The two of them came to the Zhengda Guangming Hall one after the other, and when they entered the hall, they saw Xianfeng sitting upright on his dragon chair throne......

"Haha! Ninth sister, and Li Dubai, you two haven't been back for more than a year, what are you busy with? Xianfeng asked with a laugh.

Seeing that this Xianfeng was not dead, and it seemed that his body was not bad, Bai Lidu replied:

"Back to the emperor, the ninth princess accompanied me back to my hometown, and then went to Boli City, and I just came back."

The Ninth Princess nodded on the side and didn't say anything.

"Haha, the two of you came back just in time, Zeng Guofan, a university scholar co-organized by the Governor of Liangjiang, said that he had brought a few newly developed foreign-exterminating artillery pieces to Beijing to demonstrate to me, and you two would go with me to take a look......

"Exterminating artillery? Zeng Guofan? ”

Bai Lidu was also stunned when he heard this, this Zeng Guofan was a famous number one person in the late Qing Dynasty, and he didn't expect that he would appear here, and it was actually related to the previous exterminating artillery.

Although he had doubts in his heart, he still agreed, and followed behind Xianfeng with the Ninth Princess, and came to the mountain high and water chief who conducted the martial arts exam last time.

When they came to the high mountains and rivers, the ministers were already waiting there, and as soon as these people saw the emperor, they immediately knelt down.

"The ministers have seen the emperor, the ninth princess, and Li Eyu!"

"Good! Let's get flat......"

Bai Lidu also took this opportunity to look at the people in front of him, in addition to Prince Gong Yili and the famous Zeng Guofan, there were actually Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang.

You must know that Zeng, Zuo, and Li are the three most important people in the Westernization Movement of the late Qing Dynasty, and now these three people are here, which is really a rare big scene.

"Your Majesty, after more than half a year of imitation and development, the ministers have also referred to the artillery samples sent by the emperor, and imitated a batch of foreign-exterminating artillery in Anqing. Zeng Guofan bowed his head and said.

Bai Lidu then understood that these foreign-exterminating artillery pieces were actually imitated in Anqing, and I remember that I had learned in history class that the Anqing Ordnance Institute was the earliest modern arsenal set up in the Qing Dynasty.

Looking around again, I saw that in a vacant lot not far away, a row of cannons had been placed side by side, about ten of them, and the appearance of the cannons was also somewhat similar to the Armstrong cannons captured from the British and French forces before, and next to each cannon, there were also several gunners standing, and there were also wooden boxes on the ground, presumably the wooden boxes contained in the wooden boxes should also be cannonballs.

"Hmmm! Very well, if the demonstration can be successful this time, then this kind of artillery will be mass-produced and distributed to the Hunan and Huai armies and the Changsheng army stationed in Kunshan. ”

"The ministers keep in mind the holy decree, and think that if our Xianghuai Second Army can be equipped with such artillery, it will definitely be able to attack the Jiangning Mansion where the Hongyang bandits are entrenched and take it down!" Zeng Guofan continued to bow his head and say

"Excellent! It seems that I am not wrong about you, and I think that if you can capture Jiangning Mansion in the near future, and you can also send all the leaders of the bandits and thieves to be wiped out, I will definitely greatly reward all the heroes of the unified army......"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" This time, it was Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang who bowed their heads together to respond.

"Please also invite the emperor to the second floor to watch the ......"

Everyone followed behind Xianfeng and climbed the two-story attic with a long mountain and water, and looked out, but the row of martial arts training venues with artillery was in everyone's eyes.

"Alright, let's get started......"

After Xianfeng sat down, he said to Zeng Guofan, who was waiting on the side.

Zeng Guofan took two steps back, and then said to Li Hongzhang beside him: "Pass the order and fire!" ”

"Yes!"

Li Hongzhang hurriedly ran to the side again and gave the order to open fire to a standard-bearer......

I saw the flag bearer raise the red and white flag in his hands, and quickly waved a flag out, and the gunners below immediately began to act after receiving the order, and loaded their ammunition one after another......

"Aim! ——”

"Fire! ——”

"Bang! Boom! Boom! ——”

After a series of black smoke erupted from the barrel of the cannon, a few seconds later, a row of targets hundreds of meters away at the other end of the martial arts refining ground were exploded one after another......

"Good!"

Xianfeng, who was originally sitting on the chair, saw this scene, and immediately stood up and took the lead in clapping and applauding.

The ministers behind him also immediately cheered......

Next, the target was replaced, and a second round of shelling was carried out, followed by a third round......

After 10 rounds of shelling, the hit rate of the shelling can be said to have reached more than 90 percent, and this demonstration of the imitation cannon can be regarded as a complete success.

Then everyone went downstairs and walked out of the attic......

"Good! Zeng Guofan, you immediately pull these ten cannons back to the army, and then immediately start preparing for the attack on Jiangning Mansion! Xianfeng instructed Zeng Guofan.

"Obey! However, the minister still has one more thing to ask for, and I hope the emperor can answer......"

"Oh? What is it? Xianfeng asked suspiciously.

"The minister heard that Li Efu was both intelligent, and he also made great achievements in the northern border pass, not only captured Boli City, but also killed the earl of the Rakshasa Kingdom on the spot, so in the next battle of attacking Jiangning Mansion, if the ministers can get Li Efu's personal supervision, the chances of victory will definitely be greater."

Bai Lidu on the side naturally understood that although this Zeng Guofan was talking about supervising the war, to put it bluntly, he still needed to personally help him attack the city.

When Xianfeng heard this, he immediately burst out laughing......

"Haha! I thought it was difficult, with my understanding of Li Dubai, he would definitely not return and refuse this kind of war, so I directly promised you that Li Dubai would return to Anqing with you from now on. ”

As soon as Xianfeng's words fell, Bai Lidu's side simultaneously received a task called [Attack Jiangning Mansion], which was to assist Zeng Guofan, attack Jiangning Mansion, and capture or kill the leaders of the Taiping Army......

Bai Lidu didn't expect that he would be able to get such a task after coming back after such a long time.

And then, together with the ninth princess, he followed Zeng Guofan and others out of the Old Summer Palace, and came to a nearby guild hall, which was also the temporary accommodation of this group of people who entered Beijing this time, and the ten cannons that had been drilled before were also sent back to the courtyard.

With the previous siege experience of the Northern Expedition in the copy of "Storm Pavilion Strange Injustice", Bai Lidu did not have any worries about this mission, but felt very relaxed.

Combined with the history he knew, Zeng Guofan led the Hunan army to attack Jiangning Mansion, that is, Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, that is, today's Jinling, which also began in March 1862, but it took more than two years to attack the city, and before that, Hong Xiuquan, who had been cowering in Jinling City, had already hung up, and it was his son who succeeded him on the throne......

Therefore, this time when he went south to attack Jiangning Mansion, if he could help Zeng Guofan break the city early, and he could also capture or kill Hong Xiuquan, it would definitely rewrite history again.