Early in the morning, Zhang Huan came to the southeast school field of Wuwei City, which is the temporary location of the Xiliang Military Ordnance Department, and there are more than a dozen workshops for manufacturing various ordnance around the school field, including the workshop that Zhang Huan once visited to make crossbow arrows.

The school field covers a large area, has been completely closed, leaving only a small door for people to enter and exit, a team of soldiers is closely guarded, Zhang Huan accompanied by Song Qi into the Xiliang Army's ordnance research center.

The school yard was no longer a place for horse racing and martial arts, and it was divided into three parts by brick walls, one was the warehouse area, which consisted of a dozen huge houses, filled with all kinds of crossbow arrows, knives, armor, and so on; In another, smaller area, two three-story wooden houses were built, where the Ordnance Department's offices and weapons were developed, and which are now largely vacant and nowhere to be seen; Another place is the testing ground, which is quite lively, where nearly a hundred full-time sergeants test all kinds of newly made weapons, but large weapons such as elephant stones, bed crossbows, and chain crossbows are carried out outside the city.

Zhang Huan followed Song Qi through the test site, and many sergeants stopped their work and saluted the governor, Zhang Huan nodded in return,

They came to the other corner of the test site, where a two-acre open space was specially carved out, and in the open space were placed five or six small houses, built of wood, in a ratio of three to one according to the normal size of the house, and the height was only up to their shoulders, which seemed very small and exquisite, and this kind of room was specially used to test gunpowder, but except for one room, which was a little blackened, the others were intact, and it can be seen that the progress of gunpowder was not optimistic.

Song Qi pushed open the small window of the blackened room and said to Zhang Huan: "Governor, please see, this is the result of a test three days ago, the clay pot exploded, and the fragments are still embedded in the inner wall, and the subordinates remain untouched. ”

Zhang Huan probed into the small window. I saw that the small house was pitch black, as if it had been burned by fire, and there were a few burnt yellow places, and the ground was full of broken pottery shards, and there were some small pottery shards inlaid on the wooden boards.

He retracted his head and asked Song Qi, "You have conducted more than twenty experiments. But only this experiment was successful, did you have any experience? ”

Song Qi nodded and said: "Back to the governor, several of my subordinates have made detailed records before and after the test, generally after the gunpowder is loaded into the clay pot, a yarn soaked in fire oil is used as a twist, sometimes it is extinguished in the middle of the time, and sometimes it burns into the gunpowder jar, either it only smokes, or there is no movement at all. And this only explosion was because the gunpowder used was different from the others, which was found in the abandoned Didan room of an alchemist, but unfortunately only half a catty was obtained. ”

"Then where is this alchemist?" Zhang Huan hurriedly asked.

"It is said that someone ate the elixir he refined and died, so he absconded in fear of crime, and his subordinates inquired in many ways, and heard that someone had seen him in Jincheng County, and then he disappeared."

Zhang Huan nodded, "You give me this person's information, and I'll send someone to find it." You have to look for some craftsmen who can make gunpowder, and in any case, we have to make it ourselves. ”

"Yes!"

Zhang Huan encouraged a few people who specialized in testing gunpowder, and then prepared to leave the gunpowder test site, just when he walked to the door, Zhang Huan inadvertently turned his head, and he suddenly saw a swarthy behemoth parked in a corner, covered with a mat, only one corner was exposed, which seemed to be a new weapon.

He walked over curiously. Pulling down the mat and taking a closer look at the strange fellow, it was not a weapon, but a vehicle, resembling the characteristic carriage of the Emperor when he went on his patrols, driven by six large wheels, as if it were a moving roofless room, and the walls were surrounded by thick cast-iron plates. With a hinge connection, it can be disassembled at will, or made higher or lower.

Seeing Zhang Huan's puzzled face, Song Qi hurriedly stepped forward and explained: "This is a craftsman's idea, he wants to build a small stone or place a Zhuge crossbow on it. Eight horses were then used to pull them. The gaps on both sides can also house dozens of crossbowmen and fire crossbow arrows through the firing holes. In this way, the heavy weapons that could only be used to defend the city could also be launched in a mobile manner, and the subordinates had considered using it to throw gunpowder canisters, but unfortunately the cost of this kind of car was too high, and the horses used must also be tall and large food horses, and we Wuwei did not have a good craftsman to build a car, so in the end only such an impractical prototype car was built. ”

Zhang Huan didn't speak, he circled around this huge iron caravan a few times, the production is very bulky, all cast with pig iron, if the trebuchet and carry soldiers are installed on it, the general horse really can't pull, but if it is improved by excellent car-making craftsmen, reduce its own weight, and then change some ideas, such as the crossbowman usually only follows on horseback, and then enters it when fighting, and finally dozens of such carriages are concentrated in battle, and then protected by cavalry around them, which will be a great creation to deal with nomadic cavalry.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan's eyes gradually brightened, and he immediately turned around and ordered: "Let this craftsman come to see me immediately." ”

In a moment, a middle-aged man in his forties was brought to Zhang Huan, and he stepped forward and bowed and saluted: "Cao Jianyuan, a grass man, see the governor!" ”

"No need to be polite!" Zhang Huan smiled mildly and asked, "May I ask where Craftsman Cao is from?" ”

"Caomin's ancestral home is Fengxiang Mansion, he moved to Jincheng County ten years ago, he is an old carpenter, my son served in the Xiliang Army, and I was moved to Wuwei as a military household."

Zhang Huan nodded, he pointed to the RV next to him and asked, "How did you come up with the idea of building this car?" ”

Carpenter Cao replied respectfully: "The grass people are craftsmen who make stones, and I used my rest time to make a small stone, and three people can pull their hair, and they can throw five pounds of stones six hundred paces away, and I was wondering if this kind of small stone could be loaded on a carriage, and the more I thought about it, the bigger it became, and finally such a huge guy appeared, but unfortunately I could not find a good craftsman who could build a carriage." ”

At this time, Sima Luo Guangzheng, a marching soldier who accompanied Zhang Huan to inspect, suddenly interjected: "Speaking of craftsmen, do your subordinates have an idea?" ”

"You say!"

"Last time, I went to Kaiyang County on the order of the governor to ask Wei Ge to send troops, and before I came back, I went to visit my son who was studying in Longyou Academy, and it turned out that Longyou Academy was all managed by the army, and every student wore military uniforms and swords, and there were captains, team leaders, and team leaders, and his subordinates were very excited, thinking that their sons were learning the art of war here, but it was a pity that they had nothing to show for themselves, and they still read the Four Books and Five Classics, and the subordinates were thinking, can our Xiliang Army establish such a military academy, so that some outstanding soldiers and junior officers can gather together to learn strategy and the art of war, One year or two years; By extension, the same is true for craftsmen, an excellent craftsman can only bring out a few apprentices at most, if he is allowed to teach in the military academy, then he can teach dozens, or even hundreds of excellent young craftsmen

Before Luo Guangzheng's words were finished, the people around him applauded enthusiastically, whether they were craftsmen or sergeants, they were all practical people, and they were all greatly encouraged by the extremely creative suggestions of the marching Sima.

Zhang Huan also stroked his short beard and smiled without saying a word, Luo Guangzheng proposed to hit his heart, get a large number of talents or second, more importantly, all the officers go out of such a military academy, then as long as you control this military academy, it is equivalent to controlling the entire army.

He immediately said to everyone: "Luo Sima's proposal is very good, I will give special consideration to this matter, and there will be a result in a month or two." ”

Speaking of this, he turned back to Song Qi and said: "I have already approved 100,000 yuan of funds for you, you have to recruit excellent craftsmen from all over Datang at all costs, if you don't have enough money, just ask, if you have any difficulties, just look for Luo Sima, I want you to recruit a group of skilled craftsmen to Wuwei within three months, whether it is a heavy chariot, or a gunpowder, or a hundred arrows and crossbows, you must have talents in this area." ”

Just when everyone's mood was high, a personal soldier hurriedly came to report, "Governor, a messenger has come from the office, saying that there is an important letter for you." ”

"Alright, that's all for today."

Zhang Huan smiled and said goodbye to everyone, he patted the carpenter on the shoulder of the chariot and said: "Since you can come up with such a good idea, you can find a way to improve it yourself, such as changing the iron plate wall into wood, and then wrapping it with iron sheets, the weight will be reduced a lot, and I will give you a high-class carriage made in the capital, you think about it carefully, I believe you can build the chariot in your heart." ”

Leaving the ordnance station, Zhang Huan rushed back to the governor's office, he entered his room, but Meng Jiao told him that the messenger was invited to the back house by his wife, Zhang Huan was a little surprised, he came to the guest hall of the back house, only to see Pei Ying sitting on the circle chair, was smiling and chatting with a man sitting opposite, seeing Zhang Huan come in, the man stood up and arched his hand and smiled: "Don't come to the sick without harm?" ”

He has a fair complexion, a long beard, and a slightly lame leg when he stands up, but it is Pei Ying's eldest brother Pei Mingkai.

Zhang Huan was stunned, how could Pei Jun send Pei Mingkai to deliver a letter to him, could it be that something happened in Beijing?

When Pei Ying saw Zhang Huan coming in, she hurriedly helped the maid to stand up and said with a smile: "Go sick, my father is in Jincheng County, I also want to go and see." ”

"No! Where can you go far now, Daddy knows, you have to scold me to death. Without waiting for Zhang Huan to speak, Pei Mingkai immediately denied his sister's whimsy, and he immediately took out a letter and handed it to Zhang Huan with a smile: "The imperial court ordered the fourth uncle Pei Yi to be the envoy of Tubo, and sent some envoys to the alliance, and my father sent the Tubo envoy to Jincheng County, and he hoped that you would go to Jincheng County to meet." ”

Speaking of this, he gave Pei Ying a look, Pei Ying knew that they had something to say, so he smiled and said, "Let's talk!" I'm going to talk to Cui Ning. ”

After Pei Ying left, Zhang Huan immediately asked, "How did my father-in-law get to Jincheng County?" ”

The smile on Pei Mingkai's face had disappeared, he looked at Zhang Huan and said solemnly: "Father came to Jincheng County specifically to see you, there is something big in the imperial court!" ”