Diqin Designer

Chapter 289 Chapter 132 Daqin's Artillery Debut (Two in One)

Not long after the Xiongnu delegation arrived, the Baiyue delegations also arrived in Xianyang one after another. The reason why they were called "one after another" is that Baiyue was not a country, but a general term for the ancient Yue people, which included many tribes.

Most of these tribes are independent of each other and are not a whole country or alliance, just like black people are collectively called blacks, but we cannot say that all blacks are a country. They established diplomatic relations with the Qin Dynasty and sent envoys to it, so naturally they had their own diplomatic relations, their own factions, and their own ideas and purposes.

In addition, due to different geographical locations, the time of arrival of Tu Sui and others' envoys varied. The time and place of sending envoys to Daqin by various Baiyue tribes were different. For example, Xiou was the first to send envoys to Daqin, while other Baiyue tribes came later, thus causing this successive phenomenon.

With the arrival of the Baiyue tribal delegation, Daqin International College also added a new unit: Baiyue International Students!
The arrival of the Baiyue tribal delegation brought many benefits to the Qin Dynasty, but also brought some problems. One of the more obvious problems was that there were too many people in the Baiyue delegation.

Although the number of members in each individual delegation was smaller than that of the Xiongnu delegation, the total number of members they had far exceeded that of the Xiongnu delegation.

And because they did not belong to the same country or alliance, they could not be placed in one embassy. The Qin Dynasty finally designated a street for the Baiyue tribes to set up their embassies.

But the First Emperor and Li Nian had no time to take care of the Baiyue delegation today, because they received a piece of news: the Qin Dynasty's artillery had been developed.

The Qin Dynasty's plan to forge artillery had already begun before the First Emperor became emperor. After seeing the scene of a nuclear bomb destroying a city in "Resident Evil" on Li Nian's mobile phone, how could a king like the First Emperor not be concerned about powerful weapons for future generations.

But it is impossible to make a nuclear bomb in Daqin, unless one day a villager shares the technology of making a hand-rubbed nuclear bomb with Daqin, otherwise it is simply impossible.

But Qin Shi Huang, whose curiosity had been aroused, gave up at that time: Well, since we can't make those advanced weapons in later generations, then let's make some powerful weapons that the Qin Dynasty can make!

So, shortly after agreeing to Li Nian's request and sparing the lives of that group of alchemists (see Chapter 70 of Volume ), the Qin Dynasty's cannon-making plan was launched. To be precise, this was not a cannon-making plan, but a research on Qin's thermal weapons, and casting cannons was just one of the projects.

This plan was extremely confidential, and even Wang Wan, Wang Jian and other Qin civil and military officials did not know about it. However, with the technical support provided by Li Nian, the plan progressed smoothly overall.

Although Li Nian had never actually tried his hand at smelting iron or casting cannons, the technology and insights he provided could help the Qin Dynasty avoid many detours in the manufacture of thermal weapons.

Sometimes it’s not that the technology or ability is not up to par, but that the path taken is wrong. If someone can directly point out a smooth road, it can save a lot of cost in exploring.

But no matter how smoothly things go, there will be problems. After all, Li Nian has never built a cannon. Although there is information from later generations, it still has to be combined with the technology of this era. It's like the Trisolarans gave the Earth technology to let the Earth make water droplets. It takes time for the Earth to fully understand the theory, and it will take time to combine the Earth's industrial capacity to actually make water droplets.

Of course, Daqin just built a cannon, which is much simpler than the Earth building water droplets in the Crisis Era and the Deterrence Era.

After almost half a year of casting, the Qin's artillery was finally successfully manufactured and reached the standards required by Li Nian.

In the Zhangtai Palace, the important ministers of the Qin Dynasty were gathered here. When they saw Li Nian appear here, they understood that something big must happen today.

He usually did not attend court or participate in political discussions, but every time he appeared in the Zhangtai Palace, it was always when there was something important to announce or decide.

Even Meng Tian, ​​who had given up his official position and went to study at some naval school, came, which shows that there was indeed an important matter, which was probably related to military affairs.

Is there a rebellion somewhere else and we have to send troops again?
The ministers were thinking in their hearts, and at the same time they noticed that there was a little child in the hall, but they were not too surprised. Now everyone in the court and the country knew that the child's name was "Han Xin". He was a disciple of Master Li Nian and General Wang Jian, and a junior brother of General Wang Ben. Even His Majesty valued him very much.

This child has a very strong backing. As long as he can grow up successfully, he will definitely have a bright future. Maybe he can reach the level of General Wang Jian. But the fact that little Han Xin is here means that today's events are more related to military affairs.

Glancing at the ministers in the hall, the First Emperor said, "I summoned you all today because the Great Qin has just produced a weapon. This weapon is quite powerful. According to Li Nian, it will change future wars. Therefore, I want to go with you all to watch the drill of this weapon."

It turned out that a new weapon had been developed, and it was indeed related to the military. It sounded like this weapon was very powerful, but how powerful could it be?
If an ordinary person said that he had invented a weapon that could change future wars, the ministers would probably not take it seriously. Weapons are nothing more than swords, spears, halberds, bows and crossbows. No matter how powerful they are, how powerful can they be?
But these words came from the mouth of His Majesty the Emperor, and there was also the evaluation of that magical Master Li Nian, who really opened their eyes a lot, and maybe he really created an amazing weapon.

Regarding Li Nian, the general opinion of the ministers now is: this person is amazing, this person has extraordinary talent, and he can do anything amazing.

Little Han Xin in the hall was thinking that this must be the new weapon that Master Li had mentioned. It would change the existing war pattern and was also the main reason why Master Li wanted him to go to Liuying Academy.

Meng Tian's eyes lit up. The Qin Dynasty had created weapons of later generations. These weapons should not be weapons of later generations, but weapons close to those of later generations. There must be a big gap between them and real weapons of later generations.

Because he learned from his younger brother Meng Yi that people in later generations had mastered a weapon called the "nuclear bomb", which could attack the enemy from thousands of miles away. It fell from the sky, making it impossible to avoid or escape. One nuclear bomb could destroy a city larger than Xianyang.

That thing is definitely not something that the Qin Dynasty can make, but being able to make a weapon that is similar to later weapons is also incredible, and it will definitely increase the strength of the Qin Dynasty again.

It would be even better if such weapons could be installed on the Qin's warships, so that they could travel across the seas and sweep away all injustices.

Hearing that it was a new weapon, Wang Jian also became interested. He bowed to the First Emperor and said, "May I ask, Your Majesty, what exactly is this weapon?"

The First Emperor smiled and said, "This is a weapon that you have never seen before. I cannot explain it to you. You have to see it first before you know it."

This aroused Wang Jian's interest even more. He had led troops in battles for decades and had seen all kinds of strange weapons. His Majesty actually said that this was a weapon he had never seen before. He wanted to take a good look at it.

After answering Wang Jian's question, the First Emperor said, "I want to invite the envoys from the Xiongnu and the Baiyue tribes to go and see it together. What do you think?"

Your Majesty said this because he must have believed that the weapon was extremely powerful and wanted to use it to intimidate the Xiongnu and the Baiyue tribes, to show them the mighty military prowess of the Qin Dynasty and to prevent them from having any delusional thoughts.

From the perspective of deterrence, this can be done, but it also means that this weapon will be exposed to the Huns and Baiyue people, and it will be difficult to use it to attack the enemy by surprise on the battlefield in the future.

Wang Jian gave his answer: "If this weapon is really powerful, I think it should not be made known to others! Although showing this weapon to the Xiongnu and Baiyue people can deter them now, the deterrence is only temporary. If we have to fight with them on the battlefield in the future, it is better to hide this weapon."

Wang Wan said, "I agree with the old general. Rather than gaining the advantage of temporary deterrence, it is better to gain the real advantage of the battlefield in the future. Moreover, the Xiongnu and Baiyue now need the help of the Qin Dynasty. There is no need to intimidate them too much. On the contrary, excessive deterrence will make them too afraid and may cause changes!"

The First Emperor looked at Li Nian and motioned for him to say a few words. Li Nian said, "I also think that the Huns and the Baiyue should not be informed. This is a national treasure. The later the Huns and the Baiyue know about it, the better!" Other civil and military officials suggested that the Huns and the Baiyue should not be taken to see the weapon, so the First Emperor gave up the idea. However, this made the ministers even more curious. What exactly was this weapon that could make His Majesty so confident?

The First Emperor waved his sleeves and said, "I will do as you say! My Lords, follow me to see the most important weapon that protects the country!"

Under the escort of the guards, the First Emperor, Li Nian and many important officials of the Qin Dynasty, plus a little Han Xin, went to the Liuying Palace area under the jurisdiction of Li Nian.

In order to get timely guidance from Li Nian and to maintain confidentiality, the artillery casting project was also set up within the jurisdiction of Liuying Palace.

Some ministers who had been to Liuying Palace looked strange at this moment. Is this Liuying Palace?
It is quite different from the Liuying Palace in their memory. Some places can still be seen in their original appearance, but many places have been changed.

Your Majesty really values ​​this person, and he actually let him transform Liuying Palace into its current appearance. Liuying Palace now occupies a very large area, and many people in the city have been relocated, and their original houses and land have become part of Liuying Palace.

The road they were walking on now only allowed them to see a part of Liuying Palace. The area under the jurisdiction of Liuying Palace was much larger.

When they got within a certain range, they smelled a strange smell in the air. Zhao Gao asked, "What is that smell?"

This won't be poisonous, right? Some ministers thought to themselves, but His Majesty and Li Nian didn't react much, so the smell shouldn't be poisonous.

Hearing that it was Zhao Gao who was asking, Li Nian said, "This is the smell of industry!"

Zhao Gao immediately showed an expression of "I see". "No wonder this smell is so special, it turns out to be the smell of industry!"

As he spoke, Zhao Gao took a deep breath and took a deep sniff. His action made the First Emperor look back at him, which made Zhao Gao even more excited and he continued to sniff the air.

Little did he know that what the First Emperor was thinking was: Li Nian said that these smells are not good and being in them for a long time will harm the body. Since Zhao Gao likes them so much, when he is to be executed in the future, it is better to tie him up here and let him die from the smell.

When the other ministers saw what Zhao Gao did, they all kept their distance from him, as if they were ashamed to be associated with him.

Zhao Gao didn't care about the reactions of the ministers. As long as he could gain the favor of His Majesty and make friends with Master Li Nian, it didn't matter if he lost some face. I, Zhao Gao, would not eat your rice.

Soon, everyone followed the First Emperor to a training ground.

Here, they could see at a glance the wooden signs erected on the parade ground and the thick, long pipes that seemed to be made of bronze arranged on the other side of the parade ground.

These thick and long copper tubes have unique shapes and look very heavy. Each copper tube is equipped with two wheels.

Needless to say, these copper tubes should be the newly manufactured weapons of the Qin Dynasty, the kind of powerful weapons that Your Majesty believes in.

But how can this thing be used on the battlefield?

With such a large shape, it is estimated to weigh several thousand pounds. Even if it is equipped with wheels, it is definitely difficult to move, so it is impossible for it to charge on the battlefield.

One end of it was not closed, but was slanted forward, and there was a high probability that something was launched from it.

When everyone was guessing, they saw the First Emperor leading his ministers to arrive. The people in the parade ground immediately bowed to the First Emperor and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Be flat!"

The First Emperor asked several people who were nearby: "Are you ready?"

One of them said to the First Emperor: "Your Majesty, the guns have been debugged and are ready for your inspection at any time!"

The First Emperor ordered: "Begin the drill. Let me see if this artillery is as powerful as you say. Let's try one first!"

After receiving the Emperor's order, several people began to pass on the message, and then the ministers saw the man standing next to a copper pipe operating it:
Something was stuffed into the copper tube, and something that looked like a stick was inserted into the tube to push it in, probably to make the thing stuffed into the tube firm. Then an object that was not sure whether it was a copper ball or an iron ball was stuffed in, and then something was lit with a torch at the end of the copper tube.

After a set of operations that were difficult to understand and what they were doing, there was a loud "bang". The sudden noise scared some ministers, and then they saw a ball of fire appear at the mouth of the copper tube, accompanied by a puff of smoke, and something was fired out of the copper tube.

The thing was moving very fast, so they couldn't see clearly what it was, but they saw a wooden sign on the other side of the parade ground being smashed open with a "bang", and even the wooden pole of the sign was broken and fell far away.

For a moment, the entire parade ground was silent. The copper pipe was indeed a weapon, but it was different from the various weapons they had imagined when they came here. It was just as His Majesty said, it was a weapon they had never seen before.

Not to mention the power of its impact, even the sound it makes is very useful on the battlefield. It is like thunder, and will definitely scare the enemy's horses and soldiers.

Moreover, the power of the object that was launched was enough to smash the wooden sign directly. What would happen if it fell on a person or a horse?
People and horses certainly cannot withstand such power. Even if they are wearing armor, they will not be able to stop it. Even their bones will be smashed and turned into rotten meat.

This is just the power of a single copper tube. If dozens, hundreds, or thousands of them were deployed on the battlefield and fired at the enemy, the scene would be absolutely devastating and unstoppable.

Wang Jian, Wang Ben, Meng Tian and other generals became serious. Your Majesty was right and Li Nian was not exaggerating. This weapon will indeed change the future mode of warfare and can indeed be called a national weapon!
The First Emperor was quite satisfied with the artillery's debut performance. Although it was not as good as a nuclear bomb that could destroy a city, it was already quite good and surpassed other armies of that era.

It's just that making this thing does cost a lot of money. What Li Nian said, "One cannon shot is worth a fortune," is true.

(End of this chapter)