Chapter 635

A loud explosion resounded at a corner of the industrial zone.

“This is…!” Yangzhou’s civil and military officials were all present. Mi Zhu, Xu Shu, Lu Su and Zhuge Liang were also present. They were all being led by Liu Ye to look at Yangzhou’s secret weapon.

Their expression was one of shock as they watch a crater form on a small hill. The wooden scarecrows used as targets could no longer be seen.

“How is it?” Liu Mang asked with a smile.

“A thousand and five hundred paces?” Lu Su said, estimating the distance towards the target. How could it still be so powerful from so far away? He had believed that the ballista was Yangzhou’s greatest weapon. After all, he was captured as a result of those ballista and now that ballista had upgraded to its third generation. That being said, Lu Su realized that it does not matter what upgrades the ballista was given. Compared to this, the ballista was worthless. The ballista can only shoot up to seven hundred paces away but the cannon can shoot up to one thousand five hundred paces away.

“Hahaha! One thousand and five hundred paces away and this is only our small one thousand catty cannon!” Liu Mang laughed.

“Two hundred gold!” Mi Zhu, the Minister of Revenue spoke. Naturally, he talked about money. The cannon was made out of a thousand catties worth of copper coins. This totaled up to two hundred gold.

For the large three thousand catty cannon, it would be six hundred gold. If they want to add in the cost of the artillery shell and the gunpowder, the small cannon would cost about three hundred fifty gold at minimum while the large cannon would cost at least a thousand gold. The money would disappear so quickly that Mi Zhu felt his heart ache.

That was why Mi Zhu initially rejected this when Liu Mang said he wanted to spend money on cannons. He thought that getting soldiers would be better. The market prices for horses were ten gold and if the transport fee is included, it would only be about thirty gold. A small cannon could buy at least dozens of horses. If you outfit the barracks with cannons, that would cost enough to form another heavy cavalry. Yet after watching this scene, Mi Zhu could not help but salivate. The scarecrows had been wearing the heavy armor made from Yangzhou. This heavy armor was priceless on the black market as it was good looking and also stronger compared to the heavy armors from other places.

Yet this heavy armor could not withstand the might of the cannon. Both the wood and the armor were torn apart. If it was a person, their corpses would be tragic.

“Zifang. Are these cannons worth the several hundred gold?” Liu Mang asked with a laugh.

“It’s worth it!” Mi Zhu said with a complicated expression. The power of the cannon was so formidable the enemy would not be able to withstand it. Yet, Mi Zhu also knew Liu Mang’s plans for the future. He was planning to get at least five hundred of the small cannons and at least one hundred of the large cannons. This would total up to at least two hundred and fifty thousand gold. Where was he supposed to get all that money? Yangzhou may be rich but this is still too much. So Mi Zhu could only feel distressed.

“Don’t worry, Zifang. With these cannons, would we need to fear not having enough money?” Liu Mang patted Mi Zhu’s shoulders as he placated.  With these cannons, Liu Mang could easily wipe out the other Lords and take their money. There wouldn’t be anyone that could stop him.

Liu Mang’s words put Mi Zhu at ease for a little while.

“I have decided. We make one thousand small cannons and three hundred large cannons!” The cannons were hot weapons. With hot weapons, Liu Mang was certain he could take over the world.

Liu Mang’s following words immediately caused Mi Zhu to turn pale and spit out blood. A doctor was quickly called over and the doctor diagnosed the Mi Zhu spat out blood from fear.

“So this thing is called a cannon…” Zhuge Liang did not seem to be as alarmed as others but that was only for his outer appearance. No one noticed that he already lowered his feathered fan.

He had never seen cannons before. He had seen catapults and even ballista before but not cannons. It had overturned what Zhuge Liang knew as normal. If cannons were used, what was the point of city walls? They would not need much. Just twenty cannons and five thousand elite soldiers. Then just keep firing at the enemy with the cannons. The soldiers would not even need to fight to make the enemies surrender.

With these cannons, there would be no need for any elaborate strategies. Zhuge Liang then thought to himself. What if the enemy used cannons? He shook his head. The only option then would be to charge out of the city and fight to the death since the city defenses would be useless.

“Milord. Should… should we look at the three thousand catty cannons?” Ma Jun was very pleased to see Yangzhou’s people all startled by his masterpiece.

“Of course!” Liu Mang replied. Liu Mang wanted both the small and large cannons the most. Though other firearms like guns were good, it was harder to make and not powerful enough to destroy city walls. Guns were smaller and required manufacturing required more delicate skills.

“Ready the three thousand catty cannon!” Liu Ye said to his subordinates and a large cannon were brought over.

The large cannon was three meters long and had a barrel of about a hundred and ten millimeters. A fierce lion head was engraved at the surface of the cannon. It was as though the lion was about to tear into their prey.

“Clean the barrel. Put in the gunpowder and then the cannonball!” All of these steps were learned from the books Liu Mang brought back.

After everything was ready, the order to fire was given. Liu Mang and the others naturally stood far away from the cannon. They had all learned from their mistakes as no one could guarantee that this would be safe. Fortunately, they could still see clearly as the telescope had already been mass produced enough for them to have one each.

The results did not disappoint Liu Mang. The target this time was a cement reinforced wall befitting of a small town. Yet this cement reinforced wall was also destroyed. What other wall in this ancient era could be a match for the cannon?

“Two thousand five hundred paces away?” It was another astonishing number. The range of the small cannon was terrifying enough. Now, it was two thousand five hundred paces. Zhuge Liang and the others did not have any words to describe this. This was like turning the immortal methods written in the book into reality.

For the first time, Zhuge Liang rejoiced that he chosen the right lord to serve. Zhuge Liang would not know how to fight Liu Mang otherwise if Liu Mang was an enemy. This is because he had never seen such a thing before.

“Hahaha!” Liu Mang laughed loudly. “This is it! Make another one thousand and eight hundred of this!”

“Milord! You can’t!” Mi Zhu struggled to speak. He was very alarmed to hear Liu Mang’s words. If Liu Mang really tried to make another one thousand eight hundred cannons, they would all die.

“Milord. Yangzhou is rich but we do not have enough money to make one thousand and eight hundred cannons!” Mi Zhu had thought himself a spendthrift since he bought half of Xuzhou. Even then, he only spent a hundred thousand gold.

Yet when he compared himself with Liu Mang, Mi Zhu could be the representative of thrifty people.

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