Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

The cannon barrel has a heavy color that is a mixture of dark red and bluish-black, and the muzzle is wide open.

Behind the cannon barrel, two sturdy trunnions were attached, which were firmly mounted on a specially made heavy ironwood cannon carriage.

This is the new type of muzzle-loading heavy cannon that Pei Yuan created by combining his memories from his previous life with the existing smelting methods of the Ming Dynasty.

Pei Yuan stepped forward and reached out to stroke the scorching hot cannon barrel.

The cold, hard touch made his smile grow even wider.

With such powerful weapons, the Ming Dynasty's navy became an invincible overlord on the vast ocean.

"Load the explosives and test fire."

Pei Yuan patted the cannon barrel, stepped back a few paces, and issued the military order.

Old Yan was clearly prepared.

He pointed to a dilapidated sand barge that had been abandoned for a long time in the middle of the river, which was a good two miles away from the shore.

"Sir, that wrecked ship is the target."

Several strong gunners carried over barrels of gunpowder.

According to the quantities marked on Pei Yuan's blueprints, granular black powder was filled into the cannon barrel and then tamped down with a long push rod.

Immediately afterwards, a solid iron ball the size of a watermelon and weighing several tens of kilograms was pushed in.

"Adjust the cannon muzzle!"

The gunners turned the winch behind the gun carriage, and with a metallic scraping sound, the dark muzzle slowly rose.

They aimed at the abandoned sand barge drifting with the current in the middle of the river.

"ignition!"

A pyrotechnician, holding a red-hot iron bar, approached the fuse at the breech of the cannon.

"laugh!!"

The fuse burned out instantly.

"BOOM!!!"

A deafening roar, as if the heavens and earth were created, exploded in the sky above the Longjiang Shipyard!

The entire riverbank seemed to jolt violently at the sound of the cannon.

The cannon spewed out a ball of intense fire and thick white smoke that stretched for several meters.

The immense recoil caused the heavy ironwood cannon to slide backward several feet, carving two deep furrows in the ground.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the river.

Two miles away, the abandoned sand barge that was still swaying on the water didn't even have time to make a sound.

The enormous solid iron projectile, moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye and carrying devastating kinetic energy, slammed into the center of the sand barge.

"Snap! Crash!"

Wood chips flew everywhere, and water jets shot into the sky!

That sturdy sand barge was as fragile as paper before that terrifying iron bullet.

The ship was instantly torn in two, and the mast broke.

Countless pieces of wood, accompanied by a spray of water, shot out in all directions.

In just a few breaths, the sand barge sank completely into the rolling Yangtze River under this violent blow.

All that remained on the river surface were swirling eddies and a few pieces of floating debris.

On the shore, there was a deathly silence.

Several blacksmiths were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, staring dumbfounded at Jiangxin.

Old Yan was so excited that he trembled all over, and his beard shook.

Lu Zheng and the group of Imperial Guards swallowed hard. They were used to using knives all year round, but they had never seen such a terrifying weapon.

If this cannon shot hit the city wall, it could probably blast the city gate to smithereens!

"Great! That felt good!"

Pei Yuan burst into laughter, the sound piercing the river breeze and exuding an arrogant arrogance that looked down upon the world.

He walked up to the heavy cannon that was still emitting blue smoke, his eyes filled with fanaticism.

"With this divine artifact, there is nowhere in the world we cannot go! This cannon shall be named the Sea-Suppressing God!"

"Sir, I require ten cannons of this caliber! They shall be arranged on both sides of the ship when the thousand-ton treasure ship is launched."

"I will make the roar of this Sea-Suppressing Deity resound throughout the entire South Seas!"

Old Yan kowtowed repeatedly: "This humble subject obeys! I will serve you with my life, even unto death, to forge cannons for you!"

The deafening roar of the heavy artillery test firing not only shook the Longjiang Shipyard.

The deep, thunderous roar was carried by the river wind and reached the city of Jinling.

At this moment, in a secluded private study on the banks of the Qinhuai River.

Wan Dafu, a major salt merchant in Lianghuai, was sitting opposite Zhao Guangting, the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing.

Both men had gloomy expressions, and the atmosphere in the study was extremely oppressive.

The faint thud they heard earlier made their eyelids twitch.

"Lord Zhao, listen to this. What is that living devil up to now? My Wan family's 50,000 catties of red copper have all been poured into the bottomless pit of Longjiang Shipyard."

"That's not all. Yesterday, the Embroidered Uniform Guard came again with a message saying that there isn't enough tung oil for shipbuilding, and that we Lianghuai salt merchants need to 'donate' another 100,000 taels of silver to purchase it!"

Wan Dafu slammed his fist on the table in anger, his fat cheeks trembling slightly with rage.

"This Pei Yuan is simply going too far! Does he think we're his personal bank? This endless exploitation is outrageous! Even if we had mountains of gold and silver, we couldn't withstand his draining!"

Zhao Guangting's hand holding the teacup was also trembling slightly.

He sighed and slammed the teacup down on the table.

"Boss Wan, how could I not feel wronged? He turned the Ministry of Revenue's treasury upside down. Now, officials throughout Nanjing are full of complaints. But what can we do?"

"He holds the Emperor's sword bestowed upon him, and he has a master in the capital backing him up. Our impeachment memorials are like mud oxen disappearing into the sea; what can you do about it?"

A ruthless and extremely resentful glint flashed in Wan Dafu's eyes.

He lowered his voice and leaned closer to Zhao Guangting.

"Lord Zhao, we can't defeat him openly, but the waters of Jiangnan run very deep."

Wan Dafu took out an unsigned letter from his sleeve and pushed it in front of Zhao Guangting.

"This is a letter from Songjiang Prefecture. Recently, a group of extremely fierce Japanese pirates has appeared along the coast. The leader is called One-Eyed Dragon, and he has five or six hundred desperate men under his command who have been plundering merchant ships in the East China Sea for many years."

"These people only care about money, not the law."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Guangting was startled. He glanced around warily and reprimanded in a low voice.

"Boss Wan! Have you gone mad? You dare to collude with Japanese pirates? This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

"Lord Zhao, don't panic."

Wan Dafu gave a sinister laugh.

"We won't show our faces. We'll just send a reliable middleman to deliver 100,000 taels of silver to that one-eyed dragon. Tell him that the Longjiang Shipyard is overflowing with rare treasures and cash for building treasure ships."

"As long as he leads his men into the shipyard at night, sets fire to the unfinished treasure ship, and while he's at it... kills that imperial envoy surnamed Pei."

Wan Dafu's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Once Pei Yuan is dead and the treasure ships are destroyed, this messy situation will naturally be blamed on the Japanese pirates. The court will be furious and will investigate the Songjiang garrison for inadequate defense, not us."

"With Pei Yuan eliminated, Jiangnan will once again be in our hands!"

As Zhao Guangting listened to this audacious plan, cold sweat poured down his forehead.

But the thought of Pei Yuan holding his embezzlement ledger and the endless humiliation he had suffered over the past few months made him realize how precious those memories were.

The fear in his heart was gradually swallowed up by a wicked thought.

If a person doesn't look out for themselves, they'll be punished by heaven and earth.

Since Pei Yuan is not leaving them a way out, then they shouldn't blame him for being ruthless!

"This matter... must be handled flawlessly. Absolutely no evidence should be left undetected."

Zhao Guangting gritted his teeth, which was tantamount to tacitly approving of this shocking conspiracy.