The standard infantry bow of the Tang Dynasty was the lightweight Sangtuo wood longbow, and the cavalry was the long tip horn bow. The range of the two types of bows was also similar, and the maximum killing power was between 140 steps and 200 steps.
But at such a long distance, the general army would shoot arrows between sixty and one hundred steps. Even in order to break the armor, the army would not shoot until thirty steps.
In this case, when the army is fighting, after one round of shooting, or two rounds of shooting, the army can take out their knives and engage in hand-to-hand combat!
Only the strong bows used by generals like Cheng Zhijie and Li Xiaogong could shoot to about 300 paces.
Therefore, regarding the musket in front of them, Cheng Zhijie, Li Shimin and others subconsciously trembled all over.
Cheng Zhijie licked his lips and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, within a hundred steps of this musket, you are invincible in the world!"
Li Shimin ignored Cheng Zhijie, but directly imitated Xue Rengui's actions just now, and motioned to the band next to him to fill him with gunpowder and iron blocks.
"I'll give it a try first and then talk about it!"
Seeing this, Xue Rengui and Le Tai were both shocked and quickly looked at Li Xuan who was standing aside.
"Your Majesty, this musket is very dangerous. If your Majesty wants to try it, please put on your armor and try again!"
Li Xuan said.
"Do you still need to put on armor?"
Hearing this, Li Shimin was a little dissatisfied.
"It's natural. Xue Rengui wouldn't dare try it if he didn't wear armor, let alone a body like yours!" Li Xuan said firmly.
"Pierce me into armor!"
Li Shimin sighed helplessly and handed the musket in his hand to Li Wei who was standing aside. He opened his arms and signaled Xue Rengui to quickly pierce his armor!
Afterwards, Xue Rengui and Li Xiaogong teamed up to put the armor on Li Shimin.
Li Shimin looked at Li Xuan expectantly.
Seeing this, Li Xuan motioned to Xue Rengui and Le Tai to load the gunpowder in Li Shimin's hand.
Then, after Li Shimin set it up, he lit the fuse with flint from behind the bandstand, and then ran away.
As for Li Shimin, he felt an explosion next to his ears and a huge force coming from his right shoulder. Fortunately, he was wearing armor, so it only hurt a little.
However, Li Shimin soon had no time to think about this and quickly raised his head to look at the big tree a hundred steps away that he was aiming at.
I couldn't help but take another breath of cold air, and then my face was filled with excitement again.
Although he didn't hit the one he was aiming at, the three trees around that tree suffered!
The bark on the tree trunk had been blasted to pieces, and even the inside of the trunk had broken holes as big as a fist, with small pieces of iron embedded inside.
"Hahaha, great item!"
"It is indeed a sharp weapon!"
As he said that, Li Xiaogong could no longer bear it, so he took off a suit of armor from a guard on the side and put it on him.
Then, he looked at Li Xuan eagerly.
Seeing this, Li Xuan sighed helplessly and handed the musket in his hand to Li Xiaogong.
Sure enough, shooting and owning guns is a man’s greatest pleasure!
At the same time, he kicked Li Chongyi who was standing aside, "Li Chongyi, teach you how to shoot a gun!"
"Yes, Master!"
Unable to escape, Li Chongyi had no choice but to accept it.
He took a bottle of gunpowder from the bandstand on the side and carefully taught Li Xiaogong how to shoot.
Seeing this, Cheng Zhijie, Duan Zhixuan, Fang Xuanling and others also gathered around and looked at Li Xiaogong eagerly.
Li Xuan found a clean stone, sat on it, and watched these old killers destroying his hilltop.
Perhaps, he opened a Pandora's box for Datang!
The age of firearms has arrived!
More than half an hour later.
The two bottles of gunpowder brought by Bandai have been used up, and the forest has been ruined. Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong and others put down the muskets that were already burning in their hands with expressions of contentment on their faces.
"Xuanba, this thing is much more powerful than that arrow bomb!"
"It's natural!"
Li Xuan nodded slightly, "Although the range of this musket is weaker than that of a bow and arrow, it is more accurate and the shot is not affected by wind speed or rain.
It's also very powerful.
Even if the enemy soldiers wearing iron armor dare to come within a hundred steps, they can defeat a large area with one shot. The more enemies there are, the more powerful the muskets are. But bows and arrows can only kill one at a time!"
"It's just a pity that I asked Le Tai and other ink masters to study for so many years, and they can only increase the range of the musket to a hundred steps at most! If you want to increase the range of the musket again, you can only improve the structure of the musket, but according to the forging
The current equipment in the workshop is simply useless!”
Hearing this, Li Shimin, Cheng Zhijie and others all subconsciously expressed regret.
Immediately, he realized, this kind of musket is already so powerful, what else do you want?
Then, not knowing what he remembered, Li Shimin asked again: "Xuanba, is it easy to make such a gun?"
"easy!"
Li Xuan nodded lightly, "This kind of musket has no technical content. As long as there is an old blacksmith who knows how to forge iron, gunpowder, and the blueprints of this kind of musket, you can make several muskets in a day!"
"So easy?"
Hearing this, Li Shimin frowned slightly.
"Um!"
Li Xuan nodded slowly, "But this gun also relies on good steel and gunpowder, so ordinary small workshops can't make it of this quality!"
Li Shimin didn't think about this, but looked at Li Xuan again.
"Xuanba, how many people know the drawings of this kind of musket?"
"Your Majesty, only Le Tai and I and a few other ink administrators know about it!"
Li Xuan replied.
"This drawing must not be leaked!"
Li Shimin said solemnly.
"Your Majesty, don't worry, this blueprint will never be leaked from Lijiazhuang!" Li Xuan said.
On the side, Le Tai and other ink masters also nodded firmly with faces on their faces.
"These blueprints, muskets and other formulas are always kept in the forge. The craftsmen in the forge never take anything out, not even a small piece of iron!"
"In this case, I can rest assured. If such a weapon of war is leaked and controlled by the enemy, then our Tang Dynasty will be in danger!"
Li Shimin said.
"Yes, these craftsmen who can create all kinds of artifacts that benefit the country and the people, strengthen the country and enrich the people, are still a group of untouchables and are not taken seriously by the court!"
Li Xuan stood aside and sneered.
The orchestra trembled.
But Cheng Zhijie, Li Xiaogong and others looked at Li Xuan in surprise.
Li Shimin frowned slightly, "Xuan Ba, what do you want to say to me?"
"I don't, I just want to complain!"
Li Xuan chuckled lightly and said to Xue Rengui and Le Tai: "You two, please take these two muskets back first!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The two of them responded and walked down.
Li Xuan also took Li Shimin, Cheng Zhijie and others back to the other courtyard.
Li Chang quickly led a group of servants and poured hot tea.
Li Xuan then said: "Your Majesty, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of thought contended in the vast land of China. But now, there is only one Confucian who acts recklessly in the court, and even military strategists have become generals.
The remaining hundreds of businesses have all fallen into low status.
However, the Mohist Bandai invented all these for me in the Tang Dynasty, glass, bombs, muskets, steelmaking, refined salt, steel giant ships, steam engines...
If any of these are released individually, wouldn't all of them make Datang stronger?
However, Le Tai and other ink masters who have made such great contributions are now just a mere farmer!"
As he said this, Li Xuan couldn't help but sneered mockingly.