Tumeng: I am a national advisor in the Golden Family

Chapter 304: Three Years, Preparing for the Western Expedition (Part )

After Zhang Yong returned to Jingzhao Mansion, he also brought back another important guest. This guest was Turan Lun's mother, Princess Hulan.

This time, Zhang Yong helped Wo Kuotai a big favor, so he proposed to Wo Kuotai to take Tulan Lun's mother, Princess Hulan, home to support him.

Regarding this request, Wokuotai naturally had no intention of rejecting it and directly agreed to Zhang Yong.

"Tulanlun! Is this your home? I will live here from now on. It's so warm here." After arriving at Jingzhao Mansion, Princess Hulan looked at the tall city wall in front of her and said.

"Mother! You will live with us from now on. The temperature here is completely different from that of the grassland. Winter is not that cold.

Moreover, the palace has very good heating equipment, so you can wear summer clothes in the house even in winter.

When spring and summer come, I will take you, my concubine, to visit the land of Sichuan and Sichuan.

The scenery there is beautiful and pleasant, with famous mountains, rivers and lakes everywhere. Tu Lanlun said.

"Okay! I just miss your brother a little bit, and I don't know if he will come to visit my mother in the future." Princess Hulan sighed and said.

His son Kuolejian is now twenty years old and has just reached adulthood. Genghis Khan had just sealed his tent and land for him a few years ago.

His mother is in Harahelin, and Wokuotai will only fulfill part of the obligation to support her, but his younger brother, Tulan Lun, is 100% sure that he will not take his mother over to support her alone.

With Zhang Yong's encouragement, in addition to Sichuan and Sichuan, Xixia and Guanzhong began to plant a large amount of wheat.

Even in the land of Guanzhong, there are many plain areas where you can ride horses.

At that time, no one will care about her mother anymore, and her eldest daughter can take better care of her mother.

After settling down Tu Lanlun's mother, Zhang Yong began his busy life again, first managing the two newly acquired lands and arranging for some refugees who had fled from the Central Plains.

"Really? That's great. When the time comes, you two will go to the Western Expedition together. You must take care of each other and nothing will happen to anyone." Princess Hulan suddenly became happy when she heard that her son was coming to see her soon. stand up.

The areas around Henan, Xixia, Guanzhong, and Sichuan and Sichuan began to develop and recover in an orderly manner under Zhang Yong's various decrees.

If they choose to live in their homeland, just like before, Zhang Yong will distribute some food to them, and then allow them to continue farming until next spring.

If you are willing to go to Zhongxing Mansion, the former capital of Xixia, then everyone can receive one stone of grain, two sheep, one male and one female, and can rent cattle for free in the coming year.

In addition to wheat, Zhang Yong also actively encourages the cultivation of sugar beet in his territory.

But her daughter said that it was a bitter cold place and the living conditions were very poor.

The beet seeds brought back from the Delhi Sultanate began to take root and sprout in the Central Plains, and other things such as onions, loofahs, cucumbers, etc. also began to be planted on a large scale.

Kuo Liejian is also one of the kings of the Western Path who has good relations with Zhang Yong, and because Tu Lanlun is his eldest wife, Kuo Liejian and Zhang Yong have a very good relationship.

Zhang Yong also opened several more food processing plants on his own land, and raised domestic chickens on a large scale. He also selected chickens according to the methods on Friends of Military and Civilian Talents to select hens that are better at laying eggs. , let them breed.

Zhang Yong will distribute seeds to let them plant wheat, and after arriving in Zhongxing Prefecture, Xixia, each family will be allocated ten acres of arable land.

Originally, after her husband passed away, she hoped to live with her son.

Turan Lun has also lived in the Guanzhong area of ​​the Central Plains for several years, and now she feels that the environment on the grassland is not very good.

Zhang Yong nodded, invited Princess Hulan into the mansion, and arranged a separate courtyard with several maids and servants, and it was closely adjacent to Tulanlun.

Tomatoes, a high-yield seed brought from modern times, are also planted extensively in Zhang Yong's territory, preparing to make tomato sauce in the future.

And Zhang Yong, the farmer who grows these plants, will also provide certain subsidies and then recycle what they grow.

"You are right. When the child grows up, he no longer needs me to protect him from the wind and rain. Let him go out on his own! I don't have to worry about that anymore." Hu Lan said.

His land was far inferior to that of her husband.

Although his younger brother is the son of Genghis Khan, he is just an ordinary king of Xidaozong.

Now that the Central Plains has been completely ruled by Mongolia, the only areas he can rule are Hezhong Prefecture and Henan Prefecture. These refugees now have two choices.

Zhang Yong said that his younger brother Kuo Liejian would soon follow the large army on the Western Expedition.

The bitter cold land on the grassland is incomparable to the land in the Central Plains. The land in Guanzhong has developed steadily over the years and is even more prosperous. It is the best choice for you to live and retire here.

"Don't worry, mother! During this Western Expedition, I will serve as the strategist of appeasement. I will take care of Turanlun's younger brother Kuolejian so that he can make more military exploits during the Western Expedition. The West occupies a piece of land to rule, and he also told me that he will come to visit you alone before the Western Expedition." Zhang Yong said.

If he is a single man, Zhang Yong also promises to assign him a wife after arriving there. If the couple is willing to go together, they can be exempted from taxes in the second year.

One is to go to Henan Prefecture and Hezhong Prefecture, and the other is to go to the former capital of Xixia to engage in farming life there.

This time, Zhang Yong also informed the other party that his mother was being brought to the Central Plains to support her. Kuo Liejian agreed without saying a word, and said that he would come over to visit his mother after finishing his work on the territory.

Tomatoes were made into tomato sauce, and cucumbers were made into pickled cucumbers, which were uniformly stored for military rations.

Increase the production of eggs, ghee, sugar, eggs, wheat flour, and compress the biscuit powder to start large-scale mass production.

In terms of military rations, which can now be stored for a long time, Zhang Yong has three types of food: compressed biscuit powder, tomato paste and pickled cucumbers.

However, immigration work is not carried out among refugees, except for refugees from the Central Plains.

And he will not return to the grassland after the Western Expedition. He will divide the accounts there. You live here, your daughter will take care of you, and you can also play with a few grandchildren. Tu Lanlun said.

And if you want to ride a horse on your own land, there is no huge pasture.

It is still up to her, the eldest daughter, to take care of the elderly.

Zhang Yong, the land of Sichuan and Sichuan, also offered such conditions. Many farmers who did not have arable land for planting were also willing to choose to come to Xixia for development.

The conditions offered by Zhang Yong are indeed extremely generous, but some refugees still choose to return to their homeland. Only a small number chose to go to Xixia.

"Mother! A good man has his ambitions in all directions. My brother will go to the West soon. If you go to his side, no one will care about you for five or six years.

Moreover, when Mongolian men reach adulthood, they will basically live in separate houses and completely ignore their parents.

In addition to military food, Zhang Yong also began to produce weapons and armor, forge weapons, and arm his own army.

First, Zhang Yong expanded his 3,000 heavy armored cavalry to 5,000.

And in the coming year, a new army was recruited again, the number was not too many, also 10,000.

Half a year after Wokuotai sent reinforcements to Batu's territory, the crude oil supply chain finally recovered.

A new batch of crude oil was transported to Zhang Yong's territory and made into new gasoline.

In addition, Zhang Yong's gunpowder workshop and steel foundry have also achieved the expected goals. Using the mold pouring casting method and using high-quality steel, they finally cast the first real artillery.

As soon as the new artillery was completed, Zhang Yong came to his weapons testing site and began to test the power of this new artillery.

"Your Majesty! Follow your instructions. This cannon weighs one thousand two hundred kilograms. The whole body is made of pure steel. The muzzle is like a small basin. One shot can destroy a small city wall. And according to your instructions According to the order, a small wheel was installed under the cannon to make it easier to transport." The craftsman in charge of casting firearms said. "Yeah! Where are the cannonballs!"

"Your Majesty! The cannonballs have been produced. They are about the size of a honeydew melon. Take a look." The firearms craftsman took out a pure black round cannonball wrapped with iron and placed it in front of Zhang Yong.

"Yes, let's do a test firing! Let me see its power." Zhang Yong said.

I have given you the detailed drawings of the cannon and the design of the cannonball. As long as steel production increases and the black powder is crystallized, the power of the cannonball will not be much different.

The gunpowder designer nodded and ordered the soldiers to move out the two newly cast heavy artillery pieces, then set them up to load propellant, then load the shells, and then ignite them.

Boom! Boom!

The two artillery pieces made a huge roar. The powerful recoil caused both artillery pieces to move backwards.

After a hillside in the distance was hit, a violent explosion occurred, and flames shot into the sky. In terms of power, it was only more powerful than the explosive pack.

And the impact is stronger and the range is longer. You must know that using a 45° angle and tilting the projectile, the unscrupulous cannon can only shoot two hundred meters.

After this new type of cannon was cast, the direct shooting distance reached about 250 meters. After all, the filling powder itself was filled with sugar.

And to be honest, the heartless cannon is extremely inconvenient to use. First, you have to dig a hole in the ground to fix it.

Moreover, the damage rate is also very high. Basically, it will become useless after firing more than ten or twenty guns. However, this new type of cannon has no pressure in this regard at all.

"As for the artillery shells, design two types for me. One is a field artillery shell to deal with infantry and cavalry, and the other is to deal with city walls. To deal with city walls, I will increase the amount of gunpowder and the sugar inside to increase the explosive power and combustion. degree.

As for the field artillery shells, I added shrapnel fragments and some iron filings inside. "Zhang Yong said.

"Your Majesty, we understand." Seeing that his Prince was quite satisfied with the test firing of the cannon, the gunpowder caster breathed a sigh of relief.

"How many such cannons can be produced every year?" Zhang Yong asked.

"Reporting to the prince, based on our current steel production, if we do not make other weapons and armor, we can make about ten doors a year. But if we still want to make weapons and armor, we will need to consume steel. We can only make Arrive at the door at five." The craftsman said.

After all, there is only so much steel production every year. To cast a cannon, you cannot make weapons and armor. This cannon consumes about 1,500 kilograms of steel, which is enough to make hundreds of weapons.

"Yeah! Just make six cannons every year. I will take ten cannons with me during the Western Expedition, and the rest will be deployed to Hanzhong Prefecture and Chongqing Prefecture." Zhang Yong said.

Although the power of this kind of artillery has been greatly improved, its lethality against the city wall in the east is still not online. There is no way. Even some modern heavy artillery cannot penetrate the slope-shaped city wall more than ten meters thick.

But this kind of artillery is very lethal to some castles in Europe, and it can be used as one's own secret weapon.

More than a thousand kilograms of things can still be pulled on a carriage. The amount I carry is not much, so it should be enough.

"It's the prince! We know."

"The research on artillery cannot stop. The firearm information I left behind can be studied by anyone as long as their identity is correct.

But keep it secret, and then build me a newer cannon that is heavier, has a longer range, and has a stronger explosion. "Zhang Yong said.

A group of artillery casters nodded and said. :

"My lord, you can rest assured that every one of our gunpowder casters will strictly check the identity of the fourth and fifth generations to ensure their safety and will never be allowed to leave the Guanzhong area."

"I understand. You can continue your work. I'll leave first. You did a good job this time. Each of you will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver." Zhang Yong said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."

Zhang Yong nodded, stood up, left the artillery testing site and returned to Jingzhao Mansion.

After dealing with matters in the Central Plains, Zhang Yong came to Xining Prefecture in Xixia and the Qinghai Lake Grassland Herdsmen's Residential Area.

Zhang Yong's arrival was warmly welcomed by the people in the pastoral area.

"Your Majesty! I will pay my respects to Your Majesty later." Twelve heads of thousands of households and a group of heads of hundreds of households collectively knelt in front of Zhang Yong and said.

Because the herdsmen population in the territory has continued to increase in recent years, the number of these Mongolian herdsmen has increased to a certain extent.

The total number of military households now has almost reached 13,000, so Wokuotai arranged for two more Mongolian households.

However, these two thousand households were also excellent chief guardians promoted from within the tribe. Wokuotai still gave Zhang Yong more face, and did not parachute anyone to become a thousand households.

"Okay, everyone, please sit down. I haven't been here for a while. How have your lives been lately?" Zhang Yong asked.

"Your Majesty, our life now is much better than on the grassland. Every household has enough to eat and raises several children. Now we don't lack anything," Bart said.

is not that right? There is food and livestock, and now every family has four or five children, some boys and some girls.

The only thing they worry about now is how to separate these children and distribute family property to them in the future.

"I think you should have heard that the Great Khan is organizing a new Western Expedition." Zhang Yong asked.

"Your Majesty, we know this. All of us will follow the Khan's order and your order to fight together." Shamuhe said.

"This is how I think about it, select some children over the age of twelve, and then train them for three years. When they reach the age of fifteen, I will take them to the Western Expedition. This time it is to hone the youth People. The upper-class Mongolian nobles are born from their eldest sons, and you are also born from your eldest sons." Zhang Yong said.

A group of thousands and hundreds of households looked at each other and nodded. This proposal is still acceptable.

"Your Majesty, we old guys can't stand still. Just let these half-grown boys go, and let's send thousands of people to go!" Cha Tuohua said.

If you just let these half-grown men go, I guess many people will not feel relieved.

"Okay! You will send out two thousand people, and I will limit the age to under thirty years old. After all, this Western Expedition is a long way, so it is better for young people to go." Zhang Yong said.

"Your Majesty! There are more than 10,000 of us eldest sons in total. We will choose 8,000 who are older and stronger.

Select another 2,000 experienced veterans to gather 10,000 people to follow you in your western expedition. "Hurjin said.

"Well! Anyway, the total number of troops sent is 10,000. In addition to you 10,000 people, there are also 15,000 Han troops.

This time, your soldiers accompanying the army will be treated the same as ordinary Han army soldiers. I will also give you military pay, and provide you with food, grass, weapons and armor along the way.

Then I will select 50,000 livestock from my large breeding farm and give them to these young people who are willing to follow me in the Western Expedition.

After conquering those western nations, I will give each of them a wife. "Zhang Yong said.

Hearing this, a group of heads of thousands of households and heads of hundreds of households wished they could go there themselves, the treatment was so good!

"Thank you, Your Majesty! We will never forget your kindness to us."

"Your Majesty, some of our families are married to children. When the time comes, we can let them bring their women to join you in the Western Expedition. These female family members can usually stay in the supply camp at the rear."

According to Mongolian rules, if the eldest son leaves the family and goes to fight with the Khan, they will be given some animals and prepare their own weapons and armor.

This time, the King of Guanzhong actually gave them weapons and armor, money, and livestock. This was better than the treatment Genghis Khan received when he recruited them to fight.

"Well, you have spent the past few years cultivating these young people. When the time comes, they will follow me and conquer those Western nations." Zhang Yong said.

(End of this chapter)