Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 261: Equipment Priority, Yang and Wei Arrive
Looking at the power of the explosion in the distance, Li Yuanji was shocked.

Although I won’t go into details about it, at least the sound was loud enough. Even if it didn’t kill anyone, it could scare a lot of people to death. Especially with regard to the range, it is something that cannot be achieved by any weapon today.

When the smoke and dust cleared, Li Yuanji immediately rode his horse towards the place where the shell landed.

Coming closer and looking at the small hole caused by the shell and the mess around it, Li Yuanji began to understand the power of the artillery.

What Li Yuanji saw now was still quite different from what he had thought in his heart.

It’s not that this artillery is bad, but its power is indeed a bit small. Compared with the artillery he imagined, it is indeed much smaller.

But this power is completely sufficient for today, and with the development of artillery technology, future artillery will inevitably get better and better.

After looking at it for a while, Li Yuanji had an idea in his mind, and then asked someone to call Cen Benwen, Liu Rengui and Su Dingfang.

When Cen Wenben and his companions arrived at the Firearms Bureau, they were all a little confused.

The location of the Firearms Institution was not close, and Li Yuanji knew that the Firearms Institution would cause a lot of noise, so he placed it in a more remote place where no people lived nearby.

"My king, why are you in such a hurry?"

Cen Wenben was really confused. He was originally handling government affairs and sorting out what Li Yuanji said, but he was directly dragged here at a very fast speed. Fortunately, the road here was all cement and not so bumpy, otherwise he would have been in great trouble.

Although Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui did not ask, they looked puzzled, especially Liu Rengui. He was still arranging matters for the trip, selecting soldiers, and collecting supplies. He was very busy.

Li Yuanji didn't say anything, but gave Zhen Tang a look. Zhen Tang then came to the cannon and began to prepare to shoot again.

This scene made Su Dingfang and others extremely confused. They looked at it from all angles and thought, isn't it just an iron pipe? What can they do with it?
Then they retreated to a distance, only to hear a loud noise, which immediately scared everyone. Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui directly protected Li Yuanji, and their expressions were extremely solemn.

Then smoke and dust appeared in the distance, and another loud noise was heard. Everyone was shocked for a moment and couldn't recover for a long time.

"My lord, what on earth is this?"

Several people looked at Li Yuanji in shock. They really didn't expect that this iron pipe could cause such a big noise.

Li Yuanji smiled slightly and looked at several people.

"You don't have to be so surprised. This is the artillery I asked the Firearms Supervisor to develop. You have seen the range. As for its power, you can also go over and take a look."

In fact, after a brief moment of unconsciousness, Su Dingfang and his companions already knew that the iron pipe in front of them was a new weapon, but they really couldn't imagine that this iron pipe could be used in this way.

Listening to Li Yuanji's words, Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui rushed towards the place where the shells fell, but Cen Wenben remained where he was.

"Jingren, why don't you go over and take a look?"

After experiencing the state of unconsciousness, Cen Wenben had come back to his senses, but there was still a slight look of shock on his face.

"Your Majesty, I will not go. Judging from the noise made by the artillery, I think its power must be strong. Otherwise, Your Majesty would not have called me here in such a hurry.

I would like to congratulate the king. With such a magical weapon, the army's combat power in future foreign wars will be much stronger.

If the enemy knew there were such weapons, they would probably be frightened and lose all their fighting spirit and morale."

Li Yuanji smiled and was even more impressed by Cen Wenben's indifference. He was worthy of being a person he valued. This steadiness was indeed worthy of praise.

But Li Yuanji still shook his head.

"You are wrong. When this artillery was first deployed on the battlefield, it was able to achieve the effect you mentioned. However, once the enemy knew about it and took precautions, it would not be so effective afterwards.

Moreover, it takes a long time to fire this artillery once, and it is impossible to fire continuously, so it can only be used to assist large armies in combat.

Just with artillery, it will be much more convenient in the future whether it is fighting in the front battlefield or attacking and defending cities. Even when dealing with cavalry, it can play the role of splitting the formation.

But it is still difficult to win the battle with just artillery.”

Li Yuanji was not as cheerful as Cen Wenben. He knew very well that, let alone artillery, even if mortars and howitzers were used, they would not be enough to establish an absolute victory without the cooperation of the ground army.

As long as firearms are not developed, artillery can only provide some long-range support, and the army still needs to fight with real guns and swords.

Moreover, if facing cavalry, the advantage of artillery will be weakened again.

Because the cavalry moved too fast and the artillery loaded shells slowly, the cavalry would be close after two or three rounds of shooting at most.

The only difference is that with artillery, fighting will be more convenient and the winning rate will be higher, which is undeniable.

Cen Wenben still had a smile on his face after hearing this.

"Your Majesty, even so, artillery still has the ability to change the situation of the war. I roughly calculated that the range of artillery is at least more than a thousand meters, which means that we can launch an attack on the enemy from a thousand meters away.

With artillery, we can directly disrupt the enemy's formation and even divide the battlefield. Combined with the army's charge and harvest, it will be more handy than previous battles.

Moreover, the range of the artillery can cover at least half of the battlefield, not to mention the entire battlefield. If it can be moved, the entire battlefield will be covered by the artillery.

Especially when attacking and defending a city, artillery will play a greater role.

This weapon has never appeared before, and now only the king can forge it, which means that the enemy does not have it, but only we have it. This advantage is already very great."

Li Yuanji laughed immediately. He did not deny what Cen Wenben said. Artillery could not completely determine the course of the battlefield, but it could change certain local situations and thus reverse the tide of the battle.

Especially the enemies covered by artillery fire will be more cautious. After all, in the current war, both sides will fight on the ground instead of building trenches. The advantage of artillery will be extremely obvious.

"Now you have seen this cannon, and you have just explained its function. Next, you need to connect with the Firearms Supervisor and the Iron Supervisor and start casting with all your strength. The rest of the resources will be provided to you first.

It is most important to enhance the strength of the army. Only when the strength of the army is enhanced can our various prefectures develop stably.

As for the issues of manpower and venue, you also have to solve them. If necessary, expand the scale, but the place you choose should be more remote.

Build more as soon as possible, and then quickly deploy them to the army."

Cen Wenben did not delay and agreed immediately.

"Yes, I will start working on this right after I go down. The casting of artillery does need to be scaled up. Fortunately, our smelting technology is advanced, and the Ironware Bureau also has enough iron and steel to supply."

The two chatted for a while before Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui came back, both of them were extremely excited. "Your Majesty, I have just seen it. I beg Your Majesty to give priority to equipping the army with this artillery.

I can guarantee that with these artillery pieces, we will be able to conquer everything and win every battle!"

Su Dingfang's eyes were full of heat. He was obviously conquered by the power of the artillery and wanted it urgently.

Liu Rengui, who was standing by, also became anxious at this time.

“Your Majesty, this artillery should be equipped to the navy first. Nowadays, most of the prefectures are located along the coast, and the threat from the sea is the most important.

With this cannon, in a naval battle, I can defeat, no, annihilate the enemy from a thousand meters away!

Moreover, now that the navy has artillery, it will be more convenient for my marines to land. If the army attacks a small coastal country in the future, my navy can also provide long-range fire support at sea.

At sea, there is no need to worry about the safety of the artillery. It does not need to be used on shore, and a large army has to be left behind to protect the artillery, which is extremely cumbersome.

Please give priority to equipping the navy!"

As soon as Liu Rengui finished speaking, Su Dingfang simply quit.

"Liu Zhengze, stop talking nonsense. What do you mean by being a burden to the army? In all the wars we are fighting now, which one was not won by the army?

Your navy is responsible for transporting our troops and escorting supplies. If a real war breaks out, we will have to rely on the army.

If you don't believe me, why don't you ask other people to see who will support giving priority to equipping your navy?"

Liu Rengui was immediately furious. Looking at what Su Dingfang said, it was obvious that he was bullying. He was the only one in the navy, and Xie Shufang, Xue Wanche, Yu Ming and those people, who was not from the army? Go ask them? Isn't this obviously making things difficult for himself?
And Su Dingfang was indeed right in one thing he said. In the current war and the subsequent deployments made by Li Yuanji, the priority of the army is indeed higher than his navy.

The main tough battles were really fought by the army, because his navy, even without artillery, had a huge advantage in the naval field.

But Liu Rengui was unwilling to let him give up like this. He had also seen that this cannon was huge and the casting speed must be slow. If it was not given priority, how long would he have to wait when he could equip it?
Just as Liu Rengui was about to speak, Li Yuanji's voice came.

"Okay, stop arguing, it's nothing, both the army and navy will be equipped with it.

However, the casting of cannons is relatively slow, so we have to take our time.

Next, the navy will give priority to equipping ten guns, because there are indeed many coastal areas in various prefectures now, and the surrounding target countries all have sea areas, so the influence of the navy should indeed be increased.

However, after being equipped with ten artillery pieces, the army gave priority to equipping other pieces. After all, the main battles still depend on the army.

Okay, it’s settled.”

Li Yuanji spoke personally, what else could Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui say?
It can be said that both of them were barely satisfied. Although Liu Rengui got priority, he only had ten cannons.

Although the army represented by Su Dingfang did not have priority, after ten artillery pieces were delivered, the army's needs would be met first. It could be said that both of them were satisfied.

Li Yuanji was relieved when he saw the two men stop. He was speechless about their quarrel just now.

Then Li Yuanji looked at Su Dingfang.

"Dingfang, when you go back, select a large army. Later, the Firearms and Ironware Bureaus will be expanded again to cast artillery. You will be responsible for the defense.

The artillery technology must not be leaked. You all know the importance of firearms supervision today. We must prevent anyone from stealing the technology.

Remember, the Firearms and Ironware Supervision is of utmost importance, there must not be any omissions!"

In Li Yuanji's eyes, even if other information was leaked, it was still within the controllable range, and his army and navy could still gain the advantage in the war.

However, once the technical processes of the Ironware Supervisory and the Firearm Supervisory were leaked, it would simply help strengthen the strength of their enemies, especially the Tang Dynasty.

Although his development here is very good, there is still a gap between him and the Tang Dynasty in terms of foundation. Once these technologies are leaked, all his work will be in vain.

Su Dingfang was also well aware of the importance of the Ironware Inspectorate and the Firearms Inspectorate, and he agreed immediately.

In the following period, Li Yuanji's trip was forced to be postponed because he had to wait for Liu Rengui's navy to complete the installation of ten cannons. The production of not only the cannons but also the ammunition would take a lot of time.

During this period, Li Yuanji asked Liu Rengui to select 2,000 soldiers from the Marine Corps to equip them with muskets.

When Liu Rengui saw the musket, his eyes widened. Not to mention the musket's shortcomings, just one round of shooting from it could cause huge damage to the enemy. This was what Liu Rengui particularly valued.

Time passed quietly during this preparation, and one day, Yang Jianhe hurried to Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, the people from the Yang and Wei clans have arrived, Wei Yuancheng and Yang Ze respectively.

But only a small number of people came, and they did not bring any baggage."

Li Yuanji was slightly stunned. These two people actually came so early.

"Go and fetch them yourself."

Wei Yuancheng, Wei Gui's father, is also the core member of the Wei family. This time, he is the leader of several branches of the Wei family.

Yang Ze, Yang Qingwan's father, is a member of the Yang family's Guanwangfang. Together with Yang Shidao, he is considered the core figure of the Guanwangfang, and he is also the leader of the Yang family who came to him this time.

Yang Ze is a cousin of Yang Shidao and Yang Gongren.

Yang Gongren, Duke of Guanguo and Prime Minister during the Wude period, is now the Governor of Yongzhou and Zuo Guanglu Doctor.

Yang Ze's brother was Yang Yan, who was also the main descendant of this family. His father was Yang Da, Wu Zetian's maternal grandfather.

These relationships can be said to be one of the reasons why Li Yuanji's harem was relatively harmonious. They were truly related to each other, and if you really think about it, you can find out the relationship.

The only thing that Yang Qingwan lacked was her status as a concubine's daughter, rather than a legitimate daughter.

But that was before. Now, Yang Qingwan has clearly become the backbone of these people.

Among these people, everyone has high talent, but the one Li Yuanji valued most was Yang Shidao, the Minister of the Central Secretariat and Prime Minister in the early Zhenguan period.

(End of this chapter)