Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 265

The end of the new year was approaching, and the hillside outside Daliang City was already covered with a layer of white snow.

Shi Congyun exhaled white mist, and touched the black and cold iron pipe weighing several hundred kilograms in his hand. This is the new gun barrel made by Feng Jisheng and a group of craftsmen. This is the improved Sakamoto.

In the war with the Liao Kingdom, the role of the Shenhuo Capital was obvious to all. After returning, Shi Congyun removed Tao Gu's position as the Minister of the Ministry of War, and let him continue to serve as the emperor's teacher in the Imperial Academy. On the one hand, he promoted Feng Jisheng to the city. Minister of the Ministry of War.

Of course, Feng Jisheng is the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Guo Tingwei is responsible for judging the Ministry of War, that is, giving Feng Jisheng a fourth-rank official as the Minister of the Ministry of War, allowing him to receive his salary and enjoy the treatment, but the affairs of the Ministry of War are actually the affairs of the Ministry of War. Tube.

Shi Congyun also told Feng Jisheng that he would protect his prosperity and wealth, and protect his high position and salary, but he should not think about official affairs, but think about firearms.

Feng Jisheng was happy with this. He was originally a craftsman under the Ministry of War, a low-level official, and he didn't understand those things in the officialdom.

Shi Congyun not only gave him a high official and generous salary, but also allowed him to maintain his status as a craftsman and do the work of a craftsman.

At this time, the Ministry of War is different from the previous and subsequent dynasties. At this time, the Ministry of War has been completely emptied by the Privy Council, and the major responsibilities of the Ministry of War have been shared by the Privy Council, leaving only the management of honor guards and military registration.

After returning from the north, Shi Congyun was so poor that he not only emptied his own family, but also saved a fortune on the official tombs, but no matter how poor he was, he did not save money on firearms.

After returning from the north, he purposely organized Feng Jisheng and other craftsmen into the "Confidential Division", which is the name of the bottom-level organization.

For example, the "Bazuo Division" under Jiang Zuojian can be understood as the Royal Construction Team.

But the "secret department" created by Shi Congyun is very powerful, and it is directly under his Prince Qin's mansion. Although the rank is low, it is directly under him, and no one else can command it.

At the same time, these craftsmen are also given very good treatment, and at the same time, they grit their teeth and give a budget of [-] yuan. If the craftsmen of the secret department have new firearms, new uses of gunpowder, and other ideas that want to experiment, they can all talk to him. Or write it up and send it up, as long as it passes through the Qin Palace, the money will be allocated.

Shi Congyun also understood that part of the money might fall into the hands of craftsmen, but he didn't care, and he wanted to take this opportunity to recruit more skilled craftsmen.

This move immediately aroused the enthusiasm of the craftsmen, and many people came to the palace to look for him, and Shi Congyun met them one by one despite his busy schedule.

Some people talk about fantasy, and even engage in feudal superstition. For example, they want to build a wooden bird that Luban can fly in the legend. .

Shi Congyun heard it funny, but he didn't drive them away. It's just that some were not approved for money, such as seeking immortality, while others were approved, such as wanting to learn from Lu Ban to make flying birds, but they were only given one. Baimin, let him make it.

There are two projects that really caught his attention.

One was proposed by a craftsman named Cui Yan. He was originally a carpenter, and his ancestors were doing this. He was also in the business of charcoal and firewood. When the world was in chaos, he was a Taoist priest in Huashan to avoid disasters. After hearing that the craftsman Shi Congyun was treated well, he came to join him.

More than a year ago, he worked under Shi Congyun, and also followed the army in the Northern Expedition to the Liao Kingdom.

He pointed out that during the battle with the Liao army, some gunpowder was not ignited, and it did not explode after being fired with a bed crossbow. He could see clearly in the large formation at that time.

He feels that although the current gunpowder formula is powerful, there is still room for improvement, especially in two aspects.

One is to make the gunpowder burn more fully and violently, and the other is to prevent the gunpowder from moisture, because they were lucky when they fought the Liao Kingdom that day, and it happened to be sunny. What if it was cloudy or light rain that day?
Shi Congyun felt that he was a talent, and asked him to lead people to continue to improve in this area. He raised his hand and dialed the [-] line first, and told him that there was not enough follow-up before reporting it.

The project that cost the most money was reported by Feng Jisheng, that is, the project in front of him, the real iron cannon experiment, as he said before, using iron cannons to shoot projectiles and stones out.

The big black thing in front of me is the result of these two months.

Feng Jisheng introduced to him on the side: "Before we used the pouring method to make a whole, but it was not hard enough, and there were holes and bubbles in it. When the gunpowder exploded, it exploded and injured people.

After that, we decided to use forging to strengthen the strength, but in this way, we could not make a piece of iron pipe as a whole, we could only forge it separately, and then spliced ​​it together. "

Shi Congyun nodded, touching the huge cold black iron pipe, and there were circles of protrusions on it, which were marks left by forging separately and then tightly fixed with iron hoops.

Due to the technical limitations of this era, its strength is definitely not as good as that of the integral forging and casting, and its airtightness will be much worse. Moreover, due to technical limitations, the gun body is not long, only more than one meter long, which will greatly affect other guns. Accuracy and range, but there is always a beginning.

Shi Congyun was very excited and couldn't wait to say to them, "Try it."

Feng Jisheng got the order and asked his subordinates to help. Several people fucked the guy together, fixed the heavy gun barrel of several hundred kilograms, then inserted the fire wire on the fire door, stuffed a large bag of gunpowder into the muzzle, and pushed it to the bottom with a wooden stick. .

Then they used a bamboo basket to pick up a large pile of fist-sized gravel and stuffed it into the muzzle. They didn't make any iron shells.

After filling it, Feng Jisheng took Shi Congyun back and lay down in a tunnel dozens of steps away. Because they were afraid of exploding their chambers, the people in front also ran back quickly after lighting the wires.

After a while, with a loud explosion, blue smoke rose, and Shi Congyun could see a large number of blurred shadows flying out from the muzzle of the gun, crackling and hitting the many wooden boards standing dozens of steps ahead.

The one- or two-inch-thick wooden boards were vulnerable to these flying rocks, and they exploded one after another, sending fragments flying.

Shi Congyun excitedly crawled out of the pit. The smoke was still lingering outside, and the pungent smell of gunpowder did not dissipate. A large number of wooden boards were smashed to pieces by gravel at a distance of 30 to [-] meters in front of the cannon.

Although the accuracy is poor, it basically flies randomly, and the distance is only 30 meters, but the power is beyond doubt. If it hits a person, it will be useless to wear several layers of armor.

"Okay!" Shi Congyun called Feng Jisheng over: "No one will reward you with [-] yuan for participating in this matter, but you will be rewarded with [-] yuan. Work hard, and I care about your confidential affairs very much."

Feng Jisheng was very excited, both thanking him and guaranteeing him.

Shi Congyun went on to say, "This matter will continue to be done. It is necessary to improve and increase the power. Another point is to be safe. This thing is going to be used on the battlefield. You can't kill your own people before killing the enemy. , you can communicate with Cui Yanduo, he is in charge of gunpowder improvement, maybe he can give you some new ideas.”

Many craftsmen also gathered around excitedly to thank Feng Jisheng. Feng Jisheng had never been so glorious in his life. In history, he only received some rewards for his contribution of rocket technology to the Song Dynasty, but no high-ranking officials.

To put it bluntly, ancient China did not pay much attention to craftsmen, especially after scholars began to take control of state power, scholars, farmers, businessmen, and workers, no matter how capable they were, could not be ranked high.

However, Shi Congyun directly gave him the official status of Minister of the Ministry of War, which is unprecedented, and it also gave these craftsmen hope, so there are people like Cui Yan who came from Huashan to take refuge.Because of this incident, many scholars are indeed quite critical.

Feng Jisheng and the craftsmen were very happy, and they even asked for his guidance.

Shi Congyun shook his head: "I don't know what to do. What I'm most afraid of doing is laymen guiding experts. I just want to propose an idea. Whether it will be successful or not is all up to you. It's up to you to think about how to do it. It's useless to ask me.

But just remember one thing, as long as something great is produced, a certain reward is absolutely indispensable, not just money, but also an official position and honor, which will benefit the descendants. "

Many craftsmen's eyes lit up after hearing this, and a few thirteen or fourteen-year-old apprentices didn't understand what it meant, so they didn't respond; the older young people didn't know how to express themselves, they just knew you look at me and I look at you. laugh.

Only Feng Jisheng, who has experienced the officialdom, understands the weight of these words, even knelt down and said: "A certain generation of craftsmen from all over the world thank King Qin for his great kindness. We will definitely repay it with death and do our best to do things for King Qin."

The craftsmen around also followed him and knelt down one after another.
"Get up, everyone get up." Shi Congyun raised his hand to make them stand up: "If you do well, this thing will be worth a million soldiers in the future, and you should be rewarded. Besides, it is not easy for you to get rewards. It’s a real achievement.”

Shi Congyun smiled at 100 Years and said, "Work hard and don't let me down."

It is not easy for him to dare to make such a promise to the craftsmen, because scholars and generals will definitely object.

This principle is very simple. It is not a set of identities to draw a boundary. It can be explained simply by separating people. In the final analysis, it is a matter of interests.

It's as if the officials wanted to use Wei Renpu as a prime minister to attract collective opposition from civil officials, saying that Wei Renpu was not born in the imperial examination for a reason.

Wei Renpu's ability is obvious to all. He personally recruited officials, offered advice and suggestions, and was in charge of the Privy Council. not enough.

But it cannot be said that all civil servants are of the same faction, or generalized as a group. The civil servants can unite in this matter because they have the same interests. When encountering other things, they may fight each other again. Complicated, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.

And when it comes to making craftsmen worship high-ranking officials, the interests of civil and military are the same, so at this time, if these craftsmen are appointed officials and make a wish, the civil and military ministers who usually dislike each other will definitely object in an instant.

It just so happened that Shi Congyun dared to do this because this was the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and the civil servants of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms had almost no right to speak, just like when Zhao Kuangyin usurped the throne, Guo Rong left several prime ministers to protect his son, but Lao Zhao sat on it, Don't say you are right with your actions, no prime minister dares to say anything.

In this way, the resistance of the civil servants would be much less, and Shi Congyun felt that the conflict between the generals and craftsmen could be reconciled, as long as those warriors gradually saw the power of craftsmen.

For example, in the battle with the Liao Kingdom, many people admired Shenhuo. There were not many people in Shenhuo, but a large number of explosive rockets had a great impact on the Liao cavalry. The credit for winning Shenhuo in the fierce battle cannot be ignored.

Such a big environment made Shi Congyun dare to make a wish to these craftsmen at this time to inspire their fighting spirit.

If it was changed to peace in the world and civil servants controlled the court, he dared to do this, let alone a regent Qin, the emperor would not be able to withstand the pressure.

The emperor does not have unlimited power as many people think, but the emperor conforms to or represents the interests of controlling social classes.

Just like Yongzheng required officials, landlords, and scholars to also pay taxes, that is, to abolish the tax-free privileges of officials, landlords, etc.Not to mention arousing opposition from all over the world, the officials of the imperial court opposed him, there was a lot of scolding outside, and even his reputation was ruined after death. It is not a joke to overthrow his policy immediately after his death.

Shi Congyun just caught up with the opportunity. Everything has two sides. The troubled times here also give Shi Congyun another opportunity, that is, the scholars are weak, and he can redirect and balance the forces of all parties.

Years ago, it was a rare leisure time. Apart from going to the confidential department test field outside the city to shoot a gun from time to time, and shooting a few guns at home, Shi Congyun was thinking about things every day.

I gradually have a big picture in my heart.

It is certain to divide power and weaken military commanders. For example, the border envoys of the Great Zhou Dynasty today, such as Li Yun, Fu Yanqing, etc., when he has time, those who disobey the court must be punished, and those who obey must be curtailed. Then let them be emperors.

Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the disaster of war in the world is that the military generals have too much power, military power, political power, and financial power are all in one hand, and they are basically divided into one side.

The way the Northern Song Dynasty took was to support the literati to suppress the generals, and later even suppressed them to the point of perversion. The literati who had been suppressed by the warlords for nearly 200 years (since the warlord separatism in the middle and late Tang Dynasty) finally turned around, and they also tried every means to guard against and suppress the warriors.

This is the unique scene that formed the Song Dynasty. In fact, there were many generals who could fight in the Song Dynasty, but as long as you look at their endings, most of them died not in battle or sickness, but in the hands of their own people.

Now Shi Congyun thinks of another way, which is to foster a new force to divide the power of military generals. If firearms can gradually develop, play an increasingly important role in the war, and occupy an increasingly important position, the credit will also be getting bigger.Undoubtedly, it will be a matter of course for the labor group composed of craftsmen and technical personnel to distribute the power of generals.
In the twelfth lunar month of Xiande's sixth year, and the Spring Festival is approaching, Shi Congyun issued an edict in the name of the Empress Dowager to recruit talents from all over the world again.

This time is slightly different from the previous ones. Many similar edicts have been issued in the past. The first recruits are strong men, followed by scribes, but this time skilled craftsmen are also added.

Craftsmen are recruited by the imperial court, but they are all recruited by the Ministry of Industry. Craftsmen and supervisors recruit themselves, and will not be included in the national standard seeking talents. But this time, craftsmen are directly tied with strong men and talents, and they are all listed in the imperial edict issued by the state. Raised, raised to equal status.

Then, Shi Congyun announced the expansion of the Shenhuo Capital, which was expanded into the Shenhuo Army, which was expanded into three armies with 6000 people.

This time, Shenhuo was directly turned into a main force like Konghe, Tieqi, Longjie, Hujie, and Yulang.

This move did not cause any waves in the army, it seemed to be a matter of course, and none of the generals raised any objections, because Shenhuo had performed outstandingly in the battle against the Liao Kingdom, made great contributions, and had already proved its worth.

While these things were going on step by step, Xiande's six years came to the end of the year unknowingly.

In the midst of all the lights and celebrations, the beginning of the first year of Zhangwu came unknowingly.
(End of this chapter)