Early the next morning, all civil and military officials suddenly received the decree.
All officials of fifth rank and above must arrive at Ziyun Tower in Furong Garden before three quarters noon.
The specific purpose of doing so was not made clear.
However, well-informed officials had already found out that Changping County Prince Wu Chengsi planned to present a new type of weapon to the emperor.
The place where the new weapons are displayed is in Furong Garden.
Princess Taiping arrived at the Prince's Mansion early in the morning. At this time, Wu Chengsi was in the lobby assigning various tasks to Wang Bo, Zhou Xing and others.
This test explosion conference was presided over by Wu Chengsi, and many officials came. It could be said to be a grand event, so preparations in all aspects needed to be made.
In Wu Chengsi's view, this test explosion was not only to deter the Tibetans, but also to let the whole court see the power of gunpowder.
This is very important.
Only when all officials were aware of the importance of gunpowder could Wu Chengsi gain the support of the Manchu Dynasty, both civil and military, when he studied the uses of gunpowder.
Maybe someone will take the initiative to study the uses of gunpowder.
"Master, the students think that we need to strengthen the security of Furong Garden to prevent foreign envoys from sneaking in." Yao Chong said with a serious face.
He won the first prize in the imperial examination this year, rejected the attempts of King Pei and the Crown Prince, applied to enter the Hanlin Academy, and became Wu Chengsi's sixth disciple.
Hearing his words, Princess Taiping was secretly amused and thought to herself: "We are just showing these silly words to the Tubo people."
Wu Chengsi smiled and said:
"Don't worry too much. Gunpowder is just the beginning. As long as we increase research in this area in the future, we will definitely be able to develop new and more powerful weapons."
Wang Brown said:
"Yes, before His Highness discovered gunpowder, I never imagined that there would be such weapons in the world. We should report to the court and increase incentives for those who discover new weapons to encourage this enthusiasm."
Wu Chengsi smiled and nodded.
Lu Zhaolin followed: "Students think that we should focus on drug research. Maybe there are medicines more powerful than gunpowder!"
Wu Chengsi was about to stop him, but suddenly he thought about it. Lu Zhaolin's proposal was actually the germ of chemistry, so there was no need to object.
Everyone else was talking excitedly, but only Zhou Xing noticed Princess Taiping coming.
He winked at the others, cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I will go to Furong Garden to do some work first."
Several other people also resigned one after another.
After they left, Princess Taiping stepped forward and asked, "Second cousin, are those two idiots still in Furong Garden?"
Wu Chengsi nodded and said: "The sergeant who reported back said that they hid next to Qinghua Pond and were bitten by mosquitoes all night."
"I deserve it. If they dare to take advantage of me, they will be stung to death!" Princess Taiping snorted.
It’s early summer in May, a beautiful sunny day.
The Golden Crow rises slowly, the temperature gradually rises, and it’s noon in the blink of an eye.
A group of officials came to Furong Garden one after another, and under the arrangements of Wang Bo, Zhou Xing and others, they came to Ziyun Tower.
There are five floors in the pavilion, and officials are introduced to different floors according to their grades.
Officials of fifth rank and above are on the third floor, and officials of third rank and above are on the fourth floor.
Only the royal family and a few important ministers were brought to the fifth floor.
Soon, Prince Li Hong and King Pei Li Xian also came to the fifth floor respectively, and then relatives from the clan came in droves.
At two quarters of noon, Qian Niuwei cleared the way, and amid the sound of singing promises, the majestic Luan Jia appeared in sight, and Li Zhi and Wu Mei came in the same car.
To the north of Ziyun Tower is Qujiang Pool, and to the west is an open space of more than ten acres.
This open space is the test explosion area chosen by Wu Chengsi. It has a radius of ten miles and has been heavily surrounded by Qianniu Guards. No one can enter.
A hundred feet further west of the clearing stands a tall tower.
There are sergeants guarding the front of this tower, but there is no one on the back.
The Tibetan princes Chidu Chizan and Dagu had already climbed up the tower from the back and reached the top floor, quietly looking at the open space below.
When the emperor went to Ziyun Tower, Dagu said:
"Your Highness, you said that people from the Tang Dynasty would just demonstrate new weapons to the emperor. Why did you call all these officials here?"
"Isn't this simple? Let's attack the city of the Tang Dynasty. The officials of the Tang Dynasty must be frightened. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty showed this weapon to them just to calm their minds." Chidu Chizan sneered.
Dagu nodded and said:
"Your Highness, the name of the weapon is gunpowder. It must be a kind of medicine. If it is really powerful, I think that after we return to China, we can summon the pharmacists and ask them to find a way to develop this kind of weapon!"
Chidu Chizan hummed: "Let's see the power first, but just a dose of medicine, no matter how powerful it is, how powerful can it be?"
"Prince, look, they are making a move."
Chidu Chizan took a closer look, and sure enough, he saw a person next to Wu Chengsi holding a large medical bag, and he quickly came to the center of the clearing.
He put the medicine bag on the ground, then took out the fire fold, seemed to click on it somewhere, and then ran away to the outside, running faster than a rabbit.
After running to the outside of the open space, the man, Wu Chengsi and others were lying on the ground.
Chidu Chizan was about to laugh a few words, when suddenly, there was a loud rumble, and the whole earth seemed to let out a shocking roar!
The earth shook!
Dust flying!
Even the tower where Chidu Chizan was located began to shake.
He couldn't stand upright and fell to the ground. His ears were buzzing and he heard Dagu's mouth move, as if he said something, but he couldn't hear anything.
For a moment, Chidu Chizan thought he was deaf.
It wasn't until quite a while later that I gradually heard movement and looked towards the open space.
As the dust flew more than three feet high, the entire ground seemed to be covered with a layer of yellow mist.
After a long while, the yellow mist gradually dissipated.
Chidu Chizan was stunned.
I saw that the ground where the gunpowder was was completely disappeared, leaving only a large pit three feet long and wide. The dark pit was like a big mouth, as if it wanted to choose people and devour them.
"This is impossible, this must be a trick, how can such a thing exist in the world!"
Chidu Chizan's eyes were red and he looked like he was going crazy.
Dagu gritted his teeth and said:
"Your Highness, whether we want to believe it or not, the facts are right in front of us. The Tang people have obtained powerful weapons, and we are going to be in big trouble."
Chidu Chizan's lips trembled slightly and he said in a harsh voice, "Did you see clearly the size of the medicine bag just now?"
"See clearly, it's not as big as a dog."
"With such a small medicine bag, but with such great power, how can we fight against the Tang army in the future?" Chidu Chizan's face turned pale.
Dagu said in a deep voice:
"Prince, you don't have to be too pessimistic. The raw materials for that kind of gunpowder may be very precious, and even if they can really produce them in large quantities, they must have some weaknesses."
Chidu Chizan remained silent.
Looking down, I saw that many officials in Ziyun Tower had come down from the building, and they were all gathered around the huge pit, talking among themselves and beaming with joy.
"These Tang Dynasty officials also seemed to be shocked by the power of gunpowder." Chidu Chizan said with a wry smile.
Dagu nodded and said:
"My subordinates suspect that the Tang Dynasty has just made this kind of weapon. Maybe it was accidentally discovered on the battlefield in Liaodong. Otherwise, with such a powerful weapon, they would not have used it before."
"...Liaodong battlefield."
Chidu Chizan was startled and thought, could it be that the key material of the gunpowder was in Goryeo, so the Tang people had not discovered it before?
After waiting on the tower for more than an hour, the Tang Dynasty man below finally left.
Chidu Chizan and Dagu came to Qujiang Pool, jumped directly into the water, and swam eastward along the current.
After swimming for two hours, the two of them left the Furong Garden and arrived outside Chang'an City.
After climbing ashore, the two of them looked and expressed the same as drowned rats.
I found someone to ask for directions, and finally returned to the Tibetan Embassy in Beijing around the middle of Youshi.
Chidu Chizan was in a daze along the way and said nothing, as if his soul was taken away by the loud noise.
Dagu was not much better than him, so he did not persuade him.
After eating half a leg of lamb and drinking a few glasses of kumiss, Chidu Chizan finally regained some energy.
He stood up and ordered several personal guards to pack their things.