May is the height of summer, when all things grow.

During this month, the exiled small court of the Song Dynasty did many things in sequence with an efficiency that would have been absolutely jaw-dropping in Tokyo in previous years:

First of all, there were of course several impromptu palace examinations for talent selection... No matter how many of them were just fake people, but after the palace examinations held in batches, the Nanyang small court finally selected and appointed a large number of officials to enrich the center;

Secondly, the fact that the Ordnance Supervisor successfully mined the iron under the supervision of the officials personally went to the south bank of the Han River was not important, because Zhao Guan’s family did not understand until this moment. Although the local iron mining was of great strategic significance, at the moment

However, you can continuously obtain ready-made iron ingots from government-run smelting workshops in various places in the south of the Yangtze River through the Yangtze River. The key lies in the craftsmen;

Of course, there is also the establishment of a gunpowder mill... This is very important to the officials, but others think it is insignificant, because gunpowder is really not a secret weapon for the Song Dynasty, but it is a bit like it is specially used for the personal likes and dislikes of the officials.

Raised to this height.

In addition, Nanyang and Fangcheng were also the first to be repaired and reinforced under the guidance and inspection of the new Minister of War, Chen Gui. And further away, with Yancheng in Yingchang Prefecture as the core, plus

Linying, Changshe, Xiangcheng, Wuyang, Xiping, and Yexian, a total of seven cities, also had a large amount of military supplies and food and civilians collected from the refugees sent there, as if to build a solid line in the large northeastern gap in Nanyang

Line of defense.

Generally speaking, the Zhao Guan family's statement that everything is for the War of Resistance and that the War of Resistance is everything seems to be true.

In addition, throughout May, other than Nanyang, apart from the death of Zhang Xianggong, there seemed to be many good things happening.

The first one, in mid-May, Han Shizhong successfully fulfilled his promise. He joined forces with Da Zhai, Xiao Zhai, and Lu Qing to block Yang Jin in the Mangshan area.

After wandering around Luoyang City, they finally returned to Huaixi to rest and recuperate under the banner of successfully regaining Xijing.

Not long after this incident, several documents were sent to Li Xianggong Li Gang of Yangzhou, saying that several rebels in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian had been mobilized and exterminated, and a series of southeast-eastern measures were proposed.

The Nanyang-Lianghuai-Jingdong financial distribution plan also requires the expansion of the imperial camp rear army to consolidate the defense of the Lianghuai River.

As for the private messages from the officials, Mr. Li did not mention them at all, as if he had not received them at all.

In short, since the official family entered Nanyang, the situation of the entire Song Dynasty so far has been generally improving, and even better than everyone expected.

In June, Qu Duan, the commander of Jingyuan Road, first killed Liu Xiliang, the commander of the same level, as a deserter. Then, together with his subordinate Wu Jie, they took advantage of a rebel army fighting with the rebels in Chang'an to raid and annex the city.

Two armies of troops recovered Chang'an, and the unrest in Guanzhong gradually subsided.

At this time, there was even a student who passed the palace examination and was successfully appointed to the Privy Council, called Wan Qixi. He couldn't wait to put forward the slogan of Nanyang Zhongxing, and publicly compared the Zhao Guan family with Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu!

It is said that because of his outstanding performance in the palace examination, Wan Qixi was circled by Zhao Guan's name several times in front of several princes, so he was able to be appointed as the Privy Council editor of the eighth rank together with Hu Hongxiu, who ranked first in military strategy.

And as an officer of the Privy Council, he serves as counselor for military affairs.

And it was precisely because of this special encounter that Wan Qixi was so concerned about the name of the official family.

However, Wan Qixi's charming eyes were destined to be ignored by the blind man. Not to mention turning a deaf ear to him, Zhao Guan's family rarely even went to the palace recently. They just left his note every day, and then accepted the note every few days. Most of them

Time was still wasted on military camps, gunpowder mills, and city defense projects... There was nothing that could be done about it, because in June, as the talent selection came to an end, rebellions everywhere gradually subsided, and the core work of the center suddenly became finance.

Problem, and it was only at this time that Zhao Guanjia suddenly discovered something that caught him off guard, that is, the financial development of the Song Dynasty and the severity of its shortcomings were far beyond his imagination.

On the issue of the finance of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Jiu was even more difficult than when he faced the previous official system of the Song Dynasty... He could also forcibly change the official system as an official, and he could still understand it roughly, and he could only make jokes occasionally, but the economy and finance

He really doesn't understand.

Therefore, these matters are basically discussed by the Central Committee with the capital province (the name after the four provinces were merged into one) as the core, and then he listens to the final opinions and agrees with the majority in a confused way.

Then, it is natural to give full play to the outstanding abilities of the engineering dogs and let Song Dynasty enter the four modernizations.

"Chen Qing made his own tubular firearm last year, called a musket, and is it still used in the military?"

In the gunpowder workshop, Zhao Guanjia looked at his newly acquired "treasure minister" Chen Gu, and was a little panicked for a moment... Can you not panic when a pirated copy is stolen in front of the ancestor?

"Yes." Chen Gui, who is 58 years old and dressed in purple robes, answered calmly. "Use a solid thin bamboo tube as a tube with an iron wire on the outside, and then stuff the gunpowder to the end. When the battle begins, the enemy will rush forward.

When the gun is lit from the tail, the gunpowder can be ejected from the front and can shoot several feet away. The spear head is also tied to the bamboo tube in advance. The soldiers can also use the bamboo tube as a spear to charge when the enemy is panic... This is what I used.

How to defeat the thief Li Heng."

It's actually rear-mounted and comes with a bayonet?

After listening to the narrative, Zhao Guanjia was silent for a long time before tentatively asking with a smile: "Has Chen Qing ever thought about using an iron tube instead of a bamboo tube? Look, if it is made of iron, the medicine chamber can be connected with the medicine chamber at the tail.

The ignition point is separated, and projectiles and arrowheads can be inserted in front. It is the iron barrel itself plus the spearhead. Isn't it also a serious spear?"

"I have thought about it." Chen Gui's answer made Zhao Guanjia feel ashamed as always. "But it is not advisable..."

"Is it because of the explosion?" Zhao Guanjia, who was ashamed of himself, almost blurted out.

"That's exactly what I mean." Chen Gui was startled for a moment, obviously after digesting the meaning of the word "explosion", he answered. "The reason why the gun used by Ruchen is covered with iron wire is because it was originally made of bamboo tubes.

At that time, eight out of ten would explode after lighting a fire, which is what the officials said would explode. At that time, I thought about using iron pipes instead. But I actually used iron pipes, thin and thin iron pipes because

The gunpowder is so powerful that it still explodes frequently, but the thick iron pipe makes the gunpowder lose its potency, and the thick iron pipe is even too heavy..."

Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly. This was as expected, because this was a very obvious obstacle in the development of tubular firearms, that is, the technical issue of forging high-quality barrels.

Seeing that the officials didn't seem to be willing to do so, Chen Gui couldn't help but put his hands together to persuade him: "Guans, forgive me for speaking frankly, of course gunpowder is a good thing and is of great use in defending the city, but right now it is still used alone.

It is better to draw fire, or to assist with bows and crossbows. It is actually useless to use it as a musket... Chen's musket is only used to intimidate the unscrupulous soldiers on the opposite side, and does not expect to kill. After Chen Cong defeated Li Heng

, De'an Prefecture had a population of 20,000, but only a sixty-man musketeer team was left, sharing 20 bamboo muskets... The so-called iron pipes actually did not lack this bit of iron, but after Jingkang, the craftsmen dispersed, and there was this

Human hands should also try their best to forge armor and make swords and guns, so that they can be used to their full potential."

This is the professional advice from the pinnacle of the times to quit. The authoritative person has come out to say that practicing musketry will lead to a dead end, so change your major as soon as possible.

Besides, Zhao Jiu certainly knows in his heart what the royal way is. But the problem is that a treasure-trove old boy like Chen Gui has already used his creativity to the extreme. The two ounces of water in his Zhao Guanjia's stomach are of no use at all... As for the current level of smelting

The roadblock is that he knows nothing about it, and it is impossible for him to personally start working on technical problems in a short period of time.

The more important point is that the old rules are right. There is no time to do this at the moment. From a war perspective and an efficiency perspective, it is best for a craftsman to hammer out a few pairs of armor seriously.

In a word, you should listen to the authoritative words and change your major as early as possible.

As soon as the thought came to this point, the Zhao Guan family naturally followed the good example and immediately expressed their agreement. Then they dropped the matter and took Chen Shangshu, who was recognized as the "official family's new love in May" in Nanyang, to see the gunpowder experiment... In comparison, I was confused just thinking about it.

The smelting of water, steel pipes and other things, and the optimization of black powder formulas are definitely technological innovations with little technical content.

Try to remove as many impurities as possible, adjust the ratio as much as possible, then wrap each one in a coarse cloth, make it tight, and then stuff it into a pile of soil to try!

However, just as today's muffled thunder in the field outside the gunpowder mill had just ended and the gunpowder smoke was still filling the air, Yang Yizhong, who had disappeared for a moment, suddenly appeared and led two young Privy Council editors to the official

In front of his family, there were two young men who were counselors of military affairs in the Privy Council. One was called Wan Qixiu and the other was called Hu Hongxiu. They were both "hand-picked" figures by the officials.

"What kind of sect is Xin?" Maybe his ears were a little deafened by the shock before, so when Zhao Guanjia turned around to listen to the report, he couldn't help but feel a little startled.

"Xin Qizong." Wan Qizong, a young and promising man with an upright look on his face, raised his voice while facing the official in red robes. "The good instructor knows that this person ranks second among the Xin brothers.

Yu Daxin's defense..."

"It's Erxin." Zhao Jiu suddenly realized, then clasped his hands and sneered. "He came to Nanyang from Yangzhou (now eastern Hanzhong), and brought five or six thousand Western troops with him? This is a detour of thousands of miles from Guanxi.

Escaped back?"

"Yes." Wan Qixi hurriedly answered. "Privy Councilor Yu Wen is in charge of Kansai affairs. He specially sent ministers to ask the officials how to deal with it?"

Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, but found that he could not punish this person at all... Because, if calculated according to the time, when this person retreated from Kansai, he should not have received the order from Zhao Guan's family not to retreat; and if based on the location, this person should not have retreated.

After all, a ridiculous fact is that this person fled thousands of miles from Guanzhong through Hanzhong and then to Nanyang, but he was still in front of his Zhao Guan family rather than behind him the whole time.

Therefore, in any case, this person is not a deserter, and there is no law to punish him.

"Incorporate into the Imperial Army." Zhao Guanjia thought over and over again and could only deal with it this way. "Then he issued an order to Xingyuan Mansion (the core area of ​​​​today's Hanzhong) to lock up the Sanguan and not allow the generals in Guanzhong to go to Sichuan and Sichuan without authorization.

We are even more prohibited from traveling without military orders."

"Here..." Wan Qixi held their hands in front of each other, but still didn't leave.

"What else?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask with a smile.

Wan Qixi hesitated for a moment, then took a half-step back and gave the opportunity to his classmate Hu Hongxiu.

And Hu Hongxiu also hurriedly handed over his hand and reported: "If I return to the official house, there is also Wang Xie, the envoy of Hedong. This person also fled into Hanzhong through Dashan Pass when Wanyanlou's family attacked Guanzhong... In fact, according to what I know,

, the Erxin regime came to this point because of being bullied by this person in Hanzhong and unable to gain a foothold. As for Wang Xie, although he had never come to Nanyang, he sent a memorial to the Privy Council, saying that he was inviting officials to visit Sichuan and Shu and accompany the capital to Chengdu.

Mansion, or Xingyuan Mansion."

Zhao Guanjia was silent for a moment, and then said, "Why didn't he invite me to Zunyi?"

Hu Hongxiu was speechless.

"It's just his Hedong Economic Strategy pacification envoy..." Zhao Jiu was furious, but he knew what it meant to be out of reach, so he could only confront him bitterly. "Then leave Fengxiang Mansion and go back to sort out Guanzhong!"

"Here!" Hu Hongxiu agreed quickly and left.

At this moment, Wan Qixi suddenly bowed his head again and reported something to the officials:

"Officials, there is another matter. Controller Xin Yongzong, also known as Controller Xiaoxin, has just submitted a letter to the Privy Council, proposing to clean up Dongting Lake. He said that there is a person in Dongting Lake called Prime Minister Zhong. This person is powerful, but he also deceives the public with his evil words. He is indeed planning something evil.

…”

"It's as if I don't know the details of Prime Minister Zhong." Zhao Jiu blurted out, but looked at Wan Qixi and the somewhat panicked Hu Hongxiu with a half-smile. "But what does Wan Qing think Commander Xiao Xin means by doing this?"

?Do you really think that neither I nor the ministers in the Privy Council know who Prime Minister Zhong is?"

"Guan Jia." Young Wan Qixi said carefully. "I thought this was because Xiao Xin Tongzhi had personal contact with Er Xin Tong Zong. He knew in advance that Er Xin Tong Zong was coming, and because he had followed the Guan family for a long time, he guessed that Guan Jia was coming.

The family's temper was afraid that Commander Erxin would be convicted for this, so he asked his acquaintances in the Privy Council for advice. He hoped that if the imperial army started to move again, his second brother could take advantage of the situation and make meritorious service to atone for his crime..."

"Oh." Zhao Jiu suddenly smiled again, but did not pay any attention to the Privy Council acquaintance, but continued to inquire. "Does Wan Qing think it is time to attack Prime Minister Zhong now?"
To be continued...