The musket in front of him was very different from the musket in his memory, like a burning stick that was half iron and half wood. On closer inspection, the ignition device is a medicine stick inserted into a small hole in the tail of the gun, which is ignited by the fire cracker with a fire breaker. The fuses are kept in special leather pouches of varying lengths, and are subject to the enemy's situation, and if the enemy retreats, the fuses are extinguished.

Zhao Xingde turned the fire gun over and over again and looked at it a few times, but he couldn't say why, so he put the "burning stick" aside. Turning around, he saw a long knife leaning on the wall next to him, there were several gaps in the knife, he stepped forward and found that this knife was taller than a person, the handle of the knife was three feet long, and the blade was also three feet. Although the Song State allowed the sale of swords, bows and arrows and other weapons, Zhao Xingde had never seen the shape of this long knife, and I am afraid that it was also a sharp weapon forbidden by the people.

"Is this a Mo knife?" When Zhao Xingde first saw the ferocious form, he first thought of the Modao that was very popular during the Tang Dynasty.

"No, the Mo knife is three feet longer than the blade of this hemp knife, and now I have to use the Mo knife in the Xia army." She Lu glanced at Zhao Xingde, but he didn't expect this disciple of Tai Shi Ling to call out the name of the long-lost blade, "This is a hemp knife, also known as a horse killing knife, the gang of bastards in front of the big sword are full of food, saying that they want to practice and use it to kill an old horse, but it was cut on the bone, and the edge of the blade was broken, and it needs to be repaired." ”

"I heard that the blade of the battle formation is one inch strong, one is strong, and the blade of this hemp knife is three feet shorter than the Mo knife, isn't it a loss?" Zhao Xingde wondered.

Shelu replied: "The principle of an inch long and an inch strong is good, but every point that the blade grows, it is easier to break. It is not easy to build a hemp knife to be able to kill horses, let alone a six-foot-long Mo knife. Mo knife is extremely expensive, and easy to break, non-tall and strong, arm strength amazing can not be used, so this dynasty will replace it with a hemp knife. What Shelu didn't say was that if it was carefully crafted from the finest steel, a six-foot blade would be durable, but forging such a good knife was too laborious and too expensive, so it couldn't be used as a standard weapon for the forbidden army.

"Then why do the Xia soldiers still use the Mo knife, could it be that the Xia people are more skilled in knife casting?" Zhao Xingde was puzzled.

She Lu smiled bitterly and said: "Although the Ordnance Department of Xia Guo has a unique secret, but good knives are all tempered, if you talk about saving costs, it may not be better than my inner eight masters, why Xia Guo's army has been using Mo knives, and the lower officials don't know." ”

Song An said: "Yuan Zhi doesn't know, this fact is related to the military system of the Xia Kingdom. Xia Guojun was brave and won the ten commanders by fighting. The ten-division commander is the starting point of the military attaché, and if this level is not passed, it is hopeless to promote the centurion, the captain, and even the general. The weapon of the ten-master competition is a personal choice, and this Mo knife is a first-class weapon, which can reach both far and close, and it is the most favorite blade used by the tall and powerful foot soldiers in the Xia army when competing for the ten-master. There are many sergeants of the ten-captain who have won the competition with the Mo sword, and this thing will naturally flourish for a long time. ”

This section was told by Chao Buzhi to Song An, who had the same doubts, just like the people who went to the exam, most of them tried every possible way to get a good pen and ink inkstone. This contest is a major event related to the honor and disgrace of a lifetime, and even if a sharp weapon such as a Mo knife is expensive and costly, it is not as good as the sergeant who wins the competition and wins the official position. In the Xia Kingdom, some family heirlooms are a cold and shining Mo knife. It is said that the royal family of the Xia Kingdom still has the Mo knife used by Li Siye, the Mo knife general of the Anxi Army of the Tang Dynasty.

Zhao Xingde nodded slightly, but secretly said in his heart, although the shape of the Mazha knife and the Mo knife are similar, but when they encounter a strong enemy in the battle array, they don't know how many lives they need to fill the gap between the three-foot blades.

Xingde was groaning, as if he was afraid that Zhao Xingde would underestimate the skills of the East and West Eight Works, She Lu took the initiative to lead Zhao Xingde to a black pig iron ball-like thing, and introduced quite proudly: "As the saying goes, he has a flying pigeon station, I have a quick foot delivery, he has an iron bucket cannon, and I have a thunderbolt." This is the weapon that defends the city. ”

Zhao Xingde looked at it, and saw that the surface of the pig iron ball was criss-crossed by dozens of small ditches, showing small raised squares, thinking that since it was called the earth-shaking thunder, it must be filled with gunpowder, and once it exploded, it was full of fragments. There was also a small hole in the inconspicuous part of the iron ball where the lead wire was placed, but now it was sealed very tightly with grease and oiled paper. If it was time for the enemy to attack the city, he ignited the earth-shaking thunder that seemed to weigh about 200 pounds and threw it down from the city, and the city would definitely be a piece of flesh and blood.

Zhao Xingde smiled: "It's really amazing, I don't know what that bucket cannon is?" ”

She Lei said: "The iron bucket cannon is a cannon, just because it is shaped like a giant iron barrel placed obliquely, so it is called an iron bucket cannon." On the outer city of Bianjing, there are horse-faced war sheds every 100 steps, and there are defense city vaults every 200 steps. A total of 120 iron barrel cannons were placed in the outer city, which were kept in the fortified city treasury on weekdays, and if there was any case, they were taken out and placed in the horse-faced war shed, and the forbidden army defending the city was bombarded and killed by the enemy. If Zhao Gongzi is interested, he can watch it himself. It's just that, in order to be in order, there are no barrel cannons on the palace and the inner city. Having said that, this Bianjing Outer City Defense Treasury is not something that idlers can look at at at will.

Zhao Xingde said a little strangely: "This dynasty adheres to the policy of guarding the inside and the outside, why is there such a sharp weapon as artillery, but there is no inner city and palace city?" ”

Yu Lei was stunned for a moment, although this truth was simple, he didn't dare to talk nonsense, and only looked at Song An with a wry smile. Song An patted Zhao Xingde's shoulder, gestured with both hands to turn the muzzle, and bit the word: "Isn't this for the sake of everything." Besides, there is still a surplus of barrel cannons in the armory in the inner city, which can be moved to the head of the city at any time if it is really necessary. ”

Zhao Xingde suddenly realized, in this way, the official family lives under the city wall where the artillery is placed every day, and it is really a little difficult to do. This board does not fight lazy, nor rushes, but focuses on those who are not long-eyed.

Just when Zhao Xingde was traveling to the Hanlin Academy, in the arsenal of the inner city, Shen Yun, the official of the Imperial City Division, was coldly looking at the three Liaodong barbarians who were overjoyed in front of the iron barrel cannon. His Royal Highness King Jing, who promoted the Imperial City Division, the third prince Zhao Qi, in the name of containing the Liao State, asked the Inner City Armory to allocate 20 Jurchen iron barrel cannons, 500 cannons, and 1,000 catties of gunpowder. These Jurchens came to see the goods in advance. Although the official family may not know about this, Shen Yun knows that the official family intends to go north to Youyan for a day or two, since it is the order of the third prince, Shen Yun naturally does not dare to disobey. What's more, he still carried a stack of Jiaozi handed over by Bai Maoxin in his arms, although it was a little thinner, it also showed that the barbarians did not understand the rules of the Central Plains.

Wanyan Zongbi stretched out his hand to caress the exquisite pattern cast on the outside of the artillery, as if he was caressing the girl's silky smooth skin, and Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Xiyin next to him also looked salivating. After Yan Zongbi touched the cannon up and down several times, he reached out and knocked it twice, his brows furrowed slightly, and he looked back at Shen Yun, who was quite difficult to deal with. He looked at Bai Maoxin, who had accompanied him

Wanyan Zongbi smiled reluctantly, walked to Bai Maoxin's side, pinched his voice and whispered: "Lord Bai, didn't you say that you would give a first-class good cannon?" How can you look down, these cannons are not cast in copper? ”

Bai Maoxin's face changed slightly, he glanced at Shen Yun, and did not answer. Wanyan Zongbi secretly scolded this person for accepting the gold and not doing anything, and followed his gaze to Shen Yun.

Shen Yun snorted lightly in his nose and said, "The bronze cannon is simply piled up with money, and you get what you pay for, just your little gold, and you still want the copper cannon?" "He is not bad, the Great Song Dynasty passed copper coins, and the price of copper is getting more and more expensive, so the copper cannon is equal to a pile of money, and now the money shortage in various places is getting worse and worse, because of the lack of copper used to cast money, the three divisions and the money supervisor have jointly suggested that the imperial court only cast iron cannons, and the copper cannons are purchased from the Xia Kingdom, which is rich in copper and good at casting cannons, with silk tea.

Wanyan Zongbi was stabbed by this eunuch without yin or yang, and wanted to argue, but he felt that his cuffs were pulled twice, and when he turned his head, Bai Maoxin's index finger and thumb were slightly rubbed twice under the wide sleeves, and he pointed to Lord Shen, who was not looking at this side.

Not long after Yan Zongbi arrived in Bianjing, this gesture was already familiar. He forcibly suppressed the resentment in his heart, and took out a stack of friends from his arms, and he remembered that the value was always tens of thousands. Only then did he come to Shen Yun with a smiling face, and boldly put his hand into Shen Yun's wide sleeve and handed the handover.

Lord Shen never looked at him squarely, and Wanyan Zongbi was even a little afraid that he would let Jiaozi fall if he didn't answer, but he didn't dare to be next to him all the time, so he let go and retreated. Shen Yun shook his sleeves slightly, and glanced at it skillfully and lightly, the denomination of Jiaozi was 1,000 guan, and then he pressed the thickness, he probably knew that there were always more than 15,000 guan of filial piety this time, so he snorted and said: "Since His Royal Highness King Jing has opened his mouth, then I can't make a hindrance from it, so let you barbarians pick up a bargain." Then he led the men to another barrel cannon.

This cannon was almost indistinguishable from the one just now at first glance, and Wanyan Zongbi glanced at Bai Maoxin with some confusion.

Bai Maoxin smiled slightly and said, "Third Prince Wanyan, look at that muzzle, is it different from just now?" ”

Wanyan Zongbi looked at the muzzle of the cannon according to his words, and then he breathed a sigh of relief, the muzzle of this copper cannon was a full circle larger than the cast iron cannon just now, and the cannon wall was thinner. In order to attack the cities of Liao, the Wanyan tribe also tried to cast artillery, although it was unsuccessful, Wanyan Zongbi knew that the thinner the barrel, the more difficult it was to cast, on the other hand, if the cast artillery barrel was thin and could withstand the explosive power of gunpowder, it was a real high-grade artillery.

"Look here." As if he wanted to prove that the three thousand taels of gold he had handled up and down were worth it, Bai Maoxin pointed to a piece of dragon pattern on the bronze cannon, and said: "This is the copper cannon cast by the Ordnance Department of the Xia Kingdom, and the bronze cannon of the Xia Kingdom is the sharpest, light and not easy to explode. He pointed to the wooden barrel containing gunpowder next to him and said, "Even this gunpowder is specially configured for this cannon, and one round is used for a pack of powder, and this officer has also opened it to test it, this powder is pure and uniform, and it is not easy to get wet." Even in our forbidden army, it is also a rare good thing. ”

Wanyan Zongbi glanced at Bai Maoxin, he didn't know very well how to distinguish the quality of gunpowder, but since this Lord Bai, who had received three thousand taels of gold, said so, there was some truth over there. He nodded, and said to Bai Maoxin like a person from the Central Plains: "Lord Bai bothered. ”

Bai Maoxin realized that although he had received the money from these barbarians, he also helped others to do things, waved his hand and smiled: "It's easy to say." ”

Shen Yun looked coldly at what Young Eunuch Bai said affectionately to the third prince of the Northern Barbarian True Clan, and said secretly in his heart: "I don't know how much money this guy has received, but he is so concerned." But he said coldly: "If you are optimistic, after the payment of the money, you can transport the artillery and medicine to Shandong and go to Liaodong by sea." ”

The three Jurchen tribes thanked and said goodbye, and Wanyan Zonghan looked left and right to see that there was no one else, spit on the ground, and scolded: "Dog official who is greedy for money." Wanyan Xiyin smiled and said: "If it weren't for these money-greedy officials, where would we have bought such sharp firearms." He said with trepidation: "If it weren't for the patriarch who sent someone to send 100,000 Jiaozi and other gifts, I'm afraid I really wouldn't have been able to get the best bronze cannon." ”

Wanyan Zongbi secretly thought, wait for this batch of firearms and the armor, bows and arrows purchased from the ordnance supervisor to be sent to Liaodong, and with the courage of my Jurchen athletes, what is the way to defeat Liaoyang Mansion.

His heart was excited, but his face did not change, and he groaned and took out a half-used medicine bottle from his bosom.

Seeing this, Wanyan Xiyin asked, "Are you going to go to Prime Minister Zhao's mansion?" After a pause, he muttered again: "I don't know if Mr. Han can do what he expected." ”

Wanyan Zongbi's eyes flashed, and he said, "It's better to give it a try," he looked up at the blue sky in the north, "I've been in the south for too long, I just want to go back early and fight with the Khitans." ”

"Yes!" Wanyan Zonghan clenched his fists beside him and said, "Defeat Liaoyang Mansion, and then hit the capital!" The three of them all spoke in Jurchen, and Wanyan Zonghan's voice shouted quite loudly, causing the passers-by in Bianjing to look at them with strange eyes.