Li Yueji had to go to Zide Hall every now and then. She had to greet the two queens as a courtesy and also distribute some financial expenses because she was nominally in charge of the affairs of the entire palace.
When she saw the queen coming out, it was already noon, and the dense shade of the summer trees was dotted with spots of sunlight. However, the bright sunshine did not brighten Li Yueji's heart, she just felt confused.
She happened to run into the eunuch Wang Zhong, who was the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Li Yueji remembered what the palace lady said about the eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs knowing a lot, so she called Wang Zhong to stop.
The eunuch was quite clever. He stopped, bent down, and said with a smile: "My Lady, what instructions do you have for me?"
Li Yueji glanced around at the people coming and going in Zide Hall. Besides, she was not familiar with this eunuch. After a moment's hesitation, she asked: "What is the emperor busy with these days?"
Wang Zhong said with a wry smile: "My Lady, the Emperor has gone to the Armour Factory to inspect the firearms. I heard that the people down there have made new cannons."
Li Yueji asked: Is it amazing
Wang Zhong said seriously: Of course it is powerful. I heard that with one shot, the military camp a mile away will be reduced to ashes.
When Li Yueji heard that the emperor was busy with military affairs, she became more worried and wanted to ask Wang Zhong whether the court was going to use troops against Xiazhou. However, given her status as an imperial concubine, it was fine for her to ask what the emperor was busy with, but it would be inappropriate to ask about military and national affairs.
On the banks of the Bian River, the water was abundant at this time of year, and the armor-making workshops that looked like several cities were noisy, and the sky was filled with black smoke. The armor-making workshops were originally built for forging armor, but a complete smelting workshop was built here, and firearms were also manufactured here.
Casting bronze cannons is not complicated. The same craftsmanship as that for casting bells can also be used to cast cannons. It’s just that no one has thought of making them this way before.
The new bronze cannon was tested by classification and then tested in turn, and the size was finally determined. The cannon is about five feet long, and the single barrel weighs about one thousand pounds. It mainly fires iron bullets weighing ten pounds, and was named Tiger Roaring Sky.
This bronze cannon weighs more than twice as much as the previous iron-cast Dragon Roar cannon, but it can only fire shells weighing ten kilograms; while the iron cannon weighs several hundred kilograms, but can fire shells weighing a hundred kilograms.
The difference is that the iron cannon is a large mortar that can only be thrown upwards like a catapult, relying on the weight of the falling stone bullets to hit the wall; while the bronze cannon can be fired horizontally.
Guo Shao stood behind the parapet, put his palms between his eyebrows to block the sunlight above his head, and looked into the distance intently.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang of a cannon, and a flash of fire in the white smoke. After a while, a black cannonball flew horizontally and hit the ground. The cannonball flew horizontally at a very small angle, and immediately bounced off the ground, continued to fly forward, bounced a long way, and then fell to the ground and rolled.
The farther away, the worse the accuracy. Zan Jurun said, it is not easy to hit a target. However, if there is a crowd in front, this shot will definitely hit a bunch of people.
Guo Shao looked a little excited and said: This is not a siege weapon. It will create a hole with every strike. It doesn't matter if it's not accurate. What we need is deterrence. From now on, even if the enemy gathers in formation a mile away, it will be within our range.
Zan Jurun took out another blueprint and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty said that two wheels should be used as the gun carriage. We tried it for a while but it didn't work. It was too heavy and would fall apart when firing. But the Military Equipment Supervisor made a new one. Your Majesty, please look, this is the gun carriage, which can be pulled by horses; when transporting, the gun body and gun carriage are placed on it. When firing, eight people lift the gun down and place it on the gun carriage, and then fix it with the iron frame at the gun tail, and it can be placed properly."
Guo Shaodao: It takes eight people to carry it.
Zan Jurun said: "It weighs a thousand pounds, and eight people are needed to carry it." The folk way of carrying the coffin is that eight people can easily carry it.
Guo Shao:
Although this cannon is clumsy and heavy, there is no way. Guo Shao wants a flat shot and bounce. The initial velocity of the cannonball must be high, otherwise the angle is too small and the initial velocity is too low, and it will fall to the ground as soon as it leaves the barrel. In this way, the chamber pressure of the gunpowder in the chamber will be high, and the bronze cannon wall must be thick, otherwise it will explode. More than 30 people were killed or injured during the test of the cannon, because the cast was too thin and exploded.
However, because of the high pressure, it was now possible to fire shotgun shells at close range. The iron cannon had previously tried stone-crushing shotgun shells, but they were useless because the mortar had a large opening and the chamber pressure was too low for loading shotgun shells.
The military structure changes according to weapons and tactics. A regular army has more than 20 people in a team and a matchlock army has more than 30 people in a team, which are not suitable for artillery. The artillery troops are composed of 15 people, equipped with a cannon carriage, 15 matchlocks, and a number of long and short weapons on horses; in order to reduce weight, they are not equipped with armor, only helmets. Because it takes at least eight people to carry the cannon, there is also a need for a fireman to take care of the horses and do miscellaneous work, people who install the gun carriage when carrying the cannon, and reserve personnel after casualties. One artillery army has eight cannons and 120 people. One commander has five cannons and 600 people.
Guo Shao saw the combat power of the artillery with his own eyes, and he felt more confident. He returned to Jinxiang Hall and began to deploy his recent military and political plans.
He first summoned important military and national officials Wang Pu and Wei Renpu, and then successively summoned Zan Jurun, Lu Duoxun and others, preparing to formulate a complete set of foreign strategies.
After hearing what Guo Shao meant, Lu Duosun said: When I was on a diplomatic mission to Xiazhou, I saw Khitan people coming and going in Xiazhou. The court can use this as an excuse to order Xiazhou Jiedushi Li Yiyin to hand over the enemy envoys and escort them to Tokyo for questioning.
Guo Shaodao: This battle is a fight of the times, very good.
After a busy day, Guo Shao returned to Wansui Hall at 5 p.m. He did not sleep in the main hall, but cleaned up a house in a corner of the hall to live in.
As soon as he entered the Wansui Hall, he heard Wang Zhong report: Concubine Li is waiting and wants to see Your Majesty.
After hearing this, Guo Shao said: Please come in.
Generally speaking, in the palace, the emperor would summon someone when he wanted to sleep with him. If a concubine wanted to see him, it must be because of something. There were only five empresses and imperial concubines, usually four, and they were very important people.
Wang Zhong did not leave. Instead, he stepped forward and whispered: Today, Concubine Li asked what the emperor was doing. I tried to test her and saw that she looked panicked. I am afraid she heard that Your Majesty wanted to use military force against the Dangxiang.
"Oh," Guo Shao responded suddenly.
Guo Shao sat down in the living room and waited. Not long after, he saw Li Xianfei come in. She was not wearing Tangut clothes, but a skirt and her hair was combed into a horse bun. Li Yueji had black hair and black eyes, and her face was not much different from that of a Han Chinese. She was also good-looking, with fair skin and a curvy figure; but when she put on a skirt and a half-sleeve ribbon, she still didn't look right, a little weird.
Guo Shao remained calm. Last time, her nails dug a bloody mark on his face. Even now, her skin still feels hot when she thinks of Guo Shao.
Li Yueji bowed politely and said, "Your Majesty, I am here to see you."
No need to be polite, just sit down. Guo Shao said.
Li Yueji said softly: Thank you, Your Majesty, for letting me sit down.
Guo Shao rubbed his forehead: Why do I feel like something is wrong
Li Yueji said: Don't all your women treat your majesty in this way
Guo Shao nodded.
There was a short silence, and the atmosphere became a little awkward after the greetings. This was mainly because Guo Shao had a negative attitude and did not take the initiative to find a topic. This woman had no feelings for him as a foreigner, and did not like staying in a foreign land. Otherwise, if she had already had a status with him, why would she try so hard to prevent Guo Shao from touching her
At this time, Li Yueji's face was red, and she finally spoke with a sense of humiliation. When I was in Lingzhou, I ran away without knowing what was going on and was almost killed by a wolf. I have always wanted to know one thing: was it your Majesty who shot an arrow to save me that day
Guo Shao recalled for a moment and nodded: That’s right.
Li Yueji said softly: Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving my life.
There is no need to do this, it is just a small effort, we just happened to meet. Guo Shaodao, I don’t want you to be bitten by a wolf.
Li Yueji was silent for a while, and then said: It's all my fault that I didn't know what was going on. I even hurt Your Majesty, and Your Majesty forgave me.
Guo Shao said: It’s just a small matter. I do have the generosity to do so.
Her Majesty Li Yueji looked at him a little embarrassedly.
In fact, Guo Shao already understood what she meant. He was dissatisfied with the marriage before, but now he was forced to do so. He was afraid that the relationship between the imperial court and Xiazhou would become tense, which would bring disaster to her and her family.
She had no choice, even if Guo Shao was a pig, she had to please him. And Guo Shao didn't seem to be that annoying.
Guo Shao sighed slightly.
But when he thought about it, Li Yueji was actually innocent. Even the Tanguts could not be said to be bad people. In their own eyes, there was nothing wrong in getting rid of the control of the Central Plains Dynasty and expanding their territory and power. It was just that their rudeness and ambition were not conducive to the Great Xu Dynasty. Adding another border threat would be a pressure on any dynasty and increase military defense expenses.
Li Yueji was just a woman, and it was unfortunate that she was sent to a foreign country thousands of miles away for marriage. Now it seemed understandable that she had to do this for survival.
Guo Shao thought about it and called out softly:
Hmm Li Yueji raised her head and looked at him with some expectation.
Guo Shao comforted her: "The virtuous concubine is just a woman. Don't take all the responsibilities on yourself. Who can bear such a heavy burden? Since you are my concubine, you don't have to worry too much."
Li Yueji was slightly moved after hearing this: Your Majesty treats people very well, why didn't I understand this before
Guo Shao thought to himself, I am kind to everyone around me. As the saint said, where there is oppression there is resistance. These people stay in my harem and can often get close to me. How can I let you resist and make yourself unhappy
He suddenly found that her neck was red, her hands were tense, and she silently grabbed her clothes. Her voice seemed to be about to cry, and she trembled in humiliation and said: Your Majesty, since I am your woman and have been in the palace for so long, Your Majesty, please take me.
Guo Shao stood there in a daze and sighed: "My virtuous concubine, there is really no need to do this."
Li Yueji's expression was complicated, and she was a little angry. She was about to cry: I delivered it to their door, but others didn't want it.