Prosperous Tang Dynasty

Chapter 188
The number of soldiers on the border of the Tang Dynasty does not include the defensive strength of each county, but the personnel who can be taken out to fight. For example, Fan Yang of Anlu Mountain and Pinglu Liangdao can have a total of 11 troops. Anlu Mountain often went out to conquer the Xi and Khitan tribes.

"If Anton is blocked by the Khitan people, it will almost lose contact with the Central Plains. Andong's geographical location is complicated. Silla and Bohai may not have the idea of ​​annexing Andong while taking advantage of its weakness. You must know that , More than a year ago, Bohai State had the idea of ​​attacking Anton, but it was frightened by the court in the end. What if one day Bohai State had the idea of ​​raising troops again? Continue to rely on the prestige of the court to intimidate, and I, Anton, can only Shivering?" Li Fei said expressionlessly.

"This—" Lu Xin was speechless all of a sudden. He has controlled Anton for five years. It's hard to resist the double pressure from Balhae and Silla. Could it be that Anton really can only tremble like Li Fei just said and can't fight back by himself?
Lu Xin is also a person with great ambitions, and he also hopes that Anton can enter the Western Regions like Anxi, and shock the nations, but——
"But Master Jiedu, even if you are confident that Anton and yourself can support enough soldiers, it's not just about soldiers and food, but also weapons, armor, and horses. What to do?" Lu Xin said bitterly.

Li Fei was also stunned. He really didn't think about weapons, armor and war horses just now.

"Anton had accumulated [-] cavalry, but the last time his subordinates were attacked by Khitan Huaixiu Khan at the border, the [-] cavalry he brought with him was almost wiped out. Now the entire Anton has less than [-] cavalry." Lu Lu Shin sighed.

The corners of Li Fei's eyes twitched twice. The big Anton not only has its own horse-producing places, but also the grasslands to the east and Shiwei tribes to the north are all places to produce horses, especially the grasslands to the east. , I have accumulated [-] cavalry, and now there are less than [-] cavalry, which is too hard!
He also wanted to rely on Anton's strength to live in chaos in the future. How could this be done!He has to develop Anton's military power even if he pays for everything.

"How did you get weapons and armor before?" Li Fei asked.

"Weapons and armor were all allocated by the imperial court, but the road to Andong was also cut off by the Xi and Khitan kings of Dongping County. It was not easy to transport. It is better to strengthen the power of Fan Yang and Pinglu first, so as to calm down the Xi and Khitan as soon as possible." The Khitan tribe cut it off for reasons. Didn’t you notice, Lord Jiedushi, that the weapons of many soldiers in Anton are not unified, and the stepmother’s rearing is not so miserable.” Speaking of the aggrieved part, Lu Xin blurted out, He didn't even realize that his last sentence was equivalent to arranging the court, and he was dissatisfied with the court.

Li Fei also gave a wry smile, Tang Xuanzong was really kind to An Lushan, too partial, it was all borders, but Anton's defense range was larger, and there were more foreign forces, but he was squeezed like this, withholding money and food, It's nothing more than deducting soldiers, and even the normal supplies for damaged weapons and armor are also deducted. This is indeed not so miserable for the stepmother.

Tang Xuanzong had no bottom line to promote the development of Anlushan's power. In fact, it is no wonder that Anlushan would have monstrous ambitions. He was not a Han, but a barbaric barbarian. He was born and raised in the bitter cold grassland. How can you let An Lushan's rebellious heart not be used to it?

"Four years ago, my subordinates wrote a letter to the imperial court, hoping that the food, grass, soldiers, etc. allocated by the imperial court could be sent to Anton, and Anton's power could not be weakened any longer, otherwise it would really be impossible to restrain Bohai and Silla. But the reply he received was still to give priority to strengthening the strength of the Dongping County King, and to calm down the Xi and Khitan tribes as soon as possible. A year ago, his subordinates wrote to the court again, and the reply was still the same, but it was just a perfunctory sentence. Anton can act cheaply First, forge some by yourself, and after Dongping County King An Lushan settles down the two clans and opens up the mountain-sea corridor, the imperial court will make up for it one by one."

Lu Xin was very helpless, the meaning of the imperial court's words was obvious, that is to give priority to Anlu Mountain, and wait for Anlu Mountain to subdue the Xi and Khitan tribes, and Anton can forge it by himself if he has the ability to use it first.

To put it nicely, the standard weapons of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are the Mo Dao first, the Heng Dao second, the Horse Lance third, and the bow armor and shields at the end.Whether it is Mo Dao, Heng Dao, or Ma Jian, they are all made of [-]-refined jade steel, with excellent workmanship and expensive cost. They are not only the pinnacle weapons of the Tang Dynasty, but also the pinnacle weapons in the current world. Which ones are Anton himself? Capable of forging?That's why Lu Xin said it was perfunctory.

Of course, he had no choice but to recruit some blacksmiths to make a batch of iron knives, iron swords, etc. for the generals to use, but the quality was comparable to the Mo Dao and Heng Dao, which were the standard weapons of the Tang Dynasty. , is simply unsightly.

"The imperial court really said that?" Li Fei was overjoyed, too surprised.

Lu Xin felt aggrieved, but when he heard it, he was overjoyed.

"The imperial court said so, otherwise the subordinates would not dare to forge iron knives and swords by themselves." Lu Xin nodded for confirmation.

Li Fei was so happy that he almost couldn't laugh out loud, this was really a surprise.Under normal circumstances, generals forging weapons and armor by themselves are tantamount to rebellion, but the court gave Anton such rights. Now that Li Fei is Anton's Jiedushi, it is equivalent to Li Fei having the right to forge weapons and armor by himself. Li Fei How could you be unhappy.

"Okay! Okay! In this case, we don't rely on the imperial court, but produce by ourselves! [-] soldiers, everyone must have a full allocation." Li Fei waved his hand.

Isn't it just a matter of building a weapon workshop? Building an iron workshop to forge ordinary iron was originally in his plan. Now that he has the right to produce military weapons and armors by himself, he can build another weapons workshop at the same time as the iron workshop. .

You must know that the Changbai Mountain branch on the south and east sides of Liaoyang has the largest iron ore group in China, which is almost inexhaustible. The most important thing in his Anton Governor's Mansion is the iron ore for iron and steel making .

Li Fei immediately asked Mao Youde and Zhan Youwei to preside over the construction of an iron and steel making workshop at the foot of the mountain on the east side of Liaoyang. The original blacksmiths in the mansion, together with the eight blacksmiths brought by Li Fei from Chang'an City, acted as 'masters', presided over the forging of ordinary iron and steel weapons and armor.

In terms of iron ore, there was an iron mine being excavated around Liaoyang, but the scale was not large. Li Fei sent another person into the mountain to search for the iron ore. For this reason, he marked the approximate location of the famous Anshan Iron Mine in later generations.

At the same time, under Li Fei's order, Lu Xin, Wu Sheng, Zhang Shuo and others also began to recruit troops on a large scale, preparing to recruit Anton's original full quota of 500 people.
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(End of this chapter)