To ensure safety, he spent an extra day specifically choosing to travel at night, which resulted in a two-day delay.
The Military Council had already received Xie Xia's secret letter. At this moment, Xie Guang was leading his men to the palace gate to pick up the riders and also to notify Wei Zhao of the Ministry of Works.
As soon as Wei Zhao arrived at the palace gate, he saw the general waiting there.
Xie Guang greeted Wei Zhao: "Lord Wei, you didn't sleep last night?"
"I've been too busy rushing to finish the work," Wei Zhao said. "I am deeply grateful for the favor of the two lords. I cannot slack off until the tasks assigned to me by the lords are completed."
Xie Guang believes that firearms are inherently difficult to develop. He only learned what a cannon was seven years ago, and only this year did he learn what firearms are.
He asked, "How's the progress?"
Wei Zhao said with a look of shame, "My eldest disciple has perfectly replicated the late emperor's flintlock gun and can fire more shots, but he just can't mass-produce it."
Xie Guang said, "I heard that the late emperor's flintlock gun cost tens of thousands of taels to make. Your eldest disciple's gun has now been reduced to five thousand taels apiece, which is a great improvement."
The difference between 30,000 and 5,000 is a full six times. To put it another way, the marshal was eager to mass-produce it within a year, which sounded like an impossible task.
“Don’t say that. The Marshal has her reasons for giving orders. Besides, aren’t you aware of the news coming from Weidu?” Wei Zhao reminded him, “You need to be aware of the crisis.”
Xie Guang did not witness the deaths of the two reserve generals, but they were shot to death from a distance by a weapon, both in the chest. It is said that the Hun firearmsmen specifically targeted generals for killing, which sounds horrifying.
As the two were talking, the sound of rapid hoofbeats approached, dust billowed from the horse's tail, and the rider immediately stopped at the palace gate.
The palace guards drew their weapons in response to this display.
Xie Guang quickly raised his hand to stop him, saying, "We're on the same side!"
When the rider, Lu Han, dismounted, he couldn't even utter a word. He took the bundle off his back, handed it to Xie Guang, and then fainted.
The rider didn't eat a single grain of rice in the past two days, at most he drank some water. After being on edge for so long, he completely lost consciousness when he relaxed.
"This is a meritorious official. I will award him a merit. Quickly carry him to the Imperial Hospital for treatment!" Xie Guang ordered.
Two guards came over, carried the rider on their backs, and ran towards the Imperial Hospital.
Xie Guang, carrying his bundle, said, "Let's go to Lanzhang Palace!"
Wei Zhao followed behind him, and the two hurried to Lanzhang Palace.
When Xie Lanzhi heard that the riders had safely brought the firearms back to Tianjing, she was very curious about what was so special about the weapons of the Hu and Xiongnu. She had provided so many designs to the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Works had produced about 70-80% of them, but the power was far from enough, and then the barrels were unusable.
Chapter 107 Departure for the Red River
You can make a powerful firearm by stuffing a regular earthen gun with gunpowder and iron balls, but it won't be accurate. So training a professional firearms operator who can hit accurately would take a long time.
It was definitely too rushed to get things done in a year.
Xie Lanzhi knew that the Ministry of Works had already exceeded its targets, and she was dissatisfied with that, so she didn't use it. Only the "Wo Pao" (a type of weapon) was still usable.
Just then, Xie Guang's loud voice rang out: "Xie Guang greets the Marshal!"
"Come in, no need for formalities. Let's all see how powerful the Hun firearms are, and just how powerful they are!" Xie Lanzhi had previously sent someone to inform Lu Qing to come over.
The palace servants brought over a brand-new long table and placed the bundle on it. Xie Guang immediately tore open the bundle by hand and unpacked the layers of contents inside.
Two guns, each 1.2 meters long, with sights and a line that looked like a ruler. The barrels were about 6 centimeters long, and the flintlock bullets were about 5 centimeters long. A typical modern World War II rifle appeared before her eyes.
Xie Lanzhi laughed. It seemed like a protagonist's standard weapon, two centuries ahead of its time, yet the Huns were ahead of it.
The only drawback of this gun is that it's not waterproof inside. So if the gun falls into water, it's essentially useless. Moreover, just by touching the barrel, she knew that it completely surpassed the highest level of craftsmanship currently available in the Ministry of Works.
Wei Zhao's face turned deathly pale at the mere touch of the gun barrel. The thought that the Hu Xiongnu possessed such advanced technology left him speechless: "Marshal, I... am ashamed."
"Don't feel ashamed, you are already very good."
Unfortunately, the original plot was too full of plot holes.
Xie Lanzhi knew that she had changed the plot to shorten the time and speed up the progress, which was why Tianjing was under such pressure.
The good thing is that it gave her another layer of understanding of the Xiongnu.
Firearms technology two hundred years ahead of its time, treasure ships comparable to those of Zheng He's voyages—all these signs suggest that the world may be rapidly approaching... the industrial age. Perhaps in a hundred or two hundred years, humanity will fully enter the industrial age.
Her era was merely the nascent stage of various technologies, a pre-industrial period.
Xie Guangdao: "Marshal, the firearms look unusable. Can the Ministry of Works restore them with its current skills?"
Wei Zhao immediately assured him, "It can be restored! But it will take three months."
Xie Lanzhi told him to take the weapons and bring up the newly produced flintlock muskets.
"How many of the flintlock muskets used by the late emperor are being produced now?"
"Six in total, costing 30,000 taels of silver." Wei Zhao looked pained. "Currently, Wei Gong and others can produce two per month. If you want to mass-produce them, I'm afraid the silver..."
It takes a lot of money to burn, and these flintlock muskets need to be maintained every time they are used.
Xie Guang stared wide-eyed, his voice trembling with pain, "This flintlock rifle is like a small treasury to maintain!"
"Is it waterproof?" Xie Lanzhi hadn't inquired about her father-in-law's replica of the flintlock rifle for a long time because maintenance was too expensive, and she had even considered abandoning the project.
When it comes to waterproofing, Wei Zhao can finally stand up straight. He proudly said, "The moisture-proof oil paper invented by Wei Gong plays a big role. It is currently waterproof, but the moisture-proof oil paper has to be replaced from time to time."
Xie Lanzhi couldn't help but laugh and said, "At least in terms of waterproofing, it's better than the firearms of the Hu and Xiongnu."
Wei Zhao nodded happily: "The Marshal is absolutely right. No matter how powerful the Xiongnu are, they will still encounter obstacles."
Xie Lanzhi's words helped Wei Zhao regain his spirits.
He also recalled the design given to him by the Marshal and recently made new progress, so he took the opportunity to report: "Marshal, from now on our firearms will no longer need to be fired with a tether. Although the power is easy to spread, I have discovered that the spring and flint you mentioned can drive the spring on the pulled string to strike the flint and activate the trigger, and it will ignite immediately."
This achievement left Xie Lanzhi both amused and exasperated. While the power output wasn't perfect and the fire tubes kept malfunctioning, the trigger-pulling technique and moisture protection were groundbreaking—both two centuries ahead of their time.
Currently, they and the Xiongnu are evenly matched in terms of technology.
Xie Lanzhi asked Wei Zhao, "Do you think it's possible that the fire tube exploded because its melting point was not high enough during calcination, making it prone to exploding when exposed to cold or heat? Perhaps the power was insufficient, or maybe it was a problem with the gunpowder. I don't think the 'nest cannon' has much of a problem."
Wei Zhao shook his head and said, "The firearm relies on the amount of gunpowder, so its power will definitely be greater. But the flint is different. Marshal, you don't want to use earthworms, and you've ordered us to stuff gunpowder into tiny flint shells. The flint shells also have to be made of sheet metal. It's really too difficult."
Xie Guang was dozing off beside him, like a poor student in class, lost in thought and unable to understand what the top students were saying.
Lu Qing, who arrived later, overheard only a snippet of it.
"Greetings, Marshal!"
"Come in and have a look."
When Lu Qing entered, she saw two familiar firearms. She glanced at them, but became curious about what Lord Wei had just said about stuffing medicine into the flintlock shells.
Is the Ministry of Works' constant failures due to problems with fire-making technology? But it's not that difficult. Why can't they at least make a few firearms that can scare people?
Seeing that she was staring at Wei Zhao, Xie Lanzhi said, "You heard what we just said. Do you have any opinions?"
Lu Qing said, "I would like to ask if the flintlock shell that the Marshal wants to manufacture is the kind with a pointed iron outer layer, filled with gunpowder, and then sealed with a lid before being fired?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Zhao's eyes lit up. He thought to himself, "As expected of a disciple of the Mohist school, he understands everything immediately, unlike the general next to him who was almost asleep because he couldn't understand."
“Yes!” Xie Lanzhi said, “But that little bit of gunpowder isn’t enough to make it powerful. Besides, it’s a gunpowder.”
Although both can kill, it's better to use them in a way that suits your hand. She needs to strive for perfection in order to reduce costs and mass-produce them in the future, so she can't settle for second best. If she deploys inaccurate firearms in the war, their effectiveness will be worse than that of archers, or even worse than that of cavalry. In that case, it will be a waste of money and manpower, and she still won't be able to win a battle. Firearms cannot be widely adapted to the battlefield; at best, they are just weapons to scare people, which is not worth it at all.
Lu Qing said, "In that case, you can only increase the fuel to generate a stronger force to propel the fire."
Xie Lanzhi feigned ignorance, remaining calm: "What is combustion aid?"
Lu Qing immediately rolled up her sleeves, with an expression that said, "I'm very good." She began to explain in detail to Wei Zhao, whom she thought could understand: "The thing that helps combustion is very simple. My husband once did an experiment. He found that in a place full of dust, as long as you light a fire, it will explode."
"I later learned that flour can be incredibly powerful in a sealed container. And pouring oil on it can start a fire; filling a sealed metal can with gunpowder can directly blow up a stove. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
She once accidentally dropped her husband's experimental jar into the stove while cooking, and the stove perished along with Prince Zhao. She herself was left with a blackened face and burns, which took three months to heal.
If she hadn't been standing in the weak and well-defended position her husband had mentioned, she probably would have been dead long ago.
Wei Zhao seemed to understand, and he nodded: "Madam Lu, your husband is indeed a genius."
Xie Lanzhi asked, "Does Madam Lu know a way to increase the power of gunpowder?"
Lu Qing thought for a moment and said, "I've seen my husband secretly concoct powerful gunpowder, it seems like he added some kind of silvery substance to it. I don't know what it was."
"Try grinding the iron into powder and putting it in," Xie Lanzhi said at the opportune moment. "Wei Zhao is giving you three months to get started on the experiment as soon as possible."
Wei Zhao quickly nodded: "Yes!"
Wei Zhao immediately excused himself, and Xie Guang followed suit, stunned. Lu Qing wanted to stay and ask how she knew, but Xie Lanzhi waved her hand, indicating that they should leave. She had no choice but to shut her mouth, thinking to herself, "Could this marshal have deliberately used me to say something like this?"
However, her husband didn't add iron powder; he added a higher-quality metal. Each refining process was extremely difficult, so he kept it a secret and refused to reveal it.
Afterwards, the Ministry of Works tested the method that very night and found that the power of the gunpowder had indeed increased, but it was not pure enough and they had to continue testing.
Similarly, Lu Qing also received commendation from Xie Lanzhi, who rewarded her with a large courtyard.
That evening, Si Xitong returned home looking exhausted.
When Xie Lanzhi came out to meet her, she wrapped her arms around her waist and buried herself in her arms. Even though she was tired, she still wanted to stay in the place she wanted to be.
Xie Lanzhi picked her up without making a sound, put her hands under her knees, and walked sideways to the bedside. Instead of putting her on the bed, she sat on the edge of the bed, with her in her arms.
"You've been working really hard lately." It's like you're rushing to meet a deadline, but as the main character, even if you're rushing, you'll still succeed as you wish.
Si Xitong said somewhat dejectedly, "It's the end of the month."
Xie Lanzhi paused slightly; her young wife was reminding her that she was about to leave. She was prematurely experiencing the pain of parting.
"Since you know I'm going to the Northern Region, why don't you stay by my side and keep me company for a few more days?" She said, half-laughing and half-crying, "Besides, it's not like we're going to die. I'll be back in a few months."
When his wife heard that it would be several months, she buried her head even deeper in his arms, as if she didn't want to leave as long as she could smell her own scent. It was warm and intoxicating, like hiding under the sun.
"Lanzhi, how can I bear the thought of not being able to walk alongside you?" Si Xitong's voice came muffled from her arms, yet it was unusually firm.
Xie Lanzhi narrowed her eyes, savoring the meaning of these words. Her little phoenix never spoke nonsense, and when she did, it was always to lay the groundwork for something.
She chose to answer: "I never thought about carrying a heavy burden. As Xie Lanzhi's wife, I not only need to be self-reliant, but also have self-confidence, and... also have enough patience."
Chapter 108 What She Wants is a General Who Dares to Stir Up a Hornet's Nest
Five thousand soldiers lined up in a long queue at the gates of Tianjing and set off in a grand procession. The female general in black armor, riding a horse at the head of the procession, left Tianjing without looking back.
Accompanying her was a wedding procession, escorting Princess Yongning in her carriage as she journeyed westward to the northern regions.