choke points can coordinate perfectly, and there will be no mistakes in this battle due to communication problems!"

"In this way, the Qiang people won't have to fight a desperate battle."

When the generals heard this, they immediately became energetic, and even their eyes sparkled:

"If there really is such a rare item in the world, it will not only be useful for this battle, but will also bring unimaginable improvements to the command and combat system of our entire Han army!"

"Your Highness, please tell us how to make this sky lantern?"

"Shut up!"

Li Xi was so excited that he slammed the table. He glared at everyone with dignity, then suddenly changed his expression to one of earnestness, looking eagerly at Liu Ju:

"Your Highness, this kind of rare item is extremely important. Do you want to order these officers to stay away and only teach it to me and Xu Ziwei, so that it won't be spread out."

"???"

Upon hearing this, the captains present cursed "old dog" in their hearts.

However, they also knew that this matter was indeed very serious. If Liu Ju really wanted them to leave and avoid it, they would have nothing to say.

That's what I feel in my heart.

It's like being excited about reading a book and then suddenly there's no further progress. It's really unbearable and I can't help but curse "old dog" in my heart.

But who is more depressed here?

Naturally, the one who deserves the honor is none other than Gongsun Jingsheng, the specially appointed captain of the vanguard.

At this moment, he was looking at Liu Ju dimly, his heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat's claws, and he became even more sad:
"What's going on?" "Even if I have to avoid it, you don't have to tell me to avoid it, right?"

"I'm about to die on the battlefield. If you want me to die with such an unresolved obsession, isn't that a bit too cruel and inhumane? Huh? Cousin?"

Fortunately, Liu Ju knew that the "Kongming Lantern" was extremely simple to make.

Even if you have never come into contact with it and do not understand the principles of hot air lift and gravity, you can still imitate it after reading it once and trying a few more times.

So he didn't take it too seriously and just shook his head:
"That's fine. It's a good opportunity for all the captains to listen to it. It will be useful on the battlefield in the future. We can make one even if it's just for the sake of urgency."

"call--"

All the captains breathed a sigh of relief and put the word "old dog" back in their hearts.

Gongsun Jingsheng felt as if he had been pardoned and burst into tears of gratitude when he heard this:

"Cousin, thank you. I unilaterally declare that from now on, you are a good person. Let's write off the military order. I won't blame you in the end..."

I saw that the generals were ready to ask for advice humbly.

Liu Ju was not a man who would waste time, so he immediately walked to the brazier inside the tent and picked up a piece of cake in his hand.

Then he went straight to the large piece of tent cloth in the west, waved his hand and started painting on the light-colored tent cloth.

Soon, a simple drawing of a rectangular Kongming lantern with a big head and small feet appeared on the tent canvas.

Liu Ju pointed at the sketches and explained them to the generals one by one:
"Actually, this 'sky lantern' has three parts in total. The first part is the lampshade. Find some dense and light cloth, and then find a tailor to sew the cloth into a barrel shape. It can be rectangular or cylindrical. The only thing to note is that it must be sewn tightly to prevent air leakage. "

"The second part is used to support the lampshade frame. You can just use bamboo to tie it up, but you must be careful to cut the bamboo as thin as possible to reduce the weight to the lightest."

"The third part is the fire source at the bottom. The fire source uses kerosene as fuel and rags as a fire signal. The fire should be as big as possible. The bigger the fire is, the faster the sky lantern will rise. But you must be careful not to burn the lampshade above. You can control the degree of this by yourself. You will get the hang of it after a few attempts."

"In addition, in order to accurately convey military orders after the 'Sky Lantern' is launched, you must also formulate a set of instructions that are agreed upon internally."

"Different colored lampshades represent different meanings."

"For example, yellow represents the troops stationed at the location, red represents the enemy attacking, and green represents the entire army attacking... In short, you can use whatever color you want, as long as you reach a consensus. Anyway, I don't understand military affairs, so I won't get involved in these matters. You can decide for yourselves."

"I think I have made myself clear, right?"

"..."

At this point, the generals didn't know whether they were digesting what Liu Ju said, or were so shocked that they couldn't utter a word. They all fell silent with their mouths open.

"Don't understand yet?"

Liu Ju had to ask one more question.

It was impossible for him to explain the principle of the Kongming lantern in detail to these people. Even if he did, they would not be able to understand it in a short period of time. After all, in this era, there was no concept of "air".

The generals suddenly came to their senses after hearing this.

Li Xi took a deep breath, and suddenly bowed solemnly:
"Your Highness, may I ask a favor of your Highness?"

Liu Ju was puzzled: "What is it? I may not agree to it."

"I know what General Li wants to ask of Your Highness!"

Xu Ziwei, who was standing next to him, even answered the question and bowed deeply.

"General Li must be asking Your Highness not to say in front of us that you don't understand military affairs. If Your Highness doesn't understand military affairs, then what are we?"

"This is also my humble request. I beg Your Highness to agree to it!"

Upon hearing this, many captains immediately responded with great respect:

"I dare to ask Your Highness to agree!"

(End of this chapter)