Chapter 187: Qinshui Ancient Road

Regarding the matter of opening up the passage of Qinshui, Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng, and Ouyang He have discussed it many times, and there is basically a consensus, that is, we must make great efforts to open up this channel, and wait for Li Mao to come back and discuss the specific measures, but when this matter is mentioned, Li Mao seems very hesitant, and everyone is a little cold. Zhang Zhimu knew that Li Mao wouldn't be able to speak if he didn't want to, so he picked up the teacup and drank water.

Li Mao found that everyone was looking at him, cleared his throat, and said, "I may know a little more about the Qinshui Ancient Road than you. I also know that if we can have such a passage, we can use the ice surface in winter to transport the horses and pelts out, and we are all good in Shanxi, but the roads are not good, there are mountains everywhere, and the river is flat in winter, as long as we are careful not to fall into the ice crevices. But you only think about the road, not the people. ”

Li Mao also gave a detailed account of the relevant situation in Qinhe. In fact, there is no need for Li Mao's introduction, Zhang Zhimu, who likes history, had a great interest in the Qinhe River Basin in his previous life. Qin Pingyuan is a famous grain production area in the mountain, and the silk reeling here has a long history, especially the rich history and culture there, the Yu Shun culture in ancient times, the myths and legends of Pangu opening the sky, Nuwa creating people, Chang'e running to the moon, Jingwei reclamation, Yugong moving mountains, etc., attracted Zhang Zhimu's attention very early. Those with a little knowledge of history will understand that the Battle of Changping took place here. The war lasted for three years, and finally the Qin army defeated the Zhao army, laying the foundation for the Qin Dynasty to unify China. In fact, about the natural landscape, cultural landscape, customs and folklore, memorial ceremonies, literature and art, architectural ruins, stone tower inscriptions, archways, cliff statues, castle dwellings, temples and mausoleums, even a million-word book can not be written.

Zhang Zhimu himself is also wondering if he is so determined to open up this passage because he is also interested in the history here. Zhang Zhimu, who is familiar with this period of history, knows that if you want to pass through Shanxi, you must not ignore the Qinshui Basin.

Qinhe River is the second largest river in Shanxi after the Fen River, she originates from the Taiyue Mountain (also called Huoshan) in Qinyuan County, Guodao Town is above the upstream, Guodao Town enters Henan through Qinyuan, Yangcheng and other counties, and flows into Henan through Taihang Mountain. The economic source, Qinyang, flows into the Yellow River near Xiying, Wuzhi County

The ancient road of Qinhe River is a gathering of businessmen since ancient times, along both sides of the Qinhe River, dotted with ancient towns, here there is the wind of doing business since ancient times, and each ancient town has a pawnshop of money.

It is worth mentioning that the salt merchants of Yangcheng and Qinzhou are the same as the salt merchants of Yuncheng, they all rely on the Ming Dynasty's "open system" to sell Hedong salt (Yuncheng Jiezhou salt) to make a fortune, Yangcheng smelting industry has been very developed since ancient times, and the iron used in Shaanxi is basically supplied by Yangcheng.

Speaking of the water transportation of the Qin River, we have to start with Emperor Yang of Sui. No matter what later generations say about Emperor Yang of Sui, it goes without saying that he "built Luoyang", "moved the capital to Luoyang", "built the canal", "toured Zhangye in the west", "pioneered the imperial examination", "developed the Western Regions" and all these achievements. In terms of his contribution to future generations, relying on his construction of the "Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty" that benefited future generations for thousands of years, few emperors in Chinese history can surpass him. Although he exhausted his national strength to open the canal, he died in the Jiangdu Revolution. The Tang Dynasty writer Pi Rixiu said in "Bianhe Nostalgia": "The Sui Dynasty died as far as this river belongs, and it has been a thousand miles away from Laitongbo." If there is no water temple dragon boat matter, Gongyu will not have much merit. ”

Due to the shallow water and deep sand of Weishui and the poor water transportation, in order to develop Chang'an's water transportation and ensure the material supply of Chang'an, Emperor Wen of Sui ordered the excavation of the Guangtong Canal. Divert Weishui from the east of the large city to Tongguan into the Yellow River, a total of more than 300 miles. After Emperor Yang of Sui succeeded to the throne, he recruited millions of migrant workers, and many women were recruited as not enough men, and Yongji Canal was opened. The Yongji Canal diverts Qinshui from the north bank of the Yellow River in Luoyang to the Qinghe River (Wei River) to Tianjin, and then flows to Beijing through the Kushui River (Baihe) and the Sanggan River (Yongding River).

That is to say, this east-west canal connects from Xi'an to Beijing, and can pass the Huai River, the Yangtze River, and the Qiantang River to the south, which plays a role in promoting the unification of China in Chinese history. Especially in that era when the level of transportation was extremely backward, the role of water transportation was completely irreplaceable.

This means that after the boat can enter the Yellow River and the canal from Qinshui, it can also reach all directions.

With such a convenient transportation artery and the rich Qinhe Plain area, it is not possible to ignore the consideration of future development.

However, Li Mao's words made everyone present begin to reconsider this issue.

Li Mao said: "It is precisely because this place is so rich that many people think about it. In May of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Wang Jiayin, a thief army in Shaanxi, led his troops into Qinshui from the meanders of the river and besieged Douzhuang, and in June, Wang Jiayin was killed by his subordinates in Yangcheng. After that, Wang used it to replace it, and the peasant army entered and exited Qinshui and Yangcheng several times in the past few years, and successively plundered Pingshang, Guoyu, Xiafu, Shangfu, Runcheng and other places, and the rich villages and towns on both sides of the Qinhe River, most of which were difficult to spare. An exception to this is in the war-torn countryside, where his grandfather, Zhang Wudian, had a premonition of impending social unrest and built a castle as early as the Apocalypse. A few years later, Douzhuang Fort successfully repelled the attacks of the Liukou three times, and became a model for self-preservation of the homeland. Under the initiative of Zhang Daojun, 54 castles combining military and civilian use were built on both sides of the Qin River, forming a dense group of ancient castles. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "The court can't protect the people, it's a good thing for the people to protect themselves!" ”

Li Mao sighed and said, "It's a good thing." But because of this, the imperial court can't control it here. Those who are rich and powerful are now almost like self-established kings, and those who have bad conduct to extort past merchants are no longer lawless. It is no wonder that in the places where they built castles, in order to protect themselves, they spend a lot of money to hire so-called masters everywhere to help defend the castle, and these people are often mixed. Most of the things are done by them, and the big ones who invite them also turn a blind eye, and as a result, these places are becoming more and more unpleasant. Once, I drove a group of horses over, swallowed my anger, and handed over countless passing silver along the way, and when I went back, I not only made a stomach angry, but also lost money. Later, people persuaded me that those people saw that you were a native of Shanxi, so they asked you to drive the horse over, and they didn't let you say that you were a thief and a spy, and that everything was confiscated, and that there was nowhere to reason if you were hanged. There they are the reason. ”

Chen Yufeng slapped the table and said, "I heard that they charge a lot of tolls there, but I didn't expect them to be lawless." ”

Yang Wei said: "Our dart bureau has long stopped taking the Qinshui Ancient Road, and those of them only recognize silver and don't give anyone face." Now on the Qinshui Ancient Road, except for the people in Qinshui who can walk, the people in other places have long since stopped going. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "In this way, the people on both sides of the river will suffer even greater losses. I think we're going to change their temper. We carry the bronze medal given by the emperor, with the current reputation of our kiln, I think they may not dare to stop us, their original intention of building the castle is also to protect themselves, and so on after the castle is a little arrogant, but they will not become thieves, we have the bronze medal of the royal gift, to stop us is to rebel. Besides, they really want to stop us, can they stop us? ”

Li Mao knew that Zhang Zhimu didn't know much about the situation there, and said: "The trouble is that they are not bandits yet, if we attack them, there will be a suspicion of robbery, and there is an alliance between their castles, and if one family is attacked, all other families will come to help." So we can't afford to offend them. ”

Zhang Zhimu was a little puzzled when he heard this: "If they block the road and rob us, is it banditry, they stop us, and it is natural for us to beat them, why do you say robbery, I think the court can't control them now." It's better for us to share the worries of the court and open up trade routes for the people, which is also a merit. If they insist on opposing us, we will use them to train our soldiers, which is better than us practicing at home. ”

Li Mao heard Zhang Zhimu say this and said: "Since Mr. Zhang is determined to open up this trade route, there is nothing that cannot be done." It's just that before we act, we can't think about things in a bad way. Maybe as soon as our brand is on, it will be unimpeded. However, this is unlikely. ”

Ouyang He said: "These people have two battles, one is their strong castle, and the other is that they have a large number of people who unite with each other. But we don't attack their castle, force our way under their city, I think they can't help us, that is, no matter how many of them are, as long as they get out of the castle, our muskets** will kill them a lot, and no one will come to send them to death. They are not regular armies after all. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "It's a regular army, and it's no problem for us to be ten with one." I will go out to train the soldiers, otherwise they will be stuffy at home. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "In the future, it will not be a big problem to attack the castle. Li Yunhe: They are about to test mortars, and they will have nowhere to hide in the city at that time. We blew them all up outside the city. ”

Listening to Zhang Zhimu say this, everyone asked when they would be able to finish the test. Zhang Zhimu said: "It's hard to say when it will be finished, but I think it will be soon." Don't worry, I'll tell you when it's tried. ”

Ouyang He took Zhang Zhimu's words and said, "Mr. Zhang, I think this thing should be kept secret. Our muskets are no longer secret, and new weapons must be kept secret in the future. That's how you can win by surprise. ”

Zhang Zhimu nodded and said, "Mr. Ouyang is right, the weapons that come out in the future must be known in a small area." ”

Chen Yufeng said: "We carry crossbow mines on horses, which also has a certain deterrent effect. ”

Li Mao said: "We try to resolve it peacefully, which will also be beneficial in the future." However, we must be prepared to solve the problem by force, and it is better to be prepared than useless than to be unprepared. ”

Yan Boju didn't speak all the time, and then he opened his mouth and said, "We have nothing to do to raise so many people, but we can use them when we are in Jian." Don't bother with that much now. Let's talk about how many horses we will transport to Li Mao this time? ”

Only Yan Boju called Li Mao by his first name in Yaogang, because they had long been used to it.

Zhang Zhimu said: "I was about to discuss this matter with Brother Li, we now have tens of thousands of horses in the kiln, and we consume a lot of forage every day. I think this time I will transport 10,000 horses first, and there is no problem with Brother Li's sales. ”

Li Mao said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, don't worry about this, let alone 10,000 horses, even if these horses are shipped over for sale, there is no problem." There are not many people who can transport large numbers of horses to the south now. This requires not only money and people, but also a lot of conditions. ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that what Li Mao said was the need for comprehensive strength, but he didn't know how to say it. Zhang Zhimu said: "We can start selling horses in batches from Kaifeng. ”

Li Mao said: "Mr. Zhang doesn't have to worry about the sales of horses, when we get to Kaifeng, we will sell a batch of horses at a good price." If it's not good, we'll go south. I'm optimistic that we have a lot of captured horses in Mali this time, and these horses can not only be sold for a good price, but also for sale. To tell you the truth, our friend in the south told me last time that he would need 2,000 horses, and this time there are so many war horses, it is estimated that those who are going to form cavalry will definitely rush to buy them. Because you don't need to train, you can use it when you buy it. 10,000 horses, and every cent is gone. ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "Another advantage of these trained horses is that they can carry goods. This time, you can also carry some of the goods over, so as not to transport too much at once at the beginning of spring. ”

Yan Boju listened to Lu Chengxiang's words and said: "Those new horses can also carry goods, they are locked in the horse pen for a period of time, and they don't have so much wildness." ”

Li Mao said: "Of the more than 50 people I brought this time, more than 40 are southerners, and I want to keep them in Yaogang for a period of time so that they can train well here." In the future, when we develop to the south of the Yangtze River, we must use more of them, who are familiar with the water network area in the south of the Yangtze River. I spent some time in the South and knew that the difference between the South and the North was too great. ”

Ouyang He also said: "What Li Gongzi said is that when you return to the south, you have to organize more southerners, especially the young people who are good at water and can make boats, the more the merrier, and when you get to the south, the northern men will not be able to make it hard." We prepared well in advance. ”

Regarding the question of how many people will go this time, Chen Yufeng made a final decision and said: "This Liu Chenghuang can bring a thousand musketeers to help Li Gongzi drive the horse over." These thousand musketeers can be greeted by ordinary opponents. ”

Li Mao said: "These people just send us to Kaifeng. When we get to Kaifeng, leave me two hundred more men, and we will be able to transport the horses and goods. When I arrived in Xuzhou, I unloaded some goods according to Mr. Lu's requirements, and if the price of horses was good, I would leave some horses. When the spring comes, the group of men and horses will pass, and these 200 people will come back with them. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "For the sake of insurance, let Li Jing bring twenty people with you." ”

Li Mao said: "This is more secure, I have seen the methods of Li Jing's people." ”

Yan Boju said: "It will take a few days to prepare now, and Mr. Lu, you must also seize the time to prepare the goods to be transported." ”

Lu Chengxiang also said: "It will take several days to prepare the goods. The most important thing is that we go on the road in winter, and we must have all the tents and camping items to protect against the cold. ”

Yan Boju said: "Aren't the Mongolian tents we seized just good things, they can be used this time." ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "Good things are good things, but they have to occupy a lot of horses to carry them, so they have to carry a lot of goods." ”

listened to Lu Chengxiang's words. Everyone laughed, and Lu Chengxiang had to calculate when the time came.

Li Yunhe was particularly interested in what he was particularly interested in, and he kept a very close eye on it. This mortar is what interests him.

The mortar was done very quickly, and when Zhang Zhimu saw the mortar, he had a feeling of time and space confusion. This mortar is too similar to the ones I've seen before. It's strange if it's not like it, because it's designed according to the previous mortar.

During this test, Zhang Zhimu asked Li Yunhe to call Li Wei over. Li Yunhe said: "The shells tested this time cannot explode, mainly because of the test fuse and how far the test shell hits. The charge in the shell was replaced with the same weight of earth. ”

Since he did not know whether he could explode or not, the shell was placed on a shelf next to the muzzle of the cannon and stuck with a wooden block, and Li Yunhe tied the wooden block with a thin rope, hid in a pit from a distance, and pulled the rope with his hand, and the rope pulled the wooden block apart, and the mortar shell slid into the barrel, and the shell was shot out with a "bang." Li Wei, who was standing on a high place, shouted happily: "Oh, it's too far, there is a mile of land." ”

Li Yunhe tried five shots in a row, and Li Wei said that the landing points were almost the same. A few people ran through the snow to the landing point. When they arrived at the landing point, Li Yunhe shouted: "Don't move the shells." ”

Everyone didn't move the shells, Li Yunhe took out tools from his body, disassembled the shells one by one, and checked them. Li Yunhe sat down on the snow in embarrassment, and it turned out that the result of his inspection was that only the fuses of two shells had been fired.

Zhang Zhimu came over and said, "Carefully check the reason why it didn't hit." Two shots indicate that there is still hope. ”

Li Yunhe calmed down for a while, and then changed a spring to each fuse. I tried again, and four out of five shells were fired.

Li Yunhe did not lose his temper this time, changed the spring of the fuse again, and tried again, and the result was that all five shells were fired. In the same way, I tried it twice, and the result was that all five shots were fired.

Zhang Zhimu said to Li Yunhe: "You have to test it with 100 shells that can explode." As long as you make sure that they all explode, your cannonballs will pass. ”

Li Yunhe couldn't suppress his excitement and said: "I'll make 200 shells as soon as I go back." ”

Li Wei said: "Can your shells shoot a little farther?" ”

Li Yunhe said: "Judging from today's situation, the No. 0 charge is so far away, and it is no problem to add three additional charge packs to hit two or three miles." Our mortars can have up to three additional charges. ”

After a while, the person who measured the distance returned, and before the person arrived, he shouted loudly: "Three hundred meters!" ”

Li Yunhe jumped up happily.

Li Wei looked at the mortar from the side and asked, "Is it possible to move the muzzle of the cannon to hit farther?" ”

Li Yunhe sarcastically ridiculed Li Wei and said: "Didn't you listen to Mr. Zhang's physics class? This muzzle is facing upwards at an angle of forty-five degrees, and the range is the farthest. ”

Li Wei defended: "I don't see your muzzle like forty-five degrees? ”

Li Yunhe said: "Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand, don't you see that I have a perpendicular line and a ruler?" ”

Li Yunhe ignored people and said to Li Wei: "Come here, I'll teach you a lesson today." ”

At this moment, Li Wei was modest, and he obediently listened to Li Yunhe explain to them the basic principles of mortars, and told him how to adjust the horizontal angle to control the distance of the shells, and adjust the left and right directions to control the direction.

Li Yunhe wanted to try to shoot a few shots, but Li Yunhe had no shells. The angry Li Wei scratched his ears and cheeks, but there was no way, now he didn't dare to offend Li Yunhe, he felt that this mortar was too easy to use, stronger than his bow and crossbow thunder, and it was more convenient to aim. It's great to have this guy go into battle to fight, and Li Wei feels energetic when he thinks about it.

Li Yunhe produced 100 shells in only three days, and this time he used the basic charge for testing, because this time he was mainly testing the reliability of the fuses of the shells.

This time, Li Yunhe made Li Wei too addicted, and now there is no need to pull the rope test, but directly send the shell into the muzzle, and then squat down and wait for the shell to be launched. After Li Wei fired a few shots, he felt that the experiment was not enjoyable, and he began to adjust the landing point of the cannonball control shell at the mouth of the main gun. Slowly, Li Wei's shells landed more and more accurately. Almost Li Yunhe pointed out a target, and Li Wei was basically able to hit the target without three shells. This made Li Wei so excited that he shouted while firing the cannon.

The exciting result was that all 100 shells exploded. Although Zhang Zhimu did not participate in this test, he still had this matter in his heart. When he heard Li Yunhe come over and say that all the 100 shells exploded, Zhang Zhimu hugged Li Yunhe excitedly, which made Li Yunhe's face red, he had never been hugged by a man.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Next, we must try the firing distance of all levels of charge, and we must also increase the amount of charge to test the strength of the barrel." ”

In order to test the strength of the barrel, Li Yunhe fired twice as much as the No. 2 charge *** three times in a row, and the result of the inspection was that there was no problem with the barrel.

Shooting with charge No. 1, 2 and 3 respectively, the maximum distance of the shot was 750 meters, 1350 meters and 1850 meters, respectively.

Hearing Li Yunhe's report, Zhang Zhimu told Li Yunhe, you still have a lot of work, which is to make shooting watches. This firing table is simply the distance between the landing point of the shell fired by the gun at different pitch angles and different charges and the muzzle, and a table should be made for the gunner's reference. Of course, the firing distance of the shell is also affected by environmental factors such as temperature and wind direction, and various correction parameters must be worked out slowly in the future.

Li Yunhe scratched his head and said, "Oh my God, how many shells will be used to experiment?" ”

Zhang Zhimu said with a smile: "You don't need to test all the scales, and you can also use the interpolation method to calculate it in the middle." However, what is more troublesome is the aiming and command of mortars, which will have to wait for Lu Bingyi to bring their students to participate in the experiment, and everyone can work together to develop a practical system. ”

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