Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 431: The Power of Cannon

The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Resources had two Yuwailang, the left and the right. The left Yuwailang was Tian Youzhi and the right Yuwailang was Qi Min.

Half a month ago, in December of the fourteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, the Minister of Works Xu Guan planned to let the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Yu continue to be on duty during the New Year.

When the left and right assistant ministers heard that they were going to manufacture weapons for the Ministry of War, neither of them was willing to take on the job. After all, the end of the year was approaching, and who would be willing to lead the people in the yamen to work overtime and be disliked?

And this job is clearly a thankless task.

They all knew that the battle on the Japanese front was in full swing and the Ministry of War had a great demand for weapons, so even if they continued to work during the New Year, it would only be adding fuel to the fire for the Ministry of War.

As for whether one can achieve meritorious service, that does not exist.

Moreover, all positions in the Ministry of Industry are full, so they have no chance of promotion.

No matter how you look at it, working overtime during the New Year is thankless, so no one is willing to take on this job.

But in the end, someone had to take it over. After all, Right Official Qi Min was one level lower in rank, so he took on this tough job.

From the end of the year to now, You Yuanwailang and his craftsmen have had almost no rest and have been working around the clock to manufacture and produce red cannons.

On the 14th day of the first lunar month, just in time for the Lantern Festival, the first red cannon was finally built by the Ministry of Works.

All the parts and assemblies were assembled according to the drawings given by Minister Xu, and their craftsmen did not have to spend much time on it.

Therefore, even the Right Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Works had no idea what this weapon was and how powerful it was.

When Xu Guan was informed of the manufacture of the red cannon, he hurried into the palace.

After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi agreed to test this new weapon on the outskirts of the city outside the Five Military Commandery on the night of the Lantern Festival the next day.

Emperor Hongzhi had no idea how to use this weapon or how powerful it was, so Chen Ce was still needed to test the new weapon tomorrow. Emperor Hongzhi informed Chen Ce of the news as soon as possible and asked Chen Ce to prepare early.

Of course, Emperor Hongzhi also informed the Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao of the Eastern Palace of the news, and Zhu Houzhao seemed extremely excited and expectant.

The six ministries of the cabinet were naturally also notified.

Ministry of War.

Ma Wensheng still didn't have high hopes for this new weapon and didn't take it seriously.

Instead, the three cabinet elders were discussing the matter heatedly in their duty room. In fact, since Chen Ce always managed to surprise people, they were not sure how strong the weapons that Chen Ce asked the Ministry of Works to manufacture this time were, and whether they could change the situation of the war on Japan.

The battle to capture the Japanese island is still difficult. If there is no progress in the long term, the consequences will be disastrous.

They want to see whether Chen Ce can bring any more surprises to the Ming Dynasty this time.

Chen Ce went to the Duke of Ying's mansion to find Zhang Mao. He asked Zhang Mao to temporarily build a simple city outside the Five Military Commandery today and place straw men on the city.

Zhang Mao didn't know what Chen Ce was up to, but Emperor Hongzhi said that everything should be carried out according to Chen Ce's requirements.

……

The second day, evening, Lantern Festival.

The streets and alleys of Peking were decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, and the streets were crowded with people.

In the fifteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, the triennial imperial examination was about to begin in half a month.

Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan were already on the way and would arrive in the capital in a few days.

Chen Ce had no time to accompany Wu Niangzi and Xiaohua tonight, so he let them go to the streets to join in the fun. The Jinyiwei sent a sedan chair to pick up Chen Ce early and sent him directly to the outskirts of Peking. In an open space in the suburbs, the imperial guards had surrounded it.

Not far from the open space, there was a simple earthen wall filled with straw men.

The high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty, including the three ministers of the cabinet, the six ministries, the six chancellors, the Censorate, etc., all surrounded Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao and stood here. Everyone was anxiously waiting for Chen Ce's arrival.

Ma Wensheng looked at the straw man on the earthen wall calmly, and thought, no matter how powerful the weapon invented by Chen Ce was, could it really overturn the entire wall?
Even if it is overturned, it will be useless. This is just a simple earthen wall. The Japanese are not stupid. Their wall must be very strong. How can it be so easy to overturn?
Years ago, Liu Jian asked Ma Wensheng to take over Chen Ce's job from the Ministry of Industry, but Ma Wensheng didn't take it seriously.

Even now, he remained calm and composed. He never believed that Chen Ce could invent any ridiculous weapon that could be of any use in siege.

Xu Guan, Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao were all very nervous, but Chen Ce just said that he wanted to create a siege weapon.

Now that this powerful weapon has been made and is in front of everyone, everyone is looking at the red cannon with some confusion. Its appearance is somewhat similar to a chariot. Do they expect this thing to be used to attack the city?
No matter how I look at it, it seems unlikely!

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Chen Ce finally arrived and got off the carriage.

The censor of the Censorate could not help but frown and impeach him. After all, making so many people wait for him to present his plan alone, especially since Emperor Hongzhi was still waiting for him, was somewhat against etiquette.

The censors of the Censorate are like this, no matter big or small, they always like to impeach someone to show their presence. Chen Ce is used to it, and no one takes the censors of the Censorate seriously.

Xu Guan quickly waved to Chen Ce and said, "Chun Jian, this weapon has been manufactured according to your drawings."

Zhang Mao also said: "The city wall has been built for you, and it is covered with straw men. What are we going to do next?"

Chen Ce thought for a moment, then came to the red cannon, reached out and touched the cold iron lump, and said, "Cover your ears."

"Ok?"

Everyone didn't know why.

"Stand back."

"Back off a little more."

Liu Jian said to Chen Ce angrily, "What are you doing? Why are you stepping back like that? Why are you covering your ears?"

Chen Ce said with an "oh" sound, "It's okay if you don't step back, and it's okay if you don't cover your ears."

He took the torch from Zhang Mao and gently lit the fire signal, and a hissing sound of the fire signal burning was heard.

Chen Ce stepped back quickly and covered his ears with his hands.

Liu Jian didn't believe it and just stood calmly in front of the red cannon.

boom!
A huge explosion suddenly sounded, and the eardrums of the people were about to burst.

Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao simply covered their ears, and everyone looked fixedly at the top of the city wall.

"boom!!!"

Looking closely, the entire earthen wall was almost blown down, and all the people and straw men on it were blown to pieces!
The red cannon had been calibrated by Chen Ce before, and its range had reached four or five thousand meters. The maximum elevation angle could reach 45 degrees, and the minimum shooting height was above 10 meters. Any height on the city wall was within the strike range of the red cannon.

Quiet.

After the loud explosion, there was absolute silence. Everyone stared at the ruins of the city wall in amazement, their mouths slightly open, wanting to say something, but there was no time to think!
The one who suffered the most was Liu Jian. The huge explosion caused Liu Jian to become temporarily deaf.

(End of this chapter)