While Yang Yuanqing and Li Jing were talking, a messenger soldier poked his head at the door, and Yang Yuanqing saw it and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Chief, General Pei has a situation to report."

"Let him in!"

After a while, Pei Xingyan, who was in full armor, walked into the guest hall quickly, he happened to be on duty today, Pei Xingyan stepped forward and knelt down on one knee and said: "See the chief manager!" ”

"General Pei, please, what's going on?"

"Report to the manager, when I was patrolling the streets today, I found a newly opened shop, and the things sold were very eye-catching."

"What do they sell?" Yang Yuanqing asked curiously.

Pei Xingyan turned his head and beckoned, "Take it in!" ”

Several soldiers walked into the guest hall, holding bows and arrows or crossbows in their hands, Yang Yuanqing's face was gloomy, "Military crossbows are strictly forbidden to sell, in Dasui, in Fengzhou, there are people who dare to sell military crossbows." ”

"Has the store been sealed?"

"Back to the chief, the store has temporarily stopped selling, but the store only sells bows, crossbows are just their displays, not for sale, and these two crossbows are extraordinary, and I feel the need to let the chief steward take a look."

Pei Xingyan didn't mean that the store sold crossbows in violation of the rules, but that the crossbows were very common, which made Yang Yuanqing a little interested, he stood up and walked to the military crossbow, picked up this crossbow, this crossbow belongs to the crossbow, the bow arm is especially long, half longer than the crossbow equipped in the army, if this is the case, the range will be greatly increased, the crossbow bow will be lengthened, and the firing distance will be increased, everyone understands this truth, but the problem is that the bow arm is lengthened, the greater the power consumption, and ordinary soldiers may not be able to pull it away, Therefore, the length of the bow arm is generally designed when the ordinary soldier can pull the crossbow normally.

Yang Yuanqing stepped on the back of the bow with his foot and slowly pulled the string, to his surprise, the bowstring was pulled very easily, which was easier and less effortless than the usual crossbow, which surprised him.

Yang Yuanqing took a crossbow arrow, put it into the arrow slot, aimed at the branch of a big tree thirty steps away outside the guest hall, and gently pulled the hanging knife, 'Click! With a sound on the ground, the crossbow arrow came out of the string, the arrow power was strong and abnormal, and it was shooting on the branch, by feeling, Yang Yuanqing knew that the power of this crossbow was much greater than that of the military crossbow, "Good crossbow!" Yang Yuanqing couldn't help but praise.

After a while, the soldiers retrieved the branch, and the arrow actually shot through the branch, and Li Jing was also surprised: "If this is the case, this crossbow also has a strong lethality two hundred steps away." ”

Yang Yuanqing couldn't hold back his excitement, he knew what the killing distance of two hundred steps meant, especially for the Turks, this was the artifact of killing the enemy, he immediately said: "Take me to see the store!" ”

Yang Yuanqing turned over his horse and led the group to the street quickly, and after a while, the group came to the shop selling bows, the shop was open on the first day today, and it was temporarily closed by the street patrol soldiers who found it selling contraband.

There were more than a dozen soldiers standing in front of the store, and a group of pedestrians who were watching the excitement in front of the store saw the soldiers coming, and they were so frightened that they quickly dispersed, and Yang Yuanqing dismounted and walked into the store.

The bows and crossbows hanging on the walls of the shop were removed and placed on the long counter, and a dozen craftsmen and shopkeepers stood against the wall.

"Who's the shopkeeper?" Yang Yuanqing asked when he walked into the store.

A man in his thirties stepped forward and bowed, "It's down there!" ”

Yang Yuanqing glanced at him, he was about thirty years old, very tall, with good facial features, and he looked very energetic, so he nodded and asked, "What's your name?" Where are the people? ”

"Under the name Zhang Lei....... Chang'an people's clan."

The shopkeeper stammered a little, and at this time Li Jing also walked into the store, and when he saw the shopkeeper, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, but he didn't speak.

Yang Yuanqing took out the crossbow and put it on the table, and asked solemnly, "Where did you get this crossbow?" ”

Zhang Lei was even more nervous and stammered: "Is it under the ...... Make. ”

Yang Yuanqing's attitude immediately became softened, and there was a smile on his face, "The crossbow machine was also made by you?" ”

Zhang Lei nodded, "I made it." ”

Li Jing pulled Yang Yuanqing by the hand, "Boss, talk outside." ”

He glanced at Zhang Lei meaningfully, Zhang Lei showed a wry smile on his face, the head of the family had calculated everything, but he forgot that Li Jing was in Fengzhou, and Li Jing knew him.

"What's the matter?" Outside the store, Yang Yuanqing asked.

Li Jing pointed to the inside of the store and said, "I know the shopkeeper just now." ”

"You know?"

Li Jing nodded, "His surname is not Zhang, his surname is Dugu, his name is Dugu Lei, he is the grandson of Dugu Tuo, he is the head of the crossbow in Shaofu Temple, and is known as the first crossbowman of the Great Sui." ”

Yang Yuanqing didn't expect this to be the result, could it be a spy sent by the Dugu family? But it seems unlikely, even if the Dugu family sends spies, it will not involve contraband such as military crossbows, which is obviously to be caught, Li Jing smiled: "I think he deliberately made the Fengzhou army pay attention to them." ”

Yang Yuanqing thought about it, and he understood that Dugu Lei's alias Zhang Lei was not to hide himself, but to hide from people outside Fengzhou, this is a dark line laid by the Dugu family, and the Dugu family is very good at doing business.

Yang Yuanqing didn't enter the store anymore, so Pei Xingyan said: "Take all these people to the yamen of the governor's mansion, and then bring the shopkeeper into me alone." ”

Yang Yuanqing turned over and got on his horse and urged the horse to go to the yamen of the governor's mansion.

…….

Not long after, Pei Xingyan took the shopkeeper Zhang Lei to Yang Yuanqing's official room, Yang Yuanqing looked at him for a long time, and said with a smile: "Should I call you Dugu Lei, or should I call you Zhang Lei?" ”

Zhang Lei sighed, he was recognized by Yang Yuanqing on the first day, this thing was still a real failure, he stepped forward and bowed, "Under Dugu Lei, see Manager Yang!" ”

Yang Yuanqing nodded, as long as he was willing to admit it, he asked him again, "What are you doing in Fengzhou?" ”

"Back to the chief manager, under the order of the head of the family, under the pseudonym Zhang Lei, I came to Fengzhou to join the army, I hope that the general manager Yang will not make a noise."

Yang Yuanqing stared at him for a moment, then put the crossbow on the table and asked, "Is this crossbow difficult to make?" ”

Zhang Lei shook his head, "This bow and crossbow was made by me two years ago, but the imperial court did not manufacture it in large quantities, compared with ordinary bows and crossbows, it is different from the crossbow machine, this bow crossbow has two more bronze mechanisms in the crossbow machine, which greatly reduces the force required to pull the string, not only can it lengthen the bow arm and increase the range, but it can also be used in the cavalry crossbow to reduce the power of the cavalry to pull the string, and it is also used in the bed crossbow to increase the power of the bed crossbow, and I am also good at making large stone cannons and catapults." ”

Zhang Lei talked about the bow and crossbow he was good at, he no longer stammered, and his speech became very fluent, Yang Yuanqing looked at him deeply, and said: "I don't care what you did before, or what you used to call it, from now on, I will appoint you as the deputy superintendent of Fengzhou weapons, I hope that in a few months, you can make Fengzhou's large-scale defensive weapons look new." ”

Zhang Lei was overjoyed, he gave a deep salute, "I am willing to serve Mr. Yang!" ”

……

Yang Xuangan's resurgence shocked the world, he called on the heroes of the world to rise up to overthrow the mediocre emperor of the Sui Dynasty, although the response in the government was not large, but the anti-king of all walks of life in the world surged again, especially in the south also opened a huge rebellion, the city father Zhu Wei gathered more than 100,000 people in Huainan to rebel, called himself the king of Jialuolou, led more than 100,000 people all the way to burn and loot the counties of Jingxiang, where the chickens and dogs did not stay.

Poyang County Haoqiang Lin Shihong, Cao Shi begging gathered people to rebel, Cao Shi begging to die, Lin Shihong defeated the Sui army, led the army to break through Yuzhang City "Lin Shihong set himself up as the emperor, the country name Chu, there are more than 200,000 troops, north into Jiujiang, south to Linchuan, siege the city and plunder the village, become the first major rebel force in the south.

In Guanlong, the major powerful forces that supported Yang Xuangan rose up at the right time, and Li Liang, a son of the Li family of the famous family of Xiliang, raised troops to occupy Wuwei County with the support of his family and Sui officials, and proclaimed himself the king of Hexi Daliang.

Jincheng County Haoqiang and Yingyanglang General Xue Ju also raised troops to rebel, quickly occupied Jincheng County, recruited 100,000 soldiers, proclaimed himself Emperor Qin, and led a large army to advance in the direction of Hehuang.

At this time, Wagangzhai in the hinterland of the Central Plains also had abnormal movements.

A cavalryman galloped across the official road and galloped towards the Pushan Gong camp not far away.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Li Mi and dozens of his generals are negotiating the attack on Xingyang, it is now December, Li Mi has completely controlled his army, with the rise of Yang Xuangan's rebellion in Guanzhong, he thinks that the time is ripe to attack Xingyang.

"Emperor Sui fled to Jiangdu, Yang Xuangan occupied Guanzhong, all places responded, the collapse of the Sui Dynasty has been formed, now the time is ripe, if the Wagang army wants to become the leader of the Central Plains, it must go east to Xingyang, occupy the big city of the Central Plains, and can no longer shrink in the remote area of Dongjun, even if Boss Zhai refuses to send troops, we must send troops."

Li Mi's attitude was very firm, and there was a whisper in the big tent, and at this time, his staff Li Xuanying stood up and said, "Generals, please listen to me." ”

The big tent was quiet again, and Li Xuanying said loudly: "Now there is a proverb spread all over the world, peach and plum, the queen goes around Yangzhou, Wan Zhuan Huā Garden, Don Langyu, Huai Dao Xu, in this proverb, the queen goes around Yangzhou, referring to the Sui Emperor Yang Guang fled to Jiangdu, Wan Zhuan Huā Garden, indicating that he will die in Jiangdu, and Tao Li Zi refers to our leader Li Mi, this is the will of heaven, God thinks, the one who takes the world, must be the prince of Pushan County, generals, this is the time for everyone to be glorious and rich, don't hesitate anymore." ”

Li Xuanying said it too explicitly, Li Mi stood up again and explained: "In the future, I will seize the world, Brother Zhai will be the emperor, I will be the emperor, and everyone here is a general, everyone, are you willing to fight with me!" ”

"Raise your troops! Raise your troops! The crowd was excited, and they all raised their arms and shouted.

At this time, a messenger rushed into the big tent and "report to Li Gong that the 100,000 troops of the Sui Dynasty have passed Luoyang and are heading towards Chang'an." ”

Li Mi was overjoyed, he was just waiting for this news, Yuwenshu led an army of 100,000 to the direction of Chang'an, the Central Plains was empty, then his opportunity came.

Li Mi immediately asserted: "Pass my order, the army will pack up the camp tent and prepare to go!" ”

He took out another letter, handed it to his soldiers, and said, "You go to Weicheng County, give this letter to Zhai Rang, and if he is willing to go to Xingyang with me, then ask him to send troops to meet him immediately." ”