Zhongdu, the Golden Palace.

Emperor Dajin Wan Yan Yong sat firmly in the golden palace, and the ministers of civil and military affairs stood in two compartments according to their ranks. Wan Yan Yong said: "The former envoy from the Southern Song Dynasty submitted his credentials to my Dajin, and asked me Dajin to send envoys to drive the Southern Song Dynasty Jiankang and watch the Autumn Festival. ”

The civil and military ministers of Dajin also read this letter to the effect that the Song Dynasty was scheduled to hold an autumn call on the tenth day of October this year, and hunted in the fields, and specially notified the Jin State and asked the Jin State to send envoys to watch it. The language of this letter is very decent, and the envoys are neither humble nor arrogant, and they also answer Wan Yanyong's questions well, and they can't find anything wrong. Therefore, Wan Yan Yong ordered the messenger to send the messenger to the pavilion to rest and wait for the response. The next day, the civil and military ministers were gathered to discuss countermeasures together.

The Jin and Song Dynasty agreed that the two countries would send envoys to each other to congratulate each other on the New Year's Day and the birthday of the emperors of both sides. In addition, when there is a major event in the two countries, such as the establishment of the queen, the establishment of the crown prince, or the funeral, or other major events, they must notify each other and send envoys to participate. For example, last year, Zhao Chen got married, and the queen was established, and Jin Guo was notified. Jin Guo also sent Shi Yuan, the governor of the government, as an envoy to the Southern Song Dynasty to congratulate.

And Qiu Qiu obviously can't be compared with such major events as the establishment of the queen and the establishment of the crown prince. However, the Southern Song Dynasty still solemnly sent envoys to inform Dajin, obviously indicating that the Southern Song Dynasty regarded this autumn attack very much. In terms of the etiquette of diplomatic relations between the two countries, it is also impeccable. But Dajin's ministers also know that Qiu Mao is actually a martial arts exercise, so this time the Southern Song Dynasty invited Dajin to watch it, and the intention was not so simple.

At this time, Prime Minister Zuo Zhongyi came out and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that now Western Xia is preparing to invade the northwest of the Southern Song Dynasty on a large scale, and the Southern Song Dynasty must also know about it. At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty held the Autumn Festival, which was nothing more than to show off its strength to our Dajin and show its military might. I hope to take this opportunity to suppress the Western Xia, or through my big gold, to warn the Western Xia not to use troops easily. ”

Wan Yanyong nodded, he could roughly guess this. As early as the beginning of the year, when the Western Xia invaded the border of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty sent envoys to the Jin State to ask if the Jin State was behind the Western Xia. Wan Yanyong naturally pushed it all away.

Emperor Fusan Zhongyi replied to the Song envoys, saying that although Western Xia was a vassal state of Dajin in the clear sense, Dajin could not interfere in its internal affairs, and what Western Xia did had nothing to do with Dajin. Dajin would never support the Western Xia to invade the Southern Song Dynasty, and he complained that he had no ability to demand that the Western Xia withdraw from the army. And Wanyan Zongzheng also ridiculed that after the Shaoxing Peace Conference, the Southern Song Dynasty also declared itself a vassal to Dajin, and Dajin did not interfere in any internal affairs of the Southern Song Dynasty, which is the same reason.

At that time, the envoys of the Great Song Dynasty were neither humble nor arrogant, but only said that since this is the case, why did the Jin State increase troops on the border? The answer of the servant was that the increase of troops on the border was a matter for the Jin State, and had nothing to do with the affairs of the Song and Western Xia countries. The envoys of the Great Song Dynasty immediately chased after it, so if the Great Song sent troops to counterattack, or even hit the Western Xia realm, would it have nothing to do with the Jin State? Will Jin Guo also ignore it? Fusan Zhongyi replied that Dajin would not pay attention to the affairs of the Song and Western Xia. And so on.

But Jin Guo also understands that these are words in the diplomatic arena. The Southern Song Dynasty would never believe that there was no shadow of the Jin State behind the Western Xia invasion, and once the Southern Song Dynasty really hit the Western Xia territory, Dajin would not sit idly by. Especially now, the Jin State has increased its troops on the border, which has caused great pressure on the Southern Song Dynasty, and in such a situation, in the face of the imminent full-scale invasion of Western Xia, the Southern Song Dynasty has only recently sent Cao Xun, the commander of the Ma Military Division, with less than 30,000 troops into Sichuan to support. However, the two best young generals of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yang Yan and Bi Zaiyu, one stayed in Jiankang, and the other was stationed in Hubei, not daring to move lightly.

Under such circumstances, the Southern Song Dynasty held the Autumn Festival with great fanfare, naturally planning to take the opportunity to show off its military might, hoping to take advantage of this town to capture the Jin Kingdom and Western Xia.

Wan Yanyong said again: "In this case, how should my Dajin deal with the autumn of the Southern Song Dynasty?" ”

Servant San Zhongyi said: "According to the opinion of Weichen, my Dajin not only wants to send envoys to watch, but also to pay great attention to the specifications, one can test the reality of the Southern Song Dynasty, see how effective the Southern Song Dynasty is after changing the law and reforming the military system, and at the same time bring a small number of elite soldiers, looking for appropriate opportunities, and also show my Dajin's military might in front of the Southern Song Dynasty monarchs and soldiers, and frustrate the spirit of the Southern Song Dynasty." ”

Wan Yan Yong nodded and said: "Qing's words are reasonable, but it is easy to test the reality of the Southern Song Dynasty, but it is not easy to show my Dajin military prestige in front of the Southern Song Dynasty monarchs and soldiers, and my Dajin is just to watch the Southern Song Dynasty, and it is indispensable to have courtesy, which makes people laugh at my Dajin rudeness." Therefore, we must take a long-term view and think of a perfect solution. ”

The ministers were silent. Although it is simple to say, it is extremely difficult to do, because now the ministers of the Jin State know that the combat effectiveness of the army of the Southern Song Dynasty is not comparable to that of the night, so it is not easy to use only a small number of elite soldiers to defeat the sharp spirit of the Southern Song Dynasty in the Southern Song Dynasty. And now Dajin doesn't want the Southern Song Dynasty to easily tear his face, in case the Southern Song Dynasty is annoyed and embarrassed, and he really has to turn his face with the Jin Kingdom, this consequence is not good.

At this time, Taishi Shangshu ordered Zhang Hao to come out of the ranks, and said: "Your Majesty, according to the old minister's opinion, now all the ministers have no good plan, so don't visit and ask Nanjing's Wanyan Changzhi to see if he has any good way?" ”

Wan Yanyong nodded and said, "The old lady's words are reasonable, fortunately, there are still nearly three months before the tenth day of October, and it is still too late to prepare." ”

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Just when Dajin was discussing how to deal with the Southern Song Dynasty and the later autumn season. Zhao Chen, the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, accompanied by Han Yanzhi, Liu Hui, Li Xianzhong, Yang Yan and others, was watching the new weapons manufactured by the Ordnance Supervisor.

In terms of technology, the Great Song Dynasty has always been ahead of the surrounding other countries, due to the lack of war horses of the Great Song Dynasty, so the technological advantage has become the greatest advantage of the Great Song Dynasty and the surrounding countries. Weapons such as bed crossbows, divine arm bows, and firearms were all used by the Song army to defeat the enemy.

After Zhao Chen succeeded to the throne, he also paid more attention to the manufacture and innovation of ordnance, and deliberately separated the ordnance institute under the Ministry of Industry and re-established the ordnance superintendent. There is one supervisor, who is the fourth grade, one young eunuch, who is the fifth, two people, who is the sixth grade, and several people who are the main bookkeeper, who are the seventh grade. Now Zhang Mi is the ordnance supervisor, Wei Chang is the ordnance superintendent, and Sun Wei, who is good at making firearms, is now the ordnance superintendent.

There are six departments under the Ordnance Supervision: the Ordnance Bureau, the Crossbow Workshop Department, the A Workshop Department, the Fire Workshop Department, the East and West Workshops, and the Workshop Material Depot. Among them, the Ordnance Department is in charge of manufacturing all kinds of weapons; The crossbow workshop department is in charge of bows and arrows, divine arm bows, bed crossbows, etc.; The Department is in charge of the manufacture of various types of armor; The Fire Workshop Department is responsible for the manufacture of all kinds of firearms; The east and west workshops are in charge of making flags, tents, and other things; The supervisor of the workshop material warehouse is in charge of collecting materials such as iron and tin, paint, leather, tendons and horns, etc., for the use of other departments.

In the past two years, thanks to the unremitting efforts of Wei Chang and others, the Ordnance Supervision has also achieved remarkable results. First of all, the technology of iron smelting was improved, and the strength and toughness were created, and the armor and sharp weapons were made stronger.

Moreover, Wei Chang carefully studied the Zhuge repeating crossbow, and finally designed a kind of repeating crossbow that fired faster and had a longer range, with an arrow box, there were ten feather arrows in a box, and the firing speed exceeded that of the Tsuji bow and arrows more than doubled, in the test, when four or five arrows were shot with the bow, the ten arrows of the repeating crossbow were all shot in the warp, and the effective range could also reach between eighty and one hundred steps, which was about the same as the range of a stone bow.

At the same time, Wei Chang also transformed the Divine Arm Bow. Although the Divine Arm Bow is laborious to pull and the speed of firing is slow, the effective range can reach more than 200 steps. With such a long range, the use of which cannot be abandoned. After Wei Chang's transformation, it is also much labor-saving when it is opened, and it can basically be pulled away without stepping on it, so the launch speed is also greatly improved compared with the original.

After these two crossbows were made, Han Yanzhi, Liu Heng, Li Xianzhong, Yang Yan and others all tested them, and they were all people who had experienced the battlefield, so they naturally knew the great power of these two crossbows, and they all praised them. The Song army was originally known for its good use of bows and crossbows, and now its combat effectiveness will be improved to another level. As a result, both crossbows were now being mass-produced to be assembled earlier for more Song troops.

In addition, Sun Wei and the technicians of the Fire Fang Department went through repeated tests, and even killed two technicians because of the explosive explosion during the test. Finally, the new formula of the two gunpowders was redetermined, and the new formula of firearms such as thunderbolts and thunderbolts was more powerful and more lethal.

Today, what Zhao Chen and others came to watch was the latest firearm manufactured by the Fire Fang Bureau-artillery. This is based on the principle of the assault gun, the bamboo barrel was changed to copper casting, and thickened and lengthened, but also after repeated tests, it took tens of thousands of pounds of steel and cooked copper to finally manufacture and perfect the new weapon.

In the eyes of everyone, they saw that they were five hollow large copper pillars more than six feet long and more than one foot thick, with a caliber about the thickness of a small bowl, all of which were fixed by erections, and the muzzles of the guns pointed diagonally upwards and forwards, one every two zhang. Under the command of Sun Wei, other operators are filling the cannon with gunpowder, loading the nodg, and tamping and compacting the gunpowder.

And more than three miles in front, erected a row of large bowls with thick mouths, more than one zhang high wooden grille, spread horizontally, about 20 zhang wide. And behind the wooden grille, about a zhang away, is an earthen wall, more than two zhang high, more than three feet thick, and more than 20 zhang wide.

At this time, the gunpowder was reloaded. Each cannon had a pantage lead at the end.

Wei Chang came to everyone, saluted Zhao Chen, and said, "Your Majesty, we are about to start firing cannons, please ask the emperor and all the adults to temporarily retreat ten zhang away in case of accidents." ”

Everyone followed the words and retreated more than ten zhang away. Wei Chang said: "The sound of the cannon is very deafening, and everyone who lights the cannon will plug their ears with cotton balls, so I also ask the emperor and all the adults to plug their ears." Someone brought a tray of cotton balls. Pick up two of them yourself and put them in your ears as you demonstrate.

Although everyone was a little puzzled, they all followed Wei Chang's example and picked up two cotton balls to plug their ears. The attendants and guards who came with him did not have cotton balls, but they all covered their ears with their hands according to Wei Chang's instructions.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Wei Chang immediately made a gesture to Sun Wei, who was guarding the artillery, indicating that he could start.

Sun Wei nodded, turned around, and shook the small order flag in his hand. Immediately, an operator with a torch in his hand lit the lead.

Suddenly, I only heard "boom-boom-boom-" several loud sounds, the firelight appeared, the black smoke was filled, almost earth-shattering, even if the ears were blocked, they were also shocked to "buzz, buzz" in the ear chakra. And even though it was more than ten zhang away, I felt that the earth was shaking, shaking people. Everyone looked at each other, and several of the attendants were unprepared for a while, and they all fell to the ground. You can see how amazing the momentum is.

After the smoke cleared, I looked at the row of wooden grates in the distance, and they were blown to pieces, and the ground was full of debris. The earthen wall behind it is completely exposed.

Immediately after that, the technicians at the side of the cannons were busy cleaning the residue in the chambers of the cannons, and then filling the gunpowder, and after being so busy for nearly a quarter of an hour, the five cannons once again erupted tongues of fire, and this time everyone was prepared, and they were all very determined, until they all stood firm, and after the bombardment, more than a dozen holes of various sizes were blasted out of the earthen wall. Immediately after that, two more rounds of artillery were fired in succession, and more than a dozen cracks were blasted out of the earthen wall, and the cracks were as dense as spider webs. At this time, the artillery firing exercise was all over.

Everyone took out the cotton ball in their ears, and then they all breathed a sigh of relief. Yang Yan and Li Xianzhong looked at each other, they were both generals who were on the front line in person, and it was obvious that what they had just seen made them feel the most shocked. The power of artillery is not at all comparable to the bed crossbow, the fire dragon out of the bucket, the thunder and the like. Not only is the destructive power amazing, but the range is extremely long, which can reach more than a thousand steps. This advantage alone is considerable. Once used on the battlefield, it will bring great lethality to the enemy. Now it's just a matter of how to use it to get the most out of the artillery.

Although Zhao Chen, Han Yanzhi, Liu Heng and others were not as shocked as Yang Yan and Li Xianzhong, they were all knowledgeable people, and they were also shocked by the huge power. At this time, Sun Wei and Wei Chang also came to see Zhao Chen again.

Zhao Chen stabilized his mind and laughed loudly: "The two Aiqing have worked hard, I have this sharp weapon, why should I be afraid of Xixia and Jinguo?" Other ministers also congratulated the imperial market, and the Great Song Dynasty added another sharp weapon. Zhao Chen was very happy, and immediately issued an order that all the personnel involved in the artillery manufacturing would be promoted to a higher rank, and all the personnel today will be rewarded with 100 yuan and 100 silk horses.

Sun Wei and Wei Chang were overjoyed when they heard this, and hurriedly led everyone to kneel down together to thank them.