Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Li Yueji would go to the Zide Hall every now and then, to say hello to the two empresses in terms of etiquette, and also to distribute some money and expenses, because she was nominally in charge of the affairs of a palace.

When I came out after seeing the queen, it was already high in the sun, and spots of sunlight were printed under the thick shade of summer trees. The bright sunshine didn't brighten Li Yueji's heart, she just felt muddled.

Just met the eunuch Wang Zhong. This eunuch is the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Li Yueji remembered what the palace lady said that the eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs knew a lot, so she stopped Wang Zhong.

The eunuch was also clever, he stopped and bent over with a smile on his face and said: "Ms Xianfei, what do you want to do to your servants?"

Li Yueji glanced left and right at the scene of people coming and going in Zide Hall, besides, she was not familiar with this eunuch. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "What are the officials busy with these days?"

Wang Zhong smiled and said: "Ms. Xianfei, the official family went to inspect the firearms at the armor workshop. I heard that the people below have made new cannons!"

Li Yueji asked: "Is it very powerful?"

Wang Zhong said solemnly: "Of course it is powerful. I have heard that if a cannon is shot down, the barracks a mile away will be wiped out!"

When Li Yueji heard that the emperor was busy with military affairs, she became more and more worried, and wanted to ask Wang Zhong whether the court would use troops against Xiazhou, but as her concubine, it was fine to ask what the emperor was busy with, but it would be inappropriate to ask about military affairs.

...... On the bank of the Bianshui River, this season has abundant water power, and the armor workshops like several cities are noisy, and the sky is filled with black smoke. The city of the armor workshop was originally for forging armor, but a complete smelting workshop was built here, and firearms were also manufactured here.

Bronze cannon casting is not complicated, and the craftsmanship can cast bells and cannons, but no one thought of making it this way before.

The new bronze cannon used the classification test method, tested the cannons in turn, and finally determined the size. The gun body is about five feet long, and the single barrel weighs about one thousand catties. It mainly fires iron bullets weighing ten catties, so it is named "Hu Xiao Tian Zihao".

The weight of this bronze cannon is more than twice that of the previous iron-cast "Long Xiao Cannon", but it can only fire shells weighing ten catties; while the iron cannon weighs several hundred catties, but can fire shells weighing hundreds of catties.

The difference is that the iron cannon is a large mortar and can only be thrown upwards like a catapult, relying on the weight of the falling stone bullet to hit the wall; while the bronze cannon can shoot flat!

Guo Shao stood behind the female wall, covered his brows with his palms to block the sunlight on his head, and gazed into the distance intently.

Suddenly, there was a "boom" sound, and the fire flashed in the white smoke. After a while, a black lacquered cannonball flew horizontally and hit the ground. The angle of the flat flying cannonball was very small, and it immediately bounced off the ground and continued to fly forward.

"The farther you go, the worse your aim will be." Zan Jurun said, "I'm afraid it's not easy to hit a target. However, if there is a crowd in front of you, this cannon will definitely hit a bunch of people!"

Guo Shao looked a little excited, and said: "This is not a weapon for siege. It doesn't matter if you hit a hole. It doesn't matter if you miss the head. What you need is deterrence. From now on, even if the enemy troops gather in formation one mile away, they will still be within our range!"

Zan Jurun took out another blueprint and said: "The official said to use two wheels as the gun mount. We tried it, but it didn't work for a while. It was too heavy and the cannon would fall apart and deflect. But the military inspector made a new thing. The official please see that this is a gun cart, which can be pulled by horses. When transporting, the gun body and gun mount are placed on it. When firing, eight people lift the gun down and place it on the gun mount, and fix it with an iron bracket on the tail, so that it can be put away."

Guo Shaodao: "Eight people need to carry it?"

Zan Jurun said: "It weighs a thousand catties, and eight people can't do it without eight people. The folk method of carrying a coffin can be easily lifted by eight people."

Guo Shao: "..."

Although this cannon is clumsy and heavy, there is nothing that Guo Shao wants is to bounce flat and the shell must have a high initial velocity, otherwise the angle is too small and the initial velocity is too low, and it will fall to the ground as soon as it is fired. In this way, the gunpowder deflagrates in the chamber with high chamber pressure, and the bronze gun wall must be thick, otherwise the chamber will explode, and more than 30 people were killed or injured during the gun test, because it was cast too thin and exploded!

However, due to the high pressure, it is possible to shoot shotguns at close range. The previous iron guns tried gravel shotguns, but they were of no use because the opening of the mortar was too large and the chamber pressure of the shotguns was too low.

The organizational system of the army changes according to weapons and tactics. The regular army has a team of more than 20 people, and the arquebus army has a team of more than 30 people, which are not suitable for the artillery army. The artillery men and horses consist of a team of fifteen people, equipped with a cannon carriage, fifteen matchlock guns, horses, and several long and short weapons; in order to reduce armor, they are not equipped with armor, only helmets. Because it takes at least eight people to lift the cannon, and there are also firemen who take care of the horses and do chores, people who install the gun mount when lifting the cannon, and reserve personnel after casualties. The artillery army has eight cannons and one hundred and twenty people. One commanded five capitals and six hundred people.

Seeing the combat power of the artillery with his own eyes, Guo Shao felt confident, and returned to the Jinxiang Palace to re-deploy the military and political plans for the near future.

He first summoned the important military officials Wang Pu and Wei Renpu, and then successively summoned Zan Jurun, Lu Duoxun and others to prepare a set of foreign strategies.

After hearing what Guo Shao said, Lu Duoxun said, "When I was sent as an envoy to Xiazhou, I saw Khitan people coming and going in Xiazhou. The imperial court could use this as an excuse to order Xiazhou Jiedu envoy Li Yiyin to hand over the enemy's envoy and escort him to Tokyo for questioning."

Guo Shaodao: "It's very good that there is one battle and another."

... After a whole day of work, Youshi Guo Shao returned to the Long Live Hall. He didn't sleep in the main hall, and tidied up a house in a corner of the Long Live Hall for daily living.

As soon as he entered the Long Live Hall, he heard Wang Zhong report: "Concubine Li Xian is waiting and wants to see Your Majesty."

Guo Shao listened and said, "Please come in."

Usually in the palace, the emperor summoned him only when he took the initiative to think about who would serve him, and the concubine asked to see him, it must be because of something. There are only five queens and concubines (usually four), and they are still very important people.

But Wang Zhong didn't leave, instead he went forward and whispered: "Concubine Li Xian asked the officials what they were doing today, and the servants tested her a little bit. Seeing her panicked expression, I'm afraid she heard that His Majesty wants to use troops against the party."

"Oh..." Guo Shao suddenly responded.

Guo Shao sat down in the hall of the living room and waited. Not long after, I saw Concubine Li Xian coming in. She was not wearing the clothes of a party member, but she was wearing a skirt skirt and ordinary clothes, and her hair was also combed into a ponytail. Li Yueji has black hair and black eyes, and her face is not much different from that of the Han people. She is also good-looking, with white skin and a well-proportioned figure; but she still doesn't look like that when she wears a skirt and half-arm ribbon, which is a bit weird.

Guo Shao remained calm, last time there was a bloodstain dug by her nails, even now thinking of Guo Shao, he still feels his skin is hot.

However, Li Yueji made a million blessings, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"You don't need to be too polite, just sit down." Guo Shao said.

Li Yueji said softly: "Thank you Your Majesty for giving me the seat."

Guo Shao rubbed his forehead: "Why do you feel that something is wrong?"

Li Yueji said: "Don't all of His Majesty's women perform courtesy to His Majesty like this?"

Guo Shao nodded.

There was a brief silence, and after exchanging pleasantries, there was a bit of silence. The main reason is that Guo Shao had a negative attitude and never took the initiative to find topics. This woman didn't have much feeling for him as a "foreigner", and she didn't like to stay in a foreign land, otherwise she already had a reputation at the beginning, so why would she try her best not to let Guo Shao touch him?

At this time, Li Yueji's face was bright red, and she finally opened her mouth, with a feeling of humiliation, "When I was in Lingzhou, I ran away privately without understanding, and was almost killed by wolves... I always wanted to ask one thing, was the person who shot an arrow to save me that day, His Majesty?"

Guo Shao recalled for a moment, nodded and said: "Exactly."

Li Yueji said softly: "Thank you Your Majesty for saving my life."

"It doesn't have to be like this, it's just a matter of meeting you by chance." Guo Shao said, "I don't want you to be bitten by a wolf."

Li Yueji was silent for a while, and then said: "It's all my fault that I don't know what to do, and even hurt Your Majesty, and His Majesty is tolerant of me..."

Guo Shaodao: "It's just a small matter, I still have a bit of heart."

"Your Majesty..." Li Yueji looked at him in embarrassment.

In fact, Guo Shao already understood what she meant. He was dissatisfied with the marriage before, but now he is forced to do nothing. He is afraid that the relationship between the court and Xiazhou will be tense, which will bring disaster to her and her family.

She has no choice, even if Guo Shao is a pig, she has to please. And Guo Shao doesn't seem to be that annoying.

Guo Shao sighed slightly.

But when he looked back, Li Yueji was actually very innocent. Even all party members cannot be said to be bad people... In their own view, there is nothing wrong with getting rid of the control of the Central Plains Dynasty and expanding their territory for their own people; it's just that their inferiority and ambition are not conducive to the Daxu Dynasty. There is no reason for the threat of border troubles, which is pressure on any dynasty and excessive military defense expenditure.

Li Yueji was just a woman, it was unfortunate that she was sent to marry in a foreign country thousands of miles away. It seems justifiable to do this now in order to survive.

After Guo Shao thought about it, he called out softly: "Concubine Xian..."

"Huh?" Li Yueji raised her head and looked at him expectantly.

Guo Shao comforted: "Concubine Xian is just a woman, don't take everything on yourself, who can bear such a heavy burden? Since you are my concubine, don't worry too much."

After hearing this, Li Yueji was slightly moved: "Your Majesty treats people very well, why didn't I figure it out before I became a concubine..."

Guo Shao said in his heart, I am good to everyone around me. The sage said it well, where there is oppression, there is resistance. These people stay in my harem and can often get close to me. How can I make you resist and make yourself unhappy?

He suddenly noticed that her neck was red, her hands were tense, and she was silently grabbing her clothes vigorously. Her voice seemed to be about to cry, and she trembled in humiliation: "Your Majesty, since I am your woman and have been in the palace for so long, Your Majesty... Your Majesty just want me!"

Guo Shao stood there stunned, and sighed: "Concubine Xian, it really doesn't have to be like this."

Li Yueji's expression was complicated, and she was a little angry, she was about to cry: "I will deliver it to your door, others don't want it..."