The next day was an auspicious day chosen by Yuan Tiangang for Li Yuan.
Early in the morning, Fang Er, dressed in his court attire, headed to the imperial palace to report for duty.
The entire day’s proceedings left him utterly exhausted. The convoluted etiquette and numerous taboos were simply not humanly bearable.
The noble family captives apprehended earlier were all executed on this very day.
It wasn't just those captured by Li Shimin and Fang Er; officials from noble families within the court were also apprehended by Li Jing.
With over a thousand people to execute, the executioners swung their blades for an entire day, and by the end, they could barely lift their weapons!
Li Yuan was Chai Yue’s maternal grandfather, and Fang Er was the Marquis of Liaodong. For both public and private reasons, he had to attend this state funeral ceremony.
This was also why Fang Er had stayed at Fang Family Village since his return.
After the state funeral ceremony concluded, the first thing Fang Er did upon returning to Fang Family Village was to visit the vocational school.
"Marquis, the fabric you requested has been tested."
Hua Niang appeared before Fang Er, holding several pieces of fabric.
He casually took the fabric and examined it closely, turning it over and over. The weave was very fine, and it was coated with an unknown adhesive, seemingly making it truly airtight.
Therefore, Fang Er issued a command: "Full-scale production!"
"Yes, Marquis!" Hua Niang curtsied slightly and then went to arrange the weaving.
While this type of fabric was not slow to weave, the process of applying the adhesive significantly reduced the speed.
With the fabric secured, Fang Er remained at the vocational school. The materials for the balloon were settled, and the remaining tasks were to construct the burner and the lower gondola.
Relatively speaking, the gondola was the easiest part of the hot air balloon to construct. Fang Er directly instructed someone to find a few bamboo weavers to make the gondola out of bamboo.
He himself, along with Zhao Gang and the others, began working on constructing the burner.
In later generations, hot air balloons commonly used liquefied gas as fuel.
However, at this time, the only fuel Fang Er could utilize was diesel.
The workshop had not yet been rebuilt, and the power system was also gone. Therefore, it took three to four days just to convert the few machine tools in the vocational school to manual power.
A circular fuel tank was connected to a pressurizing device and an oil injection device.
By operating the pressurizing device, the tank could be pressurized, allowing the diesel inside to be smoothly injected through the oil injection device. Simultaneously, the degree of pressurization could be used to control the flame size.
Once the burner was assembled, it was moved to the courtyard for several experimental ignitions, all of which were successful.
The next steps were the stitching of the balloon envelope and the final assembly.
After these tasks were completed, Fang Er also had Hua Niang make two parachutes from the same fabric as the balloon envelope, as a precaution against unforeseen events.
With all preparations completed, the hot air balloon was carried to the Tianhuo Military School grounds.
Zhang Tian, Wu Yong, and the others gathered around curiously.
"Marquis, what is this big thing used for?"
Fang Er glanced at Zhang Tian. "It’s for flying. Do you want to fly again?"
Zhang Tian shivered. The experience of flying into the sky with a kite at sea last time had made him a sensation in the Tianhuo Army.
Although the process was perilous, for young people, it was also a thrill!
"Marquis, I do!"
Zhang Tian nodded heavily.
"Marquis, I want to go up too."
Liu Meng and Wu Yong looked at Fang Er expectantly.
"You guys will take turns, you all will have a chance. This is much safer than the kite."
Afterward, he began to explain the operation of the hot air balloon to everyone.
The diesel burner could only provide upward thrust, while horizontal movement relied on the air currents at different altitudes, meaning wind power.
After carefully listening to Fang Er’s explanation, Zhang Tian strapped on a parachute and stepped into the gondola with an expression of facing death.
The most troublesome part before the hot air balloon ascended was the need for multiple people to cooperate in supporting the balloon envelope to prevent the loose material from being ignited by the flames.
With the help of Liu Meng and others, the burner emitted fierce flames, and the balloon gradually inflated.
It took nearly the time it takes to burn a stick of incense for the twenty-meter-high balloon envelope to become completely full.
Suddenly, after the gondola shook a few times, it slowly lifted off the ground, rising higher and higher.
"Ah~~!"
"Ooh ooh ooh!! We’re really going up!"
"We’re really going up, that’s amazing!"
Zhang Tian was incredibly excited in the gondola, shouting loudly.
Liu Meng and the others also looked on with anticipation.
The new recruits who were training nearby were also drawn by the sight of the massive hot air balloon slowly ascending.
The hot air balloon flew higher and higher, and the two-hundred-meter-long rope trailing from the gondola became taut, one end fixed to a large tree, causing even the tree to sway slightly.
In the Liangji Hall, Li Shimin and Li Jing were discussing troop deployment. Suddenly, a palace guard stumbled in.
Pointing in the direction of Fang Family Village, he stammered, "Your Majesty, the sky, the sky, in the sky, there are, there are Immortals!"
Well, in their understanding, anything that could fly in the sky, besides birds, was an Immortal.
Li Shimin was greatly alarmed. He quickly rose from behind his imperial desk and said to Li Jing and the others, "Let's go out and see!"
They exited the Liangji Hall and walked onto the open ground outside. A mere glance upwards and a scan of the surroundings revealed a yellow sphere floating in the sky to the east of Chang’an City.
It seemed to be spying on the palace. How could this be tolerated?
"Guards! Prepare horses!"
The guards quickly readied the warhorses.
After mounting their horses, they galloped towards the direction of the hot air balloon, followed by a contingent of guards to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.
However, shortly after passing through Tonghua Gate, Cheng Yaojin said, "Your Majesty, it seems to be coming from the direction of Fang Family Village."
Li Shimin raised an eyebrow; it did seem that way.
"Increase speed!"
The new recruits in the training grounds had lost their focus and were gathering in small groups, discussing the hot air balloon in the sky.
"Do you think, flying this high, one can see Immortals?"
"We’ll have to ask Commander Zhang about that."
ps: Second update. I sincerely apologize to everyone. I had guests at home yesterday, and Shi Zi drank too much. I will try my best to make up for yesterday’s update today.