end song

Chapter 622
The workshops in Hanzhong are mostly concentrated in the eastern suburbs of the city and the north bank of the Han River.

Out of the city, as soon as you look up, you can see the Bashan Mountains in the south towering into the clouds, and the sky and the earth are open.

The workshop that is still under construction is in full swing, but the workshop that has been built is too spacious, giving the impression that there are not many laborers.

The donkey cart carried loads of kudzu stems into the garment workshop, and more than a dozen women came out to pick up the goods, and entered the workshop in a short while.

"That's shopkeeper Yan's business. In winter, we start to make rough cloth. This kind of cloth doesn't have much profit, it's not as good as silk."

"There are too many poor households, so make more rough clothes first." Li Xia said, "Let's talk about profits later."

Hao Xiuyang said: "But there is no money to open iron mines."

"Wait a minute, start a new year, and get it from military expenses."

Hao Xiuyang smiled, stroked his beard and said, "I knew that Jie Shuai would come over today."

"Old Taoist Hao expected it?"

"Jieshuai has been away for more than four months, so naturally he wants to see how it is going as soon as he comes back."

Li Xia smiled and asked, "How is it going?"

"The saltpeter is collected from Xuzhou, and the sulfur is collected from Dazhou. Due to the limitation of mining, the thunderbolt cannon can produce more than [-] pieces per month."

"What about the rest of the firearms?"

Li Xia was always looking forward to it, hoping to see a breakthrough after returning from Lin'an, hoping to make up for some gaps in the field battle on the Guanzhong Plain.

Hao Xiuyang smiled wryly, raised his hand, and said, "Master Jie, please."

Li Xia nodded, knowing that these things should be kept secret, he and Hao Xiuyang walked for a while, passed through the armory workshop, and walked into a tall tower.

Smoke kept coming from the tower.

After a long time, the two came out again. Hao Xiuyang shook his head and whispered in Li Xia's ear.

"This thing is heavy and heavy, so it would be useless on the plains. It is very difficult for us to build a tripod, but with the national strength of Mongolia, if we imitate it, we will be the ones to suffer. If we have to do it, Jie Shuai will not dare to show it to others."

"I understand." Li Xia sighed slightly, and said, "Let's look at other things."

The two turned to another hut not far away.

"The principle, the old man figured it out."

Li Xia saw the two wooden firecrackers on the table, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Daoist Hao is really smart and wise."

"But understanding the principle is useless for the time being."

Hao Xiuyang first picked up the longer and larger mold, and said: "The flint firecracker, as Jieshuai said, is not difficult to understand. You only need to use the trigger to drive the flint, and the flint hits the fire sickle, and the sparks will ignite the igniter. , the flame enters the barrel, ignites the gunpowder in the barrel, and pushes this... bullet."

Li Xia looked at it, very satisfied, and praised: "Daoist Hao is talented."

Hao Xiuyang waved his hand and said, "Jieshuai Mo praises the old way, the principle is simple, but the old way can't make it."

"Can't make it?"

"Maybe I can barely make one or two, but I guess it will be useless if you put in three or two bullets."

"Why?"

"How does the pipe wall withstand such power?"

"Iron pipes don't work either?"

"I don't know how much time it takes to cast such an iron pipe. And the problem is not only this one, the craftsmanship is too fine, but also gunpowder impurities, dosage, and how to control the dosage during filling? After all, we have to explore slowly."

As Hao Xiuyang said, he picked up another bamboo musket, handed it to Li Xia, and said, "This is a hundred times cheaper than the musket that Jie Shuai asked for. After all, you can use it once and throw it away. You might as well use this."

This musket gun existed in the Song Dynasty. It is made of a hard bamboo tube, wrapped with raw cowhide bands, and has gunpowder inside. It shoots stone and iron bullets through gunpowder.

It has to be said that the people of Song Dynasty are extremely smart to be able to create a musket out of nothing.

And the reason why there are only bamboo-tube guns is because the productivity can only be made to this point, or it can only be made to this point in "batches".

The range of this thing is about tens of steps, and it is easy to explode and hurt one's own people.

Even with newly made gunpowder, the range cannot be increased, because the bamboo tube cannot withstand the greater explosive force.

"I don't want this."

Li Xia didn't answer, turned around and took a few steps.

"Speaking of firearms, Mongolia's firearms are even better than Song Dynasty's?"

"If you don't count our new gunpowder, that's the case." Hao Xiuyang said: "Mongolia has received the firearms craftsmen from the Jin Kingdom, as well as a large number of Semu people. And the firearms of the Jin Kingdom are better than those of the Song Dynasty."

"It's rare to see it on the Sichuan-Shu battlefield. I heard that on the Jinghu side, when the Mongols attacked the city, besides the thunderbolt cannon, there were artillery?"

"Yes, hollow out the stone, stuff it with gunpowder, ignite it, and throw it with a cannon cart. The power is extremely powerful."

"They can only be thrown with cannon carts?"

She Xiuyang smiled.

Li Xia asked again: "Surely, can't you leave Diaoyu City?"

"Jie Shuai has never seen Mongols attacking mountain cities with artillery, so it cannot be thrown up the mountain. If the lead wire is too short, it will not reach the mountainside, and if it is too long, it will be easily destroyed. Attacking mountains is not as good as stone cannons that can be obtained locally. "

Li Xia nodded.

"Therefore, the use of firearms has two aspects, one is 'power' and the other is 'thrust'."

"thrust?"

"No matter how powerful the gunpowder is, if there is no thrust, it still needs to be thrown by manpower and cannon carriages. However, the manpower is too small and the cannon carriages are too cumbersome."

Hao Xiuyang said: "Yes, most of the time, firearms may not be more convenient than bows and crossbows, and they are not enough to restrain the speed of horses."

"In Diaoyu City, Mongolian artillery vehicles can't throw artillery into the mountain city; on the plain, we can't throw grenades into the enemy's formation before the enemy's arrows and horses rush. Maybe it's just that power is not enough Yes, or with today's craftsmanship, it is impossible to achieve higher power, is it?"

Hao Xiuyang nodded and said, "The old man can no longer make more powerful gunpowder."

"So I need thrust, it needs to be farther than a bow and arrow, it needs to be easier to drill, and it needs to be able to reload quickly so that it can be on the plains..."

"No matter how much Jie Shuai needs, the old man can't make it."

Li Xia didn't understand the details, and said the same cliché, "Please try Taoist Master Hao more."

Hao Xiuyang sighed, and said: "The old man may be able to make a tube after three years or two years of thinking, but the cost is high, and there are other problems. It is difficult to control the amount of gunpowder, and the tube will eventually explode..."

Li Xia then looked at another wooden firecracker and asked, "Is this for loading bullets? Can it solve these problems?"

"Speaking of it, the principle is simple."

Hao Xiuyang picked up a wooden bullet and said: "According to what Jieshuai said, the gunpowder is filled in the bullet, and the ignition point is set behind the bullet...Here, hit it with a firing pin, ignite it, and shoot the bullet."

Li Xia nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Hao Daoist is talented, so that the gun barrel will not explode too easily?"

"It's not enough to let all the 'power' be absorbed by the gun barrel. But again, it's easy to understand the principle, but it can't be made. It's more difficult to make than gunpowder."

"Even if you load and unload manually, one bullet at a time..."

Hao Xiuyang shook his head, took apart the wooden firecracker mold, and said, "How to smelt such a thin bullet case? The firing pin needs extremely tough iron to rebound, so how to smelt it? The ignition point is so delicate, how to make it?" To? To make the shell case and warhead just able to separate, then how to connect..."

"In this way, a small hole is slightly pressed on the shell case, and it is stuck in..."

"How to press out such a hole? How much does it cost to cast a hole during smelting?"

Li Xia couldn't answer.

Hao Xiuyang sighed: "These difficulties, the veterans have exhausted their time, maybe they can figure out a way for Jieshuai one by one, work hard to smelt them, and maybe they can be made in seven or eight years, but how many handles and how many bullets can they make?"

Li Xia already understood what he meant.

Firearms need to be developed, but it may take ten or twenty years to have flintlock guns to restrain cavalry. If they can become popular, they can be used to conquer territories.

But right now, it is impossible to expect to build it to change the world and defeat the enemy.

"The Daoist thinks it will take a few years if mass production is done?"

Hao Xiuyang didn't answer, and murmured: "The old Taoist is over seventy years old, please find some smart disciples for the old Taoist, the old Taoist is worried that there will be no successors in the future..."

~~
Coming out of the firearms workshop, Li Xia was a little disappointed.

The trip to Lin'an lasted more than four months, and he had some expectations in his heart, hoping to see great changes in Hanzhong.

However, he also understands that politics, economy, science and technology, people's livelihood, and so on, all complement each other, achieve each other and restrict each other.

It is impossible to reverse the trend by any single transaction.

The potential is like a big river, which must be formed by countless small streams.

To become a trend, you must work hard in every aspect, and everything is indispensable, but you can't expect the sky to suddenly fly down from the sky, giving you the momentum of a big river in an instant.

Without this "suddenness", there will be no such "moment".

As for the present, if Li Xia wanted to plot Guanzhong, he obviously couldn't rely on firearms stronger than Mongolia.

"It seems that there will be no backup strategy this time..."

He thought to himself and turned his head to look north.

"If you want to close the middle, you can only think of this method, but the possibility of success is really too low..."

~~
On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, Fengxiang Mansion.

"What did you say?"

"Li Xia hopes that his brother-in-law can join the Song Dynasty." Jia Hou was a little bit embarrassed, but he still said, "He also wants his brother to marry the Liu family."

"what?"

Liu Heima spat angrily and fell to the ground.

Liu Yuanzhen was too lazy to respond to this unreasonable request, and stepped forward and said, "Second Uncle, I'm afraid I don't know yet, His Majesty has ascended the throne and proclaimed himself Emperor, so he proclaimed himself Emperor, and it will be the New Year's Eve soon, and the yuan needs to be changed..."

"Even if His Majesty has not ascended the throne, there is absolutely no possibility of becoming attached to the Song Dynasty. There is absolutely no possibility." Liu Heima interrupted.

"Yes."

Liu Yuanzhen couldn't wait to show Jia Hou the imperial list he had received.

The uncle and nephew were very moved again, and shed several tears.

After a while, Jia Hou wiped his tears and said, "I also know that brother-in-law will never return to Song Dynasty, but Wu Lang is still in Li Xia's hands."

"So what? I can't agree to him even if he kills Goro, so he shouldn't dirty my ears with such words!"

After Liu Heima finished speaking, he became inexplicably annoyed.

Just because Li Xia was pregnant with this thought made him feel furious.

"Father, my child is just wondering why Li Xia can propose such absurd..."

"It's more than absurd?!"

Liu Heima became more and more angry, and spat: "Li Xia doesn't know that I am a descendant of Emperor Taizong of Liao Dynasty, a family of officials and gentry in the Jin Dynasty, and I will descend to the incompetent Zhao Song who pays tribute every year? Thanks to him who can speak! Humiliate me? I wish I could kill him Then hurry!"

The ancestors of the Liu family were indeed Khitan people. After Yelu Deguang, Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty, after the fall of the Liao Dynasty, he changed his surname to Han to avoid disaster, moved to Jinan, and became a Jin man.

The reason why he calls himself a Chinese is because the Liu family has learned Han law, and believes that the Liao and Jin Central Plains are orthodox, and they are in the same line as Qin, Han, and Tang.

As for Zhao Song in his eyes?

"Gonna, who has been a dog slave for 300 years, is also worthy of my Liu family? Speech!"

"Father, calm down." Liu Yuanzhen said: "Yes, Wang Xianshi once intended to return to the Song Dynasty, thinking that he was ashamed in his life; Li Quan really voted for the Song Dynasty, but he was defeated and killed. I, the Liu family is a nobleman, so it is absolutely impossible to follow their example. Unwise……"

After a pause, suppressing the feeling of being humiliated, he analyzed the reason why Li Xia did this.

"Li Xia will never fail to understand this, why is it still like this?"

Liu Heima asked back: "Did he misunderstand something?"

Liu Yuanzhen pondered slightly...

When Mengge Khan conquered Shu, the Liu family did cooperate with Xiao and Li Xia because of the defeat.

But the root cause of this matter is to support Monan King... His Majesty today.

Li Xia can't even understand this?Can you get lucky?
Liu Yuanzhen thought of this, shook his head, and said: "He still let the second uncle come back, my boy thinks there are three possibilities. Either it is for the purpose of rebelling against the Liu family, or he intends to come over, but he wants to bargain."

"Is there another possibility?"

"It's not worth mentioning." Liu Yuanzhen thought about it, and said, "Maybe, he wants to join hands with his father to stand on his own?"

"It's ridiculous, Zhao Song is cowardly and incompetent, and if Li Xia leaves Zhao Song, let alone talk about it without a name, how much strength does he have? I will never agree."

"Maybe there are two or three thousand soldiers and horses, and he can be a general under his father's command."

"That's enough, don't talk about useless things."

"Yes."

Jia Hou recalled Li Xia's expression, and said, "I'm afraid...he doesn't want to belong."

"That can only be...to betray the Liu family."

"Insanity."

"It's too arrogant." Liu Yuanzhen murmured: "My child thinks, maybe you can use the plan?"

"How to do?"

"Send someone to talk to him, and at the same time arrange detailed operations to take the opportunity to rescue the fifth brother."

Jia Hou said: "But, Wulang is still being tortured in Hanzhong, he must be rescued..."

Liu Heima took a few steps.

He really didn't want to deal with Li Xia anymore, but he thought that his fifth son, Liu Yuanli, was still in Li Xia's hands.

Finally, he nodded.

"can."

"Father, please write a letter to Jingzhao Mansion first, and tell Lian Gong and Shang Gong clearly, so that they don't think that we have secretly connected with Li Xia. In this way, we can solve Li Xia's divorce plan." Liu Yuanzhen said: "After that, you can let go. for."

~~
At the same time, Chang'an City and the Prime Minister's Mansion of Shaanxi Province.

Lian Xixian and Shang Ting first talked about the establishment of the year name, and then the battle in Longxi, before they brought up another small matter.

"Yao Gong sent a letter, mentioning Hanzhong Li Xia."

"How did you say it?"

"He rejected His Majesty's kindness."

"Waiting to drive back the Huntu Sea?"

"Alright, then we can't let it go any longer..."

　Today there is an update from the lord, but it hasn’t been written yet, it will be late, so don’t wait~~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)