At dawn, Wan Yanchang received a report that there was a fire at the home of Yang Jinggong, the deputy general manager of the firearms workshop. Unfortunately, Yang Jinggong died in the flames and his body was burned to coke.
This news made Wan Yanchang really angry. He had just received a pigeon letter from Jingzhao, asking for 100,000 yuan for a discarded iron fire mine that had not exploded. He was hesitating whether to accept it, but at this juncture something happened to Yang Jinggong.
"How could there be a fire?" Wan Yanchang asked angrily.
"It should be that Yang Jinggong was doing experiments at home, which caused the fire. Neighbors confirmed that there were continuous explosions in his home, and the roof was blown through. His son also said that he has been doing experiments at home these days, and his family members have advised him,
It’s not like he doesn’t listen.”
It was useless for Wan Yanchang to be angry, he immediately ordered: "Find the other four firearms makers for me!"
The soldier hurried away, and Cui Jiu advised him: "Marshal Du, don't be too superstitious about this iron fire mine. The intelligence does not say that a batch of the Western Army's iron fire mines did not explode, which means that it is very unstable. More importantly, it is
Regarding the army’s combat capabilities, the Western Army defeated Wanyan Wushu’s main force on the battlefield. This is not good news. Marshal Du still focuses on troop training. I feel that this is our war capital.”
Wan Yanchang nodded, "What you said makes sense. This time the Central Plains suffered a disastrous defeat and Bianliang was lost. The emperor was furious and recalled Wushu to Beijing to report on his duties. I may also have to go back. I'm worried that Wushu will bite back and accuse me.
The logistical support was poor and he was not given meat, which led to a decline in morale, or the Iron Fire Thunder was not developed, so I was a little anxious and quickly asked them to develop the Iron Fire Thunder."
"The craftsmen have been working very hard and are experimenting day and night. Marshal Du, just let nature take its course!"
"That's all we can do, but we can't reduce the pressure on them. Once the pressure is reduced, they will definitely become lazy."
At this time, four gunpowder makers were brought to the hall. They also heard that Yang Jinggong was burned to death due to a fire at his home. They were a little sad, but they also secretly felt lucky. After Yang Jinggong died, no one exposed them to Marshal Du about their development of iron.
Huo Lei's fraud happened.
Wan Yanchang walked out of the lobby and said, "Don't you all know that Yang Jinggong was unfortunately burned to death?"
The four people nodded, and Wan Yanchang said: "The first thing I want to explain is that firearms and gunpowder are never allowed to be brought home. They can only be tested in firearms workshops."
"Obey!" The four of them bowed and saluted together.
"Secondly, I want to ask you, to what extent has the development progressed?"
An older gunpowder craftsman said: "Reporting to Marshal Du, there is no shortcut to developing iron fire thunder. It is to constantly conduct experiments, constantly improve the formula, and find the maximum combustion effect. At least tens of thousands of experiments must be done, but it can
If it fails, it depends on God’s will?”
"Why do you still have to rely on God's will?" Wan Yanchang said with some dissatisfaction.
"Marshal Du, there are some things beyond our control."
"Like what?"
"For example, the quality of fire saltpeter. Last time we saw Tie Huolei's fire saltpeter, the quality was quite good, much better than the quality of our fire saltpeter."
Wan Yanchang said coldly: "It means that the inability to create iron fire thunder has something to do with the quality of the fire salt!"
The leading craftsman quickly bowed and said, "Reporting to Marshal Du, we don't know yet whether it is related to the quality of the fire salt. It is just a hypothesis at the moment. If it is not proven after countless tests, then it is most likely a problem with the raw material of the fire salt."
These craftsmen have even discussed their retreat, but if it doesn't work out, they just blame it on the poor quality of the fire salt. This has nothing to do with them, what can you do to me?"
Wan Yanchang was so angry that he had nothing to say, and asked again: "Then I will ask you again, I want to bring back another iron fire thunder, do you think it is necessary?"
It was Yang Jinggong's repeated request to build another iron fire mine. He wanted to compare the performance of gunpowder, but the other four people did not want it at all. If they found that the fire and saltpeter on both sides were the same, they would not be able to shirk their responsibility.
The four of them shook their heads together, "It's completely unnecessary. Just seeing gunpowder without knowing the formula is meaningless, otherwise we would have copied it long ago."
Cui Jiuye said: "Marshal Du, those batches of iron fire mines are also useless products that did not explode. On the contrary, they will mislead the craftsmen to develop them. Besides, my gold is also very tight. Using this gold to buy iron fire mines is not as good as buying important information."
.”
Wan Yanchang nodded. He also thought it made sense. If it was useful, he should copy it.
"Okay! I don't want this iron fire thunder, and let them use the money to get me the formula."
Jinghu South Road originally only governed the six states of Tan, Heng, Dao, Yong, Shao, and Chen, as well as Wugang Army and Guiyang Prison. However, after the Western Army occupied Jianglingfu, Yuezhou and other state capitals surrounding Dongting Lake, Jinghu South Road
The concept was expanded to include parts of the former Jinghu North Road and became a broad Jinghu South Road.
That morning, a warship fleet arrived in Baling County along the Yangtze River. 1,300 soldiers disembarked from the ship. This army was exactly 300 internal guards from Jingzhao and 1,000 supporting troops.
An elite scout came to Jinghu South Road specifically to crack down on illegal salt sales.
The general leading this army was the young internal guard commander Zhong Huan. He shouldered the heavy responsibility this time to lead this army to clear out the rampant smuggled salt on Jingnan South Road.
Zhong Huan was stationed in the military camp outside Baling County. Cheng Guangya, the magistrate of Baling County, came to meet Zhong Huan. At this time, Zhong Huan had a cover military position, the commander of the Huben Army Scout Battalion, whose pseudonym was Zhong Huan. Of course, this was also
His actual temporary post was to command a thousand scout troops.
"The magistrate of Baling County, Cheng Guangya, pays homage to General Zhong!"
Zhong Huan clasped his fists and said with a smile: "It's causing trouble to Magistrate Cheng!"
Zhong Huan took out a military report order and handed it to Cheng Guangya, "This is the logistics coordination order from the military department."
Cheng Guangya took the coordination order and looked at it, and smiled bitterly in his heart. This means that the local government is required to provide logistical support for the army. However, the opponent's army is not large. Fortunately, there are only more than a thousand people, and Yuezhou can fully support it.
"No problem. I wonder what supplies General Zhong needs?"
"We mainly need food. We will have 500 war horses arriving soon, so we also need fodder or black beans. As for other pigs, sheep, vegetables, etc., we can buy them at market prices, but please ask the county magistrate to contact us about the supply."
"I don't know how long the general will stay in Yuezhou, so I can consider how much food to transport."
"About two or three months! We are a scout army, mainly monitoring whether Zhang Jun's army in Jiangbei will go south."
"I understand the humble post. That humble post transported 10,000 shi of grain and 2,000 shi of black beans from the former official warehouse to the general, and also prepared 10,000 dans of fodder."
"Thank you very much! Where do I need to apply for an official salary transfer?"
Cheng Guangya smiled and shook his head, "There is a logistics coordination order from the military newspaper. No application is required, and the food can be adjusted directly."
Cheng Guangya entered the city, but first came to the prefectural government office and met Wang Kuang, the governor of Yuezhou. Wang Kuang was about forty years old and very thin. He was a Jinshi. He took office after Chen Qing left Yuezhou. He was appointed by the then
Recommended by Prime Minister Zhang Jun.
"A high-ranking official, I met the other party's general in a humble position."
Wang Kuang took a sip of tea and asked lightly: "Who are they?"
"The general's name is Zhong Huan. He is the commander of the third battalion of the Tiger Scouts. More than a thousand people are scouts."
"you sure?"
"I saw his military badge in my humble post, and all his men wore the mountain pattern armor of the scouts. The big flag is also the flag of the Tiger Army. It should be right."
Wang Kuang nodded, "They didn't report to Jiangling, why did they come to Yueyang?"
"It's normal to think of a humble position. They are the Tiger Army, not the Bashu Army. They belong to a completely different place from Jiangling Yang Tongzhi. Of course they don't have to report to Yang Tongzhi."
"That makes sense! Then what are they doing?"
"From what the other party said, it seems that the army monitoring Zhang Jun will stay here for two or three months."
Wang Kuang smiled and said: "I'm just curious. You don't need to report to me. You can directly provide them with logistical support. He has a humble position, so I don't need to go see him specifically."
"I resign from my humble position!" Cheng Guangya bowed and left.
Wang Kuang's expression changed and he said to himself: "This army came at a strange time!"