Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 181 Feng Jisheng

Shi Congyun's preparations for the meeting with Feng Jisheng were very grand, not to mention the posture of visiting the thatched cottage, at least it was very thorough. He prepared a sumptuous banquet and invited Pan Mei as an intermediary.

Everyone in the mansion, even Pan Mei, was a little puzzled why he valued Feng Jisheng so much.

In fact, Shi Congyun has valued Feng Jisheng for a long time. Ever since Pan Mei told him that he was responsible for the gunpowder production, he also brought the gunpowder used in the naval battle.

Although the power of the gunpowder is limited, it is always a beginning. Everything is difficult at the beginning, and it can be improved in the future.

And this is not an earth-shattering innovation or progress. After Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, he will start to try to use gunpowder in the army. If there is no change, it will only be a few years later.

The gunpowder stored by the navy did not play a big role in the subsequent water battles, because the main fleet of the Southern Tang Army was blocked in Tushan and could not get out, so the scale of the subsequent water battles has not been large.

In the largest water battle in Chuzhou, the Southern Tang army was also unstable, and it didn't take long for them to flee and surrender in large numbers.

No one in the entire army pays much attention to gunpowder. If it is used to set fire, it is not as good as turpentine, grease, and fish paste. If it is said to explode, its power is mostly just a sound, and it is used to make fire. The sound of firecrackers is almost the same.

Moreover, compared with turpentine and other things, it is also afraid of tides, difficult to transport and store, and complicated to make, so it is often only a backup option, and it is only partially used in water battles.

Feng Jisheng looked uneasy. He turned [-] this year, and his skin was rough and dark. According to Pan Mei, he had been in the Ministry of War for six years, and he was still just a Ling Shi, in charge of insignificant gunpowder operations. Tight.

Shi Congyun thought of Zhao Gaojiao Qin II's ultimate cheat for buying people's hearts, "The poor are rich, the humble are the most expensive".

However, Feng Ji's appreciation is not worth buying. Whether he is the talent he wants still needs to be considered.

Feng Jisheng was very careful and respectful, even a little trembling.

This reminded Shi Congyun of Zhao Shijian's father's attitude towards him, but after all, he was an old father-in-law, no matter how he kept a distance from him, Shi Congyun would send people to deliver some things from time to time, some for food and clothing, and some in large quantities. A lot of gold and silver.

Feng Jisheng's concerns are understandable. Generals in power these days are not easy to mess with. The so-called world where the strong are respected is actually far more cruel than people think. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are such a world, especially in the war-torn north .

In the late Jin Dynasty, the military generals were in power and tyrannical in Daliang. They took a fancy to someone's wealth, ransacked the family and exterminated the family for any reason, and fell in love with the beautiful daughter of the court official's family. The father disagreed and convicted the person directly, and then ransacked the family and exterminated the family. Except for the daughter who was occupied, the rest of the people were all punished by the clan.

The entire Daliang city was panicked, and blood flowed like rivers.

That was only a matter of ten years ago, and their generation can clearly remember it.

Extinguishing the Three Clans is not killing people casually as people think. The crime of exterminating the Three Clans is that the whole family, regardless of men, women, old or young, will be punished with five punishments. Take its flesh and blood in the market.

To speak human language is to kill people in five steps: tattooing on the face, cutting off the nose with a knife, cutting off the left and right feet, beating the person to death with rattan or thorns, beheading and displaying the head, and chopping into meat in public Sauce.

Since the Five Dynasties, there have been too many people who have been wiped out of the three clans, so many that they can be found everywhere in the history books. The main reason for this phenomenon is the collapse of order and the generals in power.

Therefore, when ordinary officials see a general like Shi Congyun, they are naturally as afraid as a mouse seeing a cat, and they don't think this is some kind of opportunity, after all, life is the most important thing!
Shi Congyun's reputation is not very good, he is greedy for money and lustful, what if he falls in love with his daughter, although his daughter is less than ten years old, but who can tell, there are too many people in this world who are not as good as animals.

Then he has no power to resist.

But unexpectedly, Shi Congyun didn't ask for anything, but a grand reception. First, he was served with warm water to wash his face, and then he was prepared with rich wine and meat dishes. There were also many servants waiting to welcome him in the spacious and bright lobby. It made him a little confused, and he didn't understand why the other party was so grand.

Then the young Shi Congyun said directly to him: "Feng Lingshi, I heard that you are responsible for making gunpowder for the navy. I am very interested in gunpowder. I think it is very useful when fighting in the south of the Yangtze River. Come and talk."

This reassured Feng Jisheng a lot. The other party directly explained the reason, but he couldn't let go of his guard completely, because he didn't think gunpowder was that important at all. How could the famous Shi Congyun entertain him like this.

"Reporting to General Shi, this gunpowder was indeed made under the supervision of lower officials, and the gunpowder factories outside the city were also under the supervision of lower officials." Feng Jisheng responded cautiously.

"But gunpowder is not an important thing. Among the things used by the navy, it is the least useful thing. I didn't expect the general to pay so much attention to it." He said cautiously, also with the intention of testing.

"Well, indeed, the gunpowder in the water battle is almost useless, and its power is not strong enough, but I still think gunpowder is very promising." The other party agreed.

"I don't know where Feng Lingshi learned these things? Is it the records of the previous dynasty?"

Feng Jisheng shook his head: "Reporting to General Shi, a certain grandfather was a Taoist in alchemy, and I learned many things from him, but now it's just for food.

I also think that gunpowder is very useful, after constant adjustments, and now." He smiled awkwardly, and it seemed that there was something unspeakable.

The other party nodded, seemed to be more interested, and chatted with him enthusiastically.

The more Shi Congyun chatted with Feng Jisheng, the more interesting he found it. It turned out that his grandfather was a Taoist priest who made alchemy.

At this time, Taoist priests were also divided into two schools. One school paid attention to self-cultivation and self-cultivation like Buddhism, which was the most widely spread and continued to later generations.

Another faction is the Danding faction, who like to do some weird things, alchemy is their favorite, mercury is their medicine, and they often eat dead people.

It is also these people who fiddled with gunpowder, and it has a long history. There are clear records as early as the Tang Dynasty, but the power is much worse than that of the black gunpowder of later generations.

Feng Jisheng's grandfather was a Taoist priest of the Danding school. He learned some strange formulas from his grandfather, and later became an official in the court. After painstaking research, he improved the formula of gunpowder to make it more powerful. .

However, the imperial court didn't pay much attention to this. Even if the gunpowder was more powerful at this time, it still couldn't reach the level enough to effectively kill the enemy.

Gradually, the two chatted closer and closer, and with Shi Congyun not putting on airs and being eloquent in his tongue, Feng Jisheng also expressed his inner concerns and mentioned some other reasons.

He originally wanted to report the improved formula of gunpowder and the newly invented rocket to the court in exchange for some rewards, but he was frightened by the official's move to destroy Buddha.

In the second year of Xiande, that is, the year before the eve of the year, when Shi Congyun fought against Shu, the officials ordered the rectification of the flooded Buddhist temples across the country, and tens of thousands of Buddhist temples were demolished.

But it’s not just the flooded Buddhist temples, even the Taoist temples, but the Taoist priests have no monks to gain power. At that time, the officials “invited” many famous Taoist priests from Huashan to Beijing to “reason” with them. In fact, they were people who believed in Buddhism and Taoism , Bewitching people's hearts, affecting the security of the world, it needs to be rectified.

It was after the Huainan War that the Taoist priests were released back to Huashan, so people were panicked at that time, and those who had anything to do with Buddhism and Taoism were eager to get rid of their ties. Naturally, Feng Jisheng did not dare to offer his gunpowder and Rocket up.

Shi Congyun suddenly realized when he heard this, and felt that the world is really wonderful, everything is a double-edged sword, and there are advantages and disadvantages.

Feng Jisheng dared to donate his gunpowder and rockets for military use only after Zhao Kuangyin succeeded to the throne. If the history has not changed, it will be a few years later, and he will be rewarded by Zhao Kuangyin.

It turned out that the reason was that he was frightened by the official attack on Buddhism and Taoism. After all, his grandfather was a Taoist priest, and the method of gunpowder was the skill of the Taoist priests of the Danding School. It can be said that this official practice delayed the progress of military technology in the Zhou Dynasty.

But did the officials do something wrong?Shi Congyun didn't think he was wrong either, because of the support of Tang Dynasty dignitaries, Buddhist temples and Taoist temples have reached the point of flooding.

Especially since the end of Tang Dynasty, when a small state of Zhou had three provinces, there were tens of thousands of Buddhist temples!There are far fewer Taoist temples, but there are also many.

Because of the chaos in the world, the common people need comfort in their hearts most, and religions have naturally risen. These Buddhist temples and Taoist temples are everywhere. Under the banner of saving the suffering, there are many people who are doing things like bandits and powerful people. It is impossible to rectify them without courage.

The government shut down tens of thousands of Buddhist temples, leaving only the necessary thousands, laying a solid foundation for long-term stability.

I just didn't expect such a side effect.

Shi Congyun suddenly regained his energy, he was very interested in this.

So I talked with Feng Jisheng in detail, and after talking about it, I asked about the gunpowder formula.

Feng Jisheng didn't dare to hide anything, and Shi Congyun immediately heard what was wrong when he said everything.

The gunpowder formula mentioned by Feng Jisheng includes sulfur powder and charcoal powder, but it also includes cinnabar, incense ash and other messy things, but Shi Congyun has never heard of it. He only knows one nitrate, two sulfur, and three charcoals. There are these messy things, which were probably added casually by Taoist priests when they were refining alchemy.

Their purpose is not to fight wars, nor to enhance the power of gunpowder. There is no scientific experiment, pure metaphysics, so they add messy things, but because there are too many impurities, the power of gunpowder is greatly reduced.

Thinking of this, Shi Congyun was a little excited. If these unnecessary cinnabar, furnace ash, etc. were removed, wouldn't the power of the gunpowder they use be able to go up to a higher level.

But the excitement is the excitement, don't rush things, you have to take it step by step, warmly entertain Feng Jisheng for a meal, pack a lot of cooked meat for him to bring to his family, and reward him with [-] yuan, and send someone to use a car send him back.

And make an appointment with him, on the fifth day of the new year, we will go to the gunpowder factory outside the city to see the situation and see how their gunpowder is produced.

Feng Jisheng agreed, saluted one after another gratefully, and then left happily.

Shi Congyun didn't draw conclusions blindly, nor did he say how to improve Feng Jisheng, he planned to arrange his schedule to have a look.

There is a sentence in the Art of War, "Don't take debate as a necessity." Shi Congyun thinks that not only generals who fight can't "take debate as a necessity", but also people and things. What decision is made, ready to go and see for yourself.

Doing things must be based on objective facts, but reasoning and hypothetical debates are unreliable.

Years ago, Shi Congyun once again sent people outside the city to pick up Zhao Shijian's parents to celebrate the New Year in the city. The other party refused repeatedly, but finally came. Their father and son are now important officials of the court. Even if the old father-in-law wants to keep a distance from him, he dare not violate it .

He didn't mean that, he just wanted them to come to the city to make things more lively.

At the same time, they also sent people to Hebei and Jiangnan to give gifts to the Fu and Zhou families.

On the contrary, the originally happy little girl Fu Liu was a little absent-minded as the Chinese New Year was approaching. Shi Congyun asked her if she was homesick, and she shook her head, asking if she was worried again, but she just didn't speak.

In this way, Shi Congyun has nothing to do.

For the last time a year ago, the officials summoned him to meet the saint in the Hall of Wende. After going there, they found that the officials were reading a book. They did not call Li Gu, Wang Pu, Fan Zhi, Wei Renpu and others, but only summoned him alone. Shi Congyun was a little surprised.

When the official saw him coming, he first signaled him to sit down and wait.

After waiting for about half an hour, the official finally read the book in his hand, rubbed the corners of his eyes, and looked at him. Shi Congyun also felt pain in his butt from sitting.

The official beckoned him to go over, and Shi Congyun hurried over.

The official said: "I came to you today to hear Shi Qing's opinion. If we don't want to fight Shu, whether Shu can fight and how to fight. Although Wang Pu and the others have strategies, they still don't lead troops to fight. of.

You lead soldiers to fight, and only what you say can convince me. "

Shi Congyun surrendered, it was reasonable for the officials to ask this question, after all, he was the most capable player in Dazhou.

"Officials and ministers feel that the Kingdom of Shu is going to fight, but they need to conquer Hunan and Hubei first, and open up the east passage to Shu.

Then proceed from Guanzhong and along the Yangtze River.

There is no danger in the middle of Shu, they can only rely on the mountains in the north, Jianmen Pass is guarded, and there are several important towns in the lower reaches of the river in the east.

If we attack all the way from the north and the progress is not smooth, our army will be blocked outside Jianmen Pass. If we do not make progress for a long time, it will be very dangerous. There are Northern Han and Liao Kingdoms behind us. "

The official thought for a while, nodded and said: "But to the east are Jingnan and Wuping, how to deal with them?"

Shi Congyun said: "We can open our mouths and ask them for an excuse to attack Shu. If they don't borrow an excuse, we will have an excuse to send troops.

It would be better for them to take advantage of the way. Let us take the opportunity to enter the country with soldiers, and then launch an attack, seize various places, and easily take them down. "

The official nodded, "It is indeed a good plan."

The official got up, paced back and forth above, thought for a while and asked him: "How many troops do you think will be needed to win the two lands?"

Shi Congyun was taken aback for a moment, and immediately understood in his heart that the officials wanted to entrust this task to him!

When asked about this, he had no room to refuse, and he didn't want to refuse. Going to fight Wuping and Jingnan is much easier than fighting Liao in the north.

So he hurriedly said: "Back to the official family, I think 3 horses are enough."

"I will give you [-]!" Guo Rong said, "But I want you to settle the matter quickly, and the matter cannot be delayed for too long."

"promise!"

"When do you think it is better to send troops?"

Shi Congyun thought for a while. He originally wanted to say to send troops in spring, but he thought that it would be spring plowing at that time, which would affect the livelihood of the people, so he said: "Send troops in summer. After the battle of the Southern Tang Dynasty, our navy in Dazhou was strong, with seven hundred warships. Besides, if the summer rains are frequent and the river surges, we have an advantage, just like the story of Guan Yunchang.”

The official nodded, "Okay, you are the one to plan and decide on this matter, train the soldiers as soon as possible, and don't publicize it to the outside world for now."

Shi Congyun clapped his hands and agreed.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is said that the flooding of the Seventh Army was caused by Guan Yu blocking the water and digging embankments.According to the official history, heavy rains fell day after day, mountain torrents broke out, and the floods submerged the Wei army's barracks. Guan Yu then led the army to take advantage of the flood to row boats and win the battle.

Shi Congyun felt that he could also learn from Guan Yu. Fighting the southern navy is a very advantageous unit, but he is still going back to discuss the specifics with everyone. Don't take debate as inevitable, relying on speculation is not enough.

In any case, in this conversation, the officials once again added a heavy burden to him, that is, to take Hunan and Hubei. With these two places, the east gate of the Shu Kingdom, the west gate of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the Peking University of the Southern Han Dynasty will be opened. There are also intersections leading to all parts of the south, and it is possible to conquer the entire south from now on.

Therefore, this battle is of great significance. Whether it can annex and integrate the south, whether it can take Hunan and Hubei is the key.

This is also a major matter that requires careful consideration and long-term consideration. What Shi Congyun immediately thought of was to go back and find someone to discuss with Luqiu Zhongqing, Li Chuyun, Zhao Shijian, Wang Shenqi, Si Chao, Shen Zhiyi, Pan Mei, Wang Zhong, Shao Ji, and Dong Zun. Gao, Luo Yanhuan and others discussed
(End of this chapter)