Chapter 219 Officially Entering the Age of Firearms

Daxia Dynasty, Beijing.

East Palace.

Lu Shuyun was trying out the cloud-piercing bow improved by craftsmen in the yard. The cloud-piercing bow was Lu Shuyun's second achievement after becoming the crown prince. The cloud-piercing bow was made of special materials and was extremely powerful. The cloud-piercing bow was coupled with a special cloud-piercing arrow. It can easily penetrate the armor of heavy cavalry.

With the Cloud-Piercing Bow, the Great Xia Dynasty will no longer be afraid of the enemy's heavy cavalry on the battlefield, or if there is a civil war in Great Xia in the future, their faction will not have to fear the armor secretly prepared by his brothers.

Looking at the Cloud-Piercing Bow in his hand, Lu Shuyun had a smile on his face.

The materials used to make the Cloud-Piercing Bow and Cloud-Piercing Arrow are very special. Currently, only their Jiangnan family has them. Some of the manufacturing techniques are still confidential. The craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry may not know what the techniques are. Only people from their sect know.

In this way, the Cloud-piercing Bow would not only serve as the crown prince's merit, but also prevent their opponents from obtaining the production methods and materials to a certain extent.

As for whether other factions in the court will get the Cloud-piercing Bow, there is no need to worry about this.

As long as the Cloud-Piercing Bow is taken out, it will definitely be obtained by people from other factions, but what they get is only a small number. Currently, the Ministry of Industry can make very few Cloud-Piercing Bows every day, and it is not yet able to produce them in large quantities.

As long as the quantity is temporarily stuck, it will be enough. If the quantity is stuck, even if others get the Cloud-Piercing Bow, they won't get much. And the people from the Prince's faction have secretly produced large quantities of the Cloud-Piercing Bow. In terms of the quantity of the Cloud-Piercing Bow, those of his There is definitely no way for their opponents to compare with them.

Just when Lu Shuyun was immersed in joy, a maid hurriedly came to Lu Shuyun and said, "Your Highness, Prince Wang is back!"

Hearing this, Lu Shuyun came back to his senses and immediately said, "Bring him to see me."

"Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Then the maid went out and brought Wang Yong to Lu Shuyun, "See His Highness the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince is a thousand years old!"

After Wang Yong finished the ceremony, Lu Shuyun couldn't wait to ask: "What did Dongfang Yi say? Did he agree to marry Dongfang Longyue to Gu?"

Wang Yong replied: "I agree, but..."

Wang Yong was about to speak but stopped.

After hearing Wang Yong's answer, Lu Shuyun showed a smile on his face. As long as the Dongfang family is completely tied to them, the entire Jiangnan family will really be monolithic.

He had met Dongfang Longyue several times and really liked her beauty. However, compared to Dongfang Longyue's beauty, Lu Shuyun cared more about the Dongfang family behind Dongfang Longyue.

Lu Shuyun asked at this time: "Just what?"

Wang Yong replied: "It's just that as soon as Miss Dongfang heard that she was going to marry you, she jumped into the river and committed suicide. Although she was rescued, she has been looking for death. If she wanted to die, I'm afraid no one can stop her. .

"If this matter spreads, it will seriously damage your reputation, Your Highness. Dongfang Yi has no choice but to ask me to tell the prince that Dongfang Longyue will not marry you now. The marriage will be finalized after you marry the Crown Princess." , he will continue to persuade Dongfang Haoyue."

Hearing Wang Yong's words, Lu Shuyun's face darkened instantly. He did not expect Dongfang Longyue to have such a strong character.

Although he knew from the beginning that Dongfang Longyue was a woman with a bad temper, many talented people in Jiangnan had their legs broken by Dongfang Longyue, which showed how bad her character was.

However, what Lu Shuyun thought at first was that he was also the prince after all, and would be the one who would inherit the throne in the future. Even if Dongfang Longyue had a weird personality, he would restrain himself after knowing that the person she was going to marry was the prince. There was no such woman in the world. I don’t want to marry someone who holds great power.

Unexpectedly, Dongfang Longyue committed suicide by jumping into the river.

If this spreads out, won't those officials in the court accuse themselves of forcing a good girl into prostitution?

Seeing Lu Shuyun's face darken, Wang Yong continued: "Your Highness, please rest assured, although Dongfang Longyue doesn't want to get married yet, as long as Dongfang Yi agrees to Dongfang Longyue's marriage, it proves that he has stood on the side of On our side."

Lu Shuyun thought for a while, and it was indeed the case. Dongfang Longyue's attitude was not important, as long as he could temporarily stabilize Dongfang Longyue and prevent her from committing suicide.

Lu Shuyun then said: "You asked someone to send a letter to Dongfang Yi, telling him that Gu was deeply in love with Dongfang Langyue. Gu felt very sad after hearing the news that Dongfang Langyue committed suicide by jumping into the river, so Gu decided to confirm the engagement with Dongfang Langyue first. , wait until Gu marries the crown princess, then marry her, I hope Dongfang Yi can let Dongfang Longyue accept Gu as soon as possible."

Although Dongfang Longyue is very beautiful, Lu Shuyun is not an impatient man. If Dongfang Longyue is really driven to death, their connection with the Dongfang family will be severed.

The Dongfang family only has such a daughter, Dongfang Longyue cannot die, and if Dongfang Longyue is forced to die, it will have a great impact on her reputation, so the best way now is to delay and confirm the engagement first , and then use the marriage contract as a political tie.

As for when Dongfang Longyue will marry herself, that's not important.

After hearing Lu Shuyun's words, Wang Yong said: "Yes, His Royal Highness, I will write a letter to Dongfang Yi now."

"My subordinates resign."

Then Wang Yong turned around and left the yard.

Lu Shuyun continued to pick up the Cloud-Piercing Bow to test its power.

…

Wang Yong's letter reached the Dongfang family in less than half a month. After Dongfang Yi read Wang Yong's letter, he went directly to Dongfang Longyue's yard.

At this time, Dongfang Longyue was holding a small porcelain bottle in front of her nose and smelling it.

After seeing Dongfang Yi enter her yard, Dongfang Longyue put down the porcelain bottle in her hand and asked, "Dad, what do you want from me?"

Dongfang Yi handed the letter in his hand directly to Dongfang Longyue, "Wang Yong wrote a letter saying that His Highness the Crown Prince plans to confirm the engagement with you first. As for the marriage, there is no rush. We will wait until His Highness the Crown Prince marries the Crown Princess."

"With Emperor Xia's character, I'm afraid he won't grant the prince a marriage for a while."

After Dongfang Longyue took the letter from Dongfang Yi, she glanced at it, then smiled slightly, and said, "Dad, I plan to go to the North Country."

Hearing this, Dongfang Yi was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "What are you doing in the North Country?"

The relationship between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Northern King is very bad. If she knew that you had gone to the Northern Kingdom, she would probably be very angry.

Dongfang Longyue said lightly: "In this way, His Highness the Crown Prince can know that my daughter has completely fallen out with the Dongfang family. By then, you can feel comfortable with His Highness the Crown Prince. This is all my personal idea."

"My daughter's trip to the Northern Kingdom this time is mainly for the products of the Northern Palace."

"I must have heard about Beiwangfu's liquor, right?"

Hearing this, Dongfang Yi was stunned for a moment, and then said: "That's natural. Even if Su Fengcheng has money, he can't buy Beiwangfu's liquor."

Dongfang Longyue said: "My daughter plans to do business with Beiwangfu and transport the goods from Beiwangfu to Sufeng City to sell, especially the liquor from Beiwangfu."

"The Dongfang Family is a business family. If His Highness the Crown Prince gets angry because of this, he will turn against the Dongfang Family. So my daughter thinks that even if His Highness the Crown Prince feels uncomfortable, he will not say anything."

Dongfang Yi thought for a while and then said: "That's true."

"But after you go to the Northern Kingdom, try to be careful in your words and actions. After all, we are members of the Jiangnan Family. In the eyes of the Northern King, we are members of His Royal Highness. He will probably not welcome people from the Jiangnan Family into the Northern Kingdom."

Dongfang Longyue said: "Don't worry, dad, my daughter knows what's appropriate."

Speaking of this, Dongfang Longyue suddenly thought of something, so she asked: "Dad, is there any news about that matter?"

Dongfang Yi sighed, shook his head and said, "No, I asked your great-grandfather, and your great-grandfather also said that he had not received any news."

"It's hard to say whether our generation can wait."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Since you are going to the North Country, make preparations in advance. Dad will arrange a grandmaster to protect you then."

…

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

In the past month, civil strife has continued in several major dynasties, but the Great Xia Dynasty has suddenly become extremely calm, as if all internal conflicts have disappeared. Emperor Xia's character has also become much softer. It seems that he has completely transformed into The family seemed to have compromised.

Nowadays, the battles in the Great Xia court are mainly between the factions of the princes and the princelings. Emperor Xia seems to have ceased to exist. He is basically in a state of watching the battle, as if all this has nothing to do with him. .

Lu Chen was sorting out the latest information in the study. Looking at the information sent by Jin Yiwei, Lu Chen was a little confused.

What is his father doing?

Even if he made Lu Shuyun the prince, he later actually let go of the government-run salt industry. Even recently, he simply ignored the fighting in the court, as if he was ready to give up. of.

Lu Chen knew that this was the calm before the storm, but he couldn't understand what Emperor Xia was planning.

Nowadays, several major dynasties have their own internal problems to deal with. Now is the best time to solve the problem of the aristocratic families. Lu Chen does not believe that Emperor Xia has no idea about those aristocratic families at this time.

Emperor Xia's attitude of showing off was just fake at first glance. The key is what he did when he was showing off. Judging from the information collected by Jin Yiwei, Emperor Xia didn't seem to do anything serious. He just spent his time like this anyway. , when various prince factions were fighting with the princelings, Lu Chen even wondered if his father wanted to wait for them to fight to the death, and then come out to reap the benefits.

Just when Lu Chen was looking at the information on the table in a daze, the maid's voice sounded at the door, "Your Majesty, Commander Qin is looking for you."

Lu Chen said calmly: "Come in."

The next moment, Qin Yushan entered the study and said, "My subordinates pay homage to the prince. He may live a thousand years."

Lu Chen looked at the information on the table, nodded slightly and asked, "Well, what's wrong with Commander Qin?"

Qin Yushan replied: "Back to my lord, the artillery has been made, and the craftsmen have discovered materials that are easy to ignite. From now on, Hongtianlei does not need to be manually ignited. You only need to pull out the safety bolt and tap the bottom to ignite it directly." Internal leads.”

Hearing this, Lu Chen was stunned.

Are the craftsmen of Dayu so powerful?

A bomb that does not require manual ignition was created so quickly?

Doesn't this mean that the Northern Kingdom has officially entered the age of firearms?

Then Lu Chen said: "Immediately ask people to prepare the prepared artillery and thunder. I will test it myself."

Seeing that Lu Chen was so anxious, Qin Yushan took out a piece of information from his sleeve and said, "Your Majesty, I still have some information here, why don't you take a look at it first?"

Lu Chen took the information from Qin Yushan's hand, opened it and glanced at it, then he smiled.

"Cloud-piercing bow? Cloud-piercing arrow?"

"There's something interesting about the name."

Having said this, Lu Chen folded up the information in his hand and put it on the table, "With firearms, these cold weapons do not pose much threat to the Northern Kingdom, but I am more concerned about the making materials of the Cloud Crossing Bow. I want to Find a way to get some bows and arrows back."

Qin Yushan said: "The management of these bows and arrows is relatively strict, Commander Liang is already thinking of ways."

Speaking of this, Qin Yushan changed the subject and said: "There is another thing. On the way to the North Palace just now, I heard from the soldiers of the Jinyi Guards that the eldest lady of the Dongfang Family came to Yancheng recently. The Dongfang Family had an affair with the Eighth Prince not long ago. We are engaged in private, and Dongfang Longyue is considered the eighth prince's unmarried wife and concubine."

Hearing Qin Yushan's words, Lu Chen looked at Qin Yushan with a strange expression, and then he asked: "Commander Qin, why do I feel that you and I have other purposes for saying these words?"

Qin Yushan said quickly: "The prince has misunderstood. I just want to ask the prince if he should pay special attention to Dongfang Longyue to prevent her from doing things in the northern country that will harm the northern country."

Lu Chen thought for a moment, and then said: "We should pay special attention to her, and let me know if she has any news."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I am going to test the artillery invented by the Mo brothers now."

Qin Yushan said quickly: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Immediately afterwards, Lu Chen, led by Qin Yushan, went to the military powerhouse east of Yancheng.

The military area in the east has a two-layer protection network, with black cavalry on the outside and royal guards on the inside. Even the general army of the North cannot enter this military area because it is a military factory and is currently the most important military secret of the North.

After Lu Chen entered the military factory, Mo Xing immediately put down what he was doing and came out to greet him.

"Meet the prince!"

Lu Chen said: "Without courtesy, Mo Xing, I heard that your artillery has been produced?"

Mo Xing said: "It was produced half a month ago, but in order to avoid problems when the prince tested it, the grassroots improved the artillery, and based on the prince's howitzer, we finally determined Three types of artillery."

Hearing Mo Xing'e's answer, Lu Chen couldn't wait any longer. He immediately said, "Pull out those artillery pieces and let me test them."

"Your Majesty, please come with me."

Later, under the leadership of Mo Xing'e, Lu Chen went to a place dedicated to testing artillery.

In the middle of the forest, there is a place with no grass and holes everywhere. Cannonballs are tested in that place almost every day, so no plants can grow.

After a while, the Jinyiwei soldiers asked horses to pull several wooden carts to Lu Chen. After the box was opened, the artillery made by Mo Xing and the others also appeared in front of Lu Chen.