Chapter 149

"Why are you all just standing there staring?!"

"Mount the cannons!"

"Yes!"

……

……

The Imperial Prison.

The deposed Duke of Ying, Zhang Zhiji, and the deposed Duke of Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, were hiding in their cell, yawning.

Zhang Zhiji rolled over on the straw, speaking impatiently.

533

"Duke Cheng, go take a look at why it's so lively out there."

Zhu Chunchen didn't even lift his eyelids.

"Nothing, it's not on fire; I don't smell anything burning."

"Why worry so much for no reason? If it's this lively, what else could it be? It's definitely those hawks and hounds of the Embroidered Uniform Guard pulling some new stunt again."

"No, I never realized you were this lazy before."

"Nonsense. If you don't go look, it'll be two days before it's our turn. If we go look at the commotion now, we might get dragged over for torture tomorrow. Why bother joining that commotion for no reason?"

"…That makes some sense."

Before the two could finish speaking.

A deafening "Boom!" rang out.

A cannonball whistled through the air.

Then a massive "Crash!" echoed.

The two, sitting on the straw pile, suddenly leaped up.

"Have those bastards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard gone mad?"

Zhang Zhiji asked, his eyes bloodshot.

"No, what crime could be so great that they'd use cannons to bombard us?"

Before the two could figure out what was happening.

Immediately, another cannonball whistled through the air, smashing straight through the window above their heads, and then crashed hard into the cell opposite.

Now, even if the two were fools, they finally reacted.

Someone outside was mounting cannons and bombarding them!

"No, I'll confess, okay?!"

"Call your Director Luo! We'll confess! Whoever you want us to frame, we'll frame them!"

"…"

Meanwhile, outside the Imperial Prison.

Zhu Youjian looked at the red barbarian cannon before him in disbelief.

His expression gradually became solemn.

"Is this the invincible weapon you told Me about?!"

"You can't even blast open a small Imperial Prison, yet you tell Me it's invincible?!"

At this moment, a young Westerner with blond hair and blue eyes behind him introduced in broken Chinese.

"Your Majesty, Great Emperor of Great Ming, this is the most advanced naval cannon of our Franks."

"We Franks have used such cannons to defeat countless enemies."

Zhu Youjian's eyes turned bloodshot, and he immediately cursed.

"What enemies are yours? Tiny nations holed up on the seas!"

"What I want is a sharp cannon capable of blasting down city walls!"

"What have you sold Me?!"

The Westerner behind him looked at Zhu Youjian, somewhat incoherent, and stammered a defense.

"Your Majesty, Great Emperor, even if the effect of this cannon is not ideal, for Great Ming, it is still the most advanced and most powerful cannon."

Although the Westerner's words were quite simple, Zhu Youjian still heard a hint of disdain in the Westerner's expression and tone.

The subtext was clearly saying that even if this cannon's power was poor, no cannon stronger than this could be found throughout all of Great Ming.

Zhu Youjian's tone suddenly softened; he gazed coldly at the Westerner and asked in a low voice.

"So you mean to say Great Ming is inferior to your tiny Franks?!"

"Your Majesty, Great Emperor, I do not mean that. What I mean is that, at least in terms of firearms, Great Ming is not equal to the Franks."

Hearing Zhu Youjian's conversation with this Westerner.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di in the chat group immediately exploded.

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"Where did this foreigner come from? Dare even a foreigner ride on Great Ming's neck?"

Emperor Chengzu Wen:

"Western Ocean? Western Ocean my foot. When Zheng He went out, we already saw what the Western Ocean's nature was."

"It hasn't even been two hundred years; have the Westerners become spirits?!"

Zhu Youjian did not look at the chat group.

Instead, he threw the torch in his hand, stared fixedly at the Frank before him, and asked in a low voice.

"What is your name?"

"Reporting to the Great Ming Emperor, my name is Nan Huairen."

Zhu Youjian murmured softly to himself.

"Nan Huairen."

"Are you Tang Ruowang's subordinate?"

"Yes."

Zhu Youjian said nothing.

Instead, he signaled for Nan Huairen to withdraw.

Nan Huairen's words made Zhu Youjian extremely uncomfortable.

At this time, in later history, there was obviously excessive glorification of these Xiyangchuan Sect missionaries during the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties.

First and most importantly, they did not bring significantly advanced technology to the Central Plains, because fundamentally, at this time, neither the Ming nor the Qing differed greatly from the West in technology.

Indeed, contact between the two sides was far more frequent than later generations imagined.

Secondly, these Xiyangchuan Sect missionaries were not so holy.

After entering the court, they adapted to the court atmosphere with the utmost speed, and very skillfully united around Tang Ruowang and Nan Huairen, even forming a force in the court that could not be underestimated.

And these Xiyangchuan Sect missionaries were not ignorant of worldly wisdom.

The simplest example is the firearms master Dai Zi, who invented the repeating musket during the Qing dynasty; Kangxi was certainly dim-witted, but the true instigators were these missionaries.

It was precisely because Dai Zi had manufactured a firearm in just eight days that Nan Huairen had failed to produce in three years.

Afterwards, Tang Ruowang, Nan Huairen, and others, relying on their Merit of supporting the dragon (ascending the throne) with Kangxi, falsely accused Dai Zi of colluding with the Japanese, ultimately causing him to be exiled to Ningguta.

Zhu Youjian stared fiercely at Luo Luo Yangxing beside him and asked,

"Luo Luo Yangxing, I ask you, is this truly the most powerful firearm of our Great Ming?"

Luo Luo Yangxing finally let out a long sigh and said in a low voice,

"Your Majesty, the Red Barbarian Cannon is indeed the most powerful cannon currently in our Great Ming."

Looking at the Red Barbarian Cannon before him.

Zhu Youjian, in a fit of rage, kicked the back of the cannon barrel and couldn't help but curse,

"It can't even blast open the Imperial Prison, and you tell me this is the most powerful?"

Luo Luo Yangxing smiled bitterly.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Prison is not an ordinary building; if it were an ordinary house, the Red Barbarian Cannon could indeed blast it open."

Zhu Youjian snorted coldly.

"What about the city walls? Can the city walls be blasted open?"

The corner of Luo Luo Yangxing's mouth twitched slightly.

In his heart, ten thousand horses galloped.