Tibet

In the imperial study room, Li Ye looked out the window with his hands behind his back and was silent. Although Zheng Hui was a senior official in Nanzhao, he used his nephew's words to tell what Datang needed to do. Where you fell, you must climb. Come on, this is the essence of the problem.

Why is Nanzhao afraid of Tubo? They dare not touch any Tubo people, but they dare to kill Han people at will. Even officials of the Tang Dynasty dared to kill them. Why?

Just because Tubo dared to beat it to death.

Human nature is to bully the weak and fear the strong, so why not be the same in national character?

Because Nanzhao was afraid that Guanlong's army would go south, he tentatively returned the northern part of Yizhou to Guanlong's army. Once they found that the Tang army had no action against them, they would take back the northern part of Yizhou again. It was Nanzhao's nature to bully the weak and fear the strong.

Historically, Nanzhao finally surrendered to the Tang Dynasty again because the Tang army was afraid of Nanzhao.

‘How can we make peace without using force! ’

Wei Jiansu whispered: "Your Majesty is currently deploying troops against Liaodong. If you deploy troops against Nanzhao at the same time, will your troops be out of strength? If Tibet invades Longyou again at this time, your Majesty must not be careful!"

Li Ye nodded and said to Wei Jiansu: "Don't worry, Xiangguo Wei, I will definitely consider it carefully. If I'm not sure, I won't send troops easily!"

After a pause, Li Ye continued: "The Zhengshitang will send envoys to Nanzhao as soon as possible and ask them to release the arrested officials immediately!"

"Wei Chen obeys the order!"

Wei Jiansu left in a hurry.

Li Ye pondered for a moment and then said to Du You: "Go and inform the Ordnance Supervisor that I will inspect the Firearms and Powder Department tomorrow morning!"

There is no way to win three wars at the same time. Weapon substitution is the most effective method, just like the massacre of infantry by heavy armored cavalry, and the massacre of cavalry by Maxim machine guns.

Li Ye has long been deeply aware that gunpowder firearms will be his magic weapon to win. He may not necessarily rely entirely on them to fight a war, but he can use them in the key points that determine victory or defeat.

Early the next morning, Li Ye, accompanied by the Ordnance Superintendent Li Cang, arrived at the Firearms and Gunpowder Department south of Chang'an. Hu Jiuling was still concurrently in charge of the Department. Hu Jiuling was currently serving as the Ordnance Young Superintendent, in charge of firearms, gunpowder, kerosene, and alum production. Four major redeployments.

Hu Jiuling was afraid that he would take Li Ye to the military weapons prison. Li Ye saw that Hu Jiuling's beard and hair were all white, and he was only in his forties!

Li Ye kindly advised: "Young Master Hu should pay attention to rest and health, train new people, don't do everything by yourself, let young people do it, and especially establish a system. If the system is strict, then there won't be too big a problem. "

Hu Jiuling was moved in his heart and bowed: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Wei Chen is much more relaxed now than in previous years. Basically, new people are now taking the lead. Wei Chen's main task at the moment is to maintain this system and prevent loopholes from appearing."

"Tell me briefly about the system! I want to hear it."

"Your Majesty, the system is actually composed of three parts, the confidentiality system, the reward and punishment system and the innovation system."

"Just talk about the confidentiality system!" Li Ye interrupted him with a smile.

"We are divided into special craftsmen, first-level craftsmen, second-level craftsmen and third-level craftsmen. There are currently three special craftsmen who know all the formulas. These three people are closely protected by internal guards. Their names, addresses and family members are confidential.

A first-level craftsman knows a certain formula, such as gunpowder formula, explosive formula, green vitriol oil production, etc. There are currently 48 first-level craftsmen. They are also closely protected by internal guards. All his information is also confidential, except The subsidy is slightly lower than that of a top-level craftsman, but there is no difference.

The second-level craftsmen are more detailed and know the technical essentials of a specific link, such as saltpeter purification technology, nitroglycerin encapsulation technology, etc. There are 197 people in total. They live in centralized areas and are protected together, and their salaries and benefits are better than those in lower-level positions. high.

Third-level craftsmen are mainly auxiliary craftsmen, who are responsible for grinding, grouting, testing, casting, mold making, etc. They have the largest number of people, more than 740 people. They are well paid and have strict confidentiality.

In addition, all craftsmen here are called by code names and will not know each other's real names and addresses. "

Li Ye said happily: "Go and see if there are any new firearms!"

"There are indeed a few new things, your majesty, please go this way!"

Hu Jiuling brought Li Ye to the new product showroom. He pointed to a burst arrow on the shelf and said: "This is an improved burst arrow. It is installed directly on the arrow shaft after it is made. There is no need for soldiers to install it themselves. The reason is that the explosion in the front We have made improvements to the head. In the past, we were afraid that soldiers would drop it on a rock and it would shatter and explode. Now it requires a certain amount of impact before it explodes. For example, if a soldier drops the explosive head hard on a rock, or deliberately hits it with a rock, it will explode. , If it accidentally falls on a stone, there is no problem at all. "

Li Ye nodded, "Is there any distance limit?"

"It's still the same as the original one. Crossbow arrows will explode within two hundred steps, and bow arrows within one hundred steps, if they hit a hard object. There is another improvement. It used to be valid for only half a year, but now it is valid for two years. We will put it on each arrow shaft. Engraved with the production time, let all soldiers know that it cannot be used if it is more than two years old."

Li Ye said with some regret: "It's a pity that there are no explosive arrows that explode when shot on people!"

Hu Jiuling smiled and said: "It can actually be done, but it is too dangerous, the level of protection will be reduced, and it will explode if you are not careful. It must be used by professional firearms soldiers, but it is meaningless. It is better to use projectile fuse fire mines!"

"Are you talking about Zhentian Lei?"

"No, it's an arrow thunder. It's only as big as a goose egg. It's mounted on an arrow shaft. It's shot out with a ten-stone crossbow. It explodes a hundred and fifty steps away. It hurts people through the iron sheets and the iron nails inside. It just needs an extra ignition device. A step of."

Li Ye was overjoyed. This was more convenient than the trebuchet. The ten-stone crossbow was originally used by two soldiers.

"Your Majesty, please look here!"

They walked to a small table, on which was displayed an arrow mine. The arrowhead was an iron fire mine the size of a goose egg, with a match rope on the side.

Li Ye thought. If there is no arrow shaft, wouldn't it be a grenade?

"This can be thrown directly by hand!"

Hu Jiuling nodded and smiled: "Reporting to Your Majesty, there is a special hand-thrown thunderbolt, which is slightly larger than the arrow thunderbolt. It is equipped with a wooden handle. You can light the match and throw it out. We have tested it and the average soldier can throw it thirty steps away." , can replace throwing flying spears."

Li Ye was completely relieved. With such a powerful army, why should he be afraid of fighting on two fronts?

He asked Hu Jiuling again: "How much inventory do we have now?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, each item is about three thousand pieces!"

"Too little!"

Li Ye shook his head, "Now I need to equip an army of 10,000 people. We need to equip an army in the shortest possible time. Tell me, how can we do it?"

Hu Jiuling and Li Cang looked at each other, and Li Cang smiled bitterly and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the annual expenditure of the Ordnance Supervision needs to be increased. We can buy more raw materials, recruit more craftsmen, and build more workshops! "

Li Ye nodded, "I will first allocate 200,000 yuan from the internal treasury to the Firearms and Gunpowder Administration for emergency expansion of production. I will see the quantity within two months. If you apply for an increase in the amount according to the court regulations, I will review and approve it!" "

‘Two months! ’

Hu Jiuling felt a lot of pressure, but if he thought about it carefully, he could still do it with 200,000 yuan, and he had to spend the money.

"Wei Chen will definitely do it!"

Li Ye returned to the Daming Palace. As soon as he sat down, Du You came in and reported, "General Li Sheng is here. He has been waiting for half an hour!"

Li Ye nodded, "Invite him to the staff room!"

Li Sheng returned to Chang'an to report on his duties and report to the emperor and the imperial court about last autumn's war. Although hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war in Tianzhu had been sent to the imperial court, he still needed to report the specific battle situation to the emperor. At the same time, the emperor ascended the throne, and he came to see him!

Li Ye got up and came to the staff room. Li Sheng was standing in front of the Jiannan sand table, lost in thought. Li Ye coughed lightly.

Li Sheng reacted and quickly knelt down on one knee to salute, "My humble minister Li Sheng, I'd like to see your majesty!"

"No need to be polite, Governor Li, please get up!"

Li Sheng stood up, and Li Ye pointed at the sand table and said: "Something happened in Nanzhao in the past two days. A prospecting team sent by the imperial court was attacked by the Nanzhao and Tubo coalition forces in Yizhou. All three hundred escorting soldiers were He was killed in action, and five officials from the Ministry of Industry and more than a dozen miners were captured. What a shame and humiliation!”

"Has Your Majesty decided to send troops?"

Li Ye said slowly: "If I want to send troops, it will not be to solve the problem of a prospecting team, but to settle all the old and new accounts since Tianbao. And I only plan to send 50,000 troops. Do you think it can be done by Governor Li? ?”

Li Sheng pondered for a long time, but he still shook his head, "Weichen tells the truth, Weichen doesn't know!"

Li Ye handed him a gold medal and said calmly: "You go to the Firearms and Gunpowder Department tomorrow and stay there for a day. With this gold medal, you can see the most advanced firearms. After reading it, you can answer my questions!"