Zhao Song: My father was Emperor Taizu of Song

Chapter 76 Confidence

Inside the Chongyuan Hall, all the officials had left, and silence returned.

Zhao Kuangyin slowly rose from the dragon throne, turned his head to the eunuch Zhang Dejun beside him, and instructed:

"Go and find out what happened before the morning court session today."

"Here you are."

Zhang Dejun respectfully responded, then hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Your Majesty, do you really intend to put His Highness in such danger...?"

In recent days, Zhao Kuangyin had come to regard Zhang Dejun as one of his close advisors, which is why Zhang Dejun dared to ask such a question.

But Zhao Kuangyin's next words made Zhang Dejun freeze and break out in a cold sweat.

"I know you are Zhao'er's person."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dejun's legs went weak, and he immediately wanted to kneel down and beg for forgiveness.

But Zhao Kuangyin's next words relieved him:

"I won't blame you," Zhao Kuangyin chuckled, offering no further explanation, but simply giving his order:

"Later, I will send someone to the Privy Council to convey my decree, ordering Zhao Pu to transfer Cao Bin from Pingyang back to Kaifeng so that he can accompany Zhao'er on this expedition."

"Here you are."

Zhang Dejun didn't dare to ask any more questions. He lowered his head, looked away, and quickly retreated.

……

In a secluded spot along the Bian River within Kaifeng city, a simple courtyard stands quietly.

After the morning court session, Zhao Dezhao did not immediately return to the military camp or his residence. Instead, he changed into plain clothes and, together with Li Chuyun, went straight to this place.

"I did it! Hahaha! I did it!!"

Hearing the maniacal laughter coming from the courtyard, Li Chuyun frowned, a hint of disgust flashing across his face, and asked:

"Your Highness, who is this madman who came from in this courtyard?"

"I did it! I did it!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a shirtless, hairy, dark-skinned man rushed out of the courtyard, lunged at Li Chuyun and Zhao Dezhao, grabbed their hands, and shouted:

"I finally did it!!"

"Insolence!" Li Chuyun was furious and instinctively raised his foot to kick the madman away.

"Wait a minute." Zhao Dezhao raised his hand to stop him, then turned to the man and said gently, "Now that it's done, why don't you let us see it?"

"Alright, alright! You're lucky. What's wrong with letting you take a look?"

The man hesitated for only a moment before using his filthy black hands to grab the sleeves of the two men and drag them into the courtyard.

"Your Highness, should we find a doctor for this person?"

"Your Highness, this man is gesticulating wildly. Could he have lost his mind? Should we call a doctor?" Li Chuyun was completely bewildered and couldn't figure out Zhao Dezhao's intentions, so he could only ask in a low voice.

"This man is Feng Jisheng, a clerk in the Ministry of War."

Zhao Dezhao only whispered the man's identity and then said nothing more, following Feng Jisheng into the courtyard.

The courtyard was in a mess, with workshop tools such as hammers, chisels, and measuring instruments scattered everywhere. Several bundles of unfinished arrows were piled up in the corner, and a strange, pungent smell filled the air.

Li Chuyun sniffed and thought the smell was somewhat like rotten eggs.

"Wait me a moment!"

As he spoke, Feng Jisheng ran into the house and came out a moment later holding a peculiar arrow.

Li Chuyun glanced at it and immediately frowned: "This is also an arrow? How can this harm the enemy?"

The arrow appeared no different from ordinary arrows, except that a specially made bamboo tube was tied to the front of the shaft, with a short thread of medicine extending from the end of the tube.

Shh! Look!

Feng Jisheng mysteriously took out a tinderbox, blew on it with a "click," carefully lit the fuse, and then drew his bow and shot the arrow!

But the arrow had only flown a few feet when it suddenly exploded with a "boom"! Sparks flew everywhere, and fragments of the bamboo tube scattered in all directions.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

But the explosion knocked Feng Jisheng unconscious.

"No, no... why did it explode so early? What went wrong? No, no..."

He immediately ran back into the house like a madman, muttering to himself.

Li Chuyun was completely bewildered. He turned to Zhao Dezhao, his face full of confusion: "Your Highness, what is he doing? And what was that loud bang just now?"

Zhao Dezhao smiled and simply said, "That's the confidence that allowed me to take Yangzhou in a single day!"

After saying that, he followed Feng Jisheng into the house.

Compared to the courtyard, the house was even more chaotic, with paper, medicine powder, and scraps of wood piled on the floor, leaving no room to even step.

Feng Jisheng was so engrossed in his work that he picked up the weighing tools to make another batch, and didn't even hear Zhao Dezhao calling out to him.

Left with no other choice, Zhao Dezhao stood at the door and raised his voice, shouting, "One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal."

Feng Jisheng, who was grabbing saltpeter, suddenly froze, turned around abruptly, and stared straight at Zhao Dezhao:

"What did you say?"

"The reason it exploded prematurely was because your proportions were wrong. You can try the ratio I'm about to give you."

"One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal?"

"Yes, that's right." Zhao Dezhao nodded.

Feng Jisheng fell silent, pondering the proportions repeatedly. After hesitating for a long time, he finally made up his mind to make another batch according to the proportions Zhao Dezhao had given him.

If we fail, the worst that can happen is that we just lose another set of materials!

Seeing that Feng Jisheng had indeed mixed the medicine powder according to the proportions he had given him, Zhao Dezhao smiled, turned around and retreated back to the courtyard.

Few people know that the first thing he did after leaving the palace was to find this Feng Jisheng!

Many people believe that gunpowder weapons originated in the late Tang Dynasty, but they don't know that firearms in the true sense did not officially appear on the historical stage until the early Song Dynasty.

The "rocket" is the first fully-fledged firearm recorded in historical texts, and its inventor is none other than the seemingly mad Feng Jisheng before us.

According to the "Military Records" in the History of Song, in May of the third year of the Kaibao era of the Song Dynasty, Feng Jisheng presented a method for making gunpowder arrows. After successful testing, he was richly rewarded by Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin.

Later, when the Song Dynasty conquered the Southern Tang Dynasty, rockets played a crucial role, helping the Song army to stage the classic battle of "burning down the camps".

It was precisely because Zhao Kuangyin recognized the power of firearms that he ordered the establishment of workshops in the north and south to secretly develop firearms, thus initiating the development of firearms.

Although Zhao Dezhao was not a firearms expert and did not understand the complex formula principles, as a time traveler, he still knew these basic common sense.

If we can get Feng Jisheng under our control in advance, it will be a huge help to him!

He has ideas, and Feng Jisheng has skills; the two complement each other perfectly!

"It worked! This time it really worked!! Hahahaha!!"

Just then, Feng Jisheng ran out like a madman, holding a newly made arrow high in his hand. Without saying a word, he lit the fuse again, drew his bow, and shot the arrow into the sky!

"call out--!"

The arrow shot through the air, soaring straight into the sky at an astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a tiny black dot and disappeared from everyone's sight.

A moment later, a thunderous roar came from high above.

"boom--!"

Li Chuyun was stunned: "How...how can this arrow be so fast?!"

He didn't know what gunpowder was, but just by looking at the speed of the arrow, his keen sense of warfare immediately told him that it was something extraordinary.

"Not only is it fast, but it can also explode, causing secondary damage..."

After Feng Jisheng finished explaining the power of rockets, Li Chuyun was completely stunned. His eyes were unfocused, and he turned his head blankly, staring at Feng Jisheng, muttering:

"Your Highness..."

"We've struck gold!"