The prince is very fierce

The morning sun rises from the east, and Suzhou City seems to have arrived in spring overnight.

Above the plaque on the gate of the palace, several spring swallows were building their nests with spring mud in their mouths. A plump little sparrow stood nearby and looked at it curiously. The two palace guards raised their heads and paid attention to the little sparrow at all times, for fear that the prince's concubine's beloved pet would accidentally injure him. It's gone.

It's still early, the girls in the back house are getting up one after another, and the maids are walking in the corridor.

In Song Yufu's boudoir, a portrait of a man hangs on the wall, two bookshelves are filled with books, a vermilion wine gourd is placed on the desk, and the rouge and gouache given to her in Chang'an are neatly placed on the dressing table. .

The curtains of the embroidered bed were hanging down. In the red quilt, Song Yufu's face was slightly red. She was still sleeping soundly while holding Xu Buling's arm. In just a few days, the slightly green cheeks did not show any change. The only difference was that they were less shy and more clingy.

Xu Buling lay flat on the pillow. He had woken up a long time ago. He was afraid of waking up Yu Fu, so he didn't get up. He looked at his sleeping new wife with a bit of boredom.

Song Yufu herself got up very early, always getting up before dawn to read, and she couldn't do anything. But after getting married, this habit obviously needs to be changed. I am already weak, and I am tricked by my bad husband into using strange postures. I am so tired that I don't want to move, and I can only get up at dawn.

After the wedding ceremony last time, I overslept in the morning. Then Manzhi sneaked over and lay beside the bed asking something, "Fubao, did it hurt last night? What did Mr. Xu do to you? Give it to me." Tell me~..." Song Yufu almost died of embarrassment at that time, hesitating and didn't know how to describe it. Fortunately, Xu Buling came over and scared Manzhi away, so she escaped.

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The sound of birds chirping outside the window came, and Song Yufu fluttered her eyelashes, gradually waking up and opening her eyes.

Seeing the man's face so close? Song Yufu's eyes were a little confused, her face gradually turned red, and her arms were slightly loosened:

"Ms. sir? You're awake..."

Xu Buling curled up his lips: "If you want to sleep, just sleep a little longer? It's okay in the palace anyway."

"No? Manzhi will come over again later..."

Before Song Yufu finished speaking, the sound of trotting footsteps could be heard outside the room. There were also calls of "quack, quack, quack". Zhu Manzhi's voice followed:

"Mr. Xu? I caught a very fat goose? I want to roast it, but Xiao Ning insists on stewing it. Please pay attention~..."

When Song Yufu heard the sad and indignant wailing of the big goose, she was slightly confused. With anxious eyes, she got up from the bed without wearing any clothes. She quickly ran to the window and opened the window:

"No, no, no, no? Don't roast Prince Bai..."

Outside the window, Zhu Manzhi held up the wings of the big white goose with a smile, and in a blink of an eye he saw Song Yufu. He wanted to make a few jokes, but he didn't expect to see...two big white balls...

"Ah~ Fubao, why are you naked? Are you ashamed?"

Song Yufu lowered her head and glanced, finally came to her senses, screamed, quickly closed the window, and ran back to the embroidery bed.

Xu Buling had already stood up. Seeing Song Yufu's panic, he raised his hand and patted her buttocks:

"We are all married, and there is no man in the back house. Why are we panicking?"

Song Yufu came from a scholarly family and had only been married for a few days. She couldn't let go. She hugged her chest to prevent Xu Buling from looking around, and got into the quilt again, revealing only a small face:

"Ms. Gong, please take Manzhi away, as well as Prince Bai and Ah Huang. Don't stew any more."

"How could it be? If you sleep a little longer, there's no need to get up in a hurry. They all know you can't get up anyway..."

"Oh my husband..."

"hehe……"

Xu Buling smiled softly, kissed Song Yufu on the forehead, tucked the quilt in, turned and walked out of the room.

Zhu Manzhi stood at the door, holding the big white goose in his arms, his face flushed, and pretending to have his back to the door. When he heard Xu Buling coming out, he muttered:

"Mr. Xu, what are you doing? You are not wearing any clothes in broad daylight..."

Xu Buling walked up to him and rescued the big white goose that was almost stunned by the wind after being sent over eight hundred miles away. He threw it into the garden and then walked out holding the little hand full of branches:

"Manzhi, you usually get up before the sun basks you. Why didn't you sleep in today? Are you jealous and deliberately came to steal your lover?"

When Zhu Manzhi's little thoughts were discovered, he naturally refused to admit it and blinked his big eyes:

"Where is it~ I just came over and took a look... By the way, Sister Xiang'er was looking for you just now. It seems that there is something I want to show you..."

Xu Bu Ling shook his head and chuckled. He stopped teasing Xiao Manzhi and said instead:

"Where is Xiang'er?"

"Outside the Chuihua Gate... By the way, there is a big hot spring inside the city. It's very comfortable. Have Mr. Xu been there?"

"I know, I'll go with you later."

"I'm just going to tell you who's going to go with you..."

"Isn't it normal for brothers to take a bath together..."

"No, no, no..."

…

While talking and laughing, Xu Buling finished cleaning up and went to the outer house of the palace.

Xiao Xiang'er was wearing a long black dress, dressed exactly like Xiao Qi, standing outside the hanging flower door. Lao Xiao and two palace aides were talking to each other.

Xu Buling walked out of the hanging flower door with Manzhi and said with a smile: "Baby, why do you get up so early."

Xiao Xiang'er turned around, pretending to be calm, and said calmly:

"Call me Qiqi. I need to go out before anyone notices me."

Old Xiao walked up to him with his crutch and said: "Little prince, before you went to Jiangnan, didn't you leave a few volumes of drawings? From August last year to now, the weapons supervisor has been thinking about it. The imperial concubine recently analyzed the situation, It is estimated that the imperial court will soon send an order to mobilize the Xiliang army to enter the pass. I don’t know how the new items will work in the battle formation. Taking advantage of the good weather today, the young prince will go over and check them to see if they can be used. "

When Xu Buling heard this, his eyes were slightly happy. Last time he returned to Suzhou, he drew a few artillery drawings and explained the general principles. He handed them over to Xiang'er to perfect, and then sent them to the Ordnance Supervisor for research and development. Although he didn't know much about it, after half a year, he should have achieved some results. .

"Let's go over and have a look."

Without hesitation, Xu Buling took Lao Xiao and others out of the palace and took a carriage to the weapons inspection outside the city.

There are 200,000 mercenaries in Xiliang. They are self-sufficient in armor, food, grass and ordnance. There must be an arsenal for making armor and crossbows.

In this world, heavy cavalry and crossbowmen are the main combat forces, but there are also prototypes of firearms, such as the 'Thunderbolt Cannon' with a bamboo tube as a launcher, the 'Fierce Oil' used to defend the city, etc., which are not very powerful and are more numerous. It is rare, and basically useless in front of the eight-year-old crossbow with a range of up to three miles.

Although technology is a bit backward, it does not mean that the craftsmen of this world are any more stupid than modern craftsmen. This can be seen from the underground palace under Bodhi Island and the sword metallurgical technology. Just Xu Buling's 'Water Dragon Song' , it may not be possible to make it in modern times, but there was no concept of firearms before.

The group of people came to the weapons workshop outside the city. Hundreds of craftsmen were running back and forth. Siege vehicles, vehicles and other equipment were piled up like mountains. Thick smoke billowed from several blast furnaces. The sound of hammering and hammering was almost louder than the human voice. Noisy.

Lao Xiao took Xu Buling back and forth in the weapons prison and came to a small workshop opened in the rear.

There are only about a dozen craftsmen in the workshop, and huge clay molds are placed in the courtyard and are being dried. The foreman is a Mohist named Tian Qisheng. He was originally a retainer of the palace, and was assigned an important task here. He is currently sitting on a powder keg, making noodles.

Xu Buling was shocked when he saw this scene, and quickly protected Xiang'er and Manzhi behind him, frowning and saying:

"Why are the gunpowder piled up against the wall? Are you afraid of overturning the workshop?"

When Tian Qisheng saw the young prince coming, he quickly put down the noodles, stood up and said with a smile:

"My lord, don't worry, they are all empty. There is an iron rule to ban smoking and fire in the armory. I still know this because of my humble position."

Zhu Manzhi glanced around the workshop and saw a pile of large iron pipes piled in the corner, and his eyes lit up:

"Mr. Xu, are you building a big firecracker?"

"almost."

After Xu Buling was sure that there was no danger, he felt relieved and followed Tian Qisheng to the warehouse behind the courtyard dam. After the door opened, he looked up and saw a thick and long thing covered with red cloth.

Tian Qisheng walked closer and raised his hand to lift the red cloth, revealing a cannon painted black with precious paint. In order not to affect the strength of the barrel, only a black tiger was painted on it. It was inscribed by Su Wang Xu You himself, so lifelike. , the word 'expensive' is written all over his body.

Tian Qisheng said with a bit of pride: "Little prince, this humble job requires half a year of work and sleepless nights. It only consumes 30,000 kilograms of copper and iron. Although the price is a bit high, at least I figured it out."

Xiao Xiang'er only made a rough drawing and knew the principle, but didn't know how effective it was. When he heard this, he frowned slightly:

"Xu Bu Ling, 30,000 kilograms of copper and iron can be used to cast two hundred sets of heavy armor. Are you sure this thing is comparable to the heavy cavalry with two hundred armors and riding equipment?"

Lao Xiao also frowned slightly: "Xiliang is short of copper and iron. The prince has been saving 20,000 armored 'Tiger and Benqi' horses for sixty years. Many of them were seized from Daqi before the Sixth Age. I'm afraid of doing this." It’s a bit painful…”

It’s not surprising that the two of them can say this. Among the battle formations of the past dynasties, the most powerful ones were the heavy cavalry with both men and horses wearing heavy armor. Each man and one horse was a steel fortress. Each battle often only required a few thousand armored cavalry, supplemented by light cavalry, to be unstoppable. , when encountering tens of thousands of enemy troops, they can be completely defeated. Good steel doesn't need to be used on the blade. Spending 30,000 kilograms of copper and iron to make this thing is not as effective as two hundred heavy cavalry.

Xu Buling walked up to Huopeng, raised his hand and touched the body of the iron-core bronze cannon, and nodded with satisfaction:

"The craftsmanship is all made with money, and research and development will definitely produce a lot of waste products. When the technology matures, the cost will naturally come down."

Tian Qisheng nodded lightly: "The young prince is right, practice makes perfect. Once a few apprentices become proficient, they won't need so much copper and iron."

Xu Buling looked around the cannon carefully, then leaned on the muzzle, looked at the rifling pulled out from the cannon, and nodded slightly:

"Have you tried it? How's the effect?"

Tian Qisheng raised his hand and pointed to the shooting range where he was adjusting the crossbow: "I tried it. It's quite loud, but it's not easy to aim. This thing weighs 600 pounds and can shoot a mile and a half. The winner will be torn apart, regardless of whether it's a man or a horse. But it's not accurate even if it's a mile away." Yes, it can be used to break down the city gate, but I’m afraid it won’t be able to break down the city wall.”

"Just make it bigger, maybe 3,000 pounds, and the range must be at least greater than the crossbow... How many can you make in a month now?"

"It's no problem to make two in a month. Once a few apprentices learn it and add more people, we should be able to make it faster."

When Xu Buling heard this, he frowned:

"Two cannons? What's the use of them? It can only make a noise on the battlefield, but it can't change the situation of the war. At least a thousand cannons are needed, and twenty people are responsible for each. Get 20,000 artillery troops and push them all the way to Siberia... ..."? ? ?

Tian Qisheng and Xiao Xiang'er both rolled their eyes when they heard these inexplicable words.

Although Xiao Xiang'er doesn't know how to cast artillery, there are quite a few large copper and iron items cast by the ancestors of the Xiao family. To put it bluntly, artillery is just a lump of iron, and the casting process is similar. She stepped forward and said:

"Xu Buling, do you think you are the only one who knows that 'more is better, bigger is more beautiful'? Let's not talk about the copper and iron raw materials and craftsmen. It takes a lot of time just to open the mold. The clay mold is dried for at least half a month, and it still needs to be seen. Weather, unless the workshop is expanded, not much can be cast in a month. You also asked the Lanzhou shipyard to build a few warships. No matter how big your family is, it will not be like this..."

Xu Buling raised his hand and chuckled: "I just set a goal, and I don't want to do it now. Build an artillery workshop in the upper reaches of the Wei River. Once it is built, it can be transported directly to the pass by ship. It can be transported directly to the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Qingzhou and Jiangnan. I'll tell my father about this, and Mr. Tian can just concentrate on making cannons."

Xiao Xiang'er is a craftsman herself, and has no idea about the output of copper and iron. Seeing that Xu Buling is planning to build a large-scale construction project to burn down the property saved by two generations of King Su, he still hesitates:

"Xu Bu Ling, is this thing really so important?"

Xu Buling thought for a while and felt that it was useless to say more. Seeing is believing, so he asked Tian Qisheng to pull out the cannon and try it.

After a while, four craftsmen pushed the cannon out of the workshop and headed to the shooting range on the side of the weapons inspection. The gunpowder is loaded separately on the cart to prevent a spark from directly exploding.

After the cannon stopped, the craftsmen, under the command of Tian Qishengde, used the iron rivets on the gun mount to drive into the ground to fix the cannon. There is a sight on the cannon. After several months of experiments, he has gained some experience in distance, elevation, charge, etc. Tian Qisheng weighed the gunpowder, loaded it from the muzzle, compacted it with a wooden stick, and then loaded it. A solid iron pellet and a torch.

Zhu Manzhi had been following behind. When he saw the appearance of ordering firecrackers, he immediately became energetic and said:

"Mr. Xu, let me have some, let me have some..."

Still in the experimental stage, Xu Buling didn't dare to let Xiao Manzhi take risks, so he pulled Manzhi and Xiang'er to stand far away.

In order to show off his skills in front of the young prince, Tian Qisheng did everything himself, holding a torch and lighting the fuse at the end of the cannon...