"Good fellows."

After a round of shelling, Wang Sunsin was stunned and opened his mouth wide. I don't think about my own image at all.

There was still an echo of artillery fire in his ears, and it buzzed so loudly that his voice sounded like he was arguing, "Ten eight-bull crossbows can't compare to one!" ”

Han Gang was not as arrogant as Wang Sunchen and did not stuff cotton into his ears, but watching the artillery fire up close still affected his hearing to a certain extent, and Wang Sunchen shouted like thunder in his ear, and he didn't feel too loud.

While continuing to pull cotton out of his ears, Han Gang said: "The eight-bull crossbow is too expensive, and the cost of one gun and three swords and arrows is much higher than that of a cannonball. ”

"And the cost." Wang Sunchen muttered and complained, "It's all the third brother, you always say that the artillery is cheap, I thought it was a bargain, and the energy production was the same as the plate armor." The original plate armor was not stronger than the step armor, but it took advantage of a large output and squeezed the step armor. It is always said that the cost of artillery is low, and it is not said that the power of artillery is so great. The brick walls could not hold a dozen or twenty cannons. ”

Because of the constant wars with the Black Khan, Wang Sunchen has been in the Western Regions for so many years, but he has never been able to transfer back to Beijing.

Because of the transportation problems and the threat of the Liao people was much greater than that of the Black Khan, the artillery was equipped in the northern armies, and then the replaced bed crossbows were packed to the Western Regions.

The border army of the Western Regions, starting with Wang Sunchen and ending at the bottom, lacked sufficient knowledge of artillery. However, after doing so, the prisoners who were exiled to the Western Regions blew their cannons to the gods.

Wang Sunchen had always been suspicious of rumors in the Western Regions army, and in his correspondence with Han Gang, he also learned that the biggest advantage of artillery over bed crossbows was its low cost and better versatility. So it's not too much to look forward to.

Today he has truly seen the power of artillery.

Fourteen field guns bombarded continuously, easily smashing targets that imitated the city walls everywhere. Where the shells fell, rubble flew sideways, fragments of the city wall collapsed, and the dust raised was a few points higher than the smoke from the artillery positions.

"You don't know that firewood, rice, oil and salt are expensive. Do you think that with 10,000 yuan in hand every year, you can spend it energetically? There is a lot of money, and there is a lot of use, and I can't wait to break it in half. A bed crossbow can make four half-yuan five-type field guns, two city defense guns, and one mortar cannon," Han Gang said and walked on the position, walked to the side of the artillery, encouraged the nervous members of the artillery crew, and picked up a shell from the ground, "This is the shell of the field artillery, four inches in diameter, which is not light." The inner diameter of the mortar cannon is as thick as a bucket and can fire hundreds of pounds of shells. ”

Wang Sunchen was speechless when he heard this, took the cannonball cast by pig iron and weighed it, and couldn't help but say: "Ten catties can make the city wall like that, and a hundred catties of cannonballs cannons cannons can be eroded for more than ten miles in one shot!" ”

"Where did you come from?" Han Gang laughed, shook his head and refused the hand towel sent by his entourage, and continued his condolence activities, the encouragement and praise of one artillery group and one artillery group, and the reward was issued as usual, and he returned to the pergola where he rested at the back, and then returned to the original topic, "The range of the mortar cannon is too close, less than half of the field artillery, and it can only be used to siege the city." It is not difficult to manufacture, and the materials used are not much, so the cost is similar to that of urban defense artillery. ”

"Can you test it later?" Wang Sunchen was still very curious, and even complained a little, "There are a few cities on the other side of the Ili River that are still struggling to fight. If there is artillery...... Even if it is a mortar, it can kill a few hundred people less. ”

Han Gang frowned when he heard that something was wrong: "Which of you has died hundreds or thousands of people in one battle?" I haven't reported it! ”

Wang Sunchen grinned and said, "Third brother, don't be annoyed, I'm not hiding it." The dead were all Hu soldiers. These Hu people, who won the front to expand the land, died and added the land later, and did not have to spend on pensions, so they did not report the casualty figures. ”

Han Gang looked at Wang Sunchen's smiling face and shook his head helplessly, indigenous soldiers such as the New Annexed Army and the Imperial Cooperative Army were originally cannon fodder, but in Han Gang's opinion, this was still too wasteful.

Even if you want to consume the strength of the Hu tribe, you can't do it so obviously. Think about what he did in Longxi and Guangxi back then -- the naturalized Tibetans in Longxi are no different from the Han people now, and the barbarians in Guangxi are also focused on cultivating and making money. In Han Gang's view, the naturalized Hu people in the Western Regions should also be allowed to develop production, so that the economy of the Western Regions can be connected with the hinterland.

"Don't be too obvious in the future, there are ......," he stared at Wang Sunsin, who nodded repeatedly, and emphasized, "The wives and heirs of those who died in the war must be taken care of." ”

"Third brother, don't worry." Wang Sunchen was busy saying in a hurry, "Anxi and Beiting are stationed to marry widows, but even the little cubs are brought home. ”

Han Gang glared at him angrily.

Han people value their ancestors, as long as the family can afford to support them, the children whose mothers remarry due to the death of their fathers will generally stay in the family and raise them - the mother can only take away the dowry, and the property left by the father will not be taken away by the woman who remarries, so it is natural to keep the children to inherit the family business.

Only a small part of them will make oil bottles with their mother like Fan Zhongyan. Before returning to the sect, he had called Zhu for more than 30 years -- 'There are friends who come from afar and don't say it', this new name is just in line with the identity of the oil bottle -- but in the land of the Han people, under normal circumstances, it is not very common.

However, in the Liao State, or in the remote areas of the Great Song Kingdom, manpower is more important than clans, and it is the norm for widows to remarry and bring their children together.

In the Western Regions, the Han people who emigrated were already short of manpower, and when they married a widow, they married a second or a third, and suddenly there were a few more laborers in the family. Even if a three- or five-year-old child can't wield a hoe, he can herd sheep, and at worst, he can take care of his younger siblings, and there is always something to do.

Wang Sunchen used this matter to show his merits, really when he Han Gang's two eyes couldn't see below?

Knowing that he couldn't hide it from Han Gang, Wang Sunchen scratched his neck and diverted the topic with a hippie smile: "Third brother, you haven't said whether the mortar can be test-fired." ”

Han Gang shook his head helplessly, he regarded Wang Sunchen as a brother, and it was inconvenient for him to be harsh in front of outsiders.

"There is not much production of mortars, after all, it is not very useful, so there is no room left here for the test artillery site. Before and after, a total of twenty ...... were made" Han Gang's words suddenly knotted, and he couldn't remember the number of production, he turned around and asked the entourage sitting behind, "How many mortar cannons have we produced?" ”

"Twenty-seven." A young man replied quickly.

Wang Sunchen looked at him, he was very young, only in his early twenties, but he already had a green official robe.

At this young man's age, it is certainly not enough to wear green under normal circumstances. The color of the seven-grade uniforms is generally court officials. The biggest possibility is that the Jinshi - after the Jinshi is browned, he will be given seven colors of clothing to show his honor for the Jinshi.

However, at this age, ordinary Jinshi is still working on the local shogunate, and this one has already climbed to the prime minister's side to do things, and I don't know which family's yakunei.

Seeing that Wang Sunchen noticed the young man behind him, Han Gang introduced him, "This is Hucheng, the word respects, a native of Yanzhou, and your fellow countryman Jingsheng." The top of the previous subject in the Ming Law Department, he studied in Hengqu Academy for eight years, and now he is studying in the Confucius Room under the Zhongshu Gate, which is very promising. ”

The top of the list of all subjects can be given the background of Jinshi, in fact, it is also Jinshi. is born in Kansai, and he is studying in Hengqu Academy, which can be said to be a good seedling, and more importantly, it is a study official matter in the Confucius room under the Zhongshu Gate, that is to say, this is the object of Han Gang's current key training. However, it is definitely not the yanai of the noble family that I guessed before.

Wang Sunchen got up and saluted, and smiled, "Since we are fellow villagers, we will be closer to each other day." The third brother said that the top of the list is very promising, and that must be right. ”

"Under the door of the Chinese book, the knowledge and talent far exceed those who call sincerity, and they don't know how many, and they are praised by the public, and they dare not be ashamed. I only hope that in the future, it can help the public and make up for the community. Hu Cheng showed a little flattered attitude, and he looked at Wang Shunchen again, "Hu Cheng often hears the prestige of observation in the township and in the academy, if he has the opportunity, I really want to know more about the customs of the Western Regions." ”

Although it is said that there is a different path in literature and martial arts, a jinshi from various disciplines is still not qualified to become a general who is a regular official. What's more, Wang Sunchen is not only a high and powerful position, he is the commander of the development of the Western Regions, he is famous in Shilin, and more importantly, he is Han Gang's brother.

"There's definitely a chance." Wang Sunchen smiled and nodded, Hu Cheng's attitude was very satisfying, but there was no need to say too much to greet him now, he turned back to Han Gang and said, "In other words, twenty-seven mortars have been produced?" ”

"Just twenty-seven." Han Gang sighed: "My memory is a little poor, and I can't remember the numbers I've seen for a while." ”

"Third brother, you are the prime minister, how can you plan this." Wang Sunchen grinned, "I am in the Western Regions, and I will keep a record of the large number of people and horses, grain, fields, and ordnance, and I don't care about the odds at all." Tens of thousands of guns are remembered, and there is no need to write down this single mortar. ”

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this, anyway, most of the twenty-seven mortar cannons have been transported to the north, and the rest should be two, put them in the Firearms Bureau and Martial Arts as decorations."

To the north, Han Gang suddenly used this very vague word, and Wang Sunchen immediately knew that there was a saying in it.

Mortar artillery is a special siege equipment, if you want to attack Liao, it will definitely come in handy. And where the mortar equipment is, it means that it will be the key area for attacking Liao.

Daizhou, Hedong, or Baozhou, Hebei, Zhending?

Wang Sunchen's brain turned quickly, but he didn't dare to talk about it now, there were too many ears and eyes around, and he sighed from the bottom of his heart, "It's a pity, it would be nice if I left one more door." Then he quickly put the mortar behind him, "What about the tiger squat cannon?" How many doors can be made with an eight-ox crossbow? ”

"As for the Tiger Squat Cannon, the cost of building an eight-ox crossbow is more than 20. This is only better than fire. The gun is a little more expensive. ”

"So cheap?" Wang Sunchen was taken aback.

According to Han Gang, fire. The cost of the gun after mass manufacturing is actually cheaper than the Divine Arm Bow and the Armor-Piercing Crossbow, not to mention the time-consuming war bow. What kind of artillery will be only better than fire . The gun is a little more expensive, and it costs about the same cost as the Divine Arm Bow?

Han Gang pointed, "That's the Tiger Squat Cannon." ”

Just when Han Gang and Wang Sunchen were talking about the cost of various artillery, the people below had already prepared the firearms to be displayed next. The lightest Tiger Squat Cannon was also placed outside the pergola.

Wang Sunchen sighed, stood up and walked out, looking down at the small cannon barrel placed on the ground, "It's so small, you can't call it a cannon." ”

"You'll find out later."

After a while, Wang Sunchen finally knew why the tiger squat cannon was also a cannon.

Although the shotgun fired from the Tiger Squat Cannon could not reach far, according to Han Gang, it was only half of the flintlock pistol that was now equipped with the Shenji Battalion, but the canopy, accompanied by fire and smoke, and the iron filings and lead that were sprayed from the muzzle of the gun, turned the wooden human-shaped target lined up in front of the muzzle into a hemp walnut.

"It's better to use it in front of the military formation than a shield."

Out of the professional habits of military generals, Wang Sunchen was thinking about how to use this weapon in his head after seeing the tiger squat cannon fired.

In his opinion, when the enemy's cavalry attacked the infantry array, the scattered shotguns were compared to fire. The gun has a higher hit rate. In particular, the Khitan cavalry likes to sweep in front of the military formation, looking for flaws in the military formation like hungry wolves, in order to kill with one blow. The military formation with tiger squat cannon wings can easily drive away this group of disturbing mosquitoes and flies like dust.

After listening to Wang Sunchen's description, Han Gang said, "It is indeed intended to be used in this way, but to expel the cavalry, the firing speed of the Tiger Squat Cannon is not fast enough, and only the most elite gunners can meet the requirements." ”

"It's been soon." Wang Sunchen just watched the firing performance of the tiger squat cannon, round after round of shooting, the speed of reloading was not slow in his opinion, it was much faster than the heavy crossbow, not to mention the bed crossbow, "This is the fastest artillery, right?" ”

"There is also a kind of sub-cannon, shells and medicine packs are pre-loaded in the sub-cannon, and when fired, as long as the sub-cannon is filled into the mother cannon, it can be fired. After firing, remove the sub-cannon and replace it with a new sub-cannon, and you can shoot again. When the speed of replacing the sub-cannon is proficient, it can become very fast, on average, the field cannon can fire one round, and the sub-mother fast cannon can fire three rounds. ”

"There must be something else." Wang Sunchen said with certainty.

If there are no other defects, the sub-mother fast artillery will definitely overwhelm these field guns and city defense artillery, and become the key weapons equipped in the Shenji battalion.

"Of course." Han Gang said, there is no problem, it has been finalized and produced a long time ago, "One is that the power is insufficient, and the second part is too much, which is easy to damage." Therefore, the cost is high and it is not suitable for equipment in the army. ”

"It's a shame."

"When things don't go as planned, eight out of ten. Nine. It's hard to have both fish and bear's paws. Only the one with the fewest defects and the most suitable for needs can be selected. So after so many years, there are only three or four types of artillery that can be produced and equipped. ”

"The fire. What about guns? Wang Sunsin asked.

"There are only two kinds." Han Gang said, "You can see it in a while." ”

Having seen all the artillery, Han Gang and Wang Sunchen got on their horses and took their entourage from the test artillery field to an equally wide school field not far away.

On the side of the school field, there is a team of five or six hundred people, who are lined up in a neat queue, with steel helmets on their heads and spears on their shoulders, waiting for the prime minister's review under the scorching sun.

This is a standard Divine Machine Battalion command.