After the prisoners shouted that they were tired, they were replaced by another batch, and under the repeated bombardment, Liu Zongmin's henchmen were scolding.

The group chased and came to a three-way intersection, only to see that the road on the left was quiet, insects and birds did not sing, but on the right was fireflies and stars.

The adjutant general and several others who saw the leader, Liu Zongmin, suddenly stopped, and couldn't help but ask suspiciously: "General, which way to go?" ”

Liu Zongmin pointed to the left: "The insects and birds here don't sing, the fireflies are gone, someone must be ambushed, let's go to the right." ”

A group of bandits went straight to the road on the right, and after walking for a stick of incense, they saw that they entered a canyon in front of them, with steep injuries on both sides, and the surrounding darkness, and the entrances and exits were very narrow.

Liu Zongmin glanced at it from a distance, and his face immediately became ugly: "This time, I'm afraid that the general chose the wrong one, if Zhou Xian sends someone to ambush here, we will be wiped out." ”

The adjutant general pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a long time before he said: "General, the insects and birds in the canyon ahead, and the fireflies are flying, doesn't it look like there is an ambush?" ”

Several other lieutenants also discussed: "Be careful to sail the 10,000-year-old ship, and send a scout to explore the way first." ”

Liu Zongmin bowed slightly, then ordered the team to stop, and at the same time let the scout move forward again.

As soon as the army stopped, everyone lay down on the ground, buying time to rest.

It's just that Liu Zongmin didn't wait for the scouts in front of him to come back, so he listened to the scouts behind him say anxiously:

"General, the officers and soldiers are about to catch up, and they have already reached the back mountain behind us."

Liu Zongmin looked back, and sure enough, he found that there was a faint fire coming from the top of the mountain, and it was indeed not far from them.

In the end, Liu Zongmin gritted his teeth and said, "Get up and keep moving, otherwise when those officers and soldiers catch up, you will have good fruits to eat!" ”

A group of bandits scrambled up, but before they could set off, Zhou Xian had already led people over the mountain and approached him.

Liu Zongmin was anxious, gave an order, and then marched forward first with his war horse, regardless of whether the rest of the people could keep up or not.

At this time, the bandits were even more dispersed, Liu Zongmin and his party had already entered the canyon, and the bandits behind them even didn't get up on the ground.

Zhou Xian also received the information from the scouts behind him, and he was about to catch up, so he asked the soldiers to shout from a large distance:

"Surrender and don't die, treat the prisoners well."

Zhou Xian and his entourage quickly caught up, and when those bandits saw this, they knelt on the ground one after another, waiting for disposal.

And Liu Zongmin walked in front with people, and as soon as the group entered the entrance of the canyon, they suddenly heard a rumbling cannon sound, and a burst of flying sand was raised in front of them.

The horse was frightened and neighed.

Liu Zongmin pulled the reins of the horse, but was still thrown to the ground by the war horse, just struggled to get up, and when the smoke and dust cleared, he saw one by one officers and soldiers holding fire guns, neatly arranged at the entrance and exit of the canyon, completely blocking their way.

These are the elites under Zhou Xian's hands, and the weapons and equipment are also the most sophisticated.

In such a formation, the bandits who had already had the intention of surrendering threw away their weapons one after another and knelt on the ground.

Only a few still wanted to resist, or escape, but in front of the elite soldiers of the first and second battalions, they couldn't make waves at all.

And Liu Zongmin knew that he was following Li Zicheng to rebel, and if he was caught, there would be only one way to die, so he did not surrender, but endured the pain and mixed in the chaotic team.

A group of bandits saw that the front and rear entrances were blocked, and the terrain on both sides was very steep, although they could turn over, but they had been running for a day, and they were already too tired to work, how could they still have the strength?

can only obediently follow and surrender.

After chasing all the way, Zhou Xian was too tired to do it, and after a few words, he casually found a clean stone to sit down, and finally simply lay down on the grass.

Suddenly, there was a feeling of comfort all over his body, but the stone behind him panicked, he turned over and picked up the stone, and continued to lie down.

It's just that he pinched the stone in his hand, played with it for a while, and suddenly got up suddenly, and looked at the stone fixedly, as if he was familiar with it.

"It's ......"

Zhou Xian was startled, then turned over and ran towards Zhang Chuyu.

At this time, Zhang Chuyu also rarely rested for a while, and suddenly saw Zhou Xian recklessly, thinking that something had happened, and couldn't help asking: "Did the bandits run away or surrender?" ”

Zhou Xian smiled awkwardly: "No, I picked up a treasure, guess what?" ”

As he spoke, he handed the stone to Zhang Chuyu.

Zhang Chuyu took it and looked at it a few times, only to feel that this stone was black and linen, and it was very weighty in his hand, but it was just a stone.

"Master Horse, I have also seen some strange stone jadeite, but it is certain that there can never be jadeite in this stone!"

Zhou Xian was speechless: "What are those jade tops for?" This stone is much more precious than those things. ”

Zhang Chuyu frowned suspiciously, and finally he picked up a stone under his feet that was also black, looked at it, but still found nothing, and finally threw it aside: "This kind of stone is all over the mountain, what's so strange?" ”

Zhou Xian laughed: "Brother Zhang, don't underestimate these stones, this is iron ore, with these, we can make a batch of good guns and cannons." ”

Zhang Chuyu shook his head: "I see that you often run to the blacksmith shop, and I thought you were proficient in this way, but it turned out that you only knew a little about it." The flintlock pistol and Hongyi cannon made by my Daming Dynasty are mainly made of copper, and this iron gun and iron cannon are too laborious to make, and they are no better than copper cannons, so they have been used a long time ago. ”

In fact, the main reason is that the iron is too heavy, hundreds of catties, or even thousands of catties of cannons are made, and just transferring positions is enough for a headache.

In terms of convenience, it is indeed a little worse.

Zhou Xian said with a smile: "Brother only knows one thing but doesn't know the other, this iron gun and iron cannon is not bad, but the iron-making technology is not in place, don't underestimate this stone, there is not only rare iron ore in this thing, but also a lot of things, called 'vanadium'." ”

Zhang Chuyu's face was suspicious and surprised: "Vanadium? Can it make iron make good steel? ”

Zhou Xian nodded: "Yes, add a little vanadium when making iron, and the refined steel will become more elastic and wear-resistant, and it will be used to make guns, and the barrel will be much thinner, which can reduce the weight of the flintlock pistol, and it is not easy to blow up!" ”

Zhang Chuyu nodded thoughtfully: "It's good that it's not easy to blow up, but why make the barrel thinner?" Isn't it good now? ”

Zhou Xian took a firearm and explained: "This firearm is too heavy, not conducive to long-term marching laces, if it can be made thin, it can reduce the weight, and when the time comes, when the bayonet is installed, it can be attacked with firebombs far away, and it can be killed with bayonets in close quarters, and future generations will ......"

Speaking of this, Zhou Xian paused slightly, and almost missed his mouth.

Zhang Chuyu fell into deep thought: "Is it really so good? But why hasn't anyone practiced it before? ”