Lord Xiao Zhu, please. The bowl guns and cannons in the storehouse are all sponsored by Godfather for the regiments under Lord Xiao Zhu’s command.”Xiao Xi Zi guided Zhu Pingan to the front of the storehouse, took out the key and opened the door, bowed and said to Zhu Pingan.
“Thank you, Eunuch Xi.”Zhu Pingan arched his hand and thanked him, and under Xiao Xi Zi’s polite invitation, he stepped into the storehouse.
Bowl Cannon is the artillery of Yuan, Ming early and mid-period, it is an old type of artillery, Zhu Pingan has seen the real thing in the modern museum, the barrel of the cannon is as thick as a bowl and weighs about a hundred pounds, it is considered a light artillery, it is easy to carry and haul.
Zhu Pingan knows that in a few years time, the bowl gun will be replaced by the Franco-German cannon, tiger squatting cannon, etc., but at present this bowl gun is still one of the popular firearms in the army (“Ming Huidian – military weapons and military uniforms” records, Hongzhi before the rule, weapons, saddle and bridle two bureaus every three years to make the bowl gun of 3,000), although the status is not as good as the large, medium and small general guns.
However, this era is still the era of cold weapons, the deterrent effect of artillery is still very strong. With the bowl gun, the firepower of the regiment could be increased by several notches, and with a few cannons, it could kill the enemy from a long distance, demoralise the enemy, and also boost the morale of their own side.
Therefore, Zhu Pingan was still looking forward to the bowl gun, and as soon as he stepped into the room, his eyes couldn’t wait to look into the room.
With just one glance, Zhu Pingan was stumped in place, maintaining the posture of one foot stepping into the room and the other foot being off the ground, his eyes staring in disbelief, blinking in disbelief, and confirming once again.
That’s right.
Four bowl guns, or four bowl guns! Not the two bowl guns that were previously agreed upon, but a full four. In addition, there were also two large boxes full of new cannons, as well as eight large boxes of lead.
The lead contained in these boxes was cannonballs. Ancient cannonballs were not like modern ones, ancient cannons were loaded with gunpowder first, put in wooden horse seeds, then earth, then lead, etc., then earth, then lead, etc., and so on, week after week until they were full. Of course, stones can actually act as lead. However, it was still difficult to find stones of the right size on the battlefield, and lead was usually prepared in advance.
When Xiao Xizi saw Zhu Pingan’s appearance, he could not help but cross his orchid fingers to cover his mouth and let out a string of muffled laughter, “Heh heh heh, isn’t it a bit of a surprise for little Lord Zhu, this is the surprise that Godfather gave to little Lord Zhu.”
Sure enough, it was a surprise!
Zhu Pingan was overjoyed, arching his hand and thanking Xiao Xi Zi, “Many thanks to Eunuch He, many thanks to Eunuch Xi.”
“Hehe, it’s enough for Lord Xiao Zhu to thank his godfather, I can’t take on Lord Xiao Zhu’s thanks without merit.”Xiao Xi Zi covered her mouth and laughed, “Yesterday when godfather came back, he purposely had people go to the Treasure Source Bureau to dig up the ground and scavenge for two bowl guns and a hundred cannons as well as eight boxes of lead to send to Lord Xiao Zhu.”
“Eunuch He is not feeling well, but he still thinks of Ping An, Ping An is truly grateful.”Zhu Pingan thanked again.
“Hehe, Godfather said that compared to the saving grace of Lord Xiao Zhu, these are just small things.”Xiao Xi Zi said with a smile, then came close to Zhu Ping An’s ear and whispered “And ah ……”
Is there anything else?
Zhu Pingan was all ears.
“And ah, small Zhu Ta-Jen you do not know it, last time you in Jingnan beat up small Qianzi, godfather heard the news is also very happy.”Xiao Xi Zi came close to Zhu Ping An’s ear and whispered.
Hmm?
Strange, wasn’t it you who had a grudge against Qianxu? I beat up Qian Xu, what is Eunuch He happy about.
“Hehe, Lord Xiao Zhu doesn’t know, the reason why Xiao Qianxu repeatedly has a grudge against me is actually rooted in the fact that Xiao Qianxu’s godfather, Chen Hong, that old dog, doesn’t deal with godfather. So, we don’t deal with it either.”Xiao Xi Zi explained in a small voice. “In the capital, Chen Hong that old dog used to play dirty tricks, robbed godfather’s clerical room’s errand, and caused godfather to go to the straight temple supervisor to clean the palace, fortunately, godfather later had another opportunity, and only because of the disaster did he get blessed, so that he got to have the present day…..Last month, Chen Hong that old dog out of the capital to buy jinbao pearl, came to Yingtian, relying on his name by decree on official business, in front of the dry father a hard to play the wind, the dry father of the saint is the most respect and love but, in order not to affect the saint’s errand, dry father hard to endure a stomach of anger. Little Zhu Ta-Jen beat up Little Qian Zi, dry father borrowed this matter, ruthlessly bash Chen Hong that old dog’s old face, see him bite his teeth and swallow the appearance, out of a big mouthful of bad anger.”
Erm, well, so there was such a thing. Zhu Pingan sniffed and couldn’t help but pull the corners of his mouth breathlessly.
“Oh yes, speaking of which, come to think of it, just now I reminded Lord Xiao Zhu to be careful of Little Qianzi the puppy, I forgot to remind Lord Xiao Zhu to be careful of Chen Hong the old dog, Lord Xiao Zhu should be careful of Chen Hong the old dog in the future. Chen Hong this old dog is much more sinister than Xiao Qian Zi that puppy.”Xiao Xi Zi reminded.
Zhu Pingan nodded slightly.
“Lord Xiao Zhu, I’m not afraid of your jokes, our kind of people are physically unsound and more or less psychologically abnormal.”Xiao Xizi laughed self-deprecatingly, crossed his orchid fingers and said leisurely, “But compared to Chen Hong, that’s nothing compared to Chen Hong, that’s nothing. Chen Hong is a complete pervert. He once said that he admired two people the most in his life. Do you know who they are, Little Lord Zhu?”
Zhu Pingan naturally shook his head, how do I know who the two people Chen Hong most admired were.
“The two people he admires the most when it comes to number one is Gong Chengshu.”Xiao Xi Zi revealed the answer.
Gong Chengshu? Who is this, I don’t seem to have much of an impression. Zhu Pingan searched his mind and came up with nothing.
“Gong Chengshu was a great eunuch of the Southern Han.”Seeing Zhu Pingan’s blank face, Xiao Xi Zi opened his mouth to explain.
Southern Han!
Zhu Pingan instantly had an impression that this was one of the regimes during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, located in the current Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and northern Vietnam. The most prominent feature of this regime was the heavy and great use of eunuchs, which was later destroyed by Song.
“In fact, I don’t know Gong Chengshu, it was Chen Hong who once told us little eunuchs when he was drunk. He said that when Gong Chengshu was a eunuch, he served the Southern Han Emperor Liu Ōmo, Liu Ōmo, who had no ambition, and was fond of sex and extravagance. Gong Chengshu greeted Liu Ōmo daily, and was obedient to him; as long as Liu Ōmo gave him a look, Gong Chengshu was able to understand, and arranged everything to Liu Ōmo’s heart, and was deeply favoured by Liu Ōmo, who felt that eunuchs were down-to-earth and reliable, and that they had no ambitions, and were good to be mastered. One day, Liu thought that if he neglected the government in this way, what would happen if the civil and military officials under his command turned against him? Gong Chengshu slandered him by asking the Chinese civil and military officials to be castrated before they could become officials; if they were not willing to be castrated, then they could not be officials and had to resign and go home. He explained to Liu ïmo that all eunuchs had no offspring after castration, and even if those civil and military officials succeeded in rebellion, their kingdoms and mountains would be fought for other people, so why would they risk their lives to rebel? This way they would not risk their lives to rebel, and then the emperor would not have any more worries, and could enjoy his life without any worries. Liu ïmo was overjoyed at his words and accepted his advice. It is said that the civil and military officials of the Southern Han Dynasty were all eunuchs, numbering more than 20,000 people. Chen Hong, the old dog, often said that Gong Chengshu was the person he admired most in his life, and said that he wanted to learn from Gong Chengshu ……Do you think he is a pervert ……”
Xiao Xi Zi said leisurely.
