On the morning of the ninth day of the seventh month, Zhengde ended the morning dynasty early, before the time came, six or seven people dressed in ordinary clothes went out of the Donghua Gate, one of them got into a carriage, and the rest of the people rode horses to follow the carriage all the way to the south, and went out of the city from Yongding Gate after half an hour.

The scenery outside the city is very good, and in July it is the season when everything is flourishing, and the trees on both sides of the smooth official road are towering, and the lush leaves are rattling in the wind. The person in the carriage poked his head out of the carriage, took a deep breath of air, closed his eyes and praised: "It's so comfortable, I haven't been out of the palace for a long time, and the palace is not as good as the scenery outside, it's just boring." The weather, the scenery, and the mood couldn't be better. ”

Zhang Yongqing, who was riding a horse on the side of the car, dressed up in a small hat, leaned down and said with a smile: "It's good that the emperor is happy, it's all the slaves and maids, and he won't think of relieving the emperor's boredom on weekdays, and I thank Lord Song today, otherwise I wouldn't have this opportunity." ”

Zhengde nodded and smiled: "Yes, yes, Song Nan, you should accompany me out more in the future." Hey, it's really not fun to be bored in the palace during a good time. I know, are you afraid that those people in the outer court will say that you are encouraging me to play? ”

Song Nan dressed up in an ordinary robe, smiled and immediately came forward and said, "Your Majesty, I'm not afraid, let's go out of the palace secretly to do serious business, but we don't want to be discovered; We didn't come out to enjoy the mountains and rivers, even if it was known by the people in the outer court, we were not afraid. ”

Zhengde smiled: "What I said is that we are doing serious things." Where is that place you are talking about? Far from it? ”

Song Nan pointed to the south and said, "I don't want to, ten miles south of the city, it will be there in a moment." The minister has already ordered people to prepare, just wait for the emperor to go up and make a decision. ”

Zhengde waved his hand and said, "Okay, then let's hurry up." Say it and retract it, Song Nan waved his hand and ordered, and the group quickly whipped up and went straight to Shilizhuang in the south of the city. Half an hour later, everyone arrived at the foot of the nameless hill in Shilizhuang. Unlike the past, which was full of meadows and wildflowers, the slope of this hill has been built with long stone steps, and the slope is driven up and down by thick ropes, and the deep rut marks on the smooth gravel road on the side of the stone steps are clearly visible, and it is obvious that vehicles often go up and down the mountain.

Song Nan led Zhengde to the hillside, and after a while, he saw several rows of houses built on a flat ground in a small valley behind the hillside, Song Nan pointed to where and said: "Your Majesty, it's there, let's go down the slope and arrive." ”

Zhengde wiped his sweat and said: "You will choose a place, this small mountain bag does not look big, I didn't expect that there is a valley with a cave." ”

Song Nan said: "This is under the jurisdiction of my manor, and this kind of thing naturally has to find some secret places to carry out, otherwise the movement is too big, and I think about it or find a place outside the city, so I chose here." ”

Zhengde nodded, everyone walked to the valley, Song Nan walked quickly to one of the rooms, there was a tinkling sound of tinkling and knocking inside, Song Nan stood under the grass shed at the door and shouted: "Qingli, Ko'er, are you inside?" ”

Before the words fell, two people flew out of the room like butterflies, both of them were full of dirt and their hair was unkempt, Lu Qingli flew over, although Yang Ko'er remained reserved, she could not hide the surprise on her face.

Lu Qingli rushed over and was about to hug him with her dirty hands, but Song Nan hurriedly said: "The emperor is here, don't be rude." ”

Lu Qingli and Yang Qian'er were both startled, and hurriedly stopped to look at the group of people behind Song Nan, Zhengde stepped forward with a smile and said, "Song Nan, are these two smart and clever Mrs. Ru in your house?" ”

Song Nan didn't bother to explain the relationship with Yang Qian'er, so he only nodded and said: "Exactly, the two concubines don't understand the rules, and they are almost rude in front of the emperor, so please forgive the emperor." Qingli, Chloe, don't you see the emperor yet? ”

Lu Qingli and Yang Ko'er were busy saluting, Zhengde stared at Lu Qingli and Yang Ko'er intently, and said, "No courtesy, no courtesy." ”

Song Nan was startled when he saw Zhengde's demeanor, and remembered that Zhengde had a special taste for women, in case he liked the fault of a wife and fell in love with his concubine, it would be a troublesome matter, and Qingli and Yang Ko'er should have avoided it today.

But fortunately, Zhengde only looked at it a few times and then stopped looking, turned his head to Song Nan and said, "Where is the thing you want to show me?" ”

Song Nan pointed to the room and said: "In the house, Qingli, the emperor came here today to check the test firing of rocket artillery, and asked people to prepare for it, let's test fire a few rounds outside in a while, and let the emperor take a look." ”

Qingli agreed, turned his head and shouted: "Uncle Wang, Uncle Zhao, immediately prepare to test fire rocket artillery." ”

Someone inside agreed, and more than a dozen people were busy back and forth for a long time, and after a while, two horses pulled a big guy covered with black felt cloth and slowly came out of the gate.

Song Nan, Zhengde and others dodged the road, and the horse pulled the big guy past him, and it could be seen that the heavy wheels had rolled out a deep ravine on the gravel ground, and the horse pulling the cart was also a little difficult, and the people who followed behind also pushed it from time to time, which showed the heaviness of this thing.

Everyone slowly followed, slowly walked deep into the valley, and after reaching an open place, they stopped the horse, and after the horse was unloaded and pulled away, more than a dozen guys stood in place waiting for the order, Lu Qingli said softly: "Big brother, you come and give the order." ”

Song Nan smiled and nodded, and arched his hand to Zhengde: "Your Majesty, it's time for the emperor to see the true face of this thing, and the minister will go and uncover the felt cloth." ”

Zhengde couldn't wait for a long time, and waved his hand and said, "Go quickly, go quickly." ”

Song Nan stepped forward, quickly untied the ropes that tied the four corners, stood on the pedestal and lifted the felt cloth with a hula, only to see a big black guy with a strange shape appear in front of everyone, emitting a blue reflection in the sun, with a cold breath.

Everyone who came with them inhaled, this thing made people a little chilled just by looking at the shape, and the dense eight-row fire pipes were black holes, facing themselves, and the cold hairs on their bodies immediately stood on end.

Zhengde slowly stepped forward and slowly circled around the rocket artillery, and Song Nan introduced on the side: "This is a sixty-four rocket launcher, the base can be rotated in all directions, and the blow is rotated; There is an anvil pad plate under the fire gun tube, which increases and decreases the number of guns, which can allow the fire gun pipe to adjust the direction of the upper and lower heights; This shield in the rear, operated by the soldiers in the rear, prevents the enemy's firearms and crossbows from killing ......"

Zhengde's face changed color, and he was amazed, and reached out to stroke it on the rocket launcher: "Song Nan, I really didn't expect it, you can actually figure out this thing, it's not simple." ”

Song Nan arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the minister didn't deliberately deceive you, the minister knew that making firearms privately was a big crime, and the minister was not unwilling to make it public, but even if the drawings were reported to the court, I am afraid it would be over." At the beginning, the emperor did not know the fate of the double-barreled firearm shotgun, and the Armament Department of the Ministry of War thought that the cost was too expensive, so it was not manufactured; The minister exhausted his family property to build more than a hundred pieces of equipment for the Jinyi Guard, and these things proved to play a huge role in both the suppression of thieves and the rebellion. ”

Zhengde nodded and said, "I'll talk about these words later, what I'm looking forward to most now is to see how powerful he is, how about you show me?" ”

Song Nan said: "Obey." ”

Song Nan asked Zhengde and his entourage to retreat to a distance, and after more than a dozen guys from the manufacturing workshop checked and confirmed that they were correct, Song Nan gave an order, and sixty-four enlarged and thickened steel ball shotgun bullets were all loaded; After adjusting the direction and location of the shot, Song Nan rolled up his sleeves and shook the flint turntable himself, and the click-

In the sneering green smoke, suddenly there was a loud roar, like a muffled thunder rolling in the clear sky, and the more than three feet long elongated and thickened fire torch pipe erupted one after another, and in the thick smoke rolling, I saw the smoke and dust in the mountains of the opposite cliff, and a puff of yellow smoke exploded on the sand, gravel and soil, and began to collapse after a while.

The sound of "boom boom boom" was endless, and Zhengde covered his ears and opened his mouth to look at the rocks and dirt that collapsed down the cliff, and his surprise was indescribable.

Finally, all the sixty-four firearms were fired, and the earth, rocks, and weeds on the cliff still collapsed for a while, and then they calmed down; There was still a buzzing echo in everyone's ears, and they couldn't come back to their senses.

Zhengde walked quickly to the side of the rocket, looked up at the barrel of the gun with green smoke emitting from it, and reached out to touch it. Song Nan hurriedly said: "Be careful of burning your hands." ”

Zhengde had already retracted his hand in pain, and Zhang Yong hurriedly stepped forward to check Zhengde's hand, but it was only red, and it was not a big deal.

"Song Nan, I am really shocked, this thing has such divine power, I never expected it." Regardless of the pain in his hand, Zhengde's eyes never left this iron guy for a moment, and his eyes were full of awe.

"The emperor is still shocked, and the slaves and maids are so frightened that they almost died." Zhang Yong laughed.

Song Nan laughed and said, "It's good that you didn't disappoint the emperor, how about the emperor personally ignite and launch a round?" ”

Zhengde was full of spirit, and said continuously: "Okay, good, I'll try to shoot a round." ”