Chapter 331

East Prefecture, Jia Cong's courtyard.

In the midsummer season, the sky gets bright very early. Just past 5:30 AM, the outside of the house was already very bright.

Fortunately, the sunlight had not yet emitted scorching heat, shining into the room and giving people a soft and bright feeling. The night was cool and the sleep was sweet, and the red sleeves left a lingering fragrance.

Last night, Qing Wen was on night duty. Just past 5:00 AM, she rolled out of bed. She was actually much more alert than usual, even half an hour earlier than Jia Cong, who was used to getting up early.

By the time she put on her clothes and skirt, she did not have time to tie her hair. Her black hair was just casually twisted into a bun, which was a bit loose, unlike the exquisite and beauty-loving Qing Wen of usual times.

Because she got up a bit hurriedly, she did not put on a vest outside, only wearing a vermilion silk-faced jacket and vermilion silk-faced trousers. The whole person was as bright red as a flower, delicate and dripping.

Qing Wen is the same age as Jia Cong, but she could not help the fact that girls grow up fast. Plus, she is naturally active. After growing taller in the past two years, her figure is more graceful and well-proportioned, becoming more and more pleasing to the eye.

She helped Jia Cong comb his hair neatly and even yawned in the mirror.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "You stayed up too late making that undergarment yesterday. I knew you would definitely be sleepy this morning. I asked Liu Wuer to replace you, but you refused. Look, you can't even open your eyes."

Ever since Yingchun moved to the East Prefecture, this new habit appeared in the prefecture. Every morning, the sister and brother would definitely eat together in the main hall. Using Jia Cong's new term, it is called "family atmosphere."

Qing Wen pouted her little mouth and said, "I am on night duty, so I should do it myself. Why should I let Liu Wuer replace me? Knowing that Cong Sanye has to see the Emperor today, I didn't dare to sleep soundly after lying down yesterday."

They were all maids who took breakfast from the small kitchen and sent it to their own boudoirs to eat.

Except for festivals or receiving guests, they would never sit together to eat on ordinary days.

Yingchun did not have such a habit when she was in Rongguo Prefecture. Rongguo Prefecture is a noble family, and the rules for daily life are very strict.

At breakfast time, not to mention eating with elders like the Old Lady, even the sisters did not have the habit of eating together.

Such separate tables can be considered as taking care of Yingchun's feelings, so as not to make her feel too "unconventional."

She only felt that ever since she arrived at the East Prefecture, her days were novel and fulfilling, and her heart was more steady and settled than before.

Early this morning, within a radius of half a mile around the Firearms Workshop, two thousand imperial guards were stationed, guarding the entire Firearms Workshop tightly.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "It's not really seeing the Emperor, just going to the firearms workshop to watch the test firing of the cannons."

After eating breakfast, Jia Cong hurried out and went toward the northern suburbs.

……

Qing Wen helped Jia Cong put on his official uniform again. The whole person was swaying a bit. It is estimated that staying up late and sleeping lightly last night made her too sleep-deprived, so she was pushed onto the bed by Jia Cong to make up for her sleep.

For Yingchun, this is a very novel thing, and even a bit "against etiquette."

In the past, when Jia Cong was in Qingzhi Study, he always ate at the same table with the girls and maids, being unconventional and without any scruples.

When they arrived at the main hall, Liu Wuer and Xiu Ju were setting up breakfast.

However, now that there are only the two of them, the sister and brother, in the East Prefecture, there is no need to have any scruples. Since Jia Cong likes it this way, she, as the older sister, naturally has no objections.

Northern suburbs of the Love Shenjing, Firearms Department Workshop.

There were two tables in the main hall. One was for Jia Cong and Yingchun, and the other was for Liu Wuer, Qing Wen, and the others.

"Cong Sanye, what is a test firing of cannons..."

Before Jia Cong went to Liaodong on official business, he combined his memories from observing in his later life and drew two sketches of the Red-Clothed Great Cannon, handing them to Liu Shizhen, the Deputy Supervisor of the Firearms Department, and asked him to organize the research, development, and construction.

In his previous life, Jia Cong majored in museology. In a place like the Provincial Museum, there were all kinds of strange things in the huge warehouse, and there were several prototype iron cannons.

One of the drawings was equivalent to the Red-Clothed Great Cannon of later generations, and the other drawing was an improved version of the Red-Clothed Great Cannon.

Because the Red-Clothed Great Cannon of later generations was only a front-loading cannon that loaded gunpowder and projectiles from the muzzle, although it had huge firepower due to its thick barrel, it was better than the ordinary Frankish cannon.

However, its gunpowder loading and operation method were much more backward than the rear-loading Frankish cannon that loaded sub-cannons, and its firing speed was far inferior to the latter.

The second Red-Clothed Great Cannon drawing Jia Cong drew combined the advantages of the two types of cannons.

Calling it an improved large Frankish cannon might be a more accurate description.

In addition to lengthening and thickening the barrel and body, the main thing was to improve the precision between the sub-cannon and the cannon belly, reduce the gap tolerance between the two, reduce the leakage of gunpowder gas, and improve the range and power of the cannon.

This kind of work of improving the joint precision of the mold could only be perfectly realized by the high-precision machine tools of later generations.

And in this era, it could only be achieved through countless manual forging attempts to obtain relatively good results, and this result still had a certain gap with true high precision.

Liu Shizhen quickly forged the original front-loading Red-Clothed Great Cannon according to the first drawing Jia Cong provided.

But it took half a year, through countless mold forging tests and countless test-firing adjustments, to build an improved Red-Clothed Great Cannon.

And what Jia Cong valued most was this improved Red-Clothed Great Cannon.

In the Battle of Yafu Pass in Liaodong, he witnessed with his own eyes the huge power brought by the fast loading and high firing speed of the Frankish cannon, but at the same time, there were deficiencies in range and firepower.

This improved Red-Clothed Great Cannon can inherit the advantages of the Frankish cannon to the greatest extent, while maximizing the compensation for the deficiencies in range and firepower.

……

Ever since the war in Liaodong, whether it was the Great Battle of Yafu Pass or the Great Victory at Qingyuan Collection, the firearms developed and launched by the Firearms Department have demonstrated huge battlefield power.

Now, from the Emperor, to the Ministry of War, the Five Military Governor's Offices, down to the local guard stations and border armies, everyone holds great attention and enthusiasm for firearms.

The day before yesterday, Jia Cong submitted a memorial that the Firearms Department workshop had successfully developed a new type of cannon, which made Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao feel happy, and he wanted to personally visit the workshop's drill ground to watch the test-firing effect of the cannon.

Once the Emperor's decree to leave the palace was issued, half of the official offices in the Love Shenjing began to operate.

Thousands of imperial guards and soldiers from the Five Military Camps were deployed in advance to clear the streets along the way and guard all important roads.

Hearing that the Emperor was going on an inspection tour, the Zhen'an Prefecture and Qinian Prefecture showed a great style of diligent administration, and the prefects of the two prefectures personally went to the streets.

They each led hundreds of yamen runners and scattered them in the twelve markets along the way to the north of the city, clearing out the petty thieves and fierce bullies on the streets.

It was not that they were worried that these small fry had the guts to assassinate the Emperor, but among these people, most of them had deep grievances.

If something like blocking the carriage to file a complaint happened and fell into the eyes of the Sage, something unpredictable would surely happen. Clearing them out in advance could be considered a precaution.

A few years ago, the incident of Zhang Shou'an, the Prefect of Zhen'an, served as a great warning to the officials of the two prefectures.

This time, accompanying Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao to watch the test firing of the new cannons, in addition to Jia Cong, who was the person in charge, there were also important ministers such as Peng Runan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Shi Ding, the Marquis of Zhongjing.

As well as Gu Yankui, the Minister of War, who had just returned from inspecting the Nine Borders.

Among these people, Jia Cong also discovered a young man with an unfamiliar face who had been serving by Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's side.

This person was twenty years old, with a dignified appearance, heroic and outstanding, wearing a winged hat and a red coiled-collar narrow-sleeved gold-woven dragon robe, with a magnificent bearing that attracted attention.

His appearance was somewhat similar to Prince Ning Li Zhongrui, but his bearing was more eye-catching, even surpassing Prince Ning.

This person was wearing a gold-woven dragon robe, and his appearance was similar to Prince Ning, so Jia Cong guessed that this person must be an imperial prince.

The new firearms were a military secret. Those who could accompany Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao to watch the test firing of the new cannons this time were all the Emperor's close and trusted ministers.

Even Prince Ning Li Zhongrui was not on the invitation list, yet this prince could serve by the Emperor's side, which shows that the Emperor valued him even more than Prince Ning.

Jia Cong could roughly guess who this person was.

The current eldest imperial prince, Zhao Wang Li Zhongmao.

(End of chapter)