Father, I really don’t want to be the emperor

After all, Ning Fan is the lord. Even if Huang Chao wanted to struggle with Ning Fan's decision, he couldn't find a reason.

Under the cover of darkness, fifty thousand soldiers and horses finally arrived at Jiangling Ferry. This ferry stretched for several kilometers and was the largest distribution center in the south.

The nearby Jiangling City is one of the most important granaries of the Dakang Empire. This granary radiates to the four provinces of Jiangnan and provides guarantee for Kyoto's food security.

It was not unwise for Chen Congxin to choose Jiangling as the first stop when he arrived in Jiangzhou. It seems that this person still has some skills, but all his skills were spent on books.

"Your Highness, this is the artillery you invented."

At Ning Fan's secret weapons training ground, when Huang Chao saw the red cannon, his first feeling was that this thing was weird. His second feeling was, is this thing useful?

After all, in this era, spears, lances, and bows and arrows are the most practical weapons.

"Ever heard of thunder?"

Ning Fan smiled strangely.

Intuitively, Huang Chao felt bad, but he still nodded slightly, looked at Ning Fan with a blank look on his face and said, "Your Highness, this thing must be shooting something. Is it shooting a spear as thick as your wrist?"

Hearing Huang Chao's analysis, Ning Fan couldn't laugh or cry. It turns out that the limitations of the times are a huge information cocoon. In the era of cold weapons, no matter how smart Huang Chao is, he still can't figure out what this cannon does.

"Come here, fill it up and light it up."

Ning Fan didn't waste any time and handed Huang Chao a pair of soundproof ear protection, and also started to order people to fill and ignite the earphones.

Huang Chao put on Ning Fan's soundproof ear protection with a confused expression, and then watched with a confused expression as several soldiers started loading ammunition and igniting the fire. As the lead sizzled, Huang Chao finally noticed that there was no trace of anything. Wonderful.

Then there was a loud bang, like a thunderbolt appearing out of thin air, which shocked Huang Chao.

Just five hundred meters away, a thatched house that was used as a target was instantly swallowed up by artillery fire, exploded, and fell apart.

"Your Highness, what is this?"

Huang Chao opened his mouth and found that he couldn't make a sound.

Ning Fan pointed at Huang Chao's ears, indicating that he could not hear for the time being. Sure enough, Huang Chao's ears soon heard a buzzing sound, and it took a long time before he could hear a slight sound.

"This is the power brought by gunpowder. This is the artillery that can injure the enemy at a distance of 500 meters, and the ammunition is all submunitions. After it explodes, it radiates to a range of about ten meters."

Ning started to explain to Huang Chao on his hands and knees, and personally led Huang Chao to the cannon that was fired just now.

Looking at the hot barrel, Huang Chao was extremely shocked and looked at Ning Fan with fear on his face, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Your Highness, how many doors do you think there are?"

What did Huang Chao think of? His face suddenly turned pale.

Ning Fan raised his index finger with a half-smile on his face, but Huang Chao looked disappointed: "Only one?"

"It's a thousand doors."

Ning Fan gave an answer that almost made Huang Chao faint.

What would it be like if a thousand cannons were fired at the same time?

It can cover the enemy's position in an instant, and the enemy position of tens of thousands of people can also be dispersed in an instant.

With this terrifying artillery, the war may become one-sided.

"Don't think it's too much. You need to know that the imperial court's troops currently number 400,000. If it enters a state of war, they will soon gather more than one million troops."

Ning Fan was no longer distracted. On the contrary, he felt a lot of pressure. If the pressure hadn't reached the extreme, he would never have unleashed such a powerful weapon.

For Ning Fan, population is a resource. If too many population resources are consumed in the civil war, it will break his own arms.

For Ning Fan's future plans, population is the most important thing. Only with a sufficient population can the slow industrialization of Dakang be realized.

However, in a protracted civil war, at least hundreds of thousands of young people will be wiped out, and at most, millions of people will be displaced and turned into bones. This is what Ning Fan does not want to see.

"Your Highness, are there any shortcomings of this artillery?"

Huang Chao looks at problems and likes to see the essence.

He felt that everything had two sides. This kind of artillery was extremely lethal, but it certainly had fatal weaknesses.

As expected, Ning Fan nodded and said: "Time is too hasty. This thing is only a semi-finished product. According to my original plan, it will take at least three to five years, or even ten years, to create a complete body."

"Look at this kind of gun barrel. It's made of special steel. But now it's impossible to cast a seamless steel tube, so the lifespan of this kind of gun barrel is only ten rounds. That is to say, a cannon can fire ten rounds. If you fire a cannonball, the barrel will explode."

"Also, the current artillery cannot achieve full automation in terms of loading speed, so the loading speed is also very fatal. It takes at least two sticks of incense to load one shell."

"Furthermore, the current gunpowder technology is still immature and the raw materials are insufficient, so the number of shells is not large..."

The last words Ning Fan said were the biggest secret that Ning Fan had never mentioned to anyone. If he didn't completely trust Huang Chao, Ning Fan would not have said these words.

Hearing what Ning Fan said, Huang Chao showed an expression that he had known this for a long time. He shook his head slightly and said: "It seems that your highness's artillery is indeed very powerful, but it is only suitable for deterrence and not suitable for large-scale use. Once this thing is consumed Once it’s over, there will be nothing we can do in the future.”

Ning Fan nodded helplessly. In fact, it was indeed the case. Although there were thousands of cannons, the lifespan of the cannons was very short. It only had a lifespan of ten shells, and there was no time to build such artillery in the short term.

"Do you have any plans for the next battle?"

Ning Fan asked.

"The plan can't keep up with changes. I always adapt to changes in battles, but it shouldn't be a big problem."

Huang Chao said confidently that in the early morning of the next day, large ships were sailing on the river. These were the imperial troop transport ships.

Of course, these large ships are just the vanguard of the army. After all, it is impossible for all 100,000 troops to be transported by ship. There will be a large number of cavalry following.

"Don't wait until they have assembled before attacking us. We should attack while their combat strength is not yet stable."

Ning Fan gave a suggestion.

The commander of the 50,000 wolf soldiers is Huang Chao. Ning Fan does not command this war, so he only gives suggestions and does not affect Huang Chao's main ideas.

However, Huang Chao and Ning Fan thought of going together. At Jiangling Ferry, Huang Chao arranged a pocket formation, which meant that he would eat as many enemies as he came in.