Da Wei Chun

Chapter 683 Although it is not in the middle, it is not far away
Gao Zhao is so innocent?
He seemed unwilling in every possible way, and seemed to be condemning Li Chengzhi every sentence, but from Yuan Yuan's ears, every sentence was full of flattery.

The reason is that Gao Zhao wanted Li Chengzhi to save his life.

But in the past, he was also a person who was under one person and above tens of thousands of people, but now he has such a face, which is really too shameless.

Yuan Yuan wanted to refute, and reprimanded Gao Zhao for "excessive speech", but the words came to his lips, but he couldn't get them out.

Just because I think about it carefully, Gao Zhao is not talking nonsense, let alone avoiding the important and taking the light, but that the piles have roots and feet.

Looking at Li Chengzhi's expression, it's clear that he acquiesced...

Unwilling, he looked at Liu Fang again.But seeing the desolate and lonely look on the old man's face, he seemed to give up.

Yuan Yuan's heart tightened, and he called out in a low voice: "Siqing?"

Liu Fang woke up like a dream, and replied sadly: "It's okay!"

As he said that, he cupped his hands at Li Chengzhi again: "The so-called things happened for a reason, and the Duke invited me here. It was not an unintentional act. I think that although what Duke Pingyuan said is not true, the trail is not far away. If that is the case, why not let me wait for you?" Seeing the truth, can you retreat in the face of difficulties?"

Get out of trouble?

Liu Fang's reaction was not unpleasant, and her eyes were poisonous enough to see through Li Chengzhi's purpose at a glance.

Li Chengzhi didn't hide it, and laughed loudly: "It's better to obey orders than to be respectful. Where does Si Qing want to see, just tell me!"

Liu Fang was shocked when he heard the words: "It's nothing more than grain depots, artillery..."

After a short pause, he gritted his teeth again, "It would be great if I could take a look at the records of the army and the people!"

Li Chengzhi was taken aback for a moment, then laughed loudly again: "The grain depot and artillery are no problem, but don't think about the two volumes of military registration..."

If you dare to show people such heavy objects, wouldn't it be too much to hold back and give people a handle?
This old man really knows how to hit a snake with a stick, does he really dare to think?
Hearing that Li Chengzhi dared to show off such a heavy weapon as artillery, Yuan Yuan's mood of sinking into the abyss suddenly improved a lot.

Even Liu Fang's originally ashen face revealed a relaxed expression.

Gao Zhao still had that expression of resignation but resignation to fate.Only Yang Shu's eyes were still spinning around.

However, he no longer stared at the wounded pawn and Tongshui, but replaced it with Li Chengzhi.

The two can be regarded as close friends, and they know each other more or less. Li Chengzhi naturally knows what he is thinking: this old thief is more courageous and whimsical than Liu Fang's.

Ninety-nine out of ten he was working on the formula of medicinal wine and the method of smelting copper, but now that he heard that he could see artillery, he was probably thinking about the secret recipe of gunpowder again.

What do you want to eat?

Li Chengzhi snorted coldly and glanced at him again. Yang Shu suddenly understood: go dreaming?

Loss is inevitable, but Yang Shu is not discouraged.

Anyway, no matter how he plans, he is not planning for the court.It's a bit more grandiose, why not seek the well-being of all people in the world?
So Yang Shu is very confident: one day, he will be able to get what he wants.

Seeing that Li Chengzhi was already on his horse, he cleared his mind and hurriedly followed...

Since Li Chengzhi came to Xihai, the scene of Zhenyi has been changing with each passing day.

In a few days, there will be an extra venue by the weak water.In a few days, there will be another manor in the north of Mount Heli.

At this time, Li Chengzhi's destination is located in the north of the mountain.One of the large gardens is where Cang Cao stores grain.

The outer walls are still under construction, and they are all made of local talents and rammed red clay.Now there are more than ten feet, and it is estimated that it will be enough to build half a foot.

Just looking at the surrounding wall, it is enough to have a radius of two miles.The village is full of traffic and is in full swing.

A large cart drove out of the village gate like flowing water, pulling full of millet, wheat and the like.Liu Fang and others guessed with their toes, and knew that the grain must have been transported to Longxi, Woye and other places.

After waiting and watching for a while, and counting roughly, it only took two quarters, and there were as many as a hundred carriages driving out of the village.Liu Fang finally gave up, and looked in along the motorcade.

It can be seen that houses that look like Hu nationality's felt tents have sprung up from the ground, and they are patchwork.There are more than 200 buildings.Each building has a radius of three or four feet and is about half a foot high.But I don't know why it is round, not square.

And the red is dazzling, almost like dyed cinnabar.

When I got closer, I realized that the outer walls were all made of red square bricks, but I didn't know whether the inner walls were made of rammed earth or still made of masonry.

Not surprised, Yang Shu picked up half of the discarded red brick nearby, and asked suspiciously, "What is this? It looks like a mud brick, but why is it red?"

The old man was stupefied, he doubted everything he saw?
Li Chengzhi glanced at him, showing a smile that was not a smile: "Shang Shu has good eyesight, isn't it just mud bricks?"

Really mud brick?

Yang Shu showed an expression that you don't want to fool the old man.

In the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was a method of burning mud to make bricks, which has been passed down for nearly a thousand years.But no matter which dynasty, or where it was produced, and no matter what color the crucible (clay) used is, as long as it is made by pouring and firing in a pit, it will be blue.

Red brick, is this really the first time I've seen it?

And that's only second.

What puzzles Yang Shu the most is that although this thing is easy to use, it is not easy to control.Not to mention that it is the most time-consuming, the gold bricks specially used in the palace and the royal family are folk fired bricks, and it takes nearly a month before and after a furnace of bricks from soil selection to cellaring.

In terms of cost, it is much more expensive than masons chiseling stones to make bricks, and they are not as strong as stone bricks.But the victory lies in the unity of color and shape.

Therefore, the common people and the Han people can't afford it at all, and it is mostly used by the nobles and powerful families.

Fortunately, Li Chengzhi used it directly to repair the granary?

Goodbye red bricks are everywhere in the field, and there are brick carts coming in a steady stream. I don't see any sympathy from the craftsmen and peasants, but the courtesy is as usual, which shows how rich this thing is in Xihai?
Suspicious, Yang Shu held the square brick in his hand, weighed it, and smashed it hard against the brick wall.

There was only a "bang", although the red brick broke into two pieces, but the gap was very neat, like a knife cutting.Yang Shu picked up the broken bricks again, one on each side, and hit them hard.

After smashing it three or four times, only some powder slag was knocked off, and the broken brick did not shatter any more.

"Is it really ruled by red soil?"

Yang Shu was very surprised, "But why is the texture so strong, even stronger than blue bricks?"

Li Chengzhi chuckled: "Probably my crucible from Xihai is different from other places, that's why it's like this!"

Of course, Li Chengzhi was perfunctory Yang Shu.

In ancient times, only crucibles were used to make bricks. After being molded, they were either dried naturally or smoked with firewood, and then put into kilns to be watered while burning to cool down.After firing, it is naturally dried in the shade to form a brick.

However, Li Chengzhi used the method of later generations. From the step of material selection, it is completely different from the ancient method of firing bricks.

If it is close to the mountain, it is best to use shale; if it is far away from the mountain, it is better to use local materials.No matter it is clay or ordinary soil, or the wet mud at the bottom of the river.

Then add coal gangue powder, that is, waste coal powder.

As for raw materials, it is many times easier than blue bricks that need to carefully select clay and grind it finely.Both shale and coal gangue are materials for making cement, and their hardness is inherently stronger than that of clay.

The second is the fuel used in sintering.

Firewood was used in ancient times, but Li Chengzhi used coal. It is clear at a glance which furnace temperature is higher and which is lower. Combining the two phases, no matter how hard the blue bricks are, how can they match the high-temperature fired red bricks?
As for the color, the blue bricks are solidified by watering while burning, and the degree of oxidation is not high, while the red bricks will naturally turn red once they are fired to the end.

In addition, red bricks are directly fired, while green bricks are naturally dried in the shade, and the production time is more than doubled.

So in any comparison, Li Chengzhi has a reason to keep his mouth shut...

Yang Shu secretly cursed fart in his heart.

Hearing this, it was the same way as that soldier fooled Yuan Yuan just now, saying "I survived by fate".

Is Li Chengzhi coaxing this old man into a fool?
He was not disturbed, and asked with hatred: "Even this kind of vulgar thing should be hidden?"

"vulgarian?"

Li Chengzhi sneered, and pointed at the half-built brick wall, "You also know that this thing is stronger than blue bricks, and you should also know what will happen if you build a city wall with this thing!"

Yang Shu's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

Using bricks to wrap the city wall is the treatment only available to kings, just like Luojing in the Yuan Wei Dynasty and Jiankang in Nanliang.

The rest of the big cities, even Pingcheng, the old capital of the Yuan and Wei Dynasties, were made of rammed earth.

But at this time, it seems that the method of making this thing is extremely easy. If the imperial court learns it, it will naturally be like a treasure, and it will wantonly fortify the city.

At that time, if Li Chengzhi were to conquer, wouldn't it be much more difficult?
No wonder he didn't reveal the slightest bit of his tongue?
No matter how unwilling Yang Shu was, he had no choice but to keep silent.

Liu Fang's mind was moved when he heard it: "I wonder if I can take a look at it later?"

Li Chengzhi pondered for a while: "It's not that Li is stingy, but that I am building cities and villages everywhere in Xihai, and I need a lot of red bricks, so the kiln works day and night, and I don't have to stop working when I'm idle.

And if the minister of the temple goes, he needs to see what happened. The kiln will be turned off at that time, and the bricks in the kiln will naturally be useless.But it is just a furnace of bricks, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands, and it takes ten days to complete the work of ten bricks, which is really too wasteful..."

Li Chengzhi paused for a while, then smiled and said: "Furthermore, Mr. Li is busy with affairs, so today is a sneaky time. If the minister of the temple insists on seeing it, it is not impossible, but after seeing the brick yard, the artillery will be flawless again... "

Yang Shu couldn't help taking a deep breath when he heard that it took ten days of hard work by dozens of people to make [-] bricks.

If we get this method, if we can call all the strong people in Guanzhong, or even call in the old and weak, women and children like the West Sea, it is estimated that in a few months, we will be able to double the size of the cities of the prefectures and counties. Double the thickness.

Maybe he won't be able to hold it in the end and will be conquered by Li Chengzhi, but it's better than being at a loss and helpless at this time.

As for the cannon... Li Chengzhi at most wanted to let Liu Fang see its power, but as for the method of making it, don't even think about it.

It's ridiculous that Liu Fang's eagerness to save the country is already like a demon.

With such calculations in mind, Yang Shu did not persuade Liu Fang in the end, and did not remind Liu Fang.

Just because he knew that Liu Fang only had the word "cannon" in his heart at this time, and the rest was nothing, even nine cows couldn't be pulled back.

Sure enough, Liu Fang immediately dismissed the idea, forced a smile: "Since that's the case, it doesn't matter if you don't want to see the brick kiln!"

"That's the best!"

Li Chengzhi was kind, and led Liu Fang and others into a row of completed granaries.

Since he dared to lead them here, he was naturally prepared.No matter if you look at it from the top of the warehouse, or from the middle or bottom of the warehouse, there is no granary that is not full and is about to overflow.

Among them, ten buildings were queuing up to release grain. The golden corn and red wheat grains flowed out like water from holes about the size of a fist, poured into sacks, and then moved to the cart by soldiers.

Although she had expected it, but after seeing dozens of buildings like a horse watching flowers, Liu Fang's heart became more and more heavy, as if a heavy boulder was crushed.

Such a large grain house should store at least five thousand stones of grain, which is more than six hundred thousand catties.And there are nearly 30 granaries that are full of granaries and are being stocked.Even if the rest of the more than one hundred granaries are all empty, these sixty granaries still have a grain size of [-] shi.

And only these are definitely enough for Xihai people to eat and chew for nearly half a year.

Furthermore, how could it be possible for the tens of thousands of Western Sea troops to go on an expedition without bringing a single grain of food.What's more, it has been three months since the war started, how much food has been transported to the front of the battle since these three months?
Not to mention how much food, grass and livestock from Tuyuhun and Rouran were robbed by Xihai's successive battles and victories?

If, as Gao Zhao said, there is no shortage of food in the West Sea...

It was as if Mount Tai was pressing down on the top, but when Li Chengzhi took everyone to visit the horse grain warehouse like offering a treasure, Liu Fang's face became more and more ugly.

Li Chengzhi, who is so good, has already planned for the rainy day. He ordered the people Cao to stock up on pasture, and even used horse feed as human food, storing tens of thousands of stones.

Seeing Yang Shushu's lack of manners, biting a palm-sized straw cake with great relish, Liu Fang couldn't help grinning as if she had a toothache.

"Is it really made of grass chaff?"

Yang Shu smacked his lips, "Why is it so salty, and it also tastes like bean... Well, it also tastes like meat?"

"This is meant to be boiled or soaked to eat. How can it be so hard to chew? You have a good mouth?"

Li Chengzhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "This thing is similar to bean beans, so it's not surprising that it has a bean flavor. The reason why it's salty is naturally that salt is added to the cake to prevent spoilage. It can be preserved for a long time. As for the taste of meat , just because some of them are boiled with mutton soup, they are naturally very delicious, otherwise why do you eat them with relish?"

Cook horse feed with mutton soup?

Yang Shu was stunned.

If Li Chengzhi hadn't said something first, saying that it was prepared for danger in times of peace, and was used to store up grains to prevent hunger, and it was used for people to eat, otherwise Yang Shufei would slap him in the face.

Seeing that he didn't believe it, Li Chengzhi actually picked up one piece, broke another piece and threw it into his mouth: "It's not that I just talked about it, but it's true... I think you also know that I defeated Tuyuhun and Rouran in Xihai and captured livestock." countless.

However, it is impossible for our Xihai people to turn Han into Hu and all go to herd.It is even more impossible for me, Mrs. Li, to always live in Hexi, a pastoral land with a lot of grass and few fields, so I can only prevent the passing of time, and prevent the danger from igniting..."

Yang Shu interrupted abruptly: "So you killed all the livestock, and then used fodder to make military rations?"

Li Chengzhi hesitated for a while, then nodded again: "Even if you miss, it's not far away!"

In fact, the broth was reluctant to throw it away, and it could not be finished for a while, so it could only be reused and used to cook alfalfa...

(End of this chapter)