In the Western Xia Kingdom, except for the six classes and sanitation iron cavalry in the imperial enclosure of Xingqing Mansion to protect the lord of the country and the palace, plus tens of thousands of iron harriers in important towns, the rest of the soldiers are all for the people on weekdays and soldiers in wartime. The army, which is claimed to be 600,000, is actually composed of Ding Zhuang, who is between 15 and 60 years old in the Western Xia. Once the Xingqing Mansion gathered a large army to prepare for battle, all that was consumed was the national strength of Western Xia.

With the geographical conditions of the two core areas of Xingling, which is like the south of the Yangtze River, and Yinxia at the northern foot of Hengshan, it is not a problem to feed two or three million people. Just like Xihe Road, there are only a few river valleys that can be suitable for living, but the total population of Tubo and Tibet adds up to nearly one million.

However, as a country, Western Xia did not have the ability to be self-sufficient. A part of the army that has been professionalized, as well as bureaucrats and monarchs, all exist purely at the expense of the people, without any output. This is very different from the tribes where almost all the sons of the patriarch have to go to the fields to graze. And these excess consumption and needs, the Western Xia Kingdom could not supply, so they could only suck blood from the Song people.

Therefore, since Yuan Hao raised troops to establish the country, the party members have provoked major wars every year. Even if the Song people gave the so-called annual gifts, they would not be enough to support the gradually expanding state finances. As the Tangut state was established over time, the bureaucratic system that gradually developed became more and more expensive for money and food, and the nobles who had been transferred from the tribal elders had an insatiable appetite, so they could only win through war and plunder, because the economic pillar of the Tangut was the Great Song Dynasty.

As for the Liao State, which also sucked blood from the Great Song Dynasty, its own national strength was enough to support the operation of the entire country, and the 500,000 silver silk coins sent by the Great Song Dynasty every year were only used to buy off the ruling class of the Liao State. As long as the requirements of the Khitan nobles can be met, they can not be moved to invade the south. This is the difference between Western Xia and Liao, and it is also because the alliance of Lu He Yuan has been preserved to this day, and the Qingli Peace Conference has become waste paper in only twenty years.

However, since the two battles of Hengshan and Hehuang, and the Liang clan had to free up their hands to rectify the country, there was no major war between the two countries for three years, only a little skirmish on the border. Moreover, with the promotion of Shaanxi, Hebei, and Hedong, the art of war was used to rectify the army, eliminate the weak and retain the strong. In addition, after the establishment of the ordnance prison, the equipment received became more and more sophisticated, and the strength of the three-way forbidden army rose rapidly. The pressure on the Liao State and the Western Xia is also increasing.

The Liao State forcibly demanded border land, which was a demonstration. And the marriage of the princess of Liao is also a response.

Now that the Liao State has been satisfied with their demands, it has calmed down for a while. But on the Western Xia side, the possibility of taking the initiative to provoke a war is increasing. Rather than waiting for the party to raise troops to attack with the secret support of the Khitan, it is better to take the first move, seize the strategic advantage, and control Hengshan, so that you can sit back and relax, and when the right time comes, you can raise troops to the north, subdue Xingling, and destroy the Western Xia in one fell swoop.

Chong Ge persuaded Zhao Ji on this reason and was able to go out to serve as the deputy chief of the soldiers and horses of the Yanyan Road. But the reason why Zhao Ji finally made up his mind to go to war was recently. Speaking of which, it was still the driving force that Han Gang gave him, without Han Gang's guarantee that the Northern Forbidden Army would be fully ironclad within three years, Zhao Ji did not dare to rashly decide to start a war again.

But there are many people who oppose this decision, Han Gang has opposed it before, he feels that the primary target should be in Lanzhou, Wang Shao and him are also in the same mind, they should fight, but the target should not be Hengshan. And Cai Ting expressed support for this, looking at him, he also intends to compete for the position of the coach who leads the battle.

As for the political affairs hall, Wang Anshi overwhelmed the voices of the other four people when he spoke alone - there are three ministers and two participants in the political affairs hall today, and it is rare to be full. Among them, Wang Anshi is the only one who speaks strongly. Han Jiang didn't care, no one paid attention to what he said at the beginning, and now no one cares, but as long as Feng Jing and Lu Huiqing can't be proud, that's enough. whereas

When Han Gang came to visit Wang Anshi, he heard his father-in-law mention this matter again: "Wu Chongqing also said that he is getting older, and his return to politics is only in front of him, so he can wait for a while and sit and watch the civil strife in Western Xia." ”

The controversy in the court two days ago had already reached Han Gang's ears, and he also knew a thing or two about how Wu Chong was refuted.

Wang Yan was next to him, and let out a cold snort from his nose: "Bingchang married the princess of the Liao Kingdom, if you want to get rid of the Liang family in the future, you must use the power of the Liao people." Wouldn't it be to sit back and watch Western Xia fall into the hands of the Liao? ”

The party members were very wary of the Khitan, and they had always traveled between the Song and Liao, and at the same time declared themselves vassals to the two countries. But now that the Western Xia is getting closer and closer to the Liao State, maybe in a few years, the Liang family, who refuses to return to power, will have a conflict with Bingchang - just look at the history books, and even look back at the relatives who were cleared by the former Western Xia lord Liang Zuo to slander the Pang family, you can know that the result of Lu Dao is inevitable - the Liao people will definitely take the opportunity to intervene.

When Yuan Hao rebelled, even if the Song army was defeated one after another, Emperor Renzong did not send troops to guard Tongguan just in case. But if the Khitan iron horse is changed to enter and exit Hengshan, the current son of heaven Zhao Ji will not want to sleep well anymore. But if the Song army captured Hengshan, even if the Khitans came over, they would have to hit their heads and bleed in the mountains.

That's why Zhao Ji's mind is so firm, Han Gang and Wang Shao can't shake it.

"Shaanxi Sixth Road was ordered to count the day before yesterday, and there are still more than 96,400 people in the iron armor, I don't know when Yukun will be able to build it over there?" Wang Anshi asked Han Gang.

Han Gang said: "Now the infantry plate armor produced every day is around three hundred collars, and the new Mingguang armor for military schools is about ten collars - I also showed my father-in-law two days ago, and the whole body armor has forty-eight large and small armor leaves, compared with the plate armor with eight armor leaves, the process is more complicated to build, and the man-hours are more, but the protection is better, and it is easier to move with rivets." ”

Mingguang Armor is just borrowing a name. The essence is still plate armor, but more parts are used, and the protection is better, and it is also made more delicate and shiny - so the name of the Mingguang armor is retained - but the weight has also gone up a level.

Wang Anshi nodded with satisfaction, this speed was enough to make people jaw-dropping. In the past, this was the output of the entire ordnance prison for ten days. Ten times the speed, one-fifth of the cost, slightly better than the previous defensive power, can redress nearly 600,000 forbidden troops in a few years. not only gave Zhao Ji more courage in his heart, but also gave Wang Anshi more confidence in fighting against the two captives in the northwest.

Sometimes he thinks that if Han Gang took out the plate armor earlier, maybe the Liao people asked for Hedong land last year, and the Son of Heaven would not have helplessly said anything 'let him do what he wants'.

I only heard Han Gang continue: "When the hydraulic forging workshop by the Bianhe River is completed, the two workshops inside and outside the capital combined, the daily output of infantry plate armor can reach five hundred collars, and if some processes are improved, eight hundred collars are also possible." Speaking of this, his brows furrowed, "The only thing I am worried about is the lack of pig iron. It is difficult to catch up with the pig iron output of Xuzhou Liguojian. ”

"Do you want to increase production?" Wang Yan said.

Han Gang nodded: "This is necessary, and it can also increase some income for the imperial court in the future." ”

After the whole army changes clothes, the demand for armor will be reduced by half, but in order to ensure the work of the craftsmen, Han Gang plans to have the ordnance superintendent make iron tools for civilian use. In this way, the demand for pig iron will not decrease. Wang Anshi and Wang Yan both knew about this matter.

Wang Anshi's eyebrows also furrowed slightly: "I know that Dao Yukun invented the track to make it more convenient to transport ore in the mine." The use of horse-drawn carts instead of manual ore to transport ore out of the pit can indeed mine more ore. But the charcoal for ironmaking is not good, where does so much charcoal come from. ”

Wang Yan sighed: "If it weren't for the poor quality of the iron smelted from the coal, you could directly use the pig iron from Hebei." ”

"Recently, the Ordnance Superintendent has also been experimenting," Han Gang said, "how to make good iron from coal." ”

"Isn't it that the five elements of ironmaking lack wood, and charcoal and bamboo charcoal must be used?" Wang Yan asked strangely.

"But charcoal and bamboo charcoal are always more expensive than coal. Especially in Xuzhou, the nearby trees are almost cut down, and charcoal has to be transported from Dengzhou. As production expands, costs only get higher. And once the switch to coal is successful, you can use cheap pig iron from Hebei. In addition, if you can find coal near Xuzhou in the future, the price of iron will only be cheaper. ”

"Yukun, how long will it take for your experiment to succeed?" Wang Anshi was thrilled when he heard it.

Wang Anshi is kind and profitable. When the farmland water conservancy law was implemented, there were jokes circulating outside, and some people suggested that he could even fill in Liangshanbo to get 800 miles of fertile land. Although this is nonsense - Liangshanbo is a transshipment channel connecting Tokyo to Jingdong Road, and the water transportation of Wuzhang River, Jishui, and Wenshui must pass through here, and hundreds of thousands of stone of grain must pass through it every year, so no one will fight the idea of Liangshanbo - but Wang Anshi's urgency to save money and make money for the imperial court is not the slightest false.

Han Gang groaned for a moment, shook his head and smiled bitterly. The matter of coke may not be successful, even if there is coke, it will take time to make an iron-making blast furnace, Han Gang is not sure whether it will be successful or not, and he will not say that he will find himself unhappy: "I'm afraid it will take a lot of time, and it is impossible to make a contribution immediately...... You can only take your time. ”

"I'm afraid that the price of iron will be reduced by using coal, and it will also be for the iron ship in the future?" Wang Yan asked with a smile.

"Sort of, it's just that I haven't seen the finished product for more than ten years." Han Gang smiled, "But every step towards the iron ship can be effective, and it won't be retreating halfway." ”

"In other words, Yukun, you have no intention of going out for the time being?"

Wang Anshi's question sounded a little strange, Han Gang frowned and thought about it, he had a number in his heart, and said with a smile: "Which one is the general who ordered the son-in-law?" Isn't it a kind of? What do you want your son-in-law to do? Transferred with the army? ”

The light smile on Wang Anshi's face was quite meaningful: "Yukun, do you know how many generals and colonels of the Western Army, after hearing that there is going to be a war, they want you to take care of their grain?" ”

Han Gang was stunned for a while, and then turned into a laugh and sighed: "Fortunately, it's not a handsome position." After a pause, he added, "Fortunately, it's just grain." ”