"Young Master, do you want to configure gunpowder?" Zhao Weiji suddenly asked Zhao Xin to buy saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur, which made Zhao Xin a little confused, so he asked this question.

"That's right."

"What does the young master want to burn?"

It turns out that although gunpowder has been invented in China for a long time and has been put into actual combat during the Tang Dynasty, due to the limited explosive power of black powder, it is more often used as the most arson accelerant.

"It's not about burning anything, it's about frying something. Anyway, just go get it. ”

These things were not uncommon, so Zhao Xin quickly got the basic materials for the preparation of black powder, saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur.

Originally, Zhao Weiji had the heart to jump yellow powder directly, which is **, but then he thought that he really didn't have that condition, so he could only use black powder to make up for it. Anyway, he didn't expect to change the shape of the war in a short period of time, just to be able to have a help during the Northern Expedition.

Zhao Weiji hit the idea of a weapon at this time, this weapon is called a brute musket. It was originally supposed to have been invented during the reign of Song Lizong, a descendant of his "Zhao Weiji" who later became emperor.

This is a tubular gun, the principle of which is somewhat similar to that of later smoothbore guns, but much more rudimentary. Its basic shape is as follows: the front section is a thick bamboo tube; The part that swells in the middle is the powder chamber with a little fire hole in the outer wall; The back section is a hand-held wooden stick. When it is fired, it is held on the ground with a wooden stick, the left hand holds the iron pipe, and the right hand ignites, making a loud noise, shooting out stones or projectiles, the maximum range of the projectile can reach 300 meters, and the effective range is up to 100 meters.

He came up with this weapon because he didn't have the ability to create a smoothbore gun in a short period of time, and this kind of firearm made of bamboo as a basic material was easy to produce. But this gun also has a downside, which is the surname at one time. Because it is made of bamboo, it is basically discarded after using it once. And the range is very short.

Zhao Weiji didn't expect to use this kind of thing to kill and injure Khitan soldiers, his purpose was just to startle the horse. After all, animals have an irresistible fear of fire and loud noises.

Having this kind of thing should be able to achieve miraculous results in conjunction with the existing "artillery" of the Song army.

……

"Let's try this gun." After making the first assault gun, Zhao Weiji pulled Zhao Xin to test the gun on the school field.

"Is this a gun?" Because he had never seen such a thing, Zhao Xin was a little unsure. Such a bamboo tube is also called a gun? What do you stab people with?

Zhao Weiji took this assault rifle and fired a shot at the target, which made a loud noise when fired, and even the barrel of the gun sprayed a little tongue of fire, but the projectile did not accurately hit the target a hundred steps away. Instead, it landed on the ground to the left of the target, creating a small hole.

Zhao Xin, who saw this scene, tried very hard to hold back his laughter in order to take care of Zhao Weiji's face. And Zhao Weiji here is also a little embarrassed on his face. He had imagined that he would not be able to hit accurately, because although he didn't know what the firing status of the assault gun was, he knew the accuracy of the smoothbore gun, and probably estimated the assault gun, but he didn't think about it that far.

After trying the first batch of ten guns he produced, he finally hit once, but because the target was basically outside the effective range, he basically didn't see any damage.

Now Zhao Xin was even more puzzled: "This thing that the young master took a lot of effort to get out seems to be useless." ”

"I didn't expect this thing to do anything, I had other purposes."

In order to confirm his thoughts, Zhao Weiji asked a few horses to come. After the others brought the horses over, Zhao Weiji asked them to put the horses a hundred steps away, and then took out the muskets and fired them at the horses. Although it did not hit the herd, it made a certain noise near the herd, and the herds that had never heard such a sound before were startled.

"Does the young master expect this thing to cause the horses of the Khitan cavalry to be frightened?" Zhao Xin seemed to understand a little.

"That's right, in fact, this projectile can be improved a little more." After saying that, the person who was still cleaning up the mess on the school grounds returned to his residence and began to study.

Later, Zhao Weiji asked the blacksmith to cast a small projectile similar to a capsule style out of iron, and then filled the projectile with a little gunpowder.

Then he dragged Zhao Xin to the school field again, this time the group of horses was bigger.

Zhao Weiji then fired this new type of projectile with a brute gun, and although this time it still did not hit the horse directly, it produced a small explosion at the point where the bullet landed, and a small fire also broke out in the grass. The degree of frightening of the horses was even more exaggerated.

So Zhao Weiji finally nodded with satisfaction, and then left.

With Zhao Weiji's family's current financial resources, 10,000 of these assault muskets were soon produced. But this "capsule" bullet could not be mass-produced, only 300 pieces.

Since assault guns are also consumables, and this projectile is even more scarce, in the end, Zhao Weiji decided to allocate these to the smallest unit of the infantry scattering star array first, and each of them has three assault guns and one "capsule" bullet per battle. The rest is replaced with stones, which are just used to scare the horses anyway.

After doing this, Zhao Weiji was finally relieved for the time being. He felt that at least the soldiers under his command already had sufficient combat effectiveness, and as for the rest, he couldn't control it for the time being, but even the implementation of the crossbow could at least help.

While Zhao Weiji was preparing, the other generals of the Song Dynasty were not idle.

The generals of the Yang family in Daizhou also began to actively prepare, and Yang Ye had already begun to reorganize his armament after returning from the capital. The reason is very simple, that is, Zhao Guangyi has intentionally or unintentionally revealed his intention to start a war to Yang Ye.

So now the entire Daizhou-Yanmen Pass is actively preparing for the upcoming war. Especially the brothers of the Yang family led by Yang Yanping. Yang Yanping was defeated in the last battle, and he really couldn't swallow this breath in his heart, if he wanted to go on the Northern Expedition, it was indeed a good time to be ashamed.

At this time, the others were not idle, and Pan Mei, who was stationed at Sanjiaokou, had also begun to prepare for war. After adapting to the changes brought about by the Daizhou Army, Pan Mei also liked the appearance of the current army more and more. Besides, he felt embarrassed enough after the failure of the Northern Expedition last time, he was the first to destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Southern Han Dynasty, and he couldn't be willing to be behind the others in the Northern Expedition again.

And Cao Bin, who was stationed at the junction of Shandong and Youzhou, also began to gear up. This general, who had the merit of defeating Hou Shu, had been deposed as the envoy of the Taiping Army because he was framed before. Later, although because of Zhao Guangyi's awakening, not only was the official reinstated, but also went further. But he also has a pimple in his heart, your official family actually once distrusted me, I must prove it to you.

The actions of the external generals naturally attracted the attention of the internal ministers, and to be honest, most of the ministers did not support Taizong's Northern Expedition at this time. However, there is no reliable representative among them, and the current Tongzhong Shumenxia Pingzhangshi (the same prime minister) Li Fang is rich in cultivation, and he presided over the compilation of the main work of the Taizong Dynasty, "Taiping Yulan". But this person is basically a peacemaker in politics, and it's okay to be a little muddy, expect him to take the lead in admonishment? Forget it.

So now all the opposition has hit the old prime minister Zhao Pu, although Zhao Pu has been deposed, but the influence is still there, and Taizong still trusts him.

So after a court meeting, several representatives of the anti-war faction approached Zhao Pu.

"I know what you're trying to say, but do you think it's useful? I don't think that if I go up and give advice, I will dispel the idea of the official. ”

"But it's not very advantageous to start a war at this time, after all, the last fiasco has not been ten years old, and the Great Song Dynasty has been fighting in the last few decades, at this time, since the Liao people have not come to provoke us, then why start the war easily?"

"I also know that it is not appropriate to start a war at this time, but the official family also has a reason to fight, and that is Yan Yun. If you don't get Yanyun back, then the officials can't sleep at night. The Khitan cavalry is good at galloping on the plains, and since Yanyun is in the hands of the Khitans, it is convenient to defend the north of Bianjing. The Yellow River is going to freeze in winter. Without Yanyun, Bianjing will always be shrouded in the shadow of the Khitan Iron Horse. ”

"We know that's the case, but it's not a good time to go to war."

"We don't think so, but the officials think it is. First of all, the things that the county prince made out of Anding, you know, these things are how strong our army's combat effectiveness is to a certain extent.

Then there is the Khitan interior, the lord Shaoguo is suspicious, the power is in the hands of a woman, and the official family naturally thinks that the internal politics of the Khitan are unstable.

These will be the reasons for the official Northern Expedition. Of course, the most important reason is that once the Northern Expedition is successful, then the prestige of the official family will surpass that of Emperor Taizu. All these kinds of temptations for the officials to carry out the Northern Expedition. ”

"So what do we do? Just watch the official family start a war again? ”

"That's all we can watch."

After finishing speaking, Zhao Pu sighed, then shook his head and left. The others only sighed when they saw Zhao Pu's departure, and then dispersed on their own.

At this time, it is not only officialdom, but also the army. Even the people have begun to feel the smell of imminent war. Food prices are quietly rising. Even the price of cotton began to increase, because now the whole of cotton is basically under official control.

Now all the cotton cloth workshops under Chai Yu's hands have stopped producing cotton fabrics sold on the market, and are making cotton clothes and pants for the army with all their might.

Chai Yu had already begun to complain in the letter he wrote to Zhao Weiji, because there was an agreement with Zhao Guangyi, that is, the imperial court purchased cotton clothes at cost price, and the imperial court order must be completed first.

The clouds of war have begun to loom over northern China. While the Great Song was preparing for war, the Liao State was not a fool, and the Liao State, which had already mastered the movements of the Zhao and Song dynasties, also began to prepare.

The two sides will not only begin military preparations, but will also start a political game before the war.

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