Li Er’s curiosity grew heavier and heavier. He knew about the Martial Research Institute having large amounts of funds with unclear destinations. When he had asked Yun Ye about it, Yun Ye’s answer was that on Lantern Festival night he would naturally give the court a clear and straightforward explanation.
Since that was the case, neither the Emperor nor the assembled ministers asked about this matter again. If tonight Yun Ye still couldn’t give the court a reasonable and clear explanation, Yun Ye’s position as Minister of War would probably be impossible to keep, and he might even be convicted of a crime because of it.
Everyone stared at the thing Yun Ye had assembled in his hands. Watching him stuff six objects into six dark holes, they couldn’t help but gasp.
What kind of people were in the Martial Research Institute? Through these years of continuous additions, that place was filled with lunatics and obsessive maniacs—missing eyes, missing fingers, missing an arm, or faces burned beyond recognition into demons and monsters. When censors entered there, their entire bodies would turn cold, always feeling they had walked into a world of madmen.
Some people danced about shouting wildly. Some held a gunpowder bomb in their hands, eyes fixed on the fuse hissing and sparking, scaring censors who wanted to approach them into fleeing in terror. Just as the fuse was about to burn out completely, the other hand of this monster would still be pulling at the censor while continuously talking and laughing. Just when the censor closed his eyes to await death, that fellow would stuff the fuse into his mouth and extinguish it with saliva. Like this, when that fellow opened his mouth, there came a smell of scorched flesh.
Firearms were terrifying—this had become common knowledge in Great Tang people’s hearts. But even more terrifying than firearms were these lunatics. After that incident, the Eastern and Western Chambers no longer hoped to learn secrets from those madmen’s mouths. Instead, they frantically pressured Yun Ye, and only after getting the final deadline from Yun Ye’s mouth did they all shut up.
Twenty thousand gold coins—to research such a thing? If it didn’t have the ability to split mountains and crack stones, the Eastern and Western Chambers simply wouldn’t recognize it. Since Yun Ye now agreed to fight with his enemy, then this thing was absolutely a world-class deadly weapon.
Even using twenty thousand gold coins to press down on Heichi Changzhi would crush him to death, not to mention that Gongshu, such a generation’s master of mechanisms, died in the manufacture of this thing. What concept were three human lives? The elite figures of the Martial Research Institute—pull any one out at random and their official rank wouldn’t be lower than sixth grade. Three such figures also died! Even if those people were lunatics, they were the Great Tang’s most important lunatics, most precious lunatics. The reason the Great Tang could remain unscathed amid attacks from throughout the world—these lunatics’ contributions were indispensable.
The sweat on Heichi Changzhi’s forehead fell like rain. He felt his two legs were extremely stiff. The sweat from his palms soaked through the hemp cloth on the mo-dao handle. His heart very much wanted to step forward, but his four limbs were incomparably rigid—like a mouse preparing to launch an attack on a cat.
Knowing he was certainly dead, the enemy before him held in his hands the Great Tang’s—no, the entire world’s—most terrifying weapon. As soon as he moved, he would become a corpse. As a fierce general of the battlefield, Heichi Changzhi keenly sensed the danger.
“This object is called a grenade launcher, abbreviated as grenade cannon. Its total weight is forty-six jin. The projectile weighs six liang, four qian, and seven fen. It carries six rounds. Before firing, propellant powder is pushed in. The projectile is pushed out of the barrel by the propellant powder. One grenade cannon is sufficient to change the direction of a small-scale war. Unfortunately, such weapons have extremely high requirements for steel—even hundred-times-refined steel cannot satisfy its needs. The Martial Research Institute manufactured a total of sixteen such things. Very regrettably, the rest were all destroyed in testing, resulting in the deaths of three court officials. Today, let its unparalleled might serve as the final mourning for the departed heroic souls.”
After Yun Ye spoke sorrowfully, when he raised his head, his eyes no longer contained any emotion.
“Stop!” Li Chengqian, covered in sweat, walked out. A heavy slap struck Heichi Changzhi’s face. With pushing and kicking, he shoved the tall Heichi Changzhi out of the arena. Li Chengqian even turned back to smile awkwardly at Yun Ye—this counted as an apology.
Only Yun Ye remained in the arena. Yun Ye laughed heartily, put the thing in his hands on the ground, walked back to Li Er’s side, and said, “Your Majesty, operating this thing requires fierce soldiers from the army—it cannot be done otherwise. This humble minister’s body is frail. If I were to operate it, I’d probably be shaken to death!”
Li Er said with mixed laughter and tears, “You just borrowed this thing’s威力 to scare off Heichi Changzhi?”
“Precisely. The projectiles of this weapon aren’t filled with black gunpowder. I heard it’s a very unstable substance with explosive effectiveness even stronger than black gunpowder. I only heard it’s made from cotton. As for the rest, the Wuli司马 of the Martial Research Institute won’t say, fearing this humble minister will leak secrets. This humble minister has watched several immature drills—the scenes were very terrifying.”
“Since you can’t demonstrate it, quickly have a fierce soldier who can demonstrate come over.” Li Er said to Yun Ye without good humor.
With a single command from the Minister of War, a team of soldiers carrying sandbags rapidly built fortifications in front of Wanmin Palace. Before long, sandbags stuffed with sand formed a semicircle protecting everyone.
They also built a small semicircular defensive fortification on the open ground of Wanmin Palace.
While these soldiers prepared the fortifications, Yun Ye continuously explained the function of this thing to everyone. After everyone was prepared, Yun Ye asked the Emperor—Heichi Changzhi had shamefully disappeared. Without a target, what should be used as the target?
Li Er casually pointed at the rockery group not far to the left, meaning that thing could serve as a target.
A robust big man walked onto the scene. After kneeling and bowing to the Emperor, he stood in the small fortification circle. Beside him stood two knife-wielding eunuchs close by. This was Yun Ye’s special requirement—if this fellow’s brain went haywire and he fired toward the crowd, the Great Tang’s upper echelon would probably be mostly dead.
The big man held the grenade cannon, bracing the stock against his shoulder blade. His index finger hooked slightly. With just a thunderous sound, the big man staggered backward several steps. A streak of red line was extremely clear in the night. With a crack of thunder, a good section of the tall rockery’s top disappeared. The two eunuchs monitoring the big man had already frozen in place. Fortunately, the big man had no intention of firing at the Emperor. After conscientiously firing all six projectiles empty, he put down the weapon in his hands and knelt on one knee waiting for the Emperor’s reward.
The rockery was gone. The plaza was covered with broken stones. The gunpowder smoke had not yet dispersed when Li Er laughed heartily and rewarded that big man with a plate of gold and the rank of Colonel. He himself walked to the rubble pile and carefully observed the scene. Only then did he say to Yun Ye, “Proclaim an edict to provide compensation to the deceased. They made me understand a principle—on the path of firearms, our Great Tang has not gone wrong. The firearms we now possess are far from the end, only a beginning. From now on, the additional funds needed by the Martial Research Institute will be borne by the Imperial Family and will no longer be requested from the Ministry of Finance.”
After Yun Ye expressed thanks, everyone returned to Wanmin Palace. That weapon was placed in its box on Li Er’s desk. As he drank wine, he caressed the box tenderly like stroking a woman. This weapons demonstration tonight had given Li Er tremendous shock.
Li Tai moved to Yun Ye’s side and said softly, “This thing is just a defective product. Why are you bringing it out at this time? It doesn’t shoot far enough—it can’t even match the eight-ox crossbow. Its power isn’t great enough—it can’t compare to larger gunpowder bombs. Nitrocellulose’s properties are very unstable. When the time comes to equip the army, without even fighting, our Great Tang army will be blown into chaos by our own things. Before researching safe explosives, this thing can’t possibly be deployed!”
Yun Ye said softly, “Shut up! I already said this thing is a swan song. Right now, those people at the Martial Research Institute are wildly ambitious and want to research everything. The bit of money the Ministry of Finance gives isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between teeth. But the Martial Research Institute is precisely a place that burns through money. If you don’t let them research, there won’t be any surprises. Just like this thing—I originally intended to have them research something with a smaller caliber, the kind where you could randomly find a soldier who could pick it up and use it, rather than having to search throughout the army for good fellows who’ve practiced external martial arts to be able to operate it.”
“Who knew that according to my conception, they just produced such a thing for me and even told me that such thin tubes are hard to make—they explode and crack at the drop of a hat. They told me to stop dreaming. Good heavens, this thing weighs forty-six jin—it’s fundamentally an iron lump. I held it for a while and my back and waist were sore and aching.”
Li Tai frowned and said, “You deceiving my father’s money like this—when he discovers it, your good days will be over. I understand what the Martial Research Institute is about. Even if those people add pigments to molten iron water, I can figure it out—I know they’re planning to research colored steel, just like when I first researched airplanes and continuously threw a rooster into the air to watch its flying movements. Those who understand know what’s going on; those who don’t will think I’ve gone mad. The Martial Research Institute is such an existence. Wanting everyone to understand still requires the Academy to continuously strengthen education—that’s the foundation. I don’t even dare imagine what my father’s reaction will be when he discovers you’re deceiving him for money.”
Yun Ye chuckled and said, “Don’t we still have you? Besides, we’ve brought out something, and His Majesty is also very pleased. As long as both parties are willing, it doesn’t count as deception, right? At our Martial Research Institute, we really did have three people die. Your teacher, Old Master Gongshu, also died. Don’t you feel sad?”
Li Tai said resentfully, “That ninety-year-old fellow still bought four Persian dancing girls and died suddenly that very night. How do you want me to believe the old master died from working his heart and blood for the Great Tang? Even if I want to feel respect in my heart, he died stark naked in a dancing girl’s bed—how can I feel respect?”
“And those three bastards at the Martial Research Institute—they were told a thousand times that nitrocellulose’s properties are very unstable, yet they still recklessly added things to it without fear of death. When it ignited, they still didn’t run! There’s no justice in heaven if they don’t die! They violated the rules and regulations, and you’re here helping them sing praises and gain posthumous glory. I’m very worried—what if people there all imitate them in the future?”
Yun Ye smiled and said, “Research, well, is a matter of riding a donkey to find a horse. It’s not strange if riding a pig to find a dog appears! Just bear with it a bit more. You’re the big boss of the Martial Research Institute. To put it bluntly, I’m helping you swindle money, and you’re still not satisfied!”