Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
After the experiment was completed, Guo Youde began to lead people to prepare a large amount of gunpowder according to Shao Xi's formula. Other work is also being carried out in an orderly manner, and the required raw materials are being shipped continuously thanks to Xurigan's efforts.
In the past two days, Zhuoligetu was also negotiating with Batu, the leader of the Mao'an Department, according to Shao Xi's original plan. The progress of the negotiations was very difficult. Batu relied on the strength of his tribe to be superior to the Toth tribe, and had always advocated that the grassland to the west of the Toth tribe should be owned by the Mao'an tribe, so the outcome of the negotiations can be imagined.
For Shao Xi, the outcome of the negotiation is not important. What is important is that the negotiation time should be long enough and give himself enough time to prepare.
In the morning, Xuri Qian came to inform Shao Xi that the first flying thunder cannon had been basically completed and was waiting for him to check and accept it, so he ran to the work shed early in the afternoon.
Shao Xi looked at the flying thunder cannon in front of him. The thick round wooden barrel is covered with thick cowhide on the inside, and the reinforcing iron bars made by the blacksmith are firmly fixed on the outside of the barrel. In addition to the thickened buffer board at the bottom of the barrel, a circular iron cylinder is installed in the groove in the center of the buffer board. This is where the elixir is placed. A reinforced iron plate is also installed at the bottom of the barrel. Overall it looks a bit like that.
Beside the flying thunder cannon, there were piles of strong skin bags, large and small, that had been tied up. The cowhide bag fixed on the wooden wing plate is the cannonball. In addition to increasing the mass of the cannonball, the wing plate also plays a role in stabilizing the flight attitude. Because he was afraid of being too powerful, Shao Xi did not ask for gravel to be added to the cowhide bag. The relatively smaller sheepskin bag contains all the medicine, that is, the elixir.
Looking at the pile of things in front of him that he had put a lot of effort into, Shao Xi waved his hand and said, "Let's go do the experiment."
A group of people used wooden trucks to transport the thunder cannon to an open space. Shao Xi looked around and said, "Well, it's open enough."
Shao Xi turned around and told Guo Youde: "When the cowhide bag flies out in a while, you start counting to see how long it will explode."
Guo Youde responded: "Don't worry, little friend, I have made the length of the fuse uniformly. After the experiment, I will adjust it according to the explosion time."
While the two were talking, Zhuoligetu, Muren, Uzhina, and everyone in the tribe came to watch.
Zhuoligetu was very excited after seeing the thunder cannon, because he had heard from people in the tribe in the past two days that when Shao Xi and the others were doing experiments, the entire east side was like thunder. So he was also very interested, what kind of weapon was this?
Shao Xi directed everyone to fix the flying thunder cannon. The installation of this thunder cannon is just a pile of dirt and a wooden frame in front, and the specific angle cannot be adjusted. Shao Xi also thought about it, but the people here didn't know how to calculate the angle and range, so they just gave it a rough angle. As for the control of the shooting range, he already had a way in mind.
After the erection was completed, Xurigan inserted a cowhide bag wing plate fixed on the wing plate inward into the muzzle, and used a wooden pole to adjust the position of the cowhide bag inside the muzzle.
At the same time, Guo Youde put the sheepskin bag into the medicine barrel at the bottom, and used an iron hook to pull out the fuse of the cowhide bag from the small hole on the side, and connected it with the fuse of the sheepskin bag.
At this time, Xuriqian began to lead people to maintain order in the surrounding area and keep the crowd away from the thunder cannons to avoid accidental injuries.
After everything was ready, Shao Xi took the fire stick from Guo Youde and lit the fuse...
With just a "bang" sound, the cowhide bag shot out from the muzzle with the wooden wing at the tail, quickly turning into a small black dot in people's eyes.
boom--!
Everyone was stunned. They felt that there was just a thunder on the ground, and the ground was shaking. The children in some herdsmen's arms were frightened by the sound and cried. Zhuoligetu and Xurigan were even more stunned. They had never seen such a thing appear before.
Shao Xi turned around and planned to ask Guo Youde to check the damage after the thunder cannon was fired, but he only saw him with his mouth wide open and his eyes looking straight into the distance.
"Taoist Priest, are you okay?"
Only then did Guo Youde react and said with emotion: "You can fly so far. How can this be something that a mortal can create? My friend, you are indeed the lower realm of immortals. I was not wrong at first."
"In my eyes, the Taoist priest is the immortal. Let's check the damage of the cannon first."
After inspection, this low-end version of the thunder cannon only had slight damage to the cowhide inside, but otherwise passed the test. So Shao Xi told Xuri Qian to apply a layer of oil on the outside of the cowhide bag before launching.
Next it’s time to test the explosion effect. When everyone was walking towards the explosion point, Zhuo Ligetu asked Shao Xi: "Child, how many people could be hurt by this attack just now?"
Shao Xi thought for a while and said: "I don't know for sure, but if the opponent's formation is relatively dense, it is possible that there will be ten or eight people and horses at this time. If some gravel is added to the cowhide bag, it will kill There will be more people.”
Zhuo Ligetu was a little shocked, "You can injure ten of the opponent's people and horses in just one move? How many of these things do you plan to make?"
"If you want to maintain the continuous output of firepower, you must build at least thirty."
"Thirty? Doesn't that mean that the opponent can kill or injure two to three hundred people at once?"
"It will take a while to see how it goes."
Zhuoligetu nodded and said no more.
When they arrived at the explosion site, Shao Xi was shocked, "Why did the explosion create such a big crater?"
Judging from the traces on the ground, the explosion affected an area of at least fifty square meters. Even if they weren't hit by the bomb, the earthquake would probably have shaken people half to death.
Everyone present was a little dumbfounded. Guo Youde muttered in a low voice, "This thing shouldn't appear. This thing really shouldn't appear. Many people will die because of this thing."
Shao Xi also felt that he shouldn't get these things out at this moment. Facts have proved that the emergence of gunpowder did eventually lead to the death of more people and the breakdown of more families, so he planned to destroy the formula after this time. Judging from Guo Youde's reaction, he probably wouldn't object to his actions.
After returning, Shao Xi asked the craftsmen to adjust some specific details. Have the leatherworker make leather ropes of three different lengths based on the distance just launched. Let Xurigan inform those who are conducting launch training that when launching in the future, these leather ropes should be tied to the cowhide bag according to the prior arrangement. At the same time, stakes should be driven on the ground next to the cannon and the other end of the leather rope should be tied to it. . In this way, when the cowhide bag flies to the extreme length of the leather rope, it will stop. This method is used to control the relatively accurate range.
After seeing the results of the experiment, Zhuoligetu said that he would come to the workshop to supervise the mass production. However, because it was too dangerous, he was stopped by Xurigan.
Shao Xi pulled Guo Youla aside and whispered: "Taoist Master, I know that you attach great importance to the formula of gunpowder, and I don't intend to break your promise. But I want to discuss it with you. From now on, this formula can only be held by you. It must not be spread to outsiders, lest it cause disaster to all living beings in the world."
Guo Youde nodded repeatedly and said: "That's exactly what I meant. I only thought this thing was very powerful before, but seeing it today shocked me. If this thing falls into the hands of someone with intentions, it will really be a disaster." "
"The Taoist Master is worthy of being a doctor, and he really has the world in mind. But I promise the Taoist Master, the things refined in the other formula will definitely make the Taoist Master unable to put it down even more."
"My little friend, you are serious about what you said." Upon hearing this, Guo Youde's eyes narrowed to a slit.
"It's true! It's more real than pearls. If this thing is refined, the Taoist Master will probably get rid of the word 'beggar' in the future."
"Oh? Is this thing very precious?"
"Why did the Taoist Master forget? When I promised to give you the formula, I already told you that what was refined was unprecedented in the world."
"Yes, yes, my little friend did say this, but I forgot about it."
Shao Xi said sincerely: "There may be a battle at any time in the next few days, and I hope that the Taoist priest can help."
Guo Youde patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, there are little friends here, how can I stand by and watch?"
"Then thank the Taoist Master." After saying that, Shao Xi bowed.
"You and I have been friends for many years, so why should we be so polite? If I can give you my life's hard work, I already regard you as a close friend. My friend, don't be so polite to me in the future."
"What the Taoist said is that I will no longer be polite to the Taoist from now on."
The reason why Shao Xi asked Guo Youde for help was because he found that after these days, he had regarded the Tote tribe as his own home, and everyone in the tribe was like his relatives. So everything he is doing now is just trying his best to protect them, just like they protect themselves.
While the two were talking, Muren came to see Shao Xi. Guo Youde saw that the two children had something to say, so he wisely went about his own business.
Muren said to Shao Xi solemnly: "Feng Yuyan, I saw the thing you made. It is a weapon that can make the Tuote tribe truly powerful. As the son of the leader of the Tuote tribe, I implore you to stay here. , becoming a true family member of the Thoth Ministry.”
Shao Xi understood. As an adult, how could he not hear the underlying meaning of a child?
"Muren, is it me or the flying thunder cannon you want to retain?"
Muren was stunned by Shao Xi's words and didn't know how to answer.
"Muren, why do you think what I am doing now? I made this just to protect you, but I never thought about hurting others. I want to protect you because in my heart , you are already my family. I don’t want to hurt others because those people have no grudges against me. Now that some people want to hurt you, I have no choice but to hurt them, but it does not mean that I will continue to hurt them in the future. So after this incident is over, these things will disappear from this world forever. I hope that your retention of me is not because of the existence of these things."
This is an adult's guidance of a child's correct outlook on life.
