Qian Mingyi, a scholar from Hanlin, rode on a horse and said to Yang Cha, the imperial historian beside him: "Tanglong Town is a small victory, it is said that he did not fight with the enemy, but the Khitans went deep into the Song Realm and died of cold and starvation. Now all of a sudden, let's watch the troops, saying that there are some muskets and artillery weapons, where has there been such a thing in this dynasty for decades? There have always been a lot of divine weapons, at most they are only performing martial arts in front of the palace, where is there such a haste to mobilize the people! ”

Yang Cha said lightly: "The Privy Council must have a deep meaning when it does this. ”

Qian Mingyi laughed when he heard this: "Taiwei Xia intends to write in the Chinese book, everyone in the world knows it, don't you understand it!" ”

Yang Cha remained silent and rode his horse forward slowly.

Qian Mingyi was born as a scholar because of his previous relationship with Lu Yijian, and he was appointed as a bachelor of Hanlin for five years, which was an unprecedented promotion speed since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, and he was in his early thirties at this time. Yang Cha is the first year of Jingyou, slightly older than Qian Mingyi, in his thirties, he became a Zhongcheng in the imperial history, and he is also a rare young high-ranking official. Because of the same age, Qian Mingyi felt that he was the same kind of person as Yang Cha, so he came forward. But I didn't know that although Yang Cha was young, he was a senior scholar and had outstanding political achievements, so he didn't look down on a lucky person like Qian Mingyi.

On the other side, Zhang Fangping, the envoy of the third division, said to Wang Yaochen, a scholar of Hanlin: "The northwest is negotiating peace, and the world has finally calmed down. The first battle of Tanglong Town can inspire morale, and you can reward the border ministers, why bother? ”

Wang Yaochen said: "The Privy Council must be justified in doing this, let's go and see." ”

Most of the people who came this time were middle and high-ranking officials, as well as a group of generals from Sanya, about 100 people, who slowly walked out of the city gate under the guidance of the guide.

The soldier Ning got the report and said to Wang Kai: "The hundred officials have already left, quickly take care of the dishes here." The soldiers who participated in the performance were all standing in place and were not allowed to make noise. Come with me to meet the Prime Minister and the Captain. ”

According to the order of the warrior Ning, the place was rearranged and looked messy. Du Zhongxiao, Wang Kai and Han Jiang, together with Han Jiang, hurriedly organized people to clean up, put everything in order, and followed the soldiers Ning towards Xinzhengmen.

welcomed a group of civil and military officials led by Chen Zhizhong and Xia Zhu to the stage to stop, and Wang Kai and Du Zhongxiao stepped forward to report. Everything was as it was, Du Zhongxiao stood still on the side, and Wang Kai stepped down to direct the martial arts.

Looking at the officials in the front row, Zhang Fangping, Qian Mingyi, and Yang Cha are in their thirties and forties, but they are already at the top level, and they are only one step away from being slaughtered, Du Zhongxiao is a little embarrassed. He is also a young jinshi, and he has been in the officialdom for five years, but he is only a knowledgeable soldier and has no future. I don't know when I will have the opportunity to rise to the top like these people. Like Qian Mingyi, he became a bachelor of Hanlin in five years, and I don't know how this official did it.

I have signed Xia Zhu's contract, but I don't have a close relationship with him, let alone any personal relationship. He looks at himself differently, but it is just the unspoken rule of this era, and the particularity of this position is judged.

After the following preparations were completed, Wang Kai stepped forward and replied loudly. Xia Zhu ordered Wang Kai to preside over and officially began to perform martial arts.

As the Xuanzan guards received the order, the chattering of the officials stopped, and the atmosphere suddenly became solemn.

Xia Zhu ordered Du Zhongxiao to come to him and said, "Which is the musket below, which is the artillery, and how to use it, you can tell the ministers." ”

Du Zhongxiao gave up his promise. Pointing to the artillery below, he said, "That's artillery, it's all made of good iron, and it's expensive." To use it, put gunpowder in it first, and then put in the projectile. There is a powder pool behind the cannon, and the fuse is ignited with fire when it is fired, and the gunpowder is ignited through the medicine pool to shoot a projectile. ”

Pang Ji said: "Gunpowder is just an ordinary thing, how can you shoot a projectile?" ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Back to Xianggong, gunpowder is different from gunpowder, and the artillery is specially made. ”

How is it different? Du Zhongxiao didn't say it, and it was not easy for others to ask. If you think about it, you also know that there are many kinds of gunpowder in the army, and there are all kinds of gunpowder used in rockets, such as those that are specially used to cause smoke, those that are specially fired, and those that are specially poisoned.

Du Zhongxiao finished the rough price, and Wang Kai had also commanded the soldiers to complete the filling and report loudly.

Du Zhongxiao whispered: "The cannon fire below, the sound is not small, you are careful." ”

As soon as the sound fell, several muffled sounds were heard. In the smoke of gunpowder, the projectile smashed into the earthen wall two hundred paces away.

"Huh-" Several generals of the Sanya who were standing beside Xia Zhu, the palace marshal Li Yonghe, the horse marshal Xu Huaide, and the step marshal Guo Chengyou spoke together, and couldn't help but step forward. They all came with their subordinates with the intention of watching the excitement, but they didn't expect the power of the artillery to be so great, and they would collapse the earthen wall more than 200 steps away with one shot, which was very unexpected.

After looking at it for a while, Xu Huaide said: "Looking at the appearance of the earthen wall over there, this artillery is much stronger than the whirlwind cannon used in the army. If you use a whirlwind cannon, you can't hit it so far, and it won't be so powerful. ”

Guo Chengyou said: "Yes, such a sharp weapon, I have never seen it before, and there are few people who use it." ”

The palace marshal Li Yonghe is the emperor's uncle, a relative, and the main reason for sitting in this position is that he is high, and his nephew respects him. Although he usually manages his subordinates strictly, he rarely expresses his opinions on such occasions, and he has never led troops to fight, so he stands there silent.

The Whirlwind Cannon is the most widely used trebuchet when defending the city, located at the head of the city, and is named Whirlwind because it can be fired in multiple directions. That thing can only hit dozens of paces away, and it is not very powerful, of course, it is not comparable to artillery. Even in order to facilitate transportation, the cannon made by Du Zhongxiao is not large, and it is not comparable to a trebuchet. Not to mention the whirlwind cannon, the large stone cannon pulled by hundreds of people is not good.

Several of the three generals expressed their interest, and the officials immediately became lively and discussed. It's a pity that among these high-ranking officials, only Pang Ji once served in the border area, or after the end of the war, he couldn't get a result from the messy discussion. It's nothing more than discussing with each other whether they can break through the city wall with this artillery, and what level of city wall can they break.

Ding Du, the governor of the political affairs, once compiled the "General Essentials of the Martial Arts" with Zeng Gongliang, and he was involved in the military system and weapons, and no one could compare with him in theoretical knowledge. stepped forward and looked at it carefully for a while, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Zhijun, if you use this artillery, can you get the Kaifeng city wall?" ”

Du Zhongxiao replied honestly: "Back to Xianggong, all the cannons made now are small cannons, which are easy to carry in the army, so naturally they can't help the Kaifeng City Wall." If you make a cannon regardless of the cost, it will be difficult to say. The cannon is different from other weapons. ”

Ding Du was taken aback: "This is a small cannon?" If it's a cannon, how big is it? ”

Du Zhongxiao thought about it carefully, and the early large artillery in his impression was no better than the artillery of the Ottoman attack on Constantinople. I don't remember the name anymore, but I remember that the cannon was so huge that it blasted through the walls of Constantinople. The city wall of Kaifeng is not particularly strong, because since the founding of the country, there has been a discussion of moving the capital, and it is not as good as the thousand-year-old city wall of Constantinople.

Seeing that all the officials around him were looking at him, Du Zhongxiao said: "Iron casting cannons have many disadvantages, and it is difficult to cast cannons. If you use copper, you can make it very huge. It is not difficult to go out with one shot, fight several miles away, and collapse the city wall. However, the price of such a cannon is terrifying, and an army cannot afford it. The cannon is also difficult to transport, so it is not as good as this small cannon. Not a big war, it doesn't take much artillery. ”