The results of the test guns were very encouraging.

The emperor stared at the collapsed warehouse with his eyes, his mentality had already drifted, Zhao Xu simply thought that the Great Song Dynasty had such a divine weapon, not to mention a small Western Xia, even the Liao State could not stop the great national prestige of the Great Song Dynasty.

Of course, he didn't float too much, mainly because the Great Song Dynasty did not have much confidence in the Liao State, and the Great Song Dynasty had always been at a disadvantage in the face of the Liao State in the past. Don't look at the Liao State and did not have the strength to destroy the Song Dynasty and enter the Central Plains, but it still has the strength to bully the Great Song Dynasty. Zhao Xu estimated that now the Great Song Dynasty is thriving under his governance, and there is already a situation with the Liao State.

He is not greedy, as long as he can get back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and then stabilize the defense line near the Great Wall before, he will be satisfied.

Since the arrival of the Qin and Han dynasties, the Great Wall has been abandoned.

In the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was even more of a chaotic situation, and the people who entered the Central Plains were all grassland tribes, how could they build the Great Wall?

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, whether it was the Sui Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty, there were only a few times when they suffered losses in the Northern Expedition, and it was easy to bully the grassland tribes, and there was no need to build the Great Wall at all. As for the reason for the failure of Emperor Yang of Sui's Eastern Crusade, it was not that his strength was not strong at all, but that his strength was too strong, so that the infighting continued, which was the reason why the Eastern Crusade finally failed.

Moreover, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty went on an eastward expedition to bully Goryeo, not to fight with the steppe tribes at all.

The Great Wall has not been built for nearly a thousand years, and Zhao Xu has almost forgotten that in the northern mountains of the Great Song Dynasty, such a wall-like wall can be built to protect the Central Plains. Suddenly thinking about it, he seemed to feel that with Da Song's attainments in engineering, he must be much stronger than Qin and Han. Zhao Xu fell into a strange self-edification, and even showed some signs of sublimation.

began to look forward to his blessings in the world, and his contribution was on the picture of the great cause of the millennium.

It's just that Master Lu, who is a technical talent, hesitated for a while, and secretly said to Li Kui: "My lord, the power of artillery shouldn't be so powerful, right?" ”

"Hmmm! I'll mention it later. ”

Li Kui nodded and admitted that the attack power of artillery could not be so powerful at all, and the solid shells had the power of flowering shells, and even had a bit of a mortar flavor, even if someone told him that it was lucky, he didn't believe it!

Li Kui, who had no eyesight, felt that he should pour a basin of cold water on the emperor, but he didn't expect that he was in a hurry to find bad luck, but he was preempted. Zeng Bu, who had long been at odds with Li Qingchen, took a look at Xing Shu and decided that there was something wrong here. Of course, not allowing the Privy Council to show too much of its face in front of the emperor was his goal.

Adhering to the usual style, Zeng Bu did not come forward, but Xing Shu spoke: "Your Majesty, it is the fortune of the Great Song Dynasty to give the invincible divine power to destroy the great general Vulcan cannon. It's better to let the casting of this sharp weapon, as well as Li Kui, who designed this sharp weapon, and the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry solve your majesty's doubts! ”

Doubts?

Emperor Zhao Xu came to his senses and drove the things out of his mind, and found that he had no doubts at all. As long as he thinks about giving money to the Ministry of Industry to continue casting, no, he should let the Privy Council cast a large number of Zhenguo artifacts, and he can complete his grand plan for a thousand years. Why do you need Li Kui to come over and explain?

Today's Xing Shu still has a bit of face in front of the emperor, after all, the concubine was given the title of queen mother, and he couldn't do anything by relying on Li Kui to go on a rampage. If it weren't for Xing Shu in the center to win over Zhang Dian and others, who had the same demand, it would have been impossible to make Xiang Dowager bow his head. And the purpose of the reform faction is obvious, the Empress Dowager Xiang does not support the reform faction, she is the loyal executor of the Empress Dowager Xuanren. If the position of the Empress Dowager Xiang can be weakened, the implementation of the reform party can be smoother, which is the reason why Zhang Dian and others are willing to come forward.

But Xing Shu felt that this was his own credit, but the credit did not become an official position in the end, which made him very dissatisfied.

Of course, compared to Li Kui, he is already lucky. Li Kuike was imprisoned in the Criminal Department for this time. Later, although there was no danger, he was still demoted to the northwest to be a county lieutenant.

Change to a petty official from a jinshi, in such a sinister environment as the northwest, don't think about it within ten years.

Fortunately, Li Kui is not an ordinary person, and it didn't take long for him to be valued by the court again.

Although the emperor was very dissatisfied with Xing Shu interrupting his conjecture, he still nodded and agreed to Xing Shu's suggestion. When Li Kui and Master Lu were summoned to the emperor, Emperor Zhao Xu couldn't help but ask Li Kui: "Aiqing, can the Zhenguo artifact be so earth-shattering every time it attacks?" ”

Li Kui and Master Lu looked at each other, dreaming?

If it was really so powerful, Li Kui dared to take a firearms army to the hinterland of Western Xia and capture the emperor of Western Xia. But is it possible? Even he, as the first inventor and user of artillery, felt that the role of artillery on the battlefield was limited. There are simply too many factors limiting the power of artillery, each of which can be fatal.

Li Kui shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, artillery is a weapon after all. This kind of weapon is not bad on the city, it should be much stronger than the bed crossbow. However, the effect of an attack like the one just now is due to the fact that the cannonball hits the pillars supporting the house very unfortunately, and the barn is in disrepair and the wood on the roof is rotting. Normally, an artillery attack can only make a hole in the wall, and at most it will collapse a wall. The result just now, Chen thought that it was not the real attack power of the artillery, and if it was estimated before, it must have been overestimated. ”

There are no flowering shells, what kind of attack power can the artillery hit, can Li Kui not know?

This is a hammer launcher in the name of a thermal weapon, but the actual combat method is still very rough - hammer launcher.

You can ravage any flesh and blood, but you still have to think too much about dealing with the city walls.

"Ahh

The emperor was greatly disappointed, and he expected that Li Kui's words just now were nothing more than a deception to him. But even he knows that Li Kui is not serious, but he doesn't tell nonsense. In particular, Xing Shu's performance is very suspicious, it seems to be aimed at Li Kui, but it is more aimed at the Privy Council. Emperor Zhao Xu is not the emperor who didn't understand anything when he first came into power, and now he is studying the rogue version of the imperial technique taught by the third uncle, which is quite effective. In addition, he was also troubled by his constant attacks on the court, and secretly gave Xing Shu a very bad impression in his heart.

But Xing Shu also pretended to be a minister, and his eyes stood proudly from the crowd.

The results of the subsequent test firing were good, at least one wall was knocked down, but the roof of the entire building collapsed with one shot, and the scene of the house collapsing never occurred.

The emperor came in a hurry and returned in defeat. It can't be said that he returned in defeat, but it feels like the most exciting scene just came, and then one water is not as good as one water, which is a bit of a meaning. But Zhao Xu also understood that the power of the cannon was still very strong, and the speed at which the cannon was discharged was impossible for the human eye to trace, much stronger than weapons such as bed crossbows.

still echoes the prestige of the Zhenguo artifact, but this prestige is discounted because of Xing Shu's harmony.

Xing Shu's original idea of framing the Privy Council to deceive the emperor was completely frustrated. He was still puzzled, why Li Kui admitted that he was lucky, not because the weapon he designed was powerful, after the jaw-dropping results of the test shot?

This Li Kui can't be a lack of heart, right?

You won't ambush and deceive the emperor?

As the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, it is impossible to watch the artillery fire all day long, right?

On the way back, Xing Shu still couldn't figure out why Li Kui was so upright. Wasn't he a very scheming person at the beginning? took advantage of the demands of the reformers to unite to forge the fake edict of the Empress Dowager Xuanren, and then on the birthday of the Empress Dowager Xiang, he dealt a fatal blow to the old woman. It even united conservatives during this period.

With this kind of ability, according to Xing Shu's judgment, Li Kui is at least a columnist! But suddenly the temperament of a stunned man appeared, which made him puzzled.

"Brother Zixuan, are you sure that Li Qingchen is already going to stand up for Li Kui?"

Zeng Bu and Xing Shu sat in a car, their faces were dejected, and he used the method of dealing with scholars to deal with Li Kui, of course, the purpose was not Li Kui at all, but Li Qingchen. But why, why can't Li Kui use the method of a scholar to cover it up?

The routine was different, and he found that he had no idea where to start.

Zeng Bu sighed: "This official is not familiar with Li Kui. ”

When he said this, he seemed to have brushed himself off, as if Xing Shu and Li Kui were very familiar. When Li Kui was dealing with the Empress Dowager Xiang, he did cooperate with Xing Shu. During this period, because of the addition of Zhang Dian and others, Xing Shu quickly left Li Kui behind and ignored him. He is a dignified second-grade official, how can he go and call a brother and sister to a small seventh-grade civil official, just talk about it, and even he himself didn't take it seriously.

Xing Shu opened his mouth and looked at Zeng Bu dumbfounded. He wanted to get close to the emperor so that he could easily obtain the status of a high-ranking official. But the emperor seems to have completely lost interest in him after meeting him once or twice. This made Xing Shu very anxious, otherwise he wouldn't have messed up with Zeng Bu.

A few days later.

Taimiao sacrificed prisoners.

Although Li Kui was a little disappointed in the power of the artillery, Zhao Xu was a little disappointed. But this disappointment is simply because Zhao Xu's expectations are too high. Zhao Xu is not the kind of faint monarch who is very mediocre, if the Great Song Dynasty really has a weapon that can completely change the strength of the Song, Liao, and Western Xia, I am afraid that the Great Song Dynasty will not be able to concentrate on dealing with the Western Xia in the northwest, and the Liao State will definitely not be able to tolerate the appearance of the Great Song Dynasty with weapons that change the strength comparison with the Liao State.

At that time, the Great Song Dynasty would face two opponents, Western Xia and Liao.

You can't kill the Western Xia alone, if you add a Liao State, I'm afraid that the border of the Great Song Dynasty will really be in danger.

Moreover, the Northern Forbidden Army defending the Liao State cannot be compared with the combat effectiveness of the Western Army at all, and it has not fought for nearly seventy years, and now even the emperor does not dare to think about what the Great Song Forbidden Army will look like once a war is launched around Zhending Mansion. Even, the emperor was worried that the hundreds of thousands of troops in Hebei would magically disappear. It's not really his imagination, it's something that does happen. During his father's reign, the local forbidden army was seriously paid empty salaries, so he sent officials to check the number of forbidden troops, but because the foundation was shocking, Emperor Shenzong did not dare to thoroughly investigate. I can only kill a few unlucky guys, and I can do it hastily.

In recent decades, the Great Song Dynasty has tilted most of its combat resources to the Western army against the Western Xia, and once the Liao State enters the war, the Hebei region may really face the dilemma of losing and retreating. There is no extra money and food, plus there is no war, the mind of a soldier is fluctuating, and I am afraid that this is even more true for those who are officials.

Whining......

The low voice of the horn suddenly added to the solemnity of the Taimiao prisoner.

As a meritorious minister, Li Kui obtained an errand that made the eyes of the disciples of the generals burn with jealousy during such an important celebration as the sacrifice of prisoners. Serve as a guard for the emperor. It was the samurai on the emperor's chariot when the emperor was on the expedition. This was originally the special pet of Jiangmen, but it was robbed by a civilian official, can it not make people angry?

Originally, the emperor wanted Li Kui to drive, but Li Kui could ride a horse, but he couldn't drive. It's not that he won't, he also did it in the Northwest Battlefield, but he really didn't have this skill in the downtown area.

Standing on the imperial carriage where the emperor appeared, holding the wheel, Li Kui looked down at a crack in the paint on the wheel, secretly pinched the black paint on the carriage, and found that it was a little brittle, and he didn't use any force, so he was bald. Han Deqin, who was riding a horse and following the emperor's car next to him, would have scolded him if he hadn't dared to speak during the ceremony, and would have scolded him in a different place: "Can you peel the patent leather of the emperor's car?" Why is this hand so cheap? "This can't be blamed on Li Kui, the main reason is how high the emperor's identity is, the patent leather of the carriage he is riding in is actually a little cracked, is this still a rich Great Song Dynasty?

Of course, the emperor can't be blamed for this, the main thing is that Zhao Xu doesn't know about it. After the Empress Dowager Xuanren lowered the curtain to listen to the government, Zhao Xu could only listen to it on the side.

And the Empress Dowager Gao of Xuanren is still the empress dowager who is famous for her frugality, plus she has no way of going out of the palace to inspect at all, and the emperor's car is placed in the palace, and it will be put away for ten years, and even the maintenance is saved. When the emperor wanted to use it, he found that it seemed a little unworthy of the emperor's identity. But Taifu Temple had no choice but to wipe it clean and let the emperor make do with it first.

Fortunately, after the sacrifice began, many people's eyes were attracted by the strange pace of the party captives.

"This brother, what kind of road is this party member, it seems that one leg is long and the other leg is short, and it is quite strange to walk up and down."

"These guys look like cripples? It can't be that he can't outrun others on the battlefield and was captured by the Western Army, right? ”

"Foolish, there are many cavalry in the party, and they must have broken their legs after being knocked off their horses. How else could this be? ”

"It's not like everyone broke their legs, right?"

……

The emperor listened to a few rumors in the car, but he pretended not to hear them, and sat in the car to receive the worship of the civil and military officials.

Not to mention, the party captives had a look of grief and indignation on their faces before, and they didn't want to become the prisoner props of the Great Song Taimiao to make the Great Song people happy. But when they found that King Li Yan was in the car in front of them, they immediately had no resentment in their hearts, and there was a simple thought in their minds, they must not make King Li Yan unhappy.

How can you make King Li Yan happy?

Nothing goes wrong.

The conscience of heaven and earth, the captives have been walking very hard, and the expressions on their faces are fearful, which is also in line with the identity of the unlucky captives, but their legs and feet are really inconvenient.

After finally getting out of the car, the emperor stepped on a soft step into the temple. He had fasted for five days before, and every time he went to the Taimiao, the emperor would suffer this sin. I ate poorly, I didn't sleep well, even my brain was wooden, and my reaction was even slower by half a beat. Zhao Xu's mind was still on the road, the magical performance of the captive.

asked Li Kui: "Aiqing, why do the captives look like they have inconvenient legs and feet?" ”

"It's not easy to take care of a prisoner on the battlefield, it's much more convenient to break a leg." Li Kui said as a matter of course that after breaking their legs, they didn't even have the mind to escape, which saved a lot of trouble.

When the emperor heard Li Kui's words, his face suddenly darkened, and he said angrily: "It's not like this, right?" ”

"These people have recovered well, and they have the honor of being the objects of His Majesty's sacrifice. Others should be inferior to them. Li Kui estimated that it was such a truth, it would take a hundred days to break his muscles and bones, if it wasn't for a good recovery, the captives should be inseparable from crutches now.

Zhao Xu didn't say a word to Li Kui after that, obviously very angry, and after the prisoner was sacrificed, Li Qingchen came to Li Kui's side and sighed: "Renjie, what is good about you, you have to be so irritable, now your observation is gone, go and make a general judgment!" ”

Li Kui could only look up to the sky and sigh: "Bad luck!" ”

Of course, Li Kui felt unlucky, and there was even worse luck than Li Kui, the new Yan'an Mansion General Judge, just a few days after taking office, he was demoted to a pusher, this is really unlucky. In the city, Su Zhe looked at the young Zhong Jianzhong apologetically, and said helplessly: "Uncle Yi, you must focus on the overall situation!" ”

"My lord, what am I ...... Or is Cai Jing framing something? Chong Jianzhong raised his eyebrows, although Chong Jianzhong, who was already in his prime, was wearing the official robe of a civil official, but a killing aura came out from his back, and even Su Zhe looked at him with a somewhat complicated expression. Why is it a bit of Li Kui's feeling? Of course, Chong Jianzhong's appearance is more like a scholar than Li Kui. After all, he is Zhang Zai's disciple, and he is definitely not inferior in temperament. Realizing that he was out of shape, Chong Jianzhong hurriedly apologized: "My lord, the lower official has lost his temper." ”

"It's okay, it's my brother's apprentice grandson, just one day after he was promoted to the fifth rank observation envoy, he was demoted to the sixth grade!" Su Zhe said helplessly.

Chong Jianzhong asked: "Su Xiang, this is really bad luck, the scarlet robe has only been worn for a day, and it is all new, so you have to wear it back?" "Five products become six products, it's so cruel.

Su Zhe said helplessly: "That's what I said, but this kid is only nineteen, and he has a chance." ”

Chong Jianzhong touched the beard on his chin, looked at the back of his slightly rough hand, and suddenly found that youth had quietly slipped away from his body, he had been an official for almost 20 years, and now he was middle-aged, he was in his forties, but he still had to obey the nineteen-year-old doll boss, this heart-piercing feeling was more painful than being framed by Cai Jing.