Early the next morning, Jia Changchao brought a few officials to the inn. Du Zhongxiao welcomed him to the living room, chatted for a few words, and then got up to look at the cannons.

Looking at the huge creature in front of him, about six or seven feet long and mounted on an additional rack, Jia Changchao said in surprise: "This newly built cannon is much larger than the previous iron cannons. No wonder the bachelor is full of confidence. How heavy is this cannon?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "When I returned to my husband, this cannon weighs more than 500 kilograms, and the materials and workmanship alone are worth hundreds of stagnants."

Jia Chang nodded repeatedly: "It's time to ask for such a giant cannon. I wonder how powerful it is? Let's take a look."

Du Zhongxiao said: "My husband, this cannon is amazing, and you must find an empty place with no one far or near to be able to be cast."

Jia Changchao thought for a while and said, "We went to the north of the city, where there was a silt land of rivers, and no one lived for several miles, so it was just right to try the cannon."

Du Zhongxiao agreed and asked Tao Shiqi to take his men to put on a mule, pull the cannon, and the crowd followed behind and walked around the north of the city.

The Yellow River in Daming Prefecture has flooded many times. The flooded places have become uninhabited wasteland because there is too much saline and alkali, so it cannot be cultivated. This is true in the north of the city, with yellow sand everywhere and brine everywhere, and there are no people for several miles.

When he arrived at the place, he unloaded the mule, Tao Shiqi and his men raised the cannon and loaded iron bullets into it.

Seeing that the two of them were carrying the iron bullets and it was still hard to find, Jia Changchao asked Du Zhongxiao beside him: "Bachelor, the iron bullet used for this cannon is so huge, how much pounds are it weighing?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "When I return to my husband, the iron bullet weighs 30 kilograms, and it can be hit about one mile away, and all those who touch it will be destroyed."

Jia Changchao looked around and looked at a big tree about a mile away in front of him and said, "How about the bachelor's test the cannon, and then he hit that big tree?"

Du Zhongxiao shook his head helplessly: "My husband, although the cannon can be far away, it is not as accurate as it is. Where can I hit the tree?"

Jia Changchao was a little disappointed. Even a big tree that could be surrounded by one person could not hit, and the accuracy of this cannon was too poor. People in the army who used good crossbows could penetrate the sun for hundreds of steps, and the accuracy of the cannon was much better than the cannon.

After seeing Jia Changchao's expression, Du Zhongxiao guessed his thoughts and said, "Mr., the advantage of cannons is that they can be far away and have great power. The correct head is not his strength. You can choose a strong place to test the cannon to see the power."

Jia Changchao looked around and saw a house about a hundred steps away, with a tilted wall and a complete wall. He pointed at him and said, "It's better to fight there. If the wall can be knocked down, it should be able to shake the city wall."

Du Zhongxiao looked at it and it was an ordinary dilapidated house. The remaining walls were made of rammed earth and were still strong. Although they were also made of rammed earth, the wall was far worse than the city wall. The city wall was several steps thick, and it was many times stronger than the wall. Even if the wall could be destroyed, it might not be possible to do anything about the city wall. However, he didn't want to delay much in Daming Mansion. After Jia Changchao said that, he made preparations.

Tao Shiqi brought a few soldiers, loaded shells, set up medicine, swayed the cannon stand, and aimed at the houses in the distance with a sight.

Du Zhongxiao made a cannon stand according to the appearance of cannons seen in films and television in his previous life. On the commonly used cart chassis, a special rack was made. After the front shaft was supported on the ground, the level of the muzzle can be adjusted and the shooting elevation angle can be adjusted. In Du Zhongxiao's impression, the cannon must be like this, but it is said that from the beginning of the cannon to the development of the cannon stand, it has been exploring for a long time in history.

With a real eye, Tao Shiqi crossed his hands at Du Zhongxiao: "Official, you can fire a cannon!"

Du Zhongxiao looked at Jia Changchao beside him and nodded at Tao Shiqi: "Start a cannon!"

Tao Shiqi led the order, used a pre-prepared torch to ignite the medicine twist, and together with several soldiers, he turned around and squatted down, blocking his ears.

Jia Changchao met Qi and said, "Bachelor, what are they doing there?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "My husband, the cannon is ignited, and the sound of the cannon is shocking when it is out. If it is not good, it will shock your ears. In order to prevent accidents, they are all like this. My husband, we should also block our ears so as not to shock them!"

Jia Changchao was a little reluctant, but when Du Zhongxiao blocked his ears, he also covered his ears with both hands. The officials and soldiers who followed him did not dare to neglect them, and hurriedly blocked his ears.

The medicine burned very quickly and burned all in the blink of an eye. In a flash, a shocking sound was heard, thick smoke came out of the muzzle, and the iron bullets in the cannon flew into the distance.

The loud noise made Jia Changchao frightened and it took him a while to come back to his senses. He turned around to look at the house in the distance. Both walls in front and back were knocked to the ground, a mess and dust splashed everywhere.

Jia Changchao saw the iron cannons of the past, and felt that the new cannons would not be much different. Unexpectedly, they were so terrifying that they were shocked for a long time and could not speak. After calming down, he said: "With this weapon, why worry about the failure of Beizhou City! Let's go over and take a look."

Du Zhongxiao thought to himself, he had nothing to do to see what the cannonballs had been bombed, and the cannons were still being installed here. However, Jia Changchao wanted to go, so he could not refuse, so he had to ask Tao Shiqi to take the cannons and follow Jia Changchao.

When he arrived at the collapsed house, Jia Changchao realized that he had underestimated the power of the new cannon. The cannon passed through the two walls in front and back, and the shells fell more than ten steps away from the house. The two walls were smashed to pieces, and broken pieces of soil were piled up all over the ground.

Jia Changchao looked at it, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "I underestimate the bachelor's name. I didn't expect that the new cannon was so powerful. With this powerful weapon under Beizhou City, you can break the city every day! The bachelor just goes to Beizhou, and I will wait for you to return from triumphantly to drink the wine of celebration in Daming Mansion!"

Du Zhongxiao bowed and said a few polite words. After watching the scene, he had a general estimate in his mind. Beizhou is important and the city is solid. It is not realistic to use cannons to destroy the city wall. How thick is the wall of the house? How thick is the city wall? It cannot be compared. Even so, it is not difficult to use new cannons to destroy all the protective facilities on the city wall. As long as it is destroyed, it cannot be difficult to destroy the city.

It is basically impossible to use solid shells to directly knock out the gap on the city wall. Unless it is small and thin, it is possible, and it is difficult for big cities to achieve. The use of artillery is not to collapse the city wall, but to suppress the defending enemy and give the siege troops the chance to climb the city.

After saying goodbye to Jia Changchao, Du Zhongxiao did not return to the inn and went directly to Daming Mansion and headed towards Beizhou in the north.

After a quick journey, Du Zhongxiao finally arrived at the city of Beizhou on the fifth day of the first lunar month.

After several days of siege, Ming Hao was anxious. When he heard Du Zhongxiao's arrival, he met him in person despite the huge difference in status between the two.

Seeing the huge cannon in the team, Minghao's eyes lit up: "Such a cannon must be a sharp weapon. The scholar will come here to save me from water and fire!"

Du Zhongxiao stepped forward, bowed and introduced the newly-made cannon to Minghao.

Minghao turned around the cannon a few circles and said, "Okay, okay, some sharp tools, you will be worry-free! Bachelor, can you fire a shot and see how powerful it is, and it can also boost the morale of the army."

Du Zhongxiao looked at the sky and bowed to Minghao: "Ask, it's not too early, so wait for tomorrow. Choose the terrain tomorrow and shoot a shot towards the city wall, and you will know how to use this shot."

The new cannons brought by Du Zhongxiao are more than ten times larger than the small cannons equipped in the military, giving Minghao confidence. Although Minghao still has some doubts, he has been suppressing for a long time and forced himself not to consider bad things.

Inducing Du Zhongxiao to return to his tent, Ming Hao said to Du Zhongxiao: "This morning, the court sent Li Jihe from the palace to take over and just settled down. Li Jihe brought the imperial edict to restrict me from breaking the city before the Shangyuan Festival, so as not to delay the Khitan envoy from returning north. Otherwise——”

Otherwise, the imperial edict did not say anything, but it was obvious that Minghao had worked hard for more than a month.

Du Zhongxiao was surprised. Unexpectedly, this kind of thing happened. He said to Minghao: "Ask the Beizhou is a strong city, and it is not easy to break through. Why is the court so harsh? Now it has been surrounded by tightly, and the surrounding state troops are safe. So what if it is dragged on for a few days?"

Ming Hao sighed: "Because this place has been delayed for a long time on the Khitan envoy's way back to the north, wouldn't it be ridiculed by the northern country? What's more, just in the New Year, Dang Xiang Yuanhao died violently, and the situation in the north is unclear, so the court can't wait."

Du Zhongxiao was stunned: "What? Yuan Hao died? How did he die?"

Ming Hao said: "The barbarians are unethical, so what is different from animals? They just kill themselves!"

It turned out that Yuan Hao's prince was Ning Ling, and he had a marriage for him, and he was the daughter of Wuyi's family. When it was time to get married, Yuan Hao saw that Wuyi was beautiful, so he married himself, and was called the new queen. Ning Ling could not stand this humiliation and stabbed Yuan Hao with a sharp blade at all costs. However, his skills were not good, so he just cut off Yuan Hao's nose. Soon, Ning Ling was discovered and executed, and Yuan Hao also died of the injury of his nose.

After hearing this, Du Zhongxiao was shocked. Unexpectedly, there was such a thing. There was an example of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty taking over his daughter-in-law and the Tang Dynasty declined from prosperity to decline. Now Yuan Hao did this. And it was even more excessive. He directly attended his son's wedding. Seeing that his daughter-in-law was beautiful, he became the groom himself.

Because of Yuan Hao and the Song Dynasty have been tortured so hard over the years, I didn’t expect that this ended up in the end.

After hearing Minghao tell the general story, Du Zhongxiao asked: "Yuanhao is dead, and the prince Ning Ling is also dead. Yuanhao has no other son. At this time, isn't there no master? He is unruly and rebellious. No wonder the court is so anxious to pacify Beizhou."

When encountering such a thing, there were many people who were thinking about the Party Xiang on the border, but the Song Dynasty really couldn't afford to make trouble and did not have the intention to attack Dangxiang. But the Song Dynasty did not have this intention, and the Khitans were in war with Dangxiang. The Hebei Road was in chaos and the Khitans had no worries about attacking Dangxiang, which was not a good thing for the Song Dynasty. After quelling the Beizhou Rebellion, the heavy troops of the Hebei Road had to guard against them, and at least drag them down.
Chapter completed!