Seeing that Hu Yanzhuo's soldiers and horses were ready, Gao Yu hurriedly urged them to set off.

Gao Yu wanted Hu Yanzhuo to lead the army alone to clean up the gang of thieves in Liangshan, not to give Tong Guan meritorious service, and to give him an excuse to meddle in his forbidden army.

Tong Guan naturally knew Gao Yu's plan in his heart, but he didn't care.

He has many years of experience in leading battles, but he is not as knowledgeable as Gao Yu.

Through his channels, Tong Guan knew that Liangshan's gang of thieves was not comparable to ordinary thieves, and he intended to let the golfers test and consume Liangshan's strength.

Tong Guan didn't care about Hu Yanzhuo's departure at all, he sat in the right seat, looked at a big man with a length of one foot and a few waists standing under the stage, and shouted: "You said you were doing something in Zeng's house." Why haven't I heard of you before? ”

The big man hurriedly bowed down and shouted: "Lord Hui, the little one is called Yu Baosi, and he sent someone to recruit the little one three months ago." It's just that a few days after the little one teamed up with Elder Zeng, Zengtou City was wiped out by the gang of thieves in Liangshan, and the little one escaped by taking advantage of the chaos! ”

Regarding Yu Baosi's remarks, Tong Guan said noncommittally: "You said that you have something important to report!" ”

Yu Bao hurriedly said: "Yes, Lord Cardinal! The thief had a sharp weapon, and it was very powerful, and the soldiers and horses of the Zeng family were defeated because of the sudden blow of this sharp weapon, and they were easily defeated by the gang of thieves in Liangshan, and they failed to hold on to the rescue of the soldiers and horses of the imperial court! ”

Tong Guan suddenly became interested when he heard it, and he said, "What kind of weapon is that?" ”

Yu Baosi said: "I heard from the history teacher that the sharp weapon is a bit like the thunderbolt cannon of the imperial court and the firearm that shook the sky. It's just that it is more powerful and stronger than the firearms of the imperial court, especially the thunderbolt cannon, which can hit one or two miles away! ”

When Tong Guan heard that the thunderbolt cannon of the Liangshan thief could hit a distance of one or two miles, he immediately slapped the book case angrily and shouted angrily: "Nonsense, I, Tong Guan, have been fighting in the northwest for seven or eight years, how can I not know the power of this thunderbolt." The farthest is only one or two hundred steps! Are you fooling me like those officials who have wine bags and rice bags? ”

When Tong Guan was the supervisor of the Western Army, he often fought against the Western Xia. He had seen the power of the thunderbolt run and the earth-shaking thunder, and it was not that powerful at all, that is, it was useful when defending the city, but it was not very useful when attacking.

That's really that powerful, the Great Song army won't fight so hard with the Western Xia, it has been a stalemate for decades, and the Western Xia has not been eliminated.

Yu Baosi heard that Tong Guan didn't believe what he said, and he hurriedly shouted: "My lord, this is what the villain has seen with his own eyes!" ”

Just like Gao Yu has his own people in the Western Army, Tong Guan also has his own people in the Forbidden Army.

The former Flying Dragon General Yumei and the Imperial Flying Tiger General Bi Sheng were his henchmen in the forbidden army, and he recruited these two generals as the wings of the Chinese army to protect himself on this expedition.

Tong Guan just wanted to open his mouth and ask someone to take this Yu Baosi down, and when he was strictly interrogated, the Feilong General Yumei arched his hand and said: "Lord Minister, the villain heard that among the deputy envoys in charge of firearms in the armor warehouse, there is an artillery man, surnamed Ling, named Zhen, and nicknamed Thunder Sky. My ancestors were all craftsmen in the gunpowder kiln workshop, and I heard that he was good at making artillery and could fight as far as 14 or 5 miles. Where the stone cannon fell, the sky collapsed, and the mountains fell and the stones cracked. Maybe this guy is telling the truth! ”

Hearing that the artillery made by someone could hit fourteen or fifteen miles, and the power was huge, Tong Guan hurriedly shouted: "What, there is such a person in the forbidden army, quickly find that person!" ”

If you have such a sharp weapon in hand, why not be afraid of the Liao army.

Hearing Tong Guan's summons, Ling Zhen dared to slack off and ran all the way.

As soon as Ling Zhen arrived, Tong Guan immediately asked, "You are Ling Zhen, who is known as the first gunner of the Great Song Dynasty and nicknamed the Thunderbolt?" ”

"It's a villain!"

"The artillery you make can fight fourteen or fifteen miles?"

Hearing Tong Guan's question, if it was someone else, of course Ling Zhen proudly admitted it, and then accepted the praise of others.

But in front of him was Master Tong Guan, the envoy of the Privy Council, and he Ling Zhen was so frightened that he couldn't even speak clearly, where did he dare to brag.

Seeing the person in front of him being drunk by himself, he was so frightened that he almost trembled his hands and feet, and he Tong Guan suddenly didn't believe that the artillery he made could really hit that far.

Tong Guan shouted angrily with a dark face: "This official asked you, can you do it?" ”

Tong Guan was angry, Ling Zhen was immediately frightened and hurriedly said: "Lord Hui, this, this, if the gun carriage is made big enough, it stands to reason that it can hit so far!" ”

Make the gun carriage big enough?

When Tong Guan heard it, he immediately shouted: "If you want to fight to the fourteenth or fifth mile, how big should the gun carriage be?" ”

"This ......" How did Ling Zhen know how big he had to build to fight so far.

said that the artillery he built could hit fourteen or fifteen miles, but he Ling Zhen bragged and shouted it after he was drunk!

How could the gun carriage he built be able to hit so far.

Tong Guan looked at Ling Zhen and didn't dare to answer, and immediately shouted with a straight face: "Could it be that you think that this official is the same as other people who have cows and rice bags, and they can fool around casually?" This officer often leads the army into battle, and this ordinary catapult needs one or two hundred men to pull. And the longest range is just over a hundred steps. The gun carriage you boast of building can hit 14 or 5 miles, not to mention how big you need to build to build a gun carriage that can hit 14 or 5 miles, even if it is built, how much manpower does it take to operate the catapult to launch? You are clearly a fraudster, you can't be spared, come here, put this guy in prison! ”

Although Tong Guan was very annoyed, he felt that he had been deceived. But Tong Guan didn't go crazy in the end, this Ling Tong is a forbidden army and a golf person.

It's no problem to arrest him and go to prison, but if you want to ask Ling Zhen about the crime, you have to leave it to Gao Yu to deal with.

Hearing that Tong Guan was going to send himself to the prison, Ling Zhen was so frightened that he lost half his life, where is that prison where people can stay! If you go in by yourself, I'm afraid you won't be able to get out.

Ling Zhen hurriedly shouted, "My lord, spare your life!" Spare your life! Although the small one did not produce a cannon that could shoot fourteen or fifteen miles, the small one improved the catapult, which not only saved manpower, but also shot farther, up to two or three hundred paces! ”

Tong Guan heard that he stretched out his hand to stop his guards from grabbing Ling Zhen, and he shouted: "What you said is true, it can really save manpower, and the range can reach two or three hundred steps?" ”

Ling Zhen shouted, "Yes, this villain can guarantee his life!" ”

Although it can't go as far as 14 or 5 miles, if you can save manpower and shoot up to 200 paces, it will be very powerful.

Tong Guan nodded and said, "Where is the artillery you made, this official will personally inspect it." If it's really as you say, the official will naturally reward you, but if you dare to fool the official, be careful of losing your head! ”

Ling Zhen nodded again and again and said, "How dare the little one fool the adult!" ”

Tong Guan snorted and shouted: "Lead the way, this official wants to see the artillery you made!" ”

"Yes!"

The original structure of the catapult was very simple, a huge lever, the long end was a leather holster or a wooden basket loaded with stones, the short end was tied to dozens of ropes, when the order was given, dozens of people pulled the ropes at the same time, using the principle of the lever to throw the stones.

Catapults in China reached their peak during the Song Dynasty.

There is a description of catapults in the Song Dynasty military book "Wujing General Essentials", and the book also details eight commonly used catapults, the largest of which requires 250 people to drag their hands, up to 8.76 meters, and fires 45 kilograms of stone projectiles, which can shoot 90 steps.

Ling Zhen improved the catapult, and the catapult he built had a few traces of the return cannon.

He tied a heavy stone to the short end of the lever, so that when firing the cannonball, there would not be so many people dragging his hands.

And the launch speed is also faster, and the distance is also longer.

When he went to the barracks, Tong Guan saw with his own eyes that the artillery carriage made by Ling Zhen could really throw a hundred pounds of stones to more than two hundred steps.

Moreover, this Ling Zhen is not only good at making gun mounts, he also improved the gunpowder, and the gunpowder he made is closer to the proportion of black powder, and the power is also greater.

Although it is not as exaggerated as the stone cannon falling, the sky collapsing and the earth falling, and the mountain falling and the rock cracking, it is much more powerful than the previous thunderbolt cannon.

Tong Guan was very satisfied with the power of the artillery that Ling Zhen had transformed, rewarded Ling Zhen with two hundred taels of silver, and wrote an order on the spot to transfer Ling Zhen to serve in his army.

As for Yu Baosi, Tong Guan felt that this guy and Ling Zhenzao's artillery could fight a virtue in the fourteenth and fifteenth five-year period, he was bragging, he was making excuses for being a deserter, he wanted to fool himself, and he wanted to deceive himself to gain a background.

However, Tong Guan got Ling Zhen, a talent who is good at making cannons, and he was in a good mood, and generously spared Yu Baosi's life.

The death penalty can be avoided, but the living sin cannot be escaped.

Tong Guan called for someone to beat Yu Bao forty or twenty military sticks, and then he threw him out of Tong's mansion.

Knowing that Tong Guan's eunuch didn't inform him in advance, he transferred Ling Zhen away with an order, and he smashed two tea bowls in a row.

Ling Zhen's ability, he also knows it. It's just that what he needs is a worker who can help him build a house, not a craftsman who knows how to make cannons.

Even if he knew that Ling Zhenshan was making cannons, Gao Yu never cared about him.

But even if Lao Tzu doesn't like this person, you, a eunuch, dare to transfer Lao Tzu's people away without informing Lao Tzu in advance. This is simply too indifferent to Lao Tzu!

Gao Yu was very dissatisfied that Tong Guan dared to forcibly dig up his own people, but Tong Guan had a holy purpose, and Gao Yu couldn't stop it.

But this Liangzi, Gao Yu remembered it!

When Tong Guan clashed with Gao Yu because of Ling Zhen's matter, Hu Yanzhuo led the army with two deputy generals, Han Tao and Peng Xi, and was marching towards Liangshan.

Riding on horseback, Hu Yanzhuo said: "If it weren't for the help of the two virtuous brothers, it would be difficult for the brother to scrape together enough money to get through that noble door." Thank you two good brothers! ”

Han Tao said: "Brother Huyan said that, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have the opportunity to go out with the army this time and earn fame." It's because we have to thank the big brother!! ”

Peng Xi nodded and said, "Yes, money is something outside the body." Our generals still have to rely on their strength to earn fame on the battlefield, so that what they have learned will not be in vain. ”

When Hu Yanzhuo heard this, he said proudly: "Brother Xian said well, this battle will definitely play the prestige of our three brothers." Gain fame, so as not to disgrace the prestige of your ancestors, and glorify your ancestors!

Han Tao echoed with a smile, "With your ability, big brother, those grass cowards are not ready to be captured. What's more, there is your iron armor chain horse with big brother, that little grass coward, I'm afraid that when I see my big brother, your iron horse will be scared to the bottom of the fart! ”

Hearing Han Tao mention his two most proud things, martial arts and iron-armored chain horses, Hu Yanzhuo shouted in his mouth: "The two virtuous brothers can't be careless, that Liangshan thief Kou has created such a reputation, and he is not an ordinary person. Be cautious! ‘

is modest in his mouth, but Hu Yanzhuo doesn't care in his heart, with the water-milled eight-edged steel whip and the iron-clad chain horse, how can a mere thief be his opponent!

Liangshan Caokou, your grandfather Huyan is here!