In only half a year, Zhaocheng had changed a lot. Although Ji Jie had expected such changes when he came back when he left, he was still surprised when he saw it with his own eyes.
When the city wall was first built, there was room for expansion. Now it is taller and wider. There are many turrets and gatehouses. The soldiers standing behind the crenellations are wearing bright iron armor and holding bright weapons. It's a trebuchet and a bed crossbow.
Such a city is no less than the capital of the Seven Kingdoms and is a truly grand pass.
The patrol team responsible for public security in the city are very different from the regular army in terms of clothing and equipment. They wear hard leather armor and carry wild goose feather knives on their waists. They patrol the streets day and night to ensure absolute safety in the city.
When Ji Jie and his entourage appeared at the north gate, the gatekeeper was stunned for a moment. He quickly rubbed his eyes, and after confirming that he had seen it correctly, he happily shouted: "Your Majesty is back, everyone please welcome your Majesty!"
With this shout, the entire North Gate was in a state of shock, and soldiers and civilians lined the streets to welcome him.
During the days when he was away, battle reports were sent back in a steady stream. After every victory, the city would be very lively.
Rou Yue did not expect that Ji Jie was so popular and was deeply loved by the people and the army.
After receiving the news, the three girls went to the gate of the city to greet him.
Looking at the three beautiful girls, Ji Jie swept away the fatigue of the past few days, jumped off the horse and hugged them in his arms, muttering: "You miss me so much..."
Ji Xueling pursed her lips towards Rouyue, who was still riding on the horse, and said, "Who is she? I remember that sister Ji Lin doesn't look like this, right? Tell me honestly, where did you trick a girl into coming here?"
"That's right, with Sister Lin watching, you can still find other girls. It seems like Sister Lin has failed our trust!" Sima Xueran said.
"Yeah, sister Lin is taller and smells better. She should be a pure-blooded Huns. Brother Jie, come on!" Zhao Qian is afraid that the world will not be in chaos.
"Don't talk nonsense, she is a Hun princess!" Ji Jie said more and more darkly: "Didn't I ask Xiong Kui to send a Hun child over a while ago? That is her brother. This is my strategy to win over. Only the Huns are not here. Only by causing trouble in the back can we have a chance to deal with the Seven Kingdoms of the Central Plains, hehe!"
The three women didn't believe these lies at all, but they didn't expose him in front of so many people.
The first thing he did when he entered the city was to listen to the summary report of the three women. He had been away for almost half a year. Although he received written reports every month, how could it compare to hearing them in person.
After half a year of development, the number of residents in Zhaocheng increased by 20%, and the number of soldiers increased by 30%, and from the beginning of the recruit training, they used the latest weapons.
Regarding new weapons, Ji Jie has the most say. He is the creator of new weapons and the one who uses them the most. He also knows the shortcomings exposed during use.
There are two biggest shortcomings of thunderbolt bombs and cannons. First, the explosive power of gunpowder is limited, and gunpowder is easily affected by moisture and cannot be effective in rainy weather. Second, up to now, exposed wires have been used as fuzes. Before launching, the launcher subjectively determines the length of the wire, which will cause two consequences: either it is too long and the wire does not explode even after it hits the ground, or it is too short and the wire explodes before it reaches the enemy's head.
Another point is that it has been more than half a year since the new weapon appeared and has been used in actual combat many times. It is impossible to keep it as a secret. It is estimated that the seven countries have already sent spies to come from various channels. Make inquiries.
The formula of gunpowder is actually very simple and can be figured out by ordinary alchemists. Once they figure it out, Da Zhou will have no advantage at all.
Ji Jie started to improve black gunpowder based on the attitude of "I have what others don't have, I have the essence of others, and I can change the essence of others", and this is only the first step. Then he will also improve the fuse materials of thunderbolt bombs and earthquake cannons. Three steps are needed to expand the lethality of the two weapons.
After Rouyue arrived in Zhaocheng, she often went to see her younger brother Achi, so she no longer had to pester Ji Jie every day, and he was free to conduct research.
From the moment Zhao Qian saw the snow toad, she fell in love with that little animal and studied it all day long. The snow toad is such a mean person. No matter how Zhao Qian treats it, it will always cooperate. If not If Ji Jie stopped him, the little girl would have disembowelled it long ago.
With his unremitting efforts, the research quickly yielded results and two new types of gunpowder were obtained.
One is to grind various materials very finely according to the original formula, spray the leather glue that has been boiled overnight on it, and then make it into granular gunpowder. This kind of gunpowder overcomes the fear of The disadvantage of moisture is that it is easier to store and transport.
The second is yellow high-explosives, which have three times the explosive power of black gunpowder. Ji Jie installed such explosives in thunderbolts engraved with prefabricated fragments, which not only ensured the explosive power, but also added some iron sand bombs, which also increased the Lethality.
Next came the development of the fuse. He bumped the pyrotechnic powder into a thin iron tube and used the principle of sparks generated by friction to ignite the pyrotechnic powder. It took about five seconds for the pyrotechnic powder to burn from one end of the iron pipe to the other, and then ignited the interior. Explosives, the thunderbolt bomb at this time was close to the prototype of the modern hand grenade.
The development of the fuse of the Sky-shattering Cannon was a bit troublesome, but Ji Jie successfully solved it. He drilled six small holes in the projectile body and inserted a special fuse before firing the shell to ensure that no matter which part of the sphere landed, can be detonated.
In this way, the exposed shortcomings of the new weapons were resolved. Ji Jie gave an order, and Ou Ming's forging supervisor began to produce them at full capacity, and some people were allocated to continue the production of old weapons.
Then, Ji Jie simultaneously took up the banner in the seven countries, selling new weapons that he had eliminated.
The Seven Kingdoms were worried that they would not be able to obtain research results in a short period of time. After hearing the news, everyone was excited, especially Zhao Jun and Han Jun, who had suffered losses in this regard. The monarchs of the two countries immediately ordered to send special personnel to Zhao city to discuss the matter.
It's no problem if you want to buy. Brother's things are meant to be sold, but apart from the fact that there is no credit, there is also the need to sign a trade and non-aggression treaty with Dazhou.
"Your Majesty, let's sell everything to them. What if they come back and attack us?" Ji Jian asked, expressing his worries.
Ji Jie waved his hand and said: "That's all they are willing to do is to fight us until the end. Do you think we will be gone if we don't sell to them? Rather than letting people figure out how to make it, it's better to sell it to them directly. As long as they don't master it, The production method depends on us, it’s too late to fawn over, so how can we fight with each other!”
"Your Majesty is right!"
Moreover, it is unknown how long it will take for the troops of the Seven Kingdoms who are accustomed to old-fashioned fighting to adapt to the new style of fighting. How can they be compared with the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty who were trained in the new style from the beginning.