Wentang

Chapter 686 Shelling
"How are you going to flatten Goguryeo?" Li Shimin said that he despised Yue Shan's military ability, but deep down he still hoped that his son-in-law could bring him a surprise, in case it really flattened him.

Yue Shan didn't answer directly, but asked, "How many cannons does Datang have now?"

Li Shimin replied without thinking, "450 doors."

Yue Shan shook his head and said, "It's too little. Considering the land area of ​​our Tang Dynasty and the future strategic development, even if we build [-] cannons, it may not be enough."

Li Shimin said: "You really don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. A cannon costs five or six thousand catties of iron. The Tang Dynasty only produces so much iron in a year, and it's not enough to make cannons."

Yue Shan was stunned for a moment, and indeed ignored the issue of steel production.In the past few years, the imperial court has built several large iron factories under his guidance, but the output is still not high enough due to the backward productivity.

It is also impossible to use all the iron to produce cannons, and other military branches, agricultural tools, etc. also need a lot of iron... The limited steel production is completely insufficient.

These 450 cannons are the result of Datang's accumulation over the years, and if he wants to build tens of thousands of them... just dream.

"Uh... In any case, cannons are very important to my Datang's future strategy, and we must build as many as possible."

"Of course I know that the iron mine in Lujiang County has been built, and all the iron ore produced here this year is used to cast artillery."

How much iron can this iron mine produce in a year?Thirty tons and fifty tons?Can't build a few cannons.

But there is no way, the Tang Dynasty can't use all the iron to make weapons, and most of it has to be used to make farm tools and the like for development and accumulation of national strength.

In a word, the family background is still too thin.

Yue Shan said helplessly: "Well, we will have [-] cannons when we attack Goguryeo next year."

"My method is that I don't need any tricks. I just go there recklessly. I don't believe that there is any city in Goguryeo that can withstand the continuous bombing of [-] cannons."

"..." Li Shimin stared at him for a while without saying a word.

"What's the matter, can't you?" Yue Shan asked.

"No, I underestimated the role of artillery. When I made a strategy, I only thought about cavalry, infantry and navy, but I ignored artillery." Li Shimin said angrily:

"The artillery can not only bombard the enemy's army in field battles, but also is a powerful weapon. As you said, there should be no one in this world that can withstand hundreds of artillery bombarding the city defense."

"It will be easy to flatten Goguryeo in a wave. If you win, the land is yours."

"Thank you saint." Yue Shan said happily.

As I said before, the birth of a new type of weapon cannot be integrated into the war immediately, and it needs trial and error to find out the suitable method of use.

The cannon is a hot weapon, completely different from a cold weapon. Everyone in Datang is very unfamiliar with it.Regarding its usage method and supporting tactics, it can only be summed up through actual battles.

But from its birth to now, it has only participated in one actual battle, the battle where Li Ji captured Xieli alive.And that was a field battle, directly bombarding the Turkic rear formation.

Li Shimin has also thought about using cannons to attack the city, and has also done experiments, and the effect is really good.However, when he did experiments, he only used twenty or thirty cannons at most, and the power was still slightly lower.

The defenders of the city can still find a way to deal with it after they figure out the rules, which cannot substantially change the situation of the battle. In the end, they still have to rely on crowd tactics to break the city.

He had never imagined this kind of simultaneous bombardment by hundreds of cannons, which made him misjudge, thinking that the cannons would work best in field battles or defending the city, and the siege effect could be said to be good.

But after all, he is a master of soldiers, and Yue Shan can figure out the truth with just a little reminder.

Twenty or thirty cannons and five or six hundred cannons, quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.

There is really a chance to flatten Goguryeo in one wave, and it seems that the casualties will be relatively small. Li Shimin became excited and pulled Yueshan to discuss the application of cannons.

Yue Shan explained the usage of cannons that he knew one by one.

Field battles, siege battles, and naval guns are all clichés, but this time he came up with something new.

For example, in an extended attack, bombard the first line of defense first, and the enemy will generally retreat. At this time, adjust the muzzle to shoot behind the first line of defense... Bombing back and forth can kill the enemy to the greatest extent.

There are also flower bombs, which are the sharp weapons for harvesting life.

He had talked about the explosive bomb before, and the Shenwei Army had also tried it, but the effect was not very good, so gradually it was not taken seriously.

The reason is that the ignited powder is not touched at this time. The blooming bomb leaves a fuze on the shell, ignites it and stuffs it into the gun chamber before firing. Adjust the length of the fuze according to the shooting distance.

But the Shenwei army is all iron-headed, and the flowering bullets are also made into a spherical shape.When the shell is stuffed into the barrel, it will roll, and if it is not done, the fuze will face inward.

The gunpowder burning in the barrel can easily ignite the fuse from the root, causing the shell to explode prematurely.

Yue Shan gave a solution, making the cannonball into a cone shape. To be precise, the first half is conical and the second half is cylindrical.

Putting the fuze on the tip of the cone, with the cylindrical part facing inwards when the shells are stuffed can perfectly solve this problem.Moreover, this shape is very consistent with the principle of mechanics, and it can also improve the accuracy of the shell's landing point.

The two chatted for a while before Yue Shan left.

When he left Li Shimin, he began to gesticulate on the map with his fingers, and he was still chanting: Yanshan natural danger, Yuguan, Yanyun sixteen prefectures, hinterland, Fanyang, dam and so on.

Finally, his fingers stopped at Fan Yang's boundary, and he spit out a word: Beidu.

Let's say that after Yue Shan left the Zichen Hall, he went straight to the Political Affairs Hall, found Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others, and discussed with them the transfer of the six doors.

Yes, the six gates were finally assigned to the Zhengshitang, which was directly managed by Zaifu.

The reason is simple. After the separation of the military and the government, the Zhengshitang has lost command of the army.

However, as the highest administrative body in the country, they must have a militarized force in their hands, at least a semi-military force, so as to facilitate the handling of some violent issues.

For example, when inspectors inspected places, they were not accompanied by a group of thugs, and they didn't speak loudly. Otherwise, they might be beaten to death by local tyrants and bullies.

In the past, inspectors could temporarily mobilize local troops if necessary, but now that the right to mobilize troops belongs to the Privy Council, they can't mobilize them. What should I do?
There are many other tasks that require the political affairs hall to have a militarized force that can be mobilized at any time.

The army certainly cannot give them, and the six doors of a semi-military organization are the most suitable.

The weapons and equipment, military quality, etc. of the six doors are not as good as regular soldiers, and the number is limited, and they are not afraid of civilian officials relying on them to rebel.

But the six doors under the management of Zhengshitang and the six doors under the management of Yueshan are completely different, and many things need to be adjusted.

The first point is the office location. Li Shimin is absolutely unwilling to put the headquarters of Six Doors on the edge of the imperial city.Although the possibility of their rebellion is very low, what if.

The best way is to set up the headquarters away from the palace, so that everyone can rest assured.

The new headquarters of Six Gates is the place that Zhengshitang urgently needs to solve.

There are many other problems that need to be solved. If you change to another position, Yue Shan only needs to hand over the work at hand, and you don't need to worry about anything else.

But he created the six doors by himself, and no one else understands them very well. He has to teach the Zhengshitang some of the tricks and points that need to be paid attention to, so as to avoid unnecessary troubles.

Almost half a month has passed after this busy work, and he finally explained everything clearly, and he can officially resign.

Regarding his departure as the commander-in-chief, the mood of the six doors is very complicated.

I am reluctant, after all, it is very comfortable to work with a chief official like Yue Shan. As long as you don't make mistakes, you don't have to be afraid of anyone, and there is a lot less intrigue.It's hard to say if it's the leader of Zhengshitang.

I am also happy, not because Yue Shan is not good or anything, but because his departure means that Six Doors can finally be ordered.

The prime ministers in the Zhengshitang are also very good at buying people's hearts, and they put the final product after the handover work is completed.

Ordinary catchers are official status, small banner officers are ninth rank (upper, middle and lower), general banner officers are eighth rank (upper, middle and lower), hundreds of households are seventh rank (upper, middle and lower), and thousand households are sixth rank (upper, middle and lower). middle and lower), the chief catcher is the fifth rank, and the superintendent is appointed by the Zhengshitang as the fourth rank.

The upper, middle, and lower levels here are determined according to the rank of the place of employment. For example, the chief banner officer of the upper state is the top of the eighth rank, and the chief banner officer of the lower state is the lower rank of the eighth rank.The ranks of the chief catcher and the superintendent are fixed, regardless of whether they are high, middle or low.

Moreover, as long as ordinary policemen have done enough meritorious service, they can be directly promoted to Xiaoqi officials and obtain official status without taking the exam.

But because of this, it has become very difficult for the officials of the six doors to transfer to other departments. Unless they can achieve the position of chief arrester, they will have a chance, otherwise they can only circle around in the interior for the rest of their lives.

But no matter what, this is a good result for everyone in the six doors.

At least they have finally determined their position in the court, and they are still directly under the jurisdiction of the Zhengshitang. The starting point is already very high.

Yue Shan had just finished his work here, and time had already entered February, and the emperor's grandson was officially full moon, and Li Shimin couldn't wait to canonize the eldest grandson immediately.

First of all, he took an official name. Li Shimin personally named him Li Xiang.One is to hope that he will grow up as vigorously as an elephant; second, it seems to have the meaning of law and reason. "Yu Shu" has a saying that "an elephant is punished with a code", and "Laozi" has a saying that "hold an elephant and walk the world".

From this name, we can see Li Shimin's expectations for him.

Then there is the title, compared with his title, the name is not worth mentioning.

King Jin.

As mentioned above, Jinyang is the land of Li Tang's Longxing, and titles with "Jin" are special.

Princess Jinyang must be the most favored. In the absence of a prince, King Jin is the biggest prince stock.Now the crown prince is Li Chengqian, and Li Xiang was named the king of Jin, which feels a bit like the grandson of the emperor from another generation.

Li Chengqian is naturally very happy about this title, his son has been named the King of Jin, and his position as the crown prince is more secure.

Wu Chang was naturally happier. Her husband is the prince, and her son has become the de facto grandson of the emperor. She has no reason to be unhappy.

Not only are they happy, but the government and the public are also celebrating each other.In this way, Datang's Guozuo will be more stable, and everyone can live a stable life for a few more years.

Yue Shan was about to go home after eating Li Xiang's full moon wine, but was stopped by Li Chengqian.

"Teacher, I'm leaving Beijing to go to Lianghu Road in a few days. Do you have any orders?"

　Double monthly ticket, ask for a ticket. . . . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)