Obviously, this thing is the proud work of Qing Xuzi. Seeing that Qin Jin's attention was attracted to the past, he said very proudly:

"It's called a cannon! It fires five stone bullets in a row!"

Qin Jin walked in and took a closer look, but saw that the five so-called tree trunks were actually hollowed out, and the inside was charred, obviously scorched, and it was obvious that they had been burned. He immediately understood that what Qing Xuzi had concocted was something similar to the principle of artillery.

However, using the hollowed-out tree trunk to fire stone projectiles, Qin Jin was very skeptical that this thing could be used several times.

"Have real people ever tried it?"

Qingxuzi straightened his waist and boasted:

"That's natural, please take twenty steps back for the prime minister, and Poor Dao will personally test shoot!"

With the order of Qing Xuzi, some soldiers methodically poured the ground into the hollowed trunk of the tree, and stuffed the stone bullet polished into an oval shape, and a fire rope entered through the middle of the trunk...... These actions were all completed in less than half an hour, and Qin Jin said secretly: Qing Xuzi still put a lot of effort into training these soldiers.

The fire ropes of the five tree trunks were lit at the same time, and only a few loud noises were heard, and several deep pits had been smashed a hundred paces ahead.

After the test firing, Qing Xuzi was even more proud, came to Qin Jin, and asked in a tone of invitation:

"What does the prime minister think, how about the barren road?"

Qin Jin gave a thumbs up, praised it a few times, and then changed his words again.

"Please test shoot ten times in a row!"

"Ten times?"

Qing Xuzi was stunned for a moment, and immediately smiled:

"Okay, let's test shoot ten times and show it to the prime minister!"

With that, he trotted back again, directing his soldiers to continue preparing for the test launch.

Soon, a new round of test firing was successfully completed, and Qing Xuzi was very satisfied with the results of this test firing. Because all the targets placed in the target position were destroyed. However, when the test shot reached the sixth time, an accident occurred.

Two of the five tree trunks were blown through, and one soldier was cut in the face by a piece of wood, bleeding profusely. Fortunately, it was only a minor injury and there was no major problem.

At this point, Qing Xuzi's face had become ugly, but he still did not give up, and still ordered the remaining three trunks to be loaded, and when the test firing was carried out for the tenth time, without exception, all of them were blown up.

Qingxuzi paused on the ground in frustration, wondering what the problem was.

Of course, Qin Jin knew what the problem was, and the kind of firearm that Qing Xuzi had concocted was actually the artillery of later generations. It's just that although the toughness of the trunk is good, it still can't withstand the huge impact force generated by * burning, and with the increase in the number of explosions, the bearing capacity of the trunk will inevitably get worse and worse, and it is only a matter of time before it is blown up.

"Why don't real people replace tree trunks with cast copper?"

Qingxuzi scratched his head, as if he was abrupt, but sighed again:

"The prime minister has allocated less and less research funds to the new army, so how can he afford copper?"

Reducing the budget for Qing Xuzi's courage to develop firearms, Fifth Qi had already passed the gas with Qin Jin, because Qing Xuzi had developed almost ninety percent of the things that had been developed in the past half a year were useless waste. At a time when the counterinsurgency was tense and the treasury was stretched, the Fifth Qi naturally set his sights on the development of new firearms, which cost a lot of money and wasted effort.

Now that the counterinsurgency has ended, Qin Jin can naturally appropriately allocate some more money for Qing Xuzi.

Moreover, there are ready-made copper materials in the treasury, which are directly allocated to Qingxuzi.

Hollow copper pillars are cast from copper to replace hollowed trunks, which increases the toughness and hardness many times.

After getting Qin Jin's promise, Qing Xuzi was very excited, and took the initiative to pull him to try other new firearms.

The second type of firearm appears to be much more reliable than five tree trunks side by side. A five-foot-square wooden box was filled with dense rockets. Just looking at the appearance, Qin Jin can also be compared with the firearms that were born in history.

He sometimes had to admire Qing Xuzi's imagination, and he could actually create so many advanced things on the basis of nothing to learn from. Although everything is outrageously shoddy, the basic principle is roughly the same.

Now Qin Jin felt that it was necessary to increase the budget for the development of new firearms, in case he succeeded!

Previously, Qin Jin neglected to do further research and development of firearms, not because he was unaware of the importance of innovation. However, in terms of the current level of metal smelting and the combat habits of the army, there are many contradictions with advanced weapons.

Because, advanced weapons inevitably mean the use of advanced tactics, and tactics are not something that can be thought up by patting the head, and requires a lot of actual combat and summary. And the so-called new weapons, if used incorrectly, may even reduce the combat effectiveness of the army.

This is one of the reasons why Qin Jin has always used the simplest and primitive firearms as a supplement to the strength of the Shenwu Army.

Another reason is that complex firearms often require complex maintenance, the battle damage rate is also high, and whether these so-called advanced weapons can play a stable role in long-distance raids.

It was precisely for such and such reasons that Qin Jin postponed the development, but paid more attention to the practical and repaired the strengthening of the Shenwu Army on the existing basis.

However, today's Qing Xuzi's various advanced imaginations gave Qin Jin a powerful stimulus, and he felt that since he was able to concoct these primitive and crude weapons, if he used what he knew, he might be able to get unexpected results!

"Please take ten steps back!"

All firearms are in danger of exploding, so in order to ensure safety, Qing Xuzi once again asked Qin Jin to stay away from this kind of box full of rockets.

With an order, ten wooden boxes full of rockets emitted thick white smoke in unison, followed by a sharp roar, and countless rockets flew out, the distance was more than fifty paces, and the grass and trees of the other party in front of them were immediately ignited, and a raging fire broke out.

Qing Xuzi didn't wait for Qin Jin to let him test fire ten more times, but took the initiative to command the soldiers to reload and ignite......

This time, the box full of rockets was much more stable than the previous trunk cannon, and the smoke released after the combustion of a large number of rockets quickly filled the entire test site and could not be dispersed for a long time.

As a result, the demonstration of the new firearm had to be interrupted.

Qing Xuzi kept a lot of low profile this time, changed his previous pride, and asked Qin Jin in some periods:

"Prime Minister tell me, how about this Lianzhu rocket?"

Qin Jin smiled secretly, Qing Xuzi's imagination in naming was lackluster, and several things had to be named Lianzhu. However, this flurry of rockets can indeed be used, whether it is used to break up the enemy's charging formation, or to storm the fortification, it can have a good effect. Of course, if it is used defensively, it is even more effective.

However, the Tang Army is no longer the vulnerable Tang Army of the Tianbao period, and the offensive will be the main combat task of the Tang Army in the next 10 years.

Therefore, the development of offensive firearms is obviously more priority than defensive firearms.

"Yes, this thing is used to defend the city, but it is a must!"

Qing Xuzi was so smart that he immediately heard the meaning of Qin Jin's words, so he defended:

"Lianzhu rocket is a fire attack weapon, and it is not much better than defense, if you don't believe it, please try it again after a while!"

Due to the smoke of gunpowder, the demonstration of the new firearm that was being tried could only be interrupted, and Qin Jin took the opportunity to exchange his opinions with Qing Xuzi.

After all, weapons need to be used for a long time, and if the damage rate of firearms exceeds 50 percent during a long-distance attack, how can the combat effectiveness be guaranteed? When it is used as a supplement to combat effectiveness, it is acceptable, but once it is used as the main combat force, I don't need to say the consequences, you can also understand it?"

Qing Xuzi nodded very seriously, what he had always been complacent about was so unassuming, it made him lose a lot of face during the demonstration, and his mood was naturally a little low!

Qin Jin focused his suggestion on artillery, if Qing Xuzi really came up with a qualified artillery that could be used, it would really give him the biggest surprise!

"The barrels of the Lianzhu artillery are numerous, bulky, and complicated to maintain, which is not suitable for long-distance combat use by the army. Wouldn't it be lighter than the frame of a stone cannon?"

When Qing Xuzi heard this, he felt greatly inspired, and nodded his head repeatedly.

After telling Qing Xuzi about his suggestion, Qin Jin changed his words again and said:

"The Western Expedition is about to be put on the agenda, the progress of research and development must be fast, and the latest autumn is when the army will be deployed!"

Hearing this, Qing Xuzi's eyes lit up again, and he had long been thinking about going out with the army. When Zheng Xianli went to the Western Regions, he didn't catch the opportunity, and now that Qin Jin plans to go out in person, he is naturally unwilling to give up this great opportunity.

"The prime minister is going on this expedition, but you must bring the poor road!"

Qin Jin smiled, and when he was pondering the candidates for the expedition with the army, Qing Xuzi was on the list of the first batch. This person is considered a lucky general, he has not died in several disasters, and he has been blessed by misfortune, and he may be able to receive miraculous effects with him!

Of course, the main reason is that Qing Xuzi, as the person who knows most about firearms in the Shenwu Army, must go out with the army. This is because more than half of the firearms and equipment of the new army have had a tremendous impact on combat effectiveness.

Without a person who coordinates all the firearms, Qin Jin really can't rest assured!

As time passed, Qin Jin chatted with Qing Xuzi for a few more words, and suddenly a relative rode into the West Inner Garden and sent an urgent military report.

At this time, a military report came, and a bad premonition hit his heart, Qin Jin immediately slapped open the sealing mud, poured out the oil-paper envelope inside, and pulled out the military newspaper written on parchment, and couldn't help but change his face after reading a few words.

Seeing this, Qingxuzi also trembled, and asked in a lost voice:

"But something happened?"