The heavens set sail from the courtyard

Chapter 411
Yelu Hongji led the army to the Chanzhou Plain, and then found that the Song army had already lined up and was ready to fight.

The generals of Daliao immediately laughed: "The southerners actually want to compete with us in cavalry in the plains. Don't the southerners only hide behind the city walls?"

"Southern cavalry, is that cavalry?"

"The southerners are looking for death, and the final general is willing to take the lead in the battle."

The generals under Yelu Hongji's account were ready to move, and they all wanted to win this first achievement.

Then Yelu Hongji dispatched [-] cavalry, led by his general, to test the strength of the Song army.

The cavalry of the Liao Kingdom is the best in the world, and [-] cavalry in the open plains can even disperse the [-] troops of the Song Army.

The war drum sounded, and the [-] cavalry of Daliao began to charge, heading straight for the formation of the Song army.

When the [-] cavalry were only [-] steps away from the Song army, a group of people suddenly appeared in the first row of the Song army, holding flintlock guns, and aimed at the Daliao cavalry.

Sitting on the horse, Wang Gang waved the whip with his right hand, and then the gunfire rang out on the battlefield for the first time.

Bang bang bang!

There was a sound of gunfire in unison. After the first row finished shooting, the second row quickly made up, the third row stood by, and the retreating soldiers reloaded from behind.

When the gunfire sounded, the Daliao cavalry rushing to the front immediately turned their backs.

After round after round of shooting, [-] cavalrymen were killed or wounded, and some horses were frightened by the gunshots and fled in all directions.

Yelu Hongji in the rear was also shocked by the lethality of the Song Army's Musketeers.

The [-] Liao cavalry were killed before they reached the Song army camp, and the vanguard general rushed to the front and was beaten into a sieve.

Finally, a few cavalry rushed to the Song army's camp, and were hacked to death by the Song soldiers waiting in turn.

Since the founding of the Liao Dynasty, Yelu Hongji had not experienced such a tragic defeat. Yelu Hongji immediately ordered to retreat, but the cavalry of the Song Army launched an attack.

In order to deal with the Daliao cavalry this time, Wang Gang brought all the Liangzhou war horses that Xixia paid tribute to, and each cavalry was equipped with flying explosive arrows.

A total of [-] cavalry, coupled with the power of flying explosive arrows, is a mobile fort, which is enough to determine the victory of a war.

The combination of Song Army cavalry with flying explosive arrows appeared on the battlefield for the first time, killing the Daliao army on their backs.

The huge movement of the explosion frightened the Daliao warhorses, and they were in a mess before the fight started.

However, there were more cavalry than infantry in Daliao, and the entire Chinese army was in chaos.

On the contrary, the war horses of the Song Army had already plugged the ears of the war horses with mud, so they would not be affected by the explosion.

In this battle, the Song army wiped out [-] enemies on the battlefield and captured [-] prisoners. It was the first time to defeat the Liao army head-on, sweeping away the depression of passive defense for a century.

However, Yelu Hongji is worthy of being a good fighting emperor. He responded in a timely manner, quickly restrained the defeated army, and organized a defense line to stop the Song army.

The two sides exchanged offense and defense, the Liao army guarded the city wall, and the Song army's flintlock guns were finally useless.

Then Wang Gang moved eighteen artillery pieces.

These eighteen cannons are the result of 18 years of research by the Ministry of War, and they are more than ten times more powerful than the old-fashioned cannons.

Eighteen cannons fired three rounds, and a gap was broken in the thick city wall. The loud noise of the cannons made the Liao soldiers think that the gods were wrathful, and they collapsed before fighting.

Then the war became extremely simple. Wang Gang opened the way with muskets and artillery, and the Liao army retreated steadily and suffered heavy losses.

The Liao army was not only driven out of the Song Dynasty, but Wang Gang led the army to drive straight into the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and took the land that had been lost for a hundred years with artillery.

Yelu Hongji returned to the capital of Daliao with the remnants of the defeated army, and asked Song for peace.

After taking the Sixteen States of Yanyun, Wang Gang also stopped attacking, not because he didn't want to take down Daliao in one fell swoop, but because he couldn't take it down.

Firearms and artillery are consumable items. After a few rounds of shooting, the barrels are basically blown up, and there are not many usable items.

Fortunately, Daliao was beaten to death. If Yelu Hongji regained his strength and fought the Song army again, it would be hard to say who would win.

Wang Gang stole a chicken with muskets and cannons to defraud Yelu Hongji, but this kind of chicken stealing can only be concealed for a while.

So Wang accepted it as soon as he saw a good deal, and immediately negotiated with Yelu Hongji after taking the Yanyun Sixteen States.

This negotiation swept away the humiliation of the Chanyuan Alliance, and Song Dynasty proposed to cancel the old coins and no longer pay Daliao.

Daliao will also return the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, and the two countries will open up mutual trade.

The so-called mutual market trade refers to the exchange activities of border residents in border areas within the specified amount or quantity range at open points approved by the imperial court or designated markets.

Mutual market trade is extremely beneficial to the Song Dynasty. The Liao Kingdom likes the grain, tea and silk of the Song Dynasty very much, so it has to exchange war horses, cattle and sheep.

The Song Dynasty can not only get the best war horses, but also the mutual tax revenue can make up for the war losses.

Yelu Hongji was blown out of psychological shadow by the artillery, and he agreed to Da Song's request without much persistence. The two countries temporarily suspended their troops and signed an armistice agreement.

Wang Gang stayed in Yanmenguan for a year, on the one hand conquering the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, and on the other hand presiding over the mutual market to prevent the Daliao from making a comeback.

On the northwest battlefield, Gu Tingye also won a decisive battle against the Xixia army. The flintlock is a dimensionality reduction blow to the war in the cold weapon era.

If it weren't for the high cost of muskets and artillery, and the high wear and tear, Gu Tingye could even capture the Xixia Imperial City.

This time Xixia was defeated, not as lucky as last time, and nearly a thousand miles of land was lost to Da Song.

The two victories made Da Song famous, and made Wang Gang's reputation spread all over the world. Everyone knew that Da Song would not have won without the guns and cannons he invented.

Many people in the Song Dynasty only knew Wang Gang but not the official family.

A year later, Wang Gang received an official imperial decree at Yanmenguan and transferred him back to the court because Sima Guang was seriously ill.

The first emperor Zhao Xu only appointed two Ministers of Gu Ming, one was Sima Guang and the other was Wang Gang, and the two were just in balance.

But Sima Guang is too old and too upright. Although he is the leader of the conservative faction, his ability is not too outstanding.

Before Sima Guang was able to control the court, it was thanks to Song's foreign victories one after another, which shifted the original contradiction between the reformers and the conservatives.

But as the war ended, the court's conservatives and reformers fought again. Sima Guang managed to maintain a balance, but his body was exhausted and he was about to die.

The officials were in a hurry, so they wanted to transfer my uncle back to the imperial court to preside over the overall situation, and use his power of victory on the battlefield to suppress those restless ministers.

Wang just came out for a year, and he missed his family a little bit. He handed over the general affairs to Kong De, and returned to Bianjing by himself.

When he returned to Bianjing this time, Wang Gang immediately felt different. As soon as he came back, many ministers handed over greeting cards, wanting to make friends with him.

Wang Gang refused all of them, and went to visit Sima Guang first.

The little emperor in the palace heard that Wang had just returned to Beijing, so he didn't go to the palace immediately to meet the saint. Instead, he went to see the dying Sima Guang, and his face was very ugly.

When Wang Gang came to Sima Mansion, he was taken directly into Sima Guang's bedroom by the housekeeper.

The first time he saw Sima Guang, Wang Gang realized that he was indeed not far from death.

Not seeing each other for a year, Sima Guang was so thin that only a skeleton was left, and the room was filled with an unpleasant stench.

That's the smell of decay.

Sima Guang has stayed up until now, all waiting for Wang Gang.

"Master Sheng, you are here." Sima Guang propped up his weak body and sat up directly from the bed.

Wang Gang hurried forward to help him.

"Thank you, Mr. Sheng, how is the war in the north?" Sima Guang was still concerned about state affairs at this time.

"The war has basically subsided, and Daliao will not make any more noise in a short time. As for Xixia being completely maimed by Gu Tingye, I can destroy him in two or three years at most."

Sima Guang nodded in satisfaction, and said: "The first emperor made you a minister of Gu Ming and granted you military power, because he knew that you could lead the Song Dynasty to victory.

It is a pity that the old minister failed the great trust of the late emperor, and I am afraid that he will not be able to assist the official family. "

Wang Gang was silent for a while, and said: "My lord, do you still have a wish?"

Sima Guang held Wang Gang's hand and asked sincerely, "Master Sheng, what do you think of Master Wang Anshi's reform?"

Wang Gang was taken aback for a moment, he didn't expect Sima Guang to be dying, and he was still concerned about Wang Anshi's reform.

Didn't this conservative give up on stopping the reform until his death?

Wang Gang sighed and said, "My lord is afraid that I will support the prince's reform?"

Sima Guang lowered his eyebrows and said: "Although the prince is dead, there are still many people in the court who suggest that the officials continue to reform and strive for strength.

The official family is young and prone to impulsiveness. I am worried that he will restart the reform and bring Da Song into a place of eternal doom. "

Wang Gang sneered and said, "My lord is too alarmist."

Sima Guang looked up at Wang Gang in surprise, and asked, "Master Sheng agrees with the reform?"

Wang Gang nodded and said: "The Great Song Dynasty has been weak for too long, the domestic land mergers are serious, the people are rich but the country is weak, and the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the gentry and powerful. Sooner or later, troubles will arise."

Sima Guang worried: "When you were an official in Jiangxi, you beat up the local powerful gentry. It seems that you have not changed."

Wang Gang nodded and said: "The Great Song Dynasty really needs to reform the law, but the prince's reform will only treat the symptoms rather than the root cause, and it will easily arouse conflicts, which is really not advisable."

Sima Guang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but soon realized other problems.

"You want to implement a new reform?"

Wang Gang nodded and said: "That's right, I want to promote that the stalls be paid into the mu, the fire consumption will be returned to the public, and the officials and gentry will pay for the food."

hiss……

Sima Guang gasped.

(End of this chapter)