Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

On the ring, Zhang Yuchu, who had tasted the sweetness, repeated his old tricks.

"Those who dominate with force and pretend to be benevolent will have a great country; those who act with virtue and benevolence will be kings. The king will not be great. Tang will be seventy miles away, and King Wen will be hundreds of miles away."

Those who convince others with strength do not do so with their hearts, nor do they have the strength to support them; those who convince others with virtue do so with joy and sincerity, just like the seventy-year-old disciples who convinced Confucius.

I would like to ask how many times the Ming Dynasty today is seventy miles or one hundred miles? How many times your Majesty's virtue is that of Kings Tang and Wen? "

Obviously, according to Zhang Yuchu's usual style of selecting supporting materials, these are still Mencius's original words, and the Great Master of Longhu Mountain, who has gone further and further on the despicable road, directly uses the current Ming Dynasty and Yongle Emperor as a shield.

The meaning here is that since Mencius said "The king does not wait for the big", Tang of Shang governed a country of seventy miles, and King Wen of Zhou governed a country of one hundred miles. So now that the Ming Dynasty is so big, the territory is not known to be seventy miles or one hundred miles. How many times is it? Based on this calculation, His Majesty's virtue is also the same multiple as that of King Tang of Shang and King Wen of Zhou, right?

You, Cao Duan, are not a life-threatening Gao Xunzhi. Do you dare to say that you are not?

But if he admits it, then Cao Duan will actually lose.

Of course, Zhang Yuchu is not afraid of Emperor Yongle blaming him. Zhang Yuchu just gave Emperor Yongle a sigh of relief. According to his understanding of Emperor Yongle, the other party should be in a good mood at this time and will not blame him. Not only that, he might also expect him to work harder. Let’s end this fourth Bible debate and bring the arena competition to an end.

Zhang Yuchu's little abacus is very simple, and a gentleman can bully his side.

This Cao Duan is young and seems to be easy to bully. Although the information the old monk gave him shows that Cao Duan almost achieved random killings in the internal promotion of the challenger, but that kind of debate and this kind of platform Zhang Yuchu, who was still on the same page, was much more shameless. He was not a Confucian anyway.

Cao Duan frowned slightly, it was obvious that the young man was still somewhat psychologically uncomfortable at the scene.

However, this discomfort did not affect Cao Duan's thinking.

As the defender, Zhang Yuchu used Mencius's basic understanding of the king's domineering power in "Mencius: Gongsun Chou" in the first round of his offensive, and modified and distorted it.

Mencius’ point of view is actually the difference between “convincing people with virtue” and “convincing people with strength.” However, from the perspective of Mencius’ primitive Confucianism, no matter which way or how you convince people, the essence is to promote "Benevolence", while the great powers of the Spring and Autumn Period all promoted domineering and made people feel fearful, Shang Tang and King Wen promoted kingly ways, which made people admire them from the bottom of their hearts.

Following this train of thought, Cao Duan came up with a solution almost instantly.

Cao Duan smiled and said: "The people of the hegemon are happy with Yu Ruye. The people of the king are like Hao Haoru. They kill them without resentment, benefit them without mediocrity, and the people are doing good but do not know how to do it. The husband and the gentleman have done something wrong. The gods are transformed, and the remaining gods flow together with the heaven and the earth. How can we call it a small supplement? Wherever the king's road goes, it does not stop at seventy or a hundred miles. Even if a country is thousands of miles away, the same is true. The people of the world are also the people of the king. .”

"What's more, if the country is unified and righteous, it can be achieved in one day, and Tang and Wu are the same. Tang is Bo, and King Wu is Chao. They are all hundreds of miles apart. The world is one, the princes are ministers, and all the subordinates of Tongda must obey. , there is no other reason than to support righteousness. This is what is called the establishment of righteousness and the king. Where righteousness is, where the king is, that's all."

Listening to the other party's impeccable answer, Zhang Yuchu unknowingly knelt and straightened up.

"This Cao Duan is really not simple."

Yao Guangxiao in the audience looked at this scene and was slightly impressed.

For such a tricky problem faced by Zhang Yuchu, Cao Duan actually came up with an excellent solution in a short period of time. Such talent and calmness on the spot are truly rare.

This means that Cao Duan’s solution stitches together the theories of Mencius and Xunzi in an almost perfect way.

The former paragraph comes from "Mencius·Wang Ba Pian", which refers to the kingly way of governing a country, which is a grand transformation that can flow with the heaven and earth, while the hegemonic rule of the country is a small repair. The latter paragraph comes from "Xunzi·Wang Ba Pian", which refers to Xunzi advocated "righteousness makes the king". In fact, there is not much difference between Mencius and Xunzi in defining the kingly way. The essential reason is that in the original Confucian theory, a monarch needs to rely on a certain political concept to govern the country, and the kingly way The chosen "virtue" and "benevolence and righteousness", as a kind of "soft" political philosophy, can regulate the resentment of the people for a long time like an endless stream. This is a more permanent way of rule.

Taking this as a starting point, Cao Duan first explained that the king's way is not within the scope of governing the country, and fundamentally denied the premise of Zhang Yuchu's question trap. Then he pointed out that "where justice is, where the king is", avoiding the question about Emperor Yongle Direct answers to relevant questions.

As for whether Emperor Yongle has "righteousness" or not, you can judge for yourself. Aren't you the best at "I am thinking"? Anyway, I won’t answer directly.

The initiative of the round now came to Cao Duan. Of course, Cao Duan knew to avoid any minefields that might involve xinxing. How to crack the new xinxue, he didn't think about it for a while. Since he couldn't figure it out, Then just don't touch it.

So, how can we attack without starting from the emperor's selfish motives and the like?

Cao Duan thought for a moment and said slowly: "The king, seek benevolence. The place of benevolence lies in virtue, not in strength."

This sentence sounds ordinary at first, but it has a profound meaning if you chew it carefully. As mentioned before, both Mencius and Xunzi believe that the end point of Wang Ba Dao is "benevolence", but Cao Duan's proposition is that the implementation method of Wang Ba Dao is Different.

Cao Duan’s problem-solving ideas are equivalent to:

King's Way → Benevolence → Virtue

Domineering → Benevolence → Power

As a result, the debate between kings and hegemons was transformed into a "debate between virtue and power" through the intermediary of "benevolence".

Virtue and force have nothing to do with xinxing, because both are subjective evaluations of the perpetrator by the person being subjected to them, rather than the inner behavior of the perpetrator.

Zhang Yuchu raised his eyebrows slightly, then calmed down and said, "May I ask what 'virtue' refers to, and what does 'strength' refer to?"

It was not Zhang Yuchu's active turn, but Zhang Yuchu asked this question. Whether he meant to show weakness and confuse the enemy, or he really didn't know, he was actually at a disadvantage, because once such rhetorical questions did not notice the opponent's mistake, it was extremely easy to mislead the enemy. If the initiative is given away to others, it can easily lead to a wrong step and an irreversible end.

Cao Duan said loudly: "There are two ways to govern a country. The first is to cultivate virtue, and the second is to cultivate strength."

"Things can be virtuous, or they can be destroyed by force. Externally, you can rely on virtue to stand on your own, and internally, you can use strength to prepare yourself. Those who admire virtue will obey without fighting, and those who violate virtue will be afraid of soldiers and retreat. King Xu Yan practiced benevolence and righteousness, and those who were in the land Dynasty were thirty In the two countries, when the powerful Chu heard about it, he raised his troops and destroyed them. Those who have virtue to defend them are those who are unable to prepare. A husband's virtue cannot be left alone to govern the country, and his strength cannot be used to fend off the enemy. The skills of Han Zi do not cultivate virtue, and the conduct of King Yan does not Ren Li, the two are biased, and each has its own shortcomings. King Yan was in danger of being powerless, and Zhi Hanzi was in danger of being immoral."

His every word was sonorous and powerful, and every word seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

It is worthy of its name as the future "Crown of Neo-Confucianism in the Early Ming Dynasty".

Moreover, in Cao Duan's explanation, although his view is that "benevolence lies in virtue, not in strength," he does not completely deny the role of force. It is equivalent to filling in the loopholes that Zhang Yuchu might refute. This is based on his example. Examples can be seen.

The example cited by Cao Duan is King Xu Yan, who was the king of the small country Xu during the reign of King Mu of Zhou Dynasty in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It is said that King Xu Yan focused on practicing benevolence and righteousness and reached a high level in cultivating virtue, so much so that he obtained thirty-two titles. The country's heartfelt support, but how can we allow others to snore on the side of the bed? The State of Chu couldn't stand it anymore and raised its troops to attack the State of Xu. However, King Xu Yan, who practiced benevolence and righteousness, had no power to fight back.

Of course, there is a hidden counterattack in the second half, that is, the State of Chu, which used force to be tyrannical, was finally destroyed by the State of Qin, which was stronger in force and took more extreme tyranny, and practiced Han Fei's technique. The Qin State unified the world with hegemony, and the second generation fell apart. This also proved in disguise that hegemony alone would not work.

Since Cao Duan answered Zhang Yuchu's question in a round that was not his passive answer, it was not Zhang Yuchu's turn to ask any more questions. Cao Duan directly launched his own offensive.

And as soon as he opened his mouth, everyone was shocked.

"Heaven's way is inactive, letting its nature be as it pleases, so it releases fish in the rivers and animals in the mountains, just to follow the desires of their lives. If you don't drive the fish to the tomb, and if you don't drive the beasts into the abyss, what's the point? If you don't play with their nature, It's out of place.

The common people, fish and beasts, etc., should be governed by virtue, just like cooking small delicacies, in harmony with heaven and earth. Shang Yang changed the Qin Dynasty and wanted to do something different. He did not listen to Zhao Liang's advice, so as to avoid the trouble of breaking the chariot. He had little virtue and many desires, and the monarch and his ministers hated each other.

Taoists are virtuous, and those who are superior should be treated as their superiors, and those who are superior should be reassured by their inferiors. If they are purely ignorant and do nothing, why should they condemn them? Therefore, it is said: When the government is appropriate, the king and his ministers forget each other in governance, the fish forget each other in the water, the beasts forget each other in the forest, and the people forget each other in the world, so it is called heaven. "

This is a direct use of the saying in "Zhuangzi: The Great Master" that "the fish forget the rivers and lakes, the people forget the Tao".

It’s okay if it’s used in front of others, but this is in front of Master Longhushan!

Isn't this a slap in the face of Chi Guoguo?

Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but look at Zhang Yuchu on the stage, and saw that Zhang Yuchu still looked calm, but his eyes were slightly closed, and he seemed not to pay attention to Cao Duan on the stage at all.

Yao Guangxiao was not so reassured. After all, he knew Zhang Yuchu's ability. Zhang Yuchu was so calm, so he must still not be fully prepared and was pretending to be impressive.

At this moment, Cao Duan was regarded by Zhang Yuchu as the only enemy he had ever seen in his life, because Zhang Yuchu discovered that this Cao Duan was indeed as Yao Guangxiao said, very powerful, even more powerful than the previous two.

Not only is he well versed in Confucian classics, but he also has a deep understanding of Taoist theory. He can even skillfully use Taoist theory to define the concept of "virtue", which is difficult to quantify, into three categories: upper, middle and lower.

In Cao Duan's definition, virtue can be divided into thick and thin, as well as how much. The Taoist "superior virtue", that is, governing by doing nothing, can be classified as "thick virtue".

In the same way, through various means of implementing moral policies, "poor virtues" can also be developed into "thick virtues".

Cao Duan's offensive finally reached the final stage.

"The Book of Changes says: The Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun hung down their clothes and governed the world. Those who hung down their clothes did nothing.

Confucius said: How great that Yao is the king! Only the sky is great, and only Yao can control it; he also said: "It's so majestic!" Shun and Yu both had the world, but they did not share it.

Duke Zhou said: God has led you away. God refers to Shun and Yu. The two inherited the peace of Yao, and Yao acted in accordance with the sky. He did not do meritorious deeds to seek fame, but became self-made by doing nothing. Therefore, it is said: "Dangdang, the people have no name!" A man in his fifties who strikes the soil in Tu cannot understand the virtues of Yao, and can only be transformed by nature. "

Cao Duan uses the lineage of Huangdi-Yao-Shun-Yu-Zhou Gong-Confucius to prove the method of developing "thick virtue" from "poor virtue" from the perspective of the two "descendants" of Confucius and Zhou Gong. He is following the example of his ancestors.

This is equivalent to tying a lot of people to the chariot and waiting for Zhang Yuchu to refute them one by one.

"This young man is so ignorant of martial ethics!"

Zhang Yuchu sighed inwardly, but did not remember at all that he had just used Emperor Yongle as a shield.

It's useless to talk about "I'm thinking" at this time. Historical figures are not something you think about or don't think about. They have been determined for a long time.

At this moment, Zhang Yuchu's head was spinning rapidly, trying to find the flaw in Cao Duan's words. Although Cao Duan's words were beautifully explained and almost spoke to his heart, they were not enough to make Zhang Yuchu admit defeat.

But Zhang Yuchu thought about it, but he really couldn't find the flaw in Cao Duan's words.

Due to the change in the rules of the competition, Zhang Yuchu's thinking time was reduced by half. Seeing that there was no better way to solve the problem, Zhang Yuchu had to use conventional methods to refute.

The conventional method is of course the standard answer given by predecessors.

"Yu Qi began to regard the world as one family and took care of it for himself. The Hu family did not think it was right, so he started a great war and then defeated it; Tang put Jie in Nanchao and became a Shang; King Wu defeated Zhou and took it to become Zhou; Wu Geng took it with him. Guan Cai's rift, seeking to regain his old career, and those who had worked with King Wu wanted to cultivate virtue and wait for him to decide for themselves. However, the Duke of Zhou went against everyone's opinion and raised his troops and then won the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Also, why are the Five Hegemons so diverse?"

Zhang Yuchu really couldn't think of a good solution here, so he directly pulled Chen Liang's answer, avoiding the topic of "virtue", and directly talked about the "Yu" cited by Cao Duan and the following Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, that is, The rule of the previous kings that Song Confucians repeatedly praised was not necessarily established by force, nor did it rely entirely on virtue.

The typical "you say yours, I say mine" is not necessarily a way of solving the problem.

Cao Duan smiled.

Zhang Yuchu was at his wits end.

What Zhang Yuchu means is that since the Xia Dynasty, the "family world" has been implemented, and the "family world" ruling method has been maintained by force. Later, the Shang and Zhou Dynasties also relied on force to achieve rule. The military conquest model of the five hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period They also follow the so-called "Way of the Past Kings", so don't mention virtue to me.

But what Cao Duan wanted was this answer. Among the dozens of possibilities that had just been deduced, Zhang Yuchu did not escape the inevitable outcome.

Cao Duan said:

“A wise king governs a country just like a loving father governs a family. A loving father is patient in teaching and issuing orders, and is impatient to make his descendants filial and kind. If descendants are filial and kind, this is the prosperity of the family, and the peace of the people is the prosperity of the country.

However, prosperity must have its decline, and prosperity must have its failure. This is the time of heaven. Prosperity cannot be achieved by virtue, but decline and failure cannot be defeated by virtue. Therefore, the rise and fall of prosperity and decline are all due to the timing of heaven. The reality of good and evil does not include the effects of pain and joy.

The family is peaceful and people are happy, and the wealth is abundant and sufficient. The wealthy people are the result of the virtues of their ancestors, not the result of virtuous people.

Everyone knows that those who are rich and live in peace and happiness will have a good fortune, but they don't know that those who live in peace and security will have good luck. "

The meaning of Cao Duan's words is that governing a country is like a steward, and the founding king is like a loving father in the family. However, when there is prosperity, there will be decline. This is destined by God and cannot be interfered by virtue. What can virtue affect? Virtue can affect the family fortune of future generations. The moral education of a country is just like a wealthy family living and working in peace and contentment. The money is not obtained because of their virtuousness, but the "virtue" of their ancestors (the founding kings) saved for them. down.

This completely refuted Zhang Yuchu's view that the three generations of founding kings used force to conquer the country. Instead, he said that the three generations of founding kings established the country because the virtues of the country established by the previous Mingjun were not "thick" enough, and they relied solely on the legacy of their ancestors. It is not enough to have good virtues, you must cultivate your own virtues, which once again confirms Cao Duan's own point of view just now.

Zhang Yuchu's eyelids twitched. Cao Duan was more powerful than he imagined. He was really formidable.

If Cao Duan was unprepared, of course he could drag him into the theory of mind and use his "power of thinking" to violently crack it. But now Cao Duan has replaced the "debate of kings and tyrants" with "the debate of moral virtue" and turned it into another While using Taoist theory to define virtue, it also resolved his objection about "the three generations of ancestors also exerted their strength".

——Cao Duan finally took out his trump card.

"The governance of the world is not the result of sages and saints, and the decline and chaos are not the result of immorality.

When the country is in decline and chaos, the virtuous and sages cannot flourish; when the situation is in order, the wicked cannot be in chaos.

The chaos of the world depends on time, not politics; the security of the country depends on numbers, not education.

Jin Wen cultivated virtues, Xu Yan practiced benevolence and righteousness, Duke Wen rewarded him, and King Yan destroyed him.

Wende and benevolence are the same, and not walking away is the same as not being afraid. However, Duke Wen was blessed and King Yan was cursed.

For example, if you cultivate virtue, you will not avoid the disasters of the times, but you can provide protection for later generations. The same is true today. "

Cao Duan told Zhang Yuchu with certainty that cultivating virtue may not necessarily have immediate effects, but for the country, this is a way to ensure long-term peace and stability for future generations. Temporary disasters cannot be used to deny the futility of cultivating virtue. Cultivating virtue, especially The best way to practice "benevolence" is to practice "virtue" rather than using violence.

A gentle "It's the same now" can hide countless killing moves.

Zhang Yuchu's dark and fat face was already sweaty. He had no doubt that as long as he refuted, Cao Duan would carry Lao Zhu out.

This is how to do?

"It's broken. Jiang Sheng didn't teach you how to break this move."

Now Zhang Yuchu has been completely forced into a corner due to his passiveness.

Now that the debate has reached this point, if you want to be tough right now, you have to say that cultivating strength is more important than cultivating virtue in practicing "benevolence". That is impossible.

However, it is completely untenable to admit that cultivating strength is more important than cultivating virtue.

With no other choice, Zhang Yuchu once again resorted to his last resort, "I am looking for the power of thinking".

Zhang Yuchu said in a hoarse voice: "A king who makes a king with strength must have the heart to serve the world, and then he can become the world's business."

This is the same argument as Gao Xunzhi's, but in reverse.

In this way, starting from the heart, I think that the king who uses force to establish his royal karma must have the heart to make the world obey and cultivate virtue. Therefore, it is self-justifying to be able to achieve the karma of making the world obey and cultivate virtue.

But as the saying goes, a smart person will not follow someone who falls into a trap. Cao Duan saw Zhang Yuchu repeating his old tricks, how could he still be fooled?

Cao Duan didn't care about his heart at all this time, he only talked about his deeds.

"You are ridiculous! Taizong's ability to eliminate the rebellion of the Sui Dynasty is strength, and the beauty of governance is virtue. Taizong's Xuanwu Gate punished Jiancheng, how is it compared to Zhou Gong's execution of Guan Cai? Virtue and strength are divided into two parts. Shirenyi and kingly conduct are all due to the cultivation of virtue. What is the meaning of virtue? Using the human heart to act with force, so that the world can obey and cultivate virtue? Isn’t this self-contradictory?”

Zhang Yuchu opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Cao Duan was too cautious, a little too cautious.

He always adheres to the theme of replacing the debate of king and hegemony with the debate of virtue and strength, and firmly distinguishes virtue and strength. He does not talk about xinxing at all and talks only about facts. Zhang Yuchu really has no solution at all.

If the other party doesn't talk about idealism, it's useless for you to talk to him about what you think. If you bring the argument to the level of facts, how can you ignore the facts and not talk about it?

But let’s talk about the facts. How could Li Shimin be cleansed of what he did? Everyone says that one code is another code. It is a fact to end the war in the late Sui Dynasty and establish the Zhenguan rule. One is power and the other is virtue. And the Xuanwu Gate change that really made Li Shimin ascend to the throne, was it power or virtue? You In your own evaluation, can you say that because Li Shimin wanted to cultivate his virtue, he used his strength and the world obeyed him?

To put it bluntly, Li Shimin's throne was won by force, not by cultivating virtue. The people of the world obeyed because he cultivated virtue later, which is different from his force in front.

Zhang Yuchu was driven speechless by Cao Duan's perfect logical deduction, until the hourglass came to an end.

Zhang Yuchu was silent for a long time, and then slowly uttered three words: "You win."

This feeling of losing made Zhang Yuchu uncomfortable.

In his opinion, he should have the advantage in this competition. After all, Cao Duan is only a young man of about thirty years old and has no reputation. Moreover, Cao Duan does not have as much experience in debating as he does.

But the result was that he lost!

And it was defeated without any suspense.

After Zhang Yuchu bowed and stepped down, he came to Yao Guangxiao's side and said in a solemn voice: "This boy should not be underestimated."

The old monk nodded and said: "I have never underestimated this person."

"However." The old monk changed the topic, "But no matter how strong Cao Duan is, he can't win if Jiang Sheng doesn't want him to win."

When Zhang Yuchu heard this, he immediately felt relieved.

Jiang Xinghuo taught Zhuo Jing the "Three Theory of Righteousness" and the "New Theory of Mind Learning". He must have left something for Yao Guangxiao who guarded the last arena.

Judging from the effects, Jiang Xinghuo's teachings, as long as he takes them out, he will win with one hit. At the very least, it will be 100% effective the first time.

In this case, he didn't have anything to worry about. Anyway, the old monk was stronger than Cao Duan in terms of hard power. Coupled with Jiang Xinghuo's remaining methods, there was no doubt that he would win.

But what Zhang Yuchu didn't understand was that Yao Guangxiao didn't say the last part. As long as Jiang Sheng wanted Cao Duan to go in and see what kind of state Kong Xilu was in now, then he would definitely let Cao Duan win, and more importantly than lose. The kind of win that’s still uncomfortable.

Yao Guangxiao stood up from his seat and slowly stepped onto the ring.

The fifth and final debate began.

——————

While the battle in the debate arena was in full swing, the hot air balloons that were pulled out of the warehouse at the Flying Eagle Guard station on the Yuhuatai also removed their waterproof tarpaulins and began to fully preheat the heating devices.

"Report!"

At this time, there was suddenly the sound of rapid footsteps.

Then a pilot wearing thick winter-proof cotton clothes in the summer quickly ran to Huo Fei and Ding Xiaohong, beat his chest and reported to them: "All combat inspections have been completed! All hot air balloons are ready to take off! Now please confirm The final liftoff plan!”

After hearing the soldier's words, Huo Fei showed a hint of joy on his face, but it soon turned into a look of worry, because according to convention, the time period when the hot air balloon first takes off is the most vulnerable, and when it is lined up When all the hot air balloons are raised, the enemy will definitely notice it. No one can tell whether something will happen at that time.

Although the National Preceptor's calculations seemed to be very accurate, after all, they were the ones who faced the battle. They were not sure whether they could carry out a perfect volley according to the calculated results.

"Master National Preceptor?"

"Wait a moment, they have reached the bottom of the mountain."

Jiang Xinghuo could see with his naked eyes that several of the previous attendants and soldiers were rushing to the foot of the mountain with a group of people and began to move up the mountain road.

So Huo Fei immediately said: "Go immediately and tell the leaders of the other three teams to pay attention to concealing the hot air balloons and not to alert the enemy."

"As you command!"

A colorful shed made of green silk satin served as a camouflage cover. From a high point, the hot air balloons on the ground were all hidden in the "forests".

The colorful shed is derived from the same items used for festivals held in the palace, and it can be flexibly moved. When the hot air balloon is released, the colorful shed only needs to be removed.

Soon, the people sent to the War Bureau came back. They were carrying long boxes on the back of the horses, which looked very heavy. The strong horses were almost out of breath.

"open!"

With a "crash" sound, long boxes were opened one by one, and long-tubed firecrackers padded with dry straw were clearly placed inside.

Different from the Yongle Yuan-year-style match rope blunderbuss that was installed before, the barrel of this kind of fire blunderbuss is much longer. The length of each blunderbuss alone is more than six feet, and it is as thick as an arm. Under the sunlight, The red metallic luster looks very dazzling.

"This is... a new weapon?" Li Jinglong looked at this firearm with some surprise.

"A rifled matchlock gun."

The skilled gunmen quickly equipped and inspected the weapons while explaining to Li Jinglong: "If the gun tube is not made longer, it will be difficult to pull out the 'rifling' invented by the national master. The gun tube must be thick and long enough. They are all slowly ground by hand.”

"What's the range?"

"The shotgun can hit sixty steps! The buckshot can hit a hundred steps!"

As a military all-rounder, Li Jinglong naturally knows what this new weapon is. Although it cannot be mass-produced, this one looks more like a hand-held artillery rifled matchlock gun. Its range is already amazing enough, and it can completely replace the inconvenient mobile weapon. The bed crossbow serves as a large-scale support firepower point for the army.

As they spoke, the gunmen were already prepared.

"I can only make a dozen of them if I go all out in a month. Let's test the power first."

Jiang Xinghuo also explained to Li Jinglong, and then spoke briefly to the fire gunmen who were called in urgently.

"You should have known about the mission on the way here. The pilots of the Eagle Guard will fly hot air balloons to take you to the sky. Then you can fight as you like. The enemy only has two or three hot air balloons, and we have a dozen improved versions. The performance of the hot air balloon is much superior to that of the enemy, just aim and hit it when the time comes!"

At the same time, Huo Fei and Ding Xiaohong personally led the team and began the final mobilization.

"Everyone, cheer up! No matter what the situation above is, no one is allowed to back down! Remember, our mission this time is very important. We must take down the enemy no matter what the cost! Otherwise, our family members will all be killed. They will be punished by military law! Therefore, you have to protect the sky for me at all costs and cannot let them enter the city. Do you understand?"

"clear!"

Three teams of pilots, each with five hot air balloons, and each hot air balloon had three people in total. Except for Huo Fei and Ding Xiaohong, there were a total of forty-three people who responded together.

"Set off!"

Along with a heat wave, the green colorful shed was removed, and the fifteen giant Eagle Guard hot air balloons slowly rose and floated towards the northerly sky with the wind.

This kind of giant hot air balloon is not actually used specifically for combat purposes. In addition to detecting battlefield conditions during wartime, they are sometimes responsible for transporting some supplies or dropping leaflets and other tasks.

But now, it has become the only weapon in Jiang Xinghuo's hand that can be used to stop Bao Zhao's conspiracy.

Unless encountering special circumstances, the Flying Eagle Guard is rarely dispatched, because this thing flies high, and it will cause some suspicion of peeping in places like the palace, but now, such a behemoth has to be allowed to come again.

The enemy's hot air balloon floated closer and closer in the sky, and soon appeared within the visual range. The gunmen who were temporarily carried on the Eagle Guard hot air balloon carefully checked the gunpowder.

The Eagle Guard's hot air balloons are all fueled by whale oil. It would be funny if the gun accidentally opened fire and blew itself up.

"Raise the altitude and approach the enemy with the wind!"

Following Huo Fei's flag and an order, the pilots began to control the hot air balloon to follow the wind and actively approach the enemy's hot air balloon.

"what is that?"

When Bao Zhao's men finally arrived at the edge of Nanjing with their homemade hot-air balloons, they only saw a dozen hot-air balloons lined up in a winding queue, like snakes on a mountain, moving smoothly. The wind cut into the southwest of their course.

Judging from this wind direction, there is a high probability that they will collide!

"No! It's the hot air balloon troops under the false emperor!"

The expressions of these dead men who were determined to die and tried to hit the Bible debate site beside the prison with their hot air balloons suddenly changed drastically.

You know, in order to achieve a full combustion effect, their hot air balloons are basically full of fire oil!

This means that their size and quality are inferior to those of the Eagle Guard's hot air balloons, and their maneuverability is even worse!

"Can we avoid it? Enter the city through another route, or get rid of them directly?"

the leader asked.

"I'm afraid it's impossible. Those people's flying skills are very good, the distance is not far, and the wind direction is the same. It's impossible to avoid them."

The person next to them said: "The only way now is to gamble on luck. We occupy the positive wind direction from southeast to northwest. They are still converging into this wind direction. We can increase the altitude and try to get through."

The leader thought for a moment and then said: "In this case, don't hesitate and move forward at full speed!"

They didn't dare to stay, and while throwing everything they could to lose weight, they continued flying towards the city wall. They had already felt the opponent's strong fighting spirit and murderous intention!

"Prepare--"

Following Ding Xiaohong's flag signal, the fifteen Eagle Guards' giant hot-air balloons began to adjust from downwind to diagonal directions, working hard to get closer to the enemy. At the same time, they aimed their gun barrels, oh no, blunderbuss, at the direction of the enemy's hot-air balloons. .

Under Ding Xiaohong's order, two of the Eagle Guard's hot air balloons took the lead in launching firecrackers, using lead bullets to see if they could explode in one go.

"Bang bang!"

The moment the lead bullet was shot out, it drew a slightly curved arc in mid-air under the influence of gravity, and then fell into the air next to the enemy's hot-air balloon.

Even so, it also startled the three enemy hot air balloons.

Who would have thought that the Eagle Guard would actually carry a firecracker onto a hot air balloon and fly it so far?

These enemies were unarmed, but they had great abilities at this time, and they had nowhere to display them in this place where they had no access to the world or the ground. They could only pray and rush forward with the wind at full speed.

"It's close, it's close!"

Seeing that the Eagle Guard's hot air balloon had cut into the southeast-northwest wind direction at this time, in order to block them, it turned into a headwind and was blown back. The distance between the two sides was getting closer, and there was a gap in the sky for them to The violent men who rushed over couldn't help but sweat in their palms.

Except for the first two shots, the enemy's firecrackers did not fire and seemed to be still being reloaded, which made them feel a little more grateful.

Maybe the enemy just brought these two temporarily?

However, the ideal is always full, but the reality is too skinny.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"

After time seemed to stand still for an instant, thousands of shotgun blasts roared out from the Eagle Guard's hot air balloon, shrouding the three hot air balloons that had just arrived in the air in iron sheets, as dense as rain.

"Snapped"

"Boom boom boom!"

A bursting shotgun roared violently and directly hit an enemy hot-air balloon closest to the Eagle Guard. Flames suddenly flashed, and the heating device of the hot-air balloon suddenly shattered, and a large amount of fire oil was drawn out. It burned, directly igniting the ball bag, and fell down like a ball of torch.

"Bang bang! Boom——"

A violent explosion resounded through the sky, and the moment the flames rose, the smoke from the explosion filled the entire aerial battlefield.

The Eagle Guard's firepower was very fierce. In the first round, it directly destroyed two enemy hot air balloons, and then the remaining hot air balloon climbed quickly regardless of the risk.

But it still didn't help that there were too many hot air balloons flying Eagle Guard, and they soon occupied the entire sky.

With a loud "bang" sound.

Brilliant fireworks burst out in the sky.

The first air battle in the history of the Royal Air Force of the Ming Dynasty ended.