Chapter 292: The King and His Ministers Look at Each Other with Wet Clothes

Ou Zanghua followed Emperor Zhengde to his private armory, the Armory.

This was one of the Eight Bureaus of the Ming Dynasty, a place that specialized in making weapons and farm tools for the palace. Taoist Master Wang Chengwu was the director of the Gunpowder Bureau under the Armory Bureau.

When the two arrived here, they happened to see the gunpowder bureau explode with a "bang", and then saw a cloud of black mist rising, and then saw Taoist Wang Chengwu and a group of disciples coming out coughing.

After seeing Emperor Zhengde and Ou Zanghua, Taoist priest Wang Chengwu came over, bowed and said, "I greet your majesty and Lord Ou, ahem."

Ou Zanghua looked at the Taoist Wang Chengwu, who had originally looked like an immortal, and turned into a Li Kui. He couldn't help but ask, "Master, what are you researching?"

Taoist Wang Chengwu did not answer immediately, but looked at Emperor Zhengde.

"Hehe, I think the current gunpowder is too simple, so let Wang Qing study something different." Emperor Zhengde said with a smile.

"So this is it?"

Taoist Wang Chengwu saw that Emperor Zhengde did not hide Ou Zanghua's intention, so he explained: "I am researching a kind of smoke bomb. After it is fired, it will create a large amount of smoke to confuse the enemy's vision, and our army will take the opportunity to launch an attack."

Ou Zanghua finally understood. No wonder there was only black smoke but no strong shock wave.

After all this time, they didn't pursue art this time.

"What do you think, Lord Ou?" Emperor Zhengde asked with a smile while standing aside.

Ou Zanghua thought for a while before speaking: "Your Majesty, Master Wang's idea is very good, but he overlooked the natural factors of the battlefield. If a strong wind blows, it will be equivalent to wasting an opportunity to launch a cannonball."

"Although this item is not suitable for fighting outside the city, it can be used inside the city. I suggest making it portable, adding some tear gas, and distributing it to the soldiers. When they encounter difficult street fighting, they can just throw it out."

"Hahaha, Lord Ou's idea is the same as mine!" Emperor Zhengde said with great satisfaction.

"Mr. Ou, follow me!" Emperor Zhengde led Ou Zanghua into a playground with two cannons placed on the side.

This thing is different from anything Ou Zanghua has seen before. To put it simply, it is an enlarged version of the Hongwu cannon.

The original Hongwu iron cannon had a caliber of six inches and a total length of thirty inches. Now Emperor Zhengde extended the barrel to ninety inches, but reduced the caliber to four inches.

"This thing is called the Zhengde Cannon! Its range and accuracy far exceed the Hongwu Cannon, but it's a bit heavy, which makes it inconvenient for soldiers to move. But the method that Mr. Ou mentioned before can make up for this shortcoming."

Emperor Zhengde patted the Zhengde iron cannon he had made and said happily, "I am looking forward to sweeping across Mobei with it."

"Your Majesty, I have a bold idea."

"Ou Qing, why don't you just speak frankly!"

"Why don't we disassemble the cannon into three parts? The barrel, the belly, and the sub-gun. Make a hole right here at the tail of the cannon. Then make a sub-gun that can be disassembled."

"Put the gunpowder and shells into the sub-gun, then put the sub-gun into the belly of the gun, and then light the fuse on the sub-gun to fire."

Emperor Zhengde was delighted and took over the conversation, saying, "And one cannon can be equipped with multiple sub-cannons. After the first one is fired, you can take it out and load the second one!"

"That's right!" Ou Zanghua nodded.

The cannon he was talking about was the Portuguese cannon that was seized by the Ming Dynasty ten years later. Compared with the Ming Dynasty cannons of the same period, this thing had obvious advantages.

For example, Emperor Zhengde was aware of the advantages of fast firing rate, fast heat dissipation, and standardized capacity of sub-guns.

"Zhang Banban," the Zhengde Emperor shouted, "Order the Armory to immediately build the Zhengde mother-and-child cannon that Mr. Ou mentioned!"

Ou Zanghua was stunned for a moment and was too lazy to correct it. At least the Zhengde submachine gun sounded much better than the Portuguese cannon.

"As you command!" Zhang Yong responded, and walked to the side and waved his hand. A burly eunuch approached, hunched over and listened to his orders. "Mr. Ou, wait until the Zhengde mother-and-child cannon is made and test the results, and I will give you a reward."

Emperor Zhengde patted Ou Zanghua on the shoulder and said excitedly: "Why don't you take on the position of Chief of the Arms Bureau? With Ou's quick wit and my talent, who in the world can rival him?!"

"Your Majesty, calm down!" Ou Zanghua was startled and said quickly, "I think the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple need me more."

Emperor Zhengde himself also realized that Ou Qing was indeed not suitable for the position of Chief of the Armament Bureau.

He suddenly asked, "Mr. Ou, I remember you have been married for more than a year, right?"

"Your Majesty, I got married last June." Ou Zanghua replied with a bow.

"No offspring for more than a year?" Emperor Zhengde asked in surprise.

Ou Zanghua was speechless. You two have been married for seven years, but you don’t have any children!

The king and his ministers stared at each other for a moment, and suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem.

No way?
"Oh, Ou Qing!"

"Wei Chen is here."

"How many wives and concubines do you have?"

"Only my first wife, Liu."

Emperor Zhengde thought for a moment and suggested, "How about this? I grant Mr. Ou fifteen beautiful concubines, and you can have more of them when you return home?"

Do you want to kill me?!
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, but I still want to work harder with my wife." Ou Zanghua decisively refused. He liked beautiful women in both of his lives, and in his previous life he had thought about having three thousand beauties in his harem.

Three thousand is a bit expensive, but the quality is guaranteed.

But reality will slap the face of everyone who talks tough.

In the previous life, I worked like a cow or a horse
No, even cows and horses are not as tired as him.

That period of time is so unbearable to recall. I felt suffocated by an invisible burden every day.

From the dawn to the nightfall, the repetitive rush around is not only physically exhausting, but also accumulates mental fatigue.

So much so that after get off work, when I squeeze into the subway and get home, all I want to do is lie down. Even watching short videos is more comfortable than chatting with my girlfriend.

What’s even better is that the target thinks so too.
This life is actually quite tiring. He has to worry about various trivial matters every day. The difference from his previous life is that in this life he can ask others to share some of the burden.

You have to know that Liu Qing has good looks, a good figure, and a nice voice. If she were to live in the future, she would at least be an Internet celebrity with millions of fans.

In the back garden of the mansion, the four beauties Shuyan, Huaiwei, Jingnu and Jianxi each have their own charm, some are gentle as water, some are cool as the moon, some are bright as the sun, and some are elegant as chrysanthemum.

But Lord Ou came back home tired after a day's work and just wanted to clear his mind, then take a nap while resting his head on the legs of the Hengshan heroine. That kind of peace and relaxation was invaluable.

"Mr. Ou, you should think about this more. As the saying goes, there are three unfilial acts, and the worst is to have no offspring!" Emperor Zhengde said, feeling a little melancholy. He couldn't understand why he was so strong and vigorous, and had favored so many beauties, but he didn't have any offspring?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Ou Zanghua. Could it be that he and Ou Qing were too talented and were envied by God?

　Sorry, bosses, I seem to have a bit of heat stroke. Although it is a bit hard to believe, I did experience dizziness, headache, and weakness in my limbs after returning from a walk in the evening...

　　That's all for today, I'll take a break...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)