Zhao Xingde followed closely behind Wang Yan and was quite ashamed to accept the soldier's respect. He looked at Wang Yan's calm back, and recalled that just a few hours ago, when he just saw Tong Guan's book, Wang Yan was equally shocked and disappointed with him. But just a few hours later, he not only regained his strength, but also used his actions to drive thousands of people to wake up from self-abandonment and minimize the adverse effects of the coach's escape.

"Maybe it's the difference between leaders and ordinary people." Zhao Xingde immediately thought, "Can I become such a person?" ”

At this time, a pro-soldier stepped forward and whispered: "My lord, for some reason, Tong Gonggong's official ship is still staying at sea and has not gone far. ”

Wang Yan took the clairvoyant mirror, looked in the direction of the mouth of the Yellow River, and saw the high mast of the ship.

"Hmph," his face darkened, "Lord Tong is careful and can't rest assured, this is the result of seeing the soldiers and civilians in the city of Hejian before he is willing to sail away with peace of mind!" He handed over the clairvoyant mirror to Zhao Xingde and ordered: "This matter is announced to the army, and Lord Daotong will watch the battle for me at sea." ”

"This ......," Zhao Xingde muttered, he was worried that the generals would hear that Tong Guan had not gone away, and he would have a heart of repetition.

"Justice is at ease in the hearts of the people." Wang Yan saw that he was worried about his virtue and said slowly. Turning his head and saying to his own soldiers: "Those who have nothing to do out of the city will be punished for colluding with Liao thieves, and there will be no forgiveness!" "The pro-soldier immediately received the order, and the ability of the Jinguan Mansion is beyond the imagination of ordinary border generals.

Wang Yan took Zhao Xingde down the city tower and came to a camp near the city wall.

Stepping inside, Zhao Xingde only felt that it was dark in front of him, only to realize that this camp was not only low and remote, but even the windows were closed tightly, and only a faint light came in. After the pupils adapted, Zhao Xingde looked around, and couldn't help but be shocked, only to see that there were already more than 50 people standing in the room, looking old and young, most of them were middle-aged, dressed as non-military and non-civilian, but the words "swear to defend the river" were tattooed on their foreheads, presumably Wang Yan's henchmen.

"For the sake of the people of this city, the Hebei rivers and mountains of the Great Song Dynasty, my prince is incompetent, and he can't stand the brothers." Wang Yan arched his hand.

"Why did the king say this, I can make a break with the Liao people, and what regrets are there when I die vigorously!" A pig killer rubbed his hands, and Zhao Xingde even saw that there were oil stains on his cuffs.

As Wang Yan talked and explained to them, Zhao Xingde was shocked to hear that this group of people was really going to die a vigorous death.

In order to boost morale and break the dilemma of the giant artillery siege, Wang Yan decided to send an army to attack, even if the giant cannon could not be destroyed, but also to frustrate the spirit of the Liao people. The cavalry of the Liao State was originally fierce and fast, attacking like a fierce wind and fire, and hiding an iron wall with strong armor, guarding like a copper wall. Even with Han Shizhong's bravery, he was defeated and retreated. Wang Yan considered that only by throwing the earth-shattering thunder into the iron wall camp could he control the enemy. It's just that the big one weighs two or three hundred catties, and the small one also weighs more than 100 catties, and it can't be launched with a bow and crossbow at all.

The origins of the dead soldiers in Jinean Mansion are different, some are slaughtered by the Liao people and come to the Song Realm, some are poor and unbearable, and some are outlaws in the rivers and lakes, and they don't take their lives seriously. But more than 50 people gathered here, facing life and death, still talking and laughing freely, without any pretentiousness, Zhao Xingde couldn't help but be deeply touched by these people, he held the waist card of the Jineaves Mansion in his sleeve pocket, and secretly ashamed and said: "Zhao Yuanzhi, you hesitate to die, greedy for life and afraid of death, are you worthy of respecting you as your boss with these heroes who regard death as if you were at home?" ”

After some encouragement, Wang Yan asked the two accompanying officials of the Jinguan Mansion to explain the specific affairs, except for the door of the barracks, his heart came to his face: "There are only more than 100 dead soldiers in the Jinguan Mansion in the city, and ordinary soldiers are embarrassed by the heavy responsibility. To break the iron wall camp of the Liao people, it is difficult to say the odds of victory. ”

The huge cannon of the Liao people outside the city thundered twice, and the stone bullets smashed on the city wall, and even the bricks and stones inside the wall shook, and the rammed earth mixed with sand was sprinkled everywhere. Many of the soldiers who carried arrows and rocks fell to the ground in fright. There were even people hiding in the corners with their heads covered. Although this kind of giant cannon may not have collapsed the city wall in two or three blows, psychologically, it has a huge deterrent to the soldiers and civilians in Hejian.

As Wang Yan walked a few places, Zhao Xingde pondered for a long time, deliberated repeatedly, and finally mustered up the courage to say: "Lord Wang, I can penetrate the heavy armor with the firecracker, and I don't rely on the strength of the soldiers to fight, there are more than 20,000 poles in the Hejian arsenal, why not use the firearm to deal with the iron-walled battalion!" ”

"Firebolt?" Wang Yan was a little stunned, the evaluation of this new thing in the Hebei army was very bad, since the training blew up dozens of them, after dozens of people were killed and wounded, they were all sealed in the military arsenal, which is also the reason why the Hejian camp collapsed, but the firearms did not lose much.

Wang Yan himself was not familiar with such a thing, but he trusted Zhao Xingde, so he only asked, "Really?" ”

"I once heard someone from Neibazuo say that if the fire gun uses double medicine, within a few dozen steps, there should be no problem in penetrating heavy armor." Zhao Xingde's memory is very good, he did not mistake the firearm for the firearm of later generations, and only quoted the words of the firearm of Neibazuo as the official She Lu.

Wang Yan groaned slightly, nodded and said, "Then let's try it." "In Hejian City, whether it is the fire gun or the soldiers who can operate the fire gun, they are far more abundant than the earth-shaking thunder and the dead soldiers of the Jinwei Mansion.

However, with a "boom", on the shooting range in Hejian City, two firearms exploded again in front of Wang Yan and Zhao Xingde. The bloodied soldiers were carried down, and the others looked at Wang Yan with a wincing look.

"This is the power of the firebolt?" Wang Yan said quite unhappily, the explosion had happened many times in Hebei earlier, and he heard Zhao Xingde swear that the benefits of the fire gun were tested, and who knew that this was still the result.

Subsequently, Wang Yan took his entourage to inspect the stock of earth-shaking thunder in the city, leaving only Zhao Xingde stunned on the shooting range.

"What's going on?" Although Zhao Xingde didn't have much confidence in the reliability of the firecracker, he didn't expect to blow up two shots after trying two shots. Zhao Xingde turned out the fire hammer that exploded and saw that on the thick wall of the fire gun, there were countless sand holes, as small as cow hair, as big as soybeans, and the largest pore was actually as big as a little finger.

"This is the practice of the Inner Eight Works." In the evening, Zhao Xingde was so depressed that he went to Han Shizhong to drink, and Han Shizhong comforted him.

Seeing Zhao Xingde's blank face, Su Wenyu, who was accompanying him, explained: "The things in the workshop have always been made first to make a batch of good ones for Shangguan to inspect. The imperial court had to lower prices every year, and in order to earn money without losing money, they began to cut corners. It's just that every time it comes to the proofreading and inspection, the knives and guns are sharpened to be extraordinarily bright. If it is a firearm, the weight of the charge is reduced, and when the review is only heard, nothing is actually sent out. ”

"The workshop is also equipped with smoke pills and flicks specially made for proofreading." Han Shizhong smiled mockingly, "Even if the knife and gun are almost, they can always kill, firearms can't be charged to shoot bullets, and even sticks are not as good, who would dare to use them?" It's best to pack it up. ”

"This ......," Zhao Xingde didn't expect this, and was still puzzled, "The income and expenditure of the government-run workshop are all public, where is there a loss and making money?" ”

Han Shizhong and Su Wenyu glanced at each other, but they looked at Xingde with puzzled eyes: "Where is the reason why the government-run workshop does not make money?" Su Wenyu said: "In order to make money, I heard that the materials used to make iron barrel cannons are even scrap copper and rotten iron. ”

Han Shizhong added: "Don't you see that the soldiers who operate the cannon at the head of this city don't dare to put enough gunpowder? What is he afraid of? As long as the amount of medicine is sufficient, I am afraid that this cannon will also explode on the spot. ”

Zhao Xingde suddenly realized, sighed, and was silent.

During the war, they were not allowed to get drunk, and the three of them drank a few glasses of sweet wine that was almost tasteless, and Su Wenyu said with some hesitation: "The young general came over today because he had doubts and wanted to ask the two adults to be taught." ”

"If you have something to say, say it quickly," Han Shizhong slammed the cup on the table, Zhao Xingde looked at Su Wenyu with some embarrassment, he was not much older than this young man, just because of his official rank, he was respected as an adult, and he still felt a little uncomfortable.

Su Wenyu was a little embarrassed, looked at the candle flame and said: "In order to inspire the soldiers and civilians of the city, Lord Wang Yan personally tattooed words on his forehead, and the last general admired it very much, and now the generals in the city have followed suit, and the last general also wants to ......."

"Then you're going to stab!" Han Shizhong said roughly, his hand unconsciously stroked his sideburns, there was an inconspicuous scar there, which was removed when he was a soldier, and was removed after he became an officer, and the scar left was slightly covered with sideburns. He was determined not to tattoo words on his face again.

"The last general's family is in Bianjing, and he has not yet married. Not as good as two adults. Hearing Su Wenyu stammer, Zhao Xingde smiled, it turned out that this guy was worried that he had this tattoo on his face, and no good woman would be willing to marry, but this is also a fact.

"Humph!" Han Shizhong put his hand down and scolded: "If the husband wants to do it, don't do it if you don't want to do it, mother-in-law, mother-in-law, it's not happy!" ”

Zhao Xingde saw that Su Wenyu was scolded by him, and nodded yes, and said with a smile: "The tattoo Mingzhi does not necessarily have to be on the forehead, in my opinion, it is good to stab it on the back, and it can also be stabbed bigger, if it is fought shirtless in the future, the generals behind can also see it clearly." ”

He said with a smile, but Su Wenyu's eyes lit up, and he patted the case: "It's better to be Lord Zhao!" After speaking, he glanced at Han Shizhong with some fear, Han Shizhong ignored him and poured himself a glass of wine. Su Wenyu then continued: "According to Lord Zhao's opinion, what kind of word is tattooed on the back, if you 'swear to guard the river', if the last general is sent after returning to Bianjing, I am afraid that something is wrong." ”

"Then stab 'Jing Zhong to serve the country'," Zhao Xingde paused and said, he suddenly remembered another person with a tattoo on his back. Whether he is still in this era that has become a little different, that spirit should be passed on forever.