Chapter 518: Musket theft

Concubine Yang gave birth to a son, Quan Jiu is also pregnant, and it seems that the people of the Zhao family have begun to prosper. Under the festivities, after a while, I remembered that there was still a fold.

"This is the performance of the Government Council, Ling'er, read."

"Yes." Fang Ling took it from my hand and said, "Emperor Qi, on the eighth day of July in the fifth year of Xianchun, Lord He Jihe, a scholar of Xianwen Pavilion and president of Lin'an University, passed away due to illness at the age of eighty. ”

"He Aiqing?" I was stunned for a moment and said sadly, "It's only been delayed for half a year." ”

He Ji died in December 1268 in history, and what I mean by delaying it for half a year is this, of course, Yuan Jian, Fang Ling and others present do not know what it is.

Although Fang Ling had seen He Ji, he had no contact with him before and after the amnesia, so he only knew that He Ji was the president of Lin'an University, and the rest was not very clear. "Brother, there is also a handwritten letter from Lord He before his death." Fang Ling said again.

"Really? Read it. ”

Fang Ling read in a low voice: "The old minister He Ji deeply feels that time is short, and His Majesty is thousands of miles away, and the minister can no longer see the holy face, which is a pity. His Majesty's favor, in his old age, he served as the president of Lin'an University, this new type of university opened the first dynasty, it is really the tide of the future, and it should be a model of education in our dynasty, and it should be promoted, so that in less than ten years, the students of the university can take on the important task of the revival of our dynasty, and the old minister should smile at Jiuquan. Shen Yiqiu, vice president of Lin'an University, has both ability and political integrity, and his loyalty can be seen, and the minister proposed that he can succeed to the position of president. After the death of the ministers, the burial is done with a priest's ceremony, and there is no need for official ceremonies. The minister only hopes that His Majesty will recover the Central Plains as soon as possible and rejuvenate our Great Song Dynasty. Chen He Ji, on the evening of July 3 of the fifth year of Xianchun. ”

I don't have a lot of contact with He Ji, but I admire his character and knowledge very much. He Ji is down-to-earth and Han-like; What I praise the most is that He Ji learned from Zhu Xi, but he is not a person who eats the ancients, and has the courage to explore new things, and accepted the position of president of Lin'an University, which focuses on new education, in the year of the Eighty Dynasty. I thought for a while and said: "Gongsun Xiaochen, pass on my will, and order Zhao Shunsun Zhao Aiqing of the Government Council to inform Lin'an Wen Aiqing that He Aiqing will be posthumously crowned as the Duke of Korea, and he will build a temple in his hometown Jinhua Mansion for future generations to pay respects, and at the same time, in order to commemorate He Aiqing's contribution to the education of our dynasty, I have decided to set the admission date of Lin'an University and other new universities that will be opened in the future on July 8 every year. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Lu Xiufu said: "Your Majesty, Lord He is a famous official of my dynasty and a current official in the court, is he still buried according to the official rites of the imperial court?" ”

I shook my head and said, "No need, just according to He Aiqing's dying intentions, let's bury it with the etiquette of a scholar." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Three days later, Tian Xiuyan, Duan Donglou, and hundreds of Yunnan Xingfu troops arrived in Xiangyang. I listened carefully to the reports of Tian and Duan on the entire Yunnan campaign, and praised Duan Heng's "righteous deeds" and the merits of the officers and men of the Southwest Military Region. I naturally understood the meaning of the Xingfu Army going north, so I ordered the Xingfu Army to join the Middle Route Army of the Northern Expedition, which was still under the command of Duan Donglou, and Duan Donglou was crowned as the captain of the upper light car, receiving the rank of fourth, and then appointing specific military officers when the Northern Expedition Army of the Middle Route was formally formed.

In the evening, at the banquet for Duan Donglou and his entourage, Duan Donglou presented a letter from Duan Heng to me and said, "Your Majesty, this is a handwritten letter from Duan Wangye to the emperor. ”

When I took the letter, I saw that it was very simple, to the effect that I was thanking me for expelling the Mongols from Yunnan, expressing his desire to submit to the Great Song Dynasty, and finally mentioning that he hoped to send people to study at the two universities in Lin'an to reserve talents for the future development of Yunnan Province.

After reading it, I immediately said: "General Duan, you reply to Lord Duan, and ask him to send twenty people to Lin'an University and Lin'an Military University to study, and let them find Tian Zuiyan of the Ethnic Division after they arrive in Lin'an." ”

Duan Donglou said happily: "Yes, the last general thanked the emperor for Duan Wangye." ”

"To build Yunnan well, we naturally need a large number of local talents, Yunnan is a multi-ethnic remote province, although relatively backward, but its resources are still a lot, as long as you find a good way, it should soon become rich. After graduating from university, they can set up a similar university in Yunnan to train local talent. ”

"It's so much better." Duan Donglou said, "The last general thanked the emperor for the grace of the people of all ethnic groups in Yunnan. ”

I smiled and said to Tian Xiuyan: "Xiuyan, you will stay in Xiangyang, serve as a senator in the army with Gongsun Xiaochen, and go on the Northern Expedition with me." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the last general will obey the order."

"Well, generals, you have worked hard all the way, eat well today, rest well, and train according to the training method of our army from tomorrow, and rejuvenate the army, not only to revive Yunnan, but also to revive our Great Song Dynasty." I raised my glass and said, "Come, after this cup, I believe that the Xingfu Army will definitely become an invincible iron army in my Great Song Army." ”

On 23 and 24 July, I received an urgent report of 800 li from Li Tingzhi, the envoy of the Jianghuai Military Region.

Li Tingzhi said in the report that he had received news from Longya in Jinan Prefecture a few days ago that Yin Yinglei's ministry was heading for Liaocheng at the junction of Shandong, Henan, and Hebei provinces.

Although Yin Yinglei said it lightly, I know the difficulty of going deep alone, and the army of Liu Deng in later generations withstood a severe test in the struggle in Dabie Mountain, and paid a heavy price for it, losing as much as half of its personnel.

As for Yin Yinglei's department, because I can't get in touch, I can't do anything but pray to God for blessing. No matter how difficult it is, at least I know the news that Yin Yinglei is still alive, and this report can be regarded as good news no matter how you say it.

The second report was something I hadn't thought of at all, and I was blown away when I read it.

The arsenal of Luzhou Mansion was stolen a few days ago, five muskets and dozens of rounds of ammunition disappeared, as a top secret, only the secret place where the muskets were placed was Miao Zaicheng, the garrison of Luzhou, and Shi Yuqi, the commander of the 14th box, had the right to enter and exit, and Shi Yuqi also disappeared at the same time. According to the guards of the arsenal, at 3:45 p.m. (3:45 p.m.) on the day of the incident, Shi Yuqi took out the musket from the depot, and the guards at the north gate of Luzhou also said that Shi Yuqi said that he went out of the city to test the gun, and left the city gate with several people dressed in civilian clothes before the gate closed at the end of Shen Shi (5 p.m.), and never returned.

After finding out the situation, General Miao Zaicheng immediately reported to Yangzhou, and sent people out of the city to search all the way north, until the early morning of the next day, Shi Yuqi's whereabouts were not found.

Shi Yuqi is an upright person, has no bad habits, has always been low-key, and has a very harmonious relationship with the officers and soldiers in the army, and has won the respect of the officers and soldiers of the 14th Chamber, so General Miao Zaicheng ruled out many possibilities, thinking that the biggest possibility is that Shi Yuqi is a Mongolian worker, because the only one who is most eager to get a musket is Kublai Khan.

For Shi Yuqi's impression, I am still quite profound, martial arts background, in his martial arts examination, I personally saw the battle between him and Ouyang Jianqing, and then joined the forbidden army, with Xia Gui to Luzhou, in the Anfeng battle has merits, plus Shi Yuqi led the army well, and within a few years was promoted to the commander of the box.

"For the sake of a few muskets, he gave up the official position of a box-level general who had worked hard, and it seems that Kublai Khan attached great importance to firearms."

"Brother, compared to firearms, the role of the commander is of course far less."

"Oh, really?"

"For Kublai Khan, if he can't crack the firearms of our dynasty, he will definitely be defeated, so it can be said that Shi Yuqi will play a role at most one point, and firearms are a major matter related to the whole picture."

"Ling'er said it very well, this is the relationship between points and surfaces, but how can firearms be so easy to crack."

"Brother, you can't underestimate it, you may not be able to crack it in the short term, but the Yuan Dynasty has a vast territory, and there are naturally many talented craftsmen among them, and imitation is still possible."

"Imitation? It's quite possible. Coming from later generations, I naturally have no doubts about the imitation ability of the Chinese people, and I smiled and said, "It's not easy to imitate firearms, just the gunpowder formula used in the musket is enough to make Kublai Khan toss for a while." Gongsun Xiaochen. ”

"The end will be."

"Go and call General Xia Gui, General Wang Sheng, General Bian Juyi, General Zhu Huan, and General Jiang Cai."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

As Shi Yuqi's boss and colleagues, Xia Gui, Wang Sheng and Bian Juyi were all shocked when they learned that the musket was stolen, and they never thought that this incident would be related to Shi Yuqi. And because Zhu Huan and Jiang Cai didn't know Shi Yuqi, their faces were as usual.

"I really know people and faces, but I don't know my heart." Xia Gui sighed, "Your Majesty, Shi Yuqi is a young handsome man in my Jianghuai Army, and he is known as the Luzhou Shuangjie along with the dog Xia Qing, and he is also a person who is extremely optimistic about the last general, but it's a pity, it's a pity, hey." ”

Wang Sheng said: "Kublai Khan arranged such a chess piece a few years ago, which shows that he had good intentions, but fortunately, the incident happened in advance." ”

Bian Juyi said: "Your Majesty, General Miao's judgment may be the only reason that can explain Shi Yuqi's theft of the musket, if this matter is true, it can only show that Kublai Khan's willingness to crack our firearms has reached the point of impatience." ”

"Yes, in the first battle of Xiangyang, our army's firearms were mighty, artillery, muskets, and projectiles defeated the Yuan army, and the morale was low.

Jiang Cai, who had seen the power of firearms with his own eyes, said: "Your Majesty, it would be great if all our army were equipped with firearms." ”