Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

It was very happy to see Zhou Xian taking his daughter to play in the snow. Emperor Shi soon returned to the roles of husband and father, and went up to pat the snow off his daughter's shoulders and hair. Zhou Xian was also very happy. Shi Congyun pulled her into the room and hid. to hide from the cold outside.

A charcoal fire was prepared in the room, and Emperor Shi heated his hands and then covered Zhou Xian's cold little hands. Repeating this, he was afraid that her beautiful hands would suffer from frostbite.

While covering her hands, Emperor Shi said, "Do you want to go back to Jiangnan?"

Zhou Xian heard what he said, his eyes lit up: "The official family is going to Jiangnan."

"Well." Shi Congyun nodded: "I plan to visit Jiangnan in the south next year. Jiangnan is now the territory of our dynasty, but the last time I went to Jiangnan was more than ten years ago, and I am going to have a look."

Zhou Xian blushed slightly and patted him. The last time he went to Jiangnan, wasn't that the time he robbed her, "Bad guy."

Shi Congyun smiled and said, "What's wrong." As he spoke, he was about to put his arms around her.

Zhou Xianlian pushed it away and said with a serious face, "The child is here!"

Sure enough, Shi Min was looking at his parents with big watery eyes, so Shi Congyun had no choice but to get up and whisper, "We'll fight at night."

.......

This winter came a little earlier than last year, the merger of Jiangnan and Wuyue, and the post-war awards have come to an end.

The situation in Hebei has also been completely stabilized. The troops who had maintained order before retreated to Daliang in an orderly manner at the end of the year, and most of the abandoned land was left to cultivated by refugees.

In the winter months, Emperor Shi broke the news at a court meeting that he wanted to tour Jiangnan next year.

As soon as these words came out, many people did not speak. Although some people looked worried, they did not refute anything. Only Fan Zhi, who had not spoken ill of him for a long time, jumped out to oppose, saying that the world was set for the first time, and the southern part experienced war and chaos. The patrol will increase the burden on the people, and should not engage in such extravagant activities with great fanfare.

Emperor Shi happily rejected it, and retorted: "After so many years of fighting, can't I enjoy it!"

Seeing the emperor's anger, everyone was not angry, but after the dynasty was dispersed, there were still Xiao Yan from Dali Temple, Dou Yi from the Censor's Desk, etc., all of them persuaded them, saying that they all knew the hardships and difficulties of the emperor, but at this time It really shouldn't be indulged, because the world is only generally unified, and there are still many things to do.

If the emperor wants to relax, he can do it in Daliang. He doesn't have to travel thousands of miles to leave the government and go to the south of the Yangtze River. The emperor is the foundation of a country and cannot live in Beijing for a long time.

Among them, Xiao Yan also used the matter of Li Cunxu, Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang Dynasty, to persuade him.

In the Hall of Long Lives, Emperor Shi asked Zhao Shijian to sum up all the contents of the memorial for him. After listening, he put them on the table, and asked Zhao Shijian to write down the ministers who were persuaded by Shangshu.

Naturally, Emperor Shi didn't want to settle accounts after the autumn, he just thought that these ministers were all good, and they were people who dared to speak up.

The reason why he went to Jiangnan with great fanfare was not because he was greedy for pleasure and wanted to take the beauty to the south, but it was the idea given by Lao Zhao.

It is to do something to let the Liao Kingdom relax its vigilance and let Xiao Siwen and others dare to act.

How to let the enemy country relax its vigilance, the best way in this era is to start with the emperor. Under the imperial system, everything revolves around the emperor, and the same is true for a huge state machine.

Because of this, if the Son of Heaven is not in the capital, it is the best thing to let people relax their vigilance.

What Lao Zhao told him was to conduct a high-profile southern tour, and he had to build momentum early, and he had already agreed with Fan Zhi, come and quarrel with him, and make the movement louder. went.

At the same time, he also secretly sent people north to contact Murong Yanzhao, Guo Jin and others, and asked them to pay close attention to the movements in Liao.

Emperor Shi is always paying attention. The reason why he went to Jiangnan is because he can follow the Bian River and enter the Huaihe River Basin, and then take the canal to the Yangtze River. One day he will be able to return to Daliang.

Moreover, he remembered that the coup d'etat launched by Xiao Siwen and others seemed to be between [-] and [-] AD, probably in the past few years, the two disastrous defeats of the Liao army may have been accelerated or delayed, but it was certain Yes, it will inevitably exacerbate their internal conflicts.

Emperor Shi wanted to create an illusion for them to make them bolder.

He and Fan Zhi, Zhao Kuangyin, Luqiu Zhongqing, Li Chuyun and others have carefully considered, if Xiao Siwen and others want to welcome Yeluxian of Yongxing Palace, then they must have an army to escort him north and ensure that he can stand in Shangjing.

The army in Youzhou was deployed by Gao Xun, the privy envoy of the South Court. If there was a big change, Gao Xun would definitely be with Xiao Siwen. Ministers value their stomachs and give Yeluxian political protection.

The most important thing is that once there is civil strife in the Liao state, Yeluxian's Yongxing Palace is in the south, and he wants to escort him to the north to safely succeed him, and to compete with the three forbidden armies of the Liao state in Beijing to ensure the safety of the new state lord, so high. Xun will definitely draw a large number of troops from Nanjing.

Nanjing Youzhou is nearly a thousand miles away from Shangjing. Once the army of the Southern Academy moves north, Youzhou and its surrounding counties will inevitably be empty. When the Qin army comes to attack on the whole line, they will attack with lightning, and they will not have time to defend.

Liu Renzhen proposed another faster method, that is, a large number of navy troops marched along the coast by sea, and then went up from the Haihe River to the sea mouth of Shuohe River, and went directly to the bottom of Youzhou City.

Emperor Shi appreciated this proposal very much. Isn't this stepping on the horse the route for the Eight-Power Allied Forces to attack the Qing Dynasty... and then painfully rejected it.

This proposal is feasible. If the fleet departs from Shandong, it will definitely be very fast. However, the front line has already reached Gu'an, and it is only three days away from Youzhou, which is faster than the waterway.

However, Emperor Shi also agreed with part of his plan, which was to still send [-] gunboats and [-] support ships to enter from the Haihe River to give army fire support near Youzhou.

After all, naval guns are more powerful than field guns and have a much longer range, which can help the army on land clear some tough enemies.

And it is conceivable that if it is known that they are going north, the most likely important line of defense for the Liao Kingdom will be set up on the banks of the Sanggan River outside the city. According to the experience of the previous army visits to the city of Youzhou, that river is completely sufficient for the fleet gunboats to pass.

The frontal battlefield is divided into two armies, all the way from Gu'an, Hebei to the north, directly taking Youzhou, led by Li Chuyun, who is the elite main force of the Forbidden Army. It is estimated that the force will reach a terrifying 8 or so.

The other road goes from Hedong out of Yanmen to the north, going straight to Yuzhou, Yunzhou and other places, and then detours from the side of Youzhou, and is led by Xiang Gong.

Of course, after these plans were finalized, Emperor Shi also set a tone. Even if his southern tour did not cause internal strife in the Liao Kingdom, this offensive plan would be implemented for up to four years in Kangding.

Liaoning civil strife is the best, it will greatly reduce the pressure of the war, if they do not have civil strife, then they will have to fight head-on, and then the strength will speak.

Only a few prime ministers and a few of his confidants knew about these arrangements, and the secret meeting was held in Shanglin Garden outside the city.

On the surface, at the end of the winter moon, Emperor Shi brought up the Southern Tour again, but Fan Zhi stood up and quarreled with him. After that, Emperor Shi walked away without saying a word, and the ministers waited. It took more than an hour before they dared to disperse one after another.

This is a lot of trouble. Everyone thinks that the emperor is determined to go to Jiangnan Fenghuaxueyue, and Fan Zhi is too tough, but no one thinks it is unreasonable, because Fan Zhi's stinky temper has always been like this.

At the end of the twelfth lunar month, envoys from all over the world came to pay homage, including straight women from Liaodong crossing the sea, as well as envoys from Liao and Dali. Zhou Xian started talking about Jiangnan again.

It gave everyone the feeling that the emperor wanted to go to the south of the Yangtze River, and he had committed an old problem again. The world was finally at peace, so he couldn't wait to go to the south of the Yangtze River to search for beauties.

So the scene where the monarch and his ministers got each other appeared again, and Fan Zhi took responsibility on the spot. Emperor Shi was furious about this, and had a big fight with Fan Zhi in front of all the envoys, and finally said harshly that he would dismiss Fan Zhi!

As soon as these words came out, Fan Zhi took a step back with good acting skills, sat down on the cushion in anger, and was speechless, and then left the seat angrily, without giving the emperor face.

I have to say, probably because of Zhu Zhechi, the old man Fan Zhi's acting skills are getting better and better.

Emperor Shi was also furious. He was drunk on the spot and called the Hanlin Academy to undertake the decree and asked him to write the Zhao Shu.

All the envoys present saw this big scene. Although the female straight woman from the northeast, and the envoys from Dali and Hexi looked at each other in blank dismay, they didn't know the internal situation of Qin.

But the people of Liao are well aware that it is not a matter of a day or two for the two countries to become opponents of each other. They know each other and know each other.Second, each has planted a lot of spies in the other's country.

.......

In the next few days, Fan Zhi was not dismissed, but the emperor wanted to go on a cruise in the south of the Yangtze River, so the unpleasant matter with the prime minister Fan Zhi spread.

This matter is not only in the court, but also in the common people's ears, it is very reasonable. With the emperor's lustful nature, it is normal to want to go to the south of the Yangtze River to search for beautiful women.And Fan Zhi has always been known for his uprightness. People say that he is Wei Zheng of Qin, but Fan Xiang has more power than Wei Zheng.

After the New Year was over and the envoys from various countries returned, this matter was not only spread in Qin, but almost everyone in the world knew about it.

After all, Qin State is undoubtedly the largest country in the world today. As the emperor of Qin State, his every move has attracted extra attention...

Emperor Shi sighed with emotion, he really devoted himself to the country, and did not hesitate to destroy his own reputation. Why go to Jiangnan to collect beautiful women, swear by God, he has no thought at all!

Chapter 497: Technological Advancement

For a whole year, Emperor Shi was making various preparations. On the one hand, he released a smoke bomb that he would go to Jiangnan next year and ignore government affairs.

On the one hand, on the grounds of debriefing at Nianguan, generals from the north, including Guo Jin, Murong Yanzhao, Li Hanchao, Xiang Gong, Yang Jiye, were summoned to the capital, ready to explain some things to them.

In this era, if you don't explain in advance, it will be very difficult to command, especially the front lines that are thousands of miles away. Although Emperor Shi has reformed the messenger system in the army and strengthened it again and again, it will take two days for the fastest order to be transmitted from Daliang to the front line in Hebei. For about two nights, this is already the limit of non-stop people, day and night.

This time is still very long, and for the war, it is enough to produce many variables.

Since he won Hedong, Xiang Gong has been guarding the frontier to the north, which is really hard.And Li Hanchao, Guo Jin, Murong Yanzhao and others have been guarding the Guanbei frontline for a long time long ago.

Because of this, they did not have the opportunity to participate in the war against Lingnan and Jiangnan. Naturally, they did not have as much credit as other generals, and their promotions were not so fast. However, Emperor Shi knew that these wars were better to fight, just like he wanted to fight. Going to fight the kingdom of Shu for credit is a reason. Although it is all wars and dangers, it is easier to get military credit from the south than to fight to the north.

Therefore, these side generals have not fought in the past few years, but Emperor Shi remembers their credit.

The iron wall in the north will always be the most important defense line of the Qin state, because once the world is integrated, there is no threat to the south. Whether it is Jiaozhi in the south or Dali in the southwest, they can only protect themselves and cannot threaten Qin. country, all threats are in the north, and it has been so since ancient times.

As a continental country, China has smooth land transportation in the core plate, few islands, and no ocean barriers, and the situation is even worse.

A few years ago, the Secret Service gave Emperor Shi a surprise.

Because of the failure to build cannons in Jiangnan last time, they also realized the problem of material strength. Although a lot of money was wasted, Emperor Shi neither punished nor blamed, but many people in the company are ashamed of it and feel sorry for it. God's grace.

Finally, a few years ago, a young blacksmith named Xue Bai from Jiyao Division finally forged higher steel.

His secret lies not in new operating procedures, but in the discovery of new heat-resistant materials.

This Xue Bai was originally from Jiangling. After Emperor Shi defeated Nanping and Wuping, he was recruited into the Department of Confidentiality by the Civil Engineering Examinations.

The new refractory material he discovered was actually a kind of inkstone that is abundant in Wuping area. Blacksmiths are all very sensitive to high temperature, especially the heat resistance of various objects. He occasionally discovered it when he was a child. Extraordinarily resistant to burning, even the high temperature that can melt the fried steel will not help it.

It was their specialty inkstone from the mountains near Gangneung, and it was also very famous. He thought that if he could grind those inkstones into powder and add clay to make more refractory utensils, wouldn't it be possible to heat the pig iron to a higher temperature, said It may be possible to make better steel than the frying method.

He told his father and uncles about this, but everyone laughed it off at the time, saying that he was fanciful, and they settled the accounts for him, how expensive those inkstones were mined and made into inkstones.

At that time, this matter was put on hold until later, when he entered the Confidential Division as an official, coupled with the emperor's huge investment of money, he finally had the opportunity to test his childhood ideas.

I didn't want to give it a try, and found that it really made better steel, which far exceeded the previous method of frying steel in terms of strength, toughness and hardness.

The method of frying steel has been used since the Han Dynasty. Although some improvements have been made, there has been no substantial progress.

Now, the steel that Xue Bai made is completely different. He is not a technical improvement, but purely a tool that can withstand higher temperatures, and uses a higher temperature to smelt higher-quality steel.

Emperor Shi personally tested the machete they forged from the new steel, and then watched their test of the new steel by the Bian River. Whether it was hardness or toughness, it was much better.

The most interesting thing for Emperor Shi is that they rebuilt a flash gun with this new type of steel. This time, the barrel no longer uses copper like last year, but this new type of steel.

In the martial arts arena in Bianshui, the seniors asked the young Xue Bai to demonstrate to the emperor. With that new gun, he shot through a pair of armored stomachs fifty paces away. It didn't hit until the third shot.

But such a result still stunned Emperor Shi and the accompanying military officers. They easily pierced through the armor from fifty steps away. This was only possible with the bed crossbow before, but the bed crossbow was so big that the crossbow alone was as thick as a human arm.

And how big is this musket, many people are excited to go up and touch it carefully, but it is not as heavy as a knife.

Everyone blushed with excitement, and excitedly told Emperor Shi, if the Qin State had one soldier, what kind of war would other countries fight!Fifty paces away and you're dead!

However, the craftsmen showed embarrassment, and then took Emperor Shi and many military attachés to see the process of making a gun in the workshop.

Then everyone knew why the craftsmen were embarrassed. It is a fact that the material is ready, but the forging process is an old method, especially the barrel part, which can only be heated with iron sheets and then rolled with an iron core for forging. Straightening, repairing defects, adding the rear powder box, dragging, etc., to completely build such a musket, even a skilled craftsman will take about a month, even after practicing hard, it will take about 20 days.

With the current strength of the Confidential Division, there are not many craftsmen who can make this kind of musket. It is estimated that they can make about [-] guns a year, which is too far away to occupy the left and right sides.

Hearing this, the faces of the military officers who were still agitated just now dimmed instantly.

Emperor Shi was not so disappointed. In the era of no industrialization, he expected such efficiency, craftsmen could be retrained, and he installed the door to teach everyone the principle of firing guns.

Compared with the arquebus, there is actually no major improvement in technology, mainly because the firing method has been changed. Even under some conditions, the arquebus is more stable than the volley.

As for the technologies that make muskets have substantial progress, such as rifling, cone-head bullets, post-loading, etc., Emperor Shi just mentioned it casually, and only asked them to try in this direction. Can Chengdu not force it.

Emperor Shi hopes that they will continue to improve and improve, and use flint to set fire.

As for the personnel, I also asked the Confidential Division to start training now. The goal is that in five years, if we want to produce muskets, we will be able to produce at least [-] muskets per year, which is to ensure that we will cultivate more than [-] skilled craftsmen in musket processing.

Everyone in the Confidential Division listened to the emperor's teachings, and then Emperor Shi rewarded Xue Bai on the spot, raised his official rank by three levels, rewarded him with millions of dollars, and gave him a brocade and jade belt to praise his achievements in inventing the new steel-making method. His steel-making method has been implemented in the Bianshui Industrial Zone, and he is required to completely replace the old steel-making method within the next year.

Although this matter is a major event for the Secret Service and the top officials of the imperial court, there is very little news from the outside world. Regarding technical secrets, Emperor Shi has repeatedly emphasized that it must be kept secret. Needless to say, the soldiers knew it.

During the whole New Year's Eve, Emperor Shi laughed from ear to ear. He was very happy on various occasions, and often put a smile on his face.

Everyone didn't know that Emperor Shi was happy about the Secret Service, and they all thought that the emperor was happy for next year's southern tour.

Fan Zhi, on the other hand, did a full set of dramas, and really didn't come to the court at first, as if he was angry, some courtiers invited him in person, but he did not see him behind closed doors, no one could enter his mansion, and the emperor ignored it.

This situation is getting more and more troublesome, and both inside and outside the court know that the emperor's wayward southern patrol and the prime minister fell out, and now Fan Xiang is not angry with the court.

Years later, in the first month of the year, many people wrote letters to persuade him, some persuaded the emperor not to make a southern tour, and some persuaded Fan Zhi to return to preside over the government.

Emperor Shi ignored it, but when he bid farewell to the envoys from various countries in the first month, he explained to the envoys of Liao: "Go back and tell your lord that the covenant between our two countries is still there, I have no intention of going north, and he will not come to provoke me.

As long as you send cattle and sheep on time every year, my army of hundreds of thousands will not cross Yanmen Pass. For the generation of Gu'an, you can continue to farm horses.

But don't try to interfere with our dynasty, once soldiers from the north go south, even if I don't want to, the civil and military forces of the Manchu dynasty will fight to the end with you, it's best to weigh it clearly. "

Some soft and hard words were considered by Emperor Shi and Zhao Shijian. It was necessary to show his strength, but also to show that he couldn't wait to go to the south to enjoy life and avoid war with Liao.

The envoy of the Liao Kingdom nodded again and again, and wrote down a Chinese version of the note to ensure that the words of the emperor of the Qin Kingdom would be conveyed back to him.

After doing this, Emperor Shi sent the Liao envoy some valuables including gold, silver and jade for the first time, worth about a thousand gold, which made the Liao envoy flattered.

They had never been treated like this before when they came to Qin State, especially after two consecutive defeats, they all came to seek peace. Every time they went back, they could at most pay a little travel expenses and send them out of the country safely. This time they actually returned. a precious gift.

Several people looked at each other in dismay, and were flattered. They were also sent to the Yellow River by the officials of Honglu Temple of the Qin State in person. This kind of courtesy was completely absent before.

In the first month, the envoys from various countries left one after another, and the envoys from Dali were also left by the emperor, and they talked to him about the customs and customs of Dali today.

Emperor Shi probably knew that the current situation in Dali was not easy, because there were many hills and many ethnic groups, and the Duan clan's rule was not stable.

The messenger even revealed that they had the idea of ​​asking China for help.

Emperor Shi did not reply immediately. Yunnan is not a good place to fight because of its high mountains and long roads. The lesson of the two Tianbao wars of the Tang Dynasty and the destruction of 20 Tang troops in Yunnan has not passed long, so he will not take risks rashly.

His main focus now must be on the north, so he politely said: "The world has been decided, and there are still many things to be dealt with in the country. After three or five years, I will allow me to consider it."

The messenger nodded and said no more, but he also brought the meaning of Dali Kingdom, and they will always be courtiers to the Central Plains Dynasty as a vassal state.

Emperor Shi nodded, so at least nominally, Dali also belonged to the Qin state, so it sounds better to the outside world.