A New Weapon

Two years pass fast and we are writing the start of winter of the year 197, Cao Cao saved the Emperor and made him stay in Xuchang under his watchful eyes.

He was recruiting people under the banner of uniting the Empire for the Emperor and the people to replenish his troops.

Yun, on the other hand, was preparing his army which has grown again by four thousand men who were put under Gan Ning's command making them the new naval force.

Gan Ning made normal ships known in those times, flat and slow which relied on the wind being in their favor when Yun saw them he gave the shipwrights some plans for a better ship which was the Galleon.

They manufactured only one since Gan Ning needed to learn how they work and train his men on them before manufacturing more of them.

But in the end, they had to give up on using the Galleon on the river since it was too big to fight with it. In the open sea, they would always win. But in a river, they were like sitting ducks waiting for the enemy to sink them.

Yun then made other plans sending the plan of a smaller Galleon to the shipwrights. They manufactured one of them and Gan Ning loved them since they were smaller than the first Galleon and easier to maneuver in a river compared to the first since it had only two masts instead of four Galleon.

They manage to manufacture three of the smaller Galleons that Gan Ning was training his men on. Huang Yueying, on the other hand, helped Yun to solve a problem that was bothering him for a while.

Yun had planned on placing cannons on the ships but for it to work he needed blackpowder which he didn't have and that is when Huang Yueying came in.

She saw the plans on the table which confused Gan Ning but she could see a revolutionary instrument that could sink an enemy fleet easily going by the sketches Yun made.

What she didn't know was that it wasn't a sketch anymore as he asked some blacksmith to work on the prototype to present it to Gan Ning and Huang Yueying.

"The Blacksmith worked hard on it," says Yun as he removed the veil placed on the cannon and continues, "I present to you the cannon."

"It is impressive?" says Gan Ning not seeing the explosive power in it as he already placed ballistae on his ships which he saw as a more effective weapon compared to the cannon.

"I see now," says Yueying engaged as she walked towards the cannon seeing the potential which made Yun sigh because it wouldn't work without the powder.

"It was manufactured by our smiths but without black powder it won't work and will only look like an ornament on the ship or the walls," says Yun holding his head as they needed a lot of black powder to make a lot of it to work which also means that they need a supplier they can trust.

"When I saw your sketches I send a letter to my father to help me with this problem and he send me those barrels full of powder which he thinks you mentioned on your notes," says Yueying curious to find out of it will really work or if it was only a crazy idea that was destined to fail.

Yun, on the other hand, was surprised so was Gan Ning who heard of said kegs right now. Two soldiers bring one of them forward and place them down.

"Wait, I remember those kegs. I was in the Jing Province training the troops when you asked me to bring some kegs back," says Gan Ning thinking that they were food first.

"Then we are lucky that no one smoked something near those barrels or the ship would have exploded killing you all," says Yun to Gan Ning as he opened one of the kegs and saw the black powder.

"It looks like it," says Yun as he takes a handful of it and places it away from the keg before igniting it using Qi.

Yueying and Gan Ning looked at it burning slowly making Yun think back if it will really work when he asked to bring the other tools which he ordered to be made.

The soldiers brought a heavy iron ball and what looked like a long dust cleaner in Gan Ning's eyes. Yun threw some powder into the cannon before using said dust cleaner pushing it in and out before putting the iron ball in it and repeating the process before he points the cannon at a distance where they wouldn't harm anyone.

"I hope that I used enough powder to make it fly," says Yun as he was nervous which Yueying shared with him.

Yun then ignites the powder and they hear an explosion and they see the iron ball fly into the forest while the cannon rolled backward since it was on wheels.

Gan Ning was surprised by what he saw while Yueying and Yun were quite excited about their success.

They inspected the cannon later on and found some cracks which disappointed Yueying since it would make it only a one-time use while Yun only smiled seeing that the prototype hold itself together like this.

He knew that the smiths didn't have much time to complete it because he pressured them too much. If he let them now work on their own accord and they see where the errors lie they could make a better version.

"So it is useless but why are you smiling?" asks Gan Ning seeing Yun smile while his invention was barely holding itself together.

"Because I pressured the smiths to work faster on it. If I give them the time they need and this failure. What do you think they will be able to create," says Yun happy with the demonstration as Yueying's disappointment vanished from hearing Yun.

"They could create a cannon that doesn't malfunction that easily," says Yueying excited again as Yun nods.

"Exactly, now envision them on the smaller Galleons on both sides. They could sink the enemy's fleet before they can hit our ships with their ballistae because of our range difference," says Yun as Gan Ning was now feeling shivers pass his back imagining that battle.

"I really feel lucky that I joined you earlier rather than later. If we would have encountered each other on the battlefield..." says Gan Ning not finishing his sentences as Yun only smiles at him.

"I would have fished you out of the water to recruit you or at least get a nice sum of gold from your current lord," says Yun joking about it.

"How many are the smiths going to make?" asks Yueying excited as it gave her some ideas for her own projects.

"They aren't going to construct some for now," says Yun seriously as they looked at him confused.

"But why show us this weapon if we aren't going to use..." asks Yueying before realizing why Yun wasn't going to make more at the moment.

"You are cleverer than your husband sometimes," says Yun as they leave Gan Ning hanging about what is going on.

"Can someone explain to me why?" asks Gan Ning as Yueying turns towards him.

"Cao Cao is the reason. If we show such a weapon he will try to get his hands on it. That's why our Lord isn't trying to produce more of them for now," says Yueying explaining to Gan Ning the reason Yun wasn't making more of them.

"Now I understand," says Gan Ning as Yun looked at him seriously.

"If you used your head for a little bit like Huang Zhong always tells you, you would have found out about it yourself," says Yun to Gan Ning who was quite intelligent but he is just too lazy.

"At least he uses it when battling the enemy," says Yueying teasing Gan Ning and making Yun laugh.

"That right," says Yun agreeing with Yueying while wiping a tear away from all the laughing.

"Anyway, I want you all to be ready soon we will be moving out towards the east this time to help Cao Cao with taking the Xu Province," says Yun seriously before looking at Gan Ning.

"We won't need the Naval Forces but you will be joining us as an Infantry General when the time comes. Also, we should keep the Galleons a secret from Cao Cao as well," says Yun as Gan Ning nods agreeing with Yun.

Then he turns to Yueying and says, "We will need a stable and trustworthy supplier for the powder. Can your father be that?"

"It is like asking a merchant to not sell his products to other people," says Yueying knowing that her father likes the profit more than helping them to monopolize the market.

"We won't monopolize it," says Yun grinning confusing the strategist and the general before he continues, "Monopolizing the powder will only earn us unwanted attention. What I want is a person who doesn't leak why we are buying the powder."

Yun walks to the keg and closes it again before saying, "If we use a small amount for fireworks people won't suspect us for buying it in the first place."

"Great idea," says Yueying as it would hide their actions in plain sight.

"The problem is just the storing of the powder. If we don't store it correctly it won't work the next season," says Gan Ning knowing what he was talking about since he worked with the said product before in his days as a pirate.

"We can think about it once we have our cannons ready but until then," says Yun lifting the keg before saying, "Let us have a big firework in Puyang for New Year at the end of winter. Gan Ning, get everyone to Puyang since they must want to meet their families."

"We can't let the base be unprotected," says Gan Ning nervous since those ships were his treasures.

"Right," says Yun seeing a problem now.

"How about those that don't have a family in Puyang stay behind? They will be seeing the firework from here. I will make sure of it," says Yun seriously while Gan Ning and Yueying were confused since the fireworks they know were just some small firecrackers and other similar things.

"Please don't promise something you can't hold to the troops. I could damage the image they have of you," says Yueying thinking that it was quite impossible to do said thing.

"You don't know the lord. He never says something he can't fulfill," says Gan Ning to Yueying since he knows Yun longer than his current strategist.

"You will see how big it will be. I will await you in Puyang," says Yun as he walks towards the other two kegs before turning around and saying, "Both of you."

Yun then places the keg down. He informs his escort to carry the kegs back to Puyang before leaving the patched-up naval base to return home.