However, it was said that Zeng Bu had seen Wang Han's new artillery, praised it greatly, agreed to build a steel mill in Zhending Mansion on Hebei West Road, and summoned Wang Han to inquire about the cost of construction, output estimates, design drawings, etc.

It can be seen that Zeng Bu is meticulous and serious.

In the remaining days, Wang Han did not care about anything else, carefully made drawings, planned the land for the steel mill, investigated contemporary prices, labor, iron ore prices, etc., so as to make a qualified budget.

Among them, Wang Han found a huge business opportunity, coal, which was called stone coal in the Song Dynasty.

China has used charcoal records since the Han Dynasty, but in the early days, charcoal was used, also called charcoal, such as Bai Juyi's "Charcoal Seller" in the Tang Dynasty, which talks about the hardships of the poor who burned charcoal. But by the Song Dynasty, charcoal could no longer supply the needs of life, and coal began to enter the people's business.

According to Wang Han's investigation, during the reign of Shenzong, Tokyo still relied on charcoal for heating, and some winters were extremely cold, and there were even cases where old women could not afford charcoal and froze to death. It was only during the reign of Jejong that coal began to enter Tokyo in large quantities, and by the time of Huizong, it had become the main fuel for Tokyo.

Whether it is food processing or production workshops, everything that involves the use of fire is charcoal. To this end, the Imperial Court set up coal farms in three directions in Tokyo to store and collect taxes.

At this time, the price of coal was always five baskets, two hundred wen a basket. A basket of more than 100 catties. Ordinary people buy a basket, which can be used for two months, if it is heated in winter, the charcoal fire will not be extinguished all day long, it will take ten loads to be enough. In terms of consumption in Tokyo nowadays, it is not expensive.

Wang Han's so-called wealth route is that the coal mining is now private mining, and the imperial court does not interfere, but only pays a basket of ten wen tax when entering the city.

In other words, coal is buried in the ground, and as long as it is dug up, it is money.

As a later generation, Wang Han knew the value of coal too well, and remembered exactly where all the coal mines existed, which was equivalent to piles of money waiting for him to pick up.

Think about it, tens of thousands of captives from other places, put them in the coal mines, feed them every day, use steam engines, and keep coal coming from the ground.

Wang Han didn't dare to think about it, so he hurriedly made steel mill drawings, there was too much money waiting for him to make in this world.

After the drawings were completed, and then he dictated them by himself, Li Qingzhao helped him annotate, explaining the methods and methods of steelmaking, the cost budget, the amount of output, and the use of steel, and wrote seven sheets of paper.

However, just as Wang Han was about to hand over the design drawings of the steel mill, the imperial court gave him new instructions, asking him to take the new artillery and follow Tong Guan to Qinfeng Road Border Pass.

This means that Zhao Ji wants him to go to war.

Wang Han was shocked when he heard this.

Why is there a war all of a sudden?

The shock is followed by ecstasy, which can be regarded as useful.

Hearing that there was a battle, Wang Han was very happy, and that night he asked Xu Ning Xuanzan Wang Wu and others to drink together, which was a party before the expedition.

During the banquet, from the mouths of several people, they gradually figured out why Zhao Ji suddenly wanted to fight.

Mainly because of Western Xia.

Since the time of Song Taizu, it was determined that Western Xia was Chinese territory, and since it was Chinese territory, it should be under the control of the Son of Heaven and should be a vassal to the Great Song Dynasty.

However, on the contrary, Xixia is like a naughty child, always being a demon, not only not being a minister, but also going to the house twice in three days to uncover the tiles. The emperor of the Song Dynasty was annoyed, and the courtiers of the Song Dynasty were also annoyed. Shenzong and Zhezong both used troops against the Western Xia, in order to subdue this disobedient child, but after all, the army's mobility was not enough, and although they won every time, they did not let the Western Xia succumb.

On the contrary, it is unreasonable to give money to Western Xia, and it is to give money in the case of winning the war.

Why? Because the party is treacherous, it always fights and fights. If you don't give me money anyway, I'll harass you. I have cavalry, it is easy to plunder deep into the heart of your country, you are infantry, what can you endure me?

As the saying goes, barefoot is not afraid to wear shoes. I'll hit you once, and I will spend almost no money, nothing more than a little forage for the horses, but our men will come back with a lot of possessions.

If you beat me once, you have to gather a large army, food and grass logistics, spend a lot of money, and beat me to death.

Instead of that, it's better for you to give me the money directly, and I won't beat you.

This is the embarrassment of the Great Song Dynasty to Western Xia, he can't beat him to death, and he can't be disgusted, if he doesn't give money, he will come to disturb the people, and he can't think of a solution once and for all.

The Song Dynasty had a headache about this.

During the reign of Shenzong, Wang Shao suggested that in order to clamp down on Western Xia, it was necessary to take Hehuang Erzhou, and Hehuang was in hand, which could make Xixia suffer from the enemy on his back and make him dare not act rashly.

Shenzong agreed to Wang Shao's proposal, and Wang Shao led the troops, captured Hehuang, subdued the Tubo tribes, and cut off the right arm of the Western Xia, making the Western Xia submit.

However, the good times did not last long, Shenzong passed away, Empress Dowager Gao was in power, reused the old party, and the old party completely overthrew the new law of Shenzong, especially the rejection of the [open side] in the new law, and lost Hehuang.

Hehuang was not in the hands of the Song Dynasty, and the Western Xia made a comeback and repeatedly violated the border. When Empress Dowager Gao died, Zhezong took charge of the government, reactivated the New Party, and Wang Shao's son Wang Hou was reused, led the troops to the battle, defeated the Western Xia again, and obtained Hehuang in hand.

However, again, the emperor died, Xiang Empress Dowager took power, once again reused the old school people, squeezed out the new party, Wang Hou was demoted, and lost the Hehuang area.

After these several examples, some people came to the conclusion that Wang Shao's proposal back then was extremely correct, as long as Hehuang was in hand, Western Xia would not dare to prick his hair. As long as the river is lost, Xixia will come to provoke trouble.

This conclusion was not only reached, but also told Zhao Ji, and Zhao Ji agreed with it after listening to it, it was indeed like this.

At present, four years have passed since the last war with the Western Xia, and according to the urine nature of the Western Xia people, they have saved some money and equipment for four or five years, and it is estimated that they will come to attack the Song Dynasty again.

Zhao Ji, as the emperor, must take precautions, so he made a decision to fight Tubo, take Hehuang in his hand, and clamp down on Western Xia.

This remark refreshed Wang Han's perception of Zhao Ji, it turned out that the artist emperor not only could paint, but also had a moment of majesty, which was the first foreign war of the country since Zhao Ji ascended the throne.

Xu Ning explained that in fact, Zhao Ji had long wanted to fight a battle, and as an emperor, he needed a battle of his own.

This is related to Zhao Ji's private life, outsiders don't know, Xu Ning Wang Wu is the most clear with Zhao Ji these days. At the beginning of Zhao Ji's coming to power, everything was decided to the Queen Mother. When the Empress Dowager Xiang died, Zeng Bu had the final say in everything. It is said that there is also a left prime minister, Han Zhongyan, who is bigger than Zeng Bu, but Han Zhongyan's mouth is not as good as Zeng Bu, and he can't do Zeng Bu at all.

So Zhao Ji is actually still a puppet, from his accession to the throne to the present, the only thing that can make his own decisions is to give Wang Han the title of Yuqing Great Sect Shenxiao Lingwu Protector Tianzun, and when he gave this title, none of the ministers objected. No matter how many other decisions are made, there are people who oppose them.

Wang Han smiled dumbly, "Being an emperor is depressing enough." ”

In addition, this expedition should be called a counterinsurgency, not an offensive. Because that Hehuang was originally the land of the Great Song Dynasty, it was handed over to the Qiang people Mu Zhengzi for management, and the official family gave him the Han name Zhao Huaide. Zhezong died, the queen mother was in charge, Zhao Huaide's younger brother Xi Cheng Luosa was slandered by the Western Xia people, and another Qiang leader Duo Baro jointly rebelled against the Song Dynasty, and also killed Zhao Huaide, fortunately Zhao Huaide ran fast, ran to Henan, and reported to the imperial court Xi Cheng Luosa's rebellious behavior.

This news had arrived in Tokyo the year before last, but Tokyo did not make any reaction, and it was not until now, when Zeng Bu saw Wang Han's powerful firearms, that he officially made up his mind to support the official family to subdue Hehuang.

Wang Han is not interested in the obscure names of those Qiang people, as long as he allows himself to participate in this war with artillery, it is five fingers to pinch dates, and nine out of ten are secure. He wondered why the people of the old party did not support such a glorious event as a foreign war?

Everyone explained that the old party members were conservatives, and conservatives paid attention to the word stability. Stability is greater than everything, and if you can not start a war, you will not start a war, and what you pay attention to is the demeanor of the Celestial Empire. When the enemy comes in, we can fight back, but we will never take the initiative to bully others.

Even if you bully others, it's good to teach you a lesson, it's someone else's territory, and you can give it back to others. For example, in the Hehuang area, why did the conservatives discard it? Because the Qiang people have been in business for many years, why are we robbing it? Where people eat and eat differently from us, what are we going to do here?

Do you want to send an official of the Great Song Dynasty to take care of them? Come on, they're a semi-nomadic, half-agrarian people, and they follow the slave-owning system. Therefore, it is not easy to return other people's territory to others and let them live in peace of mind.

In other words, conservatives have an inexplicable compassion for people, and they are kind.

Xu Ning asked Wang Han, "Do you know why Wang Hou was demoted?" ”

Wang Han shook his head.

Xu Ning said: "Because after Wang Hou occupied the city, he allowed his officers and soldiers to rob property, cattle and sheep, and robbed a large amount of gold and silver himself, which violated the reputation of the Heavenly Empire. ”

As soon as he said this, Wang Han clapped his hands and understood everything.

Confucian culture has been a virtue from ancient times to the present. I had to be bullied and couldn't bear it, so I thought about fighting back. Even if he fought back, he didn't dare to kill him, for fear of killing others.

Wang Han has experienced too much of this kind of thing, the leader said that this is a benevolent heart, and Wang Han said that this is a brain into the water, so Wang Han has fought a lot of battles and has never been promoted to a big official.

At the end of the drink, several people raised their glasses to congratulate Wang Han and wished Wang Han a high promotion.

Wang Han was embarrassed, "This hasn't gone to the battlefield yet, how can you say that you are promoted?" ”

Xuan praised: "Birdman, the official family specially named you to go to the border to fight, isn't this an obvious promotion for you, do you think the war really depends on you?" ”

Everyone laughed, but Xuanzan spoke straight and did not turn around, but it was also the truth.

This time the army went out to quell the rebellion, and the soldiers were divided into two routes, Liu Zhongwu one way, Wang Hou one road, and the supervising troops were Gao Yu and Tong Guan. Gao Yu and Liu Zhongwu walked together, while Wang Han followed Tong Guan and Wang Hou all the way to Huangzhou.

With such an arrangement, the main forces in the war are naturally Liu Zhongwu and Wang Hou, but Tong Guan and Gao Yu must be promoted and rich. As for Wang Han, in the hearts of Xu Ning and others, even if Wang Han goes and doesn't do anything, he will go for a walk, and when he comes back, he will at least be a five-grade product.

This is the Great Song Society.

As for the outcome of the war, there is no need to think about it, the Western Xia officials may be worried, and fighting Tibet is no different from a father beating his son.

After eating and drinking, everyone said goodbye, Wang Han went home drunk, and his wife was waiting at home.

The expedition is a major event, whether it is Li Qingzhao or Zhang's, they are all kinds of considerate care, shoes are made of three pairs, and the clothes are sewn by Li Qingzhao himself. As for the husband and wife at night, they are naturally very intimate, and they can't hate to merge into a pile of water, so this matter is not mentioned.

The flowers bloom in two branches, one on each table.

However, it was said that Lin Lingsu was stunned and chilled when he saw Wang Han demonstrating artillery at the Gunpowder Bureau. Why?

It is Zhao Tianshi who once said that the Demon Lord of the World is good at using firearms, and the things he creates are all unprecedented in the world, and the power is huge, no matter how strong the soldiers are, they are all turned into ashes under the firearms of the Demon Lord of the World.

What's more, Zhao Tianshi used divine magic to demonstrate the powerful effect of firearms to Lin Lingsu, and the explosion picture was exactly the same as watching Wang Han's artillery projectile explode in the Gunpowder Bureau.

In this way, Lin Lingsu still doesn't understand, Wang Han is Galen, Galen is Wang Han, and he is the Demon Lord of the World. Therefore, he escaped early, got into the carriage, and left Tokyo in a puff of smoke and went to Erxian Mountain.

Tokyo to Jixian County, the road is far away, and the fast horse whip has also walked for three days, Lin Lingsu has been rumoring all the way, and the grass and trees are all soldiers, so he is afraid that Wang Han will chase him. Finally arrived at Erxian Mountain, let out a sigh of relief, rested at the bottom of the mountain for a while, and then went up the mountain to find Luo Zhenren to discuss.

Luo Zhenren has already learned the news of the Demon Lord of the World from Xuan Zhen's mouth, and now Lin Lingsu is coming again, telling what he saw in the Tokyo Gunpowder Bureau, and now that the Demon Lord has made a firearm, he will soon bewitch the officials to use swords and soldiers, and the whole world will be in war.

When Luo Zhenren heard this, he ordered Xuanzhen to use the Divine Practice Method to find Zhang Xubai, wait until a few people would meet, and then meet the Heavenly Master together.

Xuan Zhen wore a Shenxing armor horse, and immediately went down the mountain, not for two days, and brought Zhang Xubai back. But how? There are four armor horses on Xuan Zhen's legs, two on the thighs and two on the calves, which can be disassembled separately and installed on other people's bodies.

If you put four armor horses, you will travel thousands of miles in a day and 800 in night, and if you put two horses, you will travel 500 in a day and 400 in night. Xuan Zhen went to Dengzhou, where Zhang Xubai has a medical center, and he treats diseases and saves people. The two sides met, and after some detailed talk, Zhang Xubai closed the medical hall and went to Erxian Mountain with Xuanzhen.

Xuan Zhen took off the two armor horses and put them on Zhang Xubai's legs, and burned the Dao talisman to follow him. Zhang Xubai didn't need any movement, he just felt that his body was light and fluttering, as if someone was pushing him, and when he took a step under his feet, it was a zhang away, without any effort, he walked faster than a horse, and he felt so comfortable, so he said to Xuan Zhen: "The divine law of the Heavenly Master is really mysterious." ”

The three brothers gathered in Erxian Mountain, together with Luo Zhenren, bathed in the incense hall, burned incense and worshipped, told the three Qings, and then respectfully invited the heavenly master to appear.

How to apparition? It was ordered that Dao Tong carry out a circular altar two feet square in the main hall, place it in the open space outside, and uncover the yellow cover above, revealing a black ring flat thing, one and a half feet in diameter, shaped like a basin. The inner surface is smooth as a mirror, but dull, and the back is pure black, shining with metallic brilliance.

After the object was taken out, it was turned over by Luo Zhenren himself, so that the back side was facing the sun, and then the three disciples meditated at the same time, praying sincerely.

During the prayer process, you must not leave easily, you can only drink water, you can not eat, from morning to night, you can see that the sky is dark, and the black shrine has a red light lingering. Seeing this, Luo Zhenren stepped forward and flipped it over, so that the concave side was upward.

Then, Luo Zhenren pressed a small dot on the altar. However, seeing that the brilliance quickly appeared in the concave surface of the Shentai, accompanied by the pleasant fairy sound, two large simplified characters in block letters came from the void and converged on the concave surface.

Lin Lingsu probably recognized those two simplified characters, as if they were pronounced as Huawei.