klisemfg Chapter 239: If you are not called Qingping, you can’t be happy (8)
Chapter 239: If you are not called Qingping, you can’t be happy (8)
"Sir, no matter if Zhao Yuanhao has brains or not, we can't let our guard down. Although the Tangut forces are not strong, we are afraid that the Khitans nearby will wait for an opportunity to act."
This did happen in history. At that time, the Song and Xia were fighting hard, and the Liao Kingdom saw the opportunity and decided to send troops to occupy the ten counties south of the pass. However, the Song Dynasty was not unaware of this, and they strengthened their defense and vigilance in this area in time.
Emperor Xingzong of Liao noticed the actions of the Song Dynasty, so he sent envoys to deliver a letter to the Song court, asking the Song court to return the territories of the Northern Han Dynasty, which was originally a vassal state of Liao, and the ten counties south of the Guan Pass, otherwise the Treaty of Chanyuan would not be able to continue.
After the two sides argued for a while, the Song Dynasty did not give up the land, but on the basis of the annual tribute to Liao stipulated in the Treaty of Chanyuan, it added an additional 100,000 taels of silver and 100,000 pieces of silk, thus ending the dispute over land.
Zhao Zhen said confidently: "No, I sent an envoy to the Liao Kingdom two years ago, and the border between Liao and Song has been peaceful in the past two years, and there has been no major friction. I believe Yelu Zongzhen does not want to go to war with our dynasty."
The year before last is the year before last, and the year after next is the year after next, okay?
Just like you didn’t have a child two years ago, and now you have a daughter, things are always developing and changing, don’t you understand this principle?
Lu Changqing felt that it was not that Zhao Zhen did not understand, but that it was a method of spiritual victory.
He had no power to change these things, so he could only make things develop in the direction he expected.
Lu Changqing was promoted to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Imperial Court. With Zhao Zhen's oral instructions, he was led by Zhang Maozhe to the Crossbow Department of the Northern Song Dynasty Weapons Manufacturing Factory.
It was probably because Zhao Zhen had too good a temper, which caused many officials in the court to have their eyes on their foreheads and always look down on others.
For example, the eunuch supervisor named Li in front of him.
"What kind of joke is this, government? Just based on a blueprint, you want us to put down our important tasks and make this firearm? Isn't this ridiculous?"
"Mr. Zhong, it's too early for you to say that. I haven't even started anything yet. How do you know that it won't work?"
The eunuch surnamed Li snorted coldly, shook the blueprint in front of Lu Changqing, and said contemptuously: "Don't you even look at what you are drawing? You want to kill people with a copper pipe? You are dreaming!"
Lu Changqing pulled the blueprint back from the hands of the man surnamed Li and smiled at him, "Am I just dreaming? Why are you so angry if you can just wait and see?"
"And be polite to me. I am now called a guard, and my rank is not lower than yours."
After Lu Changqing finished speaking, he rolled his eyes at Li, and without waiting for him to speak, he said to another eunuch supervisor standing in the room: "I know you look down on me because I am a woman, and think I have no right to give you orders, but I hope you two remember that I came to your company on orders from the government to make muskets."
Lu Changqing shook the blueprint in his hand and said, "This thing someone is talking about is something that the government has seen and asked me to make. You can ignore me, but please take the government's request seriously."
The fatter eunuch stepped forward and said, "You are joking, the guard. Since this is arranged by the emperor, we, as ministers, should share the emperor's worries."
Lu Changqing nodded, "Okay, then I'll trouble you to find five capable people from the government office to serve me."
Zhang Maoze accompanied Lu Changqing to live in the Gongnuyuan. Everyone in the court knew that Zhang Maoze was a favorite of Zhao Zhen. With his presence, the people in the Gongnuyuan treated Lu Changqing more politely.
With sufficient materials and manpower, the first musket was quickly made.
After Lu Changqing brought the musket back to the palace, Zhao Zhen took the torch and lit the fuse himself.
He was pleasantly surprised that this musket was just as Lu Changqing had said before, it could fire multiple rounds of ammunition at a time, with stones and iron bullets flying everywhere, and the impact area was indeed very large, but he was also disappointed with its unsatisfactory accuracy.
"The greatest function of this official musket is not to kill people."
Zhao Zhen was stunned, "What's the point of not killing people?"
"Of course it is used to disrupt the enemy's formation."
The Iron Harriers under Li Yuanhao were a heavy cavalry corps of 3,000 men, whose role was to charge into the enemy lines and lead the charge.
In modern times, throwing some grenades would solve the problem, but in the era of cold weapons, the heavy cavalry corps is almost like the nuclear mushrooms in Plants vs. Zombies.
However, the Iron Harriers' charge method can usually only be used once on a battlefield, and it is generally difficult to organize a second wave after the first wave.
Therefore, as long as the Song army can hold out in the first wave, they will generally win afterwards.
Zhao Zhen looked as if he had suddenly realized something. "You want to shoot the horse with a musket?"
Lu Changqing shook his head and said, "Shoot people and horses."
"The Dangxiang tribe is very good at horsemanship. When the two armies fight, they usually charge with heavy cavalry or light cavalry. For the heavy cavalry, we can use trip wires or spears to trip the horses, and then use hammers, maces and other weapons to break the armor. For the light cavalry or infantry, we can use fire guns to directly hit the horses or people."
Zhao Zhen frowned when he saw Lu Changqing loading ammunition on the spot. "Your idea is good, but isn't loading too troublesome?"
"This is originally an auxiliary firearm, created to be used with archers."
Lu Changqing said as he handed the reloaded musket to Zhao Zhen, "Your Majesty, can you ask the ministers in the court to come and see the effect of this musket? If possible, I hope that Your Majesty can order the Archery Academy to manufacture a batch as soon as possible for the northwest border defense."
Bai Shiyuan returned to the Bai Mansion with a happy face. Before he even entered the main courtyard, he laughed and asked Du Hezhi and the others to come out quickly.
Du Hezhi and Bai Xingke came forward to greet Bai Shiyuan. Although she was full of resentment towards her husband, she put on a concerned look on her face, "Sir, is there any good news?"
"Wenqing really gave birth to a good daughter for me!" Bai Shiyuan laughed and ordered someone to go to Xiyuan to call Lin Wenqing over.
As soon as Lin Wenqing arrived at the front yard, Bai Shiyuan called her forward, held her hand and kept praising her for her kindness and generosity, and for her great contributions to the Bai family.
Lin Wenqing looked puzzled, "My Lord, what happened?"
"Fu Ying was commended by the government and is now a master of writing. Not long ago, he invented something called a fire gun. He has now been appointed as the deputy envoy of the bow and crossbow department and is responsible for supervising the manufacture of fire guns."
Bai Xingke looked like he was struck by lightning, staring blankly at Bai Shiyuan's opening and closing mouth.
"Dad... Dad, what did you say that Fourth Sister created?"
"Muscle, what's wrong?" Bai Shiyuan asked puzzledly.
"Dad, have you ever seen what the musket looks like?"
Bai Shiyuan coughed awkwardly. With his current rank, he was not qualified to attend the court. He also heard from his superior that the thing looked like a round tube.
"No wonder!"
Bai Shiyuan looked at Bai Xingke in confusion, "What's the wonder?"
Bai Xingke cried and laughed, "No wonder she didn't want to get married, no wonder she wanted to enter the palace, no wonder she said those words to me before she left."
Du Hezhi was frightened by Bai Xingke's appearance and hugged her shaky body, "Son, don't scare me, what's wrong with you?"
"Mom, I'm so stupid!" Bai Xingke suddenly broke down and cried, "She has changed so much, and I didn't realize it at first! I'm so stupid! Mom!"
Bai Shiyuan was frightened by Bai Xingke's hysterical crying. He was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at Bai Xingke, cursing: "You are so wicked! Today is your fourth sister's big day, why are you crying?"
Bai Xingke ignored Bai Shiyuan and just fell into Du Hezhi's arms and cried, as if he wanted to cry the sky down.
She is obviously a modern person and knows the course of history, so why has she never thought of breaking away from the rules set for her by this world?
Why did she adapt so well to this society where women were required to follow the rules? Why did she take pride in being law-abiding? Why did she think it was natural for men to have three wives and four concubines, but that women who became concubines were willing to be lowly?
Why did she become like this?
Bai Xingke couldn't understand why she had never thought about these questions. She felt like she had suffered a great injustice and now she just wanted to cry.