"Ladies and gentlemen, the minister also thought that what Zhen Wubo said was quite absurd, but since the rebellion of the Han King was quelled, I know that what Zhen Wubo said is true!"

Seeing that Xia Yuanji, Zhang Fu and others were stunned, Emperor Xuande couldn't help but feel a burst of joy in his heart, usually he was nagged and even contradicted by these high-powered, seniorized ministers, and now seeing them look dazed, he was naturally in a good mood, and said quietly.

Hearing this, all the ministers couldn't help but look at Emperor Xuande one after another, with a puzzled look on their faces, not knowing what he meant by this.

"Taishi, do you remember how the Xiaowu Army conquered Qingzhou City last year?"

Emperor Xuande pondered for a moment, and asked Zhang Fu unhurriedly.

"Your Majesty, it is rumored that a thunderbolt collapsed the walls of Qingzhou City, and the Xiaowu army took advantage of the situation to attack the city and defeat the rebels." Zhang Fu was a little unsure of why, he couldn't figure out the intention of Emperor Xuande's question, and after thinking about it, he bowed slightly to Emperor Xuande and replied in a deep voice.

Qianyi, Xia Yuanji and others didn't know why Emperor Xuande had such a question, but they thought that there was another hidden secret, otherwise Emperor Xuande would have mentioned this matter alone?

"Taishi, you Aiqing, I can tell you that the wall of Qingzhou City was not knocked down by lightning, but that the martial arts hall developed a powerful gunpowder to blow it down!"

Emperor Xuande glanced around at the people who were staring at him, and said quietly, "As far as I know, the Western Qin Kingdoms and the Eastern Qin are all in full swing to develop this powerful gunpowder, and in time, the city wall of the world will become an ornament in front of it!" ”、

"Blown up?"

There was a bang, and the scene suddenly became commotion again, Yang Shiqi, Zhang Fu and others were taken aback, looking at each other, looking extremely shocked.

Explosives are the top secret of the Ming Dynasty, except for Emperor Xuande, only Zhou Zheng knows about this matter, and Zhang Hao knows a little about it, and the rest of the people don't know even Zhang Fu, and there are very few people who know the inside story.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, successive dynasties and kings have regarded the construction of strong defense lines as the most important way to defend against foreign enemies, so China's city walls are far more majestic than European castles, and there is also the Great Wall of Ten Thousand Miles, which is praised by later generations.

However, with the advent of explosives, it completely subverted the conservative defensive concept of Zhang Fu and Yang Shiqi, which made them very shocked.

Although the city defense of Qingzhou City is not as good as the capital, but as the seat of Qingzhou Mansion is also the city with high walls, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it stands to reason that even if the Xiaowu army can take Qingzhou City, then it will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

But the process of the Xiaowu army's siege of the city surprised everyone, and the thick city wall of Qingzhou City collapsed inexplicably after a loud noise of shaking the mountains at night, and this strange situation made the people spread that the Xiaowu army invited the thunder god to help.

As for how the city wall of Qingzhou City collapsed, Xiaowu Jun did not explain and explain it to the outside world, and even those thousand-level military attaches in the army did not know what was going on, which invisibly made this matter a layer of mystery.

Now that the truth has been revealed, what has undoubtedly been a huge shock to Zhang Fu, Yang Shiqi and others is beyond the scope of their knowledge.

"Your Majesty, since there is such a sharp thing, why don't you use it to attack Dezhou City and De'an County?"

After experiencing the initial shock, Zhang Fu couldn't help but glance at Zhou Zheng and Zhang Hao, and was not surprised to see that the two of them looked as usual, and suddenly understood that they had already known about it, and then groaned for a while, and looked at Emperor Xuande suspiciously.

He knew very well in his heart why Emperor Xuande did not tell him about the explosives, it stands to reason that he was the head of the Ming Dynasty, but now even Zhang Hao knew about the explosives and he didn't know the slightest rumor, which seemed a bit abnormal.

However, considering the friendship between Zhang Fu and the King of Han, this matter became logical, this is the top secret of Emperor Xuande, how could he sue Zhang Fu?

Fortunately, Zhang Fu was not involved in the affairs of the King of Han, which made him still enjoy the weight and grace of Emperor Xuande, but he also missed the time to learn about the explosives, otherwise he would be like Zhang Hao, who knew about the inexplicable collapse of the city wall of Qingzhou City.

In Zhang Fu's opinion, if the city walls of De'an County and Dezhou City could be blown down with explosives at that time, then the rebels inside would become turtles in the urn, and they would definitely be wiped out by the Ming army, and they would not have to pay such huge casualties at all.

Yang Shiqi and Qianyi and others also looked at Emperor Xuande when they heard this, which was also the place where they doubted, last year's attack on De'an County killed and injured many Ming troops.

"Taishi doesn't know, this explosive has just been developed by Jiangwutang during the rebellion of the Han King, and the output is limited due to the complex process, and all of them are used in Qingzhou City, otherwise the Xiaowu Army will not fight bloodily in Heiniu Town, and De'an County can be taken down at the snap of a finger."

Emperor Xuande replied to Zhang Fu in a deep voice, and his words showed some pity for the soldiers who died in Heiniu Town and De'an County.

But then again, if it weren't for the insufficient production of explosives, then there would be no bloody battle in Heiniu Town, and Emperor Xuande would not have obtained such a brave army as Xiaowujun, and then discovered Li Yuntian's outstanding talent in military affairs.

Zhang Fu, Yang Shiqi and others also felt sorry when they heard this, if the Ming Dynasty had enough of this explosive, wouldn't the enemy's city wall be vulnerable in front of the Ming army?

"Ladies and gentlemen, as far as the lower officials know, the people of the Western Qin Kingdoms and the Eastern Qin Dynasty have realized the tremendous power of gunpowder, and are now seizing the time to develop a new type of gunpowder."

Li Yuntian saw that Emperor Xuande had told him about the explosives, and he suddenly knew Emperor Xuande's intentions in his heart, and it seemed that Emperor Xuande had already decided not to give up Jiaozhi, so he took advantage of the shock of Zhang Fu and the others to interject at the right time.

"Uncle Zhenwu, is this true?" Everyone was taken aback again when they heard this, and Zhang Fu hurriedly asked in a loud voice.

Once those Xiyi people also developed a powerful new type of gunpowder, wouldn't the city wall that the Ming Dynasty was proud of become papier-mâché?

Moreover, both the guns and heavy artillery were fired with gunpowder, and if this new type of explosive was used, it would undoubtedly make the power of the shells even greater, causing heavy casualties, and becoming a sharp weapon for attacking the city.

"Taishi, what the lower officials said is true, as far as the lower officials know, my Ming firearms have spread abroad, and those Xiyi people have begun to improve."

Li Yuntian nodded, and after a deep groan, he said in a deep voice, "The Martial Arts Hall is also improving the fire gun now to increase its power, and it is estimated that it will be effective within a year or two." ”

Hearing that the martial arts hall was improving the firecracker, Zhang Fu was taken aback again, and couldn't help but look at Li Yuntian in surprise, but he knew how difficult it was to improve the firecracker, otherwise why had the firearm of the Shenji Battalion not changed at all for more than 20 years, and Li Yuntian actually said that it would be effective within a year or two, was this an exaggeration or confidence?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower officials think that with the prosperity of the navigation industry, this strait will be related to the trade and communication between the descendants of our Ming Dynasty and the Western countries in the future."

Li Yuntian didn't want to explain the improvement of the fire gun now, firstly, Zhang Fu and the others did not understand, and secondly, this was also the top secret of the Ming Dynasty, and it could not be leaked lightly without the permission of Emperor Xuande, he walked up to the Western maritime map, pointed to the Strait of Malacca and said in a deep voice:

"Once a country hostile to our Ming Dynasty holds this strait, it will make the Ming Dynasty fall into passivity and predicament, and then lose communication with Western countries."

The next moment, Li Yuntian's expression became solemn, "Xia Guan thinks that the Ming Dynasty should master this strait nearby, so that it can be invincible in the future, not only to ensure the smooth flow of waterways, but also to grasp the situation of the Xiyi countries, know oneself and know the enemy, and only when facing the invasion of the Xiyi countries in the future can one be invincible!" ”

"Therefore, the lower officials think that Jiaozhi must not give up, it is the closest area from this strait to my Ming Dynasty, if I lose it, my Ming will be beyond the reach of the whip and cannot control it."

As he spoke, Li Yuntian stretched out his hand and pointed to the coast near the Strait of Malacca at the southern end of the Champa State below Jiaozhi on the map, and said in a deep voice, "According to the opinion of the lower officials, the Ming Dynasty can use Jiaozhi as a camp to open up a port in the Champa State, so as to control the situation in the Strait of Malacca!" ”

The Champa State was a subject state that paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming court wanted to establish a port along its coast, and the king of the Champa Kingdom naturally would not object.

The reason is very simple, the reason why the Champa State became a subject state of the Ming Dynasty was to obtain the protection of the Ming Dynasty by force, and once the Ming Dynasty established a port on the southern coast of the Champa State, then it would definitely have to garrison troops, which was undoubtedly a deterrent to the enemies of the Champa State.

It is worth mentioning that the former Annam Kingdom to the north of the Champa Kingdom and the Chenla (Angkor Dynasty) to the west are its enemies, and the grievances between the three have a long history, and they have been attacking each other endlessly, which can be described as a feud.

In addition, the powerful Siam was watching from the sidelines, and the arrival of the Ming army just ensured the safety of the Champa state, which was exactly what the king of the Champa state dreamed of.

As for whether the Ming army would take advantage of the situation to annex the Champa Kingdom, then the king of the Champa Kingdom really didn't think about it, as a prosperous and wealthy Celestial Empire, he didn't think that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty could look down on the small Champang.

Moreover, once the Ming court opened this mouth, there would be no refusal from the king of the city state, otherwise as soon as the Ming army arrived, it would be a catastrophe.

"How dare the Xiyi countries invade my Daming?" As soon as Li Yuntian's words fell, Qian Yi couldn't help but ask in surprise, the fertile land of the Ming Dynasty is thousands of miles away, and the military is strong, wouldn't those overseas barbarians come to send them to death?

"Yu Shaobao, two or three hundred years ago, in order to achieve their political, military and economic goals, the Western Qin States launched a war against the Great Food, a total of eight times before and after, the process was extremely tragic, and a lot of wealth was seized from it, and even the Eastern Qin Empire, which was in the same lineage, also suffered and was sacked by the Western Qin States."

Li Yuntian knew that Qianyi couldn't imagine what would happen in a hundred or two hundred years now, so he turned to Qianyi and replied quietly, "Since they can attack the Great Food, then with the development of the navigation industry, they will naturally come to the East in the future. ”!^!

%77%77%77%2e%64%75%30%30%2e%63%63/