Don't be a prince

but....

Li Chengqian covered his stomach, bent down and said: "On the way back to Dengzhou, I ate dry food halfway in order to speed up, but I didn't expect to eat dry food. Fang Xiang, Du Xiang, uncle, I'm rude, go first Retire!"

After finishing speaking, Li Chengqian held his stomach and gasped for breath, but his feet were not slow at all, and he ran away in a flash.Even Zhang Yun, who had just brought tea, dragged them to the main hall.

Looking at Li Chengqian's fleeing back, the three of them looked at each other and smiled helplessly.

Back in the main hall, put Zhang Yungang's brewed tea in the window to cool down, and sat on the chair, Li Chengqian stretched out his middle finger in the direction he came from.

"Three old bastards, on this matter, even if Gu is against the emperor's father, can he still speak for you? If you want to fight, you continue to fight, and Gu will not get involved! This guy, even if he escaped from Chang'an Don't stop, you still catch up with problems, damn it!"

There is no doubt that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui's purpose in saying this is to win Li Chengqian to their side.As long as he, the prince, said a word for the courtiers, the emperor would definitely choose to compromise after thinking about the morals in it.Now the two sides are holding their breath and confronting each other, and each will win or lose.The addition of the crown prince represented the courtiers' picks, and the emperor had no choice but to compromise if he didn't want to be divorced.

But but, but, is it so easy for the emperor to compromise?How fun is it for the prince to challenge the emperor on behalf of the group of ministers?

"Husband, why are you pointing your middle finger in the direction of the side hall? Beware of someone saying that you are disrespectful to Your Majesty."

Pulling Xiuxiu into his arms, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "No, apart from the three of you, no one else knows what it means to stretch the middle finger. Besides, I am despising Liang Guogong and the others. All of them have hearts without beards, always trying to drag me into the pit!"

Su Yuan and Ashina Xue also came over, Ashina Xue said with a smile: "Is that how it is?"

After speaking, she also extended her middle finger to the other side.

Li Chengqian laughed loudly, and said: "Yes, that's it. Come, Yuanyuan, Xiuxiu, and you too. The four of us, each with two hands, is ten middle fingers."

Su Yuan was extremely helpless, her husband always seemed extraordinarily naive sometimes.

Reluctantly stretching out two middle fingers, Su Yuan corrected: "It's not ten, it's eight. You still have two hands?"

Li Chengqian curled his lips towards his body, Su Yuan looked over curiously, and saw Li Chengqian's two feet were also raised...

After all, the emperor didn't come to Dengzhou to show off his prestige, so after a few days of tense days, the state capital of Dengzhou returned to normal. Although the entry and exit of the state capital became extremely strict, at least it would not disturb the people.

This time, it was rare for all the bigwigs from the court to dispatch. After dealing with the backlog of government affairs on the road, Fang Xuanling and others started to visit the countryside in small groups.

The eldest grandson Wuji was naturally concerned about taxation and population, while Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were interested in Zhao Yi's methods of controlling the saline-alkali land. Tang Jian didn't stay at all, and ran all the way to Zhang Jian's side.These two people have a lot in common when it comes to dealing with Goryeo. When the envoys of Honglu Temple went to Goryeo, they did not know how many spies were sent to Goryeo.Honglu Temple has never been a simple diplomatic department.

As for the emperor, he ordered Zhang Liang to summon the Donghai Navy and let him demonstrate the water battle.

As a land general, Li Shimin had little understanding of water warfare, and he did not personally command the few river battles.What's more, sea warfare is different from river warfare. The emperor is full of curiosity about the unknown field of sea warfare.

What's more, the East China Sea Division is not a standing force, and is usually deployed for fishing. Even if he is the emperor, his understanding of the East China Sea Division is only seen in the official documents and the secret performance of the Baiqi Division.

"...Maritime combat is like this. The long-distance fight is the sharpness of the bow and arrow. When you get close, you fight for the accuracy of the trebuchet. When the ship is close, you have to fight for the firmness of the hull. When it evolves into jumping gang combat, rely on it." It is the bravery of the soldiers, and this is the three-stage combat at sea.

To tell you the truth, I really like the words of His Highness the Crown Prince's 'destroy the enemy on the way to attack'.Battles at sea are different from those on land. In the most intense battle situation, it is not as simple as losing both sides. I am afraid that both will die, even if one side has an absolute advantage in the head. "

Chapter 367 The Prince's First Show

This is the case in sea warfare. Even if one side survives and the other is completely destroyed, if the ship is smashed, the side that survives will not end well.

Don't look at the Bohai Bay, which is not very big from the map. Once you lose your way in it, you can only become a lonely soul on the sea without fresh water.

Zhang Liang himself once experienced the loss of the route. Although he overcame the ocean current and returned to the land, he arrived at the boundary of the Baekje people.Fortunately, Baekje is not as arrogant as Goryeo. They politely sent supplies to Zhang Liang and sent a fleet to escort him for a certain distance.

"If this person was from Korea, I'm afraid my minister's head would have been gone long ago. At that time, all the princes in the court reprimanded my minister for delaying the deadline, and there was even news that my minister had defected. Your Majesty, it is really difficult for this minister to tell." ah!"

After telling this experience, Zhang Liang began to complain without hesitation.At that time, no one knew the hardships of sailing at sea, and they all thought he was making excuses.Now that it is by the sea, this is a rare opportunity to reverse the case.

Looking at the boundless sea, Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief, patted Zhang Liang on the shoulder and said: "I know Aiqing's hard work. Over the years, the imperial court has never invested in the East China Sea. The division has been sticking to the waters of the Tang Dynasty, and it has been hard work for ten years. Pass on my order and order the Ministry of War to recalculate the number of divisions and ships in the East China Sea, and allocate funds to them and change their equipment!"

Following the emperor's order, Changsun Wuji and Hou Junji both stepped out and accepted the order.

Li Chengqian, who had been on the sidelines, looked at the dilapidated warships driving on the sea, and couldn't laugh or cry.

Zhang Liang, this guy, has brought into full play the means of the future workplace.The warships displayed in front of the emperor today are ships that they have eliminated long ago, that is, the trebuchets on them, all of which were installed before the display.Right in their secret shipport, ten sturdy warships are all hidden.

Donghai division, absolutely not poor!

It was only after arriving in Dengzhou that Li Chengqian understood the truth.As a seaport city, Dengzhou is actually not very popular with Tang merchants, because no one wants to sail to Dengzhou and then enter the inland river.However, for the people of Korea, Silla, Baekje and even Wa, Dengzhou is a good place. If you go by water, Dengzhou is the first choice to go to the shore.

And the Donghai Division, as the defense force of the Great Tang Donghai, how could they be soft on foreign businessmen?Regardless of the distance of a few kilometers of "escort", Zhang Liang's attack is not in vain, which is why Silla Baekje protested against Goryeo blocking their pilgrimage to the Tang Dynasty a few years ago, and wanted to open up land commercial roads.

However, because of the arrogance of the Koreans, although Datang condemned this matter, they only agreed verbally and did not change their ways.Unable to travel by land, the businessmen of Silla Baekje had no choice but to continue to travel to Dengju with high "protection fees".

Although Zhang Liang's behavior was a jerk, Li Chengqian didn't mean to hold him accountable.As far as he knew, Zhang Liang didn't make much money from it. The black-hearted money was mainly used to build warships for the East China Sea Navy and maintain the consumption of weapons, so it was no longer black-hearted money.

Out of respect for Zhang Liang, Li Chengqian thought it was better to help him.Now he is making a dangerous move to cry poorly with the emperor, and if he is exposed afterwards, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor.

Stepping forward a few steps, Li Chengqian smiled and said to Li Shimin: "Father, since the Donghai Navy needs to re-equip, it is better to let Erchen's shipyard take over. Now the shipyard still has a lot of materials. If you use three armors The battleship is the first ship, and some auxiliary ships are built. The ships of the East China Sea Division are enough.

The ship built by Erchen and his two younger brothers is actually for fun. After we have had enough fun, we will still hand it over to the Donghai Navy afterwards to play a role as Datang's water power.There is also a shipyard, and it is best to hand it over to Donghai Navy.Now many craftsmen in the shipyard have recruited apprentices locally, and Dengzhou will soon stand out as a seaport city and shipbuilding city among coastal cities. "

Li Shimin smiled and looked at Li Chengqian. He also knew that sooner or later those three ships would belong to the Donghai Navy. Now that Li Chengqian took the initiative to say it, it would prevent him from opening the mouth.

Hearing the prince's words, Changsun Wuji and Hou Junji were also overjoyed. Now that the prince has laid the groundwork, they don't have to help Zhang Liang, they just need to give the prince the money.During this period, I don't know how many things have been saved.What's more, as the prince's ship is a "second-hand product", it will definitely not be sold at a high price. In this way, the Ministry of Households does not know how much it will save.

Walking to Li Chengqian's side in a few steps, Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "His Royal Highness, since you are willing to part with your loved ones, I will not be polite to you. One hundred thousand, buy three ships and a shipyard, what do you think?"

Hou Junji also came over, and said to Changsun Wuji: "Changsun Tie Rooster is rude! Your Highness has saved us a lot of trouble, how can one hundred thousand guan be enough?"

After finishing speaking, Hou Junji seemed to have forgotten the festival between the two of them, and his face was full of flattery: "Your Highness, how about 15 guan?"

"Ten...15?"

Seeing Li Chengqian's surprised expression, Changsun Wuji and Hou Junji were overjoyed that this could be done!

In fact, they have also studied it in private. 15 guns can not only take down the shipyard and three ships, but also send the prince happily.

Before Li Chengqian could speak, Li Tai, who was pretending to be a good son behind Li Shimin, exploded!

Jumping out, Li Tai said angrily: "15 guan? Zhao Guogong, Lu Guogong, are you two sending beggars? Not to mention materials, we invested 10,000+ guan, 15 yuan in labor alone? Even the cost of a ship is not enough. You know, the three of us have invested a full 60 yuan in the shipyard, and now the accounts are tight. You may have to chase after investment. You 15 yuan just want to take advantage of it? What's going on?"

"One million pennies?"

This time, it was Changsun Wuji and Hou Junji's turn to be dumbfounded. They never imagined that it was just a shipyard and three ships, how could it cost so much money?

Surprised, the two of them, including most of the courtiers, looked at the two brothers suspiciously...

Even so, some still believed in Li Chengqian and Li Tai.Wei Zheng was like this, he knew very well that the king of Wei would not tell a lie despite his strong temper, not to mention that the crown prince had no intention of correcting him when King Wei was speaking.If Li Tai's reputation is not clear, the prince's reputation is not just famous in the court.

Li Daozong also believed it, because he had checked the cost of the shipyard more than once, 60 guan, not too much.

Li Shimin also believed in his two sons. Seeing the delicate atmosphere, he clapped his hands and said, "Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Since you want to buy something, you have to see how it looks."

After finishing speaking, Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian: "Prince, since the princes don't believe it, why don't you bring your boat over to show everyone, and see if your boat is worth more than 15 guan."

Li Chengqian nodded with a smile, took out the token from his pocket, handed it to Zhang Yun, told him to go to the shipyard, and ordered the Prince to be driven out.

Now the Prince is responsible for supervising and controlling the Prince's account. Without the Prince's token, they will not listen to other people's orders.

Among the three ships, only Prince Edward has completed the assembly of iron plates and completed sea trials.However, the three ships are brother ships, and the presence of the Prince is enough to prove everything.

The power source of the Prince is still wind power, and the existence of the human water wheel is at most an auxiliary.After receiving the order to drive over, it will take two days anyway.

Two days later, on the same coast, not only the broken ships of the Donghai Navy appeared on the sea, but the completed Prince also officially appeared in front of everyone.

Today was different from the previous few days, not only the court officials were there, but even Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin and others appeared on the shore.

The emperor's dispatch this time basically moved more than half of Chang'an's top management, so naturally it would not leave too many unstable factors in Chang'an.Although Li Jing has always been honest, he was still put on the watch list by the emperor.

Seeing the huge ship from a distance, Li Jing frowned, and said to Li Chengqian beside him, "Although I don't know much about sea warfare, the large size of the ship also increases the attack area? Zhang Liang said , Combat at sea starts with each other's bows and arrows attacking each other, although your Prince has an advantage in numbers and is also condescending, but this problem still exists."

Li Jing is Li Jing, and the first time he saw the Prince, he discovered the problem.

Indeed, if it is too big, it will be called a stupid big man.Strength and agility are often inversely proportional. One of the biggest problems of the Prince is that it is not sensitive enough.

However, for Prince Edward, is sensitivity necessary?

Li Chengqian smiled, and whispered to Li Jing: "Wei Gong, there will be a battle demonstration later, you can see why the Prince is built so big."

After finishing speaking, Li Chengqian left Li Jing, walked up to Li Shimin, cupped his hands and said: "Father, the combat power of the Prince is too high, I am afraid it will affect us, I think it is better to demonstrate at a distance, we are safer on the beach Watch. In addition, since these warships of the East China Sea Navy have reached the end of their service life, even if they are brought ashore, they will be used as chopping firewood, so why not use them as target ships for the Prince to attack."

Li Shimin nodded, but did not give an order. Instead, he looked to Zhang Liang, waiting for his opinion.

Just this behavior made Zhang Liang's heart warm, and he hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, since Your Highness wants to do this, let's do it. Anyway, the ships of the Donghai Navy will be replaced soon, and it doesn't matter if they are destroyed. .”

Only then did Li Shimin say: "Since that's the case, let's arrange it like this. I also want to see how powerful this ship, which costs a huge amount of money, is."

Zhang Liang took the order to leave, and after a while, the ten warships of the East China Sea Division moored began to dismantle all useful things on board.If the hull is destroyed, it will be destroyed, but good things such as trebuchets cannot be buried in the sea with them.

What many people don't know is that these warships were actually replaced by the Donghai Navy ten years ago, and they have been used as fishing boats for the past ten years.Nowadays, even if it is given to fishermen for fishing boats, no one will use it.

When all useful things were dismantled, ten ships and one return ship set out.In order for everyone on the coast to see clearly, after reaching a safe distance, the ten ships lined up horizontally, stopping one at a distance.

After the anchor was dropped, the Donghai Navy soldiers on board climbed onto the return ship, leaving a broken ship alone at sea.

After the ten ships stopped, the return ship sailed with full sails and returned as if fleeing for their lives.

Seeing that they were out of danger, Li Chengqian took out a signal arrow and handed it to the emperor.

Li Shimin liked shooting the signal arrow very much, and he didn't use Li Chengqian's bow, it was still his huge black wood bow. After lighting the fuze, he shot obliquely into the air.

Unlike the signal arrows on land, the fuze of this signal arrow is very long, which makes the smoke appear high enough.

The Prince is too far away, and the signal from the shore can only be transmitted by using signal arrows.

From the moment the signal appeared, within ten seconds, a signal arrow representing command rose on the Prince.Then, the hull moved.

To the amazement of the people watching the battle on the shore, the Ming Prince was very cumbersome, but it moved very quickly.

Seeing that the Prince was approaching the first ship, when everyone was wondering how to demonstrate that there was no one on the target ship, without warning, smoke appeared on the first target ship, even on the shore, it could be faintly He heard the sound of the explosion of the eight oxen crossbow arrows.

Only after three or four flashes of fire, the Prince continued to move forward, passing by ruthlessly. After the Prince passed by, the smoke cleared, and there was no trace of the target ship on the sea?

One boat, two boats, three boats...

It took only one stick of incense time for all ten target ships to disappear.

The warship of the East China Sea Division just docked, and everyone knew how big it was.Such a big ship, even if it was smashed with a trebuchet, it would not be destroyed so quickly. However, in front of the weapons of the Prince, even if there are people on board, is there still power to fight back?

Seeing that the demonstration was over, Li Chengqian took out the return arrow and handed it to the emperor to shoot.

After a stick of incense, the Prince approached the shore, and the speed was much faster than the target ship.

Until then, the real body of the Prince appeared in front of everyone.

Seeing the brightness on the Prince's ship, Changsun Wuji exclaimed, "This ship is actually wearing iron armor?"

Compared with Changsun Wuji, Hou Junji was much more straightforward. He boarded a small boat, propped himself close to the Prince, knocked on the iron plate of the ship, and then pushed back again, saying: "It's an iron plate. , and one finger thick!"

Hearing the sound of gasping for breath, Li Chengqian chuckled, and said to Li Shimin: "Seeing is believing, Father, why don't I wait to get on the boat and have a look?"

"it is good!"

Seeing that the emperor agreed, Zhang Liang quickly ordered the ship to come and pull people on board. The Prince also opened the side deck and lowered a section of wooden steps.The steps are made of wood and can only accommodate three or five people going up together.This is also to guard against being used by the enemy in battle.When transporting supplies and boarding the ship, a springboard lined with iron plates will be lowered.

Chapter 368 visit

Walking up the steps is the deck in front of the Prince.As the first place to meet the enemy's attack, the layout of the front deck is the most careful.There are not only shields to block arrows, but also secret passages for the wounded to evacuate.

Now it is the prince who controls the Prince's ship, so the Jinwu Guard does not control the ship.In terms of intimacy with the royal family, their Jinwu guards are not as close as the crown prince.

Walking into a small wooden house, I saw the new eight-ox crossbow.

The Baoxu crossbow comes with a protective plate that explodes the iron plate, the shooting angle even reaches 180 degrees, and the elevation angle can reach about 45 degrees.The emperor didn't know the angle data, but when he saw the structure of the eight-ox crossbow protective house, he knew its flexibility.

Stretching out his hand, Li Chengqian, who was well aware of the emperor's smelly habits, ordered the cabin to pass the eight-ox crossbow arrow upwards.

No one sent it, and the order was delivered to the weapons cabin. Li Shimin found that the wooden board under his feet was cracked, and a wooden block with a belt loop tied the bottom of the eight-ox crossbow bolt firmly. There were two arrows in total. Yaya jumped out of the deck as if surfacing.

Seeing this scene, Li Shimin Longyan was very happy: "Good way, in this way, the crossbow arrows can be sent directly to the eight cattle crossbows without anyone sending them to you. Prince, don't tell me that all the eight cattle crossbows on your prince Can accept the supply of crossbow bolts like this."

Li Chengqian smiled: "Otherwise? Father, what you don't know is that parts such as the hull can actually be made step by step. Setting up these organs is the most time-consuming and brain-intensive part of the ship building process. The craftsmen that Yan Liben brought from Chang'an were in charge of this part. Not only the supply of arrows, but also the mechanism of the weapon compartment was the most important.

The gunpowder weapons compartment is separate from the conventional weapons compartment.In the event of an accident, the weapon compartment would be stripped directly from the ship, because it was a shell made of heavy iron plates, and even if it exploded on board after being closed, there was a high probability that it would not cause devastating damage to the ship. "

Not in the mood to listen to Li Chengqian's show off, after receiving the fire fold from Li Jian with both hands, Li Shimin put the crossbow on the eight-ox crossbow, clicked on the long fuze of the crossbow, and immediately shot the crossbow into the pile of stones on the bank.

There was a bang, and the world was in chaos. Although there was no one near the pile of stones, the gravel still hit the Jinwu Guard soldiers on duty in the distance.A piece of gravel even fell on the wooden house.

Seeing that the power of the eight-ox crossbow arrows was so terrifying, the ministers who watched the excitement outside the wooden house poured into the cabin one after another.

Just one arrow is definitely not enough.

Seeing that the emperor was looking for something, Zhang Liang immediately ordered the sailors to drive out the better return ship and stop far in front of the Prince.

Anxiously waiting for the soldiers in control of the boat to swim ashore, Li Shimin shot out the second crossbow arrow.

The return ship stopped at a point beyond the range of the eight-ox crossbow, and coupled with the ups and downs on the ship, it was difficult to hit it.But under the control of the emperor, the crossbow shot steadily into the cabin of the returning ship as if it had eyes.