Chapter Seventy-Three: Attacking Daiju Discuss the new ship

Li Zicheng's army changed its tactics, and they began to dig ditches and trenches around the kiln to build fences and strengthen the defense facilities. The Lingshui Pier also stopped the attack and began to prepare for the siege. Although the smelter did not stop filling the earth, they spent more of their energy on building blockade fortifications.

Li Zicheng's abnormal situation in the Dashun army quickly reacted to the command center of Yaogang. Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He celebrated each other with their palms when they heard this.

Ouyang He said: "Mr. Chen, it seems that everything is developing according to our plan. During this period, we will complete the expansion of the army as soon as possible. By the time we start attacking, we're afraid we won't have enough troops. Also, I don't know how Mr. Zhang and their officials organized. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "You don't have to worry about Zhimu's affairs, he knows more than anyone else in his heart." ”

The people who live in Yaogang also seem to have discovered that Li Zicheng is no longer fighting. Now the streets of Yaogang are full of people, as if the war is over.

Those former officials and literati who Zhang Zhimu gave a lesson originally thought that this time they would have the opportunity to show their abilities. But after Zhang Zhimu took a class, there was no movement, so that these people were scratching their ears and cheeks and didn't know what to do.

Chinese literati and intellectuals have such characteristics, they often feel that they are talents, and if anyone wants to use them, they should come to the door and invite them, so that they feel that they have a lot of face, but in fact they are very hypocritical.

When these people found out that Zhang Zhimu had really ignored them for a long time, they couldn't hold their breath and gathered together to discuss.

One said: "After Mr. Zhang finished a class last time, there was no follow-up, I don't know what it means?" ”

One said, "Did he see that we didn't seem to be interested in what he was saying, so he arranged for someone else to do it." ”

"No, Shanxi is so big, he needs a lot of people to take care of it, and he won't use our own people, but others."

"Not necessarily, the people in the army have been with Mr. Zhang for a longer time, and they may arrange for them to be officials."

In short, these people were a little out of breath, and they organized more than a dozen people to find Zhang Zhimu together.

This is the effect that Zhang Zhimu is waiting for.

Let everyone sit down, and let Yang Yulin finish serving tea to everyone, and after talking about tea for a while, Zhang Zhimu said: "I know what everyone means when they come to me, are they all breathless." In fact, if you don't come to me, I'll look for you too. The reason why we haven't looked for you again during this time, one is that this battle is still going on, and the other reason is that I also want you to think about what I told you last time, that is, if you want to become an official, do you have any ideas. Or how are you going to be officials? I think you've been thinking a lot about it during this time. Today, let's have a good talk. ”

Zhang Zhimu also knows that most of these people have been studying hard since they were children, and they have read a lot of sage books, and they are also very conceited about themselves. Some people even think that they may know better than these people in Yaogang when they become officials. So Zhang Zhimu also wants them to say what they think in their hearts.

However, before these people saw Zhang Zhimu coming, they seemed to have a lot to say, but when Zhang Zhimu really asked them to speak, they couldn't say it.

Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to guide them and say, "I think, it doesn't seem to be easy to say. In my opinion, let's discuss a few questions, the first is that you want to be a clean official or a corrupt official? ”

These people said: "Of course I am a clean official." ”

Zhang Zhimu asked: "I don't know as much about the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty as you do. I want to ask, our Ming Dynasty's punishment of corrupt officials can be said to be very large, starting from Emperor Taizu, killing, exile, beheading, and even picking skin cramps are countless, why can't it be banned? ”

Zhang Zhimu's question really stopped these people, and these people were silent all of a sudden.

Seeing that everyone stopped talking, Zhang Zhimu said: "I still want to know, do these corrupt officials just want to be corrupt officials before they take office?" ”

After being silent for a while, a former official said: "What Mr. Zhang said is not a simple question. I have been an official myself, but I want to be a clean official, and of course there are many people who become officials just to make money. But after most people become officials, it is difficult for you not to be greedy. The first is that after you become an official, you will encounter a lot of opportunities to be greedy for money every day, and no one can know about this opportunity at all. In the face of white silver, it is difficult not to be tempted after a long time. There are also things that you can't do if you're not greedy, such as your boss needs to be dotted. To put it simply, your boss has a happy event at home, you can't go empty-handed, and every time you take the filial piety, your annual income is not enough. Some bosses are a little less virtuous, and when they are fine, they will find a reason to get something out of the house, and you dare not go to such a thing as a subordinate. We have entered the officialdom and want to have the opportunity to be promoted again, but so many people in the entire Ming Dynasty want to be promoted, why are you promoted? So you still need a lot of silver. And being an official's cashier, just like a woman picking up customers in the dust, once you have it, you are not afraid of having a few more times. Therefore, it is difficult to be an official without being greedy. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "This shows that the rule of officials in the Ming Dynasty itself will cause corrupt officials, and if we want to avoid this problem, we must take this problem into account from the design of the system." First of all, after we took over the whole of Shanxi, our demand for officials was that their rights should be supervised under the sun. Your finances must be made public, your personal assets must be made public, and the exercise of all your rights must be supervised. When the conditions are ripe, we must improve the law, have a special judicial body, and ordinary officials must also be bound by the law, let alone interfere with the independence of the judiciary. There must be a special court for judicial trials, and the court must be subject to the inspection and restraint of the procuratorate. How about such an official is not easy to be, right? If you don't want to be it, you can quit now. ”

Zhang Zhimu said these things, although these people can't fully understand them, but they understand a little, and the officials he is going to be now are different from the officials of the Ming Dynasty before.

But none of these people said they wanted to quit.

Zhang Zhimu said: "From tomorrow, you will continue to attend classes, and after you are done, Mr. Ouyang of the command center will assign you to various places according to your specific situation, and then you will be equipped with police and security personnel." Every time we lay down a place, you take over a place. By the way, each of you must be equipped with a glass carriage, and you must also be beautiful when you take office. For security reasons, you also need to be armed with pistols, and yours are our precious treasure. ”

Li Zicheng's Dashun army is a division of a hundred battles after all, and the core officers in their team are all veterans who followed Li Zicheng in the southern and northern wars. Although they have fought a few defeats here in Yaogang during this time, their military spirit has not been weakened, and the pride of being able to fight a tough battle is still there. After Liu Zongmin led the leading troops to bypass Yaogang, he quickly swept Wutai, Yuanping, and Fanzhi north of Yaogang, and then the army approached Dai County, which Zhou Yuji personally led his troops to defend.

Liu Zongmin fought very smoothly this time, because of the reason why the Dashun army was able to fight well, and because Zhou Yuji did not deploy heavy troops in Wutai, Yuanping, and Fanzhi at all. Zhou Yuji's idea was to concentrate his troops on defense, which he chose in Dai County.

Zhou Yuji originally thought that Li Zicheng couldn't beat the Yaogang people, so he didn't dare to go north, and Zhou Yuji and the soldiers and civilians north of Yaogang hoped that the Yaogang people could win the battle. They didn't expect that Li Zicheng couldn't defeat the people of Yaogang, so they stopped fighting, and adopted the strategy of bypassing Yaogang and continuing to advance north.

However, inspired by the victory of the Yaogang people, Zhou Yuji and their soldiers who defended the city were also full of confidence and wanted to fight with Li Zicheng. Because they also have a lot of muskets and ** in their hands.

Zhou Yuji, the battle-hardened Shanxi commander-in-chief, arranged heavy troops to guard Daizhou (Dai County), which has his reasons. This place in Daizhou is the only place for the Dashun army to go north, and forty miles north of him is the world-famous Yanmen Pass, in fact, Daizhou was also called Yanmen County before. Yanmen Pass and Partial Pass, Ningwu Pass are known as the three inner passes. And Zhou Yuji is also the chief soldier of Sanguan. This place has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times.

When it comes to this, people will think of the sword that hit the pillar and died the victorious military god Li Mu, who was ordered to stay in Yanmen to guard against the Huns, and established an immortal feat here. The famous generals of the Han Dynasty, such as Wei Qing, Huo Quzhi, and Li Guang, all galloped inside and outside the ancient fortress of Yanmen, defeated the Xiongnu many times, and made great contributions. "Ape Arm General" Li Guang was too punctual in Daijun (Daizhou), Yanmen, and Yunzhong, and fought with the Xiongnu dozens of times, and was called "Flying General" by the Xiongnu. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Xue Rengui, who was already old, was also the governor of the acting state, guarding Yanmen. At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the area around Yanmen Pass was a battlefield fiercely contested by the Song Liao (Khitans). The famous patriotic general Yang Ye (Yang Jiye) and other Yang family soldiers have shown their skills here and made contributions to the country.

General Liu Zongmin also knows the importance of Daizhou, and he also knows who Zhou Yuji, the general soldier of Sanguan, is. After he led his troops to clean up the surrounding areas such as Yuanping, Wutai, and Fanzhi, he led his troops to attack Dai County.

It is said that it is the season when the ice and snow melt, and it is very difficult to transport grain and grass, but because the people of Yaogang have spent a lot of effort to build the roads here very well, which makes Liu Zongmin and them all say that they want to thank the people of Yaogang.

However, Liu Zongmin's battle did not go well, although Zhou Yuji had few lonely generals, he organized all the young and strong people in Daizhou City to participate in the battle to defend the city. In particular, he gave full play to the power of the musket and the power of **. They can't use firearms like the kiln gang people like they don't spend money, they deal with the soldiers of the Dashun army who attacked the city, basically use bows and crossbows and stones, when they find that someone gathers together, they will still go down under the command of the officer, and give full play to the role of **. The musket will not be used easily, and only when the Dashun army climbs up the ladder will it be solved with a single shot.

But Zhou Yuji had a weakness that was discovered by Liu Zongmin, that is, the artillery power of Dai County was not very strong. And the Dashun army basically did not dare to use artillery in front of the kiln gang people, and found face for itself here. After many years of conquest, Li Ziyuan captured a lot of artillery, and his own army was able to build artillery. In particular, a large number of artillery pieces were seized from Sun Chuanting, but they were limited and could not be used fully. I can only pick out some better artillery to use. However, such artillery fire also brought great damage to Zhou Yuji's defenders, and more importantly, it had a great impact on the morale of the soldiers. However, Zhou Yuji personally went to the front line to direct the soldiers to fight bloodily, which also boosted morale.

Liu Zongmin commanded the soldiers to attack for several days without any effect, and shouted angrily. Li Zicheng was very dissatisfied when he heard that the army was in trouble again in Daizhou, and strictly ordered Liu Zongmin to take Daizhou as soon as possible. He knew that if this continued, his Dashun army would be in danger.

Li Zhi's intelligence personnel arranged on the periphery constantly sent the situation of the Dashun army to the Yaogang command center through the telegram of Feige or Niutoushan, and saw Li Zicheng's daily progress, Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He were very beautiful in their hearts, in addition to constantly urging the soldiers on the front line not to relax their vigilance and strictly prevent the Dashun army from sneaking attack, they spent a lot of energy to expand the army. After the expansion is completed, there will be training, and Ouyang He also has a task, which is to arrange officials for those prefectures and counties that are about to be defeated.

Zhang Zhimu originally planned to give a lecture to Yang Chang and them as soon as possible, but Lu Bingyi, Lin Zongwei, and Shi Tao pestered Zhang Zhimu to study the steel-hulled ship they designed for a few days.

The steel-hulled ship they designed adopted Lin Zongwei's suggestion and was designed in the style of a sand boat, with a draft and a cargo of 5,000 stone and three masts. It turned out that Lin Zongwei suggested that our first steel-hulled ship should be made smaller first and try how it was. Zhang Zhimu didn't agree, because he knew that in his previous life, all the ships running on the sea were steel-hulled ships, so he didn't have to try it at all.

Zhang Zhimu said: "I set aside such a large load capacity for the installation of larger artillery in the future, as well as the ability to sustain itself when going to sea." Speaking of this, Zhang Zhimu suddenly thought that the ship should be equipped with cold storage and air conditioning, anyway, this test ship should use all the technologies that can be used.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Li Yunhe should be called, I want to install a cold storage and air conditioner on this ship." ”

Zhang Zhimu immediately asked Yang Yulin to call Li Yunhe and ask him to come over. Then he said to everyone: "If our ship wants to go to sea, it may not be able to dock for a month or two if it drifts at sea, and the people on board will not be able to eat fresh food, and it is easy to get sick." If we had cold storage, we could freeze the food, which would solve a big problem. ”

Lin Zongwei asked: "It would be great if this kind of cold storage that Mr. Zhang said could be built on the ship, we know that going to sea is hard, this is the biggest thing, many people die at sea, that is, they die on not being able to eat fresh food, especially if there is no vegetables, it is the most fatal." And vegetables are also the most unbearable. ”

Shi Tao felt more sympathetic and said, "Yes! We know that this is the worst taste when we are at sea all year round. But what is the air conditioner that Mr. Zhang said? ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "I know the hardships of life at sea, sometimes it is too cold when we sail to the north, but when it is hot in the cabin in the south, we can't suffer too much. We can cool or heat the air and blow it into the cabin for air conditioning, can it be called air conditioning? Because we have electricity, and with electric motors, we can drive fans with movement, repair some pipes in the cabin, and blow hot and cold air into the cabin, can we greatly improve the quality of life of the crew? ”

Lin Zongwei said with a smile: "Zhang always wants to build a better ship than a palace!" ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Yes, such a sea palace, can our ship go wherever it wants?" ”

After Li Yunhe came in, he heard that a cold storage was going to be built on the ship, and after cooling and heating the air, he said: "There is no problem with the technology, but the space on the ship is limited. ”

However, Li Yunhe then said another question, "I was thinking, your steam engine should also be redesigned, I looked at the new steam engine of their power plant, they use a three-pole steam engine, that is, the steam released from the cylinder of the first stage steam engine is used as the power of the next cylinder to do the work." In this way, the efficiency of the steam engine has increased a lot. ”

Shi Tao asked: "Does it mean that if we use the same boiler as our Fu ship, the power will be improved?" ”

Li Yunhe said: "Yes, and it will improve a lot." ”

Lu Bingyi smiled and said, "Haha! It seems that our design needs to be revised, and the more we change, the better. ”

Lin Zongwei asked: "Mr. Zhang, does the location of the fort you said need to be so big and so high?" ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Yes, and it is very needed. Li Yunhe's rifled guns have already begun to be tested, and if they succeed in the tests, they will immediately carry out the development of shipborne guns. ”

Li Yunhe said: "The effect of their experiment is okay, and Li Wei is now inseparable from the test site." He said that with such artillery, when fighting on the water, there would be no need for so many cannons. There is one such gun on the ship, which is more useful than twenty mortars. Because such a cannon can be aimed like a rifle. Sun Liang's cannon mirror is also getting better and better, and after Li Wei uses it, he jumps happily. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Hurry up the test, and after summing up the experience, you must develop a shipborne gun as soon as possible." Our ship was designed, but it couldn't be without a cannon. ”

Li Yunhe said: "We can first produce a batch of these infantry guns for them, let them use them first, and also train their artillery." We will also develop shipborne guns as soon as possible, but I will discuss the matter of shipborne guns with you in a moment. ”

Shi Tao said: "Mr. Zhang, is it time for Li Zicheng to withdraw his troops?" Our sextant has long been finished, and we want to test its accuracy on land first. ”

"Test the accuracy of a sextant on land?" Zhang Zhimu didn't understand it.

Shi Tao said: "That's right, we discussed it, we want to measure the distance of a few distant places in Shanxi Province, and then we use a sextant to measure it to see how accurate our measurement is?" ”

Lu Bingyi said: "I also want to use a theodolite to carefully measure our Shanxi from south to north and from east to west, which will be of great use to us in the future." Shi Tao's business is only a use. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Okay, I support this matter. Mr. Lu, after we finish this battle, the construction of the railway will begin soon. You have to take measurements first. ”

Lu Bingyi said: "I am also thinking about this matter, not only railways, but also highways. ”

After talking for a while, everyone went to work. But Li Yunhe didn't leave, he said: "It's all gone." Let's talk about the ship's guns! ”

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Paragliding, rubber model airplanes, piano making, and building an air force. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".