Fang Er did not try to persuade him any further. This was something one had to experience firsthand to truly understand. He had his own plans, after all; he wouldn't just hand this over for nothing. What if someone used firearms against him? He didn't have any body armor.
The fire starter lit the fuse.
*Sizzle~~~*
The flame followed the fuse, soaked in oil, and quickly burned towards the cannon barrel.
*BOOM!*
The cannon roared. Li Er felt as if a thunderclap had erupted beside his ear. Then he saw a dark iron ball shoot out from the barrel, smashing hard into the small woods.
Following this were the sounds of breaking branches and flying woodchips.
He wanted to go into the woods to inspect it himself but was stopped by Eunuch Deng.
"Your Majesty, absolutely not. Let the guards go and see."
Eunuch Deng spoke while pointing a finger at the cannon's muzzle, still aimed at the small woods.
Fang Er understood. They were worried he might fire a surprise shot?
Fine. The cannon had already been fired anyway, so he let Zhao Hu and the others retreat.
"Let's go, An Zhi, let's go and take a look together."
Li Er shot Eunuch Deng a look and pulled Fang Er towards the woods.
As they reached the edge of the small woods, they saw a ground covered in broken branches and fallen leaves. Several trees, as thick as a man's embrace, had their bark blasted off, and sap was still dripping from the broken surfaces. This was the result of the cannonball hitting one tree and then ricocheting onto others.
Seeing this, a scene appeared in Li Er's mind: armies facing each other, countless cannons aimed at the enemy, firing in unison. The earth-shattering roar of the cannons and the sky-obscuring barrage of cannonballs would leave the enemy in disarray, utterly defeated.
"Between cannons and firearms, which is easier to produce?"
Li Er asked Fang Er, looking at him.
"Replying to Your Majesty, it's definitely easier to produce cannons. However, the consumption of iron is truly too great. This single cannon, along with its carriage, used over a thousand jin of fine steel."
"Since that's the case, I presume you cannot mass-produce them. Are you willing to offer the method for manufacturing these cannons?"
Li Er stared intently at Fang Er. Such a weapon of mass destruction could only be in his hands; it absolutely could not be manufactured carelessly. Otherwise, what if one day someone pointed a cannon at the imperial palace? The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
"The manufacturing method has already been written down. However, forgive me for saying this, but I don't quite trust the Ministry of Works."
Fang Er seized every opportunity to badmouth and discredit the Ministry of Works.
"You don't trust Du Yiyang?"
Li Er asked with a smile.
"Your Majesty, why ask what you already know? I trust Lord Du. It's the other officials that I'm less sure about."
"I don't believe I've pursued the matter of your Zheng family of Xingyang yet. How about this: you offer up the manufacturing method. I'll pretend not to know about the Zheng family's affairs. If they make trouble, I'll help you stall them, and then you can simply deny everything. That way, the matter will be settled. What do you say?"
Li Er offered his terms in exchange for the cannon manufacturing method.
"Your Majesty, the Cui family is also involved!"
Fang Er seized the opportunity and made a counteroffer.
"I have already investigated the attack on your Fang manor that day, and it has nothing to do with the Cui family. Therefore, don't bother with the Cui family. Otherwise, even if I overlook it, the countless branches of these two families are not to be trifled with. If they are truly pushed to attack you all together, I will be powerless to help."
Li Er said with some helplessness.
The aristocratic families were like parasites clinging to the nation and constantly draining its blood. It mattered not to them whether the country was ruled by the Yang or the Li family, as long as their interests were not infringed upon.
But once they felt that the ruling power was about to strike against them, their backlash would be incredibly fierce.
When it truly came to that point, it was uncertain who would be the last to laugh.
This was the nature of centuries-old royalty and millennia-old aristocratic families!
Li Er himself came from an aristocratic family and understood all of this too well.
"Then, I shall follow Your Majesty's wishes. This is the manufacturing method for the cannons. Please accept it, Your Majesty."
Fang Er thought for a long time and accepted Li Er's conditions. He took out a stack of papers from his embrace and handed them over.
As soon as he started building the cannons, Fang Er knew that this matter would not be kept secret. Therefore, he had prepared these papers long ago. The reason he dared to wipe out the Zheng family was precisely because he had created a bargaining chip for himself.
Indeed, this bargaining chip proved very useful. The ruler of an entire nation was even playing a game of conspiracy with him for this very item.
The manufacturing method was genuine, and Fang Er held nothing back.
However, whether the Ministry of Works could produce the cannons according to the method was another matter. Sometimes, the success of a matter had nothing to do with the method itself but rather with the people executing it.
"Then I shall accept it. Besides the Zheng family matter, do you have any other unresolved issues? Let me see if I can handle them for you as well."
Li Er took the papers handed over by Fang Er, not even looking at them, and directly handed them to Eunuch Deng.
"There is indeed one matter. Since Your Majesty has asked, I shall speak. My current problem is the lack of iron ore supply. What do you think?"
Fang Er looked at Li Er with a fawning smile.
"Just this? That's easy. The Changsun family is in the iron ore business. When I return, I'll have the Empress put in a word for you. The Empress was very fond of the qipao you sent last time. Go find him later and tell him I sent you."
The matters of cannons, firearms, and Fang Er's iron ore supply were thus settled.
Afterward, Li Er returned to Chang'an City with the documents.
Fang Er was very happy. With Li Er helping him cover up the Zheng family matter, he no longer had any worries.
Furthermore, with the iron ore supply resolved, he could now proceed with full confidence.
After seeing Li Er off, Fang Er summoned Zhao Hu and the others.
He instructed them to find materials that could be used to make refractory bricks.
These were essential materials for building a steel smelting blast furnace.
Steel and iron had a melting point of over fifteen hundred degrees Celsius, and bricks fired from ordinary clay could not withstand such high temperatures.
Common refractory brick materials in later generations were made from quartz, kaolin, and fireclay, all materials that could withstand high temperatures.
Fang Er's preferred materials were kaolin and fireclay because these two materials had better plasticity and could be processed with the existing technological level.
Upon receiving Fang Er's orders, Zhao Hu and his team dispatched twenty members, who set off on horseback.
After arranging matters, Fang Er returned to Fang Family Village.
As he approached the village entrance, he saw a large crowd gathered there from a distance. Old Man Ma was standing on the stone grinding wheel at the village entrance, saying something to the crowd.
"Fang Family Village truly cannot support so many of you. We have only managed to preserve the harvest from the fields. We are not as prosperous as you imagine!"
As he got closer, Fang Er heard Old Man Ma's words clearly.