However, after the war, Lu An still began to think about how to make a simple bed, because it was all because of the simplicity, so he continued to retain more than a dozen craftsmen with exquisite craftsmanship, and worked with his son Lu Qing to select wood, make pulleys, pick wire ropes, make iron hooks, etc., and finally made an extremely simple bed in these two days.

The craftsmen who cooperated with him were very hard to work because of the many rewards of silver or acres after the war, and Lu An himself was highly skilled, and everyone was convinced, and he was willing to be commanded by his orders, so he rushed to work day and night, which was much faster, and finally made a body yesterday.

Knowing this news, Yu Zhilong and Zhao Shi couldn't sit still any longer, and immediately asked Lu An to lead the way, all the way to the craftsman camp.

The artisan battalion was set up by the Jing'an Army before the war, with hundreds of craftsmen of all kinds, mainly making knives, guns, arrows and horseshoes, and at the same time simply repairing damaged weapons and armor. At present, it is mainly Fangxue who supervises its operation.

The craftsman camp is located behind the Jing'an army camp, Yu Zhilong and his entourage came to the camp, there was already a group of craftsmen waiting around a wooden crossbow, looking at their haggard and happy looks, Yu Zhilong was both distressed and comfortable.

Seeing General Fei and the deputy general coming in person, all the craftsmen came to pay respects, Yu Zhilong was in a very good mood, and praised everyone's hard work, and Zhao Shi, Fang Xue and others hurriedly came to this bed to take a closer look.

This bed is nearly one zhang long, two feet wide, and no more than four feet high, lying flat on the ground, with a main bow, a front bow, and a back bow, and an iron hook in the middle for traction, and a towing rope on the face, and dense wires are wound around the winch at the rear. The fact that this artifact can be completed so quickly is mainly due to the fact that there are a lot of ready-made materials left in the early preparation of bows, knives and guns.

"Your Excellency, please see, the name of this straight part is 'body', the name of the horizontal part is 'wing', and the name of the person who pulls the string and sends the arrow is 'machine'. The crossbow surface is engraved with a straight groove to hold arrows, and the middle is set up to chop wood as a crossbow body. In order to enhance the strength of the bowstring, the small one also adds a stack of bamboo pieces under the crossbow wings, and the strength of this bow requires eight strong men to use it together. ”

"Have you ever test-fired? The result? Zhao Shi asked.

"I shot seven or eight times this morning, as far as one hundred and twenty paces, and I can wear a three-inch plank." Lu An replied with a bowed head.

The power of the standard bed crossbow, Yu Zhilong once inquired about Mingxiong, and replied that the "General Essentials of the Martial Arts" contains a variety of multi-bow bed crossbows, among which the most powerful one is the three-bow bed crossbow, also known as the "eight-cow crossbow", which requires more than 100 people to twist the shaft and stretch the string, and the arrow "Mugan Tieling", like a javelin, after shooting the city wall from a distance, the soldiers can climb up the edge.

During the Kaibao period of the Northern Song Dynasty (968-975 AD), Wei Pi made improvements to the bed crossbow, and the range was greatly increased. "History of the Song Dynasty • Biography of Wei Pi" notes: The bed crossbow shot 700 steps, and Wei Pi increased to 1,000 steps.

In the Song Dynasty, one step is 1.536 meters, and 1,536 meters in 1,000 steps.

can reach one hundred and twenty steps, a little close, Yu Zhilong is a little regretful, but he can penetrate three inches of wood, and the penetration is still okay.

Looking at this utensil, which was not even painted, Zhao Shi, Fang Xue, Sun Xing and others all went up curiously to stroke and move.

"This is the arrow?" Sun Xing picked up a wooden pole and asked the guy with an iron head next to him.

The artifact was about three feet long, as thick as a child's arm, and had several goose feathers inserted at the end.

"Exactly, in order to make the bed crossbow as soon as possible, the small one has specially reduced the regulations, and there are even more regulated utensils in the Tartar army." Lu An replied, "However, due to the small size and inferior material, the effect of killing the enemy is far less than that of the military regulations." Fortunately, due to the weak string force, eight people can pull it apart without the help of cattle and horses. ”

"Shoot now! Open your eyes. Yu Zhilong said with great interest.

Lu An said slightly: "My lord, wait a while, I shot a few times, this bowstring is no longer durable, and it needs to be replaced." Only then did Zhao Shi and the others notice that the bowstring was made of filament wound with animal tendons, but its material was obviously inferior, and after shooting several times, it had been torn, and they all secretly felt sorry for themselves.

Several craftsmen stepped forward, quickly changed the bowstring, placed a crossbow in the trough, hung the hook, and Lu An drank back from the unrelated people, and pointed the bed crossbow straight at the plank nearly a hundred paces in front of him. The planks are about three feet long and three feet wide.

His son Lu Qing then instructed the strong craftsman to pull the rope, only to see that the shaft began to rotate, the arrow retreated little by little and was tightened, and the bowstring was placed on the bracket.

Zhang Xian's voice squeaked and twisted, trembling continuously, listening to the teeth, Lu An saw that he had been pulled in place, raised his big hand and waved, and shouted "put", Lu Qing immediately pulled the trigger, only to see a flash of swish straight ahead.

With a bang, the crossbow arrows were all gone, and the tail rod buzzed.

Yu Zhilong, Zhao Shi, Sun Xing and most of the others rushed over to check carefully, the pole was left outside, and the iron head was completely submerged in the plank, and the tip of the slab was slightly exposed behind the board. The whole plank was shot with several cracks!

"Very good! Very good! Yu Zhilong and the others smiled happily, this is a sharp weapon in the army now, and it is just right for garrison.

Sun Xing sighed: "If only the range could be farther!" Zhao Shi and the others also regretted it.

Lu An arched his hand and said: "Now there is no good material, everything is an emergency thing, more than one hundred and twenty steps, the power is greatly reduced, and it should not be used." If you can find something useful, it is estimated that it can reach about 250 steps. ”

The Shuntian Army has now put almost all the available tendons, horns, and silk utensils into the military, and it is really impossible to solve the problem at this time if it wants to choose good materials.

Zhao Shi asked Fang Xue: "Can you purchase a pair of utensils from the surrounding county governments?" ”

Fang Xue's face was embarrassed: "I was about to tell the two generals that the path of the surrounding prefectures and counties has been stuck very tightly by the Tartars in the past few days, and no carriages, horses, salt grains, cloth, etc. are allowed to enter, and the merchants are cut off. Moreover, in the past two days, the Tartars have driven hundreds of old and weak homeless people and beggars into our county, and their subordinates are worried that more old and weak people will be driven into our county in the future. ”

"Tartar is in a hurry, this is to consume our army's food and grass!" Zhao Shi said angrily.

"It's a great ploy to drive the hungry and the weak here! I don't know who wrote it? Yu Zhilong sighed.

"The thief army has been victorious, the arrogance is getting hotter, and the foolish people everywhere ignore the ban of the imperial court, competing with each other, if they are not contained, they will be in great trouble for the henchmen of this road." Yidu City, in Gu Kai's mansion, Yu Bo played a duet under his seat. These were the days before Ruan prepared the bed crossbow.

Jiang Bin, Gu Kai, Tan Ziqi and others sat indoors, Gu Kai was dressed in white clothes at this time, wrapped in a cyan handkerchief, the forehead of the head was decorated with a green round Xiuyan jade, the waist was tied with silk, and there were two groups of Hengyu beside him, and the Hengyu was shaped like a horn or a residual ring.

The two Hengyu have one hole on the left, one on the right and one on the right, divided into three groups, and are pierced by ribbons or pearls. The middle group is Peiyu, called "Yu". The hanging jade at the end of the jade, shaped like a half-bi, the two ends are pointed, called "punching teeth". Hanging jade under the tooth, the jade is shaped like a half-bi, the two are opposite, and the shape is like a full bi. The three groups of peiyu collide with each other as people walk, and the name of the rings is derived.

Tan Ziqi arched his hand and said: "The foolish people are gullible and thieves, the government is difficult to investigate, although Linqu is small, but the road is accessible, although it can be dangerous, according to the roadblock, but it cannot be blocked all, the subordinates have a plan, or the power of the thief can be weak." ”

Gu Kai's spirits perked up: "Really know and be wise, come quickly!" ”

Tan Ziqi said: "Due to the poor year around the city of Yidu Road, there are countless hungry people and beggars, among which there are many old and weak women and children, and the city suffers from many people and little food, and it is difficult to help, so it is better to drive these old and weak women and children to Linqu and live with the food of thieves; If the thief ignores the thief, he is a hypocrite and warns the people, and if the thief gives him military rations, he will consume his food and grass greatly! It is now late autumn, and now there are tens of thousands of horses flocked to Linqu, and the thieves will not be able to sustain the spring famine in the coming year. Even if they are not requisitioned, the thief will be defeated. ”

"Wonderful! It's a great idea! Gu Kai got up and paced back and forth in the room excitedly.

Yu Bo sighed: "With his spear, hit his shield, since the thief said that it is his responsibility to live the people of the world, now let's see how to deal with it?" ”

Jiang Bin's eyes lit up, and he glanced at this Tan Ziqi more, this trick of drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle is ingenious, but it drives a large number of hungry people and beggars to the thief land, no matter who wins or loses in the end, I don't know how many people will die of hunger and cold. How can this meritorious sin be judged by future generations?

"Since the people are driven into the land of thieves, among them the young and strong need to be strictly confined to the local area, and they must not be given help to the thieves, it is better to temporarily detain them. Gu Kai pondered for a while.

Yu Bo said: "There are many young and strong families of the homeless people, and I am afraid that it is reluctant to separate the flesh and blood, and the government still needs good words to comfort and guide." If it provokes a civil uprising, it will be discordant. ”

Tan Ziqi sneered: "They are not satisfied with farming and eating in the township, wandering around, although there is a reason for hunger and cold, but they are very easy to be provoked by thieves, and they become fools and thieves, thus wreaking havoc in the township, consuming countless money and food from all sides of the court, and the people are even more miserable, pitiful, hateful!" Today, the thief is also alive and well, and the local people are living countless people, and abandoning the small and living the big is also a good! ”

Jiang Bin was silent, the suffering of the displaced people can be described as shocking, if the flesh and blood are separated, it will be even more miserable, an inappropriate, provoking the people's uprising, and the consequences are unpredictable. This is also the case with Uncle Yu's worries.

However, you can't always see Liu Thief growing stronger in Linqu, although Tan Ziqi's plan is vicious, but it is indeed exquisite, if it is handled properly, even if the official army does not go to the conquest, it is difficult to say whether Liu Thief can survive for two or three months. What's more, Gu Kai has already expressed his agreement, presumably King Yi and Zhuo Sicheng have not violated their words, why should they stand up for these hungry people.

Jiang Bin was thinking carefully, and a subordinate came in on tiptoe outside, holding a document Chen Gu Kai. This is the latest spy report of Linqu forwarded by the Yidu Intelligence Department. There are two copies of the same content dedicated to the purchase of slaves and Ye Xian, and this one is to Xuan Wei Si Zhuo Si Cheng to read, and then transferred to Gu Kai to read.

Gu Kai was in a better mood, he opened the document and looked at it, and couldn't help frowning.

Jiang Bin and the others saw him turn from joy to sorrow, felt strange, and it was not easy to ask, so he waited for him to speak.

"Said Cao Cao Cao arrived, although Liu Thief is fierce but not dull and reckless, there is a report today: Liu Thief has begun to reclaim land outside the city to rejuvenate agriculture!"

When they heard this, they looked at each other.

Yu Bo frowned deeply: "Liu Thief's wisdom is frequent, he is no longer a rogue, this is to lay a solid foundation, win the hearts of the people, and wait for the long run!" ”

"The plan to expel the people must be implemented immediately, otherwise, it will be too late to regret it!" Gu Kai slapped heavily on the case and cut the railroad categorically.

Yu Zhilong and the others did not know that the determination of Gu Kai and others in Yidu City was so great, in just three or five days, there were no less than 1,000 old and weak women and children who were driven to Linqu from the north, and every day there were groups of ragged people, helping the old and the young, staggering. To the surprise of Liu Zhengfeng, Yu Zhilong and others, the people who came were all old and weak, and there were very few young and strong people.

Liu Zhengfeng asked people one by one, only to learn that these people were all homeless people and beggars in the north, and they were collected by the officials and soldiers of Yidu City, and told that Linqu in the south had surplus grain, but the thief army had already seized the county seat, but Liu Thief had already stated that he was willing to provide some grain and grass to the surrounding hungry people.

Due to the starvation of Yidu Road, the government was unable to rescue them, so they had to force them to temporarily go to Linqu to survive.

It's just that all the hungry people who enter Linqu are not allowed to be young and strong, and all the young and strong people are forcibly sent by the government to the camp outside Yidu City to transport grain and grass for the officials and soldiers, build camps, and renovate the city walls.

Those who did not want to be separated from their relatives were forcibly tied up by the government, or whipped or imprisoned. The escapees were selected to be partially hanged and hung on roadblocks and other places. For a time, dozens of people were hanging from many roadblocks in the north, and their bodies were swaying in the autumn wind, and their condition was unbearable.

"Dog Tartar, the heart is really poisonous!" Qian Zheng said viciously. Looking at the hungry people staggering all the way, Qian Zheng couldn't help but feel heavy.