Fenghou

Zhang Lu gave instructions to her subordinates, and followed Wang Fuyuan to the study.

I saw that there were twenty or thirty swords hanging on the wall of the study room. Zhang Lu picked up a sword on the table and pulled out a piece.

"Good sword!"

"That was the last sword my father forged and passed on to his descendants. Someone offered five thousand guan to buy it, but I didn't agree."

Zhang Lu put down her sword and asked, "Has the iron shell been imitated?"

Wang Fuyuan stared at him for a moment and said, "Are you spies from the Western Army?"

"That's right. I'm Zhang Lu, the intelligence chief of the Western Army in Luoyang. I don't want to embarrass you, but the matter is important. Please answer truthfully!"

"Although the material of the iron shell is crude, it has different thicknesses and the complicated structure of the conduit inside. I really don't know how the mold was made? We studied it all day and night, but we couldn't think of any way."

Zhang Lu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It took hundreds of top craftsmen of the Western Army six years to develop the iron fire mine. Even if you crack the iron shell technology, you still can't crack the gunpowder formula."

Wang Fuyuan sneered and said, "Since you know I can't imitate it, why are you nervous?"

Zhang Lu shook her head, "I just said that you can't develop it for the time being, but it doesn't mean you won't be able to develop it all the time. As far as we know, Jin Guo is also researching iron fire thunder. After many years of research, it is very likely that the iron shell in your hand will be sent to , they researched it, do you think it is impossible?"

Wang Fuyuan was silent for a moment and said: "It is indeed very possible. Its outer shell made us suddenly realize that we immediately understood a key point in making iron fire mines, that is, the quality of iron must be very poor. If Jin Guo can think of this, it will be very easy It might be developed."

"So you should know now why I came to you. You are a Han Chinese. If our great cause of expelling the Jurchens is finally destroyed in your hands, have you ever thought about the resentment you and your descendants will have to bear?"

Wang Fuyuan sighed and said, "How could I not know? At that time I discovered the secret of the outer shell. Zhe Ke asked me what I found, but I didn't dare to tell him. The matter was very important, and I was also afraid. I have mastered Tiehuolei, and I am really going to be a national sinner."

Speaking of this, Wang Fuyuan said to Zhang Lu: "I won't hide it from you. I can actually make this kind of iron shell. I have been a knife maker for 30 years. My father passed me a lot of casting secrets. I saw this for the first time. Shell, I know how to forge it, but I dare not say, I am helpless with the craftsmen."

Zhang Lu's tone softened, and he asked again: "How many craftsmen have seen this iron shell so far?"

This question is very important, whether it is Zhe Keqiu or other generals, they can't understand what is so special about this iron shell, but the craftsmen do.

Wang Fuyuan thought for a while and said: "Together with me, a total of five people have seen it. I formed a group. These five people are all my apprentices. I told them to shut up and talk nonsense. They will lose their heads."

"Is Meng Xiaodong one of them?"

Wang Fuyuan's complexion changed drastically. This Meng Xiaodong was indeed one of them. He was his least worrying apprentice. He was lazy and liked to drink with a group of friends all day long.

"Is he one of yours?"

Zhang Lu shook her head, "He drank with others and leaked the information about you getting Tie Huolei. We bought your information from him."

"Bang!" Slamming his fist on the table, Wang Fuyuan gritted his teeth and said, "It's a pity that I treated him so well, and he actually betrayed me!"

"Aside from Meng Xiaodong, who else would betray the news?"

"Probably not anymore. In our line of business, tight mouth is the most important thing. Meng Xiaodong is good at first, but he has a problem. He likes to drink. I told him a long time ago that sooner or later he will fall into this alcohol."

Zhang Lu nodded, and asked again: "What if I ask you to come and force you?"

"I can imitate an iron shell with exactly the same appearance, but the iron quality will be very high. I will hand over the real iron shell to you, and then I will make a fuss about gunpowder, saying that the gunpowder formula takes time, and I will try to delay it , if it doesn’t work, just say that the gunpowder can’t be prepared.”

This method is not bad, if you replace the real iron shell, as long as you can hide it, you can get rid of the crisis.

"If Director Wang can give me the real iron shell, I will report your contribution to King Yong. As for that Meng Xiaodong, don't worry, we will never give him the chance to report you!"

……

Zhang Lu said goodbye and left. Wang Fuyuan sat in the study. He understood the last sentence of the other party. I'm afraid Meng Xiaodong's life would be worse than good, but if he didn't kill him, he and his family's lives would be lost in his hands. Meng Xiaodong had already After betraying himself once, he will definitely betray himself to Zhe Keqiu a second time.

At this time, his wife, Jia Shi, came in and said, "Officer, who are they?"

Wang Fuyuan sighed: "They are indeed here to save us. If they don't come, once the city is destroyed, not only my life will be lost, but my two sons will also be unable to lift their heads for the rest of their lives."

……

After leaving Wang Fuyuan's house, Zhang Lu said to several subordinates: "Get rid of that Meng Xiaodong, it's best to let him fall into the river and drown."

After a pause, Zhang Lu added: "Give another 200 taels to his family, tell them to shut up, and tell his wife, if she refuses to shut up, her son's life may be lost!"

Chapter 976 Doubt

Dingchan Temple is not far from the Shuai Mansion. It can only be regarded as a medium-sized temple among the many temples in Luoyang, but it also has the highest tower in Luoyang City, that is, it has the highest tower in Luoyang, a wooden pavilion with a height of five feet, called Langa Tower , built during the Yuanfeng period, has a history of nearly 50 years.

However, this tower has been requisitioned for military use and has become the military's Eagle Tower. The Eagle Tower generally uses the tallest building in the city to receive and send Eagle messages.

But there are no eagles in Luoyang, only a dozen carrier pigeons, and they keep in touch with Bianliang.

Before the third watch, Yu Shouzhong climbed into the wall of Dingchan Temple with a few of his men, and a black shadow greeted him.

"How is it?" Yu Shouzhong asked anxiously.

"It's all done. I put medicine in the drink and I'm all asleep."

Hei Ying is Yu Shouzhong's subordinate, named Li Huiming, dressed up as a Toutuo, bought a second-hand certificate, and took the name of Zhiguang. Yesterday morning, he paid ten guan to place the order at Dingchan Temple, and spent a few more to take it. An errand of cooking for the defenders of Lengata.

"They didn't suspect you?"

Li Huiming sneered and said: "The monks in Dingchan Temple are all poor and crazy. As long as the money is given in place, you can be the abbot!"

"Take us to the tower!"

Li Huiming ran towards the tower with Yu Shouzhong, and soon came to the Langjia Tower courtyard. It was a large courtyard with several bungalows, which were warehouses, stables and kitchens. Soldiers cook.

Yu Shouzhong suddenly remembered something, and asked again: "I asked you to ask about Pigeon Slave, did you ask?"

Li Huiming hurriedly said: "I asked specifically this afternoon, and the pigeons are all here, a total of fourteen. They haven't sent a letter to Bianliang for five or six days, and they haven't received a letter from the pigeons. It is said that Wanyan Wushu is not in Bianliang. "

Li Huiming led everyone up the tower lightly. The second floor snored like thunder. A dozen soldiers lived here. At night, they drank the wine that Li Huiming bought for them. There was no poison, but it could make people fall asleep the next day. noon.

After a while, they came to the fifth floor. Li Huiming pointed to a door and whispered, "Two pigeon slaves live inside!"

Seeing that there was a lock on the door, Yu Shouzhong gave his subordinates a wink, and his subordinates understood, took out a Buddhist vajra lock prepared in advance, and locked the door behind him.

The pigeon coop is at the top attic, you can hear the pigeons cooing, and the two subordinates rushed up, and after a while, they heard 'thump!thump! 'The voice quickly quieted down.

The two men ran down, carrying a bunch of dead pigeons in their hands, nodded and said, "They're all killed!"

"let's go!"

With a wave of his hand, Yu Shouzhong left the Dingchan Temple with three of his subordinates.

Li Huiming plucked the dead body of the pigeon and then fled Dingchan Temple.

……

Early the next morning, someone found a dead body in the Caohe River, and immediately reported it to the officials. Zhou Huang, the county magistrate, brought a group of yamen servants to check it out. When the body was picked up, someone soon recognized the dead man as Meng Xiaodong, a craftsman who lived at home. Nearby, this person was addicted to alcohol, and he went to drink when he had money. It is estimated that he came back drunk last night and fell into the water.

Zhou Huang then asked Wu Zuo to do an autopsy. No injuries were found on the body, and there was no sign of strangulation. The deceased's face was bruised, swollen, his eyes were bloodshot, and his stomach was filled with water. These physical signs proved that he died of drowning.

Not long after, the yamen servants found the deceased's wife and children. Unexpectedly, the wife and children were indifferent and did not cry bitterly. They seemed not to care about Meng Xiaodong's death, nor did they want to file a complaint. Someone told the county magistrate that this Meng Xiaodong would go home and beat him up when he was drunk. His wife and children were often beaten and abused by him.

Since his family members did not want to file a complaint, Zhou Huang, the magistrate of the county, did not want to be troublesome, so he decided that Meng Xiaodong had accidentally slipped and drowned, and asked his family to collect his body.

Meng Xiaodong's wife gave him more than a dozen pennies and asked him to buy a thin-skinned coffin for Meng Xiaodong and send it to the mass grave in the corner of the west city for burial.

It was his son who knelt down in front of his father and began to cry after he left the magistrate.

Meng Xiaodong's wife and children said that there was certainly a reason for their abnormality. In the middle of last night, several vicious men came to the house and arrested Meng Xiaodong. At the same time, they threatened their mother and son severely, but finally paid 200 taels of money for silence.

Meng Xiaodong's wife and children took the money, and their life was settled. Even though they knew that Meng Xiaodong was killed, they didn't dare to worry about it.

Zhou Huang, the county magistrate, had just returned to the county government office, but he sent people here, ordering him to issue a notice throughout the city to arrest a Thutuo who practiced with hair. Those who have won will be rewarded with a thousand strings.

Zhou Huang wanted to go to the commander's mansion to inquire about the situation, but the soldier gave a wry smile and advised him, "The commander-in-chief is losing his temper, and he is very angry. Hurry up and issue a notice! Don't worry about it anymore."

"What the hell happened?"

"The homing pigeons are all dead. They were boiled in a pot and their hairs were not plucked. It was this Toutuo named Zhiguang who did it. He was in charge of cooking for the guard soldiers. Now he has run away."

Zhou Huang asked in surprise, "Could it be that he didn't know it was a carrier pigeon and thought it was a vegetable pigeon killed for cooking?"

"The humble official doesn't know anything. All I know is that the commander-in-chief is furious and wants to severely punish the monks of Dingchan Temple. The county lord should quickly issue a notice! The commander-in-chief is about to get angry again."

"I'll make arrangements!"

Zhou Huang quickly arranged for his men to issue a wanted notice, and he had already forgotten about Meng Xiaodong's death.

……

In Dingchan Temple, dozens of monks, including the abbot, were knocked down to the ground and beaten with sticks. A dozen guard soldiers and two pigeon slaves were also knocked down and beat hard, each with a hundred sticks. Even if you don't die, you will lose half your life.

Zhe Keqiu stood in front of the pigeon coop with a livid face, looking at the blood stains in the cage, he turned his head and asked Yang Dinghui, the recorder of the army, "Do you think this is the work of Song army spies?"

Yang Dinghui is not considered a staff adviser, but is only responsible for joining the army for the recorder who can handle paperwork. Gexin intelligence is within his jurisdiction.

Yang Dinghui said for a while, "I can't figure out what the other party is doing to destroy the pigeon letter. If it is the Song army spies, then they should destroy the grain and grass warehouse. Without food and grass, our city will not be able to defend. This is the key.

Moreover, none of the more than a dozen soldiers and two pigeon slaves were killed. This is not in line with the work style of the Song Army spies. It is incredible that this Toutuo actually plucked the pigeons and stewed them. This is more like venting anger. Therefore, according to the personal judgment of the humble staff, the possibility of venting anger and revenge is more likely. "

"Then what's his motive?"

Yang Dinghui sighed, "Commander, this is a Buddhist temple. The Langga Tower is the place where Buddhist scriptures are stored, but we use it as a pigeon letter tower. A group of soldiers eat meat, drink and play with women here every day, polluting the Buddhist gate, and a group of pigeons mess up the tower. How can these monks not be annoyed by the filth, the monks in Dingchan Temple are soft bones, which does not mean that other monasteries can bear it."

Next to him, Liang Qing, another member of the army, also said: "Yang Canjun's words are a little bit reasonable. The doors of the two pigeon slaves were locked by someone using a Buddhist diamond lock. If the spies of the Song army chopped them down one by one, how could they be so stupid?" Long-winded?

And just like Yang Canjun said, before they were exposed, they should attack the granary first, not the pigeon letter first, and the humble officials also thought it was the monks venting their anger. "

Zhe Keqiu felt a little disappointed in his heart. After all, these two were scholars. It was too simple to see the problem. They actually said that it was a monk venting his anger. How could this be a monk venting his anger? With a bit of camouflage, the two of them were fooled.

However, the disappointment was disappointment, and he still gave the two of them a little bit of face, instead of directly exposing their ignorance, he immediately ordered: "Send my order, the granary will strengthen the double defense, anyone who comes within fifty steps of the granary, All shoot to kill!"

The two soldiers looked at each other. It turned out that the commander did not believe his explanation. Yang Dinghui laughed dryly and said, "The commander arranged it in a timely manner. Regardless of whether it was the Song Army spies or not, we must strengthen the defense of the granary. Any chance."

Zhe Keqiu faintly smiled and said, "That's exactly what I mean!"

Chapter 977 Enlightenment

In the back hall, Zhang Lu paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He had to tell His Royal Highness King Yong about what happened in the city, otherwise King Yong would make unfavorable decisions, such as hastily attacking the city, etc. Of course, he also had a way to send the information to Going out, it's just that he has to think carefully, and can't let Zhe Keqiu have doubts.

At this time, Yu Shouzhong came back in a hurry, and Zhang Lu hurriedly asked, "How did the talk go?"

"I have explained everything to him, and he will arrange it so that Zhe Keqiu thinks he is a deserter."

"How did he arrange it?"

"He will go to the capital to ask for money in the afternoon. Without exception, he will definitely be beaten up, and then he will leave a few words to point his hatred at his boss."

The two were talking about Mu Chunfa, a subordinate who had sneaked into the enemy army. Mu Chunfa was a native of Luoyang. He encountered many infuriating things, such as the deduction of his military salary. He had not received his salary for three consecutive months, and was withheld by his superiors. He was beaten by his superiors because he could not pay filial piety.

These are all information. Mu Chunfa's personal experience represents the real state of the defenders in the city. Their morale is not so high, their morale is not so stable, and it is easy to lose their morale when they encounter a defeat. That's why Yang Zaixing is very concerned about the situation of the defenders in Xin'an County. The Wan army took the battle of attacking the heart and won a big victory.

Now, Mu Chunfa became the best candidate Zhang Lu sent to report the news.

At night, a group of dozens of soldiers was patrolling the top of the city. Suddenly, a soldier ran out of the line, jumped onto the top of the wall, and shouted, "The king bullied me, I quit! "

After shouting, he jumped into the moat with all his strength, and the soldiers stepped forward to check, and saw that the soldier had already swam to the opposite bank, and a dozen sentries raised their crossbows to shoot, but this soldier was very flexible, using the word 'Z' Running along the route, escaped the shooting of the crossbow arrows, and fled into the night.

The soldiers looked at each other, Mu Chunfa had become a deserter, they suddenly thought of something, and looked at Wang Shun, the head of the capital, Wang Shun's expression changed drastically, and he regretted it, he really shouldn't have beaten Mu Chunfa at noon, he knew he was going to Bad luck, the commander-in-chief will definitely track down the reason for the desertion.

……

There was no siege operation in the past two days, and the Song army was also fully prepared for the battle. The main craftsmen were assembling heavy trebuchets and thousand-step guns. They were all shipped from Jingzhao in parts and assembled in Daying. Easier, more difficult to assemble is the thousand-step gun.

As the name implies, the thousand-step gun can throw a thousand steps. With a weight of fifty catties, it can be thrown to a thousand steps, but if it is thrown at a weight of one hundred catties, it is only six or seven hundred steps, but this distance is also very impressive. It is more than double that of a heavy trebuchet.

At night, Chen Qing, accompanied by Liu Cui and Zhao Wenxin, deputy commander of the Ordnance Administration, inspected the assembly factory. The assembly factory is located in the southwest corner and covers an area of ​​about [-] acres. There are thousands of artisans busy here to repair, forge weapons, make shields, etc.

"How many heavy trebuchets are assembled now?" Chen Qing asked.

Zhao Wenxin hurriedly said: "Reporting to Your Highness, as of an hour ago, 21 planes have been assembled, and by tomorrow morning, thirty planes will be assembled."

"Where's the thousand-step gun?"

"Five thousand-step guns have been assembled!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Five are enough, gather all the craftsmen of the thousand-step gun to assemble the heavy-duty trebuchet and the baffle, and try to assemble the forty-step gun before noon tomorrow."

"It should be possible, I'll make arrangements for the humble job!" Zhao Wenxin hurried away.

Liu Cui said to Chen Qing: "I went to see Yang Zaixing just now, and he is still very ill. The arrow wound in Xixia that year has been repeated again, but I feel that he is more of a heart disease. Your Highness, go and enlighten him!"

"Can't he figure it out?" Chen Qing asked lightly.

Liu Cui smiled wryly and said, "Your Highness knows that he is also a person who accepts death. How can it be possible if you let him figure it out for himself."

Chen Qing nodded, "He's right next door! I'll go and see him now."

……

Next door to the Ordnance Administration workshop is the Medical Battalion, where wounded soldiers are treated and recovered.

Yang Zaixing was also lying here. He fell ill the night he was demoted and dismissed. The arrow sore he had suffered in Xixia broke out again, bleeding heavily, and he was rushed to the hospital for treatment.