Yang Guang's plan for the Eastern Expedition had to be stillborn because of Wang Bo's army, he was full of anger, regardless of the dissuasion of the civil and military, insisted on driving the expedition in person, wanting to destroy Wang Bo's momentum, and then swept away Liaodong Goguryeo in one fell swoop with the power of thunder, and realized the unification of Kyushu, and the golden Ou was flawless, becoming the long-cherished wish of the first emperor through the ages.

After the holy decree, Li Yuan went north to stay in Taiyuan, and went to work on the same day to prevent the northern Turks and Mongols from taking advantage of the chaos to go south; Li Xiuning led the rank of hussar general, led 80,000 soldiers from the eight prefectures in Guanzhong to form the right army to go east out of Tongguan, took the boat east through Tongguan Wharf, disembarked at Kaifeng, and marched through Shangqiu to Huaibei, attacking according to the situation; Yang Su led the rank of generalissimo and accompanied Yang Guangqin to lead 200,000 government soldiers to sit in the Chinese army; Lai Hu'er led the chariot to the rank of general, led 100,000 soldiers to form the Zuowu Army, and marched with the Chinese army ladder. Ordered the local government offices where the army passed to prepare grain, grass, ships, and all materials for war preparation. For a time, millions of people embraced an army of 400,000 and went to quell the rebellion.

Li Xiuning took Luo Yu and dozens of special combat members who had not yet graduated out of Tongguan in the starry night, and the government soldiers had assembled outside Tongguan. After the handover with the local officials was completed, Li Xiuning ordered the captains at all levels to reorganize their own troops, make food on the third watch, and pull out the camp on the fifth watch.

There was a large brazier in the simple tent, and the heat of the raging fire made people sweat, which was in stark contrast to the cold of the snow outside. Li Xiuning looked at the more than a dozen military leaders in front of him: "Generals, Xiuning was edicted to fight against rebellion, respected by the saints, led the rank of hussar general, led the troops to quell the rebellion, in order to solve the king's worries, as the saying goes, eat the king's lu, loyal to the king's affairs, this time to send troops, rely on you to fight bravely to kill the enemy, when he triumphs, report to the court, and reward the merits." ”

The head of the army claimed to promise, Li Xiuning said: "Today, the rebel Wang Bo Zheng led the troops to besiege Xuzhou, he called himself 'General Tiangong', according to the military newspaper, Wang Rebellion since the day of the army to this day, has attacked the eleven counties, where the soldiers passed, burning, killing and looting, all evil, the people of the counties who did not obey were buried alive, more than a month, has been coerced more than 100,000 people, and now is storming Xuzhou, we are waiting for the edict to rejuvenate the righteous division, level the ministers, remove the fang for the country, and relieve the people from hanging. ”

The generals promised loudly again, and Li Xiuning said: "Generals, remember that our army is a righteous army, and I hope to restrain the sergeants of all battalions, and if there is any violation of military discipline, they will not be spared!" Please go back to the camp first, straighten out the soldiers and horses of each battalion, and early tomorrow morning, the whole army will pull out the camp and get on the boat, and set out to fight the Koukou. ”

The generals were ordered to go, only Li Xiuning and Luo Yu were left in the camp tent, Luo Yu didn't speak just now, after reading the military discipline of the Sui army, he originally wanted to move out the three major disciplines and eight points of attention to Li Xiuning for reference in later generations, but then I thought about it, it is impossible to implement it in this era, the soldiers are all ordinary people, and they are farming in their spare time. Because cleaning the battlefield during or after the war, there will be unexpected gains from time to time, but this unexpected harvest will also be accompanied by a lot of danger, cold arrow traps or something, you will kill at any time, if there is no unexpected reward, few people take the initiative to clean the battlefield.

Forget it, if it can't be implemented at this time, there will be a chance to talk about it later, and after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, let's slowly explore, hoping that the army can be professionalized at that time. Later generations read books and watched TV, there were many scenes of ancient cold weapon wars, at that time, just watching from a distance, he was already a little frightened, and now he is about to face this kind of bloody scene at close range, Luo Yu doesn't know what to feel in his heart, fighting is to die, maybe most of these comrades who went with him can't come back, according to Yang Guang's temper, after Wang Bo calmed down, he will not stay for a while, he will choose to go north directly, by that time, I don't know how many good men have to bury their bones in other places. Black gunpowder would never be a good idea if it was configured for Yang Guang now......

Thinking of this, I couldn't help sighing: "General, my subordinates still have military affairs, so I will retire first......"

Li Xiuning raised his eyes and glanced at Luo Yu: "Why did you sigh when you joined the army?" But what's wrong? ”

Luo Yu thought for a while and said: "General, there is a weapon to kill the enemy here, but now is not the time to appear on a large scale, if you let Your Majesty know......"

Li Xiuning said: "Oh, what kind of weapon did you invent to kill the enemy when you joined the army? And why can't your majesty know now? Since ancient times, when war comes, it is the common people who suffer in the end......"

Luo Yu took out a bag of things from his sleeves: "This is what I have to configure in my spare time, when ignited with fire, it will produce a huge sound and power, and if it is used properly, it will promote iron and stone like rotten wood, not to mention the human body." The recipe has been memorized, the general ......"

Seeing that Luo Yu didn't answer the question behind her, Li Xiuning's eyes flashed, she glanced at Luo Yu, and no longer asked, and said with a smile: "Is this what Taoists call palm thunder?" ”

Luo Yu was angry and funny: "General, can you take the time to see the power of this thing?" Li Xiuning smiled and nodded, asked Luo Yu to put away his things, turned around and called Li Xiaogong and Yue Yun, explained to them, and pulled Luo Yu out.

Luo Yu held the torch, led Li Xiuning to a low soil slope seven or eight feet high, fixed the torch, poked a small hole two feet deep with a wooden stick, and then put the gunpowder in the clay pot he had made.

There was about half a catty of black gunpowder in the clay pot, saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal were ground by Luo Yu himself, wrapped in silk cloth and sieved out, and then matched in proportion, this thing should be able to blow up this small mountain bag.

Li Xiuning looked at Luo Yu curiously and kept busy, and after seeing him put the clay pot, he took the torch in his hand and walked to her: "General, you step back ten zhang first, and then go over after the fire is lit." ”

Li Xiuning's eyes were full of questions, is it necessary for such a small thing to retreat so far? But when she saw that Luo Yu's expression was serious, not like a joke, she turned around and retreated by the light of the torch.

Luo Yu saw that Li Xiuning had retreated to a safe area, and he was also a little apprehensive in his heart, although this lead has been tested several times and the effect is good, but it is in the absence of gunpowder, and now, the power of this half catty of gunpowder is really difficult to estimate. In his time and space, he had only seen the power of his father's explosion of stones, of course, that gunpowder was better than this, and the power should not be so great.

I didn't want to think about it, the torch was lit with a three-foot-long lead, a puff of green smoke rose, and then a string of sparks flashed, and the sound of "snort" came from the back of his head, Luo Yu ran in the direction of Li Xiuning without forgetting his life, and the burning speed of this lead seemed to be much faster.

There was still a zhang or so away from Li Xiuning, and there was a muffled sound behind him, and then the earth shook, and by the light of the torches, he saw the dust flying around, followed by the falling of gravel and fine sand in the sky, and thought that the small dirt slope no longer existed.

Li Xiuning faced the flying sand in the sky, walked a few steps forward, pulled Luo Yu to her side, and her eyes flashed with concern: "Are you okay?" Luo Yu stretched out his hand and patted the fine ash on his chest, holding the torch high: "It's okay to take a job, let's go see how powerful it is." After speaking, he blocked in front of Li Xiuning and walked forward slowly.

The small dirt slope has disappeared, and in the light of the fire, a large pit is emitting green smoke, surrounded by a handful of ceramic fragments, which are blocked by the loess when it explodes, and did not drift too far, and then there is some black soil, covering the weeds.

Li Xiuning looked at the pit in surprise and asked blankly, "Is this caused by the small clay pot you gave me just now?" Luo Yu smiled: "Yes." And that's not the most powerful! ”

Li Xiuning just wanted to speak, and there was the footsteps of dozens of people behind him, and it should have been the muffled sound of the explosion that had just alarmed the soldiers in the barracks. Because it was night, Luo Yu and they didn't go too far, so someone came over after a while.

Li Xiaogong and Yue Yun came to Li Xiuning with more than thirty people holding torches, and they were all relieved to see that she was fine, Li Xiaogong hugged his fists and said, "General, what was the movement just now?" ”

Li Xiuning didn't want people to know about black gunpowder, this thing is too powerful for everyone and things, although it is a weapon to kill the enemy, but the enemy will also make it in the future, and it will definitely become a blade to kill himself, Luo Yu is right, don't use this thing to kill people unless you have to, thinking of this, he said: "It's okay, you all heard the sound just now?" ”

Yue Yun hugged his fists and said: "I didn't hear the sound, but the earth shook, like the earth dragon turned over, and the subordinates were worried about the safety of the general, and they saw that there was a fire here, so they came to take a look." ”

Li Xiuning said: "We're fine, we were struck by lightning here, that's why this situation happened, let's go back to the camp!" After speaking, he didn't wait any longer, and took the lead and walked back.

Except for Luo Yu, everyone was suspicious, and when they saw that Li Xiuning and Luo Yu had walked out of Zhangxu, they hurriedly followed, without saying anything all the way, until they were in the camp and dispersed.

Luo Yu didn't think much about it anymore, Li Xiuning had already seen the power of gunpowder, and how she wanted to use it was none of her business, so she returned to the camp alone and slept in her clothes amid the footsteps of the soldiers patrolling the camp.

The next day, the third watch, outside the camp tent was already in full swing, the sergeants of the food battalion were working hard to prepare the meal, dozens of cauldrons were lined up in the open space, more than a dozen five-layer cage drawers were also steaming, the smell of steamed buns mixed with the fragrance of mutton wafted in the wind, which made people appetize. Thousands of people were divided into three teams, eaten separately, and then they were ready to go to the shipowner after dawn to kill the enemy.

Luo Yu is well-fed, he has been here for a few months, and he has long been accustomed to the food here. I really want to cook my own food and fry a few pork dishes, but I have been busy with the affairs of the military school, and I have not finished my course, and I was pulled out to quell the rebellion.

Equestrianism has been practiced very well, in this era, soldiers will not ride horses to say that it is not possible, although he is not yet a formal military member, but in the military academy training that batch of special combat teams, this is the only project that makes them dissatisfied, so Luo Yu deliberately found a fierce horse, spent a day taming it, and naturally learned to ride a horse, of course, it is not possible to go into battle to rush and kill, and in front of them he also arrogantly said that if he also wants to ride a horse into battle, this army is finished! was scoffed at by everyone, and the generals went into battle, what are you doing when you join the army as a child?

In this era, there was no horseshoe, whenever Luo Yu saw some war horses injured due to their hooves being worn out, he was very distressed, so he drew the shape of the horseshoe, found the blacksmith in the army, and asked him to build two or three sets according to Li Xiuning's war horseshoe shape, and then called Li Xiuning, when she trimmed the horse's hooves and then nailed the horseshoe, and then used scissors to cut off the protruding copper nail tip, and finally brushed with copper oil.

This is very simple, the other three hooves were nailed by the groom in Luo Yu's way, Li Xiuning looked at Luo Yu and said with a smile: "How did your little head grow?" Luo Yu also smiled: "The subordinate just put shoes on them......"

Li Xiuning took the purple jade, turned over and got on the horse, and said "...... the horse" in his mouth, the purple jade opened its mouth and neighed, rushing forward like an arrow from the string, the horseshoe stepped on the stone road, and the sound of iron and stone hitting was endless, with this sharp weapon, there was no need to be careful of the horse's hooves in the future.

However, there is no time to build hoovers for all the war horses, these can only be operated slowly in the future, Li Xiuning is very happy, the prancing horse whipped, ran around the field three times, came to Luo Yu, got off the horse, and said to the blacksmith: "The matter of the hoovers is kept secret for the time being, if there is a violation of the order, it will not be forgiven!" After speaking, he pulled Luo Yu and walked towards the gate.

Tongguan town is not big, only a few hundred households, usually the sun rises and the day does not rest, the town is overcrowded at this time, all are carpenters and lacquer craftsmen from more than a dozen surrounding villages, because the military affairs are urgent, there are not so many ships to be used as military ships, so they have to temporarily repair the old ships and rush to make new ships. Li Xiuning and several military leaders rode horses and led the army to the town mayor who was about forty years old and was waiting at the official pavilion, and behind him stood five or six Tsing Yi scribes in their thirties, who should be officials in the town or something, after the two sides saluted, Li Xiuning took the tiger talisman and the edict to the town mayor, and said: "Xiuning is edicted to lead the army, and Mayor Liu please pay our army one hundred and fifty British ships, one hundred and twenty heroic ships, and twenty grain ships of various types. ”

Mayor Liu stroked his long beard and replied: "Well, the required ships have been prepared, and they can be handed over after the official has passed the tiger talisman, and the general will wait." After speaking, he picked up the tiger talisman and took two steps back, turned around, and could not see his movements.

Luo Yu couldn't understand why this little mayor would have this tiger talisman so important? Li Xiuning suddenly explained softly: "The tiger talisman is used to verify the use of leading the troops, and there is a place to hand over the soldiers' rations along the way, they must be checked first. ”

Luo Yu nodded, indicating that he knew, and thought that there would be several verifications in the future, so he would no longer be entangled. Because they had to take a boat, except for a few people on horseback, everyone else was on foot, and there was no armor or weapon, according to Li Xiuning, it would not be distributed until Kaifeng, so it could be regarded as a light march.

After the handover, Li Xiuning took the documents signed by the mayor, and after saluting, he took the sergeants around the town street and came to the wharf, only to see dozens of warships of different sizes docked by the river.

At this time, the water of the Yellow River is not as turbid as in later generations, and I don't know how it was called the Yellow River, here to the east until Kaifeng, the whole channel has not yet been opened, there are countless reefs and dangerous shoals on the way, and the water flow is changeable, so each warship is equipped with three experienced old captains, they have already traveled the whole way, marking the channel, some places can transport people through, and the draft of transporting goods is too deep, and it will hit the reef, and it is precisely because of this that Li Xiuning will let them travel lightly.

Each British ship can carry 350 people, the heroic ship can carry 250 people, and the other more than 3,000 people escort grain and grass, divided into 20 logistics ships, ready to be on board, each two ships as a group, filled with people and slowly sailed away from the dock.

Luo Yu is not averse to taking a boat, he has been on a lot of boats, more than ten meters high waves have experienced, the waves on the Yellow River are like children tickling, but for most of the people in Hanzhong, there are still many people who are not adaptable, hanging half a sail before sailing out of two or three miles, there are already people who are seasick and vomiting, for a while, the boat is full of people, vomiting sound one after another, endlessly, listening to more, Luo Yu feels a little disgusted, busy into the inner warehouse, close the door before feeling better.

What does Yang Guang think? Most of the people in Guanzhong don't know how to be water, and in order to be in a hurry, they just ordered the soldiers of Guanzhong who have not been trained on the water to go east by boat, isn't this torture? But think about it is also relieved, from the waterway to Kaifeng, if it is smooth, it will take five days at most, if you take the land route, it is impossible to arrive without half a month, although it is uncomfortable to take a boat, but if you get used to it, it is nothing, and it can also reduce the fatigue in the march, and strive for ten more days, which is very important for counterinsurgency.

Luo Yu doesn't have to worry about this, the only thing he worries about is Li Xiuning, I'm afraid that she won't be able to endure this kind of suffering with the waves, a good man on land may not be able to stand it on a rocking boat, no matter how beautiful a woman is, she won't look good when she vomits.

The third room in it is Li Xiuning's room, Luo Yu just wanted to go over and take a look, the door of the next room opened, and Li Xiaogong's steady department was at the door, and he saluted: "General, please join the army and go over!" ”

After returning the salute, Luo Yu followed Li Xiaogong to Li Xiuning's room, and saw her sitting in the middle without discomfort, so he was relieved. After seeing the salute, he said: "What are the instructions of the general?" ”

Li Xiuning said with a smile: "Please sit down when you join the army, I am worried that I will be dizzy and vomit if I join the army, and now it seems that I am too worried......"

Luo Yu said: "Thank you general, I have been trained by my grandfather since I was a child, although I can't catch swimming fish alive underwater, but this little wind and waves are not in the way." "It's the best way to give credit to the great grandfather who didn't exist.

Li Xiuning said: "This is a long way, there are many undercurrents and dangerous shoals on the way, and I don't know if all the staff can arrive safely. ”

Luo Yu said: "Since ancient times, the soldiers have been in danger and fierce, even so, the history of war is endless, there are poems and clouds, chariots, horses and horses, and pedestrians bow and arrows at their waists. Ye Niang's wife sent each other off, and the dust disappeared from the willow bridge. Tie Yi stopped crying, and the cry went straight to the sky. "In war, there will always be deaths, if the weapon is updated and iterated, the casualties will be even worse, how can you relieve the general if you are in a battlefield Bai Ding? "Plagiarized the famous poems of the poets, Luo Yu was still a little embarrassed, so he changed a few words, which is more appropriate to the current scene.

After listening to Luo Yu's poems, Li Xiuning read them silently in her heart, and felt that it was very appropriate to describe the scene when she went out of the army.

Li Xiaogong said: "What does the so-called weapon update and iteration refer to when joining the army? These words brought Li Xiuning back to reality, she knew what Luo Yu meant, but now she can't and won't take that thing out as a weapon, the emperor is so happy, and he is definitely not the master of black gunpowder. What's more, her Li family also has their own plans, according to her father, after the failure of the Eastern Crusade, it may cause chaos in the world, and at that time, the heroes will compete for the world, and weapons, talents, and soldiers are indispensable, and whoever can master the new weapons will definitely be better.

Luo Yu said: "Li Juntou, there are always weapons that are better than swords and longbows, for example, isn't the power of the Eight Bull Crossbow better than the ordinary Long Crossbow?" ”

Li Daozong just wanted to speak, the hull of the boat shook, the three of them were busy out of the room, under the bright sunshine, the sails that could not be seen at a glance were slowly descending, and then they all anchored in the center of the river and stopped moving forward.

Li Xiuning and the three of them didn't know why, they were waiting to ask the sergeant around them, someone had come to report outside the door, a small boat was rowed on the east bank of the river, the three of them didn't wait to ask carefully, they went out to the east rudder, and saw a brocade official holding a scroll like a holy decree in his hand, and he was coming quickly by boat, Li Xiuning said: "It's the emperor's personal servant Zhang Gonggong......" Li Xiaogong hurriedly asked the sergeant to put down the hanging ladder, and then stood aside, waiting for the angel to get on the boat to announce the decree.

It stands to reason that the expeditionary army will not accept new military affairs in the absence of new circumstances, and the previous order has not been cancelled, and the subsequent order is not complied with. I don't know what the emperor means now, maybe Wang Bo's rebellion has also been pacified, and there is no need to go on an expedition.

The angel did not climb the county ladder, jumped up from the boat, and after he stood still, he raised his voice: "Hussar General Li Xiuning takes the order!" ”

Everyone knelt on one knee in the military salute, and the angel in his forties unfolded the holy decree and said: "Fengtian carries the emperor's edict and says, 'Today's eventful autumn, Shandong Wang Bo rebelled against several counties and did not have time to pacify, now Shanxi Yuncheng Dou Jiande, Hebei Liu Heimin corrected thousands of foreign tribes in Cangzhou and disagreed, pardoned the hussar general Li Xiuning Yu Changle to get off the ship, go north to Yuncheng to quell the rebellion, in order to strengthen my Great Sui army!" Chin this ......"

This decree is a bit like a child's tone, and I don't know who wrote it, but it has been stamped with a jade seal, a Chinese book, and a seal under the door, so it is not a fake, Yang Guang is behind the fleet, and it is not surprising that he sent a personal attendant to announce the decree.

Everyone received the order to thank Enbi, Li Xiuning took a few steps forward, and asked softly: "Gonggong Zhang, Shengyi Xiuning doesn't dare to doubt it, but our army's armor and weapons are all in Kaifeng, if you go north in Changle, how to solve it?" ……”

That father-in-law said solemnly: "General, now that there are storms in various places, when our family comes, we have to report to Zhang Shicheng of Shaozhou Road in the south, Chen Youliang of Yangzhou Mansion in the east, and Xue Ju in the northwest have also raised troops, Your Majesty is sending troops to quell the rebellion, it is not that the situation on your way has changed, rest assured, the military department has made proper arrangements, and someone will ......send it after arriving in Changle."

Li Xiuning sighed in his heart, bowed his hand to Gonggong Zhang, sent him off the warship, turned back to Li Xiaogong and said, "Quickly invite the major military leaders to come to the tent to discuss matters." Please come in with me to join the army, now the situation has changed, and you need to find another strategy......"

Li Xiaogong agreed and hurriedly went down to inform. Luo Yu, who was still a little confused about the situation, followed Li Xiuning to the central warehouse, and neither of them spoke, waiting for the heads of the armies to arrive.