The seed master Dao was very dissatisfied with the situation of Murong Fu entering Changbai Mountain and coming out horizontally, but seeing that Murong Fu was angry, he still pulled his sleeve and asked Zhang Qi and Zhe Keshi to reply to the letter, Rao is a man of eight zhang, and he couldn't help but feel sour at the root of his nose. "They will arrive in Yan Yanjun in three days, don't worry so much, your body is important."

Murong Fu immediately showed a tired smile when he heard this, and said in a dumb voice: "Don't worry, you can't die!" "Murong Fu knows his own family affairs, and his situation is equivalent to going to a place with particularly difficult conditions and traveling for more than half a month, and he can't eat well and sleep well. As soon as I get home, I will naturally feel a little out of strength, and I will get better after a few days of recuperation.

Things were indeed as he wished, with Xue Muhua's wonderful hands and the effect of the concocted red ginseng, three days later, Murong Fu accompanied the seed to greet Huanqing Road at the gate of the Yuan to appease Zhang Qi and the generals of the Zhenrong army. It was rare for the leaders of the three front armies guarding the west to meet, but when they met, they wanted to thank Murong Fu for taking care of them for many years.

I saw Zhang Qi bow deeply to Murong Fu and said: "The Lanqing defense line has been completed, although I dare not say that there is no danger of border trouble in the future, but the Xia army will no longer have a chance to enter our Song land and plunder." Lord Murong is grateful for the kindness of the people in the west, and the old man can't thank him enough! "Zhang Qi, the character of the husband, is a rare literati who really knows military affairs in the Song Dynasty. In the sixth year of Yuanyou, he served as the pacification envoy of Huanqing Road, and he always advocated the use of troops against Western Xia to weaken the other side to consolidate his border defense, and led the army to attack Western Xia many times, and made countless meritorious contributions in successive battles.

For such a famous general in history, how could Murong Fu dare to accept his courtesy? Before Zhang Qi bent down, he had already stepped out to hold the person up, and said sincerely: "Lord Zhang is so polite, he really torments the juniors!" ”

Zhang Qi and Murong Fu looked at each other for a moment, and seeing that his bearing was as steady as Mount Tai, he couldn't help but smile and turned his head to sigh: "Zizheng, when I see Lord Murong, I am relieved!" There are successors! ”

After Zhang Qi came to the west to take office, he vaguely learned that most of the funds for the construction of the Lanqing defense line came from Murong Fu. From Lanzhou to Gyeongju, stretching for thousands of miles, more than a dozen fortifications are high walls and reinforced with cement. Don't say that the knife splits the fire, even the blasting with gunpowder may not be effective. Based on Zhang Qi's experience, the Song army relied on such a city, unless someone opened the door to meet the enemy, it would give the Xia army a hundred years, and they would not be able to break it. And the investment required to build such an impregnable fortress is that even officials above 10,000 people can't help but feel a pain in their hearts. Zhang Qi never imagined that the staggering young high-ranking official in front of him was light and light, and it took seven years to invest millions of dollars and finally build it. Based on this incident alone, Zhang Qi can clearly realize that the perseverance and determination of this polite Lord Murong are far greater than ordinary people. Now that he is in a high position and in power, he is undoubtedly another impregnable Great Wall for his family and country, how can he not make Zhang Qi happy and emotional?

He was more familiar with Murong Fu and knew that it was not a good omen for him to fall ill one after another. It's just that now is not the time to talk about this, so he just sighed in a deep voice and said slowly: "I invited the two of you here today to discuss how to completely solve Western Xia after the Lanqing defense line is completed." Two, inside please! Anyway, he didn't care what the faces of Zhang Ji and Zhe Keshi were, and turned his head and walked towards his tent.

After a while, the four of them, together with the planter, sat down in the camp tent of the planter. After the soldiers around him sent the tea, he said slowly: "I got acquainted with Lord Murong in the Yuanfeng period, the first emperor used the five-way army to attack Xia, and Lord Murong also personally braved the arrows, so it can be said that he knows the military strength of the Great Song Dynasty and the Xia Kingdom. In the second year of Yuan You, he decided to set up a line of defense in the west to protect the people with the strength of one person, which is now the Lanqing defense line. In the past seven years, Lord Murong has worked hard to build this defense line, raising millions of yuan, mobilizing 100,000 people's laborers, and transporting countless grain and grass materials. However, in order to let the ministers of the government hall agree to the old man to build a fort in the west, the Lanqing defense line mentioned above only had three fortresses. Therefore, the true face of this Lanqing defense line is no longer known except for the soldiers and people in the west; Lord Murong's painstaking efforts will not be known to the imperial court. Lord Murong is very kind to the people in the west, and the old man has thanked him here first! So saying, he got up and bowed down. As soon as he bowed, the planter also knelt down.

Zhang Qi and Zhi Keshi didn't know the inside story, but Murong Fu pledged to donate a lot of money to help build the Lanqing defense line, but he never expected that the 12 fortresses of all sizes were his handiwork. At this time, when they heard that the seed was talking about the inside story in detail, the two couldn't help but sit up in shock, and immediately pushed the gold mountain and the jade pillar together with the seed and bowed down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please get up!" Murong Fu hurriedly stretched out his hand to help him, but this time the four of them were unmoved. The four of them surrounded him so tightly that he had no room to dodge, so he had to accept the salute alive.

The four of them thanked Murong Fufang and were satisfied, and continued: "The reason that there is only a thousand days to be a thief and no thousand days to prevent thieves is that the old man agreed with Lord Murong early in the morning that this Lanqing defense line is by no means the end of the Western Army, but should be the bridgehead for the Western Army to attack Xia. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Qi and Zhi Keshi couldn't help but nod at the same time. Zhang Kai's qualifications and official position are above the fold, and this time Zhang Kai was the first to speak. "As long as there is this line of defense, the Western Army can build forts and gradually encroach on Western Xia by means of shallow attack." Historically, the strategy of building a fortress and attacking shallowly was the first initiative of Zhang Kai. Ordering the Song army to constantly harass the Western army and gradually encroach on the territory of the Western Xia based on the fortress that was easy to hold can be said to be the best method formulated in response to the characteristics of the Han people who are good at defending the city and not good at attacking. However, the disadvantage of this method is that it costs a lot of money to build a fort, and the gains from a shallow attack are very small, and it obviously takes a long time to see the effect of this method.

And what Murong Fu lacks most now is time, and before Zhang Ji could introduce him to what "building a fortress and attacking shallowly" is, he couldn't help but interject: "Master Zhang's method is really old and spicy, but it's just ...... The younger generation really doesn't have the patience. ”

Zhang Qi couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly when he heard this, the soldiers who led the troops were most afraid of two kinds of bosses, one was cowardly and fearful of war, and the other was eager for quick success. He is already in the age of sixties, and most of his career has been spent in the west, and he asked himself that this method of "building a fortress and attacking shallowly" is the most suitable tactic for the west. He was afraid that Murong Fu would only rely on his scholarly temperament to command indiscriminately and waste this good situation in vain, so he persuaded him with good words at the moment: "Lord Murong, soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be ignored!" ”

Murong Fu shook his head lightly and said in a deep voice: "The younger generation is not rash, it's just that my Great Song lacks good horses, and grassland warfare is congenitally insufficient. Even if the fortress is advanced, it is also a huge investment and the results are very slow. Whether it is the official family or the ministers of the political hall, as long as they see that the Western Army has no huge gains from the war and the silver money is falling like flowing water, they will definitely not support Master Zhang's policy for a long time. War must serve the government. The war in which the imperial court ultimately benefits is the war of victory. ”

Zhang Qi thought that Murong Fu was a great achievement, but at this time, he couldn't help but sigh slightly when he heard him speak so thoroughly. "The old man only understands the truth in half his life, and Lord Murong can say it casually at such an age. Sure enough, it's terrifying! ”

"Master Zhang, Miao praised." Murong Fu waved his hand and said again. "If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. Since the Great Song Dynasty has a short board of cavalry, he can only find a way in the next place. The heavy armor car formation can only protect itself but cannot hurt the enemy, and it is too passive after all. Therefore, the younger generation developed the tunnel pistol with ten years of work, and the purpose was to crack the cavalry of the Xia Kingdom. ”

"The old man has seen it, and it is indeed powerful." It can be said that if he hadn't seen the lethality of the tunnel rifle, Zhang Ji would not have made this trip as a pacifier. "However, to deal with the heavy armored cavalry Iron Harrier of the Xia Kingdom, even if our Song soldiers have a tunnel lance, they will have to pay a huge price. In the first battle of Yuanfeng, our army has suffered countless casualties, and now the empress dowager is listening to the government, I am afraid that she does not want to see the sword again. ”

"Besides, there are also cities and fortresses in the Xia Kingdom, and the high walls and iron walls are not inferior to our dynasty. This tunnel fire pistol alone is not powerful. Zhe Keshi followed up with a sentence.

"So, there must be a cannon." Murong Fu said word by word.

"Cannon?" Zhang Qi and Zhe Keshi are strange at the same time. During the Northern Song Dynasty, gunpowder was only initially used in war, and artillery was even more unheard of.

Murong Fu turned his gaze to Chong Ge, only to see Chong Ge get up and smile loudly, and said loudly: "Please ask the two adults to stay in my Yan Yan army for a few days, and tomorrow I will see the soldiers of my Yan Yan army test the artillery!" ”

Early in the morning of the second day, the group of four people came to the outskirts of the Yan army garrison. There, a new section of the city wall was built. At a distance of about three thousand meters from this city wall, the artillery team of the Yan Yan Army had skillfully set up the artillery and prepared it for demonstration.

Seeing the arrival of the four people, Zong Ze, who was in charge of developing artillery, immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Zong Ze, the young superintendent of the ordnance superintendent, has seen all of you. The artillery is cleared and ready to go! ”

Seeing that the shape of this artillery was like an iron cylinder on the two-wheeled frame, Zhang Qi couldn't help but ask: "This is the cannon?" ”

"Exactly! This is based on the Francophone ...... "Murong Fu habitually wants to introduce the origin of this plagiarized work, but he didn't know that he was halfway through the words and was picked apart by the seed man's arm." I saw that he glared at him with hatred, turned his head to Zhang Qi and said, "This cannon was developed by Lord Murong and Master Zong, and I also ask Lord Zhang to name it!" ”

Zhang Qi smiled, stroked his beard and said, "Let's try the cannon first." ”

With Zhang Qi's order, those cannons quickly roared and fired cannonballs, instantly blasting the tall city wall into ruins.

Seeing that this artillery was so powerful, Zhang Qi couldn't help but change color slightly, and Murong Fu couldn't help but nod lightly when he saw that the soldiers of those artillery teams were skillful when they fired their cannons.

Zong Ze has been developing artillery for many years, and he is used to seeing the scene when the cannon is fired, so he only introduced it to Zhang Ji with an expressionless face: "This is a solid bullet, please move and take a look at the shotgun again." ”

Solid bullets are ground into spheres of iron, one cannon at a time, and are mainly used for siege cities. Shotguns, on the other hand, are filled with lead-iron pellets or gravel, and a dozen large pieces are mainly used to kill and injure people.

Seeing the power of this shotgun, Zhang Qi and Zhi Keshi applauded even more. "With this artillery, the Iron Harrier will definitely break!"

Zong Ze has a calm temperament and lives up to his "dumbfounded" evaluation. Even Zhang Ji had already praised him repeatedly, and he only said slowly with a wooden face: "Solid shells can be fired at a distance of up to 600 miles, but shotguns can only be fired at a distance of one mile at the farthest." Don't ignore it, my lord! ”

Zhe Ke is suitable for the battle array, and at a glance it can be seen that the main target of the shotgun is the iron harrier of the Xia army. If the cannon could only be fired from a distance of one mile at most, it meant that it was very likely that there were still a few Iron Harriers who dodged the shotgun and rushed into the Song army's camp. However, this time he didn't care, and only smiled: "How can there be immortals in war?" One mile, enough! ”

Zhang Qi was more calm and asked, "There are already 100,000 tunnel guns, how many are these guns?" ”

"So far, there are 100 solid cannons and 200 shotguns, a total of 300." Zong Ze replied immediately.

When he reached the official positions of Zhang Qi, Chong Ge, and Zhi Keshi, he led tens of thousands of troops to defend one side, and was accustomed to counting one qiē military material in tens of millions. Hearing that there were only 300 pieces of this powerful artillery, Zhi Keshi immediately frowned and said, "Why don't you build more?" ”

Zong Ze glanced at him and said calmly: "Coupled with the R&D expenses, the average cost of each of these cannons is 30,000 guan, and 300 guns is 10 million guan." All this money is Akashi's own pocket, and almost all of his income in the past ten years has been invested, do you want him to bankrupt his family? ”

As soon as Zong Ze said this, everyone fell silent. From the Lanqing defense line to the tunnel guns to the artillery, Murong Fu has invested more than 20 million yuan in this war, which is really not a small amount.

After a long time, Zhang Qifang sighed faintly, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Murong has worked hard for the Western Army, it seems that this battle is imperative!" ”

"The time and place are favorable, when will you wait if you don't fight at this time?" Murong Fu said with a smile.

Who knew that Zhang Ji only smiled lightly when he heard this, and said slowly: "The time and place are indeed favorable, but people and ...... Can Lord Murong get the Holy Decree? As soon as Zhang Qi said this, Murong's face immediately froze, and he could only hear Zhang Qi say again. Although Lord Murong is relied on by the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager is old and kind after all, and she does not want to see the border killing. We are guarding one side, and if we do not have the will, we will be complicit in rebellion. ”

"Opportunities to use soldiers can be created, and this is not difficult." Murong Fu said frankly, "Lord Zhang is a pacification envoy of Huanqing Road, and he was ordered to patrol the place, and if he and Lord Zhang went to the court together, the court must be convinced." ”

As soon as Murong Fu said this, he couldn't help but frown. Murong Fu's implication was clearly that he wanted Zhang Qi to deceive the imperial court with him, which was really bold!

Zhang Kai's face was red and white, if it weren't for the sake of those artillery, I was afraid that he would have ordered this deceitful madman to be pushed out and cut down. I saw that he was silent for a while, then suddenly snorted coldly, dropped his sleeves and left.

The seed master Dao thought that the negotiation would not succeed, and he changed color when he was about to step forward to persuade him, but Murong Fu suddenly stretched out his hand to stop him and shook his head slightly. The seed master Dao was not sure what he meant, but Murong Fu had already left him behind and followed Zhang Ji step by step.

I saw that everyone returned to the camp with Zhang Qi, and Murong Fuping retreated left and right and personally served him tea. After a long time, Zhang Qifang sighed faintly and said in a low voice: "Lord Murong, although the old man is in the west, there are still a few old friends in the court. I heard that since the beginning of summer this year, the Empress Dowager has been sick twice in violation of the jade body, I'm afraid it's ......" Speaking of this, he couldn't help but shake his head gently. “…… But the official family is young and martial, and he has the heart to work hard. Governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh, why don't Lord Murong wait for a while? ”

Zhang Qi said it so clearly, Murong Fu naturally felt grateful for his care. It's just that Murong Fu can wait for the little emperor to ascend to the throne before sending troops to attack Xia? Apparently not! Murong Fu knew that it was useless to lie and deceive a senior officialdom like Zhang Qi, so it was better to get straight to the point to gain his approval, so he said generously at the moment: "Although the official family has the heart to work hard, it is a pity that he is biased towards the new party." The lower officials are only afraid that once the official family is in power, they will vigorously dismiss the members of the old party, and the efforts of the lower officials over the years will be nullified. ”

"But in any case, our tunnel guns and artillery are not fake." Fold can be suitable for emergency road. After all, he is a party member, and although he is in a high position, he is always vigilant. The Great Song Dynasty has always been very strict against military generals, deceived the officials and the imperial court, and started the war of exterminating the country without authorization. If tunnel-fired guns and artillery can ensure victory, why not fight this battle safely?

Unbeknownst to him, Murong Fu glanced at him with a smile, and said faintly: "General Zhe, do you still remember Wang Zhongzheng, Gao Zunyu, Li Shunju, and Xu Xi?" If the official family had placed a few cronies like the first emperor to come over and rebuke Fang Xuan at the beginning of the war, I am afraid that we would not fight Xia Guo with guns, but send guns and cannons to Xia Guo. After a pause, Murong Fu said again. But if the battle of Vaxia is now planned and arranged, with the empress dowager's trust in the official, most of the officials will preside over the situation. This official can guarantee that he will do his best to do a good job in logistics, and will never interfere with the generals' use of troops. ”

Civilian officials despised military generals, and in the war, they talked on paper and pointed fingers, and after the war, they had to grab the merits and have to push them, which was a common situation in the Song Dynasty. The generals gritted their teeth with hatred when they mentioned this, and they opened it out on Murong Fu's terms, and Zhi Keshi's eyes lit up, obviously with intentions.

The generals care about how to win the battle and how not to be robbed, but Zhang Qi, as a civil servant, obviously thinks more. For example: Orthodoxy. I saw that he was silent for a long time, and suddenly asked sharply: "Lord Murong has the merit of destroying the country, is he going to overwhelm the official family?" ”

Murong Fu smiled and said indifferently: "Who can overpower the official family in this world?" The lower officials just don't want the new parties to stir up the situation by grabbing the people's fat and anointment. Because of the boring party dispute, he ruined the good opportunity to eradicate the Xia Kingdom and eradicate the border troubles, doesn't Lord Zhang feel a pity? ”

Zhang Kai didn't talk. In officialdom, which official's starting point is not to serve the country and the people? At least it is claimed to be for the country and the people. But whether it is or not depends on the outcome. Zhang Qi silently calculated the age of the official family in his heart, eighteen years old, after all, he was too young to control the ministers.

Murong Fu sighed and said, "Master Zhang, as long as the military power is not in my hands, the throne of the official family will be as stable as Mount Tai." As for the government affairs of the imperial court, does Lord Zhang really think that the new party headed by Zhang Zihou will do better than the Shu party led by my mentor Su Zizhan? ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Ji couldn't help but sigh lightly. He is not ignorant of the people's livelihood, when Wang Jinggong implemented the new law, he did not see the scene of thousands of people scolding and starving for thousands of miles. Zhang Dian is radical and easy to kill, but I am afraid that he is not as good as Wang Jinggong. It's just that Zhang Qi has been loyal to the monarch all his life and has not been involved in party disputes, thinking that if he helps Murong Fu, it will be equivalent to invisibly helping him to fight for power in the court, and it is really difficult for him to convince himself. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh faintly, and said slowly: "It's a matter of importance, and let the old man think about it." After that, he didn't care about the faces of Chong Mo and Murong Fu, and walked straight out.

As soon as Zhang Qi left, he hurriedly hugged his fists and saluted everyone and chased him out.

As soon as these two people left, the face of the Seed Master Dao sank. "Master Zhang has always been loyal ......"

Before he finished speaking, Murong Fu smiled and said, "Don't worry, he will agree." If Zhang Qi refused to agree, Fang Cai would not have said so much to him. He was unwilling to give up the opportunity to hold the little emperor hostage with the merit of destroying the country, how could Zhang Qi give up the opportunity to destroy the Western Xia and rank in the Lingyun Pavilion? Perhaps he was originally willing to cooperate with the New Party, but the tunnel pistol and artillery were in Murong Fu's hands. Without these two things, it would be a joke to destroy Western Xia.

"Just say yes!" The seed master Dao did not doubt Murong Fu's judgment, and only said with a dark face. "In my opinion, you still have to take good care of your body, don't die in the middle of the road." The seed master knew that Zhang Qi was worried that Murong Fu would become a powerful minister and oppress the official family. It's just that he believes that if Zhang Qi knows Murong Fu's true physical condition, he will definitely have doubts to disappear!

Murong Fu couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and admitted: "Okay! Good! I will definitely try to live two more years and be Prime Minister for a few more years! ”