After settling Li Shixian's place, Li Chengzhi pondered again: "It has been almost three months since we sent more than 10,000 people into the Qilian Mountains and Heli Mountains in early April. I wonder how much stone and sulfur the Jincao (Arsenal Factory) has in reserve?"
When it came to sulfur, Li Shiliang suddenly became energetic: "As of yesterday, more than 12,000 kilograms of crude ore were transported to the city. After being handed over to Li Liang (Jin Cao's head), 70% of it has been refined into medicine, and nearly 70% of it has been refined into medicine.
Four thousand kilograms, the remaining nearly four thousand kilograms of raw ore, and more than a thousand kilograms of medicine..."
Based on this calculation, wouldn't it mean that there are already more than 5,000 kilograms of patent medicine?
Suddenly, Li Chengzhi perked up and was a bit incredulous: "Why is there so much? When I asked my uncle last month, he said that the crude ore was less than 3,000 jin, and the patent medicine was only more than 1,000 jin. So far, it has only been more than a month, and it has been turned over.
Several times?”
Li Shiliang said doubtfully: "Earlier in the past ten days, I reported alone that Chengxian (Li Shiliang's son) had found a large mine in Linsong. He could mine a thousand kilograms of crude ore in one day. Did the Duke not pay attention?"
Present?
Li Chengzhi looked at the almost mountain of documents on the desk, sighed, and slapped his forehead again.
Gunpowder is one of the secrets of the West Sea, and the only people who know the inside story are Li Chengzhi, Li Liang, and Li Shiliang. Even Li Shiliang knows little about it. He only knows that gunpowder is made from fire salt, sulfur, willow charcoal and other substances, but he does not know the specific formula.
Afraid of being coveted by interested parties, Li Chengzhi always lied about making saltpeter or collecting sulfur, claiming that it was for dispensing medicine for wounds, and carried it in and out of the warehouse. He first passed through the Mincao, and then Li Shiliang deceived others, and then transported it to Jincao.
Even when the memorial was given to Li Chengzhi, it was mixed with civil submissions or face-to-face memorials.
Li Chengzhi was busy with everything, and never touched the ground. In addition, now was the time when the war was at a stalemate, so he naturally focused on military affairs and neglected civil affairs. Therefore, as Li Shiliang said, he never paid attention to it.
He rummaged through it for a while and found a memorial written half a month ago. When he opened it, it was exactly what Li Shiliang said: Li Chengxian found a large mine in Linsong, and could mine more than three thousand kilograms a day.
However, there were only a few words, neither marked in red nor memorized, and Li Chengzhi did not read them carefully at all.
He took a moment to sum it up and breathed a sigh of relief again.
Among gunpowder, sulfur is the least used, accounting for only 10%, but it is the most rare. With the current conditions, the only way is to mine raw ore from the mountains and then grind and purify it.
For example, as long as there are livestock and people, saltpeter can be extracted from urine continuously, and charcoal is readily available.
Now that there are 5,000 kilograms of sulfur powder, at least 50,000 kilograms of gunpowder can be prepared.
It sounds like a lot, but it's actually less than one-tenth of what I've consumed in the past few months.
In the two battles of Nanmen Pass and Shanshan Town, Huangfu Rang consumed nearly 300,000 jins of gunpowder, Li Liangyu defeated the three Tianzhu troops in Salt Lake, and Li Fengyu defeated the Rouran army in Daqiu, each consuming nearly 100,000 jins.
Only in this way can the army in the West Sea be as strong as a rock, invincible, and win consecutive battles.
If these 50,000 kilograms of gunpowder were made into explosive shells, each bullet would only produce 7,000 or 8,000 jins, and the remaining half of the gunpowder would be used as a primer for firing cannonballs.
And just under the command of Huangfu Cang and Li Liang, the barbarian-suppressing artillery alone has enough to fire seven or eight rounds. If it is a battle like Nanmen Pass and Shanshan Town, less than half
The time has run out.
Fortunately, the current imperial court has been frightened to death. Moreover, Li Chengzhi has no intention of breaking through Longshan for the time being, let alone attacking Guanzhong. There are certainly not many fortified battles that require breaking the city, so there are very few places where suppressing barbarian artillery is used.
few.
If the imperial court counterattacks, there will be a strong city in the West Sea to rely on. All it takes is to set up small cannons on the city to repel the enemy.
Although it fired shotguns and the range was not far, just over a hundred steps, its power was more than that of bows and arrows, and it was enough to defend the city.
One shot of the Tiger Crouching Cannon only requires three to four taels of primer. Fifty thousand kilograms of gunpowder is enough to fire a hundred thousand shots. Even if it is not enough, it can also save a temporary emergency...
Li Chengzhi secretly calculated, hesitated for a long time, and finally suppressed the idea of handing over the gunpowder formula to Li Shixian and letting him supervise the production of gunpowder.
It's not that he can't trust Li Shixian, but Li Chengzhi subconsciously feels that his father is not very interesting and is not as reliable as Li Liang.
Making gunpowder is not like forging knives and guns. The worst that can happen is that you will get a cut and bleed. If you are not careful, the whole group will be wiped out, and there will be no bones left.
"I urgently ordered Li Feng to withdraw his troops as soon as he received the order, and the entire army retreated to Lingzhou (Bogulu). After Li Feng entered the city, Huangfu was ordered to rush to Qingshui as soon as possible to take over Li Liangyi's military affairs..."
Does this mean Li Liang will be transferred back to Zhenyi to prepare gunpowder?
It can be seen that in Li Chengzhi's heart, there is no other person who can make him feel more at ease than Li Liang...
Li Shiliang pondered and said, "Is it too hasty? If Li Feng retreats to Lingzhou, north of Liuzhen and west of Hequsi, there will be no troops stationed. If Yuanyao, Xi Kangsheng has a whim and favors Yuan, like Luo Jian, after all,
Daqi attacks our northern flank of the West Sea, what should we do?"
"It's just because I'm anxious that I'm like this!"
Li Chengzhi sighed sadly, "Yuanyao and Xi Kangsheng's subordinates were all surrendered troops newly attached to the six towns. Although they were all soldiers who were good at fighting, the imperial court treated the six towns as harshly as a tiger. The people of the six towns gradually lost their morale, and the morale of the soldiers in the six towns was gradually lost."
Naturally, it cannot be compared with the past. Yuan Yao and Xi Kangsheng knew this well, so they used their troops ten times that of Li Feng, but they huddled in the city and could not leave the city.
But now that the imperial court is in a period of drought and it is hard to make any plans, it is just trying to stabilize the six towns and enable the town troops and townspeople to survive this cold winter. I am afraid that the Queen Mother and the princes will have to tighten their belts and cut down on food and clothing, so there will be no way to send a large army.
Traveling two or three thousand miles, I have money, silk and food for my expedition to the Western Sea?
Furthermore, Li Zhang's training of the new army has been quite effective. If Yuan Yao really dares to make a desperate move, it will be two or three months before he leads the army to our West Sea. By then, he will have to try the explosive bombs and the tiger's crouching cannon.
Taste... Fifty thousand kilograms of gunpowder, it is enough to defeat two hundred thousand people who have no fighting spirit, no morale, and lack of food and clothing..."
The more Li Chengzhi talked, the more confident Li Shiliang became: If Yuanyuan came to attack from Daqi, thousands of miles would be grassland instead of desert, so why would there be a need to use such heavy weapons as anti-barbarian artillery and explosive shells?
As long as Chen Hu squats in the artillery formation in the north of Juyan Lake, no matter whether the enemy comes on foot or on horseback, it is just like the wind blowing the grass.
Li Shiliang was a little puzzled: since he didn't worry about Yuan Yao and Xi Kangsheng, there was no need to worry about Xing Luan, who was confronting Huangfu Rang across the river.
First, Xing Luan's tent was also occupied by Gao's newly surrendered troops; second, Li Feng retreated south, Yuanzhou's troops reached nearly 50,000, and Xing Lian was already on the same page.
So what else does Li Chengzhi have to worry about?
Li Chengzhi frowned slightly: "The only person I am worried about is Cui Yanbo. This man is extremely courageous and has unparalleled strategy. Although he is a surrendered general (Cui Yanbo was originally a guerrilla general in the Southern Qi Dynasty, after Xiao Yan destroyed Qi, he defected to Wei alone), but Gaozu
(Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong) relied heavily on him and served as the permanent commander-in-chief.
During the ten years of Xiaowen's pro-government, he defeated Nanliang in the south and retreated to Rouran in the north. He fought more than a hundred battles without losing a single defeat. Although Gao Zhao was defeated in Dingzhou when he rebelled, it was not a crime of war...
In the end, Shanshan was completely defeated and completely defeated. What's more, he was defeated at the hands of two unknown soldiers? No matter who you are, I'm afraid it will be grudges and engraved in their bones.
Shibo (Li Shao) even wrote in the letter that since the defeat, Cui Yanbo has never reported half of his crimes to the court. This shows that he is full of ambition and wants to avenge his previous shame?
Now I'm trying to make progress at the expense of retreat, forcing the imperial court to split the territory. How dare Gao Ying agree? Although she is a woman and has little knowledge, when it comes to ruthlessness, she will never be inferior to a man. She is so ruthless that she will break the jar. It’s not impossible…and this is just one of them!
The second is: The Yang family is ambitious and wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, which will hurt both us and the imperial court. He, the Yang family, wants to reap the benefits... But if Yang Shu fails to provoke me, the Yang brothers will definitely make another plan. .
If my prediction is correct, if the Yang family knew that the court was forced to have no way out, there is a high probability that they would bewitch Cui Yanbo, or even the court would fight me in the west sea. At the worst, they might also use the court's money and food. As long as there is no noble talent. If my mind gets hot, the war may start again... Of course, it may not be as I expected. Maybe Gao Ying will dare to risk the world's disapproval and really grant my request..."
The more he spoke, the darker Li Shiliang's face became: "If she dares to respond, she will be the eternal sinner of the Yuan family. She really belongs to the Yuan family, and the eight surnames of Xianbei are clay figures? So a war is bound to break out. However, Longxi is mountainous and watery, and the terrain is It's complicated, and it just restrains my Xihai cavalry. Without firearms to rely on, Li Liang is in danger..."
"That's why I ordered Li Feng to withdraw south and join Huangfu's troops. If anything happens, Yuanzhou is only a thousand miles away from Longxi. If we use cavalry to rush to the rescue, it will only take three days or five days at most. Of course, if It must be enough to transport all 50,000 kilograms of gunpowder to Longxi and stay in the three states until winter...
However, my uncle also knows that although the preparation of gunpowder is not difficult, a little carelessness can be a big disaster. If I entrust someone else because of urgency, how can I rest assured? Since the beginning of making firearms in Xihai, Li Liang has been in charge. We can only summon him as soon as possible...
I also know that this is definitely not a long-term solution, so after Li Liang returns, I will recall my cousin (Li Chengxian) to Zhenyi and ask him and his eldest brother (Li Chenghong) to help Li Liang. If Li Liang is not here in the future, it will be fine. Someone is in charge of this matter..."
After a pause, Li Chengzhi sighed again: "My cousin is just like my eldest brother. They are both honest and kind-hearted people. They are much more reliable than my father..."
After hearing the previous sentence, Li Shiliang was still secretly moved, thinking that although Li Chengzhi had many checks and balances on his brothers and retainers, in the final analysis, his own family was more trustworthy.
But when he heard the last sentence, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry at first, and then he was shocked again.
Whichever Li Shixian takes advantage of Zhang's unruly temper will most likely cause big trouble.
"You must not..."
Li Shiliang said anxiously, "In the future, you will not let Erlang touch any firearms..."
See, it's not that my son thinks his father is unreliable, even his own brother thinks so...
Cursing in his heart, Li Chengzhi smiled warmly and said: "Just follow what uncle said!"
Li Shiliang responded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked in a low voice: "Tomorrow at dawn, Liu Siqing will leave for Beijing. What should Yuancheng and Gao Zhao do?"
If he hadn't mentioned it, Li Chengzhi wouldn't be able to remember these two people.
He pondered for a while: "Just like when Cui Shangshu first came to Xihai, he found two separate courtyards and sent more servants, women, and retinues to serve him well..."
Does that mean house arrest?
Li Shiliang couldn't help but feel a sudden change in his heart.
Yuan Cheng was nothing more than that. As a member of the royal family, and more importantly, as a minister of entrustment, he naturally had to sacrifice his heart and blood for the Yuan and Wei Dynasties, and devote himself to death.
Moreover, Li Chengzhi had bad intentions to begin with, so it is not an exaggeration to say that Yuan Cheng deceived him and guarded him, even if he did everything possible.
But Gao Zhao was a treacherous minister and a villain who brought disaster to the country and the people. If it weren't for him, why would the Yuan and Wei Dynasties be as precarious and in danger as they are now?
Yu Gong and Gao Zhao secretly carried out a treacherous plot to kill Yuan Ke with a borrowed knife, and also induced Li Chengzhi and the Queen Mother to alienate each other. In the end, a generation of loyal people could not bear the persecution, and later rebelled.
Later, Gao Zhao raised troops in the north, treating the people as trivial and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people to extract kerosene. This can be said to be extremely vicious and a heinous crime.
For personal reasons, Gao Zhao repeatedly murdered Li Chengzhi. If Li Chengzhi had not been lucky, he would have died long ago.
Just talking about the public affairs and maintaining the righteousness between the emperor and his ministers, Li Chengzhi should kill Gao Zhao with one sword.
Could it be that he was worried about Gao Wenjun and his eldest son Li Yuan, and wanted to spare Gao Zhao's life?
I was thinking in my heart and heard Li Chengzhi sigh: "Uncle, don't worry, I have always hated evil as much as I wanted to. I have a reputation of being retaliated and punished for every penny spent. How can I be so magnanimous and let go of my enemies who have repeatedly tried to put me to death?"
Even Wenjun, my uncle, doesn't have to worry too much. She has a beautiful heart, a beautiful appearance and a smart mind, and she acts decisively. If she is decisive, she doesn't make too many concessions compared to me, so she naturally knows which one is more important...
The reason why I spared his life is because killing him now is not justified and his words are not justified. If we wait a little longer, whether Gao Ying dares to divide the territory of the Western Sea or whether he dares to die together, Gao Zhao will naturally be able to start well and end well..."
Keep it!
Have you forgotten that so far, Xihai has still not raised a rebel flag or formally launched troops?
But now it seems that the imperial court will not sit still and wait for death, and it is inevitable to raise troops. At that time, if the Gaozhao sacrificial flag is cut off in the name of "Qing Jun Side", Xihai will have an excuse to rebel.
His heart moved, and Li Shiliang gritted his teeth fiercely: "Wenjun grew up under Gao Zhao's knees since he was a child, and Princess Pingyang regarded her as her own. How could she not miss the old relationship if she has such a deep relationship with her? She knows she can't persuade you, but if
What should we do if we find another way to visit Gao Zhao with Li Yuan from time to time?
If I can't afford troops in Xihai for one year, Gao Zhao will be close to Li Yuan for one year. If I can't afford troops for three years, he will be close to Li Yuan for three years... Three years later, Yuan'er will already remember things. How can you do it then?
"
Li Chengzhi's heart sank.
If it were not a close relative, if it was not for the Li family's long-term plan, how could Li Shiliang dare to speak so sincerely and utter such unfaithful advice?
These words are by no means alarmist. No matter how poor his memory is, Li Chengzhi at least remembers the lessons learned from Xiaowen's eldest son Yuan Xun.
The Xianbei nobles did not want to be Hanized, so they worked with the Mu family (one of the eight Xianbei surnames) to instigate the prince to rebel, and finally forced Yuan Hong to kill him, causing father and son to kill each other.
If not, it would not be Yuan Ke's turn to sit on the throne.
And no matter how rational Gao Wenjun is, he is just a prostitute. There is no guarantee that he will not try his best to save Gao Zhaoyi's life as Li Shiliang said...