The earth-shattering roar of cannons reached Fang Family Manor.
The two guards Li Er had left behind were greatly alarmed and rushed back to the palace to report to Li Er.
Upon receiving the news, Li Er was extremely excited.
He hadn't expected that Fang Family Manor would begin test firing the cannons after only eight days.
Without even bothering to change his clothes, he left the palace wearing his dragon robe.
The guards from the Eastern Palace quickly followed.
A grand procession galloped out of Chang'an City on horseback.
Upon hearing the news, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, Li Jing, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and other ministers thought something urgent had happened, and they also hurried to catch up on horseback.
By the time Li Er arrived at the workshop of Fang Family Manor, he was already followed by a hundred people!
Yuchi Baolin and Cheng Chumo were having a blast, directing their soldiers to reload.
Once the ammunition was loaded and they were about to ignite it, they saw a group of people approaching from a distance.
Upon closer inspection, they exclaimed in shock!
Li Er, accompanied by a group of court officials, was galloping towards them.
The two quickly ordered the soldiers to extinguish the torches.
If they had lit the fuse, it might have startled Li Er's horse, which would have been a big problem.
Li Er did not dismount until he reached the cannons.
Looking at the thirteen dark cannons before him, he could already envision the downfall of Liang Shidou.
Not only Liang Shidou, but he even saw the Tang army's invincible march.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Cheng Chumo and Yuchi Baolin knelt down to greet Li Er as he arrived beside them.
As they knelt, their soldiers also knelt down.
Zhao Gang and Ma Shan quickly followed suit.
"Your Majesty, why have you brought so many people?"
Fang Er was also stunned. What was the sudden impulse to bring so many people here?
He stepped forward and grabbed Li Er's horse reins, finding a reason not to kneel.
"I heard that you have begun test firing the cannons, so I wanted to come and see. I met them along the way. Everyone, please rise."
Li Er dismounted and said to Fang Er, then addressed the kneeling soldiers and blacksmiths.
Everyone rose.
Cheng Yaojin and the others had ridden at full speed and finally caught up, not yet understanding the situation.
Hearing Li Er's words, they understood why he had galloped out of the city in such haste.
They all looked at the row of cannons before them with great curiosity.
What kind of thing could make Li Er disregard his dignity and gallop like this?
"Everyone, these are the things I have prepared for this expedition. Officer Fang calls this a cannon, and it also has a name: God of War."
"Ever since I saw this last time, I have been thinking about it day and night. Hearing that test firing was starting today, I rushed over. Since you are all here, let's broaden your horizons together."
After speaking, Li Er picked up an extinguished torch from the ground and offered it to Fang Er.
Fang Er felt his clothes, but he didn't have a flint. He had to go to Cheng Chumo to get one and light it for Li Er.
"Everyone, who wants to try?"
Li Er raised the torch in his hand and said to the ministers.
"I'll try!" Yuchi Jingde was very eager to try this new invention by Fang Er, wondering how it compared to the explosive packs.
"I'll try too."
Seeing the "Big Dark" step forward, Cheng Yaojin also picked up a torch.
Then, Li Jing, Hou Junji, Tang Jian, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Gao Shilian also picked up torches from the ground.
Wei Zheng looked at the dark muzzle of the cannon, always having a sense of foreboding.
But since Li Er had taken the lead, he couldn't just stand by and watch.
So, he gritted his teeth and picked up a torch as well.
Including Li Er, there were nine people and nine torches.
Seeing this, Fang Er also went to join the fun.
He waved to Cheng Chumo and Yuchi Baolin.
Finally, he took another torch and handed it to Eunuch Deng.
This guy was scared by Fang Er.
He truly didn't dare to touch it.
Who knew if it was dangerous.
Everyone was ready.
"Perhaps, Your Majesty, you should stand aside and watch. This thing might be dangerous."
Fang Er said to Li Er, trying to persuade him.
"I have fought in battles for many years. A mere cannon is not qualified to make me stand aside. Come, everyone, let's do it together."
"Fire!"
Li Er directly rejected Fang Er's kind offer and, with a command, was the first to ignite his own cannon.
The others also lit their cannons.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A volley of fire, kicking up dust from four hundred paces away.
Li Er was overjoyed.
The ministers holding torches were stunned.
The power of this thing had somewhat exceeded their understanding!
Such a small thing could have such great power!
Tang Dynasty had siege weapons called catapults.
That is, trebuchets.
Depending on the weight of the stones thrown, the distance varied.
They were generally within three hundred paces.
This thing, with one shot, had fired four hundred paces?
Looking at the iron ball that continued to bounce and roll after landing, their minds involuntarily thought of the power of this thing on the battlefield.
One shot like this would surely result in scattered limbs!
"Amazing! Your Majesty, this thing is too good! With this, I guarantee we can take Yan'an in one day!"
Cheng Yaojin jumped excitedly, touching the still hot cannon barrel as if it were a beautiful woman's skin, not feeling the heat at all.
Fang Er could only click his tongue at this.
How thick were the calluses on this guy's hands?
"Your Majesty, this thing truly lives up to the name 'God of War'! It will surely be invincible on the battlefield in the future!"
Li Jing also praised the cannon profusely.
"Your Majesty, this is too powerful. With such a divine artifact, I will surely bring Liang Shidou's head back to Your Majesty!"
Hou Junji was extremely excited. He had finally managed to get an opportunity to go on campaign.
With the help of this cannon, he was immediately full of confidence.
Others also praised the cannon one after another.
Wei Zheng secretly wiped away a bead of sweat.
He was truly startled by the cannon sound just now!
How did this feel even more terrifying than the explosive packs?
Eunuch Deng was initially a little scared, but after the cannonball was fired and he saw that there was no danger, his face also lit up with excitement.
As Li Er's personal eunuch, the Tang Dynasty's strength also meant his own status would rise.
Moreover, being able to fire a cannon with Li Er would be a great honor to speak of!
"Come, come, Baolin, have them reload and fire another round!"
Li Er felt that he was even more addicted to this than playing with the curved-shaft plow last time.
Yuchi Baolin, leading the soldiers, nimbly cleaned the barrel and loaded the ammunition.
Then, with Li Er's command, everyone ignited their cannons together.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Duang~~
Suddenly, a different sound was heard, and Fang Er broke out in a cold sweat.
Judging by the sound, there must be a problem with that cannon.
ps: Four chapters delivered.