Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 396 New Gunboat

Unknowingly, it is mid-October, and the weather in Daliang is getting colder and colder.

During the period, Shi Congyun met with the envoy of the Liao Kingdom again. During the meeting, the two countries discussed the peace treaty, mainly the officials of Honglu Temple were responsible for the handover and negotiation, and generally revolved around the guidance of the previous emperor.

After three days of negotiations, the two sides finalized the final treaty.

The two countries signed a covenant, and then Xiao Ji, the envoy of the Liao Kingdom, and Fan Zhi, the Prime Minister of the Qin Kingdom, went up to the stage to burn incense.

In the end, both parties agreed:
30. Not to attack each other for [-] years, both sides will reduce the garrisons near Guanbei, and open up trade in goods other than strategic materials such as salt, iron, and cowhide.

[-]. The Liao State paid [-] cattle and sheep to the Qin State, and sent Xiao Chuo, the noble daughter of the eldest princess of the Yan State, to Daliang to marry the emperor.

[-]. The two countries are brothers and covenants, and there is no relationship of subjects. The emperor of the Qin Dynasty is the emperor, and the emperor of the Liao Kingdom is also the emperor.

Liao has no objections to the first two, and the third is the bottom line of Liao.

The two sides debated for three days, and the main difference lies in the third clause.

The Qin Dynasty's political affairs hall required the Liao Kingdom to bow its head and become a vassal state, just like Wuyue and Jiangnan, the emperor of the Liao Kingdom could not call himself the emperor, only the ruler of the country, and the Liao Kingdom needed to use the Qin Dynasty to record the year.

However, the envoys of the Liao Kingdom refused to agree no matter what. They regarded themselves as allies of the Qin Dynasty, and they also wanted to retain the title of emperor.

The prime ministers of the Qin State said that there is no two suns in the sky, and there are no two masters in man. In the past, the two countries were hostile, but now that the two countries are at peace, there will be nothing to say, and there can only be one emperor.

In this matter, both Xiao Ji and Xiao Hunian stubbornly chose not to compromise.

As a big northern country, the former overlord must also work hard to maintain its dignity and face.

The two sides did not compromise with each other, so that there was no progress in the discussion for three days. In desperation, Fan Zhi asked Shi Congyun for instructions, and Shi Congyun nodded without hesitation in agreement with the Liao Kingdom. .

Fan Zhi was shocked and puzzled.

Shi Congyun explained to him directly: "That's fine too. If they really become our vassal states, they can't find a good excuse to turn their faces in the future. If their emperor retains the title of emperor, then the sky is the same. Day, no one has two masters is the simplest and most convincing excuse for declaring war."

"But this... is about the face of the emperor, the face of the country!" Fan Zhi was a little unbelievable that these words came from the mouth of the emperor.

After all, this matter is most concerned with the face of the emperor. There are two emperors in one world. Isn't that slapping the face of the emperor?

But he didn't know that, from Shi Congyun's point of view, these false names were not that important, what he was looking forward to was something else, something practical and useful.

If he wants this false name, he must make corresponding political concessions, otherwise the Liao Kingdom cannot compromise for no reason.

It would be better to just give them a false name, and he didn't care that much, and left himself an excuse to declare war in the future. If the Liao Kingdom is a vassal state of the Qin Kingdom, and the time is ripe to send troops to fight against it, he still needs to find a good excuse. Moreover, when the suzerain country sends troops to the subordinate countries, it doesn't look good.

Emperor Shi's considerations were all for profit, so he had the final result.

The Liao State retained an equal relationship with the Qin State, and this was the final result through the way of paying tribute to cattle, sheep and noble women.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites also reminded Shi Congyun that when the Liao mission arrived, they also sent many treasures such as Khitan saddles, iron swords, gold, silver and jade objects to the emperor.

Rebates should be given when sending them away, and not too little, so as to demonstrate the national strength and tolerance of the great country in the Central Plains.

Shi Congyun almost scolded his mother when he heard that, he was preparing to fight, where did he get so much money to give away.

However, Emperor Shi was extremely clever after all, and he quickly thought of a way, and at that time he reprimanded the officials of the Ministry of Rites, "Hey, you people are too vulgar.

The Liao Kingdom is a foreign country, barbarians, and they will only give these vulgar things. Do you also want to follow the vulgar material?
I am a great country in the Central Plains, and the heaven is a state, what is the most precious thing?Is it rotten copper and rotten iron full of copper smell?Is it those vulgar white and yellow things?Of course not, it's culture!
Aren't there many officials in the Hanlin Academy and Jixian Hall who are well-known artists, who just write a few words and make a few paintings, aren't they all treasures?When the time comes, it will be much more elegant for people from the Liao Kingdom to take them back and admire the profoundness of Chinese culture. "

The officials of the Ministry of Rites opened their mouths, and finally had nothing to say, they could only say: "The officials are sages, I am too shallow."

"You are indeed superficial, you have to study hard."

In late October, when sending off the envoys of the Liao Kingdom, Shi Congyun gave back a bunch of cultural treasures to the envoys of the Liao Kingdom, and explained very seriously that these are priceless treasures in China, and they are presented to the Liao Kingdom today as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. Can be kept well.

Of course, he was not too stingy, and he even prepared some travel expenses for them. Xiao Ji, the leader of the Liao Kingdom Mission, was very moved and thanked them repeatedly.

On the contrary, Xiao Hunian looked at him with very unfriendly eyes, and whispered in the hall before seeing him off, "I will remember the humiliation given by His Majesty!"

Shi Congyun didn't bother to talk to her, you like to remember it or not, anyway, when his iron cavalry breaks through the capital, everyone will be sworn enemies, it doesn't matter if you remember it or not.

After sending away the Liao mission, the matter temporarily came to an end.

The development of the confidential artillery on the ship has also made gratifying progress along his line of thought. At least now, the cannon will no longer easily destroy the ship, and the hull can already withstand the recoil of the artillery.

However, with more and more artillery on board, it began to be difficult to support, which has something to do with the structure of the hull.

For a period of time in late October, Shi Congyun went to the Bian River to study the transformation of the ship's hull with craftsmen who had been living in the field and the confidentiality department.

The battleship of the Qin army is the Qiyun battleship of the Zhou army.

You can tell from the name that this kind of ship is very tall. This kind of ship pursues large and heavy loads. The deck is very wide, and the structure is not mainly anti-impact. Therefore, even if it is strengthened or the recoil of the artillery is reduced, the impact cannot be completely eliminated.

Moreover, the main design is to drive on calm inland rivers, so the bottom of the boat is very flat, the movement is slow, and it is very inconvenient to turn around.

However, if the artillery goes on board to fight, it needs the hull to cooperate with maneuvering to quickly adjust the firing range and position of the artillery. These are cumbersome and slow, and the bottom of the ship is very flat. It is difficult for the Qiyun battleship, which is only designed to sail in calm rivers. .

As a result, loading the artillery on the ship has become more difficult than imagined. Not only the artillery itself, but also the hull needs to be changed.

This incident was unexpected by Shi Congyun. He thought it too simple at first.

Of course, it’s okay to be sloppy, just move the artillery to the old battleship and barely use it.

But Emperor Shi did not allow it to be forced, this matter was related to his grand plan, and related to his planning and planning for the next few decades.

The new gunboats are not only in Lingnan, but also in Jiangnan, Liaodong, and the Korean Peninsula.

Throughout history, before that, the Central Plains Dynasty ruled the Korean Peninsula twice, namely the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty advanced by land and water, landed across the sea to eliminate Wei Dynasty Korea, and established the four counties of Korea.

In the Tang Dynasty, both water and land advanced, and the cross-sea landing won victory.

Therefore, the significance of the new ship is far beyond the present, but also in the future. He sees the prospect of the battle against Liaodong and North Korea, and the artillery on the ship.

So it was ordered that the most powerful craftsmen of the Confidential Department be gathered on the edge of Bianshui to study and discuss this matter.

After researching for half a month, the craftsmen of the Confidentiality Department finally came to the conclusion that this kind of large ship is really not suitable for artillery combat, and needs a new hull that pays more attention to reinforcement and maneuverability for artillery combat.

This is not a trivial matter. A new ship needs a lot of capital investment from the renovation of the shipbuilding site, the laying of the keel, and the selection of materials.

Shi Congyun first looked at the drawings sent by the confidentiality department. On the whole, the ship was smaller, but the interior was more reinforced. The bottom of the ship was not so square and wide, but sharper, which was convenient for maneuvering and turning around, and adjusted the position of the artillery.

After listening to the summary report of Feng Jisheng from the Confidentiality Department, Shi Congyun did not hesitate, and immediately waved his hand, ordering an advance allocation of 20 yuan to the Confidentiality Department.

Among them, the tribute items sent by the envoys of the Liao Kingdom contributed a lot, accounting for almost one-third. As for whether these new ships will be used to deal with the Liao Kingdom in the future, it is unknown.
With the edict of Emperor Shi, a large amount of funds and manpower began to operate in an instant. The timber that went eastward along the Yellow River south from the east, the girders to the shipyard in Bianshui, the funds of the third division, the secret division, and the eighth division , The human and material resources of the Ministry of Industry, like a huge precision instrument, began to rotate.

(End of this chapter)