"Saltpeter?" Zhao Xingde's heart moved, and he asked in a deep voice, "How much more money do you need?" ”

No one understands better than Zhao Xingde how much the heavy use of firearms consumes saltpeter on the battlefield. He fought with firearms in both the Song Kingdom and Liaodong. In this era, because of the relationship between quality, whether it is an iron barrel cannon or a gun, the amount of gunpowder is very large, and the iron barrel cannon used by the Liao State has reached the level of needing to fill the entire barrel with gunpowder. And just because the Liaodong Han army was desperately buying, it had more than doubled the price of saltpeter on the black market of the Song Kingdom.

"Brother Zhao misunderstood, it's not a matter of lack of money." Xie Ximin said with a smile, "We can still get the money to mine this saltpeter mine." The money in the hand is of no other use except for mold, it is better to invest it in the real business. It's just that Shicai told Brother Zhao that the price of saltpeter fluctuates too much, and the risk of mining saltpeter is too great for the commercial bank, so another business is needed to level this risk. Chun Yu Iron Factory's income is quite good, we want to exchange silver shares with the Iron Works, 30% of the silver shares of Gao Cheong Hong, and 30% of the silver shares of Chun Yu Iron Works. He saw that Zhao Xingde was a little hesitant, and said, "Don't hide it from Brother Zhao, Gao Changxing is also a century-old brand in Xizhou, in addition to this saltpeter mine, there are iron ore, copper ore and carbon ore. However, the iron ore and carbon ore in Guanzhong were sold to Chunyu Iron Works. ”

"Exchange for silver shares?" Zhao Xingde repeated in a low voice. He has been involved in three partnership firms: Chunyu Iron Works, Yajiao and Dongmu. He is also very clear about the way to make money by joining forces in the world. There are roughly three types of shares: talk stocks, silver shares and body shares. The talk stock is to arrange the seat of the owner according to the amount of money in the house, and when the major affairs of the firm are decided, it is also a large share and a small share. Silver stocks are only the interest of flowers, and there is no power to speak in the commercial bank. The body stock is the powerful shopkeeper and craftsman who uses this body to make dry stocks, and talk about things and take interest in the business house according to the size of the shares, but the person who is born in the stock can no longer do anything for other business houses. The exchange of 30% of silver shares means that Chunyu Iron Works will hand over 30% of the annual income to Gao Chang Bank, and Gao Chang Hong will also hand over 30% of the income to Chun Yu Iron Works, but neither side will interfere in the operation of the other party. The exchange of silver shares is usually the beginning of the in-depth cooperation between the two firms, and if the cooperation goes well, they can also exchange telephone shares, act as contractors with each other, jointly appoint the treasurer, and so on. This is how the Eight Great Lines of Chang'an were organized. Small and medium-sized commercial banks have also taken advantage of this to strengthen their own strength.

Xie Ximin nodded and said with a smile: "The stakes are very high, Brother Zhao can discuss it with Chun Yudong." I hope to give Xie a certain reply next month. Zhao Xingde arched his hand and said, "Thank you." "Why be polite," Xie Ximin shook his head and smiled: "Our family was also an iron striker, and Chun Yu's family is a world friend, and Chun Yu is a trustworthy person, we can naturally trust it." If a person doesn't deal with it, like those treacherous merchants, even if he has mountains of gold and silver in his hands, we won't let him join him. Xie Ximin patted Zhao Xingde on the shoulder and asked him to think about it slowly.

Zhao Xingde was silent, at least in this era, saltpeter is an absolutely important material. Just as neither the Liao, Song, nor Xia kingdoms had enough gunpowder in reserve. Although attempts were made to build a large-scale firearms army in Guanzhong, the Ordnance Department and the Baggage Division were still careful about ammunition reserves, without taking into account the fact that in a few years, they might have to spend several times or even more than ten times the price to buy gunpowder raw materials.

"Captain Zhao seems to have gained?"

"Where, where." Zhao Xingde replied casually, looked up, but it was Yu Zangyun beside him, and said in a deep voice: "It seems that Captain Zhao's popularity is good, and his colleagues in the Protectorate Mansion are very welcome." Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "It's not the blessing of Captain Yu." Yu Zangyun smiled and shook his head, the wine glass and Zhao Xingde touched it lightly, but he didn't drink it, and frowned: "I received news that the Murbo people who entered the east of the Kou River seem to have fled from the east of the river to Hebei under the expulsion of the begging people. He sighed, tilted his head and drank the wine from his glass.

"What?" Zhao Xingde lost his voice and said, "There are passes on all sides of the river, how can you let the thieves run away?" ”

"The pass is also guarded by people." Yu Zangyun sneered "hey", "This is not the first time that the beggar-thy-neighbor thing is happening, and it will not be the last." "Because the Zerb cavalry moved quickly, it was extremely difficult to encircle and destroy. Wang De, the guard general of Zhending Mansion in Hebei, is known as "Wang Yasha", who is brave in battle, but he is unruly and has old grudges with the Hedong army. Therefore, after concentrating the army to defeat the Murbo army that had entered the Kou and recapture the captive people, it used the method of opening the net on three sides and letting go on the other side to force thousands of remnants of the Murbo army to the range of Zhendingfu Road.

"How so?" Zhao Xingde felt uncomfortable, and he didn't know what to say for a while, and muttered, "What is the crime of the people." ”

"Hmph," Yu Zangyun said with emotion, "It's okay if the Kanto Domain is like this. The Anbei Military Division can obviously drive east to crusade against the Mlb tribe. In the Protectorate Mansion, the Anbei Army did not allow the troops to enter, and let the Murbo people go south, and some people thought that the Liao and Song Tigers should be allowed to fight. This kind of plan is no different from asking for a discount. His eyes were complicated, as if he was deeply ashamed.

Zhao Xingde didn't speak, nodded heavily, and the laughter and laughter in the room seemed to have turned pale.

In their eyes, it is good for Kanto to kill a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and at that time, Wang Shidong will send a letter to Guguan to clean up the world, defeat the two sick cats effortlessly, and win the hearts of the people of Kanto. Hmph, that's a good calculation. Yu Zangyun patted Zhao Xingde on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Captain Zhao, we must not let this shameless idea continue in the Protectorate Mansion. If our dynasty wants to unify the world, the vision of the protectorate can no longer be limited to Kansai, but to look at the world, the people of Kanto are also the future people of my Great Xia Dynasty, and if they sit back and watch like this, I will not kill Beren, and Beren will die for me. If you and I can't do anything, it's okay. Since he is in the Protectorate Mansion, he does not fight against it and tries to save people's hearts, he is a sinner in this world. ”

............

"Make food at the end of the day, and go out of the city to line up at the end of the day," Yang Yanqing said in a deep voice, "All armies should obey orders and fight, and they should be worthy of the fathers and elders of Hedong." ”

"Yes—" The generals of the Hedong Army under the tent commanded in unison. The clanging of armor echoed through the tent. During this period, the Liao army attacked repeatedly, and the 70,000 Hedong Army held on to Yunzhou and never fought a decisive battle with it. In addition, the Urb people plundered Hedong and let them go, which made the soldiers in the camp extremely dissatisfied. The autumn was high and cool, and when the Hu people went south to herd horses, Yang Yanqing sent cavalry to try several times, and found that the Liao army was tired of the veteran soldiers because of the siege of the city for days, so he decided to take advantage of the situation to go out of the city to attack the enemy, and he could no longer let it retreat unscathed.

With an army of 70,000, only more than 10,000 archers and the old and weak were left to defend the city, taking care of the back road of the large array with artillery and crossbows at the head of the city. 30,000 heavy-armored crossbowmen, 10,000 long-handled axes and long-handled spearmen, a total of more than 45,000 heavy-armored foot soldiers formed a large formation under the city, and another 10,000 horsemen formed a crutch horse formation on both sides, and another brave general Wang Lin led 5,000 cavalry out of the city in a few days, went around a circle of hundreds of miles, and ambushed in the north of the Liao army, preparing to attack the flank of the Liao army from north to south when the two armies were fighting.

Xiao Tachi could not attack the city, and he originally intended to withdraw the army for the time being, but when he saw the Song army going out of the city to invite battle, he immediately decided to fight. The Liao army attacked the city for several days, and most of the original more than 100,000 signed troops had been lost, and only tens of thousands of people remained, all of whom were driven to the front of the army, ready to charge and consume the arrows of the Song army. 20,000 Xi troops, Jurchen soldiers and artillery craftsmen formed a large formation of the Chinese army, and the White Eagle Battalion and the Shuai Tent were even behind the large array. Because the formation of the cavalry was sparse, it stretched far to the north and south wings, and the more than 40,000 cavalry seemed to be boundless.

"After this formation, we will go to Yunzhou City for the winter." Xiao Tachi smiled nonchalantly. However, looking at the Song army's large array, he was secretly frightened. The Song army was so tightly arrayed, he had never seen it before. The soldiers and horses of all units have clear banners, and the battalions and battalions defend each other. In the big array, a banner was erected, and a big word "Yang" was written on it. Because the Song army's military robe turned red, looking at it from afar, more than a dozen phalanxes were crimson, and various drums and horns were heard in the array, and the various departments were mobilized in an orderly manner. The rising sun shone on the armor of the Song army, reflecting a dazzling metallic luster, and the Liao army and the Song army fought fiercely for many days, and they were secretly frightened when they saw this situation.

Seeing the Song army's large array approaching step by step, Xiao Tachi couldn't help frowning. Yang Yanqing has been defending Yunzhou for many days, he originally thought that this person had a cautious personality, but he didn't expect that the battle would be a situation of attacking with all his might. The Liao army of various departments attacked the city for several days, and there was a lot of homecoming, but now they were in a hurry to line up, and they didn't get used to it yet, and at this moment, under the pressure of the Song army step by step, some soldiers showed panic on their faces. Even the horses snorted uneasily.

"Boom-" "Boom-" The cannons on both sides of Song Liao rang out almost simultaneously.

Huge stone bullets cut through arcs and fell to the ground, which was a big pit, and when they fell in the crowd, it was a blur of flesh and blood. Because the Song army went out of the city to line up to attack, the period was extremely short, and the artillery in the Liao army's forward artillery base did not have time to lower the muzzle, and the Song army was about to approach the front, causing most of the solid shells of the Liao army's giant artillery to fall in the rear of the Song army, while most of the solid shells of the Song army at the head of the city fell near the Liao army's fort.

"Damn," Xiao Tachi scolded secretly, "useless things." "Under the artillery bombardment of each other, the Liao army, which was originally on the defensive side, suffered greater casualties than the attacking Song army. Seeing that Song Jun was getting closer and closer, "Change a swarm of bees, a swarm of bees!" The Liao army shouted from the artillery fort, and soon, clusters of flying locusts and iron bullets flew towards the Song army's military formation. At the same time, the crossbowmen in the Song army formation bent their bows and arrows, countless arrow feathers crossed the sky, and the arrows rained down in the Liao army formation, making a "clanging" sound on the armor.