Wan Yanchang gently stroked the smooth and delicate iron shell, just like stroking the skin of a young woman. The beauty of luster and texture brought by the high-purity pig iron, as well as the exquisite casting technology, made those who love Song Dynasty art
Wan Yanchang was fascinated by it.
He immediately recognized that this was the genuine Iron Fire Thunder, not the shoddy piece of Fire Thunder from before.
Wan Yanchang had always suspected that the Datong City Guardsman was fooling him. He knew that the smelting technology and casting process of the Song Dynasty would never be so crude, as if it had been buried in the soil for thousands of years and could be broken with a hammer.
It was broken into pieces. They were clearly pieces of iron cans made by nomadic craftsmen on the grassland. It was normal for them to appear in Datong City.
It was just that he had no evidence, so he suppressed his doubts in his heart. Now that he saw the real iron fire thunder, he immediately prejudged it and confirmed his guess that the fragment was fake.
How could something so crudely made be the work of the top craftsmen of the Song Dynasty?
Even Wanyan Jielsa was shaken. He defended the Datong soldiers: "The situation was very chaotic at that time. Many people died and the city walls collapsed. The soldiers didn't understand. They picked up a piece of iron and ran away. They didn't know either.
"
Wan Yanchang waved his hand and interrupted him, "I don't mean to blame them. They can be forgiven if they don't understand, but we have to know it ourselves and don't believe in things with unclear origins. Vague words like maybe, probably, maybe.
Nothing is allowed, there must be a solid source, not just Iron Fire Thunder, but any object, any news, and anyone in the future, the origin must be clear, General Helisha, do you understand what I mean?"
Wanyan drank from Lisa and nodded, "I understand, I understand!"
Wan Yanchang felt deeply and said slowly: "What I said is actually intelligence. Sun Tzu said that only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you be victorious in every battle. Chen Qing does this better than us. He knows us well, but we know nothing about him.
I know that he was eventually kicked out of Shaanxi Road and Hedong Road. During this period, I have been thinking about this issue. We are too arrogant. We have never looked down on Chen Qing and refused to learn from his strengths. If we don’t reflect and change
, sooner or later he will be kicked out of Hebei Road."
"What does Marshal Du mean by change?"
"The first is to strengthen intelligence collection; the second is to stop internal strife."
"To stop internal strife, do you mean Wushu?"
Wan Yanchang nodded, "The lessons we learned from our internal strife were too painful. Together they are a very powerful force, but they acted independently and refused to cooperate with each other. In the end, they were defeated by Chen Qing one by one."
Wanyan Helisha was also deeply touched. He nodded and said: "Marshal Du is so right. You can have different political opinions, but you must unite to deal with foreign enemies. I was originally an envoy to discuss with Wu Shu and eliminate them."
differences and strengthen cooperation.”
"I'll write a letter later and you can take it to Bianliang!"
After saying that, Wan Yanchang waved to Han Feng in the hall. Han Feng immediately walked up to the hall, bowed and saluted: "Please give me your orders, Marshal!"
"I read Wang Shuang's letter carefully. Lu Wei is worth winning over. He has a high status and small money means nothing to him, so I spent 50,000 yuan to buy him. Although Lu Jiao is a villain, villains have villains.
The role of people is also bribed. This time I will let you bring a batch of gold over. You guys have established an intelligence network in Jingzhao. I need information, a lot of information about Jingzhao. You must make full use of Lu Wei.
.”
"I must inform the two Marquises of Yu about my humble position!"
Wan Yanchang nodded, "I will write a letter for you to take with you. From now on, if each of you is promoted to one level, I will give you a generous reward!"
Han Feng bowed and left. Wan Yanchang looked at the Iron Fire Thunder carefully for a moment. He really wanted to keep this high-quality, exquisitely crafted Iron Fire Thunder as his own collection, but in the end he restrained his desire and paid close attention to the people around him.
Bing said: "Find a few more people and escort it to the firearms yard immediately."
In mid-February, the Wei River completely thawed, and a fleet of thousands of flat-bottomed cargo ships sailed on the river. Hundreds of trackers pulled ropes on the south bank. The south bank was covered with tender green alfalfa, making the original
There are more beautiful scenery on both sides of the boring Weihe River.
These one thousand flat-bottomed cargo ships were loaded with 500,000 shi of grain, which was produced in the Hehuang Valley. The army first encountered Longxi County several times using camels, and then transported them by water. Their destination was not Jingzhao, but Tongguan.
Then use camels to transport it toward Hedong Road or Henan Prefecture.
Chen Qing's annual plan was submitted to the Internal Affairs Hall for discussion and approval in mid-January. The next step is implementation. The most important annual plan here is to attack the Central Plains, that is, west of Bianliang, to obtain grain, grass, supplies, and intelligence and public opinion.
Outside Chen Qing's official room in Xuanwu Hall, a dozen generals were wearing armor and sitting neatly in the corridor outside waiting. The civil servants in the lobby outside were talking about it. They hadn't seen this scene for a long time. Are they about to go on an expedition again?
At this time, Chao Qing came out of the room and saluted the generals, "Generals, please follow me!"
The generals stood up together with an astonishing momentum and followed Chao Qing to the other end of the corridor.
At the other end of the corridor are the meeting hall and the staff room, which cover a large area. The walls of the staff room are surrounded by maps. There is a huge sand table in the middle, two feet long and one foot wide. The sand table is changed regularly.
, last time it was the north of Hedong Road, but this time it became Zhongyuan.
The generals had gotten wind of the news in advance, and at this time, the sand table in the room confirmed the rumors. King Yong was indeed planning to attack the Central Plains.
Every general was extremely excited. They had previously attacked the outer perimeter, but now they were finally touching the real area.
At this time, footsteps were heard outside. Chen Qing, Guan Shigu, and Zhao Kai walked in. The generals bowed together and saluted, "See you, Your Highness!"
Chen Qing smiled and waved his hand, "I've kept everyone waiting."
Chen Qing walked to the sand table, looked at the sand table and said to everyone: "When you see the sand table, everyone should think about what is going on. However, today is not a formal military deployment, it is just a briefing to let everyone know what is going to happen. Then
What kind of preparations are needed, this has not happened before, but it will happen in the future, that is to say, our future wars will become an open plan."
"Will this leak the secret and be known to the enemy in advance?" Yang Zaixing asked worriedly.
Chen Qing smiled and shook his head, "Do you think Wanyan Wushu wasn't prepared? Ever since we captured Shaanzhou, he has been preparing all the time. In fact, it doesn't matter whether he leaks the secret or not. He knows what will happen.
I wonder what will happen? Hundreds of thousands of troops fight, fighting for national strength and logistics.
In fact, the Jin Kingdom's war was also a clear plan. They signed a five-year armistice agreement with the imperial court last year in order to stabilize the south and then concentrate their strength to conquer the Mongolian tribe. At the same time, in order to prevent us from taking the opportunity to march eastward, they also strengthened various areas in the Taihang Mountains.
We all know about the defense of Xingkou and the reinforcement of troops in Luoyang, so we don’t need to hide it, we can just create momentum and give the people of the Central Plains something to look forward to."
Speaking of this, Chen Qing pointed to the sand table and said: "Although the strategy is not hidden, the tactics are highly confidential. How to fight, how many troops to send, marching route, soldier equipment, logistics arrangements, etc. must not be leaked at all. But today
This is not the time to talk about this. I summoned everyone here to collect troop dispatch plans and combat plans from you. You are all generals above the commander-in-chief and have staff around you. I will give you a month to go back and think about it!"
Everyone was immediately gearing up and wanted to go back to prepare immediately. Chen Qing smiled and said: "I would like to say four more points. First, don't just consider big plans, but also consider small plans. Once the plan is adopted, the general who makes the plan will execute it.
By;
Second, in this expedition to the Central Plains, our plan is to capture the west of Bianliang. Don’t think too big about the plan. We will not go to Jeju or Yunzhou;
Third, I will place this sand table in the side tent of the Chinese army tent in the Bashang military camp. Generals above the command level can bring their staff in to view the sand table;
Fourth, if you need to mobilize large-scale military supplies such as ships, please discuss it with Supervisor Guan Du. If you need to spend extra money, please discuss it with Supervisor Zhao. But I want to remind you that our Zhao Caishen’s pocket is relatively small and cannot be taken out.
How much, everyone must be mentally prepared."
Everyone laughed and dispersed, but Chen Qing stopped Zhao Xiaoyi.