Kong Xiang said, and said: "Huge iron is difficult to refine, but it must not be refined. At that time, Ou Yezi mined the essence of the iron mountain and finally became a great sword. However, the cost was huge, and the sword was only for princely use. Today, the Chu army uses this treasure knife as a cavalry sword, and it is thought that there is a secret method of refining iron. ”

"Brother Kong thinks that the State of Chu can make this knife?" Ou Yezi's name is well known, and the sword he refines is extremely precious, but his sword is never used in military battles. Hearing Kong Xiang's meaning, the state of Chu has already found a way to mass-produce huge iron.

"What you say is not true, and it is not far off." Kong Xiang pointed to the string of numbers: "Zero one hundred five five two, I don't know what this number means." If it is the 10,552nd riding sword, it is the state of Chu that can refine the iron in the world. ”

Kong Xiang himself was taken aback by his own inference. The iron sword has always been the best in Yan Kingdom, although Wu Chu has it, it is still inferior to Yan Land. And the iron is not refined without iron, and even if it is refined, it is very expensive. Chu State can use this sword to prepare soldiers, and it seems that the art of iron smelting will make great progress. Subconsciously, he said again: "The contemptible people have a distant sect to build a mansion in the Chu State, or it can be one or two. ”

The Kong family is a giant iron smelting businessman, there are many clansmen, Nanyang was the land of the four kingdoms of Han, Wei, Chu and Qin, and it is the same clan in the three kingdoms of Han, Wei and Chu. As soon as he said this, Bai Yi, Yizan and others flashed their eyes, and they all said, "We may be able to go together." ”

Xian Du smiled when he heard this, and Bai Yi looked at Zi Yi, who was explaining the battle of Chu and Qin Qingshui, "Zi Yi has been in Daliang for a long time, and the king of Chu is newly established, or he is thinking of the general." Can you go to Shouying with me? ”

Ziyu is a soldier and never says who the teacher is, and he lobbied in the Wei State, but the King of Wei did not accept it. Bai Yi is the great merchant of Wei After Bai Gui, his ancestors have a lot of connections with his master, so he temporarily rested in Baifu, and he was regarded as half a guest.

"Chu State has never used foreign ministers, and the new king has not yet been crowned, I'm afraid it will ......" Zi Yu groaned, Wei State did not accept, and he had only one place in the world to go, and that was Qin State.

"No, no, no." Xiandui interjected. "When the king of Chu was the eldest son, I saw it once." Xian Dui looked excited, "Although he is not a good person, he is different from others, and his speech is extremely decent, and he even talks to me about borrowing money, but it has not been done." ”

"Borrowing money? The king of Chu talked to you about borrowing gold?! "Xiandui is Zheng Shang, but he is not a gregarious Zheng Shang, he is friendly with Bai Yi, Yizan and others. The Bai family sits in Daliang and is a well-known grain merchant; Yizan's ancestral home is Lu State, after entering the Wei Dynasty, he once operated animal husbandry and salt industry in Jindi, but Jindi has become Qin, there is a huge amount of money and no industry, and he lives on loans; There is also the Shi clan who has been wandering outdoors, which is a well-known trafficking merchant in the world, of course, like Yizan, as soon as the Qin army occupied Luoyang, the trafficking business was not easy to do, and the spare money of the family was also piled up in Daliang, which could only be rentier.

Xiangao said that the king of Chu wanted to borrow money, this is not sauce meat falling from the sky. Several people immediately glared at him, quite reproachful.

"Hey!" Xian Du sighed, "It's a pity that this matter didn't work out." The king of Chu asked me how much money I had, and I said that the world was sixty percent, but if the king borrowed, it could be barely forty or eighty percent, and if it was urgent, the villain was willing to give two thousand gold to help. But ......"

"What does the King of Chu say?" Yizan asked, and his face hated that iron could not be made of steel.

"The king of Chu said," Xian Dui learned Xiong Jing's tone, and said, "'If there is something, I will call you again.'" Stand down.'"

"Did the King of Chu have anyone else when he saw you?" Bai Yi couldn't believe it, such a tone of speech was not something that a child had at all.

"Not yet." Xian Du thought about it for a while, but still shook his head, "No." However, the king of Chu was quite difficult at that time, but fortunately the old servant reminded him. ”

"For the example of the state of Chu, seeing that the king has to make a big offer. Mr. Xiandui donated money to the King of Chu, why didn't he accept it? "Ziyu is quite bizarre.

"Yes, the King of Chu is not visible, how did you see it?" Bai Yi asked again.

"Perhaps...... When I saw it, the king of Chu was only the eldest son, and he was not yet a king. Bai Yizhi asked Xiandui and was puzzled.

"Master, Yao Jia, the envoy of the Qin State, has arrived at Daliang." The informant finally came to the West Room. Qin and Zhao's arrival at Daliang in the season, when he met with King Wei, and what he said when they met are all key contents of the report. However, the king of Wei did not meet the Qin envoy, and only let him stay in the post house. Zhao envoy Wei Jia has left the beam today and headed for Chu Realm. ”

"When will the king meet with the Qin envoy?" Bai Yi asked again, with today's situation, it is all up to Wei State to join or not, but after the last time it was merged, it was also Wei that Qin State beaten.

"Unspoken. The palace only said that the king's meat eating has increased greatly in recent days, and said that the city should be in Qin. The servant added, seeing Bai Yi waving his hand, he bowed and retreated.

"Zhao sent troops, not Qin." Ziyu once again reiterated his point of view, "It is only to win over the Chu State." Wen Xinhou went to work, Zhao Guo was terrified, and conniving was his strategy to protect himself from Wei Chu. The king of Wei should be friendly with Qin at this time, so as to prevent the Qin army from attacking again. The five cities can be claimed in Chu, but not in Qin. ”

"Zi Yu is very talented, but King Wei doesn't need it. Please wait for Ziyu and me to enter Chu, the king of Chu doesn't need it, and then make plans. Bai Yi sighed. Everyone knows the news, but if you want to sort out a clue from many news, you have to be a talented person. At present, Ziyu is a talented and learned person, if he can be of great use to the king of Chu, he will definitely help him develop business in the Chu country. You must know that Chu is a barbarian, an irrational person, and foreign businessmen dare not enter rashly.

"Mr. Gaocai, if I can see the King of Chu again, I will recommend it to Mr." Xian Dui also said, he has seen the king of Chu, and it is not difficult to say goodbye.

"That being the case, I will enter Chu with you." Everyone is eager, why do they think about Zi Yu knows very well, but he can think that he may be able to see the king of Chu directly, and he doesn't need to submit letters to the scholars and scribes, he is also a little tempted.

"Great goodness!" Bai Yi smiled, "Then I'll chase Zhao into Chu." ”

When it snows, the city of Chengyang is bustling. Today is the Winter Solstice Festival, and the whole army can drink alcohol after the sacrifice. At this time, the Qin army had basically withdrawn from the Chu realm and confronted the Chu army at Xie Yi and Magu respectively. The Qin army really didn't want to fight anymore, but the Chu army couldn't retreat if the Qin army couldn't retreat, and the two sides could only start an endless confrontation on the border.

In the war-torn Chengyang Inner Mansion, a huge sand table was displayed in front of Xiang Yan. The map and the chip were too sketchy, and at Xiong Jing's request, relying on the words of the scout, the potter who came from Yingdu made a rough topographic map of the horse valley. Interception Mountain, Xiama Mountain, Qipan Mountain, Wuli River, ......, the names of places in the mouths of these scouts are displayed in front of everyone in this form for the first time.

"In the future, the passes and important cities of my Chu State will be made on this plate. The gates of other countries should also try to make plates. Xiong Jing explained that the telescope can also be used for simple distance measurement, but this requires the glass to be made, and the level must also be made.

"Why did the king give up the land and take the valley of the horses?" The state of Qin had sent envoys for peace talks, and the Qin army had withdrawn from Chengyang. According to Xiang Yan's meaning, he may be able to cross the Huaishui from Xie Yi and seize the Jiyi Basin, but Xiong Jing is bent on occupying the worthless Horse Valley.

"Is the valley out of the valley close to Wancheng, or is the exit from Jiyi close to Wancheng?" Xiong Jing glanced at him angrily. The mountain road from the Nanyang Basin in Jiyi was really easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Xiang Yan blocked the Qin army for more than ten days. The horse valley is different, out of the valley is the flat land, walk forty miles is Biyang City, outside the south gate of Biyang City is Biyang River, this river goes straight west for one hundred and twenty miles is Huyangyi (now Tanghe County). Huyang is the southeast of Wanjun County, the earliest is Tateyi, and the Chu people set up Huyangyi after the extermination of Tate.

"The king is a ...... desire" Xiang Yan and Peng Zong's breathing couldn't help but become a little rougher. Chuma Valley is the Nanyang Basin, and ...... think about it from this aspect, neither of them knows what to think.

"I have no desire." Xiong Jing remained silent, hiding what he was thinking. "Our army took Jiyi, but it was just blocking the way for the Qin army to advance eastward, but if we took Magu, then our army may also send troops to attack Wanjun when the Qin army attacked me. It's just a defense instead of an offense. Think about it, how to take the horse valley as soon as possible. ”

"The king, the two mountains of Magu are sandwiched, about fifty miles long, and the widest part is only six miles, so the Qin army is only defended by tens of thousands of people in the left army. Our army wants to capture the horse valley, and the transport is suffering, so our army only occupies the southern side of the valley, and does not enter the valley. Xiang Yan said that he knew the enemy and the terrain near Chengyang well.

"How many miles from Chengyang Wharf to the valley?" Xiong Jing asked.

"The mountain road is difficult, I am afraid that it will be more than 140 miles." Xiang Yan said. "This is only possible on one track. If our army builds roads on a large scale, I am afraid that the Qin people will be on guard. If you don't build roads, it's hard to drive heavy vehicles,"

The direction of Jiyi is a large avenue, the narrowest has two tracks, and the Qinjing is three tracks; There is only one track in the direction of Magu, and the mountain road is tortuous.

"Even if it's one hundred and fifty miles," Xiong Jing looked at the exit of Magunan, which had been occupied by the Chu army. "50,000 people fight for food, 2.7 catties a day, but 67.5 tons. Even if the carriage was half loaded, it was only 100 carts a day. One hundred and forty miles, sixty miles a day, ...... then the return journey, and then the cost of the carriage itself, 700 cars are enough. ”

Xiong Jing is calculated according to the measurement system of later generations, and the four-wheeled carriage transports grain, and the result of the Yingdu test is that the double horse flat road is loaded with 1.5 tons, minus its own consumption (2 coachmen + 2 horses = 25.4 city catties), and the daily transportation loss is only 0.85%, which is less than one-tenth of the daily loss rate of 8.8% of the Qin army's single-horse and double-wheel vehicles. Because of the difficulty of the mountain road, he estimated that the four-wheeled carriage could only hold 0.75 tons, so the daily wear rate was 1.69%, and the round trip took a total of six days. Consumption on the road is only 10.16%. 600 cars divided by (%), but 700 cars.

"This ......" the king is very calculating, Peng Zong didn't dare to say that the calculation was wrong, but said: "The king doesn't know, the four-wheeled carriage is only pulled by oxen, and the oxen is pulled for thirty miles a day, and the food is one hundred and twenty catties." And the four-wheeled carriage has not crossed this road, and I don't know how much grain can be transported......"

"Cow Pull?" Xiong Jing was stunned for a moment. Niu Bang, the distance is almost doubled, and the daily loss rate has become 4.36%, multiplying a ten-day loss, the loss is as high as 43.6%! This means that almost half of the food is consumed on the road. 100 truckloads of military rations must be delivered every day, and there are 1,000 round-trip trucks on the entire road during the 10-day round-trip journey, divided by (%), and the whole line of grain trucks is actually 1,773.

This is just the valley mouth, and if you hit it in, you will add another four days round trip, which is equal to 1400 cars divided by (%), and the result is 3593 that is scared to death. Where are there so many four-wheeled carriages in the State of Chu?!