The rise of the prince

Chapter 770 Don't Believe

Snow began to fall very early in the north, and ordinary people were unable to farm for almost the whole winter, and there was no stable source of food. When it was cold and freezing, some people would always starve to death.

Under the roots of dead trees in the outer corner of Shangjing City, there are more than a dozen uncollected corpses, including men, women, and children.

Everyone is not surprised, people will always die in winter, and no one cares about the sparse crowds.

In the Liao Dynasty, strong men over the age of 14 had already joined the army. They followed the army to rob the Han people to the south and other tribes on the grassland to the north. Only in this way can young and strong men survive.

Later, with the sixteen prefectures of Youyun, the Liao Kingdom has a large area of ​​cultivated land since then, and life is easier. Many people can survive without having to risk their lives.

Now even in Shangjing, they are half nomadic and half farming, and the living environment is not as cruel as it was a hundred years ago.

Scattered tribes and villages alternate outside the city. This is a scene that cannot be seen elsewhere. Shangjing has begun to become different from those cities in the north.

In recent years, the people of Shangjing have had another way to survive. The emperor ordered that the military supervisor build many shacks and iron furnaces in the east of the city, recruit a large number of manpower, and rush to manufacture weapons such as swords, swords, halberds, and armor. As we all know, I heard that the South is going to call.

On a small slope in the east, next to the river, hundreds of shacks are busy in the snow.

Liu Xu led several officials and a group of guards shuttled among them. He is now the prime minister, with a noble status and high authority, but at this time he had to come and see for himself.

He was already in his 50s, and even in the hot shacks he was shivering with cold.

"Master Xiang, you don't have to come here in person for such a trivial matter, just arrange for an official to check it out and it will be over. If your Jingui's body is frozen, it will be a great loss to our Jin Kingdom." The accompanying official flattered.

"Leave these words to others." Liu Xu was a little displeased. He didn't like these flirtatious but useless words, not to mention that Jing Guo was already eyeing him, so what's the use of doing these things at a time like this?
Ignoring the embarrassing subordinates, Liu Xu went on to say: "It doesn't matter whether we are in Jin State or in the grasslands in the north, skilled craftsmen are not as good as Jing Guo. Now, according to the news from the scouts, Jing Guo has hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in Yanshan Mansion. His wolf ambition It's obvious!"

Liu Xu's face turned serious: "I'm not as good as a human being, if I don't prepare early, I will suffer a lot."

"But Master Xiang, the Liaoxi Corridor is narrow and easy to defend but difficult to attack. They dare to fight, and we stick to those dangerous passes. No matter how powerful Jing Guo is?"

"Yes, yes, Shanhaiguan and the important towns to the south are easy to defend. In addition to the narrow and long terrain, the Jing army can't deploy no matter how many troops they have. What are they doing?"

"Yes, according to the old man, from the south to the north, no matter how powerful Li Xingzhou is, it will be difficult for him to succeed. This is God's destiny. The terrain is naturally long, and the Han people should be bullied. This is fate."

"."

Everyone was chattering, and Liu Xu couldn't answer what you said, because what they said made sense. Since ancient times, it is easy to fight from north to south, but it is very difficult to go from south to north. Often, many heroes are defeated. sand.

Having said that
Liu Xu couldn't help but think of Li Xingzhou whom he met in the south. His deeds and words, his decisiveness and wisdom in doing things, his charm of living alone, and his indescribable spirit.

Every time he thinks of him, and thinks of such an enemy, Liu Xu can't help but get nervous again, "It's better to be cautious. It's better to plan ahead than sharpen your guns before the battle. At least you must be well-prepared for arrows and crossbows. If Jing Jun presses on, the long-term The siege will cost a lot."

The prime minister's words are all about this, so naturally no one will be ignorant.

Liu Xu didn't say any more, and led everyone to inspect. Halfway there, a big man saluted and greeted him. This person was Shi, the official of the Cao Mansion of the Shangjing Army, and Liu Xu had entrusted him to do something a few days ago.

"Get up, what's the progress?" Liu Xu asked as he walked.

Chang Shi shook his head, "Forgive me, my subordinates don't understand the use of those stones at all. They look like charcoal and iron stones, but they say that carbon can't be ignited, and iron stones can't make iron. The only use is It's used as a marker."

"make a mark?"

"Well, it is better than charcoal after being cut into sticks, and it is not easy to fade, but it is more troublesome."

Liu Xu frowned, then shook his head, "No, no, if it's just a simple mark, Li Xingzhou's shrewdness will never waste time and effort to transport it back from thousands of miles away. There must be some other important use."

"This subordinate can't figure it out. In short, those black stones haven't found any great use." Chang Shi looked puzzled.

Liu Xu couldn't help it, and then thought: "Could it be Li Xingzhou's tricks? But what is the purpose of this." The end result is naturally completely clueless.

Chang Shi's eyes suddenly brightened: "Master Xiang, could it be that the formula of gunpowder requires black stone?"

Liu Xu was taken aback.

"Now Jingguo Yanshan Mansion is impenetrable because they have cannons, and the key to cannons is gunpowder. The gunpowder made by those priests is black, but it is not as powerful as the people of Jingguo. The black stone is also black. Li Xingzhou has not traveled thousands of miles to buy it. Could there be black stone powder in the gunpowder formula?"

Liu Xu nodded, feeling more and more reasonable, "Please write this down!"

Chang Shi nodded repeatedly.

In the current Jin Dynasty, most people believed that Jingguo would send troops to the north, whether it was for revenge or ambition, but similarly, almost no one believed that Jingguo could achieve any results.

Starting from Shanhaiguan, the long and narrow Liaoxi Corridor along the coast has dangerous and important towns everywhere. This defensive network that echoes and links with each other alone can prevent Jing Jun from advancing.

In addition, the long and narrow terrain would make it impossible for Jing Guo's army to deploy, and no matter how many people there were, they would not be able to display the corresponding combat effectiveness. The nobles of the Jin Kingdom had nothing to fear.

In winter, news came from scouts that more grain and grass from Jingguo had been transported to Yanshan City, and auxiliary soldiers from all over the country began to camp in batches at the boundary of Yanshan Prefecture.

There are many signs conveying uneasiness, but no one is afraid. The people of Jing Guo just want to take revenge.

Throughout the winter, the emperor of Dajin was busy sending envoys to Koryo and Xia to reprimand their monarchs and demand that they attack again with tribute.

In addition, the situation in the grassland was also concerned by Emperor Dajin. He sent envoys successively to reprimand Temujin for breaking his promise and demanded that the Qiyan Ministry continue to pay tribute. ear.

Wanyanli was furious, and threatened to send troops to the grassland, but Jing Guo was watching, and everyone knew that he was just threatening.

Because of this, Temujin became even more presumptuous, directly announcing in winter that he would no longer obey the title of the Kingdom of Jin, set up the Great Mongol Kingdom on the grasslands, called himself Genghis Khan, and completely separated from the Kingdom of Jin.

This undoubtedly slapped Jin Guo in the face again!

(End of this chapter)