"Great Khan, at the beginning of this year, I had a dispute with General Ali Hague about artillery. I thought that the greatest inventor in the history of artillery was Mr. Ma Jun of Wei State during the Three Kingdoms period, but Ali Hague thought that although Ma Jun's artillery was powerful, , but it is outdated. The most powerful artillery experts today are undoubtedly the people from the Western Regions,"
"Ma Jun, I know him well. It is said that he made a wheel-type trebuchet on the basis of the repeating crossbow invented by Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han Dynasty, called a 'wheel cannon', which can continuously throw stones out, reducing the cost of firing. The interval has greatly improved the lethality and destructive power of primitive artillery. As for the Western Regions, there are artillery masters, but I have never heard of them."
"Great Khan, our dynasty has always had heavy cavalry, so we don't pay much attention to auxiliary equipment such as artillery. At that time, the Japanese minister was just talking to General Ali Hague and did not go into details. Now I saw that the Southern Dynasty was studying muskets and artillery, so I thought of this. stand up,"
"Shi Aiqing, who are the people from the Western Regions that Ali Hague mentioned?"
"Great Khan, according to Ali Hague, people in the Western Regions call artillery cannons, and there are two of the best makers. One of the elders is named Alaowading, who is from Mufali in the Western Regions, and the other one is from Mufali in the Western Regions. A man named Yisi Mayin was from Xulie in the Western Regions. Both of them were Huihui people (Islam) from the Western Regions (today's west of Yumenguan). They had a master-disciple relationship. Because the Huihui cannons were obtained from the Western Regions, they were also called Western Regions cannons. The Huihui Cannon can continuously fire rocks weighing dozens of kilograms, or it can fire a boulder weighing one hundred and fifty kilograms (equivalent to eight or ninety kilograms today) in a single shot."
"More than a hundred kilograms," Kublai Khan said with some surprise, "If what Ali Hague said is true, dozens of turrets fired at the same time, with just a few rounds, wouldn't it be possible to destroy the opponent's city?"
Kublai Khan suddenly felt his eyes light up. The siege plan he had been thinking about recently had finally found a solution. In the field battle, Kublai Khan certainly believed in the invincibility of the Mongolian cavalry, but he was also quite helpless about the strength of the Southern Dynasty's city. , most of the defense systems of the Southern Dynasties were derived from Meng Gong. If the Southern Dynasties army just retreated into the city, it would be really difficult to break through. Even if they won, they would have to pay a considerable price.
Shi Tianze said: "What the Great Khan said is absolutely true. Boulders weighing more than a hundred kilograms will hit the southern city wall in turn, which will indeed cause a lot of damage. It will be of great help to the siege."
"Well, isn't the Southern Dynasty relying on a strong city? If our army is equipped with this kind of artillery, wouldn't it be good at siege warfare?,,,,,,haha, come on,"
Xue Jun, who was on duty outside the door, hurriedly entered and said, "Great Khan,"
"Send Ali Hague a quick message and enter the palace immediately,"
According to historical records, in the first month of the tenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1273), the Mongols attacked Fancheng with returning artillery and achieved victory. Then, the Yuan army moved their artillery towards Xiangyang. A huge cannon was placed, "when it fired, the sound shook the sky and the earth, and everything it hit was destroyed, and it penetrated seven feet into the ground." As a result, one cannon hit the Xiangyang Tower, "the sound was like thunder, shaking the city, the city was raging, and the generals were panicking. "Song general Lü Wenhuan knew he was outmatched, so he surrendered the city to the Yuan army. The Battle of Xiangfan, which lasted for five or six years, ended with the roar of the returning artillery.
After Kublai Khan learned that I was experimenting with artillery, he also advanced the use of Huihui artillery. Of course, Kublai Khan never thought that I would use artillery instead of stone-throwing artillery.
Ali Hague's residence was not far from Kublai Khan's palace. About half an hour later, Ali Hague arrived at Kublai Khan's tent.
"See the Great Khan,"
"Well, Ali Hague, Ben Khan asked you, are there any craftsmen skilled in cannon making in the Western Regions?"
"Hui Khan, it's true. I'm not talking nonsense. At the beginning of last year, I passed through the Western Regions and met Yisi Mayin. He said that his master Alao Wading was already developing a projectile capable of projecting 200 to 250 kilograms. Heavy artillery,"
Shi Tianze doubted: "More than two hundred kilograms, General Ali Hague, this time the artillery can support such a heavy stone,"
"Master Shi, I heard Na Yisi Ma Yin say so. To be honest with Master Shi, I was also very surprised at the time. As for the trick, I don't understand it. I only know that the material of the return gun is made of a lot of metal. Material,"
Kublai Khan also knew little about this, thought for a while and said: "Shi Tianze, Ali Hague,"
"I am here,"
"Tomorrow morning I'll ask Zhongshu to issue an edict and hurry up for 800 miles. I'll send a message to Alao Wading and Yisi Ma Yin to come see this Khan as soon as possible."
"Yes, Great Khan, I obey your order,"
On July 6, the second year of Xianchun, after several days of assessment by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Government Affairs Council, Cai Chang entered the Daqing Hall of the palace for the first time during a court meeting.
Ma Tingluan, the Minister of Rites, first came out and said: "Your Majesty, Cai Chang of Ryukyu Province has passed the examination of the Ministry of Officials and is waiting for the order outside the palace gate."
"Well, Xuan,"
Xiao Qi said loudly: "Xuan Cai Chang enters the palace,"
When Ma Tingluan saw Cai Chang entering the palace, he said to him: "Master Cai Chang, according to the etiquette of our court, I will first see the emperor."
Cai Chang hurriedly saluted and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Cai Chang, is here to see the Emperor. Long live the Emperor. Long live the Emperor."
"Cai Aiqing, please go home without courtesy."
"Thank you, Your Majesty,"
Ma Tingluan continued: "Your Majesty, please grant me the title."
I nodded and said with a smile: "Cai Aiqing, I am very happy that you can pass the examination of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and even more happy that you and your people can return to our dynasty. Before granting the title, I will first talk about the importance of Ryukyu and Ryukyu Province. It is the first overseas province established by our country. Although the Ryukyu Islands lacks resources and its current economic situation is far behind that of our mainland, its strategic position is very important. Japan can be reached north from Ryukyu. If you go south, you can go straight to the Southeast Asia, and if you sail east, you can reach another continent on the earth, the American continent. Therefore, I plan to establish our first naval base outside the mainland in Ryukyu Province to prepare for the future. The plan is formulated by the Military Academy, Lu Xiufu and Li Beiyang, you two are responsible for this matter,"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey your order,"
"Cai Aiqing,"
"I am here,"
"I appoint you as the first official envoy of Ryukyu Province, with the temporary title of fourth rank, responsible for all government affairs of Ryukyu Province. You will provide a list of other officials of Ryukyu Province and submit it to the Government Council and the Ministry of Civil Affairs for joint review. The specific affairs of the provincial government ministries will be handled by According to the arrangements of the Government Affairs Council, you will go to the Government Affairs Council after the court meeting, follow the arrangements of Wen Tianxiang, the director of the Government Affairs Council, and strive to understand all the government affairs procedures of our court within ten days."
"Yes, Your Majesty, your Majesty, Cai Chang obeys your order,"
"Cai Aiqing, I would like to warn you that serving as an official in my current era is not an easy task."
"Please express it clearly, Your Majesty,"
"I have a lot of rules and regulations. Cai Aiqing, to be an official in this dynasty, you must be mentally prepared. First of all, you must be honest. If you dream of getting rich and act for power, it will definitely not work. You are an official.
When the Ministry is undergoing assessment, you should know our government's "Code of Conduct for Officials". There are many rules and regulations on it, and they all need to be implemented to the letter, so the first step is to become an upright official,"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely do this,"
"Well, the second thing is to be a good official who serves the country and the people. Serving the country and the people is my definition of a good official. When I came to the throne, I said that I will definitely lead our country towards ZTE, that is, let us
The country is rich and the people are strong, so as the top local chief executive, his duty is to lead the local area to become prosperous and strong under my leadership. Therefore, your courage will not be light after you return, Liu.
Ryukyu Province is different from other provinces. In addition to developing the economy and allowing the people on the island to live a good life, you must also make the original islanders belong to our country in their hearts. You must make them proud of Ryukyu people and even more so.
The Song Dynasty is proud of people. During these ten days, the Government Affairs Council will arrange for you to go to the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Punishment, Ministry of Household Affairs and other departments to receive training from various ministries. I will talk to you in detail when you leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will live up to your Majesty's trust and become a good official as Your Majesty said,"
"Okay, dear friends, let me talk about the ICAC's memorial a few days ago," I said with a slightly stern look on my face, "I have signed the ICAC's memorial, which means that the officials who have reached the death penalty
, shall be sentenced to death in accordance with the law,
It is rare in the history of our dynasty to sentence more than 20 officials to death at one time. Although I am heartbroken, I will never regret it. If I just let it go, then in the future, I will spend a lot of time.
Even if we pay ten times the price, we may not be able to achieve today’s results.”
"The only thing that makes me feel fortunate is that none of these officials are in the hall. I also hope that you will behave yourself and not follow the path of these people. Anti-corruption is a long-term national policy and will not stop. People
What is the most precious thing? I think of course it is life. Use your own life to fight for things outside your body that you can never spend in your lifetime.
Is it worth it? As the saying goes, people die for money. However, people are dead, so why do they need money? People must live first, and living can have hope. I remember a monarch said before he died, in this life
He fought countless battles and gained territory that surpassed his predecessors, but when he died, he was not the same as anyone else and could only occupy one bed."
The last sentence, I can't remember whether I saw Genghis Khan saying this before his death on TV or in a novel.
"Dear dear friends, what I just said is that if a person risks capital punishment during his lifetime and acquires countless wealth, what's the use in the end?"
"Yes, what's the use of money and materials if the people are gone," the officials in the hall thought one after another, and even Jia Sidao asked himself.
"I think that the gold and silver treasures are enough. The salaries of our officials are not low. Before, most of the officials had received a lot either openly or covertly. I know all about it. Of course, I said that bygones are bygones. Dear friends,
Sir, think about it carefully, is it worth it to do what those twenty-two officials did?"
With the help of Chen Wenlong's memorial, I educated the officials again, casually admonishing Cai Chang to be a good official serving the country and the people.