One or two round silver coins are smooth and neat, with clear strokes, and they are heavy in the hand. Sima Kao felt that he was not a keen person to be a blocker, but he sometimes liked to take one out of his purse and toss it in his hand.

In the merchant hall of Dadu, Sima Kao leaned back in his chair and gently tipped the silver coin in his hand. Mongolia wanted to buy powerful artillery, and on Zhao Jiaren's side, the most powerful artillery was a five-kilogram cannon, and the price was 2,000 catties of silver for Mongolia. Shaoxing peace talks, the Southern Song Dynasty paid 250,000 taels of silver to the Jin State every year. One catty of the Great Song Dynasty is 16 taels, and two thousand catties are 32,000 taels. If you sell eight 6-pound cannons to the Mongols, you can earn the 250,000 taels of silver.

This year, 160,000 silver coins were issued, each weighing one tael. You don't need to sell eight, as long as you sell five five-pound cannons, you can earn back 10,000 catties of silver.

Sima Kao felt that two thousand catties of silver for one artillery was not cheap, but he had his own position, and a day ago Sima Kao told the Mongolian negotiator very seriously, "Now the price of artillery is low, two thousand catties of silver a piece." In the future, the price will be 5,000 catties, and then you will know how fair the current price is. ”

Seeing that Sima Kao's attitude was tough and he would never back down on the price, the ruling Lian Xixian expressed his dissatisfaction angrily, "Even if we don't talk about this price, where do we have so much silver?" ”

In the market, one tael of silver is exchanged for three taels of copper. The price of a five-pound cannon is equivalent to one tael of copper for two taels of silver, which is about six times the market price. The Jin Kingdom used to have a lot of precious metals, but most of these belongings were used in the Mongol expedition to the west after they fell into the hands of the Mongols. Mongolia has only begun the process of sinicization so far, and it is far from the level of the Jin State. For the nomadic Mongolian culture, its system was not as effective as that of the agrarian civilization.

Prime Minister Shi Tianze, who is well aware of Mongolia's finances, advised: "It's better to buy more pounds of guns." ”

Zhao Jiaren stipulated that all artillery except the one-catty cannon had to be paid for in silver, and the one-catty cannon was paid for with iron and the cow calf of Shandong cattle. Silver holdings were the weakness of the Mongol court, while iron and calves were the strengths of the Mongol court.

"I have to see how powerful this five-pound cannon is, and it deserves to be boasted about by those southern barbarians!" Lian Xixian said hatefully.

Shi Tianze himself had seen the power of artillery, and when Lian Xixian said this, he said: "That's fine." ”

The Mongol envoy went to see Sima Kao and asked to see the power of the five-catty cannon. Sima Kao immediately said that he could see it, but he was seen by Zhao Jiaren's military ship. When the Mongolian envoy heard this, he said, "You are talking nonsense." It was the high-ranking officials of the Mongol court who wanted to see the artillery, and what should I do if I was taken away by you when I arrived on your ship? Although Zhao Jiaren and the Mongolian court were doing business, the two sides were fighting in a sea of blood. The Mongol Khan Kublai Khan and many high-ranking Mongol officials have not forgotten the past when Zhao Jiaren slaughtered the Mongol army on the Yangtze River with a military ship equipped with artillery.

Sima Kao also immediately said that if the artillery was pulled to the shore and the Mongolian side took it and did not return it, then Sima Kao himself would have to pay to make up for the shortfall. Two thousand catties of silver, the Mongolian court took it out and it was still painful, where did Sima Kao have the money to make up for it. For the sake of Sima Kao's net worth, he must not take any risks.

The Mongolian envoy brought the content of the negotiation back to Lian Xixian, and after listening to it, Lian Xixian wanted to scold. He simply called Sima Kao to his side in his busy schedule, and with the condescension born of military superiority, Lian Xixian said: "Mr. Sima, if you don't want to, we can't control Haizhou." ”

"Then at most we won't farm in Haizhou." Sima Kao also replied neatly, "I didn't farm in Haizhou before, and we are living very well, so we won't be able to live without farming now." ”

No matter how Lian Xixian coerced, Sima Kao said that it was impossible for him to put the five-catty cannon in a dangerous situation. This made Lian Xixian want to see what was so great about the five-pound cannon. In the end, Sima Kao gave a suggestion, he could drive the boat to the sea of Zhigu Village, Mongolia could send people to the boat to see how the five-catty cannon was fired, and the Mongolian high-ranking officials could watch the effect of the shelling in a safe place on the shore.

Although reluctantly, Lian Xixian finally agreed to the matter. The next day, the guard Wang Donglu went to Zhigu Village on behalf of Kublai Khan and many others. Before leaving, the crown prince Zhenjin secretly grabbed Wang Donglu, and he said excitedly: "Brother Qi Nian, can you take me to see the artillery!" ”

Wang Donglu was so frightened that he hurriedly refused, "King Yan! Don't be kidding me! ”

Zhenjin smiled: "We Mongolian men have been riding horses to see the world since we were children, and there is nothing wrong with seeing artillery." The father was noncommittal, thinking that he was willing. ”

This level of explanation was completely useless to Wang Donglu, and he said with a straight face: "I'm just a guard, and I was ordered by the Great Khan to go to see the power of the Song artillery. If King Yan wants to see it, then ask the Great Khan to agree. If you go secretly, the Great Khan will be unhappy. ”

"That'...... Why do you think my father would agree? "Zhenjin has already begged Kublai Khan, but Kublai Khan obviously did not agree.

"This ......" Prince Zhenjin's attitude was so low, Wang Donglu couldn't refuse, after thinking for a moment, he lowered his voice and said: "The Great Khan doesn't like to listen to the kind of blowing clouds and mountains and fog covers. King Yan, don't learn from those Confucian ministers. I think you might as well tell the Great Khan directly, you can see the power of the artillery with your own eyes, and it will be difficult for the people below to coax you in the future. And you'll be sure to be on the safe side and keep a low profile. ”

Four hours later, Wang Donglu and the others who were watching had already set off from Dadu and walked far away. When he was camping, someone suddenly said behind his back: "Brother Qi Nian, you gave a good plan." ”

Hearing that it was actually the voice of the crown prince, Wang Donglu was frightened and hurriedly turned around. In a sense, Wang Donglu and Zhenjin are brothers in the same sect, and they both worship and study under Hao Jingmen. The crown prince Zhenjin likes to use Han Chinese words, and Wang Donglu is not used to this. Now that there is someone next to him, Zhenjin is talking like this, and if he is maliciously provoked, Wang Donglu can't stand it.

No matter what, the group arrived safely in Zhigu Village. Sima Kao had already sent people to arrive at Zhigu Village on horseback and contact the ships to approach the coast. When the Mongolian nobles arrived at a safe place, Zhenjin looked at Zhao Jiaren's ship from a distance, and couldn't help but ask Lian Xixian next to him, "Can we Mongolia build such a military ship?" ”

Lian Xixian, a native of Xinjiang, replied bluntly after hearing this question: "I can't make it now." ”

Such a straightforward answer elicited unhappy expressions from the Confucian courtiers. Prince Zhenjin didn't notice this, and the graceful paddling of Zhao Jiaren's boat made the 20-year-old young man, who rarely saw the sea, very surprised. Knowing that Mongolia could not build such a ship, Prince Zhenjin's disappointed expression was beyond words.

Not long after, the large ship that stopped suddenly spuffed out white smoke. Zhenjin has never seen such a scene, and he is very happy to watch it with a unique pleasure for the layman. Watching those cannons shoot out more than a dozen puffs of white smoke, Zhenjin still waited for the cannon to continue firing. But the left couldn't wait, the right couldn't wait, and first saw a small boat leave the big ship of the Song Kingdom. Then the Song ship pulled anchor and set sail, left the coast, and gradually disappeared into the distance.

At this time, someone came to invite the Mongolian nobles to go to the target of the shelling, and Wang Donglu and others arrived in the open space by the sea with real gold. The Mongol soldiers who had boarded Zhao Jiaren's ship saluted the nobles and confirmed that it was a five-pound cannon instead of a one-pound cannon and opened fire. Many generations of nobles led their troops into battle, and they quickly determined that the artillery bombardment distance was more than 150 paces. If it were a 21st-century metric unit, it would be 230 meters. Upon inspection, fifteen shells were fired from one cannon, and thirteen fell within the drawn shelling range.

Some targets were within the scope of the shelling, such as rammed earth walls one foot thick, wooden baffles half a foot thick made up of multiple layers of wooden planks, and some half a foot thick temporary baffles covered with cowhide. There were a lot of these things, so everything was fired. The Mongol nobles saw that every target that had been hit by the shells had been destroyed.

The Mongol soldiers who got on board assured you that it was indeed the cannonballs fired from the guns of the Song army ships that caused these results. Those shells were also found and placed in front of the Mongolian nobles. Lian Xixian was as ugly as the other Mongol nobles, and he knew that the Mongol army did not have weapons capable of destroying these targets so easily. Although Prince Zhenjin has a lot of questions to ask, he doesn't know where to start. And he really noticed that the Mongolian nobles were really very unhappy, and he also felt that his cheerful questioning at this time was really inappropriate.

Two days later, the broken targets were delivered to the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan and a group of high-ranking Mongol court officials who had not seen the bombardment. The destructive power of the artillery silenced the soldiers who had a lot of experience in warfare. Since even the half-foot-thick planks covered with cowhide can be pierced, the Mongol side launched an attack on the Song cities defended by artillery, so the Mongol army had to brave the artillery bombardment.

Those generals who had followed Kublai Khan's southern expedition had seen the artillery of the Song army, and Zhao Jiaren's fleet was not equipped with five-catty guns at that time, and the main artillery that inflicted heavy casualties on the Mongol army on the river was one-catty cannons. Even if they were hit by a pound of shells, the Mongol army basically had no chance of survival. The enemy's bow and arrow can be blocked with a shield, and the enemy's trebuchet is not dense, which has a great intimidation effect, but in fact, it can't hit too many people. Those who have been in a hundred battles only need to use themselves to charge with whistling shells, and they feel a chill in their backs. Zhao Jiaren has the ability to make the shelling density very large.

"Don't you dare to go south to destroy the Song Dynasty?" Kublai Khan asked in a relaxed tone.

The generals seemed to have been whipped, and they were all beaten. Zhang Rou, who had participated in the Battle of Ezhou, stepped forward and said in a loud voice: "According to the banner of the Great Khan, the ministers will go to the soup and fight the fire, and they will not hesitate!" ”

"The ministers go to the soup and fight the fire, and they will not give up!" The other generals hurriedly followed suit.

Kublai Khan snorted, but did not say anything to his generals. Turning his head to look at Lian Xixian, Kublai Khan said: "Just buy two five-catty cannons and four two-catty cannons." They asked for silver, and we gave it. ”

Lian Xixian listened to the Great Khan's order and immediately wanted to express his opposition. Kublai Khan waved his hand to stop Lian Xixian from speaking, and he continued: "We prohibit the sale of horses to the Song State, and this ban can be lifted. The Song Kingdom wanted horses, so they asked them to pay in silver. ”

Listening to the Great Khan's order, Lian Xixian hurriedly said that he would obey the order. Mongolia had a large number of livestock, which were expensive in the Song Kingdom. It is best to use the money earned from the Song Kingdom to buy weapons to attack the Song Kingdom.

After confirming the purchase of artillery samples, Kublai Khan looked at the generals, "This time we have seen the ships and artillery of the Song State, and we cannot compete with the Song State at sea." How to destroy the Song Dynasty, you need to be careful. ”

The culprit of these things is Zhao Jiaren, Shi Tianze is the right prime minister, and in the face of the discussion that has deviated from the original content, he feels that it is time for him to speak, "Your Majesty, is it difficult for us to really let Zhao Jiaren farm on the border?" ”

"He said he wanted to plant for three years, and we had to prepare for two years when we went south. In the past two years, I am afraid that I still need to buy Zhao Jiaren's artillery, if he is not so greedy, we are afraid that there is nothing to pinch him. Kublai Khan replied lightly.

Even after watching the financial personnel carefully examine the silver, Sima Kao still felt incredulous. Two six-pound cannons, four two-catty cannons, and the corresponding gunpowder, earned five thousand catties of silver. The profits from the arms trade were amazing to Sima Kao.

Taking advantage of the north wind in October of the Song calendar, Sima Kao began to return with a generous payment. This Gusu Jinshi family can also take out tens of thousands of banknotes, but compared with the amount of trade, tens of thousands of banknotes are insignificant.

After a day or two of departure, Sima Kao found that he had lost his sense of so much silver, and he couldn't help but think about what the Mongols would do with the artillery. No matter how you think about it, the result points to the Mongols attacking the Great Song. Sima Kao fell into a kind of confusion. Mongolia, which could not make high-quality artillery, was able to use artillery to pose a huge threat to the Great Song Dynasty. Such a paradox made this Gusu Jinshi feel confused.

Mongolia was not confused, and after getting the five-pound cannon, Mongolia immediately went into reverse engineering. Measuring the various dimensions of artillery, trying to study the metal of artillery. The craftsmen quickly came to the conclusion that it was a bronze cannon. Like other artillery pieces made by Zhao Jiaren, the five-catty bronze cannon was extremely exquisitely made.

In order to buy a cannon, you can take out 5,000 catties of silver, and in order to cast a cannon, you can take out 8,900 catties of copper. The castability of copper is better than that of iron, and with the experience of casting iron cannons, the imitation bronze cannons that were quickly taken out. Prime Minister Zuo Boyan rarely went to inspect it in person, at least from the outside, the bronze cannon imitated by Mongolia is not much different from the bronze cannon purchased.

The sound of artillery rumbled, and at the test site outside the capital, both guns were loaded with gunpowder for test firing.

One of the young craftsmen was nervously trying to aim, when he suddenly felt like he had been kicked from behind. Almost as a reflex, the young craftsman shrunk down and hugged his head. There was no whistling of the whip, and someone approached the young craftsman and whispered angrily, "Are you aiming so accurately to cause everyone to eat whips?" ”

As soon as he heard the voice of the master, the young craftsman's fear disappeared. When the brain was functioning normally, the young craftsman understood what the master meant. The artillery on the side of the Great Song Dynasty was exquisitely made, not only the outer wall of the barrel was very smooth, but the inside of the barrel that was difficult to process was also smooth and regular. If the aim is so accurate, it will only make people feel the gap between the artillery cast by Mongolian craftsmen and the artillery of the Great Song Dynasty. Thinking of this, the young craftsman bowed his head in shame.

When the master saw that the apprentice understood, he patted the apprentice on the shoulder, "Take care of it, don't be careful." Then he hurried to his own business.

The young craftsman stood up and continued to aim carefully, this time with a clear goal, and he felt that it was no longer necessary to rack his brains, but it was very easy. The first to fire was the artillery made by Mongolian craftsmen, and the firing direction of the Song artillery was adjusted according to the direction of the Mongolian artillery's landing point. Since the Song artillery is relatively accurate, it is necessary to let the Song artillery move closer to the Mongolian artillery, rather than the other way around, let the Mongolian artillery seek the accuracy of the Song artillery.

After some trying, the young craftsman found that there was still a problem with his thinking. Since the Mongolian nobles above value the probability of the artillery hitting the target accurately, then the specific direction can not be considered, and the probability of hitting is specially adjusted. As a result, the psychological pressure of young craftsmen is greater and lower, and they become more confident.

After experiments with equal comparisons, the data obtained proved that the firing range of the two guns was almost the same. The Mongol nobles who oversaw the cannon casting had a happy expression and their hands were released from the handle of their whips. The Mongolian nobles who supervised the matter would reflexively grip the handle of the whip as soon as they saw the test firing of the artillery, and prepared to give the craftsmen a whip after the test firing. The craftsmen were also very happy to see such results, at least they did not have to worry about eating whips.

"Keep trying!" Bo Yan ordered expressionlessly.

"Prime Minister Boyan, this time only 500 catties of artillery were allocated, if it is such a strong trial, the gunpowder will not last long." The Mongolian nobles in charge could not help but raise objections.

The Mongols copied not only artillery, but also gunpowder. The material and size of the gun are very transparent, and they can be imitated by reverse engineering. Granular gunpowder can't even be imitated. After three methods, "seeing with the eyes, smelling with the nose, and tasting with the tongue", the Mongolian craftsmen could only determine that the granular gunpowder provided by Zhao Jiaren included charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. As for what the ratio was, and how Song Guo mixed these powders to a satisfactory level, they couldn't imagine it. Now the gunpowder of the Song State used for shelling is very expensive, and the Mongolian gunpowder is not cheap. If it were used in Boyan's way, a large sum of money would have been used up in a meaningless test launch.

Boyan can understand this problem, but Zhao Jiaren sold the powerful five-pound cannon to Mongolia, which shows that Zhao Jiaren must have no fear. The most likely thing is that the bronze cannon, like the iron cannon, has parts that cannot be imitated by Mongolia. And this part will have to be made clear in a long attempt.

Thinking of this, Boyan ordered: "I will send someone over to learn how to use cannons, and I will give you more gunpowder when the time comes." ”

Seeing that Prime Minister Boyan was not aggressive, the Mongolian nobles and craftsmen were relieved.

Returning from the site of the test launch, Boyan went to see Kublai Khan. Kublai Khan immediately asked Boyan to enter, and after the two sat down, Boyan said: "Great Khan, the Song Dynasty needs to advance in three ways. I don't think it's possible for Zhao Jiaren not to understand this. The reason why he dared to farm in Haizhou was probably because he understood this. ”

"Why?" Kublai Khan was immediately intrigued by Boyan's words.

Boyan explained: "The three routes were used to attack the Song Dynasty, and the main force attacking Xiangyang and Fancheng in the middle was the main force, but in fact, it didn't matter whether they went to Haizhou or not. With Zhao Jiaren's military ships and artillery, our army was powerless to compete with it. If you can, you should avoid Haizhou first. ”

With Kublai Khan's cleverness, it took him a moment to understand Boyan's words. Then the Mongol Khan showed a surprised expression, "Is Zhao Jiaren's plan based on the best way to defeat the Song Dynasty in Mongolia?" ”

Boyan had been thinking about this issue for a while, and at this time he had his own judgment, so Kublai Khan asked, and Boyan nodded categorically, "Great Khan, so far, what Zhao Jiaren is trying is his own benefit." It's a bit of a brother Ali. ”

This metaphor made Kublai Khan's face not so good-looking, and at the same time, Kublai Khan fully understood what Boyan wanted to express. Kublai Khan asked, "If that's the case, then Zhao Jiarenjue wants the praying mantis to catch the cicada and the yellow finch behind?" ”

Boyan nodded yes, "His naval army is better than us, even if we break through Lin'an, we won't be able to hit Fujian." When our army was exhausted from fighting with Song Guo at that time, Zhao Jiaren could send troops. If he cuts off the Yangtze River again, our army can only withdraw to the north bank. At that time, Zhao Jiarenjin could establish himself as the lord of the Southern Dynasty, and he could also become the minister of power in the Southern Dynasty when he retired. When the time comes, he will be in power, and he will be able to deal with us as best he can. ”

After listening to Boyan's judgment, Kublai Khan nodded slightly, and most of the doubts that lingered in his heart were solved at this time. In the end, two questions remained, why Zhao Jiaren did this, and how Kublai Khan should respond.

In the end, Kublai Khan asked: "Is it difficult to see Zhao Jiaren as a fisherman profit?" ”

"Great Khan, do you still want to destroy the Song?" Boyan asked rhetorically.

Kublai Khan was stunned when he heard this, but after a while, he also understood what Boyan meant, so he replied categorically: "Of course! ”

Hearing Kublai Khan's firm attitude, Boyan replied: "Since you want to destroy the Song Dynasty, then you can deal with it with an upright teacher." I've read some books, too. Song Guo was able to kill Yue Fei and Han Yanxuan back then, but now he may not be able to kill Zhao Jiaren. As long as our army can occupy the north of the Yangtze River, we will ask the Song State to be a vassal, cut the land north of the Yangtze River, and kill Zhao Jiaren. Probably Song Guo himself will agree. At that time, our army will repair for a few more years, and after recovering its vitality, it will be enough to move south again. Even if the Song State does not agree, north of the Yangtze River, the Song army will not be able to compete with our Mongolia. ”

Kublai Khan was not an opportunistic person in the first place, and after listening to Boyan's advice, he nodded again and again. Just as he was about to ask a question, he heard Boyan continue: "Great Khan, artillery is a sharp weapon. But it's usable, but it's not to be trusted. I think Zhao Jiaren recommended artillery to us so hard because we didn't build artillery as well as him. Although the power of the five-pound cannon is great, it can weigh nearly 1,000 catties, and it is inconvenient to move. When our Mongolian cart traveled thousands of miles during the expedition to the Western Regions, it was possible to use one or two catties of artillery during field battles to ......"

Just as Boyan and Kublai Khan discussed the crusade against the Song Dynasty, Sima Kao also returned to Fuzhou and handed over the payment. After these busy, Sima Kao made a report to Zhao Jiaren and other cadres, and he went to see Zhao Jiaren alone. As soon as they met, Sima Kao recounted his opinion, "The fact that the Mongols were so obsessed with artillery proves that they were very ambitious to invade the south. ”

Zhao Jiaren couldn't help but laugh after hearing this, "The current situation is that Chu and Han are competing for hegemony, either Chu is dead or Han is dead." It would be strange if the Mongols did not have the ambition to invade the south. ”

Hearing this, Sima Kao stared at Zhao Jiaren and said, "Brother Zhao, I want to study on my own along the way, if you become the prime minister, my Great Song Dynasty will be able to destroy Mongolia, right?" ”