When the New Year's Day approached, Guozijian had already taken a holiday. The gates are closed, but in the teahouses near the south gate, you can still see many scholars in shirts.

Next year will be the year of the imperial examination, and thousands of tribute students from all the states of the world will gather in the capital at this time, and the vicinity of Guozijian is the place where they gather the most.

At noon, Huang Sheng also sat in a hotel box with several scholars, although it was not a main store, it was clean and stylish.

"Mian Zhong." The scholar who spoke had the same accent as Huang Shang, and he carried a wine jug to pour wine for Huang Shang, "What kind of regulations is the imperial court in the northwest?" ”

"It's not like saying that he wants to fight, Bachelor Han is still talking about business with the Liao envoy, and a group of businessmen are about to hit the road. But if you want to say that you won't fight, looking at the appearance of the northwest, it is clear that you want to fight. ”

The examination of the Ministry of Rites is naturally mainly based on scripture and righteousness, but it is inevitable that the question must be linked to current affairs. Looking at the current situation, it is very likely that it is a topic related to the relationship between the Liao and Song dynasties. If you can't grasp the basic attitude of the imperial court towards Liao, then there is nothing to say about falling off the list. If you grasp it well, then the luck of Xining's three-year Ye Zuqia Ye champion may also fall on his head.

Huang Shang is Han Gang's protégé, and he can be regarded as a protégé of Qi Studies, and even he himself lives in Han Gang's mansion, and everyone in the country knows about this matter. Han Gang is now a nameless ruler of the Western Mansion, and in terms of military strategy, the imperial court must refer to his opinions.

In this case, Huang Shang has of course become the object of inquiry by the scholars who are taking the exam.

Huang Sheng didn't know what to say, and he even regretted being invited out today.

Nowadays, all kinds of rumors are spread everywhere. There are facts, but more than that, they are unfounded rumors.

The top ministers have the ability and conditions to distinguish the truth from the false. But the bureaucrats at the bottom can only look for the truth in the vast sea of gossip.

Except for the fact that the west has already fought against the Liao, the rest is a matter of opinion.

Do you want to fight, whether you can fight, whether you should fight, whether you can fight. The attitude of the imperial court was not clear, and Han Gang did not have a single accurate word. Since the imperial court itself does not have a clear statement, how can Huang Shang figure it out?

But all the people around him are in the township, if they are clearly pushing and presuming, then they will be offended, and in the future, without the help of the township party, how can they be officials?

"Bachelors don't talk much about the political affairs of the imperial court on weekdays." Huang Sheng smiled deeply, raised his glass and drank it all, covering his heart, "But as far as the little brother is concerned, the imperial court has made all the preparations." Peace and war or not depend on the north, but no matter what the choice is in the north, the imperial court has a countermeasure. The bachelor has a tough temperament and will not back down. There are some things that the younger brother can't say, but it will come out soon, so you can wait and see. ”

Huang Shang is pretty, but his words are somewhat true.

There was a lot of trouble outside, and the queen listened to the report of the Imperial City Division every morning and evening, and her confidence became less and less. After all, judging from the news coming from the northwest, the small dispute on the border is about to develop in the direction of war.

Lu Huiqing's Xuanfu Division, in the eyes of the queen, has become the source of war. The nonsense of the seed is supported by Lu Huiqing behind his back.

Zhang Dian and Xue Xiang couldn't defend Lu Huiqing, and Han Jiang and Cai Qu in the Eastern Mansion, as well as Zeng Bu, who had just arrived in Beijing, were adding fuel to the fire and deepening Empress Xiang's prejudices.

It's Lu Huiqing himself, and it's inconvenient for him to defend himself. On the one hand, it is planning war, and on the other hand, it is impossible to control subordinates, and the two must be chosen the same, and it will be a headache to put it on anyone.

Han Gang was embarrassed by Lu Huiqing, it was really difficult to choose.

But in order to reassure the queen, he and Xifu must come up with something practical, otherwise they can only let Dongfu continue to make waves.

Luckily, the Ordnance Warden has a good thing.

Although it is under the jurisdiction of Zhongshumen, the East Mansion did not report it, but the eyes and ears of the West Mansion have long been stretched out, after all, among the Jingbai Division, the Weapons Supervisor has the closest relationship with the West Mansion.

It is a very simple machine, not a weapon, but an application of a pulley block.

"It's a winding machine."

The usefulness of the pulley block has long been explained by Han Gang in his personal notes, and it has also been used in the port for a long time. In the ordnance prison, there are also many craftsmen who want to use the principle of labor-saving pulley to transform bows and crossbows.

The first target was not a single bow or crossbow, but a bed crossbow, but the craftsmen were rewarded with a series of failures. What appears now is just a simple winding machine.

This winding machine was presented by a craftsman surnamed Kuri. The winch and pulley are used as the main body. Placing the Divine Arm Bow on the winding machine can save more than half of the effort, and the speed is also faster, and much faster.

If it is changed to a donkey pulling and grinding type, the donkey or ox pulls the winch and turns it in a small half circle, and the bowstring of the divine arm bow is pulled up. In a few blinks, you can get a crossbow ready.

A machine can allow a ten-person person to maintain a normal launch speed; Let a five-person team do rapid fire. If it is for one person, it is an army of one person.

Although in Han Gang's view, this can only be used when defending the city, can the donkey and the mill be dragged into battle together in the field? But he didn't say much on the surface, success or failure, whimsy is a good thing, behind any weapon that has been proven in actual combat, there are a bunch of abandoned designs. It's just that in private, I discussed with Zhang Dian and Xue Xiang.

However, others did not agree with Han Gang's opinion, with the winding machine, it was indeed much more convenient to defend the city. Moreover, there is a limit to human strength, and there are only a handful of fierce generals with the strength of a thousand catties in their two arms, and they can't pull the divine arm bow a thousand times a day. But as long as you have the money, you can build as many as you want, and if you keep improving it, you can even wind several heavy crossbows at a time.

"Originally, the spinning wheel had only one spindle, but now it has sixteen." Zhang Dian smiled and said to Han Gang, "Isn't this what Yukun you once said?" Such as cutting, such as learning, such as grinding, is not only the way of a gentleman, but also the way of instrumental use - this is also what Yukun said, right? ”

Therefore, there was a test launch of the palace two days before the New Year's Festival.

Empress Xiang, the two mansions, and Han Gang all looked at this novel machine in front of the Wuying Palace.

With the assistance of a donkey, a winding machine, and a twelve- or thirteen-year-old little yellow door, Shi Deyi took three divine arm bows and fired alternately, and in a quarter of an hour, he fired a full two hundred crossbow arrows, shooting ten pairs of iron armor sixty paces away.

"As long as there is one, you can defend a wall." In fact, it is impossible, Zhang Dian is purely foolish, but there is some truth in it.

The biggest difference between using cold weapons and hot weapons is the consumption of physical strength. Needless to say, the bow and knife and the like, just the four-stone divine arm bow, if you want to pull it away, you can't do it casually - according to the regulations of the law of war, in order to become a high-ranking forbidden army, you must not be able to get only five hundred yuan a month, you must be able to pull the divine arm bow, and this knife when implementing the art of war makes a full third of the high-ranking forbidden army be demoted.

And to maintain the rate of fire in wartime, it is even more difficult.

If it is a rapid shot, don't do it three or five times, your back will be sore and your legs will be weak, and you will lose your strength directly. Even if there is time to regain momentum, it is impossible to shoot more than 100 times a day, otherwise it will hurt the muscles and bones, and if the treatment is not timely, it can even leave a lifetime of dark wounds in serious cases.

However, the advent of the winding machine has removed the threshold that was originally in front of most people.

"With mules and horses and machines to do the work for you, don't say that the lower forbidden army or the box army that has been demoted, even the old and weak can stand on the head of the city with a divine arm bow. As long as they can hold the bow of the divine arm and buckle the tooth hair. Holding the same divine arm bow, the arrows shot from the hands of the old and weak women and children are the same as sharp soldiers, and there are more than 100,000 soldiers in a county! The elderly, weak, women and children can all go to the city to kill the enemy, as long as the armament is sufficient, what city can be broken?! ”

This should be the benefit of the musket, and now it makes sense to put it on the bow of the god arm with the winding machine.

Empress Xiang was immediately persuaded for the most part, and the rest of her worries made her look at Han Gang: "The bachelor once served as a judge of weapons, and the plate armor is the work of the bachelor." The ordnance supervisor has tens of millions of pounds of steel a year, which is also the ability of a bachelor. I don't know what the bachelor thinks? Is the winding machine available? ”

Han Gang was not against the winding machine of animal power, he just thought that this thing was not suitable for field warfare, and it was certainly not as good as firearms. But now it is necessary to reassure the queen and convince her peers that it is enough to prove that when the Khitan iron cavalry attacks, the official army, mainly the Hebei forbidden army, can hold the city.

What's more, Zhang Dian put a lot of effort into it today, and he can see the ten pairs of iron armor used as targets - all of them are old goods in stock, but the outside has been polished, and they are replaced with today's plate armor, where can he shoot through it in less than forty steps?! - Just looking at this, it is impossible for Han Gang to dismantle him and the Ordnance Supervisor.

"The words of the privy are reasonable. It is the lower county where the household registration in the city is only three or five hundred, and if there are more than thirty or fifty winding machines in the city when defending the city, it is equivalent to thousands of more elite soldiers. Han Gang paused for a moment, and then proposed, "The minister asks to transfer the good workers in the prison, and under the Divine Arm Bow Bureau, a winding machine bureau is attached, and a special person is responsible for manufacturing." If there is a poor quality, it can be traced down to one person, and after the craftsmen of the two bureaus are familiar with each other, they can cooperate with each other and continuously improve...... In the past two years, the newly created Divine Arm Bow, Horse Chopper and Plate Armor have improved a lot and are much stronger than at the beginning. ”

Han Gang, who had been sentenced to the overseer of armaments, was an authority in this regard, and his affirmation and supplementation pushed the last one. can pick up the gaps, and even propose the establishment of a special bureau

To build, Han Gang is equivalent to endorsing the winding machine, rather than simply agreeing to it.

Empress Xiang was completely relieved: "Since this is the case, let the Ordnance Supervision Bureau focus on building the winding machine, the sooner the better." As soon as possible, it will be sent to all roads in Hebei, and the court will reward the craftsmen who are willing to work hard, and the court will not hesitate to reward them. As for Li Zhong, who invented the winding machine...... she looked at the prime minister of Dongfu and the politicians, "I want a heavy reward!" ”

Zeng Bu rushed out of the class and said: "According to the example of the divine arm bow, you can lower the reward by one level." ”

Nodding to the Queen: "Yes." ”

"Isn't it time to get the hot weapon out...... Han Gang thought about it and denied it again, "It's still next year." 'Let's expound the theory in Nature first, and let the others bother with the manufacturing—someone in the ordnance prison will presumably order a more one.' And with the winding machine, it is a little more difficult for the musket to surpass the god arm bow, but the artillery is easier to say.

After finalizing the winding machine, Empress Xiang was also a little relieved about the situation in Hebei, and she no longer had trouble sleeping, and this decision soon spread out, and the city of Tokyo, which was also heart-wrenching, settled down.

With a series of achievements such as the Divine Arm Bow, the Chopping Sword, the Plate Armor, the Spaceship, and the Orbit, the millions of soldiers and civilians in Tokyo City have great confidence in the new invention of the Armory Prison, which is imperceptible for more than ten years, and few people can perceive it, but it is a real existence.

On the last day of the three years of Yuanfeng, the sound of firecrackers resounded throughout the land of Kyushu, east to the sea, west to the desert, south to Jiaozhou, north to the clouds, all of which were beaming to welcome the arrival of the new year.

And along the Lingzhou River, I trekked for hundreds of miles......

He saw Lingzhou.