Longzang

Chapter 566 Armament Upgrade
No one else knew what had happened. Xu Shiba couldn't be coaxed no matter what they did, so Xu Wenwu could only take her back. Wei Yuan and Yu Zhizhuo went to see the latest artillery.

There are two types of cannons in this batch. One type is huge, weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, and can fire a shot that can travel fifteen miles. Yu Zhizhuo also handed Wei Yuan a piece of jade paper and said, "The range and impact point are all on this."

The jade paper specified the muzzle angle and the corresponding range, and then, starting from a range of five li, it further noted the potential deviation in the impact point. At the maximum range of fifteen li, the deviation could reach one li.

"Have they all been tested?" Wei Yuan asked.

"We've tested it at a distance of five miles. Within five miles, the deviation is minimal. We can just follow the calculated trajectory."

This cannon is extremely powerful, capable of firing 200-pound shells, but firing and loading it is extremely troublesome, and it can only fire one shot every fifteen minutes.

The other new cannon takes a completely different approach. It is exceptionally light, weighing only a little over a thousand pounds. For short distances, a Foundation Establishment cultivator can carry it and fly. It is also equipped with two wheels, so for long distances, a Body Forging Master cultivator can drag it for half a day.

This cannon fires five-pound shells. It was the first time it was modified to use breech loading, and the firing rate was quite fast, firing a shell every few breaths.

Yu Zhizhuo personally pushed the cannon into its firing position at the firing range, aimed at the target a mile away, and fired a shot that hit the target accurately.

A flash of fire appeared in the distance, followed by a deafening explosion. The war-monster-shaped target was blasted to pieces, and it also sent all the humanoid steel targets within a ten-zhang radius flying!
The power of this shot far exceeded Wei Yuan's expectations. He flashed to the point where the shot landed and examined it carefully.

The target of the war behemoth is modeled after the most common war behemoth of the witch tribe. It is made of hardwood covered with iron, and its defensive power is about the same as that of the real war behemoth.

The humanoid targets nearby were all replicas of heavily armored warriors of the Wu tribe, most of their bodies riddled with shrapnel. However, one particular target stood out, constructed from steel plates three fingers thick, mimicking the defenses of a Wu tribe Daoji warrior. At that moment, a shrapnel fragment was embedded in the chest of this target, just a hair's breadth away from piercing through.

After examining the target, Wei Yuan estimated its power: within ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), it could kill an ordinary Body Forging Warrior and cause minor injuries to a Foundation Establishment cultivator; within three zhang (approximately 33 meters), even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be severely injured. Although the war behemoth had thick hide and flesh, its massive size meant it would absorb the full force of the bombardment, making its survivability even lower than that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This cannon is extremely powerful, has a very high rate of fire, and a long range. In terms of firepower, it is more than twice as powerful as the existing city defense cannons, and it can also move with the army.

Besides, although one shot might not kill Daoji, several shots would eventually kill him.

Wei Yuan examined the shell more closely, his nose twitched slightly, and he asked, "Did they use new gunpowder?"

Yu Zhizhuo said, "It was just figured out. The main inspiration came from Brother Wenwu. He actually remembered that there is a type of gunpowder that is made by mixing nitric acid and cotton."

After Sun Yu, Henshui, and I understood the underlying principles, we made improvements. We soaked the spirit wood fibers in the water of Thunder Pool and used thunder sand as an auxiliary material. The resulting gunpowder is now worthy of being classified as a foundational magical artifact.

Thunder Pool exists in Qingming. A small pond has already appeared around the few lightning-struck trees in the north, and that's where the Thunder Pool water comes from. Getting more Thunder Pool water is simple; just plant more lightning trees. You can exchange for many of these saplings at the Hall of Merit.

Yu Zhizhuo continued, "We will name this gunpowder 'Thunder Powder,' but we now have two options to decide on. The main difference between the two options lies in the quality of the spirit wood silk. One option is to use spirit wood silk that is over fifty years old, which can significantly increase its power. The other option is to use spirit wood silk that is only twenty years old, which will have 70% of the power of the former. However, twenty-year-old spirit wood is everywhere, while fifty-year-old spirit wood is produced in much smaller quantities."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yuan learned that the Human World had already provided an estimate: according to current information, the supply of twenty-year-old spirit wood was dozens of times that of fifty-year-old spirit wood.

Wei Yuan immediately said, "Make both kinds. Make as many fifty-year-old ones as you have, and then store them. Use twenty-year-old spirit wood for all the shells."

“Okay.” Yu Zhizhuo nodded.

Wei Yuan then asked, "What about the production of artillery shells?"

Yu Zhizhuo said, "The production process has been initially designed, but it still needs to be optimized and improved in real-world conditions before it is put into use. Let me take you to see the new forging machine first."

Wei Yuan's strange feeling returned; this wasn't the first time someone had spoken to him about how to live a life of simplicity and humility.

The problem is that Yu Zhizhuo's tone is so matter-of-fact, as if the mundane world is the mundane world and Wei Yuan is Wei Yuan, and there is no connection between the two.

Suppressing the strange feeling, Wei Yuan followed Yu Zhizhuo to a corner of the weapon forging workshop. This was a newly opened area, surrounded by array formations. Although they were only the most basic arrays, they were enough to stop Body Forging cultivators. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator trespassed, they would be marked by the array, and then vigilant cultivators would quickly arrive.

In the vast new site, only one enormous machine now stands, with two prominent counterweight boxes containing, surprisingly, Nether Iron Ore. There's an abundance of Nether Iron Ore now, more than enough to use; it's several times heavier than ordinary iron of the same volume, so Yu Zhizhu simply used it as counterweights, greatly reducing its size.

This is a forging machine specially modified by Yu Zhizhuo for manufacturing artillery shells, with a counterweight of 100,000 jin. It is powered by a magic array and requires ten Dao Foundation cultivators or fifty Body Forging cultivators to operate.

This forging machine can produce a shell casing with a single hammer blow. Then, craftsmen will finely grind it, fill it with gunpowder, and attach the base shell to complete a shell. This forging machine can produce fifty shells per hour. With fifty fine-grinding craftsmen and ten assembly craftsmen, it can guarantee the production of fifty shells every hour, which is six hundred shells per day.

If continuous production is desired, the staffing needs to be doubled, with daily rotations. If Dao Foundation cultivators are used, the number of craftsmen can be reduced by one zero.

In the future, Yu Zhizhuo plans to build several large forging machines, then concentrate the precision grinding craftsmen in one area and the assembly craftsmen in another. After a batch of products is completed, they will be sent to the next process, which will greatly improve production efficiency.

However, the specific layout of the venue and the arrangement of the internal craftsmen are the details of the "human touch" optimization.

To be honest, Wei Yuan was still somewhat dissatisfied with the production volume of artillery shells.

However, if the production of shell casings increases, the production of gunpowder may not keep up, requiring large-scale procurement of raw materials to produce gunpowder. If the production of gunpowder catches up, there will be a shortage of shell casings.

By the time both are sufficient, the number of enemies may not be enough.

In the end, Wei Yuan decided to focus all his efforts on producing lightweight cannons, because they could fight alongside the infantry, hence the name "infantry cannon."

Once this important matter was confirmed, someone came to report that the refugees from Zhao had arrived. Wei Yuan immediately flew towards the southern border and saw Zhao soldiers escorting a large group of refugees into Qingming territory; the procession stretched as far as the eye could see.

Wei Yuan had prepared brand-new facilities for these refugees. Upon their arrival, the refugees were first given porridge and food. While they were queuing to receive porridge, people began to screen and differentiate them, distinguishing the strong and healthy, those with special skills, and young women.

At this point, a minor commotion arose. Every young woman in the refugee group was engaged; none were traveling alone. Separating them naturally provoked strong opposition from their husbands. At this point, the cultivators from the realm would inquire about the women's wishes: whether they preferred to maintain their existing relationships or separate and live independently.

Almost all the women chose to separate.

Those who are strong and have excellent physical constitution can skip the status of criminals and start directly as soldiers if they are willing to join the army. This applies to young women and those with special skills.

If these single young women are found to be healthy after examination, they will be matched with single commoner men as wives. This was a measure that Wei Yuan and the cultivators of Taichu Palace considered an important way to maintain stability in Qingming.

All those selected were taken to bathe and change clothes; their old clothes were burned, and soldiers were issued uniforms. Craftsmen and women were each given two sets of coarse cloth clothing.

After eating and drinking their fill, cleaning themselves, and changing into new clothes, the selected 10,000-plus people contributed over 2,000 streams of azure energy to Wei Yuan.

The remaining tens of thousands were gathered together, and Dao Foundation stage cultivators used their magic to send down spiritual rain. Bathing in the spiritual rain could cure their illnesses and enhance their vitality. However, Qingming didn't have enough clothes to distribute to them, so they had to wear tattered garments for now.

All the new refugees were sent to cultivate new fields. Qingming now has over four million mu of land, which can produce 800 million jin of grain every two months, so there is no shortage of food. Therefore, the speed at which they cultivate the fields can be determined according to their physical condition. They work less at first, and then gradually increase their workload as they become stronger.

Wei Yuan now has considerable experience in managing the people. To appease the displaced people, the first step is to feed them, and the second is to give them work so they feel useful; this will naturally lead to their settlement.

Moreover, the fact that refugees had been starving for a long time made them feel that what they were doing was particularly meaningful.

Sure enough, on the very day the large group of refugees were sent to cultivate the farmland, Wei Yuan began to receive auspicious energy. The amount increased over the next three days, and the rate of auspicious energy production only began to slow down after he had collected more than eight thousand strands.

After receiving Cui Shutong's 200,000 refugees, Wei Yuan once again entered the Netherworld to check on the progress there.

During this period, a space six zhang long, two zhang wide and two zhang high has been carved out in the Nether Mountain, and nearly one hundred million jin of Nether Iron has been dug out.

Because there was simply too much Nether Iron, Wei Yuan had already contributed 100,000 jin of it to the Taichu Palace, successfully closing the channel for exchanging Nether Iron for Immortal Silver. Although Wei Yuan's donation was substantial, the elders in the palace, considering his past contributions, ultimately decided to reduce his debt by one million taels of Immortal Silver.

Subsequently, the Hall of Merit opened a channel for exchanging Immortal Silver for Nether Iron, where one tael of Immortal Silver could be exchanged for one tael of Nether Iron. Nether Iron had a wide range of uses, and seeing how cheap it was, many disciples of the Primordial Beginning Palace immediately rushed to exchange it.

Before leaving, Wei Yuan checked other rare resources that might be produced in the Netherworld, and then discovered that all the purchase prices of these resources had an additional item: how much can be exchanged at this price.

Upon seeing this patch, Wei Yuan felt offended.

(End of this chapter)