Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

"This shot embodies the truth of the Tang Dynasty!"

Eight hundred paces away lies the royal city of Gaochang.

In the biting cold winds of the Western Regions, ten pitch-black lumps of iron were tearing through the sky at a speed too fast for the naked eye to perceive.

They dragged orange-red tails of flame, accompanied by chilling shrieks, as they slammed into the city wall known as the "strongest city in the Western Regions."

On the city wall, King Ju Wentai of Gaochang was wearing a heavy sable cloak and holding a glass of freshly warmed wine.

He squinted, watching the black dot getting closer and closer in the sky, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"Has the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty gone mad from staying in Chang'an all this time?"

Ju Wentai burst into unrestrained laughter, pointed to the sky, and addressed his generals on either side.

"From nearly three miles away, they're throwing a few iron lumps at me with catapults. Do they think they can dent my city walls?"

The surrounding Gaochang generals also burst into laughter.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right! The walls of our Gaochang city were built using rammed earth mixed with glutinous rice juice!"

"Don't even mention a few lumps of iron; even if a meteorite fell from the sky, it wouldn't be able to break our city bricks!"

"The Tang army has run out of tricks; they've come to our doorstep to perform magic!"

In their limited understanding of war, siege warfare consisted of nothing more than siege ladders, battering rams, and catapults.

At that distance, a stone would have lost all its force by the time it hits.

However, the next second.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Dull, resounding impacts echoed across the city wall.

Ten exploding bullets were embedded perfectly into the supposedly indestructible glutinous rice wall.

Before Ju Wentai's smile could fade, he saw the sparks from the fuse suddenly shoot into the inside of the cast iron casing.

This is not an ordinary solid iron ball.

This is a high-explosive shell, handcrafted day and night by the Mo Family Military Factory of the Tang Dynasty, filled with high-purity, high-strength black powder and countless sharp iron fragments!

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Immediately following was a cataclysmic explosion.

"boom--!!!"

Ten blinding rays of sunlight suddenly burst forth atop the city wall!

The violent shockwave, mixed with orange-red flames, roared like an ancient beast, instantly engulfing everything around it.

The deafening roar ripped open the eardrums of everyone within a radius of several miles.

The Gaochang soldiers didn't even have time to utter a single scream.

Faced with the terrifying kinetic energy of modern gunpowder, the human body is as fragile as a leaf falling in the autumn wind.

Hundreds of soldiers guarding the city were blown into the air by the shockwave.

The severed limbs, broken internal organs, and flying rubble resembled a crimson rainstorm.

It was thrown down from the city wall in a grand and varied manner.

The glutinous rice wall, which was said to be impenetrable even to siege engines, was as fragile as paper under the power of the internal explosion.

The hard rammed earth layer was violently torn apart from the inside.

A series of shocking, massive cracks spread wildly like a spider web.

"Boom!"

A section of the main city wall, thirty feet long, collapsed with a deafening roar to everyone's horrified eyes!

Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, forming a huge black mushroom cloud that reached straight into the heavens.

This is not a siege battle in the era of cold weapons at all; this is a complete and utter defeat!

Ju Wentai was lucky; he was standing slightly off the edge of the explosion.

But the terrifying shockwave still sent him flying, along with his mink cloak, flying so hard that he crashed heavily onto the horse track behind him.

He was covered in blood, his face was covered in dust, and two streams of bright red blood were flowing from his ears.

The entire world in his perception consisted only of high-frequency tinnitus.

He stared blankly at the huge breach in the city wall ahead, his mind a complete blank.

"It's over..."

Ju Wentai's lips trembled, his eyes filled with extreme fear.

Just one strike.

His greatest asset, the absolute defense of Gaochang City, was gone just like that.

At this moment, however, the front lines of the Tang Dynasty's battleground were deathly silent.

Even the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion responsible for lighting the fire were stunned by the noise they had made.

"This...this is something we made?"

Mo Ju swallowed hard, the torch in his hand trembling slightly.

Although he knew the theoretical power of the exploding shell, its actual combat effect far exceeded his expectations.

This is simply divine punishment!

"Crackling and popping..."

In the silence, a crisp sound of an abacus suddenly rang out.

Dressed in an exquisite mink coat, the seven-year-old Wu Meiniang, with her delicate features, was frantically manipulating the small golden abacus in her hand.

Her fair face was filled with pain as she stomped her feet repeatedly.

"We've lost money! We've lost a huge amount!"

"These ten exploding shells use the latest refined gunpowder, plus a cast iron casing and fuse; each one costs fifty strings of cash!"

Wu Meiniang angrily flipped through the account books, her big eyes wide open.

"Five hundred strings of cash! Just for a sound! The Crown Prince's money doesn't come from thin air!"

Not far away, Li Shimin, dressed in ordinary leather armor, was trembling with excitement.

He gripped the telescope tightly in his hand, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the tragic scene on the walls of Gaochang.

"Hahahaha! That's awesome! That's fucking awesome!"

This dignified General Tian Ce, at this moment, had lost all trace of the majesty of the Tang emperor; he was completely suffering from a severe case of insufficient firepower.

"Load it! Hurry up and load it again!"

Li Shimin pushed aside the artilleryman next to him and personally took a cleaning rod to clean the cannon barrel.

"That last shot wasn't enough! Bring up the remaining ninety rounds, I'm going to plow Gaochang City three feet deep today!"

On the other side of the battlefield, the Tibetan Grand Minister Gar Tongtsen, who had been specially arranged to watch the battle from the observation platform, was in a terrible state.

"thump."

Lu Dongzan's legs went weak, as if all the bones in his body had been removed, and he collapsed onto the cold Gobi Desert.

His pride in reason and his sense of pride as the foremost sage of Tibet were shattered at that moment.

Lu Dongzan was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.

He stared intently at the mushroom cloud still rolling in the distance, his eyes almost bulging out.

"Thunder... The Tang Dynasty has mastered the thunder of divine punishment..."

He was trembling violently, his teeth chattering wildly.

He originally thought that Tibet had the natural barriers of the vast Gobi Desert and the roof of the world.

If King Songtsen Gampo can hold off the Tang army, he can take the opportunity to force the Tang Dynasty to arrange a marriage and marry Princess Chang Le.

Tibet was able to slowly erode the power of the Tang Dynasty.

Even on the way here, he was still laughing in his heart at the Tang army for slowing down their march by carrying more than a dozen heavy iron pipes.

But now, what's spewing out of those iron pipes is the real Grim Reaper!

With such a terrifying weapon, almost divine, what natural defenses or city walls matter?

The Tang army didn't even need to get close to the city of Lhasa to raz it to the ground!

Extreme fear instantly shattered Lu Dongzan's psychological defenses.

He suddenly felt an uncontrollable spasm in his lower abdomen.

Immediately afterwards, a warm liquid gushed out uncontrollably, dripping down his trouser leg.

In the cold air, a pungent, foul odor quickly spread.

This arrogant and powerful Tibetan envoy, who commanded respect on the plateau, was so terrified that he wet his pants!

"The Tang Dynasty is invincible... We've all gone mad, how dare we provoke the Tang Dynasty..."

Lu Dongzan muttered to himself, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Not far away, inside the large, iron-eating beast palanquin.

Li Chengqian was lounging on the cushion, holding a glass of pure-colored grape wine in his hand.

He didn't even lift his eyelids, as if that earth-shattering attack was just a bigger rocket.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew by.

Li Chengqian frowned and his nose twitched twice.

"What's that smell? Why is it so pungent?"

He turned around following the smell and saw Lu Dongzan lying on the ground with a wet patch between his legs.

A hint of undisguised disdain flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes.

He pinched his nose and shifted his body to the other side of the palanquin.

"Xu Xiao."

Li Chengqian greeted him.

Xu Xiao, the limping old servant who had always looked like an inconspicuous old farmer, immediately bowed and stepped forward.

"Your Highness, this old servant is here."

"Get a blanket to cover this prime minister. He wets his pants in this freezing weather. If he gets frostbite, people will think that we in the Tang Dynasty don't know how to treat guests."

Li Chengqian curled his lip, his tone full of mockery.

Upon hearing the voice, Lu Dongzan struggled to lift his head.

He looked at the eight-year-old Tang Dynasty prince on the palanquin, who seemed like a demon king descended to earth, and was so frightened that he scrambled backward.

"No...don't kill me..."

Lu Dongzan pleaded incoherently.

Li Chengqian looked down at him, a devilish smile playing on his lips.

"Da Xiang, you've already peed? This is only the first round, the real show is yet to come."