Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 207 Fangcheng Xiadao
The east is slightly white, and the thick morning mist shrouds the earth, as if wearing a milky white wedding dress, covering up its soul-catching grace.

Zhu Yixi woke up from his sleep with the rumble of wheels beside his ears.

"What time is it?"

Opening the curtain of the car, Zhu Yixi looked out, and the army looked like a long dragon, holding torches and shining stars in the dense fog.

With the light of the fire, we could vaguely see the weeds paved with thick frost on the side of the road, extraordinarily silky and thick.

Looking up, there are no people on both sides of the official road, and it is a deep place.

"My lord, it's already the third quarter of the hour."

Sun Xuan'er hurriedly gathered her long legs, combed his long hair, glanced at the tall crotch, and thoughtfully brought the urinal.

Zhu Yixi didn't feel embarrassed either. The huge king's car was very spacious, and he could stand and lie down freely. He got up and opened the gate to release the water, saying at the same time:
"It's almost the winter solstice! It hasn't snowed yet."

Having said that, he couldn't help frowning.

24 solar terms, as the criterion.

But now that the light snow and the heavy snow have passed, the whole Nanyang still has no snow, which seems abnormal.

During this little ice age, the climate was very abnormal, which was extremely important for the impact of the war.

For example, last year, Sun Chuanting was in Runing. The continuous rainstorm blocked the grain road and made him fall into a tight siege. Li Zicheng used his troops little by little, leading to a big defeat.

At this time, he had already left Xiangyang, passed through Nanyang, and was about to go to Yuzhou to inspect the situation of Fangcheng Bastion.

Finally, wait for an opportunity.

"Let Zhu Mou, Chen Yongfu, You Shiwei, and Zhu Meng come over."

While washing up, His Royal Highness King Yu ordered softly.

Soon, the sleepy-eyed Thirteen got the order from outside the carriage and hurried away.

Taking advantage of this time, Sun Xuan'er tidied up, and King Yu also changed into ordinary clothes.

"Humble duty, pay respects to Your Highness!"

"come in!"

From the freezing cold to the warm Wang Jia, the faces of several people couldn't help but relax a lot.

Sitting cross-legged, Zhu Yixi asked them to relax, and then asked, "Have all the winter clothes been distributed?"

"Your Highness, it's all over."

Zhu Mou nodded quickly, and emphasized: "The soldiers and horses in Nanyang have already changed into winter clothes, and the other brothers have changed into winter clothes in Xiangyang."

"is it?"

King Yu's face was calm, and he said casually: "If I find a soldier who froze to death, I will investigate to the end."

"Don't worry, Your Highness."

Zhu Mou hurriedly made a promise: "In addition to the padded jackets, I also changed the soldiers into boots with wooden teeth and hoods on their heads."

"Those without clothes to cover them were all rubbed with lard, and there were very few chilblains."

The hood, as the name suggests, is a hat that blocks the wind. There are cloth curtains on the left and right sides of the face, similar to the Japanese fart curtain hats during the Anti-Japanese War. They existed as early as the Tang and Song Dynasties.

This is the advantage of having a base. Whether it is shoes and socks, hats, or lard, they can all be assembled smoothly, and productivity is guaranteed.

These things were handed over to Shaanxi merchants and purchased from the private sector, which not only earned extra money for the common people, but also revitalized the economy.

Wooden boards, cloth, pork, timber, textiles, and farming, the three major industries, have flourished again because of Qin Jun's purchases.

"Well, I have a heart."

King Yu nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Chen Yongfu, and asked, "Is Fangcheng's fortress repaired?"

Chen Yongfu looked at the unfathomable King Yu, of course he knew that he was not only asking about the fortress, but also the entire Fangcheng defense line.

"The twelve fortresses, according to your instructions, were all built with that earthy cement."

Taking a sneak peek at King Yu, seeing a smile on his face, Chen Yongfu heaved a sigh of relief, and talked about the key point.

He hurriedly continued: "The fortresses are all sloped and multi-angled, which is very different from the neat city before."

"Furthermore, according to your instructions, a slope was built in front of the city. Even the cannon in red is very difficult to get."

The so-called fortress is a bastion, that is, the square city wall is changed into a polygonal city wall, forming a series of depressions, so as to relieve the power of the artillery.

The polygonal walls, ditches, and trapezoidal slopes formed the so-called bastions.

Made specifically for artillery.

It was also arranged by Zhu Yixi, who used the red cannons of the Qing Dynasty.

"Have you tried?"

Suddenly, King Yu's smile faded and he hurriedly asked.

"Humble position, humble position dare not!"

Chen Yongfu was choked and didn't know what to say for a while.

"When I built the city, there was no test firing of the red-clothed cannons. As the saying goes, true knowledge comes from practice. This time I just brought the red-clothed cannons and saw the effect."

Chen Yongfu heaved a sigh of relief when King Yu's voice changed.

Everyone else became curious.

They have never seen a city that can defend against red cannons, and it is so weird.

"This time going north to Henan, we will face Jiannu or trespassers. Where should we garrison?"

King Yu suddenly changed the topic to strategy.

"It can be stationed in Xiangcheng."

Chen Yongfu hurriedly explained: "Near Xiangcheng, it used to be an important place for trespassers to induce Sun Dushi. Many castles were built, and we can use them."

"In addition, Xiangcheng is located in Kaifeng Prefecture, with Ruzhou Prefecture in the west and Nanyang Prefecture in the south. It is located at the intersection of the three prefectures. It can be attacked when you advance, and you can defend when you retreat."

"The general agrees." You Shiwei also nodded.

"Is it too far from Luoyang?"

Zhu Yixi looked at the crude map, quite upset.

The ancients' map drawing was inaccurate, and it was messy, going north to south, and vice versa.

It is drawn according to sitting north and facing south.

Thinking of this, he urgently wanted to introduce Western map-drawing skills.

It is too troublesome to teach by yourself.

Simply, whether it is Li Zicheng or Man Qing, it is the same, the three parties have a starting line.

"Your Highness, the intruder is in Luoyang now, and he is too close, so he was misunderstood by him. When Jiannu didn't come, we would fight."

Chen Yongfu opened his mouth to explain.

"Okay, it's in Xiangcheng, and supplies are more convenient."

Zhu Yixi nodded. Although he was a little conservative, what he said made sense.

Relying on these bastions, it is more than enough to advance and attack, but to retreat and defend.

Two days later, [-] troops arrived in Yuzhou, which is near Xiadao in Fangcheng.

Between Funiu Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, there is a hilly area hundreds of miles wide.

Among them, Fangcheng Mountain is in the middle and is the highest, and all the roads were opened during the Xia Dynasty, so it is called Fangcheng Xia Road.

After getting off the carriage, Zhu Yixi raised his eyes and saw a bastion.

The dense fog cleared, and in the eyes of the people at that time, the strangely shaped city wall stood standing on a mountain pass.

The bastion is in the center, closely monitoring the mountain pass, which can be described as hitting the nail on the head.

Seeing this castle with many corners for the first time, Liu Tingjie couldn't help laughing, but he still held back: "This fortress is really strange."

Chen Yongfu couldn't help but said: "Although this fortress looks quite ugly, the earth and cement used, as well as bricks and stones, are all first-class, and they are not inferior to Xiangyang City."

"It's empty talk, you still have to try!"

Zhu Yixi looked at the bastion in front of him and said coldly.

He wanted to see if it was a bean curd project.

(End of this chapter)