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In Youzhou, Yelu Hongji was sitting upright and was dealing with military affairs. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoSince he decided to use troops against the Song Dynasty, he hurried to Youzhou and threw himself into the southern expedition. There are many things to prepare for a big war, not to mention anything else, just the mobilization of the army, the raising of grain and grass, and the preparation of silver taels are a lot of affairs.

While he was busy, Han Ju came in, handed the national letter in his hand to Yelu Hongji, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the national letter of the Southern Dynasty." ”

"Oh!" Yelu Hongji put down the military affairs in his hand, opened the national book and looked at it, raised his eyebrows, suddenly raised his head to the sky, and laughed: "Haha! Ha ha! ”

The laughter was very pleasant, as if there was something very good. Han Ju saw it in his eyes and was a little surprised: "Your Majesty, Emperor Song has agreed to our request?" ”

"See for yourself." Yelu Hongji did not speak, and handed the national letter in his hand to Han Ju.

Han Ju took it in his hand, unfolded it and took a look, only to see that there was only one sentence on it: "Yelu Hongji: The property you plundered the Great Song Dynasty must be saved, and I will come to get it!" ”

"This, Emperor Song is too arrogant." Han Ju's face changed color and he was angry.

"What's so angry?" Yelu Hongji waved his hand lightly and smiled happily: "I think this Zhao Ji is a bit interesting, not as cowardly as his ancestors. Thinking about the time of the Lanyuan Alliance, the army of the Great Liao was still on the border, and the Song Emperor thought about moving the capital, so he thought about escaping. If it weren't for Kou Zhun, how could there be an alliance with the Yuanyuan, the army of the Great Liao would have entered the Central Plains and entered Bianjing. Kou Zhun is a character, but he was born at the wrong time and met the Song Emperor. ”

Song Zhenzong made the alliance of the Yuanyuan, which bought enough time for the Song Dynasty to be used for reform. However, when the Liao army invaded the border, Song Zhenzong was so frightened that he wanted to escape, but it was Kou Zhun who invited the king hard, so that Song Zhenzong had no choice, so he had to drive the expedition in person.

At that time, the morale of the Song army was low, and it was likely that it would not be able to defeat the Liao army. It was precisely because Song Zhenzong arrived at the border pass that the soldiers of the Song army saw the royal car, their morale was high, and the sound of "long live" resounded through the heavens and the earth, and they fought a bloody battle with the Liao army, which stabilized the border pass.

If it weren't for Kou Zhun Invite Jun, the Liao army would probably defeat the Song army, drive the Central Plains for a long time, and enter Bianjing.

"If my opponent is like that, I really think it's too boring." Yelu Hongji continued: "This Zhao Ji, although he has the kindness of a woman, did not decisively kill Sima Guang, Han Qi, and Lu Gong, but he also has a little courage, such an opponent is a bit interesting." It's a pity that he is too arrogant and tries to destroy my Da Liao. Zhao Kuangyi wants to recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun and fight to the periphery of Youzhou, so what can he do? Didn't you run away in a battered donkey cart? If Zhao Ji dares to come, I will tell him that there is no return! ”

Yelu Hongji was full of confidence, and his voice was a little high.

Song Taizong's northern expedition to Yanyun, at the beginning, the Song army fought well and went well. However, later, when the Liao army began to counterattack under the deployment of Empress Dowager Xiao, the Song army could not stand it and collapsed on the whole front, although it had reached the periphery of Youzhou, it was still defeated.

This was a major failure in the history of the Song Dynasty, and the Liao people would mention it from time to time to ridicule the Song Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, good news, good news!" At this moment, Xiao Lu walked in quickly, grinning with a smile on his face, his steps were brisk, and he walked as if he was flying.

"Good news?" Yelu Hongji was a little surprised, looked at Xiao Lu, who was twenty years younger, and asked.

"Your Majesty, the minister cracked a branch of Qiyun Society and copied out the thunderbolt." Xiao Lu smiled at the report.

"Thunderbolts? Where is it? Bring it to me and show it. Yelu Hongji stood up violently, his eyes shining brightly, and he was very excited.

Speaking of thunderbolts, Yelu Hongji was very depressed, if it weren't for the thunderbolts, there would be no defeat in Xiongzhou in Liao, he would not be in Youzhou at this time, but led his troops to sweep the Central Plains. He tried his best for this thunderbolt, but he couldn't find it. Unexpectedly, he found the thunderbolt today, and he was extremely excited.

"Bring it in." Xiao Lu waved his hand excitedly, and a leather room soldier came in with a few thunderbolts.

Yelu Hongji took it in his hand, looked at it carefully for a while, and said with a smile: "Although it is because of this thing that Daliao has the defeat of Xiongzhou, I do not regret it. With the thunderbolt, I can be a sharp weapon. ”

"Your Majesty, is this thing really that powerful?" Xiao Lu looked at the thunderbolt left and right, but he didn't see anything famous, and he was a little incredulous.

"This thing, if used well, is very powerful." Speaking of this, Yelu Hongji raised his eyebrows and said, "Let's go!" Take you guys to a place. It's time for you to show you my sharp weapons. ”

personally took the thunderbolt bomb and took Xiao Lu and Han Ju out of the house. Yelu Hongji did not bring guards, but only three monarchs and ministers, and went to the heavily guarded courtyard.

As soon as he arrived, Xiao Lu asked, "Your Majesty, what is in this?" Although the minister is the marshal of the capital and sits in Youzhou, he can't get in. The minister has been here a few times, but the soldiers here are not allowed to enter. ”

"No one can enter without my will." Yeluhonki did not answer his question and strode in.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw a huge iron lump towering in the courtyard, and a group of craftsmen were circling around the iron lump, arguing endlessly.

The lump of iron was about three feet long and three feet thick, shining and glittering, and it looked very mighty, and it was placed on the ground like an ancient beast.

"What is this?" Xiao Lu and Han Ju were very surprised, they had never seen such a thick thing, they were very curious, and they couldn't help but look at it.

"See the emperor!" These craftsmen hurriedly greeted Yeluhongki.

"Excuse me." Yelu Hongji waved his hand: "This thing is called a thunderbolt." It was originally a weapon of the Southern Dynasty, but it was not successful, and it was stolen by me. ”

Actually, this is artillery. Artillery originated in the Song Dynasty, although its use was limited, very primitive, and very unsuitable for the needs of the battlefield, but it was a huge progress. It is an important step towards the era of cold weapons and the era of hot weapons.

This is the kind of weapon that Wang Shao told Wu Ji, this is the top secret of the Song Dynasty, and not many people know about it. It's a pity that although the Song Dynasty made good progress, it didn't keep the secret and stole it for Yelu Hongji. Yelu Hongji was a shrewd man, and after he stole this secret, he immediately gathered the top craftsmen of the Liao Kingdom and asked them to develop them, and he promised that if the research was successful, he would make these craftsmen marquis king.

Artillery is known as the god of war, and if it is really developed, it is appropriate to be crowned a king and a marquis. This incident reflected Yelu Hongji's shrewd side, and he keenly grasped the power of artillery.

"This thing has made good progress, and in a few years, it will be ready for use on the battlefield. With this thing, siege and land grabbing is not a problem. Yelu Hongji patted his right hand on the cannon body and said: "Over the years, although the Great Liao has pressed the Southern Dynasty to fight, it has always been unable to take the strong city of the Southern Dynasty. With this thing, these cities would be nothing more than a piece of paper. Therefore, after the defeat of Xiongzhou, I decided not to use soldiers for the time being, just to wait for this thing. Now, Wu Ji is two thousand miles across the Great Liao, and he can't give the Southern Dynasties any more time, so he has to use troops in advance. Even so, it does not hinder the development of Daliao. ”

Although the cities of the Song Dynasty were very strong, if a large number of artillery appeared on the battlefield, the cities of the Song Dynasty were really just a piece of paper.

"Huh!" A gray-haired craftsman said with a smile: "Your Majesty, if it was before, the ministers would not dare to think like this. In the past, the ministers wanted to put poisonous powder and smoke in it, release poison on the battlefield, and smoke it. Since the Battle of Xiongzhou, the Southern Dynasty used thunderbolts to injure the enemy by exploding, which gave great inspiration to the ministers, and this thunderbolt cannon can do the same. ”

The artillery of the Song Dynasty did not rely on explosions to injure the enemy, nor did it use solid bullets to injure the enemy as in the Ming Dynasty, but used smoke to release poison. There are many formulas for its shells, which vary according to different needs.

On the battlefield, the effect of poison and smoke is not obvious. First, the battlefield is too large to cover the battlefield. Second, as soon as the wind blows, whether it is smoke or poison, there will be no more, and it is better to use explosions to injure the enemy.

It's just that, due to the limitations of the times, although the Song Dynasty has used gunpowder to firecrackers, it has not yet used explosions to artillery, which will go to later generations.

The Song Dynasty studied artillery in order to spread smoke and release poison, and the technology stolen by the Liao State was also this kind of thinking. It wasn't until the Battle of Xiongju that thunderbolts were thrown into the battlefield and exploded to injure the enemy, which gave great inspiration to the craftsmen, and they had the idea of using explosions to injure the enemy, which was a huge progress.

"Your Majesty, although the ministers have this idea, they have not made much progress. If you can get a thunderbolt, the ministers will study it carefully, and they will definitely speed up the progress. Another craftsman said with great regret.

They had heard of the power of thunderbolts, but they had never seen them. If they could see the thunderbolt in kind, it would definitely inspire them even more.

"Haha!" Yelu Hongji let out a burst of cheerful laughter and said, "What's so hard about this? That's where I brought you thunderbolts. You see, it's a thunderbolt. ”

"This is a thunderbolt?"

"Is that so?"

Only then did a group of craftsmen discover the thunderbolt in Yelu Hongji's hand, and they were very excited, and they came up, took it in their hands, looked left and right, and were excited.

"Let's try it first!" After looking at it for a while, the craftsmen decided to try one.

There will be no objection to this proposal. The craftsman had long heard of the name of the thunderbolt, and after some thought and knowledge of its use, he lit one in the distance, only to hear a loud bang, a flash of fire, and the sand flew away, and a pit appeared in the ground.

"That's amazing!" The crowd looked around the crater for a while, unspeakably happy.

"Your Majesty, the ministers are more successful!" A gray-haired craftsman was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth.

"Hmm!" Yelu Hongji was also satisfied, and said with a smile: "You made it, I will give you the title of king and marquis, and I will never lose my word." ”

"Your Majesty." Several craftsmen were full of joy, and said vigorously: "Your Majesty, the ministers will go and ponder, and ask the emperor for forgiveness." ”

"Go get busy!" Yelu Hongji was still good-minded, and he was very happy that the craftsmen were obsessed with the work, and waved his hand to ask the craftsmen to go to work.

Suddenly, a question occurred to Yeluhonki: "Be careful, maybe there is a mechanism." ”

"The emperor can rest assured, we are the most famous craftsmen in Daliao, which is difficult for us. Let's take one apart and get it. Several craftsmen replied in unison.

(To be continued)