Catching Monsters

Chapter 502 Artillery
Early in the morning, in the Imperial Study in the capital, Xiao Yuzheng held a message personally sent back by Feng Yu and read its contents.

Xiao Yuzheng's expression was unusually cold and calm. After reading it, he placed the secret letter on the table and then said to the eunuch who served him personally, "Go and summon Du Huai'an, the Minister of War, to come here."

"Yes."

Xiao Yuzheng sat in the chair and slowly closed his eyes. Soon, Du Huai'an arrived at the Imperial Study upon hearing the news. After entering the Imperial Study, he immediately knelt on the ground and respectfully said, "Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty."

"Alright, no need for formalities." Xiao Yuzheng waved his hand, then pointed to the secret letter on the table: "Take a look at this letter first."

Du Huai'an walked forward with a puzzled look, took the letter with both hands, but after reading the contents, his pupils shrank slightly and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

He instantly understood Xiao Yuzheng's intention in summoning him. His eyes flickered slightly, and he calmly said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, General Zhang Yuhu should be fine. If he were truly colluding with the rebels, why would he have captured six cities in succession recently?"

"Perhaps, as General Zhang Yuhu said, it is a trick by traitors such as Wang Longzhi."

"And as mentioned in Eunuch Feng's letter, someone suddenly notified him to come here."

"It was quite strange that we happened to witness this scene, which shows that it was indeed a treacherous plot by Wang Longzhi and his accomplices."

Xiao Yuzheng nodded slightly and said, "Of course I understand what you've said, but..."

“Your Majesty, as the saying goes, ‘If you doubt someone, don’t use them; if you use someone, don’t doubt them.’” Du Huai’an advised, “If Your Majesty is really worried, then you might as well transfer Zhang Yuhu back.”

"It would be unreasonable to send General Zhang back without a proper reason, given that he has just made great contributions at the front."

"Yes." Xiao Yuzheng closed his eyes slightly.

……

Inside Daegu County, Zhang Yuhu had not dared to leave the government office since he had met Wang Longzhi and Xiao Jingqi two days ago. Except for sleeping, he was basically with Feng Yu all the time.

"Eunuch Feng, has His Majesty sent any message back from the capital?"

In the living room, Zhang Yuhu asked Feng Yu somewhat cautiously.

Feng Yu calmly reassured him, "General Zhang, there's no need to worry. His Majesty hasn't sent a letter yet. As long as you achieve merit on the front lines, these things are insignificant."

"Yes Yes Yes."

Although Zhang Yuhu gave this answer, he was not at ease. He had been placed under house arrest once before because of his involvement in Zhang Yao's case, and he was somewhat like a frightened bird when it came to such sensitive matters.

Zhang Yuhu's gaze unconsciously drifted to the map in the living room. He slowly walked to the map, staring at Shanglin County not far away. He stroked his chin and began to gesture on the map.

If we could assemble an elite army and capture Shanglin County, we could use it as a base to launch a counterattack...

Although the rebel army numbered 600,000, they were also scattered across a long battlefront.

If we capture Shanglin County, we can rely on this city to send an elite force into the heart of the southern rebel army, disrupting their logistics and supplies. The daily food and fodder consumed by the 600,000 full-time soldiers would be astronomical.

At this moment, Zhang Yuhu was somewhat tempted, but he also knew that such an action would be quite risky.

He took a deep breath and then called out to the guards outside the living room, "Summon the five generals to me to discuss important matters."

……

Jiang Mansion.

Winter has arrived, and the end of the year is not far away. A thin layer of snow sometimes covers the eaves of the Jiang residence, and the sound of children from the inner city setting off firecrackers can be heard from outside the door.

A faint smell of gunpowder still lingered in the air.

Jiang Yun was sitting in the courtyard, drinking tea with Xu Xiaogang.

Xu Xiaogang sighed slowly and said, "It's almost the end of the year again, another year has passed. Brother-in-law, you seem to have a very leisurely life. Qi Da is basically in charge of everything at the Eastern Garrison Command..."

Jiang Yun chuckled and took a sip of tea. Just then, Wen Chen rushed in from outside the door and said with a smile, "Master, as you instructed, our Sanqing Temple will soon be recruiting another batch of disciples. This time, there are quite a few people who have come to sign up."

Nonsense, after all, Wen Chen's outstanding achievements set a precedent. Previously, Wen Chen and his father were just lower-middle-class people in the capital.

However, after Wen Chen became Jiang Yun's disciple, he became a formal member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Jiang Yun was also the commander of the Eastern Garrison Command.

Now that people have heard that Sanqing Temple is preparing to recruit disciples again, many people are sending their children there with a try-it-out mentality.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun nodded and said, "From this batch of disciples, you can select some suitable and clever ones to become your disciples."

Jiang Yun didn't have the time to teach each disciple individually, so this task fell to Wen Chen. Wen Chen nodded, but also seemed somewhat unsure, asking, "Master, I'm not very knowledgeable; do I really have the ability to teach disciples?"

"No problem," Jiang Yun said with a smile. Although Wen Chen's cultivation level wasn't very high yet, he was very diligent.

In addition, before he became Jiang Yun's apprentice, his father's expectation for him was to participate in the imperial examination, so he memorized all kinds of complicated allusions and documents every day.

Now, he has actually memorized all the Taoist techniques and classic texts that Jiang Yun taught him.

Jiang Yun patted Wen Chen on the shoulder and said with a serious tone, "Your senior brother Qin Shujian's talent lies in swordsmanship, and his progress in the path of Taoist magic is limited. Apart from your senior brother, you are the most outstanding disciple of the Sanqing Temple."

Wen Chen muttered to himself, "But Master, we only have the two of us disciples in our Sanqing Temple."

"In short, besides your senior brother, you are the most outstanding, that's a fact. Be confident. When you take on disciples, just teach them one by one using the methods I taught you." Jiang Yun said with a smile, "Now that Master has started a family and career, he can't live in the Sanqing Temple every day..."

"Okay, Master, I understand." Wen Chen's face was slightly flushed, and his eyes were filled with excitement. He turned around and ran away in a flash.

"Such a big thing as the Sanqing Temple recruiting people, and you're not even keeping an eye on it?" Xu Xiaogang asked with a smile.

Jiang Yun said thoughtfully, "If the Daoist sect wants to grow and prosper, it can't do it by relying on just me alone."

"Let's take this opportunity to let Wenchen give it a try."

Xu Xiaogang rolled his eyes at Jiang Yun: "You're just lazy..."

“However, on the other hand, things are not going well at the front. If the rebels really manage to reach the capital…” Xu Xiaogang frowned.

Jiang Yun then asked, "What about the God-Slaying Crossbows? Make a few more and put them on the city gates."

Xu Xiaogang waved his hand: "That thing is too expensive to manufacture; each one costs an astronomical sum."

Just then, a firecracker suddenly went off and fell from the sky, landing next to Jiang Yun and Xu Xiaogang.

Seeing this, Xu Xiaogang frowned and said, "These kids, don't they know how to be careful? What if they blow someone up..."

Upon hearing Xu Xiaogang's words, Jiang Yun's eyes lit up, and she suddenly slapped Xu Xiaogang's thigh: "That's right, there's gunpowder."

"What."

Jiang Yun stroked his chin, stared at Xu Xiaogang, and asked with some curiosity, "This world..."

"Since we have gunpowder, why not use it to make weapons?"

"Make weapons?" Xu Xiaogang frowned, rolled his eyes at Jiang Yun, and then said, "Brother-in-law, are you kidding me? This stuff can be made into weapons? Gunpowder is very dangerous; it will explode if it comes into contact with even the slightest spark."

"Forty years ago, a factory near Beijing that specialized in making firecrackers had an accident, and a large area of ​​houses nearby was destroyed. These things are uncontrollable."

"The late emperor then ordered all these firecracker factories to be moved to the north to produce finished products to be transported to the capital. The amount of gunpowder should also be limited to avoid injuring passersby."

Jiang Yun stroked his chin, then drew a lump of iron on the ground with a twig: "This is what I dreamed about, it's called a cannon."

"It's made of iron, then gunpowder is stuffed into the barrel, and an iron ball is placed around it before the gunpowder is ignited..."

At this point, Jiang Yun blinked and said, "Xiao Gang, you should quickly contact a craftsman who is proficient in gunpowder and the best blacksmith in the capital. Let's do some research. Maybe it will be of great use to you on the battlefield."

Xu Xiaogang frowned, staring at Jiang Yun, whose face showed a hint of excitement. He touched his hair and warned, "Brother-in-law, this thing is really dangerous..."

"Alright, enough nonsense. You'll be thanking me later."

"Also, remember to keep this a secret. No one else should know about this except the two of us and the two craftsmen we've hired."

Seeing Jiang Yun's mysterious appearance, Xu Xiaogang thought for a moment and then nodded and said, "The Ministry of Works should have such craftsmen. I will go and ask them tomorrow."

"Forget about tomorrow, let's go today."

"Also, outside the city, preferably far from the capital, find a secluded house; we'll need it."

"Okay." Xu Xiaogang nodded and quickly turned to leave.

Jiang Yun quickly returned to his study and began to meticulously draw the prototype of the cannon with a brush.

Of course, Jiang Yun only remembered a rough outline.

If we really want to go from an idea to the final production of a cannon, we'll definitely need to invite those two professional craftsmen over to discuss how to proceed.

(End of this chapter)