After passing through the largest warehouse outside the east gate of Kaifeng, I saw a team of people guarding the roadside.

"It's the embassy companion who has arrived." The companion sighed as if relieved.

Since crossing the Yellow River, there have been waves of messengers who have come to inform and confirm the itinerary, but as long as they do not see anyone, the envoys will always be on guard.

However, at this moment, the work of receiving the envoy is completely over, and the following reception is the duty of the embassy escort.

If the Zhengdan envoy who came over this time was Xiao Xi, an old friend of the Song people, he would definitely recognize Pu Zongmeng in the crowd.

But Yeludi didn't know this old brand of Hanlin Bachelor, and the Song official, who was not well-known, didn't need to remember it at all. In other words, the one Xiao Xi once met came to greet him, but unfortunately he is now a governor of political affairs.

Yeludi casually used Khitan etiquette to salute Pu Zongmeng, who was greeting the other side, "I'm tired of waiting for Master Pu for a long time." ”

Pu Zongmeng had obviously been waiting outside the east gate for a while, and his entourage was so cold that he shrank his head one by one, but he still had his chest and belly folded, and he looked a little imposing. But when I turned my head to look at the side of the road, there were two stoves, and the middle chair was not yet opened.

If there are such people in the Southern Dynasty, there is really nothing to be afraid of.

The itinerary of the Zhengdan envoy of the Liao State has always been under the control of Pu Zongmeng, but the messenger who came and went did not tell him that the envoy was a barbarian who did not know how to be polite.

Yeludi's rudeness made Pu Zongmeng's face change slightly before returning to normal, and he turned straight to the companion envoy, and nodded to Xining's six-year leader: "Zhu Xiaoli has worked hard all the way. ”

"For the sake of national affairs, I dare not call it hard." Zhu Fu hurriedly bowed in return.

"Zhu Xiaoli was the same year that Xiao Han participated in politics, but it's a pity that he was late, and he only heard about it the day before yesterday, otherwise he should be closer."

Yeludi interjected from the side, he was still the one who only knew Lu Dao two days ago, who was always a sad face, was a jinshi who was admitted at the same time as Han Gang, and his ranking was still above Han Gang.

After listening to the instant translation, Pu Zongmeng didn't know if this was the envoy of the Liao State who had learned about the current situation in the court and deliberately stimulated himself like this.

But Jerodi's eyes were already chasing the crowd on the city wall not far away.

Kaifeng is renovating the city wall.

On the construction site on the east side of the city, you can see hundreds of people running along the shelves on the wall. The masonry that is only built in the middle gives a very clear distinction between the upper and lower ends of the wall.

The walls of Tokyo Castle are not straight lines, but curved like water waves. Although Jerodi did not know the tactics of defending the city, after a few more glances, he could understand the advantages of arranging the walls in this way.

"Recently, the new city wall of Kaifeng was built for some reason, and the ground was also muddy. On weekdays, on the side of the city wall, the water is sparkling, and the willows are still clinging, which is also a scene. ”

Seeing Yeludi paying attention to the city wall, Pu Zongmeng quickly cleaned up his mood, pointed to the top and bottom of the city wall, and introduced Yeludi with a smile.

"I'm afraid this city wall isn't five feet high, right?"

"Maybe a little higher." Pu Zongmeng raised his voice and said, "Fifty miles around Kaifeng, just to wrap the outer city wall with city bricks, we will transport 30,000 bricks and stones from all roads in the world!" ”

Thirty thousand?

I don't know how much money it will cost when converted into money.

Yeludi felt that both Pu Zongmeng and him fell on his face from the eyes of people

Probably waiting to see the surprised expression of his fingers sticking out his tongue.

"There is a five-zhang high wall, which is already considered strong, and your country is going to build on it, I don't know who you want to guard against?" Yerodi asked leisurely.

How afraid of Da Liao are the southerners? It's a thousand miles from the border.

The more closely one observes, the more one can find the cowardice of the Southern Dynasties.

Yeludi is now more and more sure that not being able to defeat Song Guo before was just an accident, an accident that would only occur because he didn't dare to do his best and tie his hands and feet.

In a year's time, two million Dingkou countries were wiped out without much effort, and Yeludi had no doubt that the power of the Great Liao was at its peak, suppressing the east, west, north and south, and thousands of miles away, otherwise why would the Song people spend a lot of money to wrap the capital with bricks?

"It's not a precaution, after all, no foreign enemy can enter my Central Plains even half a step now. It's just to build a fort where the artillery is placed, and by the way, add a little, which is nothing. Pu Zongmeng was much more generous than Zhu Fu, and he was very calm, "It's not that I don't want to repair it on the border village, but after all, the artillery has only come out, and no one can understand how to repair the fort." In the capital, all kinds of forts should be repaired first, and the advantages and disadvantages will be evaluated, and then they can be promoted. ”

'Artillery! ’

Hearing Pu Zongmeng's mouth spit out this word, a faint smile appeared on Yeludi's face.

Without crossbow arrows, a Khitan warrior can fight three Han soldiers.

This is a bold saying that circulated in the Khitan in the past, but behind this bold talk is a deep fear of the Song people's bow and crossbow.

But now, even the Song people are not afraid of crossbow arrows. Because on the side of Da Liao, there are also more powerful long-range weapons.

Even if he hadn't heard those rumors from the merchants, even if he hadn't gone to Liaoyang Mansion to see them with his own eyes, Yeludi knew exactly how dangerous artillery was.

After all, it was from Han Gang's handwriting. Even on the grassland of Shangjing Road, Han Xianggong's fame is like thunder, and everyone knows it.

On the grasslands, there is a lack of abundant life and a lack of good doctors to cure diseases. Smallpox is one of the most terrifying of the many diseases that the people of the grasslands fear. They can not know who the master of the Dao is, they can not know who the son of the Dao is today, but they will not know that the disciple of the Buddha King of the Medicine King who invented the method of planting pox.

also relied on the pox method, His Royal Highness Shangfu won the hearts of a large number of foreign races. As long as you obey orders and pay tribute on time, you can get a reward from the imperial court.

For any grassland tribe, human life is the most precious, and when fighting for grassland, tribes with few men can only be squeezed to the station where the water and grass are thinnest, and there is even the danger of being annexed. Being able to keep one more male under smallpox means that a man who can ride a horse and wield a sword and shoot arrows after a few years or more will be a reward from the imperial court, which no tribal patriarch can refuse.

But Yerodi believes that His Royal Highness will not forget who brought all this and who made him where he is today. The one who brought a god-given opportunity to participate in politics in the south may also make him lose everything.

Since the artillery is from the hands of Han Gang, and it can be so favored by the Southern Dynasty, who can turn a blind eye to the Great Liao?

In Liaodong, the iron yard of Liaoyang Mansion is also a flame that does not go out day and night. Not only could iron be smelted there, but also artillery could be cast.

In the past year, the coppersmiths on Nanjing Road, as well as the bell casters, have all been concentrated in Liaoyang. According to the drawings handed down by the fine work, the artillery was imitated.

The cannon was nothing more than a bronze bell with a peculiar shape, and there was no need to think about the timbre, with drawings and even specific data, there was no difficulty for the bellsmith. It took less than half a year for the cannon to be cast, and the size was a little larger than that of the Song people.

Although it is not as exaggerated as the power of the merchants, it is earth-shattering when launched, and it really lives up to Han Gang's name.

Compared with the lifting crossbow, artillery is more suitable for the army of Daliao, used to restrain the military formation of the Song people, there is no better weapon than artillery, and the city on Nanjing Road also has the most powerful guardian. Can the range of the cannonballs fired from the high city and the artillery placed on the ground be compared with them?

"Ah, maybe Lin Ya hasn't heard of artillery yet."

Pu Zongmeng's temptation was ridiculously clumsy, and Yeludi asked with a smile, "I've heard of it." I heard that it was the invention of Xiao Han's participation in politics again, but I don't know much about it, so I think it's a sharp weapon? ”

When asked directly about the military situation, Pu Zongmeng replied calmly, "It is indeed a sharp weapon, and 8,000 artillery pieces have been built this year and directly distributed to the army." ”

He knew how many spies there were in the country, how could he not know the details of the artillery, Yeludi pretended to be stupid, but made him laugh secretly.

It's three thousand, and it's a tiger cannon. ’

This is another toad who wants to scare people by boasting.

Jerodi sneered in his heart.

As everyone knows, no matter how big the belly is, it is still a toad.

Liaoyang Mansion also cast a tiger squat cannon. The range is shorter than that of a horse bow, and the speed is slower than that of a crossbow, so it is said that it is suitable for defending the army formation and not being impacted by the cavalry, but in fact, how much effect it has to be said in the battle formation.

Before the Song people equipped the army, they must have tried it, but where did the Song people know the magic of the application of the Lu Dao cavalry, after seeing the effect of the tiger squat cannon, the Da Liao side already had a variety of countermeasures, and it was enough to give the Song people a surprise.

"Eight thousand doors?!" Yeludi didn't mind frowning a few more times in front of the Song people, and it didn't hurt to make the Southern Dynasty more proud, "That would cost a lot of iron." ”

"It's just tens of millions of catties of iron, millions of catties of copper, plus tens of millions of catties of coal, it's nothing."

We're just deep-pocketed.

From the mouth of the Hanlin scholar of the Southern Dynasty, what came out was the tone of the nouveau riche.

This is the most frightening thing about the Southern Dynasty.

The previous time, the Southern Dynasty made iron armor and didn't want to affect the national economy, so it took three years to build a million iron armor. But when it came to making iron armor, sharp weapons such as horse swords and divine arm bows of the Southern Dynasty were not delayed at all.

This time, it is 3,000 tiger squat cannons, which will also not delay the production of other weapons.

Fortunately, the hundreds of thousands of cavalry on the side of Daliao can also be equipped with armor, and when they fight, they will never lose much to the Song people. Moreover, the cavalry was moving fast, and if they didn't want to engage the Song people, they could directly bypass it. Cutting off grain roads and plundering the countryside, can the peasants who transport grain and farm still be equipped with iron armor?

Yeludi continued to exchange words with Pu Zongmeng, but his attention remained on the left and right, and did not change until he entered the city gate.

Entering Tokyo, a splendid giant city in the world, the members of the Liao State Mission, as long as they came south for the first time, could not help but be stunned by the prosperity of the city. But Jerodi was thinking in his head that if he led a thousand cavalry to rush in, which side should he set fire to, and which side should he set his horse on it. Soon he had calculations that street fighting in the city was a difficult point for cavalry, but it was never difficult to set fires.

Entering the Duting Post to rest, in the afternoon, Yeludi was proclaimed to the imperial city.

Normally, there should be two or three days of rest, but this time it is against the norm, Yeludi is suspicious in his heart, but there is no reason to refuse.

Without waiting outside the Xuande Gate, he walked directly into the deep doorway, and then Yeludi heard a deafening roar, echoing in his ears along with the echo of the Yongdao.

There was a buzzing in his ears, and after he came out, Yeludi was still dizzy, and he was about to attack Pu Zongmeng, when his eyes suddenly widened.

On the stone platforms on both sides of the city gate, there are four huge cannons, just look at the barrel that points diagonally to the sky, even taller than Yeludi, thicker than his body, and the huge wheels are five feet in diameter, what kind of artillery is this?! I'm afraid that it doesn't weigh tens of thousands of catties, and the dozen or so artillery pieces in Liaoyang Mansion that have worked hard to build are the gap between dwarfs and giants.

"This is the Empress Dowager's left and right Jin Wuwei General Cannon."

Pu Zongmeng's proud voice could not reach Yeludi's ears at all, and the Great Liao Zhengdan envoy was completely stunned.