Rise From the Humble

"Master Xiao Zhu, please. The cannons and muskets in the warehouse are all sponsored by my godfather to train under Master Xiao Zhu's regiment." Xiao Xizi led Zhu Ping'an to the warehouse, took out the key and opened the door, bowed to Zhu Ping An said.

"Thank you, Eunuch." Zhu Ping'an cupped his hands and thanked her, then stepped into the warehouse with Xiao Xizi's courtesy.

The bowl-mouth cannon is an old-fashioned artillery piece from the Yuan and early to mid-Ming dynasties. Zhu Pingan has seen the real thing in the Modern Museum. The barrel is as thick as the mouth of a bowl and weighs about one hundred kilograms. It is considered a light artillery and is easy to carry and haul.

Zhu Ping'an knows that in a few years, the bowl-mouth cannon will be replaced by the Folang machine gun, the Tiger Crouching Cannon, etc., but currently this type of bowl-mouth cannon is still one of the popular firearms in the military ("Minghuidian·Arms and Uniforms" "According to the records, before Hongzhi, it was established that the Ordnance and Saddle and Bridle Bureau would make 3,000 cannons every three years), although their status was not as good as that of large, medium and small general cannons.

However, this era is still the era of cold weapons, and the deterrent effect of artillery is still very strong. With the bowl-mouth cannon, the firepower of the regiment training can be increased by several levels. With a few shots, it can not only kill the enemy from a long distance, demoralize the enemy, but also boost the morale of one's own side.

Therefore, Zhu Ping'an was still looking forward to the Wankou Cannon. As soon as he stepped into the room, his eyes eagerly looked into the room.

With just one glance, Zhu Ping'an froze on the spot, keeping one foot in the room and keeping the other foot off the ground. His eyes widened, he blinked in disbelief, and then Confirmed.

That's right.

Four bowl-mouth cannons, or four bowl-mouth cannons! Not the two bowl-mouth cannons as promised before, but a full four. In addition, there are two large boxes full of brand-new firecrackers, and eight large boxes full of lead.

The lead contained in these boxes was the cannonballs. Ancient artillery shells were not like modern ones. Ancient artillery was loaded with gunpowder first, then put the wooden horse, then put the earth, then put the lead, etc., then put the earth again, then put the lead, etc., and started over and over again until it was full. Of course, stones can also be used as lead. However, it is still difficult to find stones of suitable size on the battlefield, so lead stones are usually prepared in advance.

When Xiao Xizi saw Zhu Pingan's appearance, she couldn't help but raise her orchid fingers to cover her mouth, and let out a string of muffled laughter, "Hehehehe, Mr. Xiao Zhu is a little surprised, this is the surprise given to Mr. Xiao Zhu by his godfather. "

What a surprise indeed!

Zhu Ping'an was overjoyed and thanked Xiao Xizi with his hands, "Thank you so much, Eunuch He, and thank you Eunuch Xi."

"Haha, it's enough for Mr. Xiao Zhu to thank his godfather. If you don't get rewarded for your merits, you can't bear the gratitude of Mr. Xiao Zhu." Xiao Xizi covered her mouth and smiled, "Yesterday, after my godfather came back, he specially asked someone to go there. The Baoyuan Bureau dug three feet into the ground and found two bowl-mouth cannons, a hundred fire blunderbuss, and eight boxes of lead to give to Mr. Xiao Zhu."

"Eunuch He is not feeling well, but he still thinks about Ping An. Ping An is really grateful." Zhu Pingan thanked him again.

"Haha, my godfather said, compared to Mr. Xiao Zhu's life-saving grace, these are just trivial things." Xiao Xizi said with a smile, and then came closer to Zhu Pingan's ear and whispered, "Besides."

Anything else?

Zhu Ping'an was all ears.

"Besides, Mr. Xiao Zhu, don't you know that last time you beat Xiao Qianzi in Jingnan, your godfather was also very happy when he heard the news." Xiao Xizi leaned into Zhu Pingan's ear and whispered said.

Um? !

Strange, don’t you have a grudge against Qianxu? ! I beat Qianxu, why would my father-in-law be so happy?

"Haha, Mr. Xiao Zhu doesn't know something. The reason why Xiao Qianzi has always had a grudge against me is actually because Xiao Qianzi's godfather - that old dog Chen Hong doesn't deal with his godfather. So, we don't deal with him either. "Xiao Xizi explained in a low voice. "When he was in the capital, that old dog Chen Hong once played a dirty trick and stole the errand of his godfather's clerk's office, causing his godfather to go to Zhidian to supervise and sweep the palace. Fortunately, godfather had another opportunity later, and it was a blessing in disguise, and he was what he is today. Last month, that old dog Chen Hong went out to Beijing to buy gold, treasures and pearls, and came to Yingtian. Taking advantage of the fact that he was on official business, he kept showing off his power in front of his godfather, who respected and loved the Holy Spirit the most. , in order not to affect the work of the Holy Father, the godfather endured a lot of anger. Mr. Xiao Zhu beat Xiao Qianzi, and the godfather took advantage of this to shame Chen Hong's old dog face and look at him. He looked like he was gritting his teeth and swallowing, and he let out a big bad breath."

Uh, okay, it turns out there is such a thing. When Zhu Pingan heard this, he couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth speechlessly.

"Oh, by the way, I remembered this. I just reminded Mr. Xiao Zhu to be careful of the puppy Xiao Qianzi, but I forgot to remind Mr. Xiao Zhu to be careful of the old dog Chen Hong. Mr. Xiao Zhu should be careful of Chen Hong in the future. This old dog. Chen Hong, this old dog, is much more vicious than Xiao Qianzi’s puppy." Xiao Xizi reminded.

Zhu Pingan nodded slightly.

"Master Xiao Zhu, I'm not afraid of your jokes. People like us are physically weak and mentally abnormal." Xiao Xizi smiled at herself, pointed at her orchid and said, "But compared with Chen Hong, that's nothing. Great witch, that’s nothing. Chen Hong is a complete pervert. He once said that he admires two people the most in his life. Mr. Xiao Zhu, do you know who they are?"

Zhu Ping'an naturally shook his head, how do I know who Chen Hong admires the most.

"The two people he admires most, the number one one is Gong Chengshu." Xiao Xizi revealed the answer.

Gong Chengshu? ! I don't seem to have any impression of who this is. Zhu Ping'an searched his mind and found nothing.

"Gong Chengshu was a great eunuch in the Southern Han Dynasty." Seeing Zhu Pingan's confused look, Xiao Xizi explained.

Nanhan!

Zhu Ping'an immediately had the impression that this was one of the regimes during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, located in the current two provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi and northern Vietnam. The most prominent feature of this regime was its emphasis on eunuchs, which was later destroyed by the Song Dynasty.

"Actually, even the younger ones don't know about Gong Chengshu. Chen Hong once told us young eunuchs after he was drunk. He said that when Gong Chengshu was a eunuch, the emperor of the Southern Han Dynasty he served was Liu. Arrogant, extravagant and lewd, Gong Chengshu used different tricks to please Liu every day and obeyed everything. As long as Liu looked at him, Gong Chengshu could understand everything and arrange everything for Liu's heart. He was deeply trusted by Liu and made Liu feel that the eunuch was practical and reliable. He has no ambition and is easy to control. One day, Liu thought about how he wasted the government. What if all the civil and military officials under his command were rebellious? Gong Chengshu slandered the court and asked the Chinese civil and military officials to be castrated first before they could become officials. If they were unwilling to If you are castrated, you cannot be an official and must resign and go home. He explained to Liu that after eunuchs were castrated, they would have no offspring. Even if those civil and military officials succeeded in their rebellion, their empires were fought for others, so why risk their lives? It is dangerous to rebel, so that they will not take the risk of rebelling, so that the Holy Emperor will no longer have to worry about the future and can enjoy it with peace of mind. When Liu heard this, he was overjoyed and accepted remonstrances. It is said that all the civil and military officials in the Southern Han Dynasty were eunuchs. There are more than 20,000 people. This old dog Chen Hong often says that Gong Chengshu is the person he admires most in his life, and he also says that he wants to learn from Gong Chengshu. Do you think he is a pervert?"

Xiao Xizi said leisurely.