After Su Chen and other commanders left the Su Mansion, they began to quietly develop gunpowder.

Gunpowder, also known as black gunpowder, is one of the four great inventions in China. It was invented very early in ancient times. According to the records of Fan Zijiran, China was used in the folk livelihood application in the Spring and Autumn Period. Fan Zijiran said that "saltpeter comes from the Long Road". The first ancient book we see now that it was written about the eighth and nineth century. It is written in the book that "used sulfur, realgar combined with saltpeter, and burned it honey." The sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal mentioned in it are the formula of gunpowder.

Its inventor is closely related to ancient alchemists. Because this group of people have been practicing alchemy for a long time, and through practice, it has a history of more than two thousand years.

If gunpowder has been used for military affairs, it has only begun in the late Tang Dynasty. In the first year of Tianyou (904), the army of Yang Xingmi from Wudi's Heiyundu besieged Yuzhang, and General Zheng, the general, used firearms to attack the city, such as artillery, made gunpowder into a ring, ignited the hanging line, and threw it out with a stone thrower. The rocket lost it, tied the gunpowder ball under the arrowhead, ignited the lead line and shot it out with a bow.

By the early years of the Song Dynasty, the War of Unification continued to intensify, promoting the accelerated development of gunpowder weapons.

According to historical records, in the early Northern Song Dynasty, in the second year of Kaibao (969), Feng Jisheng, the Lingshi of the Ministry of War, and others, invented the technology of making gunpowder arrows for the first time. After experiments, he also performed on the spot to Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin was very happy after watching it and awarded him a lot of clothes and cloth. This incident was recorded in "History of the Song Dynasty: Military Records": "At that time, the Ministry of War ordered Shi Feng Jisheng and others to go into the rocket technique, ordered the test, and gave him clothes and tied up silk."

With this advanced weapon with strong firepower, black gunpowder played a major role in the later war to unify the whole country. In the eighth year of Kaibao (975), the Northern Song army used this gunpowder arrow as an important weapon to defeat the Southern Tang Dynasty.

From the third to the fifth year of Xianping (1000-1002), two more people named Tang Fu and Shi Pu were presented to the Northern Song Dynasty, including rockets, fireballs and fire truncated pears. The Northern Song Dynasty court also set up two major workshops in the huge arsenal of the capital Bianjing, "Guangbei Siege" and "Fireworks".

It is now the third year of Qiande in the Northern Song Dynasty (965). The black gunpowder in the Northern Song Dynasty has not been taken seriously, and the research and development has not reached a scale, and the front-line army has not been used.

Su Chen has seen some development methods for black gunpowder in textbooks and videos, but has not personally operated them. He also sent someone to buy materials such as sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal to conduct his own fusion test.

Su Chen plans to develop powerful black gunpowder, as well as detonators and iron tools that hold black gunpowder. It contains a large number of iron beads. When it explodes, it will produce blasting power and flying marbles, which will hurt people around.

However, Su Chen did not intend to take it out immediately and invest in this defense, and would only use it if it was absolutely necessary.

Because there are countless capable people in the Northern Song Dynasty, some people will know the existence of gunpowder, but they do not pay attention to it, have not developed large-scale research and development and put into military purposes.

Once he put this firearm into use too early, it won't take long to start the Northern Song Dynasty. When the Song army used a large number of black gunpowder weapons, the Southern Tang Dynasty would face huge destructive power and threats.

After all, compared with national strength, financial strength and territory, the Southern Tang Dynasty's financial strength and national strength cannot compete with the Song Dynasty. Once it is invested in this research and development, the Southern Tang Dynasty will definitely not have the advantages of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Su Chen planned to make it out in case of emergency needs and develop it himself first. If the city is to be broken and cannot be defended, then use it to turn the tide.

If this situation does not occur, then he plans to use the black gunpowder later, secretly use his own personal power to manufacture it on a large scale, and at the most critical moment, such as the life-and-death battle between the Tang army and the Song army, he caught the Song army off guard.

That night, Su Chen was in various configurations, and occasionally tested a small amount in the backyard, but the sound was not loud, mainly depending on the state of burning. If there were a large number of explosions, he had to go to the mountains to test, and it would be difficult to cover up the eyes and ears.

The next day, Su Chen came to the lobby of the temporary commander's mansion in the city.

General Lu Jiang issued detailed rules for city defense. Many of the generals and Du Yuhou were assigned different tasks of assisting defense, city defense, and patrol. They were orderly, and the reserves of various materials, such as bows and arrows, spears, leather armor, etc., were also being counted and received.

As the saying goes: if the number is divided, ten is done. This is recorded and discussed in detail in the art of military affairs. Only when the force reaches ten times the defense of the city can the city be siege the city besieged in a whole piece. If only the Wu Yue soldiers came to the army, then there are 40,000 to 50,000 troops in Runzhou City, which does not have a disadvantage in terms of number. Instead, the Wu Yue soldiers cannot encircle Runzhou City and disperse their forces. They can only concentrate two cities and attack.

Lu Jiang said seriously: "My generals, the thieves of Wu and Yue helped the evildoers to abuse our Tang Dynasty and left many crimes in Changzhou. The soldiers could tolerate them, but who would not tolerate them! The people of Wu and Yue bullyed us Tang Dynasty too much. This time in Runzhou, we not only want to defend Runzhou, but also defeat the Wu and Yue army."

"General Lu is right. We must defeat the Wu Yue soldiers this time!"

"We want to avenge the revenge, and let the Wu Yue people be wiped out under the city of Runzhou to avenge the bloody hatred of the people of Changzhou!"

"Yes, kill all the Wu and Yue soldiers!"

All the generals, military officers and soldiers shared the same hatred of the enemy, and were angry and hated the Wu Yue soldiers. They even hated the Wu Yue people, even surpassing the Song army.

This has something to do with the geographical environment. The two countries bordered and had been in conflict for generations. The two countries repeatedly attacked and clashed on the border, and had already formed hatred.

"My generals, then according to the tasks we assigned in advance, the generals and Du Yuhou, follow the steps and complete their own tasks, patrolling the city's defenses day and night, and there must be no mistakes."

"Abide by the order!"

The generals and Du Yuhou stood up and held their fists to receive the order.

General Lu nodded and said, "In addition, we will send scouts to investigate the marching situation and military deployment of the Wuyue army. We are ready to fight at any time!"

"Here!" everyone answered in unison.

After Du Yuhou and the side general withdrew from Shuaitang, only the main general Lu Jiang, the governor Wang Yuechao and the supervisor Su Chen were left in the house.

Lu Jiang smiled slightly and said to Su Chen: "How do you feel when Su Jianjun returned home in glory?"

Su Chen smiled and said, "I did think of the top scorer in high school, returning home in glory, satisfying the vanity of scholars who are the first to be successful in the list of scholars, but I didn't expect that this time I came back so quickly. After less than a few months, I still came with a huge task! The country is in crisis and the army is approaching. The heavy responsibility is not light. To protect this people and the villagers in their hometown, there is a great responsibility, and there is no intention to show off or satisfy."

"Well said! As a local official, I admire Su Jianjun's words. As the governor, Wang, thanked Su Jianjun for his kindness and responsibility for the people!" Governor Wang Yuechao echoed.

Su Chen smiled and bowed his hand to show his politeness. He was also very clear in his heart. He still praised him in this way.

Lu Jiang nodded in recognition. He still admired Su Chen's character and talent. After all, Su Lang's talent and reputation are obvious to all and known to everyone in the world. Although he is over 60 years old, he has also read Su Chen's articles such as "The Reign of Liuhou" and "The Notes of Yueyang Tower" and so on, and is deeply admired.

Lu Jiang said: "For the next period of time, the three of us will jointly take on the defence of Runzhou. I have been so old that I have been so powerful that the court has been doing so today. I will definitely serve the country with death, lead by example, and wrap my body around me. If I am unfortunately injured and have an accident later, then the command will be handed over to Su Jianjun to take responsibility."

Su Chen said: "General Lu must not be pessimistic. I think you are like a long-lived and a hundred-year-old person, and there will be no accident. We will definitely work together to repel the enemy's invasion, save the Tang Kingdom, and eliminate the danger of this country."

After hearing this, Lujiang couldn't help laughing and said, "Haha, I will use the auspicious words of Su Jianjun to live a hundred years and defeat the enemy."

The three of them talked some more, and Su Chen stood up and said goodbye.
Chapter completed!