RPAGF Chapter 201 The Triangular Dagger Displays Its Power!
Chapter 201 The Triangular Dagger Displays Its Power!
Zhang Fan smiled slightly:
"Your Majesty, everything is ready!"
He waved to the outside of the hall, and immediately two eunuchs laboriously carried the large box up.
"Thump!"
It was placed in the center of the main hall.
Under Ying Zheng's curious gaze, Zhang Fan stepped forward and personally opened the box lid.
The moment the box was opened, Ying Zheng's gaze suddenly sharpened.
Inside the box, besides a few square iron blocks and a few iron swords, there were only a few square iron blocks and a few iron swords.
More numerous were neatly stacked piles of oddly shaped items—
Triangular iron rod!
Ying Zheng's gaze swept over the iron rods and finally settled on a few iron swords.
He forcibly suppressed his excitement and spoke.
"Bring the sword here!"
A palace attendant picked up an iron sword and bowed as he presented it to Ying Zheng.
Ying Zheng reached out and ran his fingers over the sword.
That cold, hard touch was completely different from that of bronze!
The smile on his lips grew wider and wider, almost impossible to hide.
suddenly!
He suddenly stood up, a movement that startled everyone in the hall.
Ying Zheng walked up to a guard and drew his bronze sword from his waist with a clang!
The guard froze, not daring to make a move.
The atmosphere inside the main hall became tense.
Ying Zheng held an iron sword in his left hand and a bronze sword in his right.
Without hesitation, he mustered all his strength and slashed fiercely at the iron sword in his left hand with the bronze sword in his right hand!
"bite--!"
A scene that neither Ying Zheng nor Fusu expected happened!
At the point where the two swords clashed, the fine bronze sword used by the imperial guard shattered instantly!
The broken blade shattered into pieces, which flew out and one of them embedded itself in a distant pillar with a clang!
The whole process happened in an instant.
quiet!
The main hall was completely silent.
Ying Zheng's body jolted violently. He froze on the spot, looking down at the remaining half of the sword hilt in his right hand.
The force of the recoil made his hand go numb, but he felt nothing.
All he could see was the broken sword tip and the iron sword in his left hand with only a faint white mark left on it!
The guard whose sword had been taken away was utterly stunned, his pupils dilated in shock.
How... is this possible?
That was a bronze sword, carefully selected from the army and issued to the Imperial Guards!
It broke with just one strike?
Fusu, who was standing to the side, also gasped. He stepped forward and stared intently at the iron sword.
This is no longer a matter of the quality of weapons!
Because this iron sword was cast using a mold!
Not crafted by artisans!
And it can be mass-produced at any time!
Only Zhang Fan and Mo Feng, who already knew the outcome, remained calm and took it all for granted.
a long time.
Ying Zheng finally snapped out of his shock.
He slowly lowered the broken sword in his hand, raised the iron sword again, and his eyes shone brightly!
He burst into laughter, his laughter filled with surprise!
"Good! Good! Good!"
He said "good" three times in a row, his voice echoing throughout the hall.
"What a magnificent piece of steel!"
"Truly a divine artifact of our Great Qin!"
"Zhang Fan!"
Ying Zheng's voice was loud and clear, echoing throughout the Zhangtai Palace.
"Such a divine object is enough to increase the military strength of our Great Qin Dynasty several times over!"
"For this achievement, he deserves to be ennobled as a marquis with ten thousand households!"
Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!
Upon hearing this, even the usually composed Mo Feng paused, his breath caught in his throat.
This was already one of the highest honors a subject of the Qin state could receive!
However, Zhang Fan bowed deeply once again, declining this enormous sum of money.
"Your Majesty, my achievements are all thanks to Your Majesty's boundless divine might and the tireless efforts of the artisans of the Imperial Academy!"
"Your subject dares not claim credit!"
He raised his head, his gaze clear and resolute.
"What I desire is only the promise I made with Your Majesty—those three thousand soldiers!"
"Your Majesty, I am willing to wield this powerful weapon to conquer the Japanese invaders in the east, expand the territory of Great Qin, and display our might overseas!"
Hearing that Zhang Fan was still focused on expanding territory rather than the current position, Ying Zheng's appreciation for him deepened.
He laughed heartily as he helped Zhang Fan up, feeling extremely gratified.
But then his gaze fell back into the box, looking at the strangely shaped "triangular iron rods," and he finally showed a puzzled expression.
"Zhang Fan, I understand the power of this iron sword!"
"But what exactly is the purpose of these iron rods?"
"This object has neither a sharp edge nor is it a heavy weapon; could it also be a weapon?"
Zhang Fan smiled mysteriously:
"Your Majesty, this weapon is even more powerful than an iron sword!"
"The specific functions will be demonstrated tomorrow morning at the court session, in front of all the civil and military officials!"
Although Ying Zheng was as curious as a cat scratching at his heart, as an emperor, he still had this much composure.
He knew that Zhang Fan wanted to take this opportunity to completely silence the dissenting voices in the court!
"Very well! Then I shall wait and see!"
……
The next day.
Xianyang Palace, Qilin Hall.
The atmosphere at the morning court session was exceptionally solemn.
As the civil and military officials lined up, almost everyone's gaze, intentionally or unintentionally, drifted toward Zhang Fan, who stood at the front of the line.
Before the court assembly had even officially begun, a murmur of whispers had already filled the hall.
A military officer lowered his voice and sneered at his colleague beside him.
"This is utterly ridiculous! Zhang Fan is just a sorcerer; has he even read any military texts?"
"Do you know what setting up camp and deploying troops are?"
His adjutant beside him snorted coldly:
"We fought bloody battles on the battlefield, risking our lives countless times, to earn the rank of captain!"
"What makes him so special? Just because he forged a few pieces of new iron?"
"It's one thing to be rewarded with a title and a fiefdom for this achievement, but to actually dare to covet military power?"
"This is an insult to the military merit system of my Great Qin!"
On the civil officials' side.
The officials looked furious; they had already conspired together and prepared countless accusations.
"Lord Zong, this trend must not be allowed to continue!"
The new censor, filled with righteous indignation, spoke out...
"The interference of sorcerers in politics is already a chaotic situation; now they're even interfering in the military!"
"Military operations and warfare are matters of paramount importance to the nation, concerning the lives of countless soldiers and the safety of the country!"
"How can we entrust this to a charlatan who knows nothing of warfare?"
"This is child's play, and utterly absurd!"
Zong Yu closed his eyes slightly, stroked his beard, and said in a deep voice:
"Please calm down. Although His Majesty was angered by him yesterday, he is ultimately a wise and benevolent ruler!"
"When the court assembly begins later, we only need to reason with them and explain the advantages and disadvantages!"
"In the end, leading troops into battle depends on the brave sons of our Great Qin military families, not some ethereal magical arts!"
Just as the court assembly was about to begin, a report came from outside the hall:
"Summoning—Marquis Tongwu, Wang Ben, and his son, Colonel Changxin, Wang Li, to an audience!"
The voice just fell.
Wang Ben and Wang Li, clad in armor, strode into the hall.
Wang Ben saluted Ying Zheng!
Wang Li's gaze was immediately drawn to the box in the center of the hall.
He saw the steel ingots and iron swords inside, and his pupils contracted slightly.
However, as the descendant of a military family, he had his own pride, and the description his father gave him yesterday did not completely convince him.
When his gaze fell on those triangular iron bars, disdain overwhelmed his surprise.
He stepped forward, his voice booming:
"Your Majesty! This humble general is Wang Li!"
"I've heard that the Protectorate Master intends to use this item to command the army, but I truly don't understand!"
He pointed directly at the triangular bayonet in the box, his tone tinged with doubt.
"These short, bladeless clubs are strangely shaped and lightweight; they probably couldn't even pierce ordinary leather armor!"
"How can I go into battle and kill the enemy?"
"To equip my Qin warriors with such a weapon would be child's play!"