Xie Gui was very quick to do things. Although he suffered some losses in front of Han Du, once he nodded and agreed, he would deliver the person and carriage to Han Du to the letter.
When Han Du got the carriage and the craftsman, he first asked the craftsman to modify the carriage.
Today's carriages are all two-wheeled. Not only the load capacity is small, but also the general weight has to be pressed on the back of the horse or cow in front. It was already strenuous enough for these oxen and horses to pull the carriage, but now they had to carry heavy loads. This is inhumane and unscientific.
Han Du wanted to change this situation, reduce the burden on the horses, and convert the two-wheeled carriage into a three-wheeled carriage. As for why not just change it to a four-wheeled carriage? Although the carrying capacity of a four-wheeled carriage is larger than that of a three-wheeled carriage, such a carriage is also less conducive to turning.
The ancients were also very smart. It makes no sense that since they have already made two-wheeled carriages, no one would think of making a four-wheeled carriage. It was just because there was no way for such a carriage to turn when it was loaded with goods that it had to be changed back.
The three-wheeled carriage is different. Although the load capacity is not as large as that of the four-wheeled carriage, it is still larger than the two-wheeled carriage. Moreover, whether turning left or right, it is very easy and convenient. This is the best carriage in Handu now. s Choice.
"Master Marquis, I have been making carriages all my life, but I have never heard of such a carriage."
Hearing that Han Du wanted to add a wheel to the front of the carriage, the leader of the craftsmen almost went crazy. From the time he can remember, he has seen his grandfathers making carriages, but he has never seen a carriage with three wheels.
"Just because you haven't seen it before doesn't mean you can't do it now. Anyway, you just need to do what I said." Han Du didn't explain too much to the craftsman and gave him a faint look.
The identity of the craftsman was naturally not worth mentioning in front of Han Du. He could only do what Han Du said. However, as an old craftsman, he was aloof and had to remind him aloud: "The young man will naturally obey the Lord Marquis's instructions, but Lord Marquis, there are two wheels at the back and only one wheel at the front. This... Even if it needs to be added, do we still need to add two wheels?”
"Just add a wheel." Seeing that the craftsman still had some worry on his face, Han Du said, "Even if there is a problem, I will not blame you."
"I obey, little man." After listening to Han Du's words, the craftsman showed a relaxed smile on his face. In fact, he was not afraid of Han Du's strange request. In his many years as a craftsman, he had never seen any strange request like this.
He just wanted Han Du to give him a guarantee. Otherwise, if he worked so hard to make something, the result would be different from what Han Du expected, and he would blame him instead. Where could he reason?
It's not like he has never seen this kind of situation before.
"Yeah." Han Du smiled and nodded.
Seeing that the craftsman was about to turn around to do something, Han Du waved his hand to stop him and made another request: "In addition to adding a wheel in front, you can increase the width of each wheel to three times. I don't care about you. Should we add more wheels or just make the wheels wider? Anyway, just increase the width of the wheels for me."
I don’t know what’s going on. Everyone has known for a long time that the wheels tend to get stuck in the mud when it rains, but no one has thought about how to solve this problem. From the moment the carriage appeared, the width of the wheels has remained the same, only one inch wide.
this
With such a width, as long as the soil is softer, the loaded carriage will sink into the soil. At that time, people will have to push the carriage away in a time-consuming and laborious manner.
The solution to this problem is too easy, just increase the width of the wheels.
Since the craftsman accepted Han Du's first strange request, he was not surprised when he faced the second one. The crisscrossed ravines on the old farmer's face were piled with sunflowers, and he nodded heavily to Handu, "Don't worry, Mr. Hou, the villain will save it. When the time comes, the villain will each add a wider wheel to it. It’s not a difficult thing.”
Han Du nodded with satisfaction and waved his hand to let these craftsmen go to work quickly.
But he quickly went to find Tang Ding and asked him to send people to remove fifty cannons from the warship and transport them with the gunpowder fuses.
A few days later, Shanzi Camp was fully equipped and could set off just waiting for Zhu Di's order.
After Zhu Di made a brief oath, he drew out the sword from his waist and swung it towards the north.
"The whole army is here, march towards Songting Pass."
Han Du was surprised by Zhu Di's words. After Zhu Di took back his sword, he stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, if we don't go back to Peiping, shall we go directly to Songting Pass?"
Zhu Di looked at Han Du with a smile on his face and explained: "Exactly, the army has all the food and grass, so there is no need to go to Peiping. And we have already wasted too much time. Going directly to Songting Pass can save time."
After hearing this, Han Du just smiled and nodded a few times in agreement without saying anything else. I just couldn't help but wonder a little strangely, 'Can we really save time by going directly to Songtingguan? Going to Songting Pass from here is almost in the same direction as going to Peiping, and it is a spacious road to Peiping, which is much easier for the army with baggage and can march quickly. On the contrary, there is only a small road to Songting Pass. Although the march of the army may be difficult, at least it will not be fast. Therefore, in terms of time, going directly to Songting Pass does not necessarily save time compared to going to Peiping first and then going to Songting Pass. Zhu Di's words are simply untenable. '
But now Zhu Di is commanding the army, and whatever he says is what he says.
Although Han Du can put forward opinions, he must not disobey Zhu Di's military orders.
Han Du returned to Shanzi Camp and asked Tang Ding and Xu Chengfei to prepare the army and follow them to Songting Pass.
Fifty-one strange-looking carriages were walking on the road, causing other sergeants to look here curiously. But out of curiosity, no one would know that these carriages were equipped with a cannon, and they brought a total of fifty cannons with them on this trip.
When he was around Peiping, Han Du could still see the people of the Ming Dynasty everywhere. While riding on horseback, Handu could still see the faint smoke rising straight from the sky in the morning and evening.
But the further north you go, the fewer Ming people you can see, and there is very little smoke.
Seeing that Han Du was always looking at the surrounding villages, Zhu Di rode up to Han Du and asked with a smile: "What are you looking at?"
Han Du raised his eyes and saw that it was Zhu Di who was asking him, and he quickly bowed and said, "Meet the prince."
Zhu Ditima and Han Du walked side by side and laughed and said: "Han Du, I feel like old friends with you at first sight, so there is no need for so many courtesy. Besides, we are in the army now, and there are not so many etiquette in the army."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Han Du said towards
Zhu Di nodded.
Since Zhu Di said this, Han Du would not be polite to him.
Sure enough, when Zhu Di saw Han Du's casual attitude, he was even happier. Zhu Di grew up in the army. There was no so-called etiquette in the army, only the strong were respected. He doesn't care much about the etiquette of scholars. If there are too many etiquette, it will make him feel uncomfortable. Now Han Du behaves casually towards him, which makes Zhu Di even happier.
After laughing twice, Zhu Di asked curiously: "I was looking at you just now and you were looking at those villages. What were you looking at?"
"I'm watching. It seems that the further you go to the north, the fewer people there are in the Ming Dynasty. There is a lot of desolate land here. Why is this?" Han Du had nothing to hide, so he directly asked the doubts in his heart. come out.
Zhu Di looked Han Du up and down and said with admiration: "You are indeed extraordinary. Many people come here and only see desolation and don't pay attention to the number of people here."
After sighing slightly, Zhu Di continued to explain: "To tell you the truth, there are more people here than in the previous two years, because the Ming Dynasty incorporated Liaodong into the territory, so that the people had enough courage to come here to make a living. If you had come here a few years ago before the Ming Dynasty conquered Liaodong, you would not have seen many people at all."
I see!
Han Du nodded while listening. When Naha came out to occupy Liaodong, he would often send troops south to harass. The people here are the first to face Naha's attack. No matter how many people there are, it is not enough for Naha to fight.
Han Du followed the army all the way to Songting Pass. Under the Great Wall, as Zhu Di said, no people could be seen at all. Only the defenders of Songting Pass were still guarding the Great Wall.
After leaving Songting Pass, the army stepped into the grassland.
As the commander-in-chief of the army, Zhu Di had to send out scouts every day to explore the way forward. He also had to calculate the position of Lan Yu and Fu Youde's army based on military intelligence information in order to determine the direction of the army's advance. There are too many things to be busy with, and there is no time to take care of Han Du.
Han Du originally thought that he could finally be clean, but he did not expect that after Zhu Di stopped harassing him, a monk wearing black monk robes, riding on a yellow-brown horse, walked towards Han Du.
Since seeing this monk, Han Du's eyes narrowed, and a feeling of evil coming emerged in his heart.
Han Du sat calmly on the horse without speaking.
The monk in black came to Han Du with a smile on his face, tilted his head and glanced at Han Du. Suddenly he smiled and said: "The Marquis of Zhenhai is really good at determining things. He was not surprised at all when he saw the poor monk in the army."
Han Du, who had a solemn expression on his face, suddenly laughed when he heard the words of the monk in black and said: "Everything must happen for a reason. Since the master appears in the army, there is a reason why he can appear here. I am the prince." You’re not the commander of an army, so what’s so surprising?”
Although Han Du was smiling, he was sarcastic about Zhu Di. The commander-in-chief of the army is Zhu Di. Whether it is good or bad for a monk to join the army is Zhu Di's responsibility and has nothing to do with Han Du.
Moreover, Han Du also tested the relationship between the monk and Zhu Di. I wanted to see the monk's reaction when he mentioned Zhu Di, and see if I could see any flaws in his expression.
