Ping An Biography

Eight days later, Jiujiang City welcomed homing pigeons that flew back from outside for the first time. Once the pigeons that have been raised in Jiujiang City are released outside, they will fly back to their nests by themselves.Ruichang has been occupied, and [-] soldiers have been sent to the southeast of Bali Lake... A short line proves that Zhou Mengxiong's reinforcements are progressing smoothly.The main force of Zhang Fu's army is besieged near Jiujiang, and I am afraid that Zhou Mengxiong will not be able to stop Zhou Mengxiong's eastward advance in time.

The next day the weather was fine, the sky was clear and the sun was bright, and there was no wind.After entering winter, such weather is really rare, just in time.Zhang Ning decided to make good use of today's good weather for experiments.

The battle is imminent, life and death are at stake, but at such a critical moment, Zhang Ning fiddles with this mysterious thing with great fanfare, which is really hard for his subordinates to understand.But he is the supreme commander, and no one can stop his actions.

A section of the houses inside the southern city wall have been demolished, and the site of Central Avenue has been added to leave a wide open space.A brick-and-earth kiln was prepared and charcoal was placed inside.Some soldiers are unfolding and flattening the big colorful cloth bag brought over from all sides. This strange thing is mainly sewn with whole bolts of silk. If the silk is not enough, there are cotton cloth patchworks. Red, green, blue, white are all mixed together. , like a fully patched sail, then smeared with tung oil as a seal.

From time to time, there was a cannon shot outside the city, but it was clear that the officers and soldiers had no intention of attacking the city today; since Jiujiang was besieged for several months, there were only a few truly fierce siege battles, and even Zhang Furao could not afford it. The cost of casualties caused by continuous storming of the city wall.

People have long been accustomed to the never-ending sound of artillery, and many soldiers on the city wall are watching in amazement.During this period of time, the morale of the army was much better than before, and the news of the victory of the North Road War and the arrival of reinforcements gave people hope.

Zhang Ning was riding around on the horse, gesticulating and talking around the kiln, and many people were watching.When the guards were about to install the boiler and pipes, he asked Li Zhen to drive the surrounding soldiers away, threatening that it might explode if it was not done properly.

A small sergeant next to "Sail" was laughing and joking with his superior officer, and the superior officer could tolerate the disrespect at this time, because this thin and small sergeant went into battle as a death soldier.He was thinly clothed, with ropes firmly bound around his torso, and then two ropes were tied from his shoulders and tied to the ropes that connected the "sails".This long rope is a silk braided rope, to save weight.

When the charcoal piled up in the earthen kiln was red-hot, people followed orders to seal up the openings on both sides with brick mud, leaving only two round holes for the pipes.The pipes carried over are about the thickness of a human arm, and they are spliced ​​together: the two ends are iron pipes wrapped in iron sheets, and the middle is spliced ​​with bamboo tubes to save materials.

The water in several large pots here boiled one after another, and the guards sealed the pots with lids, and then connected the pipes to the lids. After a while, the other end of the pipes began to emit white steam.Zhang Ning yelled loudly to set the fire on fire.After a while, the other end of the pipe was full of water vapor, so it was connected to an opening in the kiln; the other opening was also connected to a round pipe and covered with mud.

After waiting for a while, guessing that the air in the earthen kiln and the pipes was almost exhausted, the sergeants covered their mouths with wet cloths and connected the outlet pipes to the air port of the "sail". Several big men with thick waists and round arms stood Grab the canvas there.

The huge "sail" slowly rose up like a blowing wind.After a long time, gradually an irregular balloon larger than a house floated up lightly, as if it was about to fly up if it weren't for a few big men pulling it.

The soldiers watching from far and near opened their mouths wide, waiting to see the strange things in front of them.The giant balloon is colorful and nearly oval, like a huge ugly wax gourd, which really attracts people's attention.What's more, there are a few big characters written in black ink on it: King Yan's rebellion against the party won the country, and the heavens will be angry and return me.

When a few big men got the order to pull out the pipe to tie the opening, and let go of their hands, the balloons actually jumped up and strung together.The sergeant tied below was pulled by the rope, the sole of his foot lightened, and he yelled "Wow".

The soldiers around were suddenly in an uproar, booing and watching this strange thing fly into the sky by itself.

Zhang Ning yelled and said: "Don't be afraid, I will pull you down later! When you go up, you must watch the deployment of the enemy's troops!"

"Mom, it's flying, so high!" The little sergeant above shouted loudly, waving his arms but couldn't find a point of strength.However, the airtightness of this balloon is really a bit poor, and the bottom is heavy and the hot air leaks. Fortunately, it is still rising slowly.

The city was indeed bustling all of a sudden, people shouted happily, and many waved their hands in the air.Xin Wei who was standing next to Zhang Ning was also dumbfounded: "It really flew up, how could it be..."

Yu Qian also raised his head to watch with great interest, and kept brushing the light beard on his chin with his hands.

But the balloon showed signs of stagnation soon after it flew up. It was difficult to test the height for a while, but it has far surpassed the tallest tower.Zhang Ning was afraid that there would be too much air leakage, so he fell down and killed people... Although scientific experiments always have to pay a price, sometimes even human life, but if the sergeant died, who would tell Zhang Ning the deployment of the army? ?Zhang Ning decisively ordered the big men to pull the rope to pull the balloon down.

After a long time, the little sergeant was hugged by the people below, and the people next to him cut the rope with a knife, and the balloons were slowly strung up again.The little sergeant sat down on the ground after landing, his face turned pale.

Zhang Ning stepped forward and asked with a smile, "Is the horizon not straight but curved?"

The sergeant nodded vigorously and stared at Zhang Ning, disregarding any courtesy.Zhang Ning waited for him to breathe a sigh of relief, and then asked seriously: "See clearly the deployment of the official army camp?"

The sergeant nodded vigorously again: "Captain Li is giving thousands of instructions in the morning. Even if the little one is frightened to death, he will pay attention to it. Don't dare to miss the big deal." A nearby general took the opportunity to show his face and said: "Wang Er is the observation post of the artillery camp. Soldiers, you have good eyesight, and you have carefully considered the selection of the last general."

Zhang Ning gave the guards a wink, and the guards picked up the sergeant and sent him directly to the governor Xingyuan.

...The giant balloon flew high into the sky and could be seen from far and near, which had a considerable impact on the officers and soldiers.The officers and soldiers of the battalions suddenly saw such a thing flying into the air, and they all looked up. When the generals came to reprimand them, everyone had been thinking about it for a long time.

Of course, people can't understand why such a big thing can fly into the air, which is beyond the cognition of Ming Dynasty people; everyone's feeling is as if modern people suddenly saw a huge flying saucer suspended in mid-air, and there was no reverse push airflow, People on earth will also be shocked by abnormal phenomena that cannot be discussed in terms of aerodynamics.

Rumors abounded in the barracks, and curiosity was uncontrollable.Even a general at the level of a general said in public: "I have lived half my life, and I have seen birds flying in the sky, but I have never seen this kind of thing fly."

Some people say that ghosts, gods and witchcraft were summoned, just like Zhuge Liang was able to borrow wind from the sky. This interpretation of the letter is the most popular.Because materialism is not the mainstream in this era, even the emperor, civil and military officials have to worship the gods, not to mention the general public; there are various legends and dramas deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and everyone believes that ghosts and gods do exist in the world. even if you haven't seen it with your own eyes.

The rebels were able to use magical powers, which is incredible. Legend has it that Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty cheated when he was in a bad mood when he fought a war. !

It was also rumored that the elite of the North Route Army's Beijing camp were almost completely annihilated by peasants temporarily brought in by Wuchang Prefecture.Maybe the family of King Xiang are all ghosts or gods, and the North Route Army was also killed by boulders!For a while, people were in a state of panic, and everyone felt that it was useless to spend so long sweating and sweating for several months.

There are also a few large characters on the balloon, some people can see clearly.King Yan's family won the country and angered the heavens?This kind of words can't help but cause some generals to think wildly... This is something that didn't happen before. It has been more than [-] years since Zhu Di took the throne. Who cares what the world should belong to, but now it is raised People's hearts, after all, are facts.

Zhang Fu issued a strict order to each battalion and army on the same day, strictly prohibiting spreading rumors to disturb the morale of the army, and violators will be severely punished.The British public made a lot of promises, and the discussion was suppressed. The soldiers did not dare to speak too much because they were in awe of the military order... But the doubts still remained in the hearts of thousands of soldiers, and they could not be relieved.Unless Zhang Fu can come up with credible words to explain what so many people saw this morning.

Zhang Fu obviously couldn't explain it, and even he himself was very puzzled.The staff members under him were also speechless, and some officials who were educated and rich as Jinshi didn't know what was going on.

The aides have offered advice and suggestions on how to inspire the army, but every one is useful.For example, the rebels used crooked ways to cover their eyes, but the theory of crooked ways is inherently mysterious, and it doesn't help.

"It's evil, it's too evil..." A staff member just sighed, and suddenly there was a "bang", and everyone looked sideways, seeing Zhang Fu glaring angrily, and dropped the teacup on the ground.

Zhang Fu didn't mention today's strange incident, but instead drew his anger on Zhu Mian, "Zhu Mian, a wine bag and rice bag, is in vain for this old man to entrust him with a heavy responsibility! The tens of thousands of troops in the Beijing camp can't stop the cobbled together mob. Land, the way of life and death of a soldier's society is regarded as a trifling matter by others, and it is not too much to punish his nine clans for such a serious crime!"

All the civil and military personnel were speechless for a moment, and they could hear a needle being thrown in the big tent for a while.

At this moment, someone suddenly stood up and said calmly: "Standing high and looking far, I believe that the strange object released by the rebels today is to spy on our army's deployment."

When Zhang Fu looked back, he saw a young man in a blue round collar official uniform, with a handsome face and a short grid. He was Yang Sihai, an official of the Ministry of War and a Jinshi.

Yang Sihai said again: "The sages don't blame the power of the gods, and the low-level officials and others can't explain the strange phenomena today, but they don't believe that there are people in the world who can call the wind and the rain to summon the gods and ghosts. We can't make random plans for small things, just follow the art of war. It is the best policy to deal with the rebels as soon as possible."