Chapter 490 The appearance of artillery, named Shenlong Cannon!

Chapter 490 The appearance of artillery, named Shenlong Cannon!

At this moment, Xiao He, Cao Shen, Han Xin and Zhang Liang, the four people who witnessed this scene, were all deeply shocked by the scene before their eyes. They stared at the explosion site which was still emitting thick smoke and flames with their eyes wide open, their mouths wide open, but they could not make a sound.

At this moment, what was revealed in their eyes was not just simple shock, but also awe of this unprecedented powerful force.

Gunpowder first appeared on the historical stage during the Tang Dynasty. However, at that time, people were still in the exploratory stage of using gunpowder, and its application scope was relatively narrow, and it did not show too significant effect. It was not until the Song Dynasty that gunpowder began to be more widely used and gradually embarked on the road of large-scale use. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that firearms technology finally ushered in the peak of development and became a landmark product of the peak of the cold weapon era.

However, this moment is thousands of years away from the Ming Dynasty. During this long period of time, Gao Yao has always worked hard, and with the help of the powerful auxiliary functions of the system, he has gone through countless repeated experiments and finally achieved such remarkable results today. The whole process is much more difficult and tortuous than people see on the surface.

Although Gao Yao had a detailed formula for black powder in his hands, it was not easy to actually put it into practice. He needed to keep trying and exploring, because just knowing a ratio would not lead to success. If black powder is to be successfully transformed into a cannon with powerful lethality, a major breakthrough must be achieved in process technology. First, a sturdy barrel that can withstand the violent explosion inside the black powder must be created through exquisite smelting techniques; secondly, the specific composition and fineness of the black powder must be accurately controlled within a limited range of conditions.

In addition, key issues such as how to enhance the power, impact and lethality of black powder explosions also need to be addressed one by one. In particular, the impact force generated when the black powder is ignited in the barrel is crucial. This impact force is not completely equivalent to the energy released by the explosion itself, and it plays a decisive role in the performance of the artillery. Therefore, Gao Yao had to invest a lot of effort to deeply study and optimize this link to ensure that the artillery has sufficient destructive power.

Each of these things requires hundreds, thousands or even more repeated experiments before conclusions and results can be drawn. Take the black powder experiment for example, the amount of money that Gao Yao spent and swallowed up each year was almost one-tenth of his total funds! Don't underestimate this one-tenth ratio, in fact, this number is already quite astonishing and terrifying.

If it weren't for the magical system that helped Gao Yao successfully solve the most critical and difficult food supply problem, and if the Chamber of Commerce was not an industrial entity completely controlled and operated by Gao Yao, the overall consumption in the southern region would be a staggering and unbelievable huge number.

It is no exaggeration to say that if anyone else were to serve as the leader of the Southern Territory, they would probably find it difficult to bear such a huge pressure and would not be able to sustain it. After all, the military expenditure alone has reached an extremely terrifying level. The treatment that Gao Yao gave to his soldiers far exceeded the level that the princes of the world could provide. Not only that, even after the soldiers retired, they could still enjoy a variety of generous welfare benefits. What is even more rare and precious is that in the process of building various infrastructures in the entire Southern Territory, there has never been any so-called unreasonable phenomena such as heavy taxes.

The salaries of officials and even the education of the people were basically free, especially in terms of basic education. Gao Yao naturally could not expect everyone to be able to read and write, but they still had to recognize some basic words commonly used in life, and they had to be able to read them clearly. Everyone had to remember the time, solar terms, and specific days clearly, and use a unified counting method.

Gao Yao is indeed rich. The benchmark is that when all the people in the southern border spend money, they still spend it in Gao Yao's hands, and then make money from Gao Yao, forming such a virtuous circle. Otherwise, no matter how much money Gao Yao has, it will not be enough to spend.

"Prime Minister, what on earth is this?" Cao Shen's eyes widened, his face full of astonishment, and he even stumbled when speaking, obviously shocked by this unprecedented weapon. The huge monster was lying on the ground, emitting a metallic luster, cold and majestic.

"This is a cannon, a big cannon! I was planning to name it the Shenlong Cannon!" Gao Yao said proudly, his eyes gleaming with confidence and excitement. As he finished speaking, Xiao He and the others took a deep breath, full of curiosity and awe for this magical weapon.

Since he had this cannon, Gao Yao finally felt a strong sense of confidence. You know, even if the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan really mastered the manufacturing technology of black gunpowder and the method of making weapons such as cannons, in this era, it is not easy to obtain materials or allocate manpower. Moreover, to successfully build such a powerful cannon, it takes a lot of time and energy. In comparison, Gao Yao is already far ahead in this arms race.

"With this item, no wonder the Prime Minister dared to boast that he could take the head of an enemy general in the midst of thousands of troops. This is simply a piece of cake! In this way, who else in the world can be your opponent? In my opinion, the Prime Minister's great cause of unifying the world is just around the corner!"

At this time, Xiao He said this sincerely, and this sentence was absolutely not meant to be a compliment. The previous use of black gunpowder was actually very sloppy, and there were certain restrictions on the terrain, including the need to use the throwing method, which was also quite troublesome. That was, in the case of throwing, the enemy would have suffered a loss and would be able to resist to a certain extent. Although the destructive power was still very strong, as long as the enemy found something wrong and made arrangements in advance, they could also avoid the damage of the black gunpowder explosion to a large extent.

At the same time, the fuse is easy to extinguish when thrown. If the force is too light, it cannot reach the city, and if it is too heavy, it will destroy the thrown object. The distance cannot be too close or too far. In the ever-changing battlefield, this weapon can not only cause casualties to the enemy, but also may hurt one's own side.