In the first year of Yan Wang Kang, the twelfth year of Zhao Wang Dan (254 BC), autumn, Handan cang.

Since the Zhao State moved its capital to Handan, it has built Handan Warehouse in Handan City.

This Handan warehouse, if the grain storage is full, can feed millions of people for a year. Zhao Guoneng and Qin confronted each other in the Shangdang region for three years, and the food supply of hundreds of thousands of troops depended on this Handan granary.

Of course, since the Battle of Changping, the grain storage in this Handan warehouse has never been full.

Seeing Handan Cang, which had turned into a large piece of rubble and dust, Zhao Wangdan wanted to cry without tears.

Since Zhao Wang Dan ascended the throne as king and truly grasped the power of Zhao, the state of Zhao has been full of bad luck.

First, in the Battle of Changping, 450,000 troops were killed by the Qin State; The next is the battle of Handan, and the people in Handan City eat bones for cooking and Yizi; Subsequently, in the southern end of Luoyi and Anyang, more than 90,000 soldiers were lost.

The past two years have just gotten better, especially this year, which is a bumper year. Unexpectedly, this year's autumn harvest was just over, and the grain had just been returned to the warehouse, but the largest granary in Zhao State, Handan Cang, was burned to dust by the fire.

Zhao was originally a country lacking food, but it was not like Yan and Qin, both of which had their own grain production bases.

After returning to the palace, Zhao Wangdan could still see Handan Cang in the distance, still emitting thick black smoke.

Zhao Wangdan already knew that from this winter to next year's autumn harvest, there would be another big problem with the food supply of the military and civilians of Zhao State.

Seeing the depressed expression on his nephew's face, Pingyuan Jun Zhao Sheng sighed and stepped forward to comfort:

"Your Majesty, it has happened, so don't think about it anymore. Down, what my Zhao Guo is thinking about is to send someone to Yan Country as soon as possible, so that the Empress Dowager Yan and Yan Wang Kang can help my Zhao Kingdom get through this difficulty! ”

In the countries surrounding Zhao State, only Yan State can help Zhao State. Qin was Zhao's life-and-death rival; The grain of Wei and South Korea can only barely protect themselves; The state of Chu is far away from the state of Zhao, so don't even think about it.

Zhao Wangdan stayed for a long time before he said to Zhao Sheng: "Uncle Wang, because of the matter of defending the country, my Zhao Kingdom has offended the Empress Dowager Yan and Yan Wangkang, will Yan Guo still help my Zhao Kingdom through this difficulty?" ”

Zhao Sheng, the king of the plains, bowed down to Zhao Wang Dan and said: "King, there is no other way, my Zhao State can withdraw troops from Wei Guo, so as to show favor to Yan State, in exchange for Yan Guo to help me Zhao State this time." ”

"Uncle Wang, you said that Handan Cang was burned this time, is it the work of another country?"

Zhao Sheng was stunned for a moment, and said to Zhao Wangdan:

"King, this needs to be investigated, and the minister really doesn't know. But now is not the time to dwell on these issues. ”

Zhao Wangdan thought about it, and there was no other way.

"Uncle Wang, let's deal with it like this! After informing the Wei State, he said that I, the Zhao State, would withdraw troops from the Wei State. The other widow will give the Empress Dowager Yan and Yan Wangkang a handwritten document, and send someone to Jidu as soon as possible to see what Yan Guo has to say! ”

"No." Plains Jun Zhao Sheng bowed in response.

After the autumn harvest of Yan State, Ji Kang issued an edict ordering the recruitment and discharge of the whole army to be completed as soon as possible. Newly recruited non-commissioned officers should complete the intensive training as soon as possible. All armies of Yan State should arrange winter training as soon as possible.

In early October, the Thistle Palace, the Affinity Palace.

Ji Kang said to Huang Yong, the director of the intelligence bureau who came:

"This time, the Zhao State Intelligence Bureau has done a good job. All the personnel who operated in the Zhao State Intelligence Bureau this time were arranged to be withdrawn to China and commended. In addition, as a top secret, all information is permanently sealed and must never be leaked. ”

"No." Huang Yong bowed and replied.

"Anything else?"

"King Qiqi, the information from Xianyang says that Wei Wangyu and Han Wangran have arrived in Xianyang. In addition, Zhao Wangdan has ordered the general Lian Po to withdraw from the defense land and send an envoy to our Yan country. ”

"Oh, the widow knows, go down."

After Huang Yong left, Ji Kang took a sip of water, and his eyes were unusually deep.

At this time, the attendant ordered Wang Cong to come in and reported to Ji Kangyu:

"Your Majesty, Minister Zou Yan sent his disciple Xu Fu to come and say that he had something important to meet my king."

When Ji Kang heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and ordered: "Spread this person to meet you." ”

"No."

In less than a moment, a young man who looked to be in his twenties, with a graceful demeanor that made people feel good at a glance, walked into the Affinity Hall.

"Xu Fu pays homage to my king." The young man knelt on his knees and prostrate.

"Excuse me."

"Thank you, my king." Xu Fu stood up.

Ji Kang looked carefully at the young man in front of him and asked:

"Xu Fu, where are you? When did you go to Xiangping College? ”

"Qi my king, the minister is a Qidi Wudi (now Hebei Yanshan Zhangwei South Canal Wudi ditch) people. I went to Xiangping College six years ago and followed my teacher Zou Yan. Xu Fu bowed and replied.

Ji Kang already knew at this time that there was no problem.

This person is the famous and eloquent "big fool" Xu Fu in the history books of his previous life.

"Xu Fu, the widow asked you, did you say that there are immortals overseas? Have you ever seen an immortal? ”

Ji Kang decided to ask Xu Fu this question.

Xu Fu didn't know why his own king asked this question? After thinking for a moment, he bowed and replied:

"Enlighten my king, although the minister respects Taoism, he only agrees with the Taoist concept, and has not seen any immortals."

When Ji Kang heard this, he nodded.

Fortunately, this guy seems to be young now, and he didn't "fool" himself.

"Zou Xiang asked you to come, what do you have to report to the widow?"

"Enlighten my king, this is a document, please look at it."

Xu Fu took out the paperwork from his sleeve, bowed, and raised his hands high.

The attendant ordered Wang Cong to step forward, took the paperwork in Xu Fu's hand, and handed it to Ji Kang.

Opening the paperwork, Ji Kang quickly read it.

After reading the paperwork that Zou Yan gave him, a smile appeared on Ji Kang's face.

"After so many years of research, the gun was finally finalized."

A few years ago, after the invention of Liaodi's "hand fire mine", the research and development of the pistol was put on the important agenda by Ji Kang. Set up a research group to concentrate talents from all walks of life and give R&D and manufacturing.

The structure of the rifle is very simple, that is, it uses the flint on the hammer inside the gun to strike sparks, ignite gunpowder, fire projectiles, and strike the enemy from a distance.

However, in view of the limitations of various processes in this era, the flintlock pistol originally produced could not meet Ji Kang's requirements. The main thing is the spring mechanism inside the flintlock pistol.

After so many years of hard work, the problem of the spring mechanism in the pistol was finally overcome.

Today, this flintlock pistol has finally been developed and passed the acceptance of the military department.

The shaped pistol is slender and tubular, with a caliber of 1.8 centimeters and a diameter of 120 centimeters, and the gun weighs about 10 catties.

Due to Ji Kang's guidance, the projectile of the pistol was reloaded with an accelerated method.

In other words, the projectile is wrapped in a piece of linen or animal skin soaked in grease and loaded into the muzzle to reduce friction. Not only did it speed up the reload, but it also played an air-holding role, which led to an increase in accuracy and an increase in range.

Of course, the range of this rifle is not very long, that is, seventy or eighty paces away. The range is very different from that of the bow and crossbow of this era. The biggest advantage is that it saves effort and can hit the opponent for a long time.

And Ji Kang's requirements are not so high, and the main consideration is to equip the navy or defend the city.

If the navy engages in a fierce battle with the enemy at sea or on the surface, because they are all on board, the effect of this rifle can be fully exerted, and it can continuously strike the enemy from a distance, and combined with the use of hand fire mines, it can be said that it is a nightmare for enemy ships.

It is also possible to defend the city, I am on the city, and I use a flintlock pistol to condescendingly strike at the besieging enemy.

It is also extremely lethal to the besieging enemy.

If you use such a stereotyped flintlock pistol and equip the infantry now, it will be miserable. With a range of dozens of paces, the enemy will soon be able to rush in front of the infantry, and the infantry will only be tortured and killed.

Besides, the Suifa pistol that is now finalized by Yan Guo is the first generation of products. This can be used in actual use, and then gradually summarize the advantages and disadvantages, and slowly improve it, so that it will have a longer range and be more advanced in the future.

The original artillery structure was much simpler, and the craftsmen of various countries in this era were able to make it.

You must know that in this era, the bronze craftsmanship of China has reached its peak. For the casting of primitive artillery, the countries of the Central Plains have no problem.

One of the most important points is that the current armies of the Central Plains, except for the Yan State, other countries do not realize that the "gunpowder" made by the alchemy alchemists can be used in military affairs.

But Ji Kang decided that now artillery is only being developed and is not ready to equip the army.

On the one hand, the artillery is bulky and difficult to transport; On the other hand, if the artillery falls into the hands of the enemy, it can be imitated by the enemy immediately, and it can cause great damage to the Yan army.

The Yan army has two things, explosives bags and hand fire mines, and with catapults, it is enough to have two things, combined with catapults.

In the face of the upcoming unification war, after having these things, Ji Kang's heart was a little more steady.

Because of the consciousness of the advance of the previous life, the stereotyped flintlock pistol is not only fast to load. Moreover, armed with flintlock pistols, Ji Kang decided to use "three-stage shooting" to continuously strike at the enemy army.

Immediately, he ordered Wang Cong, the attendant beside him:

"The edict ordered all firearms and military factories in Liaodi to complete the production process and process of the flintlock pistol as soon as possible, and began to produce this flintlock pistol in large quantities. Tell them to complete the mass production task as soon as possible at all costs and equip the army. ”

"In addition, the edict of the widow was passed on, and the chief engineer who developed this flintlock pistol, Luge, was awarded the third rank and given 100 gold. Other R&D personnel will be rewarded according to their contributions. ”

"No." Wang Cong replied.

Then he turned around and said to Xu Fu: "Xu Fu, how is Zou Xiang's body?" ”

Xu Fu hurriedly bowed down and said:

"Your Majesty, Zou Xiang is still in good health, and he often says that he still wants to assist my king and complete my king's ambition!"

Zou Yan is over seventy years old, and Ji Kang is very worried about his body.

After hearing Xu Fu's words, Ji Kangshi relieved his heart and said to Xu Fuyan:

"Xu Fu, you go back and tell Zou Xiang, just say that the widow misses him very much, let him be free, just go back to Jidu."

"Obey my king's edict." Xu Fu bowed deeply to Ji Kang.