"Well, it seems that the Jurchens' research on firearms has reached a critical moment, and the day of making a repeater gun is not far off!" Zhao Ta listened to Li Jun's return and nodded, but the corners of his mouth were slightly up.

"Oh, how did His Majesty know that the Jurchens were about to make a repeater spear!" The subtle changes in the emperor's face could not escape Li Jun's eyes, and he could see the emperor's banter from it, and he didn't seem to pay much attention to the loss of the model, but he was curious why the emperor was so contemptuous of such a big secret leak.

"The Jurchens must have been studying our firearms for a long time, and as for where to get samples, this is not difficult, soldiers who flee with weapons, weapons lost on the battlefield, or send undercover agents into the workshop. But now they still send people to rebel against our craftsmen, in order to be just a model of the gun parts, then I can conclude that they have already copied the bead gun, but because it is unusable, so they think that some parts of the gun are not up to standard, so they will send people to steal the sample and try it out again at any cost! Zhao said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, now that the Jurchens have obtained the model, they will be successful in the process immediately, we should take measures to stop it, but why are you ......" Li Jun listened to the emperor's explanation and figured out what was going on, but the emperor's appearance was not as anxious as before, and he couldn't help but be anxious for him.

"Hehe, if the Lianzhu gun can be made so lightly, then how can it be called my Great Song Dynasty top secret, even if they have a model, without the guidance of a master, they can't build it in another fifty years!" Zhao Ta looked at Li Jun's anxious appearance and laughed.

Ever since the reconquest of Yanjing, Zhao had discovered that the Jin army was using captured Song artisans to imitate firearms, but at that time they could only make rudimentary products such as traditional rockets and thunderbolts. The formula of gunpowder is also very powerful. But Zhao Ta knew that the formula of his gunpowder was listed as a top secret and had been kept by Jianxi. The possibility of leaking secrets is extremely low, but as long as someone is willing to take the time to study it, it is not difficult to try it out.

In fact, Zhao Ta's biggest improvement on black powder lies in the most inconspicuous granulation. This gave it maximum power, and the craftsmen had always treated this critical process as a superfluous task to prevent accidental combustion of gunpowder. Similarly, the craftsmen who make guns use prefabricated prototypes to make parts of firearms, which is known to modern people as a way to increase productivity and standardization, and of course to achieve a certain degree of secrecy in the early stages.

Nowadays, it is misunderstood by outsiders that as long as the samples are collected, they can make firearms that are the same as the Lianzhu guns equipped by the Song army. And those who are familiar with the inside know that the Lianzhu gun imitated by the model is basically a model, and it cannot be used in actual combat at all. Because each part of the gun seems to be made of copper and iron, in fact, the materials used are different, hard where it should be hard, and soft where it should be soft. Otherwise, it will be damaged or scrapped if it is not fired in a few shots.

Everyone knows that guns alone are not enough, and nothing is useless without bullets. Zhao Tan has always emphasized the importance of guns in his external claims, but often ignores bullets, as if making bullets is a very simple matter, as long as you pour some gunpowder into a rolled paper tube, and then put lead pellets or iron beads to live. The fact is that bullets are also critical, and a single ignition of gunpowder made Zhao Ta worry for a long time, until he accidentally discovered the secret of red phosphorus manufacturing to solve the problem, and waited for the Jurchens to realize the real problem. I'm afraid there is no longer any chance.

"Oh, His Majesty had already taken precautions, but his subordinates were in a hurry, and now they are arranging for the various departments to hunt down and kill the defectors. Recover the model! Li Jun breathed a sigh of relief and said that the intelligence department had always been responsible for supervising the prevention of leaks in various workshops, and under their noses, the Jurchens had successfully rebelled against the craftsmen. and smuggling people across the border is a dereliction of duty on the part of their intelligence department. Even if he is not directly responsible, he has to eat melons and fall under his own rule. Now that the emperor decided that the Jurchens were still unable to succeed, their responsibility was much less.

"One yard to one yard, although this matter will not cause a catastrophe, but the responsibility cannot be pursued, and the work of chasing and killing defectors must not only not stop, but also make some movements!" Zhao Ta sensed Li Jun's change and immediately emphasized.

"Yes, Your Majesty, your subordinates will find out the responsibility and punish them severely!" Li Jun said solemnly, but he sighed secretly in his heart, he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse to work for such a shrewd boss, nothing could escape his eyes, and he couldn't be lazy if he wanted to. However, if the emperor wants to make some moves, it is definitely not just a show, it needs to mobilize a large number of people, so he still expressed his doubts, "Your Majesty, since the stolen model can't provide much help to the Jurchens, why should we mobilize the people and waste manpower and financial resources, is it just to deter the defectors?" ”

"Alas, intimidating others is only one of them! If we don't react to this matter, the Jurchens will find that the model may not be of much help to them, so they will find another way to find out the reason for the failure, maybe something will happen, but if you want to cause another leak, will you, the director of intelligence, do it? Can I let you go, can anyone else let you go? Zhao Ta sighed and lectured him.

"Your Majesty, my subordinates understand, the pursuit operation will continue, and we must deliberately let out the wind to let the Jurchens know that they have obtained two treasures, but we don't really have to use a lot of manpower, just make the momentum bigger, and catch a few more Jinguo spies if necessary!" Li Jun was in a cold sweat again, and he was cunning and cunning, but he couldn't turn his brain around the emperor.

"Well, while you are acting, I order the Ministry of Rites to cooperate with you and ask them to protest to the Kingdom of Jin, condemn him for kidnapping our people, and demand that he release them as much as possible, otherwise punitive measures will be taken!" Zhao Ta said that the light and the dark are together, and confusing the public is what he is good at.

"Your Majesty, can we still publish a few articles in the "Xun Pao", when condemning the kidnapping of the Jin State, let the ordnance supervisor also make a statement, saying that those stolen models are things that have long been scrapped, and have no use value at all, so that the Jurchens cannot figure out the truth and the truth, and they cannot understand the authenticity of the things they have gotten. When the guns are still unusable, we will naturally blame the two fools for the failure, and then we will slaughter them without us doing anything, and we can't think of what the problem is, so we can only continue to make a fuss about the guns! With the emperor's suggestion, Li Jun also thought like a spring, and had another plan.

"Good idea, really good idea, fake like real to real like fake! Let's lay a suspicious array for them, and let the Jurchens slowly explore! Zhao Ta was very satisfied with Li Jun's ability to draw inferences from others, and praised repeatedly......

…………

The weather was getting hotter and hotter in July, but Zhao Ta still had no leisure, the transfer of the army and the adjustment of the officers were basically completed, Zhao Li and Gao Chong had returned to the capital from Gaochang, and the two soon accepted new appointments. Zhao Li was appointed as the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the forbidden army, and Gao Zhong was the privy envoy of Tongzhi, and entered the decision-making level of the imperial court. Ma Kuo, who had made meritorious contributions to the Dali incident, also entered Shangshu Province to serve as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhao Zhi served as the head of the household department, and still served as the transfer envoy of Hedong, Hebei and Yanjing Road.

Throughout the context, the older generation of military ministers have gradually withdrawn, and almost all the officials at the level of the local state government were occupied by the staff of the Yanwang Mansion and the students of the Northwest Road School, and most of the grassroots officials were newly promoted after the emperor opened the department, and the people who accompanied Zhao Ta to start a business gradually matured and became the pillars of the country, completed the transfer of power, and also allowed Zhao Ta to control the entire country.

The effects of the drought of the previous year had receded, and if there had been no major disaster in the second half of the year, it would have been another bumper harvest year, and after the summer harvest, grain from the south had been transported to the north by sea and canal, and the grain problem was no longer an obstacle to the northern expedition. The stability of the newly occupied land in the northwest also allowed the Song army to obtain sufficient war horses. At the same time, the western conquest of Gaochang and the expedition to Persia and the exploration of shipping routes to South America began to show the benefits one by one, not only promoting the prosperity of overseas trade, but also greatly developing domestic agriculture and industry and commerce.

Of course, the country and the people ultimately benefited from this qiē, and the economic development led to a substantial increase in taxes, and the status of agricultural taxes and salt and iron taxes declined, greatly reducing the burden of the common people of the Great Song Dynasty, who were mainly peasants. The abundance of the national treasury also enabled the infrastructure to receive more funds, and the Northern Expedition was no longer troubled by funds.

Zhao Ta opened the council hall and convened the chief officials of the court, the chief official of Shangshu Province and the heads of various roads and the Zhenfu Department to discuss the matter of the Northern Expedition to the Jin Kingdom, and the ministers discussed the emperor's proposal, believing that the time was ripe for the Northern Expedition and it was time to be ashamed. And everyone also knows that the Northern Expedition is a major event of the country, and it is not possible to act rashly, it is necessary to make full preparations, it is not easy to act hastily, and it is agreed to choose a good opportunity to attack the Jin State in the next two years, so as to take the initiative in public opinion and morality......

The Great Song Dynasty made large-scale adjustments to the senior generals of the army, reorganized the army, transferred grain and grass, and unconventionally summoned local guards to Beijing in the middle of the year to discuss matters, and all indications indicated that large-scale military action was likely to be taken. These can not but attract the attention of the Jin State, and now the countries around the Great Song Dynasty, the desert north and south to pacify, the Western Xia has long become the follower of the Great Song Dynasty, Goryeo, the Western Domain is its echo board, Dali, Gaochang no longer exists, and the countries worthy of the Great Song Dynasty to use such a force are left with their Dajin Kingdom.

But what is surprising is that the news suddenly came out of the Great Song Dynasty that next year will be a good day for the current emperor of the Great Song Dynasty to ascend the throne for 20 years, so it is necessary to celebrate the whole country and convene the ministers to enter Beijing to discuss this matter, which makes the cadres of the Dajin Kingdom fall into a fog...... (To be continued......)