From the beginning of the birth of hot air balloons, Ye Mengxiong believed that this kind of ship balloon used for reconnaissance and command could be used for war.

In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, Wanhu Tao Chengdao, a firearms expert of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, proved with his life that forty-seven rockets could not make people fly, and after him, no one could let themselves fly.

Now they can, as long as they are dragged with a rope, they can fly up if they want to fly, and they can land when they want to land.

No ship or cannon in this world is designed to fight in the sky, and they are invincible in the air at a height of more than 30 feet.

At the first glance of the boat, Ye Mengxiong knew that this thing should have a weapon.

Earlier this year, he tried to mount a long-lead palm mine on the lookout ball of the lookout to attack the enemy ships attacking against the wind while watching, but the effect was not as good as he expected.

Palm mines are difficult to aim in the air, and the flag army in the hot air balloon is not so accurate in calculating the position, throwing ten palm mines, in the end, none of them may be able to accurately land at the target location, especially when attacking slow-moving ships, the accuracy is even worse.

However, this blow did not discourage him, in the spring, Ye Mengxiong took advantage of the east wind to release two hot air balloons without leashes, all the way to the west for nearly twenty miles, almost to Tianjin Wei before falling, which brought him great encouragement.

It shows that not only at sea, but also in land warfare, and that the military formation of land warfare is far larger than that of naval warfare, as long as the wind blows well, and twenty or thirty hot air balloons full of palm thunder float over the enemy's camp at night, what will it be like?

For this reason, Ye Mengxiong, who was born as a scholar in the past six months, even compiled a set of books issued by Beiyang generals, called "Tianhuo Lu", which explained the production of hot air balloons, identifying the wind direction, and the use of land warfare.

Later, the hot air balloon was no longer equipped with palm mines, and it was ignited with fire oil in a clay pot and thrown downward, and if it was smashed on the deck or on the ground, it would explode into a sea of fire, and a warship would lose the ability to continue fighting in a short time after being hit by a few shots, and it would be completely burned if it was not handled well.

After that, the Beiyang military government began to work in the direction of materials science, looking for denser, thinner and more heat-resistant fabrics, and looking for fuels that could provide more lasting heat.

Then they found an upward gas, coal gas, in the coking plant, but Li Shizhen, the person in charge of obtaining this gas, preferred to name it 'light gas', because the preparation method is similar to that of the "Compendium of Materia Medica", and mercury powder, also known as light powder, is also upward.

And then naturally there was the Flying Fish.

"No, the flying fish can't appear in Beijing in Dayue, didn't Xu Weidu see it?"

This kind of shocking thing appeared in front of Xu Jue's eyes, and his first thought was naturally to let the emperor, Zhang Juzheng, and Feng Bao take a look to please the nobles.

Knowing that it was not a monster, but a weapon created by someone, Xu Jue was not afraid in his heart.

But Ye Mengxiong thought differently from him, in the official hall of the Beiyang Yamen, Ye Mengxiong turned his hand and said: "This is not the first flying fish, we released one a month ago, it leaked, and it was ignited when the flag army in the air lit the oil can, and the whole flying fish exploded, and the flag army was burned to the ground." ”

Xu Jue could imagine the tragic situation just by listening to it, and after a pause, he said: "I think this is very good, it flies with the wind, burns the warship, and the flag army also lands safely, which is good." ”

The official hall was very quiet, Xu Jue didn't know what he said wrong to make Ye Mengxiong so silent, he saw the Beiyang important minister raise his hand and pinch his eyebrows, and asked with a calm face: "Do you think that burning the flying fish before landing is a planned thing?" ”

"It's not a hot air balloon, it should be able to fly for two or three hours, and although no one knows where it's going, it shouldn't fall so quickly, and it shouldn't be burned down and let it go to Beijing — you want it to burn Chengtianmen?"

"This ...... That's not the plan? ”

Xu Jue pursed his lips a little embarrassed: "Then, then I'm afraid this flying fish will have to be improved before His Majesty can watch it." ”

"Improve, there are more things to change in Beiyang, and Ye doesn't have so much energy, maybe it will be better to match Feiyu with a rudder next time? Let it be in the sky. ”

Another failure made Ye Mengxiong temporarily unable to raise the interest in discussing this matter, he sat upright and asked Xu Jue: "The imperial court wants to enter Beijing for a big review before leaving the third phase?" ”

Xu Jue hadn't gotten over from the novelty brought by the flying fish, nodded in response, and continued: "That flying fish can carry how many things to the sky, like Xu's weight, can also go up?" ”

"Xu Weidu doesn't look at 1,300 catties."

Ye Mengxiong looked at Xu Jue and chuckled alone, and said, "Your Majesty, why do you want to read it?" ”

"Hey! It's not all King Lu's trouble, I heard that at first King Lu wanted to see the military parade, and the emperor wanted to see it, I'm afraid it would be inevitable to be punished, King Lu is different, where did the Queen Mother let him suffer a little grievance, Wow Wow cried like a wolf, and couldn't stop it. ”

"Later, the Queen Mother told Her Majesty about this, and Your Majesty asked the Cabinet Elder and the Ministry of War the meaning of the book during the lecture, and Your Majesty was young and old and had the atmosphere of a bright monarch, and thought that the original bad things became good things, thinking that the military parade could invigorate the morale of the army and glorify the martial arts."

"Simply set the military parade as the norm, limited to the consumption of financial resources, so it was initially scheduled to be a small parade a year, and it was set in February to parade the Beiyang Army that was about to go to sea, and it was easy to enter Beijing from Tianjin; In the first three years, the provincial capital departments selected five of the most elite 100 households and outstanding young generals to go to Beijing for a review. ”

Xu Jue shook his head with emotion as he spoke, raised his two fingers and put them on the table several times, and said: "Don't look at Your Majesty's young and wise, these generals can be summoned by Your Majesty to participate in the palace banquet after the military parade, and then come to Beiyang for a three-month study and exchange." ”

"Your Majesty will also come here to take a look at it at that time, this is to make Beiyang shoulder a heavy responsibility!"

Xu Jue looked at Ye Mengxiong and said: "The cabinet and the Wang Butang of the Ministry of War both think that His Majesty's proposal is very good, and now they are making careful arrangements for the military parade, so that the means can make the provincial capital departments prepare for each big parade for three years, so that they can always be vigilant and not waste their military strength." ”

Ye Mengxiong heard that the emperor was so wise, and he looked like he was relieved and threw his hand to the sky, and he was also very emotional, and finally shook his head and said: "This King Lu, the vassal king is so favored, it is definitely not beneficial to the imperial court, he should be called a feudal lord early." ”

"Look, who's to say it's not?"

Xu Jue clapped his hands and said: "You are not the only one who has this idea, Ye Gong is the only one, but the household department of the military department has this idea, looking forward to King Lu going to Yazhou to become a vassal, but I heard that there is still a war over there, I really can't help it, I just hope that Chen Shuai will expel Xiyi as soon as possible, build a prince's mansion for King Lu, and send him away!" It's a pity that His Majesty is not happy, and I don't know what the use of King Lu staying in the palace is. ”

When I was a child, I was so able to be a demon, and when I grew up, I was a scourge!

"That's right!"

Xu Jue patted his head and said: "There is another business, I heard that there are many disabled wounded soldiers in the first phase of Beiyang this year who are waiting to be placed, and there are talented candidates, Ye Gong don't forget to keep it for Nanzhen Fusi, this department plans to match Tiqi with handguns, and ask for a few bird guns." ”