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Yang Xi's premonition soon became a reality, and more than 20 days after arriving in Tongguan, Li Fuguo finally couldn't help but come to ask about Tongguan's military affairs.

"Marshal Yang, the last general has some reluctant requests to say to the marshal," Yang Xi's marshal was in the line, and Li Fuguo said to Yang Xi very respectfully: "Please also ask the marshal to understand the last general's hardship!"

"If Li Jianjun has anything, just say it!" Yang Xi, who was sitting on the upper seat, looked at Li Fuguo who was standing below with a smile.

Li Fuguo also had a smile on his face, and his voice was very respectful: "The last general has the responsibility of supervising the army, and according to the imperial court law, he must report to the imperial court on the military affairs of Tongguan every once in a while, but the last general has never set foot in the military of Tongguan and knows nothing about the military deployment around Tongguan. The last general knew that the marshal had arranged everything properly, and there was no need for the general to worry about anything, but the responsibility of the general did not dare not make a request to the marshal: let the general also share some military affairs, so as not to punish the general for neglecting his duties, and ask the marshal to understand the difficulties of the general!"

Li Fuguo made such a request, and Yang Xi was not surprised.

In fact, Li Fuguo's request was originally the internal affairs of the supervising army, but Yang Xi forcibly did not let Li Fuguo interfere in military affairs.

Of course, Li Fuguo knew Yang Xi's intentions, and he remembered the orders of the crown prince Li Heng, who was very scheming, and he was not in a hurry to act. But he had already received the seal from Li Heng and was ready to start his duties.

However, Li Fuguo didn't know that his every move after arriving at Tongguan was under Yang Xi's surveillance.

Li Fuguo had secret letters with Chang'an from time to time, although Yang Xi did not check the content of all the secret letters sent by Li Fuguo to Chang'an, but judging from the several letters seized, this eunuch of the prison army was on the behest of Li Heng and was ready to start acting after familiarizing himself with the situation.

Yang Xi can intercept all the secret letters sent by Li Fuguo, but he doesn't want to do so much, one is afraid that Li Fuguo or Li Heng will find out, and what Li Fuguo is doing now does not worry him much.

Hearing Li Fuguo's request, Yang Xi did not refuse, but immediately agreed: "Li Jianjun asked for such a request, how dare this commander refuse!" Hehe, let's do it, in the future, I will send you a copy of the copy of the book that Ben Shuai gave to the imperial court, so that you can know all the military movements in Tongguan. If you have any opinions on the military arrangement of Tongguan, you can also tell this commander, and this commander will definitely listen carefully to what you say. ”

Hearing Yang Xi's evasion of the important and light, Li Fuguo was not surprised, he did not ask too much, but immediately thanked Yang Xi: "Thank you for the understanding of the marshal, then the general will retire first!"

"Li Jianjun, please rest assured, Ben Shuai will send you the information you need over in a while!"

"Thank you, Marshal!" Li Fuguo said, and then bowed respectfully and withdrew from Yang Xi's handsome tent.

Looking at Li Fuguo's figure going out, Yang Xi shook his head helplessly and sighed. I really don't understand why Li Longji wants to set up a supervising army in the army, and can the supervision of the army really lead to the role of supervising the leading generals? Yang Xi has a negative attitude.

It is useless for you to supervise those who want to rebel, just like An Lushan. In order to avoid the rebellion of leading generals, the key lies in the reform of the military system, the army, the government, and the people's livelihood must be separated, the generals are only in charge of the army, and the local officials are in charge of the government and the people's livelihood, and a general must not be allowed to stay in one place for too long, and the appropriate time must be rotated, so that it is not easy to cause chaos and it is not easy for rebellion to occur.

In later generations, Mao Taizu was a master in this regard, and Yang Xi really hoped that Li Longji could travel through the past and learn from Mao Taizu.

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After a period of experimentation, several formulas of gunpowder were adjusted to a more appropriate ratio, and Yang Xi also ordered the newly established Tongguan Gunpowder Workshop to start producing finished gunpowder in large quantities. After gunpowder began to be made in batches, subsequent firearms using gunpowder as raw materials also began to be produced.

The gunpowder weapons that began to be made were of course simple in process, including explosive packets with little technical content and simple "grenades". It is a simple "grenade" that is filled with gunpowder in a closed iron can, and when the fuse is inserted, it is considered a finished product, and when used, it can be thrown as long as the fuse is ignited.

It's easy to know, it's easy. With gunpowder, making a lead is also simple.

As long as the gunpowder is boiled into a paste in water, and when it is semi-dry, it is wrapped with cotton thread or thick paper to form a thread, and the thickness is different for different purposes, and it can be used to ignite after drying. After only a few days of testing, the lead that can ensure complete combustion and ignite the end gunpowder was preliminarily successful. The ignition speed is related to the amount of gunpowder in it and the length of the lead, as long as the amount of gunpowder is sufficient, the ignition success can be guaranteed.

Yang Xi ordered the craftsmen to make the leads in batches, and also asked them to develop the leads that could be ignited in a certain humid environment, and also asked them to figure out the ratio of the amount of gunpowder in the lead to the burning speed, and finally made the leads that could be used in rainy days and the leads of different specifications and different combustion speeds, which could be used on explosive packs and simple "grenades" of different scales.

Yang Xi knew that the next war would come in the near future, and he had no time to further study more powerful firearms, nor did he have time to develop fuses for the time being.

Originally, there were already 100,000 horses in Tongguan, and in recent times, the army of King Qin has been arriving, and the imperial court has also recruited a new sergeant to fill Tongguan, so that the number of town troops in Tongguan has reached nearly 140,000. These newly recruited or newly arrived sergeants also joined the training array. After several months of training, the situation of the soldiers has been greatly improved in all aspects, at least in terms of organization and discipline.

No one dares to say clearly how much the combat effectiveness of the soldiers has improved, after all, the combat effectiveness can only be reflected in the war, but Yang Xi believes that these soldiers who can defend Tongguan City with the defeat of the remnants of the army will definitely improve their combat effectiveness after training. His earlier philosophy of holding only without fighting and sticking to Tongguan was changed by the replenishment of military personnel and continuous training.

The rebels did not make much achievements because they were hit by Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and other departments, An Lushan had the intention of retreating to Luoyang, and even gave up Luoyang and retreated to Fanyang, Cui Qianyou had 100,000 troops in Shaanxi County and only defended without fighting, and did not send a large army to attack Tongguan for a few months, Yang Xi felt that he could already lead the army to take the initiative. On the premise of leaving tens of thousands of horses to hold the Tongguan City, they went out to fight and took the initiative to attack, preparing to seize Shaanxi County.

Offense is the best defense, which is Yang Xi's firm philosophy. It's just that because the official army was too weak, Tongguan might not be able to hold it, so he stopped the idea of taking the initiative to attack, and suggested to Emperor Li Longji and his father, Prime Minister Yang Guozhong, to make every effort to defend Tongguan. But now the situation is completely different, Tongguan held at the same time to give the rebels a great deal of damage, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers under his command has improved, and he also has a kind of rebels have never seen, extremely powerful weapons, the development of gunpowder and explosives gave him the confidence to abandon the previous concept, think of the initiative to attack.

But at this time, there was a special person who was going to come to Tongguan to inspect the labor army.

It's none other than the crown prince Li Heng.