Chapter 153

Do you believe I'll tear down your Qianqing Palace someday!

After unrelated personnel had been cleared out.

Zhu Yuanzhang's aged face darkened.

He whispered an order.

"Go, get some white sugar!"

Jiang Qiong froze at the words.

"Huh?"

"Deaf?! I told you to get some white sugar!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Jiang Qiong, baffled, brought back a dish of white sugar.

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze slowly turned to a Embroidered Uniform Guard holding a hand cannon.

He stepped forward, took the hand cannon from the Guard's hands, and emptied all the gunpowder out.

Under everyone's watchful eyes.

Zhu Yuanzhang casually picked up the clay bowl that Su Qiao had thrown aside.

He dipped his index finger into the bowl and was about to put it to his mouth.

Jiang Qiong immediately rushed forward to stop him.

"Your Majesty…"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved him off dismissively.

"I'm just tasting it! Get out of my way."

"It really is sugar."

Saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath, sized up Su Qiao, then poured the entire dish of white sugar into the clay bowl.

He then tossed the bowl into the firepit of the imperial prison.

Not long after.

The white sugar in the bowl gradually melted into syrup under Old Zhu's heat.

Old Zhu stared at the syrup and whispered an order:

"Go, take this syrup, pour it over the gunpowder, and mix it well."

"Huh?"

Jiang Qiong stared at Zhu Yuanzhang, utterly confused.

Old Zhu snapped at him:

"What are you standing there for? Mix it!"

Jiang Qiong did not dare delay a moment.

He immediately poured the syrup, clamped in the tongs, over the black gunpowder before him.

He grabbed a chopstick and began stirring.

Soon, he obtained a thick paste; the gunpowder soaked in syrup quickly hardened into a solid lump.

(Do not imitate, do not imitate, do not imitate~! Important thing said three times— to prevent imitation, all ratio data have been blurred.)

Zhu Yuanzhang's brow furrowed, and he waved his hand toward those around him:

"Fall back, all of you."

After the Embroidered Uniform Guards retreated.

Zhu Yuanzhang casually picked up a piece of cowhide paper, neatly wrapped the syrup-soaked explosive, sealed it with his imperial stamp, then lit it with a nearby torch.

He tossed it toward an empty cell down the corridor.

Jiang Qiong instinctively shielded Zhu Yuanzhang.

Not long after.

Another thunderous "Boom—" echoed through Jingcheng.

This time, the sound was much louder than the last!

Old Zhu, Jiang Qiong, and several Embroidered Uniform Guards standing nearby were knocked over by the blast wave.

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Di in the chat group were stunned by what they saw.

Zhu Qizhen, who had just been whipped by Zhu Di, stopped crying.

He stared, mouth agape, at the scene before him.

This isn't gunpowder!

This is bringing down thunder from heaven!

Zhu Yuanzhang did not know that in later centuries, in many parts of Persia, some talking sands used this exact crude method to make explosives.

When the ratio is correct, detonation speed can reach 3200 m/s.

After adjusting the ratio and adding hydrogen chloride, it can be easily turned into rocket propellant.

This is why white sugar remained a controlled substance even in later centuries.

After the massive explosion.

The rear end of the imperial prison had been blown open by Zhu Yuanzhang's explosive.

Dozens of Embroidered Uniform Guards rushed in and hurriedly lifted Zhu Yuanzhang from the ground.

But Zhu Yuanzhang's face was now filled only with wild joy.

"I'm fine! Get out of my way! I'm not old yet—I can still get up!"

"Heaven protects the Great Ming! Heaven protects the Great Ming! Hahaha!"

Zhu Youjian in the chat group also suddenly realized.

Huang Taiji's bitter days are coming! Three.

110, Su Qiao's true plan!

It was merely a layer of syrup poured onto the black powder.

That alone caused the explosive's power to swell several times!

What does this mean for Great Ming?

It means Great Ming's cannonballs can fly farther than before.

When they smash onto those Tatars, they can cause greater casualties!

Things that were originally impossible have all become possible in this moment!

For instance, violently blasting down and exploding the enemy's city walls!

A smile bloomed on Zhu Yuanzhang's face.

Gazing at the white sugar before him, he could no longer hide the smile on his face.

"This thing is good, this thing is good!"

Su Qiao knew nothing at all.

The shock this small amount of white sugar explosive caused Zhu Yuanzhang was no less than a prisoner in a later-era jail hand-crafting a mushroom bomb.

And the chat group instantly exploded.

Emperor Chengzu Wen:

"Father, was that thing you just poured really sugar?"

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"Yes, I was fooling you. Just now I communed with Lei Lei Zhenzi to discuss it. Didn't expect that, did you?"

"I fooled you; what are you worth?"

Emperor Chengzu Wen:

"Father, I'll go test it first!"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Several Great Grandfathers, this son also wants to go test it. This matter concerns the life and death of Great Ming's soldiers; I will not feel at ease until I have tested and understood it clearly!"

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"No, Great Grandfather, put me down."

"You run out to set off firecrackers, won't let me watch, only let me listen to the sound; it's more painful than being killed by a knife!"