Chapter 2: Emperor Song Zong of Song

  Kaifeng, Imperial Palace, Jingle Hall.

  Jiying Hall was the place where Song Dynasty emperors handled state affairs. Emperor Shenzong of Song wore imperial robes, with a Tongtian crown on his head, sitting upright on the throne, exuding an aura of majesty that made people dare not look up at him.

  Right hand holding a brush, left hand flipping through the memorial, eyes focused, staring at the memorial, eyebrows occasionally furrowing.

  "I've seen the officials!"

  A eunuch stepped forward quickly and paid his respects to Emperor Song of the Song Dynasty.

  "What's this?" Song Shen Zong did not lift his head, his eyes fixed on the memorial.

  "Report to Your Excellency, Zheng Taizheng has sent a memorial!" The eunuch stepped forward quickly, both hands presenting a memorial with great reverence.

  "Zheng Ta?" Emperor Song's eyes suddenly brightened, and a smile spread across his face: "This Zheng Ta is really stubborn! I want to entrust him with important tasks, but he insists on starting from the lowest position of county magistrate. How about his governance achievements?"

  He took the memorial from the eunuch and opened it with a few flips, scanning it briefly. His eyes widened in shock, his divine light bursting forth, and his face changed color: "This Zheng Ta! Shameless! Shameless! I was wrong to have placed such high hopes on him!"

  "Eunuch, this matter is none of your business. However, Lord Zheng is an honest and upright official, a rare good official..." The eunuch was somewhat curious and couldn't help but interrupt.

  "Good official?" Song Shen-zong's anger did not decrease: "Is a good official enough? I want capable officials! Do you know what capable officials are? Look at him, the bandits snuck into Rui Xin City and he didn't even know, but instead caught them alive. Is this embarrassing or not?"

  "Ah! Is this really happening?" The eunuch's face was full of astonishment: "Then how did Lord Zheng write his memorial?"

  "Not bad, unexpectedly there's such a strange person in the capital! He actually turned the situation around and annihilated the Flowing Wind Bandits!" The look of anger on Song Godong's face dissipated, replaced by a look of astonishment: "Wu Jie, the scholar from Wu Family Village, with an upright background. A small scholar, leading a motley crew of twenty or so people, actually captured the leader of the Flowing Wind Bandits, what audacity! What audacity! Hmm, quite clever too!" His words were full of praise.

  The eunuch's words made Song Shen Zong unclear, and he could only listen quietly.

  "Ah!" Emperor Song Zong exclaimed in surprise, his eyes wide with wonder: "This thunderbolt is so formidable? Zheng Ta wouldn't deceive me, would he? Where's the thing Zheng Ta sent?"

  He rolled his eyes and stared at the eunuch, hastily asking questions.

  "Eunuch, Zheng's gift is here! It's here!" The eunuch hastily presented a fairly large box.

  Emperor Song Zong suddenly stood up, stretched out his hands to open it, but was hastily stopped by the eunuch: "Your Majesty, this matter is better left to me! What if... what if..." He feared that if there were any danger, it would be disastrous.

  "Don't worry! Empress Zheng won't harm me!" Emperor Song Shenzong, however, showed great trust in Empress Zheng and opened the box without hesitation. Inside, he found a few thunderbolt pellets lying quietly.

  "Is this the Thunderbolt?" Song Shenong carefully examined the Thunderbolt, scrutinizing every detail without missing a single subtlety. He picked up one of the Thunderbolts and weighed it in his hand before quickly exiting: "Let's go! Let's test its power!"

  "Eunuch, what is this? Is it dangerous?" The eunuch hastily followed behind, asking questions nonstop.

  "This thing is called Thunderbolt, Zheng Ta said it's a sharp weapon with earth-shaking power." Song Godong examined the Thunderbolt, his eyes flashing brightly: "Zheng Ta said that Liufeng Thief was defeated by this very weapon. Just one round and Liufeng Thief lost all will to resist. I'm not quite convinced, I must see it for myself!"

  "Let the little one take it!" The eunuch broke out in a cold sweat and hastily blocked his way: "This thing is so dangerous, Your Excellency is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and the safety of the world depends on you..."

  "This bit of danger is nothing! Taizu risked his life to conquer the world, who knows how many times he faced death? Let me through!" Song Shenzong pushed aside the eunuch and strode away.

  The eunuch was so anxious that he broke out in a cold sweat all over his body, but there was nothing he could do about it, and he had no choice but to follow behind.

  Arriving at a tree with a trunk as thick as a bowl, Song Shen-zong measured it and ordered the eunuchs to call over several laborers. They dug a hole under the tree, put the thunderbolt bomb in it, and filled it up. He ordered soldiers to light a torch, hold it in their hands, then ignite the thunderbolt bomb and quickly run away.

  "Hiss!" The fuse flashed with firelight and made a crackling sound.

  Everyone opened their eyes wide and looked around, but they were even more bewildered than when Liu Laolao entered the Grand View Garden.

  "Eunuch, what are you doing?" The eunuch was shocked and uncertain.

  "Don't speak, just watch! Whether it's a scam or not, I'll know right away." Song God Emperor's eyes widened, not missing any details.

  Bang!

  Suddenly, a deafening loud noise came, and a burst of flames flashed. The sound of the wind started to howl, and trees as thick as a bowl fell down with a crash, majestic and frightening.

  Mud splashes everywhere, dust flies all over the place, and mud is all around.

  "Is it thunder? Is it thunder?" The eunuch and several servants looked up at the sky, measuring it.

  "Don't look at the sky! It's caused by this thunderbolt!" Song Shen-zong read Zheng Taizhen's memorial and understood the situation.

  "How can it be so fierce? It's like thunder!" The eunuchs were somewhat incredulous.

  When everything had disappeared into thin air, Emperor Song Zong finally went up and saw that the trees were overturned, their roots in disarray, many of them broken and unrecognizable.

  "Awesome! Awesome! What a great tool!" After carefully examining it, Emperor Song Shenzong couldn't help but feel overjoyed. He stroked his beard, and his tiger-like eyes shone brightly as he looked up at the sky and burst out laughing: "Haha! With such a great tool, how can my wishes not be fulfilled? How can the Khitan not be defeated? How can the Western Xia not be destroyed?"

  "Congratulations to the imperial family! Congratulations to the imperial family!" The eunuchs and others were busy offering their felicitations.

  "It's too early to speak of joy, this is just a hope! Hope, you know? There's still a long way to go before achieving great merit!" Song Shen-zong remained calm amidst his delight, raising an eyebrow: "Go to the Military Equipment Bureau and find a good craftsman!"

  Tai Jian responded with a single word and quickly left. Song Shen Zong circled around the tree for a while before happily returning.

  Song God returned to the house, took the thunderbolt and looked left and right, the more he looked, the more lovely it was, the more he looked, the happier he became, with infinite splendor on his face: "Zheng Taizong said that it cannot be disassembled, I don't believe it! Wu Ji can make it, the skilled craftsmen of the Military Equipment Bureau are not made of mud, I just want to disassemble it and take a look. If you can crack its secrets, that would be great!"

  "Having seen the official!" A good craftsman, led by a eunuch, quickly came in and paid homage to Song Shenong.

  "Ah, spare him! Spare him!" Emperor Song Shenzong was in an extremely good mood, waving his hand and pointing at the thunderbolt bomb, explaining: "This thing is called a thunderbolt bomb, its power is immense, it can blast down trees as thick as a bowl's mouth, its sound is like thunder, shaking people's eardrums! This was made by a scholar, can your military equipment supervisors crack its secret?"

  Liang Gong did not answer immediately, but under the guidance of Emperor Song Taizong, he carefully examined the thunderbolt shells for a while before confidently saying: "Don't worry, Your Majesty! The military equipment department of the Great Song Dynasty is the best gathering place for good craftsmen in the world! The Khitan people's military equipment department may be known for having many good craftsmen, but compared to the Great Song Dynasty's military equipment department, it is far inferior! They only know how to steal and plagiarize our secret methods!"

  "Hmm! These words are too right!" Song God Emperor highly agreed with this, gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Yelü Hongji, apart from stealing chickens and dogs, what else can you do?"

  Yelü Hongji is the current Emperor of Liao and archenemy of Song Dynasty's Emperor Shenzong.

  "Sir, please calm down! If we, the military equipment inspectors, can't break this thing, then we're not worthy of being called military equipment inspectors!" Liang Gong was full of confidence.

  "Hmm!" Emperor Song Shenzong was greatly relieved and reminded him, saying: "You also need to be careful. This scholar has some tricks up his sleeve, since he dares to speak like this, he must have a backup plan."

  "Even if they have a trump card up their sleeve, it's all just a mere formality for our military monitor's excellent work!" The craftsman puffed out his chest and raised his head, his confidence bursting forth.

  "All right! You go and crack it! I'll wait quietly for your good news!" Song Shen Zong was overjoyed.

  Good work should be one voice, with a burst of thunder and quick steps to leave. Looking at his back, Song God's mood is extremely good, and he can't help but twirl his mustache: "If the secret method is solved, let the military equipment supervisor come and make it! My military equipment supervisor is where the best craftsmen in the world are, don't believe it can't be broken!"

  Song Shen-zong happily returned to his throne and began to review the memorials.

  "Eunuch, eunuch, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!" Before long, the eunuch rushed in, out of breath and reported: "Li Gong was killed by a thunderbolt bomb!"

  There is still one more update at dawn. During the rush for the chart, I hope you can collect, click and recommend, thank you!