Bright Spring

Everyone is only interested in the head, and the body is ignored after the head is cut off, because the Ming army still retains the military law of exchanging heads for rewards.In the evening of last night, people also found wild dogs infesting nearby. Before the army left, the hungry beasts in winter couldn't wait to stare at the corpses left by humans.

Heads with shaggy hair and disheveled hair were hung on the soldiers' horses, covered in blood and covered with snow, the scene was horrific.

At this time, a group of neat cavalry not far away gradually came over.The red military flag and cloak fluttered in the wind and snow, making them stand out.The unusually strong man in the middle is the general Ping An.

The horse team soon encountered a group of people with disheveled clothes, men and women, mostly wrapped in wild animal fur.Those people seemed to have just been released from prison, and they looked like beggars; when the crowd met the peaceful horse team, they avoided it and looked up one by one.

A military general came forward to report: "Commander, these people are Han Chinese. When the Tatar army attacked the border, they plundered the population of Ming Dynasty and sent them to the grasslands, turning them all into slaves of the Tatar nobles."

Ping An looked back at the crowd on the side of the road, and saw that people were also watching him.Their faces were full of dirt, but their eyes were full of gratitude. It was obvious that they couldn't bear the slave life on the grassland.

Pingan waved his hand and said, "Distribute food to them, and take them away! Then ask them about their hometowns, register their names, and hand them over to the local officials when they return home."

The general clasped his fists and bowed: "The last general has orders!"

Immediately, some of the beggar-like crowd knelt down on the ground, and someone said: "The grass people are waiting to thank the general for rescue!" Everyone knelt down in the snow one after another, and there was a lot of noise.

Pingan waved his hands and shouted: "You all get up, you are all on your own."

Without saying a word, he flattered his horse and left the place.After a while, Ping An pointed to the sergeants who were looking for the heads in the distance, and ordered: "Send someone to tell the brothers to return to their respective camps immediately. We are going to break camp and set off!"

The snow fell harder and harder, and the noise and horse neighing in the camp were covered under the heavy snow.Beyond that, there is nothing in the distance.The fighting had ceased long ago, and even the safe cavalry could no longer find traces of the enemy.

The cavalry of each battalion gradually gathered, and then left the place one after another.On the vast white ground, black shadows of the cavalry moved slowly.

There is a seemingly endless return journey ahead.

Chapter 699

The army trekked through the icy and snowy grasslands for nearly two months.From mid-October to the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the food and fodder in the army had been exhausted, and more than [-] people were exhausted.

At this time, bursts of cheers came from the front, and countless people heard the movement and looked around.In the hazy wind and snow, people finally saw the faint shadow of the city tower in the distance.

"Kaipingwei!" A place name was mixed in the shout.

As the army gradually approached the city, the officers and soldiers guarding the warehouse were greeted outside the city, beating gongs and drums, it was so lively!On the white wilderness, today is like a holiday.

Kaipingwei has warehouses and hoards food.The granary was immediately opened, and the soldiers of the battalions received the grain after entering the city, and smoke rose from all over the city.The soldiers of the Ming army who felt sick after eating horse meat finally got supplies.

The soldiers near and far happily sang songs, and laughter was everywhere.

As soon as the army arrived at Kaipingwei, there were still two warehouses in the south until Aikou Pass (Zhangjiakou); after that, the soldiers of the Northern Expedition Army would be able to obtain sufficient food from the prefectures and counties in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.The hard days are finally over...

Regardless of the severe cold weather, Zhu Gaoxu wrapped a fur coat outside the tuanlong suit, and walked up to Kaipingwei's dilapidated North Tower.He looked at the direction he was walking to the north, and for a moment, he felt mixed feelings in his heart.

But looking back at the smoke surrounding the city, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.In any case, the Northern Expedition has been successfully completed.

At this time, the civil servant Hou Hai stepped up to the tower and brought a stack of memorials and files, all of which had been sent to the north from the capital in recent months.

Some officials sent people to send these official documents to Kaipingwei, but they did not catch up with the emperor's men and horses; there is no post road official shop to the north of this place, so many official documents are placed here.Only now did Zhu Gaoxu get the memorial.

Zhu Gaoxu walked into the city tower, sat down on a chair, and flipped through it, most of which were government affairs files of the cabinet.There are also two letters inside, letters written by Guo Wei and the imperial concubine.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu found a memorial written by Qian Xun from the Department of Defense Sinan.He flipped through it and looked at it roughly, and was immediately attracted to it, and then took a closer look... The South Department of the Defense Department has produced a firecracker with an effective range of [-] steps!

Qian Xun’s memorial stated that after the Nanshu received an annual allocation of 20 million yuan ([-] guan), the embankment and the Nanshu Iron Works were built on the bank of the Qinhuai River south of the Chaoyangmen Dajiaochang in the capital.They gathered a large number of craftsmen to try to make the long-barreled firecrackers proposed by Zhu Gaoxu; this memorial is to report the effectiveness of the ironworks in making firecrackers.

Zhu Gaoxu said many times before that to increase the power of the copper fire blunderbuss, the barrel must be lengthened.

(Zhu Gaoxu’s statement is justified, because according to the acceleration principle he learned in junior high school: the gunpowder’s thrust from the lead shot forms a bore velocity, which is not only related to the thrust of the gunpowder, but also directly proportional to the acceleration time of the thrust The longer the acceleration time, the faster the initial velocity of the lead bullet; so the barrel should be lengthened to increase the stress time of the lead bullet.)

Qian Xun and other officials don't seem to understand this principle, but they are acting according to the order.

Judging from the content written in the memorial, the craftsmen of the iron factory thought of many ways.At first, countless craftsmen still used copper to cast the gun body, and then riveted it, but failed to make it; later, the craftsmen of Nanshu forged it with wrought iron, drilled and ground it, and after repeated attempts, they made a longer gun.

The firecrackers newly made by the ironworks can penetrate wooden boards at a distance of [-] steps!This is already comparable to the range of a bow and arrow, and the pistol can shoot so far, I couldn't imagine it before...

At this moment, Qi Tai also went up to the gate tower, bowed outside and said: "I pay homage to the Holy Majesty."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up, walked up to Qi Tai, and handed over Qian Xun's memorial: "Qi Butang has a look at this memorial." Qi Tai, Minister of the Ministry of War, quickly bowed to catch it with both hands, and said, "Your minister leads the order."

After a while, Qi Tai's voice said: "Qian Youshi means that the new hand-held fire | blunderbuss is far more powerful than the Kaishan blunderbuss, can it be compared with bows and arrows?"

Zhu Gaoxu suppressed his excitement and said: "That's the case, my money is not wasted."

Qi Tai hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "The Holy Majesty tried his best to disregard the objections of Xia Butang and others in the household department, and subsidized Qian Youshi to get this sharp weapon. The Holy Majesty is wise and wise, and I admire you so much!"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "This thing can change the way of war. From now on, I will not conquer the Tatars easily again."

Qi Tai was a little surprised when he heard this, but he quickly calmed down and said, "Hubu Shangshu Xiabutang, etc., if they can hear the words of the Holy Majesty, they will be very happy."

Zhu Gaoxu gave a dry laugh.He then stopped his smile and said in a deep voice: "Since I ascended the throne, I have carefully read the strategy left by the late emperor. The late emperor had long planned to conquer the north, intending to attack by force and force the Mongols to submit to the Ming court and pay tribute once and for all. Solve the northern border problems.

However, after going through this Northern Expedition, I feel that the late emperor's strategy is difficult to complete.The leaders of the Tatar and Wacha tribes all believed in the true God (Muslim) and had no intention of submitting; Benjali’s sweaty king’s account was wiped out, and there was no peace or entrustment movement.If our Ming Dynasty continues to fight like this, it may be able to weaken the Mongolian tribes in this dynasty and make them lose their strength to invade the south, but it will not solve the problem fundamentally. "

Qi Tai nodded, thinking deeply.

Zhu Gaoxu said again: "So I think that the defense line in the north must be re-deployed. The imperial court should manage Hetao and Liaodong, and build a guard city and fort to form a complete defense line, so as to ensure the long-term stability of the north."

After he finished speaking, he patted the memorial sent back by Qi Tai, and said: "With the new guns and Hanwang cannons, I can build bastions on the whole line of Hetao and Liaodong. Hundreds of people can defend a bastion, so it is perfect The entire line of defense will surely become a reality."

Qi Tai looked puzzled, and asked: "I don't know, what is a 'bastion'?"

Zhu Gaoxu gave a rough description.He is not very proficient, but he has been exposed to this kind of thing before, so he can give a general idea.

In the final analysis, it is a polygonal low-rise fortress, with gun|cannon firepower as the core of the fortification; the fortification is built so that there is no shooting dead|corner, and then rely on powerful firearms to attack the enemy's attack.

A long time ago, Zhu Gaoxu was thinking about this kind of thing.But in the past, the firepower of firearms was not enough, and the bastion was an unrealistic thing; without enough firepower, the defense of the low castle was not as good as the rammed earth city wall for thousands of years.

Qi Tai didn't seem to understand.Zhu Gaoxu didn't care too much, after all, this is a new thing, as long as the Minister of the Ministry of War understands the general idea first.

Zhu Gaoxu made two meaningless gestures, which was hard to explain.He could only sigh, looked at Qi Tai and said, "For some very difficult things, if you think about them with common sense, you can hardly find a good solution. But as long as you look at it from a new angle, things will become easier. "

Qi Tai: "..."

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Qi Tai and said, "Qi Butang will understand in the future."

His mood gradually improved.Even the snowflakes floating in the sky made Zhu Gaoxu feel less cold in a short while.

Zhu Gaoxu had put aside his previous feelings, and called Qi Tai to walk down the tower.Surrounded by his entourage, Zhu Gaoxu and Qi Tai rode back to the camp of the Chinese Army.

There is not much snow here, but there is snow on the road.When they walked to a street, they suddenly saw a ragged woman holding firewood, leaving her things behind, and staggering towards Zhu Gaoxu.

The woman behaved strangely, the surrounding guards were startled, and immediately reined in their horses and surrounded Zhu Gaoxu.

"Who is here?" Chen Wu's voice snapped.

The woman knelt down in the snow and said in a hoarse voice: "I don't want to go back to my hometown, please take me in..."