"Who is the craftsman who made this great bow?"

"It's in the workshop, and the bow master is named Chang Ying."

"The herald promoted Chang Ying to the rank of bow and crossbow supervisor, and awarded the title of second-class maker; This large bow was named the longbow and was immediately mass-produced. ”

"Lord, we all have an iron arm bow, although the range is not as far as the longbow, but it is enough, there is no need to make another longbow!" Ling Jing asked Guo Qi questions.

"Of course it's necessary." Guo Qi said: "Compared with the longbow, the iron arm bow has a short range and high cost, so it cannot be manufactured in large quantities in a short period of time; The king of this iron arm bow was intended to be specially equipped for crossbowmen, and this king of the longbow intended to equip it for pikemen, sword and shield soldiers; There is no need to aim during the battle, only to shoot at the enemy and use a dense rain of arrows to kill and injure the enemy. ”

"The lord is wise, and he will do it."

The craftsmen in the workshop were successively knighted, which stimulated others even more, and many people who were originally unwilling to become craftsmen came to the workshop to sign up as apprentices; At the same time, a large number of inventions emerged in the workshops of Yongcheng, such as improved crossbows, iron plows, water wheels, horse-drawn carriages, etc.; Today's Yongcheng workshop has begun to use the same standard, and in order to speed up the production process, it also uses assembly line operations, which greatly improves productivity; The wisdom of the ancients is unimaginable.

Before you know it, more than half a month has passed, and Yongzhou is getting colder and colder, and this has not yet entered November! It has been raining for two days and two nights, but the snow still has no intention of stopping.

In the Yongcheng Palace, Guo Qi stood in front of the window in his coat and hands behind his back, looking at the scene of heavy snow outside.

"Lord, Lord Song and Lord Ling ask to meet." Li Wu came in to report to Guo Qiyu.

"Let the two of them in!"

"Two adults, please." After the two of them entered, Li Wu closed the door and stood guard outside the door.

Guo Qi also closed the window, walked to the fire in the middle of the study, and said to the two: "It's cold outside!" Come over and make a fire! Wuzi, don't stand outside anymore, come in and bake the fire. ”

"Thank you, Lord."

"Yiming, how is the situation of the people everywhere?" Guo Qi asked anxiously.

"The snow outside here, the thick place has already reached the calf, I haven't seen such a big snow in so many years, and this year this year is too abnormal." Song Yiming reported: "Fortunately, the people's homes have prepared a lot of coal, and no people have frozen to death yet; In addition, even if the lord sent the Yajun guards and local government soldiers to clean the roads, now the roads leading to all parts of Yongcheng are unimpeded, but they have lost contact with the 36 villages. ”

"What about the displaced people who moved from the New West?"

"More than 30,000 displaced people have been placed in the north of the city, and nothing has happened so far."

"Don't let these people be idle, arrange some work for them, and save them from being idle and making trouble."

"Humble duty understands."

"Ling Jing, what's the situation on your side? How much grain is there in Cangcheng now? ”

"Lord Yu, now there are 130,000 stones of grain and grass in Cangcheng, and there are a lot of other cloths, tea, and salt." Ling Jing said: "The problem now is that the grain we bought from Jingzhao Mansion and Guanzhong has no way to be transported into Yongzhou, and the Jingzhao Mansion is okay to say, because the Wei River is frozen, it can be taken by land, but Guanzhong is difficult to do, and now the heavy snow covers the mountains and cannot cross the Qinling Mountains at all." ”

"Then wait for the snow to stop, and bring back the grain baggage from Jingzhao Mansion first."

"It wasn't good luck either, for there was a thick layer of snow all over the road, and it was difficult for people to walk, let alone carriages; You can only wait for the snow to melt and the road surface to dry. ”

"Then do as you say."

"Commanded by humility." Ling Jing said: "It's not ......"

"But what, if you have something to say, don't ramble." Guo Qi said impatiently.

"My lord, the grain and grass we bought in Jingzhao Mansion are only 80,000 stones, and the rest need to be transported from the Central Plains or Jiangnan; Even if all the 80,000 stones are transported back, it will not be enough for Yongzhou for a winter. ”

"My lord's winter this year will probably be longer than usual; The weather has been getting colder and colder in recent years, and I heard that even the south, which has never snowed, is now snowing. Song Yiming said.

"I originally thought that if I bought enough food, I would be able to have a good winter, but who would have thought that this grain could not be shipped in if I bought it, and this purchase is different from not buying it!" Guo Qi said a little annoyed.

"My lord, I think that the current food matter is easy to solve, and the difficult solution is after the spring of next year." Song Yiming said suddenly.

"Spring next year?" Guo Qi looked at Song Yiming and said.

"Lord, with such a heavy snowfall, I am afraid that the grassland in the north will encounter a white plague again this year, and this winter Xirong and Beidi don't know how many people and livestock will freeze to death; It is expected that in the early spring of next year, Xirong and Beidi will definitely attack our Daqi as they did in the previous year, plundering the population, grain, cattle and horses of our Daqi;

Yongzhou is located in the western frontier and is the first target of Xirong's attack, and the humble officials thought that the lord should prepare early, and use this winter to build passes and train soldiers to build ordnance. ”

"Yiming has a point." Guo Qi nodded and said, "But it's still early to start spring next year!" Now let's settle the matter at hand! ”

After Guo Qi finished speaking, everyone fell into deep thought.

After about a quarter of an hour, Guo Qi asked Song Yiming, "Yiming, you just said that Xirong may attack at the beginning of spring next year. ”

"Exactly, my lord."

"This king still has a way to get food." Guo Qi smiled weirdly: "For so many years, it has been Xirong and Beidi who have robbed us, why can't we rob them!" ”

"The lord means that we will attack Xijon and take food from Xijon's hands." Song Yiming exclaimed.

"That's right."

"But my lord, our Yongjun has only been training for more than a month, and the biggest battle is to destroy the mountain carving, can we beat Xirong? Besides, now that the mountains are covered by heavy snow, it is not conducive to marching and fighting at all. Song Yiming said.

"It is precisely because the heavy snow that the mountain is not conducive to warfare that this king has decided to attack Xirong, and they must not have imagined; As for the issue of combat power, don't worry, we are a sneak attack this time, and we are not fighting head-on with the Xirong army, so it shouldn't be a big problem. Guo Qi said very confidently.

"My lord, since it has been decided, I will obey the king's orders." Song Yiming and Ling Jing said together.

"Okay, then we'll beat him up." Guo Qi made up his mind; "But before attacking, this king has to go and reconnoitre."

"I wonder where the lord plans to attack?"

"Longzhou Governance Office Huangyuan City; But before attacking, the king has to go and see it first. ”

"My lord, let's send a sentry to ride! It's not safe. Song Yiming persuaded.

"There is no need to persuade it, this king will go in person this time, and it is enough to bring Li Wu and a hundred personal guards." Guo Qi said with a tough attitude: "After this king leaves, the affairs of Yongcheng will be handed over to Yiming you, and the affairs of the workshop will still be presided over by Ling Jing, and this king will lead Hu Qiong to lead a part of the tooth army guards into the city and station, forming a horn with the camp north of the city." ”

After making the decision to attack Huangyuan City, Guo Qi immediately summoned all the civil and military officials in Yongcheng and promulgated the entire decision, but only those few people knew, and none of the people below knew; In order to ensure Guo Qi's safety, in addition to Li Wu and a hundred personal guards, Tang Bi also came along.