A huge map, in front of the ministers.

The strength of the Huns in the direction of the Hetao caused some of the princes to begin to retreat.

This part of the population is typical of the wallgrass.

More precisely, guys who only want benefits and don't want to take risks.

Such people are not uncommon everywhere.

However, more people are enthusiastic.

The map intuitively puts the strength of the Han and Hungarian sides on a scale.

At the very least, on paper, the Han side was ahead of the Huns.

There is no doubt that this is a welcome thing to celebrate.

For the first time in sixty years, the cavalry of the Han Dynasty had a double advantage in quantity and quality in front of the Huns.

In the past, relying on pure infantry, the Han family could go back and forth with the Huns, it didn't make sense, the cavalry had the advantage, and they couldn't beat the Huns!

For a time, the princes were eager to try.

But when they came to the front line, the generals and princes who had experience in leading troops and even fighting were silent all of a sudden.

The entry of Lu Hou and the Zhelan tribe into the battlefield caught everyone by surprise.

Before these two tribes joined the Hetao theater, the Han family still had the ability to eat the Hetao before the main force of the Xiongnu reacted, resulting in a fait accompli.

However, the addition of Lu Hou and the Zhelan tribe made this plan stillborn.

These two tribes have at least 10,000 soldiers to fight.

What's more troublesome is that the Luhou tribe is one of the few tribes among the Xiongnu tribes that know how to build cities, except for the tribe of Lu Tazhi, the king of Donghu. (Note 1)

Moreover, not all of the Hetao area is a wilderness.

Some of the cities and outposts left by the Zhao and Qin states still exist today.

The Xiongnu could rely on these defenses locally to delay the Han army's movements.

So, after thinking for a while, Da Nong Ling Zhi was undoubted. Stand up and pour cold water: "Your Majesty, if the army is outside the fortress and delays for more than three months, the minister does not dare to guarantee that the supply of the army can be maintained!" ”

As soon as these words came out, they immediately made the princes of the entire hall excited.

But no one can blame anything.

In the Jiangdu typhoon disaster in April this year, in order to transfer and resettle refugees and the subsequent reconstruction and relief work in the disaster area. Most of the grain stocks in Aocang and Shu County were consumed.

The subsequent work of the reclamation regiment has hollowed out the foundation of the entire treasury.

Today's Aocang is said to be full of only 30% of the warehouses.

In Guanzhong, there is a lot of food.

In each official warehouse, there are at least four million stone of grain reserves.

However, not a single grain of grain could be moved.

Because this is the food for the four million people in Guanzhong, and if it is moved, there will be a food shortage in Guanzhong. It's not just fun.

The fact that the Great Peasant Order was able to squeeze out enough grain and grass for the needs of the 50,000 army in March was beyond people's imagination.

Shaofu ordered Liu She to also report: "Your Majesty, at present, there are about 200,000 cattle, sheep and livestock in Shaofu, of which 30,000 can be supplied to the army...... After a pause, Liu She stretched out a finger and said: "It's only enough for the army for one month!" ”

After listening to Liu She's speech, the generals began to calm down.

The army did not move, and the grain and grass went first.

Since ancient times. The world is big, and the stomach is the biggest.

Three years ago. Zhou Yafu sent Li Ji and Han Rongdang to cut off Wu Chu's grain route, and immediately wiped out Wu Chu's army.

The lessons of the past are just around the corner.

No one can fail to pay attention to the information from the big peasants and the young people.

Even Liu Che was slightly stunned after listening to Liu She's words.

As the emperor, of course Liu Che knew. The army, especially the field army, is actually inseparable from meat.

Without meat, the soldiers did not have enough physical strength to fight fiercely.

You can't expect the nutrition of corn and pickles to make you sprint on the battlefield with a weapon, right?

Judging by the experience in the history of world wars. Whether in the East or in the West, in the era of cold weapons, a large army will always take a large herd of livestock with it.

For example, the historical records are a complete record of Li Guangli's expedition to Dawan, and the number of livestock consumed by the army.

In the Crimean War in the 19th century, the British expeditionary force had to eat 300 cattle and hundreds of other livestock every day.

And at that time it was already a time of waiting in line to be shot.

The physical consumption of soldiers is far less than that of the era of cold weapons.

If the 50,000 cavalry of the Han army were to leave the fortress, the 50,000 men would have to eat at least a thousand heads of various livestock every day, not counting the spoils of war.

Of course, if you want to bring only cattle, maybe 300 to 400 head will be enough.

But the problem is that it is impossible for the Han family not to have so many cattle for the army to eat.

In other words, the scale of livestock breeding in Shaofu should be expanded dozens of times to meet the future expansion needs.

In his heart, Liu Che wrote down this matter.

Of course, in the future, dried fish from the ocean will also be able to compensate for meat to a certain extent.

This is also the reason why Liu Che wants to vigorously promote offshore and inland river fishing, and he has invested heavily in it.

To fight a war is to fight the economy and national strength.

At this time, it was money and food.

Only when there is money and food can the world be beaten.

Now that's it, there is money and no food, so that the generals and the princes are silent.

Even the old prime minister Shen Tujia sighed and did not speak.

As an old general, he naturally knew that if he went to war without enough supplies and preparations, he would lose half of the battle before it was fought.

It's just that the main force of the Xiongnu marched westward, and the south of the Munan was empty, such a great opportunity, if you don't seize it, Shen Tujia is worried that there will be no such good opportunity in the future.

Liu Che saw that the generals' will was a little depressed, so he clapped his hands and said, "Zhuqing, is it so difficult that you scare Qing and the others?" ”

"If the grain and grass are not enough, I can send my nephews, go out of Weiyang Palace, go to Kanto, Liaodong, Minyue, and Nanyue to sell grain, no matter what, I will not let my soldiers go into battle hungry!"

"Moreover, in the land of Yan Zhao, there are still three million stone warehouse rice adjustable, and Shu County can also collect another million stones of grain, transfer it to Guanzhong, and I will order the relatives of the marquis again. If you cut down on food and clothing, you can also make up a million stones! ”

"As for livestock, we can go to the Huns to eat, in the vast grassland, during the scattered tribes of the Huns, we can always get livestock supplies!"

Listened to the words of the Son of Heaven. Although everyone thinks that this is very unreliable, what are you kidding, from the time Yan Zhao transferred grain to the Great Wall, it has been two or three months, as for Shu County? If you go lucky, it will be even more cheating, and it is estimated that you will not be able to see it until next year.

By the time the grain arrived, the daylilies were cold.

But. The Emperor is always right!

Therefore, everyone lowered their heads in shame and said: Your Majesty is not as good as you!

Of course, Liu Che also knows that this thing can be done as a show, don't take it seriously.

So, he changed his words and said, "However, I don't support it. At this time, let's do it with the Huns! ”

"Ho Ye!" Liu Che held his head high and looked at the ministers. Lang said: "Time is on my side!" ”

"With the passage of time, my world is getting stronger and stronger, and the Xiongnu will be weaker and weaker, if today, I am equal to the Xiongnu to go to war, the victory or defeat is about fifty-five. Then, next year's victory or defeat will become June Fourth, and the year after next will become July Three, so that in five years, our army will be out of the jam. Will sweep away all the charms and spirits, step through the Rouge Mountain, the soldiers will be in Qilian Mountain, and the order will be held in Chang'an to ask for the guilt, and the Taimiao will be captured! ”

These words were like a bomb thrown into the river, and at once everyone was scorched.

Countless people say 'Your Majesty Shengming' on the surface, but in fact, they slander in their hearts: Bragging is not like that!

But Liu Che is really not bragging!

He clapped his hands, and the king immediately bowed his head and took orders, and walked down the steps behind a screen in the temple, and then came out with an iron armor chained together with a belt and an iron buckle, and an obvious iron helmet.

"Put it on for me, try it!" Liu Che ordered.

"No!" Wang Daogong took the order, and then took the two eunuchs to Liu Che, knelt down, loosened the buckle and belt of the iron armor, and then put it on the body of the Son of Heaven, and then presented the helmet.

Liu Che held the helmet and did not wear it, but stood in front of the ministers and showed the ministers this new set of iron armor.

"This is the cuirass, the latest pure iron armor produced by Mo Yuan, weighing about forty catties, made of water hammering, within a hundred steps, even a big yellow crossbow cannot penetrate the defense of the iron armor, only within thirty steps, you can use the big yellow crossbow to shoot down the person wearing this armor and dismount!"

The defensive capabilities of the cuirass are beyond doubt.

This kind of cavalry armor, which was prominent in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, was still the standard for cavalry even in the era of flintlock pistols.

And at this time, it can only be said that this kind of cuirass is simply a bug!

With the technical capabilities and level of the Huns, they simply could not create a weapon that could penetrate the cuirass defenses.

This kind of iron armor, although not as powerful and dazzling as the heavy armored cavalry.

But the practicality is far beyond the former.

Because of the abandonment of the whole body armor and even the horse armor, the weight of the entire set of armor has shrunk dozens of times.

The weight of forty catties makes it possible for even an ordinary war horse to move the rider and it to maintain a high-speed movement.

The Han cavalry, which had their entire chest and back wrapped in iron armor, could ignore the arrows and weapons of most Huns, and simply rushed over and then hacked the enemy to death - even if they were hit, they would not be life-threatening.

This will give the cavalry who wore it, great self-confidence.

This cuirass can be equipped with almost all kinds of cavalry.

Whether it's an archer, a lancer, or a ranger, you can use it.

And for a long time, you won't have to think about changing to new equipment.

When the cuirass is eliminated, it is time for the torrent of artillery doctrine and ironclad.

Of course, there are so many advantages to it, and the disadvantages are naturally obvious.

First and foremost, it's expensive.

It takes at least half a month for such a cuirass to be hammered by the advanced hydraulic machinery to complete the casting of a cuirass.

In addition, due to the immaturity of the technology and the problem of iron materials, there may be rejection.

Mo Yuan reported that one of the three sets of cuirasses that were first tested and forged was scrapped.

Then, the raw materials used for forging are very demanding.

Must be of fine iron grade.

That is to say, the molten iron that comes out of the blast furnace generally has to be reprocessed to remove impurities before it can become the raw material for the cuirass.

The price of such refined iron is more than twice that of other crude iron.

A cuirass, calculated only at cost, is also more than 10,000 yuan.

Although with the passage of time and the development of technology, its cost will definitely go down.

But no matter how it is lowered, it cannot be reduced to the point where it is cheaper than crude iron.

At present, an iron farm tool of the same weight is worth three thousand dollars.

Secondly, because it is standardized production, it is uniformly forged.

Therefore, it is limited and can only be worn on a big man who is eight feet tall.

This design is to avoid this cuirass from being captured by the Huns and used to fight the Han army.

On the side of the Han family, there are not many eight-foot-tall men, but there are also many of them.

Like Yu Linwei and Hu Benwei, the entry threshold is eight feet.

The racial characteristics of the Xiongnu are mainly thick and short.

Basically, the Huns rarely had men over seven feet, eight feet, and they were giants on the Huns.

Liu Che dragged this cuirass down, he was wearing this kind of iron armor now, and he was still a little big, after all, he was only seventeen years old, and his body was still developing.

"Captain of the drama!" Liu Che waved his hand to Ji Meng and said, "Come and wear this breastplate and show the ministers the power of this armor!" ”

"No!" Ju Meng immediately received the order, and then respectfully took the cuirass handed by the eunuch, retreated to the screen in the hall, changed his armor, and then walked out.

Then, the two attendants on duty in the hall, holding two long swords, said sorry to Ji Meng, and in front of the ministers, they used their swords on the breastplate on Ji Meng's body, slashing and stabbing them, and all kinds of fancy attacks.

But apart from the dull sound of gold and iron striking, their weapons didn't even have the ability to leave a single scar on the breastplate, at most a few shallow marks.

The demonstration of the drama Meng was completed, and the generals were stupid.

Compared to this kind of iron armor, the previous armor is weak!

Even before, the heavy armor equipped in the Yulin Guard and the Tiger Benwei became garbage in front of this kind of cuirass.

"Your Majesty, how is the yield of this kind of armor?" Zhou Yafu immediately asked impatiently.

"At present, the Mo Yuan side has not completely solved the problem of manufacturing cuirasses, so the output is a little small, and it can probably produce fifteen to twenty corpses per month!" Liu Che replied: "But I have already ordered an allocation of 50 million yuan, and at the same time ordered Shaofu Dongyuan to fully cooperate, requiring Shaofu to produce 200 bodies per month next year, 400 units per month in the year after that, and 1,000 units per month in five years!" ”

After five years, it will be able to produce 10,000 units per year.

It may seem like a small number, but considering the current era.

10,000 cuirasses require at least 400,000 catties of refined iron, which is a bit terrifying.

You must know that now Shaofu produces iron every year, even if all the production capacity is added, it may be two or three hundred thousand catties a year.

The total iron output of the whole country is only one million catties!

In 1788, after the Industrial Revolution, Britain's national steel production was only 78,000 tons.

And now, in this pre-AD era, the Han family used 2,000 tons of fine iron to make cuirasses a year.

The pressure of Nanyang's smelting base is not heavy!

The ministers and princes don't care about that, at least not for now.

One by one, their eyes lit up with red eyes, looking at this breastplate that had come out of nowhere.

Everyone now has only one idea: this kind of equipment should be equipped with fine willow (sentence note, flying tiger) first. (To be continued......)