In the end, Wu Chengsi's memorial was successfully passed, and Wu Zetian successfully won the ancestral temple and the title of king for her ancestors of the Wu family.

This is undoubtedly a very important step.

Because after taking this step, it means that it is not far from the final ascension, and all the civil and military officials of the court are mentally prepared for this.

Now, the only suspense is,

When will Wu Zetian take this final step?

Of course, everything has advantages and disadvantages. Establishing the Seven Temples of the Wu Family and appointing the kings of the Wu Family can certainly unite the hearts of the Wu Family, but in turn it will make the Li Family give up the final unrealistic fantasy.

A huge storm is brewing.

...

Autumn is coming soon.

In a blink of an eye, it was early winter in the first year of Civilization (the reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang Dynasty).

After a heavy snow, the entire Guanzhong land was covered with silver and became particularly enchanting, but for the Guanzhong people who were short of food and clothing, suffering had just begun.

Especially the people in Qipanshan District.

"Husband, be careful on the road."

Princess Taiping sent Pei Shaoqing out with her big belly.

"Madam, don't worry." Pei Shaoqing supported Princess Taiping and reminded, "You must be more careful yourself. You will be about to give birth in two months."

"I'm fine."

Princess Taiping smiled and said, "What can I do at home?"

"Anyway, be careful." Pei Shaoqing said, "Don't throw my baby big or small."

After saying that, he hugged Princess Taiping and kissed her on the face. Shangguan Wan'er, Changjin, then covered her mouth and joking, while Qingxuan looked desperate.

I thought you two showed your love,

Can you stop in public?

After getting tired for a long time, Princess Taiping finally returned to the villa.

The princess mansion in Changlefang is still not built, so I have been living in the villa of Leyouyuan.

Pei Shaoqing also turned over and took Qingxuan, Shangguan Wan'er, Cui Erlang and others to Cuiwei Palace at the foot of Qingyang Mountain.

Pei Shaoqing asked Shangguan Wan'er as he walked: "Wan'er, how were the itineraries arranged this time? What are the specific urgent tasks to be done?"

Shangguan Wan'er immediately took out an exquisite soft copy from the leather bag, opened it and said, "This time it was Cuiweigong, checking the reserve of cotton wool and the storage quantity of cotton seeds."

"Look at the progress of rockets, fire thunder and other firearms."

"Then go to the upper reaches of the Ba River to check the construction progress of Bazhuang."

"Then provide relief to Qipanshan District and distribute grain to the princess' enfeoffees."

Pei Shaoqing frowned and said, "It's so snowy, can you still walk to Bazhuang?"

Cui Erlang, who was following the horse, immediately replied: "Dalang, we went up yesterday and can leave."

"Okay, then go." Pei Shaoqing finished speaking, and then whipped the horse's thighs. The mount immediately raised his head and neighed with a sad voice, shook his four hooves and ran away.

...

The horse team left the city from Mingde Gate and headed south along Zhuque Avenue.

It was fine when I first left the city, but after more than thirty miles away, it began to become dilapidated.

There are constantly hungry people in ragged clothes kneeling in the snow begging for food, and some even hungry people are frozen to death even if they can't survive the severe winter.

This is the cruel reality. The smooth implementation of Kaizhong Fa cannot fundamentally solve the problem, because the fundamental problem in Guanzhong is that land annexation is becoming increasingly serious, and a large number of self-cultivated farmers have lost the land they rely on for their livelihood, or the amount of land is too small to support the family, and this cannot be solved by Kaizhong Fa.

Although Jingzhao Mansion also set up a porridge shed outside the city, there are always people who cannot take care of it.

When you enter the Qingyang Mountain area, the situation is even worse, and the hunger on the roadside becomes more and more.

Pei Shaoqing didn't have much to do in this regard, so he could only ask the Shouchalang to distribute a small bag of food to each family.

The Shouchaosi's ability is still very limited now, and it is impossible to provide large-scale relief to the people of Guanzhong.

However, Pei Shaoqing was confident that by the end of next year, the Shouchao Department would have the strength to provide large-scale relief to the people of Guanzhong. He dared not say anything else, but he was sure to ensure that no one was starved to death.

Because next year, with the completion of Nancheng City and the opening of various handicraft workshops, the profits of the Shoghazi will be greatly increased, and it will also absorb a large number of landless farmers to enter the workshops. Therefore, by the end of next year, the hunger index in Guanzhong will be greatly reduced, and the situation of starving people to death will also disappear.

But now, the ability of the guard and capture department is limited.

The snow march was slow. I went out in the morning and arrived at Cuiwei Palace until it was almost evening.

When Pei Shaoqing entered the backyard of Cuiwei Palace, he almost didn't recognize it because the entire backyard was almost turned into a blacksmith workshop. Zhang Jiu was carrying dozens of blacksmiths, but in the winter, he was exposed and was blowing the breeze into the furnace with a bellows. Every time he blew, orange-red flames would suddenly burst out from the furnace.

Judging from the color of this fire, it should be more than one thousand degrees.

Seeing Pei Shaoqing coming in, Zhang Jiu quickly put down the hammer in his hand and brought his apprentice to greet him.

"Old Zhang, you guys are busy." Pei Shaoqing waved his hand at Zhang Jiu, and Zhang Jiu asked his apprentices to go back.

Zhang Jiu stayed behind and explained to Pei Shaoqing: "Si Cheng, Xiao Lao is taking his disciples to cast cannons, and now he has cast seventeen cannons."

"Is that true?" Pei Shaoqing was overjoyed when he heard this, "Where is it?"

"Si Cheng, please come with my elders." Zhang Jiu took Pei Shaoqing to a temporary straw shed.

But I saw that there were a series of cannons neatly placed in the straw shed, all of which were made into cannon trucks according to the style designed by Pei Shaoqing. Two rows of wheels were installed under the base of the cannon truck, which could be dragged and moved by mules and horses.

The cannon body is made of molten iron.

Of course, it is not only a smoothbore cannon, but also a front cannon.

With the current technology conditions, breech guns don’t have to think about them.

Looking at the cannons, Pei Shaoqing suddenly felt itchy and asked, "Lao Zhang, where is the cannonball?"

"Si Cheng, Xiao Lao is not responsible for the shells." Zhang Jiu waved his hands repeatedly, "The shells, fire and thunder are all personally responsible for the shells, Lu Shucheng."

"Where are Lao Lu's others?"

Pei Shaoqing asked again: "Why didn't you see him?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Shisan's voice sounded behind him: "Si Cheng, I'm old."

Looking back, he saw Lu Shisan running over panting, then crossed his hands and saluted: "Sister Si Cheng."

"Forgive." Pei Shaoqing waved his hand and said, "Old Lu, where did you go just now? Why didn't I see you and your apprentices when I came in?"

"Return to Si Cheng's words."

Lu Shisan gasped and said, "Old Xiao went to the minefield just now."

"Minefield?" Pei Shaoqing was a little confused, "What kind of minefield?"

Lu Shisan said oh and explained: "It's a newly built test site."

He paused and asked again: "Si Cheng, do you want to go and see the effects of the rush and fire thunder?"

"Of course." Pei Shaoqing said happily, "I came to Cuiwei Palace today, mainly for this."

When the group came to the test site, they saw a carriage on the test site. The entire carriage was made of solid red sandalwood riveted.

A large number of small holes were drilled in the cabin.

The diameter of the small hole is slightly thicker than that of the big thumb.

Pei Shaoqing counted, thirty rows, each row of thirty holes, and a car could hold nine hundred arrows!

A large number of rockets were placed next to the carriage, but the rockets made by Lu Shisan were slightly different from those designed by Pei Shaoqing.

The rocket designed by Pei Shaoqing is made of bamboo made of gunpowder tubes and is tied to the rocket's pole, but the rocket designed by Lu Shisan, the paper tube used for medicine tubes, and the arrow shaft penetrates through it.

Seeing Pei Shaoqing's doubts, Lu Shisan explained carefully: "Si Cheng, we have tried the rocket you designed. After comparing the two, it was found that the paper tube was loaded with a larger volume and lighter weight, and it was just as firm! The rocket that penetrated the medicine tube was shot farther than the rocket that tied the medicine tube."

"The rocket with a drug tube can shoot about a hundred steps."

"The rocket that penetrates the medicine tube can shoot 120 steps away!"

According to the Tang system, one step is about 1.5 meters, one hundred steps is 150 meters, and 120 steps is 180 meters. This range is obviously closer than a crossbow.

Because of the Tang army's test equipment, the range of the wooden single crossbow has 160 steps.

However, the advantages of Rockets are also very obvious, that is, the volume is large!

If 900 rockets are launched at the same time, the scene will definitely be extremely cruel.

If one hundred rockets can be launched at the same time, then ninety thousand arrows can be launched at the same time. If they are facing the cavalry or infantry that charge, thinking about it can make people feel excited.

"Load the car!" Pei Shaoqing waved his hand and said, "Test shot and see."

"Here!" Lu Shisan bowed his hands and said, "Hurry up, load the car and test the shooting!"

Lu Shisan's dozens of apprentices immediately became busy, first loading 900 rockets, then brought hundreds of dummies with straw slaughtered people and placed them in front of the rocket car.

In order to test the penetration of the rocket,

Pei Shaoqing also asked the accompanying guard to take off more than a dozen crotch armors and put them on the dummy.

"Flame!" With Pei Shaoqing's order, Lu Shisan lit the lead of the rocket with his own hands.

The lead wire is also made of twisted with thin linen paper wrapped in nitro powder.

The leads of 900 rockets were twisted into more than a dozen bundles, and Lu Shisan ignited them in turn with fire twisters.

A few seconds later, accompanied by a "swish" whistling sound, the rocket began to eject the rocket.

The jet lasted for five or six seconds, and the launch field was almost completely shrouded in rich smoke.

Fortunately, the northwest wind was blowing violently, and the smoke that enveloped the launch site was quickly blown away.

Pei Shaoqing walked to the dummy again and saw that these hundred dummies could no longer be described as miserable. They were really a mess, especially the dozen dummies in the front row, which were useless even if they were wearing two crotch armors.

"My God!" Cui Erlang said, "This rocket is too terrible."

Qin Zhen also said: "If I encounter such a rocket car on the battlefield, can I survive?"

The dozen or so Shogun behind the two were also shocked, and they were obviously frightened by the scene in front of them. This thing is too cruel!

Pei Shaoqing sighed.

Because only he knows that this rocket actually has fatal flaws.

This defect is that it is afraid of water, which has almost no defense against rain.

A heavy rain doesn't even need to rain, just wet weather can make it lose its combat effectiveness.

Therefore, this thing is likely to be useless in the Korean Peninsula, Annan, Nanzhao and even Tubo. The situation in Mobei depends on the season, and it is only possible to show its power in the dry Western Regions or Central Asia!

"Si Cheng, what's wrong with it?" Lu Shisan asked carefully.

"No, Lao Lu, you did a good job." Pei Shaoqing said, "But it would be better if the range is longer."

"Young Master is actually thinking about this issue." Lu Shisan showed a look of distress on his face and said, "But this problem is not easy to solve, because if you want to increase the range of the rocket, you have to increase the charge amount. However, when the charge amount increases, the weight of the rocket will increase accordingly, so the range does not increase much."

Pei Shaoqing said: "You can try to seal the tail of the launch hole."

"Cross the tail?" Lu Shisan said, "How can you ignite the lead?"

Pei Shaoqing said: "You can drill small holes or put the leads on the front end."

"This method is good!" Lu Shisan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he wanted to try it immediately.

Pei Shaoqing said, "Lao Lu, don't rush to try it first, let's take a look at the cannon."

Compared with rocket cars, Pei Shaoqing's expectations for artillery are obviously greater, because history has proved that the battlefield role of artillery is much greater than that of rocket cars.

A few hundred years later, the rocket did not develop immediately.

It will take more than a thousand years before the Rockets will truly develop, but at that time, the Rockets no longer called Rockets, but Rocket Launches!

However, artillery quickly developed into the army's main combat equipment!

And with the current process manufacturing technology, artillery is feasible.

Lu Shisan took Pei Shaoqing to the other side of the test site.

I saw that two installed cannons were already placed on this side.

Pei Shaoqing visually observed that the caliber of these two cannons was about 150 cm, which is five inches, while the outer diameter reached an astonishing 300 cm, which means the wall thickness reached 75 cm.

With such a thick cast iron wall, Pei Shaoqing felt that the strength should be fine.

However, the final test shot result was completely beyond Pei Shaoqing's expectations.

There are two cannons, one with solid bullets, and the other with flower bullets.

But the result was the same. They all exploded during the test shot. When the cannon loaded with the flowering bullet exploded, they even injured the craftsman responsible for igniting the leads.

Faced with such a result, Lu Shisan was a little stunned.

Pei Shaoqing was also a little confused. It shouldn’t be the result?

When the smoke from the explosion dissipated, Pei Shaoqing brought Lu Shisan to the near future.

I saw two cannons, one exploded at the bottom of the cannon, and the other exploded directly at the bottom of the cannon. The cast iron wall at that location was 100 cm thick, and it actually exploded!

Such a thick cast iron wall can even explode? Pei Shaoqing was a little confused.

However, after checking, Pei Shaoqing found that the explosion was not surprising.

Because cast iron is covered with large and small air holes, it looks like a honeycomb.
Chapter completed!