Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 302 Siege Cannon

It was the dead Cao Jiang's son Cao Ling who said this, and he had always coveted Yunzhou's military power.

"En." Cao Xi nodded, expressing comfort for the positive attitude of the young people in the clan.

But he still said in his mouth, "This must be done, but we have to wait for a while. If we do it now, we will die faster."

"The first thing we need to do now is to meet all the requirements of His Royal Highness Zhao Dezhao, ten days! No more, otherwise the Northern Han people will definitely make new moves."

Zhao Dezhao's final research in Fenzhou was finally accomplished.

This time he developed a small-caliber cannon. Due to the low ironmaking technology of this era, the function of the cast iron cannon was greatly restricted, but it was better than nothing.

After all, the caliber is small, and the city walls in the south, especially those in the Northern Han Dynasty, are completely incomparable with those in the north.

Three inches should suffice.

After it is completed, a large amount of gunpowder needs to be produced, so Cao Xi was asked to complete those meeting ceremonies as a stepping stone for the Cao family to return to China.

During this period of time, Zhao Dezhao has developed a large number of new tricks, but their influence on the contemporary Eastern Han Dynasty is not very great.

The most important reason is that the level of craftsmanship in today's era is completely incomparable with that in previous generations.

Such as ironmaking, such as pharmaceuticals...

Except for wine making, although the efficiency of other inventions has been greatly improved compared to the original Eastern Han Dynasty, compared with Zhao Dezhao's previous life, it is simply insignificant.

In particular, the last time he developed several weapons specially designed for female soldiers, due to the problem of raw materials, production has basically been discontinued.

After all, resources are limited. If those limited cast irons are used to make cannons as a siege weapon, it will obviously be more effective.

Zhao Dezhao, who returned to Cangwu, contacted Pang De, and transferred the well-trained soldiers from Da Song and Shuiluo City to Cangwu.

He plans to finish off the Northern Han Dynasty within a month, and then back to the sea, facing the Central Plains, and start the battle of unification.

Ten days later, Cao Xi personally escorted [-] cartloads of supplies, and came to Fenzhou mighty.

Excluding the two days on the road, he completed the acquisition task in only eight days.

Zhao Dezhao felt that it might be useful to keep Cao Xi alive.At least they can cooperate with Lu Juan's business to make money.

In the hall of Zhao Mansion, Cao Xi half crawled and half knelt, and saluted Zhao Dezhao.

Zhao Dezhao spoke politely, but his actions did not mean to pull him up.

"The old lady came from a long way. It's been hard work. I'll send someone to check the supplies. If you pass the customs, let's talk about the next step."

After finishing speaking, Zhao Dezhao walked out of the hall slowly, leaving Cao Xi there alone, neither getting up nor continuing to kneel, it was very embarrassing.

After a while, Zhao Dezhao came back, and Cao Xi, who was slumped on the ground tired, quickly resumed his half-climbing, half-kneeling posture.

"Very good, everything is fresh and usable. When I break the city and make the cannon, the old lady will do a lot of credit."

Cao Xi didn't quite understand, so he just smiled apologetically.

"Get up and talk!" Zhao Dezhao took the host seat on his own, watching Cao Xi struggle to get up and sit in the guest seat.

"Since I became the Great Song Mu, I have become neighbors with the old magistrate, but the information I heard along the way seems to be not very good."

Zhao Dezhao glanced at Cao Xi.

"They all told me that Cao Xi was originally from the Northern Han Dynasty. He came to Yunzhou to do some errands. He even became a prefect and almost became the state shepherd of the entire Yunzhou. However, he is not a Han state shepherd..."

Cao Xi was sweating profusely.

"I'm wronged! Your Highness! I, Cao Xi, am a local. Ten generations can be tested!"

"Then why are you and the Northern Han people so close? If Cheng Yuanling hadn't taken down Yunzhou forcefully to save Taiyuan this time, I'm afraid you would still be more pro-Northern Han than Song."

Zhao Dezhao was straightforward and told the truth straight to the point.

"Cao Xi...It is true that he was blind in the early stage and got close to a foreign race. This time, he came here sincerely, and dare not have another heart!"

Although Zhao Dezhao is not very old, his style is too arrogant, he does not give Cao Xi face at all, and completely disrupts Cao Xi's bottom line of confidence.

His initial idea was to justify the Cao family's sloppy behavior, but Zhao Dezhao directly beat him to the head, so he had to show his final hole card. From the perspective of negotiation, it can be said that he lost completely.

Zhao Dezhao did not say a word, looked him up and down, and then spoke slowly.

"Don't panic, the old prefect. It's not too late for a good meal. Since you are willing to attach again, it's not impossible. Who made your Cao family powerful in southern Xinjiang? As long as you do a few things, I guarantee that your Cao family will still be stable." Live in Yunzhou and be your high official."

"Please tell...Your Highness, please tell us, if you have any orders, we will follow them immediately!"

"First, the Northern Han Dynasty has already attacked your Cao family. As soon as our Song army comes out, the little Nanman will collapse. Therefore, your Cao family must pay for the cost of sending troops."

"How much?" Cao Xi was prepared to be ripped off, and it would be more troublesome not to be ripped off, so he hurriedly asked.

"You can figure out how much! This is the prerequisite! Don't talk about it now."

Zhao Dezhao's voice was stern, and Cao Xi lowered his head immediately.

"Secondly, in the future, the military power in Yunzhou will be taken back by our soldiers of the Song Dynasty. Each county will have [-] soldiers. The generals must be held by the generals of the Song Army, but the military expenses must be borne by your Cao family."

Cao Xi's face immediately changed color, which was too harsh.He spends his own money to raise soldiers, and if he raises someone else's, the military power is in Zhao Dezhao's hands, so he can kill himself if he wants to.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Dezhao hadn't finished speaking.

"Thirdly, gather the information on the Northern Han Dynasty collected by the Cao family over the years, and submit it to me within two days. I know you are also in a difficult situation. If you need to think about it, I will give you two days."

When sending Cao Xi out, Zhao Dezhao said again, "No matter what you choose, this is your last chance. If you can agree to everything, I guarantee that your Cao family can continue to serve in your post, except for the military In this respect, everything else remains the same.”

"Old governor! This is the last chance for your Cao family. I will not give you the same opportunity again!"

Back at the inn, Cao Xi's body was still shaking.

The Cao family's children who followed quietly hurriedly gathered around to ask for news.

Cao Xi said everything Zhao Dezhao said word for word.

"What! The military power is going to be handed over to them! This is too much!"

"It sounds like nothing has changed except military power, but in fact..."

"Hmph! In fact, military power is everything. As long as Zhao Dezhao is dissatisfied and the soldiers stationed around our mansion, then nothing will happen..."

"This is simply too deceitful, and we firmly cannot accept it!"

"Hmph! So what if you don't accept it! I'm afraid the head will fall to the ground tomorrow, and it will be broken!"

(End of this chapter)