From the town to the gunpowder workshop halfway up the mountain, you need to go through three walled gates.

Each access control is guarded by personal guards.

On the concrete walls and pillboxes, siege guns and field guns were erected, as well as fierce fire oil tanks.

Although there are only more than 100 defenders on each wall, if you want to break through, you need at least 5,000 people, and the key may not be able to beat it.

"I've seen Your Majesty!"

On the wall, a group of guards shouted in unison.

"The soldiers have worked hard."

Han Zhen turned over and dismounted, stepped onto the wall, and expressed his condolences to the soldiers.

This moved the faces of the guards.

Han Zhen took advantage of the situation to inspect the wall again, and finally his eyes fell on a strange-shaped weapon, and asked, "This thing is the fierce fire oil tank?" ”

The gatekeeper replied, "Your Majesty's eyes are as wise as a torch." ”

To be honest, it was the first time Han Zhen saw it, and he couldn't help but take a closer look.

The fire tank is larger than I imagined, requiring six people to operate at the same time, and the area of the fire oil sprayed is as high as 50 meters.

Zhao Song's fierce fire oil tanks are all located in the northwest five roads, and there are almost no in China.

Because the Central Plains and the south do not produce oil, only the two prefectures of Yan and Yan in the northwest produce oil, which is convenient for transportation.

If you want to transport it to the Central Plains, it will cost a lot of money.

In addition, the fire tank itself is expensive, and the whole body is made of copper and iron, especially the key components such as the sprinkler head, which is made of 100 steel, otherwise it will not be able to resist the long-term high-temperature flame eruption.

Speaking of which, it's still money.

If Yanjing City is equipped with one hundred and ten fierce fire oil tanks, it will not be able to defeat it even if the Jin people fight for a year.

"Open the oil tank."

Without Han Zhen's orders, the head of the capital asked his soldiers to open the oil tank.

There were several large clay pots in the iron cabinet, and a pungent smell immediately permeated.

Han Zhen asked: "This clay pot is filled with oil?" ”

Craftsman Yuan replied: "Back to Your Majesty, oil is extremely difficult to ignite, and what is stored in the tank is the fierce fire oil that has been simply refined. However, Rao is so, the effect is not very good, and when the process of refining gasoline is mature, the fuel of the fierce fire tank can be replaced with gasoline. ”

"Hmm."

Han Zhen nodded, and his mind had already begun to think about combining the fierce fire oil tank with the walled fort.

The cement fort is extremely strong and can resist the bombardment of catapults, and if it is equipped with fierce fuel tanks, firearms and field artillery, it can resist the siege of hundreds, or even thousands of enemy troops.

Before there was no heavy firepower such as artillery howitzers, the walled forts were nails, and even if they could be pulled out, they had to knock off the enemy's mouth.

The Western Xia people were brave, but they were still beaten by Yang Weizhong's walled fort tactics.

Even during World War II, the fort was still a nightmare for soldiers.

Conquering a bunker often requires dozens or hundreds of lives to fill it.

This is World War II!

If you carefully recall your recollections, you will find that the well-known combat heroes during the anti-Japanese period in our country were basically sacrificed when attacking pillboxes.

This was the case during World War II, and in this era, it will only be more difficult to bite.

In the past, the Central Plains Dynasty conquered the grassland, but it could not be controlled for a long time, mainly because the grassland was vast and it was not easy to build a city wall, which caused the nomads to come and go whenever they wanted.

With cement, it is easy to build one walled fort after another, completely turning the grassland into a pasture under its rule.

Seeing that he suddenly fell silent, Yuan Craftsman and the others knew that the official family was thinking about something big again.

They were used to this scene, so they stood quietly and waited.

After a while, Han Zhen came back from his contemplation and ordered, "Let's go, go to the gunpowder workshop." ”

"Your Majesty, please."

Under the leadership of Craftsman Yuan, Han Zhen walked down the wall and went straight to the halfway point of the mountain along the cement road.

While walking, Craftsman Yuan introduced: "The current gunpowder workshop can produce more than 2,000 catties of gunpowder and 1,000 firearms per day, and with the workshop in Linzi County, it is enough to support a big war after the beginning of the year." In addition, the craftsmen of the gunpowder workshop also restructured the firearms, eliminating a series of drawbacks and reducing costs. ”

"Oh?"

Han Zhen looked surprised and said with a smile: "I'll wait and see." ”

The people in the gunpowder workshop were all disabled orphans.

Placing them in the gunpowder workshop was the best option Han Zhen could think of at the moment.

At present, most of the people under his rule do not even have enough to eat, so the welfare institutions are unable to implement it.

The reason is very simple, most people do not have enough to eat, where will the surplus food come from to support the lonely elderly and disabled orphans?

Zhao Song established similar welfare institutions, namely the Nursing Home, Anjifang and Leaky Garden, aiming to provide for the young, rely on the elderly, cure the sick, and bury the dead.

But ideals are ideals after all.

The economic base determines the superstructure.

The people of Zhao and Song have all lived like that, how good can you expect these welfare institutions to be?

If it was just a face-saving project, it would have been reduced to a place for corrupt officials to sell people.

So much so that the widows, the old and the young, would rather be beggars than go to a nursing home.

In the gunpowder workshop, although life is a little boring, but you can eat and clothe warm, and the work is not complicated, each workshop is only responsible for one process.

At the entrance of the cave, there is a desk, behind which a young girl sits and is responsible for registering the information of the raw materials and the people entering and exiting.

Seeing Han Zhen, the girl's face was overjoyed and she immediately greeted her.

"Abaaba!"

The girl opened her mouth excitedly and gestured at the same time.

Han Zhen rubbed the girl's head and said softly, "I've grown a lot taller." ”

The girl's name is Wanniang, she is only thirteen years old this year, she was not born deaf and dumb, she had a serious illness when she was seven years old, and her throat was burned.

My mother died early, and when my father was in Liao, he was ordered by the government to be sent to Hebei, and he was responsible for escorting grain and grass to Hebei, but he didn't come back.

The family's small land and assets were also divided up by uncles and relatives, and Wanniang herself was sold to people in the city.

At first, the man sold her to a wealthy merchant.

After staying for less than two months, Wanniang couldn't stand the beating of the main family, so she took the opportunity to escape and became a little beggar.

When Worm finds her, Wan Niang is caught by a group of beggars who are discussing selling her as a half-hidden prostitute.

To be honest, Wan Niang is already a blessing in misfortune.

Orphans who are even worse than her abound in the gunpowder workshop.

Wan Niang narrowed her eyes, enjoying Han Zhen's affectionate gesture very much, like a little milk cat.

Since they were adopted by Han Zhen, not only can they eat enough every day, but also have new clothes to wear, and they no longer have to be beaten, and they even specially invited Mr. to teach them to read and write.

Therefore, in Wan Niang's eyes, Han Zhen is a brother, a father, and a god.

Han Zhen chuckled and said, "In a few years, I will find you a good family and choose a good husband." ”

Wan Niang hurriedly shook her head, and kept gesturing with her hands.

Even if Han Zhen couldn't read sign language, she could see the meaning of rejection from her expression.

Han Zhen quipped: "Silly girl, how can there be any reason to stay here for a lifetime, you have to marry and have children." Or do you have a favorite Xiaolangjun? ”

Hearing this, Wan Niang suddenly looked shy.

Seeing this, Han Zhen raised his eyebrows and said, "Yo, it's really there, who is it?" Xiaobai or monk? ”

"Abaaba."

Wan Niang stomped her feet and ran away shyly.

"This little girl can't help but laugh."

Han Zhen shook his head and smiled, and walked towards the cave.

At this moment, a young man with a white beard walked out of it and bowed: "I have seen Your Majesty." ”

The young man looked delicate, but his skin was pale and frightening, as if he had been coated with a thick layer of white powder.

The hair, along with the eyebrows and eyelashes, is white, which at first glance looks rather strange.

Xiaobai is his nickname, and his real name is Chu Nan.

Have congenital albinism.

At this time, the people did not understand, thinking that he was born ominous, and they were afraid of bringing disaster to the family, so he was abandoned by his parents not long after he was born.

Later, he was picked up and raised by a wandering Taoist, and the name Chu Nan was also given to him by a Taoist.

When he was ten years old, the Taoist priest died, and he became an orphan and wandered around.

When he simply followed the Taoist priest, he learned a good hand, knew some alchemy, and was calm, so he was entrusted with an important task by Han Zhen and became the manager of the gunpowder workshop.

Han Zhen looked displeased, frowned, and said, "Why do you come with me to this vain set?" ”

"Second Brother Han."

Chu Nan hurriedly changed his words.

In the treatment of these orphans, interests are secondary, and Han Zhen mainly relies on feelings to maintain them.

After all, interests are not reliable after all, but it is not the same when you add feelings.

Han Zhen stretched his brows and ordered, "Can you get used to living here?" ”

"Second Brother Han, don't worry, I'm used to it."

Chu Nan replied with a smile, his tone full of sincerity.

He suffers from albinism and cannot see the light of day, but now he is more at ease in this cave.

"That's good."

Han Zhen nodded with a smile and said, "I heard that the craftsmen in the workshop have developed a new firearm, take me to take a look." ”

Speaking of this, Chu Nan came to his senses, and said with excitement on his face: "Second Brother Han, please." ”

The workshop built in the mountains is not cramped, on the contrary, it is very spacious.

Following Chu Nan, he walked through stone roads and finally came to a warehouse.

"Second Brother Han!"

The person in charge of guarding the treasury was also a young man, named Brother Monk, who was full of smiles when he saw Han Zhen, dragging a lame leg and limping forward.

Glancing at him up and down, Han Zhen smiled and said, "I haven't seen you for half a year, but your kid is a lot stronger." ”

"Second Brother Han, I heard that you have ascended the throne as the emperor, I have nothing to give, I have nothing to carve a gadget, and I hope Second Brother Han will not dislike it."

As he spoke, he took out a wood carving from his bosom.

The carving is a small man in armor with a dragon on his feet.

The carver is very immature and full of ingenuity, but Han Zhen did not dislike it, and said with a smile: "The carving is good, I like it very much." ”

"Second Brother Han likes it."

The monk smiled innocently.

Chu Nan on the side spoke: "Brother Monk give me the key to the warehouse, and I will lead Second Brother Han to take a look at the new firearms." ”

"Give."

The monk untied the key from his waist and handed it over.

Opening the door of the warehouse, a group of mermaids entered.

In the warehouse, wooden barrels and crates are stacked.

The barrels contained gunpowder for the artillery battalion to fire the artillery, and the wooden boxes contained firearms.

Opening a wooden box, Chu Nan took out a strangely shaped iron bump from it, held it in his hand and said, "Second Brother Han, please see, this is a new firearm." ”

Han Zhen took a few closer looks, and found that the new firearm was somewhat similar to the grenades of later generations, but the volume was much larger than that of grenades.

"The previous firearms were too cumbersome to make, and even if they were tied with hemp rope, they would sometimes be broken, and their power would be greatly reduced. Now the shell is made of cast iron, filled with gunpowder, and the lead is inserted. ”

Chu Nan explained: "There is no need to add additional iron nails and thistles, after exploding, the shell will become fragments and hurt people, the power is about thirty percent greater than the original firearm, and the cost is also one percent lower." ”

(End of chapter)