"Xuanzan will also attack the city?"

Zhou Tong looked at Wu Haogu and was a little suspicious. With-Dream- . lā

It's not easy to siege a city! Even if the city of the Western Thieves is not very strong, for the attacking side, it must rely on the sea of corpses and blood to fill it. In the fourth year of Yuanfeng, didn't the army commanded by Gao Zunyu and Liu Changzuo fail to capture Lingzhou City for 18 consecutive days?

"Yes!" Wu Haogu smiled, "Siege and construction of cities are all good at a certain family, but I am not very sure of the field battle." ”

Zhou Tong was still shaking his head, "There is no shortcut to attacking the city, don't underestimate the enemy." ”

Wu Hao Gu said: "I have my own clever plan...... By the way, Old Sect Leader Zhou, do you know who in the forbidden army is good at using gunpowder? ”

"Gunpowder?" Zhou Tong was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then shook his head, "That object is not very useful, it is just a frightening cavalry plus arson, and it is a chicken rib in the siege battle, so there is no special gunpowder soldier in the army, and naturally no one makes good use of it." ”

Gunpowder was used in the military as early as the Tang Dynasty, and was more valued by the imperial court in the Song Dynasty. Under the Ordnance Inspectorate, there are two workshops dedicated to the production of gunpowder and weapons.

However, unlike the imperial court, which attached great importance to firearms, the soldiers in the Northern Song army did not know how to effectively use gunpowder weapons. At most, gunpowder arrows, thistle cannons (actually a bomb), and leather artillery (also a bomb) were used to scare the horses of the enemy cavalry or set fire, but in fact they were not very lethal. Because the casing of the Tribulus Cannon and the Leather Cannon was not very strong, the casing shattered before the gunpowder contained in it fully detonated, so the lethality was greatly reduced.

At the same time, due to the lack of gunpowder granulation, the separation of nitrate, charcoal and sulfur during the transportation of gunpowder weapons will occur, coupled with the insufficient purity of nitrate and sulfur powder, which further reduces the power of deflagration.

However, Wu Haogu knew a very effective way to use gunpowder - siege in the cave!

Later, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom used this method of digging tunnels to bury explosives and conquering many large cities garrisoned by the Manchu army, including Wuchang and Nanjing! It was a brick city in the Ming and Qing dynasties, which was much stronger than the mainstream rammed earth city today, and it was still used by the miners of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to collapse into the sky with gunpowder.

"So can Old Sect Leader Zhou recognize the master of gunpowder?" Wu Haogu, who had made up his mind, asked about the master of gunpowder making again.

In fact, it is not very difficult to prepare gunpowder, and Wu Haogu himself knows the ratio of nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. However, the purification of saltpeter and sulfur was a problem for Wu Haogu, and there was not much market for gunpowder, and it was relatively sensitive, so Wu Haogu did not establish a gunpowder factory in Jiehe Shang City.

"How many do you know," Zhou Tong said, "Do you want the old man to run for Xuanzan?" ”

"Then there will be labor," Wu Haogu said with a smile, "Old Sect Leader Zhou had better find a few younger gunpowder masters for his own official, as long as they are willing to come, I will ask for someone to be transferred." And when they take as much as they take for gunpowder, they will give me three times as much money. ”

"Okay," Zhou Tong said, "the old man will go looking for them tomorrow." ”

"Good!" Wu Haogu nodded, "Master He, can you help me go to Xuzhou?" ”

He Tianran was stunned, "What is Xuanzan going to do in Xuzhou?" ”

"Go and hire someone!" Wu Hao Gu said, "You go with Zhou Tiezhu, he was originally a mine tyrant, and he knew a lot of smelters, mine owners and miners. However, he has committed trouble in Xuzhou, so let you follow. ”

"My subordinates know what to do."

There is no need for Wu Hao Guduo to say, He Tianran's gold medal has already been understood, "Please also praise in the name of utility." ”

Utility does not have to be the samurai who charge into battle, and the scribes who accompany the army sometimes carry the name of utility.

"Okay!" Wu Hao Gu said, "I will give you a two-straight utility first, and then I will make you a little envoy when you come back from Xuzhou, and go to the northwest with this official to fill a copy, are you willing?" ”

Wu Haogu first had a copywriter by his side, that is, Wu Chenglan, although he was reliable and his writing was passable, but he couldn't deal with officials in all aspects. And He Tianran is the ace master of Kaifeng Mansion, and he is the best at dealing with officials.

Moreover, his thinking is meticulous, he is familiar with the law, and with him by his side, Wu Haogu is not afraid of a lawsuit with the head of the Western Army.

As soon as he heard that he could be an official, where would he naturally say no? Immediately stood up and saluted Wu Haogu: "The subordinates are willing to follow Xuanzan!" ”

"Good!" Wu Haogu nodded approvingly, and said to Pan Xiao'an, "Brother Eleven, is our martial arts arena in Mu Daogang still there?" ”

"Here," Pan Xiao'an said, "who would dare to occupy the territory of our Xicheng Institute?"

The martial arts arena in Mu Daogang is the place where the imperial army performs martial arts, and it is only used once a year.

"Then bother Brother Eleven to send someone to build an earthen wall," Wu Hao Gudao, "according to the size of the outer wall of the ordinary state city, it doesn't have to be too long, just a few dozen steps." ”

"What's the use of that?"

Wu Haogu said: "Naturally, it's a drill to attack the city!" ”

Build a wall and practice siege?

Wu Haogu's words sound strange, where is the city wall? Can you fix a wall now? And the two straight in front of the emperor are not in Kaifeng Mansion? How to practice?

"Brother Eleven, if you are asked to repair, you will find someone to repair it!" Pan Qiaolian saw that Pan Xiao'an was silent, so she opened her mouth to urge.

"Okay," urged by the sister-in-law, Pan Xiao'an nodded again and again, "Just call someone to repair, and keep it in ten days." ”

"Mo Niangzi," Wu Haogu then called Mo Niangzi's name, "I also trouble you, do a few lip-synchs, and raise the land price outside the west wall of Kaifeng Mansion and the housing prices around the old Guozijian." ”

"Oh, the slave family can save it." For Wu Haogu's request, Mo Niangzi also admired it a little. It's going to be the battlefield, and I don't forget to speculate on real estate and land......

In fact, Wu Dalang is also speculating in houses and land for the country and the people! Only when the house rises can the house slave soldiers have the motivation to fight!

After Wu Haogu's arrangements were completed, it was already dusk. And this is the time when the nightlife and various private political activities in Kaifeng Province begin.

Cai Jing's eldest son, Cai You, also entered the Jinshi at the beginning of the year, although he was also a Jinshi, but because he had already had an official body, he immediately arranged a storytelling dispatch from the Chongzheng Palace, which was actually to accompany the official's family to have fun, which was actually a very hard job! I often have to be busy until midnight, and there is no overtime pay, and sometimes I have to sacrifice hue...... It's so hard.

However, Cai You is still very professional, no matter how hard and tired he is, he will not have a word of complaint, and he has to pretend to be happy on the surface.

When he returned home tonight, it was already the third watch.

Cai You originally thought that his father Cai Jing had gone to bed, but when he went to the main courtyard, he learned that Cai Daxianggong was still waiting in the study for the news he brought back.

After saying goodbye outside the door, Cai You pushed the door and entered the house, and a strong smell of wine came to his face. It turned out that Cai Jing had just "finished working overtime", and invited Wen Yi, the right secretary of the Shangshu, and Liu Kui, the secretary of the military department, at home, to discuss the battle situation in the northwest and the matter of the ancient secret passage of the Liao State by the way.

The situation in the northwest battlefield is generally calm at present, and the posture of Western Xia is very low, while asking the Liao State to mediate; While secretly mobilizing troops and horses, preparing to counterattack.

The Song Dynasty, on the other hand, was adjusting the focus of the attack. Although because of Zhong Fu's interference, the Song army lost the opportunity to expand its gains on the Western Front. However, the defeat of the Haoqian River and the subsequent betrayal of Renduo Baozhong still put the right wing army of Western Xia under great pressure.

Therefore, Tao Jiefu and Zhong Fu on the front line both judged that the main force of the Western Xia army had been transferred to the area of Zhuoluo City and Qinwangchuan.

In this case, the Song army's attack on the Wuding River area should be a sure victory.

In addition, the evidence of Wu Haogu's traitorous minister has also slowly surfaced! One is to keep private soldiers. When Liu Kui visited Goryeo, he found that there were hundreds of private soldiers raised by Wuhao Guyin, all of whom were stubborn and stubborn, comparable to dragon warriors.

In addition to raising private soldiers, Wu Haogu also had a piece of criminal evidence that was exposed not long ago. It is to secretly communicate with the Liao country and buy Liao grain! According to Lu Yihao, the Cangzhou general judge who secretly reported the incident, the person who exposed Wu Haogu Tongliao was the elder brother of Wu Haogu's outer chamber, Du Wenyu. I don't know why, I was chased and killed by Wu Haogu, and I was hit by an arrow in the shoulder, and I fled to Lu Yihao to save my life.

In fact, Wu Haogu had a lot of dealings with the nobles of the Liao Kingdom, and Cai Jing had known about it for a long time. But that can't be a crime, but it's not the same to buy one million to two million Shiliao grain a year...... Well, that doesn't seem to be a crime. After all, the Liao and Song dynasties did not exchange troops, and there was no prohibition on the import of grain in the trade control projects of the Song Dynasty!

Wu Haogu has a bunch of big things around him, don't even think about using this "crime" to defeat him!

But Cai Jing still found an opportunity to bring down Wu Haogu...... Once the Great Song Dynasty occupied the Wuding River Valley, the Liao State would inevitably intervene in the Song-Xia War by threatening or even using military friction. When the time comes, all kinds of communication behaviors in Jiehe Shang City and Wu Haogu must be stopped! But can Wu Haogu, a short-sighted profiteer, be willing to make at least a million grain trade profits a year?

It doesn't get much better than this! If the Song Dynasty imported 2 million Shi Liao's wheat through the Jiehe City Bosi a year, and settled the account according to the cost of transporting the wheat from the north to the south and then southward by the six routes in the southeast, the Jiehe City Bosi in Wuhaogu would have a profit of at least 500,000 yuan.

Will Wu Haogu give up? When the time comes, he will definitely continue to make huge profits by smuggling...... Moreover, Wu Haogu himself was not in charge of the situation in Jiehe Shang City because of the war, and he couldn't slander Zhao Ji and Qianqian, a crime of betraying the country through Liao, could he still run?..

Of course, Cai Jing also knew that Wu Haogu and Zhao Ji had an iron relationship. It's impossible to kill Wu Haogu because of this, but Wu Haogu doesn't want to keep Jiehe City!

This is a fat yamen!