Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 602: Lightning Induction Technique, Method of Lightning Destroying the City (Part )
Spring thunder in February.

All things come into being.

Thunderbolts kept moving in the dark clouds in the sky.

On the west steps of the Hanyuan Hall in the Daming Palace, Li Chengqian, dressed in a scarlet and yellow dragon robe, held the Qianniu Sword in his hand, his eyes fixed on the distance.

In the Beiyuan on the west side of the city wall in the distance.

A three-meter-high city gate was erected in the open space.

There are simple city walls on both sides of the city gate.

Above the city gate, a three-meter-long iron rod was inserted straight into the city wall and penetrated into the city gate.

Higher up, a kite with a very thin wire was flying in the sky.

"Uncle, do you think such thunder can split the city gate?" Li Chengqian turned slightly and looked at Changsun Wuji on the side.

Behind Changsun Wuji, Tang Jian, Yu Zhining, Ma Zhou, Lai Ji, Zhang Xuansu, Zhang Xingcheng, Yan Lide, Liu Dewei, Changsun Xiang, Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Xue Wanche, Li Anyan, Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Zhijie and other important officials all stood quietly.

"I don't know." Changsun Wuji looked at the thunder in the sky and sighed, "Thunder is extremely powerful. Logically speaking, it is fully capable of destroying a city gate. However, the power of thunder is uncontrollable. Even if Your Majesty uses his skillful hands to guide the thunder, I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve the desired effect."

Li Chengqian then gave a bitter laugh and said, "I originally thought that I had obtained some weapon that could break through Pingrang City. If this is really my delusion, please don't make fun of me, uncle."

"How dare I? Your Majesty has devoted all his energy to the military affairs, and I admire you so much. How dare I speak nonsense? As for those things, I think, although I don't know if they have the power to directly destroy the city walls, they should be stronger than ordinary rolling stones and crossbows. If used on the battlefield, they should still be of some use. I'm just not sure how effective they are."

Li Chengqian nodded, but the worry on his face did not disappear at all.

The ministers didn't know what to say for a moment.

The art of attracting thunder and lightning, or guiding thunder and lightning, although it seems mysterious among the people, is not a strange thing in the palace.

Every palace in the palace has a dragon-shaped ridge beast called Chiwen connected to the ground with iron wire to lead lightning into the ground, thus avoiding disasters caused by sky fire.

The emperor now used kites to lead lightning into the sky and iron rods to try to destroy the city gates. It was the same principle.

The ministers were not particularly surprised.

Many of them had experienced the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty and had seen everything, so it was not surprising.

Of course, the reason why Li Chengqian dared to bring them here was mainly because there were no die-hard Confucian believers among them.

Although the emperor was destined by heaven, the reason they supported Li Chengqian was more out of common interests.

……

Changsun Wuji glanced back slightly, and the ministers immediately understood what he meant and walked away.

Zhangsun Wuji then looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Your Majesty, whether today's event succeeds or not is not a big deal. After all, even if it succeeds, it will not be easy to use it successfully on the battlefield. Even if it fails, with the strength of the Tang army, can't we still capture Pingrang City?"

"Uncle is right." Li Chengqian's expression finally relaxed.

Changsun Wuji changed the subject and asked, "Compared to this, I'm actually more concerned about the Crown Princess. Your Majesty, the Eastern Expedition will be launched this year, and the Crown Princess will be chosen in June. How is the discussion going with the Empress?"

Li Chengqian glanced at the ministers in the distance, then whispered, "Actually, the selection of the Queen is still ongoing, but I don't intend to choose anyone from the Hedong family."

Changsun Wuji nodded in agreement, and the Tang Dynasty ruled the world from Guanzhong.

Considering the emperor's current authority, it is indeed inappropriate to choose a woman from the Hedong family as the Crown Princess.

"I also plan to visit the six powerful families in Guanzhong, the Wei, Pei, Xue, Liu, Yang, and Du clans. After all, the aristocratic families are too powerful." Li Chengqian paused for a moment and said, "The ones left in my hands now are the Dou, Dugu, Yuan, Yuwen, Doulu, and the Liu clan."

"Liu family?" Changsun Wuji looked up in surprise.

Li Chengqian turned slightly and glanced at Liu Dewei who was not far away.

Zhang Sun Wuji immediately understood, and then he whispered, "Because Liu Dewei's mother was from the Yuan family?"

"Yeah!" Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

Liu Dewei was born into the Liu family of Pengcheng, a descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Han. In addition, his mother was from the Yuan family, so he was truly noble in terms of bloodline.

Moreover, Liu Dewei's second wife was Princess Pingshou.

Among Liu Dewei's descendants, in addition to Liu Shenli, there was a son and a daughter, both of whom were children of Princess Pingshou.

It can be said that he has Li's bloodline.

"But uncle, the other families aren't bad either. The Dou and Dugu families are needless to say, and the Yuan and Yuwen families are not bad either. There's also the Dou Lu family." Li Chengqian paused briefly and continued, "The mother of the late Duke of Rui, Dou Lu Kuan, was Princess Changle, Yang Guang's sister. His son, Dou Lu Huairang, married Aunt Wanchun."

"Your Majesty, are you talking about Princess Wanchun's daughter?" Changsun Wuji looked up at Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian gave Changsun Wuji a displeased look.

Although Princess Wanchun's daughter is the same age as Li Xiang, she is Li Chengqian's cousin and Li Xiang's aunt.

Although the royal family does not care about these matters of generation, Li Chengqian still intends to pay attention to them.

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "The status of the Crown Princess needs to be considered carefully after all. Duke Rui's eldest son, ...

"I think the Dou family is the most appropriate." Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, now is the time for the army to march east, and we need to consider stability more. This is the fundamental purpose of the Crown Prince's wedding. The Dou family is far inferior to the Dou family in this regard."

Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "I'll think about it again. Anyway, the announcement won't be made until the third anniversary of my father's death, which is still a few months away."

"That's true." Changsun Wuji nodded in agreement.

This year is the fourth year of Yongwei, and it has been almost three years since the death of the late emperor.

A grand sacrifice is held on the third anniversary of the late emperor's death.

This is also the reason why Li Chengqian had to wait until after May this year before setting off for Luoyang.

Similarly, Li Xiang’s marriage will not be announced until after May.

In fact, there was something Li Chengqian did not say to Changsun Wuji.

The father-in-law Li Chengqian chose for Li Xiang was Dou Lu Qinwang.

Compared with those people in the Dou family, Dou Lu Qinwang is better in personal ability, and compared with the struggle for imperial power in which the Dou family may intervene, the Dou Lu family will be safer.

But now that the Eastern Expedition is imminent, we must choose the Dou family.

"By the way, uncle, the imperial examination is coming soon." Li Chengqian looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "Uncle, tell Prime Minister Yu to select more students from poor families this year. We may not have such an opportunity in the next few years."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji's expression became serious.

Next year, the army will be fighting in full swing against Goguryeo, and the year after, they will probably deal with the Hongnong Yang family.

In order to deal with the Hongnong Yang family, he had to win over other families.

Only in this way can the world be stable.

Changsun Wuji bowed earnestly and said, "I understand!"...

Thunder suddenly struck from the sky, hitting the kite in the air.

The next moment, thunder fell directly onto the city gate along the iron wire.

In an instant, a dazzling white light flashed across the city gate.

Everyone standing in Hanyuan Hall turned their eyes slightly to the side.

Immediately afterwards, a not very loud explosion was heard, and everyone subconsciously opened their eyes.

In the distance, under the dark sky, the city walls and gates still stand.

A hint of disappointment flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes.

He turned around and looked at Changsun Wuji and said, "Uncle is right. I was a little too hopeful. The lightning-inducing technique is really difficult to use."

"Although its power is not as strong as expected now, it is still a direction. We just need to keep doing it. Who knows when it will become a military weapon." Changsun Wuji looked at Li Chengqian comfortingly.

Li Chengqian gave a helpless wry smile and said, "I understand. Continuing research might take dozens or even hundreds of years..."

A loud "boom" suddenly came from a distance, interrupting Li Chengqian's words.

Li Chengqian subconsciously turned around and looked towards the city gate in the distance.

At this time, the place was already filled with smoke and dust.

As the smoke and dust settled, the city wall had collapsed and the city gate fell to the ground.

Looking at this scene, Changsun Wuji said in disbelief: "How is it possible?"

……

The drizzle continues and the green grass sways.

In front of the Guande Hall in Beiyuan, two burnt city gates were placed on the ground.

Yan Liben, Yang Wulian, Qiu Xingyan, and several other young officials from the Ministry of Works, the Supervisor of Works, and the Supervisor of the Imperial Household stood on both sides of the city gate.

Li Chengqian held an umbrella and squatted on the ground, looking at the two city gate panels.

Under the lightning strike, the city gate panels were covered with tree branch-like scorch marks left by the lightning.

It is very broad, very dark, both inside and outside, and very deep.

Some can even see from one side to the other.

"Your Majesty," Yan Liben said seriously from one side. "Although the lightning strike did considerable damage to the city gate, it actually caused it to collapse because it destroyed the ground and top holes where the gate connected to the wall. The door slots on both sides were also severely damaged. Furthermore, the hastily constructed city gate wasn't as strong as a real one, so it collapsed."

Although he said so, there was still a hint of doubt in Yan Liben's eyes.

This city gate is indeed not as strong as the one in Chang'an, but it should not collapse so easily.

"Your Majesty!" Su Dingfang stepped forward and said seriously, "Your Majesty, if that's all, it won't be very practical. The three gates on the east, west, and north sides of Pingrang City will all be blocked by huge rocks once a war breaks out. Only the two gates on the south will be open to allow civilians to enter and exit, and to pass on messages."

"Are you sure the northeast, west and north gates are all blocked?" Cheng Zhijie couldn't help but say, "If that's the case, attacking the city would be much easier."

The generals in the city immediately understood the reason behind this.

You block three city gates by yourself, and we only need to set up a blockade outside one gate, and the other roads will be divided into the north and south, so that we can completely turn you into an isolated city.

"It's true that it's blocked." Su Dingfang pondered and said, "Perhaps the east and west gates are not blocked so tightly."

"Your Majesty, in Old Cheng's opinion," Cheng Zhijie stepped forward and said, "If a single iron rod connected to the sky is already so powerful, then we should use a few more iron rods to connect the sky and the earth. Sooner or later, we will be able to breach the city wall."

"It's not that easy." Yuchi Jingde followed and walked out, looking at Li Chengqian and said, "Your Majesty, I saw that the lightning strike just now took a long time to succeed. If it were used on the battlefield, I'm afraid it would be discovered and cut off before it could take effect."

"That's easy." Li Chengqian smiled and said, "First, shoot one or two iron rods outside the city gate, where the Goguryeo people can't reach them. After one or two lightning strikes, use the crossbow cart to launch the crossbow arrows and iron paper kites into the sky. Finally, the lightning will follow."

This is a matter of charge concentration accumulation.

After a brief pause, Li Chengqian added, "This is what Master Yin told me. If lightning strikes the same place frequently, it will strike faster and faster."

Although the ministers looked confused, they all nodded in agreement.

Although Li Chengqian used the palace lightning protection method to modify today's experiment, he actually consulted Yin Wencao, the head of Louguan Dao, beforehand.

In many things, people in the Taoist sect know much more than ordinary people.

"In general," Changsun Wuji stepped forward, looking at the ruined city gate before him, and said seriously, "The lightning method of destroying the city is indeed useful, but considering the terrain and characteristics of Goguryeo, how to use it requires a complete strategy."

"This method needs to be improved." Li Chengqian stood up and looked at the ministers behind him seriously. "My Lords, not a single word of what happened today can be leaked to the outside world. If the Tang Dynasty can capture Pingrang City with this method, it can save several years of food, fodder and military equipment. The distance cannot be calculated. If I hear a single word outside, I will punish you severely."

"We obey your command." All the ministers bowed.

Li Chengqian's expression softened. He looked at his ministers and said, "Capturing Pingrang City and capturing and killing Gai Suwen is my father's lifelong wish. If we can accomplish this, one day, I and the ministers will be able to offer our condolences to the Emperor Zhaoling."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed solemnly.

……

The rain gradually stopped.

A colorful rainbow streaked across the sky.

Li Chengqian stood alone at the collapsed city gate, gazing out with a calm gaze.

Li Wu came out from nowhere and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Majesty!"

"The power is still not strong enough, it needs to be improved." Li Chengqian looked down at the scorch marks and traces of explosions on the ground.

"Yes!" Li Wu bowed his head and bowed.

"Although it can be used at the city gate today, it doesn't have to be fixed. The same applies to some areas of the city wall that are about to collapse." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian took a deep breath and said, "Take advantage of the darkness of night to bury it in an unimportant part of the city wall, and then use the lightning technique to detonate it. Do you think the Goguryeo people will think that God is against Goguryeo?"

Li Wu bowed and remained silent.

"All the people involved in the production and their families must move into the Imperial Guards and will never be allowed to leave." Li Chengqian turned around and strode away.

Hundreds of black-armored cavalrymen came from afar.

Li Chengqian jumped on his horse and turned around to take a look at the collapsed area.

Li Wu has disappeared.

The sky and the earth were dark, with only a ray of light.

(End of this chapter)