Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 892: Chapter 33: Black Fire Weapons (Part 2)

With a bang, He Lianfang grabbed a teacup from the table and fiercely hurled it at the Dragon Guards.

The Dragon Guards did not obediently stand in place to be hit, but nimbly dodged. The Dragon Guards only obeyed the emperor and did not heed others. Although He Lianfang was a renowned War God and Zhao Yao’s esteemed second uncle, he was not the master of the Dragon Guards, so they held little respect for him.

"I take my leave," the Dragon Guards appeared silently and vanished without a sound.

The shadowy figure did not retreat but continued to stand in the shadows, waiting for He Lianfang’s next command.

He Lianfang’s expression was sinister, gnashing his teeth as he cursed, "Zhao Zheng, you scoundrel!!!" This was the first time He Lianfang had been reprimanded and warned so unceremoniously by the emperor, which made him extremely angry.

After cursing the emperor, he wrote a letter and handed it to the shadowy figure, instructing them to have someone deliver this letter to the emperor. Of course, the contents of this letter were not pleasant.

At the North Mountain Cave, Zhao Yao was busy conducting experiments, unaware of the enmity between the emperor and He Lianfang.

These days, Zhao Yao and Zheng Cheng had already created the Black Explosive Bombs and successfully made firearms and the bullets they required. Now, they were busy making hand grenades and hand grenades, as well as cannons. Cannons were not easy to make, so they were to be made last.

With a loud bang, a small hill on the opposite side was blown up.

Dirt, pebbles, trees, and flowers were scattered everywhere.

Though Zhao Yao and Zheng Cheng had stayed far away, they were still splattered with debris. Zhao Yao’s face was scratched by fragments of stone, but he didn’t care at all, as his face was full of joy at this moment.

Standing beside him, Zheng Cheng was even more excited, shouting loudly, "Your Highness, we succeeded."

"We finally succeeded." If it didn’t work this time, their ears would have been deafened by the explosions.

"Fortunately, Your Highness controlled the dosage, otherwise we would have been injured by the power of the hand grenades." At this moment, Zheng Cheng noticed that Zhao Yao’s face was injured, and quickly took a handkerchief from his pocket to hand it to him, "Your Highness, your face is hurt, please wipe it."

"You should wipe the blood on your forehead first." Zheng Cheng’s forehead was also scratched by shrapnel.

"Your Highness, should we continue to increase the dosage?"

"You can continue to increase the dosage, but there’s no need for more experiments." As the dosage increases, so does the power, and by that time, they won’t just be scratched by shrapnel, they might be blown away. "However, the success rate of hand grenades and grenades is still not very high; they tend to misfire or have delayed explosions, which easily causes injuries to our own men. As for firearms, we must reduce the likelihood of injuring ourselves."

"Your Highness is right."

"We can’t make cannons in a short time, let’s put that on hold. We need to continue improving the hand grenades, grenades, and firearms." Zhao Yao said thoughtfully, "We need to have them improved before May."

Zhao Yao decided to hold the trade conference on the fifth day of May, the Dragon Boat Festival. Inviting foreigners to participate in the trade conference, while also celebrating a lively Dragon Boat Festival, would allow them to experience the festive atmosphere of Great Zhou.

He also planned to hold a grand military parade during the trade conference, letting foreign tribes witness the might and grandeur of the Great Zhou’s soldiers and its advanced weaponry. Of course, weapons involving Black Fire would not be showcased; those were his trump card. However, cold weapons like bows, crossbows, swords, and spears could be sold.

The soldiers participating in the parade would include not only the soldiers of the Prince Han Mansion but also those from the Lingnan Camp.

During the New Year, Zhao Yao went to the Lingnan Camp. First, he showed concern for the soldiers stationed at Lingnan, then bestowed New Year blessings upon them, and finally discussed the military parade with the Great General of the Lingnan Camp.

The soldiers of the Lingnan Camp trained according to the Great Zhou training methods, so they did not march in step. Zhao Yao specifically had Shen Sen and Chu Huan teach the Lingnan soldiers to march in step and stand at attention.

Zhao Yao also wrote a letter to the emperor, asking him to send people to the Swamp Prefecture to participate in the first trade conference.

As for the invitations for the first trade conference in the Swamp Prefecture, Zhao Yao had already sent them out. Currently, it was unclear how many countries and people would participate.

When Zhao Yao sent people to deliver invitations, he also took along many local specialties from Great Zhou and Lingnan as gifts. These gifts included not only tea, porcelain, and silk, but also treasures like glass, mirrors, spectacles, cement, and bricks made by Zhao Yao.

Without bringing some "good things", how could he attract foreigners to the Swamp Prefecture to participate in the trade conference and do business?

There were just a few months left until the May trade conference, and Zhao Yao still had many things to do. Honestly, even if He Lianfang hadn’t previously warned Zhao Yao not to meddle in the investigation of the deposed Crown Prince’s family’s murder, Zhao Yao wouldn’t have inquired much about it. He would just write to Prince Chu and Prince Wei, asking if there was any place they needed his help. Given Prince Chu and Prince Wei’s personalities, they would definitely not let Zhao Yao help investigate, as they didn’t want Zhao Yao to get embroiled in the capital’s affairs.

Frightened by He Lianfang’s admonition, Zhao Yao pretended to know nothing and continued with his work. Besides preparing for the trade conference, he was also busy with spring plowing.

Compared to the trade conference in May, spring plowing was more pressing. The climate in Lingnan was warm, so spring plowing started earlier than in the capital, beginning in March.

Lingnan’s terrain was more complicated than that of the capital and Jiangnan, with varying elevations. The curved plough was not suitable for all of Lingnan’s rice fields. Zhao Yao was thinking of improving the curved plough to make it easier for the people of Lingnan to till their fields.

In addition to improving farming tools, Zhao Yao also planned to find a place to make terraces.

Although Lingnan introduced double-cropping rice from Annan and other countries several years ago, greatly increasing grain yield and making Lingnan one of Great Zhou’s granaries, Zhao Yao still felt that Lingnan’s grain production was somewhat lacking. Actually, the main reason was the insufficient amount of farmland in Lingnan. If Lingnan had as much farmland as Jiangnan, its grain production would be even more astonishing.

Although Zhao Yao hadn’t experienced the chaos of the previous dynasty or gone hungry, he had heard of many people starving or resorting to cannibalism. To ensure more people in Great Zhou could eat their fill, Lingnan must surpass Jiangnan as a major granary. Therefore, he had to create terraces so the people could have more land to grow food.