The Privy Council was ordered to organize the Hedong Front Camp Military Office. The large-scale war between the Great Zhou and the Northern Han was inevitable. Wang Pu was still the general manager of the Military Office, which was a sign that the emperor would lead the army in person. The Military Office, like the shogunate during the war with the Southern Tang Dynasty, mobilized officials to set up various departments to sort out the military situation and provide advice for the Central Army. There was also a complete system for issuing military orders. In addition, the largest number of officials were prepared to be sent to the various military units at all levels to collect and organize information and assist the generals in issuing written military orders.
Li Gu was ordered to be in charge of military supply preparation and mobilization.
Mainly, food and grass were transferred from various places to Jinzhou, Liaozhou, Luzhou and other places for storage. In addition, craftsmen were recruited to mine stones near these states and counties to make round stone bullets.
The whistling cannons were scheduled to be deployed northwards after the beginning of next spring. The imperial court chose the army to be dispatched at the beginning of next year. This was because the Liao army's reinforcements were taken into consideration; the Liao army's cavalry horses were fattest in autumn. The grass on the grasslands produced seeds in autumn and could fatten them. At this time, the grassland war horses were the most powerful, and the nomadic army was the strongest. Therefore, there was a saying of autumn defense in all dynasties. The Great Zhou court took the initiative to attack and took the initiative to choose the time, of course, not autumn, because the Central Plains war horses mainly relied on food to fatten them, and there was almost no seasonality.
There was also the preparation of gunpowder. The power of the whistling cannon was far greater than the catapult used by the Zhou army before, but the efficiency of using gunpowder was not high and a large amount of gunpowder was consumed. Charcoal was not a problem; Li Gu urged Zan Jurun to send people to supervise the sulfur mines in Hebei, Hedong, Shandong and other places. In addition, Guo Shao also sent someone to send a letter to Chen Jiali, asking them to buy sulfur from Dali and bring it back for storage. Most of the sulfur mined in the mainland was impure and of low quality, so it could only be used as a makeshift. At this time, the best sulfur was imported in small quantities from Japan by sea merchants.
Only saltpeter mines are relatively scarce, and high-yield open-pit mines are only found in Hanzhong. There are also some in the Western Regions, but they are not under the control of the Great Zhou.
Li Guxian collected and mobilized saltpeter from Hanzhong and other places, and the method he adopted for storage was to use manure to pile saltpeter. He first set up a saltpeter pile in Guantian Manor on the outskirts of Dongjing, and part of the manure carts from the city would transport it here.
Li Gu used the method of alchemy, first making a large earthenware jar, covering it with straw, then piling feces into the jar, mixing it with rotten animals and plants, slag, lime and wood ash, and then covering it with straw. After that, every time it was watered and fermented with urine and water, some saltpeter frost could be scraped off the straw.
Then, the purification method invented by Guo Shao was used to melt the saltpeter with impurities in water, cook it, dry it in the sun, and sift it with a sieve to obtain relatively pure saltpeter crystals.
Everything was being prepared. Although Guo Shao did not personally take charge of it, he had been paying close attention to the progress of various matters. Even what Fu Zhaoxu, who was stationed in Liaozhou, did and how he got along with the generals were reported secretly by the civil officials accompanying the military envoys.
Guo Shao put down the paper in his hand, stood up and walked to the wall to look at the map.
This is the Xu'en Hall, a small courtyard to the west of the imperial palace. Guo Shao was not very satisfied with this place because he felt that it was surrounded by palace buildings and was very closed and stuffy, but he still chose this place as his regular rest and sleep place.
Because of the huge palace like the Wansui Palace, Guo Shao always felt like it was a public place. In fact, the palace maids and eunuchs there really worked as the superiors in the various palaces. Their job was to manage the palace's property and clean it, and to serve the emperor's daily life.
So Guo Shao chose the Xu'en Hall. This small courtyard at least felt like a private space. After a busy day, Guo Shao wanted to return to a place where he could relax mentally.
At this time, Yulian came over to clean up the messy desk that Guo Shao had just rummaged through. Guo Shao turned around and said, "Those things are related to official business. Tomorrow morning, you should give them to the eunuch who came to pick me up and have him take them to the study in Jinxiang Palace for safekeeping."
Yulian nodded in response. When Guo Shao lived here, he usually asked Yulian to take care of his daily life, even when she was not supposed to sleep with him. Yulian was not very literate, so she didn't care what Guo Shao was doing, especially when she didn't know much about state affairs, which made Guo Shao feel relieved. Moreover, Yulian was a person he trusted very much, and he also asked her to keep some of his personal belongings.
Yulian would not interfere with him doing his own things. After she finished packing her things, she picked up the teacup and replaced the cold tea for him. If there was someone hanging around in front of Guo Shao, it would not affect him. That was because Yulian was not ignoring her, but was too familiar with her.
Guo Shao stood in front of a map on the wall of the study. Looking at the territory on it, he could truly feel what he owned.
At this moment, his mood was not mainly greed, wanting more, but wanting to keep what he had and fearing losing it. He had seized the Great Zhou, but the country was far from being stable and safe, and he was still worried about what he had.
For example, the land of Hedong. Since ancient times, there has never been a dynasty with a stable national defense. The capital was under the threat of a hostile force. From Hedong, it was all the way south to the Yellow River, which was the only fragile natural barrier. Moreover, the Liao Kingdom was backing the Northern Han.
Guo Shao understood that even if he wanted to enjoy peace and happiness, now was not the time. Only people who were so stupid to a certain extent would have no sense of crisis.
He tapped his fingers on the spot on the east side of the river for two days, then he put his hands down behind his back and paced back and forth in the room.
Until October, a group of scholars and common people with a Hedong accent came to Tokyo. They were let into the inner city and gathered on the Imperial Street to ask for imperial orders. They said that they could not tolerate the looting of the Liao army and were even more dissatisfied with the Northern Han court's collusion with the Liao Kingdom to oppress the people. They asked the emperor to send troops to recover the lost territory.
In ancient times, common people could not gather together at will, so there was generally no such thing as petitioning for fear of gathering together to rebel. What's more, these people actually entered the inner city. However, they cursed the Northern Han and called the Emperor of the Great Zhou a saint, so they were not driven out by force.
At that time, the Great Zhou and the Northern Han were enemies and had a tense relationship. There were even cavalry raids and small-scale battles on the border. The Northern Han sent a large number of scouts to the Great Zhou to gather information. Although they were not spies, they were able to find out some very obvious things. Although local governments captured some of them, they were unable to prevent such spies.
The Zhou army frequently mobilized large quantities of food and fodder, and each town was mobilizing its soldiers to join the war, and there were obvious signs of this; and some stone quarries were also mining and making boulders, which seemed to be things used for sieges.
In short, this kind of large-scale war preparation cannot be concealed from the neighboring countries. The Jinyang court is already shrouded in the shadow of war.
There was a small incident in Jinyang, Yang Ye exchanged his mount for a beauty, which was spread as an anecdote among the military commanders as a fun story. Because Yang Ye was a famous person in the Northern Han Dynasty, it was easy to attract attention.
It was just buying a concubine, and the buying process was more interesting, so Yang Ye didn't care.
But one day, when he was on his way to inspect the defense works of Jinyang City under the emperor's order, he met Zhao Kuangyin, who brought up the matter in person.
There was no rift between Zhao Kuangyin and Yang Ye. Although Yang Ye's brothers were military commanders in the Zhou Kingdom, Yang Ye did not care about the right and wrong in the Zhou Kingdom. Naturally, he had no opinion of Zhao Kuangyin. In fact, because Zhao Kuangyin was also a famous general, they got along well. Zhao Kuangyin made meritorious deeds in several battles such as the Battle of Gaoping and the Battle of Huainan. His military tactics were praised, especially the fact that he captured the Southern Tang general alive single-handedly during the Huainan attack on Chuzhou.
Zhao Kuangyin first mentioned the anecdote, and suddenly his tone changed, and he said seriously: I have a word of advice for you, women should not be trusted easily.
Yang Ye thought this was strange and asked casually: "Brother Zhao, what do you mean by this?"
Zhao Kuangyin hesitated to speak, and after pondering for a while, he said: I just have this sigh, especially those women of unknown origin, you have to be careful.
His words were confusing. Yang Ye could figure out what he meant, because at first they were talking about buying a concubine, but then he suddenly mentioned that women of unknown origin should not be trusted. Yang Ye guessed that Zhao Kuangyin meant that there was something wrong with the concubine he bought.
But Zhao Kuangyin was living under someone else's roof, and the woman was Yang Ye's concubine. Zhao Kuangyin probably knew it was not good to say something too harsh, so he did not continue. Yang Ye did not ask any more questions.
Yang Ye inspected the city defense for half a day, and went home in the afternoon. He went to Hongying's room as usual. He was not married at this time, but he already had three concubines, and Hongying was one of them. This woman was obviously much more beautiful than the other two concubines, and she was also very good at serving people. Yang Ye liked to come here more.
Seeing Hongying's attentive and gentle appearance, Yang Ye remembered Zhao Kuangyin's words again. He calmly asked the merchant who sold her about her background and where she was. Hongying answered fluently, with a very pure smile on her face, without any scheming.
She just said a little aggrievedly: I know I come from a bad family and I am disabled, but do you think I am a bad person
Yang Ye thought of the past few months and shook his head. There were not many women in this world who could read. This woman was good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. It was possible that she had fallen into prostitution. If she was a bad person, what bad things could a young woman do
Hongying said softly: "My benefactor, the money has been spent, so please don't look down on me. I am nothing in the Yang Mansion. I am just a slave who depends on you, my benefactor. I can't even walk. What else can I do?"
Yang Ye was relieved when he heard this. In fact, she was right. The only woman who could influence him was his wife. Concubines or slaves were just like objects. There was nothing to dislike about them. That was why he would be more cautious in marrying a wife.
However, because of Zhao Kuangyin's words, Yang Ye still found an old slave who had worked for many years and asked him to inquire about Hongying's story according to her background.
The servant went out in a carriage and returned in the evening. He went to inquire and found out that the merchant who sold Hongying did exist and admitted that he had sold a disabled girl from a debtor's family. Moreover, the merchant had been in Jinyang for many years, and most of the employees were from Jinyang. People around him also said so, so there was nothing strange.
After Yang Ye got the report, he no longer doubted it, because he really couldn't think of what Hongying could get from him as a concubine. After spending so many months with her, he felt that Hongying had good character, never asked for extra rewards, and was very humble when he gave her things.
As time went by, Yang Ye also developed some feelings for Hong Ying. As he once said, even a stone can be warmed if it is held in the arms for a long time.