Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 581 Lewdness, Beast (11,000 words)

Rumble, rumble!

Even from a great distance, I could still feel the tremors under my feet. Looking up, I could see snow mixed with mud flying everywhere, hundreds of steps away.

Luo Tianxuan has not yet returned, and Luo Yuheng and Hua Lianyue are both pregnant, so it is not suitable for them to stay by Song Yan's side. Now, the task of protecting Song Yan's safety has been handed over to Ziyu and Luo Tianyi. The two are at the peak of the ninth rank. Even if they encounter a grandmaster-level expert, even if they are no match for him, they can still hold out for a while.

However, both of these ninth-rank masters had their mouths slightly agape, their wide eyes filled with unconcealed fear.

What did they just see?

Such a large lump of iron was launched directly to a place eight or nine hundred paces away?
How is this done?
This range probably exceeds that of all current crossbows, right? Even the most powerful siege ballista has a maximum range of only about 500 paces, so this is almost double that.

If it hits the city gate, will it smash the gate to pieces?

Even more outrageous, this iron lump could actually explode, with a sound like thunder, as if an earth dragon were turning over. Zi Yu and Luo Tianyi had both seen the Thunderclap Thunder created by Song Yan, and this thing was far more powerful than the Thunderclap Thunder.

Even though Ziyu and Luo Tianyi knew nothing about military affairs, they could still imagine that if they carried such things during a military campaign, a few cannonballs could smash the enemy's city gates and walls. What would be the point of fighting then? They might as well just surrender.

Song Yan also let out a heavy sigh, her eyes flashing with an indescribable light.

The Hongyi cannon has finally been made.

Initially, Song Yan was somewhat skeptical of the news from the arsenal. After all, it had been less than two months since he placed the box of silver and the letter of appointment at the arsenal; even if there was progress, it couldn't have been this fast. Only when the shell exploded in the distance did Song Yan finally relax. Perhaps this was the allure of money and power?

The craftsmen who made the Hongyi cannon were also excited at this moment, their faces flushed and their breathing rapid and disordered.

After calming his agitation, Song Yanxing walked up to an old man in his sixties and patted him on the shoulder: "Grandpa Lu, you're really something, you actually made it for you."

The old man's surname was Lu, and his given name was Yue.

He claims to be a descendant of Lu Ban and is proficient in manufacturing various kinds of machinery.

Song Yan thought the old man was probably bragging. After all, Lu Ban's surname was Ji, his clan name was Gongshu, and his given name was Ban. His real name was Gongshu Ban, but because he was born in the State of Lu and belonged to the royal family of Lu, he was called Lu Ban by others.

Of course, no matter what, Grandpa Lu Yue's skills are undeniable.

Behind Lu Yue were three middle-aged men in their forties, plus several teenagers and young men in their twenties; these were Lu Yue's sons and grandsons.

The successful test firing of the Hongyi cannon greatly excited Lu Yue. However, he was aware of his own status. He was just a lowly craftsman and how could he be worthy of such kindness from the prince? In an instant, sweat beaded on his old face, and he bent down, saying, "Your Highness is too kind to this old man. I am just a mere craftsman and I cannot bear the title of Your Highness."

"Moreover, the fact that this Hongyi cannon could be made is by no means my own achievement. If it weren't for the blueprints provided by the prince, even if I and my children and grandchildren had decades or hundreds of years, we would never have been able to make it."

This old man was a smooth talker. Despite his great achievements, he showed no arrogance whatsoever. He attributed everything to the leader's skillful command, and he only had to lend a hand.

Of course, this wasn't entirely a compliment.

The Central Plains have never lacked talented people.

Even so, such cannons did not appear for several hundred years.

The value of the blueprints provided by Song Yan is beyond doubt.

With a smile, Song Yan said, "Old Master Lu, there's no need to belittle yourself. You don't need to worry about your status as craftsmen here. I don't have that social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants here."

“If a scholar is corrupt, perverts the law, oppresses the good, or commits all kinds of evil, I will still cut off his head.”

"Craftsmen and merchants, as long as they can bring benefits to the fiefdom, I will treat them as honored guests."

"Ten thousand taels of silver from the armory, you can carry them back yourselves. Also, write your name directly on the letter of appointment. From today onwards, you are the Dean of the Department of Natural Sciences under the Yan Prince's Royal Academy. All your benefits will be in accordance with those of a fourth-rank official. In the first term, you can recruit one hundred students to learn skills from you. I hope that Elder Lu will be willing to impart all his knowledge to you. Is that alright?"

Song Yan never hesitated to reward those who had rendered meritorious service.

In this era, craftsmen valued their skills highly and rarely passed them on to outsiders.

After all, this is a skill that can sustain one's livelihood; the saying "teaching an apprentice can starve the master" is not just an empty phrase.

But at this point, why would Lu Yue care about these skills? His unique skills could only make his life a little better. Now that he had suddenly become a fourth-rank official, his standard of living would rise rapidly.

Compared to the official robes and seal, craftsmanship is not so important.

Master Lu Yue was overjoyed and quickly thanked him, promising to teach with all his heart and never hold back a single bit of knowledge.

After helping Lu Yue up again, Song Yan looked at the Red Barbarian Cannon... The cannon wasn't actually red. It was called the Red Barbarian Cannon because it was introduced to China by the Red Barbarians during the Ming Dynasty. The so-called Red Barbarians were the Red Barbarians, and their cannons were called Red Barbarian Cannons.

The barrel is about two meters long, tapering from front to back in a spindle shape, with a caliber of approximately 120 millimeters. It has an iron core and a copper body; the copper-clad iron design effectively reduces the risk of barrel explosion. It is also equipped with a front sight, rear sight, and a gun gauge, which the gunner can use to calculate the trajectory and improve accuracy.

The air still carried the scent of gunpowder, and the heat from the cannon barrels slowly dissipated into the surroundings.

Song Yan looked up at the distance, then walked towards it. Zi Yu, Luo Tianyi, Lu Yue, and the other craftsmen quickly followed behind.

When you reach the spot where the shell fell, you can see that a large area of ​​snow has melted, and the splashed mud has polluted an area of ​​more than ten meters in radius. There are clumps of filth on the pure white snow. The ground frozen by the snow has been blasted into a large crater about one meter in diameter and twenty or thirty centimeters deep. Fragments of the shell explosion are scattered everywhere, and you can find flying shrapnel dozens of steps away.

This was only the first Hongyi cannon to be manufactured, and Song Yan was already very satisfied with its power.

How far is the range?

"Your Highness, I counted the steps when we arrived; there were a total of 831."

At this point, one step is taking one step with each foot, which is about 1.5 meters. 831 steps is about 1250 meters.

Song Yan was quite satisfied with this distance, as it basically reached the standard range of the Hongyi Cannon.

"How much will it cost?" Song Yan asked again.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yue and his descendants looked somewhat embarrassed. After a while, Lu Yue cautiously spoke up: "Your Highness, this Hongyi cannon weighs about 2,600 catties and requires a large amount of pig iron and copper. Pig iron is produced in Pingyang, but copper has always been in short supply throughout Ningguo."

That's true; in that era, copper coins were still an extremely important form of currency.

Who doesn't need something that can be directly used as money? The entire Central Plains and the Four Kingdoms are in need of it.

"Therefore, the cost is very high. If converted to silver, it would be at least six hundred taels of silver!"

Song Yan couldn't help but gasp. "When the cannons roar, gold is worth ten thousand taels of silver"—this was no exaggeration. He was planning to produce several thousand or even ten thousand cannons, which would cost six million taels of silver.
Fortunately, he now has Cui Yingying as a wealthy household, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to handle it.

With a smile, Song Yan patted Lu Yue on the shoulder again: "Grandpa, you don't need to worry about the money. Now I'm giving you two tasks. First, train a group of craftsmen who can produce Hongyi cannons as soon as possible. You can use assembly line production, where each person only produces one part, and then the parts are assembled together."

"Producing the same thing for such a long time should allow craftsmen to become more skilled and increase production speed."

"The more of these Hongyi cannons, the better."

"Second, continue to improve the Hongyi cannons. We can make some smaller models that are easier to carry, that can be pulled by a horse, or that can be mounted on ships. You can figure out the specific improvements yourself."

"In addition, be careful to keep it a secret. All the blueprints and technology related to the Hongyi Cannon are top secrets. If they are leaked, Old Master Lu should understand the responsibility you will bear. As for the students you recruit, I will also arrange for someone to carefully examine them."

"I'll go to work at the Institute of Physics tomorrow."

Lu Yue was filled with trepidation and bowed again: "Thank you for your teachings, Your Highness. I will remember them."

……

The twentieth year of Ninghe.

October 18th.

The army of the six prefectures of Ningguo was suddenly attacked by Japanese pirates and Jurchens, and was defeated. Eight or nine out of ten of the 60,000 troops were killed. General Sun Yuanhua was killed by Wanyan Guangzhi, the Great Khan of the Jurchens.

Inside and outside the city walls of Dongshan Prefecture, corpses lay strewn everywhere, and even the city walls themselves were stained crimson.

The blizzard fell from the sky, but it could not conceal the horrific scene.

On the city wall, the surviving people either sat wearily at the base of the wall with honest smiles on their faces, or howled excitedly, celebrating their hard-won victory.

Yang Hexing and Yang Guoxuan were also on the city tower looking at the corpses outside the city. Their faces revealed a slightly cold and smug smile. Sure enough, borrowing troops from the foreign tribes was the right decision. If it weren't for the arrival of the Japanese pirates and Jurchen reinforcements today, Dongshan City would probably have been breached on the spot.

Righteousness? Ha!

Shit!

When weak, one might need a banner of righteousness to protect oneself, but once one becomes powerful, that banner becomes less useful, since history is written by the victors. This crushing defeat will surely shake the Ning Kingdom's court and the entire nation; that young emperor Luo Tianchu must be in a panic, right?

Some are happy, while others are sad.

On and below the city walls, large numbers of simply dressed women, elderly people, and children were searching among the mountains of corpses. The common people's thoughts were always simple: since the people were already dead, at least their bodies should be found and properly buried; otherwise, wouldn't they have nowhere to rest in peace?

Occasionally, women and children would burst into tears, only to find the man's corpse.

The voice was mournful, like a cuckoo weeping blood.

A man is the pillar of the family; if a man dies, it's almost like the sky has fallen.

In some cases, with no one else left in the house, the remains could only be left to be gradually buried by the wind and snow.

Have you not seen, at the head of Qinghai, where countless bones have remained uncollected since ancient times?

New ghosts are troubled and old ghosts are crying; the sound is mournful on a cloudy, rainy day!
On and below the city walls, countless cries cast a shadow over the hard-won victory of the Yang family. Yang Hexing frowned, his face showing displeasure.

In the end, he was just a peasant; he ruined the whole atmosphere.

Although Yang Hexing was intelligent and had a kind face, he was ultimately the head of the Yang family, and in his heart, he did not regard ordinary people as human beings.

Yang Guoxuan frowned and said, "Father, arrange for the clansmen to prepare money and distribute it to these women, children and the elderly. We can't let them keep crying like this, otherwise it will affect the morale of the other soldiers."

"The pension has been increased from the original twenty taels to fifty taels, which will be enough to support these orphans and widows for a lifetime."

Yang Hexing's brows furrowed: "You agreed on twenty taels, why raise it to fifty taels? Quite a few people have died here."

Today, although we repelled the Ningguo government troops and beheaded 40,000 to 50,000, Dongshan Prefecture also suffered considerable losses. Even the defending side, these peasants had not received military training and suffered heavy casualties, not even inferior to the Ningguo government troops.

Based on 50,000 casualties, at 20 taels per person, the compensation would amount to one million taels. If it were increased to 50 taels, that would be over two million taels. This amount of money is actually nothing to the Yang family, but...

A pile of pure white silver!
It's such a waste to give it to these peasants like that.

Yang Guoxuan pursed his lips. His father was extremely intelligent in court politics and in the intrigues among aristocratic families, but his disdain for peasants was ingrained in his bones and could not be changed. However, in the current situation, even if he looked down on peasants, he could not show it.

"Father, it's just some money."

"Once my Yang family rules the world, how much money can't we have?"

“Today’s casualties in defending the city are very heavy. Victory is indeed a good thing, but if we let this crying spread, the benefits of victory, especially the boost to morale, will be greatly reduced.” Yang Guoxuan advised, “Moreover, the people of Dongshan Prefecture are all here now. We are going to give money to those orphans and widows in front of them. We want to tell them that even if they die in battle, their parents, wives and children will not be without money to live on. My Yang family will take responsibility to the end and will raise the young and support the old and weak.”

"In this way, wouldn't these newly recruited peasant soldiers be grateful for the benevolence of the Yang family? And with no worries about their families, they will naturally fight to the death on the battlefield."

"Spending such a sum of money to win over the hearts of the army and the people is an extremely worthwhile deal."

"Moreover, now that the government troops have been defeated, the three prefectural cities around Dongshan are sparsely populated with soldiers. In the next few months, we can completely occupy these three prefectures. The wealth accumulated by the noble families, powerful clans, and wealthy households in the cities over the years will surely belong to our Yang family."

"The money you spend can always be earned back many times over."

“Once we have the land of four prefectures, Father can then become emperor.”

Since things had already progressed to this point, Yang Hexing nodded and did not refuse any further. He waved his hand and beckoned a steward from the Yang family, ordering him to prepare the money.

"By the way, Father, when distributing the money, you should do it yourself, handing the silver coins to the orphans and widows one by one, and issuing a strict order that no one is allowed to steal the money. If the Yang family finds out, they will be severely punished. This will help to establish your image."

Yang Guoxuan continued speaking.

As they were talking, another commotion came from afar outside the city. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a group of ronin carrying Japanese swords and Jurchen barbarians riding warhorses. They had finished chasing the government troops and were chatting and laughing as they made their way to Dongshan Prefecture. Some of them were holding hair in their hands, with severed heads underneath.

They probably took it as a trophy.

Every step they took was stained with blood.

This wave of Japanese pirates totaled 30,000, all of them ruthless men who had been robbing and pillaging along the border of Zhao for many years.

As for the Xiongnu cavalry, there were also three thousand.

Don't think that three thousand men is too few. If it really comes down to a fight, these three thousand cavalrymen could probably be overwhelmed in one wave by the army of peasants from Dongshan Prefecture.

Of course, these three thousand cavalrymen were only the vanguard of Wanyan Guangzhi's forces. The main reason was that transporting barbarian cavalry and warhorses required too many ships, which was simply too inconvenient. However, more Jurchen barbarians would be coming, and with the help of these barbarians, he might actually be able to ascend to the throne. Thinking this, Yang Hexing couldn't help but smile slightly.

Before long, the Japanese pirates and Jurchen troops had reached the front of Dongshan Prefecture. Ordinary people still had an instinctive fear of these barbarians, and these men, having chased the government troops all the way, were now almost all covered in blood, making them look even more frightening. However, these men were all invited by the Yang family, so they were probably allies, and with this thought, their fear dissipated somewhat.

Some even cast friendly smiles at these Japanese pirates and Jurchen barbarians.

After all, they came to help them fight against the country, so we can't be cold to them; we have to treat them well.

However, these people did not notice that whether they were burly Jurchen barbarians or short Japanese pirates, their gazes were all fixed on the weeping women, children, and girls not far away, and their eyes were filled with a deep lust.

Speaking of which, I've been focusing almost all my energy on traveling lately, and it's been a long time since I've had any meat. Besides, these women from the Central Plains are really beautiful, unlike the women on the grasslands who have thick skin, or the women who drift at sea who are dark-skinned.

The delicate skin made these beasts' hearts flutter.

The tear-streaked faces fueled a violent impulse within them.

I really want them to cry even louder!
I really want to make them shed more tears!

Gradually, the atmosphere began to become eerie. Whether they were Japanese pirates or Jurchen barbarians, their necks began to writhe frantically, as if they were swallowing the saliva that was constantly secreting.

Even worse, completely ignoring all the eyes around them, they stretched their dirty paws directly towards their crotch.

They seemed to have no concept of propriety, righteousness, integrity, or shame; they were more like a bunch of simple beasts.

Finally, one of the Japanese pirates could no longer contain himself. With a crazed and twisted grin on his face and a Japanese sword slung over his shoulder, he walked straight toward a woman in her early twenties. The woman was lying on the corpse of a young man, sobbing softly. Beside her were her parents-in-law and her son, who was only four years old.

Hearing footsteps, the woman subconsciously looked up. When she saw a Japanese pirate covered in blood, she was instinctively frightened and shrank back.

His scarlet tongue swept across his lips. This young lady was just too beautiful. Damn it, he couldn't resist.

With a chuckle, its dirty claws went straight for the young woman's chest.

Upon seeing this, the two elderly people were startled and instinctively stood up to block the Japanese pirate: "What are you doing?"

"Go away."

The old man cursed angrily, shoving the Japanese pirates with his hoe as if trying to create distance between them.

Although this action did not harm the Japanese pirate, it clearly angered him. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he instantly slashed out with his Japanese sword.

puff!

The old man's head was instantly split in two, his wide eyes filled with disbelief and shock. He collapsed to the ground, blood gushing out.

"My lord..." the old woman cried out in sorrow.

Before he could finish speaking, the Japanese sword pierced the old woman's chest with a soft thud.

"Give me back my grandpa, give me back my grandma..." The little child, though only four or five years old, already understood some things and screamed as he rushed towards the Japanese pirate.

However, before the crowd arrived, another Japanese sword came slashing down with a hiss.

The little head was severed.

However, a companion had arrived at this place at some point. The two Japanese pirates exchanged a glance, both able to see the smugness and excitement in each other's eyes. They stepped forward together and grabbed the little woman who had been terrified.

laugh!
The clothes were torn open.

(End of this chapter)