Fenghou

Leaving the boatman to watch the boat, the four of them climbed up the mountain with various weapons.

At this time, it was already bright, and they climbed up a ridge. The hillside was long, but not too steep, and there were not many trees. There were all kinds of strange big rocks. They used the cover of the big rocks to climb quickly. On the way to the top of the mountain, they didn't see any patrolling soldiers.

At this moment, there was a loud "boom!" not far away, startling the birds on the mountain and flying into the sky.

The four hurriedly squatted behind a big rock, Li Wan whispered: "It's the barrel fire thunder!"

Li Wan has rich experience, and can tell what kind of firearm it is from the sound of the explosion.

Zhong Huan nodded, "Langya Valley is conducting firearm tests, and the patrolling soldiers should be above the entrance of the valley!"

Zhong Huan's judgment was not wrong. When they saw the top of Langya Valley, they also saw five sentry golden soldiers. They held bows, arrows and spears, standing on a high place and looking around.

Yelukang touched Zhonghuan and pointed to the northeast. Only then did Zhonghuan discover a sentry tower. The five soldiers should be living in the watchtower, and there should be other people in the watchtower.

The next step is to wait patiently. Of course, it is easy for them to kill these five people, but they are also easy to be discovered by the people inside the sentry tower. Their mission is to assassinate Hushatu. Once they are exposed, the mission will completely fail.

In the afternoon, the experiment was over, and the five Jurchen soldiers went back to the sentry tower. Only then did Zhong Huan discover that there was a sentry hiding behind each of the two boulders. It turned out that there were seven sentries in total, not five. There was a cold sweat.

The seven sentries all went back to the sentry tower. Their task was also very simple. When the firearms field was conducting experiments, they stood guard at the top and did not allow outsiders to approach.

"Commander, there should be ten people in the sentry tower!" Wang Fu whispered.

Zhong Huan nodded, he thought so too.

Li Wan was the most agile, he approached the top of the valley very quickly and secretly, and looked down for a while.

He soon came back and said to Zhong Huan: "The other party has set up six wooden houses as test targets, and there is another brick house, three of which have been blown up, and three wooden houses. The other test devices have not been taken away. Will continue to experiment.

Zhong Huan pondered for a moment, and said to the crowd: "Anyway, we must bet this time, we will kill the sentry at night!"

Chapter 430 and Eight Missions

That night, Li Wan and Wang Fu sneaked into the watchtower through the window, only to hear a series of screams from the watchtower. Within a quarter of an hour, they opened the door and came out, and all the Jurchen sentries in the watchtower were killed.

Just after dawn, the test field began to get busy. The four Zhonghuan put on the armor of the Jurchens, and they also wore copper masks. As long as they didn't speak, they couldn't be recognized as Han Chinese.

Of course, Yelukang was in charge of speaking. At this time, someone shouted from below, and Yelukang said to Zhong Huan: "They are asking, the experiment is about to start, are the sentries in place?"

This is what Huan Huan wants to bet on. Will there be any other special connection between the other party and the sentinel?Such as passwords and the like.

"You answer him, everything is in place!"

Yelukang replied loudly in Jurchen words, "All the sentinels are in place!"

Chong Huan's heart rose to his throat, and then he shouted a few more words, and he asked anxiously, "What are they talking about?"

"They said that today's test is very important, and they want us to take precautions!"

"You make it clear, you must take precautions!"

Yelukang shouted: "Understood, we must take precautions!"

All four of them showed their faces with spears, and when they saw the majestic sentinel above, the officials below stopped asking questions and began to deploy nervously...

Langya Valley is about ten feet high and consists of two open spaces, one large and one small. It really looks like a gourd. Several rows of houses were built on the small open space outside. It is a place for developing firearms, but inside it is a large piece of land. , here is the testing ground.

At this time, an old monk came in from the outside. This person is the Khitan monk Hushatu. To the point, he has been unemployed for nearly 20 years. He is now in his early seventies, and he was finally reused by Jin Guo as the firearms chief.

Chen Qing worried that he was not without reason. A master of firearms who had been on the bench for 20 years would burst out with terrifying energy once he was reused.

In fact, Hu Shatu has been painstakingly researching firearms for 20 years. He has successfully developed porcelain fire mines, wood fire mines and double-layer wood fire mines, but his real goal is iron fire mines, and he is close to success.

He has already realized that the burning speed of gunpowder is the key to the success of Iron Fire Thunder. Full combustion produces a large amount of gas, which can burst the iron shell. First, it must be made into the smallest particles, and then the smallest particles must be condensed. There are enough gaps between the particles, which is the key to the burning speed of the gunpowder. He also realized that it is easy to explode if the shell is made of rotten iron.

In fact, he has succeeded. He exploded an iron fire mine in the yard of his home, but Hushatu is not eager to show his merits. The painful lesson of 20 years on the bench has taught him that if the iron fire mine is handed over at once , will make the imperial court feel that this is very easy, and thus look down on himself. He must satisfy the imperial court's appetite. Under the attention of the whole country, he will slowly hold out the iron fire thunder, so that everyone in the Dajin Kingdom will cheer.

He was also afraid of stealing his own credit, so he didn't leave any texts, so that the officials of the Firearms Supervision and other craftsmen stared blankly. Yesterday he tested the double-layer wood fire mine, but today, the privy envoy Wan Yanchang came to inspect Langya Valley. An opportunity to show off, Hu Shatu decided to blow up a big brick house, he still couldn't help but brought the iron fire mine he made by himself from home, this is a sample of iron fire mine, he didn't have time to make a new iron fire mine , and brought this sample.

Anyway, all kinds of recipes and crafts are in his mind, as long as this iron fire thunder is successful and the court has given him enough benefits, he might as well write down the process and experience of making iron fire thunder.

With a wave of his hand, two confidant soldiers walked towards the big brick building holding a heavy black bump. Wan Yanchang next to him was shocked and said, "Could it be Tiehuolei?"

Hu Shatu smiled triumphantly, "I just made this one, if it's Tie Huo Lei, let's see the explosion effect!"

Wan Yanchang was full of surprises, he had been looking forward to this day for too long, so he hurriedly said, "Let me see what it looks like first?"

Hu Shatu beckoned, and two soldiers lifted the iron lump out again and put it on the table. Wan Yanchang stroked the rough surface and frowned, "The surface is a little rough!"

Hu Shatu laughed, "I can't explode the casing made of refined iron!"

Wan Yanchang suddenly realized that he only now knew that he had been duped. The Iron Fire Thunder of the Western Army that he bought for [-] guan was a fake. With such a thick and dense iron shell, how could the gunpowder blow it apart?

"I see, it turns out that's the truth!"

Hu Shatu proudly said: "Don't underestimate this iron shell. It took me five full years to develop it successfully. There are many details in it. It takes repeated trials to succeed, and it almost doesn't work."

Wan Yanchang said with full expectation: "Let's see the effect first. If it succeeds, I will report it to the emperor and fulfill my promise!"

The emperor of the Kingdom of Jin promised Hu Shatu that if Tiehuolei was successfully developed, he would be crowned king, and he would be allowed to pick a hundred maids in the palace, and open the treasure house of medicinal materials, allowing him to use any medicinal materials.

Hushatu is called a strange monk or a demon monk because he acts strangely. He is already 71 years old. If he wants to live to be a hundred years old, he must start with harvesting. Find the best women and the best medicinal materials, these two things can only be found in the palace.

Hu Shatu was overjoyed and shouted: "Ready!"

Two confidant soldiers carried Tie Huolei into the big brick house. Behind a big rock above, Zhong Huan's eyes were narrowed.

He knew very well that the wooden fire mine could not blow up a brick house, only a small wooden house. Last night he thought that this brick house was used to avoid the iron nails, but he did not expect that it was also the test target. Needless to say, it must be It's an experimental iron fire mine.

Zhong Huan immediately realized the importance of assassinating this strange monk, and he raised his hand, expressing that he would follow the original plan.

At this moment, in the north above Hu Shatu's head, Li Wan and Wang Fu had already prepared crossbow arrows on the left and right. Li Wan's crossbow arrow shot at the head, and Wang Fu shot at the body. For the two most elite archers, there is no problem at all, but in order to be sure, Wang Fu used a poisonous crossbow. , is also certain to die.

They were waiting for the explosion. The moment before the explosion, everyone would cover their ears so that they could not hear the sound of the crossbow arrows, and their attention was on the explosives. That was the best chance.

Two soldiers suddenly ran out of the brick building, lying face down in the pit, covering their ears with their hands, Hu Shatu shouted: "Everyone cover your ears and squat down!"

Everyone was very obedient, they covered their ears and squatted down, and closed their eyes. Wan Yanchang didn't need to order, he covered his ears first, squatted down, he knew the consequences of flying gravel.

At the moment when it was about to erupt, two crossbow arrows were shot at the same time, extremely powerful, one shot at Hu Shatu's bald head, and the other shot at his back.

The crossbow arrows were as fast as lightning, and Hu Shatu never dreamed that he would be plotted against at this time, "Puff! Puff!" Two sounds, one arrow shot into the head, more than half of it, and the other shot into the back. The poison invaded his heart, he groaned and fell headlong.

The first thousand and 430 nine chapters missed

At this moment, "Boom!" The iron fire thunder exploded, the sound of the explosion was earth-shattering, and the ground shook. It was equivalent to the iron dog of the Western Army and weighed thirty catties. It exploded, dust filled the air, and gravel crackled and fell from the sky.

Everyone was so shocked that they knelt on the ground and dared not move. After a full cup of tea, Wan Yanchang put down his hands covering his ears and stood up slowly. The scene in front of him stunned him, and the dust in front of him still In the diffuse, but clearly visible, brick building fifty paces away had disappeared.

"Okay! It's a success!" Wan Yanchang raised his arms and shouted excitedly, and everyone cheered excitedly.

Wan Yanchang rolled his eyes and found that Hu Shatu was still kneeling on the ground with his head buried on the ground. He laughed and said, "The Iron Fire Thunder that I invented, I'm so scared!"

He ordered the left and right to help Hu Shatu up, and the two soldiers helped Hu Shatu up, and suddenly shouted in fright.

When Wan Yanchang turned his head, his eyes widened in shock. He saw that Hu Shatu's face was covered with blood, and a crossbow arrow pierced through the top of his head, leaving only half of the arrow shaft exposed. Lifeless, long dead.

The [-] Jurchen soldiers all mobilized and ran frantically to the top of the mountain. Soon, more than [-] soldiers rushed to the top of the mountain, but they only found the dead bodies of ten Jurchen soldiers who had been killed, and found nothing else.

The soldiers shouted again and searched in all directions. Soon some soldiers found the footprints, and a hundred Jurchen soldiers chased after them.

Before the explosion sounded, the four people on the top of the mountain retreated. Zhong Huan could see clearly that both arrows hit the target, especially the second poisonous arrow. No matter where it hits, Hushatu would definitely die. undoubtedly.

As for Hushatu's blueprints, samples, etc., Zhong Huan didn't care. Now he was going to return to Yanshan Road alive and report their findings to His Royal Highness King Yong. The Jurchen army began to experiment with Tiehuolei.

The huge explosion shook the ground and they almost fell, but they still staggered towards the foot of the mountain.

When the three thousand Jurchen soldiers rushed to the top of the mountain, they had already rushed to the river and jumped onto the fishing boat one by one.

"Come on!"

The boatman propped a long pole on the stone wall, and the fishing boat swayed away from the shore and headed east to the center of the river...

A quarter of an hour later, a hundred Jurchen soldiers followed the footprints of several people and chased them to the river, but there were no people left. All kinds of signs showed that the person they were chasing jumped into the river, but this was impossible anyway.

The chief centurion looked under the huge rock, and there was just a place to dock a ship, and he immediately understood.

"There was a boat hidden below, and they got on the boat and escaped!"

The centurion sent people back to report, and he divided his troops into two groups, one went east to search, and the other went west to search.

……

Wan Yanchang frantically searched for Hushatu's information and drawings, but found nothing. He asked the craftsmen around him, they only knew about the wooden barrel Huolei, and the iron Huolei knew nothing. Two confidant soldiers of Hushatu told Wanyan Chang, the iron fire thunder was brought directly from Hushatu's home, not made here.

Wan Yanchang immediately led five hundred cavalry back to Shangjing on horseback, heading for Hushatu's residence.

Many things are so wrong. If Wan Yanchang can leave a little later, Zhong Huan and the others will be in danger. Not long after Wan Yanchang returned to the city, the soldiers who reported that they found the trace of the murderer came. Ran away.

But Wan Yanchang was no longer there, and the others could not command the patrolling navy in Beijing, so they still had to go to find Wan Yanchang, and several soldiers who reported the news had to mount their horses and chase in the direction of Shangjing.

It took less than a quarter of an hour by accident, but Zhong Huan and the others won two hours. The five of them rowed hard, and the fishing boat sailed to the east. They planned very carefully. After assassinating Hu Shatu, it was impossible Returning from the same road, you can only go east.

They will enter Huoluo Haichuan at the Mengantun River, which is today's Mudanjiang River, and finally enter Tongmen Water, from where it enters the sea.

……

Wan Yanchang dug three feet in Hu Shatu's mansion, but still found nothing, he was very depressed, he was extremely worried, it was very likely that they would pass by Tie Huolei again.

Only then did Wan Yanchang get the report that the murderer was likely to enter the river and board a boat. Wan Yanchang hated him so much that he immediately ordered all [-] boats of the Shangjing Navy to mobilize, and sent [-] cavalry in two groups to search for the murderer along the river.

At the same time, the emperor Wanyan Quan sent someone to inquire about the situation, but Wanyanchang had no choice but to go to the palace to report.

Although the disastrous defeat of Wanyan Helisa and the escape of Yang Qin, Minister of the Ministry of War, were all used by Wanyan Wushu to attack Wanyanchang, Wanyanchang was not affected too much. On the contrary, he was quite popular with the emperor Wanyanquan. For reuse, he was ordered to command the [-] Hezhameng'an Army, and to lead the three provinces together with Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Wushu, and to control the financial power.

The reason is also very simple. It is related to the factional struggle within the Kingdom of Jin. After the death of Wanyan Zongpan, another faction, Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Zonghan, gradually gained power. A political opponent of Wanyan Wushu, Wanyan Chang is the most suitable one. He was originally the number two figure in Wanyan Zongpan's faction, and it is expected that he will replace Wanyan Zongpan in power.

Wan Yanchang came to the emperor's study room quickly. Although Hu Shatu was killed and they passed Tie Huolei again, Wan Yanchang still had a little gain. He got a few pieces of iron skin from the explosion of Tie Huo Lei , This is the real iron fire thunder iron skin, which can be carefully studied by other firearm craftsmen.

After listening to Yan Chang's report, the emperor Wanyan Quan's face was extremely gloomy. Not getting Tiehuolei was secondary, but the key was that the enemy scouts actually sneaked into the military forbidden area of ​​Shangjing and killed the chief firearms master, which made Wanyanquan feel A deep shame.

"Where is the loophole?" Wanyan Quan asked coldly.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the first loophole is on the river, and there are too few ships on the river, so that the enemy spies can pass through the heavy blockade and enter Shangjing. The second loophole is above the Langya Valley, and there is only one sentry tower and ten patrol soldiers. It is enough for ordinary people, but it is not enough to deal with the spies of the Western Army. In the final analysis, the Defender General underestimated the enemy, thinking that it is impossible for the spies of the Western Army to come to Langya Valley."

"Who is the main defender of Wolf Fang Valley?"

"It's Master Wan Yan Zhuo!"

Wanyan Quan immediately shouted an order: "Decide my will, Wan Yanzhuo is guilty of dereliction of duty, and shall be executed immediately!"

"Observe the order!" A guard rushed out to deliver the order.

After walking a few steps with his hands behind his back, Wanyan Quan asked again: "According to the current situation, can we still make iron fire thunder?"

Wan Yanchang thought for a while and said: "There are fragments of the iron shell and gunpowder. There should be a chance, but it will take time!"

"How much time is needed?"

Wan Yanchang hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "I can't be sure about the lowly position."

"I'll give you a year to develop Tie Huo Lei as much as possible."

Wan Yanchang sighed in his heart, it became his own business again, he had tried it and knew how difficult it was, but at this moment he couldn't refuse, so he could only bite the bullet and bowed: "My minister obeys the order!"

Wan Yanquan pondered for a moment, then said lightly: "I remember you said that a Yanjing man named Guo Changwu came to join you. This man assassinated Chen Qing and almost succeeded. Is he still there?"

"Reporting to His Majesty, is he still there?"

"Arrange it, I want to see him."

Wan Yanchang was stunned, and asked cautiously: "Does Your Majesty still want him to go to Jingzhao?"

Wanyan Quan said coldly: "How dare you send someone to Shangjing to assassinate my chief craftsman, if you come and don't go, it's indecent!"

……

After ten days of sailing, the surface of Tongmenshui became wider and wider, and the mouth of the sea was in front of it.

The Tongmen water is the Tumen River, and after going out, there is a sea of ​​whales. From a distance, Zhong Huan saw a Wanshi ship moored at the mouth of the sea. He roared up to the sky and raised his arms to cheer.

Chapter 440 Allegiance

At noon, the Chunming Gate of Jingzhao City was full of people, and it was extremely lively. At this time, three travelers came up the official road from a distance. All three of them were riding horses. The leader was about thirty years old. Thick eyebrows, thin eyes, gorgeous clothes, he looks quite smart and capable, he is Xiang Kui, the nephew of Xiang Desheng, head of the family, who was sent as an envoy to Jingzhao by his uncle.

Xiang Kui went to Shangzhou by boat, rented three more horses, and rode directly to Jingzhao. It took nearly a month, and it was already early winter in late November.

Walking into the Chunming Gate, a majestic aura rushes towards us. The wide avenue, neat storefronts, and magnificent palaces in the distance, including the vehicles like weaving, are basically horse-drawn carriages. Donkey carts are rarely seen, including pedestrians. The clothes are decent, even the pawns and peddlers in short clothes are full of energy and ruddy, sighing secretly to Kui, this is the atmosphere of the capital, where the market like Lin'an is withered and lifeless.

"My lord, look there!" A subordinate pointed to a shop on the left side of the street.

Xiang Kui saw it clearly, it was a cabinet shop with a red roof, and it looked like Baoji cabinet shop at first glance, but the brand turned into the No. [-] cabinet shop in Sichuan and Shanxi, Xiang Kui sighed secretly, Baoji cabinet shop in Jiangnan had all closed down , Baoji Cabinet Shop in Yong State was directly annexed by No. [-] Cabinet Shop, and Baoji, which had been in business since the time of Emperor Taizong, disappeared like this.