Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 303 I’m going to make you the crown prince

After hearing this, the British Duke bowed and said: "Guan family, if it is really as described by Marquis Zhongyong, then the role of the catapult in the war will be even greater."

Catapults are not used much on the battlefield due to accuracy issues.

Basically, you throw a few rounds during a siege to put pressure on the enemy.

The same trebuchet can sometimes throw stones into the city, sometimes it will fall at the top of the city, and sometimes it will fall outside the city.

Catapults have been around for so many years that there have long been many ways to prevent them.

Because the stone may fall outside the city, the attacking party cannot attack while the stone is being thrown. On the contrary, they must keep a certain distance.

There are many sheltering points built on the city wall. When facing the catapult, a large number of soldiers and horses can be withdrawn, leaving only a small number of people at the sheltering points to observe the movements of the siege army.

In the eyes of the British public, the increase in the range of the catapult is not the most important. In comparison, accuracy is the most important.

If it is true what Yuan Wenshao said, even if the trebuchet cannot hit the same location every time, the range of the impact point has been reduced a lot.

As long as the stones are ensured to fall within the city head, the soldiers can advance while the trebuchet suppresses the enemy at the city head.

Wait until you get close to the city wall before stopping throwing stones. This can greatly reduce the casualties of soldiers.

The others also expressed their own opinions.

They all praise the improved trebuchet.

But all this is based on the premise that the effect is really as good as Yuan Wenshao said.

"I asked you to come here because I want you to accompany me to see it. The trebuchet is of great importance. I am going to leave the palace in the name of inspecting the five major battalions, and you will come with me." Zhao Zongquan said.

"I obey the order!" everyone responded.

……

Soon the news spread that the officials were going to inspect the five major camps.

Although the news was a bit sudden, the ministers in the DPRK did not find it too surprising.

Not long after Zhao Zongquan ascended the throne, he restructured the western suburbs camp. This shows that he attaches great importance to the army, and it is normal to go on inspection tours.

A huge team came to the rear army camp. Although Zhao Zongquan was anxious to see the trebuchet, he still had the patience to pretend to watch the army training.

The soldiers were praised and encouraged in public before leaving the training school.

After leaving the school grounds, Zhao Zongquan urged Yuan Wenshao to take him to see the trebuchet.

Yuan Wenshao took everyone to the Arms Department and asked He Chuan to command the craftsmen to demonstrate the new trebuchet in front of everyone.

Watching the stone fall to the ground, Zhao Zongquan quickly ordered: "Go quickly and measure how many steps the stone fell to the ground."

"Yes!"

The accompanying deputy commander of the Forbidden Army, Ma Hui, quickly sent someone over to measure.

Ma Hui is Liu Guifei's brother-in-law. The Liu family originally belonged to a small family in Yuzhou. Otherwise, Liu Guifei would not have become a concubine for Zhao Zongquan, a descendant of the clan who was not taken seriously.

As the saying goes, when one person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven, Zhao Zongquan suddenly became the emperor, and the Liu family naturally followed suit.

However, the family is a small family and there is no one who can be of great use.

However, Concubine Liu's sister was originally married to Ma Hui, a primary school student in Xiangjun, Yuzhou.

Concubine Liu Guifei gave her a few blows, and Ma Hui jumped from an eighth-grade captain to the deputy commander of the Palace Front Division in charge of one-third of the imperial army.

With Ma Hui taking care of them, many members of the Liu family were able to join the Forbidden Army and become minor officials.

After a while, the people sent by Ma Hui ran back and reported: "Your Majesty, the stone fell more than 1,130 steps away."

"it is good!"

Zhao Zongquan was overjoyed when he heard this. He looked at Yuan Wenshao and said, "Marquis Zhongyong has made great achievements this time, and I will certainly reward him generously."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. However, this is not entirely due to me alone. I just came up with an idea. Thanks to the hard work of the craftsmen, it was made possible." Yuan Wenshao said.

"Haha, there are rewards for everyone." Zhao Zongquan said happily.

"Your Majesty, I think we should try it a few more times to see the distance of each impact and test the accuracy of the new trebuchet." The British public suggested.

"The British public opinion is justified." Zhao Zongquan nodded, looked at Yuan Wenshao and said: "Marquis Zhongyong, let them vote a few more times to see."

"Yes!"

Yuan Wenshao responded and ran over to give He Chuan instructions.

He Chuan heard this and quickly asked the craftsmen to start preparations.

After a while, the trebuchet fired another stone.

After firing three missiles in a row, they suddenly stopped.

"Why did it stop?" Zhao Zongquan asked confused.

Yuan Wenshao looked at the craftsmen in the distance surrounding the trebuchet, but did not launch it, and said: "Your Majesty, it seems that the lever of the trebuchet is broken."

"Zhongyonghou You are so courageous. You actually dare to take out such a trebuchet to ask for rewards from His Majesty. Once the court produces a large number of them and uses them in the army. After using them a few times on the battlefield, you become pregnant. Isn't it like taking the names of the soldiers? Are you kidding me?" General Xiao Duan stood up and angrily scolded Yuan Wenshao.

Not only General Xiao Duan, but also those in Yuzhou Qiandi, except Shen Congxing and Gu Tingye, all stood up to accuse Yuan Wenshao.

Both inside and outside the words said that Yuan Wenshao had bad intentions. In order to seek credit and reward, he knew that the trebuchet was defective but did not explain it.

Zhao Zongquan looked at Yuan Wenshao with a gloomy expression and said, "Marquis Zhongyong, aren't you going to explain it?"

When Yuan Wenshao faced Zhao Zongquan's question, he said calmly: "Back to your majesty, I already said this when I reported it to you before. Due to material limitations, the current trebuchet has a short service life."

"I remember that there is indeed such a thing, but since the trebuchet has such a big flaw, what's the point of having a longer range and greater power?"

Zhao Zongquan frowned and thought for a moment after hearing this. Yuan Wenshao seemed to have indeed said that at that time.

At that time, he was only happy and didn't listen at all.

But despite this, he was still unhappy.

The trebuchet was so flawed that it was impossible to use it.

What's the use of spending a lot of money to build a batch of catapults, and then throwing them on the battlefield for a few rounds before being scrapped?

Yuan Wenshao knew there was such a big flaw and still reported it. Wouldn't it make him happy in vain?

"Your Majesty, I don't think this problem is big. Since the material is not good, just replace it with better material." The British Duke said.

"Your Majesty, what the British Lord said is exactly what I want to say. The Arms Department in this army is only set up for soldiers to repair weapons and equipment on weekdays. The conditions are limited, so we can only do this. It would be better if it was replaced with With the materials, we can definitely make a better trebuchet." Yuan Wenshao said.

Zhao Zongquan was startled when he heard this, as if he was indeed too excited.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Zongquan smiled and said: "The trebuchet is of great importance, and I was a little anxious for a while. In this case, you can ask someone to bring the improved trebuchet manufacturing method, and I will let the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry build it and try it."

"Yes." Yuan Wenshao responded.

Just at this time, He Chuan came over to report that the trebuchet was broken, and Yuan Wenshao asked him to sort out the drawings.

Half an hour later, Zhao Zongquan left the rear army and headed for the front army.

When he left the palace this time, he announced to the outside world that he was inspecting the five major battalions. Naturally, he could not only go to the rear army.

While Zhao Zongquan was inspecting the former army, Zhao Ceying had already led his people back to Bianjing.

When he returned to Bianjing, he took Zhao Zongquan's handwriting and went to the Ministry of Industry to mobilize a group of craftsmen and some materials. Clear out a camp of the Forbidden Army in the palace and let the craftsmen make a catapult according to the drawings.

The return cannon not only adds a little counterweight to the back, but also makes some changes to the trebuchet.

Fortunately, these changes are not major and are easy to create with the drawings.

The craftsmen tried different materials and spent half a month to build a catapult that was still intact after being thrown dozens of stones.

After Zhao Ceying learned the news, he immediately went to report to Zhao Zongquan.

Zhao Zongquan was very happy after hearing this and asked: "Have you tested the accuracy?"

"Father, we have already measured it. The error is basically within three steps." Zhao Ceying said.

Three steps is equivalent to four or five meters. This error seems to be very large.

But the error of the original trebuchet was only five to eight steps.

It is converted to more than ten meters. Now the error is within five meters, which is very accurate.

Many city walls are three to five meters wide, which means that if the distance is adjusted, the stones thrown can basically fall on the city head.

"Okay!" Zhao Zongquan said happily: "With this trebuchet, it will be just around the corner to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun."

"Father, this trebuchet is great, but it has a drawback. The wood used for the lever needs to be extremely hard, so the cost is very high, several times that of an ordinary trebuchet." Zhao Ceying said.

"So expensive?" Zhao Zongquan frowned slightly when he heard this.

The materials required for the trebuchet itself are very expensive, and the cost is not cheap. Now that it has doubled several times, it is really too expensive.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Many materials need to be mined from the deep mountains of Shu, and the cost of transportation is very high." Zhao Ceying said.

Originally, trebuchets were expensive to build, but a lot of wood could be harvested nearby.

Nowadays, transportation alone adds a lot of cost.

"No matter how expensive it is, it must be built."

Zhao Zongquan pondered for a while and said: "It seems that a thorough investigation of the salt affairs must be carried out earlier."

Making equipment requires a lot of money. Nowadays, the treasury does not have much money. Even if it can make trebuchets, there is not enough money and food to start a war.

The income from salt, at its peak, could bring the court an income of 20 million guan a year.

The population has surged in recent years, but salt revenue has continued to decline. Last year, the salt revenue was only more than 10 million taels.

Compared with the peak period, the difference is nearly twice.

"Father, even if the salt affairs are thoroughly investigated at this time, it will be difficult to see benefits in a short period of time. I feel that we cannot rush it and should wait until we are fully prepared before proposing it." Zhao Ceying said.

He supports the salt inspection, but according to the original plan, he is actually planning to start the inspection next fall.

After all, the salt affairs involve many things, and if you are not fully prepared, there will be many obstacles.

However, because Zhao Zongquan had reached an alliance with Xixia and was in urgent need of money, he had already moved forward to the beginning of next year.

This time preparation has been somewhat insufficient, and now I want to go further.

"Do you know how the Han Dynasty perished?" Zhao Zongquan asked suddenly.

Zhao Ceying was stunned, wondering why Zhao Zongquan suddenly asked this. He thought for a while and said: "In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the eunuchs were monopolizing power, the emperor was fatuous, and he sold his titles and officials, and the people were in dire straits. Later, the Yellow Turban Rebellion occurred, and Dong Zhuo abolished and established the government. Let the majesty of the royal family be lost.”

"Wrong, these are not the real reasons for the demise of the Han Dynasty. They can only be regarded as a small part of the reasons. What really caused the demise of the Han Dynasty was the aristocratic family. The Yellow Turban Rebellion initially targeted the imperial government and almost reached Luoyang. However, the Yellow Turban Rebellion But because of the lack of food, they began to attack aristocratic families. Those aristocratic families were in danger and began to help the court deal with the Yellow Turbans, so the Yellow Turbans were quickly extinguished.

Including the melee between the princes that lasted for decades. The reason why those princes were able to form a large army was without the support of aristocratic families behind them? " Zhao Zongquan said.

Zhao Ceying did not deny that what Zhao Zongquan said did make some sense.

But he didn't understand what Zhao Zongquan meant by telling him this.

"The revenue from the salt tax has dropped sharply over the years, and all the money has gone into the pockets of the officials involved." Zhao Zongquan said calmly.

Zhao Ceying was stunned when he heard this and exclaimed: "Father, no. If too many officials are touched, it will definitely cause chaos."

Salt was government-run in many dynasties. The so-called official business meant that the court mined and refined salt and the government sold it.

In this way, anyone selling salt in the market will be breaking the law.

Therefore, although private salt exists, it is not too rampant.

But Dazhou is different, it can only be regarded as a semi-official camp.

The imperial court was only responsible for mining and refining the salt, and then selling the salt to merchants, who sold it.

In this way, those merchants only need to buy some official salt as a guise, but only they know whether they are actually selling official salt or private salt.

This is also the reason for the proliferation of private salt.

Illegal salt can flourish, and in addition to salt merchants, many officials are involved.

It can even be said that officials earn more than salt merchants.

After all, the salt dealer needs more than one official to deal with.

But according to Zhao Zongquan's original intention, he did not intend to take action against those officials. He was investigating the salt merchants.

But officials only moved part of it, just to scare the monkeys.

After all, Jiangnan is an area hardest hit by the proliferation of illegal salt, and most officials are involved.

Behind these people are many ministers of the DPRK and China.

Once the whole movement involves too much, it can easily lead to chaos.

But Zhao Zongquan's current intention is to move those officials as well.

"I don't know how much corruption those officials have committed over the years. If they were all checked, the problem of empty treasury would be solved immediately. I have made up my mind, you don't need to persuade me anymore." Zhao Zongquan said calmly.

The alliance with Xixia and the emergence of new trebuchets gave him hope of regaining the sixteen states of Yanyun.

And money restricted him from regaining the sixteen states of Yanyun.

In order to make money, Zhao Zongquan no longer cares about so much.

As for causing trouble, he wasn't worried at all.

Now the restructuring of the western suburbs camp has begun to bear fruit.

He has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses at his disposal, and how much trouble can those civil servants make.

"But…"

Zhao Ceying wanted to persuade him again, but Zhao Zongquan waved his hand and said: "You can prepare to go to Jiangnan to thoroughly investigate the salt affairs. Don't think too much about other things. I won't have an attack for the time being. Remember, we must collect more officials to participate. evidence of."

Zhao Zongquan was not stupid, and he did not intend to attack those officials from the beginning.

Instead, they were prepared to wait until there was sufficient evidence, officials would relax their vigilance, and simply catch them all without giving them a chance to react.

"Yes." Seeing this, Zhao Ceying had no choice but to do anything.

"You have to do things well this time. I am going to make you the crown prince." Zhao Zongquan said.

(End of this chapter)