At this time, it was the fifth day of Zhang Shihua's entry into Xizhou City, and under Zhang Shihua's governance, the entire Xizhou Prefecture and two counties were also on the right track one after another. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

And after recruiting and expanding, the combined army of Zhang Shihua and Wang Xianzhong has also expanded from 4,000 to 7,000 people, including 4,000 soldiers under Zhang Shihua and 3,000 soldiers under Wang Xianzhong.

Such a team is not strong at this time. Therefore, Zhang Shihua and Wang Xianzhong both chose to digest their own strength calmly for the time being, and at the same time, patiently waited for Liu Futong, who was the marshal of the Jiangbei Red Turban, to give them instructions for the next confluence.

After all, if you want to attack Ruyang Mansion City, the force under Zhang Shihua's command is obviously indispensable at this time.

However, when Zhang Shihua was handling various military affairs in the official office with peace of mind, Yang Xitong, the master craftsman who was exchanged for three war horses by Zhang Shihua from Han Yan'er's account, was busy and full of joy to find Zhang Shihua......

"My lord, Master Yang is out asking to see you." Seeing that Zhang Shihua was dealing with military affairs with Li Chongsan, Thursday Jiu and others, Li Wu respectfully reported to Zhang Shihua outside.

When Zhang Shihua heard this, he first nodded and said to Li Wu: "I know, you let Lao Yang wait first." After seeing Li Wu answer, he said to Li Chongsan, Zhou Jiu and others: "The matter of military rations is the top priority of our army, and now I can rest assured that you are dealing with it." But you don't have to report everything to me, you have to make your own mind, and if you should make up your own mind, you can come to me every month with the account book, and let me pass through it. ”

"By the way, you have also learned the new numerical calculation method and bookkeeping method that Wu Bo (the old account keeper of the Zhang family) gave you, right?" Zhang Shihua asked them while holding the teacup.

"Got it." Li Chongsan lowered his head and said respectfully. "The villain has also learned, the general is really a man of God." Thursday Jiu also replied with a smile on his face.

When Zhang Shihua heard the words of the two of them, he nodded, took a sip of tea, and continued: "In this case, you can also find a few smart ones to promote this method in the army as soon as possible, after all, this method is more concise and not easy to make mistakes." ”

"I'll get it." When Li Chongsan and Thursday Jiu heard this, they both replied as soon as possible.

Seeing this, Zhang Shihua couldn't help but nodded, then waved his hand at them and said, "Okay, let's all step down." ”

Seeing this, Li Chongsan and Thursday Jiu nodded, and then retreated and left.

And after Li Chongsan, Thursday Jiu and the others retreated, Zhang Shihua said to Li Wu: "Ah Wu, bring Lao Yang in." ”

When Li Wu heard Zhang Shihua's words, he said "obey", then turned around and brought Yang Xitong, who was waiting in the side hall, over. However, Zhang Shihua, who originally had an extremely calm expression, couldn't help but be shocked when he saw Yang Xitong's appearance at this time.

Zhang Shihua looked at Yang Xitong's messy and shiny hair, face that hadn't been washed for several days, and bloodshot eyes, couldn't help frowning, and scolded Yang Xitong in a caring tone: "Yang Xitong, you are so bold, you will let you have a good rest, you take Ben's words as a deaf ear." ”

When Yang Xitong heard Zhang Shihua's caring words, a trace of emotion flashed on his face, but he still said to Zhang Shihua in a surprised tone: "General, happy event, happy event." The development method of the Divine Arm Crossbow has finally been studied by the old decay. ”

Yang Xitong was so excited that he even forgot to say "Xiaguan", and directly called himself "old man" to Zhang Shihua.

However, when Zhang Shihua heard Yang Xitong's words, he was shocked by this unprecedented surprise, and he obviously didn't care about it. I saw that after Zhang Shihua heard this, he suddenly put down the teacup in his hand, glared at Yang Xitong and asked, "What do you say, the Divine Arm Crossbow can be made?" ”

Yang Xitong couldn't help but be more excited when he saw that General Zhang, who had always been moody, was now like this, and he couldn't help but be even more excited, only to see him say to Zhang Shihua in a trembling tone: "The General's Divine Arm Crossbow can be made." ”

When Zhang Shihua heard this, the ecstasy in his heart could no longer be suppressed, only to see him stand up from his seat all of a sudden, and said with a smile behind his back: "Okay!" Old Yang, my master Yang, you have done a good job. Ah Wu, give me an order to reward the fourteen craftsmen who developed the Divine Arm Crossbow, each of whom will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver, and the official will be added to one level, and the rank will be the same as that of a hundred households; Then reward the master craftsman Yang Xitong with 300 taels of silver, and the official will be promoted to one level, which is the same thousand households. ”

"The last general obeys!" Li Wu replied in a loud voice. "Xiaguan...... Xiaguan Yang Xitong thanked the general for his great grace. Yang Xitong also knelt down to thank him.

Seeing them like this, Zhang Shihua also suppressed the ecstasy in his heart at this time, only to see that he regained the calm on his face, sat down in his seat slowly, and said to Yang Xitong solemnly: "Old Yang, the method of making the divine arm crossbow is a secret in our army, you must strictly abide by this law, and you must not easily disclose it." ”

When Yang Xitong heard Zhang Shihua's words, he also nodded hurriedly and said, "Don't worry, the general understands." ”

When Zhang Shihua heard him say this, he couldn't help but nodded, and after saying "yes", he then asked him: "Old Yang, tell the general, how did you come up with the method of developing the Divine Arm Crossbow?" ”

When Yang Xitong heard Zhang Shihua's words, he actually said to Zhang Shihua with a pious face: "Back to the general, the lower officials don't know why, yesterday the lower officials looked at the drawings, looked at it and fell asleep, and in their sleep, the lower officials had a dream, and as soon as their confused brains were opened, they came up with the method of making the core of the divine arm crossbow. Now that I think about it, maybe there is a god in the dark. ”

"Oh, yes!" When Zhang Shihua heard this, he couldn't help but say with surprise on his face: "I understand, it seems that you Lao Yang is really one of my lucky generals." ”

However, when Yang Xitong heard Zhang Shihua's words, he was busy saying to Zhang Shihua: "This is the Heavenly Blessing General, a vulgar person, that has such a blessing." ”

When Zhang Shihua heard his words, he couldn't help laughing, and after laughing, Zhang Shihua no longer dwelled on this issue, but asked Yang Xitong again: "Old Yang, since this divine arm crossbow can be developed, how much can our army make in a month now?" ”

Yang Xitong heard Zhang Shihua's words, but said to Zhang Shihua with an embarrassed face: "My lord, there is a saying in the "Examination of Work", where the bow is dry, the spring liquid horn is dried in winter, the tendon is treated in summer, the three materials are combined in autumn, the cold is laid in the body, and the ice is analyzed. Winter analysis is easy, spring liquid angle is combined, summer tendon is not annoying, autumn is three materials are combined, cold body is not flowing, ice analysis is the ring, spring is a year's thing. ”

"And although the divine arm crossbow is a crossbow, it takes the mountain mulberry as the body, the sandalwood as the bow, the iron as the gun chamber, the steel as the machine, the hemp rope as the string, and the silk as the string. The method of making it is similar to the method of making a bow. With the current craftsmen of our army, with all their efforts, it takes a year to make more than 100 crossbows. ”

"What! It takes only 100 pairs a year to make! Hearing this, Zhang Shihua couldn't calm down at all, your sister, do your best, it will take a year of hard work to create more than 100 pairs of divine arm crossbows, what are you kidding.

Originally, Zhang Shihua still thought: "I want to form a strong crossbow army of 1,000 people under my command, but you, it takes you a year of hard work to create more than 100 pairs of divine arm crossbows, and when you make a thousand pairs of divine arm crossbows, the world is estimated to be too peaceful, what am I doing with this thing!" ”

So Zhang Shihua couldn't help but ask Yang Xitong with a calm face: "Old Yang, can't you improve efficiency, money is not a problem." ”

When Yang Xitong saw Zhang Shihua like this, he also knew that his words had attracted the dissatisfaction of his own general, but as a qualified craftsman, he still couldn't help but explain to Zhang Shihua at this time: "Back to the general's words, the art of bow-making has been passed down for thousands of years, and it is perfect, and it can no longer be improved." Moreover, there are less than 100 bow-making craftsmen in our army, and bow-making is also slow work and meticulous work, and more than 100 a year is already the limit, and it is really difficult to improve. ”

After saying this, Yang Xitong couldn't help but glance up at Zhang Shihua, and saw that Zhang Shihua's face was becoming more and more ugly, perhaps because he was afraid that Zhang Shihua would be angry, so he hurriedly said to Zhang Shihua again: "General, there is still a batch of good materials for bow-making in Xizhou, and with this batch of materials, three hundred pairs of divine arm crossbows may be produced in the coming year." ”

"Three hundred pairs for the next year." Hearing this, Zhang Shihua couldn't help but sigh, and now he finally knew that for Mao in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the firearms that were obviously not very powerful could be popularized so quickly in the poor ghost court of the Ming Dynasty (Note 1), it turned out that it was not that the firearms were too good, but that the bow and crossbow were too expensive and too laborious.

After all, to make a qualified bow and crossbow, it will take a year at every turn, and the cost of a good bow and crossbow is even more terrifying. For example, the Divine Arm Crossbow, as far as Zhang Shihua knows, the cost of a pair of Divine Arm Crossbow is not even lower than a pair of iron armor, a pair of iron armor, which is dozens of taels of silver. This price is more expensive than the fire system of later generations, which is why crossbow weapons were replaced by firearms so quickly.

After all, the cost performance of a weapon like a bow and crossbow is too high.

Therefore, although Zhang Shihua couldn't help but feel very disappointed in his heart, he still said to Yang Xitong with a calm face: "In this case, let's put aside the matter of bow-making for the time being." If I can, then let these bow-makers train me more craftsmen. ”

When Yang Xitong heard Zhang Shihua's words, he immediately bowed his head and said "obey".

Seeing this, Zhang Shihua also waved his hand and said to him: "Okay, you go down to rest first, and see how tired you are." I'm going to give you three days off this time, and it's a reward for you, remember it's my command, you know. ”

When Yang Xitong heard this, he immediately couldn't help but say to Zhang Shihua with gratitude: "The lower official obeys the order, and the lower official Xie General." After speaking, Yang Xitong also retreated.

And after Yang Xitong stepped back, Zhang Shihua couldn't help touching the short beard on his chin, thinking about other things next.

……

At the same time, in Wuyang City, hundreds of miles northwest of Xizhou, Zhang Shihua sent a battle report to Liu Futong after capturing Xizhou, and it was finally delivered to Liu Futong at noon today.

Do you want to say that Liu Futong didn't say that he was going to attack Suiping and Queshan counties at the beginning, why did he now fight out of Runing Mansion and run to Wuyang Xian, Nanyang Mansion?

Ay! There's no way, the plan can't always catch up with the changes, just like Zhang Shihua was just thinking about capturing Xincai and Zhenyang counties at the beginning, but the Yuanmeng court is not a fool, and he can't fight back when he waits for you to fight. At the beginning, Liu Futong did plan to conquer Suiping and Queshan, so he joined forces with Zhang Shihua and Wang Xianzhong, and then attacked Ruyang Mansion together.

However, he led a large army, and as soon as he conquered Suiping in the west, the court officers and soldiers of Nanyang Mansion and Bianliang Road rushed to him. You must know that Nanyang Mansion and Bianliang Road are the two richest and most populous areas in Jiangbei Province, and the coalition army they formed is not comparable to the 3,000 officers and soldiers in Xizhou.

A full 8,000 imperial court officers and soldiers directly pressed to Xiping City, not far north of Suiping and Shangcai, and stared at Liu Futong and them with sharpening their knives. In the face of this situation, Liu Futong naturally couldn't attack Queshan in the south, so Liu Futong simply gritted his teeth and directly led the army to the north and rushed towards Xiping City.

I have to say that this Red Turban Army with firm beliefs, in the early days of invincibility, had the support of firm beliefs, and this combat effectiveness is really not to say. The coalition of 8,000 officers and soldiers, in the face of Liu Futong's more than 10,000 Red Turban Army, failed to hold on for three days, and was defeated by Liu Futong.

A full 3,000 officers and soldiers folded in Xiping City, and the remaining 5,000 officers and soldiers who were beaten by Liu Futong did not dare to fight Liu Futong again, but instead fled in two ways, all the way back to Xiangcheng in Bianliang; fled all the way back to Wuyang in Nanyang Mansion.

However, what kind of character Liu Futong is, Liu Futong understands the truth of "fighting snakes and not dying, but suffering from them", so in the face of the imperial army that fled in two ways, Liu Futong first gave an order to Han Yan'er, who was guarding the town of Shangcai, and ordered Han Yan'er to lead the army to attack the Xiangcheng deserters in Bianliang.

As for himself, he personally led the army towards Wuyang City in Nanyang Mansion and rushed over.

If you think about it, you will know that those defeated imperial army who lost their armor and abandoned their armor could be the opponent of the main force of the Red Turban Army with high morale at this time. The 3,000 defenders of Wuyang, in the face of the attack of Liu Futong's army, did not hold on for even a day, and then pulled the white flag and surrendered.

After these officers and soldiers surrendered, Liu Futong was ready to collect these people, and then he went back to his home to attack Ruyang Fucheng, but at this time, the people of Yexian County couldn't stand the oppression of the Yuanmeng court, and even followed the victory of the Red Turban Army, and also rebelled with the Red Turban.

However, it is a pity that the luck of the people of Ye County was not so good, and the rebellion failed and was brutally suppressed by Yin and Jian County of Ye County. But after Liu Futong knew about this, he was still furious, after all, since the people of Ye County had pulled the flag to rebel, then they could be regarded as Liu Futong's people, they were suppressed, Liu Futong naturally wanted to vent his anger for these dead people and defeat Ye County.

But at this time, Liu Futong received a battle report from Zhang Shihua from Xizhou......