Da Wei Chun

Chapter 606 Steel Cannon
When Li Chengzhi attacked Yuan Li and Yu Zhong in Guanzhong, he stole more than [-] households.

There are five to six people in each household, which is close to 40 people.

It sounds like a lot, but in the huge Guanxi (west of Tongguan), it is roughly like a sesame seed on a sesame seed cake.

When Yuan Ke ascended the throne, he ordered the prefectures to count Ding households, but only the Ming households in the five prefectures of Guanzhong, namely Jing, Qi, Yong, Hua, and Luo, had more than 190 million registered households.If you count hidden households, there are at least 300 million upwards.

There are relatively few Qin and Liang prefectures located outside the pass (outside the four passes in the middle of the pass), but there are definitely more Dinghus than Jindi and Beizhen.

There are more than [-] registered households in the two states, and Li Chengzhi only stole one-tenth of them.If it weren't for the fear that Hexi's food would not be enough to support too many people, with his ability at that time, this number could be doubled.

Adding in the [-] households from the year before last and the nearly [-] households recently robbed from Liangzhou, the total is [-].

In addition, Li Chengzhi also took the opportunity to recruit more than [-] rebels in Guanzhong.Later, Li Shiliang gave Li Chengzhi the meaning, and they were all compiled as Tuntian military households.Not only were they assigned fields, rations, livestock loans, grain seeds, agricultural tools, etc., but also wives and children.

You have to ask where the wife and children come from?
Don't forget that after Li Song exterminated the Dulun tribe, not only millions of livestock were plundered, but also tens of thousands of Hu people.Among them, there are nearly [-] Hu Ding, and [-] are women, old and weak.

Otherwise, with Li Song's five thousand soldiers, it would take so many cattle and sheep to Hexi in the Year of the Monkey?

After all, after the great Confucian who passed on his poems to his family, he has accepted the Confucian classics of "governing the world with benevolence and filial piety" since he was a child. Whether it is Li Song or the rest of Li's servants, he really can't bear to extend the butcher's knife to women and children.

But how to feed these people has become a big problem.

Li Chengzhi doesn't care, he has no bloodlines, and has always believed in the principle of "if the barbarians enter China, the Chinese will come; if China enters the barbarians, the barbarians will follow"!

In addition, Hexi does not need to support too many soldiers in a short period of time, so this scene is a compromise between the two.

Needless to say, once the news was released, the rebels scrambled to be the first, and almost smashed their heads.

As a result, there are nearly 11 households in Xihai, and every family has land, every household has sheep, and everyone has a wife.

It's just that the living conditions are poorer. Nearly [-] households live in shacks on the ground, and the remaining [-] households can only live in tents.

There is nothing wrong with the warm season, but it is a big problem in winter.After all, no matter how thick the felt tent is, it is not as warm as the house.

Therefore, Li Chengzhi made two preparations: one is to move the households to Biaoshi County, Zhangye County, etc. before the snow falls.

At that time, the imperial court and Gao Zhao will probably be fighting fiercely, so how can they care about Hexi.Because of the cold weather and the long distance, even if Yuan Chi got the news, ninety-nine out of ten would not send troops.

It will not be too late to move back to Zhenyi and Xihai in the spring of next year.

And this is only second, the most headache for Li Chengzhi is the food.

As the saying goes, Taoists have no long-term worries, but near-term worries.Although the food stored in the West Sea is enough for the soldiers and civilians to eat for two years.But what if one day’s wishes are not fulfilled, Hexi has not been occupied in two years, enough fertile land has not been recultivated, or the wind and rain have not been smooth for several years, so what?

There are a lot of livestock, but the family has a lot of money, so living is not counted.As long as there are two disasters, more than half of this thing will die that year.If it's a plague, it's even more important to clear the circle.

Otherwise, why are the nomadic peoples on the grassland changing so quickly, but the Han people have been standing still?
So Li Chengzhi has already started to use his brain, where can he get some food.

A loud "boom" woke Li Chengzhi up.

This was the drum order for the execution. As soon as the drum sounded, more than a dozen swordsmen raised their butcher knives.Hearing another roar, dozens of heads shot up into the sky, blood spurted out, and then fell down like rain, splashing the swordsman's head and face.

The human head fell on the stage, and rolled down like a ball. The people surrounding the execution platform screamed in surprise, and retreated like avoiding snakes and scorpions.

Although shocked, he was not confused, and there was not much sympathy on his face.

Just because ten days ago, there was a notice posted in the neighborhood, and the villagers were called together in one place, and the neighborhood and village chiefs announced the evil deeds of the rebels.

The villagers discovered that most of the people who discussed crimes were "nobles", and many of them were senior officials in the old land.

There are also many prostitutes who have been bewitched by him and have been elected as new officials of the party and county.

The common people can't figure it out, the nobles are willing to defect. After all, they were exiled because of their rebellion. They are no longer a noble family.

Compared with the past, it is more than a plummet, and it is not surprising that they cannot bear such hardships and plot to defect.

But what's the trouble with these common people, or even poor people and rebels who don't know a single word?
If you stay here, you will not only have food at home and clothes on your body, but will also be divided into fields, felt tents, cattle and sheep, vehicles, grain seeds, and farm tools.

They are criminals and rebels, and their fields and residences in the old land have been fined and confiscated, so even if they escape with those criminal officials and nobles, how can they survive?

I didn't agree with it at first, but I heard that all neighbors and households who betrayed their households will be punished together, and their fields and livestock will be taken back from [-]% to [-]%. There was an uproar and curses from the audience.

It's not that I'm dissatisfied with the government, but because when I settled down and divided the land, the officials said clearly: But if there are refugees, neighbors and neighbours, there will be a lot of seats.

Compared with the old government, there was no penalty, and no joint households were used as slave households, but some fields and livestock were confiscated, which is the utmost benevolence.

But everyone has selfishness, and the meat that has already been eaten is taken away by others, who is willing?

Therefore, the implicated people hated these traitors even more, and they were even more determined to report and report, trying to make up for the losses.

This action actually made Huangfu Rang and Li Xiaoxian dig up a lot of Xiaoxiao who had run away and even encouraged his neighbors to defect without much effort.

Most of the poor people and the common people were punished according to their crimes, and not many were convicted of capital crimes, and they were all imprisoned in the north of the mountain for farming.And all the families will be severely punished.

It took Li Shiliang nearly a year to behead more than a thousand mouths.But in just one month, the number of death row prisoners put on execution platform by Li Chengzhi had already exceeded this number.

All the gentry who were coerced to Hexi but did not conspire to defect, or who had not had time to conspire, thought that they were going to be driven out and killed.

How can I escape?
It was written clearly in the notice, and it was preached from door to door: if the report is made in advance, the neighbors and neighbors will not only not be punished, but will also be rewarded heavily.

Just like later generations, Beijingers look like 50 people walking.

Being poor means changing, and the rest of the family all swore and swore, and even wrote guarantee documents, saying that they would never defect, and then begged the Lu family one after another, and handed them to Li Shiliang's desk.

Li Shiliang went to look for Li Chengzhi again, and Li Chengzhi only replied with six words: heavy codes should be used in troubled times.

He was only discussing the matter based on the facts, judging the crime according to the crime, and did not implicate his family and clan members according to the existing laws and regulations, so he was already lenient.

According to the laws of the Yuan and Wei Dynasties, the crime of defection is the same as rebellion, and it can affect the three clans...

Batch after batch of death row prisoners were put on the execution platform, and the blood on the platform pooled into a pool, dripping down along the gaps in the wooden boards, like a bead curtain.

Li Chengzhi sighed secretly.

If it weren't for Gao Zhao, this scene would not have happened.

After experiencing the monk rebellion in Jingzhou and seeing the hardships of the poor people, Li Chengzhi was extremely repulsive to the elites of this era in his bones.

According to his original plan, all tyrants, prefects, and aristocratic families were not on his list at all.

If there was enough time at that time, this part could be excluded with a little screening.But the sky failed, and it happened that Gao Zhao made troubles, bewitching the Empress Dowager, Yuan Ying, Yuan Cheng and others to change generals.

Li Chengzhi had no choice but to steal everything back in one go.

Although he was lenient and did not punish him for the crime of possessing rebellion, whoever dared to rebel with Yuan Huai, Yu Zhong, Yuan Li and Cui Zuzhi would have a fuel-efficient lamp?
In just a few months, some families realized that this was not a military town in the north, let alone a place of exile by the imperial court, but rather like a place of conspiracy and riots.

As the saying goes, it is difficult to go from extravagant to frugal, and it is easy to go from frugal to extravagant. Now seeing that wealth is hopeless, not only are they forced to separate households, but they are also reduced to civilians. Naturally, some people have moved their minds.

As long as he fled back and reported the location of this place to the court, wouldn't it be a great achievement?
It's just that you can't make meritorious deeds, at least it's better than cultivating fields and herding sheep here, right?

That's why today's scene happened.

In addition to hating Gao Zhao, Li Chengzhi suddenly woke up: this is a class struggle, either you die or I live, so you can't relax at all.

Listening to the screaming and pleading on the stage, Li Chengzhi's eyes grew more disgusted.

Wouldn't it be too late to regret it now?

"Mr. Li, Mr. Li is here!"

Li Liang?

Li Chengzhi turned his head to look back, and Li Liang was looking around from behind.

Now Li Chengzhi is not easy to show his face, so he wears a pocket mask and mixes with a group of soldiers.Not to mention Li Liang, even Li Shiliang on the stage only knew that he was in the audience, but he didn't know where he was.

Li Chengzhi hummed lightly before Li Cong took out the banner and waved it at Li Xiaoxian who was in the formation.

Li Xiao first understood, and after a few orders, a hole was opened in the rear, and Li Liang was let in.

Li Chengzhi and his official ranks were clarified a month ago, and all former ministers have positions.Just like Li Xiaoxian, he is now the commander of the guards and the deputy director of the Supervision Department.

And Li Liang is the head of the Ministry of Industry and the deputy head of the Ministry of War.

At any time, military power cannot be left alone, so Li Chengzhi is naturally in charge...

After a few breaths, Li Liang entered the formation, leaned into Li Chengzhi's ear and said, "Your Majesty, it's done!"

Li Chengzhi was overjoyed when he heard the words: "Has the barrel been cast?"

"It's cast!"

Ren Liliang used to be as calm as a mountain, but today he exerted [-]% concentration, but he still couldn't hide the excitement on his face, "That's why I come here and ask you to try the gun!"

Haha, it was really cast?
Li Chengzhi didn't have the heart to watch the beheading here, and waved his hand vigorously, "Take me to see!"

Li Liang answered yes repeatedly, and followed Li Chengzhi out of the army formation.

In fact, Li Chengzhi has long wanted to cast cannons, but he knows what artillery means to this era.So he didn't take action until he arrived in Hexi.

Now that the Emperor Shan Gao is far away, Li Chengzhi is not afraid that someone will have a different heart if he sits in person, so more people participated in the casting of the cannon this time.

In addition to Li Liang who controls the secret recipe of gunpowder, there are also Li Zhang, the owner of the firearms camp, Li Liang, the head of the Ministry of Industry, who is Li's old craftsman, and a bunch of his disciples and grandchildren.

Professional things should naturally be handed over to professional people.After Li Chengzhi decided to build a cannon, he naturally found Li Liang.

It seems difficult to imagine, but as long as the method is used correctly, it is actually very simple.

The first step is to cast a mold, which Li Chengzhi is familiar with.

It's just a pipe, no matter how difficult it is, it is much easier than he stole the bronze statue in Kongtong Mountain and replaced it with an iron Buddha.

The lost wax method that existed in the Shang and Zhou dynasties was used. To be more specific, the gun barrel was cast with wax, and then the wax tube was surrounded by the crucible filled with graphite to make the inner mold and outer mold.

Then dry the crucible, the wax will naturally turn into water, and the rest is the model of the barrel, which can be formed by pouring molten steel into it.

Li Chengzhi didn't need to give too much advice, just put forward the request for the gun barrel, Li Liang patted his chest and issued the military order: He only needs one month to make this thing.

He has been making steel and forging armor for three years in Hexi. If there are mines, there are mines, and there are important people, Li Liang's technology has already improved to a higher level.Compared with him, Li Chengzhi is a half-baked guy.

Therefore, Li Chengzhi was very self-aware, and was afraid of affecting Li Liang, so he directly became the shopkeeper and handed over everything to Li Liang.Then he told Li Liang to keep an eye on it, and report back to him when there is a result.

In fact, Li Liang only spent half a month, because Li Chengzhi was busy with too many things and forgot the time for a while.

And it was poured a few times in the middle, otherwise, it would be much faster.

When he arrived at the steel yard, looking at the densely packed small blast furnaces and the neatly placed crucibles on wooden frames, Li Chengzhi had a flash of inspiration, and suddenly remembered some memories about steel cannons: the early Krupp Uncle, it seems to be cast in a crucible?

Since Mrs. Li forged armor in Jingzhou, the crucible steelmaking method was used.And what is cast in this way is a steel cannon, not an iron cannon?

Wouldn't it be difficult to blow up such a barrel?

Li Chengzhi was overjoyed, staring at the gun barrel on the ground with his eyes shining.

It is about seven feet long and four feet in diameter. Li Liang even weighed it and said it weighed 560 Jin.

Seeing the glaring cold light shining on the black cannon body, Li Chengzhi felt indescribably happy as if he was drunk.

Once this thing comes out, it will be more than a dimensionality reduction blow?
After a while, I calmed down a little.Li Chengzhi waved his hand: "Test the cannon!"

A group of craftsmen had been prepared for a long time, and quickly erected the gantry. A dozen people worked together to hoist the steel cannon onto a double carriage with the reverse chain.

Fearing that it would be too shocking, Li Chengzhi specially asked Li Liang to arrange the location of the cannon test in the depths of Heli Mountain.

Li Liang loaded the cannon, fearing that it would be unfavorable to start the attack, so Li Chengzhi specially asked him to fill it with more gunpowder.

After the fuze was ignited, Li Liang fled like a rabbit to a hillside nearly fifty steps away.After another ten breaths, I heard a loud "dong".

Feeling the shock under his feet, and watching the iron bullets shoot out, it took five or six breaths before a puff of dust and smoke splashed out, Li Liang's eyes widened sharply.

I'm afraid it's two miles away?

(End of this chapter)