A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 546 The Great General's Cannon
"Legend has it that Manjushri Bodhisattva was originally the Dragon King Buddha. He saved sentient beings in the sea. Later, he came to Mount Wutai to spread the Dharma. He borrowed the Cool Stone from the Dragon Palace, and that's how Mount Wutai became Mount Qingliang."

On the city wall of Fanshi, Li Yi said to the monks whom Liu Hong had invited from Mount Wutai, "These are the monks in charge of the large temple, responsible for the estate's finances and provisions."

Liu Hong personally made a trip to the mountains, visiting each of the thirty-two major temples one by one, asking to borrow some money and grain, and to temporarily settle some people in their temples and farms.

Most of them made various excuses, and only seven temples sent people.

They only sent a few cartloads of grain and some money and silk.

This little bit isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap.

"Masters, if Manjushri Bodhisattva can borrow a cooling stone from the Dragon Palace, can't the temples on Mount Qingliang also lend me some food?"

"This is also about saving all living beings and helping the world."

"I'm borrowing, not asking you to donate. To be honest, if the court can't defeat the Turks, and if Khagan Jieli takes over Daizhou and Xinzhou, will Wutai Mountain still be cool and refreshing?"
Do you really think the Turks won't raid the mountains?

After Li Yi finished speaking, he waved his hand, signaling Ma Zhou and Liu Hong to take them to discuss the matter of borrowing grain.

Mount Wutai and Mount Heng both have many temples, many of which are quite large and own considerable property. At this time, they also have a lot of stored grain. Li Yi's request to borrow grain from them was a last resort.

Even if Huo Yu went to the Jianghuai area to purchase grain for him, it was still a long journey, and even with the convenience of the Grand Canal, it would take a long time. Once in Hebei, he would have to cross the Taihang Mountains.

Troops are marching out of the city.

Li Yi's deep, multi-layered defense system has the support of his generals. If Jieli doesn't come, fine; but if he does, it will definitely be an army of tens of thousands.

If Yanmen City fails to hold, Jieli will launch a full-scale attack after breaking through Yanmen, which would amount to more than 100,000 troops.

Although Fanzhi City is located north of the Hutuo River and built on a high hill on the south bank, it is still a small city.

Looking west towards Chang'an,

He still hadn't received military orders from Li Jiancheng, the Crown Prince of Puzhou.

Since that's the case, I'll just have to do it myself.

In the city,

Soldiers and craftsmen are chopping trees and sawing wood to build artillery.

Attacking a city inevitably requires the use of artillery, and defending a city also heavily relies on artillery.

The cannon was mainly a catapult pulled by manpower. The seven-spear heavy cannon could launch stone projectiles weighing 300 jin (150 kg), but it required two to three hundred people to pull it.

There were also catapults that used elasticity to launch projectiles, similar to ballistae, also known as crossbows, but the projectiles they launched were much lighter.

The larger the city, the more indispensable artillery, especially heavy artillery, becomes.

The defenders' greatest asset was the high city walls, while the attackers' ladders, battering rams, shield carts, and trench wagons were all designed to deal with city walls and trenches.

Those siege weapons were often covered with raw hides, so ordinary arrows and crossbows were not very effective against them. They could only be attacked by catapults and heavy crossbows.

Craftsmen and auxiliary soldiers within the city are working diligently to build artillery vehicles.
Meanwhile, work was also underway outside the city. Outside the three city gates, barbicans were being built at a rapid pace, and a watchtower was being constructed on the opposite bank of the moat protecting the city gates.

Outside the moat, soldiers were laying sharp wooden stakes.

At a distance of only eight feet from the city wall

Thick wooden stakes, each about the thickness of a leg, were buried obliquely deep in the ground, then sharpened at the top, rising half a meter above the ground, and five such stakes were laid.

These pointed earthen stakes are also known as antlers.
Beyond these five sharp stakes, the soldiers were still carrying timber and ramming earthen walls.

This earthen wall isn't very high, only about half a person's height, and is known as the sheep and horse wall.

The city wall was 32 feet high, with five rows of antler-shaped stakes, a sheep and horse wall half a person high, and then a moat 20 feet wide and 15 feet deep.

If there is enough time

Li Yi also planned to place five rows of antler-shaped stakes and a half-person-high sheep and horse wall outside the city moat, and then scatter caltrops on top.
They could even dig many more horse traps.

However, there might not be enough time; the Turks would definitely come.

The city is three li in circumference.

Encircling the city with these multiple lines of defense actually takes quite a bit of time.
But if you sweat more now, you'll lose less blood during wartime.

Every defensive fortification was not in vain.
The enemy needs to advance layer by layer, while the defending troops can use the city walls to their advantage to kill the enemy from above.

They can also fight outside the city, with their backs to the city walls.

Liu Shirang is in Yanmen City. Last year, Jieli led 100,000 troops to attack the city, and Li Da'en held out for more than a month. Now, Jieli has brought even more troops to attack, and Liu Shirang has been defending Yanmen for more than three months.

This demonstrates both that Li Da'en and Liu Shirang were skilled in defense, and also indicates the strength of Yanmen City's fortifications.

This indirectly shows that Jieli and the Turks were truly not good at siege warfare.

Li Yi has now prepared four cities, five fortresses, and one pass, which will give Jieli an even bigger headache.

It's getting hotter and hotter.

It is said that nomadic tribes dislike the scorching heat.

Li Yi also disliked fighting in the sweltering heat of summer. Just putting on full armor was enough to make him sweat profusely, let alone fighting in it.

This season has significantly reduced the fighting power of both the offensive and defensive sides.

at night,

Ma Zhoulai reported to Li Yi that the monks in charge of those major temples had verbally agreed to lend a batch of grain, with the minimum being 800 shi and the maximum being 3,000 shi.

"I plan to personally visit all thirty-two major temples on Mount Wutai within the territory of Fanzhi, and I would like to borrow three hundred armored soldiers from the Minister of Works."
"Just escort these thousands of refugees into the mountains, settle them separately, and borrow grain from the various temples while you're at it." Li Yi smiled and said, "If they don't lend it to you, are you planning to send troops?"

"There should be no need to use force. Three hundred armored soldiers are enough to keep them sober and dignified."

"What if there are really people who don't know when to stop?"

Ma Zhou chuckled, "Liu Sihu Zuo has been in the county government for many years. Even his father was once the Sihu Zuo of Fanzhi County. Later, he led his sons and followers to respond to the emperor and entered the pass with the dragon. Liu Sihu Zuo is very familiar with the situation of various temples."

These temples have been involved in numerous cases over the years, including cases of encroaching on farmland, usury, and even assault and murder.

Many cases were shelved and left unresolved.

Li Yi understood.
In the past, local county governments had very good relationships with these large temples, especially when it came to lawsuits involving ordinary people. The county would always protect the temples, whether it was because they had received bribes or because they considered the temples' connections.

In general, they try to smooth things over and favor those in power. In some cases, they even simply suppress the issue and don't deal with it.

But Ma Zhou is now acting magistrate.
He can reopen these cases; it's not that he can't, it's just that he wasn't willing to handle them before.

But nowadays, if anyone doesn't give Ma Zhou face, then Ma Zhou can also not give him face.

"Take care of yourself and don't rush," Li Yi instructed. He had never had a good impression of monks, especially the temples of this era. The bigger the temple, the more it neglected its duties, becoming rich and corrupt.

The several persecutions of Buddhism throughout history were not unjust.

"I will handle this matter well, and I will take full responsibility if anything goes wrong."

Li Yi appointed him as acting magistrate, even if it was temporary. It was a rare opportunity. From being a staff member of the Prince of Wu'an to now being a magistrate, as long as he could perform well, even if he couldn't be officially appointed,
There's a good chance they'll appoint a county magistrate or county lieutenant at that time.

Ma Zhou didn't intend to coast along; he wanted to achieve something significant.

"Go ahead and do it. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility," Li Yi said with a smile.

Ma Zhou took his leave.

Li Yi lowered his head and continued drawing on the paper.

The paper contained blueprints for a catapult, but it wasn't a traditional manually pulled or catapult-launched model; rather, it was a counterweight catapult.

This type of catapult can save more manpower and is even more accurate.

It's worth noting that some counterweight catapults in history were even capable of launching projectiles weighing over 900 kilograms, demonstrating tremendous power.

The one Li Yi is painting now,
It has a boom about 15 meters long and a counterweight of 10 tons, which can launch a 200-pound stone projectile about 300 meters away.

This type of catapult wasn't the largest, but it still had the power of a seven-gun heavy cannon, yet it didn't require two or three hundred people to pull it.

It only requires a team of about ten people to operate.

Even his counterweights, booms, and stone projectiles can be made to be of the standard type, which would make the shooting more accurate, rather than relying on two or three hundred people to pull it, which would hardly be accurate.

This kind of cannon,
It also existed in ancient China.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the Huihui Cannon was a famous weapon in the Mongol army, and it is said that it was introduced by Arab Hui craftsmen in the Mongol army.

It can launch 200-pound stone projectiles with a range of 300 meters.
This thing even surpasses the Seven-Shot Cannon in performance; it's an absolute killer weapon.

However, Li Yi looked at his blueprints.
It's probably impossible to manufacture it in a short time.

Moreover, a certain number of cannons are needed to exert great destructive power and make up for the weakness of insufficient accuracy, which requires salvo fire to cover the area.

Let's build some smaller ones first.
Li Yi redraws the diagram.
Although those heavy cannons were powerful, the craftsmen had never built them before, and it was estimated that it would take them two or three months to build one.

Let's build the smaller one first.

The launched stone projectile weighed 150 jin (approximately 75 kg) and had a range of about 250 paces.
The stone projectile weighs fifty pounds less and has a range increased by several tens of meters.

In contrast, the seven-barreled cannon at this time required 250 people to pull it and two people to set it off. It was launched 50 paces away and weighed 90 pounds.

A 90-pound stone bullet has a range of 50 paces, compared to a 150-pound stone bullet with a range of 250 paces, which is indeed quite different.

One artillery piece can save more than two hundred people.

A single counterweight box can replace two or three hundred people; this is definitely a very useful invention.

No sophisticated parts are needed; these siege weapons can be made directly from local materials, such as felled trees, and weighted with sand and stones.

Li Yi picked up his brush and drew a smaller counterweight catapult that could launch sixty-pound stone projectiles with a range of about two hundred meters.

In the era before artillery, this thing was a whole level above the traditional man-drawn catapult.

Jieli Khan,

You can be the first to experience the power of this counterweight catapult.

This thing is clumsy and bulky, and not very sophisticated. Craftsmen who know how to build traditional artillery vehicles should be able to figure it out and make this new kind of artillery as well.

It can no longer be called a "returning cannon," nor can it be called a "Frankish type."

Li Yi looked at the several sketches.

The name Wu Yipao was chosen.

It was still the Red-Clad Cannon, or the Divine Might Cannon, or the General Cannon.

Red-Clad Divine General Cannon?

(End of this chapter)