It is said that gunpowder appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was accidentally created by some alchemists who made alchemy, hence the name gunpowder. However, it would take hundreds of years for gunpowder to become truly popular and used in daily life and even military use.
Although it is mentioned in some legends that China has recorded the use of gunpowder in the army since the Tang Dynasty, but as far as Sun Tu's own understanding is concerned, at least there is no regular army in the Song Dynasty that mainly uses firearms to fight, so at least This shows that there is still some distance between this time and the era when gunpowder can exert certain combat effectiveness.
And as a time-traveler, when he knew that the Song army was far inferior to the Liao, Jin, Xia and other enemy countries with nomadic cavalry in a head-on confrontation, it was naturally easy for him to make an idea that this later generation could really restrain the cavalry, and finally A new type of weapon has completely eliminated large-scale cavalry combat.
Although Sun Tu, as a time-traveler and a former soldier, was a little embarrassed because he couldn't even recite the black powder formula, but fortunately he had a warehouse system, which happened to have a lot of fireworks and firecrackers. This solves the key process of starting from scratch.
Now, seeing that with the continuous study and efforts of the craftsmen, a batch of suitable gunpowder was finally created, Sun Tu was naturally in a good mood. With the gunpowder in hand, among other things, he could make some simple landmines or Throwing weapons should not be a problem for him. As long as he uses these, it will be enough to make the enemy cavalry suffer.
After Haosheng praised the craftsmen and decided to give them 500 copper coins as a reward on the spot, Sun Tucai left the secret house happily. Seeing that it was still early, he returned to the military camp.
And just when he arrived at the military camp, he heard the neighing of horses, and there was even a burst of laughter in the camp, which made Sun Tu happy. It was obviously Lin Chong who went to Zengtou City to ask for The group of robbed horses returned, and they quickly entered the camp to inquire.
Sure enough, as soon as he entered the military camp, he saw many soldiers surrounding Lin Chong and dozens of magnificent horses talking happily. It was not until Sun Dujian came back that everyone straightened up their appearance and started talking. Seeing the salute, Lin Chong took a few steps forward, crossed his hands and saluted, saying: "General, I have seen the governor. Fortunately, I have lived up to my command and finally got back the stolen horses."
"Thank you for your hard work, Commander Lin." Sun Tu smiled with satisfaction at him, his eyes swept over the dozens of horses with different coats, and asked with some concern: "The people in Zengtou City didn't make things difficult for you, right? "
"No, as soon as the people in Zengtou City learned that what they had robbed was actually the horses of our Qingzhou Army, they acted very frightened and guilty. They apologized to me repeatedly and even sent you a letter of apology to the governor. Letter." As Lin Chong spoke, he took out a letter from his arms and handed it over, and then said: "And to express their apology, they gave us five more horses, which are no less good than those from Liao. of horses.”
"Oh, it seems that the people in Zengtou City still know the importance of things." Sun Tu smiled with satisfaction, took the letter, opened it and read it, but he didn't realize that Lin Chong seemed to have something else to say, because seeing him I lowered my head to read the letter and temporarily endured it.
The content of this letter was actually very ordinary. It was nothing more than an apology. It also stated that Zeng Toushi did not know the origin of these horses, and hoped that Sun Dujian would be able to ignore the villains. Sun Tu just glanced at it and didn't bother to read it carefully. For such a
He was still very satisfied with the result. At least from this matter, it could be seen that he and the Qingzhou Army had a very high prestige on the ground in Shandong. Even local tyrants like Zengtou City did not dare to offend him easily.
And when he put away the letter and planned to ask Lin Chong to talk about the details of the negotiations in Zengtou City, Huangfu Duan and Duan Jingzhu also heard the news and rushed over. It wasn't until they saw the horses brought back by Lin Chong that the two of them nodded happily: "Yes, these are the horses. Dujian, these horses are very precious horses in the Liao Kingdom. If they can be allowed to live in the western suburbs, If the breeding is successful, within a few years, our Qingzhou Army will have an elite cavalry force of hundreds of people!"
"If that's true, you two have contributed a lot." When Sun Tu heard this, he was also happy. Today is indeed a good day. Good news comes one after another. There has been a breakthrough in gunpowder and the horses have been sent back. The only issue left is Chai Jin's attitude. But judging from his reaction, it should be done soon. There will also be good results.
After joking with everyone for a while, Sun Tucai waved everyone away, and then his eyes lingered on the horses that were driven away, looking forward to the grand occasion of establishing an elite cavalry force in the Qingzhou Army in two or three years. , this is a good thing that many military and state generals in the Song Dynasty dream of.
It wasn't until he returned to his barracks with a smile and sat down that Sun Tu suddenly noticed something a little weird. However, because a lot of things happened just now, he couldn't grasp the key point for a moment: "Where is it?" Does this thing seem a little unreasonable?"
His thoughts were quickly interrupted by Lin Chong's voice that sounded outside the door: "Superintendent, I have a humble duty to see you."
"Come in and talk." Sun Tu put his worries aside. After inviting people in, he smiled and said: "Senior Brother Lin, there is no need for you and me to be so different in private. You must have just returned from Zengtou City. You are a little tired, why don't you go home and rest first, and then come to me again, but do you have anything important to say?"
Lin Chong first smiled at him, and then said with a serious face: "It's not a small matter, and I'm not sure whether it's true or not, so I want to report it to the capital prison now."
Sun Tu saw that he spoke solemnly, and the smile on his face faded. He poured him a cup of hot tea, asked him to sit down, and then asked: "Oh? What's the big deal? But is it related to Zengtou City?" ?”
"Exactly." Lin Chong nodded: "Actually, everything went smoothly after I went to Zengtou City this time, because Senior Brother Shi came forward to speak, and they didn't dare to make things difficult for me. It was just because there were a few young masters from the Shi family in the beginning. He was obstructive, so there was a slight delay in returning the horses."
Sun Tu nodded to express his understanding: "It's not easy for thieves to snatch things, and it's even harder to get them to spit them out again. You must have exerted a lot of effort during this process, right?"
"No, the strange thing about this is that before I could think of a counter-argument, the attitude of the Zeng family suddenly changed. Not only were they more polite than before, but they also agreed to return all the horses they had captured before. In addition, Write another letter to apologize and pay five more horses."
"Oh? Isn't this a good thing? If you hadn't contributed to it, then Senior Brother Shi would have said something later. After all, his status in Zengtou City is not low, and the effect will only be better if he comes forward."
Lin Chong frowned and said: "At that time, I thought it was because senior brother was struggling to speak, so I was naturally very grateful to him. But later, I discovered the situation.
Something seems wrong. "
"What's wrong?" Sun Tu heard something different in his words and asked curiously.
"I arrived at Zengtou City on the tenth day of the lunar month, but on the afternoon of the eleventh day, my senior brother deliberately sent me away. He even took care of everything, as if he wanted to drive me away as soon as possible." Lin Chong He carefully considered his words and said, "You must know that it was getting dark at that time, so it was not suitable to set off at all. It was after discovering this that he changed his words and said that he would arrange for me to leave Zengtou City tomorrow. As a result, early on the 12th, He came again, and this time he really sent me out of Zengtou City."
"They are so anxious to send you out. Could it be that something is going to happen there? Or are they doing some shady things and are they worried that you will see something you shouldn't see if you stay there?" Sun Tu guessed. This was immediately recognized by Lin Chong: "This is the problem. Please take a look at it..." As he said that, he took out another note from his sleeve and put it in front of Sun Tu.
Sun Tu took it and took a look, and found that the handwriting on it was very clumsy, just like the exercises of someone who had just learned to write. Fortunately, he could still read it clearly: "Zengtou City colluded with foreigners and wanted to dedicate the city to Foreign enemies…”
This sentence without beginning or end made Sun Tu's expression suddenly change: "Where did you find this?"
"I found it under the door of the guest room where I was staying early that morning. I thought it was just a joke at first, but then when I thought about Zengtou City's eagerness to send me away, I felt that there was something wrong with it," Lin Chong said. He looked and swallowed nervously: "Captain, are you saying this is true? Although Zengtou City has done many unjust things, in the end he is still a citizen of the Song Dynasty. He is really capable of colluding with foreign enemies. Are you planning on Lingzhou City?"
Sun Tu's eyes fell firmly on the paper, and after a while he said: "It's better to believe that this kind of thing is true than to believe it is not true. Lingzhou is not a small place. Once it is invaded by foreigners, many people will be killed or injured. There are too many innocent people. What's more, Lingzhou has just sent nearly a thousand troops to Qingzhou, and the local guards are already empty. If they are invaded by foreign enemies, the consequences will be extremely unpredictable." There is another sentence he did not say, if this is really the case. , I am afraid that Sun Tu’s responsibility must not be small.
"Could those people in Zengtou City really do such a thing?" Lin Chong still said with some doubts. He really couldn't accept the fact that the people of the Song Dynasty colluded with foreigners.
Sun Tu tapped the table with his hand, and after a moment, his expression changed: "I can't say whether they colluded with foreigners to plot Lingzhou, but one thing is certain, that is, they should have had contact with foreigners for a long time. Do you still remember the five extra horses? Those horses are all very handsome, not inferior to the horses Huangfu Duan and others got from the Liao Kingdom, and they are even rarer in our Song Dynasty. But Zengtou City can To easily take out five horses to apologize, this in itself is enough to explain the problem!" It was only then that he realized what he thought was weird just now, and there seemed to be something wrong with Zengtou City!
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On the second day of the new year, I will continue to wish you all New Year greetings. . . . . . But this year is indeed special. Passers-by who would normally go around to pay New Year greetings to their elders can only stay at home. . . . . . But this is good, as I can still concentrate on typing and updating on time. . . . .
Finally, I would like to mention that it’s better if you don’t go out at all. After all, health is the most important thing, and it happens every year.