Cattle were the most important production tool in the Song Dynasty, and they were widely traded. The price of cattle in the Northern Song Dynasty www.biquge.info experienced a clear upward trajectory from 2 to 10 times. Moreover, although horses were much more expensive than cattle in the Song Dynasty, horses died when they died, and cattle in their prime would be convicted if they were killed casually.

This has caused the dilemma that the price of cattle is not expensive, but it is difficult to buy cowhide.

Even if it is beef, it is a forbidden product like panda meat in the Celestial Empire, and only village wild shops, lawbreakers, sell beef for profit. And you can't guarantee that this beef will be real!

Zhu Gui sent his younger brother Zhu Fu down the mountain to purchase goods, and through many connections, he bought more than 50 tanned cowhides, which cost hundreds of guan.

The golden leopard Tang Long had the materials, and he and his brothers from the Weapons Division worked for seven days, and then all the leather armor was made and distributed to the chiefs to wear.

This leather armor is very rough, similar to the two-grade leather armor that was eliminated before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the cowhide is not starched, not colored, the elders wear black military uniforms, and after putting on the two-grade leather armor outside, a cow belt is tied around the waist to tighten the waist, although it can protect the upper body well, but the appearance is really frustrating.

Chao Chong also went to the Ordnance Division to talk to Tang Long about this matter. I saw Tang Long being more than seven feet tall, with pockmarks on his face, his bare muscles and knotted upper body, wielding a sledgehammer of more than 30 catties.

Name: Tang Long (Golden Leopard)

Health: 2400/2400

Commander-in-Chief: 16

Force: 77

Intelligence: 42

Politics: 21

Glamour: 23

Affinity: Convincing

Trait: Iron Control (has a magical control over iron)

Chao Chong and Tang Long walked out of the furnace-like room of the Weapons Division, went to a shade, poured a few bowls of water, and chatted while drinking.

Chao Chong said: "Brother Tang, I heard that you are from a military family in Yan'an Mansion, and this leather armor is not quite in line with your style, and the soldiers all reacted that this leather armor is too ugly." ”

Tang Long gulped down a bowl of water, wiped the sweat on his forehead and said, "What do these rabbit lambs know?" When they were saved by leather armor on the battlefield, they knew how good I was doing! ”

Chao Chong looked at his indifferent appearance, and said a little speechlessly: "At least apply some lacquer and some color." ”

Tang Long glanced at Chao Chong and said, "General, I didn't say that Lao Tang was talking about you, you are a little childish in this matter!" ”

Chao Chong said curiously: "Brother Tang, how do you say this?" ”

Tang Long said: "Does the general know how the equipment of the officers and soldiers is?" How is Liangshan compared to me? ”

Chao Chong said: "I have also fought against the officers and soldiers a few times, and I also know something about them, which is much stronger than our equipment in Liangshan." ”

Tang Long patted his thigh and said: "My family has been an ordnance manufacturing officer for generations, so I know a lot about the weapons and equipment in the forbidden army, so let me explain it to the general." ”

Chao Chong handed Tang Long another bowl of water and said, "Brother Tang, talk quickly, I'll listen to you." ”

Tang Long said: "The weapons and equipment of the Great Song Dynasty can be said to be very sophisticated, and there are many names. If it is open, it will not be finished in three days and three nights. I won't talk much about the rest, just the armor. The Great Song Dynasty armor can be divided into four categories, one is the officer armor, the second is the infantry armor, the third is the war horse equipment, and the fourth is the sailor armor. ”

Chao Chong said: "What is Officer A?" ”

Tang Long said: "Officer armor is the armor for the generals, and the price can be as high as ten cows!" It is mainly fish scale armor, mountain armor, and gold-spine iron armor. In Bianliang City, Tokyo, there are East and West Courtyard Armory Workshops. It is divided into very fine, iron armor, nail work, iron body work, gang armor work, soft armor work, wrong grinding work, scale work, nail head work, grinding head work, vest work, vest leaf work, lacquer armor work, vest making familiar work, leather armor work, thread making, polishing twine work, a total of 16 departments, more than 1,200 craftsmen, a year can make 32,000 armor. ”

Chao Chong calculated for a moment and said, "That is to say, more than a thousand master-level craftsmen, with sufficient logistics, can only make more than ninety officer armor in one day. ”

Tang Long continued: "The manufacture of officer armor is very wasteful, take fish scale armor as an example, a pair of armor more than 2,800 pieces of iron, all have to be carefully polished, and then pierced little by little, a thousand people can not make a pair of fish scale armor in two days. Therefore, officer armor can only be worn by officers and is a status symbol. ”

Chao Chong nodded and said, "What about the infantry armor?" ”

Tang Long said: "Infantry armor, as soon as I say the name, you will know that this is armor for ordinary soldiers. It is divided into three categories: full armor, long head armor, and short head armor, corresponding to three types of swords, shields, spears, and bows and crossbows. ”

Chao Chong said: "I have to say that the equipment of the soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty is unique in all dynasties. ”

Tang Long said: "What infantry armor wants is to make it simple. The armor is a whole piece, composed of twelve rows of small rectangular armor pieces, on which are chest guards and back guards, tied from the shoulders with straps, and the waist is tied from back to front with straps, and there are two knee skirts on the left and right at the waist, and three long tassels are inserted on the helmet. The weight of a collar of infantry armor is generally about 50 catties. For example, the more than 90 iron armors that the general brought back this time belonged to the infantry armor of the forbidden army. ”

Chao Chong was a little puzzled and said, "Are these iron armors so sophisticated or simple?" I thought it was all the iron armor worn by the officers? But we have fought with the soldiers of Cheongju and Jeju, so why is it rare to see this kind of infantry armor? ”

Tang Long said: "According to the regulations of the forbidden army, the armor-piercing rate of the central forbidden army is 10 percent, the armor penetration rate of the local box army is 50 percent, and the armor penetration rate of the state capital regiment training is 20 percent. A state capital generally has its own weapons manufacturing bureau, and there are two or three thousand soldiers stationed there, so you should know how many infantry armor the government has! But now the army of the Great Song Dynasty is corrupt. Reselling ordnance and military rations, there is no corrupt official who does not dare to do it! Huang Xin is the eunuch of Qingzhou soldiers and horses, why didn't anyone come to save him? ”

Chao Chong nodded and said, "What you said is extremely true." Corrupt officials are corrupt, the army is corrupt, how can the army have combat effectiveness? Even the armor of the soldiers to protect their lives dares to be greedy for ink, how can the soldiers be willing to die for them! ”

Tang Long said: "I said this just now, I just want to say that with the current strength on our mountain, it is simply a joke to want to produce armor for self-sufficiency. On the contrary, the government and local armies have a large amount of ordnance and armor, and the government is timid and incompetent. As long as the general breaks through the state capital once and empties the equipment in the warehouse, there will be enough iron armor for thousands of soldiers to use, so why do you want to do leather armor so petty! ”

Chao Chong laughed and said, "What you said seems to make a lot of sense, but I am speechless." By the way, what did you just say about the war horse gear and sailor armor? ”

Tang Long continued: "The Great Song Dynasty was seized by the Liao State of Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, and the Hetao was cut off by the Western Xia, and the source of war horses has always been very small. Therefore, the war horses of the Great Song Dynasty are very precious, and the war horses of the Central Forbidden Army are basically equipped with war horse equipment. It is divided into two types: money vermilion patent leather harness and iron steel vermilion patent leather harness. ”

Chao Chong was a little moved and said: "Is this kind of war horse gear ready to be made?" ”

If it is easy to make, Chao Chong really wants to equip the leopard tao rider and the dragon horse rider on the mountain with war horse equipment.

Tang Long said: "It's even more difficult than officer armor, just these people on the mountain, you can only get one after a month." ”

Chao Chong pouted; "Forget it then."

Tang Long continued: "Then there is the armor of the sailor, which is mainly equipped with paper armor. ”

Chao Chong said: "Paper armor I know, a kind of light armor that is prevalent in the south, and it is mostly used on warships. ”

Tang Long nodded and said, "Yes, the sailors on the warship cannot wear iron armor, and leather armor can only be worn by generals." So at first, wooden armor was used, and armor made of wood could not block slashing and stabbing at close range, but it was very effective against long-range bows and arrows. When fighting on ships, it was more likely to shoot at each other, so wooden armor was popular among sailors during the Tang Dynasty. Once a soldier falls into the water, the wooden armor can also have a life-saving effect. ”

Chao Chong nodded and said, "Then why is the wooden armor replaced by the paper armor?" ”

Tang Long said: "Paper armor is lighter than wooden armor, more resistant to shooting than wooden armor, softer and more beautiful than wooden armor, but the cost is more expensive." But with the current financial resources of the Great Song Dynasty, it is indeed more than enough to equip 70,000 sailors. So paper armor replaced wooden armor. ”

Chao Chong thought for a while and said, "Is the wooden armor easy to make?" If we equip all the Liangshan Water Army with wooden armor, how long will it take? ”

Tang Long smiled: "Wearing wooden armor is mainly to free up your hands and use it for archery. As far as our small boats in Liangshan are concerned, and no one knows how to shoot arrows, it is really better to take a shield and bid for a gun. There is a kung fu in making wooden armor, why not make more two-sided shields and a few more javelins! ”

Chao Chong thought about it, and it was really like this.

After saying goodbye to Tang Long, Chao Chong first found He Changyan, and after some inquiry, he found that He Changyan had been greedy for ink a lot over the years, if he hadn't been angry with Cai Jingqian, he wouldn't have tattooed his face and ended up with Salmon Island. From him, Chao Chong learned about the inventory of Jeju Castle Prefecture.

Do you want to do a vote? Chao Chong thought about it all night.

The next day, Chao Chong found Chao Gai and said: "Father, fighting a war is nothing more than money and food, and now that there is a trade route on the sea, all we lack is food." ”

Chao Gai smiled: "This is easy to do, go down the mountain to borrow grain from those rich people!" ”

Chao Chong said: "What if they refuse to borrow? ”

Chao Gai said disapprerovingly: "I have more than a thousand strong soldiers in Liangshan, who dares not to borrow it?" If you really don't borrow it, let them know how good we are. ”

Chao Chong shook his head and said, "Father has ever heard the story of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui and King Tang. During the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, he levied taxes from the people on a large scale, and the taxes were as high as seventy percent, and the people were miserable. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty stored the collected grain in Xingluo Cang, Huiluo Cang, Changping Cang, Liyang Cang, Guangtong Cang and other places, and the grain stored in each warehouse was more than one million stones. It can be said that the soldiers are well fed, but what is the result? The people's will was opposed, and the second Sui Dynasty died. Later, the Tang king proclaimed himself emperor, seized these granaries, opened the warehouses and released grain to the ordinary people, and reduced the tax to 30%. The rule of Zhenguan has been achieved. ”

Chao Gai didn't understand for a while, and frowned: "What do you want to say?" ”

Chao Chong said with a smile: "The failure of Emperor Yang of Sui is that he worked hard but made wedding dresses for others, and he was also infamous. The genius of the Tang king lies in the fact that he did not dirty his hands, but he got millions of stone grains and gained a good reputation. If you were to choose, would your father be the Emperor Yang of Sui or the King of Tang? ”

At this time, Chao Gai's heart was not so big, and when he heard Chao Chong open his mouth to compare himself to the emperor, he was a little uncomfortable and said: "This is just our father and son talking behind closed doors, don't talk so much about outsiders, make people laugh!" If it's just an analogy, I naturally want to be the king of Tang. ”

Chao Chong smiled: "Yes, I think the same way." Now there is an opportunity in front of us, which can let us be the Tang King! ”

Chao Gai was puzzled: "How?" ”

Chao Chong said: "It's the end of July now, and soon it's the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the autumn harvest is about to begin." After the autumn harvest, it is the autumn grain collection. Why don't we let the government go to be the Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and when they collect the grain, we will go to be the King of the Tang Dynasty! ”

Chao Gai was shocked and said, "Are you trying to break through the state capital?" ”

Chao Chong clenched his fists and said, "Not bad! Jeju Prefecture has been defeated by us several times, and the number of regimental training to defend the city is insufficient, and even if it is newly recruited, it is all new soldiers. As long as it's set up properly, it's easy to break through the city! ”

Chao Gai exclaimed: "Breaking through the state capital is a felony of rebellion, if the imperial court sends a large army to encircle and suppress it, what should it do?" ”

Chao Chong sighed: "Father, we have offended Cai Jing and made a feud with Gao Yu, even if we don't break through the state capital, will they still let us go?" As long as there is a chance, the forbidden army will definitely encircle and suppress it! Our current state is like sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat! Time is running out, and we can't be comfortable for long. ”

Chao Gai got up and took a turn, as the master of the cottage, he needed to think carefully.

In order to reduce Chao Gai's worries, Chao Chong said: "If we attack the state capital, but do not occupy the state capital, we can't be considered a rebellion!" Therefore, it will not attract too strong officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress it at the beginning. With the terrain of Liangshanbo, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is not afraid of the encirclement and suppression of the officers and troops at all. ”

Chao Gai stopped, looked at Chao Chong and said, "How sure are you in this matter!" ”

Chao Chong said: "From today onwards, I will act in a month, and I am ninety percent sure that I will quickly capture Jeju City!" But before that, we need to make the corresponding foreshadowing! ”

Chao Gai said: "What kind of foreshadowing? ”

Chao Chong smashed his fist on the newly drawn map around Liangshan and said, "Raise the banner of armed resistance to taxes, and then kill the chickens and monkeys!" ”