Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 573 Development of Black Powder
After Su Chen and other commanders left the Su Mansion, they began to quietly develop gunpowder.

Gunpowder, also known as black gunpowder, is one of the four great inventions of China. It was invented very early in ancient times. According to the records of "Fan Zi Ji Ran", it has been used in folk livelihood applications in China in the Spring and Autumn Period. Fan Zi Ji Ran said " The saltpeter comes out of the Long Road."The first ancient book that records the formula of gunpowder that we see now was written in the eighth or ninth century.In the book, it is written that "burn it with sulfur, realgar and saltpeter, and burn it with honey". The mixture of sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal mentioned in it is the formula of gunpowder.

Its inventors are closely related to the ancient alchemists, because these people have been alchemy for a long time, and the results of practice have a history of more than 2000 years.

If gunpowder has been used in the military, it was not until the end of the Tang Dynasty.In the first year of Tianyou (904) of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Dynasty, the Heiyundu army of Wudi Yang Xingmi besieged Yuzhang. General Zheng used firearms to attack the city, such as artillery. The rocket is thrown out by a machine, and the rocket arrow is to tie the gunpowder ball under the arrowhead, ignite the fuse and shoot it out with a bow.

In the early years of the Song Dynasty, unification wars continued to intensify one after another, which promoted the accelerated development of gunpowder weapons.

According to historical records, in the early Northern Song Dynasty, in the second year of Kaibao (969), Feng Jisheng, the commander of the Ministry of War at that time, invented the technology of making gunpowder arrows for the first time, and the test proved that the effect was good. He also performed on the spot for Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin was very happy after watching it, and awarded him a lot of clothes and cloth. This incident is recorded in "Song History Bing Zhi": "At that time, the Ministry of War ordered Shi Feng Jisheng and others to enter the rocket method, and ordered him to test it, and gave him clothes and a bundle of silk. .”

With this advanced weapon with strong firepower, black powder played a major role in the subsequent war of unifying the country in the Northern Song Dynasty.In the eighth year of Kaibao (975), the army of the Northern Song Dynasty used this gunpowder arrow as an important weapon to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty.

In the third to fifth year of Xianping (1000-1002), there were two more men named Tang Fu and Shi Pu, who presented new weapons such as rockets, fireballs and fire thorns to the Northern Song Dynasty.The imperial court of the Northern Song Dynasty also set up two major workshops for gunpowder making and fire making in the huge arsenal "Guangbei Siege Work" in Bianjing, the capital.

It is now the third year of Qiande in the Northern Song Dynasty (965). Black gunpowder in the Northern Song Dynasty has not been taken seriously, the research and development is not scaled, and the front-line troops have not used it.

Su Chen had seen some development methods of black powder in textbooks and videos, but he had not personally operated it. Some uncertainties, he also sent people to buy materials such as sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal to conduct his own fusion test.

Su Chen intends to develop powerful black powder, as well as the detonator and ironware that hold the black powder. There are a lot of iron balls inside. When it explodes, it will produce explosive force and the flying marbles will hurt the people around. .

However, Su Chen didn't intend to take it out immediately and put it into this defense, and would only use it as a last resort.

Because there are countless capable people in the Song Dynasty in the north, some people will know the existence of gunpowder, but they don't pay attention to it, and they haven't developed it on a large scale and put it into military use.
Once he puts this kind of firearm into use prematurely, it will not be long before the Northern Song Dynasty will also start in this regard. When the Song Army uses black powder weapons in large quantities, then for the Southern Tang Dynasty, it will face huge destructive power and threaten.

After all, in terms of national power, financial power and territory, the Southern Tang's financial and national power cannot compete with the Great Song Dynasty. Once it invests in research and development in this area, the Southern Tang Dynasty will definitely not have the advantage of the Great Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Su Chen planned to make it for emergencies. He developed it himself first, and if the city was about to be breached and could not be defended, he would use it to turn the tide.

If this situation does not happen, then he plans to use the black powder later, use his own private power secretly, and manufacture it on a large scale. At the most critical time, such as the life-and-death battle between the Tang army and the Song army, the Song army will be caught off guard. .

This night, Su Chen was in various preparations. He would occasionally test a small amount in the backyard. The sound was not too loud. It mainly depended on the state of the combustion. If he really wanted to test a large number of explosions, he had to go to the mountains to test it. .

The next day, Su Chen came to the lobby of the temporary commander's mansion in the city.

General Lu Jiang promulgated the detailed rules for the defense of the city. Many partial generals and Du Yuhou were assigned different tasks of assisting defense, defending the city, and patrolling. , are also being checked and received.

As the saying goes: double the number, divide it, and ten times it, this is recorded and discussed in detail in the Art of War. Only when the force reaches ten times that of the defending city, can the city be completely besieged. Wan Dajun, then there are currently 5 to [-] horses in Runzhou City, and they are not at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. attack.

Lu Jiang said solemnly: "Generals, the Wuyue thieves helped the tyrants to abuse us, invaded our country of Tang, and left behind a lot of crimes in Changzhou. The scholars can bear it, but who can't bear it! Wuyue people deceived our country too much. This time in Runzhou, we must not only defend Runzhou state, and even more so to defeat Wu Yue's army."

"General Lu is right, we must beat the Wuyue soldiers to the ground this time!"

"I'm going to avenge my revenge, let the Wuyue people be annihilated under the city of Runzhou, and avenge the people of Changzhou!"

"Yes, kill all Wuyue soldiers and horses!"

All the generals and military officers, all the officers and men shared the same hatred, felt angry and hated the Wuyue soldiers, and even hated the Wuyue people deeply, even more than the Song army.

This has something to do with the geographical environment. The two countries border each other, and they used to be enemies for generations.

"Generals, according to the tasks we assigned in advance, generals and Marquis Du Yu, complete your tasks step by step, and patrol the city defenses day and night without any mistakes."

"As ordered!"

All the generals and Du Yuhou stood up and cupped their fists to receive the order.

General Lu nodded and said: "Also, send out scouts to closely investigate the marching situation and military deployment of Wu Yue's army. We are ready to face the battle at any time!"

"Here!" Everyone replied in unison.

After Du Yuhou and the side generals left the commander hall, only the chief general Lu Jiang, the governor Wang Yuechao and the supervising army Su Chen were left in the room.

Lu Jiang smiled slightly, and said to Su Chen, "How does it feel for the Su Supervisor to return home in fine clothes?"

Su Chen smiled and said: "I did think about being the number one scholar in high school, returning to my hometown with a good clothes, and satisfying the vanity of being a scholar on the gold list and getting ahead, but I didn't expect to come back so fast this time, within a few months, and come here with a huge task! When the country is in crisis and the army is under pressure, the heavy responsibility is not light. It is a heavy responsibility to protect the people here and the villagers in their homeland, and there is no need to show off or be satisfied."

"Well said! Su Jianjun's words made me, as a local official, feel admiration. As the governor, Wang, on behalf of the people, I would like to thank Su Jianjun for his kind heart and responsibility for the people!" Governor Wang Yuechao He echoed and praised.

Su Chen smiled, cupped his hands to express his politeness, and he was very clear in his heart that such a compliment was more of a flattery.

Lu Jiang nodded in approval, he still admires Su Chen's character and talent very much, after all, Jiang Zuo Su Lang's talent is obvious to all, and the world knows it.Although he is over sixty years old, he has also read Su Chen's "Liuhou Lun", "Yueyang Tower" and other articles, and he admires them deeply.

Lu Jiang said: "In the next few days, the three of us will jointly undertake the defense of Runzhou. The old man has grown up for many years, and he has not been used by the court until today. He must serve the country with his death. Take the lead and leave Ma Ge shrouded in corpses, no hesitation. If I am unfortunately injured later, then the command will be handed over to the Soviet Supervising Army to take responsibility."

Su Chen said: "General Lu, don't be pessimistic. I think you look like a man with a long lifespan, and nothing will happen to you. We will definitely join hands to repel the enemy's invasion, save the country of Tang, and eliminate the country's crisis this time."

After hearing this, Lu Jiang couldn't help laughing and said: "Haha, the old man will use the good words of the Soviet Supervisor Army to live a long life and defeat the enemy army."

The three talked a little more, and Su Chen got up to leave.

He planned to go out of the city to Beigu Mountain, because the Beigu Mountain Villa outside the city had his personal armed forces, he wanted to go there to see who was well trained, and select some elite and reliable warriors to serve as his bodyguards and eyes and ears. Create a confidant private army.

(End of this chapter)