The rise of the prince

Chapter 253: Divine Machine Battalion + Meng Zhiye's Revenge

The south is about to come, Qiu'er and Yue'er have been busy packing Li Xingzhou's luggage for the past few days, ranging from clothes and bedding, to snacks and towels, as well as the usual pens and inkstones.

Early in the morning, Li Xingzhou looked at the two busy girls amusedly, "You don't need to bring some, just buy them there."

"No, the things outside are not as good as those in the house." Yue'er turned her head while tidying up, expressing her disapproval.

After being busy for a while, Yue'er ran over and took his hand and acted like a baby: "My lord, take me too, okay~"

Li Xingzhou smiled, and nodded the little girl's nose: "No." This was the first time she had suggested it, and Qiu'er also took the opportunity to come up and agreed: "Yes, Yue'er is too naughty, how can I take her to Woolen cloth."

"Sister Qiu'er" Yue'er looked resentful.

Qiu'er changed the subject and took his hand, "So, Shizi take me there!" The logic was clear and well-founded.

The moon is full of black lines
Li Xingzhou was funny, he took the two little girls into his arms, and put one on the other: "Guazhou is not far away, you don't have to worry about me."

"It won't be far, obviously it will take ten days and half a month." Qiu'er knew a lot, and her little face had a bad expression.

"You know as much as you do." Li Xingzhou pinched the tip of her tender nose: "But it was by land, and there were more than 3000 of us, and all the imperial ships were destroyed at the mouth of Anxia, ​​so there are not so many big ships carrying so many people. , to make such a decision.

If you want to come in the future, you can come by yourself after the big ship of the palace is built, and you can arrive in a day or two.But even if you want to come, let Manager Yan and Uncle Ji know first, he will find someone to see you off. "

"Anyway, I have to go sooner or later. Going now is different." Qiu'er leaned back slightly, and was about to act like a baby.

How could Li Xingzhou not understand this ghostly little girl, and lightly patted her forehead: "Little girl, don't play tricks with the prince, this time is different, although Guazhou is far away from Suzhou, there are nine out of ten Not much better."

He knew in his heart that Guazhou was not big at all, and so many foreigners flooded in all at once, and they were all troops. Resources were scarce, and chaos was inevitable. In the case of being destroyed, even if it is not considered a hell on earth, there must be endless turmoil.

"When I go there, I will write to you when the situation stabilizes. I will come only when the big ship of the palace is built." Li Xingzhou said seriously to the two girls.

"That's not safe." Qiu'er whispered.

"Don't worry, you forgot that I have a musketeer team." Li Xingzhou comforted her. The emergence of tool steel has accelerated the speed of grinding and brought the production speed of firearms to a higher level. It is estimated that before leaving Beijing, eight or nine hundred pieces can be produced by working overtime .

Li Xingzhou also tried to make a few cannons.

In fact, the processing technology of artillery in this era is simpler than that of firearms, and the requirements are not so precise. The reason why he did not do it before was limited by the material technology, and he was afraid that the material would not pass the standard and cause the tragedy of accidentally injuring his own people.

But now with steel smelted from graphite crucibles, these are not problems.

These days, craftsmen in the Wangfu refer to this steel as "Xiaogang".

Sometimes it is also talked about how the Wangfu "Xiaogang" compares with Liao's iron.

Liao Yiguo took the name of Bingtie, which shows the strength of Liao Bingtie.It is normal for everyone to argue. Some craftsmen say that it is not as good as black iron, and some say it is far better than black iron. Everyone argues endlessly. After all, they are all blacksmiths who live in the peaceful world in central Beijing, and they have never seen Liao country black iron.

Li Xingzhou also allowed them to argue. The conflict of ideas is the root of progress. He actually knew that, let alone iron, even the more excellent Damascus steel later could not reach the level of the "Xiao Steel" in the palace.

After all it was the first real steel, the first real tool steel.

The reason why the craftsmen of the palace are not confident is because the refining process of this kind of Xiaogang does not seem to be very difficult, and it has not been forged through thousands of hammers.

We must know that iron and Damascus steel in history required layers of forging, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive. I don’t know how much more difficult it is than Xiaogang.

But no matter how difficult it is, there is a qualitative difference between them and Xiaogang.

Repeated forging can remove impurities, but they are forging [-] times, [-] times, some inert elements can never be removed, and the ratio of carbon to iron can never be controlled, which is not comparable to that produced by graphite and molten steel in a liquid state. chemical reaction.

This is the power of knowledge.

After coaxing the two little girls for a long time, after lunch at noon, he took Yan Shen with him and rushed towards the Imperial Army camp.

It was the end of February now, and he had to go south in a few days. For more than a dozen days, he spent every afternoon working in the Forbidden Army camp to direct training. Now, it was time to start mobilizing for war.

The new army has laid off the commander at the Xiang level and directly handed it over to Zhao Guanghua.

In the past few days, the training ground of the [-]th Army has started firearm shooting training, and the sergeants have really seen the power of firearms. Because the geographical location is relatively remote, it has not caused any incidents.

The coaches are more than 30 nursing homes in the palace.

The Tenth Army had a battalion of [-] cavalry, which was also specially drawn by the emperor from other armies.

Through these days of investigation and training, more than 30 nursing homes have selected 300 non-commissioned officers with better shooting performances, and then reorganized them to let two thin non-commissioned officers become their deputy.

In this way, the fifth battalion of 1000 people was established!

The 900-man musket team and the other 100 people were educated and literate and formed the artillery team. After thinking about it, Li Xingzhou called the fifth battalion the "Shenji Battalion" according to the name of the Ming Dynasty. After all, the Ming Dynasty was an ancient Chinese firearms team. A dynasty with the highest popularity.

The Tenth Army had 3000 soldiers, and originally had six battalions, but the Shenji Battalion suddenly became thousands of people, so there were only five battalions left.

In the past few days, Suifa guns from the Wangfu have been brought in one after another, and every group of three people, with two guns in each group, started three-stage shooting training.For three-stage shooting, only one person with the best shooting skills in each group of three is responsible for shooting, and the other two are responsible for loading and cooling the barrel.

After that, the output will gradually increase, and eventually it will increase to a group of three, with three guns, and one person is responsible for shooting in turn, which can almost achieve non-stop firepower.

Most of the training content in the past few days has been trust training, queue training, and then separate training. The Shenji Battalion trains three-stage shooting, and the first battalion is cavalry, naturally training horse battles.

In the past, the iron scale armor was allocated to each battalion, but now Li Xingzhou directly gathers all the iron armor of the four battalions except the first battalion to the second and third battalions, regardless of whether it is infantry armor or crossbowman armor, as long as the armor , all belong to the second battalion and the third battalion, forming a thousand-man heavy armor unit, and the two battalions are also the best in physical fitness.

The fourth battalion is regarded as a reserve battalion, because the number of artillery and guns will gradually increase, and they will gradually be added to the Shenji battalion.

Li Xingzhou squeezed out almost all the time of the sergeant, even in the middle of the night there was an emergency assembly, night training and other subjects.

Of course there will be complaints under intense training, but Li Xingzhou is notorious and everyone is afraid. In addition, he will give them some surprises from time to time, such as giving them extra meals and eating meat, or inviting people to sing in the army. Favors are very precious.

Everyone's gratitude to him will be far greater than ever before, and the icing on the cake is never as good as the timely delivery of charcoal, that's the reason.

Seeing him coming on horseback, Di Zhi in the distance hurried over on horseback: "Commander!"

"Stop training, assemble." Li Xingzhou ordered.

"Yes!" After a long period of training, Di Zhi also understood his style, and rode away without talking nonsense. Li Xingzhou slowly stepped onto the martial arts stage. Minutes, great progress!
The training ground was filled with smoke and dust, and the handsome flag was fluttering. Everyone stood quietly in the dust without saying a word.

Li Xingzhou said loudly: "Sit at a distance of one foot to the left and to the right!"

With the sound of brushing in unison, everyone sat down neatly.

"I'm here today, I didn't bring you any meat, and I didn't buy you a drink. I just came to tell you that in three days, you will go to the front line of Guazhou with this general." He just finished speaking. The child exploded and whispered.

"These tens of days of high-intensity training are not difficult for you. I am not sick. I want to torture you. It is just that I sweat more in normal times and bleed less in wartime. There is only one life. Everyone has a different life for this life. If you choose to give your life to me, Li Xingzhou, I can't just send you to die casually."

He paused as he spoke, and there was silence below.

"I know that many of you are not voluntary, some are forced by money, and some are forced by circumstances, but you have already chosen, so you should be responsible for yourself, for your whole life, and you will not always be able to choose where to go when you are alive. There is no road, but it can decide whether to take this life well.

I don't expect you to sacrifice your life for the country, but for your family, for yourself, for your ancestors, if you are a human being for a day, you will give me a day of human appearance!
Let me ask you, do you trust me and your commander? "

"Letter!" Some people roared.

Li Xingzhou turned his head and looked at the commander-in-chief flag behind him. On it, the commanding officer of the Tenth Army fluttered with the wind. He raised his hand suddenly, the sword was unsheathed, the flag rope broke instantly, and the whole flag fell down.

Down below, the sergeants were all stunned. On the battlefield, when the handsome flag fell, it was equal to defeat.

"Now, do you still believe it?" Li Xingzhou put away his sword and asked calmly by the way.

No one answered.

Li Xingzhou looked at them: "Shuaiqi is down, but am I defeated?

I, Li Xingzhou, still stand in front of you. If you give me a knife, I can still go into battle and kill the enemy. Why can't you see me?Does it mean that you have no face to face your ancestors? "

Many sergeants were so questioned that they were speechless.
"So, it's good for you to believe me, but it's not enough!
On the battlefield, I cannot save all of you, nor can I take care of all of you at all times.At this time, only the comrades around you are the most reliable.Think about it these days, have your comrades failed you? "

Most of the time, trust training is to put a person in the most helpless situation, so that he cannot dominate and change his posture, and then give everything to his teammates wholeheartedly. This kind of training is the most psychologically trustworthy emotional.

Many sergeants were sitting on the training ground full of yellow sand. They looked at each other's comrades around, and the voices of sparse discussions gradually sounded.

"So, I hope you all remember that on the battlefield, if you can't see the handsome flag, then trust the people around you!

You share weal and woe, share weal and woe, share the same hatred, and depend on each other for life and death. The life of every comrade-in-arms is his own life. This is our Tenth Army of the New Army!Do you say no clothes?In the same robe as the son! "

As Li Xingzhou said, he tore off his cloak and dropped the high platform, and the two sergeants sitting in the front quickly caught it. In an instant, morale was high!
"Why don't you say no clothes? Robe with your son!"

"Why don't you say no clothes? Robe with your son!"

"Why don't you say no clothes? Robe with your son!"

"."

Li Xingzhou watched with relief as the blood flushed soldiers raised their arms and shouted. The dozens of days of trust training finally paid off.

Turning his head to look at the southern sky, the dust was flying, covering the sky and the sun. Three days later, that was the direction they were marching.

"Your Majesty, this is not a small matter. The sages have words to govern the world, civilize the people, and educate the world. It is the foundation of the country, the root of the community, and the rise and fall of it."

"Stop, stop!" The emperor interrupted Meng Zhiye with a dissatisfied face, "It's nothing more than a child who is ignorant and rides a horse in the palace. I will punish him, you can go."

"Your Majesty, it's a trivial matter to go beyond the chaotic etiquette!" Meng Zhiye blew his beard and stared, "The etiquette system of the Jing Dynasty, under the county king, you have to respect your steps when entering the imperial city, bow your head and bow your waist, and don't make loud noises, no."

"Then what do you want!" The emperor asked back with an ugly face.

"According to the etiquette and laws of the Jing Dynasty, this is a crime of disrespect, and according to the law, Li Xingzhou, the son of Prince Xiao, should be dispatched to the army." Meng Zhiye Dayi was awe-inspiring.

The emperor's face darkened completely, and he didn't say a word.

Meng Zhiye stroked his gray beard, and continued: "However, the son is the heir of the royal family after all, how can he be punished with ordinary people, this is not in accordance with the etiquette, according to the old minister's opinion, it is enough to expel him from Beijing and copy his mansion. I would like to ask your majesty on this matter as soon as possible." Some severance, if there is any gossip, it will be bad for the Tian family's reputation!"

"You go!" The emperor said again emphatically.

This time Meng Zhiye didn't stay any longer, and slowly took a sniff, then tremblingly left the imperial garden with his hands arched and his cane leaning on him.

The emperor didn't speak for a long time, then walked into the pavilion, and as soon as he sat down in the pavilion, he yelled: "Old man, old man! I really thought I wouldn't dare to kill him! Come, come!"

"Your Majesty, your majesty calm down, don't be arrogant!" Fu An, who had not interrupted, said quickly, and then handed tea to the emperor to calm down.

After all, Meng Zhiye was once the emperor's teacher no matter what, and he was a teacher for a day and a father for life. Killing a teacher would leave the emperor with a reputation for being unfilial and unkind. He didn't care about trespassing and stopped him immediately.

The emperor took a few deep breaths before gradually calming down.

"Fu'an, do you know what the old man said?"

Fu An nodded: "I know a thing or two, I heard it from the eunuchs in the palace and the sergeant Wu Desi.

That day the prince came to the palace to be appointed as the commander of the new army, and he came in on horseback. His Majesty also knew that Commander Ji had a good relationship with the prince, so he took the prince's BMW to the Wu Desi stable in the inner city for safekeeping. Ride directly from the inner city.

At that time, I also blamed the old slave for dereliction of duty and didn't know the severity.As the head of the Inner Court Department, when Commander Ji asked me, the old slave thought it was not a big deal, so I told him it was all right. "

"It's not a big deal at all!" the emperor knocked on the stone table and said.

Fu An nodded again and again: "So that day after His Majesty finished speaking with the prince, the prince rode out of the Meridian Gate from the inner city, but he happened to meet Meng Zhiye on the way, the old man was chasing the horse and stalking him to death, listening to what the eunuchs said He also yelled loudly to ask Shizi to get off his horse and kowtow to admit his mistake.

Your Majesty knows the temperament of the son, and he galloped away in a fit of anger, and the horse almost stepped on Mr. Meng when he was startled, which made him disheveled and very embarrassed, so..."

"So now it's time to take revenge on Xingzhou, hmph!" The emperor snorted heavily, "Xingzhou should trample that old bastard to death that day!"

Fu An sneered: "Your Majesty, not to mention that Meng Zhiye is the emperor's teacher, he is quite prestigious and knows many great Confucian celebrities. If he really goes to spread this story everywhere, even small things can be said to be big things for him."

The emperor's face was dark: "Meng Zhiye, one day I will make him look good. He wants to take revenge on Xingzhou, how can I let him do so. Doesn't that mean that my family is afraid of him!"

"But Your Majesty, if he spreads the word everywhere, visits friends and slanders the Tian family"

The emperor raised his hand: "He reminded me that Xingzhou is going to the south to oversee the army. The last time he went was the crown prince. Naturally, his name is justified, his status is also suitable, and he has enough weight. But what is that child in Xingzhou now? He is just an ordinary son. , it is difficult to show that the imperial court attaches great importance to the south."

Fu An was shocked, lowered his head and asked in a low voice, "What does Your Majesty mean?"

"Xingzhou is also at the age of Xuguan, the dead are like this, and they will not give up day and night. In a blink of an eye, he will be half an adult." The emperor said and looked up: "He, Meng Zhiye, just insisted that Xingzhou's horse riding in the inner city is not proper. Is it against my law, then I will do what he wishes and make it reasonable!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Fu An hurriedly bowed down.

Leaning on crutches, Meng Zhiye walked out of the city gate slowly with the support of his daughter.

He was in high spirits and very proud. As soon as he left the Meridian Gate, he stood in the open space in front of the open gate, turned his head and said loudly to the sergeant Wu Desi who was guarding the gate: "Oh, the current situation is in chaos, and the court is full of civil and military affairs. How dare you speak up and speak out? There is no one to remonstrate. The old man is getting old, and he is forced to do nothing but follow Guan Zhongleyi's actions, which is really unfortunate for the country and the world!"

What he said was sympathetic, but many sergeants were bewildered. They didn't know what the old man was talking about. They looked at the old man with his head held high and left inexplicably. What was he proud of?
(End of this chapter)