In order to avoid the embarrassment of failure, Wei Xiaobao did not make a statement.

The black powder that has been dried and sieved out is sealed in a small wooden barrel, and the fuse is ignited.

With a pop, the lead burns into the barrel.

Bang.

In the loud explosion, the barrels shattered into powder, and the flames and smoke rose to cover the entire courtyard.

"Master."

"Overseer."

When Wei Qi and the others heard the sound, they rushed in quickly, and they were all choked by the smoke and coughed repeatedly.

The smoke cleared, but Wei Xiaobao was seen standing under the eaves, smiling.

In the courtyard, there is a big pit, and the bluestone-paved ground is a mess.

Wei Qi's nose moved, and he asked suspiciously, "Master, is this doing an artillery battle?" ”

The power of black powder, which is prepared in the best proportions, is truly extraordinary.

Wei Xiaobao's confidence increased greatly, and he ordered: "Wei Qi, immediately send someone to see where the saltpeter transported by the Ming Sect has gone." ”

"Yes." Wei Qi left with doubts.

Wei Xiaobao was not idle, and made all the remaining materials into black powder.

At the same time, he took the time to draw several drawings and prepared to find the best blacksmith in Chang'an to make cannon barrels.

Only with artillery can you storm the city and plunder the land.

Let Li Hao jump first, and then bombard him with a cannon to see if he admits it.

A few days later, the first batch of saltpeter was successfully transported into Chang'an City, with a total of ten truckloads and twenty boxes, which could make a large amount of black powder.

Wei Xiaobao selected dozens of eunuchs from the East Factory and taught them the experience of making black powder.

These people can get more money, but on the condition that they never leave the East Factory.

There are some advanced technologies that must not be leaked out.

In the afternoon of this day, Wei Xiaobao was instructing everyone to practice martial arts in the Dongchang martial arts field, when suddenly someone came to say goodbye, and a person named Liu Qiang was outside asking to see him.

After the year, Liu Qiang was promoted to the holy decree of the minister's servant, and it was sent from Chang'an to Luoyang.

Before the fifteenth Lantern Festival, Liu Qiang came to Chang'an.

Wei Xiaobao came to the pavilion next to the martial arts arena, and there were several braziers burning in the pavilion, which was very warm.

A eunuch brought Liu Qiang here.

saw Liu Qiang wearing a cyan robe, carrying two small wooden boxes, with a solemn expression.

"The Commander meets the Overseer." Liu Qiang knelt on the ground and saluted.

Wei Xiaobao chuckled and said, "Lord Liu got up and spoke. ”

"Overseer, this is a native product brought by the lower officials from Luoyang." Liu Qiang got up slowly, pointed to the two wooden boxes in front of him and said.

Wei Xiaobao said: "Open it and take a look." ”

"Yes." Liu Qiang agreed, and carefully opened the two wooden boxes.

But I saw that the wooden box contained a human head, one was Nangong Xiong's, and the other was Wang E's.

Their eyes were wide open, and they seemed dead.

Wei Xiaobao's face did not change, and he said in a low voice: "Luoyang's native products are really good, Lord Liu really has a heart." ”

"If the Overseer likes it, it's fine." Liu Qiang smiled and closed the wooden box.

Wei Xiaobao waved his hand outward and said: "Lord Liu has just arrived in Chang'an, and he has gone to the Ministry to perform his duties, and I will pick up the wind for Lord Liu when I turn back." ”

"The next official retired." Liu Qiang bowed and slowly stepped back and left.

Regarding what Wei Xiaobao said, Liu Qiang knew that Wei Xiaobao just said it casually, and he didn't have to take it seriously.

After Liu Qiang left the Dongchang Yamen, Wei Xiaobao opened the wooden box again to confirm the authenticity of the two heads.

The relationship between Liu Qiang and Nangong Xiong seems to be very good, maybe Liu Qiang will get a dummy head to fool him.

There are many disguise masters in the rivers and lakes.

After careful examination, Wei Xiaobao determined that these two heads belonged to Nangong Xiong and Wang E.

Bringing Nangong Yushang to Chang'an must be useful, so he did not kill Nangong Xiong at that time, and handed over this task to Liu Qiang.

Who knew that when Liu Qiang heard that Wei Xiaobao was going to kill his father-in-law and mother-in-law, he reacted quickly and stabbed his own son to death.

With this courage, Liu Qiang will be able to succeed.

"Overseer." Tie Feixue walked quickly, bowed after entering the pavilion.

Wei Xiaobao asked, "Is there any news?" ”

"This is the latest news from the spies." Tie Feixue handed the bamboo tube to Wei Xiaobao.

The secret letter in the bamboo tube, she didn't peek.

Wei Xiaobao unscrewed the bamboo tube, the sealed wax fell to the ground, took out the secret letter from it, just glanced at it, and said with a smile: "Di Lao is worthy of being the wolf handsome of the Great Wei, and he can recapture the two cities so quickly." ”

"But Di Lao is old after all, and I'm just afraid that ......" Tie Feixue was still quite worried.

Di Qing once again took command of the expedition, desperate to prove himself, and was bound to make some mistakes.

Even if Di Qing can do it without making mistakes, it can be easy to crush him with his advanced age and the fatigue of continuous battles.

Wei Xiaobao sighed: "If Di Lao can really take back the Six Cities of Ziyang, I think Your Majesty can arrange for Di Lao to be crowned king." ”

Great Wei is not without precedent for foreign surnames to be crowned kings, as long as the credit is enough, he can be crowned king.

Tie Feixue didn't answer, but she agreed with Wei Xiaobao's words very much, just with Di Qing's previous merits, he could also be crowned king.

In the blink of an eye, it is the Lantern Festival.

Hundreds of show girls will enter the palace tonight and let Li Zheng see them one by one.

And the nine people who were selected had the opportunity to get close to Li Zheng, and whether they could be crowned concubines or not depended on their respective abilities.

The Lantern Festival in Chang'an, the curfew was lifted in the whole city, and millions of people fell into a carnival.

In the imperial garden, Li Zheng sat on a high place, and in the corridor opposite, hundreds of show girls lined up and walked slowly.

Li Zheng held the wine bowl, but he didn't look at it much, all he thought about was Zhang Hatedie's eyes.

The nine selected show girls finally appeared on the stage and danced three or four feet away from Li Zheng.

All of them covered their faces with white veils, revealing only a pair of eyes, all of them were graceful and danced lightly.

But in this way, Zhang Hatdie's advantage is more obvious.

The other eight people can definitely be regarded as one in a thousand beauties, but now compared with Zhang Hatdie, their eyes are mediocre, as if they were carved out.

Unsurprisingly, Li Zheng finally chose Zhang Hatedie.

Although the other eight people are very disappointed, they are not desperate, compared to other show girls, they are lucky enough, even if they can't become queens, they can become concubines, and they will be superior from then on.

Moreover, even if she was selected by Li Zheng, she may not be able to become the queen.

In the following days, Zhang Hatdie had to pass layers of strict tests.

Only by passing these tests can she be crowned queen and mother of the world.

As long as Zhang Hatdie fails to pass the test, then they still have a chance.

Zhang Hatdie stayed in the palace and learned etiquette from scratch.

Empress Dowager Sun personally taught them, just to let them learn the rules of the deep palace and serve Li Zheng wholeheartedly, so that they could start the branches and leaves for the royal family as soon as possible.

After choosing Zhang Hatdie, Li Zheng was very happy, and he had to pull Wei Xiaobao to fight before he felt happy.

"Who said they didn't want to be elected?" At the end of the boxing, Wei Xiaobao laughed and teased while eating snacks.

Li Zheng chuckled and said, "Food, sex." ”

"Your Majesty, it's not good." Xiao An's anxious voice suddenly came from outside the door.

Li Zheng said: "What's the matter? ”

"Something happened to Di Lao." Xiao An held the front-line emergency report and sent it to Li Zheng.