Chapter 134: Volume 1, Chapter 134: Divine Weapons and Sharp Instruments

Han Xinglan nodded. "Naturally. For military generals, nothing attracts them more than sharp and powerful weapons. This is my greatest advantage right now."

As long as he could persuade the three great camps of the capital region to pledge allegiance to him, then Ming Zan's power would be weakened by more than half. Add to that Xiao Shen's Imperial Dragon Guards cooperating from within and without, plus the deterrent force brought by this military exercise, and Han Xinglan would be very confident he could thoroughly crush Prince Qi underfoot.

After the two finished their discussion, Han Xinglan went to the front hall to confer with his aides on the specific details of execution, but Rong Luoge felt that this alone was still not enough.

She entered the study again. Though the items from before were already sufficient, she still wanted greater assurance. After all, this was an era of feudal royal power—one careless move, and she and Han Xinglan could face total annihilation.

She decided to build another weapon—one for individual soldier use.

The Flying Divine Fire Poison Dragon Gun.

The gun body was one foot five inches long, cast from either copper or refined iron. The barrel was hollow in the middle, concealing a lead ball. The spear point split into two prongs, tipped with tiger poison, and both sides were further enhanced with poison fire. Silver rust, sand, human essence, tung oil, and other substances also had to be added in its construction.

Once completed, when facing the enemy in battle, at long range it fired lead balls to strike them, at close range it unleashed poison fire to burn them, and if the balls were spent and the fire extinguished, one could still raise the spear-point blade to stab them.

Lead balls to strike the enemy, lethal force piercing the heart, poison fire to burn the foe—one weapon, three uses. A single such gun was worth three strong soldiers.

Perhaps the greater the pressure, the greater the drive. Rong Luoge's thoughts this time came together in one go. She sketched the weapon from memory onto paper and wrote out every specification in detail. After careful deliberation, she felt there should be no major issues, and only then let out a long breath of relief.

With the pellets that could be used for ambushes—comparable to later generations' land mines—plus cannons for long-range attacks and crossbows for support, and now adding this Divine Fire Poison Dragon Gun, a close-combat weapon for individual soldiers that covered both near and far range, there should basically be no major problem.

The only question now was how to manufacture these things on a large scale. Perhaps the reason Han Xinglan was letting the items see the light of day was precisely so they could be produced legitimately and openly.

Otherwise, relying solely on secret forging in private, the scale could not be increased and output naturally could not rise. That too was a significant problem.

The more Rong Luoge thought about it, the more excited she became. She had not expected the emperor's health to deteriorate so quickly to such a terrible state, nor had she expected Consort Ming to be so adept at scheming, only to give birth to a son hopelessly besotted with love.

One could not say Han Yifeng lacked ability, but he was indeed deeply devoted to Rong Dai. Because of her, his reputation had suffered damage several times. Even if it was for the sake of the dealings behind Di Yue Nu, the price he paid was still somewhat steep.

So Consort Ming's insistence on refusing to let Rong Dai become the Princess Consort Qi was likely born of teeth-grinding hatred.

After all, Rong Dai's status was very special. She could not be killed, only placated, which trapped them in a passive cycle.

If Han Yifeng could avoid acting on emotion and treat Rong Dai purely as a tool to be used, then that cycle could be turned around and exploited, and the original host would not have died, nor would she have transmigrated here.

Rong Luoge gave a cold laugh. That mother and son, Consort Ming and her child—playing the hypocrite while reaping the benefits—they would sooner or later receive the punishment they deserved.

Rong Luoge was in excellent spirits. On the other side, Han Xinglan was relaying order after order to his aides.

Hu Xi, Yu Yan, Zhen Yun, and the others immediately and methodically arranged His Highness's commands. Hearing His Highness's arrangements, everyone was instantly fired up as if injected with adrenaline.

It should have been like this long ago, yet His Highness had still been mindful of his father-son bond with His Majesty.

His Majesty now favored only Consort Ming and her son. Were it not for the Empress still being alive, preventing Consort Ming from ascending the throne, His Majesty would likely have named Consort Ming Empress long ago. In that case, Prince Qi would be a legitimate-born prince, and that would have been truly disastrous.

"A military exercise is indeed very novel. This should be able to rouse everyone's enthusiasm," Yu Yan said with a smile. "The three great camps of the capital each refuse to bow to the others, and now that there's an additional Imperial Dragon Guard, they all want to compete and let His Majesty see who's truly formidable."

"Indeed. Now with this military exercise, things are set—it's time to see who's the mule and who's the horse," Hu Xi said with a beaming nod. "With such an arena set up, it will be far more convenient for His Highness to win people over."

Who wouldn't want to show off at such an occasion and earn His Majesty's praise and regard? These were real, tangible tokens of power.

Only then could His Highness's sharp weapons fetch a good price.

"Your Highness, I actually think these items could be sold to several parties," Zhen Yun said with a smile. "If you only give them to the Capital Region Camp, its commander will inevitably feel he has the strength to stand on equal footing with Your Highness. But if Your Highness distributes the items separately to the three great camps, everyone will know Your Highness has good things in hand, and they will naturally pledge their loyalty to Your Highness in order to secure better items."

"That makes sense. Having competition will give these people a sense of crisis and let them know that Your Highness is not dependent on any one of them," Yu Yan nodded, thinking it was a good idea.

Hu Xi, however, said, "I'm afraid there won't be enough to go around. The pellets have already been presented to His Majesty by Commander Xiao, so the remaining items are still one short if the three great camps are to divide them equally."

The three looked at one another, and their thoughts inevitably turned to Good Lady Rong.

The items had been produced by Good Lady Rong. Getting one more from her shouldn't be too difficult, should it?

"Your Highness." Shi An entered with a bow. "Good Lady Rong has had someone deliver an item to Your Highness."

Hearing this, the eyes of Hu Xi and the other two lit up at once. What a coincidence?

They were just fretting about not having enough to distribute, and Good Lady Rong had sent timely help?

The three's eager gazes immediately fell on the paper in His Highness's hand. Why would Good Lady Rong send paper for no reason? It certainly wasn't ordinary paper.

Han Xinglan glanced at the three men's expressions, immensely pleased inwardly, but not showing the slightest hint of it on his face.

He opened the paper and took a look, his expression showing a measure of surprise. After finishing it, he drew a deep breath, then handed the item to Shi An. "Let the gentlemen have a look."

Shi An acknowledged the order and carried those few feather-light sheets in both hands before the three men.

Yu Yan reached out to take them, and Zhen Yun and Hu Xi each took one sheet as well.

After the three took turns reading through everything, their expressions all carried some shock. This close-combat weapon appealed to them even more than the cannons.

Cannons still needed to be escorted and transported, unlike the Poison Dragon Gun, which was convenient to carry. Moreover, its three-in-one design gave it tremendous lethal power. It was truly something one couldn't bear to put down.

How was Good Lady Rong's brain wired? How could she come up with so many wonderful things?

"Your Highness, there's no time to lose. I will immediately take the blueprints to the ironworks and see if the items can be produced at the fastest possible speed," Zhen Yun said, unable to sit still. Time was too pressing now; there was no time to waste. This time he would personally oversee it.

Yu Yan followed right after, saying, "I'll handle the negotiations with the three great camps and probe their reactions."

Hu Xi glanced at the two of them, his mouth twitching, and could only say, "Then I'll arrange matters on Ming Zan's side."

These two old foxes had left him the hardest task. How despicable.