Everyone followed Liu Xun straight through the field and came to the front of the shed. Dozens of soldiers were guarding the left side of the shed, and when they saw Liu Xunzhi and Wang Yuan and others coming, the soldiers hurriedly worked together to open the large fence gate of the hut. Everyone slowly approached, this shed is several zhang high, spanning more than ten zhang, it is a huge warehouse. On the flat ground in front of him, a huge tarpaulin covered a large area of things tightly.

"Lift the tarpaulin and ask the handsome to take a look." Liu Xun shouted.

More than a dozen soldiers swarmed up, hula lifted the pieces of oilcloth, and in the dim light, rows of cannon barrels immediately appeared in front of everyone. The black barrel was greased, shiny and shimmering with a dull metallic sheen. The muzzles of the black holes are all facing the north, facing the direction of everyone, looking at these black holes, people shudder. In the southwest corner, large wooden boxes are neatly arranged, and inside are large black iron balls, which are the iron shells specially used for this kind of iron cannon.

"There are thirty-nine barrels in total, and ten will be newly cast tomorrow. The current progress is that twelve barrels are cast per month. Five hundred shells. Because of the limited supply of iron ingots, this rate can only be maintained at this rate. Liu Xun reported directly.

Wang Yuan couldn't close his mouth with a smile, and nodded again and again: "Okay, very good." This progress has exceeded my expectations. However, my idea is that there should be at least two hundred to three hundred cannons. For an average of 100 rounds per tube, 20,000 to 30,000 shells are needed. It's still far from it. ”

"Yes, yes. Cannonballs are easy to do, and ordinary iron ingots can be cast. It's just that the iron used for this barrel, the marshal also knows that this is in a hurry. The mines in the Kapok Mountains are too small and unreliable. The marshal said that he couldn't be brutal, and he couldn't die. So the amount of iron produced is limited. Unless it is to open another mine, but it will take another year and a half to complete. Now in addition to our people, there are also people from Nanzhao Kingdom, tens of thousands of people are working there, and the transportation of materials is a problem. Liu Xun smacked his lips and said.

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Take your time, don't be in a hurry." Tell Luo Wei that at this rate, it will be done, and it will not be possible to eat a fat man in one bite. This thing consumes too much, and if you add more manpower, you will need to open the blast furnace again, and I can't afford it anymore. You're going to save me some of it. ”

Liu Xun nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, the old man understands." How dare the old man be extravagant. ”

Wei Jiansu was in a daze with his mouth open all the time, and finally swallowed a mouthful of spit, pointed at these cannons and asked, "Xiangguo, what are these things you made for?" ”

Tan Ping laughed and said, "Wei Zuoxiang, this thing is not for eating. You've never seen this thing fire. Big Iron Egg. The son blasted out, and the mountains cracked several miles away, and the mountains collapsed and the ground cracked. This is a magic weapon. ”

"So powerful? How do you shoot this? It's not a catapult, I don't understand. Wei Jiansu stroked the barrel and looked up and down.

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Wei Zuoxiang, that is not thrown out, it is ** blown up." ”

“**？ What's that? Wei Jiansu didn't understand it even more.

"That's it, let's open our eyes again, so that you can see what the power of ** is. Smoked straight, is Zhang Zhengyi in the west? ”

"Yes, yes, yes. This old thing is still that virtuous, I want him to come with me to greet the handsome, and he glared at me, saying that I have nothing to do and always disturb him. said that the big man came and went to see him by himself, but he didn't have time to revolve around the big man all day long. Liu Xun smiled directly.

"This old thing, what a stinky temper, what a big breath." Zhao Qing scolded.

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Outsiders, what do you care? Hasn't he always been like that? Let's go meet him. Let's see if there's progress. That thing must be much more useful for our big iron cannon. ”

Liu Xun said straightly: "Dashuai, don't call the big iron cannon." Luo Wei and Lao Yu both felt that such divine weapons must have spirituality, and they had to be given a proper name. So I want to ask the marshal to give them a name. Shenwei cannons are famous, how can these guys be nameless? ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "That's right, there should be a name." Well, I'd like to think about what to call it. ”

Everyone looked at Wang Yuan expectantly, Wang Yuan's eyes stared at a cannon barrel in front of him, and he turned around, and said in a deep voice: "You see, after installing the two iron claw brackets fixed on the ground in front of this cannon barrel, he held his head high, and his instrument was lofty. Does it look like a tiger squatting on the ground, baring its teeth and claws? Why don't you just call it a 'tiger squat'? ”

Everyone praised it, and Liu Xun stroked his beard and smiled: "Sure enough, it looks like a tiger standing on a dragon plate, a tiger squatting cannon, this name is good." Lowe will be satisfied, too. I immediately asked Li Dazhui to cast a word mold, and in the future, every cannon must be marked with the word "tiger squat", and ask the marshal to write the inscription himself, so that they can carve the mold as it is. ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "Do you still need an inscription?" ”

"Of course, no one has this qualification unless it is the pen of the handsome." Liu Xun straightened.

Wang Yuan smiled: "That's it, then I'll be ugly." Bring the pen and ink, and I will write. ”

At that moment, a servant immediately went to Liu Xunzhi's residence, took the four treasures of the study room and spread them on an iron plate, Wang Yuan dipped the pen in thick ink, and waved it down, like a cloud of smoke and snakes, through the back of the paper. In an instant, the word 'tiger squat' in two simple strokes jumped on the paper.

"It's ugly." Wang Yuan put aside his pen and smiled.

"No wonder even Yan Zhenqing said that the word handsome is a family of its own. The word handsome is really different. I heard that the handsome character has its own font, Yan Zhenqing told me. But I forgot about it. What's it called? Wei Jiansu thought as he knocked his head.

"Fang Songti." Wang Yuan's face did not change color.

……

At the west head of the arsenal, Zhang Zhengyi's research and refining place. The backyard has been heavily expanded with bunker fortifications, which have been transformed into a decent testing ground. The main experiment is the ** developed by Zhang Zhengyi. More than five months ago, Wang Yuan had learned the first generation of experimental ** produced by Zhang Zheng's genius-like brain hole. That is the use of the ultra-low ignition point of yellow phosphorus, mixed with **iron balls and other substances, and detonated by friction and heat generation**.

Although the experiment was successful, it is clear that this method of shaking it beforehand is not very reliable. The cold and warm weather and the concentration of yellow scales will greatly affect the detonation of **. Obviously, this kind of ** cannot be used as a weapon to equip the army, because it is very likely that in the process of shaking, even if you shake it once more or shake it, ** will explode in your hand. Therefore, during this time, Zhang Zhengyi has been making every effort to study the most suitable deflagration method.

A few months ago, before Wang Yuan sent out the army, he had a chat with Zhang Zhengyi once. Wang Yuan knew that since yellow phosphorus containing impurities could be extracted from urine, it had actually met the raw materials for making something that would be prevalent in later generations. That's matches. If you can make something similar to a match, in fact, you only need to set a fuse on the **, and in wartime, you can rub yellow phosphorus to ignite the fuse and throw it directly. That is, a simple cable ignition method. This approach is obviously much more advanced than the previous approach.

Zhang Zhengyi is worthy of a Frankenstein with supernormal thinking, and he does not think that Wang Yuan's suggestion is absurd, but thinks that it is very possible. This made Wang Yuan very pleased. From this, it can be seen that Zhang Zhengyi is indeed an advanced alchemy alchemist, and an ancient alchemist with the spirit of scientific exploration is actually an inventor who can bring many experience inventions to future generations. Although Wang Yuan was a little vague because he did not know the specific recipe for making matches, Zhang Zhengyi thought that this direction was right.

In the past few months, Zhang Zhengyi has been studying according to this line of thought, and finally made a major breakthrough.

In the test ground of the back house where Zhang Zhengyi lived, Wang Yuan and others watched with anticipation as Zhang Zheng's servants came over with a tray covered by a red envelope. Zhang Zhengyi, who had white hair and filthy clothes, personally stepped forward to open the red envelope, only to see seven or eight things like a long purple eggplant appear in front of everyone.

Wei Jiansu, who saw this kind of thing for the first time, couldn't help but be disappointed, this kind of thing that Zhang Tianshi took out so grandly and pompously was so inconspicuous. Wei Jiansu couldn't figure out what the use of this thing could be.

But Wang Yuan doesn't think so. The first time he saw this thing, Wang Yuan remembered the kind of grenade that he often saw in later generations. Bullet stuff. The top is a cylindrical ** room, and the hollow wooden handle several inches long below is used to equip the fire pulling device.

"Xiang Guo, since Xiang Guo talked all night a few months ago, he has been deeply inspired by the old decay. According to Xiangguo's ideas and his own additions, Lao Yu finally completed this thing a few days ago. Despite their ugly appearance, the old man firmly believes that they have reached the kind of weapons that can be easily thrown as required by Xiangguo. "Zhang Zhengyi pointed to these 'grenades. Bullet' introduced to Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan reached out and picked one up and looked at it carefully. Zhao Qing and Tan Ping hurriedly reminded: "Be careful, this thing is afraid that it is not safe." ”

Zhang Zhengyi smiled and said: "Don't worry, this thing will not burst if it is smashed on the ground, and the two generals can rest assured." ”

Zhao Qing Tan Ping was stunned and said: "It's okay to smash the ground, so what's the use of this thing?" Is it used to smash people? It's not as easy as picking up rocks and smashing people. ”

Zhang Zhengyi's face was disdainful, and he had nothing to say to these two people who didn't know what to say. Wang Yuan laughed and said, "What are you talking nonsense? The secret of this thing is inside. If I'm not mistaken, the twine loop peeking out from the back of the handle must be a fire-starting device, right? ”

Zhang Zhengyi raised his big finger and said: "Xiangguo is Xiangguo, omniscient and omniscient." This twine loop is the ignition device. Sangkook saw it at a glance. ”

Only then did everyone notice that the end of the wooden handle was revealing the head of a piece of twine, which they had thought was useless, but they did not expect it to be a ignition device.

"Zhang Tianshi, if you don't mind, I'll try one and see how powerful it is?" Wang Yuan said with a smile.

"Of course you can, the old man came to talk to Xiangguo about the essentials, first grab the twine loop, and then ......"

Wang Yuan waved his hand and smiled: "I don't need you to teach, I think I know how to use this thing." Stand behind the fortifications, this thing is no joke. ”

When everyone heard this, they immediately stepped back and stood behind the half-human-high sandbag. But seeing that Wang Yuan was holding the wooden handle in his right hand, he hooked the twine loop with the middle finger of his left hand, and pulled the thread back forcefully. All I could hear was a stagnant friction from the wooden handle, and a stabbing sound of rubbing. A smell of sulfur** came to my nose, followed by green smoke from behind the wooden handle.

"Be careful, Dashuai, I'm about to lose that thing." Zhao Qing and the others screamed in fright.

Wang Yuan raised his hand and threw his hand into the large sand pit more than ten zhang away. Then he quickly lay down. I heard a boom, black smoke rose, and a huge wave of sand was set off in the bunker. The ears of the people were buzzing, and then a rain of sand fell from the sky, falling on everyone's hair, armor and necks.

Everyone looked out of the fortifications in amazement, their faces full of incredulity. The power of this thing shocked everyone. Wang Yuan got up from the ground and ran to the sand pit shaking the sand on his body, but saw that a large hole several feet square had been blown open in the sand pit, and green smoke was still emitting from the sand.

"Oh my god, what the hell is this. Why is it so fierce? Wei Jiansu's face turned pale and he was shocked.

Wang Yuan laughed and said: "This is the power of the ** I told you." Don't look at that thing is small, it is filled with **, and it is so powerful when it explodes. It has the power of opening mountains and cracking stones. ”

Wei Jiansu swallowed and spitted at the mouth: "If this thing is thrown into the pile, then it will be worth it?" ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Yes, within a radius of seven or eight feet, there must be broken tendons and broken bones, and flesh and blood are flying." ”

Wei Jiansu was stunned and speechless for a long time.

Wang Yuan was extremely happy, and said to Zhang Zheng: "Zhang Tianshi, you did it, I know that there is nothing that can be done to discourage Zhang Tianshi, congratulations." It must have been an easy process. ”

Zhang Zheng stroked his beard and smiled: "Congratulations to Xiangguo, there is no sense of accomplishment for making this thing." It's just that he obeys the orders of Xiangguo. Xiangguo, there is a saying that I don't know whether to say it or not. ”

Wang Yuan said: "When did Zhang Tianshi become polite? That's it. ”

Zhang Zhengyi groaned: "Okay, then the old man has the courage to make suggestions." Xiangguo, the old man knows that Xiangguo is a first-class strange person in the world. Sangkook's actions and Sangkook's whimsical ideas are endless. From the fire side at the beginning to the thunderbolt cannon, to the current cannon and today's thing, it is not a work of Xiangguo's whimsy. Xiangguo's astronomy and geography are omniscient and omniscient, so that the five bodies admired by the old decay are thrown to the ground. However, Xiangguo Xiangguo did not, the advent of these domineering murderous things would bring great disasters to the world. For example, this **, one drop, can kill and injure five or six people or even more than ten people, Xiangguo wants to make a large number of columns, how much damage this will cause. Heaven has the virtue of a good life, although the old man also knows that killing is inevitable, but killing with a sword and a sword is not the same thing as killing such a domineering thing. Although the old decay created this thing, the old decay was not happy, but was extremely worried. ”

Wang Yuan was stunned, he didn't expect Zhang Zhengyi to say such a thing. This Zhang Zhengyi is not a foolish person, but he has such a compassionate heart. Most of these monks revered Taoism, which probably conflicts with the Taoist concept of harmony between nature and man.

"Zhang Zhengyi, what do you say? Are you a priest in charge of these things? The handsome is not thin on you, you do something for the handsome, and the handsome will be taught a lesson. Outrageous. Tan Ping glared and shouted.

Zhang Zhengyi smacked his lips and said: "General Tan, the old man is not teaching the commander, the old man is just saying what he thinks in his heart." The old man used to be very happy here, but he felt more and more that what the old man did would cause an unknown number of killings, so it was difficult to feel at ease. ”

Zhang Zhengyi frowned and sighed slightly. The people around also frowned slightly, although they didn't say it, but they also felt that Zhang Zhengyi's words were quite reasonable. As soon as the killing weapon comes out, I am afraid that it will cause even more killings and more tragic disasters.

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "Tianshi Zhang, I can understand your feelings. You feel that you have indirectly created the killing, so you are unhappy in your heart. But what I'm telling you is that you're wrong. Throughout the ages, the killing in the world has never stopped. Although everyone hopes that it will be a peaceful and prosperous world, this is destined to be just a bubble. You just said that I am afraid that these domineering things will cause even more killing. All I can say is that your understanding is shallow. ”

Zhang Zhengyi frowned and said, "What does Xiangguo mean by this? ”

Wang Yuan slowly pulled out the long sword at his waist, put the sword in his chest, and said to Zhang Zheng: "Zhang Tianshi, do you dare to kill me?" ”

Zhang Zhengyi was stunned and said, "What does Xiangguo mean by this?" How can the old decay have such a heart? ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "It's just an example." If the Heavenly Master has the intention to kill me, and I have no blade with my bare hands, will you dare to attack me? But if I have a sharp blade in my hand, and you are stronger than me, will you weigh it and not dare to strike at me lightly? ”

Zhang Zhengyi frowned and said, "What Xiangguo means is...... Violence to violence? ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "It is to stop violence with violence." These domineering things are not harmful things, but deterrent things. If there are people with bad intentions, and I have a strong weapon in my hand, will they dare to provoke easily, knowing that they are invincible? The peace of the world does not depend on voluntary willingness, but on deterrence. The more timid the domineering things in my hands are, the more they will make the world less killing, and the world will return to peace. Instead of causing more killing, as Zhang Tianshi said. Of course, the premise is that I will not abuse these things, and I will not kill innocents for no reason. Does Zhang Tianshi think that he is killing innocent people indiscriminately? Only by letting people with good intentions have strong blades in their hands and strong strength, can they make the troubled times become peaceful, deter Xiaoxiao, and stop violence with violence. I wonder if Zhang Tianshi understands what I mean? ”

Everyone was stunned and looked at Wang Yuan blankly. Going around, I didn't expect Wang