Fu Song

Chapter 724

Yeluzhen held the robe in one hand and walked in a hurry, it could be seen that he was a little anxious.

It wasn't until the figure of Empress Dowager Chengtian Xiao Chuo appeared in his sight that he slowed down and tried to look calmer.

Xiao Chuo was leaning on the wooden chair in the long corridor, holding a book in his hand, reading it with gusto, the morning sun's rays crossed the ridge of the roof, passed through the railings above the long corridor, leaving mottled light and shadow in the on her.

Yeluzhen stopped in her tracks and watched the scene from afar.

It was as if what was presented in front of him was a peerless masterpiece that was completed after the artist's ingenious conception, but he didn't want to go one step further, so as not to disturb the people in the painting and ruin this wonderful scene.

The queen mother is only 32 years old this year!
Yeluzhen suddenly remembered the poems of the Empress Dowager that the late emperor Yelujun ordered people to collect a long time ago. Almost every capital can be called a masterpiece handed down from generation to generation.

But the queen mother has been in Daliao for 16 years, but she has never written a poem again.

From the Queen Mother, there are only cold laws, bills, etc. left.

Xiao Chuo raised his head, looked at Yeluzhen, put down the book in his hand with a smile, and waved to him.

"Iron cannon? Two hundred?"

"Liu Yu, you are a smart person, much smarter than Cui Ang, Qu Zhen and others, but why are you putting the cart before the horse now?" Xiao Chuo said: "If we lose the Jianghuai battle, let alone the South If the conquest fails, even Hebei Road, we will not be able to keep it. And at that time, do you think your Qi State can still be kept? We can return to the old place, we can even give up the land of Youyan, but what about you? Can you To where? Follow us?"

Xiao Chuo laughed.

Xiao Chuo sighed: "A book like the Complete Book of Agriculture is a sharp weapon for a rich country and a strong military. If it were me, I would definitely hide the contents of this book and never let outsiders see it. But look at it. People in the Song Dynasty actually printed a lot, and you can buy it in any bookstore, and you are not afraid of being caught by us. Come and see, the sweet potato seedlings are raised for winter, stems are cut and divided, cuttings, and cellars are all explained clearly. I drew illustrations for fear that people would not be confused. What does this mean?"

Yeluzhen sat down on the wooden chair opposite Xiao Chuo, nodded and said: "Yes, Queen Mother, the news came last night that Liu Quanyi from the northwest direction has already lost Yan'an Mansion and Suide Mansion. , Li Yi's, and Zhang Cheng's troops have a total of nearly 10 people, and they have launched a full-scale attack on the Jin State. According to their current entry, they may come to the Taiyuan Mansion within ten days."

"So you bypass Xuzhou and don't want to touch this nail, but you look at the entire Jianghuai River, Yingshui, Woshui, Suishui, Bianshui, Surabaya, Yishui and Huaihe River, the entire Jianghuai River is dismantled. , On such a fragmented piece of land, when we fight any other place under the condition that the navy cannot take advantage, we will suffer from the opponent using the navy to flexibly dispatch troops to double-team. Most of the time, it will be futile. It's just smashing the halberd into the sand." Xiao Chuo said angrily.

"I'm going to prepare now." Yeluzhen stood up and said.

"It is said that they have another book that is being edited, and my second brother presided over it himself. The name is Tiangong Kaiwu!" Xiao Chuo said: "The Complete Book of Agriculture is about agriculture, but this Tiangong Kaiwu It's about manufacturing. I estimate that it should contain the most advanced technologies that the Song people have now!"

"Everyone is going to die. Does it make any difference whether they die by a bomb, or by a crossbow, or by a knife?" Xiao Chuo reached out and picked up the book beside him, turned a few pages, and looked up. Looking at Yeluzhen. "Yeluzhen, do you know why you haven't made any progress for so long?"

Yeluzhen was dumbfounded: "This, how can this be used?"

"Queen, I tried to attack Xuzhou several times, and the casualties were too great."

"Yes, the ten thousand Shan army around the empress dowager is much more powerful than ordinary troops. If they can enter the Hedong battlefield, they will not only be able to stabilize the situation, but they may even be able to counterattack their opponents and defeat them in one fell swoop, reversing the Hedong battlefield." Yeluzhen said.

"We also made bronze cannons?" Yeluzhen was surprised and delighted.

"Liu Yu, are you going to destroy the Navy of the Song Dynasty, or do you want to preserve your strength?"

"You mean Sun Pu?"

"You just need to understand!" Xiao Chuo said, "Song people have the capital to procrastinate, but we don't. Let's prepare for a decisive battle! The [-] leather troops from Zhongjing and Shangjing have already set off, and it's almost time to cross the Yellow River by now."

"It's all for you!" Xiao Chuo said: "Along the Xuzhou line, the Song army is fully occupied, and there will be no more than 15 people, and this is almost more than [-]% of their entire army. Do you understand what this means? Just defeat them here If we defeat them and break through the Jianghuai River, the so-called Yangtze River defense line will be useless. And the destruction of the main force will give those people in the south who were afraid of us and unwilling to fight us a reason to fight my second brother again. As long as these people gain the upper hand, the Southern Song Dynasty may negotiate peace with us. Didn’t the second brother hold a court meeting? Any decision must be made through the court meeting? The minority obeys the majority!”

"what do you want to say?"

The Complete Book of Agriculture.

A bead curtain separated Xiao Chuo and Liu Yu.

"Queen Mother, the Song army has deployed heavy troops along the Xuzhou line, but more importantly, they seem to be preparing to fight us on this line from the very beginning, and all the defense lines are unusually strong. "Yeluzhen said: "If there is no blessing of gunpowder weapons, the minister is still sure to break through these barriers, but the damage caused by gunpowder weapons is too great. Even if we have it, but for the attacking side, it is even more difficult. exposed to the attack of gunpowder weapons."

The four big characters on the writing are written by Xiao Cheng.

"King Qi, you are not supervising the battle along the Jianghuai line, but you have come to the Daming Mansion to ask to see the Palace, is there something important?" A cold voice came from behind the bead curtain.

"I've heard, Queen Mother, didn't you send people to get a lot of seeds from there and start transplanting?" Yeluzhen said.

"You care too much about the dead. Especially the casualties of the nation, you are a little timid! Once you succeed in everything, you are not like this when you were in Huanglong Mansion."

Yeluzhen smiled, bowed and saluted, turned around and strode out.

"Looking at you, it seems that you haven't brought any good news!" Xiao Chuo said. "Sit down and talk!"

Yeluzhen's face was flushed with anxiety, she bowed her head and said, "It's because I'm incompetent, and I'm adjusting our troops."

Xiao Chuo said indifferently: "Why don't you ask the emperor to transfer over the [-] leather troops who stayed in Zhongjing and Shangjing! Now you are struggling in Jianghuai, Zhennan King, it has been eight months, and you are still trapped in the water system on the north wing of Huaihe River. It’s hard to get an inch.”

"I told you about matters above the military as early as the Southern Expedition, so you can do whatever you want! Don't ask me any more." Xiao Chuo said flatly.

Yeluzhen sneered: "We will make them pay for their arrogance."

"What my second elder brother wants is to drag the war on." Xiao Chuo said, "Yeluzhen, we don't have much time left, and you know that I have exhausted all my strength and thought of every conceivable method. Only then did we raise the food and salaries needed by these hundreds of thousands of troops for two years, and now, a year is almost over. This spring, the spring plowing on the entire Hebei Road, Jingdong Road, Nanjing Road, Xijing Road, and Zhongjing Road has all been abandoned. If you can’t break through the Jianghuai defense line this year and push the front line to the Yangtze River, you know the consequences!”

Liu Yu opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"If it fails, there may be fear of national subjugation and extinction of species!" Yeluzhen said.

"The important thing is the people. If there are people, there will be books!" Xiao Chuo said: "Yeluzhen, you are afraid that the people of the country will die too much, so you have been timid, but if we fail, do you think the country will die?" How many will die?"

"Yes, iron cannons are much faster to build than bronze cannons. Besides, we don't have that much copper to make cannons!"

"Please make it clear, Queen Mother!"

"Queen, I dare not!"

"Why can't this work?" Xiao Chuo asked back.

Yeluzhen was a little puzzled: "Queen Mother, if iron cannons are built faster than bronze cannons, why didn't the Song people make iron cannons?"

"Queen Mother, gunpowder weapons, because of their great power, whether they are hand cannons or others, are all handpicked from the nation. This iron cannon." Yeluzhen took a deep breath, "This iron cannon So easy to blow up, how to ensure the safety of the gunner?"

There was the sound of footsteps on the long corridor, and an internal official walked over hurriedly, bowed and said, "The Queen Mother, Qi Wang Liu Yu, is waiting for your summons!"

Liu Yu suddenly raised his head.

There was a moment of silence behind the bead curtain, but there was a cold laugh.

"Queen Mother, the navy of the Song Dynasty is wreaking havoc in the sea area of ​​our country of Qi. The land division it carries has gone deep into the inland many times, burning, killing and looting, doing all kinds of evil. But the main force of our department is now along the Jianghuai line. Please allow me to dispatch part of the main force to destroy These Song soldiers!" Liu Yu said: "Queen Mother, the coastal areas of Qi State are all rich places, and the harassment of these places has a lot to do with our Qi State!"

"Still fighting step by step?" Xiao Chuo said, "Will it be any different from before?"

"A Liu Yu without Jingdong is meaningless to me, Daliao!" A cold voice came from behind the bead curtain. "A meaningless Liu Yu, where is the value of existence?"

"I need more gunpowder weapons!"

Xiao Chuo stood up: "This Liu Yu is not honest at all. At this time, he is still thinking about saving his strength, so he has to beat him!"

Yeluzhen strode onto the corridor.

"When I defeat Song Jun and reach Jiangling, I will definitely get this book!"

"Queen Mother, the Jianghuai war zone is currently in a stalemate. I really can't draw out soldiers and horses, and I don't dare to pull out troops and horses to go to the East Road to stabilize the situation, so please."

"The Song Dynasty just published it this year, and it was edited by their emperor with their Si Nong Temple school!" Xiao Chuo said: "I flipped through it roughly, and there are sixty volumes in this book, which are divided into extremely detailed , even the planting, storage, and processing of the sweet potatoes they just planted. Do you know about sweet potatoes? The maximum yield per mu can reach more than [-] catties, but in this book it is said that it can reach [-] catties."

"So Yeluzhen, King of Zhennan, all the sacrifices we have to make now, as long as the sacrifice can be rewarded, then the sacrifice is worth it!" Xiao Chuo handed the book in his hand to Yeluzhen, "Look at this book!"

"Because iron cannons like to explode!" Xiao Chuo said: "The average lifespan of an iron cannon is ten shots. The best quality is destroyed after twenty shots, and the worst quality is broken after one shot!"

Unlike Yeluzhen, Liu Yu has no seat here, so he can only stand here with his knees bent. On both sides of him are several tall warriors with swords on their hands. Everyone's eyes are firmly fixed. He stared at Liu Yu's body.

"I know this is what you want!" Xiao Chuo said: "Everything you want will be available. Even the cannons were made by the Craftsman Camp, but the quality is not comparable to that of Song people."

For Xiao Cheng's calligraphy, Yeluzhen is extremely proficient.

"Zhennan Wang Yeluzhen will organize our Daliao army to launch a strong attack on Xuzhou in the near future!" Xiao Chuo said: "Liu Yu, the battle between Song and Liao depends on the outcome. If we win, our Daliao will win everything. If we lose, we will withdraw from Jianghuai, Hebei, and Yellow River. What about you?"

Yeluzhen fell silent.

Yeluzhen suddenly understood: "At that time, Xiao Cheng's resignation must be one of the conditions for peace negotiations. Once Xiao Cheng resigns."

If Hedong is lost, the enemy will directly threaten Hebei Road. If Hebei Road really fights, it means that the rear of the Liao army is threatened, and the consequences can be said to be quite serious.

"Understood, Empress Dowager, I will gather all the superior forces to fight to the death with them under the city of Xuzhou!" Yeluzhen gritted her teeth and said, "Empress Dowager, I want those two hundred cannons and more gunpowder!"

"It's not a bronze cannon, it's an iron cannon!" Xiao Chuo said, "The first batch of two hundred will arrive at the Daming Mansion soon!"

"Empress Dowager, I will gather all the troops that can be assembled to assist King Zhennan in capturing Xuzhou, even if the entire army is destroyed!" Liu Yu said loudly.

"The whole army is really going to be wiped out. As long as we win, in a blink of an eye, you will be able to strengthen your army again!" Xiao Chuo said with a smile: "I heard that there were 8000 million soldiers in the Song Dynasty last year! There is no leader These 8000 million lions are only 8000 million sheep.”

"It's because I'm confused. Xiangchen is on the Jiangning Xinsong list, but now he ranks first." Liu Yu said loudly, "Without Daliao, there would be no way for me to survive."

"Go, go to Yeluzhen, go to Jianghuai with him, I am in Daming Mansion, waiting for your good news!" Xiao Chuo raised the bead curtain, walked out slowly, and walked in front of Liu Yu.

(End of this chapter)